It's Thursday! So let's get ready to rumble! Introducing...Reviewers:

Mundane Beast: Yes, you though right. As Shikamaru is canon would say, if you can't beat them, go for the draw. Not sure if that's actually from a story or the anime.

7th Demon of Razgriz: Hey! I advised you it was short! You-You punched me! you used frog sage chakra style to hit me! Fanfics! 7th demon is hitting me! and he's making fun of me because I'm white! Ah! ;)

Lill1000: Glad you still approved of the chapter. Yeah, when I look back on previous chapters, I've been expanding them rapidly in word count lately. But most stories are about 2k a chapter so...it works I guess. And I know you miss NaruSaku moments. But this is an Romance AND Adventure story. If I could, they would be in the bedroom 24/7. As for their 'intercourse,' they have not done it yet, but have gotten close enough. They've done everything before that though ;) As for your review, it is longer than most, believe me. I read them frequently.

ZeroTails317: Of course the Leaf wins. Even though this is a story about the Sky village, the Leaf is still like...the strongest village out there. And Hey! no review for 35? I waited and waited and...oh 34 is up! now just a lliiitttllee more.

Keeper of Worlds: Glad you like the tactical points of the fight, and hope that you approve of these ones as well, and I now get the pain quote you were using. I looked back and you're right. It does kind of sound like that.

Sorakage Arc III

Chapter 36: Ryu Vs. Rei

Ryu and Rei appeared on the field from their own caverns, finding themselves on a field on land in the middle of the arena with a body of water circling it. Both ninja jumped over the water to enter the land of the field and felt the slight grassland-like field before them.

The Kages from above were impressed by the sudden differential amounts in each of the fields, from the Rockies to the forests and now to the grasslands where the grass ninja had gotten their name. Each of them wanted to ask the Sorakage to duplicate this technology and share it with them. After all, training on the enemy's home turf made it into neutral ground.

Back down on the field, the original proctor, also known as Kirito in the black trench coat, raised his hand and dropped it to let the battle between the two shinobi commence. It was not long before Ryu and Rei each produced their dual swords from their backs and charged forward, colliding their swords with each of their counterparts.

Rei went for an upward slash with his left blade, missing by an inch as Ryu leaned backwards following into his own slash at Rei's feet. Rei jumped over the slash, throwing both swords downward at his opponent's head. Ryu prepared for impact, his feet planted firmly on the ground as he raised his swords just in time in an x formation to intercept the attack.

Once the blades connected, Ryu sliced his blades upwards and apart, causing Rei to feel a burn in his grip guard and release his force on his blades and allowed them to be pushed up. Using the advantage, Ryu brought his swords together again slashing inwards at waist height, but Rei slid down into the splits from his legs and ducked beneath the assault.

As the fight proceeded below them, the crowd could only be amazed by the performance being shown before their very eyes. The ninja in the audience admired and respected these two Gennin for their quality of swordsmanship that favored a completely balanced form of defense and offense. Even the Kages were happy to see the start of yet another fight.

Back in the arena, Ryu and Rei had just backed away from each other after speeding up their attack patterns. Many eyes looked to their swords and saw the many chips that were now embedded in the steel and framework. Each Gennin stowed their swords back in their scabbards, intent on keeping them in case of emergency.

Rei looked over at his opponent and saw Ryu breathing lightly through his nose, signifying that he was not winded either from the attacks just now. It was just as well since his swords were withered and bent. Rei smiled as he pulled out a small scroll and tossed it in front of him. It hovered in the air before him, and he placed his hands on some seals before two new swords replaced the scroll in his reach to which he quickly grabbed them and prepared to attack once more before noticing Ryu forming hand seals. He was too far away to stop him, and he knew immediately what he was about to do.

Ryu watched Rei pulling out two new swords and smiled sadly at the idea of such a thing as common as that. It would make things harder for him but he'd be able to pass through if he proceeded according to plan. Ryu smiled as he bit the inside of his mouth, blood flowing out onto his chin before he wiped it with his thumbs. Ryu completed his hand signs and with his two swords now being embedded in the earth to his sides, slammed them right on the ground.

Summoning Jutsu!

Many Kages and high level ninja in the arena had seen the hand signs for the jutsu and were expecting to see a small animal assist the gennin in this battle. After all, not many ninja could use a summons effectively or with enough chakra to summon a high enough level summon.

Rei looked forward as the telltale signs of a summoning cleared. All around Ryu from his sides to behind him were five normal sized wolves, a good sized pack to be precise, and as the smoke dissipated fully, Ryu outstretched his hand and the five wolves immediately howled and began their assault on Rei himself.

Rei brought his swords up and around him as the wolves split off and encircled him while each took its time to attack him in his blind spots before another would frontally assault him. Rei spun around for the next few minutes dodging, weaving, and blocking each of the wolves claws and maws as they danced around him.

Ryu crossed his arms, his eyes analyzing Rei's every move on the defensive. He cringed a bit when a yelp echoed out from one of his wolves before it poofed away back to the summoning world. It was to be expected however, as these wolves were only about a year old anyways and therefore still needed to learn more attack patterns.

These wolves did not have the armor plating as in the other match. He had had to use a lot of chakra to summon those and he could not chance succumbing to chakra exhaustion at such an important event in his life. He saw Rei jump up and bite down on his own thumbs, and smiled appreciatively at the sign of Rei's counter-attack.

Summoning Jutsu!

Rei called out before spreading his arms as smoke appeared along his upper arms and shoulders and four hawks appeared upon the ninja before flying off into various parts of the arena, not close but far away from the wolves on the ground.

The spectators who knew about summons were initially excited to see summons fight, but as the hawks stayed high in the air, their excitement faded. But the shinobi saw the wisdom in keeping summons away from each other until the time was right.

As Rei began his descent towards the ground, he formed his family hand sign and the Sky ninja as well the Sorakage wondered what he was going to do.

Ninja Art: Mind's Eye Jutsu!

As Rei's feet touched the ground, his face fell forward, hiding it from view as yellow chakra appeared to shoot out of his body in the direction of the hawks before seeping into their fur as well. When Rei looked up, his eyes were glazed over, almost as if he were blind.

Ryu signaled for his pack to be wary and cautiously they began their attack again. This time however, Rei dodged faster, and even began to wound his pack of wolves as the minutes ticked by.

As those precise minutes passed, Rei looked to the three wolves that remained with some cuts in their fur. He had just dispatched another wolf after he had deflected its teeth away from his arm and cut deep enough with both of his swords.

Ryu began unbuckling the buttons of his sleeves on his jacket and pushed up his sleeves as he sent the rest of his pack forward to test out Rei's jutsu. The three wolves began circling Rei, running as fast on their legs as they could go. Rei simply stood in the middle of it all, his blind eyes staring straight ahead as the grey circle of speed edged closer and closer towards him.

Suddenly he started spinning rapidly, even faster than the wolves themselves, and he turned into a mini tornado. The wolves had reached striking distance and they all attacked as one. One went for the head, its body fully straight in the air, the second for Rei's ribcage, and the last one going for his left foot.

To those with special eyes or the rank of high-chunnin and above, they were able to see what happened next. Rei's swords came up paralleled and chopped at the wolf going for his legs, cutting into him enough and spreading his legs in the process. His swords spread apart, their points piercing into the second wolf's front paws before sliding out and forming an x in the air, right where the last wolf was.

All of this happened in less than a second, three poofs of white smoke surrounding all but Rei's eyes from view. As the smoldering ash in the air dissipated, Rei held his swords at his waist waiting for the next attack, as his head moved slightly in all directions.

The Kages and judges nodded their heads in approval of such speed and precision as well as the logic in how to attack the wolves in succession. They all looked to see as Ryu smiled in respect as he undid the last button on his sleeves. The next phase of the match was beginning.

Two gauntlets slid out into view, joining at the metallic backing of Ryu's gloves before shining brightly as black knives slid out of three slots in each gauntlet. Ryu looked to Rei and suddenly brought his arms up, but to Rei but instead towards the sky, before he squeezed his hands tightly as the black knives shot out of their slots and zoomed forward.

Four of the six hit their target, the remaining two missing their targets as they poofed away in the smoke that had brought them into this world. Each of the kunai had hit one of the hawks before they knew what was going on. Ryu let his hands drop, his gauntlets falling off his arms as he watched Rei regain his sight back.

"Incredible." The Kaibunkage breathed out. "That Yamanaka used his hawks to see in every direction. And since a bird's eye can see better than a human's, he could watch the wolves' attack and still defend himself as well as succeed in killing him."

"Unfortunately, the other gennin knew that the hawk's eyes were focused on the field and not around them, enabling him to use those gauntlets of his." Another Kage mentioned.

"Speaking of which, Sorakage-San, are those another one of the Sky's new inventions? They seemed to be almost faster than an arm thrown kunai." The Mizukage wondered.

All eyes turned towards Naruto who smiled as he scratched the back of his neck bashfully. "Well, in a way, yes. A civilian who works at the village armory thought up the idea actually that kunai could fit into slots and then be aimed accurately so."

"Then why did he let them drop off?" The Raikage chuckled. "Such a weapon is invaluable at this point in the match. Such non-strategic thinking on his part."

"On the contrary, Raikage-San, those gauntlets are extremely heavy, ten pounds each, and the kunai have all been discharged. The time it takes to place the kunai into their individual slots is too long for a proper battle. They are more so to be used as a first strike device before giving the shinobi the ability to move faster." The Sorakage explained. The Raikage humped at the logical answer and continued to watch the match below.

A sense of finality surrounded the match itself, as if this match were nearing its zenith as the two gennin breathed deeply, Rei more so than Ryu. It seemed as if this match would end within the next few minutes.

Rei made hand signs quickly, keeping his stance as he brought his hands up to his mouth.

Phoenix flower jutsu!

Rei shouted as five fireballs curved around Ryu before moving in for the kill. Ryu started to make quite the unusual hand signs of his own, loosely based on a water like movement and normal hand signs, and as he did so, the Kazekage stood up and began to shout at the Sorakage.

Shadow Puppetry: Fire phoenix!

The five fireballs stopped in midflight before quickly forming next to Ryu into a flying bird with a wingspan of three yards and a tail that moved in a windless style. All eyes of foreign shinobi widened at such a move that could take the attack of an opponent and switch it to make their own jutsu.

"What is the meaning of this Sorakage-San?!" The Kazekage screamed as his faced up to where Naruto sat.

"What ever do you mean, Kazekage-San?" Naruto asked back, completely relaxed.

"You have members of the Shade Clan here!"

"Yes…I have allowed for the Shade clan to be a part of my village. IS there something wrong with that?"

"There is. Sixty years ago, the Shade were banished from the land of wind and were to live in the wasteland till their clan died out. They cannot be a part of any village." The Kazekage snarled.

"That is where you are wrong. If you will open your eyes, they are still 'living' in the wasteland and my village lies inside its borders, so you have no quarrel with my shinobi."

"They will betray you, just as they betrayed the former Kazekage."

"The Shade clan speaks of the events differently. They were your primary defense for the village. After all, they did build your walls." A gasp from a few of the minor village leaders was heard at this. "They were loyal to you, but you grew suspicious of them, and ordered the execution of their head clan for threat of a false coup to your village. I see them in a different light from your village, and until they prove to be traitors, they will always be welcome in my village."

"They are not worth your time."

"Says the leader of a village who praises their puppeteer squadrons? Funny, considering that the Shade created them and most of their current methods."

"Your village is doomed to fall." The Kazekage said in finality.

"Only time will tell." Naruto stated as they looked back down to the arena.

Rei meanwhile was starting to panic as he watched the phoenix form from his own fireballs. He knew of the ancient Shade clan and now knew for certain why Ryu thought of himself as worthless. His family had had a terrible past and shunned from most societies.

They were a clan had held no nature affinities whatsoever, thought to be civilians. They did not control fire, water, earth, wind, or lightning. Instead, they were able to use these elements from the places around them. That was how Ryu had obtained his fire phoenix; not from the chakra, but from the actual burning fire.

He had read about how his own clansmen had fought against these shinobi in the first shinobi world war and how most of them only had the talent for one or two of the elements around them, greatly leading to their weakness after it became known. So Rei had to use an element other than fire. Maybe water? There was certainly enough around the arena for those kinds of jutsus. But before Rei could begin, Ryu was off again in his seals.

Shadow Puppetry: Stone Golems!

Ryu threw his hands towards the ground, his hands sinking into the hard rock and held them there as his jutsu took effect. The phoenix made of fire flew up high into the sky, just below the chakra barrier to protect the audience and fire danced along its still forming body of fire. Flares like that of the sun combed over the bird as it watched the scene below.

The ground in front of Ryu split in half, creating a crevice from which hands made of stone sprang up from below. These hands pushed up and legs and bodies of the two golems appeared out of the holes in the ground. Once out, the crevices closed and the golems appeared to be ten feet tall and as big as sumo wrestlers in stone armor with fists made of black diamond stones.

Rei knew that he had to act fast. These three creatures, as in his readings, were like the summoned animals, able to attack and have minds of their own, but his mind control would work on only one and they'd attack his unconscious body. Ryu was advanced enough to know two elements, but Rei knew their weaknesses.

Rei quickly formed his hand signs, unleashing two different elemental jutsus. They were smaller and definitely less destructive as they were not in any way his nature affinity of elements, but even though they were not mastered nor elements nor were they his natural affinities, they could still destroy and any other things that they were used to do. Rei moved his hands quickly, moving on to his next set as soon as he was down.

Suiton: Water dragon!

Raiton: Fingers of destruction!

A water dragon formed from the water behind Rei and each of his fingers ignited with lightning before flowing into the dragon, effectively combining the two jutsus. Together in harmony, the ten foot in length dragon rushed at the golems, hoping to destroy them while leaving the water left over for the destruction of the phoenix.

Unfortunately that was not to be. Ryu formed hand signs once more and this time, Rei knew that his jutsu was done for.

Shadow Puppetry: Water Spirit!

The water dragon suddenly exploded in a giant burst, its electricity charges spraying everywhere, creating a slight mist of charged particles. The water droplets sped forward still connecting together to form a giant circle of water in the air. It slowly shaped into the watery form of a luscious looking woman with many curves in her features. In fact, it almost looked like the form of a naiad with the body of Ryu's girlfriend Amy. Still, the spirit stayed in this form, a bow and arrow forming out of water to be pointed at Rei.

All eyes were on the field, and to those that had the knowledge of the Shades, knew that the ability of three natures was highly rare. Most could control the earth and water elements as that was the most abundant around any area. Next came fire as most humans could make them in chakra or of natural help. After that came lightning as it was rare and extremely powerful and difficult to master. Last of all was the wind itself, an element that few even had in nature affinities as well as impossible to predict and control. It was the most advanced and powerful of the natures. So all eyes widened at the next jutsu!

Shadow Puppetry: Lightning Wolf!

The mist of charged electrons glowed swiftly before a bright flash blinded everyone in the stadium. As their eyes adjusted, the audience saw a blue-white wolf with currents of electricity flowing around its body like waves against the shore.

Each of the now five creatures surrounded Rei, four at each corner and the bird from above. Ryu looked to Rei and smiled sadly as he looked at the situation.

"You can't beat all of them, Rei. Your swords will break against the stone and slide between the rest of the elements if I control them any further. You will get hurt and you know it; surrender the match."

Rei nodded slightly as he took in the situation. He slid his swords back into their respective scabbards and raised his hand in defeat. Kirito nodded to Rei and then looked at Ryu. Ryu nodded and each of the creatures dissipated in smoke, electrical charges, soaked into the ground, and became part of the earth once more, with no sign that they had been created; almost like shadows in the darkest of night.

"Winner: Ryu Shade!"

So there you have it. Ryu Shade, part of a banished clan that were taught to everyone that they were worthless and not worth anyone's time.