Chapter 4.2- One thousand Hands

XXXXXXX- TOSHIRO TAKEHADA

Of course she didn’t waste a second trying to do something actually useful like coming up with a plan or even letting them know what she was going to do ahead of time. Yes, Toshiro, and he was sure Shori as well, had known that the girl would attack once she got the permission to. It was her entire personality, after all. But couldn’t she have learned a new trick or two after graduation. He absently noticed Shori disappearing from the corner of his eyes as he whipped out two shrunken from his weapon purse and tossed them at hs sensei at an angle.

Mom said that these were supposed to test their teamwork, and as long as he showed some ability to work with the other two, then he’d pass. He was certain of it. Both his shurinken ended up proving Moore of a hindrance than a help to Angry Uchiha-san as she heard them coming and disengaged. There had been very little risk of her getting hit by the stars, bt part of him facepalmed at expecting her to trust in that with no guarantees.

Engage in taijutsu, I’ll help out from a distance, he signed at her in the sign language that Konoha had once favoured for use within the anbu. He knew she spoke it, as he’d seen her use it with her brothers before. Shori also knew it as well, but it was expected for the Hokage’s heir to know every language within Konoha. Uzume knowing it had been a surprise for him when he’d first noticed. It had made him curious as to what her brothers did exactly. The fact that Mom hadn’t said anything about them and had just gone silent when he asked meant only one thing- anbu. She ignored his words and began to run through seals. It was a blur and ended with the tiger seal. He did well to jump backwards. He’d seen enough of the Uchiha girl’s ninjutsu to know that this wouldn’t end well for their would-be sensei.

He was right. A massive ball of fire, large enough to completely block Toshiro’s view of their opponent. Their Sensei, a jounin, didn’t seem too bothered by the jutsu as Toshiro didn’t see him dive out of the way. In fact, as a shape appeared through the flames, it looked like their sensei had done the opposite. He dove right through Uchiha Uzume’s flames, none the worse for wear and slammed into her with a composed savagery. That was the only phrase Toshiro could think of. Their previous taijutsu exchange had been brief, but it had been mostly their sensei dodging out of the way as she relentlessly pursued. Now it was as far from that as possible.

It was a beatdown. First of all, he’d near folded her in half with a knee to her stomach. She’d reeled backwards but done nothing to avoid the follow up punch to her temple. She tried to lift her hands to block the next jab, but it was an obvious feint for a kindney punch that their sensei delivered with punishing strength. She spat out blood and Sensei used the opportunity to hit her with a palm to the face that broke her nose in one clean strike. Fuck, Toshiro thought to himself. This wouldn’t end well. Shori had disappeared once Uchiha-san attacked. Of course he had. He’d probably seen this coming and decided that he’d be better served hiding from their sensei that taking him on in a straight fight. Toshiro prepared to jump away and attempt the same when he suddenly found himself pinned to the ground.

He saw a vision there and then. If he moved, he’d die. Not in one fixed way, in a million different ones. Each more brutal than the last. He turned to find his sensei watching him with something resembling amusement in his eyes. His sensei was standing straight, not a wrinkle on his impeccably pressed Jounin uniform. Not a single lock of spiky hair out of place from the organised mess that had caught Toshiro’s attention back in the classroom. He looked to all the world that he’d just had a pleasant stroll in the park and not a life or death battle with who was arguably the most dangerous genin in all of Konoha. He’d put money on Shori in a fight, if he was a gambling man, but he’d still consider the Uchiha girl as much more dangerous. There was just a ferocity in her that he never saw anywhere.

That was why the fact that she’d remained slumped in their sensei’s pseudo-grip made for terrifying thinking. He’d beaten the fight out of her. This was the same girl who’d fought through a broken arm and used same arm to shove a punch into a shocked Shori’s face- wining her the only spar she’d ever won against him. The fact that it was the last time Uraraka-sensei had allowed them to spar had also said a lot. 
In a blink he found a blur heading for him and didn’t even notice when he moved his body to catch Uchiha Uzume as she was tossed in the air at him like a rag doll. “Stay here. I’ll go get that wayward teammate of yours and teach him a thing or two about abandoning one’s comrades” was all he heard as his sensei disappeared in the wind.

A/N; Since apologies for the unexplained absence! Expect more tomorrow.