Fight 2
Neji Vs Shikamaru
The arena was still damaged from the previous fight but the first contender had no interest in waiting for it to be repaired, contrastingly the second contender had to be physically dragged out into the arena by officials before he would leave.
The first contender looked at his opponent with thinly veiled distain, he had no particular dislike for him but he found his unwillingness to fight largely irritating. The second contender groaned and muttering something under his breath nodded at the referee as both were ready, in the case of the second fighter more figuratively, so it was time to begin the fight.
"Fight 2" cried the referee, "Neji Hyuga Vs Shikamaru Nara… Begin!"
Shikamaru had no desire to be caught in Neji's Gentle Fist style and opened with several smoke bombs, as Shikamaru fled into the cover of the remaining forestry Neji simply stood and waited for the smoke to clear. He had no desire to humiliate himself with this slacker, he would end this quickly.
"Byakugan!" Neji cried, the veins in his eyes bulging as his vision became almost perfect and he easily caught sight of Shikamaru crouched behind a tree with his hands pressed together in a circle.
"Excellent a hand sign" Neji thought as he crouched and took the stance of the Gentle Fist, "I will not hold back against this slacker. He had better take this fight seriously."
Shikamaru carefully concealed his smirk as he felt Neji's Byakugan close on him, Neji's Chakra was very easy to sense and Shikamaru knew about his blind spot. Any well-trained Hyuga kept some Chakra flowing into their blindspot whenever they used the Byakugan, Neji was no exception and that allowed Shikamaru to follow the focus of his Byakugan.
As Neji aproached Shikamaru's hands swapped into the hand sign for his Shadow Possession Jutsu, Neji slid into the small clump of trees and his hand went for Shikamaru's right shoulder Chakra point. Shikamaru had guessed he would, it was an easy to hit and very important point, so he had stuffed his headband over it under his clothes.
Neji hit his shoulder hard and Shikamaru rolled with the blow, tumbling backwards his hand still in the Shadow Possession sign. Neji knew instantly that his attack had failed, but his Byakugan wasn't enough to stop the five simultaneous shadows that shot from different shadows around him all connected to one thin shadow running from Shikamaru to a nearby tree.
Neji was caught in his trap instantly and was stood perfectly still, mimicking Shikamaru as he stood straight and wiped his brow nervously. "Man what a drag" said Shikamaru taking out a Shuriken, "that was way too close"
The crowd had gone silent as they saw the skilled and dedicated Shinobi defeated by Shikamaru's trap, they were all surprised at what they saw. Shikamaru offered Neji the chance to surender, but when he refuse Shikamaru flicked the Shuriken at the defenceless Neji.
The referee was about to end the match when the Shuriken was repelled, Neji smirked as an aura of Chakra surrounded him. "You can control peoples bodies, and usually that's enough. But my defence doesn't need hand signs!" with a grunt Neji sent waves of Chakra radiating from every point in his body, Shikamaru tried to hold on to the possession Jutsu but failed.
Panting Neji was released from the Jutsu's grip, but severely drained he knew he couldn't risk getting caught in the Jutsu again. Panting he charged at Shikamaru intent on ending the fight then and there, Shikamaru had no time to use the Shadow Possession Jutsu again and simply dodged the rain of furious blows.
Stumbling backwards Shikamaru fell and flung a Kunai at point blank, only Neji's Byakugan saved him and it gave Shikamaru a few moments to use the Shadow Possession. He was unable to catch Neji, but it did force him back as he dodged the attacks.
Having forced Neji back the line was drawn as Shikamaru hit his limit, forced half way across the arena there was no way Neji could attack but with Neji's Byakugan there was no ranged attack that Shikamaru could use. The crowd settled themselves in for a stalemate, but Shikamaru already had a plan.
Carefully Shikamaru started to move, forcing Neji to move with him and he crept left. The pair slowly started to move in a circle until Shikamaru stopped, Neji stopped with him and watched carefully. Shikamaru pulled a Kunai and slashed beside him, Neji suddenly saw a trap spring sending several Kunai flying into the air.
Neji saw Shikamaru's plan just in time as Shikamaru's shadow sped towards him running through the shadows of the dropping Kunai, Neji ran left to avoid the shadow which started to gain on him. Suddenly the shadow froze and Neji stopped panting just outside Shikamaru's range, the Kunai hit the ground and their shadows remained keeping Shikamaru's range higher than normal.
Suddenly form that position Neji caught sight of another Shikamaru with his Byakugan, "A Clone!" he thought running towards it intent on dealing with it before Shikamaru could trap him.
Seeing his trick had been discovered Shikamaru ran forward towards Neji, throwing Kunai he tried to stop Neji who dodged them before skidding to a halt and glancing at Shikamaru. "No, you're the shadow clone!" he muttered grinning as he ran at the hiding Shikamaru while the revealed one flung Kunai, Neji landed in front of the real Shikamaru and triumphantly hit him with a blow to the shoulder.
But the Shikamaru disappeared and Neji's eyes widened as he realised he'd fallen for another trick, he spun just in time to see another clone in mid air and a Kunai having slipped down his blind spot and was barely metres away. He spun in a rotation and blocked it before seeing another few Kunai flying towards him, all aimed carefully he had to use another rotation, and as he spun to a halt he saw the two Shikamaru disappear and he was frozen.
"Let me show you" Said Shikamaru from behind him, he turned Neji's head to reveal a third Shikamaru, the real one, stood behind him perfectly in line with where the clone had been. The perfect defence against someone who could see through any hiding place, when he looked past Shikamaru with his Byakugan he had looked through both.
"The clone you saw in front of me was being controlled by my Shadow Possession Jutsu, putting me close enough to you that all I needed was a few moments to regain control of me retracting shadow and keeping me in line with my disguise" said Shikamaru with a smirk.
Neji picked up one of the Kunai in front of him and Shikamaru had him hold it to his neck, "even if you try that trick form before to get free I can cut you throat before you manage to totally get free of the Jutsu. It was a drag, but I've won"
As the Jutsu released him Neji bowed his head, "Yes you have" he said humbly as the crowd roared happily after an excellent fight.