Electric wires snapped free from their moorings, spitting raw, deadly energy with a banshee's scream. A flash of light seared Genma's retinas, obliterating all sight. He jumped blindly away from the attack.

Genjutsu. Maybe it was genjutsu. He poured chakra into his own chest, breaking the illusion. The sound died, and the crackle of unleashed electric wires vanished. The pain and blindness remained.

He felt a blade rake his vest, another bite into his thigh, and there was that damned tall ninja again, just in striking range. A shadowy purple afterimage against a halo of darkness. Genma struck fast, but the other man was faster, leaving Genma's blade to slice through nothing but a few wisps of smoke.

There was a shout from behind him, another surge of chakra, and he felt himself thrown through the air, hit by a pelting rain of senbon. Genma ducked, rolled, skidded on the gravel roof, and dodged behind a ventilation chimney. He was breathing hard, still trying to blink the sight back into his eyes, when he felt a blade at his throat.

Two thoughts collided: He was going to die. Why didn't the bastard strike the death blow already? They engendered a third: Fight, you idiot! Genma drove his elbow back against the other ninja as hard as he could.