Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Games of Body and Soul

Untitled Part 141

"Yeah, I know... Wait, what do you mean you'll have nothing to do with it!?" Kiyomi flipped out mentally, some of her anger may have slipped out on the physical plane as well. "Don't you want to get back into sync?"

"Don't you wanna train with us?" Meiko asked. Her tone sounded as the auditory equivalent of puppy eyes. Whether she was trying to guilt trip the magician or was genuinely frustrated to not get to play around back to back with her best friend was still up in the air.

"I do. I am not going to fight though. There are few things more stupid than challenging someone like Hanshin-san on the eve of a responsible and dangerous mission, what if you get hurt?" the magician brushed it off.

"We won't. And even if we will, we'll handle it. Come on, it will be fun!" Meiko tried playing the devil on Mana's left shoulder. "We'll be kicking ass and taking names like old times and we can definitely use you out there."

"I have spent three years of training preparing for a certain battle with a certain someone. I see no use in fighting anyone else but that man." Mana spoke out loud, closing her mind off from Kiyomi's communication. All the mental training in the Intel Division allowed the magician to ward off her mind from Kiyomi's attempts to reestablish her telepathic communication.

It was easy to see from Kiyomi's face that the kunoichi was pleasantly surprised by Mana's efficiency in this specific area. It was clearly not something that the Yamanaka heiress expected the magician train at, it was something so specific that it invited a conclusion that Mana trained with the Intel Division to learn how to fight Kiyomi. The thought that Mana was taking time to prepare for such a fight, even if it was never said out loud and was just a conclusion to which Kiyomi had come all by herself, was viewed as a compliment by the blond kunoichi.

Hanshin did not wait around and look at the three momentarily frozen young women, he had gone off ahead to the training grounds. He had no quarrels to fight or matters to attend to. Mana was graciously gifted this one last night before tomorrow's departure, she felt adamant not spending it licking wounds after a pointless fight in which she had nothing to prove. There was only one clash that mattered and Mana felt increasingly less and less invested in taking part in anything other than her fated clash with Ayushi.

*****

"Do you think we can do it?" Meiko's lips managed to turn to a smile even while her upper face showed nothing less than total seriousness. "Without Mana, I mean."

"Screw her." Kiyomi punched her own fist before taking a fighting stance. "She's always been hesitant to spar and fight but... Never to this extent. I swear, if she pulls this bullshit on the actual mission, I'll slap some sense into her."

Hanshin either did not have a fighting pose or he merely not offer the luxury of showing his sparring partners one. Nor did he bow or take part in any other honorary ninja kumite rituals. That was just fine though as Kiyomi was too pissed at how badly her squad leader treated Meiko whereas the blacksmith was too thick-headed to know and follow any kumite etiquette. Hanshin bent his knees while twisting his pressed together legs, he was showing off thousands of openings, as if taunting the two kunoichi.

Kiyomi was the first one to make a move. Her hand seals were significantly faster than ever before and the simplicity of the jutsu she has chosen meant there would not be too many of them required. After just a split-second delay of weaving a handful of hand seals, the kunoichi's chest greatly inflated as her head moved back before all of the built-in air pressure erupted through her mouth.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" she chanted out after the built-up gust of wind left her body and covered the frontal area of the training grounds, heading straight for Hanshin.