Hinji was communicating back and forth with is raven to find the source of the arrows. He knew he was getting close as he could hear the sound of a bow string loosing arrows. He pulled a card from his hat and readied it for use the second the archer came into view.

The soft twang of the bow lessened and then ceased as the archer moved. He could tell they were closing in on him. Throwing his voice, he called out to his pursuers, "Think you can best me? You've no idea what you're up against." The twang of the bow sounded again and several trees erupted into splinters before the quickly moving ninja

Akane suddenly felt Kami's arms around her from behind as she pulled her sharply out of the way of an on coming hunk of tree. "You ok?" she asked once they'd recovered and were back on track.

"Oh trust us, we know what we're up against." Tsu said, hanging back and staying low after Akane got pulled back by Kami. If an arrow came, she wanted to do something about it "Doesn't change that we're paid to stop you. If you just left, then everything would be so much easier anyway."

"Fine. Thanks Kami." Akane replied and left her side, moving high above the canopy again. It may make her look like a duck in the water, but she could tell where the arrows were coming from. She wanted everything to make a windstorm to break up this chatter... but their best weapon right now was their hearing.

Hinji brought his staff up and batted away a piece of shrapnel that was aimed for his chest. They were going to have to stay on their toes if his arrows had different qualities. He tossed his card on the ground and a black pool seeped up through the ground, "Find the archer." Hinji said and the pool zipped off in search of its prey.

Kami fell in below the canopy, but stayed near Akane. Her lightning was no good if she couldn't see the guy, but Akane's wind style could deflect his arrows easily. "Does anyone see him yet?" She asked

Throwing his voice to sound from behind the ninja, the Archer taunted them. "Do you really think a bunch of little girls can stop me?" His bow made no sound this time as the arrows flew. There was a soft Poof! sound, from farther away, indicating some sort of jutsu had been performed. The sky suddenly went dark as thousands of black arrows rained down on the three kunoichi.

"I got it!" Akane declared, already forming her hand signs and leaping higher into the air. "Cyclone blade jutsu!" she shouted and from her hands shot a whirlwind of air up at the dark wave. The wind spiraled into the arrows, slicing them into pieces and blowing them out of range of her comrades. She took out the ones that umbrella'd the other ninja and let the rest fall and hit the forest below. "STOP HIDING, YOU WUSS!"

Tsu jerked her head at once in the direction of the poof. She patted Kami on the shoulder, then indicated the direction, then herself. She then indicated that Kami should stay there with Akane. She was going to check this out. It might be a trap after all.

Kami nodded, considering sending Master Risu with her and pointed to the scroll she wore in her ear questionably. She mouthed the words 'For Backup?' and let Tsu Sensei decide.

Tsu looked thoughtful, then shook her head. She mouthed 'When I signal' to the girl. No need to have the little squirrels running straight into a death trap, they should wait until they were certain.

"You know, they say I'm the talkative one." The Archer's voice taunted as he glided silently through the trees. He fired off several more arrows, these did not explode like the first volley, nor suddenly become thousands like the second. This volley arced high into the sky, honing in on Akane, as if attracted by her display of chakra.

Akane lost sight of her teammates... but maybe that was a good thing. She was high up and easy to spot. Perhaps she could keep the enemy's attention while the try to pinpoint his location. "You must be pretty strong to just take shots from the bushes!" she taunted. The volley of the arrows allowed her more time to prepare for them. They were easy to dodge and she was able to slice them in half with her new kunai with ease as they passed.

Tsu listened for the movement, following the sound of the shots as they were made. The moment the third was loosed she bolted for the direction the person was coming from. Not a straight line of course, that would be silly, but she went as straight as possible while zigzagging through the trees.

Kami let Tsu sensei go on without the backup she had offered. Keeping an eye out she was glad Akane found the arrows no issue at all. She was still worried about where Hinji had gone. She'd hate for him to have fallen into a trap out here alone.

"Is that all you got?!" Akane shouted toward the woods below. She kept her eye frantic however, trying to spot the next attack.

Hinji followed after the dark goo as it ripped through the underbrush and around the trees. He hoped this thing was leading him in the right direction.

"Hardly." Was the reply that echoed back to her. Simultaneously, four large wooden umbrellas soared up into the sky around her. They opened with a loud snap. "Needle Rain Jutsu!" The call echoed around the flying kunoichi as hundreds of needles shot out in every direction from underneath the umbrellas. He had to again change positions as the little girl got closer to him. He heard something else tracking him and had to pause for a moment, not recognizing the sound of it. This was becoming a bit too stressful; he couldn't keep changing positions like this, he'd exhaust himself...

There was suddenly a loud ripping noise. A young tree was torn from the ground and thrown physically at one of the needle umbrellas, smashing into it and swatting at another with the branches as it fell. "STOP MESSING AROUND!" Tsu yelled as she continued her run through the forest, following the voice. He would be moving...

Hinji cursed silently as the needle umbrellas opened up. He knew he was about to blow his cover, but it was that or be riddled with needles. He plucked a card from his hat and tossed it at his feet causing a sudden burst of smoke that formed a dome over Hinji before solidifying.

Kami ducked behind a tree just in time to feel some of the needles tear through her hair. She preformed a hand sign and visualized the place of the second umbrella in her mind. A well placed a rather precise bolt of lightning struck the umbrella, neutering it's ability to cause any more damage.

The fourth and final umbrella slowly used up the last of the needles and then drifted down to the trees. "Messing around? You think this is a game?" Was the retort that flowed through the air on a bodiless voice. His eyes darted to the burst of smoke that was so very close. "Oh hello! You ladies brought a boy to the party??" There were several rapid fire twangs as arrows coursed through the air towards Hinji.

Hinji was furthest from Akane and she cursed herself at letting the enemy move that far away. Damn, he was a fast one...but she hoped their team would prove faster. Hearing the twangs, she sprinted in the canopy toward Hinji, hoping to finally see this asshole who was shooting at them.

The once solid dome dissipated as the arrows passed through it and thudded into a tree on the other side. "That trick worked on another, you know." Hinji said while concealed in the shadows to the right of the archer. "You're not the only one who can do the whole hiding thing you know." He was trying to keep the man distracted as his trap was inching closer to the sound of the archer's voice.

Kami grumbled. She felt as if they were being played in circles. She wanted something to attack, something besides a silly umbrella. How were they supposed to fight if he wouldn't show himself?

"Who's hiding?" The man asked, his voice coming suddenly from behind Hinji. The man whirled around to his right and cocked an arrow directly in Hinji's face. "I don't miss, kid."

He'd made his move, he'd shown himself, and Tsu was on him in a second. She didn't stab or punch or skewer or burn him though. Instead, she landed with a soft 'thud' on the archer's back and covered his eyes with both hands. "Guess who?" she said, clamping down hard on his chest with her legs.

With a poof of smoke, the man vanished from beneath Tsu's claws. "That would be the little one, yes?" His voice sounded from a different location now. With a twang, an arrow embedded itself beside Hinji's head for emphasis. There was a sizzling sound as a tag spun from the nock

This is why Hinji hated working with others. It is impossible to make a plan within the three to five seconds you have in between an action's appearance and it's conclusion. Now he had an explosive arrow sitting next to his head and only a few seconds to deal with it. He snapped the arrow in half with his staff, causing the explosive card to fall to the ground. He was already mid jump when his goo enveloped the explosive card before it detonated.

Akane had to admit that four on one wasn't the most fair of fights... but if they could take down one of these villains, it would make things a whole heck of a lot easier when they found the others. Unfortunately for this assassin, he poofed directly in Akane's line of sight as she neared the scene. She looked to her left where Kami was a few feet away. The two of them could bag this guy so long as he didn't spot them on his flank.

Kami was glad she had stayed near Akane. She spotted the assassin and preformed the hand signs for one of her most powerful jutsu. Lightning struck from the sky at seven different angles, six from around the assassin and one from above. They honed on on the center, where he stood as she shouted. "Seven blades of pain!"

Just as the lightning closed in around the man, there was another poof and he vanished as the bolts collided with one another. There was panting from several locations as he shouted back at them. "Will you knock it off?! Have you any idea how tiring it is to dodge?"

"You're the one attacking, funny man!" Tsu pointed out loudly into the forest "You can either go away or you can die here! Is stealing this... thing you're after really worth it?"

Kami growled in frustration, her anger rising at having missed. She wanted to call master Risu. him and a hundred ninja squirrels would give this guy a workout and a half.

This was becoming very frustrating, how are you supposed to fight someone who runs at the first contact? Hinji sat in his current spot up in a nearby tree. He wanted to see if he couldn't find a way to keep this nuisance from running every time.

"Kami-" Akane called, dropping down beside her, "This guy-" she whispered so only she could hear, "You don't think he is trying to lead us away from the wagons, do you? He killed a cart driver and booked it out of there as soon as he saw us follow...seems like part of a plot to get us away."

"I was just wondering that myself..." Kami said, joining Akane on her branch. "He seems to be deliberately leading us away from the others."

"We should tell Tsu sensei and Hinji and start backing up toward the wagons again... keep the perimeter instead of following this goon into the woods further." Akane noted.

The man laughed, "You have no idea how much they're paying us!" Arrows shot from four different directions, each steering towards a different member of their team. "It's worth every ryo." As the arrows neared their targets, the ninja would notice that each arrow positively glowed with chakra

Kami snatched Akane by the arm and they both swung under the tree branch, held upside down by chakra poured into Kami's feet. "I agree." She said. "Take Tsu Sensei, you're faster in the trees, I'll catch Hinji."

The two glowing arrows thunked into the tree branch when Kami swung the two of them underneath it. The chakra flowed, simultaneously, into the branch. When the chakras met, the branch exploded with an icy cold blast as ice broke out all along it's length, frost creeping up the girls' legs.

Hinji frowned as he saw the arrow heading his way. He dropped from the tree branch he was in before dashing to a branch of another tree. He kept moving this way, keeping an eye on the arrow.

The arrow kept after Hinji, weaving along the tree branches as effortlessly as the ninja himself was moving, tracking him through his chakra. Eventually, the chakra in the arrow may burn out, but it was more likely to strike home first.

This was an issue Hinji had to solve, and now. He plucked a card and tossed it into a tree as he passed by. Right before the arrow passed the tree, it exploded as dark vines ripped from it. They reached out in a violent attempt to grasp the arrow, or divert it indefinitely from its path.

"WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! Time out!" Tsu yelled loudly, another loud crunching noise signalling that she'd picked up a large boulder; it sailed through the air towards the direction of the arrow, smashing apart trees as it sailed and making less cover for the archer. "Who's paying you? We got told it was you lot being greedy because YOU wanted this item for yourself."

When the vines ensnared the arrow, it burst into flames, engulfing the black vines as though they were made of the same plant material they were acting like.
"Did you really think I'd work with these clowns if I wasn't being paid for it?" The archer shot back at Tsu, his voice traveling all around them now. When her boulder met his chakra charged arrow, it exploded in a flash of lightning.

"Woah- heads up!" Akane said and grabbed Kami's arm, leaping off of the branch before it could explode again. It appeared the two continued to help one another out, switching off every other moment. Landing on a different branch, she rubbed her feet to clear away from of the frost. "Okay- I'll go get her."

"Who's paying you? Why would they pay you to steal one item?" surely it couldn't be that expensive? Tsu needed to find out what it was. She was far away enough from the explosion to not get hurt, and it had cleared a few trees, which was good.

"Now why would I go and tell you something like that?" The archer replied, his voice jumping from location to location all around them. He was a bit irritated that none of his elemental arrows seemed to take effect on any of the little ninja.
The ice continued to spread throughout the tree, slowly encompassing the entire trunk in ice. The fire spread around Hinji's location, igniting the tree he was currently standing upon.

As the fire spread around Hinji, he wondered how many more arrows this archer had. He looked around to see if the light of the fire was causing the archer to cast a shadow. He planned on waiting till the last minute before moving from his spot.

Kami agreed with Akane and rubbed the frost off her feet before it could get too far. She headed towards the fire, intent on telling Hinji that it was best to fall back to the caravan.

Akane traveled in the trees, determined to find Tsu-sensei. She too headed in the direction of the flame, knowing that was where she and Hinji were.

Tsu huffed as she stalked along, trying to find the voice's sources "Because if you don't tell me, next time I get you, I won't just put my hands over your eyes, I'll pull them out and knot them together while you can still see. And truuuust me, apparently that doesn't feel too good."

"Tsu-sensei" Akane called in a loud whisper as she dropped down to her level. She spoke softly just in case the archer could listen, "We think the archer's goal was to lead us away from the wagons. He's done nothing but drive us deeper into the woods."

"You'd be right you know." The archer said from directly behind Akane. He didn't bother firing his bow this time, but rather just jammed the glowing chakra arrow directly into the girl's upper thigh. Before the little girl could make do on her promise to tie his eyes in knots, however, he vanished again with a poof of smoke.

Akane screamed as the arrow sunk in to her flesh and tore at her muscle. She grabbed it and tugged, but it wouldn't come out. The other ends of the arrowhead caught her skin and muscle, preventing an easy extraction. That bastard's closeness had really jammed it in there. It was right where her thigh met her buttcheek and already blood was leaking out. She limped and leaned against a tree for support so that she could better see and not topple over. "IS IT GLOWING?!" she asked Tsu frantically, not wanting her lower portion to blow up.

Tsu was there in an instant, carefully gripping the arrow shaft. She held onto the leg, and twisted it carefully, trying to pull it out with ease. It would hurt, but letting it linger would be worse. She kept her senses open all the time while doing it, waiting for an attack from the archer just like before. "It's glowing to help it pierce, he's not that strong." she said gently to Akane "It's just an arrow, nothing else."

"Oh thank the gods- Aaah! OW! HEY!" Akane snapped at her. She knew the thing had to come out, but the twisting...and tugging...was agony. The pain shot up her spine and tensed up every muscles in her body. She would need a moment to heal herself up before moving again. "We need to get back to the wagons." she said between her pained grunts.

Kami lifted her head at the sound of Akane's cry and cursed herself for separating from her. Still, she had to find Hinji. With his shadow abilities he was like trying to track smoke. "Hinji..." She hissed, keeping low and to the shadows, hoping he could hear her.

Hinji appeared next to Kami, "The archer just got Akane. He vanished again and I didn't see where he went to."

"He's leading us away from the wagons." Kami said "And... I'm not sure, but... I think there may be more than one of him."

"I don't think it matters what he is trying to do. If we keep on him the he will lead us away, if we go back to the wagons then he will just kill from afar." Hinji said as he hurried along to try and find Akane and Tsu. "We need to pin him down and keep him in one spot, or at least visible long enough to counter-attack."

"But..." Kami frowned. "I don't think there are enough of us to pin him down... I really think he's ether throwing clones at us or he's... maybe twins, or even triplets... The way he's attacking, I really think there are more than one."

"The situation does seem dire." Hinji replied as he tried to think of something. "Let us regroup before we make any decisions."

Tsu let out a small huff "The more we destroy, the more he has to make, the more tired he gets. He's reduced down to trying to stab at us rather than actually shooting." They just needed to be careful.

"Even so- OW! We aren't getting anywhere." Akane said with a grunt as her fingers dug into the bark of the tree she was using for support. "I can't believe this guy... he stuck a damn arrow in my ass! Who DOES that?!"

Kami nodded. "That's what we were thinking. Tsu sensei and Akane are not far."

"Sorry 'bout that, love. It was such a big target, I figured I couldn't miss." The archer said with a laugh as he appeared high above Akane and Tsu. "As for the reduced to stabbing bit, I find that rather insulting, twerp." For emphasis, he fired down at them, five arrows in rapid succession.

Tsu seemed to just pass by the arrows, but they shattered into a hundred useless pieces as she went straight for the archer. She growled as she got close to the man, the long, almost invisible claws obliterating the arrows as she passed them. She was going right for the archer at an incredible speed.

"Ohhh...temper temper!" The archer said with a grin and just before Tsu's claws could reach him, he vanished again with a poof. From across the trees, there came several other poof sounds as suddenly hundreds of arrows flew through the air towards the little ninja girl.

Akane sighed with a grunt and reached back to the arrow. She wanted to start healing already, but it would just make getting that arrow out more painful. Grabbing onto the base of the shaft, she started to pull and wiggle it, trying to dislodge it's sharp edge from her rump. Akane grunted and hissed loudly through her teeth as pain shot through her core. "I'm going to kill him...I'm going to kill him..." she muttered over and over.

"Stop that Akane!"Hinji said urgently as him and Kami arrived, "You will only damage yourself horribly. If you want that arrow out now, you will have to push the arrow out the other end or the barb on the arrow will tear your muscles and tendons into ribbons."

"Push it... 'out the other end?' WHAT?!" Akane shouted angrily, half out of his idiocy and half out of just how painful this was. The arrow was sticking out of Akane's right buttcheek so how did he intend she get it out?

There was a loud thudding noise as the arrows pierced Tsu's body, hitting her again and again... before it poofed into non-existence, a hunk of tree dropping to the floor in her place, filled with arrows. Tsu hadn't thought that something like THAT would happen, but she had thought he would at least shoot an arrow down at her, which would have been almost impossible to miss. Well, he'd wasted his arrows.

"He's right Akane." Kami said, coming to a stop beside Akane. "You'll have more to heal if you pull than if you push it through."

"That or you can snap off the shaft and leave the arrow head in till we can get it after the fight." Hinji explained, "Your choice, but either way is going to hurt."

"Can someone just make sure we don't get shot at again?!" Akane asked loudly. Tsu was doing a fine job, but she wanted to be sure. She couldn't really do much moving around with an arrow in her asscheek.

Kami pulled a Kunai from her pack. "Hinji, help Tsu sensei. I'll take care of Akane."

Hinji sighed, he did not like working closely with Tsu-sensei. She was impulsive. "Keep your eyes open. You will both be easy targets." With that, he vanished into the shadow of a tree in search of Tsu.

"W-what are you going to do?" Akane asked, her hand still gingerly on the neck of the arrow, keeping anything from bumping it.

"I can pull it out and risk the shaft breaking and ruining your bottom." Kami said. "Push it through a risk doing more damage or brushing against a bone and we both know how fragile your bones are... Or I could widen the wound just a bit and pull the arrow free. Now, which would you prefer?"

Akane winced at all of those options. Still- it had to be done. She took a deep breath, "Okay... let's have you cut it out. I want to lie down somewhere though...the trees?" Akane suggested, thinking it more secure up there.

Kami handed Akane the Kunai in her hand. "Just bite down on this, bend over my knee and get ready to heal."

Kami could see in Akane's eye that she was nervous. Pain came along with being a ninja, but she had never intentionally hurt herself or allowed anyone to hurt her. With a gulp, she nodded and shockingly took the kunai from her. When Kami got down, she did as well, though a lot slower considering her circumstance. She moved over her knee so that it was just under her lower stomach. On her hands and knees, she put the kunai handle between her teeth.

Kami put a wary eye out for oncoming arrows and attackers before quickly slipping the tip of another Kunai into the wound and somewhat roughly dragging it back out, adding at least half an inch to the width of the wound.

Blood oozed out of her cut and trailed down her legs. Akane panted and screamed into the kunai, which didn't do the best job at muffling her. With a fist, she punched at the tree roots beneath her.

Kami pulled the arrow free and held it in front of Akane. "Done, heal yourself. I have to help the others."

When it slipped out, there was a feeling of relief from Akane as she spat out the kunai and got off of her. "Thanks." she sighed and took the arrow head. A glowing hand went to her rear and she began working, "I'll catch up.... but we really can't be falling into this guy's ploy like this."

The archer hung from a branch above the two girls. "Mmmmmm...Now that's something I'd pay to watch. Shall I put an arrow in the other cheek for a replay?"

Kami preformed a sudden hand sign and leaping, with Akane in her arms, lightning struck the limb where the ninja stood above them. It struck with so much force that the tree split in two.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Akane roared with a hand on her bum, leaving Kami to carry her. What he had done to her had been completely humiliating. To be honest though, she was glad El hadn't been around to see it, It was awfully embarrassing.

The archer swiftly dodged the lightning stroke and appeared on another tree. "Awe...you promise?" He taunted her with a sneer and shot at the two of them.

Tsu, who had been near them the entire time, since she hadn't moved from the position she'd hid in after her copy had slashed the arrows to pieces. After the first dodge, she struck. The arrows sliced in mid-air, barely a blur to indicate the angry cat woman that struck at the archer. Teeth and claws were coming the archer's way.

Hinji believed the best way to get this archer was to wait for him to reappear and strike immediately there after. He just had to wait till he vanished and reappeared.

"Well hello girlie!" The archer said and fell backwards as she suddenly appeared right before his eyes. He batted her hands away with his bow and grinned. "You're a tough one to get an eye on. But now...now I can't miss." He warned her and suddenly several more arrows flew through the air, coming straight for the man. He grabbed a quick hold of Tsu's wrist as the arrows closed in.

"Calm down Akane." Kami told her, touching down on another branch. "Heal yourself, hurry."

"I'm working on it!" Akane argued, taking another moment. "I'm fixing what you did anyway." After a few more seconds, she removed her hand, "Done. We should get out of here and back to the wagons."

"Can't let you do that." The archer said, appearing behind Akane and Kami, raising his bow, two arrows knocked, one for each of them. There was a wide grin on his face as he sighted in the two girls.

Kami looked up, seeing both of them. She had known there were more than one of them. "Which one are you?" She asked, putting herself between them and Akane. "Fire... water? You're not stupid enough to go after lightning and air with lightning and air..."

Elementals, huh? Akane hadn't thought of that but it made sense now. She kept her eye on the tips of the arrows that were aimed at them, trying to see what they were before they hit their mark.

The archer smirked and shrugged, "Why don't you tell me which one I am? You seem smart." He was taunting them, at this range there was no possible way he could miss either one of them after all.

Tsu was not to be trifled with. With her claws extended she'd already shredded arrows in mid-air. As the other arrows came for her, she just sliced cleanly through the arm holding her, moving to the side before the arrows struck.

"Water..." Kami said, marking the man's blue eyes. She pointed her thumb at the one above them with Tsu. "He's fire."

Suddenly, three tar black goblins leapt upon the archer that had been holding into Tsu. They began clawing, biting, and spitting on the archer. Hinji watched the goblins from a branch, next to him was a small whirling mist that he kept his hand near. His hope was that the goblins would distract the archer from the incoming arrows meant for Tsu.

Behind the water archer and taking advantage of Hinji's sneak attack, Kami appeared behind him the clones of her and Akane still visible on the branch. She struck the water archer in the back with her favorite jutsu, the last one Ishiaki Sensei taught her. As the blade of lightning struck him in the back, she felt no need to call out her jutsu.

The archer had only a split second left to make his move before the demons would certainly kill him. He stared in disbelief at his twitching arm as it fell to the forest floor. He grabbed the bloody stump and with a poof of smoke vanished from underneath the demons.

The blue-eyed archer cried out as the lightning blade tore through his chest. His fingers release and his two arrows split after leaving the bow string. They find their mark, despite the condition of the archer. The arrows sink into the girls' chests, right where their hearts would be. The man sagged to the tree branch and watched in disbelief as the girls exploded in smoke. "Cl..clones?! When??" He demanded as he fell over onto his side. He had never seen them switch out, couldn't even recall a chance they would have had to...

The first archer reappeared beside a 3rd archer. "They got Nidua..." The man informed his brother when he appeared. "This is not going at all as you promised, Jedan." He said darkly, looking over at him with a grimace. He was clutching what was left of his arm, great spouts of blood dripping through his fingers.

Tsu raised the arm to her nose, sniffing it. She looked puzzled for a moment before saying "Ohh... is that your secret? Not clones. Brothers?" She looked around, scowling at the forest "Sacrificing your own brothers for a mission? They must be paying you a LOT for this, huh? Hope it's worth the arm..." She waved it floppily into the air.

Hinji's goblins hit the ground with a thud, where they scrambled to their feet and looked around is dismay. They quickly began to bicker amongst themselves in a language no one could understand about who's fault it was that the archer had gotten away. Hinji jumped down beside Tsu, "Are you injured Tsu sensei?" He asked, ignoring the goblins as they started wrestling in the dirt.

"I'm fine. Stop it you two." Tsu said, slapping one of the goblins with the wet end of the severed arm "Scout the area. Smell for fresh blood, he must be gushing the stuff by now."

Kami landed by the others, panting a little. "I can't... do that again." She said. "Not so soon. The blade takes too much chakra... I might have one more in me but... we outnumber them now..."

Akane, the real Akane, was off on a branch and had been healing herself. With a healed bum, she dropped down to the group and said, "I still don't like sticking around here. We should return to the cargo."

The one named Jedan turned and jammed a kunai into his brother's chest, slipping the blade between the ribs and puncturing his heart. He leaned in and whispered softly. "And it would appear they have gotten you as well, Trys. A shame really. Now it's just two of us...Sleep now brother, you will be avenged." He vanished, leaving the second corpse behind.

The goblins stopped wrestling and got to their feet. They looked at Tsu for a moment before they started laughing and pointing at her. One went to make a rather rude gesture when Hinji snapped his fingers and they vanished. "They won't take orders from anyone but me." He explained, "Also, they are absolutely useless in a searching scenario."

Tsu had been a moment away from snapping one of their necks, but instead frowned at Hinji. "So summons something that is." she said simply, before taking a sniff of the arm. She didn't have a great nose, but blood had rather a distinct smell.

"Or you know... ignore me, that's always a way to go about it too." Akane said rather grumpily. "I used to be an arrogant, spunky ninja too... then I took an arrow to the ass."

Kami smiled at Akane and pushed off her knees. "She's right, we should get back to the others."

"You two head back." Tsu said, indicating Akane and Kami "Hinji and I will stay out here. We can't allow someone like this to go by unchecked. While they might be drawing us away, they can also kill people easily from a distance."

Akane looked at Kami and said, "Race ya?" Now wasn't the time, but it was only to signal that they should get a move on.

A line of arrows pierced the ground before the two girls before they could even begin to flee. "Now, now, no one is going anywhere." Jedan's voice echoed all around them. He appeared on a branch before the four of them and held two fingers up before his face. Bringing his left hand up, he connected his hands and there was a sudden release of chakra. The line of arrows exploded, sending debris sky high, and opening the ground up beneath.

Two puffs of white smoke followed the explosion and Kami and Akane appeared on a nearby branch. "You're going to have to try harder than that." Kami said, though she was sweating just a little from having used the lightning blade not too long ago.

Tsu had dashed out of there the moment the arrows had landed, grabbing Hinji as she did so he wasn't horribly murdered by some damn exploding arrows. She put him down carefully on a branch, out of direct sunlight. "What makes you so confident?" she asked "Your brothers weren't so tough." She waved the severed arm, which she still hadn't let go, in the arm like a trophy.

Wind spiraled under Akane's heels and launched her with each step as she sprinted through the tree branches. If the other group was getting attacked, she feared even they couldn't protect all of the carts.

An arrow whistled through the air and struck the branch beneath Akane's foot. The branch exploded just as her foot was coming down to launch her off of it. "Now, now, Jedan said nobody is leaving, girlie." Another archer said, appearing before her with his bow knocked and ready. He fired several more arrows at her with a wide smirk on his face. "You tried to kill the wrong brother earlier by the way. Turn around so I can even you out."

In mid fall, Akane used her new kunai to meet the arrows, deflecting them to her left and right with a flick of her wrist. Her aim was impeccable despite her lack of depth perception. "You aren't faster than me." she said, landing on a lower branch. Spiraling wind beneath her feet again, she launched herself into the canopy, narrowly missing branches and leaves. Breaching the trees, she began 'flying' to her destination as fast as her wind could carry her. Although there was less to hide around up here, she could see arrows coming a mile away.

The fourth, now second, archer whistled a catcall as she took up into the air. Jedan could handle himself, far be it from him to allow one of them to escape. He took off after her, moving with the inhuman speed that allowed the four of them to build their reputation. He loosed several arrows after her, boosting their flight speed with his chakra. "I don't have to be faster than you. You move slower than my arrows do." He taunted her with a sadistic grin

"I do." Kami said, and lightning suddenly arched through the trees directly in front of his path. She'd left behind her weights with Tsu and Hinji and it took hardly a blink of an eye to catch up to Akane.

The archer veered to avoid Kami's lightning and smirked over at her. "So you are, so you are." He gave her a little wink and reached behind his back. He arched his hand outward from behind his back, sending several kunai flying through the air towards Kami. He made a quick hand sign and the kunai exploded in poofs of smoke, transforming into large, spinning windmill-like blades.

Jedan looked down at the two ninja remaining. "My brothers were arrogant and foolish." He crossed his arms and nodded to Tsu. "Do you intend to have his arm mounted? I could get the rest of him if you want him stuffed."

"No, I'm going to beat you to death with the sticky end." Tsu said with a wide grin. She dropped a smoke pellet at her feet, clouding her and Hinji in smoke. Three of her burst from the smoke and raced towards Jedan, two in front, the one behind the only one holding a disembodied arm. It seemed as if she was using her own clones as a shield.

Hinji took the chance offered to him by the smoke, and relocated. He threw out a card once he was hidden again, from this card came a dark silhouette, humanoid in shape and wielding two katanas. Hinji pointed at the archer and with a nod the creature started off towards the target.

Jedan brought his bow up and pulled back, taking aim at the three rushing Tsus. "Make as many clones as you want. Secret Technique - Truth Seeker!" When he released the arrow, it spun and sent a double burst of chakra out into the clones as the arrow itself moved directly for the true Tsu.

"Ohhh, so close." the Tsu holding the arm said before throwing the arm at tops speed right at Jedan's head. There was a 'poof' as it passed over Jedan, and a sudden force was applied to his neck as Tsu grabbed him and hung onto his back, using his brother's own arm to throttle him. The arrow was still going for her of course, but now Jedan was between them, and there was a clone of Tsu herself rushing in behind the arrow.

"You're still the target you know." Jedan cautioned her as she held his body before hers as a shield. "The arrow won't stop until it gets you."

Taking the opportunity provided to it, the katana wielding shadow sprung into the air. The leap carried it through the air and to the archer, where it came down with the full force of his katanas focused in slicing the archer into three pieces from head to toe.

"I'll deal with that in a second." Tsu hissed to the man, watching as the shadow came in suddenly to attack "But you've got a few issues to deal with first." She would have to shatter the arrow, if she could. She just hoped the killing blow was landed on this guy soon.

As the katanas came downward, Jedan released his hold on his brother's arm, better to choke then be sliced open. His hands moved quickly and in a brilliant flash of light, his jutsu manifested. "Lightning style - Ohm Shield!" The air rippled as the lightning arched from his fingers, emitting a rather small and pathetic looking shield of crackling light before him. When the katanas met the shield, the lightning crackled and flared, pushing back against the aggressor.

---

Akane dodged and blew the other arrows away before they could make their mark. While Kami distracted him, she floated and made a spree of hand signs. Keeping the attack hidden, she didn't call it out and exhaled through her pinched fingers. A powerful jet stream grew from her breath and spiraled forward, completely enveloping the archer and tossing him head over heels like a ragdoll.

Kami knew she didn't have the chakra to waste by using a jutsu against the shuriken. She wanted to keep enough in case she needed to use another lightening blade. Instead of preforming a jutsu, she pulled a simple kunai and hoped her reflexes were quick enough to block the giant shuriken.

The archer held his hands out and with a surge of chakra, evened himself out. "Nice trick girlie. Want to see one of mine?" He sent his chakra down into his bow and pulled the string back, without an arrow. "Wind style - Fujita Arrow F3!" He released the bow string and with a tremendous explosion of chakra, an arrow of pure wind chakra burst forth, arching directly for Akane's chest.

Well that sure left little to the imagination as far as this man's specialty went. He was wind nature...just like her. Using one of the kunai Oita had given her, Akane launched it with a slew of chakra just like the archer's arrow. It's tip was aimed straight at the arrow's point. She braced herself for the explosion of air that would soon erupt from it.

Meanwhile Kami managed to block one of the shuriken with her kunai, then pulled one into her left hand to block the other. While deflecting one it buzzed past her and sawed off a hefty looking branch. A branch Kami caught and used to knock the two remaining shuriken completely off course.

The shuriken embedded themselves into the trunk of a nearby tree and sawed halfway in before coming to a stop. When the infused kunai struck the arrow head, the resulting shock peeled like thunder. The wind chakras were released and swirled about one another, creating a large funnel cloud. The archer shielded his face and back pedaled away before he would get sucked into the funnel..

Kami didn't often employ the use of wire but she took a kunai from her back, tied off a bit of wire and swung it at the backpedal archer, intending to snare him and prevent his escape from the funnel.

Akane saw what Kami was doing and began blowing the funnel to coast nearer to the archer. As it neared, it drew him in.

The archer struggled against the wire, digging his heels into the tree's branch as the funnel tried to suck him in. "That won't kill me you know." He taunted them as he strained to stay outside of the swirling mass.

The funnel stripped trees of it's branches as Akane guided it nearer. They didn't need to kill him, just distract him enough to get back to the wagons.

"No, but it'll make you dizzy as hell..." Kami groaned, winding the wire around her fists and giving a mighty yank.

With a groan, the archer was hauled into the spinning vortex. He struggled against the wire bindings, as long as they held, he wasn't getting out of the funnel until he'd spun all the way through, for sure...