Chapter 18.4- One Thousand Hands

They walked further and further down the coastline as they moved towards what his eyes had identified as a series of caves. He could see the edge of them, but not deep within as his range was nowhere near good enough to see that far. According to Uraume, his range was only a bit better than that of a toddler who had just awakened theirs and even despite all her promises that it would get better with time, it was still basically any the same level that it had been for months now. But if the tradeoff for his much better vision quality was a loss in range, then it was a worthwhile sacrifice by his estimation. After all, how many hyuga could claim to be able to copy jutsu just as well as any sharingan user and to have jutsu from all five elements under their belt as well as the mystical palm of all things.

Focused on that, he was too slow to react to Yuki’s sudden movement. They were all walking in lockstep, and then in the space between seconds, she turned around, unsheated her blade faster than he could blink and slammed it into Toshiro’s side. Only the fact that he managed to somehow move with the blow prevented him from being cleaved in two. Still, he was sent flying and collapsed in a rapidly building pool of his own blood. Shocked at the transition, it took Shori a second to move. A second that she used to spit a storm of ice needles at him.

Right as it was about to hit his frozen form, the attack was blown backwards as he felt himself begin to spin. Halfway through the spin, he felt himself regain control of his body. It had only been a microsecond, but he had some strong feeling within him that something important had just taken place. Something foundational, something with the potential to c change everything. He was not allowed to dwell on the thought as the second he stopped spinning, the woman was upon him again.

“Stay still, Senju. Just let me take your head and I promise that Hohojirozame will be gentle with your teammates. You know he likes his women that age, right? And an Uchiha at that? Better surrender now so I can protect them from him” She said, spitting out the words like she was discussing the weather even as she slashed and stabbed at him with a sword almost as long as she was tall. She wielded it with ease that bellied her frame and acted as a display of incredible chakra strength.

He allowed her words to flow past him, burying the instinctive surge of rage he felt at Uzume being threatened in such a manner with the fact that he knew she’d kill this woman’s stupid teammate. Seven Swordsmen of the Mist or not, they’d find some way to bury these bastards, he promised himself. They just had to do it quickly enough for Toshiro to get the medical attention he needed.

A/N; A chunk of a chunk