It doesn’t begin to compare? This?
A puff of white air slipped from his lips as Konohamaru examined the carriage, completely frozen floor to ceiling. It was one thing to say you “just” had to combine Water Style with Wind Style, but it was no mean feat to activate these two different natures simultaneously and somehow bring them together.
“Eeah!”
Konohamaru turned at this brief cry from the doorway.
“W-w-what is this…?” A teenage girl with short red hair stood there gaping, earrings dangling from her ears, nails decorated with rhinestones and glitter. “Why is my seat frozen solid?”
“There was an explosion in this car,” Konohamaru explained. “We had to put the fire out.”
“An explosion?!” The girl’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “When?!”
“Just a minute ago,” he replied, perplexed. “You were here and you didn’t notice?”
“I thought everyone was being weird, all running and yelling. I was listening to music.” And indeed, orange headphones hung around her neck.
Sasuke took a step forward “What were you doing up to now?” he asked, his voice flat.
“What was I…? I was kinda hungry, so I had, um, pasta and escargot and panna cotta in the dining car. And then I got some water to bring back here with me.” The girl held up the glass of carbonated water she held in one hand as if to show it off.
“What happened to the other passengers?” Sasuke asked.
“It’s just me. I mean, this is first class. I rented the whole carriage!” She puffed her chest out with self-satisfaction.
Konohamaru stared hard. This girl? All alone in first class?
“What’s that look for?” She pursed her lips and frowned at the suspicious look on Konohamaru’s face. “Are underage people not allowed to ride the Thunder Train alone?”
“No, that’s not—”
“Don’t get the wrong idea, buddy. I’ve got money! Maybe I look like—”
Sasuke cut the girl off. “Konohamaru. Did you notice anyone suspicious on your way here?”
“No.” Konohamaru shook his head. “I came here on the roof, though, so I don’t know what’s going on inside the train.”
“The person who planted the bomb must still be on board.” Sasuke tossed Konohamaru a fragment of glass.
The thin shard had a gentle curve to it, clearly different from the window glass. Konohamaru realized it was part of a bomb timer fuse. If the perpetrator had employed a bomb to cause the explosion, then it was safe to assume the crime was the work of someone who couldn’t use ninjutsu. And if they couldn’t use ninjutsu, there was no way they could escape the Thunder Train when it was racing along like a bolt of lightning across the ground. In other words, the bomber was still on the train. He and Sasuke needed to apprehend whoever it was before they could do any more damage.
Boom!
The roar of another explosion.
“This one’s at the head of the train!” he shouted, peering out the window.
“The train’s speeding up.” Sasuke took in the scene outside before nimbly using the window frame as a foothold and clambering up to the top of the car.
“S-Sasuke?!” Konohamaru yelped.
The other ninja tore across the roof to the lead car in the blink of an eye. Without so much as a pause to catch his breath, he leaped into the billowing smoke.
Calm down, Konohamaru told himself. It was important to work together, especially in emergency situations.
The fact that the train was speeding up after the second bomb meant that the control panel had likely been destroyed. And if that were the case, then the only way to immediately and safely bring the train to a halt was to stop the actual moving parts of the vehicle. Sasuke’s ice technique would do the job nicely. If Sasuke was off to stop the train, then Konohamaru should focus on catching the bomber inside.
It took him about two seconds to reach this conclusion. Getting to work with a top-rate ninja like Sasuke was an extremely valuable experience, but the scope of his own jutsu and the speed of his judgement were on an entirely different level. It was a bit of work just to keep up.
At any rate, I have to secure the bomber inside the train. Konohamaru was about to leave the carriage when he suddenly remembered something and turned around.
The girl from first class was tapping the ice wall curiously.
“Please don’t leave this car,” he told her. “It’s dangerous.”
“Okay!” the girl languidly replied, snapping an icicle off the frozen wall to use in place of a stir stick in her fizzy water.
Is she going to be okay here? Aah, but I don’t have the time to stay with her. With a feeling of hazy apprehension, Konohamaru stepped into the eleventh car.
The second-class seats were deserted, the chairs and aisle strewn with bags and passenger detritus. The passengers themselves had likely evacuated to the front. This was only natural, given that the explosion had happened in the car directly behind them.
Konohamaru passed cautiously through this wasteland to enter the tenth car. Its passengers had also fled, leaving another empty carriage—or so he thought until he came across a woman curled up in the corner of a seat, her back shaking.
“Um, are you all right?” Konohamaru asked.
The woman jumped in surprise and turned. Her face was a mess of tears, and she held a baby up to her chest. She’d apparently been too frightened to move.
“Wh-who are you?” she gasped.
“A ninja from the village of Konohagakure. No need to be afraid now. We put out the fire from the explosion.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “So my baby and I are safe, then?”
“Yes. Please stay calm and remain in your seat,” Konohamaru instructed.
He started past her.
“Wait!” the woman called out to stop him. “Please. I’m begging you. Don’t leave me alone. I’m scared. I’m so scared.”
“Okay, um, just calm down,” he said. I don’t have time for this. I need to find that bomber. With some annoyance, Konohamaru turned back.