"Talking"
'Thinking'
Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons
Flashbacks, Letters, and Setting
I don't own Naruto
Chapter 49: The Preliminaries Part 2
Narumi looked at Sasuke with concern as he was carried away into the infirmary by Naruto.
"Do you think he's ok?" Narumi asked Hinata who looked unsure herself.
"I-I don't know…" Hinata quietly replied. She had seen a lot of herself in Sasuke's fight, with her being just as drained and injured as he was, and she suspected the sudden burst of energy and chakra she observed from Sasuke was related to the vision or dream she had while she was unconscious.
Hinata's response didn't really instill Narumi with confidence, and she decided to go check up on her friend.
"Let's go check if he's ok!" Narumi told Hinata before she threw her onto her back and snuck away, following Naruto as quickly as she could.
Hinata was just as concerned and wanted to see how Sasuke was, but there was one question lingering in her mind.
"N-Narumi-chan? What are we going to do if they call us next?"
Narumi halted for a second before continuing on. "I mean, what are the chances they call us next? We'll just be checking in on him for a second."
Hinata considered Narumi's point but still wasn't completely sold. Still, she went along, mostly because she was too tired to protest, and also, she was being carried.
"The next match is… Uzumaki Narumi and Abumi Zaku!" Hayate's voice rang out.
Narumi skidded to a halt. Dang it! She totally jinxed herself with that one!
"Ugh. Me and my big mouth." Narumi complained.
She let Hinata get off of her back. "Check on Sasuke-chan for me, ok? I'll be back as soon as possible!"
Hinata nodded at Narumi, who didn't even stay to see Hinata's response before she sprinted off towards the arena.
Hinata grunted slightly in pain before she turned around and limped towards the room Sasuke was at, using the wall to support herself.
Narumi vs Zaku
Hayate was considering disqualifying Narumi for not coming to the arena, when she sprinted onto the scene.
"I'm here! I'm here!"
Hayate looked over at Narumi and sighed. She was nothing like her brother when it came to keeping time it seemed.
"Alright. Come stand here in front of Zaku-san here so we can get the fight started."
Zaku glared at Narumi as he pounded a fist into his palm. He was furious that Dosu had lost to Sasuke, and he was determined to make short work of this no-name loser to get revenge for the wounded pride of Otogakure.
Narumi took her place at the center of the arena as she caught her breath and got ready.
Kiba watched the two get ready to fight but couldn't help but feel like he had been cheated. He was totally being robbed of his opportunity to finish the fight that had started in the forest. A few more minutes and he could've have finished him off. He didn't want to admit it, but part of him wanted Narumi to lose so he could have another shot at Zaku.
"Hope you've enjoyed your life so far. Because it'll never be the same again after today. You're unlucky to face me as an opponent." Zaku threatened.
Narumi met Zaku's glare with one of her own.
"I heard what you tried to do in the Forest. It's not gonna be so easy to beat me when I'm not unconscious."
Zaku growled at her accusation which he took to mean that he could only beat her when she was unconscious.
He wasn't going to play around and make the same mistake that Dosu did with that Uchiha brat. He was just going to go all out from the very beginning before she pulled some random powerup out of her ass.
"Well, we'll see about that then, stupid tomato-looking brat."
Shikamaru smirked as he watched the two. "Heh. He just made a huge mistake. But I guess he'll have to learn the same way you did, eh Kiba?"
Kiba growled at Shikamaru's teasing, but he knew that was true. He had stayed away from all tomato products for weeks after his altercation with Narumi.
Zaku didn't notice the minute change in facial expressions in Narumi, which would have warned him that he had made a huge mistake in calling her that and spared him some pain. It looked like he would have to learn the hard way.
"Alright, if both contestants are ready, the fight will now… BEGIN!" Hayate announced as he jumped away from the fight.
Zaku wasted no time in pulling his arms up and pointing it at Narumi.
"Take this, bitch! Zankukyokuha! (Extreme Decapitating Airwaves)"
The top layer of the ground between the two was torn to pieces, with chunks of the floor being ripped off and flying at Narumi's direction.
The crowd was shocked as they watched.
"What kind of jutsu was that?" Kurenai wondered out loud.
"That's the jutsu he used against us in the Forest…" Sakura mumbled to herself. Seeing the devastating effects once again used on another friend made her worry for Narumi's well-being.
Even Temari was slightly taken aback at the sheer power of the jutsu, which didn't even use a tessen to amplify the wind chakra. How was he doing that?
Narumi's friends looked on in concern as they waited for the dust to settle down. Would she be able to survive that?
Meanwhile, a hysterical smile formed on Zaku's face. There was no way that bitch survived his strongest attack at point blank range.
People craned their necks to see what had happened when the dust began to settle. At the center of a huge tear that stretched from the middle of the arena to the wall behind Narumi, laid Narumi, who was slumped up against the wall.
Zaku smirked as he admired his handiwork. "Heh. Guess you were all talk. You know what? It was even easier than when you were unconscious! I'd even say dog boy was harder to fight than you!"
Hayate and the rest of the spectators waited to see if Narumi was actually down for the count. It was a pretty devastating attack after all.
A few seconds before Hayate could declare a win for Zaku, Narumi shook her head as she regained her senses.
"Woah! That was a crazy attack. If I didn't put up that barrier just in time, I would have been in a lot of pain! Maybe I should have tried this out back in the forest."
"A barrier?" Kiba wondered out loud from the viewing deck. "What?"
Sakura rolled her eyes at her teammate's ignorance.
"Didn't you pay attention at the academy? Barrier ninjutsu are jutsu that allow users to erect barriers to protect themselves, trap an opponent, or for other various applications."
"Well, aren't you quite the smart one." Kakashi commented. "That's precisely what it is. How it's written in our textbooks word for word if my memory is correct."
Sakura blushed at being praised by one of the strongest ninja in their entire village.
"However, you didn't bring up the fact that barrier ninjutsu is probably one of the most under-studied and under-utilized branch of ninjutsu, and that it is quite difficult to learn. So, it is quite surprising to see Narumi be able to not only cast one, but to do it so quickly. I'm assuming there were seals involved."
With Kakashi bringing Narumi's feat into perspective, the spectators were surprised at Narumi's capability, and wondered what else she had to show.
Zaku was utterly shocked that Narumi had survived his attack which had been used at maximum power. "How the hell…"
Narumi smirked as she got up and shook the dust off of her.
"Well, if you're done with your attack, why don't I show you one of mine?"
She began to weave a chain of hand seals that left most Genin confused.
"Wait, what kind of jutsu is that? It looks more complicated than anything we know!" Kiba commented.
"I'd like to credit myself for that." Kakashi announced as he raised his hands. "Watch what happens next."
"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Bullet Technique)" Narumi bellowed out as she prepared to expel water from her mouth.
"Suiton?" Kurenai shouted out in shock. "A Genin like her already knows how to use elemental jutsu?"
'Here it comes! 'Zaku thought as he put up his arms to blast the expected torrent of water back.
Narumi hunched forwards and began to expel her water in front of her eagerly waiting audience.
However, they all face faulted when they saw a tiny squirt of water exit her mouth, no bigger than when a civilian holds water in their mouths and spits it at someone.
"So that's what you were responsible for, eh Kakashi? Impressive." Asuma said sarcastically as he gave him a smirk.
"That was lame! That's what we were waiting to see?" Kiba said accusingly as he gave Kakashi a disappointed glare.
Kakashi's mouth hung open under his mask. He had seen her use that technique many times before with great efficiency! What was going on?
Zaku smirked when he saw the confused look on Narumi's face.
"So that was the attack you wanted to show me? Pretty pathetic. It's about what I expected from you though. You're all talk. I'm done listening to your baseless boasts, so now die!"
Zaku began using both hands to send smaller alternating blasts of airwaves at Narumi to not give her a moment of respite or the time to use any more barriers.
Narumi ran around and dodged the smaller airwaves with her speed and unpredictable footwork which shocked most of the spectators.
'Shoot! My chakra control is still terrible! I should have had Naruto nii-chan undo that seal on my stomach before the match!' She thought to herself as she ran in circles to avoid Zaku's attacks.
"Oh well. I wanted to win in a cool way, but I guess I'll have to fall back on ol' reliable."
Narumi drew her sword and charged at Zaku.
Suigetsu's eyes widened when he saw her sword. "No… is that… the Red Whirlpool?"
Chojuro looked over at Suigetsu and then back at Narumi's sword.
"I mean sure it's a pretty sword with the reddish Damascus pattern, but what's so special about it?"
"It's said to be the only sword forged outside of Kiri to be on par with our 7 legendary swords… I don't know too much about it, but I heard it was best used in the hands of an Uzumaki…" Suigetsu replied.
The Kiri shinobi all looked at Narumi with greater interest now.
Meanwhile, Zaku was getting frustrated with all of his attacks missing this surprisingly quickly moving target, and he couldn't just spam his strongest jutsu as it used up too much chakra. He had already used up a big chunk at the start of the fight. What made it worse was that she somehow made a clone that made him double his work.
"Just freaking stay still for a second you rat, so I can finish you off!" Zaku shouted out in frustration as he continued to miss his attacks and waste chakra. His frustration also made his aim worse as Narumi weaved between his attacks.
"Pfft! As if anyone ever stayed still when asked that!" Narumi replied. "Now, here I come!"
While Zaku split his attention between the Narumis, they zipped towards him and slashed out with their swords in an Iaido style, draw slash.
They both passed by him from opposite directions and sheathed their swords with their backs facing Zaku.
Zaku didn't know what happened for a moment and thought they had missed. He only realized what had happened when he moved his hands to attack Narumi and both of his hands fell off of his arms.
It took him a moment to process what happened, before he dropped to his knees and began to scream in agony.
Narumi's single shadow clone dispelled itself while Narumi turned around to give him a cold stare.
"That's what you get for trying to kill me and my friends."
The crowd flinched back at the gory scene.
"Damn. The kid is more merciless than I expected. I expected her to be nicer with the happy-go-lucky attitude we see from her." Asuma mentioned.
"Yeah, it's not the best idea to get on her bad side. She might not kill you, but she'll take her pound of flesh." Kakashi replied.
Temari looked at Narumi approvingly. Now here was a kunoichi that took her craft seriously. It was too bad she'd have to die along with everyone else. It was nothing personal though. Just business.
It was clear to Hayate and everyone else that there was no more fighting to be done here. "The winner by incapacitation: Uzumaki Narumi!"
Narumi smiled as her victory was announced and snuck back towards the infirmary when the medics came to take Zaku and his severed hands.
Sure, she felt a little bad at Zaku's wails of pain, but he honestly deserved it for his actions in the forest, and Tsunade baa-chan could always put his hands back on if necessary.
Inside Sasuke's room, during Narumi's fight
Naruto was taking a closer look at Sasuke's curse mark as Sasuke laid on his cot unconscious.
He turned around with his guard up when he heard the door open suddenly.
"I-is Sasuke-kun ok?" Hinata asked as she limped into the room.
Naruto immediately put down his guard and rushed over to Hinata to help her get seated.
"It looks like he is stable but is extremely fatigued. They said he'll need to rest to regain chakra and recover. He'll be sleeping for a while."
Hinata nodded as she sat down in a chair with her sensei's help.
Once she was seated, Naruto turned to look at her with a serious face.
"So, can you tell me what happened in the forest?"
Hinata gulped a little as she remembered the events that led to her and Sasuke getting bitten.
"W-well you see…" Hinata nervously explained the happening at the forest in great detail while Naruto said nothing, merely nodding from time to time to let her know he was listening.
"… and then the last thing I r-remembered was her neck stretching like a s-snake as she came at me, and then… I-I don't remember anything after that…"
Several disturbing things were clear to Naruto when he heard Hinata's story.
One was the fact that the Kusa "kunoichi" clearly knew who Sasuke and Hinata was by name and took great interest in observing their skills. She could have easily killed them in seconds, but she went out of her way to prolong the fight. What did she want with them?
Another disturbing implication was the fact that she was able to get that kind of information. Sure, they were the heirs of two of the most prominent and prestigious clans in Konoha, but that degree of familiarity pointed to the fact that there may be spies within their village that were not being tracked. This could be catastrophic.
Hinata watched Naruto's face nervously as he tuned the world out as he was deep in his thoughts. What was he thinking about?
She was about to ask when Naruto suddenly jerked into attention as if he just had a huge realization.
"Oh my god…"
Hinata was worried now. "W-what's wrong sensei?"
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be waiting for your fight? What if they called you and you get disqualified?"
"Ummm… I know it's not my turn yet because it was Narumi's t-turn…" Hinata explained.
Naruto nodded as he relaxed. "Oh… good to hear. That's good- wait, what?"
"Narumi is-"
"I'm missing Narumi's fight?" Naruto shouted in shock as he got up from his chair and grasped his hair. "We gotta go and-"
Naruto was cut off mid speech when Narumi slammed the door open.
"Is Sasuke ok?"
Naruto's mouth dropped when he saw Narumi.
"What are you doing here? How about your fight?"
"Oh. That? It was no big deal. I beat this one Genin from Otogakure. I sliced off his hands. But before you judge me, just know he tried to kill us in the forest."
Tears were freely falling from Naruto's eyes, albeit a little comically, as he fell to his knees and crawled over to hug Narumi.
"I can't believe I missed your fight! It was your big moment and I missed it!"
Narumi, however, didn't see what the big deal was because it was just some preliminary match against a no-name Genin from a no-name village. She pushed Naruto away as she tried to get to Sasuke to see how he was.
"Alright nii-chan, it's no big deal. You can watch my real fight in the actual tournament later, ok? So can you get off of me?"
She basically pried him off as she went over to check on Sasuke.
"How is he? What did the medics say?" Narumi asked.
"The medics said he just needed some rest and regain chakra and he'll be alright." Hinata answered her.
"Guys! We can't be wasting time here! We need to get back out there in case it's Hinata's turn next!" Naruto pointed out anxiously. He didn't want to miss another one of his student's fights.
"Don't worry. I have my clone outside listening for us, and she'll dispel herself if she hears Hinata's fight being announced." Narumi assured.
"B-besides… I don't know if I can f-fight. I-I can barely stay on my feet, and I'm afraid I might collapse at any second…" Hinata admitted.
Hinata's terrible condition was evident to Naruto, and he was worried Hinata might fall prey to the temptations of using the untested and unknown curse seal like Sasuke did.
He didn't think it was a good idea for Hinata to be tested that way right now, so he began to brainstorm what could be done.
After a couple minutes, Naruto spoke up.
"Look, I know this might be considered cheating or unfair, but honestly, you guys having to face someone way above Genin level in a Chunin Exam is unfair too. So, what I'm gonna do is give you this."
He reached into his pouch and pulled out a round pill.
"W-what is that?" Hinata asked curiously as she took the pill from his hand.
"That right there is an ANBU soldier pill. Not only will it give you a huge but temporary chakra boost, it also has powerful painkillers to numb your pain, and a huge amount of caffeine to keep you alert and awake."
Hinata thanked Naruto as she put the pill in her pocket. This was exactly what she needed!
"Wow nii-chan! That sounds pretty great! But how come you didn't give Sasuke one?" Narumi asked.
"Well first of all… it didn't cross my mind. Second, it's kind of cheating. Young Genin like yourself should not have access to ANBU-grade soldier pills."
"Why not?" Narumi argued. "Sounds pretty useful to me!"
"Well… they do have their share of negative side effects, and it's not really the best idea to hand them to 12-year-olds." Naruto replied.
Hinata was now a little worried. "S-side effects?"
"Well basically, it works similar to the concept of the 8 gates. It releases limiters your body naturally has to protect you and forces your body to generate chakra at an accelerated rate. It's highly stressful for your bodies. Also, the huge amount of caffeine basically forces you into a heightened state of energy until it wears off. So, what this means for you is that you'll be able to operate at a higher capacity briefly before you crash and burn. The soldier pill I gave you is the smallest dose, so it'll just put you in a state of mildly severe chakra exhaustion, and therefore render you unconscious for only a few hours to a couple days." Naruto explained nonchalantly.
"8 gates?" Narumi wondered, not worrying too much about the rest. Being a chakra monster and having more energy than anyone she knew, the other things didn't really hit home for her. What was chakra exhaustion anyway? Was it like being sleepy after a long day at the pool? And what was this 8 gates business?
However, Hinata's already pale face lost even more color as she processed what she heard. Basically, she'd be borrowing her health and vitality from the future. If she thought she was in a bad state now, after the fight she'd feel like a corpse.
"But don't worry too much about that, ok? You'll have plenty of time to recover afterwards! And also, don't tell anyone I gave you that, alright? I don't enjoy getting chewed out by the Hokage, and I definitely don't want to deal with random Jonin and counselors complaining about me cheating. What's the deal with that anyway? We're ninja! We're supposed to do anything to achieve our goals, even if it is a little bit underhanded."
Naruto's went off on a tangent complaining about other random stuff he was unhappy with, which Hinata and Narumi tuned out as background noise.
His words weren't all that comforting for Hinata, but she supposed he had a point in saying that she should be prepared to do anything to win, and she didn't want to resort to reaching for the power that creepy snake man from her vision promised her.
"Ummm… Naruto-sensei?" Hinata called out, breaking Naruto from his monologue.
"… don't even get me started on my compensation, because- Huh? What is it Hinata?"
"When should I take this pill? Should I take it n-now or right before the fight? Or do you think I should take it during the fight?"
Naruto wondered for a second. If she took it in front of everyone, it would be too obvious. Since the pill would last a few hours, it would probably be best if she took it now, and just ride it out.
"I'd just say take it now. And hopefully the crash will come after you get back home."
Hinata felt uneasy about taking such drugs, but she trusted her sensei whole-heartedly, so she took the pill.
She didn't feel anything for a minute, but then she felt like fire that started from her stomach began to course throughout her entire body.
She started to feel itchy on her skin, so she started scratching her arms and neck, before she felt so energetic that she felt like she needed to get up from her chair.
Naruto and Narumi looked at each other before looking back at Hinata who's eyes began to twitch.
"Hmmm… you think I should have given her half of that?" Naruto asked Narumi. "I never really had issues with shortage of chakra, so I haven't really used them. I thought I gave her the smallest dose."
Narumi rolled her eyes at Naruto's irresponsible act in giving Hinata an untested soldier pill.
"Well, it looks like we're about to find out how badly you messed up. It looks like it's Hinata-chan's turn next."
Naruto left a clone behind to watch over Sasuke, now that he knew that Sasuke had a target on his back, and followed Narumi and the slightly over-energetic Hinata out to the arena and viewing deck.
At the Viewing Deck
As Hinata took her place at the center of the arena for her fight, Naruto and Narumi took their place at the viewing deck.
"So, what did I miss senpai?" Naruto asked Kakashi.
"Other than your sister's fight? You didn't really miss much. Other than the Nara kid's tactical prowess over coming a much stronger opponent in that older Konoha Genin, the rest were pretty one-sided fights. That timid looking kid from the Mist surprised me with his use of one of the legendary swords of the mist. That kunoichi from the Sound stood no chance. The Hyuuga boy absolutely destroyed Counselor Haruno's daughter. The last fight was a little more entertaining, but the mini-Gai over there really did a number of Chouza's son. Gai really did a great job in making a little clone of himself." Kakashi replied.
"Heh. Lee's youth really shined through in that match, didn't it, Kakashi?" Gai said proudly with a blinding smile on his face.
"Hmm? Did you say something?" Both Naruto and Kakashi said at the same time.
"Damn you Kakashi! You've infected Naruto-san with your coolness!"
Kakashi pretended not to hear anything as he turned his attention back to the arena, while Naruto let out a chuckle. Kakashi had told him to respond like that when Gai went on with his youth talk if he wanted to see something funny, and he had to agree that it was pretty funny.
He too turned his attention to Hinata's fight as the fight was about to begin.
Hinata vs Kankuro
When Hayate commenced the fight, Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan and got in her stance.
"My my, don't you look eager? Surprising amount of energy for someone who was looking half-dead earlier." Kankuro mentioned as he took the bandaged-up object off of his back. "No need to rush. I'll finish you up quickly anyway."
Kakashi observed the scene below before he began to talk to Naruto. "You know, he has a point. She IS looking a lot more lively. A stark contrast from her condition when she arrived."
"I guess a little rest goes a long way, eh Senpai?" Naruto replied, trying to shut down the discussion before it started.
"Mhmm. I'm sure it does." Kakashi replied as he gave Naruto a knowing side-eye. Yeah yeah, Naruto could say whatever, and Kakashi wasn't about to call him out in public, but he was no idiot. He had seen those effects many times before, and he could see when a person was using a soldier pill for the first time.
Hinata looked at her opponent, quietly observing both him and the bandaged object at his side.
"Y-you know, y-you might fool others, but I-I can see r-right through your t-tricks." Hinata commented, stuttering a little bit more than usual due to her feeling jittery from the soldier pill.
Kankuro felt a little uneasy when he heard that, but he didn't let it show. "Oh? Is t-that r-right?" He replied, mocking her stutter to get in her head.
Naruto glared at Kankuro for mocking his student, but Narumi was openly furious.
"Show that punk what you can do Hinata-chan! Don't be nice! Beat him up until he gets a real stutter!"
"Wow. Ease up with the wishing brain damage on someone, buddy." Kakashi remarked as a joke.
"Why don't YOU ease up on your hentai books! Huh? Pervert!" Narumi replied snappishly as she glared at him.
The other Jonin sensei who knew Kakashi chuckled as they nodded in agreement with the feisty girl.
"Agreed. Read that alone in your room, Kakashi." Kurenai commented.
Kakashi waved them off as he focused on the fight again. Sheesh. He really lost all respect from the kid ever since that time in Taki, huh?
Meanwhile, Hinata and Kankuro sized each other up before Hinata decided to end Kankuro's little charade.
"I-I meant it when I s-said I could see through your t-tricks K-Kankuro-san. You can c-come out now."
All of the spectators including the Jonin sensei were a bit confused when she said that. Come out? Of where? What was she talking about?
However, Team Suna seemed slightly unnerved at her comment. It looked like this would be a tough match for Kankuro.
Temari whispered to her sensei's ears. "Baki-sensei, how did she know his plan? Nobody else caught on, not even the Chunin and Jonin!"
Baki just gritted his teeth before he quietly muttered back to Temari. "Hyuuga. Of all the people he had to face, he got the worst matchup possible for him."
Neji just smirked as he observed the fight. 'Did he really think he could pull something like that against a Hyuuga? Even if it was a pathetic excuse of a Hyuuga?'
Kankuro was sweating bullets under his outfit. How did she catch on to his trick? Were her weird freaky eyes really somehow able to see through it?
The bandages around the object began to slide off as Kankuro emerged from them.
"Tch. I guess there's no point hiding in here if you already know."
Kankuro surprised everyone by emerging from what everyone assumed was simply a ninja tool.
"What the heck? He carried a clone of himself on his back?" Narumi wondered out loud.
"No. That's the real him. What we thought was him this whole time is actually his puppet." Naruto explained as he pieced the puzzle together quickly.
"A puppet?" Narumi asked.
"Suna is famous for their puppet brigade. But to think a Genin like him was able to hide himself and control a puppet in such a way… he must be a prodigy in puppeteering…" Kakashi added.
Kankuro jumped back, and let his puppet shed the disguise it had and reveal its true self as a 3 eyed puppet he called Karasu.
Kankuro tried to surprise Hinata by having Karasu launch a volley of poisoned senbon from hidden openings throughout its body, but Hinata had already seen all of the hidden mechanisms and weapons within the puppet, and easily dodged the projectiles utilizing the training she got from her sensei.
"What the heck? She moved like she actually knew I had senbon ready to launch!" Kankuro wondered out in surprise. Most people didn't know anything about puppets, much less assume that it would be hiding so many weapons underneath.
"I d-did say I could see through your t-tricks, Kankuro-san." Hinata replied.
Kankuro was shaken. His gameplan revolved around trickery and surprise attacks, but this girl could somehow see everything! He'd have to be more aggressive then.
"Fuck it! If you can already see my surprises, I'll just cut you down straight up!"
He launched Karasu towards Hinata with the numerous hidden blades on it now revealed.
His sensei, Baki, however, closed his eyes and shook his head. "That fool… you don't go against a Hyuuga with close combat…" He whispered.
Temari heard this and looked at the fight with concern. Was there a chance that Kankuro actually didn't make it to the next round?
Karasu began to swing down on Hinata with its 4 arms, but Hinata easily parried them or dodged them with her flexibility and precise movement.
Kankuro tried to catch her off-guard with multiple hidden contraptions like the poison dart launcher hidden in the face of the puppet or the blades that were hidden in the torso, but Hinata could see the hidden weapons and kept her guard up for those and was able to easy put herself out of reach or distance.
Kankuro was growing frustrated with his unsuccessful attacks and felt like his frustration was leading to him losing control over his puppet.
However, what he didn't know was the fact that Hinata was using her Jyuuken to sever the chakra strings he was controlling the puppet with, one at a time. Normally the chakra strings would be invisible to the eyes, but for the Byakugan which could see chakra, it was an easy task to accomplish.
With the puppet slowing down significantly, Hinata decided to go on the offensive and quickly targeted the remaining chakra strings.
When all of the connections were severed, the puppet fell on the ground in a heap.
"Wh-what? What's going on?" Kankuro stuttered out in shock as he completely lost control of his puppet.
"I c-can see the chakra s-strings that c-connect from your puppet to your f-fingers. It was c-clear that's how you control them, so I s-severed them."
A smirk grew on Naruto's face as he saw how his student completely outmatched her opponent. She was smart enough to keep her strategy a secret until it was too late for Kankuro to make any adjustments.
Kankuro clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in anger as he considered what to do next. It wouldn't be too hard to reattach his puppets, but there was nothing that would prevent her from doing the same thing again, and she was able to somehow see everything it seemed.
So, when Hinata began to close the distance to continue the fight, he did what he thought was the best move he could do.
"Proctor, I forfeit!"
Many of the spectators were slightly surprised at his quick forfeit, being the only real forfeit after Kabuto's forfeit which happened without a fight, but they could see that he had no chance of winning.
"That useless fool." Gaara spat out hatefully.
However, their sensei wasn't as displeased. Kankuro had other tricks up his sleeves, but he wasn't so caught up in his pride that he would reveal them in a losing battle to try to scratch and claw his way into the next round. He would need those secrets for the next phase of the plan, which didn't require him being in the next round, and it was a tactically sound move.
Temari felt confused about how to feel with Gaara clearly being displeased at Kankuro's performance while Baki seemed to be pleased with Kankuro's decision.
"The winner of the match is: Hyuuga Hinata!"
At the Viewing Deck
"Great job Hinata-chan!" Narumi greeted when Hinata came back up to the viewing deck. "You totally got in his head without being a total jerk like he was! If it was me, I would have given him a couple extra smacks, but I guess your way worked too!"
Hinata gave her a smile as she took her place next to her team. She was quite happy with her performance, but she sort of felt like the fight had ended to early. She still had a ton of energy just waiting to be released, and the added adrenaline from the fight made her feel jumpy.
"So how did it taste?" Kakashi asked Hinata.
"Huh? W-what do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked.
"You know, the sweet taste of victory."
Hinata relaxed a little when he clarified. She thought he was onto her little "unfair" advantage.
"The way he lost with all of his clever plans. It sure must be a tough pill to swallow." Kakashi continued.
"Hey hey. You can interview my student later. The next match is about to start." Naruto told Kakashi in an effort to distract him from grilling his student.
"Of course. Let's see if there anymore interesting fights to see, or if they'll be boring like so many others." Kakashi replied as he winked at Hinata knowingly.
"You should pay close attention to this one, Kakashi. I feel like you'll be pleasantly surprised." Kurenai told Kakashi.
"Oho. A student of yours, eh?"
Kurenai's proud look gave him the answer he was looking for.
Shino vs Misumi
Shino quietly took his place at the center of the arena facing off against one of Kabuto's teammates named Misumi.
"I won't be careless like my teammate just because you're young you know. I'm going to warn you to give up now, because once I get my jutsu started on you, you WILL die." Misumi warned Shino.
Shino stayed quiet and didn't respond.
"If you two are ready, I will now begin the match." Hayate announced.
As soon as the match commenced, Misumi ran at Shinho.
Misumi had the advantage in height, strength, reach, weight, and experience, but Shino held out surprisingly well in their taijutsu match, mostly avoiding or deflecting his attacks.
However, the obvious physical advantages couldn't be completely negated.
When Misumi felt like he had lulled Shino into thinking he was a striker, he quickly shifted gears and went into grappling mode.
He feinted a punch that Shino tried to deflect and used the contact to grab onto the defending arm.
Shino wasn't able to shake off the vice grip of a hold that Misumi had, but what really surprised everyone was how Misumi was able to continue from there to snake around and wrap around Shino's limbs and torso in an… unconventional way.
"Wh-what the heck is that?" Kiba asked in shock. "Does he not have any bones or something? Gross!"
Narumi and Hinata paled slightly at Misumi's jutsu which was very reminiscent of their opponent in the forest.
"I'm able to dislocate all of the bones in my body and use chakra to manipulate my body." Misumi explained to Shino unprompted, in an attempt to scare Shino into submission.
"I'm sure it's apparent that you can't escape. I can also continue to constrict from this position, and if you don't surrender right now, I'll break your neck."
Shino continued to keep his silence.
Misumi frowned as he took Shino's silence as an answer.
"Tch. Have it your way then. Don't say I didn't warn you though. This was your choice."
He then continued to tighten the squeeze he had around Shino's neck, bending it downwards until it snapped down with a crack.
"SHINO-KUN!" Narumi yelled in shock as she watched one of her childhood friends have his neck broken.
However, before anyone could react further, everyone, Misumi included, was surprised when Shino suddenly disintegrated into a mass of swarming Kikaichu.
"What the hell?" Misumi yelled as the insects began to swarm all over him.
Shino dropped a genjutsu he had casted and emerged from behind one of the larger pieces of rubble that had been created in the fight between Narumi and Zaku.
"Consume." Shino quietly ordered his insects.
Misumi quickly began to feel his chakra draining from the mass of insects on him and tried his best to brush them off of him.
However, there were way too many Kikaichi to brush off, and once brushed off, they'd simply fly back on him to eat his chakra.
Misumi screamed in terror and panic as his sight was completely overcome with insects, some of them which even began to climb into his mouth and into his nose.
It was a claustrophobic nightmare before Misumi slumped over, unconscious and suffering from chakra exhaustion.
When Misumi stopped moving and the Kikaichu had their fill of chakra, they flew back into Shino's sleeves.
Hayate looked at Misumi for a short while to make sure that he didn't get back up to continue fighting before he decided it was over.
"The winner by knockout: Aburame Shino!"
Though the fight had been relatively quick, everyone watching had been impressed at the efficiency of Shino's performance.
"That was pretty impressive. He never put himself in the way of danger. Even before the fight started, he sent an insect clone in his place. Clever." Asuma commented.
"I'd say he's the dark horse of this tournament. The Aburame Kikaichu are definitely something to be feared, and the calm tactical mindset of Shibi is definitely evident in his son." Kakashi added at the unexpected, brilliant performance. "He's definitely Chunin material. Makes me wonder if he has any interest in joining ANBU…"
Kurenai smiled at Shino's performance and at the praise her peers gave to her student. She was also proud that he had incorporated genjutsu into his fighting style, affirming her belief that genjutsu would complement his fighting style tremendously.
Shino calmly walked up the stairs back to the viewing deck and took his place next to his team again.
Kurenai smiled as the remaining Genin from Konoha congratulated him, before Hayate announced the next fight.
"The next fight is: Yuki Haku and Tenten!"
Haku vs Tenten
Gai beamed in pride as the sole kunoichi of his team walked down to meet her opponent.
"My final student! If she wins this, then my whole team will be in the final round!" Gai told Kakashi proudly.
"Eh. The team I helped train already had everyone make it to the finals." Kakashi said nonchalantly, trying to get under Gai's skin.
"First of all, that's Naruto-san's team! And just watch! Tenten is going to show you how youthful she is! She never misses her mark! I'd say she's almost as good as Itachi when it comes to shurikenjutsu!" Gai shouted back.
"Woah, hold your horses there, buddy. Let's not get ahead of ourselves with these comparisons."
Kakashi then ignored whatever Gai said back as he focused on the fight to come. He was more interested in seeing what the last known Yuki was capable of.
Narumi cupped her hands around her mouth and was about to cheer on her friend, but Naruto grabbed her shoulder to stop her.
He didn't want Narumi cheering on foreign shinobi over her fellow Konoha comrade openly in front of others, even if they were friends. She already wasn't all that well-liked, and he didn't want her to be seen as traitorous on top of that.
Narumi didn't know exactly what Naruto was thinking, but she got the general message and watched the match quietly.
Meanwhile, down at the arena, Haku offered Tenten a hand.
"Let's have a good fight, Tenten-san."
Tenten looked at the hand in silence for a second before she gave her a big smile and shook it. "Sounds good. Good to see I got a respectable foe instead of some insanely bloodthirsty one, but don't expect me to go easy on you, ok?"
Haku gave her a smile back and nodded. "Likewise."
Hayate saw that the two kunoichi were ready to go and commenced the fight.
As soon as the fight started, Tenten jumped back and threw several kunai at Haku.
Haku quickly jumped back to safety and hurled her own volley of senbon.
She impressed everyone when her senbon went through each of the holes at the end of each kunai and pinned them to the ground.
Kakashi whistled, impressed. "Now THAT was pretty cool."
Zabuza, who stood away from everyone else on the deck with his team, smiled with his sharpened teeth as he watched Haku. There was no way some random Genin from Konoha stood any chance against his personally trained, war veteran prodigy. He was just excited to see how these people would react to Kiri's strongest Genin.
"Wow! Not bad! A fellow markswoman, huh?" Tenten called out as she pulled out a scroll.
"Let's see how you deal with these then!"
She unsealed several fuma shuriken and threw them in quick succession at Haku.
Haku mirrored Tenten as she pulled out a scroll and unrolled it.
"Time for Naruto-sama's gift to make an entrance." She quietly told herself.
She slid her thumb across the huge seal on the scroll, and a large quantity of water began to pour out of the seal.
With her hand still on the seal to continue summoning water, she began forming one handed seals with her other hand.
"Suiton: Suijinheki! (Water Release: Water Formation Wall)"
The Jonin watching stood there impressed as a massive wall of water rose from the water gushing out of the scroll and caught the fuma shuriken, absolutely absorbing their momentum and sending them falling to the ground harmlessly.
"Woah. One handed seals? Even I can't do that!" Asuma exclaimed in shock as he watched the fight. "What the hell are they feeding kids in Kiri these days?"
"Hey! That was pretty cool! You use scrolls too! I like you!" Tenten exclaimed in excitement as the fight began to heat up. "Haven't seen anyone use one handed seals before either. You're pretty strong!"
Haku wanted to return the compliment and say 'Likewise,' but honestly she didn't see anything impressive yet. After a bloody war where she saw masses of shinobi trying their hardest to kill each other, she'd seen plenty of more impressive things.
Still, she tried to be respectful and thanked Tenten.
"Alright then, it's clear my basic attacks won't work on someone your caliber. Let's see how you deal with this then!" Tenten shouted out as she pulled out two giant scrolls.
"Ninpo: Soshoryu! (Ninja Art: Twin Rising Dragons)"
Tenten leapt high into the air while her two scrolls rose up with her, spinning around her in a helix pattern. A puff of smoke surrounded the two scrolls in the form of dragons, giving the appearance of two dragons of smoke rising with Tenten.
At the apex of her jump, the smoke around the scrolls dissipated, and Tenten proceeded to unseal and throw a huge variety of weapons at Haku.
Haku could see that this was an area attack, and dodging would be extremely difficult.
She judged that the wall of water she used earlier to block the fuma shuriken would also be insufficient due to the angle of the attack. As such, she decided to go in a different route.
"Hyoton: Makyo Hyosho! (Ice Release: Demonic Ice Mirrors)"
Several large, rectangular plates of ice quickly formed from the water on the ground and formed a protective semi-dome in front of her.
Most of the people present had never seen an ice user before and were blown away at the sight.
"What the heck? People can control ice?" Kiba shouted out in shock.
"So that's the power of hyoton…" Kurenai said in awe as she witnessed the power of a Yuki for the first time.
"Woah. What the heck was that?" Tenten said in disbelief as all of her weapons bounced off the ice harmlessly. "I've never seen anything like that before…"
"It's my hyoton. It's a kekkei genkai that allows me to manipulate ice." Haku kindly explained as the wall of ice melted back into water. "I believe I am the last remaining user however."
Tenten realized her ranged attacks would never be able to touch her opponent. She was simply outmatched in that regard.
Her eyes fell on a large dao that she had thrown at Haku earlier.
If she couldn't beat her at range, she figured she would have a better chance up close.
"Well let's see how good you fight up close then! Hyah!"
Though Tenten preferred to fight at range, she was still a student of Gai, and was no slouch when it came to close combat, especially with weapons. She liked to call herself a weapon specialist after all.
Haku could have easily frozen Tenten into place as she ran over her water, or pepper her with a thousand senbon of ice, but she decided to try her hand at what used to be her weak suit and engage in close combat.
She unsealed her Nuibari and got into stance.
Kakashi's eyes widened. "Nuibari? Another one of the 7 legendary swords of Kiri? Are all three of those kids members of the 7 swordsmen?"
Zabuza watched the fight with a smile never leaving his face as he watched his first student take on her opponent with the art style he loved most.
Haku knew it would be foolish to try and parry Tenten's much bigger blade.
Instead, she took advantage of her immense speed and flexibility to dodge Tenten's cleaving blows, and dart around with her own stabs.
Tenten was growing frustrated, as she never thought herself to be a slow fighter, but Haku was somehow able to evade all of her attacks.
She also seemed to use some sort of thrusting sword but didn't actually stab her. Was she missing her attacks? What was going on?
Haku suddenly jumped back after a brief trading of thrusts and slashes.
"It's over now." Haku announced.
"Huh? What are you talking about-"
Tenten was yanked off of her feet when Haku pulled on the ninja wire attached to her sword. While Tenten thought Haku was missing her attacks, she had actually been sewing Tenten's pants together. As the legs were stitched together, Tenten was now unable to move.
She was struggling to move when Haku stepped on her sword arm. Then the needle tip of Haku's sword was pressed against her neck.
"Yield." Haku told Tenten.
Tenten laid there for a second, wondering if there was anything she could do, before she sighed. She knew she was defeated, and she knew it could have been a lot worse if Haku had gone all out. She gave her a smile as she came to terms with her defeat.
"Fine. You got me. Proctor, I surrender."
Haku cut the threads sewing Tenten's pants together and helped her back on her feet.
"Good fight. I can see you are quite talented and have put in a lot of work in your craft. However, I cannot afford to lose here. My village needs me to win." Haku told Tenten who nodded.
Zabuza was happy to hear that Haku understood their team's role. Kiri was in a terrible position, having the smallest shinobi force amongst the 5 villages following their civil war, and they were desperate to regain a good reputation. A good showing to potential clients was a necessity for their survival.
Haku went back to her team who congratulated her. She turned around to look back down towards the arena but met eyes with Narumi on the other side in the process.
Next to Narumi she saw Naruto and Hinata, who gave her a smile and a nod of acknowledgement.
Haku smiled back, knowing she couldn't be too friendly with them yet, but it felt good to be acknowledged by her friends and someone she looked up to greatly.
At the Viewing Deck
Kakashi watched as they cleaned up the arena and got ready for the next fight. He heard some sniffling from his side, and when he turned around to see what it was, he saw a river of tears streaming from Gai's eyes.
"Too bad the fight didn't go the way you wanted it to, eh Gai?"
Gai gripped the safety bar so tight that they began to warp under his immense strength.
"Yo, calm down. I know your student lost, but you don't have to be so upset."
Gai snapped his head around to look Kakashi in the eyes.
"Upset? Who said I was upset?"
Sweat began to drip down the back of Kakashi's neck.
"Then why are you crying like that?"
"Oh. These? These aren't tears of sadness! These are tears of joy! Did you see the youth my student and her opponent displayed? It was a beautiful battle where both kunoichi showed what they practiced and showed the youthful passion they had! And then they shook hands after they showed each other their hearts! What a youthful battle! Such good sportsmanship! It's getting me fired up!" Gai cried out as he pumped his fist in the air.
"Me too Gai-sensei!" His Genin clone shouted out next to him as a visible fire was lit in his eyes to match his teacher's.
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
Kakashi felt shivers crawl up his spine as he turned away from the frightening sight.
'This relationship is definitely not normal. I don't know if I should be worried about them, but I also don't want to have anything to do with them, so I guess I'll just mind my own business.'
Kakashi wanted to shift the attention from the strange pair, so he turned to Team 8. "Now that that fight is over, I guess that just leaves us with you and that boy from Kiri, huh?"
Kiba punched his palm in excitement as grin formed on his face. "Sure does! I thought my turn would never come around!"
Kiba was practically ready to jump down before the proctor even called him.
He had to be pulled back by his sensei, who had a concerned look on her face.
"Listen Kiba. Don't underestimate your opponent. That whole team from Kiri is dangerous."
"Just keep in mind that Kiri just came out of a civil war. I wouldn't be surprised if those kids have experienced war. And judging by the pattern so far, I wouldn't be surprised if that kid had some crazy kind of sword either." Asuma added.
"The next and final fight will be, Inuzuka Kiba and Hozuki Suigetsu!" Hayate announced from below.
"Heh. Don't worry about me! With Akamaru by my side, we can take down anyone!" Kiba gave the Konoha shinobi with him a confident smile as he jumped down.
"Oho… a hozuki huh? This will be interesting…" Kakashi muttered to himself as he got ready to watch the last fight.
Kiba vs Suigetsu
The two Genin sized each other up as Hayate prepared to start the match.
"Heh, I can smell the rookie on you, boy. I'd say give up now and save yourself the trouble." Suigetsu taunted with a confident smirk.
"What would you know about the smell of things? You little shark-wannabe." Kiba retorted, mocking Suigetsu's sharpened teeth.
Suigetsu's smile widened. "Hehehe… glad to see you got some fight in you. It would be boring otherwise. It seems like you're not aware of the significance of my teeth, but I'll be more than happy to show you when the fight begins."
"If the two of you are ready, I'd like to start this fight." Hayate told the two combatants.
"I'm ready proctor." Kiba answered, itching to get started.
"Likewise."
"In that case, the fight will now… BEGIN!" Hayata announced as he jumped back to give the fighters space.
As soon as the fight started, Suigetsu drew up his hands in the shape of pistols and fired off two quick shots of concentrated water.
Kiba and Akamaru's quick reaction saved them, as the bullets of water easily penetrated through the stone floor they were standing on.
"Wh-what was that? And that was without any hand signs?" Kiba stuttered out.
"So, he's capable of using the Nidaime Mizukage's jutsu… Impressive…" Kakashi commented. The others around him, minus Naruto, were stunned that he was able to use jutsu like that without any hand signs or ninja tools.
Suigetsu blew on the tips of his fingers.
"Heh, how did you like my Mizudeppo no Jutsu? (Water Gun Technique) It's my clan's specialty." Suigetsu stated. "Among many others" He added with a smirk.
Kiba now knew he was facing another shinobi from a legitimate clan, which added another element of danger to the battle. He decided he needed to come out strong and show his own clan's specialty.
"Not bad, but I'll have you know that your clan isn't the only one with secret techniques!" Kiba shouted out as he got on all fours. "Giju Ninpo: Shikyaku no Jutsu! (Imitation Beast Ninja Arts: Four Legs Technique)"
"Let's see how you deal with this!" Kiba yelled as he zigzagged towards Suigetsu to make himself harder to hit.
"Ho? He's gonna come right up to me? Guess he thought I was a distance fighter, eh?" Suigetsu chuckled to himself as he took out a large scroll which he unrolled.
The unrolled scroll revealed two large seals next to each other.
"I'll only need one side to deal with the likes of him. Besides, this is way too heavy for me to use both sides for any prolonged period anyway." Suigetsu continued to say to himself as he began to unseal his weapon.
"Take this!" Kiba shouted out as he came down rapidly on Suigetsu with a hand armed with razor sharp claws.
"Kai!" Suigetsu yelled as he pulled out his weapon from his scroll with a puff of smoke.
Kiba was sure he would get a devastating blow on Suigetsu when he was surprised to find his strike was blocked by what felt like a plate of metal.
"What the hell?" Kiba thought as he jumped back from Suigetsu's counterattack.
When the smoke quickly dissipated, it revealed Suigetsu holding a massive axe with a rope that connected to the other seal on the scroll which Suigetsu rolled up and put on his back.
"Wh-what the hell? Who uses such a ridiculous weapon like that!" Kiba shouted out in response to seeing such an unwieldy looking massive axe.
"Oh, this lil thing? It's called Kabutowari. It's one of the 7 legendary swords of the mist, but it's also my lil baby." Suigetsu said as he gave the back of his massive axe a stroke.
"Now let's see what's stronger, your claws, or my sword!"
"That's an axe, not a sword you idiot!" Kiba yelled as he jumped back from a massive swing from Suigetsu.
Kiba, though being faster, was now on the back foot as Suigetsu swung the huge axe/sword with both hands faster than Kiba expected.
With each swing, the mad grin on Suigetsu grew wider and wider. "Come on dog boy! Let's see some more fight from you!"
Tenten watched the fight from above and breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that she got the well mannered one of the Kiri team and didn't get an insane opponent like Kiba did.
'Tch, damn it! At this rate I'll lose! I need to change the pace of this fight!' Kiba thought to himself.
He reached into his pocket as he came up with a plan.
"Akamaru! Jujin Bunshin! (Beast Human Clone)"
Kiba jumped and rolled as far as he could from Suigetsu's relentless attacks to gain himself some time. He threw a pill into Akamaru's mouth as he jumped onto Kiba's back. Suigetsu swung down on the two, but they jumped away on either side, causing the Kabutowari to cleave deeply into the stone floor.
On either side of Suigetsu now stood equally feral looking Kibas, with angry looking claws and fangs.
"Oooh. This ain't a great spot to be in." Suigetsu said to himself as he rapidly ducked then jumped to dodge attacks from either side.
He planted his feet into the ground and heaved with all his might to pull his massive… sword (axe) out of the ground.
He was barely able to jump out of the way in time from the next wave of attacks from the two Kibas.
"You're pretty fast, I'll give you that!" Suigetsu admitted as Kiba and Akamaru attacked him relentlessly.
Despite Kiba's faster speed however, Suigetsu was still able to dodge or parry Kiba's attacks with his superior experience and battle IQ. That massive sword was making for a good surface to block with.
Suigetsu was on the defensive the whole time with Kiba and Akamaru swarming him, but Suigetsu smirked as he plotted. He could see that Kiba was impatient, and he had a surprise ready for him. A Hozuki surprise.
"Arghhh! How is he so good at blocking!" Kiba growled out in anger as he tried to come up with a better plan.
"We're just gonna have to fight smarter, Akamaru." Kiba told his companion who barked back in agreement.
Kiba had Akamaru go in for an attack to distract Suigetsu, while he reached into his pouch and pulled out a couple smoke bombs.
Akamaru stayed just out of reach of Suigetsu's sword before Kiba threw the smoke bombs at the fighting pair.
"What the hell?" Suigetsu shouted out when his vision was suddenly cut off by a thick cloud of smoke.
Kiba suddenly emerged out of the smoke and swung at him. Unable to predict his movement, Suigetsu tried to dodge, but still ended up taking a nasty cut to his cheek, while Akamaru was able to land a similarly shallow blow on his side.
"We got him this time Akamaru! We got him now! Get ready for our ultimate attack!" Kiba told Akamaru in excitement.
Kurenai smiled as she saw her student put an elite Genin like Suigetsu against the ropes.
"Come on Kiba, just a little bit more and you got him!" Kurenai cheered on.
"I wouldn't count the Kiri Genin out of the fight yet. He's actually a terrible match up for your Genin, and I have reason to believe he might have been just playing with your Genin, sorry to say." Kakashi commented.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Kurenai asked.
"He's a Hozuki." Kakashi replied simply.
Narumi raised an eyebrow before asking what Kurenai wanted to ask. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll see if you keep watching." Naruto replied as he turned their attention back on the fight.
Kiba and Akamaru backed up to gain more room to gain speed and momentum for their ultimate attack.
"Aright Akamaru! Let's show him what we can do!"
Meanwhile, Suigetsu calmly laid down two scrolls.
"Hehehe… he probably thinks he got me. I could have finished this fight a long time ago, but I just wanted to have a little fun." Suigetsu quietly whispered to himself as he unsealed the remaining seal on his weapon scroll and released water from his water storage scroll.
"Gatsuga! (Fang Passing Fang)" Kiba yelled out as he and Akamaru launched themselves like a drill towards Suigetsu.
Kiba smirked as he spun like a drill, as Suigetsu's smell got closer and closer.
'I got him now! It's over!'
He and Akamaru reached Suigetsu at the same time, with Kiba hitting Suigetsu's torso from the front, and Akamaru hitting the back of Suigetsu's legs from the back.
Kiba's smirk widened for a second as he tore into Suigetsu, before it quickly vanished when he realized he was tearing into him a little too easily. Almost as if he were going through water…
He continued to spin but found himself losing momentum as the water became thicker and more viscous.
Eventually, both he and Akamaru came to a complete stop.
'What the hell is going on?' Kiba thought to himself as he floated in a weird bubble of viscous water.
"Hehehe… if you're wondering what is going on, I was able to turn my body into water the moment you hit me, then I used that water to trap you in a water prison, while I reformed out of the excess water." Suigetsu told him.
'What the hell? Turned into water? Is that even a thing?' Kiba wondered in shock as he tried to break out of the water prison to no avail.
"Now, you've seen half of my weapon, so its time to show you the other half." Suigetsu told Kiba as he took out a bottle of water and began to drink.
With each gulp, Suigetsu's arms got bigger and bigger.
"Ah! Now that's the stuff!" Suigetsu exclaimed as he picked up the giant hammer laying next to him with one arm.
"Now, do you know a game called croquet? Apparently, it's all the rage in the Water Daimyo's court." Suigetsu told Kiba with a wicked smile.
Kiba's eyes widened with fear as Suigetsu raised the hammer with one arm.
"Here, why don't I show you?" Suigetsu told him with evil intent evident in his eyes.
Kiba couldn't even scream because of the water around him when Suigetsu swung the hammer at Kiba, releasing the water prison just in time to hit Kiba and Akamaru.
The Genin and his dog were launched out of the cloud of smoke and slammed into the wall with a nasty crunch, before they fell to the ground unconscious.
Kurenai watched in shock wondering what had happened in that cloud of smoke.
When Suigetsu stepped out of the smoke with a massive axe in one hand and a massive hammer in the other, it became clear what had happened.
Hayate could see that Kiba and Akamaru were out cold. They probably had numerous broken bones as well.
"The winner by knockout: Hozuki Suigetsu!"
Zabuza looked over and gave Naruto a smirk.
Only two teams had their entire squad make it through to the final stage of the Exams.
Kiri was here to make a statement. That much was clear.
However, Naruto wasn't too worried. His team was down for the challenge.
He gave Zabuza a smirk back. It was on.
*Author's Note*
Hey guys! Back with the next chapter of the Jinchuuriki's Brother!
Hope you guys like the fights! I tried to make it different from canon and skipped some of the more one-sided fights and tried to elaborate more on the fights that I was interested in, though it seems I kinda didn't get the balance right as the chapter ended up being super long. Anyway, I hope it was interesting and different, and it gives you a good preview of what the final tournament is going to be like!
Sorry for the long wait again! I think the update schedule is settling into be something like a biweekly release. I know I used to update more frequently, but that was back when times were different. I'll still try to be more regular with my releases and communicate better. Check out my discord if you want to know the progress of the next chapter!
Please leave a review or comment if you guys like the chapter, or if you have any questions or suggestions!
Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the latest chapter. Thanks for reading, and I hope you guys all have a good day and stay safe! Until next time!