He does as he’s told. Sometimes it’ll get under his skin how Yuuto slips effortlessly into the leadership role when their sensei is absent, but this is not one of those times. There is no room for anything like pride here. No room for error either. As his clones approach the still-submerged enemies, they start to surface. Just as they’d hoped. Gathering chakra into the soles of his feet, he steps out onto the water, preparing to strike at the heart of the enemy’s formation.
When they finally break through the surface, he’s close enough to feel the heat of the paper bomb Yuuto throws with deadly precision. His reaction is instinctive – to close his eyes so the flash won’t blind him – though whether the byakugan has any such weakness is doubtful. It’s only an instant, but it’s long enough.
The enemies that’d been in front of him are gone now.
He locates his target before he’s even turned around. To move so fast, he must have body-flickered. With a growl of frustration he whirls, throwing a kunai with all his might at the back of the man’s head.
But it doesn’t connect. The man deflects it with the kunai gripped in his own right hand, but it’s the left that concerns Iro. The chakra gathering in that arm, strengthening his imminent attack. The one aimed right at Fujioka.
Iro closes the distance between them in long strides and a running leap that sends him crashing down on top of him. The man manages to stay upright, but the rowboat sways and creaks dangerously under them, and he’s sufficiently distracted by the overgrown brat clinging to his back that Fujioka is safe for now. The same can’t be said of Iro. He’s visibly enraged the man, and before that chakra can be turned on him, he makes up his mind.
Fuck the consequences. He’s committed.
He starts with the tenketsu in the upper arm, to prevent any more chakra from being gathered. One-two-three-four quick jabs, projecting his own chakra into the points with all the force he can. The man is shouting by then, whether from pain or simple shock he doesn’t know and doesn’t care. He throws Iro off, but then he’s right in the man’s face, and there’s nowhere to run. He moves fast, striking like a snake. At the wrist, in his palm, rendering what is clearly the man’s dominant hand incapable of molding chakra. He strikes the rest of the tenketsu in quick succession – those he can reach, at least. The man is backing away from him now, stumbling over the tradesman he’d been intent on attacking only moments prior.
“What did you do?!” he shrieks, panic in his voice as he cowers in the stern. Iro only flashes him a feral grin, crouching over him and pressing the kunai edge against his throat. He only hesitates a moment. Then he follows through, slashing it clean through. The blood seems to go everywhere. It sprays his face, stains his clothing. He’s dimly aware of Fujioka retching into the water. Then he stands.
There are still three more.
If he hadn’t known any better, he’d say that this was just another training program. They’ve been practicing this together for years, now. Perfectly in-sync.
His teammates spring to life simultaneously as he gives the signal. He propels himself across the water’s surface with a little extra chakra in his feet.
The radius on the explosion is a little wider than anticipated, but he jerks away to avoid the flames.
He’s always been quick - his father had insisted on it.
As he reaches his target, he can hear a swarm beginning to form, buzzing somewhere off to his left. There’s still too much smoke hanging around to tell where exactly, but he knows Midori has reached her destination.
His opponent is only just aware that he is present before he moves in, unsheathing the sword from his back.
His swing is met with a clash as the enemy produces a tanto from somewhere - looks like a sheath probably hidden under a vest - and counters his strike. The force is almost enough to force his blade back at him. This guy is strong, probably working with more brute force than Yuuto possesses.
It’s alarming, but he can’t back off now.
He pulls back and moves in for another blow, only to be parried again. Spin, slice, parry. He has to keep going. If he stops, it’ll give this guy an opening. The plan now, apparently, is to just wear the man down so that he can find a hole in his defenses.
There’s screaming, further off. It’s sudden, carnal - and coming from the direction of the boat. Of course it is. But it doesn’t sound like Iro or Midori, and he doesn’t think it sounds like Fujioka. So it’s likely the enemy.
When his opponent hears it, his attention splits. He’s not countering as quickly. Yuuto takes his chances, drags his arm back.
There’s blood in the water. There’s also a little intestine and couple of other things just barely touching the surface. It’s a moment before the enemy ninja realizes, and there’s a visible flicker in chakra before the man just... drops. He can’t keep himself afloat and if blood loss from being sliced almost in two doesn’t kill him, he’ll surely drown. He doesn’t yell, he doesn’t cry, he just kind of sinks.
Yuuto is expressionless as he turns, flicks some of the gore from his katana, and heads back into the smoke.
The screaming has stopped.
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