Author's note: Welp, while some reviewers complained, the backlash against the latest chapter wasn't so bad as I thought. I'm glad that most reviewers liked the fights and their outcomes so far. Let's hope you also like the fights from this chapter as well. Though I'm afraid that, just like the previous chapter, at least one of the fights will draw some controversy.
By the way, Son of the Sannin is now in TVTropes' fanfic recommendation page! Thanks a lot to FoxBlueReaver for recommending it!
Anyway, enjoy:
Chapter 24:
Preliminaries, Part II
or
The battlefield is the best place to meet new people
Everybody looked at the screen displaying the names of the next two combatants, many of them with their mouths agape.
Shino Aburame VS Gaara
"Oh man, that's all kinds of troublesome," Shikamaru commented.
"Boy, poor Shino," Choji added. "Not even the three of us could beat that sand guy and he has to fight him on his own."
All the eyes were on Shino, who as usual didn't openly display any kind of emotion. Then again, the bug-using ninja never saw Gaara in action, he merely heard about his exploits.
"Good luck, pal," Kiba said, nudging the Aburame in the shoulder.
"We'll be cheering for you," Tamaki added, smiling sympathetically at him.
Both Shino and Gaara descended upon the arena and walked in front of each other. Yugao made sure that both Genin were ready for the fight.
"Begin!" she shouted before making a chopping motion.
Shino placed some distance between himself and his opponent, and spread his arms sideways. Two swarms of kikai bugs emerged from underneath his sleeves –eliciting quite a few "ewww's!" from people at the stands– and commanded them to attack Gaara, who remained immobile, with his arms crossed.
The deadly swarm of flying insects soon found itself slamming against a nearby impenetrable shield of sand.. Shino mentally commanded the swarm to split into several groups, but a sand barrier would form whenever as mass of bugs tried to get close to Gaara. Shino then pulled three kunai from his tool pouch and tossed them at the sand ninja. The results were the same.
"Whoa, that guy is untouchable! How the hell is Shino going to hit him?" Naruto asked.
"He needs to find the weak point of that shield and exploit it," Kurenai replied.
"Does that sand barrier have a weak point?" Haku skeptically asked. "It looks like there's nothing that Shino can do to pierce it."
"Every jutsu has a weakness Haku, never forget that," Kurenai pointed out.
Hinata activated her Byakugan and analyzed Gaara's sand shield. "It seems like the sand is imbued with chakra, but...not in the way of the usual ninjutsu. It's a different chakra."
"That has to be the power of his Tailed Beast," Naruto concluded. "Boy, poor Shino, he got one of the worst possible opponents."
Gaara decided that he had already gave Shino enough time to attack, and thought it was time to end the match. He made a hand seal.
"Wind Release: Sand Shuriken!"
Gaara shot several projectiles made of sand at an impossible high speeds. Shino managed to expertly dodge most of them, but some sliced his skin at several points.
Unfortunately for the bug user, Gaara had just started. Making another hand seal, the sand formed five tentacles, and with another gesture, the hand appendages tried to lash or wrap themselves against Shino, forcing the Aburame into the defensive.
"Man, this is bad," Kiba noted, worried. "Not only does that redhead have an impenetrable defense, but his sand also packs quite a punch. It's bad to say this, but I'm glad that I don't have to fight him."
"Don't lose hope, Shino is pretty strong," Tamaki interjected. "I'm sure that he will think a way to-"
"Proctor, I wish to forfeit," Shino calmly announced.
There were a couple gasps, but given the power of Shino's opponent, nobody was surprised by such decision. Yugao looked at the Aburame.
"Are you sure?" The purple haired woman asked.
"I'm positive. There's no way I can win this fight, so it will be pointless to drag it out," Shino explained.
"Very well," she then motioned at Gaara. "Winner of the fight, Gaara!"
As soon as Gaara was declared victor, all the sand returned to the gourd he carried on his back. The red haired ninja walked towards Shino.
"You put a valiant effort. I don't remember any Genin other than my siblings lasting this long against me," Gaara praised.
"Thank you. I'm afraid that my skill set was badly matched against yours. I believe some of my fellow Konoha Genin would have given you a better fight," Shino replied.
"Maybe. I'm sure I'll find it soon."
While Gaara and Shino returned to the stands, Jiraiya and Tsunade were talking to each other once again.
"That brat is the kid you helped in Suna some years ago, am I right?" Tsunade asked.
Jiariya nodded in return. "Indeed. His power is nothing sort of impressive. I'm afraid to think what would have become of him if I never fixed his seal. His asshole of a father wouldn't have been of much help either."
"I wonder how Naruto would have fared against him," Tsunade wondered.
"We might get to see that, given that they're both in the finals now," Jiraiya observed. "Which means that I need to accelerate Naruto's training."
After Gaara was congratulated by his teammates and Shino was comforted by his, all the eyes were once again in the screen flashing names. More than half of the Genin there had already fought, so those who still hadn't were starting to grow antsy. The screen displayed the names of the next two combatants:
Hinata Hyuga VS T
"Your turn, Hinata! Go and kick some ass!" Naruto cheered.
"R-Right!" The white eyed girl nodded, before heading to the arena.
"Interesting. Hinata was kidnapped by Kumo ninja when she was a toddler, and she has to now fight against another ninja of that village. What are the chances?" Kurenai wondered.
Meanwhile, T was also getting prepared for her upcoming match.
"You better not lose like this moron did, you get that?" Karui told her female teammate in a not-so-friendly way.
"Yes! Don't worry, I have this under control!" she assured.
"T is gonna put on an impressive show, all who watches will have their heads blown! As she fights in front of a crowd, she will make her village feel proud!" Killer B rapped while waving his hands wildly.
"Thank you, sensei, I'll do my best!" The blond girl replied before going to the arena.
Once the two kunoichi were in front of each other, Yugao made sure they were ready to fight.
"Begin!"
Both girls adopted a fighting stance –and in Hinata's case, activated her Byakugan–, and after a few seconds of eying each other, Hinata took the initiative and dashed at her, ready to deliver a palm strike to her chest. T blocked Hinata's attack by grabbing her by the wrist with one hand as she tried to stab the Hyuga with the other, but Hinata grabbed T's other wrist as well. After struggling for a bit, both girls broke from each other's grasp and jumped backwards.
"You're good. I wouldn't expect a foreign ninja knowing the proper way to block the Gentle Fist," Hinata praised.
"I did my homework," T smiled at her. "You're good too, not to mention pretty."
Hinata was taken aback. "...p-pretty?"
"Sure. Short hair doesn't look good in most girls, but you manage to pull it off," T began. "Plus you have a really soft skin! You have to tell me what you use to-"
"Goddamit T, stop flirting with the enemy!" Karui bellowed from the stands. "Focus!"
"R-Right! Sorry Karui!" T fearfully apologized as she grew more serious. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan, but I'll have to harm that cute face of yours."
"Hinata-chan? Cute face? Flirting?" Hinata wondered to herself. "Is this girl...?"
T flew through several hand seals. "Lightning Release: Lightning Flash!"
Suddenly, T's body started to glow with an extremely white bright light, illuminating the entire place. Everybody instinctively shielded their eyes, since it was almost like looking directly into the sun. And in Hinata's case, the Byakugan made it even worse.
"AAAAARGH! My eyes!" she yelled as she brought her hands to her eyes and deactivated her Byakugan.
T smirked, having obtained the desired effect, and pulled a bunch of kunai from her tool pouch and tossed them all at the blinded Hyuga.
However, Hinata's eyesight returned earlier than T had expected, and pulling her own kunai, she used it to deflect the flying knives aside with a series of swings while she slowly stepped back.
"She's a ranged fighter. If I have to win this, I can't let her to stay away from me. I need to get closer!" Hinata thought.
The Hyuga launched herself at the Kumo kunoichi, ready to hit her with a palm strike. However, rather trying to grab her like she did before, T made several hand seals while jumping back.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Shield!"
T's whole body crackled with electricity as blue sparks ran through her body. Hinata didn't have her Byakugan activated, but she realized that whatever that was, it wouldn't be wise to touch her and canceled her attack.
"You stopped," T stated.
"Even without my Byakugan, I know that you created some sort of protection around you that will harm me if I touch you, am I right?" Hinata asked.
T smirked at her. "It seems that you're more than just a pretty face. Yeah, you nailed it. As you probably guessed now, I'm not very comfortable in close combat. Omoi and Karui take care of that. I'm the team medic and ranged specialist. That's why I learned this kind of jutsu in case I can't rely on them to protect me."
"You thought about everything. You're a very dedicated kunoichi," Hinata praised.
"Aw, thanks. It's nice to see somebody recognizing my skill," T replied, while glancing at Karui, who scoffed.
"Though sadly for you, that shield won't do much good in the long run," Hinata commented while she made several hand seals.
T smirked once again. "You think so? Okay, come and try to test my shield's effectiveness yourself."
"I plan to!" Hinata said before launching at T once more.
T watched Hinata readying another palm strike. She chuckled. "Do you think you can overpower my shield with brute fo-"
But much to her shock, that's exactly what happened. Hinata struck the Kumo kunoichi in the abdomen, causing her to bend over. Hinata landed another hit on her jaw, sending her backwards.
"What!?" Karui asked, incredulous.
"Alright! Show her who's boss, Hinata!" Naruto cheered.
Hinata couldn't help but blush a bit upon hearing her blond teammate's encouraging words. Still, she forced herself to push Naruto out of her mind and focus solely on the recovering T, who was rubbing her jaw, her shield no longer active.
"H-How...how could you...?" T asked, incredulous. Then, she noticed something about Hinata's hands. They were also crackling with electricity. "What? You're a lightning user too? But Hyugas don't use ninjutsu!"
Hinata just shrugged. "I'm not your typical Hyuga," her Byakugan activated once again. "And I'm sorry, but I have to end this now."
T panicked as Hinata approached her and tried to made the hand seals of her blinding jutsu, but she wasn't fast enough.
"Lightning Release: Lightning-"
"Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms! Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms!"
Hinata guessed that the weaker version of her clan's signature combo would be enough to deal with her, and her assumptions turned out to be correct. After her attack was over, T laid on the floor, bruised and unable to move, but still alive nonetheless.
Yugao went to check the fallen Kumo kunoichi, and upon seeing her state, she took a decision. "T can no longer fight! Winner, Hinata Hyuga!"
Hinata sighed in relief. Karui groaned, but her groans were drowned by Naruto's loud cheers. A couple medic-nin arrived to take T away, while Hinata returned to the stands with her team.
"Way to go, Hinata!" Naruto pat her on the back. "I knew you could do it"
Hinata's cheeks slightly turned pink. "T-Thank you. She was a really strong opponent."
"And if her words are to be believed, she wasn't even an actual fighter," Kurenai added. "Kumo is usually very rigorous with the training of their ninjas."
"Well that dude Tenten beat didn't look strong," Naruto pointed out.
"Because he was a close combat specialist, one of the best opponents Tenten could have faced. If Tenten had faced a long range specialist, like say, that Suna kunoichi, I don't think she would have risen victorious," Kurenai explained.
Naruto nodded, then turned at Haku. "Alright Haku, only you're left. Be sure to win, we can't go into the finals without you!"
Haku smiled at Naruto. "Don't worry, I don't plan on losing."
"There are very few Genin left. Maybe Haku-kun will be the next one to fight," Hinata said, noticing that the screen was shuffling names once again.
However, it wouldn't be Haku's turn just yet.
Kiba Inuzuka VS Karin Uzumaki
"Alright, finally my turn!" Kiba cheered as he jumped into the arena. "Come on Akamaru, we got lucky we got such an easy opponent!"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" an enraged Karin asked.
Kakashi sighed. "I thought that I had taught Kiba not to underestimate any opponent. Guess that I need to work more on that." The Copy Ninja thought.
"Don't let him get to you," Shizune advised her. "Now, Inuzuka's usually rely in moving fast and hitting hard, so if you keep track of him you shouldn't have any problems. Don't let that dog blindside you either."
Karin nodded. "Don't worry sensei, I'll make you proud!"
Kiba and Karin walked to the center of the arena. Once Yugao checked they were ready, she announced the beginning of the fight.
"Begin!"
Both combatants wasted no time and made a hand seal with both hands.
"Beast Mimicry Art: Four Legs Jutsu!"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Kiba stood in all fours like an animal. There was a thin veil of chakra flickering all over his body. His fangs and fingernails grew a little, but enough to give him an animal-like appearance. Meanwhile, four clones appeared alongside Karin.
"You idiot, you think that impresses me? You only gave me more targets to hit! Come on Akamaru!" Kiba shouted before charging at Karin, his loyal dog rushing behind.
Karin and her clones pulled out a kunai each, and got ready for the fight. They all noticed Kiba reaching into his tool pouch and pulled something the redheads weren't able to see.
"Take that!" Kiba shouted while tossing the items at Karin's feet, which exploded in a cloud of smoke.
'Smoke bombs?' Karin thought.
By focusing their chakra on their noses, members of the Inuzuka clan could develop a sense of smell so fine it was almost as good as their canine companions'. This allowed them track their enemies by their smell, usually in places with no or very little light. So naturally, the logical way of using this advantage is to create a situation of blindness for both combatants. With the enemy blinded, the Inuzuka's could move for the kill. Sure, they could be heard, but that could be easily fixed with stealth.
Unfortunately for Kiba, he did forget that he was fighting an enemy that had another sense that could use to replace eyesight. When Kiba and Akamaru moved to hit Karin –or one of her clones, all of them smelled the same– their attacks were expertly blocked, much to their shock, and in turn were kicked out of the smoke cloud, which dissipated on its own a few seconds later.
"What? How were you able to see me?" Kiba asked, outraged, as he stood up.
"I'm a sensor, you moron! I can pinpoint your location at all times, so trying to blind me is useless," Karin replied.
"Alright then. I didn't want to resort to this so soon, but I need to win this," Kiba pulled another object from his tool pouch, something very small, and tossed it at Akamaru, whose white fur turned red.
"The hell...?" Karin asked. "Did you feed your dog a soldier pill?"
"Indeed I did," Kiba then ate another pill himself. "Now the real fight begins. Come on Akamaru!"
Kiba hunched over and made a hand seal, and the now red Akamaru jumped at his back.
"Beast Mimicry Art: Beast Human Clone!"
After a smoke explosion, everybody saw that Akamaru had turned into a perfect copy of Kiba. Karin was unimpressed.
"You know I still can tell which is which, right?" Karin asked, as she adjusted her glasses. "Human chakra and animal chakra couldn't be more different. Though in your case, just barely."
"Hmpf. You must think I'm trying to trick you," Kiba retorted. "I'm going to tear you to shreds!"
Kiba and his human-turned dog dashed at Karin once again. The redhead and her clones adopted a defensive stance, though neither of them were ready for what was about to happen.
"Fang Passing Fang!"
Kiba and Akamaru turned into living drills, flying at Karin at high speed. The clones instinctively went to met them in combat, all of them poofed the moment the spinning Inuzuka and his dog made contact with them. But the attack didn't end there; once Karin's clones were destroyed, Kiba and Akamaru went for the real Karin, who could barely dodge the fierce attacks.
"Dammit, why the hell did I have to underestimate the mutt?" Karin cursed inwardly. "Come on Karin, think! There has to be some weak point to...oh, I know!"
After dodging an attack, Karin's hand reached her tool pouch, and echoing Kiba's actions from before, she pulled out a few smoke bombs and threw them the moment Kiba and Akamaru dashed at her, spinning once again.
While Kiba had an amazing sense of smell, it's too hard, not to say impossible, to use it when you're rotating at high speed inside a cloud of smoke. Disoriented, Kiba and Akamaru were forced to stop.
"You have quick mind, but you're only delaying the inevitable," Kiba taunted.
"You think so?" Karin asked back.
"Yes. You can't avoid me forever. I'm faster and stronger than you, and you will run out of smoke bombs. Then you have nowhere to hide," Kiba replied.
Karin chuckled. "Oh, you'll see that I have an excellent hiding spot," Karin retorted back.
Kiba was about to say something when the smoke started to dissipate, revealing Karin's figure. Kiba was about to attack, when much to his shock, he realized that Karin was holding him PRISONER –or better said, the transformed Akamaru–, wrapped with some strange chains that came from Karin's back. The spectacled redhead was holding a kunai to his neck.
"A lot of people think that being a sensor is only good for looking missing people, and tend to ignore the many uses it has for battle. Such as locating enemies inside a cloud of smoke," Karin smirked at Kiba, while she pressed a kunai against Akamaru's neck, drawing some blood. "Now you have to ask yourself, what's more important to you: becoming a Chunin, or your doggy?"
Kiba was left speechless for a few seconds, as his brain thought possible ways to rescue his four legged best friend. But he was alone, without any kind of support, and he couldn't surprise Karin. He greeted his teeth, while cursing something inaudible.
"Okay, you win," Kiba admitted, sighing. He looked at Yugao. "Protcor, I wish to forfeit."
Yugao nodded. "Very well. The winner of this match is Karin Uzumaki!"
Karin released Akamaru, who reverted back into a dog, and walked to Kiba, whimpering in guilt.
"Hey, don't feel bad for that," Kiba reassured as he scratched the dog's ear. "It can happen to anybody. We just got overconfident, that's all. Next time we will do better."
Akamaru let out a weak bark as an apology. After that, both winner and loser returned to the stands.
"I won, I won, I won, I won, I won!" Karin cheered, bouncing up and down upon returning to her team.
"Good job, Karin. I knew you could win," Shizune praised her as she gave her a pat on her shoulder.
"We know, we saw it," Sakura rolled her eyes.
"You only say that because you're jealous you can't be as great as I am," Karin childishly stuck her tongue at Sakura, then she turned at Sasuke. "Did you see that, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke sighed. "Didn't you hear Sakura? We were actually watching."
This time, it was Sakura who stuck her tongue at Karin.
"Man, I'm so glad that Karin-neechan won," Naruto told his teammates. "Uzumaki clan for the win!"
Once again, the screen started to flash names at an imperceptible speed. Only six people remained, all of them were looking intently at the screen until it stopped, this time much quicker than before.
Ino Yamanaka VS Karui
"About time," Ino said as she headed towards the arena.
"Good luck, Ino!" Choji told her.
"What he said," Shikamaru added.
"Ugh, I can't afford to lose," Karui said as she eyed her opponent. "If none of us make it to the final round, Raikage-sama will flay us alive! Thank goodness my rival doesn't look too though."
"I wouldn't get too confident. Maybe she's pretending to be weak to make you lower your guard," Omoi began. "And she has some sort of super devastating bloodline limit that didn't show yet because she didn't want to draw attention, and then lots of villages will go after her for-"
"Don't be such a fool, or I'll crack your skull! Karui's not gonna lose, her foe doesn't confuse, and she can even brag, since the match is on the bag!" Killer B interrupted Omoi with one of his raps.
"Thank you, sensei. Unlike those two, I won't lose," Karui firmly stated.
Once the two kunoichi were in front of each other, the proctor checked they were also ready to fight. She made a chopping hand motion.
"Begin!"
Karui wasted no time, and like her male teammate, the first thing she did was unsheathe her katana and charge at Ino. Ino smirked and pulled something out of her tool pouch. Karui saw it was a smoke bomb. She couldn't stop the blonde from using it.
The redhead was forced to stop as she lost track of her enemy. Unfortunately for her, Ino was completely aware of where she was.
"Mind Scream Jutsu!"
Karui felt as if a hundred voices screamed at the top of their lungs into her ears. She dropped her katana as her hands instinctively covered her ears in pain, while she stumbled back. The smoke dispelled shortly afterwards.
"My Mind Scream Jutsu doesn't have much range, but it's pretty effective, don't you think?" Ino asked, her mouth forming a smirk. "And it serves its purpose of keeping you far away from me. Judging by your katana, you're a melee type, aren't you?"
"And I guess that you're a long range ninjutsu specialist," Karui replied back. "Smart. Very smart. But like my teammate T demonstrated before, we trained to eliminate our weaknesses," she said as she pulled out a couple shuriken.
"Ohhhh, you know how to use shuriken, that changes everything!" Ino replied in mock terror as she shook her hands in a theatrical way.
"Now I'm going to give you a reason to be afraid for real! Lightning Release: Shuriken Lightning Transmission!"
The Kumo kunoichi infused her shuriken with lightning chakra and tossed them forward in a wide angle, creating a lightning chain between the two of them.
"If you think I'm afraid of that, think again!" Ino shouted before nimbly jumping over the lightning chain, landing on her feet. "That's the best you have?"
Karui smirked. "Not even close."
This time, Karui tossed a dozen shuriken, all of them forming lighting chains with each other, creating what could be described as an electric spider web. An electric spider web that was flying at Ino. The Yamanaka heiress only had a couple seconds to choose which gap she could use to avoid the attack. She jumped through the gap she thought was the biggest, but miscalculated the jump and her leg graced a lightning chain, electrocuting her.
Fortunately for Ino, the shock was painful but not powerful enough to knock her out. She only needed to shake the numbness of her body and get back to her feet as soon as possible. However, when she was trying to do that, Karui had already picked back her katana and rushed at Ino. She kicked the blonde, knocking her back on her back. Wasting no time, Karui planted a foot on Ino's chest, and pointed her katana at her face.
"Say it," Karui ordered.
Ino cursed inwardly. She knew that there was nothing she could do. "Fine. I give up."
"Winner of the match, Karui!" Yugao announced.
Her victory already secured, Karui sheathed her katana, and helped Ino on her feet. "It was a nice match. You fought with fierceness and courage," Karui told Ino.
Ino merely sighed. "Thanks, but guess it wasn't enough to win."
"Keep training, and I'm sure that you'll make it far. There will always be more exams in the future."
Both girls returned to her teams, one being comforted for her loss and the other congratulated for her win. After that, everybody else turned again to the screen, which flashed the four remaining names for a few seconds before showing the second to last –and by elimination, the last as well– preliminary match.
Kankuro VS Fu
"About time," Kankuro scoffed as he headed down to the arena.
"Yay, my turn~" Fu happily chirped as she flew down to the arena.
"So that means that I will fight against Rock Lee for the last match," Haku concluded. "Too bad I have to fight against one of the few Konoha Genin that I know almost nothing about."
"From what Neji-nii-san told me, Lee-san can't use ninjutsu nor genjutsu for some reason, and he uses exclusively taijutsu," Hinata informed the Ice Ninja.
"Which means that as long as you keep the distance between the two of you, you should be fine," Naruto added.
"Easier said than done. Lee-san looks like a though opponent," Haku replied while looking at Lee, who in turn had all his attention focused on the second to last fight.
"You know, I'm kind of interested in Kankuro," Naruto mentioned. "He was training to be a ninja puppeteer. I want to see how they fight."
Once both fighters were ready, Yugao signaled they could start.
"Begin!"
Kankuro wasted no time and unslung the wrapped package at his back, and unwrapped it as well, revealing his puppet, a three-eyed, four-armed humanoid with jagged teeth and spiky brown hairstyle protruding from the top of its head and framing the sides, its body covered by a dull brown ragged cloak.
"Now, everybody will see the power of the ninja puppeteers of Suna! Behold Karasu, my first puppet!" Kankuro boasted as he created several chakra threads from his fingers and latched them to the puppet. "Now, let's begin!"
Kankuro made a hand motion, and Karasu opened its mouth and fired a barrage of senbon at the green haired girl. Wings sprouted once again from Fu's hips and flew high into the air to avoid being hit. Kankuro smirked.
"Do you think you can escape my puppet? There's no escape from Karasu!" Kankuro shouted while motioning his arms upwards.
Karasu elevated in mid air and dived at the flying Fu, who flew back while making a few hand seals.
"Actually, I believe I can hide!" Fu replied, never losing her smile. "Hiding in Scale Powder Jutsu!"
Fu exhaled shiny powder from her mouth, forming a bright, sparkly cloud that blinded everybody who looked at it. Kankuro instinctively shielded his eyes, which incidentally made Karasu move in a random direction, getting out of the way and leaving an opening for Fu to attack.
"Gotcha!" The Taki kunoichi shouted as she dived at Kankuro, "Takigakure Whirlwind!"
Fu's fist connected Kankuro's face, making a sickening "crunch", causing those who heard it to wince. Fu, however, was a bit confused. When she hit Kankuro, she didn't feel as if she hit flesh, skin and bone, but a much harder material, like wood. And to further her confusion, Kankuro's face started to peel and fall off, revealing Karasu.
"Uh?" she asked dumbly.
"Haha! It's me whose got you!" Kankuro said from behind. With a few finger motions, Kankuro made Karasu to trap Fu with a four-armed hug. "Now surrender, or my puppet will crush you to death!"
"You're a funny guy," Fu replied, unable to look Kankuro in the eyes. "I never seen a ninja who uses such contraptions to fight."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Do you surrender or not?"
"Nah, I don't think so," Fu nonchalantly replied as she broke from Karasu's deathly embrace, blowing all four arms away from the main body.
"WHOA!" Kankuro shouted, shocked. Not even the adults were strong enough to break Karasu's tight grip. "What the hell do they feed you, girl?"
"Sorry for breaking your toy, by the way," Fu replied. Her apology seemed genuine. "It looks expensive."
"It is. But it's not a toy, and it's not broken. Now behold!" and with more hand motions, Kankuro reattached the four arms to the main body. "Good as new! No matter how hard you hit it, you won't be able to break my puppet!"
"I'm starting to like your puppet more and more," Fu mentioned, clearly intrigued. "Do you mind if I borrow it?"
"Ha! Like hell I'll give this work of art to anybody that-WHAT THE HELL!?" Kankuro yelled in shock. Much to his horror, Fu had created chakra threads from her fingertips and attached them to Karasu as well. "You can use chakra threads too?"
Fu shrugged. "Yeah. Can't everybody?" she asked.
Both Fu and Kankuro started to wrestle with their chakra threads for a few seconds, until Fu managed to overpower Kankuro and snatch Karasu from his grasp.
"Hey, give me back Karasu, you thief!"
"Now your toy is mine!" she childishly shouted, before making some hand motions in order to make Karasu attack, but all she did was make the puppet to move around in an erratic pattern while waving all four arms wildly. It looked as if the puppet was having a seizure. "Boy, this is much harder than it looks!"
"Of course it is! It takes years of practice to learn to control a single puppet! Now give me back Karasu!" Kankuro angrily repeated as he charged at Fu.
"Oh well. I thought it would be fun to use this to defeat you, but guess that I'll have to do it the old fashioned way," Fu dispelled the chakra threads, releasing Karasu, as wings sprouted from her hips, and flew at Kankuro, her right fist reared back.
Kankuro, who was charging at Fu as well, didn't have time to react or use the Body Replacement as the green haired girl's fist connected with his left eye, hurling him spinning backwards, making a loud 'thud' upon falling.
"Ugh..." Kankuro groaned, dizzy. After a few seconds, he managed to stand up, but after a hit like that, there was nothing much he could do.. "Proctor...I wish to forfeit..."
"Alright. Winner of the match, Fu!" Yugao declared.
Fu cheered loudly, while a couple medic-nin carried Kankuro away.
"Well, maybe he lost, but his puppet was pretty impressive," Naruto commented, as he saw the Suna ninja being taken away.
"Plus he had the bad luck to fight against somebody who happened to know how to use chakra threads, not to mention being insanely strong," Haku mentioned. "Seriously, where does she hide the muscle? Because that didn't look like Tsunade-sama's super strength technique."
"You can worry about that later, Haku. Now you have a match to win," Kurenai reminded him.
The giant screen displayed the names of the last two remaining Genin.
Rock Lee VS Haku Yuki
"I can't believe it took this long so I could fight!" Lee enthusiastically shouted. "YOSH! If they made me wait any longer, my flames of youth would have burned me on the inside!"
"If it makes you feel better, think that they left the best for the last!" Gai replied just as excitedly. "Now go there and make me feel proud!"
Lee nodded, and jumped into the arena.
"And I won't make only you proud, sensei. I'll be sure to impress Sakura-san with my youthful and powerful moves!" Lee thought while casting a glance at the pinkette.
Haku got there at a much calmer pace. He looked at his team, who smiled at him –and in Naruto's case, gave him a thumbs up–, then he looked at Lee's team, or better said, as the sole female member.
"I better be careful not to hurt Lee much. Tenten-chan wouldn't appreciate me injuring her teammate..." he then shook his head. "What the hell I'm thinking? I don't even know how strong Lee is to think that. And I should focus on winning this. Zabuza-sama is watching me as well, besides Yugao-san. I can't disappoint them."
"Are you ready?" Yugao asked the Genin. Both nodded in return. "In that case, let the last preliminary match begin!"
Lee wasted no time and dashed at Haku, his fist already reared back. In less than a second, he was already in close combat range, and the green clad Genin punched Haku in the face. However, Haku expertly deflected his fist with a light tap to the wrist, and dashed past him as he pulled something from between his kimono. Lee turned around and saw a growing puddle of water forming at Haku's feet. Lee could see that the water was coming from a sealing scroll. He deduced Haku would use that water for his jutsu.
"You're fast. There are very few Genin that are able to match my speed," Lee commented.
"Thanks. For ninja who aren't physically strong like myself, building up speed is essential," Haku replied. Some would say that admitting to have a sub-par physical endurance was foolish, but in this case, it didn't matter. It's not that Lee wouldn't do anything different.
"And you used the window of opportunity to summon that water," Lee wasn't deterred in the slightest. "Alright, let's see what's stronger, your ice, or my flames of youth!"
Haku smiled, and started making hand seals at an almost imperceptible rate. "As you wish, Lee-san. Water Release: Water Clone Jutsu!"
The water from the puddle started to rise and take the shape of three vaguely humanoid figures that quickly turned into exact replicas of Haku. The four of them scattered across the arena.
"Nice trick, but I know which one of you is the real one!" Lee declared as he dashed at one of the Haku's and jumped at him. "Konoha Whirlwind!"
However, the moment Lee kicked Haku, the Ice Ninja burst into an explosion of water that completely soaked the green clad Genin. After a moment of confusion, Lee realized what happened. "I see. You used Body Replacement with one of your clones, just like Naruto-kun did."
Haku shrugged. "We're teammates after all."
The three Haku's then pulled several senbon each and started to pelt Lee with them. The green-clad ninja managed to dodge most, but some were embedded on his flesh, causing some pain even if they didn't cause much damage. Lee managed to reach to another Haku, and delivered a punch to his face, once again making it turn into water, soaking Lee once more.
Haku and his remaining clone decided to dash at Lee from opposing sides before he destroyed the last clone. Still, Lee managed to block both attacks, and in a display of insane speed, punched the real Haku back and destroy the last clone, who soaked Lee even further.
"Fighting your clones was a worthy challenge, but I think that this ends now," Lee said as he prepared to attack the real Haku.
"I couldn't agree more," Haku replied as he made a hand seal.
Lee charged at Haku, but realized that he wasn't moving as fast as he should. He was also cold, very cold. Ice was growing all over his body, slowing him down and trapping him inside a block of ice.
"You probably thought that some water wouldn't hurt you, and didn't care about being soaked when you destroyed my clones," Haku stated as he walked towards the frozen Lee, whose head was the only part of his body not encased in ice. "Surrender, you lost."
"Surrender so soon? That would be mostly unyouthful!" Lee replied, as he tried to struggle.
"There's no way for you to break that ice. Only a Jonin level ninja could. It's impossible to break free."
Lee smirked confidently at Haku. It wasn't a smirk of smugness, but the joy of taking a worthy challenge. "Impossible only means that it hasn't been done yet!"
Lee then started to glow with a green light, as the ice encasing him started to tremble. Even if he wasn't a sensor, Haku noticed that Lee's chakra levels were dramatically increasing. The ice block started to crack.
"No! It can't be...!"
"Gate of Opening, open!"
The ice block trapping Lee shattered in a million pieces, releasing the green clad ninja, who was smiling confidently.
Back in the stands, Lee's display didn't go unnoticed to the more veteran ninja watching.
"Gai? Did you teach Lee to open the Celestial Gates?" Kakashi asked the green clad Jonin with an air of incredulity.
"Indeed I did, my rival!" Gai replied, excited as ever, especially now that he managed to surprise the Copy Ninja, something of a rare feat.
"But...that's something extremely dangerous to teach a mere Genin!" Kakashi protested.
"I couldn't agree more, but Lee is more than capable of handling the backlash of the gates, and he knows its limits and which situation should he use them!" Gai explained.
Kurenai, who heard the conversation, was worried. "If that kid is able to use the Celestial Gates, then Haku is in trouble."
Naruto and Hinata noticed their Jonin-sensei's reaction, and decided that they should get some answers.
"Kurenai-sensei, what are those 'Celestial Gates' Kakashi-sensei and Bushy Brows-Sensei talked about?" Naruto asked.
"As you probably learned in the Academy, our chakra system has eight spots that act as dams that regulate the chakra that flows through our body," Kurenai began. "However, there is a way to temporary open those dams, increasing the chakra flowing through the body. This has a multitude of positive side effects, such as increased strength, speed and power."
"But it has a downside, doesn't it?" Hinata guessed.
Kurenai nodded at her. "Yes. This power boost is temporary, and when it ends, there's a massive backlash that damages your body, which becomes worse the more gates you open. In some cases, the damage might be irreversible. And if you open all eight gates, while it will give you the power of a god, you'll die shortly afterwards."
Naruto and Hinata pondered their sensei's words. Now they both also shared her worry for the Ice Ninja.
"Gai-sensei, how many gates can Lee-san open?" Hinata asked.
"I'm glad you asked! Lee can open up to five gates already! Quite a feat, don't you think so?" Gai stated proudly.
While most Genin didn't know if that was a lot or not, all the Jonin visibly choked. Kurenai looked as if she was going to have a heart attack.
"Haku!" The genjutsu mistress yelled. "You can't let him open more gates! You have to finish this as soon as possible!"
"Don't be afraid, Kurenai! Lee knows that this match isn't a matter of life or death. He won't risk neither his rival's nor his own safety opening more gates than necessary!" Gai interceded. However, his words did little to soothe Kurenai.
"That was a nice warm up. Let's fight for real!" Lee shouted at he dashed at Haku, fist raised ready to strike.
Haku managed to dodge the attack and Lee punched the floor, making the whole instance tremble. Haku gulped, uneasy.
"His strength and speed increased dramatically. If I let him hit me, then it's over," the Ice Ninja thought as he started to think possible strategies to counter Lee's massive power boost.
For the most part, Haku tried to run away from Lee, trying to stall for time. He either dodged or redirected Lee's vicious punches and kicks, but never blocked them. If he tried to block them, it would be over.
"Are you trying to see which one of us gets tired first?" Lee asked, not slowing down on his assault. "Very well, I accept your challenge!"
"Dammit, this doesn't look good!" Haku continued dodging hits, but he was starting to run out of breath. Suddenly, an idea formed in his brain. "I believe this could work." Haku thought, and made a single hand seal.
"Hiden Mist Jutsu!"
In a few seconds, a thick cloud covered the battlefield. Lee lost track of his opponent and was forced to stop his attack. In the stands, Kurenai visibly sighed.
"Good job, kid. That might give you some time to recover, and maybe even you can catch him off guard," the red-eyed Jonin thought.
Meanwhile, inside the fog, both combatants were planning their next move.
"This jutsu is easy to learn and cast. But without silent killing, it's nowhere near as useful as it could be. My stealth isn't near as good as Zabuza-sama's , but I think it will be enough for this opponent. Or so I hope."
"Haku-san forced me on the defensive. He'll try to ambush me any time. If I know where the attack comes from before I give him time to move, victory will be mine."
A whistle alerted the green clad Genin, who caught in his hand a trio of senbon a second before they embedded on his neck, and tossed them away. Lee immediately dashed towards where the senbon came from, but Haku had already moved.
Again, the whistle of senbon flying alerted Lee. This time, he pulled out a kunai and parried them, while running towards Haku's location. The Ice Ninja moved already, but this time Lee heard the sound of his steps. An idea formed in his mind.
When a new barrage of senbon came, Lee countered it by tossing several kunai in the opposite direction, which stopped the much lighter weapons and continued flying at Haku. Paying attention to the sound, Lee dashed at the same place Haku was running to and...
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
Lee's flying kick impacted Haku in the torso, sending the Ice Ninja flying backwards, spinning mid air. The mist dispelled almost instantly.
"Oh man, that doesn't look good for Haku..." Naruto muttered.
"Have faith in him, Naruto. Haku hasn't played all his cards yet," Kurenai told the blonde, who looked at her a bit puzzled.
"Your tactics are clever, and your skill is worth admiring, Haku-san," Lee said as he walked towards Haku, who tried to stand on his feet as fast as he could. "I feel the fight is already over, but if you wish to continue, I won't deter you."
"Yeah, I'm not going to surrender yet..." Haku said as he clutched the pained sides of his torso. "At least not until I tried everything."
"Very well! Opponents who fight until the very end are the ones I like to fight the most! Your flames of youth burn bright as well, even if not as much as mine!" Lee excitedly shouted as he prepared to finish the fight.
"If that's the case...then take this!" Haku shouted back as he made several hand seals.
Suddenly, Rock Lee found himself trapped inside another block of ice, with only his head free. He wasn't afraid in the slightest, this was something he could easily break out from. Yet for some reason, this ice felt...different than the ice Haku had used before.
"This is your trump card? I'm very disappointed, Haku-san, to see you using something that proved to be inefficient before," Lee said, shaking his head.
"Try breaking that ice then, if you're so sure," Haku challenged.
"Very well!" Lee tried to either break or melt the ice with the force of his chakra, but this ice proved to be much sturdier than before. "I see that there's more to this jutsu than I initially thought, but it doesn't matter! There's no ice my flames of youth can't melt! Gate of Healing, open!" With an additional power boost, the ice wouldn't stand a chance. But much to Lee's shock, the Second Gate remained closed. "Gate of Healing, open! Open! OPEEEEEEEEEEN!"
"Save yourself the effort, you won't be able to open more gates," Haku calmly told Lee as he made a hand seal. Spikes of ice started to grow near Lee's face, who flinched when a spike came way too close to his cheek. "Now surrender. There's no way you can break that ice, I don't want to inflict you unnecessary damage."
Lee struggled one last time, but his efforts were in vain. Despite being taught to never give up in the long run, Gai also taught Lee that there were times in which you should fall back and fight another day. It seemed to be one of those situations.
"I see there's nothing I can't do. Alright, I admit that this time, victory belongs to you! But don't think this ends here! Once I redouble my training, I shall challenge you again and win!" Lee proudly declared.
Haku couldn't help but smile. "I'll be looking forward it."
"Proctor, I wish to forfeit!" Lee told Yugao.
The purple haired woman raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure?"
"Very sure!"
The proctor shrugged. "Alright. Winner of the match, and last finalist, Haku Yuki!"
After being declared winner, Haku fell on his knees and slumped, exhausted. Yugao walked past him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Good job, kid," she whispered in his ear.
"Uhhh...Haku-san? Would you mind getting me out of this block of ice?" Lee asked.
"Oh, right! Sorry, I kinda forgot!" Haku replied, chuckling a bit.
However, rather than doing a hand seal or something similar, Haku tapped Lee's forehead, and suddenly the ice vanished as if it was never there. It took Lee a few seconds to realize what had happened.
"Wait a minute, that ice...that was a genjutsu!" Lee exclaimed in realization.
"Indeed. Had you reached that conclusion a minute earlier, and I would have lost the match," Haku told him.
Lee gritted his teeth in anger, and his eyes started to water. He had the victory right there and let it slip between his bandaged fingers. Haku was afraid of what the Genin of the thick eyebrows would do after realizing he was tricked. But then he wiped his tears and smiled brightly.
"Oh, I can't get mad at you for a mistake I made!" Lee said in an oddly cheerful tone. "I'll train even harder to make sure such thing never happens the next time! And if it happens, I'll run one hundred laps around the village, on my hands, with one hand, while carrying a boulder!"
Haku was a bit taken aback by Lee's extreme self-punishment, but didn't say anything.
"And you keep training as well, so when the day come that we clash again, you will still be a worthy adversary!" Lee said.
Haku smiled. "Don't worry, I have no plans on getting any weaker."
With that. both combatants returned to their teams.
"Good one, Haku!" Naruto cheered as he pulled the ice ninja into a bear hug. "The three of us are going to the finals!"
"You were amazing down there. There were times in which I was afraid you'd lose," Hinata added.
"Thank you both," Haku replied. "Though luck played a role in my victory. Had Lee realized of my genjutsu, he would have won."
"But he didn't," Kurenai interjected. "The beauty and the danger of a genjutsu is that many times it comes from not being identified as such in time. You did pretty good Haku, and your victory is completely deserved."
Meanwhile, Lee, this time not holding back his tears, walked towards his sensei.
"Gai-sensei, I'm sorry I lost. I brought shame to both of us. I'll accept whatever punishment you deign appropriate," Lee glumly told his sensei.
"YOU IDIOT!" Gai yelled as he knocked Lee on his back with a punch to the jaw, drawing everybody's attention.
"Gai-sensei...?" Tenten fearfully asked.
"You think that your defeat brings me shame? It does not! It brings me joy like no other, because even if you lost, you gave it all and showed everybody the results of your hard work!" Gai shouted excitedly as he started to cry as well. "There's no shame in losing if your heart remains unconquered! This won't be the last defeat you face, that's for sure! Life is full of failure! But that doesn't matter as long as we keep going on and fight for what we love!"
"Gai-sensei...oh, sorry for thinking that I had ashamed you, you are so right!" Lee passionately exclaimed as he hugged his sensei.
"It's okay, Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
Much to everybody's shock, the makeshift arena turned into a beach where the sun was falling. Waves started to crash against the shore as master and student hugged each other.
"Okay, enough of that!" Jiraiya shouted, making Gai and Lee to break their hug, dispelling the illusion. "So, the preliminaries are over! Congratulations to all of you who passed on to the finals!"
Said finalists cheered in joy.
"Can all the finalists come down?" Yugao asked, and the Genin did as she instructed.
"Now, the final part of the exam will be held one month from today and will be like a tournament of one on one fights, which will end the moment we have a champion," Jiraiya explained.
"And said champion becomes Chunin?" Haku guessed.
Yugao shook her head. "No. There will be several examiners that will review your performance. Their reports will be sent to the Hokage and his advisors, who will decide the new Chunin based on them. It's possible to lose your first fight, and still earn a promotion. But remember that if you win, you'll get to fight more, and have a greater chance to impress the examiners."
"Wait, the Hokage gets to decide if I am a Chunin or not?" Karui asked, a bit indignant.
"Sorry, I mean the Hokage for Konoha ninja. For non-Konoha ninja like yourself, the reports will be sent to the head of your villages, who will decide if you deserve to be Chunin or not," Yugao clarified.
Jiraiya let out a hearty chuckle. "It would be incredibly unfair if it was up to me to decide the promotions of foreign ninja, don't you think so? It's common sense."
"The match-ups for the finals will be decided randomly, just like the preliminaries. If you look up, the screen will display the first round of fights."
The giant screen above them flashed to life once more, displaying the twelve names:
1st Match: Sasuke Uchiha VS Haku Yuki
2nd Match: Choji Akimichi VS Karui
3rd Match: Naruto Uzumaki VS Temari
4th Match: Hinata Hyuga VS Tamaki
5th Match: Tenten VS Gaara
6th Match: Karin Uzumaki VS Fu
7th Match: Winner of the 1st Match VS Winner of the 2nd Match
8th Match: Winner of the 3rd Match VS Winner of the 4th Match
9th Match: Winner of the 5th Match VS Winner of the 6th Match
Final Match: Winner of the 7th Match VS Winner of the 8th Match VS Winner of the 9th Match
Sasuke and Haku glanced at each other, both trying to hide their reactions. Karui smirked as she looked confidently at Choji, who looked at her nervously. Naruto and Temari smiled at each other, showing their eagerness to test their skills against each other. Hinata and Tamaki shared an look of indifference, before they both politely smiled at each other. Tenten looked at Gaara a bit afraid, who didn't bother to look back at her. Karin shot Fu a determined and challenging glare, and upon noticing this, Fu smiled brightly and waved at her.
Karin sighed in defeat. "There's no way to create an epic rivalry with this green haired moron..."
"Now that you know who will be your first opponent, my advice is to train like there's no tomorrow," Jiraiya began. "Training Grounds Fourteen, Sixteen and Eighteen have been reserved for Suna, Taki and Kumo respectively, and have been marked with flags with the symbol of said villages. "A boat will take you out of here. Good luck to everybody, and see you in a month."
Author's note: Like the previous chapter, long ending note incoming.
Okay, I know that some people will be a bit disappointed by how short Gaara's fight was, but honestly, of all the people who were meant to lose, none of them bar Rock Lee could be much of a challenge to him (and I wasn't going to redo another fight from canon). But fear not, the next time Gaara fights, it will be far more epic (Tenten has a month to become a suitable challenge for him).
You know, planning who was going into the finals took me more effort than writing the actual fights. You see, I had this criteria:
1. First of all, I wanted more girls. Temari being the only kunoichi who made it to the finals in canon was unacceptable.
2. Second, I wanted at least one member of every team making it to the finals.
3. I also wanted to do some fights in particular, such as Choji vs Karui, as well as others that are spoilers right now.
Even with the expanded roster of finalists (12 here vs 8 in canon) that means that some Genin who made it to the finals in canon would not make it here, so sorry for Shikamaru, Kankuro, Shino, Neji and their respective fans.
Also, before some people ask why Lee didn't take his weights: In canon, Lee only took off his weights when fighting against Gaara, a clearly deranged madman who would try to kill him. Here, Lee's opponent is way friendlier and would never try to kill or even maim him. Besides, it's not that he needed it, since Lee was already kicking Haku's ass with just one door opened and the weights still on him. All what Haku did was stall Lee, first with ice, then with the mist and lastly with a genjutsu. He just got lucky that the last one worked.
So, guess that's all. Don't expect the finals to come next. There are still two chapters for the finalists to rest, train, and go through some more character development (as well as developing several relationships). Not everything can be nonstop action ;)
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to leave a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!