Pakura's gaze met Mei Terumi's for an instant. Neither spoke, but they stepped toward the open ground at the edge of the square almost at the same time.
A Scorch Release fireball danced above Pakura's palm. Mei's lips twitched slightly. Both moved with extraordinary care, walking far more slowly than usual.
Six pairs of figures darted and crossed in the square. Flashes of Ninjutsu and the clang of colliding weapons followed one another without pause.
Every movement was swift and precise, and Chakra surged across the entire clearing. Yet beneath all that commotion lay an unspoken understanding.
Not one of them was truly trying to kill. Not one launched even a single attack strong enough to be fatal.
Only Tsunade remained comfortably seated, hands folded on her knees and back against her chair. Her gaze swept over the figures in the square before settling on Yongye.
She met his eyes and snapped, "Treat me like that and I'll bite you to death!"
Yongye only smiled. He looked away from Tsunade and surveyed the fierce-looking but fruitless melee, then shook his head in disdain.
Shisui had been invited so insistently, he had been told not to refuse.
Pakura and Mei wanted to act like everyone else so they wouldn't stand out. As for the others, they were deliberately throwing their fights to buy time.
Those old foxes could put on as much of a show as they liked, but they couldn't fool his senses. Every burst of Chakra stopped just short of hurting an opponent, and every attack came at precisely the pace its target could handle.
After a couple of glances, Yongye lost interest. He tilted his head toward Tsunade and said casually:
"Let's go. This is boring."
"Let's ride the Giant Pendulum!"
He turned, slipped his hands back into