With practiced movements, she unsheathed her katana and held it in a second stance. The sword was being held vertically up and down, with her elbows jutting out. Her body was more or less straight, save for the slight slouching of her upper back, a sign that she was not as well versed in Kendou as she was the naginata.
"This is for my father and brother!"
Wanting nothing more than to but this man down and end this, Toki charged straight at Hoki.
"Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu)!"
Too bad she forgot she was dealing with a ninja, a wandering ninja at that, and not a samurai. After going through a set of handseals and calling out the name of his jutsu, Toki found herself suddenly incapable of moving.
Her eyes widened as she struggled, her muscles tensing under the strain she as she tried to move. Yet no matter how much effort she put into it, her body refused to budge an inch.
"Well, well, Toki," Hoki said chidingly as he held his hand in a rat seal. "Observe how our shadows intersect. That is the Kagemane no Jutsu, and you are now mine to command!"
As if to prove his words were true, Hoki moved his left hand to the side. Toki's right followed his movements.
"Impressive, I never imagined you were alive."
He seemed to find amusement in Toki's struggles. Such thoughts probably would have pissed her off at any other point, but at that moment all she felt was fear as she realized her life was now in the palm of this man's hand. Which really just meant she wasn't going to live for much longer.
"The wandering ninja will control this land, never to wander again." Hoki moved his fan gripped hand back towards his throat, forcing Toki to rest the edge of her blade along her own throat. "And you who lived as Sagi will now die like him!"
Toki struggled as much as she could against her bodies betrayal. Her arm tensed as she did everything in her power to keep her own blade from slicing through her neck, but no matter how hard she tried, it seemed that whatever strange power Hoki had over her body was winning. With each passing second she found the blade getting closer and closer to her throat.
"About time you finished your monologue Mōsō! Or is it Hoki? Well, whatever, it's not like it matters. What does matter is that I'm here to stomp a mud hole in your ass!"
Toki's eyes widened. She knew that voice.
"Naruto!"
"Naruto?" Hoki blinked. Wasn't Naruto that blond brat who had left early this morning? "So you're still here! I should have known! You Konoha scum are always sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong! Well your too late! Now that Toki is under the control of my shadow there is nothing you can do to stop me from slitting her throat!"
"Who the hell do you take me for!? I've worked with a Nara before, and I know for a fact that cheap imitation of yours is nothing like the real shadow possession technique!" As Naruto said this a swift breeze picked up behind Toki. As one, the many wires that had been hidden under a minor genjutsu were cut, allowing Toki to fall to her knees.
Naruto then chose that moment to make his grand appearance, literally phasing into existence to stand protectively in front of Toki with minor application of the Shunshin.
Should he have just gone and killed Hoki and ended this charade? Probably. But this was Naruto we're talking about.
"Naruto!"
Naruto took his eyes off Hoki (he had shadow clones hidden around the area watching the man in case he tried to pull any funny business) to look at Toki. He offered her a quick grin.
"Sorry it took so long. That idiot over there was ranting so much that I just couldn't find the proper moment to step in and rescue you."
And just like that, any happiness Toki might have felt at Naruto appearing just in time to save the day died a horrible, horrible death.
"You mean to tell me that you could have stepped in at any time but waited?" she asked, deadpan.
"Of course," Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a slightly amused look. "Don't you know that the hero is always supposed to appear at the last moment? It makes for a much more dramatic entrance."
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