Saburo's Tournament
CHAPTER 10
Yellow Streaks Of A Dragon
Naruto vs. Laxus
Author's Note: Sorry for the lack of necessary info in Chapter One, as it has been brought to my attention that the time period was omitted. Well, I didn't put the time/arc that this Fanfic takes place because I didn't want to limit myself. But it seems that in this chapter I was forced to decide if the story should take place before or after the Fourth Shinobi World War arc. But one thing's for certain: No Bijuu Mode Naruto, because the teamwork of the Kyuubi is certain overkill to fairies. Now, enjoy.
"Now, let's get the first match of Block C out of the way! Match Nine will certainly be Naruto Uzumaki vs. Laxus Dreyar!" Saburo announced, sounding quite pleased with this matchup. He drifted away from eyesight as Naruto and Laxus began their approach onto the battlefield.
"It looks like it's finally my turn," gleamed Naruto as a massive grin spread across his face. His fellow ninja all gave him their notions of good-luck, and he exited the cube. Across from him was his opponent, Laxus.
"Hmph," huffed the man. He was a quite tall and lean blonde with piercing blue-grey eyes. His hair appeared to be slightly slicked back with numerous spikes pointing backwards, although some of it fell down onto his forehead. A prominent feature was the distinct lightning-bolt shaped scar on his right eye. Laxus wore a large hoded cloak with a dark shirt under a long light jacket kept closed by a simple belt. He also wore loose dark pants that ended below his knees and boots reminscent of his old greaves.
"I'll take you on," baited Naruto, pointing his index finger at Laxus. The ninja had blue eyes and spiky blonde hair accompanied by unique whisker marks on his face. His outfit consisted of an orange and black tracksuit, orange pants, black sandals and a long black forehead protector.
"Bring it. I'll show you just where you stand," declared Laxus, grinning slightly.
"Match Nine, begin!" Saburo's voice boomed, launching the two combatants into action. Naruto Uzumaki was the first to move, making a couple of handseals while calling out the name of his upcoming technique.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" As soon as Naruto uttered these words, four exact replicas materialized circling around him. All five Narutos shared the same goofy grin, which slightly irritated Laxus.
"I really hate fighting illusionists like you and Mystogan," frowned Laxus, looking at each of the clones one by one. "But you should know, illusions won't work on me!"
"Good," smiled Naruto as he charged forward, "because these aren't illusions, pal!" All of the replicas followed in the original's footsteps, heading straight for the mage named Laxus. The five blondes circled around Laxus, who stood firm, glancing back and forth between the clones.
"Then I'll just take them all out," asserted Laxus as the Naruto clone at 12 o'clock dashed at him. The mage lashed out with a swift spinning back kick to its jaw, launching it backwards. Laxus ducked underneath a punch from the Naruto in front of him, and planted his knee in its abdomen. "Out of my way!" Laxus grabbed the clone's head and tossed it into the previously attacked clone, dispersing both of them.
"You haven't noticed that I'm just getting started!" The voice of three Narutos echoed as they all converged around the mage. They simultaneously reeled their arms back as they entered Laxus' range. Before they knew it, they were all sailing backwards with tiny sparks flying from their bellies.
"Now, which one of us it that 'hasn't noticed', hm?" Laxus smirked as the three figures landed with their backs to the ground. Naruto grumbled as he and his clones regained composure and got back to their feet.
"You're pretty fast," acknowledged the young ninja, "but you're not as quick as Rock Lee!" Naruto charged once again with a kunai knife in hand. His two clones lingered behind him.
"The bowl-haired kid?" Laxus asked as Naruto swung arced his kunai towards Laxus, except his voice was misplaced. Instead of it being from the spot that Naruto swung at, it was heard behind him instead. The next thing Naruto saw were his two remaining replicas flying past him. "How dare you compare my speed to his." Naruto turned to face Laxus as his clones exploded into a plume of smoke.
"You're name is Laxus, right?" Naruto asked, to which the man nodded slowly. A small grin etched Naruto's young face. "Let's have some fun!" Naruto demanded, forming a quick handseal. A single clone popped up beside him, jumping right into action. Naruto held his palm out and his clone hovered his hand over it. After a few molding attempts and hard concentration, a light blue sphere rested in Naruto's palm.
"Come on," baited Laxus, intensifying his glare. Naruto rushed forward with a large ball of chakra between he and his clone's palms.
"Odama..." Naruto and his partner skidded to a halt as they neared Laxus, and drew their arms containing the attack back. "Rasengan!" The ninjas propelled their center arms forward, and just the wind spiraling around the chakra sphere was great enough to blow away Laxus' cloak. Or perhaps he simply discarded it while zapping away from Naruto's powerful technique.
"Come on now!" Laxus snickered as his voiced echoed from behind Naruto, who had ceised his charge. Naruto spun around and grinned a little bit, which through his opponent for a loop.
"I saw it," he remarked teasingly. Seeing the look of confusion on Laxus' face, he decided to elaborate. "I saw how you travel, Laxus. You can turn your body into a lightning current!"
"You sound as if you'd be able to beat me just because you figured it out," Laxus scoffed. To this, Naruto only snickered some more. "Now wipe that dumb look off your face already and bring it!" He said as a bolt of lightning sprung from his clenched fist and into Naruto, electrocuting him.
"Gah!" Naruto bleated as the electricity sparked through his body, where it would eventually die down. Naruto dropped to a knee and glanced up at Laxus. "You bastard. I've dealt with plenty of lightning-style attacks, so you're nothing but a joke!"
"A joke?" Laxus repeated questioningly. "A joke? I will prove to you that Fairy Tail is far superior to you ninjas!" The mage erupted with lightning, sending bolts snaking through the battlefield just to display his agitation.
"Don't kid yourself!" Naruto and his clone's feet beat against the hard cement as they barreled forward.
"You know..." muttered Laxus as he glanced at the approaching opponents, "I'm getting pretty damn tired of those head-on charged of yours!" Naruto ignored the remark and circled around Laxus, his clone on the opposite side. "Out of my face, trash!" The Fairy Tail representative lashed out with two bolts of electricity; one for each Naruto. The clone exploded into a cloud of light smoke while the real Naruto slid to the side, only to be greeted by the face of Laxus.
"Damn it!" Naruto cursed, gritting his teeth.
"You're wide open!" Laxus slammed his electrified heel into Naruto's chin. Before the blonde could fall out of range, Laxus grabbed his wrist while spouting, "You're not getting away that easy!" After having a fist slam into his face, Naruto smirked.
"Who's running?" He asked as he made a handseal with slight difficulty, seeing as how his right wrist was being gripped by his foe. "This is my chance to prove the power of Konoha! Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"You little brat!" Laxus raged as he watched hundreds, yes hundreds, of clones appear in the blink of an eye around him. All of the copies wore the exact same juvial grin as Naruto. Laxus instantly let go of Naruto's forearm and took a step backwards, before erupted with electricity once again. "I should have just relied on this power of mine from the very beginning! This ultimate power is the true core of my identity!"
"I'll just beat that power of yours then!" Naruto and his clones voiced in sketchy unison as they each charged forward with large Rasengan's in hand.
"Lightning Dragon's..." Laxus reared his head back, his cheeks inflating as the Naruto clones loomed over him.
"Odama Rasen Tairengan!" The Narutos boomed, just as Laxus also finished the name of his technique.
"Roar!"
Before any of the Odama Rasengans could strike him, Laxus unleashing a rampant wave of lightning that he arced while swinging his head. The beam of lightning followed the motion of his head, incinerating any clone that dare into its trajectory. When the technique subsided from its clone destruction, all that was left were six clones and the original Naruto.
"Come and try me, Konoha!" Laxus laughed maniacally. "I'll take everything you throw at me!" Laxus proceeded to zap in front of one of the clones, launching a powerful knee strike into its chin that destroyed it. To take out the second one, he merely threw a lightning amplified straight right into it's face. Another clone was struck down by a high kick to the chin, while the fourth one ceased to exist due to a crushing headbutt. The fifth and sixth were subsequently obliterated by an explosion of lightning beneath their feet.
"You really are tough," muttered Naruto as he watched Laxus stride towards him. The man abruptly halted his walk, and lifted his clenched fist high into the air.
"Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder," he began to chant, "plunge from the heavens and reap destruction!" Laxus smirked. "Raging Bolt!" A large, spherical bolt of lightning proceeded to descend upon Naruto quickly. The attack collided with the cement, vaporizing everything that it came in immediate contact with. The smoke that was prompted by the lightning soon dispersed, revealing nothing but shattered cemetn and the charred remains of bricks.
"Hehe," snickered Laxus. "Naruto...who is the strongest man in this tournament?" He seemed to wait for a reply. "...Guess you can't answer when you've been blown to bits!" He laughed as he listened to the cries of the Konoha ninja.
"Weren't you spouting something about proving that you're better than us ninja?" A voice pondered from behind Laxus.
"Hmm?" Laxus mumbled as he began to turn to face the voice.
"Taking you out will be my job and mine alone," declared the voice. "You're not making it to the next round, Laxus." Positioned on the remains of a broken down brick wall was the gallant figure of Naruto Uzumaki, except his appearance was drastically altered. The ninja was now wrapped in a yellow shroud of chakra, which there was a visible seal on. He had also gained a necklace of magatama around his neck. Lastly, hhis hair was spiked up with the two endmost spikes resembling slight horns.
"Oh really?" Laxus asked, a look of intrigue evident on his face. "All who stand before me shall be reduced to nothing!" Laxus let loose a quick stream of electricity towards Naruto, but the attack missed completely. Naruto was nowhere in the sight of Laxus.
"Come on now," came Naruto's voice, prompting Laxus to swivel around and launch a lightning-fast punch. Naruto moved just as fast, grabbing his fist and keeping it at bay with slight difficulty. Laxus then waved his other hand, causing a burst of lightning to shoot from the ground beneath Naruto. Using his incredible reflexes, Naruto slid away from the attack.
"Damn it!" Laxus watched as a sudden Rasengan rammed into his abdomen, sending him skidding backwards. He soon came to a stop and said, "vanish!" He exteneded his opened palm and orbs of lightning fired from it. Naruto began to manuever between the blasts of lightning, but the smoke that they caused upon impact with the ground forced both Naruto and Laxus to stop their actions.
"Laxus!" Naruto cried, although all that could be seen was some sort of hand constructed of pure chakra piercing through the smokescreen. Laxus simply leapt high into the air, believing that he had escaped the hand's grasp. As he was paying close attention to the Tailed Beast Chakra Arm beneath him, he didn't see the figure of Naruto rising to meet him.
"What?" Laxus' eyes flickered up, only to catch a glimpse of Naruto's yellow fist plowing into his protecting forearms. The mage was hurtled towards the ground at an amazing speed, but Naruto was there even quicker. Four chakra arms suddenly sprouted from Naruto's body and gripped each of Laxus' appendages.
"Take this!" The four yellow arms slammed Laxus face first into the ground, shattering the cement on impact. Naruto let out a quick sigh as the chakra arms disengaged. Naruto quickly looked down as the ground beneath him illumated. The ninja reacted quickly, somersaulting backwards through the air as lightning erupted from his former position.
"As though the likes of you could ever defeat me!" Laxus roared, like literally roared, firing another wave of lightning at Naruto. The Konoha ninja vanished from sight, evading the powerful attack entirely.
"You just won't learn, will you?" Naruto asked as he came into view directly in front of Laxus. The mage responded by throwing a quick jab at Naruto, to which the boy dodged. Naruto also threw a similar punch, which Laxus also dodged. They continued this dodging match for awhile, but none of the spectators (save for Kakashi perhaps) was able to discern the lightning quick movements. The lightning Dragon Slayer escaped from the scuffle, sliding backwards along the ground. "You thought you were so powerful, but it turns out you've met your match."
"Just disappear already, Naruto!" Laxus charged forward again with a lightning encased fist.
"Don't count on it!" Naruto ordered, also charging forward with a Rasengan held in his hand. The two combatants launched their hands forward simultaneously, colliding with the other's technique. After a bitter staredown and intense power struggle, Laxus was suddenly flung backwards. "Kakashi-sensei and Captain Yamato taught me that the Wind Element beats the Lightning Element," he grinned.
"You stupid kid!" Laxus shouted, getting back to his feet. "I'll burn you so bad there won't be any ashes left of you!" He lifted his hands above his head, prompting electricity to encase them. A thin bolt of electricity connected the two spheres of lighting around Laxus' hands, giving it the appearance of a trident of spear as he launched it. "Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!"
"I don't think so, Laxus!" A large Rasengan quickly formed in Naruto's right palm, but it had three smaller Rasengans orbiting around it. "This is the strength of Konoha!" Naruto shot his Planetary Rasengan forward, causing it to collide with Laxus' lightning halberd. On contact with the lightning, the Rasengans suddenly began to spin in all different directions at a great velocity, creating a vortex.
"Is this...really Naruto-kun?" Rock Lee asked in awe. The ninja watched as the breathtaking vortex sent the lightning wave flying right back at Laxus with the added force of Naruto's Rasengan. As the attack washed over Laxus, a large explosion ensued, forcing Naruto to shield his eyes. As they flickered open, he saw the defeated, yet conscious body of Laxus lying on his back.
"The world really is a huge place..." he mumbled. "To think that a monster of a person like you exists...I still have a ways to go, Naruto Uzumaki." After speaking, Laxus drifted off into unsciousness, declaring Naruto to be the victor. The boy grinned cheesily as he walk over towards Laxus, but Saburo was already kneeling next to the body.
"Hmm," Saburo muttered, peering at Laxus. "It was a hard fought battle, but a loss is a loss. Away you go," Saburo lifted up his leg and allowed his foot to hover over Laxus' body. Before he could press it into the mage, a sudden chakra hand gripped the bottom of Saburo's foot.
"Don't you dare humiliate him by stepping on him," hissed Naruto menacingly.
"Unhand my foot, Naruto Uzumaki," the tall man ordered. "If you don't, I will be forced to harm you." To this, Naruto scowled.
"You're going to harm me?" The boy repeated angrily. "Just go away and let me take him back to his team."
"Did you forget?" Saburo asked, his foot still resting on Naruto's chakra hand. "The losers go to my personal quarters. And did you also fail to remember that you must unhand me?"
"I'm sick of you!" Naruto shot his arm forward towards Saburo's face with blinding speed. The ninja's fist connected, but not with the intended target. His fist was instead pressing against a rather large, golden edged blade. The inner color of the sword was a simple black, but Naruto's chakra shroud cast its yellow shade onto it.
"Then this is your resolution?" Saburo asked as began to push Naruto backwards by mere strength alone. "You're quite lucky that I don't want to injure one of my favorite pieces." He spoke of Naruto.
"Pieces?" They boy asked. "I'm not one of your pieces!" He argued, sprouting one more chakra arm from his back. The chakra arms lashed forward, hoping to strike Saburo across the face. Saburo's free hand suddenly appeared to change texture, becoming gray in color as it clasped with the chakra hand.
"I wouldn't be so content about that," Saburo inquired. "You are all my pieces." After hearing this, the outrage inside the cubes sparked. "...and if you all want to leave this tournament alive, then I suggest you do exactly as I order."
"What?" Naruto asked. What if this guy said is true? What if he somehow kills everybody inside the cubes if we disobey? Thoughts ran through his mind.
"Naruto," Kakashi called out calmly. "Just stay calm. If we follow his rules, we can just see how it plays out." The man attempted to diffuse the situation, as to not make any rash decisions in this strange place. Naruto obeyed after slight hesitation, lowering his fist and reverting to his base form.
"Thank you," said Saburo as he placed the handle of his blade against Naruto's chest, sending him to his cube in a flash of light. "And I assaume that it'd only be right to respect your wishes and treat Laxus with respect," he scoffed, placing his index finger on the mage's shoulder. As the mage vanished, Saburo continued. "We may now proceed into Match Ten: Ino Yamanaka vs. Wendy Marvell!"
Team Konoha's Record: 4 Wins, 1 Draw
Team Fairy Tail's Record: 4 Wins, 1 Draw
Next Match: Ino Yamanaka vs. Wendy Marvell