He'd dropped his Byakugan due to the brightness of the chakra but activated it again after the attack had gone off. He'd seen the massive pillar of dense chakra that twisted around like some carpenter's drill at insane speeds. Looking directly at it had been impossible due to the blinding level of chakra, but the results of the blast were obvious.
The top 2/3 of the mountain/hill/cave complex was GONE. There was also a large chunk of the center that was smouldering rubble that had once been a cave roof. His Byakugan could see clearly for a range of about two miles and what he was seeing was keeping his mouth from managing even simple commentary much less a decent snipe.
There was a trench on the other side. It maintained a nearly perfect depth of 10.41 feet (3.18 meters) along its length, and was exactly the same size across. The sand, dirt, rocks, and everything else was fused into a silicate mix with the rough consistency of concrete that was about as wide as two fingers placed together. It extended well out of his field of vision.
After a few seconds of observation, Neji was able to determine that it was not as perfect as he'd originally thought. The far end of where he could measure accurately showed that it was 10.5 feet across and deep there, and the silicate lining was just a few hairs more shallow. So the attack grew weaker and more diffuse over distance. Just not enough to matter within two miles.
"YOSH!" declared Lee, pumping one fist in the air. "Truly, this was a most youthful attack! Friend Naruto, is it possible for you to teach me?!"
Neji, mouth still open, turned partially to stare at Lee as his Byakugan dropped from shock. The idea of LEE throwing such attacks around with "youthful abandon" had him momentarily consider the potential benefits of joining a monastery far far from ninja life.
"Yeah, actually, I think that might be possible," admitted Naruto.
Neji considered fainting.
At which point the rubble shifted and exploded.
Everything was silent for a few moments.
"Never. Never. NEVER. Do that again," said a dry raspy voice.
"Art is an explosion, but maybe it would be best viewed with more range," faintly admitted another voice.
"You THINK?" retorted the dry raspy voice.
Rubble began shifting some more.
"Have you seen my left arm?" asked the other voice.
"I haven't seen any part of your body since the roof caved in," said the dry raspy voice. "Which is the only good part of this."
More rubble shifted, finally popping loose a blonde man in tattered Akatsuki robes. "Finally!"
"Stall them," said raspy. "I've got dirt in my gears."
"This is one of the reasons my Art is... Do you mind, I'm talking here?" asked Deidara as someone tapped him on the shoulder.
WHACKUM!
Naruto retracted his fist. "Yeah. I mind. Lee?"
"Oh! I see, how youthful!" exclaimed Lee, diving forward and bringing both hands up. "Tenten!"
BAM!
Tenten saw the blond one-armed Akatsuki member heading her way, pulled a sledgehammer out of a storage scroll, and followed the lead. "Guy-sensei!"
KA WHAM!
Guy leapt into the air, spinning, and let one foot smash directly into the airborne blond's cheek as he approached. "Neji!"
KA BREAK!
"According to the files, that's Deidara of Akatsuki," said Kakashi, who had had time to get a bingo book out and consult it. "His specialty is producing explosive clay which he can shape, animate, and then detonate."
Neji nodded, got into his stance, smiled grimly, and did what came naturally. "You are in range of my divination. Eight Trigrams, Sixty Four Palms!"
Deidara hit the ground and didn't get up.
Rubble shifted again, and this time someone short and squat emerged. "Okay, Deidara, I..."
Tenten helpfully pointed towards the prone blond.
"Ugh. That idiot. Him and his 'Art' of explosions." The squat figure made a tsking noise.
"I don't suppose you want to surrender," said Kakashi, flipping through a book.
"No, and I'm afraid you'll find me a bit tougher than Deidara," said the squat figure.
A reddish tail-like tentacle wrapped around the enemy nin and began slinging him repeatedly and at great speeds into the ground.
"Oooh," ooohed Rock Lee, eyes shining. "The Human Metronome Attack. I have never seen it before!"
Kurama shrugged as his energy projection continued to slam the squat figure into various rocks.
Pieces of nin started coming off after the third such impact.
"He's a puppet of some kind, watch for poisoned needles," said Neji, ready to deflect any that came his way.
Nerima, Japan:
"Oh, Father, we have a guest," said Kasumi, pausing in the process of pouring tea as he came down the stairs.
Soun's eyes tracked to the little boy at the table who just grinned at him, and the woman next to the boy. "Friends of yours, Kasumi?"
"Here, Father," said Kasumi, handing a cup of tea to her father, before turning to the guests again. "No, this is Ranma Saotome and his student Akitsu."
Soun had just taken a long drink of tea, savoring the flavor of one of the better blends (they had guests after all) when the name penetrated.
SPLOOOSH!
The ghost of Danny Thomas paused somewhere and gave a nod of acknowledgement at the performance.
"Gee, thanks Daddy," said Nabiki, who had just come around the corner and was now wearing a fair amount of tea.
"D-d-did you say, 'Ranma Saotome'?" asked Soun.
"Yup! That's me! Pops always said I should come here if something happened, so I did," lied Ranma.
"Did something happen to my old friend Genma Saotome?" asked Soun.
"Yup, Pops ran up a big food bill and didn't get away fast enough," said Ranma.
Soun sighed and slumped a bit, then straightened before responding. "That sounds like him. Tell me, son, how old are you?"
"I'm told I'm something like twelve!" said Ranma enthusiastically.
"Ah," said Soun. Too young to be married. What a pity. "Well, of course the son of my good friend should stay a little while. What of your friend here?"
"He is my Ashikabi, he fixed me, he healed my wounds," said Akitsu.
"Oh, and she's a student?" asked Soun, thinking the woman's life had been saved and so now she sought to repay that debt. Perfectly understandable within Japanese culture. Though why she was wearing some of Kasumi's clothes was a little less understandable.
"Yeah, I'm planning on teaching her some of the basics of Anything Goes," said Ranma.
"Ah," said Soun. "Well then..."
The plan would be along the usual lines. When outnumbered, they'd split up and divide the forces among them. That way Deidara's explosive clay minions and his puppets wouldn't be interfering with each other.
Sasori of the Red Sand had numerous puppets, each capable of dealing death quite handily to those composed of poor soft flesh. He had access to poisons capable of felling a human in seconds. His puppets could literally form an army to assault his prey.
His prepared killing ground was destroyed. Many of his puppets were inoperable due to having several tons of rock and a considerable amount of rock dust brought down upon them.
Whatever that red chakra was that the one youth had been using - it was corrosive. The section of chest that had been wrapped by that tentacle of chakra looked as if it had been submerged in acid.
He'd managed to break loose, sacrificing a layer of armor in the process, but was now facing both of these genin. Not to mention that there were two jonin in the group spread out just beyond these unnaturally powerful genin.
There were also more genin, spread out beyond them.
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(Posted Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:49)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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