Inori stood on the forest clearing, a smile on her beautiful face, hands on her wide sexy hips and a posture so relaxed it was hard to believe she was anticipating any sort of battle.
But suddenly, she felt a surge of chakra as her eyes narrowed.
'Fire Release: Great Fireball'
'Wind Release: Breakthrough'
A huge fireball, amped by wind release burst from the treeline ahead of Inori.
But just as it was about to hit, she dispersed into petals and disappeared as the fire jutsu exploded where she had previously stood.
'Starting with the big guns?' The jonin internally questioned.
'Your chakra won't last, even if you all have more than most.' She thought, believing herself hidden in her genjutsu.
Shiki dashed into the clearing, looking as if he was searching for Inori's figure amidst the flames but it was a fakeout!
'Body Flicker enhanced with genjutsu.' The boy determined.
'The user quickly flickers away while casting a genjutsu that makes it seem like they have vanished in order to conceal their next action.' He analyzed.
Looking around still "hidden" Inori knew her concealment would not fool Shinka's insects but the Aburame was still in the forest and rather than reveal her location, she was quickly enclosing the clearing in a circle of insects.
'Trying to box me in? A logical choice but . . .' The blonde smirked.
'If the others can't track me, I can just do this-' She body flickered towards the opening in the insect circle that had yet to fully form.
But the moment the jonin's attention honed in on that opening, Shiki immediately used his own body flicker to intercept her, using the opening as a distraction to close in.
Perfectly calculated, he was on a perfect collision course.
But just as he was about to touch her.
"You didn't think it would be that easy? Did you" With a smile and a quip, Inori dodged the tag.
But Shiki smiled back.
"Not in the slightest. With sensei's sensory abilities, catching you off guard would be quite hard but . . .' The boy paused.
"You still made me move away from the opening in the circle. Very good." Inori completed his sentence and praised the tactics.
"What now then?" She questioned.
He did not answer but the insect circle started to slowly close in, reducing the area Inori could flee around.
Since the challenge was about touching her, she could not engage in taijutsu at all so it was an effective tactic.
The blonde jonin seemed to be just about to speak again when suddenly Shuriken emerged from the treeline, curving in the air to block off escape routes.
Expectedly, as soon as the shuriken were launched, SHiki had already body flickered in his sensei's direction.
Inori smiled at the combination play.
'But-' She internally remarked.
'It's still not enough.'
With seamless, flowing movements, Inori danced through the storm of shuriken, always finding the gaps before Mei could close them or Shiki could shorten their distance.
The blonde even made use of the shuriken against Shiki by positioning herself so he would get hit if he tried to single mindedly pursue her.
Mei, who was darting from treetop to treetop getting a clear view of the battlefield from the highground, could only blush in embarrassment at the way her attacks were being turned against her own team.
'Tch.' Shiki knew they were getting nowhere.
'From the confidence this minx is projecting, she probably has something for the insect once the ring closes in on her.' He internally planned.
'Alright, let's try to be a little more proactive then.' The boy decided.
The chase through the barrages of flying shuriken continued as normal for a few moments but the next time Inori positioned herself to use Mei's attacks as an obstruction against Shiki, he made his move.
Without hesitation, he dashed into the path of the shuriken as if he was planning to touch the jonin at the cost of taking the hit.
At the last instant however, he raised his plated left bracer to deflect the attack while simultaneously reaching for his sensei with his right hand.
Inori showed a surprised expression.
Precisely tracking the shuriken and deflecting with just his bracer without pulling out a weapon not to tip her off was a move that genuinely impressed her.
Shiki's extended fingers were now kilometers away from Inori.
But it was then that the surprised expression on the blonde's face gave way to a mischievous smile.
*Poof*
The jonin popped like a balloon, leaving only a cloud of smoke.
'Shadow Clone!? When!?' Shiki was caught completely off guard.
Mei stared at the clearing, her mouth agape.
As for Shinka, from the way she slightly jerked a froze for a small instant, one could tell she was shocked as well.
In an instant, Shiki knelt and used the Area Scanning Jutsu, his most accurate and proficient sensory jutsu that could be used mid combat at the moment.
And in that moment, he internally scowled, the Kukyo state he maintained not letting any emotion show on his face or disturb his performance.
Feeling the wave of chakra coursing through the ground, Inori knew she had been detected and with a practiced smirk, rose slowly from the ground where she had been hiding the whole time using the Hiding in Surface Jutsu.
"I said I would be in the clearing . . . but I never said I would just be standing there like a practice target." The blonde cheekily quipped.
'Amateur move.' Shiki internally chastised himself.
'Not checking the battlefield beforehand with Area Scanning was a dumb and avoidable mistake.' He thought.
'And since sensei purposefully rose in the middle of the bug encirclement, it is clear she has some trick to escape it.' The boy's mind quickly turned.
'She can't go underground without me noticing it and taking advantage since she moves slower there so she must have something else . . .'
There was just no way not way to figure it out without more information and the only way to get that information . . . Action.
Summoning eight shuriken to each hand from his assault storage, Shiki decided to make use of a jutsu he already had plans to reveal soon.
With a quick motion, he tossed the shuriken, leaving Inori puzzled.
She knew he was not unsettled from her Ninja Art: Sixth Sense's empathic sensing so why was he suddenly taking his teammate's role?
But the blonde did not have to doubt for long.
Quickly weaving three hand seals, all he needed for this jutsu, Shiki made his move.
'Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu.'
The eight shuriken became a storm of hundreds in an instant, barreling towards Inori, leaving no room to dodge.
With no other option, the jonin quickly weaved some hand seals of her own.
'Water Release: Water Formation Wall'
A jet of water from Inori's mouth quickly spread into a barrier that blocked the oncoming shuriken.
But there was another ready to act.
Sensing an opening, Shinka quickly made the insect circle close in while making a dome to block upward movement.
With no room left for Inori to run, Shiki dashed straight towards the blonde, this game of tag was over . . .
Or was it?
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Hey, Author here!
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -