Kakashi paused in the hidden arch of a nearby tree, eying the nasty iron points scattered over the ground and the highly embarrassed dog above them, and wagered odds on what kind of poison Genma had used.

Well, this problem had the same cure. Kakashi broke the connection with Sho, who vanished (with relief), leaving an empty net.

Which burst into flame.

Kakashi blinked. Then the scent hit him. Sickly-sweet and overpowering, like the worst of Ryouma’s soaps wrapped in burning candy and blighted roses. It obliterated everything else. He clapped a hand over his face, lurching back. Pakkun, just reaching the clearing, stopped like he’d slammed into a glass door and sneezed explosively, until his legs wobbled and he sat down hard.

Kakashi… was starting to not feel quite right.

Of course Genma had poisoned his nose-blinding smoke. Of course he knew what Kakashi wasn’t immune to.

The edges of the world greyed. Kakashi’s legs were starting to go out. He grabbed for the tree-trunk — Genma had probably planned for him to be in the net, or under it, not sixty feet up — and felt himself lose control of his hands.

Ryouma wrapped an arm around his waist.

There was a dizzying drop to the forest floor. Ryouma snatched Pakkun up by the scruff with his free hand, and leapt again. Another ruthless gravity flip, with speed that had to be chakra-aided. Another tree, less thorny. Another jump.

A much taller tree, with branches too thin to be worth trapping, and blessed, breathable air. Pakkun retched noisily. Kakashi slithered out of Ryouma’s hold, crouching down to put his head between his knees. A hand caught him by the back of the shirt, keeping him in the tree.

“Two points,” Kakashi told Ryouma shakily. “But I get two f’recruiting you.”

Ryouma crouched next to him, draping Pakkun over one knee — the little pug groaned — and anchoring them all with his free hand on the tree trunk. “You need back-patting too?”

He actually sounded sincere.

Before Kakashi could decide one way or another, Tsuyoshi howled close by. This time, she was answered by Raidou’s yell.