The acrid smell of the demons grew stronger. Sounds of rustling movement echoed from several directions, disconcertingly hard to pinpoint.

Kakashi inched around a rocky bend, just out of Genma’s line of sight.

Behind Genma, there was a sharp crack, and a rumble of falling stone. He lurched away from the wall just as it came down. Dust filled the air, thick and choking. An unearthly hiss spilled into the chamber. Genma whirled, hands already limned with the beginnings of a fire jutsu, as snarling jaws snapped shut, raking his shoulder.

He released the jutsu, blinding himself and the creature with a fireball. The demon shrieked and reared back, but a second one surged past it, slashing straight through Genma’s vest with its sword-edged foreleg. Fabric coverings tore, reinforcing mesh gave way, ceramic plates cracked, and he felt the hot bite of a sawtooth blade against his skin.

“Hound!”

Kakashi materialized at his back. Lightning crackled, filling the dark with ozone and birdsong.

A demon lunged at Genma, taking a face full of flame like it barely felt it. A massive weight hit him through the shoulder from above.

I’ve been stabbed he thought distantly, as the sharp pain turned searing, surging through his body like a flash fire. Every muscle spasmed, and then went limp. His hands lost feeling, his feet went icy numb. His chest was wrapped in thick iron bands, and breath wouldn’t come.

Something jerked him into the air, and then he was falling.

Hound.

Black bodies and too many spine-edged legs swarmed past Genma. Kakashi’s lightning reflected from chitinous armor, and another of the beasts screeched.

He couldn’t get his breath.

He couldn’t move.

Teeth sank into Genma’s shoulder, and dragged him down into the darkness.