Chapter 129

Still, he managed to keep Hyuga at a distance, flicking his knife blades dangerously in front of him. Except that I'd caught the moment when Hizashi was almost covering me with himself and used a technique without seals, standing slightly to the side of him.

- Suiton: Tepodama!

Thanks to the biakugan's advance warning, the commander was well timed and sidestepped at the very last moment, letting the water core pass by and exposing the shinobi Iwagakure, who had no time to do anything. The technique bent him in half, and Hyuga, who was instantly at his side, put an end to the brief fight with a single blow to his heart.

When I was satisfied that the falling jonin was no longer a threat, I stopped focusing on him and found his partner moving toward us. Or rather, straight at me, leaving Inuzuka and Ishi behind. I only had time to turn around and take a stand before a shadow flashed through the wall of rain. As I dodged a hail of desperate blows on reflex, I glimpsed that I was fighting a very skillful kunoichi.

But that didn't stop me from timing the moment when my opponent fell forward a little more than she could afford, and then I swung my right arm to the side past me and punched a powerful blow to the solar plexus, literally crushing the defense of my left.

The crunch of injured ribs and limbs, heard even through the sound of the rain, put an end to our second fight, so that I had already decided that I could easily take the stunned kunoichi captive, paying little attention to the frantic swing of her whole arm in my direction, especially when it clearly didn't reach her head by a whole palm.

But such self-confidence almost came to my detriment the next instant, when a mechanical click sounded and a narrow blade popped out of my sleeve! It was only at the last moment that my head was jerked backwards, allowing me to save my vision and get away with only a shattered bridge of my nose!

Reflexively catching my wrist, I struck from below with my fist, breaking my arm and ignoring the brief shriek of pain, immediately turning my palm toward the woman and activating the seal. The senbon that entered the eye socket almost full length cut off the kunoichi's life a tenth of a second before Hyuga came to her aid.

- You okay?

- Almost," I nodded, stopping the blood and healing the bridge of her nose.

I was glad that the blade was lubricated with a simple enough poison that I was immune to it. It was a good thing Iwagakure wasn't as popular with poisons as the Sandpeople, or I'd be in trouble now.

- Come on, the others could use your help," the commander said as soon as he saw that I was finished.

- Is someone wounded? - I was starting to worry as I jumped up after him.

The sparks of the trio's sources weren't going to die out right now, but some injuries, even if they weren't fatal, could put an end to a shinobi's career. Losing the same eyes, for example. I could help with that, but our mission would be in danger of failure, not to mention the reduction of the team's combat potential, which already reduces our chances of coming back alive.

- All three of us," Hyuga answered briefly.

Oh, shit!

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