Tenten brought both hands toward the scrolls.
Kaito felt her intention change before her fingers even touched the first one.
Kaito didn't answer. He simply waited.
Tenten watched his closed eyes for a few seconds, looking for some sign that this was a joke.
But she didn't find one. Kaito kept his arms relaxed at both sides of his body and hadn't even taken a defensive stance.
His katana remained sheathed at his waist and the three shuriken he had just picked up rested between the fingers of his left hand.
"Are you going to open your eyes when I start?"
"No."
Tenten's smile faded a little.
"No?"
"I don't need them."
That did manage to annoy her.
Tenten was a bukijutsu specialist. She had dedicated years to perfecting the use of ninja tools and could use an enormous variety of weapons, from kunai and shuriken to melee weapons, chains and projectiles launched through her scrolls.
A fundamental part of her style consisted precisely of overwhelming the opponent through quantity, variety and constant changes of trajectory.
Telling her he didn't need to see her was practically an extreme provocation.
"Fine," she answered while unrolling one of her scrolls. "You asked for it."
Chakra ran through the paper and a cloud of smoke exploded in front of her.
Kaito felt the change immediately.
His Kenbunshoku transformed the battlefield into something completely different.
Tenten was a clear presence in front of him, but she wasn't the only thing he could feel.
He perceived the tension in her body, the intention that preceded every movement and the exact instant her decision to attack became action. He heard the displaced air, felt the alterations around him and, above all, perceived the hostile will that guided every throw.
Tenten attacked.
Six kunai came first.
Kaito tilted his head slightly.
The first one passed by his cheek.
He moved his shoulder.
The second grazed his clothes.
A small step to the left let two more pass on both sides of his body. The last ones were aimed at his abdomen and thigh, but Kaito barely turned his waist and both continued on past him.
Tenten was already launching the second wave. This time shuriken.
Kaito started walking toward her.
That surprised her.
"What... the hell?"
Twelve shuriken cut through the space between them.
Kaito didn't open his eyes.
One step.
Two.
And then his head, tilting his torso. He lifted one leg for a fraction of a second and a shuriken passed exactly under his sandal. Another headed for his throat, but Kaito simply moved his neck a few centimeters.
He kept walking.
Tenten frowned.
"That isn't just hearing."
"Correct."
The answer came with absolute calm.
Tenten threw two kunai to the sides instead of aiming directly at him.
Kaito smiled when he felt the tension of the wires.
Tenten pulled them.
The kunai violently changed direction and came back from blind spots while she simultaneously launched three more projectiles from the front.
Five trajectories and three directions.
Kaito stopped. The two kunai connected by threads crossed behind him just as he leaned his body forward.
One of the frontal projectiles passed over his head.
He moved his left hand and caught the second kunai by the ring without even looking at it. The third would have hit his shoulder.
Would have.…
But he raised the captured kunai.
Clang!
He deflected the projectile.
Tenten didn't give up and opened another scroll.
Poof.
A bō appeared in her hands and she advanced immediately.
Her first blow went straight for his ribs. Kaito raised his forearm.
The black coating covered it, making the impact ring out hard.
Ckank!
Tenten felt a painful vibration run through her hands.
"What the hell?!"
Kaito didn't move.
"Body coating."
Tenten narrowed her eyes.
"That's what you used with the kunai earlier."
Tenten stepped back and attacked again. This time she aimed at his shoulder.
Kaito took the blow with his palm.
The bō stopped.
Tenten pushed. But nothing. It was like trying to move a wall.
"Hardening is a manifestation of the user's will," Kaito explained while keeping the weapon stopped. "Will becomes protection. The stronger and more refined your will is, the greater the force you'll be able to transmit."
Tenten let go of the bō and immediately spun on herself and launched a sweep at his legs.
Kaito jumped with ease.
She had expected that.
She then pulled two kunai before Kaito landed and threw them.
Kaito still had his eyes closed. That was the most frustrating thing for her. A newly promoted Chūnin.
"Luckily you have an iron will."
Tenten appeared in front of him taking advantage of the distraction and threw a kick at his abdomen.
Kaito raised a hand and stopped it with his palm. Tenten tried to pull it back. But Kaito let go immediately.
"Good combination."
She stepped back a little, panting.
"Thanks."
Kaito then opened his eyes.
"I trust you've grasped the essence of the coating in a practical way. Now let's go to the theory."
"Wait." Tenten stopped him.
"I want to learn your other ability too."
Kaito blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"The one you used to anticipate all my attacks." Tenten got frustrated. "The one you use while keeping your eyes closed."
Kaito then understood.
This girl didn't just want to learn Busoshoku, she wanted Kenbunshoku as well.
Kaito had simply wanted to show off in battle to catch her attention. After all, Observation Haki was like the Achilles' heel for a ninja like her. Hence the girl's frustration at not landing a single attack.
Kaito hadn't expected her to be interested.
But thinking about it. Predicting where the enemy will be would be damn useful for a thrown-weapons specialist like her.
"That is another ability based on the same concept. Will. It's true it would be quite useful for you, especially to anticipate the enemy's movements."
Kaito looked at her with amusement.
"The deal was the coating." Kaito said.
"I want to learn both." Tenten said with an iron will in her gaze.
Kaito was amused by her.
"I have no problem teaching you that one too," he said. "But the deal will have to undergo a few adjustments."
Tenten rolled her eyes.
"Go on."
"I have a slightly twisted fantasy. You'd have to wear a costume," he said, without the slightest blush on his face, "while you do the chores in my apartment."
Silence sat between the two of them. Tenten blinked.
"What costume?"
"A bunny one."
At first Tenten thought she had misheard, or that it was some kind of joke. But seeing his completely indifferent face. Without a trace of any emotion. She knew he was speaking seriously.
The red rose violently in Tenten from her throat to her ears. Then came the feeling of shame at imagining herself in something like that. And finally the anger.
She pointed a kunai at him the next instant.
"A what?"
"Bunny," Kaito repeated with a stoic face. "You know, ears, bow, the standard suit." Then he added shamelessly. "Observation trains better when the body is occupied with a minor humiliation. It's pedagogy."
"It's garbage." Tenten shouted at him.
Kaito covered his ears.
"That too." He said.
Tenten looked at him.
"Are you being serious?"
Kaito nodded. Without any kind of shame on his face. That was what infuriated Tenten the most. That he didn't show any kind of emotion. As if the request were something trivial.
Tenten thought it over. Even she herself couldn't believe it. The more she turned the matter over. The more she understood that these strange powers could benefit her style a great deal.
Minutes later of being in silence. Finally her rage deflated a little. Only the shame was left.
"You're a pervert." She said through her teeth.
Kaito tilted his head, conceding the charge.
"I've never denied it."