Hoseki Spying: Sadaharu and Ayao Edition

The wind hummed with steel. A bisected Iwa shinobi dropped out of the trees, followed by two other ninjas whose throats had been gouged out by kunai. A purple-haired kunoichi jumped down from the trees with a burst of wind and examined her handiwork.

It was fast, efficient killing, Hoseki thought. The target of her surveillance did not agree.

"I messed up," Ayao said.

"Oh?" Sadaharu emerged from the forest, dragging a mutilated corpse behind her. "Did you get caught?"

"No."

"Are the Iwa shinobi dead?"

"Yes."

"Then everything went well," Sadaharu said. "What's the problem?"

"The three of them were supposed to die at the same time," Ayao said, "but I was faster than my kunai, so the third target died first. I need to work on my timing."

Ayao might not be the smartest kunoichi in Konoha, but she was one of the few with the potential to pose a threat to Hoseki's master. She was fast, and her wind jutsu insulated her from the lightning.

"Multiple simultaneous attack, across different distances, using different weapons." Sadaharu tilted her head sideways as she mulled over the problem. "Interesting, but you're forgetting something."

"What's that?" Ayao asked.

"Your objective isn't to kill your enemies at the same time, it's to kill them as quickly as possible," Sadaharu explained. "If you reduce the time between the first attack and the last attack as much as possible, they'll all die at the same time anyway. That gives me an idea, actually…"

Sadaharu let go of the corpse she was dragging and yanked one of the mostly-whole ones by the hair, throwing it up in the air. Before its feet could touch the ground, she drew her sword. The corpse exploded into blood and ribbons of meat.

"Isn't that the kenjutsu you've been working on?" Ayao asked.

"Yes, but this time, I focused on the first and last strikes only and let the others fall into place naturally."

"Did it work?" Ayao asked. "I couldn't see."

"It felt sloppy, but jutsu aren't fully refined after the first attempt," Sadaharu said. "I'll have to try it on live targets and get used to it. You should try it as well. Instead of carefully planning your attacks in sequence, focus on the first and last targets, and let your muscle memory, instincts, reflexes and experience take care of the rest. At the speeds you can go, consciously planning your movements isn't always feasible. It's easy to get tunnel vision; that's why Kakashi's Chidori can only be effectively performed by someone who possesses the sharingan or the byakugan to make up for the loss of perception. If you were to launch multiple simultaneous against, say, a sharingan user, it would be easy for them to dodge or parry your attack and ruin your attack plan. You'll have to adjust even if your nerves aren't fast enough to keep up with your body's movements."

Ayao clenched her fists tight.

"I understand," she said. "I'll start practicing as soon as we return to Konoha."

"Alright, I'll even volunteer to help you with your dodging."

"No, no, you don't have to do that!"

"It's no trouble, I also need target practice. Come on, help me get rid of all this evidence."

This trip had been an extremely fruitful one. Not only had Hoseki gotten a close look at the purple kunoichi's skills, she'd also gotten some good advice from the violent swordswoman. No doubt her master would be able to put the woman's words to good use for his own kenjutsu training.