Special thanks to my writing partner:
greymatter 1098 for his incredible support
UPDATE:
NaruHinaShion - 16
NaruHina - 15
I'm back! Sorry if I was gone for longer than you all expected, but I had to attend our school prom! Anyway, wow what an update last chapter, don't you think? I know that many of you are probably pissed at me for leaving it as a cliffhanger but hear me out. I did that on purpose because this chapter is dedicated to the world finding out about Naruto's secret! Oh, are you staked to see how they'll react? Well, worry no longer! Before we get to the f-ing chapter, let's go through some reviews some of my dear viewers left for me…
Honeywriter78: I think you're overreacting because it's not really like Shion will show up often in case she wins… In fact, she'll stay in the Land of Demons even after doing the deed with Naruto…
Bloody Rogue dragon deity king: I like building up tension for my readers, dude… Other than that, I give individual chapters for the best moments.
bloody dragon fang: Looking forward to it, Highschool DxD is one of my faves! Good luck! BOOST!
Phantomsoul2015: Why, yes I am… Expect more to come…
Nombredeusuario: Really sorry, but nothing really important happens in that arc except for Zabuza and Haku becoming one of the good guys…
LadyKaos: Oh sorry, I always thought of them books as green… Just roll with it, kay?
Trala: Nothing important really happens in that arc except for Zabuza and Haku turning new leaf… Sorry! ;)
"Normal Talking"
'Thoughts'
Flashbacks
Jutsus and Battle Intros
"Beasts and other high beings talking"
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…
Neji stared incredulously into Naruto's eyes as he raised an eyebrow in sudden confusion. "H-His eyes…" he spoke under his breath. "T-They changed color…" - he added, noticing that the blonde's eyes were now glowing yellow. Before he could make another move, everything around him shined so bright that forced him to close his eyes and deactivate his Byakugan due to the intense brightness of his surroundings.
'What is this?' he thought. 'What happened to his eyes? Does he have some kind of dōjutsu or something?' - he thought that over before shaking his head. 'Impossible. Only the Sharingan and Byakugan are the known dōjutsus in the world…'
Assuming everything was now all right, he tried opening his eyes a little bit, but then he closed them tightly once more, when he noticed that his surroundings were still as bright as daylight.
"Open your eyes again and you'll regret it…" he heard Naruto's voice say. "While my illusion is active, you won't be able to use your sense of sight because of how bright everything is."
'Illusion… He must be using a genjutsu! I'll let him waste his chakra in this, it doesn't seem like he will attack me while in this state…' - he thought over before smirking. "Such brave words, Uzumaki…" he began. "Would you mind enlightening me with this jutsu? I don't have the slightest idea on you just did but it doesn't change your fate as a loser. You will lose, one way or another."
There was an awkward moment of silence before Naruto took a deep breath. "At first I thought I was too weak… That I don't have the strength to protect the people I care about… and myself. But I was too blind to see that I can protect them all along… It felt like I always had that strength in me, but I was too cowardly to admit that to myself… Well, now… Well now I can…"
"We're not learning philosophy here, Uzumaki…" Neji seethed, getting annoyed with the blonde. "So stop with this nonsense and accept your fate as a loser!"
Naruto suddenly laughed. "You're still sputtering all that nonsense about fate? You know nothing of what I'm capable of, Neji." - before the Hyuuga can even protest to Naruto's acclaims, the blonde went on. "Didn't you notice my eyes? You were wondering earlier what happened to them… What happened to that curiosity?"
Neji scoffed. "Stop with your mind games Uzumaki, since this is a genjutsu, you can —" he was cut off.
"Uchūton: Nisshoku," said Naruto and almost immediately, Neji felt a jolt of pain in his eyes. After a few moments, he no longer felt the intense brightness on his skin so he figured that it was now safe to open his eyes. But as he opened them, only pitch-black darkness welcomed his vision.
'What the —?' the Hyuuga tried blinking a few times, only to meet the same sight. Darkness was still everywhere. He began breathing heavily in fear on what was going on before he heard laughter in the distance. The laughter of somebody familiar.
"Man, you should see the look on your face, Neji!" Naruto joked and Neji scowled. "You're so helpless!"
"You better answer me now, Uzumaki! What have you done to me?!" he demanded, turning his head to various directions to try and talk to the blonde. "Did you somehow cut off my vision? If you did, what a fine tactic to beat your opponent, indeed."
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Why do you care? You just think I'm a loser, don't you?" Naruto spat. "I'll say it again. You have no idea what I'm capable of. Especially my eyes…" - he said in a slightly menacing tone, which caused Neji to flinch a bit. "I would almost say that I possess either the Sharingan or Byakugan if I wanted to change my life but I didn't. Do you know why my eyes are like this, Neji?"
"No…" the Hyuuga replied. "Are you even telling the truth, Uzumaki? Sounds to me you just want to show off."
"You will learn about these eyes, I tell you… And you will see that I am not joking…"
Neji snorted. "Then prove it, you big, dum, lo —" before he could finish his statement, his eyesight went back to normal. 'Did he finally run low on chakra?' he asked himself before checking the surroundings.
The proctor? Check.
The wild crowd? Check.
The kage box? Check.
Naruto panting on his knees? Wrong.
The prodigy's eyes widened as soon as he saw Naruto still standing. The blonde was staring him down with his eyes still glowing yellow like before. 'H-How? The genjutsu wore off! He should be on his knees because he's out of chakra! Did he somehow cancel the illusion on purpose?!' - he mentally ranted before he saw Naruto going through a series of hand seals.
(Tiger → Horse → Monkey → Ram → Dragon) "Uchūton: Dosei no Ringu!" - Naruto screamed, throwing out his arms.
'U-Uchūton?' Neji asked himself. 'What kind of nature transformation is that? Wait, S-Space… Release? What does that even —' he was cut off from his thoughts immediately and he his mouth gaped open at what he was seeing.
Four energy discs formed on top of Naruto's palms and the blonde smirked. The gasps and murmurs of confusion from the crowd grew even louder, seeing what Naruto was doing.
Naruto's smirk turned into a grin as he threw his arms out once more, throwing the four discs into the sky, where it earned everyone's attention. Tension grew in the arena as the four discs exploded altogether, leaving a greatly interested crowd and kages, a gaping Neji, and a grinning Naruto.
Normally, Neji would have shrugged a technique off and bring up the topic of fate again at this point, but this time, he was curious.
"W-What did you do? What was that?" - he asked, still looking at the sky. When he noticed that Naruto wasn't replying, he turned his head to glare at the blonde for ignoring him, but was stopped shortly in his own words when he saw his opponent. Naruto was grinning like a madman who escaped from a mental facility, with his body slowly getting covered by yellow light.
"Getting interested, are we Neji? What's the matter? Want to learn more about my eyes? Answer me."
Neji didn't want to admit it, but what Naruto just pulled off earlier got him to be curious and interested. There were only five known nature transformations in the ninja world and a bunch of bloodlines as well, but he was sure that there was no such thing as 'Space Release'. After all, how can he beat Naruto if he didn't know what his abilities were?
The Hyuuga took a deep breath and crossed his arms below his chest. "Very well, it's not like something bad will happen when you explain things. I want you to tell —" before he could continue any further, he felt a strong kick hit his back that made him fall forward. Neji gritted his teeth in rage at Naruto taking advantage of his vulnerable state. He looked up to see Naruto smirking.
"You want me to tell you, huh? Well, I'll tell you this!" - he screamed loud enough for everyone in the whole place to hear. "Today, this world will see a new dōjutsu! Not only the Sharingan and the Byakugan! It's my own unique bloodline and nobody in the whole world has it except for me. Everyone will learn about my eyes and you'll see what they're capable of today. I am not the spoiled brat who you once thought of me as, I've grown up… You might think that I'm going to use my powers to take revenge on everyone who treated me horribly, but in truth I don't care! I won't stoop to that level! I will use my abilities to protect the people I love and care about!"
Gasps were heard all over the arena as the yellow light fully covered Naruto's body. He spoke as loud as he could. "Behold the Uchūtengan! The Heavenly Eye of the Universe!"
At the crowd…
'Looks like Naruto's going with it,' Kakashi thought. Yesterday, he figured that Naruto would be revealing the truth about his powers during his match because he learned that the blonde was training his eyes to his limit for the past month. 'Well, I can't think of a better time to spill it…' he looked at all the genin and jounin shinobi around him and saw them either gaping, stuttering, or just plain shocked.
'Hmm, I think you really caught them off guard, Naruto…' - he then noticed that a certain somebody wasn't present at the moment. 'Oh, too bad his girlfriend isn't here…'
At the Kage box…
"WHAT?!" the Kazekage screeched, causing Hiruzen to narrow his eyes.
'Careful, Orochimaru… Your hunger and lust for power will be a dead giveaway…' he thought before turning his attention back to the match. 'So, Naruto-kun's bringing it out? I must watch this.' he continued. With the blonde telling the truth today, Hiruzen knew it would surely affect his future. What's more, it's very likely that mixed reactions would come from the crowd as they did not know what Naruto's eyes were and what they can do.
'I never knew another dōjutsu existed!' Orochimaru said in his thoughts. 'Is it a bloodline or did he inject himself with the DNA of a lost clan that possessed those eyes… Hmmm, I think I can put my plans to kill that brat on hold… at least if I think his so-called 'Uchūtengan' is powerful like he says… Let's see how it compares to the Sharingan, then…'
At the arena…
Naruto was taking satisfaction at seeing Neji's shocked face and hearing the gasps from the crowd.
Unfortunately, it didn't last when he heard a familiar voice from behind him.
"It doesn't matter even if you get a little power-up, dobe!" Sasuke roared from behind him, his fist fast approaching and Naruto raised an eyebrow in shock. Wasn't he already defeated? "I won't let anyone stand in my way of getting revenge for my clan!"
Naruto immediately recovered from his shock and flew up with his Meteor, and in the process, Sasuke didn't hit anybody. The Uchiha widened his eyes at how fast Naruto was, and what the dobe did just amped the tension and interest of the battle.
"Where did he go?!" Sasuke asked loudly, looking at Neji.
"I don't know!" - he replied, looking everywhere in the arena with his Byakugan. He then heard something moving really fast in the air and he turned to the direction on where it was. His eyes widened to see Naruto flying behind Sasuke, but most of all, he was taken aback at the fact that the blonde was levitating and the yellow light covering him.
"Look out!" Neji screamed, and Sasuke instantly looked behind him. His eyebrows furrowed at seeing Naruto rush towards him with incredible speed. Too bad his reactions weren't quick enough to dodge a punch from Naruto that sent him flying back, but Neji caught him before he could crash into any object.
Sasuke clenched his fists and touched the area on his cheeks where Naruto just punched him. Meanwhile, the blonde landed on the ground safely, as the yellow light provided by his Meteor begun to dissipate.
xxx Naruto vs Neji and Sasuke xxx
"What was that technique?!" Neji asked, scanning Naruto's body with his dōjutsu as he noticed the bright light disappear. "How can you fly through the air?! There is no shinobi in the world who can pull that off! Is it because of those eyes?"
"You have a keen eye, Neji" Naruto said in a mocking tone, which made the Hyuuga prodigy scoff in response.
"It doesn't matter, dobe! There's two of us and only one of you right now… Give up now and we won't have to hurt you, that's the best offer you'll get from me, dobe…"
Naruto gave him the finger, causing laughter to erupt from the crowd and the Uchiha scowled at him. After his 'little' gesture, Naruto created an energy disc in his palm, while gesturing for them to 'bring it'.
"Come at me, both of you! And bring it on! Unless you're too scared to see what other jutsus my eyes can do…" he mumbled the last part which didn't go by unheard by either Sasuke or Neji.
His two opponents were getting pissed by the moment. How dare this idiot stand up to the two of them? He should be on his knees, begging for mercy. Sasuke and Neji looked at one another, before they nodded at the same time. However, they didn't notice that Naruto had just thrown the energy disc he created towards them.
Almost immediately, Neji pushed Sasuke out of the way and he jumped back to avoid the projectile, after seeing what those things can do. The Hyuuga cocked his arm back in mid-air and nodded at the smirking Uchiha. Since this worked before, it would work again.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" - Sasuke yelled, breathing out a giant ball of fire towards his rival.
"Hakke Kūshō!" Neji yelled, sending a massive force of chakra that enhanced Sasuke's attack.
"Ha! The same trick won't work on me!" Naruto declared before his body was quickly covered by yellow light. "Ryūsei!" - he yelled, taking off from the ground and charging towards the enhanced fireball his two opponents just created.
Sasuke and Neji widened their eyes when Naruto flew through the gigantic fireball like it was nothing and was now headed towards them. 'That light around him… It's acting like a shield!' Sasuke thought as he went through another batch of hand seals, but before he could even cast a jutsu, he felt Naruto kick him in the back that sent him crashing back down.
Neji's eyes slowly widened before he felt a punch straigh to his back that sent him crashing to the arena as well.
About a minute later, both Sasuke and Neji stood up carefully as they stared at each other to think of a plan. Obviously, Naruto can be untouchable at the moment because of his Meteor so they needed to come up with something if they want to beat a simple idiot. "Got any ideas?" Neji grumbled, looking at the Uchiha, displeased. He didn't like being helped, but if he wants to finish this battle as soon as possible, he'll have to work together with Sasuke.
"You're an expert in taijutsu, right?" Sasuke asked and the Hyuuga nodded. "Get behind him and attack when he's open. I'll cover you." - Neji scowled but followed what he said.
As soon as Neji was out of his sight, Naruto safely landed back on the ground, the yellow light covering him dissipating slowly.
"Had enough yet?" Naruto taunted and Sasuke scowled at him.
"Shut up, dobe. Let's see you get through this!" - he said as he went through some hand seals. "Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" - he breathed out a dragon-shaped flame that headed towards Naruto at full speed.
"Uchūton: Dosei no Ringu!" he screamed and two energy discs formed on his palms. Upon hearing those words, Sasuke immediately got ready as he aleady knew what that jutsu can do. As soon as the flames were within range, Naruto threw the discs towards it, resulting in an explosion.
A few moments after, Sasuke emerged from the smoke that was created with his kunai ready in hand, but his expression that was showed a smirk, turned into one that showed shock and surprise.
Naruto had created one more energy disc in his right hand and he threw it at Sasuke, who had no time to dodge out of the way because of pure shock. The technique sent Sasuke flying away, before an explosion engulfed him, that caused the crowd to gasp at what Naruto has done. He might have killed the Uchiha with that technique.
Neji immediately sprang out from behind the tree where he was hiding and attempted a Jūken strike to Naruto's neck, as it would paralyze his whole body immediately, but suddenly, Naruto backflipped out of the way, so nobody was home for Neji's attack.
While in the air, the yellow light covering him while using Meteor flared around him as he begun levitating like an angel. 'Let's make this quick, I can feel my chakra running low, and I'm going to use it all up soon,' he thought as he weaved a batch of hand seals.
(Hare → Snake → Bird → Tiger) "Uchūton: Tengoku no Kōsen!" he pointed his index finger towards Neji and a laser beam from the blonde's finger then rushed towards its target. The Hyuuga was too slow to turn around that as soon as he saw it, he had no time to register what was happening at the moment, so he took the direct hit to his chest.
Neji screamed in pain as he felt his chest being crushed. The next thing he knew, he crashed into the walls of the arena, overwhelmed with Naruto's new technique that he showed them.
Breathing heavily, Naruto landed back on the arena ground and started walking over towards Neji to see if he was knocked out. Of course, he had to make sure that he was defeated. Since he would be out of chakra very soon, he had to take precautions as he didn't want to go this far only to end up on the losing side. But, halfway through his walk towards Neji, a voice spoke behind him and Naruto turned around to see who it was.
"I'm ending this now, Naruto…" Sasuke warned, his body full of first-degree burns, tearing the bandages off his left arm as he went through some hand seals. His face was being covered by his fangs. He survived the explosion earlier and didn't gain any major injuries. People in the crowd started cheering for their betted shinobi to win the match. "Prepare to meet your end, dobe… I don't care even if you have new eyes…"
(Ox → Rabbit → Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Snake → Dog → Tiger → Monkey) - he placed his hand down with his right arm clutching his other arm as he channeled chakra into it. Lightning started to form on his hand and it sounded like the chirping of a thousand birds. Sasuke scowled and stared at his rival, while the lattef still kept an emotionless expression.
Sasuke then rushed towards the blonde with incredible speed that can be compared to Lee's. "NARUTO!" Sasuke roared in anger, reaching the blonde within a few seconds as he connected with his technique. "Chidori!" he screamed, as Naruto's eyes went wide in shock.
Sasuke grinned evilly as he looked into Naruto's eyes. "Finally! HAHAHAHAHAHA! You see, dobe? You can never beat an Uchiha like I said! You never had a chance from the start! So much for —" the Naruto in front of him then poofed into smoke, revealing itself to be a clone all along.
There were gasps that are clearly heard all throughout the arena. Everyone thought for sure that Sasuke had gotten Naruto right where he wanted him. Even the two kages watching thought that the match was over when the Uchiha hit Naruto with his Chidori.
'Shit!' he cursed himself. 'I wasted that on a useless clone! Damn it, why can't I use that technique for more than two —' just as he could continue, Naruto was directly in front of him.
Sasuke gasped but before he could do anything, he felt Naruto's fist collide with his left cheek. The Uchiha winced in pain, before deciding to keep the momentum by sweeping Naruto's legs.
The blonde shinobi didn't expect that so he was caught off guard and lost balance. He fell to the ground and he suddenly felt disarmed of his kunai as he saw Sasuke gripping his own weapon, standing tall by his head.
The Uchiha brought his kunai down, but Naruto was able to evade by turning his head to the other side. He brought his two legs up and kicked his rival in the chin, making him stumble back as the blonde quickly went back to his feet.
When Naruto turned around, Sasuke prepared for another technique, after having finished going through the proper hand signs. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" - he breathed out a continuous stream of fire towards Naruto, completely different to the normal fireballs he usually does.
Naruto saw the imminent danger coming towards him and he immediately went through his own series of hand seals.
(Dog → Horse → Rat → Boar → Bird) "Uchūton: Seinaru Bakufū!" - he yelled as beams of energy began charging up on his arms. He then charged towards the stream of fire, with a smirk on his face.
At the crowd…
"WHAT DOES HE THINK HE'S DOING?!" shrieked Sakura, as she clutched the metal railings even tighter. "HE'S GONNA GET HIMSELF KILLED!" Although she still liked Sasuke, she couldn't help but be concerned for Naruto's well-being.
"Woah, Naruto sure is fearless, huh?" asked Kiba, speechless at what the blonde is trying to do.
"Yep," answered Choji as he took another handful of potato chips before stuffing them down his mouth. "I honestly don't know what he'll do every time."
"Unpredictable… and troublesome…" muttered Shikamaru.
"You can do it, Sasuke-kun!" cheered Ino. "Fight until the end!"
"I hope he gets killed!" Kankuro joked, only to be silenced by a smack to the head by Temari.
At the arena…
Just as the flames were about to make contact, Naruto threw the energy beams on his arms towards the fire itself, destroying it slowly, energy beam by energy beam. The crowd was left with their mouths hanging at whay Naruto is doing. Seriously, is there anything this boy can't do? He proved that he can fly earlier, and now he can stop a fire jutsu with his own jutsu while running against it?
After Naruto destroyed the last of the flames with a final energy beam, Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw Naruto unharmed by his technique. He pulled out his kunai and attempted to go for his legs but Naruto kicked the weapon away from him, upon which afterwards, he proceeds to blasting the Uchiha away with yet another energy beam from his arm.
'Damn... it,' Sasuke breathed out between pants. He punched the ground in frustration on not being able to finish even a simple idiot off. 'How the heck can his jutsus be stronger than my own?! He has new eyes, so what?! They're weak!' - he then heard Naruto's voice from the other side of the arena.
"Now might be a good time to show a new technique!" said Naruto as he let his hands be covered in blue flames. "Uchūton: Moeru Suisei!" - he yelled out, charging towards the now panting Uchiha.
Sasuke kept a determined look and threw all of his remaining shuriken towards Naruto. But all of them melted as soon as the blue flames got near. Seeing this, no expression was left on Sasuke's face. Just an expressionless blank look as he watched Naruto move dangerously closer and closer to him. He sighed and took a deep breath. He should've seen this coming.
'What happened?' Sasuke asked himself. 'I trained myself to the absolute limit but I can't win against a simple idiot… And I have a teammate, no less…' - he looked up at the blonde and saw that his left fist was inches away from hitting his face.
"How are you so strong, Naruto? I can tell that your strength doesn't come from your eyes alone…" - he muttered weakly before the blonde's fist came across his left cheek.
"Yeah, my strength doesn't root itself from my eyes only!" - Naruto declared, hitting Sasuke with a right hook followed with a kick to the gut. "My strength also comes from the people around me!" he turned around and performed a horse kick that sent Sasuke looking up. "I grow stronger because of the people I care about!" - he followed this up with a right uppercut that launched his rival up to the air, with Naruto also following. "They give me the strength to go on, even during the times when I feel like giving up!" - he flipped in the air and delivered a powerful axe kick that sent the Uchiha back to the arena, accompanied with a slight shaking of the ground.
At the crowd…
"Woah! I don't know if he can survive that!" said Kiba, marvelled at Naruto's performance. "Damn, that Naruto is good! Sure glad I didn't pick a fight with him back then!"
"That idiot's gonna kill him!" Ino screeched out in concern for Sasuke.
"Go for it, Naruto!" yelled out Choji, disregarding the blonde bimbo beside him.
Haku turned to her father figure with a shocked expression. "Tou-sama, that's the same chain of attacks Naruto used on me when we fought!" Zabuza looked at her with a face that says 'Are you serious?' and she nodded.
"Well, it's a good thing you're alive then! 'Cause I don't think that brat's gonna hold back any soon… best be prepared for what's gonna happen…" he trailed off, focusing on the ongoing battle. 'YOSH! THERE'S NO WAY I'M LOSING THAT BET NOW! WE'LL BE RICH AFTER THIS!' he continued in his thoughts with a rather evil voice.
"What a combination of strikes…" said Gai, inspecting Naruto's attacks closely. He was a taijutsu expert, after all. "It's almost like Lee's combo but with some changes!" He looked at Kakashi, who was standing nearby. "Kakashi, did you teach that kid the taijutsu combo he's performing? Perhaps you could show that to me some —" before he could finish his sentence, Kakashi already shook his head no.
"Actually, Naruto himself came up with it," he explained, sweat-dropping. "To tell the truth, I was the student in that situation because I wanted to learn it…"
"Then can you at least tell me what scrolls he's been looking at? Surely he learned all those basic moves from a normal scroll before compiling them into one combination!"
"It's not my place to tell, Gai..." he went on. "Who knows? Maybe after this battle Naruto will be informing us all on certain things we missed and then he'll tell everyone about his powers."
"Ouch," said Asuma, wincing a bit. "Man, could only hope that that didn't kill him," he commented. "Don't you think that Uzumaki kid's going too far?" he asked his wife, and Kurenai shrugged her shoulders in response.
At the arena…
Sasuke slowly struggled to get to his feet, even though he was barely able to. His face has been bruised and there were burns all over his body, although they were only slight. When he did get up to his feet though, he was panting and he could barely see anything. But then he heard someone running towards him.
Naruto, with his the blue flames on his arms still ablaze, continued on speaking. "Maybe you should try that! Fight for the people you care about instead of doing it for revenge!" - he then used his Meteor to get to the Uchiha instantly. "I'm counting on you to change, teme…"
Sasuke did not answer, instead, he just closed his eyes. "Feel the power of the fallen stars!" the blonde said as he prepared his flame-enhanced right arm. "Hoshi Uranai!" he screamed before delivering a right straight punch that burned Sasuke's shirt upon impact, which also sent him flying towards the walls of the arena, defeated for good.
Panting slightly, Naruto made his way over to his best friend and saw that Sasuke was barely conscious. "You got that, buddy? Just be more open towards others and you'll be strong like me!" he flashed his signature grin and gave a thumbs-up. Sasuke showed a small smile before he finally embraced the sweet unconsciousness.
At the Kage box…
While the most of the crowd watching booed Naruto loudly for defeating the last Uchiha, the kazekage was having difficult thoughts himself.
Orochimaru was left gaping at what happened. Sasuke Uchiha has just fallen to the hands a simple brat with unknown abilities. 'I am disappointed that I didn't get to see Sasuke-kun's Sharingan!' he reanted in frustration. 'Oh well, I think I can use this to my advantage. Perhaps this loss would contribute to Sasuke-kun's quest for power…' he thought evilly. 'In the meantime…' he turned his eyes to Naruto. 'Let's see what else can that brat's eyes do…'
'Extraordinary,' Hiruzen thought, seeing his pseudo-grandson fight with skill. 'Combining two jutsus of his Uchūtengan… now that is a good strategy. And good thinking, Naruto… showing more of your abilities would likely raise the lust of a certain individual here as well. Now, let's see how he will handle the so-called "prodigy" of the Hyuuga clan…'
At the arena…
Neji, who just got to his feet a few moments earlier witnessed what happened and took it as another opportunity. 'Damn it, he already got the Uchiha!' he thought as he began charging towards Naruto with killer intent. 'I need to end this now, who knows what more tricks he has up his sleeve.'
Just as he was about to attack, Naruto turned around immediately and Neji stopped in his tracks, before taking a few steps back out of fear. Naruto smirked and decided to scare him even further by taking slow steps towards him. But all of a sudden, his eyes widened and he felt a jolt of pain in the two, bringing his hands up to cover them.
Naruto screamed in pain and fell to his knees as he felt his Uchūtengan deactivate. 'Damn it,' he cursed mentally. 'Did I kept it activated for too long? Crap, I thought for sure I trained my eyes the whole month! What do I do now?'
Meanwhile, Neji was flabbergasted. He was taken aback with Naruto in pain. Fortunately, he came to a realization upon seeing the blonde covering his eyes.
'His eyes gave out! This is my chance to end this! I have to act quick!' He then proceeded to deliver three quick hits to Naruto, one to his right arm, one to his left leg, and one to his chest. Naruto screamed in pain the whole time as he felt his chakra points getting closed. Neji then gave him a powerful kick to the gut that sent Naruto flying back.
As of now, the tide of the battle has completely changed in less than five moves. Sasuke may have been down, but it took its toll on Naruto. The blonde was struggling to get back up on his feet and as soon as he did, he heard something from behind him that he didn't wish to hear at the moment.
"You are within range of divination." - Naruto turned around with a look of fear on his face and he was met with Neji's smirking face as he took the chance to finally end the fight.
"Ni Shō" - the Hyuuga said as he closed two chakra points on Naruto's chakra network.
"Yon Shō!"
"Hachi Shō!"
"Jūroku Shō!"
"Sanjūni Shō!"
"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!" - he said, finishing all 64 strikes that pushed Naruto back a few meters, but he managed to stay on a knee. His jacket looked like it was about to wear and tear any moment.
At the crowd…
The crowd erupted into a mixture of boos, applause and confusion as Naruto was launched across the arena. Of course, the cheers rained down the most. Some didn't get it moments ago. The blonde shinobi had taken out the last Uchiha and he had the Hyuuga in a dire situation but now he was struggling to just stand up. Others were happy that all the money they'd bet on the Hyuuga prodigy and the Uchiha won't get down the drain. The rest who were just there for entertainment were annoyed that the blonde stopped fighting.
Amongst the Rookie 12 the reactions were mixed.
Sakura's mind was at a crossroads. On one hand was her crush Sasuke if Naruto beat Neji, Sasuke would lose as well but if Naruto lost, well that didn't sit well with her either since she now considered him a very valuable friend.
Ino had a frown on her face. For a moment there she actually thought Naruto could win. He beat Sasuke so why was he struggling all of a sudden against Neji?
"Damn it Naruto get up." Kiba barked, Akamaru joining him.
"Yeah, Naruto get up!" said Choji, cheering for Naruto as well.
"YOU CAN DO IT MY ETERNAL RIVAL! GET UP ON YOUR FEET!" Lee exclaimed, with tears falling down the sides of his face.
'Hmm, I wonder how would Naruto respond to this situation?' thought Kakashi. He never expected that Naruto would get hit the entire match once he starts using his celestial abilities, but he got caught this time. 'Seems like his eyes still can't hold out very long.
Meanwhile, Tenten of Team 9 was smiling. It was obvious to almost anybody that she has a crush on her teammate, Neji Hyuuga. 'Yes, Neji did it!' she thought happily in her head before she looked at Naruto in concern. 'I'm sorry, Naruto. But when the 64 Palms hit the opponent, it's game over for them. But look on the bright side! You did push him to his limit, and that's something you should be proud of!'
At the arena…
The blonde Uzumaki clutched his chest, he was clearly not in a good shape right now. In fact, it was only thanks to Kurama that he survived that onslaught from Neji. Any other opponent would have fallen to having all their tenketsus closed. He bowed forward and spat some blood on the ground, showing just how devastating Gentle Fist can be. "Damn it, this isn't good…" he said to himself. "Hey Kurama? Do you think you can give me some chakra? I don't think I can continue the match any longer without having access to my chakra… I feel like I can't use it for an hour or so…"
Inside his mind, the fox shook his head no and Naruto widened his eyes. "I won't be helping you this time, kit… You gotta win this battle on your own," he stated.
"Are you crazy?! As soon as Neji lays one more finger on me, I'm going down! I don't feel like myself earlier! I still felt like I could fight before Neji's attack hit me!"
"Find a way," he answered sharply, causing Naruto to back away a little. "You know yourself better than anyone, right? If that's the case, then there should be no problem with you winning this… or perhaps you just forgot what other things your eyes can do…"
Naruto was cut off from his conversation with the fox as soon as he heard Neji approaching. But the Hyuuga himself wasn't a hundred percent well unlike earlier. He wasn't standing straight, and the way he walked looked like he was about to fall over at any second. His body was full of bruises and scrapes all due to the intense beating he endured from Naruto earlier.
Neji started to laugh maniacally as he limped towards Naruto. "Did you really think that a loser like you would be able to defeat me, a Hyuuga? Did you?! I told you over and over that your fate is to be a loser, nothing more." - he growled, stopping to move when he finally reached Naruto. Breathing heavily, he deactivated his Byakugan before continuing to speak. "But you didn't listen, and you still lost. Your eyes are weak, Uzumaki. I thought earlier that they were extraordinary, with amazing abilities, it just turned out to fall into the wrong hands. Perhaps if I was fated to have those eyes, I could hone its powers to the maximum limit, unlike a loser like you. Hinata-sama should've picked a better person than you. Oh well, she is a loser like you as well, anyway."
Upon hearing Neji's insult towards Hinata, Naruto's fists clenched in anger while the prodigy cocked his arm back, intending on ending the match for good. He turned to Genma with a smirk. "Proctor, I'm going to end this," he continued and Genma just snickered in response. "You made a poor choice to continue the match, Uzumaki." He then went for his Jūken strike. "You should've given up when you had the chance!"
Naruto's head snapped up with lightning-quick speed that Neji didn't even notice him. The blonde seized Neji's attacking arm by the wrist and that is the time that the Hyuuga administered what was happening. 'HOW —?!' before he could continue, he heard Naruto's voice.
"Reinmēikā!" - he screamed, pulling Neji in for the Rainmaker lariat. Neji screamed in pain as he felt Naruto's arm hit his throat and both of them collapsed on the ground, absolutely exhausted.
At the crowd…
The crowd once again broke into chaos once more. Some had their jaws hanging at what just transpired, others perspiring as all of the money betted was at risk again, while the remainder of the crowd once again broke into cheers at seeing the 'Celestial Shinobi' in action once more.
"ALL RIGHT!" Kiba roared in exhilaration, with Akamaru barking loudly on top of him.
"THAT'S MY TEAMMATE!" Sakura cried, her earlier doubts overcame after Neji's ridiculous tirade. "CHA KICK HIS ASS FOR MESSING WITH HINATA." her Inner self roared.
"Well it's about time." Ino smirked crossing her arms, causing Sakura to look at her in confusion. "What? Oh come on, Forehead, I may like Sasuke-kun, but I do hope that idiot's gonna win, I never really liked that Hyuuga anyways…" - she stated and Sakura smiled at her in showing support for her friend.
Kakashi whistled in amazement. 'Wow, what a counter,' he thought, glancing at the huge crowd watching with anticipation. 'Looks like that move shut them up… Keep going, Naruto.' He flashed a smile underneath his mask. 'And you'll be changing their opinions about you soon…'
"What a move by young Naruto!" said Guy, observing the match closer as he could tell that the two combatants would be resorting to taijutsu soon. "That lariat is devastating, I wonder where he learned that… I could classify that as a B or A-Rank jutsu! Perhaps, you would like to learn that technique from him, Lee?" he asked his student.
"YES NARUTO IS MOST YOUTHFUL THAT WAS A GREAT TECHNIQUE I WILL DO MY OWN WHEN I GET TO FIGHT AGAIN!" said Lee in his usual voice.
Zabuza began to sink in fear on his own seat at seeing Naruto still continue to fight. Haku looked at him in concern. "Is something wrong, tou-sama?" she asked him.
"Remind me not to piss of that brat again," he spoke in a slightly pitched voice, showing how scared he was of Naruto, causing Haku to once again sweat drop.
Tenten was shocked with her mouth gaping open. 'How did Naruto move or even pull off a technique?! His chakra points should've been closed! Neji, get up please…'
"Looks like your student's boyfriend has some guts left in him," Asuma smirked, looking at his wife. "Damn, that kid is unpredicatble, I wonder what he's going to do next?" - he remarked, while Kurenai simply smiled as she watched on.
At the Kage box…
'This brat! He's going to be more trouble than I thought," was the observation of Orochimaru as he saw both genin fall to the ground. 'Reminds me of Jiraiya. Never knows when to give up.' - he crossed his arms and silently cursed his teammate. "On the bright side, the longer this match goes, I shall see more of his abilities…' he smiled evilly. 'Yes, keep on impressing me, Naruto Uzumaki… And I just might reconsider not killing you…'
'This fight isn't over yet.' The third thought, proud that his pseudo-grandson didn't let the momentary weakness hold him back. 'What a performance he has put on today...'
At the arena…
For the entirety of the one minute that they have been on the ground, Neji was wide awake with shock clearly expressed on his face. He couldn't believe that Naruto was still able to move earlier even after getting hit with the most powerful jutsu in his arsenal. 'Who the hell is this guy?!' Neji asked himself as he coughed a bit, looking at the sky. 'His chakra points were closed, how was he able to use a ninjutsu?!'
Breathing heavily, Neji glanced at Naruto and prepared to speak. "How… did… you… do that?" he spoke angrily in between breaths. "Your… chakra points… were closed… but you still… managed a ninjutsu…" - he then witnessed Naruto slowly get back to his feet with his hair covering the most of his eyes.
When he felt that he was slowly getting up to his feet as well, Neji saw Naruto still clutching his wrist. The Hyuuga widened his eyes in fear of what Naruto could possibly do to him before he tried prying his arm off the blonde's grasp. "LET GO OF ME!" Neji roared, before seeing that he was finally back to his feet.
Naruto clenched his right fist once more, with small raindrops starting to build up on his arm. In less than five seconds, he then proceeded to attack once more with the Rainmaker but before he could even hit his enemy, Neji mustered his remaining strength to kick Naruto's right arm away, preventing the attack.
While the Hyuuga may have prevented the potential attack, he noticed that Naruto still had a firm grasp on his wrist. His eyes once again widened in fear before bringing his foot up to kick Naruto in the head. He then began repeating this relentless attack towards the blonde just to pry away from his grasp. "LET. GO. OF. MY. ARM!" he spoke with every punctuation substituted with a kick to either Naruto's head or face.
After a whole minute of fighting back with all his might, Neji finally stopped to catch his breath. 'I did… it… Now I need to —' before he could speak anything else in his thoughts, he heard Naruto roaring like a wild animal.
Neji's eyes were as wide as saucers when he saw that Naruto still clung onto his arm the entire time and before he could react even further, he was hit by the Rainmaker, causing him to fall to the ground again but the blonde was able to stay on his feet.
There were certain gasps and murmurs of concern in the crowd as soon as they saw Naruto's face. His face was all ganged up and bruised and a trickle of blood was flowing from the side of his mouth, due to all the kicks he received from Neji. Meanwhile, a certain impostor in the place was impressed with his endurance for taking that much damage but still managing to stand up.
Panting, Naruto spat out some blood near Neji's head and scowled at the fallen Hyuuga. "That… was for Hinata…" he said in a slightly menacing tone, speaking the first time in minutes. Neji's eyes widened as he heard his words, before he felt himself being pulled up to his feet again. Unfortunately for him, the prodigy had to lean on Naruto for support.
Now that both of them were standing once more, Naruto grabbed ahold of Neji's shoulder as he clenched his fist to prepare for another attack. "This… is for the girl that you messed with in the preliminaries!" - said the blonde, reminiscing about the Hyuuga prodigy's fight back then, before pulling Neji in for another devastating Rainmaker.
Once again, Naruto was still able to stay on his feet while Neji felt his vision getting blurry. The blonde Uzumaki felt the most of his wounds on his face heal slowly, and he inwardly thanked Kurama for that. Meanwhile, Neji was almost out cold, before he felt himself getting forced up to his feet once again. However, he could barely see Naruto at the moment due to so much exhaustion and his chakra at low levels.
"And this one… is for me!" - he screamed, pulling Neji in for a final Rainmaker before his eyes widened upon seeing the Hyuuga activate his Byakugan. In the process, Neji ducked in order to evade his attack before attacking the blonde's head with a knee strike, but Naruto still kept on holding to his enemy's wrist.
In retaliation and possible humiliation, Neji channeled some of his remaining chakra into his left arm, before he pulled Naruto towards himself in an attempt to use the same Rainmaker against him. The blonde ducked to avoid it and let go of Neji's wrist temporarily.
"YES!" Neji yelled triumphantly, finally being free of Naruto's grasp. He turned around with a confident smirk plastered on his face. 'Now I can —' what happened next proved that Neji celebrated too early. Naruto performed a backflip after he avoided the possible Rainmaker done by the prodigy earlier, and he managed to hit Neji in his eyes with his right foot, and the Hyuuga covered them in pain.
Naruto immediately turned around and grabbed Neji's arm as he pulled him in for another attempt at his Rainmaker, but the Hyuuga once again ducked before getting hit. Neji tried again to humiliate Naruto by performing the same move on him, but the blonde Uzumaki ducked as well.
This time, instead of holding Neji's wrist, Naruto went behind him and wrapped his arms around the Hyuuga, as if he was hugging him from behind. Naruto then lifted Neji up, performing a suplex before slamming him to the ground, neck-first, causing some people in the crowd to shiver in fear.
Keeping a determined look and his hold on Neji's waist while panting heavily in exhaustion, Naruto brought the two of them up to their feet before switching his hold from the Hyuuga's waist to his wrist. Afterwards, the blonde-haired boy gave Neji a push so he could turn around and face him, before pulling him in for the final Rainmaker that would hopefully end things for good.
"Reinmēkā!" - Naruto's jutsu hit home and Neji, who was absolutely exhausted and drained of his chakra, took the attack like a ragdoll, flipping in the air once as he got hit before landing on his face and stomach, defeated.
Afterwards, out of pure willpower, Neji forced himself to open his eyes. But this time, he didn't want to fight any longer and he knew that. But there was just one question that he wanted Naruto to answer. And that was regarding one of the events that transpired earlier. He saw standing Naruto by his feet, struggling to stay upright. "Naruto…" he weakly called out, using the blonde's name for the first time.
Naruto turned around with a raised eyebrow, as he was confused on why would Neji address him with his real name. "Why did you keep on fighting earlier? After I hit you with the 64 Palms, you couldn't have the strength to fight back, but you still did… Just answer me right now… Your fate earlier was losing to me, but you kept on denying it. Why?" - he asked.
"Say that all you want, but my answer won't change, Neji." - he replied. "If I have to tell you a hundred times, I'll gladly do it. We make our own choices that'll lead to different outcomes, hence different fates. Why do you keep on denying it?" - Neji's eyes widened. His question was just redirected towards him. "I'm not forcing you to change yourself, I'm just telling you to stop messing with your own head. I can tell something's driving you to believe in this 'fate' stuff, so just don't follow it. I know you can do it. And when the time comes, when I become Hokage, I'll help the Hyuuga clan with their problems so that attitude of yours won't pass on to other members!" - he flashed his signature grin and showed a thumbs-up. "Believe it!"
Neji first came to a realization, before his vision started to get blurry once again. 'I'll look forward to that, Uzumaki Naruto…' he thought as his eyes closed, fading into unconsciousness.
Seeing Neji finally defeated, Genma smiled and cleared his throat. "Winner of the match: Naruto Uzumaki!" he announced, to the mixture of cheers and boos from the crowd.
xxx Naruto vs Neji and Sasuke xxx - End
After hearing what Genma just said, Naruto collapsed to his knees and took his time to regain his breath. It was a hard-fought battle for him, and for the first time, he felt challenged. "Well done, kit." - the Kyuubi said inside his mind. "That was a great battle, I enjoyed watching it. The way you manhandled the two of them is so intense! I can't wait to see how the villagers' react to seeing you everyday after this!" he the began to laugh.
"Aww, thanks ya softy," he replied, grinning at his friend. "I didn't know you rooted for me to win, that makes me feel so happy," he said in a teasing tone, causing the fox to groan in annoyance.
Before the crowd knew it, Naruto's body became covered in yellow light as he flew to the stands in an instant. Once he got there, he noticed that everyone was staring at him, except for Kakashi, of course. "Is there something on my face?" he asked, breaking the intense silence.
"Is that all you have to say after what you just did down there?!" Ino shrieked, causing the most of them to cover their ears in response.
Naruto just shrugged in response. "I kept my powers a secret for a reason and now you know, what's the big deal?"
"BIG DEAL?" she continued. "How can you say that when you have eyes that are completely new to the ninja world and you can do crazy stuff with it?!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "So what? Even though I have completely different eyes than anyone here, it took me six years to find out I had these powers. And I had to work hard for only a few months to get here. And besides, it's not like my powers can be active all the time."
"Yeah, but —" before she could speak any further, Naruto raised his hand for her to shut up.
"Look, I'll answer all of your questions later, Ino. Okay? This goes for everyone as well." he asked in a sweet voice.
"O-Okay," she replied with a small blush staining her cheeks. Naruto smiled before he walked over to Sakura, who seemed anxious to talk to him.
"Good work, Naruto!" - she said, raising her hand for a high-five to which Naruto complied.
"You're not mad at me for beating Sasuke up?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her attitude right now.
"Oh, don't worry, you just teached him a lesson!" she said with a smile. "BECAUSE ONCE HE GETS HERE, I'LL TEACH HIM A LESSON ABOUT HURTING GIRLS HOW DARE HE HURT HINATA LIKE THAT?!" she continued as her demonic aura began to flare off her body, causing Naruto to sweat-drop.
'Man, I don't know what to expect from her… the annoying fangirl or the scary sister…' he thought to himself before turning his attention back to reality. "Okay, Sakura! Thanks for your support!" he finished, walking over to Kiba next.
"Kiba? Mind telling me where Hinata is? I haven't seen her," he asked.
"Still at the infirmary," Kiba replied with a sad tone. "She came out of that pretty bad, Naruto. You should see her… I'll bet she'll be happy to see you and hear that you won."
"Actually, I heard that she can be discharged not too long from now," said Shino, joining the conversation. "And congratulations on your victory, Naruto."
"Thanks, guys. Hinata would be so happy that you're there for her right now." Naruto said as patted them both on the shoulder as he continued on his way. But before he could truly leave the area, he saw Zabuza standing nearby, counting his money while Haku was beside him wearing a warm smile. "What?" he asked, getting curious at the both of them.
Haku stepped forward and wrapped Naruto in a tight hug. "Congratulations, Naruto. I'm so happy for you," she said.
Naruto returned her warm embrace. "Thanks, Haku."
Zabuza stepped forward and smirked at Naruto. "Keep up the good work, brat. I already made so much money with you, you know…" he stated.
"Were the odds against me that bad?" Naruto asked with a sweat-drop.
"38 to 1, baby!" - Zabuza then began to scream in a childlike voice causing Naruto's face to drop. "Everyone wanted to see that Hyuuga and Uchiha win!" he continued. "Also, now I know how you managed to beat Haku when you two fought, brat…"
Naruto shrugged.
"Anyway, where do you want to eat tonight? My treat, brat! Let's celebrate your victory!" he asked with a smile.
"Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto answered almost immediately.
"Ichiraku Ramen it is!" - said Zabuza, pulling a trumpet and a bass drum out of nowhere, and began playing both instruments like in a marching band, causing all of the people there to sweat-drop at his antics.
Naruto simply shook his head and chuckled for a bit before finally heading out of the area, unaware of the icy cold glare that a certain redhead was giving him.
At the Kage box...
'Amazing..' Orochimaru thought. 'To think a dōjutsu that can control the objects from outside this world... Yes... You've impressed me indeed, Uzumaki Naruto... I can no longer afford to kill you, brat... Just keep on impressing me even more... With that Uchūtengan of yours, I will be able to extend my reaches to the ends of the universe...' he thought evilly.
'Congratulations, Naruto...' Hiruzen thought. 'I'm happy for you, my boy... You really have gotten stronger..."
At the arena…
"Temari of the Sand, Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame, please proceed towards the arena!" Genma announced. All of the shinobi mentioned jumped down on the battlefield and went to their respective teammate.
"Let's do this, Shino!" Kiba exclaimed, accompanied with Akamaru's barking. Shino grunted to respond.
"This doesn't make us friends, Leaf Girl," said Temari with a smirk as she stared down at her opponents. Sakura scoffed in response.
"Are all fighters ready?" Genma asked and all four genins nodded. "HAJIME!"
Next on The Celestial Shinobi…
"I'll see you in our match, Haruno Sakura…"
"Don't underestimate my flames…"
"The enemy is moving, Hokage-sama…"
"Kurama said that you are a hell of a lunatic…"
CHAPTER 14: STAR AGAINST SAND
Things to remember: Naruto can control the temperature of his Blazing Comet, meaning he can choose what he would burn and what he would simply beat down. He can also use low-ranked jutsus without having his eyes activated; and the Rainmaker is a taijutsu move, explaining how was he able to still perform it after getting hit with 64 Palms. I dunno if Sasuke used his Sharingan in this fight, but I didn't want to. Since the Awakened form in his black outfit in the Storm games doesn't make him use Sharingan, I decided to follow that.
WHAT A MATCH! NARUTO SINGLE-HANDEDLY DEFEATED BOTH THE UCHIHA PRODIGY AND THE HYUUGA GENIUS! DAMN THOSE MOMENTS WERE GOLD! I'm sorry if this was a short chapter but this is solely dedicated to the revelation regarding Naruto's powers. I hoped you like the fight guys! I also hope that everyone stayed in character when they found out about Naruto's secret. Sorry if this has no NaruHina but give me a break! This chapter was dedicated to Naruto going public with his powers! Cut me some slack, will ya? Anyway, can Sakura and Temari work together to take out both Kiba and Shino? Unlikely to happen for real, but who knows? I hope I did good with the entire chapter, really! For the next chapter, the Chuunin Exams arc will end and we'll be starting with the Invasion arc… starting with Sakura and Temari vs Shino and Kiba and Naruto vs Gaara! Oh, how will the fight play out? Who will come out on top? Stay tuned! Don't forget to leave a nice review and follow/fave if you liked this fic. Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*
-Lance
Jutsu Info:
Name: Hoshi Uranai
English Name: Starfall
Rank: A-Rank
User/s: Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuuga (variation)
Requirements: Uchūtengan
- The user first uses Blazing Comet to cover his fists in blue flames before hitting the opponent with Dance of the Seven Stars. The temperature of the flames can be dangerous, and proper control is needed to maintain it so it'd be safe around other people.