Bone Vines Seal the Mine; All Four Hunters Fall

"Weak?"

Iron Claw ground a section of root protruding from the ground beneath his shoe. His hardened sole pressed down, forcing gravel into the mud and making the mine lamp beside it sway twice.

"Do you know what Yaqu said before he died?"

"Not interested."

Chiba pressed his five fingers to the ground. Bony Poison Vines spread along the cave walls in both directions, their pale frameworks drilling into cracks in the rock and sealing off the widest stretch of tunnel in the blink of an eye.

Iron Claw did not stop him. He merely tilted his head toward the others.

"Leave him alive. Whoever takes his legs first gets an extra ten percent of the bounty."

Gunpowder Hand hugged his wooden barrel and retreated.

"How much is ten percent?"

"Enough to buy you a new leg."

"Fine. I'll go first."

The barrel hit the ground. More than ten fist-sized powder charges rolled down the slope, their fuses trailing sparks across the stone as they sped toward Chiba's feet.

Chiba did not retreat. The water-absorbing roots hidden underground pierced the barrel first, drawing water from the mine's strata into their vine tubes before spraying it beneath the powder charges.

Most of the sparks went out.

Three charges were still smoking when Bone Vines dropped from the ceiling and rolled them into an empty pit on the right side of the mine tunnel.

A muffled blast struck the stone walls, and a cloud of gray dust billowed from the pit.

Gunpowder Hand raised an arm to shield his face.

"This brat knew there was water in the mine beforehand?"

The sensing ninja pressed against the wall and shouted, "The roots are on the left! Don't step on the left!"

The moment he spoke, the vine net on the left closed inward, forcing the wire woman and the Earth Release ninja into the narrow passage on the right.

Iron Claw remained where he was.

"Brat, you narrowed the path, but you've also cut off your own retreat."

"Enough to kill you all."

The wire woman flicked both wrists. Silver threads slipped around the vine branches along the ceiling and fell behind Chiba.

"Worry about your neck first!"

Before the wires could tighten, Chiba took half a step forward. Bone Vines rose along the back of his neck. The wire blades cut into the bark but became lodged between the internal frameworks.

The woman pulled her arms back twice, but the silver wires would not come free.

"Iron Claw, there really are bones inside his wood!"

"Then smash the bones too."

Iron Claw still did not move. His gaze settled at Chiba's feet, waiting for every root buried in the earth to reveal itself.

Chiba was waiting too.

To retrieve her weapon, the wire woman took another step into the narrow passage.

Poison Vines on both sides of the cave wall stretched out at once, wrapping around her wrists before climbing up her arms along the silver threads. Purple patterns stopped at the edges of her sleeves.

"Cut the wires!"

The sensing ninja shouted too late.

The woman had just released her right hand when a vine thorn on the left pierced her palm. Poison entered her meridians through the wound, and both arms quickly drooped limp at her sides.

"My hands won't move! Iron Claw, pull me out!"

Iron Claw glanced at her.

"If you can't even deal with a Konoha student, there's no use in getting out."

A vine knot fastened around the woman's waist and hoisted her to the ceiling. Her silver threads scattered across the ground after losing their chakra.

"One."

Chiba turned toward Gunpowder Hand.

The man stuffed his last two powder charges into his clothes, turned, and ran.

"Old Earth, open the wall! We'll head for the explosives depot first!"

The Earth Release ninja pressed both hands against the rock face. The stone layers receded inward by half a foot, revealing a crack barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through sideways.

Gunpowder Hand had barely forced half a shoulder through when several thin vines extended from the depths of the crack.

"How are there vines here too?"

"When you captured the miners, did you not check the ventilation map?"

Vine roots wrapped around Gunpowder Hand's chest. Water-swollen wooden thorns drilled into the outer skin of his powder charges, turning the black powder inside into wet mud.

Gunpowder Hand looked down and felt around, cursing under his breath.

"My goods are all ruined."

"You're ruined too."

The vines jerked backward. The back of his head slammed into the rock wall, and his body slid down the stone. Poison spores fell into his collar, and after struggling twice, he lost all strength.

"Two."

The Earth Release ninja turned to close the stone crack, but Chiba raised his palm. Skeleton-like frameworks buried within the rock layers braced both sides apart, leaving an opening that could not close.

"Aren't you only good at hiding underground?"

"When I was killing people in mines, you hadn't even entered the Ninja Academy!"

"That's why you're only a genin."

The Earth Release ninja bit his thumb and pressed blood into the rock layer.

The ground beneath Chiba's feet sank. Dozens of sharp rock spikes rose from the bottom of the pit, sealing off every foothold he could use.

The sensing ninja immediately shouted, "He's in the upper right! The wood will pull him—cut that vine!"

An earthen hand extended from the rock wall and clenched the Bone Vine hanging overhead.

Chiba lost his support and fell toward the rock spikes.

The Earth Release ninja raised his head.

"Got you!"

Vine leaves emerged from a crack in the stone behind him.

As Chiba fell through the air, the Bone Vine at his waist pulled sharply to the side. His body skimmed past the rock spikes, and the sole of his shoe borrowed force from the tip of one.

The next instant, he landed behind the Earth Release ninja.

"You grabbed a branch."

The man tried to turn, but his ankle was caught by the framework that had earlier forced open the rock crack.

Before he could raise his elbow, Chiba's knee slammed into his waist. Poison Vines wrapped around his mouth and nose, pinning him back against the rock wall.

"Three."

The sensing ninja removed his earmuffs and retreated to Iron Claw's side.

"He can find people through vibrations in the stone. I can't hide."

"Then don't hide."

Iron Claw grabbed the back of his collar and hurled him toward Chiba.

"Iron Claw, what are you doing?!"

The sensing ninja twisted in midair. Two kunai flew from his sleeves, and before landing, he pulled loose a sound wire hidden inside his earmuffs.

"Seal the mine tunnel! If I die, who will find the way for you?"

"If you kill him, there'll be no need to find it."

The kunai struck the vine net. The Poison Vines immediately parted, opening a narrow gap and allowing the sensing ninja through.

Just as he was about to land, there was no stone beneath his feet.

The empty pit where the powder charges had been buried lay directly below him.

"Wait, pull me up!"

Chiba released the roots gripping the edge of the pit.

The sensing ninja fell to the bottom, his waist and back smashing into the soaked powder charges. Just as he tried to get up, vines sealed the exit on all sides.

"You can't kill me! I know who the buyer is!"

"I'll ask later."

"I'll tell you now! It's someone from Konoha—a Konoha ninja wearing a white mask!"

Poison Vines coiled around his throat but did not tighten further.

"Four."

Only the soft crackling of charcoal breaking in the furnace remained in the mine tunnel.

Iron Claw rolled his neck. Dark gray spread from his wrists past his elbows, and his shoulders and chest turned metallic as well.

"You bullied a few genin with the terrain and thought you could beat me?"

Chiba sent a vine thorn stabbing toward his neck.

Iron Claw did not dodge.

The poisoned wooden thorn touched his metal skin and only ground off a little dark powder. Poison fluid slid down his neck to his collar without leaving a wound.

"See that?"

Iron Claw grabbed a Poison Vine and clenched his five fingers. The bark and internal framework shattered section by section.

"Once hardened, there are no pores. Your poison can't get in."

Chiba raised another Bone Vine and stabbed at his eyes.

Iron Claw tilted his head aside and threw a right punch at the same time.

Three layers of Bone Vines crossed before Chiba's chest. The pale frameworks had barely locked together when the steel fist punched through the first layer, and the second immediately snapped inward.

The final layer held for half a breath.

The fist continued forward.

His eardrums went dull first. Chiba's feet left the ground, and his back slammed into the mine wall several yards away. Gravel fell from his shoulders into his collar.

He spat the blood rising in his throat onto the ground by his feet.

Iron Claw stepped over the broken vines covering the ground and raised his hardened arm again.

"Before steel, wood is only fit for firewood."

Chiba wiped the blood from his chin, and Bone Vines grew back over his right arm.

"Again."

Iron Claw shattered the ground with one step, his second punch already aimed at Chiba's chest.