Orochimaru laughed softly. "Oh, well done, children! Truly, you have made yourselves worthy prey! But it's too late to fly now, little birds, so whatever shall you do?"
All three of the Genin grinned, and Neshan produced a pair of small scrolls. "Invite you into our parlor," he said, and flipped them high into the air, letting them unroll as they rose.
Shikanenai took his cue and lunged into motion, fanning several dozen small squares of paper between his fingers like a gambler inspecting his hand then spinning away from his target to trail them out hanging in midair. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu," he said, and began snatching entire handfuls of squares - which stiffened to iron hardness as soon as he touched them - and launching them at the Sannin.
It didn't work, of course. The elder ninja danced around the barrage almost contemptuously, then reached one arm around behind his back to catch the wrist that had been about to slip a kunai into his heart and fling its owner into the most convenient tree-trunk. He laughed again. "Is this all you can do? You don't make as cute a prey as I thought."
"Wait for it," Katsu said, prying himself out of his crater.
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, then spun as he caught a flicker of motion in his peripheral vision. Neshan had leapt up to match his scrolls' peak height and was falling back to earth - or, in this case, tree brance - considerably quicker than they could, dragging a bleeding fingertip along the surface of each as he fell. By the time his opponent finished taking in the knowledge that both of the preceding attacks had been mere distractions the younger ninja had landed with a flourish and the long strips of paper were falling in a perfect double helix around him.
"What did you do?" the Sannin demanded, and there was no play whatsoever in his voice.
Neshan grinned as the scrolls finished settling into a ring around his crouching form, then burst into more than a thousand flying fragments that scattered out from his position like the sparks of a professional firework. There was a sharp popping sound, slightly blurred because it was actually so many mingled simultaneous noises taking place across a wide area, and when he raised his head slightly the light catching his spectacles was duplicated by the many forms that had abruptly attached themselves to any convenient solid surface. "Gotcha," he said, and then the clones threw themselves at their target.
Orochimaru's eyes widened as his first spread of shuriken didn't stop even one of them - the physical damage should have disrupted the stable chakra pattern that held them together! For them to hold through the pain like that, they'd have to be self stabalizing, and the written seals for that characteristic were too complex and delicate to work from a simple scroll! After a moment, he recovered from the shock and snarled and attacked, offended that they hadn't responded the way he knew they were supposed to.
By the time he remembered the Genin team that had introduced the obnoxious things, they were already long gone.
* * * * *
Neshan cocked his head. "Is everyone else clear?"
Katsu sniffed experimentally. "Yep."
He flipped his braid back over his shoulder, and ripped the slip of paper in his fingers in half. "Bang bang."
"Wow," 'Nenai said, looking back the way they had come. "That's pretty impressive."
And, indeed, the rising dome of yellow light visible even from more than a kilometer away was quite stunning.
Not as stunning as the arrival of the shockwave a few moments later, though.
Each of those clones had a high-power explosion seal written on the side opposite their own pattern. ^_^
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
All three of the Genin grinned, and Neshan produced a pair of small scrolls. "Invite you into our parlor," he said, and flipped them high into the air, letting them unroll as they rose.
Shikanenai took his cue and lunged into motion, fanning several dozen small squares of paper between his fingers like a gambler inspecting his hand then spinning away from his target to trail them out hanging in midair. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu," he said, and began snatching entire handfuls of squares - which stiffened to iron hardness as soon as he touched them - and launching them at the Sannin.
It didn't work, of course. The elder ninja danced around the barrage almost contemptuously, then reached one arm around behind his back to catch the wrist that had been about to slip a kunai into his heart and fling its owner into the most convenient tree-trunk. He laughed again. "Is this all you can do? You don't make as cute a prey as I thought."
"Wait for it," Katsu said, prying himself out of his crater.
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, then spun as he caught a flicker of motion in his peripheral vision. Neshan had leapt up to match his scrolls' peak height and was falling back to earth - or, in this case, tree brance - considerably quicker than they could, dragging a bleeding fingertip along the surface of each as he fell. By the time his opponent finished taking in the knowledge that both of the preceding attacks had been mere distractions the younger ninja had landed with a flourish and the long strips of paper were falling in a perfect double helix around him.
"What did you do?" the Sannin demanded, and there was no play whatsoever in his voice.
Neshan grinned as the scrolls finished settling into a ring around his crouching form, then burst into more than a thousand flying fragments that scattered out from his position like the sparks of a professional firework. There was a sharp popping sound, slightly blurred because it was actually so many mingled simultaneous noises taking place across a wide area, and when he raised his head slightly the light catching his spectacles was duplicated by the many forms that had abruptly attached themselves to any convenient solid surface. "Gotcha," he said, and then the clones threw themselves at their target.
Orochimaru's eyes widened as his first spread of shuriken didn't stop even one of them - the physical damage should have disrupted the stable chakra pattern that held them together! For them to hold through the pain like that, they'd have to be self stabalizing, and the written seals for that characteristic were too complex and delicate to work from a simple scroll! After a moment, he recovered from the shock and snarled and attacked, offended that they hadn't responded the way he knew they were supposed to.
By the time he remembered the Genin team that had introduced the obnoxious things, they were already long gone.
* * * * *
Neshan cocked his head. "Is everyone else clear?"
Katsu sniffed experimentally. "Yep."
He flipped his braid back over his shoulder, and ripped the slip of paper in his fingers in half. "Bang bang."
"Wow," 'Nenai said, looking back the way they had come. "That's pretty impressive."
And, indeed, the rising dome of yellow light visible even from more than a kilometer away was quite stunning.
Not as stunning as the arrival of the shockwave a few moments later, though.
Each of those clones had a high-power explosion seal written on the side opposite their own pattern. ^_^
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."