179 CH_6.8 (179)
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"He has got a foul mouth on him," said Toridasu.
Shirakumo frowned. "There shouldn't be a need to insult her and her clan… It's unsightly."
"I like it," Anko smiled. "A shinobi needs to maintain calm during battle. He riled her up, and she is clearly falling for it… But I don't know if it was wise to do it to Kameko."
Toridasu glanced at Anko and then at Kameko. "A Taketori, is she?"
"Yes."
———
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Takuma took a step back when he saw Kameko's sword hum dangerously. He didn't need to be told that he needed to avoid getting cut from that. It was bad that he was no longer scared of bladed weapons like swords from his time Ring—he needed to feel the fear to keep himself safe. Fear kept him on his toes.
Kameko charged at him with her sword. Takuma equipped six of his eight with kunai and left two free for other uses.
He could immediately tell the difference in her. She was clearly more aggressive than before, and her sword became sharper. Not the blade, but the movements; her strikes were becoming tighter, faster, flowing through the air, cutting through it as though no resistance existed for the sword.
Takuma might have insulted her sword, but it was mesmerizing.
Kameko gave Takuma a chase. Her footwork worked in conjunction with her arms as she slashed and stabbed at Takuma, who jumped around her, using his entire body and his tentacles to keep her sword away from her. With every sword strike, she chipped away at the tentacles. Not even the kunai worked as the chakra around the sword disturbed the integrity of the tentacle, taking little sips of water from the tentacles.
This was just like his spar against Okubo Momoe. Eight Tentacles was a bad fit against kenjutsu users.
Her sword was like his augmentations, but unlike him, who expunged his chakra outwards to create an outward-going force, her chakra stuck to the sword, vibrating at high speeds to create a razor edge, and from observations, it increased the sword's range by an amount.
With her non-stop aggressiveness, raging offense, it was difficult to judge that invisible range.
Perhaps he was wrong to anger her.
She was skilled.
But, that wasn't enough.
———
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"The Taketori sword. Even in the hands of a youngster like her, it's deadly as ever," said Toridasu, fanning himself with a folding hand fan.
"She is apparently the most talented in her generation," Anko commented.
"Oh? Did she say that herself? Isn't that touting one's own horn?"
Anko shook her head. "Her father wrote me a letter."
"That would've been embarrassing for Genin Kameko."
"It would be if I told her," Anko smiled.
The Taketori clan was one of the premier clans who had developed a style of deadly kenjutsu. The Taketori sword was a sword of swiftness and efficiency. They had existed since the pre-Hidden Villages Warring Eras and had developed their sword on the battlefield.
The Taketori ideal was pure offense—discarding everything that hindered the sword's destructive capabilities and refining the remaining till the sword achieved its most deadly form.
Takuma's offense was fast-paced, but Kameko's was on the next level. Her sword sliced through the air, every strike with the sole intention to draw blood. Takuma used force to push Kameko back, but she used sheer speed and finesse to leave him on choice to retreat as anything else would have him come in the blade's trajectory.
Kameko raised her sword high up and swung it down for a sharp cutter of wind to fly out towards Takuma, who hadn't stopped moving on his legs since he had insulted her. He hadn't been given a moment's rest. And as the wind cutter flew towards him, he slid under it on his knees, bending his torso backward as though the wind cutter was a limbo pole.
"A wind affinity. Excellent for kenjutsu," said Shirakumo. "It seems Taketori's future is going to be stable."
Possessing an affinity towards the wind or lightning nature transformation was highly desirable for shinobi pursuing the kenjutsu as they had the best compatibility with blade weapons.
"That said, these two are from the same batch?" asked Shirakumo.
"Yes, why do you ask?" Anko said.
"Just a thought about how people from the same batch can differ in just a few years. They have been shinobi for the same duration… but the difference in experience is plenty clear."
———
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'Why can't I hit him!?'
Kameko gritted her teeth as she sheathed her sword, built chakra into the blade, and unleashed a strong and wide wind cutter as she unsheathed the blade with a wide swing.
She ran towards Takuma after unleashing the wind cutter. And as she expected, Takuma ducked under the cutter, and other than small cuts on his arms that he used to protect his face, he left uninjured. Knowing this would happen, Kameko unleashed a vertical wind cutter, but Takuma rolled away without even looking at the wind cutter.
She had been bombarding him with attacks, but not a single one had hit him.
It was getting frustrating.
She released two more wind cutters, disregarding pacing her chakra consumption.
Takuma weaved hand seals and disappeared into the ground.
Her senses were set on fire as she looked around everywhere in search of where Takuma would appear from the ground. She heard the ground crack, and she immediately dashed to the spot. Kameko switched from her wind cutter to the vibrating edge as she got into close range.
As she was about to slash her sword down, a figure appeared in her peripheral vision. There was no sound or any other indication that someone was behind her until she saw them. The self-preservation kicked in, and Kameko changed her target; she turned to slash at the new target, which turned out to be Takuma.
"Huh?"
Her sword went through Takuma clean without any resistance because there was nothing corporeal to cut. Takuma disappeared like he never existed.
'Clone Jutsu!?'
Kameko's heart leaped in her chest as she turned back only to be slammed with pain. She looked down to see a gash in her side. It was a mistake to give her wound attention as she felt a powerful punch assault her face. One moment, she was standing; the next moment, she was on the ground. The air was knocked out of her lungs, leaving her breathless. Once again, she was reminded that Takuma knew how to use chakra augmentations.
Her vision was blurry, her ears rang, and she felt the strong urge to empty her stomach. The pain in her sides was actually the one thing that held her together as she got up. She didn't expect to get up; especially not being allowed to grab her sword.
Something was wrong.
Ding!
Her swimming vision settled, but as she regained focus, her sight was filled with dozens upon dozens of Takuma surrounding her.
She drew on her sword but found her body to be bound by paralysis. The more she struggled, the more her body felt like stone.
Then, from out of nowhere, she felt herself locked in a rear naked choke hold. And her paralysis didn't allow her to get out of it. Within seconds, she felt herself go faint, and before she went unconscious, a few words hit her ears as the dozens of Takuma disappeared as though they never existed and she felt control return back to her, but it was already too late.
"I will work with you, Taketori Kameko. I will give you at least that…"
———
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Takuma let Kameko go after she went limp in his grasp. She fell down to the ground, and he stepped back. Immediately, two people came up with a stretcher to carry her off to presumably the medical house for the treatment.
"Good fight, come on, let's get you treated," said one of the people helping Kameko on the stretcher.
He had only left a gash in her side, and with iryo-nin, that was but a light scratch. He was injured too, but they were essentially inconsequential that even he could treat on his own. It felt good not to come out with a fight with critical injuries.
"Thanks, you guys go ahead; I will be right there," he said.
The man glanced at Anko and the two jonin walking towards them before nodding. He made sure Takuma knew the location of the medical house and then took an unconscious Kameko away.
"You're on the team, that's for sure," said Anko.
"I'm glad you liked the performance," said Takuma.
He looked at Toridasu and Shirakumo and introduced himself to the latter.
"I followed the Narcotics Taskforce's work in the Police Force. It was quite impressive," said Shirakumo.
"It was a team effort, sir," Takuma replied.
"You created such a hubbub upon your arrival, Genin Takuma. I hope this won't become a regular thing around here," said Toridasu, fanning himself. "Though some excitement here and there is always welcome," he laughed 'hohoho' like Santa.
"I came here to do my duty, sir. I will do that; anything other than that is just a bonus," said Takuma. "Now, if you will excuse me. I shall get myself treated."
As Takuma left, the two jonin and Anko followed him with their eyes.
"What do you think he will do now?" asked Toridasu.
Shirakumo replied, "If he's smart, he will take care of the situation as soon as possible," he turned to Anko, "and if he doesn't, you will have a problem."
Anko shrugged with a grin on her face.
"If they don't get along, I will make it so they won't have a choice but to get along or their lives would be miserable the entire time they are here," she said.
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