Caught off guard, Fuguki only began to lower Samehada to defend against the attack as Ninpo: Kage Mane no Jutsu (Ninja Method: Shadow Imitation Technique) reached its targets, paralyzing them and giving me partial control over their movements, enhancing the effect with the clones while masking the latter's activity.
Obeying my will, the fat man threw his sword aside and that was the end of it - he was too "thick" in terms of chakra to be able to completely overwhelm the resistance, but his partner, who wasn't so good, was less lucky.
- Ninpo: Kage Nui no Jutsu (Ninja Method: Shadow Needles)
While still in the air, he was able to create a shield of Nuibari's sword thread, but with no room to maneuver in the air, he was caught in a death trap when an explosion erupted above him, chakra bundles streaked in all directions, and a cluster of spikes rose from the shadows below.
The shield protected most of Kiriarare's body, leaving only his legs exposed from the knee down, but it was the same shield that helped the frozen swordsman land quickly on the waiting death.
A frantic flash of chakra was able to free the shinobi from my control, but he didn't have time to do anything else, being strung up on the spikes that were shifting along the sand with him.
There was a short cry of pain, which was quickly cut short as each spike blossomed into needles, turning the shinobi into a porcupine.
- Who the hell are you!?!! - The fat man roared with a hint of panic in his voice as he caught a glimpse of his comrade being brutally slaughtered and literally burst into flames with chakra ejected from his body.
Without wasting time on any response, I used the chakra threads to pick up the sword that had almost landed on the sand and rushed forward, wanting to finish off the enemy before the control would allow Fuguki to start making his feet.
And he was about to do just that, promptly jumping back and spitting out a veritable pillar of unsealed water in my direction, then starting to turn around to set up a shooter without even glancing in the direction of his sword, which was lying a couple dozen meters away.
Much closer to me, of course, but... It seems that the characterization "cowardly" in the description of this swordsman was right on the mark.
Forming a shield of golden chakra in my free hand, I successfully blocked the ninjutsu, delaying only for a moment, but even that was enough for Suikazan to leave behind a large crater and take a fast start, increasing the distance between us by a couple dozen meters.
With such speed, the fat man had a good chance to get to the support and delay me with their help, but he didn't take into account one thing - the shadow clone didn't go anywhere even with the interruption of Ninpo: Kage Mane no Jutsu (Ninja Method: Shadow Imitation Technique), and no one can run away from his own shadow.
So when the swordsman's legs were pierced by dozens of sharp needles, albeit not very deeply, thanks to the latter's vast reserves of chakra, striking from the shadows right as he ran, Fuguki went flying downward, raising clouds of sand, and two more sources of chakra suddenly appeared beside him, safely out of sight.
It was a good attempt to use clones, but it was useless against me. The two kage bunshins, created with the same will, aimed at the copies, and I wasted no time in unleashing dozens of golden chains that snaked toward the target and swaddled the rising jonin in a cocoon with one head sticking out.
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