Saburo's Tournament
CHAPTER 7
The Wrath Of Which Giant?
Makarov vs. Choji
"Now!" Saburo shouted, regaining everybody's attention. He then closed his eyes briefly, but surely. "The Sixth Match will be between..." Saburo suddenly flicked his eyes open and exclaimed, "Choji Akimichi vs. Makarov Dreyar!"
"You can do it!" Shikamaru called out as his ally stepped out of the cube and into the town center.
"Fat ass!" Ino shouted at him. Choji cast her a menacing glance before speaking.
"I'll win this match quickly and tear them up," he scowled. Choji had spiky, brown hair that reached his waist, swirl marks on his cheeks, and a much more robust physique than the other ninjas. He sported a red suit with plated armor on his torso, arms, and upper legs. On the front of his chest armor, the kanji for "food" was imprinted on it.
"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto whispered. Kakashi glanced at him slowly, waiting for him to continue. "Isn't this a bad situation? Isn't that old guy like their leader or something?"
"It should be safe to assume that he is their master, as I've been hearing them calling him that for a while now," Kakashi replied. "It is strange about how much of a difference in rank there is between Choji and the other man. Why would Saburo pick those two?" Captain Yamato overheard this and decided to speak up.
"He probably wants this 'Makarov' person to face off against Lady Tsunade," concluded Yamato. "So he probably just picked Choji as cannon fodder."
"That's a little harsh," mumbled Naruto as he looked on. By now, Shikamaru also overheard the conversation.
"Don't be so hard on Choji," he demanded. "Honestly, Choji's the physically strongest of the original Konoha Eleven. He just doesn't have enough confidence in himself."
"But this is not looking good," interjected Neji. "This Makarov man has an unfathomable amount of chakra!" They turned and saw that Neji was focusing intensely on the elderly man with his Byakuygan.
"Don't use too much chakra on your Byakugan," suggested Kakashi. "You could fight at any moment." Neji obeyed, deactivating his doujutsu, and focusing to watch as the battle finally started.
"Match six: begin!" Saburo exclaimed. Choji waisted no time in making the first move as he called out the name of his technique.
"Expansion Jutsu!" Choji's abdominal section seemed to inflate as it gained a very round appearance. "Spiky Human Boulder!" Choji's hair rapidly grew out to wrap around his body. The round globe of spiky, brown hair suddenly shot right towards the tiny figure of Makarov.
"Alright, Choji!" Shouted Ino exuberantly. "Crush him!" Makarov scoffed and shook his head as the attack headed for him. He suddenly roared to life as he cocked his arm behind his back.
"You're a hundred years to early for that!" He shouted as his arm enlarged to a massive proportion in comparison to Choji's Spiky Human Boulder. Despite the "spikes", Makarov gripped Choji, stopping him dead in his tracks. "NO!" Makarov shouted as he launched Choji through several buildings in the opposite direction.
"What was that?" Naruto asked, bewildered by what just happened. "Isn't that Choji's technique...?" Shikamaru shook his head in disbelief.
"It did appear to be Choji's Partial Expansion Jutsu," the chunin agreed. "Is he a member of the Akimichi clan?"
"That's not right," Kakashi replied. "These people aren't ninjas. There must be some sort of "Magic", as they called it, similar to the Akimichi Clan jutsu." Everyone accepted Kakashi's assertive answer and watched as Choji rushed out onto the battlefield again.
"Hey, old man!" Choji shouted angrily. "How do you know how to do that?" Choji took a few steps toward the tiny elder.
"It's Magic," answered Makarov honestly. Choji was unbelieving however.
"Magic my ass!" Choji shouted belligerently. "Partial Expansion Jutsu!" As Choji swung his right arm forward, it expanded in size and length. This, however, was a trivial feat to Master Makarov. The old man copied Choji's motion, throwing his arm forward and enlarging it. The only difference was that Makarov's arm was slightly larger than the ninja's.
"It's like watching Choji fight his grandpa or something!" Naruto joked. Ino was beginning to panic, nonetheless. They watched as the power struggle between Makarov and Choji came to an end with Choji being pushed back a few meters.
"It's like I'm fighting a high tier Akimichi," Choji muttered under his breath. "I guess I'll have to show him who's the plumpest of them all!"
"What's this?" Makarov scratched his chin as Choji fired off a series of motions with his hands.
"Super Expansion Jutsu!" Choji's body expanded rapidly to a size beyond belief, towering over every single structure in the vicinity.
"Waaaah! He's huge!" Lucy cried out. She watched as Choji's enormous fist barreled towards the tiny figure of Makarov. The ninja's fist slammed into the ground, creating cracks on it that spread across the whole plaza. "Master Makarov!" Lucy cried out again.
"Tch," Natsu scoffed. "You sure don't have enough confidence in Master Makarov," smirked the hot-headed mage.
"Natsu's right, for once," agreed Gray. "Master Makarov couldn't be squashed even under a fist that size." That's when something amazing happened. A gargantuan hand gripped Choji's already enormous fist. The small figure that was Makarov suddenly began to grow exponentially. In mere moments, Master Makarov's body was vast and had grown to gigantic proportions, even dwarfing Choji. The two figures encompassed the entire town.
"This is Titan!" Makarov roared, his voice alone rumbling the town. A few "amazing"s and "impossible"s could be heard in the audience. Naruto even swore that he heard an "oh shit."
"Y-you're even bigger than me," stuttered Choji, taking a large step back.
"No, Choji! Don't back away!" Shikamaru exclaimed at the top of his lungs. "Believe in yourself!" Choji heard this and decided to follow through. He suddenly charged at Makarov, taking large strides to get to him. A fist soon planted itself into Choji's belly, making him stop in his tracks.
"Raaaah!" Choji let out a battle cry as he gripped Makarov's arm and swung him away. Makarov's feet never left the ground though, Choji only managed to gain some distance. The large ninja threw another punch at Master Makarov, but it was caught again. The Titan then tore into Choji with a powerful punch of his own.
"Their punches look so slow, but each time they hit, it shakes the place to its core!" Naruto noticed.
"And Choji's getting the full brunt of it," sighed Shikamaru, shaking his head in dismay. "They have the same ability, but Choji's completely outmatched." They watched as Choji took another punch to the ribs. Then another to the face.
"There's not much hope in reversing the situation in a matchup like this," commented Kakashi.
"Choji hasn't pulled out his trump card just yet," muttered Shikamaru. "CHOJI!" He shouted, getting the large youth's attention as he deflected a punch with difficulty. "DO IT CHOJI! KICK HIS ASS, YOU FAT BASTARD!" Choji's face suddenly contorted with strong, mixed emotions.
"I can't lose here!" Choji declared, looking at Makarov. "I can't let my comrades down! I have to show them that I am worthy of becoming the Head of the Akimichi Clan!" In an instant, large blue wings constructed of pure chakra sprouted from Choji's back, and he became noticeably slimmer. The shadow casted by the butterfly-resembling wings was vast, blanketing the whole battlefield in it.
"Hmph! Learn your place, son!" Makarov roared, throwing another massive strike at Choji. Remarkably, Choji slid backwards as he stopped the punch with his defending palm.
"Not this time," whispered Choji. "I'm one-hundred times stronger than before!" Choji raised his head and looked Makarov directly in the eye as he said this. The giant landed a quick, yet powerful jab to Makarov's torso that made the old man take one step back.
"You've got spirit, boy," smirked Makarov. He watched as Choji pulled his arm back, prompting blue chakra to swirl around it like a moving gauntlet.
Transfer all my body's chakra to my left hand... The chakra mass surrounding Choji's fist became slightly larger. "And this strike...is going to be one-hundred times heavier!" Choji shot his left arm forward, blue chakra trailing behind it as it moved. "Butterfly Bombing!" The fist shrouded in chakra slammed into Makarov's chest, sending the man sliding backwards across the ground quite a ways.
"He got him!" Ino shouted happily, pumping her fist into the air. Shikamaru stopped her brief moment of happiness as he placed his hand on her left shoulder and shook his head.
"No," he said solemnly. "The attack wasn't strong enough." Ino's eyes opened wide as she realized Shikamaru was right. Makarov had only been injured, not defeated in the least.
"You're punch lacks the experience necessary!" Makarov pointed out. "You have strength, son, yet you have no faith in yourself, and I can tell that by your punch just now. And I'm sorry...but now I must defeat you for the sake of my children!" Choji, caught off guard completely, simply stood there in bewilderment.
"Move, Choji!" Shikamaru ordered. Choji moved in the knick of time, dodging a fatal blow to the head. "Now get him!"
"Butterfly Bombing!" Choji threw his left arm out towards Makarov again, hoping to end the gigantic fight with a last-effort blow.
"Three Pillar Gods!" Makarov swiftly crossed his arms in front of himself with his fist clenched, prompting three ethereal slabs composed of darks seals to appear beside and in front of Makarov. Choji's technique collided with the frontmost pillar, and failed to shatter it completely.
"He's already used up too much chakra," Tsunade analyzed, shaking her head solemnly. They watched as the slabs vanished from sight, but a large fist began its course toward Choji's face. Makarov landed the final, ground-shaking, strike that sent Choji slamming hard into the ground.
"After using the Calorie Control Technique, and Butterfly Bombing twice, his chakra reserve must be completely empty," commented Shikamaru as he watched his bestfriend hit the ground hard, dispersing the Super Expansion Jutsu. Makarov also cancelled his Titan mode, becoming a petit mage once again. "And he didn't have any food to restore his chakra..."
"Choji..." was all Ino could utter. Shikamaru attempted to comfort her, but he was perturbed as much as she was. Saburo was highly disappointed in the uneventful battle however.
"I should of known it wouldn't be very exciting," sighed Saburo. He then tapped on both Choji and Makarov, zapping them away to where he wanted them; Makarov to his cube, and Choji to Saburo's place. "Now, I think this should be a little more entertaining. Match Number Seven: Sai vs. Evergreen!"
Author's Note: I'm sorry about this chapter being so half-assed. It's just that I had no motivation for this fight, and I feel a mild case of writer's block coming on.
