---Road To An Eternity of Wars---
Disclaimer: I Do not own Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, or anything else that seems similar or related to any games or other copyright items.
Ano…I think I'm going to start making the chapters a bit shorter because it's getting really hard to keep up the story once a week with 12 pages each! Thank you for understanding if you do!
No flames please!
'We are all motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is, the more he is inspired by glory' – Cicero, Pro Archia
Chapter 12: Winner of the Obstacle Course
Forest Near the Dark Tournament…
Genkai and Hiei's POV…
"Hm…A tree that's fully guarded…" Genkai commented.
"Hn. The aura, it's radiating magic. This damn tree is enchanted"
'You're right…In order to pass, you will have to complete a task I assign you, and then I will let you through…'
It startled the two competitors, but they hardly showed it.
"Hurry up, what is it?" Hiei growled.
'Get the pinecone on top of this tree and you shall pass'"Whatever, I'll do it" Hiei nodded to Genkai.
He jumped up onto the nearest branch and leaped to the next one, only to be slammed in the stomach by a moving branch back down to the ground.
Growling, he gave a death glare that would have melted the tree and whisked himself back up, this time dodging the flying branch and drawing his sword off to hack the next one off, this time being hit in the back by another.
Getting very irritated, Hiei set the tree on fire so it burnt to death. Satisfied, Hiei smirked and tapped the blunt edge of his sword to the trunk, making the poor thing tumble to asked. He kicked the still alive pinecone into the nearby bushes and nodded to Genkai to continue on. This took about 15 minutes to accomplish.
---
Sango and Yukina's POV…"Match meeeeeeeeee…….." The tree moaned, scaring the guts out of the two.
"Uhh…?" Sango asked, confused.
Joking, joking A voice laughed out.
"Wha…?" The two were completely confused now.
To get past me, you must use…speed. Only one of you can do thisSango looked questioningly at Yukina, so just shrugged and responded, "I guess I'll try…"
They seemed a bit behind because it felt like a pretty long time had passed by when they were hacking away at that thick plant wall. Maybe they could take this time to catch up…
Start…"You don't have to use only speed, right…?" Yukina thought over. Sango was slightly confused as to where this was going.
"Like this!" Yukina froze the tree to the core of its roots and took her staff out, whacking the now frozen branches, snapping them off easily.
"Come one, let's go, great idea!" Sango stated cheerfully and ran off down the path with Yukina quickly following behind.
'I wonder how the others are doing…?'
The two met up with another group when two paths connected.
---
Botan and Keiko's POV…'You must match this leaf…' A voice called out.
"W-what was that?" Botan asked nervously, taking a step closer to Keiko.
The large tree in front of them swiveled around a bit, revealing a single leaf floating in the air.
'To one on those on the ground'WHAT? There ought to be more than 200 leaves on the ground!
'Begin!'"But…" Keiko started, but a look from Botan just told her to just try her best.
Clasping her hands together, Keiko did what Sango and Kagome had taught her.
She focused inside of her and grasped her spirit, tugging out a sense. Opening her eyes, Keiko looked around at the leaves, scanning them.
"Kio! You're eyes!" Botan gasped, staring at her. Keiko's eyes were a glowing orange colour.
Searching out at the leaves' auras, the Zabato user continuously attempted to match up their auras.
"Found it!" Keiko cried out, holding up a leaf.
Botan gently took it and placed it on top of the other leaf. Oddly, they merged.
'Continue'The tree's 'voice' faded away and the branches that blocked their path parted.
"Let's go!" Keiko exclaimed, running forward.
"You did really well!" Botan complimented.
Keiko smiled, "It was nothing"
"Hey! It's Sano and Yuki!" Botan pointed to the two people approaching.
---
Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara's POV…"A…tree?" Kuwabara asked, staring at the chunk of wood that, honestly, looked old, too old to even be distinguished as a tree in looks.
"Over here…" Kurama beckoned them over to a fairly large sized hole in the vine bush.
"Nice one Kurama!" Yusuke smirked.
'You cannot pass here unless you do my quest…' An eerie voice coming from the tree croaked."Freaky…thing!" Kuwabara's eyes widened as he cowered away.
'The task is…-Hey, wait!' The tree growled as Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama slipped right through the hole and away from the task. It appears that they skipped it…
---
Kagome's POV…Kagome came upon a large tree… the branches that blocked her path were charged with its aura.
'Here is your task…in order to pass you must finish this…But since your task is ongoing, you may pass as soon as it starts. This is unlike the others'
'Unlike the others…?' Kagome thought, raising an eyebrow, 'That means that…hmm…I wonder how Yukina, Keiko, and the others are doing…?'
Kagome nodded, signaling the tree's spirit to continue.
'Your task is…this!'
It said no more as the branches were removed from the path and a loud buzzing noise filled her ears. Well actually, thousands of small buzzing sounds.
The miko turned around in horror as she turned around.
There, floating above the ground, were thousands, maybe millions of large, hornet-like bugs! They looked like a replica if Naraku's poisonous insects, except in a deep red hue. A green substance that looked suspiciously like acid dripped out from the stingers. Her suspicions were confirmed when the liquid burned down the ground with a sizzle.
Without warning, they shot forwards towards her.
"Ah!" Kagome let out a yelp of surprise and bolted for all she was worth.
They wouldn't seem to go away as she ran.
Swiveling her body a bit, while still observing where she was going, Kagome formed a bow and arrow out of her energy and shot it at the mob of bugs.
Pink energy trailed behind the arrow and pierced right through the insects, melting the surrounding ones.
However, Kagome didn't have time to celebrate, for more of the red bugs just seemed to replace the deceased.
Her eyes widened and Kagome picked up speed, cursing at her luck as a drop of acid brushed her skin, burning a water droplet shape near her wrist.
---
Overall POV…After the tree, fortunately, everyone just had to crawl under certain things and climb over and dodge other things.
That is, unfortunately for Kagome and fortunately for everyone else…
Finishing Line…
Several onlookers peered into the thick underbrush as they saw a couple blurs flash in the coverage.
Loud cheers were heard and the snake demon announcer stood by the large flag of the line, microphone occasionally slipping from his grasp.
"And the first ones to the finish line are…" He paused and waited until they ran past the line, "From Team Urameshi, GENKAI AND HIEI!"
The crowd roared to add to the effect…
"Hn" Hiei commented, crossing his arms and eyeing a cut on his wrist that had been created when a branch brushed him.
Genkai smirked and they both waited for Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara to finish. Hopefully, they wouldn't take too long.
"I see several more people coming already!" The announcer hissed into the microphone, "From Team Higurashi…Sano, Yuki, Nano, and Kio!"
They stopped beside the first finishers.
Sango smirked at the two, making Hiei shoot a glare her way.
'When is Kagome going to get here?' Botan thought, eyeing the finish line banner.
'Speed it up, fox!' Hiei growled, sending a telepathic message to his teammate.
Kurama's POV…
'Speed it up, fox!'
Kurama received a telepathic message from the fire apparition.
'Got it!' He replied.
Still running Kurama turned to his two comrades, "Hiei wants us to speed it up…I have a feeling that half the other team is already there"
Yusuke scowled, "We're going really fast already!"
"My feet hurt…" Kuwabara muttered absently.
Nonetheless, they sped up anyways.
The Finish Line…
The snake announcer peered into the forest, "And the last groups are here! Who will it be…?"
The crowd roared in anticipation.
"It's! -"
As Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke burst into view, Keiko and Yukina bit their lip in worry.
But…as soon as the trio started running towards the line, Kagome burst out of the underbrush and picked up speed without warning, sprinting towards the line in sync with the 3. She had lost the bugs a couple seconds ago.
Kurama clenched his teeth together and used his demon speed, bursting through the finish line. Yusuke, with his half demon blood did the same.
Kuwabara and Kagome.
Somewhat matched in speed, Kagome a step and a fraction of a second ahead of Kuwabara…
If they were tied in speed, then which team would win now?
This was war.
(Sigh…) I'm going to call it a night now… So tired…
Read and review onegai!
Sayonara,
Tenshi-Battosai