Tosuke said, forcing patience, "Hand over Komatsu and leave Nagakawa City, and I'll pretend this never happened. Whatever he promised, I'll pay double—at the real price."
"Oh... generous." Mamoru sighed, scratching his head.
"But money's only good when it's clean. Dirty cash buys no peace, and without peace, what's the point?"
"So there's nothing to discuss?" Tosuke's voice turned icy, killing intent thickening the air.
"Think there's room to bargain?" Mamoru tilted his head.
He looked casual, yet already read the subtle hand signs: Ox, Monkey, Rabbit, Rat, Boar, Bird, Ox, Horse, Snake, Rat, Tiger...
Behind him, Tosuke's shoulders twitched as he weaved seals, growling, "You'll regret refusing my offer!"
"Regret? Maybe. But you won't even get the chance. And you do love your little back-room tricks."
Mamoru narrowed his pale eyes. Across the shimmering pond, every move lay within his sight.
The Six Eyes pierced the water—one, two, three, four Water Clones hidden below, cautious indeed.
He raised a hand and fired a Blue straight at the pavilion, a pale sphere tearing the garden's calm.
Just then, the pond surface burst with a splash, a translucent shape rising.
In a blink, it molded into Tosuke, leaping from the water to block Blue, droplets sparkling like scattered diamonds in the lamplight.
Splash—
Tosuke's first Water Clone burst apart, spiraling into a spray of droplets.
Mamoru vaulted off the veranda, stamped the stone slab, and shot forward. His hands dipped into his ninja-tool pouch. When they came out, four shuriken glinted between each set of fingers. His arms snapped taut and whipped forward in a scissoring slash. The shuriken tore through the air, weaving a web of death from every angle that descended on the pavilion.
At almost the same instant, the pond beside him gurgled as a second Water Clone burst through the surface. Droplets streamed off it as it landed on the bridge.
Clang... Clang...
A rapid chorus of metal on metal rang out.
The clone's Kunai blurred into a dizzying silver curtain, knocking six shuriken aside with pinpoint precision.
Yet Mamoru's shuriken had flown at fiendish angles. Two slipped past the clone's ribs and streaked, trailing after-images, toward the heart of the pavilion.
Right then, from the shadow of the entrance, a third Water Clone stepped forward as if it had been waiting.
Clang! Clang!
Two crisp impacts sounded.
As kunai met shuriken, bright sparks flared, briefly lighting the calm, unrippling eyes of Tosuke's clone.
Plop!
The deflected shuriken dropped into the pond, raising tiny splashes.
Inside the pavilion, Tosuke's real body finished the final seal. He spun around, and roared, "Take this!"
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
The pond's surface answered with a boiling surge. A huge, snarling dragon head exploded from the water, trailing curtains of spray. Streams converged, and in a heartbeat, a vast, translucent dragon coiled into being.
It twisted mid-air with a thunderous rush, then dived at the spot where Mamoru had stood with crushing force.
"Whoa!"
Mamoru let out an admiring yell at the spectacular sight, not a hint of panic in him.
Excitement flashed in his eyes. "Pretty cool!"
Even as he praised it, he advanced instead of retreating, rushing straight at the diving dragon.
Just before the gaping jaws swallowed him, he stamped down and rocketed upward, flipping once in mid-air. When he landed, his toes were already poised on the hardwood rail of the bridge leading to the pavilion. He didn't even glance back.
Behind him, a deafening crash thundered as the water dragon smashed into the house he had just left. Timber shattered like paper, wooden shards and spray flew everywhere.
Ahead, the clone guarding the bridge was already sprinting at him, Kunai in hand.
Without slowing, Mamoru flicked his right hand into his pouch. A Kunai spun out in a brilliant silver arc and settled reverse-gripped in his fist.
Clang!
The two Kunai collided with a shrill metallic shriek, sparks spraying from the clashing blades.
The clone's teeth clenched as tremendous force jarred his arm numb and his feet skidded on the slick boards, leaving two clear trails. But the ambush wasn't over.
Splash!
The pond beside the bridge erupted without warning.
A fourth Water Clone, hidden until now, burst through the carved railing, lunging at Mamoru's exposed back. Mamoru's brows lifted slightly. He abruptly released the pressure against the first clone and stepped back.
That clone, still pushing with all its might, lurched forward off balance, wide open.
"Thanks!" Mamoru quipped.
His left hand locked around the clone's Kunai wrist. With a whip of waist and shoulder, he swung the entire clone like a sandbag and hurled it at the attacker behind him.
Thud!
The two bodies collided solidly in mid-air, then burst into two puddles of clear pond water with a soft splash.
Having disposed of them, Mamoru didn't pause. If anything, he accelerated. Every stomp on the bridge boards sent deep, pounding thuds that showed the explosive speed and power he was unleashing.
A glint of steel shot from the last remaining clone outside the pavilion, aimed straight at Mamoru's face. Mamoru simply flicked his hand and with a light clang the Kunai was batted aside, spinning in an arc to plop back into the pond.
Inside the pavilion, Tosuke ignored everything else and completed another set of hand seals. His face was paler now; chaining high-level Water Releases was draining.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
The pond beside Mamoru churned again. Amid rolling waves, a second water dragon surged out. It opened a mouth of flowing water, colder and more menacing than the first, and lunged.
Now that's Jonin level.
Mamoru's grin widened, wilder and hungrier. Far from afraid, his fighting spirit soared.
He side-kicked a section of the bridge rail, sending splinters flying, and leapt toward the shimmering pond surface. His feet had barely touched the water when a roar and a rush of spray exploded behind him.
Without looking back, Mamoru flipped sideways in mid-air with astonishing reflexes.
A boom followed as the dragon clipped his clothing and smashed the section of bridge he had just left. Hard planks were pulverized into a storm of razor-sharp splinters.
Icy spray from the miss doused half his body. Mamoru raised a hand to wipe the water from his face, stepped across the rippling pond as if it were solid ground, and charged straight for the pavilion, leaving a string of blooming and fading ripples in his wake.
Tosuke kept both hands locked in a seal, beads of sweat on his forehead as he strained to control the water dragon.
Under his command, the dragon carved a huge arc across the broad pond, whipped around, and once again aimed its head at Mamoru's back, racing in for the strike.
"Again?"
Mamoru clicked his tongue. Even without turning, the Six Eyes showed him the danger bearing down.
His brows drew together, he drove off the water once more and sprang high, his clothes snapping in the updraft.
The dragon skimmed beneath his feet, the wind of its passage rocking him mid-air.
Swish... Swish...
Two Kunai shot from the water clone outside the pavilion in perfect succession, seizing the instant Mamoru hung helpless in the air and aiming straight for chest and gut.
Calm in the crisis, Mamoru snapped his hips, whipping a leg through the air to bat both blades away.
At the same time, he flicked his right hand, hurling the Kunai he had been holding at the figure beyond the railing.
The knife flashed in a straight silver line. With a clang, the opponent's Kunai met it and knocked it aside.