Chapter 16.5- One Thousand Hands

Uzume was the first to reach him. She was always one to act first, and think later. He dodged away from a swipe of her warden that dug into the tree trunk he’d been leaning against. With a flick of her wrist, she forced the weapon to continue the movement and cut the tree at that spot beefier diving after the fleeing shinobi. He danced through the foliage as the very shadows that called the forest home came to life and began to reach out to grab him. I watched the way his eyes flickered from side to side as he dodged the shadows as they came for him.

Like they’d been working together for years, Shika used her shadows to lead the man right into the path of Uzume’s next swing and he was forced to block the attack with the katana he had sheathed at his back. They struggled against each other for a few seconds, before ehe began to overpower her, and then there was a crowd of shuriken that forced him to jump away. Right into the grasp of Shika’s shadow. “Shadow Possession: Complete” She said with a smug smile as I body flickered right in front of the enemy shinobi and flicked him on the forehead. He remained still even while glaring at me with enough anger to boil water.

“Well, how do we get this one to answer questions?” I asked with a smile on my face, turning to the others.

“Is anyone else around?” Uzume asked me instead.

“None for miles. Don’t worry, I’ll be looking out now” I said while tapping my sunglasses meaningfully. They did a shitty job of hiding the byakugan, but that wasn’t what I got them for. When I lacked a doujutsu of my own, I spent many an idle hour coming up with ways to combat users and rob them of the advantages their cheating eyes gave them. What I’d come up with- well, it made me more than cautious about my own eyes. Sure, everyone knew about flashbangs, but how did no one even think of using luminescent powders that would irritate the eyes of those they came in contact with. I hadn’t even had to invent anything there. All of it was available in the clan’s poison library. There were even a few things we’d come up with for doujutsu users that were so terrible that we’d agreed to ban their use- even against the Uchiha clan of all people.

Of course, the ban wasn’t as strictly enforced as it could have been. Many an Uchiha faced off against those banned substances themselves. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had countermeasures already added into their clan training, but as I lacked such advantages, I had to work out my own shit in case I ran into someone out there who had the same tricks up their sleeves. The glasses actually created a field around my eyes that prevented any sort of egress. That meant I could use them in the middle of a sand storm without any difficulty. They also worked to allow me see in low light and even in pitch darkness as well as negating the effects of flash bangs almost entirely. That function had needed Grandma Mito’s help, and that had been a lesson and a half but it would pay more than anything else in dividends.

“So can you-“ Shika asked Uzume, gesturing to the man that was bound in her shadow’s grasp.

“Not nearly good enough with Sharingan Genjutsu for that kind of thing. You’d need Izuku for that” She admitted with a shrug. Shika turned to Toshiro next.

“How could I even get information out of him with the genjutsu I know?”

“You’re the fledgling Genjutsu master here so you have to figure it out.”

“I mean, valid. But still. This isn’t something as simple as just fooling his sight so he didn’t notice that he was jumping into your shadow, or even giving him the urge to jump in that direction in the first place. This is diving into his mind to snatch secrets from him. Yamanaka territory” He said firmly.

“Well, if no one is going to say it, there’s another way to get the answers we want” I pointed out, pulling out a kunai from my holster.

“Put that away, Shori. None of us have any idea how to torture a man. Last I checked, no one here took that particular elective” Shika said with a gesture.

“Speak for yourself. I am more than familiar with the coursework” I said, walking forwards.

I felt Toshiro’s hand grip my shoulder.

“Are you sure?” He asked me with the kind of tone that one would use when they were facing someone with second thoughts. With doubts. How could I ever explain to him that I felt no hesitation or squeamishness at the thought.

“Certain”

“Okay I vote that he does it. We need answers, and quickly.”

“I vote yes, as well” Uzume said, watching everything with spinning red eyes.

“This won’t count for much, but I want it on record that I am opposed to this” Shika said. I just nodded at her words and stepped to the target.

With him standing still, it only took a few seconds for me to block enough chakra points to paralyse him from the neck down, while careful to avoid messing up the pain receptors.

“You can release him now” I told Shika.

“Also just for the record, I want to point out that you never did try just asking me the questions you had and just jumped straight to torture. What kind of psychopaths is the Leaf breeding these days?” He said as I began to slide my kunai across his skin to build up tension.

“Would you have answered our questions truthfully?”

“No. No I would not have. But if you want some advice, I can give it to you”

“Let’s hear it then. Might as well give you a chance to say something without tears:”

“Next time you capture and plan to torture a man, you should check for failsafes” At the last word, he clicked his tongue, and I saw it then. A false tooth. I jumped backwards, weaving the seals for a mud wall but it proved useless as it turned out the false tooth had just contained a single poison pill. He was dead before I could reach him again.

A/N; Here ya go.