48. Tentacles

And there was silence again.

Itachi was not talkative by nature, and neither was Kakashi. Both were accustomed to being in the company of others while remaining silent.

So, this is what happens when two introverts are put together in a room.

Provided, of course, that they are not sexually attracted to each other.

In that case...

Anyway, neither Itachi nor Kakashi were introverts per se.

Or maybe they were, depending on one's perspective.

"I heard that Nii-chan and you had a spar yesterday. It's a shame I was still on a mission," Itachi expressed his disappointment through his words.

"Yeah, that was an experience," Kakashi said, recalling the events of the spar.

Yesterday:

"It's been a while since we had a spar," Kakashi commented while doing some basic exercises to warm up his body.

Even if they were basic exercises, normal people wouldn't have been able to see the movements of their body parts due to the immense gap in physical and mental capabilities between the two.

The answer is chakra.

Okay, that's a bit brief but pretty self-explanatory.

"Yeah, it's been a long time since I kicked your ass," Yukio provoked, but Kakashi didn't rise to the bait.

He was calm at the moment and used to Yukio's foul mouth.

"We'll see about that. But do we really need a barrier to battle inside?" Kakashi pointed at a barrier that could be seen around them.

Outside the barrier, Miyuki could be seen sitting on a couch with popcorn in her hand, waiting for the match to begin.

Kakashi and Yukio ignored her presence entirely because of that.

"Yeah, maybe a stray jutsu of ours will kill some unsuspecting genin a few miles away," Yukio joked.

Kakashi chuckled and got into position for the battle.

The chances of that happening were low but not entirely impossible. Besides, they didn't want their abilities to be exposed to others.

In the ninja world, information is power.

It decides life and death, so most ninjas take this seriously.

Yukio also got into position.

"Okay, I'll count to five. You guys start fighting when I say five," Miyuki finally said something, acting as the referee she was supposed to be.

Both fighters nodded.

"1... 2... 10!" Both of them rushed at each other, weaving hand seals.

They soon realized that Miyuki hadn't said 10 but had skipped to it from 2. Neither of them cared since the other had done the same, so it was fair.

"Wait, I didn't even say 10, you idiots!" Miyuki expected one of them to stop and give her a deadpan look, but neither of them did.

She sighed and reclined in the comfy chair she had brought along, popcorn in hand, ready to enjoy the battle.

As the distance between them halved, Kakashi, true to his canon reputation for hand seal speed, completed his jutsu.

An explosion echoed, and Kakashi appeared with one hand outstretched, just inches away from Yukio.

However, Yukio didn't react and instead spat a beam of water at the outstretched hand.

Yukio had planned to use a different jutsu, but Kakashi's unexpected speed forced him to change mid-way.

It had been a while since they last fought. Yukio had been busy, and Kakashi had been secretly training something new.

'I see, so this is what caught me off guard. The framing bias that comes with meta-knowledge,' Yukio thought as he saw the explosion from Kakashi's hand slow down his water beam.

The explosion's purpose was to shift Kakashi's right side slightly behind.

Due to the speed and explosion, Yukio didn't notice Kakashi's left hand going to his sword, where lightning sparked.

When Yukio did notice, it was too late. Kakashi's sword extended suddenly, pointing straight at him.

'So, he can use Chidori variations too, huh,' Yukio thought as a blue laser beam almost reached his heart.

Yukio's instincts kicked in. He released a large amount of chakra from his legs in a very short time, propelling himself away.

The beam still grazed him, piercing his shoulder and leaving a hole.

Yukio's excellent chakra control and expertise in shape transformation allowed him to release such a high output in such a short time.

Chakra output, the amount of chakra released divided by time, gives an advantage in jutsus as more chakra generally means more power and can also act as a propeller in emergencies like this.

Even while injured, Yukio continued weaving hand seals.

Kakashi didn't hesitate and sent a flying lighting slash at him.

Both were confident they wouldn't fatally injure each other because the barrier, controlled by Miyuki, could teleport them out if the damage became life-threatening.

At least the hole in Yukio's shoulder wasn't visible from the other side indicating that it was not that deep.

Just as Kakashi's lightning slash approached, Yukio completed his jutsu.

Water unsealed from his bracers formed a fast-spinning drill that neutralized Kakashi's slash.

The drill split into three tentacles that attached to Yukio's back.

Kakashi's eye twitched. 'I knew he said this would be his signature move, but seeing it in action is weird.'

As Kakashi weaved hand seals, he glanced at Miyuki, who was munching on popcorn.

With his Sharingan active, he caught the faint blush on her cheeks.

'How kinky,' Kakashi thought, shivering. He wondered if what they did in bed was wilder than anything he'd read in Icha-Icha, known for its explicit smut.

Kakashi summoned three lightning pythons to intercept Yukio's water tentacles which were rushing at him.

The tentacles spun at their tips, overwhelming the pythons, but they served as distractions.

Kakashi used the time to charge his sword with Chidori.

'So, he can't apply Shiranui to all three tentacles at once. That's a relief,' Kakashi noted.

Shiranui was the name that they decided for the water stream technique or Suikiri which Yukio calls. 

Suikiri was initially given by Kakashi technically ( Mizukiri), but due to it being 'lame', it wasn't taken, and during one of the dinners with the Uchiha family, they had decided on this name. 

However, Yukio forgot about this and never used that name out loud.

So, it was kind of ironic and funny that Yukio was using the name that Kakashi proposed and Kakashi was using the name Yukio proposed. 

Kakashi suddenly vanished and reappeared above Yukio, his sword descending.

Yukio only heard an explosion and with his space-sensing technique(part of Hirashin) was able to perceive that Kakashi was above him with his sword coming down. 

Yukio instinctively directed his tentacles upward, applying Suikiri to them.

Three spinning drills clashed with Kakashi's sword.

Lightning coursed through the water, but Yukio had grounded the tentacles, diverting the current safely.

As their clash continued, Yukio weaved hand seals again.

Suddenly sound of another explosion came out just as Kakashi overpowered the tentacles, slicing through them.

The sword passed through and headed straight for Yukio, who kept weaving seals.

***

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