Waiting Game

Chapter 30

My eyes followed the movements of the water that quickly formed a moat around us, leaving patches of dirt for each of us to stand on. My eyes flashed red, my vision darkened, and I saw the slow, cold glow of the water; it was infused with Haku’s chakra, so the water was almost completely at his command.

My tongue darted out in concentration, and I softly bit on it. 

Should I wait for Haku to make the first move? 

Currently, we were standing opposite of each other, observing each other’s movements with keen eyes and tense enough to make dramatic movements at even the slightest twitch of the opponent. It was exciting; a fight between two prodigies. 

Credit was where credit was due; complete mastery over his ice at this age? There was no other explanation besides hard work coming from a prodigy. Not a Kakashi-level prodigy, but a prodigy nonetheless.

After all, I wasn’t even a Kakashi-level prodigy... though I was a Nara level genius. 

There was a difference, but only between intelligence and competency, and ability and skill.

...I’ll do it. 

Kicking off of the dirt, and throwing up some dust with wind chakra, I darted at Haku with three senbon expertly falling in between my hands. Haku tensed some more, and flickered away just a second before I would have reached him. Instead, I dug my heels into the ground, sliding a few feet and splashing some rather heavy water, I spun towards the quick flash of chakra light(only visible with my eyes) and threw the needles at the golden lines that appeared in my vision. 

Haku was quick to respond with stamping his foot into the water, placing only one of his hands into a seal, and drawing up enough of it to form a thin, rectangular ice shield in front of him. 

Each senbon had gone through the ice, stopping at the middle of each needle, and the sharp tips a centimeter away from his forehead, heart, and stomach regions. He didn’t even flinch at the close proximity of the weapons, but scowled when the audience cheered loudly at the first sign of his ice. 

I didn’t hesitate in spinning into a back kick, only the thinnest layer of chakra appearing over the heel of my shoe, and shattering the ice shield. Haku threw up his arms to protect his eyes from the sharp shards of ice, jumping back and into the water without making a splash. His bright, cold chakra was pulled into his feet, keeping him above the water as little as there was covering The floor. 

He quickly went through a series of hand seals, calling out the name of the Jutsu. 

Mirrors formed, at a faster pace than they had in the bridge. He had trained well in doing so, I noted with a glare directed at the boy in front of me. He leisurely stepped into a mirror, ignoring the senbon I sent to try and stop him. 

A quick glance revealed that I was completely surrounded by the mirrors, each the same image of Haku. My eyes squinted in hopes of figuring out which mirror he was truly in with the use of the power that the Shinigami gave me. 

He was in the mirror directly in front of me, preparing a pouch of senbon needles. 

Now what was a good fire Jutsu that I may or may not have learned by breaking into the Uchiha compound?