| [May. 22nd, 2017|01:15 am] |
They translocated by mutual agreement to the remains of a quarry that now served as ‘training field five’. It was dusty and rock-strewn, scarred from countless exploding tags and practice earth jutsu over the years. Perfect for two ninja with earth in their chakra natures.
“I set up seven traps before I heard your clone getting chased and made an idiot of myself trying to get there to rescue you.” Genma said. “No idea where that other dog came from, but thanks for getting me out of there.”
Raidou gave him a charming, crooked smile. “If my clone was good enough to fool a chakra-sensor, I’m doing something right. Did you see anything of Hatake?”
“Until that dog got to me, nothing. No Tousaki, either. You?”
“Not a peep,” Raidou said. “Tousaki ran instead of translocating, though. Hatake might have gotten him already.” He looked thoughtfully back in the direction of the training field where they’d started. “Or they both killed each other.”
Genma chuckled. “Poor Tousaki. I thought they were actually starting to get along. Maybe they’ll only maim each other.”
“So long as it’s not permanent,” Raidou said.
In the distance, a dog howled. A second one answered it, much closer. Raidou crouched low, flattening his chakra down to the faintest glimmer. Genma did the same, tamping his chakra so tight his hands and feet went cold.
A third howl joined the other two, laced with a menacing snarl.
“Think Hatake’s annoyed we tied up his dog?” Raidou murmured.
“A little.” Kakashi’s voice was flat and angry. He stood barely six meters behind them, pallid and scowling.
Evidently hangovers didn’t improve his disposition: he wasn’t smug, he was murderous.
A small tan dog at Kakashi’s ankle said, “Poison is not nice.”
“Who told you combat was supposed to be nice?” Genma studied the summoned dog — talkers were rare. Most summons were monosyllabic or mute. “Hunting people down with dogs isn’t nice, either.”
“Effective, though.” Kakashi still sounded wrathful. The dog gave a disgusted snort.
Ryouma dropped down from the quarry ledge to stand, hands on hips, opposite Kakashi. He didn’t look as threatening, but he didn’t look exactly friendly, either.
“Turncoat,” Genma said.
“Prisoner of war,” Ryouma said with a shrug.
“Who was suborned. Next training exercise will be resistance to coercion. Maybe we can get someone from T&I in.”
“Nobody’s gonna be that coercive,” muttered Ryouma. A little louder, he said, “Just surrender and everyone pays for their own lunch, okay?”
No one seemed ready to make a move. Two enormous dogs and the golden shepherd appeared at the top of the quarry, cutting off that escape route.
Genma met Raidou’s eyes. “Meet you at the place Omashi ate it in that event last year?” Raidou would get the reference; the rookies would definitely not.
Raidou’s eyebrow twitched, a silent agreement. His hands were already moving into the hare seal.
Genma copied him. This cat-and-mouse translocation game just had to go on until noon. He flipped through the remaining seals and moved, dicing time and space to get away one more time.
And hit a wall.
Moving at the speed he’d been made for an impressive impact. A jutsu-birthed wall of earth was an excellent way to stop a translocation, if you knew your target’s trajectory, Genma had to give Kakashi that. And he had to give Kakashi credit for sticking to Raidou’s ‘no lethal force’ rule and making the wall out of a loose conglomerate of soft soil. Mostly he wanted to give Kakashi a concussion, though.
He crumpled to the ground, half buried in the remains of the wall, and clapped a hand over his bleeding nose. |
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