Author's note: I don't own any of the characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The original characters belong to me.
Chapter 29: You Are Under My Control
Deep inside the Hokage Monument, the Village Hidden in the Leaves
After spending the entire day travelling back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the participants in the Chuunin Exams arrived about midnight. Because of that, everyone had to immediately go to sleep, considering that it was a big day tomorrow. Most young participants had spent their time on the blimp worrying about whether they could make it to the finals, or not.
The next day was very special for the ninjas. Inside the Hokage Monument, someone had remarkable managed to create an underground arena with two large statues of shinobis standing on each side. They were symbols to the way of ninja itself. There were light in the underground thanks to electricity. In addition to that, there was water running through slopes and forming two lakes on each side of the arena. It was a marvellous sight.
Today, Tsunade and Naruto had picked up certain amount of teams to participate in the third phase. They both stood before the different teams with proud smiles on their faces. The teams' jounins stood behind them, smiling at the sight of their students ready to participate in the third phase. But Naruto's associates, Shikamaru, Anko, Ibiki and Konohamaru stood on one of the two tribunals.
There were six teams competing between each other today. It was Team Menma, Team Kazue, Team Ayumu , Team Hideki and the Elite Squadron from the Leaf Village, and the team from the Mist Village, headed by Kaito Mizushima. The Elite Squadron consisted of Tadeshi Yamashiro, Bunko Mitarashi and Isamu Morino, who were classmates to Menma and the others when they were younger.
"Well met, young ones! I trust that every one of you know standing before us knows about the third phase" Tsunade told them with a smile. "If any of you has doubts about continuing, feel free to drop out now. Me and Naruto will give you a few minutes to think about if you are up for it" she declared and all the teams were given time to do so.
After the minutes had passed, neither Tsunade nor Naruto had heard at least one student say anything. This only indicated that they were determined to participate, regardless of what difficulty this challenge was. Tsunade and Naruto were satisfied by seeing this.
"All of you are confident, I like it" Naruto expressed his approval of the teams. "Now with that settled, we would like to leave the explanation of this phase's rule to the judge, Udon Ise" he said and allowed the four-eyed man to step in front of him.
He adjusted his glasses before speaking. "The rules for this phase are simple. This giant screen behind us will be the one to decide of who's fighting who" he said while pointing his thumb towards the large screen in the background. "And once your names stand on the screen, you are to show up and stand ready for combat. There will be no chickening out!" he explained in a surprisingly strict manner.
Naruto was amazed by how mature Udon had become, considering that he used to be such a sloppy and dull-witted kid when he was little. Konohamaru was also thinking about the same thing. For some reason, the brown-haired man felt a little bit jealous of seeing his teammate being appointed the judge of the matches.
"To win a match you must either force your opponent to forfeit, or defeat him in combat. But remember, you are only allowed to DEFEAT and not KILL your opponent" he said to the different teams and motioned for them to stay on one of the two tribunals. "Now pick which tribunal you wanna stand on and we ca begin third phase" the four-eyed man said to the students. The teams did as they were told, with their teachers eventually joining them.
All the different teams stood in anticipation, watching the giant screen going switching various names. After 5 seconds, the screen stopped switching and the names of the fighters stood on it. Their names were written in yellow letters, and of course in kanji. Team Ayumu widened at what they saw and so did Inojin's brother.
INOJIN UCHIHA
VS
ISAMU MORINO
"Look Inojin, you're up!" Chouta remarked with surprise. "Whoa, I did not see that one coming" she said while facing the raven-haired boy with ponytail.
Inojin closed his eyes and smirked at what he heard. He opened them and faced his chubby teammate. "I guess I have no choice but to accept the challenge then" he said to her.
Shikaien smirked by hearing this. "Then what are you waiting for? Get your ass on the arena!" he said to him, but Inojin had just begun walking before he could even say that.
But before Inojin could jump down, he was stopped by Ayumu, who looked at him with a grim expression on his face. Inojinlooked over his shoulder and eyed him with a raised eyebrow. "What's the big idea, Ayumu-sensei?" he asked the red-eyed man smugly.
Ayumu lowered down to Inojin's level and fixed a serious glance on his face. "Remember what we've been through. Whatever you do, do not succumb to the darkness within you. And I ain't telling you this because I hate you, but I do so because you are my student and that I care about your wellbeing" he reminded the raven-haired boy.
Inojin was not sure whether he would take this seriously, so he just shrugged his shoulders and proceeded towards the arena. Udon was already standing in the middle, but they had to wait for Isamu.
The young man was currently having a few words of advice with his father, who was wary about his son facing not just Ino's but also Sasuke's. They did that, while Isamu's teammates didn't bother to eavesdrop on them. No, they were rather curious about this fight.
"Do not underestimate him, son. That boy is one hell of a devil's child" Ibiki told him sternly while briefly taking his stern gaze towards the young boy standing on the arena. "If he succumbs to that darkness, I will have to intervene, even though I'm reluctant to do so, as he is still Ino's boy" the elderly man explained with a hint of regret in his voice.
Isamu nodded in understanding to what his father said. "I won't fail you, father" he said and in the blink of an eye, jumped down to the arena in fast speed. He landed a couple of meters away from Inojin, who readied his fighting stance. "You think you're tough….son of Sasuke?" the young man asked him while cracking his knuckles.
As much as Inojin hated being called that, he remained cool while facing his opponent with serious eyes. "It's funny. I never recall saying that I am tough" the young boy said in return. "However, what I would like to know, is whether you have what it takes to beat me" he suddenly took a jab at him.
The young man only mused at this in return. "Brave words, but this the end of the road for you, Uchiha" he said with his eyes narrowing.
As the match was ready to begin, Nashiko, Minami, Kotone, Guy and Shunsuke watched the show from the tribunal with enthusiasm. They were excited to see if Inojin could manage to take on a jounin-level shinobi. However, they had hoped that he would use techniques necessary to defeat Isamu in combat. Tsunade and Naruto watched this carefully, but they realised that Sasuke was not present.
"Damn it, Sasuke. Where are you when your son is fighting?" Naruto muttered under his breath lowly.
Udon raised his hand up in the air, before swinging it down to start the match. "Begin!" he said, signalling the start of the first match between participants in the Chuunin Exams.
Inojin began the first move by using his fast speed to charge towards the shaved-haired man, who surprisingly stood still facing him. The two opponents were about to go head to head in hand-based combating and as such, they would have to use taijutsu. Inojin was faster than his opponent, so he used his speed to appear in the air and land a kick on his face. But Isamu caught his leg with his hands and threw him away, only for the raven-haired boy to land on his feet, but sliding on the floor in the process.
The shaved-haired man smirked. "You call this taijutsu? Don't make me laugh!" he taunted the young boy and reached for something in his pockets. "Let's see if you're man enough to dodge these little babies of mine!" he exclaimed while holding kunais between his fingers. But Inojin could see that those weren't just ordinary kunais. They were double-ended kunais and were thrown like shurriken stars.
"Double-ended kunais….these are only used by jounins for some reason" Inojin thought in his head while seeing this.
But his eyes snapped once he could see Isamu readying them with the help of his hands. He immediately started sprinting towards him.
"Heh, just where I want you" the shaved-haired man noted in his head and threw his double-ending kunais towards him.
As Inojin could see him throwing them, he quickly activated his Sharingan to see how fast Isuma was throwing them. After studying their movements, Inojin smirked and tried his best to avoid the kunais. He then moved straight towards thee jounin by grabbing his collar, but was surprised when he saw that it was a wodden coat stand in Isuma's clothes.
"Damn it! Not again!" Inojin cursed and turned around to see Isuma standing on the other with some kunais in his hands. "What trickery is this!?" Inojin demanded while seeing him standing.
The shaved-haired man chuckled and drew his kunais against him. The young boy could see threads being tied to the kunais, something which could only mean one thing. Inojin found himself being tied up against the coat stand, thanks to Isuma's fast speed. As a result, he was caught in a trap.
"What the….." Chouta was out of words. "How can he suddenly be there throwing kunais and then be there tying him up!?" she asked as she felt her head spinning in confusion.
"Well that's simple, Chouta. While Inojin was focused on dodging the kunais, that dude used his confusion to somehow switch places with the coat stand" Shikaien explained, much to the chubby girl's surprise.
Ayumu nodded his head, as he agreed with Shikaien's answer. "You have observed the match well, Shikaien, I commend you for that" he praised him. "However, he didn't switch places with the coat stand. The coat stand was there to begin with" he revealed to them, and they both expressed surprise by what he said.
Ibiki mused while seeing how well his son was doing. "Way to go, kid. Once you found out that you were the one to face Inojin, you immediately switched places with your coat stand" he thought. "Furthermore, that explains why your clone didn't rush towards Inojin to combat him. It only stood still and defended itself. And when the clone threw your kunais that were secretly tied with threads, you two immediately switched places and you grabbed the kunais that your clone threw at Inojin, which indicates that targeting Inojin with your kunais, was not your intention all along. Now that's a smart move" he remarked in amusement to what his son was capable of.
Isamu slowly began walking towards Inojin while rolling the threads with his kunai. The young boy was trying to tear off the threads, but it was no use, as he could see that they were empowered by chakra.
"These threads…" Inojin gritted in frustration as he could hear the jounin taking his steps slowly.
"Struggle all you want, tough guy. But even so, these threads are impossible to cut" Isamu said in a serious tone while facing the young boy. "Even your flames won't have an effect on them" he added and continued walking.
This suddenly made Inojin think about something. If we could not cut them, or burn them for that matter, maybe he could use the threads to his advantage? A slight smile began forming on his face and he made sure that his hands were close to one another.
"These threads are being empowered by chakra, and I know just the type of jutsu to use. It might take a toll on me, but it is worth it. Admittedly, I'll have Shunsuke to thank him for reminding me of this technique" he thought and did some hand seals with his hands, much to Isamu's confusion. The raven-haired boy faced his opponent with his crimson eyes. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" he shouted and blew out large chunks of flame on the threads.
Ayumu and his students watched in awe at what he was doing. They could see the flame follow the line of chakra, first crawling around Itachi and eventually heading straight towards Isamu's location. The shaved-haired man expressed surprise by this as the flames were too big for him to dodge.
"What in the hell…" he wondered as he watched the flames feeding on his chakra.
"Now that is remarkable" Tsunade remarked while seeing the fireworks. "He is using the Chakra-empowered threads to his own advantage" she noted with a smirk.
"He is just beginning to resemble Sasuke more and more" Naruto said in a stunning way, not knowing what to say. "And by saying that, I mean that I'm impressed by him" he pointed out.
The flames began engulfing Isamu and Udon were worried whether Inojin could've actually burned him to death. But he refrained from intervening once he could see someone's silhouette in the flames. Not only him, but Inojin and the other genins widened by seeing it as well.
As the flames disintegrated, Isamu stood there, his upper torso completely burned out while we still wore pants and sandals. People could also see a lot of bruises and injuries on his body, but he didn't get those from Inojin's flames. What even shocked them most was seeing a kunai being stuck into his neck. The shaved-haired man fixed a dead-serious glance on his opponent, who was standing in shock, by seeing him resisting the flames as it was nothing.
"Damn…..now he's really done it" Tadeshi noted while adjusting his sunglasses. "Once Isamu gets his torso destroyed, he's a different kind of man" he added with a smirk.
Nashiko and Shunsuke were curious to understand what he meant, as their team was standing near Isamu's teammates. "What's with the injuries he has on his body? Doesn't it hurt?" the pink-haired girl asked them.
This time, it was Bunko's time to answer and she faced the girl and her teammates with a scoff. "Heh, girl, you obviously don't know who we're talking about here. Isamu is the son of Ibiki Morino, who's not only the commander of the Interrogation Squad, but also THE toughest and resilient ninja that the Leaf has ever had" she pointed out to her, much to her confusion. Nashiko thought that HER dad was the toughest and resilient ninja in the Leaf.
Inojin's teammates were stunned by seeing this as well. "Just look at that guy! He's almost like a real-life zombie! Hell, I don't even think he realizes that he's got a kunai stuck in his neck" Shikaien expressed his opinion.
"You could say so. Truth is, when Isamu served the ANBU, he was often captured by bandits and other criminals alike and was tortured to give them information about our village. But he stubbornly resisted their attempts to gain information from him" Ayumu told his students as he could see his old classmate acting so serious.
"Woah….I think Inojin has finally met his match…..I guess" Chouta said, not knowing what else to come up with.
While the majority was expressing surprise by this, Ibiki only closed his eyes and chuckled deeply. He was one of the few people who understood Isamu, considering that he was also his own son. In fact, Ibiki saw a lot of himself in him.
Inojin was still standing still, as Isamu began pulling out the kunai in his neck. To everyone's surprise, he easily pulled it out without even flinching. Blood ran across his toned torso as he stared at the kunai for a brief moment.
"Hmmm, this explains why it felt so itchy in my neck" he said before throwing it away and turned his gaze upon the still-stunned Inojin. He fixed a serious smirk on his face. "Kid, I'm not gonna lie and say that your talents are flawled. You really do have some tricks up your sleeves, something which even I could never hope to predict. However, compared to the pain I've been through…IT IS NOTHING!" he declared and his muscles began flexing.
The raven-haired boy stood his ground, knowing that he needed to stay vigilant, as Isamu was indeed a much dangerous foe then what he had anticipated. But he was unsure of whether he was comparable to Noburu. But he got cautious as the shaved-haired man began charging towards him. He narrowly damaged a punch, although he could feel a kick from his left foot. This sent him rolling on the stage and blood ran out.
"WHAT'S THE MATTER, BOY!? ARE YOU GETTING SOFTER!?" Isamu began taunting Inojin, hoping it would flare up his energy.
Inojin slowly got up and gritted his teeth, drying away the blood running from his nose and mouth. "That overconfident…..bastard!" the young boy cursed under his breath. He faced his opponent once again with his crimson eyes. "I'm not done …yet!" he suddenly shouted in defiance towards his opponent.
The young man laughed by seeing him struggle like that and he wanted to see him in agony. "You must be joking! People in the village's leadership fears this little punk!?" he suddenly asked loudly while pointing his finger towards him. Inojin didn't get what he was trying to imply and neither did his teammates. "What utter nonsense! He couldn't even fry me to a crisp with his puny flames!" he taunted him once again.
This made Inojin really mad and he quickly did a few hand seals in a fast speed. "You insult my flames! I won't stand for it!" he said while doing the seals before gathering chakra inside his body. "Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!" he shouted and blew out a wide range of fire towards his opponent.
Everyone watched as the young boy struggled with his flames against his advanced opponent. Once again, he didn't seem hurt or burned out by them, and he laughed again, much to Inojin's distress. He surprisingly began doing a few hand seals.
"I've had enough torturing you emotionally for now, because I am now interested in torturing you physically!" he exclaimed while doing the seals. "Earth Style: Petrifying Jutsu!" he said and he used his chakra to create armour around his body, with the help of the environment. His armour of rock almost looked like that of a knight or Viking, and he even got gloves made of stone.
"That guy can use Earth Style-techniques!?" Choutaasked in disbelief. "There's no way that Inojin can use his on Isamu flames now!" she expressed her concern for her teammate.
"Shit…..I never expected the members of the Elite Squadron to be THAT strong!" Shikaien said lowly at what he was seeing.
Ayumu could only watch this with a troubled look on his face. He had heard about what happened on the Train Mountains and he feared that just like that and the episode in their preparations for the Chuunin Exams, the darkness could take hold on Inojin amidst this despairing moment. He knew very well, that Shikaien and Chouta also hoped on the same thing.
Tadeshi whistled in amazement in what he saw. "Now that's what I call turning up the heat!" he exclaimed in enthusiasm. Bunko only rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Shunsuke was feeling very concerned for his brother's well-being. It was a surprise that he even felt that way, especially after their disagreement on the Train Mountains. But he suddenly felt someone hold his hand. It was Nashiko, who faced him with a determined look on her face.
"Na…Nashiko…." Shunsuke said lowly at her expression.
"Inojin is a resilient fighter, Shunsuke. He has been that since we were kids, remember?" she reminded him of their childhood.
Being reminded of this made the raven-haired boy smile in return, for he knew that Nashiko spoke the truth, even though at this rate, it was impossible for him to accept the fact. He could also see Takeda and Arata and they give encouraging smirks on their faces at him, hinting that they agreed with what the pinkette just said. Shunsuke was glad that they felt that way, and that he had teammates he could rely on in times of trouble.
Isamu liked to display himself in his new armour for everyone to see, even Inojin who was now on his knees. The shaved-haired man watched him with eyes of sympathy, although it was difficult to tell if it was real. "I pity you, Inojin Uchiha" he said lowly while facing him. "I pity you because you are someone who desires power and strength to be respected, to be admired, and to be loved" he said before slowly walking towards me. "But today is the day that will stop chasing your immature desires. A true shinobi knows when to accept defeat, even me" he said and slowly began walking towards the young boy on his knees.
But what the young man didn't realize was that the raven-haired boy with ponytail was fighting inside of himself. As he sat on his knees, he could hear a voice calling to him, something which had existed on the world long ago. "He will defeat you. Unleash the black flames. They are your only salvation" the voice said. Inojin could understand that this was not his deceased uncle's voice. "You want to surpass him. You want to defeat him. Let me give you the comfort you need and we will be unstoppable!" the voice called again.
After siting in silence a couple of seconds, Inojin fixed a slight smirk on his face and slowly stood up on his feet. "No. I will defeat him on my own terms" he said and suddenly reached for his kunai and to everyone's surprises cut his ponytail.
Isamu stopped to see what he was up to. He could see the crimson-eyed boy holding the straws of his hair in his right hand, while facing him with seriousness. Isamu smirked. "Why the serious look on your face? Did you have a bad hair day?" he mockingly asked him and began laughing deeply.
"Honestly, shut the fuck up!" Inojin snapped, thus making the young man stop laughing and eye him with a raised eyebrow. "You said you pitied me, didn't you? Well I could say the same thing about you, Isamu Morino" he said and surprisingly fixed a smug look on his face. "For being the son of the infamous commander of the Interrogation Squad, you sure as hell got a big mouth!" he suddenly took a jab at him and dropped his straws of hair on the rocky floor in the middle.
The man in armour twitched in anger and began cracking his gloved fists and neck. It was obvious that he did not take kindly to the young boy's words, so he was getting fed up with him. "Such ignorance coming from the son of one of my father's trusted subordinates" he said while thinking about Ino. "Nevertheless, I'm afraid that we will have to end this match. I really can't stand this place any longer. So do me a favour and…..." the man in armour stopped, once he could notice his opponent doing a signature that he was very familiar with, as was the majority of the Leaf ninjas on the tribunals.
"Is this for real!?" Ibiki asked in his head, as he didn't get the picture.
"No way, is he…" Tsunade was out of words, when she saw what Itachi was doing.
Naruto smiled by what he saw. "Oh….I see where you are getting now, Inojin" he said in his head, as he somehow knew what the young boy was planning on doing.
Shunsuke was at loss of words by what he witnessed. "That stance….it's been a while since he last resorted to using that" he noted in his head.
Isamu began laughing once again, loudly this time, while Inojin still stood using this stance of his with his hands. The raven-haired boy never took his eyes off him. "So you are resorting to the techniques from your mother's clan now? Give me a break!" he said and laughed again. "Do you suppose that your jutsu will make it through my armour? Very well, let's see if you can catch me then…..Inojin Yamanaka" he surprisingly taunted Itachi while addressing him by his mother's last name.
"You better run while you still have the chance!" Inojin said and as he could see the armoured man making his move, he remained focused on his technique he was about to use. "Ninja Art: Mind Destruction Jutsu!" he said and the technique was released, but Isamu had already left the spot he aimed for.
The mood in the ring was silent, and everyone wanted to know why there was sudden silence between the two opponents. Udon gulped with confusion and decided to get a better look at what was really going on.
The silence broke with Isamu speaking. "Hah, you completely missed, puny prince of…" he stopped once he could feel something in his body. He felt his nerve system beginning to control on its own and it made him surprised. "What the….my body….my nerves…my hands…..I can't….." he said with a hint of fear in his voice as his gloved hands began moving on their own. His left arm of stone was pushed against his helmet and face in a fast speed and the results were painful for him. The helmet was shattered and his nose was broken. He surprisingly screamed in pain by this as blood ran from his nose and mouth.
But that was not just it. His right arm of stone began swinging in a bow till it hit left knee and he could feel some bones being broken in the process. This made him scream even more. While being focused on the pain, his arms began tearing off the rest of his armour of stone on their own and he was utterly powerless to stop it.
Inojin was still standing in his position and he smirked by what he was seeing. "What's wrong? I thought you said that you had been through much worse pain than this!" he taunted the man losing control of his own body.
Isamu fixed an angry glare on the young boy and some of his teeth had fallen off. "You little shit! What did you do to me!?" he angrily demanded while blood sprouted out of his mouth as a result of his right hand punching his stomach.
"Watch your language, mister! The more you disrespect me, the more pain you get!" Inojin said in a scolding manner. "And as for your other question, you thought that this was the Mind Transfer Jutsu, correct? It seems you have been misinformed, because this is a more advanced version of it, the Mind Destruction Jutsu" he explained to him.
Chouta and Shikaien widened their eyes by hearing what he said. "Woah, is he even capable of pulling a jutsu like that?" Shikaien asked in amazement. "Damn, I never expected Inojin to be so enthusiastic in Yamanaka techniques" he added to his words.
"Well what do you expect? He is the son of Ino Yamanaka, the current head of the Yamanaka clan" Chouta pointed out to him with a smile on his face. "Even his mom is a talented ninja, just like his dad" she also said.
Ayumu smiled with pride by what he was seeing. "I get it now. In fact, I must admit that you and your twin brother are gifted, Itachi. You have inherited not just your father's pride and strength, but you have also inherited your mother's wisdom and love. You intrigue me, kid" he thought in his head.
Isamu was now battered after being hit by his own arms. "How did you manage to hit me with the jutsu!? I was moving way before you even unleashed it!" he demanded to know from the one who was technically controlling him.
"Well that's simple. Even though I was aiming for you, I didn't necessarily fire it towards the open distance. Just look at the straws of hair on the floor" he pointed out to the straws of black hair lying on the rocky floor. But what was notable was the fact that there was chakra spreading all over them.
"Heh, just like his mother did with Sakura, eh?" Naruto mused over seeing this, as he recalled what had happened when Sakura was fighting Ino during the Exams in their generation. "He cut his ponytail, and used its straws of hair to create a bridge between him and the direction Isamu would run off to" he noted while observing. "You taught him well, Ino" Naruto thought about Sasuke's wife.
Inojin was having fun with playing Isamu as his puppet. But he suddenly got an idea and decided to go with it. "You know, I've always wondered. Are you a swimming enthusiast, Isamu?" he mockingly asked him as he suddenly made his feet walk on their own, much to the shaved-haired man's shock. "I think surviving the fire must've made you sweaty. So you should take f a nice bath" Inojin added and Isamu found himself running straight towards one of the underground lakes outside the arena.
"NO, YOU WOULDN'T DARE!" he shouted in defiance as he couldn't stop his feet on his own.
"Oh, yes you would! I bet with those armoured gloves of yours, you would immediately sink into the bottom of the underground lake over there. I guess swimming with those is practically no use, considering their weights!" the raven-haired boy pointed out while seeing his handy work.
As he was almost at the end of the platform, Isamu was screaming in fear over actually drowning with the armoured gloves on his hands. He had only survived while on the surface, but not in the water. "OKAY! I YIELD! I YELD! I GIVE UP!" he finally yielded after his feet was about to jump straight into the water.
Udon had been laughing at this whole episode, but snapped once he heard the young man give up. He then smiled towards the raven-haired boy. "Winner by forfeit: Inojin Uchiha!" he declared the winner.
The various teams had different reactions, but Team Menma, Team Ayumu, Manami and Kotone were cheering for Inojin's victory, even though he could eventually become an opponent in the future. Nevertheless, Inojin accepted the praise before falling down to his knees. The young boy was smiling by his work, as he had resorted to win without using his father's methods.
"Mother…..thank you….." he said while thinking about the blonde-haired woman who mothered him and his twin brother. "I won by using your techniques. I am grateful to your teachings" he added to his words.
But Inojin could feel his energy being drained, and he immediately felt his eyes close. But all of that stopped once he was pulled into a group hug with his team. Ayumu patted his head, while Shikaien and Chouta helped him on their feet.
"Congratulations, Inojin! You won!" Chouta said while hugging him tightly, something he accepted without thinking.
"Yeah, you really showed him!" Shikaien said and patted his back gently.
The raven-haired boy surprisingly smiled slightly and noticed that his sensei was still patting him on his head. He accepted it without protesting. But he was beginning to feel tired all of a sudden, and his teammates and sensei could see that.
"You did good out there, Inojin. I'm really proud of you!" Ayumu said to him and noticed that a couple of medics were coming towards them, ready to care of his injuries. "Right now, the best decision for you would to get your injuries treated by the medics as well as getting some rest" the red-eyed man told him.
Although Inojin wanted to be able to see the other matches, he knew that Ayumu spoke the truth and he could feel his body trembling, forcing him to rely on Chouta and Shikiaien to hold his balance. "Very well…..I will do that" he said with a respectful nod given to Ayumu.
Both Inojin and Isamu were taken out of the arena by the medics, hoping they would get well in a better zone than what they had just been through. And with permission from Naruto, Ayumu was allowed to accompany his student to the place the medics were holding. Inojin received acclaim from his friends for his victory, causing him to smirk.
Tadeshi and Bunko expressed their dissatisfaction by seeing their comrade being defeated by a mere kid and Team Menma could see that. "What an imbecile! His own pride became his undoing!" Tadeshi noted, but was suddenly slammed on his head by Ibiki, who did not take kindly to the man with sunglasses badmouthing his son.
Bunko sighed in annoyance by this. "Quit acting like some jackass for once, Tadeshi! It annoys me to death!" she expressed her dissatisfaction of her comrade.
Ibiki's reaction to his son loosing, was actually unexpected. Instead of angrily protesting against the match's outcome, he was musing over the fact that one of Ino's sons had managed to win against his son. He also admitted that he found Inojin's Mind Destruction Jutsu amusing.
"Ino, I really wish you could've been here to see this match. You should be proud of Inojin and his abilities. There is no mistaking, he is indeed your son" the elderly man thought with a smile.
But in the tunnels, Inojin could hear someone clapping on the way and Ayumu could also hear it. As they neared the medics' place, they surprisingly found Sasuke leaning against the wall of rock while clapping his hands for someone. And that someone was Inojin. This made him realize that his father had been watching his match all along.
"Master Sasuke" Ayumu uttered out words lowly in surprise. "I didn't know you were in here" he added.
The raven-haired man stopped clapping his hands and faced his son with a normal glance, but also with a slight smile on his face. "Well done, Inojin. You managed to reach for the finals, I'm impressed" he surprisingly praised him. "You resorted to tactics instead of raw strength, keep that up, and you will advance forward" he added with an advice to him.
Inojin only faced his father with his own normal glance, and he didn't know whether he should thank him or not. The young boy gave him a slight nod in appreciation for his father's encouragement. "Thank you….again" he said lowly.
Sasuke closed his eyes in return and motioned for the medics to go on. But he did not go until he had a few words shared with Inojin. "When this is over, I might kindly invite you to practice for the finals with me" he said, but changed his expression to that of seriousness. "But be warned. My training will not be as soft and easy as your mother's or your teacher's" he said, before leaving for the stage.
Inojin only closed his eyes by what he heard, as he wanted to pretend he never heard his father's offer. However, he couldn't help but to find it amusing. A slight smirk formed across his face. "I your training will help me defeat you…..then I see no reason for backing out" he thought in his head.
Back at the stage, the giant screen was once again switching through the many names. All the teams stood and waited for it to stop.
Naruto and Tsunade viewed it with curiosity. "So Inojin managed to bring down one of the members of the Elite Squadron, what happens next?" Naruto asked in his head while facing the screen. He was wondering whether someone from Mamuro's team could be chosen, perhaps Nashiko. But then again, the choosing of fighters was unpredictable.
The giant screen stopped switching and everyone could see who was about to fight next. They all watched the screen and their reactions to this were different. Manami, Nashiko and their teams was very surprised by what they saw.
SHUNSUKE UCHIHA
VS
OCHINKO NAKANO
To be continued…
Author's note: That was the first match in the third phase. I will try to make sure that the fight between Shunsuke and Ochinko won't be as long as this was. But we will get to see how Shunsuke will struggle to find the confidence he needs.
