Chapter 28
The finals- part 4- Naruto's two inner strengths
Naruto focused on gathering his chakra. He started to slowly glow red, as his body was slowly being covered with veins. Neji took his stance seeing this. He has already underestimated his opponent. He wouldn't do the same again. He watched as the stones around the blonde started to levitate, some even break into dust. The ground beneath him was cracking, as the fox container now looked as if he was going to explode. His right eye turned red, filled with power. Neji took a step back, uncertain of what to expect.
The audience was confused. They couldn't tell what was going on. This child was about to fall, but suddenly he turned the tables around. Some of the shinobi had their suspicions, but wouldn't say anything. Especially the genins were wondering what was happening. This was too weird to ignore.
"Yo!" A call came. Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Choji, Guy and Lee turned around to find Kakashi walking their way. "Sorry I'm late, but I got lost on the road of life." He excused himself. "Anything interesting happening?"
Everyone just pointed down on the arena. Kakashi, confused, looked in the pointed direction and saw a glowing red Naruto. This sure got him speechless.
"Where's Sasuke?" Sakura asked once she shook off her surprise.
"On his way." Kakashi answered, not taking his eye off the blonde.
"You draw power from your suffering?" Naruto growled his question out, as he was about to explode. He prepared himself to unleash something. "Here's… MINE!" as he roared, there was a huge blast of flames. Neji shielded himself, only to find it to be chakra. As Neji was struggling not to get knocked down by the strong shockwave, he activated his byakugan. He saw the blonde in a spire of red chakra, releasing electrical discharge. The blonde's vest was even more ragged, his wounds healed and it seemed like that new chakra was feeding his muscles. Neji focused his eyes on the chakra itself, wondering what it was. He could not believe a chakra could do this. But as he focused his eyes, he saw the canine demon. It terrified him.
Naruto continued to release his chakra and after a few more seconds it split into nine, swirling tails, which then wrapped around the blonde's body. As the energy sank into his skin, Naruto inhaled its remains, along with some fresh air, and then exhaled, as the shadows on his body turned to red flames. Even his stripes started to glow red. He opened his eyes as his body was no longer in the deformed shape. His eyes still different from one another. He looked at his hands, as if something strange happened. After curling his hands into fists and relaxing them a few times, he looked up at Neji and smiled.
"Something wrong, Neji?" Naruto asked him, making him mad. "I thought you said I was destined to lose with you. But, if I were to really lose to you, don't you think I would've fallen by now?"
Neji could sensed the mockery in his voice. That blonde was down for the taken. Yet not only did he make his left hand useless, he also unleashed some strange, inhuman power. He wondered how the brat could suffer the complex when he had such ridiculous power. Or maybe it was because he had such power. No matter. Neji would not lose this fight.
His thoughts stopped when Naruto disappeared and reappeared from one place to another. The Hyuga was lucky to have fast reflexes, as he managed to dodge his attack. He pulled out a kunai in hope to hit his opponent the minute he'll reappear. As he got the chance when the blonde appeared above him, Neji threw his weapon, only to see the blonde vanish just as the kunai was about to hit him. Everyone's eyes widened at the sight. Neji didn't even have to face the blonde to know he was dashing towards him. His speed increased to the level he moved in a blur. The Hyuga had no idea how long would he last like that. He needed a way to fight back. But how do you fight with someone who turned from a worm into a raging beast? But he couldn't really think about that at the moment, as the blonde was about to kick him. Neji jumped above his kick and kicked him back, visibly forcing him to make a step back. At the same time, he flew a distance away from the blonde. After all, he needed to think.
But Naruto wouldn't give him the chance. He disappeared from the audience sight, reappearing behind Neji. But wait. There was another one to his left… and two more to the right. Was he really fast enough to create clones while he moved? Neji looked carefully with his byakugan. He couldn't allow himself for a single mistake. This brat just became too dangerous right now. He observed them all carefully, ready for anything they throw at him. And indeed they did throw something at him. Namely four kunai followed by three shuriken each. Neji used Rotation to deflect them back. Two Narutos got hit and dispersed, while the other two vanished. Neji's glare hardened. Then he substituted himself with a log as the two were about to hit. He hid himself in the nearest tree, trying to collect his thoughts.
'Damn it.' He cursed, 'I thought I had him. But now he's much faster than before. To make it worse, he can regenerate at the faster rate. Is it because of this chakra? Or is it chakra at all?'
His train of thoughts stopped when he noticed the blonde leap his way. The young Hyuga immediately jumped out of his way. But as the blonde followed him, the byakugan wielder was left with no chose. The two engaged in taijutsu. But since Neji couldn't use his left hand, he tried to elbow his opponent whenever he thought he found the chance. Unfortunately, the blonde was easily blocking his attacks. At one point, Neji tried to hit Naruto in the face. But the blonde evaded the attack and rolled along the Hyuga's arm, stopping behind him. Naruto caught him by the collar of his shirt and threw him into the arena's wall. Neji managed to land on his feet, attaching to the wall, though it was quite painful. As if he jumped off a great high. He felled that if the blonde put more strength into the throw, his legs would've been broken. He looked up to find Naruto already attacking him. Neji barely avoided the kunai that Uzumaki held. But to his surprise, there was a deep cut on his shoulder. But it couldn't be possible. The blade didn't even touch him. Neji wondered how could that happen and failed to block a kick to his side. But before Neji hit the tree in his path, he substituted himself with a log again. Naruto turned to find the Hyuga standing on the far side of the battlefield, breathing heavily and holding his side in pain. There was some blood coming from his mouth. Neji just couldn't believe how much the situation change.
"What happened, Neji?" Naruto asked, with a serious tone, which Neji rather took for a mocking one. "I thought you said fate made you victorious ever since you became my opponent. You said that I won't be able to touch you." Naruto looked at Neji, relaxing just a little, still ready to attack him. "Tell me this then. If I were to lose, would I even get this far fighting you? You really still believe it's your destiny to win, when I clearly got the upper hand? It may have been your destiny to win at the beginning. But as you can see, I was strong enough to change it. Destiny means nothing if you have the will to fight it."
Neji's eyes seemed to go blank for a moment. The power to actually change destiny. Was this brat really the individual existing beyond its power? But only gods and demons had that kind of strength. Still…
"Well that was unexpected." Kakashi commented. "I hoped Naruto would gain the advantage in his fight, but I never expected him to actually get hardcore."
'N-Naruto. Y-you're d-doing it…' Hinata thought with a blush on her smiling face.
"For a traumatized ninja who would normally fall in a fight like this, Naruto really deserves to be called 'Leaf's Most Unpredictable Ninja'." Sakura commented. "Right, Ino?" She turned to her friend, to find her slightly blushing, which got the pink-haired kunoichi confused. "Umm… Ino? Are… you alright?"
"Sorry. It's just that… Naruto's all hot now." Ino said. Then she realized what she had said and shook her head. "What am I saying?"
Kakashi chuckled at that. Then he caught in the corner of his eye Tenten, who had a strange look on her face. He could tell by it that this fight was still far from over.
"You…" Neji growled it through his teeth. His glared kept on hardening, making his byakugan look terrifying. "You think you have won already? You think you managed to change your fate? You think you have the power, just because you managed to injure me? You believe that just because you managed to release your chakra, that I am defeated? DON'T GET SO FULL OF YOURSELF, YOU LOSER!" Neji roared and dashed at the blonde, visibly irrational. "THIS FIGHT IS STILL NOT OVER! I WILL WIN! IT IS MY DESTINY!"
Naruto managed to block the first strike, followed by a horizontal kick to the head. The blonde ducked and wanted to hit the Hyuga, only to discover it was a trap.
"Rotation!" Neji created the dome. The situation was, however, unusual as the upper torso and right arm of the blonde was within it. Everyone, even the Hyuga clan's head, was shocked and at the same time curious as to what would happen. Within the dome, Neji stood still, while everything around him was swirling and deformed. His eyes glared, seeing the blonde wasn't ripped into pieces, but smiled seeing him struggle with the force of this jutsu. Naruto struggled to reach the brown-haired genin before him, but he found it extremely hard even with his power boost. His hand was moving very, very slowly, inch by inch, towards Neji's smiling face. The blonde hated it. That face reminded him of the very same face he was given everyday. The blonde growled and finally let out a battle cry.
But the Hyuga's jutsu proofed to be stronger. Naruto was sent flying. He bounced off the ground a few times before finally hitting the tree. However, the plant didn't stop him. The blonde flew straight through and hit the wall with enough force to make a huge dust cloud and cracks. Everyone winced at the sight and had one thought in mind: that had to hurt. As the cloud fell, the blonde was barely standing, even more injured than before. Some jonins were even wondering how the kid could be standing after that. He shouldn't be alive. Yet this brat was standing. Naruto growled and tried to attack. So he dashed, though not as fast as before. He and Neji were again trading blows, but Neji found it easier to fight him now. Apparently, whatever that strange chakra was, was gone. He pulled out a kunai and stabbed Naruto in the leg, causing the blonde to scream in pain. Then he kicked him back to where he dashed from. Naruto stood up, but knew he wouldn't be able to run for a while. He just wasn't healing fast enough as of right now. His adrenaline level must have dropped. He eyed the destiny-obsessed Hyuga, who, strangely, wasn't moving. He wondered why.
Tenten's eyes widened. She figured out what was Neji going to do. He was going to use THAT jutsu. But was it really necessary? Did he really find the Uzumaki that threatening?
Neji reached his right hand high up, as if trying to reach the sky. His fingers joined and straightened. Neji glared at the confused blonde and then smiled. He was going to eradicate him. This jutsu would bring him victory.
"You liked my ultimate defense?" Neji asked mockingly. "Then you will love my ultimate offense!" As he announced that, Naruto saw something happening.
The space around Neji started to deform, as if collapsing into his hand. There was even some kind of glowing smoke appearing. As this continued, a small, glowing orb appeared just above the finger tips and was slowly glowing brighter and brighter. The blonde got the uneasy feeling watching this. He knew he had to move or he would be done for. But his injuries wouldn't allow him to move just yet. He reached for his kunai holder, but he didn't have any. As he reached for the pouch, he had nothing. He was defenseless. He could only hope he would be able to move before Neji's jutsu charged.
"That jutsu… It can't be!" Hiashi said, clearly terrified. He was sweating madly, as if Neji was about to attack him instead. Hanabi saw this and was very confused.
"Father? What's wrong? What is that jutsu?" she asked. Without looking at her, her father answered with the fearful voice.
"It's one of the Hyuga clan three most powerful, yet forbidden jutsu. It mechanics are to use one's hand as the beacon to gather the environment's natural energy, a kind of nature's chakra you could say. Then, after gathering some, it is immediately compressed and focused in the form of a small spark within the finger tip. Its offensive capabilities are so great that there is virtually no way to defend from it and its speed makes it near impossible to dodge. This jutsu is believed to be so powerful that it cuts the nature itself."
"Is it really that powerful?" Hiashi's youngest daughter asked in disbelief.
"It is, though extremely hard to control, to the point it can kill the user even by the smallest error in performing it. This is why it was made forbidden."
Neji kept gathering the natural energy. A small whirlwind formed around him as he did that, giving his opponent even greater doubts about his surviving chance. He opened his eyes, as space around him returned to normal. His jutsu was ready.
'His ready.' Naruto thought with horror on his face. 'And I still can't move. What do I do?' He saw Neji's expression change. It seemed like anger, but he knew the Hyuga was smiling, expecting inevitable victory.
"You lose! Gentle Fist Ultimate Art: Tao!" Neji shouted, dropping his hand. As he was pointing the blonde, the orb shot towards him in a flash. The blonde put his right arm on his left arm.
'Must use it!' was Naruto thought, as before a second past since the shot, there was a massive explosion of blue/greenish flames. The fact there was a shot was mark only by a now rising dust, marking the path of the bullet. If you were to look up in the sky, the cloud that was just above the arena had the cut in it, as long as the distance between the two fighting genins. A strong shockwave followed, which shook the audience itself. The wind was just so strong, even the shinobi had to cover their eyes from dust and stones. This was an insane power. As things calmed down, at long last, every one looked down to see the Hyuga protégé just standing as he was, all covered in dirt and sweat, his byakugan deactivated. This jutsu putted a lot of stress on his body. Luckily, he performed it flawlessly. Other wise he would be dead. He looked into the crater, surrounded by flames and covered by smoke. He had no doubt the blonde was gone. There was just no way he could've survived that. He relaxed and, with the smirk on his face, he turned to the referee.
"Referee! This fight is over." He said. "There is nothing left of that loser. I automatically pass to the next round." He turned and was on his way to the booth. He rubbed his broken hand in pain, thinking about what Uzumaki said earlier about defying fate. 'What an idiot. If that was to be possible, I would've lost by now.'
Hinata saw the whole thing. She couldn't believe what she saw. Her cousin was ruthless with her, but with Naruto… he killed him. She heard of this jutsu's power. She just couldn't believe Neji disintegrated Naruto. The world started to spin in her head, her chest ached. She was about to collapse. Kiba, who was enraged by the sight, forgot all about it when he saw his teammate about to collapse. As everyone was in disbelieve, Kakashi paled. 'No way. Naruto's… gone… HOW AM I GOING TO FACE HIS FATHER NOW?' he grabbed his head, in complete shock. What was he going to do now?
Hiashi continued to analyze his nephew in disbelieve of what he has done. 'That jutsu holds enough destructive power to literally erase the human being from existence, not leaving a single trace he was even there. For Neji to use it must mean he's really…'
Tenten had somewhat similar concern as she watched her teammate making his exit. 'That was harsh, Neji. I never thought you would actually use that jutsu like that. Still, Naruto did push you further than anyone else before.'
"Well… not like I expected him to win, but… killing Naruto was too much." Ino commented in her shock.
"Naruto. Of all the ways to end up…" Sakura whispered, more to herself than her childhood friend. Her eyes were filling with tears.
"Whoa. That is one, serious kid down there." Temari commented. Kankuro agreed with her.
"Tell me about it. Now I'm happy I didn't had to fight him instead. Otherwise I would've ended up like the blonde." That earned the puppeteer a solid kick to his jewels.
"Don't you dare talk like that about Naruto, you jerk!" Anko threatened. "The minute that guy gets here, I'll kill him myself!"
Genma eyed the young Hyuga going further and further away. He sighed. He should disqualify him, but what he did wasn't against the rules. He was the one who failed to stop the fight. And it was the Uzumaki kid who paid for his sloppiness. But he still had to do it.
"This fight came to a conclusion!" the toothpick chewing ninja announced. "The winner is Hyuga Ne…!
"Wait!"
Genma halted himself. Neji also stopped and looked at the crater. None of the two believed to hear properly. Even the audience wondered if they heard it right. But they must have misheard themselves. The boy was k…
"I'm not done yet!" the voice continued. That shocked everyone. The blonde was alive! But how? Neji turned and took a defensive stance in absolute fear. He didn't want to believe this.
"H-How… How did you survive Tao? It's impossible! The only two known defenses strong enough to let you survive this jutsu are those of the Hyuga clan! SO HOW DID YOU SURVIVE?" Neji was enraged now. That last jutsu was his absolute attack. No one could have survived it. The only known defenses to block it were Rotation or Tao itself. And since the blonde wasn't the Hyuga, how did he survive?
The smoke started to lift, slowly revealing the figure. In Neji's eyes, before the boy stood a silhouette of an ogre with four horns. But as more smoke lifted, he saw a normal looking kid. Yet what he learned about him now left him as confused as surprised. The blonde, aside from having his clothes even more ragged, missing left sleeve, his favorite jacket and vest, and his bandages torn in a few places, had his birthmark glow yellow now. And his entire left arm was covered in yellow flames of chakra, forming a massive gauntlet with three inhuman faces. The flame was also running from his shoulder-height to behind him, forming a fist-sized orb, from which two smaller ones appeared next to it. Neji activated his byakugan in curiosity as to what was that, only to see the same thing as with the red chakra. Only, instead of the fox of red chakra, he saw a horned humanoid of yellow chakra. Neji quit focusing on the chakra out of pure horror just in time to see the blonde staring at him. He saw his right eye was normal blue. But his left eye was far more different. The sclera was darker, much darker, like phasing from white to grey and then to dark blue. There was no sign of pupil, while the iris turned yellow and seemed to be in the process of dividing into three points. Neji was really confused as to what was the deal the brat. Just what was he?
Everyone in the stadium was shocked to find the blonde alive. They were so shocked that no one dared to speak. Though Kakashi couldn't stop himself from the thought. 'This jutsu… It can't be. But it is. And this chakra I feel… No doubt about it. It's Raijin's chakra. Naruto, when did you learn to draw upon this power?'
Down in the arena, Naruto broke the silence. "Like the three wise monkeys see no evil, hear no evil and say no evil, this jutsu blocks all attacks, parries all attacks and lets no attacks harm me. Your Rotation is your ultimate defense, Neji? Well here is mine! Three Imperial Guards!" The three faces in the 'gauntlet' roared. He took a look at it more carefully. 'Well, this is strange. It used to look different when I worked on it.' He thought, just as one of the faces disappeared.
Lord Third had no doubt about it now. Just like Kakashi described it in report after Izo incident. This pure yet mighty sensation, the power within the blonde's voice… Naruto was empowered with the thunder god's power. The question was- was he in control?
Neji growled under his breath. This fight was going on for long enough. He had to finish it. He had enough of Uzumaki's tricks. Then he heard Naruto say something that got him on guard.
"Neji, I think we both had it. Let's finish it. One shall stand, one shall fall." Naruto said, waving his left arm and dashing towards the Hyuga. Neji got ready to engage him, as the blonde's speed didn't increase that much as before. He could beat him in close combat. But as the blonde was about to hit him, his danger sense kicked in. he jumped away just in time to avoid the blonde's punch. The blonde instead hit the ground, making a large crater. Neji got shocked and decided to back away. 'It can't be.' He thought. 'Earlier, while using the red chakra, he was faster. Now with the yellow one his stronger. And apparently more resentful to damage. What's going on here? Is that some kind of genetic ability?' His thoughts stopped when the blonde charged again. Neji took his stance and, taking advantage of his agility, kept avoiding the blonde's strikes, delivering his own blows, which didn't seem to affect him that much. Neji decided to go for the neck, but the blonde parried him. However, it gave the Hyuga the opening.
"Got you now!" Neji said, taking a familiar stance. "Eight Trigrams Palm 64 Strikes!" he pressed on the blonde, delivering the blows. But Naruto was able to block every one of them with his defensive jutsu. As Neji finished, Naruto backed away, landing near the collapsed tree and watched as the second face disappeared, leaving the last one. Naruto curled his hand into fist, then relaxed and picked up the plant and threw it into Neji. Seeing this, the Hyuga immediately used the Rotation. As expected, the protective dome shredded the tree into toothpicks. Naruto glared at him and charged, ready to hit with his left arm as he spin.
"Hey, Neji! How about we see which defense is THE ultimate one!" Naruto challenged. As he was near the Hyuga protégé, he used the Rotation again. The two chakra jutsu clashed, creating something similar to sparks as the two young ninjas pressed onto each other, neither wanting to forfeit. The power within their clash was so great, everything around them was vibrating. The audience was expecting one of them to give in. But neither wanted to. Finally, they noticed a small ball of energy appear between them, while their jutsu were fading. Finally only that ball was left, spinning wildly, until it exploded, sending the two backwards. While Neji was sent flying, Naruto seemed capable enough to keep to the ground. After things settled down, Neji stood up, a bit shaken.
That was Naruto's chance.
Naruto leaped towards his opponent, ready to crash him into the ground. Neji saw this and smirked.
"You idiot. Coming from that ankle, my Rotation will easily redirect your attack back at you!" he roared, while activating his defense. Naruto only smiled. The Hyuga caught the bait. The blonde hit the ground just before the protégé. There were a few small cracks around Neji and before he knew it, a piece of ground was lifted. With Neji activated, subconsciously, his byakugan and saw another Naruto beneath the ground. As Narutos roared, they finally flipped the ground, apparently crashing the Hyuga. As the new boulders cracked into smaller rocks, Neji dug himself out, breathing heavily.
"Why you…" Neji never had the chance to finish, as the blonde punched him in the face. As they made contact, the knucklehead's stripes started to glow even brighter, accompanied with electric discharges. He roared as he sent Neji flying into the arena's wall. Neji hit it and bounced off. But before he hit the ground, he struggled to stay on his feet. Then he saw the blonde ram him into the concrete was enough force to crack it. The two stayed like that for a couple of seconds, before Naruto finally backed away, allowing the Hyuga to fall to the ground.
"Your Rotation was quite something, Neji." Naruto spoke, getting the barely conscious Hyuga's attention. "However, aside from it rotating only horizontally, I noticed that you are immobilized while it's active. I wasn't too sure about it though, until that last clash we had. And it appears that even after you dispel it, there's still a time gap before you can actually move, unless you're in shape to use Substitution."
Genma mentally whistled at the kid's observation. And noted not to get on his bad side.
Meanwhile, Kakashi was wondering whether the blonde was actually stupid or just slow and dimwitted.
"So… you used that… Shadow Clone jutsu when… you saw the opening." Neji commented. "That way… y-you… ensured you'd take… me… down before… I could move. You… used my… defense against me. I… I got careless."
Naruto apparently got irritated with the comment. He picked him up and looked him in the eyes. "You want to know something? Do you want to know why I actually got to beat you? Really?" Neji showed a bit of interest in the topic. "That's because… I wanted to change. This is what Hinata, I and you have all in common. However, I didn't waste my time on crying how terrible the world was and finally won. I became the man strong enough to defy gods, where you were at conflict between revenge and changing your fate. You're supposed to be a genius, yet you let out your frustration on Hinata, who wanted to help her cousin when he needed someone the most. And on the record- I failed the genin exam three times, because I couldn't master a basic Clone Jutsu. That was my WORST jutsu. So don't you talk about destiny. If a loser like me could become strong enough to forge it himself, then why shouldn't you?"
Neji's eyes softened. This blonde… he didn't see Neji himself as an enemy. It was his viewpoint all along. His attitude. He started giving up to his weakness, but still had one question he needed to ask. "I think… you could… have killed me…"
"No." Naruto answered. "Anything but that. Besides, that way I would've end up Hinata even worse than you. She wants you to see as she changes the Hyuga's ways, reunites the family. That's why she needs you to help her become strong enough to do that."
Neji fell asleep. But some reason, he smiled. Naruto putted him down gently. Genma gave him a smile. It would be later on that he learned from his uncle the truth behind his father's death. Death which he chose to protect his clan, despite Hiashi being prepared to die himself.
"The winner is Uzumaki Naruto!" he announced.
The audience cheered.
To be continued…
A.N. / Finally, the secret of the scroll revealed and Naruto used both his nine-tails form as well as god form. Hope you liked it. See ya next time.
