Chapter 7:
"Whoa, just look at the size of the arena that my battle will take place. It's huge!" Inari exclaimed, as her eyes were wide open from the size of the arena from the outside.
"For once I have to agree with you, Inari." Kobura nodded with agreement. In his own life, he never saw an arena that big before until now.
"That arena has a sixty-four kilometer radius, thus making its area approximately twelve thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight square kilometers." Kabuto responded as he turned his attention towards Inari and Kobura.
"Uh Kabuto, what's a radius?" Inari asked as if he was talking in a confusing language.
"And what's with the kilometers stuff?" Kobura added, as he doesn't understand it too.
Kabuto explained to Kobura that a kilometer is a measurement of length and its used in area as square kilometers. He then used some visual aid to show Inari that a radius is a line halfway across the circle. After that lecture, Kobura and Inari got some idea on what a radius looked like and the use of kilometers in both area and in length. They began to walk inside the arena, knowing the lecture that Kabuto gave them cost them some time.
After they got inside, Inari and Kobura was surprised that the inside of the arena was lots of trees that would make up a forest. Kabuto told them that her father and his partner were waiting in the center of that arena, without any hesitation Inari followed him. Inari felt confident about the environment that the arena provided her because not only she grew up in the forest but she used its surroundings as her huge training ground.
As she was close to the center of the arena, she saw her father with Kimimaro in an open field.
"So, did the tour went smoothly for the both of you?" Orochimaru asked after he noticed Inari, Kobura, and Kabuto was here.
"The tour went very well!" Inari ecstatically responded. "Kabuto showed me and Kobura everything from the cafeteria to the outside of this arena!"
"Wonderful." Orochimaru smiled from the results that his daughter gave him.
"Not only that, the shinobi in this village showed a lot of their hospitality by hooting and hollering at us as well as giving a nice loud whistle or two during the tour." Inari added. "As for the Kunoichi, it would take some time to get to know one another."
Even though Orochimaru was puzzled from what Inari said to him, he kept his composure. Kabuto felt a little nervous from the additional input that Inari gave him but tried his best not to show it in front of them.
"So, are you ready for your battle against me and Kimimaro?" Orochimaru asked.
"Yes, I can't wait to give every ounce of my effort in our battle." Inari answered with a confident smile on her face, eagerly waiting for her battle to start. "Who knows, I might even beat both of you."
"Don't get too confident about that, this battle won't be easy. You don't even have a slightest hint of how skilled I am in combat, let alone how powerful Lord Orochimaru is during battle." Kimimaro warned Inari.
"I'm fully aware that you two won't go easy on me, so don't expect me to go easy on you." Inari responded in a calm and assertive tone of voice. "I'm not the type of ninja who would run away or surrender without a good reason."
"I admired your bold words my dear, quite fitting for a strong and confident Kunoichi." Orochimaru complimented Inari. "But it takes more than that to be a strong ninja. You have to prove us how strong you are in combat."
"I'm also aware that being a ninja takes more than just acting tough to her opponents, but thank you for the compliment though." Inari added after her father admired her bravery.
"Before we begin, Kimimaro will take you to his fellow comrades in the bleachers to drop off Kobura so you can get ready for the fight." Orochimaru said to Inari before Kimimaro led her and Kobura to the bleachers.
After walking up the arena's long stairway, they made it to the bleachers.
"Well, well. Look who's coming up to the bleachers with Kimimaro?" A fourteen-year-old boy with gray hair and bluish green lips retorted after they saw Inari and Kimimaro. He wore a red beaded necklace around his neck and has another head facing behind him. After three of the spectators heard his comment, they turned their attention towards them.
"I remember you." Kidomaru responded. "I met you with Lord Orochimaru and Kabuto earlier ago."
"Yes, and you're name is Kidomaru, right?" Inari asked as she turned her attention towards him.
"That's right!" Kidomaru responded.
"And did you remember the name of the Kunoichi that I was with last night?" Kidomaru asked as he point to Tayuya.
"Of course I do remember her name, her name is Tayuya." Inari responded.
"Man, you do have a very good sense of memory did you know that?" Kidoumaru chuckled from her response before Tayuya placed him in a headlock.
"Well, duh genius, of course she remembered us!" Tayuya snarled at him as her headlock caused Kidomaru to cough. "She was there when I was verbally scolding you for sneaking behind Lord Orochimaru's back just to flirt with her last night!"
"Hey, don't forget that she was also there when you painfully pulled on my ear." Kidomaru responded as he used his two hands to loosen her grip. "Plus, I can't help seeing how beautiful she was when I'm up close to, ack!"
"I don't want to hear any lip from you about that girl, got that Kidomaru!" Tayuya growled as Kidomaru coughed from the tightened grip of her headlock.
"Now Tayuya, I think that's not the way to show hospitality towards our guest." A large fourteen-year old boy came in the conversation. He had small patches of light orange hair on both top and sides of his head.
"Yeah, I think you should listen to Jirobo for once Tayuya. He has very good reason you should ack!" Kidomaru added before Tayuya turned her attention towards Jirobo, causing him to be jerked around from her headlock.
"Butt off Fatso! This conversation does not concern you!" Tayuya gave a cold glare towards her gigantic comrade.
"Hey, you know that I hate it when you call me that name!" Jirobo exploded, causing uproar.
"Enough, all of you! Tayuya release Kidomaru from your grip before he passes out this instant!" Kimimaro demanded. With a low growl in her throat, Tayuya plopped Kidomaru on the ground to let him gasp for air, then got up to his feet after that. "I never seen such deplorable behavior from all of you, Lord Orochimaru expects your very best behavior today and to make matters worse, you bickered in front of our guest."
"Woah, Kimimaro. I didn't know you have that in you." Inari responded, as she didn't expect that from Kimimaro.
"Well, I didn't tell you that I'm the Commander of the Sound Ninja Five. I have to do to something to keep these four shinobi in line." Kimimaro answered calmly. "Since you already know me, Tayuya and Kidomaru, I think it's time to know the other two sound shinobi in the Sound Ninja Five starting from left to right." After that, the gray haired and bluish green-lipped ninja stepped up.
"All right, my name is Sakon don't forget it." Sakon responded and his other head turned towards Inari.
"Sakon, who on earth are you talking to?" The other head asked Sakon with a lack of interest. Inari was off guard after she saw the other head moved and talked.
"Oh, forgive me for not telling you that I have a brother named Ukon." Sakon added.
"Me and Sakon shared the same body, remember that." Ukon commented.
"That was interesting, I never saw two ninja sharing a same body before." Inari commented.
"Well, you do now." Sakon commented back. Jirobo stepped up to her.
"I am Jirobo, and like my comrade Sakon, I too am a member of the Sound Ninja Five." Jirobo replied. "Please forgive Tayuya's foul language today."
"It's okay Jirobo, it isn't your fault that Tayuya behave this way." Inari responded and gave a friendly smile towards him."
"I know that, but I have to told her over and over that ladies don't cuss like that." Jirobo nodded.
"Oh." Inari commented.
After their introductions, Kimimaro and his comrades explained that the forest was too dense for them to watch the fight; a huge screen was there in front of them to watch the fight. Also, the arena was divided into four sections so they can see the fight into four different locations of the arena. After hearing these important details about what's going on during her battle in a spectator's point of view, she placed Kobura on the ground. It's not very too long for Sakon, Kidomaru, Tayuya, and Jirobo to see Kobura in his original form. At first, Tayuya thought that Kobura was nothing more than a dinky snake until she realized how big the python is and to her surprise, he can talk. Inari told them that if they treat Kobura with respect, he'd be respectful to them. After that, Inari and Kimimaro left the bleachers to the arena for their battle.
As soon Inari and Kimimaro met up with Kabuto and her father, they went into two separate directions to stretch their legs. Then, she bended her back, causing to her chest to rise up a bit and twisted her upper body side to side after that.
"So, are you all prepared?" Orochimaru asked.
"Yes, I'm ready." Inari responded as she walked to towards him and Kimimaro. Kabuto was standing between them just to make sure they didn't start the fight yet.
"Today, our challenger, Inari…" Kabuto boldly stated as his right hand pointed at her.
"…will face Kimimaro and Lord Orochimaru in a battle." Kabuto added as he slowly dropped his right hand and raised his left hand towards them. He let down his left hand down after that.
"This battle will not only test her genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu skills but also her ability to quickly think on her feet in the heat of battle. There will be no time limit." Kabuto then jumped back away from the three ninja.
"Let the fight begin!" Kabuto shouted.
"All right, which one of you two will attack me first?" Inari asked calmly as she stood in front of them. "Come on, there's no need to be afraid."
"Lord Orochimaru, let me attack her first." Kimimaro turned his attention towards her father. "Once I attack her, she'll be vulnerable from your vicious onslaught."
"Very well Kimimaro, attack her whenever you're ready." After that Kimimaro pulled out his bone from his left arm before he charged up towards her.
All right, it's finally time to make my move! Inari thought as her eyes were locked into Kimimaro's light green ones.
"Luring Gaze Jutsu!" Just when the silver-haired shinobi made it halfway towards his target, his body went into a screeching halt and his mind felt as if it was rammed into a brick wall. The bone that he held in his right hand began to tremble as her eyes pulsed invisible rings of chakra. Even though Kimimaro was devoted to Orochimaru and tried his best to move his trembling body, his mind went numb from the pulsing rings.
I finally got you. Inari thought as she grinned mischievously and stopped pulsing chakra from her eyes. She noticed Kimimaro walked slowly to her and had a blank, glossy look in his eyes. She was amazed that the bone was still in his hand.
"Kimimaro, what are you doing? I thought you said you're going to attack her?" Orochimaru yelled, not aware of what was happening.
"Kimimaro will only takes orders from me thanks to my Luring Gaze Jutsu." Inari responded as Kimimaro was standing next to her.
"Luring Gaze Jutsu?" Orochimaru asked.
"Normally, this genjutsu allows me to control up to two men. In order for that to happen, I have to have eye contact with them." Inari explained. "The reason why I use this genjutsu on Kimimaro instead of both of you because it would quickly end the match. If that happens, let's just say you won't see any more fighting potential from me."
"True, it would be too easy for you and as always life won't give you easy short cuts." Her father commented.
"Kimimaro, attack him!" Inari ordered.
"Yes Lady Inari." Kimimaro responded as he charged up to Orochimaru.
The moment Orochimaru saw Kimimaro getting ready to attack him with his bone, the raven-haired Sannin dodged it. Both of them threw punches and kicks and one another as they tried to outmaneuver one another so they can get to their blind spots.
I think it's time for me to join the fun. Inari thought as she dashed towards them as she quickly and accurately form a hand sign sequence.
"Tiger Form Jutsu!" Her ears were changed into her tiger ears. Her cheeks had whiskers and her orange tiger tail lashed from the excitement, yet she always had her human body.
She formed her right hand into a tight fist, ready to attack him on the side. Just when she was able to land a punch on her preoccupied father, his left eye saw her attack. Orochimaru broke away from Kimimaro and quickly dodged her punch.
Inari then quickly formed another hand sign sequence after she went passed between her father and Kimimaro.
"Tiger Claw Jutsu!" Inari's fingernails instantly changed into long, sharp daggers.
"I see that the vicious tigress has finally begin to expose her claws in front of her opponent." Orochimaru chuckled in front of his daughter, impressed with her half-animal form.
"Well, this fight isn't over by a long shot!" Inari responded as she lunged in front of him, hoping that her long, dagger like nails on her right hand scratched him. But her father quickly jumped back to avoid her swiping hand. After Orochimaru stopped skidding a bit, she went into a blur in front of her father. As Orochimaru turned his head around, he noticed that his daughter was behind him and within a couple of seconds later, Kimimaro was in front of him with his bone in his hand, ready to strike.
"Now Kimimaro!" Inari yelled, as they both simultaneously attacked Orochimaru. Inari's left hand scratched from her father's left shoulder to his right shoulder, while her right hand horizontally scratched his mid-back. Kimimaro's bone slashed horizontally on his abdomen. Orochimaru suddenly changed into a thick piece of log.
"No, a substitution jutsu!" Inari cried as she saw the scratched up log landed on the ground between her and Kimimaro. She immediately changed her fingernails back into their original length.
Rats, I was so close! I was so close on defeating him! Inari thought as her hands were formed into a pair of tight fists, while bearing some of her teeth, clinching in frustration. Just then, her orange tiger ears began to twitch as she heard her father's chuckling. As she looked up, she noticed her father standing on a strong tree branch.
"I have to admit Inari, you're very close on defeating me." Orochimaru commented. "You timed everything right and you almost got me where you wanted me, but like you said this fight isn't over." With that, he disappeared by slowly sank himself into the branch.
Ok father, if you want us to find you in order to continue the fight, it's fine by me. Inari thought. She then turned her attention towards Kimimaro.
"Kimimaro, we're going to split up to find our opponent. So you go look for him in that side of the arena, while I cover the other half of the arena." Inari directed him as she pointed to the area of the arena behind him. "And don't forget, if you see him, yell out loud that you found him. My hearing is three times stronger in my tiger form."
"Yes, my lady." Kimimaro responded before they went into two separate directions.
Minutes went by slowly as Inari hopped from one tree branch to another as she searched for her father. She cautiously scanned almost half of the arena and yet, there was no sign of Orochimaru. Ever since Inari began to hunt her father down, her tiger ears didn't stop twitching for a second, hoping it would pick up faint sounds of either his footsteps or his calm breathing pattern. She also listened for any response from Kimimaro wondering if he'd had crossed paths with the raven-haired Sannin.
"Lady Inari, I found him! I found our opponent my mistr-Ugh!" Kimimaro's voice loud cry didn't complete the last word of his sentence. Her light green eyes were wide open, knowing that Kimimaro crossed paths with her father and without any hesitation, she started to head towards Kimimaro's half of the arena.
"Striking Shadow Snake!" Inari's ears twitched and turned her head around only to see four snakes coming at her. Once she landed on a tree branch, Inari immediately dodged all four of them by jumping to a nearby branch.
"It's not wise for you to lower your guard for a second, or you'll be wide open for an attack from your opponent Inari." Her father commented in the shadows as Inari noticed the four snakes returning to her father's loose left sleeve.
"How is it possible, how can you easily take down Kimimaro and quickly come here to fight me?" Inari asked as her enhanced eyesight were locked onto her father.
"All right then, since you are eager to know the truth, I'll tell you of my previous plot." Orochimaru responded. "The moment after you trapped Kimimaro in your genjutsu, you literally turned the tables on me. You and Kimimaro executed your attacks very timely together and you almost have my back and abdomen scratched up. It was then; I realized that it's time for me to turn this fight around. The moment I saw you and Kimimaro split up into two different directions of the arena, I seized the opportunity and created a shadow clone to take out Kimimaro so I won't have to worry about you two ganging up on me."
"I see; you used your shadow clone as a decoy. The moment I heard Kimimaro's unfinished response, I immediately began to head towards him to fight you. Almost letting my own guard down for your own attack." Inari saw what he was up to.
"Precisely." Orochimaru remarked.
"No matter, I can still fight you!" With that, Inari leapt towards her father and threw a punch at her father, only to have it blocked by his left hand. Causing the raven-haired Sannin to be pushed off the tree branch where he was standing. She then tightened her left hand into a fist and tried to land a hit on her father but it was blocked by Orochimaru's right hand.
Incredible, even though I just blocked both of her punches, I can feel them bearing down on me! In her tiger form, she's unbelievably strong! I mustn't let her land a hit on me in that form. Orochimaru thought cautiously. He managed to break away from his daughter, only for them to have their feet skid backwards after they landed. Inari immediately released her Tiger Form Jutsu after that.
"All right, it's high time we take this battle to whole new level." Inari stated before her sharp canine drew some of her blood from her left thumb. She then streaked bloody tiger stripes on her right arm from her wrist to her elbow and quickly started doing a hand sign sequence.
Knowing what his daughter was up to, Orochimaru quickly pulled up his skintight black sleeve on his left arm and bit on his right thumb until it bled. He then swiped the blood through his snake summoning contract tattoo and done a hand sign sequence.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Both ninja yelled simultaneously. They were engulfed by two huge puffs of smoke, only to find themselves standing on the heads of two giant animals.
Orochimaru was standing on a head of a huge python, while Inari stood on a head of a giant orange tigress with a red circular gem on her forehead.
"Lady Inari, you summoned me?" The orange tigress asked. "Normally, you would summon my husband Yuuta."
"I know Sora, but today I'm conserving my chakra for my battle." Inari quietly explained to her ally. "Are you ready to fight beside me?"
"Yes my lady, I'm always ready to fight." Sora answered couragely.
Sora let out her loud snarl as she charged up towards the giant green python but it slivered to its left. The giant tigress's claws stuck out as they sank into the ground, causing her hind legs to lift off the ground for a second as she quickly turned around to face the python. In a mere second, Orochimaru leapt off the python's head and onto the guardrail from the bleachers.
"Lady Inari, go after him. I'll take care of that snake." Sora told Inari, who she was on right knee.
"Okay, be careful Sora." Inari warned.
"I will my lady." The giant tigress responded. Then, Inari sprang off Sora's head and landed on the guardrail next to her father. Kobura, Sakon, Jirobo, Tayuya, Kidomaru, and the newly recruited spectator Kimimaro watched in awe as the two ninja demonstrated their amazing taijutsu skills on the metal rail. As Orochimaru tried to kick Inari with his right leg, she immediately ducked, only to have her butt sticking out towards Tayuya.
"Hey! Watch where you point your ass!" Tayuya growled angrily.
"Well you could have moved a couple of steps back before I ducked!" Inari countered after she leapt into the bleachers, so she can fight her father efficiently. Her father joined her as they kept battling. "Now if you don't mind, I really can't afford to be distracted!"
"Finally, we got a chance to see these two in action without relying on that huge screen." Kidomaru smiled.
"For once, I have to agree you. It's a little frustrating having them battle in a dense forest." Sakon commented.
"Everything's all right until she stuck her ass out in front of me." Tayuya grumbled.
"Now Tayuya, don't cuss like that." Jirobo added.
"Who asked you?" Tayuya barked at Jirobo.
"Enough, all of you! Instead of having a conversation, focus on watching the battle." Kimimaro finally put an end to their little rant and turned his attention towards Inari and his lord.
Inari and Orochimaru fought long and hard. They almost blocked and dodged every punch and kick that their opponent gave them, neither one let their own guard down as they fight. So far, they haven't done a single jutsu yet. Small beads of sweat trickled down from the sides of their faces and even though they were exhausted, they were too persistent on giving up.
Lady Inari is a strong kunoichi. Sora thought as her powerful jaws clamped down on the defeated snake. I wish I could stay here and see how this battle turn out but I have a family to feed. With that, a big puff of smoke surrounded her, causing her and the dead snake to disappear.
After Kabuto hopped down from a tree branch, he spotted Inari and Orochimaru in the bleachers, catching their breath as they anticipated each other's moves.
"Attention Inari and Lord Orochimaru!" Kabuto yelled at the bleachers, causing everyone to turn their attention towards the gray-haired referee. "The bleachers is off limits and if you don't leave this area now, both of you will be automatically disqualified!"
After hearing Kabuto's warning, Inari sprinted downstairs towards the Sound Ninja Five.
"Excuse me, would you please move a side?" Inari asked. Tayuya and Sakon stepped aside as she jumped onto the rail. Once she done that, she sprang off the rail.
As Orochimaru saw Inari sailed through thin air, the raven-haired Sannin faintly chuckled as he formed a grin on his face.
Well then, if she can pull that one off, so can I. Orochimaru thought as he burst down the stairs and leapt on the rail beside Kimimaro. Inari looked over her right shoulder to see her father gliding through thin air behind her.
"Wh-What…" Inari was surprised to see her father behind her.
"Just because I'm an experienced ninja, doesn't mean I'm slow for my age, Inari." Orochimaru chuckled.
"Of course not, you know that you wouldn't let a young kunoichi like me get the best of you." Inari smirked at her father as she somersaulted in the air.
"Well, there's more to me than meets the eye." Orochimaru commented flipped in the air once before he and Inari landed on their feet inside the arena.
"You know that both of you can go back into the arena without literally jumping off the guardrail." Kabuto sighed as looked at the two ninja.
"Well, both of us got a little excited from the battle." Orochimaru admitted.
"And I kind of forgot about it when I tried to get out of the bleachers as fast as possible to avoid myself from being disqualified." Inari nodded.
"Please don't do that again, the last thing I wanted is to have you both severely injured." Kabuto added.
"Don't worry Kabuto, we'll remember next time." Inari responded.
"All right then, let the battle continue!" Kabuto stated.
Inari then dashed into the forest, her father not far behind. After Kabuto saw the two ninja bolted into the forest, he tagged along.
Inari stopped running to catch her breath. She noticed that her father was still here and Kabuto was not far behind to watch the battle from a safe distance.
Okay, it's time for me to use my special jutsu. Inari thought before she leapt up to the air and quickly done her final hand sign sequence.
"Striking Shadow Snake!" Orochimaru shouted as four snakes came out of his loose right sleeve.
"Tiger Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Inari cried out before a thick cloud of smoke concealed her.
Orochimaru quickly called the snakes back to his sleeve and once the smoke quickly vanished, six copies of his daughter surrounded him. He lightly grunted in frustration as he saw them in their tiger forms.
As he saw the first clone attacked him, Orochimaru blocked her punch with his right hand and grabbed her by her wrist and threw her to another clone from the bottom left, both clones turned into small puffs of smoke. The shadow clones from both sides of him lunged at him at the same time to their chance to land a hit on him but Orochimaru dodged, having them to attack each other causing them to turn two more puffs of smoke. Orochimaru smirked; knowing that one of the clones was his real daughter. He noticed the shadow clone leap kicked behind him and dodged it, only to have her kick the other clone in front of her, turning it into a puff of smoke.
"This battle has finally reached its end, my dear!" Orochimaru exclaimed as he landed a kick on her, only to taken by surprise that she turned into a puff of smoke.
Where is she? Where did that girl went off to? Orochimaru thought as his eyes scanned to his left.
It's now or never, Inari! She thought as she burst out from the bush in her tiger form.
Without warning, she landed a strong punch on her father's abdomen and then twisted her fist into it, giving him a painful grunt.
I couldn't believe it; I couldn't believe that I let my own guard down! Orochimaru thought as he gritted his teeth in pain. The punch I received from her in her tiger form is beyond my own belief!
Orochimaru then punched his daughter on the side of her head before her punch hurled himself into a tree. Inari tumbled onto her side after his punch landed on her side of her head; her head then was slammed into another tree. A puff of smoke covered her, only to have herself turned back into her human form. Inari cringed in pain after having her head slammed into a tree on top of her father's punch; it then took over her after she was unconscious. The raven-haired Sannin felt the same effects on him but he felt the pain on the back of his head, his back and his now throbbing abdomen, he too went unconscious from the overwhelming pain.
Kabuto was speechless. For once in his own life, he never saw a challenger equally as strong as his lord until now. He was even relieved that he could sense their pulses. Nothing in this match could surprised him except Inari.
"Both Inari and Lord Orochimaru are unable to continue, thus ending this battle in a tie!" Kabuto finally announced.
Once Kimimaro got to the arena, he carried Orochimaru to his room, while Kabuto carried Inari to hers with Kobura around his neck. After gray-haired Medical Ninja placed Inari on her bed, he placed Kobura on the ground to change his form. The fifteen-meter python told him that he can use his infinite chakra to replenish her low amount of chakra.
After Kabuto heard his proposal, he placed her in his coiled mound; his tail slowly wrapped her up from her hips, and as it moved up to her neck, her arms were pinned to her sides. After that, he wrapped up her thighs and calves, only to have her kneecaps exposed. Kabuto then noticed that Inari started glowing as Kobura began to replenish her chakra. Knowing that Kobura got everything covered, Kabuto left the room to check on her father.