A New Path

Ch. 42 Sound's Melody

Neji watched as Tayuya put a flute to her mouth. He looked at her oddly before leaping towards her, whatever it was she was preparing, he would stop it. The Sound ninja smirked when she saw the Hyuuga get close. She quickly ran through hand signs before slamming her hands on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!" she exclaimed as three ogres appeared in front of her.

Neji stopped dead on his tracks, narrowing his eyes at the three ogres that towered over him. It seemed that she was starting big, quite literally, which would be a problem to him. He suddenly heard a soft tune coming from the Sound ninja's flute. He briefly wondered why she had suddenly decided to play her flute before he was forced to jump away, watching as an ogre landed where he had just been.

He caught movement to his right and quickly twisted his body in the air, dodging a punch from one of the ogres. 'Damn,' he cursed himself for letting them attack first. He landed on a branch just as another ogre leapt at him with a club on hand. The ogre brought the club down on the Hyuuga, who easily sidestepped the attack before striking the ogre on the chest.

The tune the Sound ninja played became more chaotic as the three ogres all jumped at him at the same time. "Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" the Hyuuga began rotating and releasing chakra at the same time. The ogres crashed against the dome before being knocked away. Neji instantly stopped his attack and leapt at the nearest ogre.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" he began his attack on the ogre before it suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. His eyes widened as the other two summons leapt at him once more. One of them took hold of his right leg before hurling him through the air. Neji sailed through the air before crashing against a tree, letting out a grunt of pain. He slowly rose to his fee, his back aching from the impact.

Tayuya smirked as she played her flute, this time playing in a faster tune. Under her command the two ogres charged at the Hyuuga once more. The Leaf ninja jumped away from the two ogres in a poor attempt of losing them. It was amusing to see him try so hard, her ogres were controlled through her music meaning that as long as she could see him the ogres could too. This made any attempt at losing them futile.

Neji gritted his teeth as he continued to dodged the ogres' attacks. 'I have to think of something or I'll be killed,' he growled before reaching for a couple of kunai. He hurled them at the two summons but they simply bounced of off them, not even leaving a scratch. The Hyuuga heard the tune of the flute change once more just as the two ogres began to charge at him, 'She controls them.'

Neji jumped over them before reaching for two more kunai. He flung one through the air before landing on a tree branch, he focused his gaze on the area before throwing the other one. Not missing a beat, Neji reached for more kunai, if he wanted to get rid of the ogres it would have to be while they were separated.

The first kunai sailed through the air before being hit on the handle by the other, changing its course of direction. Tayuya's eyes widened before jumping away from the incoming projectile, this proved to be a mistake since a wave of kunai headed straight for her. Cursing under her breath she quickly called one of her nearby ogres to block the attack.

'Now's my chance!' Neji ran at the lone ogre and struck it in the heart with a hard palm, instantly making it disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"That wasn't bad," Tayuya smirked from her spot on a tree branch. With her flute on hand and her last remaining ogre next to her she knew that she was still at the advantage. "But it all ends now," black marks spread through her face as she began to play her flute once more,

The remaining ogre opened its mouth, making a gagging noise. Neji watched as an odd plasma-like substance emerged from the ogre's mouth. The odd creature floated in the air with its attention on Neji. It screeched, revealing its sharp set of teeth, before charging at the Hyuuga.