59. Playing the Flute Isn’t an Euphemism

Tayuya backhands me away before I can secure my grip on her and leaps back ten meters to put distance between us. She’s got her signature Sound Village outfit on today with a tunic, black skin-tight shorts, a purple rope-like belt, and a hat with bandaged sides containing her bangs. Rouge-pink hair cascades down her spine and partially covers her brown eyes.

She draws her demonic flute, and her curse mark activates, spreading zigzag tattoo lines across her body and boosting her strength.

“Before we start, I have a few questions… Is it true what they say about female flutists being good with their fingers? And have you even been to band camp?”

“Shut up. I can’t let a damn punk Genin keep me from Orochimaru-san’s side. Demon Flute: Chains of Fantasia!”

I rush forward as Tayuya plays a haunting melody, and I’m transported to another world. A barren landscape surrounds me. Skulls litter the wasteland. Spears fall from the sky to impale my hands and feet before I can dodge. These spears become spindly thorn trees that grow high into the air, lifting and splaying my limbs. Then my arms begin to melt from the elbows out. My fingers droop as if made of putty. Flesh sloughs from bones…

“Kai! Genjutsu Dissipation!”

“Who the fuck said that? How did you escape my genjutsu? Ah!—fucking shit!” Tayaya stops questioning me as she realizes she’s covered in parasitic insects. I passed along a portion of my swarm to her during the tackle.

“Take her out quickly!” I shout. I’ll be sure to thoroughly thank my partner for the save, later.

Tenten and Hinata jump onto the roof, black capes billowing, and the three of us surround the enemy.

Tayuya brushes off some of the insects, but she doesn’t have a skill tailored to the task, so the majority sticks. I might be able to solo her if I had the luxury of time. Unfortunately, I have two ticking clocks that need to be addressed in the form of Gaara and Orochimaru. She looks at the kunoichi on her flanks and tsks. The rouge-haired Sound ninja knows time works against her.

“Fine, I’ll crush you bitches at full strength!” Tayuya gathers her energy and takes her curse mark to the second stage. Her skin darkens, her sclerae blacken, horns grow from her head, and her hair triples in length. “I can’t believe I have to use this on a bunch of Genin. The others won’t let me live it down.”

Then she bites a finger before slamming her hand on the rooftop. A summoning circle expands from her palm until an explosion of smoke engulfs her.

When the smoke clears, three muscular figures stand before Tayuya. The first has long hair covering its face and a huge, studded metal club. The second is bald with claw weapons tied to its arms. The third is completely wrapped in bandages with its head forever tilted skyward.

They all have purple rope belts with covered eyes and mouths sewn shut.

“Demon Flute: Trio Requiem!” This complex flute melody allows her to covertly control her sightless summoned minions. Tayuya comes at us with the full power of her kit, one Doki demon ogre for each of us.

Tenten and Hinata cast aside their black cloaks and all three of us raise our arms.

All twelve arms.

“T-That has to be Sakon-kun’s Kekkei Genkai! Fucking impossible!!!” It finally clicks for her. “I recognize you now, bitch! You’re that perverted maid! You stole it from him somehow!”

I grin and put my tongue between my fingers in a ‘V’ sign. “I’m more pervert than maid, but I’m happy to be of service~.”

Tayuya blushes before blowing a fierce string of notes on her flute.

The ogre with a club runs for Tenten and five Crystal Ice Mirrors surround it in a pentagram. Tenten clones appear in the mirrors as she throws shuriken and senbon at the summoned demon. It blocks several projectiles with its club but can’t stop the deluge flowing from four rapid hands through any of five directions.

Senbon with bells attached ring in its ears. The confusion of sound dulls its movements, though that doesn’t stop it. Its massive club descends on a mirror with a crunch. The mirror cracks but holds its shape.

Tenten has four mirrors remaining, while blood drips from the ogre’s dozens of wounds.

The backward demon charges Hinata. It thrashes its muscled bulk at the comparatively tiny kunoichi. She dodges and strikes, dodges and strikes. Her Gentle Fist eliminates tenketsu after tenketsu, but she doesn’t have the freedom to hit the number necessary to impede its movements. Her second pair of arms stabs the ogre with a kunai on each pass; mere scratches on its bulk.

Then a stray blow impacts Hinata like a car crash. My heart skips a beat as she rolls to a stop broken and bleeding. The ogre looms above her ready to finish the job. I see her bring an arm to her mouth and bite, vitality surging through her as Hinata’s wounds are healed in an instant. She dodges the demon’s coup de grâce, and the two resume their dance.

Meanwhile, the clawed demon approaches me. I crack my neck and slam my fist into my palm while my second set of hands perform a familiar jutsu.

“Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!”

Four snakes stream from my sleeves to entangle the ogre’s arms and pull me inside the arc of its claw swipe. I unleash a series of Gentle Fist blows to the demon’s gut. However, it pulls its arms free with superior strength. I release one arm, using the other to swing myself onto its shoulders where I rain down additional hits. In seconds the third ogre has dozens of blocked tenketsu and half as many venomous snakebites.

The Doki beneath me attempts to dislodge me by shrugging, thrashing, or hitting me with claws, but I have a secret. My Sharingan has already mapped Tayuya’s flute fingering to the ogres’ movements. It’s not something I can easily communicate with my women, but I can read my ogre’s attacks far in advance on top of my Sharingan’s increased reaction time.

Tenten and I are whittling down our ogres while Hinata holds her own.

Tayuya fails to shake off my parasitic insects as she plays. Though her curse mark gives her power, she knows she loses the long game. “So, you aren’t your ordinary Genin, huh? Alright. You fucking asked for this. Finale, Ninth Movement: Revolt of the Demon World!”

The sewed-shut mouths of the Doki are pried open by emerging ghostly worms covered in toothy maws.

“That’s the most disgusting chakra I’ve ever seen!” Karin says as her head briefly manifests from Hinata’s body.

Tenten’s second set of arms shivers until she holds them steady. “Don’t worry, Kin-kitty; I’ll protect you.”

This turns the tables somewhat. It’s more than my girls are ready to handle at this point. I’m barely able to dodge the claw ogre plus its ghost-worm, and Tenten continues to play whack-a-mole with her ogre, but Hinata can’t afford to take a hit from that thing and is forced to retreat. Without being properly pressured, the backward ogre leaves her to take a crack at me.

There’s no way I can handle two Doki and their ghost worms!

“Mind Body Switch Technique!”

“Macabre Bone Pulse: Dance of the Cosmos Flower!”

Ino/Sakura leaps with the strength of four legs to deliver a bone-knuckle right hook to the backward demon’s chin. Her reinforced bones easily endure the stress of the blow, but the ogre’s head whips to the side, and it stumbles before slowly righting itself. Meanwhile, Ino’s hand seal targets the claw ogre, freezing it in place.

Sakura lands with a flourish of her hair, reabsorbing Ino’s limp arms into their amalgamate body—a perfect place to safely store an unconscious kunoichi! “Sorry for the delay, Shino-chan! I woke Naruto-kun and Shikamaru-kun like you said. Kakashi-sensei sent them after Sasuke-kun with Pakkun.”

“Another insect to crush? I have to give you all credit for persistence, but this is the end!” Tayuya says. She sends the backward Doki after me heedless of the damage Sakura and Hinata are doing to it.

“I agree.”

I make a dash for the enemy. The backward ogre is fast, attacking me from behind, but my Byakugan can see in all directions, and I can read Tayuya’s flute instructions. This Sound Four member won’t stand there waiting for me. She retreats as fast as I run without skipping a note.

Then an Ice Mirror appears behind Tayuya. Tenten is desperately fleeing the club ogre after dismissing her mirrors, but the rouge-haired kunoichi has an obstacle in her path. It takes half a moment for Tayuya to adjust and jump over the mirror, but that’s all I need.

A snake strikes, wrapping around Tayuya’s ankle, and pulling us together midair. Seeing the backward ogre is a hair too far away to stop me, she drops her flute. Then she aims a punch at my face. I smile. Sure, Tayuya in her curse mark’s second stage is stronger than I am, but I have quantity over quality!

We exchange blows. Snakes batter her fists off course, block her punches, or entangle her limbs while I duck and weave with Sharingan reflexes. All the while, I’m hitting her tenketsu.

“Eight Trigrams: Two Palms! Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty-Two Palms! Sixty-Four Palms!”

It’s over.

Tayuya falls to her knees. The Doki halt without further instructions. I cover the Sound kunoichi in parasitic insects and toss her into my gourd. Her transformation fades as her chakra flow goes dry, and the Doki can’t sustain their presence without her. They vanish in a puff of smoke after a minute.

“Sakura-chan, time is of the essence!” I send a male parasitic insect over to her. “This bug will lead you to Sasuke-kun so you can defeat Kankuro-kun for me. I’m counting on you two.”

She nods, face serious as she suppresses her pride in being given such an important task.

“Everyone else, move out!”