夢

Chapter Eighteen

[Continue Flashback, since I was too lazy to write the whole thing in one day, sorry]

She has no mercy, the boy inwardly dreaded. As the three chunin attempted to dodge her kicks and punches, he shouted--which was a rare occasion--"We have to split up!"

The clones they had been fighting had their eyes on Tatsuya. He can speak? They questioned, but brushed it off. "Akira will have to ask you about that later on, if you survive, that is."

"Your scare tactic lacks intimidation!" Mireya responded, earning a chakra punch to the chest. She flew back and hit a tree painfully, before dispersing into a log.

While the four Akira clones fought the two chunin, the last one looked around for Mireya. Unfortunately for her, the clone thought. I can sense her chakra.

But what surprised her was that Mireya's chakra suddenly vanished. The leaves in the trees stopped moving. The sound of kunai clashing on kunai soon faded away.

Only the clone's thoughts were heard.

Wait, she thought. Kai, she gathered her chakra and released it, relieved to find that she was back in reality. With chakra in her feet, the clone jumped up into the forest.

Tatsuya watched with concern. She's chasing Mireya, he thought. He sent a female bug after his sensei before returning to the fight.

"They're just fifty meters northwest. Mireya's fine, she's pretty quick." Hiroki whispered, making Tatsuya nod. Together, they fought the four clones.

Soon, the four clones divided into two groups, one group heading for one chunin.

"Mireya and the clown are still fighting." Hiroki concluded, using his Byuakugan. "It seems...Mireya is at her second hand."

Tatsuya nodded. Inwardly, however, he couldn't help but be worried for his teammate. We can tell she isn't at her full power, he thought. Yet it's difficult for us to even dodge.

...---...

[Mireya]

The substitution Jutsu came in handy, I thought as I ran across the tree branches. But now, one of them is following me. I was planning to do an airborne attack.

No matter, I decided. Once near a clearing, I stopped and waited for my sensei to appear. In less than a moment she did.

Now I couldn't lie, I was glad to have a new sensei. My old one was always biased towards the boys--and it didn't help with the fact that they were from two of Konoha's famous clans. Of course, that didn't mean my new sensei wouldn't be biased as well.

I spread my chakra out and checked my sensei's reserves. She seems to be constantly wasting her chakra on something. Though, I knew that making five clones and keeping them up was exhausting--but it seemed to be taking a bigger toll than expected.

She's using it for something else, I concluded. But I couldn't find out what.

After snapping out of my thoughts, I realized I was unconsciously gripping a kunai and deflecting all shuriken headed at me. Of course, I thought. I'd lose myself in a fight. Luckily I trained myself to have reflexes.

Once my undivided attention was on the fight, I started calculating the clone's stance. The fight switched to taijutsu, where it was easier to read the opponent. I looked for a more dominant hand, to find her less dominant side. Maybe I can aim for there.

But it seemed that my sensei was trained to hide such weaknesses. All she's doing is kicking and punching, yet it seems to be working effectively. Was she trained in taijutsu?