The mist still hung low over the bridge, refusing to clear.
That figure stood between Naruto and Sasuke, short and still, its bamboo hat pulled too low to reveal its eyes.
The two had barely moved half a body width apart before the figure filled the gap.
The hat did not lift.
"I'll take you two."
The voice was flat, without inflection or a single unnecessary word.
...They were all here.
Kiyoshi watched the figure, his lips unmoving.
He had waited for this second person the whole way. Now that they actually stood before him, he felt strangely hollow.
Beyond the mist, the sound of a blade drew nearer.
Then receded again.
One clash of steel split the entire bridge in two. On one side, blades. On the other, needles.
Standing just behind Tazuna's flank, Kiyoshi edged him another half inch into the blind spot beside the railing.
Tazuna's shoulder pressed against the wooden railing. He had nowhere left to retreat, but his footing remained steady.
Kiyoshi's gaze fixed on a gap in the mist.
He had tested which side the Mirror Formation would enclose on his sand table last night.
That extra half inch into the blind spot put the railing directly across Tazuna's line of sight. The light from the mirrors would not reach him.
Kiyoshi had assigned himself this position last night, down to that half inch.
He could track exactly where every stroke of the blade landed over there.
He could also track where the person behind each mirror turned on this side.
He just could not work out which step he should take.
White vapor from the sea curled up along the bridge planks, dissipating when it reached their ankles.
Sakura pressed her notebook closer to her chest, her knuckles whitening.
The chisel tucked at