Katsu frowned at Nenai's back, then slipped his right hand into the armored gauntlet hanging strapped to his hip. He was still mostly fresh, as far as chakra level was concerned, and it would be faster with two against three than with just one ...
He heard Neshan sigh, and turned his head to look.
"Yeah, what I was thinking," the braid wearing Leaf nin said, nodding towards the gauntlet while adjusting his grip on the still unconscious Hyuga. "Just have my hands full at the moment. I'll pace you two and play lookout."
Katsu nodded, and both nins changed direction on the next bound, with Neshan falling slightly behind and to the side while the gauntlet wearer paced their teammate.
The members of Team Seven closed on the Sound genin.
***
*later*
They'd found what could pass for a makeshift shelter between the roots of a great tree that had been washed clear of dirt the last time the water level of the river had risen. After clearing out the giant leeches with a quick Katon, it was servicable, and Neshan had laid out Hinata on top of one of their bedrolls, on her stomach, and was working at nullifying or at least containing the Curse Seal with a fevor neither of the other two were daring enough to disrupt.
Nenai, who was in the process of unpacking his fishing rod, glanced up.
Katsu had said something about getting them some sentries, and wandered out into, or rather onto, the shallows.
Then he started a familiar series of handseals, and kept going ...
"Daikirigakure no jutsu."
... the mist swirled up both from the water and the wet soil of the shore, thicker than that which any previous Kirigakure had managed to conjure up, as Katsu continued with another series of handseals ...
"Kiri no Okami."
... and another, the mist swirling into patterns and forming shapes around the still sealing nin's legs. Four legged shapes, and patterns that seemed like what a distilled snarl looked like.
Then, Katsu's hands stopped their motion, curling into fists ... and Nenai could see why his teammate had taken off his usual reinforced fingerless gloves. Fingernails bit into palms, drawing blood, and hands were thrust into the forming shapes which rapidly snapped from hazy into perfectly detailed and clear ...
Six grey furred wolves that stood as tall as a grown man's waist blinked faintly shimmering eyes, yiffed, turned, then sauntered off into the forest ... and, in one case, over the surface of the water.
Katsu took a deep breath, and fell back to sit in the shallow water, shaking for a moment.
"What the ...?"
"Our sentries. They should last just under a day," the waterlogged nin said. "Less, if they have to fight. That's as many as I can call up, the way I am now. At least, as many as I can call up if I want them for something that's longer term."
"You know, Kage Bushin wouldn't have taken as much out of me as these things did out of you, even right now."
"Yeah, but Orochimaru would likely be able to spot them easier than he does these," Katsu said. "You noticed how he reacted when I was trying to stab him in the back?"
"I was kind of busy at the time, but yeah," Nenai nodded. "Seemed like he's just got good danger sense."
"No. I mean, not just that. My emotions were totally blank, I'm sure of it, so that couldn't have been it," was the response. "He's already got a nearly boneless body when he wants to, and the eyes. He even smells more snake-like than human like. And snakes can detect vibration, so he could have felt me stepping behind him. Some can even see heat. The wolves are, for all their solid appearance, mainly made up of dense mist. As for the other thing ... well, if we fight him again, we might have to try and channel chakra through our feet, sort of like water walking."
***
---
The Okami no Kiri is something he only came up with as a jounin. He's had a healthy respect for embodied spirits, dating back to the time his genin team's sensei and one of his teammates were killed on a mission on the East Continent and he and Meiou Michiru spent the better part of two weeks fighting and sneaking their way back out, saving one-another's lives often enough during that time that they'd lost count. During his two year 'recon mission' as chunin, he'd come across some scrolls dealing with summoning said spirits in a way similar to that the sorcerers of the Continent used, but he could only try and work at copying that after he'd had his chakra problems fixed.
He's never quite managed the copy, but he _was_ able to work out a way to create what at first amounted to henge'd mizu bushins and tie not actual wolf spirits, but fragments of the wolf archetype into them. Then he'd refined it so that it only needed mist.
As for why wolves? Anything else would have been too hard to actually call up, and he's only able to manage them because of his connection to Fenrir.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm
He heard Neshan sigh, and turned his head to look.
"Yeah, what I was thinking," the braid wearing Leaf nin said, nodding towards the gauntlet while adjusting his grip on the still unconscious Hyuga. "Just have my hands full at the moment. I'll pace you two and play lookout."
Katsu nodded, and both nins changed direction on the next bound, with Neshan falling slightly behind and to the side while the gauntlet wearer paced their teammate.
The members of Team Seven closed on the Sound genin.
***
*later*
They'd found what could pass for a makeshift shelter between the roots of a great tree that had been washed clear of dirt the last time the water level of the river had risen. After clearing out the giant leeches with a quick Katon, it was servicable, and Neshan had laid out Hinata on top of one of their bedrolls, on her stomach, and was working at nullifying or at least containing the Curse Seal with a fevor neither of the other two were daring enough to disrupt.
Nenai, who was in the process of unpacking his fishing rod, glanced up.
Katsu had said something about getting them some sentries, and wandered out into, or rather onto, the shallows.
Then he started a familiar series of handseals, and kept going ...
"Daikirigakure no jutsu."
... the mist swirled up both from the water and the wet soil of the shore, thicker than that which any previous Kirigakure had managed to conjure up, as Katsu continued with another series of handseals ...
"Kiri no Okami."
... and another, the mist swirling into patterns and forming shapes around the still sealing nin's legs. Four legged shapes, and patterns that seemed like what a distilled snarl looked like.
Then, Katsu's hands stopped their motion, curling into fists ... and Nenai could see why his teammate had taken off his usual reinforced fingerless gloves. Fingernails bit into palms, drawing blood, and hands were thrust into the forming shapes which rapidly snapped from hazy into perfectly detailed and clear ...
Six grey furred wolves that stood as tall as a grown man's waist blinked faintly shimmering eyes, yiffed, turned, then sauntered off into the forest ... and, in one case, over the surface of the water.
Katsu took a deep breath, and fell back to sit in the shallow water, shaking for a moment.
"What the ...?"
"Our sentries. They should last just under a day," the waterlogged nin said. "Less, if they have to fight. That's as many as I can call up, the way I am now. At least, as many as I can call up if I want them for something that's longer term."
"You know, Kage Bushin wouldn't have taken as much out of me as these things did out of you, even right now."
"Yeah, but Orochimaru would likely be able to spot them easier than he does these," Katsu said. "You noticed how he reacted when I was trying to stab him in the back?"
"I was kind of busy at the time, but yeah," Nenai nodded. "Seemed like he's just got good danger sense."
"No. I mean, not just that. My emotions were totally blank, I'm sure of it, so that couldn't have been it," was the response. "He's already got a nearly boneless body when he wants to, and the eyes. He even smells more snake-like than human like. And snakes can detect vibration, so he could have felt me stepping behind him. Some can even see heat. The wolves are, for all their solid appearance, mainly made up of dense mist. As for the other thing ... well, if we fight him again, we might have to try and channel chakra through our feet, sort of like water walking."
***
---
The Okami no Kiri is something he only came up with as a jounin. He's had a healthy respect for embodied spirits, dating back to the time his genin team's sensei and one of his teammates were killed on a mission on the East Continent and he and Meiou Michiru spent the better part of two weeks fighting and sneaking their way back out, saving one-another's lives often enough during that time that they'd lost count. During his two year 'recon mission' as chunin, he'd come across some scrolls dealing with summoning said spirits in a way similar to that the sorcerers of the Continent used, but he could only try and work at copying that after he'd had his chakra problems fixed.
He's never quite managed the copy, but he _was_ able to work out a way to create what at first amounted to henge'd mizu bushins and tie not actual wolf spirits, but fragments of the wolf archetype into them. Then he'd refined it so that it only needed mist.
As for why wolves? Anything else would have been too hard to actually call up, and he's only able to manage them because of his connection to Fenrir.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm