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

Ten Seconds

A resonating signal of chakra beamed in the distance. Mana's chakra sensory had become acute enough as of late that she could no longer just verify the existence of a chakra signature but sense some details of that signature. Given the input from the other senses, oftentimes it lea to some very useful insights. Things were no different now, given how the magician saw no visual changes from this distance nor did she sense a change in her allies' chakra systems, which would have suggested an illusionary attack – it became evident that Nashi and Gubezuri had activated their Sharingan.

"Be careful, their eyes are active, time them out. It appears that Sharingan wears on the user's system more and more the longer it is used." Mana warned Meiko and the rest on the mental link.

Just as Nashi and Gubezuri twitched for a movement forward, they froze as if in total panic, then turned at the side of the canyon to their right, letting their eyes gaze up in fear. The type of fear that one experienced when they knew exactly what they would see up there but begged all the omnipotent forces in the universe that dictated fate itself that one would not see what they felt like they would see once they looked.

Kiyomi was stuck to the side of the canyon, pressing both her palms to the surface with a grin that betrayed exactly how much the Yamanaka enjoyed what she was about to do.

"Earth Style: Rock Collapse!" she yelled out while sending a pulse of chakra through the canyon wall that resonated with ripples through the stone, lodging out massive chunks out of the canyon and sending them crashing down below to where Nashi and Gubezuri were standing atop the creek that ran at the bottom. The loosened integrity of the canyon forced even the Kannabi Bridge, which had held for years upon years and served as a passageway between Konoha and Kusagakure, to collapse. The damage and pressure caused by the previous clash of flames between Nashi and Hanshin appeared to have caused significant damage to the structure even when all of the destructive potential was perfectly contained. It was only the solidity of the canyon structure that held the bridge together, without it – the whole thing tumbled down in pieces.

Gubezuri and Nashi leaped up, landing atop one of the falling pillars. It would have taken ten whole seconds for the bridge and the falling debris to crumble into the river. That was plenty of time to settle a fight between ninja of their collective ranks. Mana, Meiko, and Hanshin leaped atop falling platforms of their own and moved down until they could meet the Uchiha on their level, the rabbits drove the vanguard given the strength of their feet and the unmatched velocity of their dashes.

The string reeling devices screeched with the infernal sound of steel wire being reeled in. The piece of steel wire attached to the swords that the Uchiha duo had lost when they were blasted away by the unexpected appearance of the ninja rabbits reeled the weapons back to their owners' hands. An Uchiha with an active Sharingan and a sword was a dangerous opponent. Nothing could match the pattern reading, the perceptive and almost precognitive abilities of the Sharingan. Leave alone the fact that ten seconds was nowhere near enough to cause that much strain on the user's chakra system...

Still, the team was adamant about settling this matter before the Kannabi Bridge and the tall canyon had crumbled into a rocky, devastated mess. It was most likely a matter of pride, an arrogant claim about the extent of their abilities. Ten seconds was plenty to reinitiate and conclude the engagement.

Nashi yanked his sleeve back, the shimmer of light reflecting off the piece of silk-thin steel wire caught Mana's eye but her eyes were nowhere near as perceptive as the Sharingan that her opponents used. She could not identify the layers of looping thread before they shut tightly around her, pressing against her limbs and muscles with a credible threat to slice her to pieces if she ever lost the chakra augmentation struggle against the chakra used to coat the strings.