Shuten-doji suddenly lunged at us. Kagami shouted the move's name out "Oni Rush!" Itsuki and I split in opposite directions. The lunge was so strong it left a shockwave that ripped through the trees, leaving a clean corridor where they once stood. "Holy cow…" I thought to myself. "That's most likely his long range move, given the shockwave it left behind." I glanced over at Itsuki, who was also carefully observing Kagami's attacks. This wasn't the time to attack; first we needed to see all his abilities. Itsuki and I seemed to equally understand this.
We ran around Kagami & Shuten-doji, who while physically powerful, were not very fast while fighting. Once we paired up again we dashed through the woods, hearing Kagami approaching us quickly.
"Itsuki. His attack…" Itsuki cut me off before I could get anything out.
"That wasn't his long range ability."
I looked at Itsuki, shocked, and slightly worried.
"Our main priority is to restrain his arms. Without them there won't be much he can't do."
I nod, understanding his plan.
"I'll restrain them with Toad's Tongue, then…"
Itsuki interjects. "I'll paralyze them with Venom Fangs."
I grinned knowing I had a teammate that could pick up on what I was thinking. "This will go down pretty easy." I said to myself.
"But before that, we have to tire him out. His raw strength alone can tear through your tongue ability. It'd be like putting a gorilla in handcuffs." Itsuki quickly put down my hopeful optimism.
I nodded. "I get you. But how do you suggest we do that."
Itsuki let out a small chuckle. "Simple, we run."
"But how fast do we have to-"
"Orochimaru, shed your skin!"
Quickly, Orochimaru shed its skin, sacrificing its defenses for speed, and dashed way ahead of where I was.
"You jerk! I have no mobility abilities like you do!" I shouted at Itsuki.
Itsuki laughed at me. "Then stall him, Ogata! Use that elementary brain of yours!"
As Itsuki got ahead, Kagami approached.
"I heard that, Kintaro! You won't be escaping from me!" Kagami shouted from behind me.
His shrill voice sent a chill down my spine. I looked behind me and he was right there. The mountainous, red oni he called his puppet and the spindly, uncanny man the puppet called its master.
I stopped in my tracks, not knowing what to do. I looked around, desperate for anything I could use.
"Tch… that jerk, leaving me for dead over here with Kagami." I thought to myself.
As I looked around me, Jiraiya spoke to me.
"Young Kintaro… Don't be a fool. Use your surroundings to your advantage."
Staring into the forest with Kagami rapidly approaching, I had an idea. I used Toad's Tongue to rip off a tree from the ground and flung it straight at Shuten-doji's face, staggering the oni and Kagami. I made a mad dash for it, but Kagami & Shuten-doji only got closer.
Suddenly, I thought of something even better, though it was risky.
I looked up at Jiraiya to get some semblance of approval. He smiled confidently and nodded. That's when we used Toad's Tongue, wrapping it around Shuten-doji.
We pulled ourselves towards Kagami, the tongue holding up for the time being. As we approached Jiraiya prepped both hands with a Toad's Palm, the explosive toad oil dripped off his palms as we neared the oni & its master.
Once we got to them, Jiraiya dealt a clean blow square in the middle of his chest. Shuten-doji began to wriggle around, undoing the grip the tongue had on him. The imprints of both palms began to bubble.
Shuten-doji & Kagami were beginning to let loose. All I needed was 3 seconds.
3…
2…
1…
"TOAD'S PALM! DOUBLE STRIKE EXPLOSION!"
Right before Shuten-doji could undo the tongue's grip, the explosion from both palms sent Jiraiya and I flying forward. We flew through the trees for a bit until needing to use Toad's Tongue to swing through the trees. The explosion gave us so much momentum that I quickly caught up with Itsuki again, who seemingly had used Shed Skin more than once given how far he'd reached without regaining Orochimaru's protective layer.
"Hey there Itsuki!"
Itsuki looked at me shocked.
"How could you have caught up?! Nobody is supposed to be as fast as Orochimaru and I after Shed Skin is used!"
I laughed in his face.
"I simply used my elementary mind, as you suggested."
Itsuki scoffed. "Well whatever. Ahead of us is a wide open meadow. That's where we'll get him."
I smiled, "Alright then! What's the full plan though."
"I'll use you as bait. You'll stand in the open field while I use my variety attack to disguise myself. I won't be able to see him so you have to let me know when he's near. After this, I'll ambush him and then we'll use our original plan." Itsuki explained.
"Toad's Tongue with Venom Fangs?"
Itsuki nodded as we approached the open meadow.
We stopped running once we reached the edge.
"It's time to set this plan into motion." Itsuki stood in front of where we emerged from. He put his hands together, his fingers pointing down at the ground.
"Burrow, Orochimaru!"
Orochimaru quickly dug a hole into the ground. As Itsuki descended, he left me one final message.
"Act as bait and let me know when Kagami-sensei is here or you're dead."
Itsuki was now fully submerged in the ground. I stood at the edge of the forest, waiting for Kagami to arrive. Then suddenly, a flaming chunk of the ground got flung at me.
I heard Kagami's voice shout out what seemed to be an ability.
"Demon Hurl…"
I then heard him shout something after: "… TEN FOLD!"
Suddenly, nine more fire balls were hurtled at me.
I did my best to dodge them but got overwhelmed and ended up using Toad Skin to take the brunt of the attack.
Kagami had reached the meadow. He saw Jiraiya and I covered in the rough Toad Skin. He laughed.
"So you couldn't dodge my attack and had to resort to your defenses? That's cute, Kintaro."
Kagami took a step into the meadow. That was our chance.
"Itsuki, now!" I shouted.
Itsuki shot up from the ground behind Kagami.
"Tail Whip!" Itsuki shouted, striking Shuten-doji across the head, making him stagger.
"Now, Ogata! Restrain him!"
Jiraiya wrapped Toad's Tongue around the stunned oni. Orochimaru quickly followed, sending his Venom Fangs into both arms, finally neutralizing Kagami.
Kagami stood there helplessly, Shuten-doji now having no access to his abilities. Kagami began to clap.
"Well done, Itsuki my boy. He's all yours now."
I quickly look over at Itsuki, confused.
"What does he mean, Itsuki?"
Kagami started laughing maniacally.
"What do I mean?! I mean that Itsuki is free to fight you! As my dedicated student, he'll get into Puppet Arts no matter what. His puppetry is pure and refined, nothing like you nobodies that are taking the remedial test like he is now! So go ahead, Itsuki my boy, fight him!"
Itsuki smiled menacingly.
"Sorry about that, Ogata. Don't hate the player, hate the game."
Itsuki got into a fighting stance.
"So this was all rigged?" I scoffed. "And here I was, starting to think we'd be friends. I knew something was up, you cheater…"
Jiraiya and I prepare for the oncoming battle.