Wow, it's been a pretty long while since I last updated this. Over two months, it'd seem. Sorry guys, but collage was really awful these last, two months and I just didn't had enough free time to write this (on a more positive note I A'ed in most of the subjects… I so rock… and I'm modest :D).
Upon getting a bit more free time, I've managed to sit down to it and finally finish this chapter. I must say that it's not exactly as I wanted it to be (well, I'm not entirely happy with it), but I think it turned out okay. And I even managed to squeeze more fights into it!
As always I wanna thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. It really means a lot and I do hope that you'll enjoy this chapter at least as much as the previous. Also, on another note: FIRST POPULARITY CONTEST HAS BEEN CLOSED!: all the votes has been counted and so I'm placing the results at the end of this chapter. There's no point for you to place your votes now, coz the contest has been closed. But those of you, who really wanted to place their votes shouldn't worry, as this story is a pretty long one and if nothing, unexpected won't happen, then most likely this was not the last popularity contest. A big thanks from me to everyone who decided to vote! The result are displayed at the end of this chapter.
And now, without further to do, the only thing left is to get on with the 'show':
Chapter #26: Higher Purpose
"Will fuzzy brows be okay?" Naruto asked the white-eyed boy, slightly worried, though Neji merely propped his back against a column and crossed his arms, not really interested in the match. With a calm and confident voice, he just replied: "Out of all the people gathered, he's the least one you should worry about. He still may not be able to use anything other then taijutsu, but things have not change: when it comes to that area… he has no gennin equal in the Leaf…"
"Seventeenth match: Rock Lee from Konoha against Inuwashi Hasaki from Fezza!" Jiryoku announced loudly as the two boys stood before one another, ready to go at it. She instantly dropped her hand with a command 'begin' and moved out of the way as both fighters charged at each other immediately.
In a flash Hasaki jumped into the air and somersaulting in the process, he picked out a chain and tossed it straight at his opponent. Seeing this, Lee immediately dodged to his right, making the large blade that was attached to the chain, sunk deep into the ground, lifting up a little dust.
The feather-nin didn't waste time and let go of his weapon, replacing it with a metal glove with three blades on it and upon landing on the ground, he charged straight at Lee, aiming to pierce right through him, yet the Leaf shinobi just kept on dodging, without allowing even a single blow to reach him.
As an opening appeared, Lee acted immediately and grabbing his opponent's hand, he pushed it behind himself, landing a powerful blow into Hasaki's stomach. As the feather-nin let out air, the taijutsu specialist spun on his foot and delivering an elbow, once more into the Fezza shinobi's stomach, he tossed him over his shoulder, thus making the other gennin land on his back few meters away.
"Thick brows has the advantage!" yelled Naruto cheerfully, throwing his hands to the sky, but Tenten only narrowed her eyes: "It'd appear this Fezza guy isn't using all of his weapons. With some many hostels it's safe to assume he's got a lot of shinobi tools. I wonder…"
Hasaki got up instantly and once more reached for his hostel, this time taking out a scroll and upon a quick blood writing on it, a spear appeared in his hands. Tightening his grip on the weapon, the feather-nin charged at Lee again.
As the distance between him and the leaf-nin disappeared, Hasaki swung the spear, parallel to the ground, yet Lee simply bended back, thus making the attack go right above him, and then threw his leg to the sky, using it to break his opponent's weapon in two.
Shocked by this, Hasaki froze in place for a split second, yet that was enough for the thickbrowed gennin, who immediately bended back even more and placing his hands on the ground performed a Belgian Helicopter, delivering several kicks into the feather-nin's body, thus sending him flying back.
But before he even managed to crush against the ground, Lee jumped after him and delivered a powerful kick into Hasaki's face, thus making him slide on the ground for few meters, before coming to a stop. As the leaf-nin landed safely on his feet, the Fezza gennin laid on the ground, not getting up.
"Dammit!" Hasaki cursed under his nose, while clenching his fists. "I can't lose here! I'm the only one left! My village is counting on me!" and as he thought that, a memory of the event from few days back flashed in his mind…
---Some time ago in Hidden Feather Village---
Hasaki, Fukuro and Aozora kneeled down before a tall man with medium-length, messy and spiky, black hair. He gazed upon the three with his dark blue eyes as he walked down the stairs and as he reached the place they were, he motioned them to stand back up: "Do you realize why I've gathered you here?"
"Is it because of the Tiger Challenge?" Fukuro asked a little unsure, trying to avoid eye-contact with the man that stood before them. The village leader only smiled weakly and nodded his head as he walked around them: "Indeed, that is the reason. As you know, it's coming and I've decided that Fezza should have its representatives in it as well. However we cannot afford to send four teams, since we won't be able to keep up with completing mission if our number would decrease by that much. This is why the elders and I came to a conclusion that only one team will go… and we've chosen you three."
"Us?" Aozora raised his voice surprised, but immediately upon realizing what he did, he lowered his head and stared at the floor, not saying another word. Hasaki gazed at his teammate and then turned to look at the leader and with the most respectful voice he was capable of letting out, he added: "I believe what Aozora wanted to ask is why were we chosen, Daichou-sama…"
"Out of all the gennin in our village, you proven to be the strongest" the man replied simply as he began walking up the stairs, back to his throne. Once he reached the top and settled down, he continued: "Our village is a very young one, established only this year. Because of that a lot of customers doubt our capability to fulfill missions. Even the lord of our country sends more assignments to the neighborly villages. If our village is to survive, we need to prove our shinobi are good enough to complete any type of task and the Tiger Challenge is a perfect way to do it: it gathers ninja from every village, so if you were to do good, Fezza would get a good reputation" and as he said so, the three exchanged quick glance. "The whole village will be counting on you. Don't let us down…"
---Flashback ends---
Hasaki slowly began getting up, breathing quickly: "It's not over yet" he thought to himself as he reached to his hostels. In a flash short, metal chains appeared in his hands and as he tossed them at Lee, they came at an incredible speed at the surprised leaf-nin. Thick-browed gennin managed to avoid the assault though and charged forward.
The time he took to dodge the chains however was more then enough for Hasaki, who bite his thumb and picked out a scroll. In a flash he wrote a single symbol on the paper and upon forming a quick hand seal, white smoke blasted from it, covering the feather-nin from view.
Lee came to a stop instantly and as the smoke cleared a little later, Hasaki stood right in front of a huge lion with wings, made from metal. The beast roared, thus exposing its sharp, metallic fangs and making the taijutsu expert take a single step back. The monster was yellow and dark blue, with its eyes shinning red. Upon taking its first step, the ground shaken a little.
The audience went completely silent, shocked by the turn of events, while Jiryoku merely took a quick glance at the beast. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes as they stopped on the lion, a little confused: "Obviously some sort of a blacksmith's work. Considering this thing's made from metal, it's probably hard to break and quite powerful if you let yourself get hit. But on the other the mechanism that makes it work, along with its weight, surely makes it slow… against an opponent such as that thick-browed something like that just won't do… so why would that Fezza fellow use it?"
After getting out of his shock, Lee charged forward again, easily going under the lion's paw, which was aimed at his head. As he ran pass the beast, heading straight at Hasaki, the monster's wings suddenly shoot up and in a flash its metal feathers got blasted straight at the leaf-nin's back. Tenten only managed to call out her teammate's name as the taijutsu expert turned around and did his best to avoid the assault, yet still got his body cut in several places.
"Sorry, but those wings ain't just for soaring in the sky" announced Hasaki happily, while Lee stood on his shaking and bleeding legs. "I must admit that you're a very tuff opponent to beat, but I have my village's reputation on my back and I cannot allow for Fezza to stay unknown! I'll beat you, even if that means I'll have to kill you!" and with that he went through another set of hand seals.
"Thickbrow's in trouble" announced Temari a little worried, yet Gaara only smirked as he replied, as calm as ever: "You shouldn't worry. If he's anything like the one who fought me that year ago, there's no way he'll lose to someone of that Fezza guy's level…"
"Lets go!" Hasaki yelled from the bottom of his lungs as he jumped into the air with a chain much like the one he held at the beginning of the match suddenly appearing in his hand. His lion jumped straight at Lee, blasting his feathers at him once more. In a flash the Fezza ninja unleashed his weapon at the thick-browed gennin, aiming to end the match.
Having to dodge all the feathers, out of which few still managed to cut him, Lee found it impossible to avoid the chain completely and thus the large blade pierced through his right shoulder, missing any vital points only thanks to the taijutsu expert's quick reflexes. As the blade sunk deeper, Lee quickly grabbed the weapon and with a quick motion he pulled Hasaki to himself, making the Fezza shinobi land hard on top of the lion with his head first, thus making the beast break its flight and hit the ground flat.
The monster was not done however as immediately it got back to its feet, prepared to continue fighting, but Lee was faster. In a fraction of a second, completely ignoring the pain from all his wounds, the leaf-nin appeared before the beast, unleashing a storm of punches, each connecting in the exact, same spot. As loud, metallic sounds filled the arena, the lion's head shoot back right before falling of its limbs and landing few meters away from the rest of its body.
As the huge, metallic cat disappeared in the cloud of white smoke, Hasaki began falling to the ground, still dazed by the hit, leaving himself wide open. Again Lee unleashed his hands, delivering several blows into the feather-nin's body, before he felt to the ground, pain shooting all over his body.
"This is not over yet!" Hasaki announced as he once more struggled back to his feet, but upon receiving another blow in the stomach from Lee, he fell again, this time finding it impossible to get up.
Jiryoku simply appeared next to the two and after giving the feather-nin a quick glance, he announced calmly, pointing at the Leaf shinobi: "Winner: Rock Lee from Konoha!" and as the crowd cheered, Hasaki only cursed under his nose again: "And yet, we all failed…"
"That was a good fight and you fought well" announced Lee, holding out his hand. "You and your companions did your best to prove your village's worth and no-one can ask you for more. When it comes to me, I experienced your strength first hand and you are dangerous. If you're looking for a rematch, I'll be ready anytime!" and as he said that, Hasaki hesitated for a moment, before grabbing the leaf-nin's hand and shaking it: "You can bet I won't be satisfied until I beat you! Good luck in the next round…"
And at this point cheers exploded from the audience, creating a huge noise in the whole arena, making Jiryoku's eye twitch from annoyance. While Hasaki was taken away by the medics, Lee slowly returned to the platform. No-one even realized that the examiner already ordered for the next pair to be chosen and only after a short while did everyone's attention stopped at the screen, where two, new names were revealed: USUME KIM versus ASAGI IKAO.
"I hope this fight will be better, coz so far this is all just child's play" whined Hyouden as the two girls headed down to the arena. Lee immediately shoot at him, yelling something about being "untrue to the spirit of youth" and "putting down the flame of hard work", but Kiba wasn't listening. His eyes stopped at the masked kunoichi, that now stood in the middle of the arena bellow: "She's Izuna's teammate… the one the other two treat like the leader… considering that, she must be really strong…"
"The other two were pretty unusual" Fugato thought to himself as he stared at Kim for a moment. "That Tsuki team in certainly not ordinary. I wonder what you'll show, Kim-san…"
"Eighteenth match: Usume Kim from Tsuki against Asagi Ikao from Ame!" Jiryoku announced loudly, dropping the hand that she raised a moment ago: "BEGIN!" and in a flash the rain-nin charged forward, aiming an opened palm at her opponent's chest, but the Moon shinobi managed to avoid the assault by jumping into the air and grabbing Ikao's hand in the process.
Before the rain-nin could react, Kim started spinning in mid-air, thus taking her opponent along for the ride. As her feet left the ground, Ikao flipped uncontrollably in the air and landed hard on her back, while the Moon gennin landed on her feet a meter or two away. The Ame shinobi quickly stood back up and once more entered her fighting stance, ready to attack again.
As Ikao charged at her opponent, unleashing the storm of attacks, Kim simply began dodging, managing to avoid every, single one of them. Upon spotting an opening, the moon-nin bended her knees slightly and delivered a soft punch into her adversary's face, making the Ame gennin take a step back.
Using the shock her opponent just faced, Kim spun on her foot and threw a kick at Ikao's face. As the assault connected, the rain-nin was send flying back, yet this time she managed to flip in mid-air and land safely on her feet. Meanwhile, up on the platform, Kosame was starting to get worried: "That Moon girl… she actually can match Ikao in taijutsu. Not just that: she reads her movement perfectly. That masked girl certainly isn't your average gennin either…"
"She moves really quickly and freely" noticed Hinata, slightly amazed. "Also, her fighting style reminds me of something, though I can't remember what right now" and as she said so, Izuna smiled widely under her nose: "Well, nothing to be surprised about. Regardless to what that guy with the same eyes as yours said, when it comes to taijutsu, Kim has no equal. Even now, she's not using more then ten percent of her strength…"
"Only ten percent?" repeated Fukamaru with his eyes slightly widened. "That'd mean there's more to her fighting style then meets the eye. Is it something like the Hyuuga Gentle Fist?" and with that he gazed back at the arena, while Kiba kept staring at the redheaded moon-nin, until Shino elbowed him slightly, thus making the dog ninja snap back to reality.
"You cannot win this fight" Kim announced calmly as she stood few meters away from Ikao. "Thus I suggest you give up. That would be wiser. If you'll decline my offer, I'm afraid I'll have to use full force against you and that may end up with you getting seriously injured. I do not want that to happen, so please consider before you decide…"
"Sorry, but I do not think surrender is an option" was Ikao's only reply as she charged forward again. However before she even managed to reach Kim, the moon-nin appeared before her and in a flash smashed her opened palm into the Ame gennin's chest, making the kimono wearing kunoichi stop in her tracks immediately.
For a short moment nothing happened and then, all of a sudden, Ikao fell on her back, while veins began appearing on her body. Sweat started to cover her as her breath became quicker. Instantly Jiryoku appeared next to the two and upon realizing Ikao's condition, she announced quickly: "I cannot allow this fight to continue and so Usume Kim from Tsuki is the winner!" and the moment she said so, she motioned to the medics to take the rain-nin away as fast as they could.
"What the hell just happened?" demanded Naruto, completely confused. "Neji, what in the world was that? Gentle Fist?" he asked his friend, but the Hyuuga genius merely shook his head in disagreement as a single drop of sweat began running down his face: "No… no, it wasn't. She did use her chakra on that last attack, but it acted a bit strangely. Theoretically it was a Jyuken attack, but at the same time it was something different… kinda like what that Waterfall guy did a while back" and with that he gazed at Daburu, who only smirked and gave him a slight bow.
"Just as expected from Kim-chan!" announced Migoto cheerfully, giving Hissori a powerful pat on the back. "Sorry bout your subordinate, but if it's taijutsu, regardless to her opponent's style, Kim cannot be beaten! After all, she's the last of the Ryuuken users…"
"Ryuuken?" the Rain village leader repeated, glancing over at the kunoichi, but the one to answer his question was the Raikage, Shingai: "It's an old, taijutsu style. It was invented around the time Hyuuga's Gentle Fist was first used. I do not know anything specific about it, but I've heard that it's a style as dangerous as the Jyuken… maybe even more…"
"Mind sharing its secrets with us then, Migoto?" asked Tsunade, turning towards the younger woman, but the Tsuki leader only smirked as she replied: "Now you wouldn't tell me the secret behind the Sharingan, would you? It'd be impropriate for me to give away my village's pride and glory, especially when it belongs to a clan different then mine. Besides, we should concentrate on the next fight" and with that she pointed at the arena, where the next, two contestants already awaited their turn.
"Nineteenth match: Gosai Kendo from Iwa against Arashi Shinkou from Kiri!" announced Jiryoku as the two swordsman stood ready. "BEGIN!" and instantly she moved out of the way. A blink of an eye later, Shinkou was already standing a meter or two behind the stone-nin with his katana in his hand.
A moment later Kendo's chest opened as blood blasted out of it. The Iwa gennin collapsed to his knees, gasping for air as he tried to covered the wide slash on his chest with his right hand. Without waiting to see if he'll succeed, Shinkou spun on his foot and swung his katana again, making it fall apart and thus throwing tens of small blades at his adversary.
As the pieces cut his arms and legs, Kendo let out a yell of pain before collapsing to the ground with his face first. Instantly Jiryoku appeared next to him and began the examination. Shinkou merely hid his katana as he announced: "Don't worry, I cut shallowly and missed his vital points, so he'll live, though medical attention would be required…"
"This fight cannot be continued" was Jiryoku's only response. "And thus Arashi Shinkou from Kiri is the victor!" and as this point loud cheers came through the audience, while the mist-nin headed back to the platform.
"The whole fight lasted less then ten seconds" Ino thought to herself, shaking uncontrollably. "What terrifying power" and as she trailed off, Borudo merely narrowed his eyes: "To be as quick as to not even allow Kendo to reach for his sword… and Kendo is the best among Iwa gennin when it comes to sword fighting. That blonde from the Mist… he's certainly not someone that can be taken lightly…"
"As to be expected from the heir of one of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen" Tsurara thought to himself as he then caught Resshin's gaze. The Tsuchikage only narrowed his eyes before returning to watching the tournament, making a worried expression cross the Kiri leader's face: "But with this, how far will you go, Fukamaru-san?"
"Marvelous" Tsume thought to himself as excitement began taking over him while he gazed at the mist-nin who just returned from his match. Renge gave her teammate a pat on the back and with a wide smile announced 'good job', making Shinkou throw her an approving nod. Hisen only glanced at the swordsman and then returned to observing the screen, not really carrying.
"So lets see" Fukamaru thought to himself as he analyzed the situation, almost as if he was completely not surprised by the outcome of the match that just took place. "There's only eight matches left, meaning sixteen people are still awaiting their turn. Besides me, Naruto and Sakura, there's also the Hyuuga kids and this whole, Ino girl, which leaves me with only ten, possible opponents: one from Ame, that girl from Suna, that axe guy, Renge, Hisen, either of the two sound-nins, including this whole Sasuke fellow, that Snow freak from the other day, that creepy girl from Kumo or Ayame-chan… Regardless how you look at it, most of those people will be really troublesome to fight… especially " and with that he gazed at Saikou, who was still shaking, and then his sight traveled to his sister, only to stop at Ayame.
Everything went quiet as the screen began the name lottery again. All eyes turned to it as the choice was made. Naruto widen his eyes in surprise, while Sasuke merely smirked under his nose: "Well, this might be fun…"
A worried expression crossed Ayame's face as she gazed at the Leaf shinobi. Sakura caught her glance and also gotten slightly uncomfortable. However the screen didn't left a shadow of doubt as to who will go next: HASAKI AYAME versus HARUNO SAKURA.
---frightening power… now, what awaits Sakura?---
And this concludes this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll leave a review once you're done. Surprisingly no jutsu this time, so before the result of the popularity contest, a quick reminder concerning who's still "in the game":
Konoha #1: Haruno Sakura (in progress), Nadare Fukamaru, Uzumaki Naruto
Konoha #2: Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba
Konoha #3: Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru
Konoha #4: Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee
Suna #1: Temari, Sabaku no Gaara
Suna #2: Kanpuu, Gokiburi, Dakatsu
Kiri: Nadare Renge, Arashi Shinkou, Oomizu Hisen
Kumo: Saikou, Ikebano Shunrai, Ono Ryuu
Iwa: Jishi Borudo, Shita Tsume
Kusa: Hasaki Ayame (in progress), Juutai Fugato, Tokage Kosha
Ame: Kaihaku Kosame
Bakufu:Daburu
Oto: Akado Baita, Uchiha Sasuke
Tsuki:Shishiki Izuna, Usume Kim
Yuki: Hyouden
Kaimei:Keppan
And now for the popularity contest results. This is how the list was made: the number before the character is the one he got in the voting (so first is the best). The number after his/hers name is the count of people who voted for the character (the most important factor, deciding how high the character got in the voting) and in brackets the number of 'voting points' that character received (which decided who goes first in case two characters had just as many people giving their votes for each). With that said, here are the results:
1. Hinata Hyuuga – 11 people (34)
2. Sabaku no Gaara – 10 people (40)
3. Naruto Uzumaki – 9 people (42)
4. Fukamaru Nadare – 7 people (23)
5. Saikou – 5 people (16)
5. Renge Nadare – 5 people (16)
5. Shinkou Arashi – 5 people (16)
8. Fugato Juutai – 5 people (15)
8. Neji Hyuuga – 5 people (15)
10. Shikamaru Nara – 4 people (14)
10. Keppan – 4 people (14)
12. Temari – 4 people (12)
13. Izuna Shishiki – 4 people (11)
14. Sasuke Uchiha – 4 people (9)
15. Lee Rock – 3 people (12)
16. Sakura Haruno – 3 people (10)
17. Dakatsu – 3 people (9)
18. Tenten – 2 people (8)
19. Kiba Inuzuka – 2 people (6)
20. Baita Akado – 2 people (5)
21. Ayame Hasaki – 2 people (4)
21. Age Hanatsu – 2 people (4)
23. Chouji Akimichi – 2 people (3)
24. Hyouden – 2 people (2)
24. Shunrai Ikebano – 2 people (2)
24. Kanpuu – 2 people (2)
27. Ino Yamanaka – 1 person (5)
27. Chiyo – 1 person (5)
29. Niji – 1 person (4)
30. Borudo Jishi – 1 person (3)
30. Kosha Tokage – 1 person (3)
32. Fukuchuu Kihako – 1 person (2)
32. Gunko Kinniku – 1 person (2)
32. Tsume Shita – 1 person (2)
32. Hisen Oomizu – 1 person (2)
32. Kim Usume – 1 person (2)
37. Shino Aburame – 1 person (1)
37. Ryuu Ono – 1 person (1)
37. Taiyou Yamato – 1 person (1)
37. Kankuro – 1 person (1)
And that is it for this time. Thanks for stopping by to read it. Take care and until next time, hopefully.