"Her bones are harder than steel, yet she can reshape them at will. Strength, speed, defense, technique she's overwhelmingly complete. In taijutsu, there's practically no weakness."
"She has some form of perception that doesn't rely on sight. Sneak attacks won't work. Her resistance to genjutsu is high as well. My Mirage Mist barely lasted a second. I doubt any other illusion would fare better."
Blood Hound and Mist Crow exchanged intel at lightning speed.
The more they spoke, the heavier their hearts grew.
Limitless strength, steel-hard bones, weapons that shift shape at will, a strange sensory ability, and genjutsu resistance.
Blood Hound, who prided himself on his kenjutsu, had his weapon shattered in the very first clash, his arm half-ruined. If not for Mist Crow's intervention, he would already be dead.
Mist Crow, master of illusions and assassination, fared no better. From a blind angle, he'd fired poisoned shuriken venom lethal on contact. She'd swatted them aside like flies.
When he tried his strongest A-rank genjutsu Illusionary Mirage Mist it had collapsed in less than a second. The backlash rattled his spirit so badly his brain still throbbed like it had been clubbed.
Mist Crow studied the girl's delicate face and slight frame. Needle-sharp pain stabbed his head again, but sheer rational discipline crushed the fear. The intelligence in his mind assembled itself like puzzle pieces:
"She killed Kurusu Mari's entire squad before we even arrived. That means her perception range is massive we can't escape.
She's a taijutsu type. Don't let her close in. Keep her pinned with ninjutsu at range.
Her age works against her. Chakra reserves and stamina could be her weakness. We can drag this out into a battle of attrition."
In a few short words, Mist Crow had already locked their next strategy in place.
At the same time, Konome Taketori was busy as well.
For shinobi, intel is the beating heart of every fight. No matter the scale, uncovering the enemy's abilities and weaknesses is always the foundation.
Her way of gathering intel, however, was far more direct.
Through the Byakugan's three-hundred-sixty-degree vision, Mist Crow and Blood Hound became three-dimensional models in her mind. Clothes, masks, bones, flesh every layer peeled back, rendered into precise data.
Mist Crow: mid-chunin chakra reserves, a genjutsu-focused tokubetsu jōnin. Hidden poison pouch at his waist, six kunai, twelve shuriken, three explosive tags. Weak musculature. Excels at illusions and sensory ninjutsu, poorly suited for direct combat.
Blood Hound: mid-chunin chakra reserves. Thick bones, sturdy muscle, skilled in taijutsu and kenjutsu, formidable strength. Carries basic tools, no poisons or tags. Threat level reduced. Right arm ligaments torn, swelling with blood, hairline fractures in the wrist bones. Nearly useless in close combat.
Against her, neither man could hope to prevail head-on. If they tried to harry her with ninjutsu from afar, their chakra would burn faster. The Shikotsumyaku and Byakugan barely taxed her reserves.
In a battle of endurance, she would win.
They knew it too. They would never again risk fighting her up close. The danger now was ninjutsu bombardment. She needed to close distance fast, where her advantage was absolute.
Crkkk.
Konome's skeletal armor thinned everywhere except her vital points. Her weight plummeted as defense gave way to speed.
Chakra pooled in her thighs.
Muscle tore itself open and healed beyond its limit. Fibers grew denser, harder, ropey as steel cables.
Bone speared out of her soles, bracing her ankles and reinforcing the kinetic chain.
Her twin blades unfolded like wings at her sides.
She crouched forward, a bowstring drawn to its breaking point.
The shift in her stance made Mist Crow's scalp prickle. His battle instincts shrieked. This was death, stalking closer with every heartbeat.
Konome raised her head. Her blades locked into a straight line.
Thunk.
Her bone-forged shoes hammered the earth.
Her body blasted forward like a cannonball.
"She's coming!"
"Move!"
Both men shouted as one.
A streak of silver blurred into the space they had just abandoned. To untrained eyes, it was teleportation.
Her twin blades flared, lengthening mid-swing. The arc should have cut both men in half at the waist.
Mist Crow and Blood Hound tucked into the air, bodies folding like gymnasts, knees touching chests, backs bent to their limits.
Scrrrrk.
The blades scraped their sandals. Sparks exploded where special-forged soles kissed sharpened bone.
For an instant they were above her, feet pressing her blades, their bodies suspended in midair. Konome was pinned between them.
Four hands blurred through seals in perfect unison.
Rat. Ox. Hare.
Sheep. Horse. Dragon. Tiger.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
"Earth Release: Rising Spears!"
Mist Crow spewed a torrent of water. The ground shook as earthen spikes thrust upward.
Water crashed into earth. Spray and spines converged, swallowing Konome whole.
Both men twisted in the air and landed lightly.
"Well?"
"Her chakra's… over there!"
Mist Crow's eyes snapped wide. He formed the Ram seal and spun.
Whoosh.
Wind roared. Konome was already at his throat, arms crossed in a lethal X.
His pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Blood fountained.
Blades traced a crucifix across his chest, shearing him into quarters. Konome's momentum carried through, smashing the remnants into shards.
Splash.
His sundered body collapsed into water, mingling with the currents he had just conjured.
Not far away, Mist Crow staggered into view, clutching his chest, coughing blood.
"Your water-body substitution was fast. The timing, flawless."
Konome straightened, her feet crunching back just one step. The earth in front of her collapsed, jagged spikes rising from beneath.
Cold sweat beaded on Blood Hound's brow. He'd cut off her pursuit, buying Mist Crow another life.
"Not faster than your blade," Mist Crow croaked. His chest heaved, a cross-shaped wound barely short of bisecting him. If he hadn't already laid a water layer across the field, he would be dead.
"But tell me, little girl…" He coughed a wet laugh, voice dripping mockery even through the pain. "Every fight, you pause. Not for us, but for yourself."
His gaze never left her still frame. Beneath the absurd crow mask, his lips curled.
"Blinding speed, impossible strength… that's not natural for your size. If you could sustain it, you wouldn't have needed to ambush Kurusu Mari's team before we arrived.
Each time you unleash that power, you stop. You wait until your body recovers. I'm right, aren't I?"
The clearing went still.
"…So what if you know?"
Steam hissed from Konome's lips and nose. Her chest heaved.
Forcing her whole body to erupt with power devoured stamina. Muscle wasn't machinery. After every burst, fibers needed to reset before they could be strained again.
Like a bow pulled to its limit once it loosed the arrow, it needed rest. Keep it strung too long and the bow itself would break.
Now… she was almost ready to fire again.
"Six seconds."
Blood Hound's voice cut the night, sharp with certainty.
"Ha… hahaha…"
Konome's face darkened. Mist Crow's chest bled freely, but laughter rattled from him, sly and taunting, his old mocking lilt returned.