A/N Thanks for your reviews and support.

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Naruto's POV

This wasnt working was the first thing that came to mind. The battle had been going on for almost five minutes now. To those watching it didnt seem to be that long. Many of the preliminaries had taken longer than this.

No, what made this fight different from the others was the sheer pace of it. Naruto and Wang Dong were giving it all they had to try and force themselves past the White Dark and Dark Cat duo. So far success had not favored them in the slightest.

Naruto was continuously attacked by the Dark Cat unable to get around her speed. Several shallow cuts had torn apart his shirt and jacket. While some deep ones had him bleeding. They weren't meant to injure really. It seemed they were simply to distract him.

Wang Dong wasnt in any better shape if anything he was worse off. The White Tiger spirit master had landed several painful-looking blows. He wasnt jumping and dodging around like the girl. Instead, he was doing a continuous assault.

Yu Hao was being kept busy and away from Wang Dong by the third member. She was technically part of the support class but she had trained in hand-to-hand combat.

If they wanted any chance at winning they needed to get Wang Dong to Yu Hao. To do this though he had to get the attention of the White Tiger and Dark Cat to focus on him. His best chance would be to use Lightning Flash. Though he doubted it would work like it had last time. It was no longer a surprise technique. Still, he had to try and be a distraction so that his friends could try and perform a spirit fusion.

Naruto focused his attention inwards drawing upon his lightning ki. Sparks shot across his body ready to be used. With the breakthrough it seemed came with more instinctive power than he had before. Interesting.

Time seemed to slow as the Lightning Flash technique activated. Naruto rushed towards the White Tiger user fully intent on getting his attention. While he was slower than the other two he was able to block Naruto's attacks. Attacking in return was impossible for the other, however.

They clashed for several seconds before the technique ended. His body jolted as he came back to a normal speed. As he recovered a kick hit him square in the chest. It sent him flying back the force making him cough up blood as he hit the concrete painfully.

Naruto barely recovered in time to move away from the Tiger again. Lightning coursed back over him as he dodged the Tiger boy. Something dark moved in his peripheral vision. As he fell back claws tore through his uniform jacket. Pain flared through his chest and he grit his teeth against the pain. Well, he had their attention now.

He would have to keep their attention on him so that Yu Hao and Wang Dong could use their spirit fusion ability. Bringing his hands he formed a familiar hand sign.

"Shadow clone jutsu," he called out.

Smoke covered the arena around the three of them. He used most of his chakra to make the clones. As the smoke cleared the crowd gasped. Hundreds of shadow clones filled the arena. It was more than the last time he used shadow clones.

The White Tiger snarled angrily as the clones rushed at him. For his part, Naruto stayed back watching as the clones pushed the two back. When the third tried to jump in the fight she was thrown out of the arena by the clones. Lightning coursed over her unconscious body. He would use Lightning Break to stop it when the fight was over. At his current strength, it wouldn't kill her. As he grew in strength it would be a possibility but for now, he didnt have to worry.

The Dark Cat girl let out a wordless snarl as she tore through clone after clone. It seemed he had angered her greatly. Good the angrier she was the more likely she would make a mistake.

The White Tiger snapped, "Don't focus on the clones. If we take out the main body they will disappear. I think it's time to use that."

"Are you sure?"

He'd be lying if he said that question didnt make him nervous. What were they talking about? Did they have a trick up their sleeve? It wouldn't surprise him if they did, to be honest.

Naruto's team only had their spirit fusion technique left in terms of what they haven't used. It wasnt a secret though the entire crowd knew of it as did the competitors.

There were two things that he had up his sleeves that no one knew about. His second spirit essence which he had promised Xaiogang that he would never use was the first. As he grown older and studied at school he realized why this was.

On their continent, dual spirit essences were extremely rare. Normally only appearing in the old clans they came out with spirit harmonization. When revealed to have dual spirit essences, a spiritual master's loyalty was coveted by all. Country leaders would not hesitate to kill in order to gain loyalty or prevent someone else from doing so. So his order to never use it was simply for his own protection.

The other option would be the Nine-Tailed Fox that lay beneath the seal. Given that the village and many of its elders were here that wasnt a viable option either. He barely knew of its existence much less how to access the chakra. He was sure the elders would try and attack him if he used that chakra.

Yu Hao called out, "Naruto keep them off of us. We are beginning the spirit fusion."

Alright, then he could do that. To his surprise, the two in front of him embraced. The most common way for two-spirit masters to use spirit fusion was to embrace each other. There were other ways but he only knew of a rumored one. It was called the Golden Triangle. Instead of two-spirit masters, there were three. They would go into a triangle formation and combine their spirit essences and power. According to the rumors it would form into a giant dragon but it had not been seen in over two decades.

Naruto and his clones rushed to stop them but they were too late. The White Tiger and Dark Cat duo must have years of experience using spirit fusion as it formed almost immediately. A giant White Tiger with dark around its paws and tail stood in the arena where the duo once was.

Lightning encased him as he attacked the Tiger. He had to buy his teammate's time. That was all he could do at this point.

Naruto ducked and dodged around the giant paws. Striking at its body where he could. Despite using his ki the attacks didnt seem to phase the creature in the least.

One paw slammed into the ground kicking up dust. The dust-obscured his vision and he didnt see the incoming tail until it was about to slam into him. As he tried to dodge it clipped in the ribs sending him flying. It was only thanks to quick thinking with his shadow clones that he was kept in the arena.

Other shadow clones were desperately trying to keep the Tiger's attention. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't interested in false bodies. It already knew which of them was the real thing.

Naruto tried to gain his feet only to stagger and grasp his chest. His hand felt warm and sticky as he pressed his hand into the tattered remains of his jacket. Darkness was just as much of an element as his lightning was. It proved so much when his hand drew back and darkness coated his hand within the blood.

Shaking his head the blond forced his body to obey. He couldn't stop here his team was counting on him. He had to hold that Tiger back until Yu Hao and Wang Dong were ready. The Tiger sprung at him its fangs ready to bite him in half.

Naruto jumped to the right the last of his clones pulling him away from the Tiger. A golden light behind him made him let out a sigh of relief.

Golden Light of the spirit fusion was growing stronger with each passing second. It drew the attention of the Tiger who stopped going after Naruto. For a brief moment, its tail twitched as it watched the light. Then without warning, it lunged just as the light shot towards it.

Naruto collapsed back onto the concrete his body no longer obeying his commands. All he could do was watch as Wang Yan jumped between the two-spirit fusions. All six of his spirit rings created immense spiritual pressure. It wasnt even comparable to Fan Yu but it was enough to stop the two-spirit fusions.

To Naruto's dismay though the back of the man had been struck by the White Tiger. Their best wasn't enough. They had lost.