Chapter 19: The Prodigies
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. They are the respective properties of Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo.
A/N: Sorry for the wait. Anyway, please enjoy this new chapter, and if you want a faster update, please leave a review.
[15 Miles from Orochimaru's Hideout, Land of Grass, Shinobi World]
"My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya," he said coolly, as he readied himself into a battle position.
"And I must apologize … but this is as far as you will go. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to turn back now…"
Current Time...
"I am sorry my friend, but my team and I can not turn back. We are on a vey important task that we must accomplish," Guy said as he stared downed Toshiro who had a small smirk on his face.
"If you're planning on going after the Snake sannin Orochimaru, then there is no point in going onwards. Both he and his assistant have just died."
All of Team Guy gasped and took in a sharp breath of air as Toshiro announced this. After gathering his bearings, Neji stepped forward and looked at the white-haired Captain.
"Are you the one who killed Orochimaru?"
"No. I killed his assistant. If I recall correctly I believe his name was Kabuto Yakushi. My associate Menma was the one who killed Orochimaru and took his Sword of Kusanagi for himself. You may have his body when my teammates and I have left the area."
"Could this Menma character personally take on Orochimaru and succeed in killing him all by himself?," Guy thought to himself, but soon shook this off as he began to struck one of his familiar poses.
"Regardless of what you are capable of, Toshiro-san, we must push on so we can help our comrades!"
Toshiro sighed at hearing Guy's answer.
"If that's the case then, I'm going to have to make you leave the hard way. Before we begin, I must ask you, what are your names?"
"I am Might Guy, and these are my three youthful students! Rock Lee, Neji HYuga, and Tenten," Guy replied enthusiastically as he and Lee seemed to be getting pumped at fighting Toshiro.
"My flames of youth are burning brighter than ever, Toshiro-san! You may be undoubtedly strong to defeat Kabuto-kun, but your luck has just run out! You are not facing off against any ordinary squad! You are facing off against Team Gai, the Number One squad in Konoha!"
"Oh really? Then tell me: if you're the number one squad in Konoha, then how come Sasuke Uchiha, a member of Kakashi Hatake's squad, was the one to kill Itachi Uchiha? The man who was a very dangerous nuke-nin and was responsible for wiping out a great majority of the Uchiha clan. And yet you have yet to claim a single victory against the Akatsuki?"
Upon being reminded of his "rival's" most recent "success", Guy's jaw dropped and eyes widen in comedic fashion. Toshiro inwardly chuckled at this. He remembered a conversation he had some time ago with Naruto when he talked about his senseis. And he specifically remembered Might Guy and his one-sided "rivalry" with Kakashi.
"I will not stand by and allow you to torment me with my rival's student's accomplishments, you fiend! You shall feel both my wrath and my flames of youth! Gate of View: Open!"
With that, Guy rushed forward towards Toshiro without giving him a proper chance to react. His skin had turn to a boiling-hot red and a green battle aura had surrounded his body. He delivered a power front kick at the young captain, which sent him flying into the air, the wind knocked iut of him being the only real damage. Toshiro gathered traction at his feet, which allowed him to stand up, but Gai was quicker, and started his next move.
"Asa Kujaku (Morning Peacock)!" he shouted as he started to punch Toshiro at a very rapid pace. The punches were so face that they were being set ablaze by the sheer speed and friction that was being used on it. Toshiro landed on the ground and panted heavily. An attack with that amount of power would have killed a normal man. But as a shinigami, Toshiro possessed a much greater resilience and durability than a regular human.
Lee then suddenly kicked Toshiro into the air. He then appeared directly beneath his body before delivering another powerful kick, which sent him flying further into the air. Lee was attempting to use the Omote Renge (Front Lotus) on Toshiro, the most basic of the Eight Gates techniques. It started by opening the first of the gates, the Gate of Opening, granting the user five times their normal strength. Lee had then used the Kage Buyō (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf) on him, which had placed the shinigami captain in the perfect position for the finishing move.
He now appeared directly above Toshiro and was prepared to restrain him with his bandages. However, Toshiro now did something unexpected. He suddenly disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared besides him, with his open palm pointed at him.
"Bakudō #63: Sajō Sabaku (Locking Bondage Stripes)," he said as he closed his fist, and suddenly chains made of golden yellow energy wrapped around Lee, restraining him and preventing him fro doing any other action. With that, he was crashed to the ground and was rendered unconscious from the fall.
The remaining members of Team Guy was shocked by this. Toshiro had brushed off Guy's Asa Kujaku like it was nothing and had both easily and swiftly taken out Lee with a combination of a speed technique and that ninjutsu that both Menma and Soifon had used.
Tenten now rushed forward, holding a kunai attached with an explosive tag between each of her fingers. She then tossed them at Toshiro, each of them whizzing through the air as the tags sizzled. However, Toshiro slashed his sword at the incoming kunai, which set out a large wave of ice, freezing the projectiles before they could do any harm. Annoyed that her technique didn't work, Tenetn then took out two scrolls before unsealing them, which released a large amount of white smoke. She then tossed them into the air, which fly and spin together. She then jumped in between them and started to unseal the contents of the two scrolls. She then sent flying a large variety of different bladed weapons at Toshiro.
"Twin Rising Dragons," she shouted as the bladed tools went flying towards the captain. However, Toshiro disappeared in a burst of speed, and reappeared before her with his palm near her face.
"Inemuri (Forced Slumber)," he said as Tenten's pupils dilated before she fell unconscious. Toshiro then grabbed her placed her on the ground before Neji appeared and thrust his palm forward.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
A compressed shell of air shot out from his palm and was headed towards Toshiro, who was levitating his own zanpakuto before he hit one of its ends. It started to spin rapidly and fast, but suddenly stopped when Toshiro grabbed the hilt. It then send out a large, tornado-like blast which met Neji's vacuum palm head-on.
"Hadō #58: Tenran (Orchid Sky)!"
Two respective attacks canceled each other out, but Toshiro wasn't safe yet. Guy suddenly appeared as he attempted to perform a drop kick on Toshiro. Thinking quickly, he quickly flashstepped away from the occoming attack. He then reappeared, pointing his finger at Guy, who was confused by why he wasn't fighting back against him.
"Bakudō #73: Tozanshō (Inverse Crystal Mountain)," Toshiro announced as a single spark glistened where Guy was standing. The spark then expanded up to four points and created a pyramid barrier, which then solidified around Guy trapping him within.
Placing his zanpkuto on his shoulder, he turned around and faced Neji, who was quietly analyzing him.
"So … it looks like it just leaves you and me."
"So it would seem."
Toshiro briefly closed his eyes and smirked as he continued on.
"I have heard quite about you Neji Hyuuga. You are a member of the Hyuuga Clan's branch family, and are a master of its Gentle Fist arts, including techniques only known by the main family."
Neji's eyes widened a bit as he listened to Toshiro's words.
"How … how do you know this?"
"I have faced a few enemies that you have in the past," Toshiro said, obviously lying.
"They all consider you to be quite the progidy. Is that true?"
"That's what people keep telling me," Neji deadpanned as Toshiro got out of his relaxed position and stiffened slightly.
"People have saying the very same thing about me back home."
"And where is this home of yours?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to divulge that information," Toshiro said as he went back into his fighting stance. While he remained stoic and calm on the outside, he was feeling a sudden rush of excitement and anticipation on the inside. He began to wonder of this was what Kenpachi felt whenever he was in battle, but soon brushed those thoughts aside.
"Let's put these stories to test, shall we?"
"Agreed," Neji said as he went into his Gentle Fist stance. Everything suddenly seemed to slow down as the two prodigies stared down each other. The air around them was becoming increasingly tense, but all of it was broken once Neji made the first move. He rushed forward and tried to deliver a knife hand strike, but Toshiro then sidestepped the attack. He then tried to slice at his shoulder, but Neji separated before the sword could connect with him. He then jumped back and went into a set of handsigns.
"Iwa no Yoroi (Rock Armor)," he announced as transparent chakra covered his forearms. He then charged in a Toshiro, and, to the latter's surprise, swatted the sword away before striking him in the shoulder. Toshiro winced at this as he slashed at Neji's forearms, but it simply bounced off. He then stepped back as he looked at Neji's new technique.
"What did you do to your arms?"
"You heard me. I used the Iwa no Yoroi Jutsu. It covers my arms in earth chakra, which the Hyuga clan has an affinity for. Not only does it provide me more durability, but also it increases the power and force behind my gentle fist strikes. Only three people in the Hyuga Clan are able to use it: myself, my cousin Hinata, and my uncle and the clan head Hiashi."
"I see."
"By the way... you are now within my range. I can't see his tenketsu points right now but I can still strike them. I known where they all are by instinct so..."
"I'm within your wha-"
Toshiro was suddenly struck with two knife hand strikes to his shoulders. He winced at this as Neji continued with his attack.
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" he shouted before delivering another two strikes.
"Two Palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms! Sixty four palms!"
With that, he delivered another two consecutive strikes, followed by four stikes, then eights strikes, sixteen strikes, and finally, thirty-two strikes. This only winded Toshiro, despite the extra power it had with being combined with a Doton technique. Neji was surprise by this, since somebody hit with the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms wouldn't be capable of standing up.
"It's impressive that you're still standing. However, your tenketsu has been cut off and you are incapable of using your chakra for now. This fight-"
Neji was unable to finish his sentence, however, as he suddenly was forced to dodge a horizontal slash from Toshiro.
"I hate to break it to you, but I was never using chakra to begin with! Your Gentle Fist Style is impressive; that said, your ability to close tenketsu points is of no use against me."
Neji stood in shock at this revelation as Toshiro flashstepped back away from him. He then raised his sword into the air as clouds gathered around the sky, blanketing the sun. The clouds then turned dark and gray, and, much to Neji's surprise it began to snow. It wasn't soft and gentle snow, but it was hard and fierce. It was soon accompanied by icy cold winds. Toshiro then pointed his sword at him as he began to explain.
"This is Tensō Jūrin (Subjugation of the Heavens), one of my most powerful techniques. It allows me to control the weather within the surrounding area. More specifically, it allows me to control the water in the air. -That is except when Naruto decides to use his bankai since its ability to control the weather far surpasses my own- I don't usually use this since it's unstable, but for you, I'll make an exception."
Neji was taken further back by this explanation.
"I know there are people who possess Ice Release kekkai genkais, but I have never seen or heard of anything this powerful! This rivals a technique that would be used be a Kage!"
Not waiting for a response, Toshiro grabbed the sword with both hands, and raised the sword up to the top of his head. With one, quick fluid movement, he delivered a power vertical cut, which launched an ice dragon at Neji. Along the way, the snow and ice created by Tensō Jūrin was absorbed into the dragon, giving it even more power and force. After quickly thinking over his options, got into another gentle fist stance.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven," he shouted before spinning rapidly, creating a rotating shield around him. The dragon struck Neji, and pushed him back a few yards, creating a small trench due to the Revolving Heaven being used. The dragon then split into two, and went around Neji, hitting a few trees in back of him and freezing them solid. The jutsu suddenly ended, and Neji stood there, slightly hunched over and panting. Trying to keep up his Revolving Heaven while being hit by a powerful attack had took a toll on him. He had used up a large amount of his chakra and had various cuts and scrapes over his body.
"I admit that was impressive. You were able to stop my ice dragon in the nick of time with that Jutsu of yours."
Neji nodded in response. Despite the damage he had taken, Neji rushed forward at Toshiro. His arm was pulled back; ready to use a palm strike. In response, Toshiro rushed forward, gripping both hands on his zanpakuto. The two of them were soon in inches of each other, and prepared to trade blows.
"Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher!"
"Onibi (Demon Fire)!"
The force of their attacks then separated Neji and Toshiro. Neji's Mountain Crusher had done much damage to Toshiro. He was now covered in a few lacerations and he was slightly bruised. However, Toshiro had managed to stab Neji in the left shoulder. A thin layer of ice had spread from the wound and covered most of his arm. However, he was still able to move it, albeit stiffly.
Both of them then faced each other and continued to fight on. Neji attempted to deliver a Rock Armor enhanced Gentle Fist strike with his free arm to Toshiro, who would parry it with his sword. On the other hand, Toshiro would try to cut Neji, who would swat off the attack with his forearms. Neji suddenly sidestepped to the right and delivered a jab at Toshiro's right abdomen. He cringed at this as the pain spread throughout his body. Ignoring the new surge of pain, Toshiro flashstepped away, confusing Neji. He then reappeared, pointing his index finger at Neji's right shoulder.
"Hadō #4: Byakurai (Pale Lightening)," he said as a white blue, concentrated bolt of reiryoku at his shoulder. It went through it, and Neji let out a brief shout of pain. He grasped his shoulder with his left arm, which had broken out of the ice layer. He then looked at Toshiro, and a small grin appeared.
"I admit. You are a worthy opponent, Toshiro-san. You're the first person in recent years who has pushed me to my limits. Let's end this fight, shall we?"
"Agreed."
However, before either of them could continue on with their fight, they soon felt two different spikes in energy coming from the area where Team Kakashi, Team Kurenai, and Jiraiya were located. Both of the prodigies stood in shock at the energy, but both for their own different reasons.
"Did Ichigo just go and used that? His opponent must be pretty serious if he's forced him to go and use that," Toshiro thought to himself.
"Sasuke-san must have gone and used one of his more powerful jutstus," Neji thought to himself as he looked over to the direction where the energy was emitting.
[Somewhere in the Land of Lightening, Shinobi World]
Meanwhile...
As Naruto's group and the Konoha shinobi were fighting it out, Soifon and Renji were currently in the Land of Lightening, heading towards an unknown location. They were walking along a pathway, trying to stay discreet and not catch anybody's attention. Suddenly, Soifon stopped in her tracks, tensed up, and became as stiff as a board. Renji also become more alert, and then shook her on the shoulder.
"Did you just feel that?"
"I did."
"What do you think that was?"
"I do not know … but something has happened with Naruto and the others … but I wonder what it was?
Next Time - The Student and Masters
A/N: The Iwa no Yoroi isn't a jutsu that I made up. It was seen in episode 59 of Naruto Shippuden (which was part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja filler arc).