-1Chapter 6 Part 2
Training with Zanza
"I think the day is done," said Kiyuta, wiping the sweat off his forehead,
"Let's get out of here." Zanza slowly nodded and stood up. As long as they were inside, Kiyuta noticed, Zanza always had his bandages off his mouth. "You did very good…" Zanza muttered. Kiyuta grinned, but quickly lost it when he thought of the training Ryu must be going through.
"Zanza sensei, I was wondering when I will learn some new techniques?" he asked. Zanza began to walk away, sluggish, as usual.
"You are a master of movement, although nobody's ever seen you in battle…" he said. Kiyuta raised an eyebrow.
"You know about that?" he asked.
"Yes, I know more about you than you think…but in order to expand on your expertise, I'd like to see you battle first-hand…" Zanza replied with a small grin on his face. Kiyuta chuckled, causing Zanza to stop and look.
"You can hardly walk, let alone battle me! I don't mean to sound cocky, sensei, but there's no way someone as slow as you could take me on!" he cried. Zanza took out a pocket watch and stared at it.
"I have five minutes…more than enough time…to silence you…" he said. Kiyuta shrugged and jumped back. Zanza turned and pointed to his new pupil. "It's more than speed alone…" he whispered, "but how you use it that matters…." Then a needle appeared out of nowhere and pierced Kiyuta's stomach. When Kiyuta looked back up at Zanza, he was gone. The tall mummified man reappeared behind him and, with unlikely speed, smashed Kiyuta in the side of the head with his fist. Kiyuta rolled back so far, that he practically fainted. He slowly got to his knees and noticed Zanza wasn't there any more.
"Sensei, I give up! That was unexpected!" he cried. Then the man appeared in the corner of Kiyuta's eye. When Kiyuta turned to look, Zanza was already in his face. And although he didn't move, Kiyuta fell over from an unseen attack.
"Perfect. I still have four minutes and thirty seconds…" Zanza said. Kiyuta scrambled to his feet.
"Sensei, that wasn't even fair!" he shouted. Then he ripped the needle out his stomach and threw it to the ground, "Where the heck did this needle come from! I didn't see you throw anything! All you did was point at me!" Then it hit him, "You use the same trick that Kashime Daisuke uses! Hidden weapons!" Zanza pulled down his sleeve.
"They're called shadow instruments." He said slowly. "But I'm not going to allow you to use them…the point in our exercise is to see if you can dodge them all. I have eight total…when you can evade every one, then your training will be complete."
Kiyuta was left alone each day from then on. Zanza would appear at random times and use a shadow instrument to fight him. Basically, Kiyuta got hurt every day. But he was free to do whatever he wanted; like go to the hospital. Normally he trained, or waited for his sensei to attack, but today, he decided to walk the busy and narrow streets of Konoha.
"This town is gigantic compared to mine…" he said to himself, starring at the Hokage Mountain. The heroic faces of past Fire Shadows made him feel quite comfortable. "It seems so safe here…but that invasion from Sound a few years ago changed my mind." Then he noticed Saratobi following Gensai, leisurely. "Excuse me, aren't you Saratobi?" Kiyuta asked, making his way to her. She nodded.
"You're Hiroshima Kiyuta, the really short guy who fights with shadow clones!" she replied. Kiyuta glared at her.
"I'm four foot and eleven inches tall, thank you…anyway, have you seen anyone I might want to train with around here?" he asked. Saratobi thought.
"Um…I saw Setsuko the other day…" Kiyuta grinned.
"That scarecrow kid? That's easy-pickings, my dear girl." He said.
Then Gensai grabbed Saratobi by the shoulder, "Come on, we've got things to do." Saratobi waved good-bye and chased after Gensai, who walked away. "By the way, s'up, Zanza!" Gensai yelled back. Kiyuta's eyes widened.
"Zanza!" he cried. Then the seven foot tall master appeared and threw a bag at him. It exploded and a cloud of small particles fogged his vision.
"Poison? No, this is…iron!" Kiyuta shouted, tasting a few particles. A flurry of kunai and shuriken flew in from nowhere, but Kiyuta dived out of the cloud just in time. Or so he thought, because the weapons all turned in midair and struck him in the legs.
"The iron acted as a magnet!" Zanza laughed and teleported away.
Training with Karoli Raien
On the first day, Zawato and Satsuma met Raien at Konoha's gates. "I'll take you to Crescent village, as promised…" he had said. They followed him through a forest for many an hour until they had reached a giant open space. Raien turned to them, still smiling, and his eyes still closed. "Here we are…Isn't this place great?" he asked. Zawato had scratched his head.
"Yes, it sure is…" he muttered, afraid. Their new sensei seemed to have lost his sanity. Satsuma had then noticed a small mound of something in the middle of the space. Raien had led them over to the mound, which was many blocks stacked to resemble a city.
"These are children's building blocks…" Zawato said. Then Raien opened his left eye and it struck his two students with fear. They had shrunk down into a miniature size…small enough to enter the village hidden under the crescent.
Now, Zawato, Satsuma, and Raien all trained together at a small size. "Believe me, you two, there is a major advantage here. Training at a smaller size will have a larger effect when I bring you back to Konohagakure." Raien said when they had begun their cool-downs. Zawato picked up all of his fallen weapons. Raien watched him with a bigger smile. "If you can master your little technique, Zawato, you could be a very formidable foe come battle time." He said. Satsuma sat against one of the over-sized blocks. "You though," Raien sighed kneeling by her, "need some work. Don't you have any ninja art at all?" Satsuma shook her head. Raien bit his thumb, finally frowning. "Well, I could teach you my art of…shrinking things. It comes in handy for any occasion."
Three days later, Zawato and Satsuma had begun to spend a lot of time together. Raien hid behind a tall block, listening to them. "You've gotten much better…" Zawato said, coolly.
"Th-thank you, Zawato. You too." Satsuma stammered. "…I'm sorry about your brother." Zawato continued to try and flatter her. She nodded and looked away. Zawato took her by the chin and turned her head to face him. He went in for the kiss, but Raien appeared in front of them, with an ear-to-ear grin on.
"That was too close! This isn't about strengthening your relationship; it's about strengthening your skill!" he said, "Remember, it's focused on style! Let's learn some flashy jutsus to impress the judges!"
Training with an enigma
Gaku and Fey couldn't be any more opposite. They argued over everything, and this annoyed the enigma. He had the same solid facial expression on most of the time, so neither genin could read him. Their training went deep. Beyond just strength training, but advanced jutsus and even basic summoning. All the teachers by now had quit battling their pupils and focused mainly on special techniques.
"Strength alone won't win you any battles," the enigma said, as Gaku read a book of available jutsus, "A man met two travelers along the road. He asked one for a map and the other for food. While neither traveler could oblige, they both recommended that the man go to the town twenty minutes south. The man then killed both travelers and took their equipment, only to be arrested by the authorities in the town twenty minutes south." Gaku and Fey both smiled at their master.
"You like parables, don't you?" Fey asked, sitting on a stump. The enigma nodded and took out a small notepad. He flipped through the pages, each full of parables he had apparently spoken.
"Geez, man, it's like all you say is parables!" Gaku exclaimed, overreacting. The enigma stood up after quickly jotting down his new quote.
"The weakened mice best hold their tongue before the searching eagle, lest they've found a good solace in one another." He said. Gaku closed his book.
"Wait, what? I didn't even understand that. It had something to do with teamwork, I think. Repeat it to me." The enigma continued to stare down his disrespectful student.
"If the jester refuses to cease joking, the king will have him beheaded, is what I'm saying, Watashi Gaku." He warned. That got Gaku to shut up and go back to reading.
Fey laughed, "That was good, Master…um…"
The enigma glanced at her, "You will call me Shiso."
Half a month into the training period, and every ninja preparing had learned something of significance. Even Gaku and Fey, who were the bottom two fighters in the third exam, had shown improvement.
"Gaku, it appears you took Shiso sensei's advice on your apparel. I like you better with your hair down like that," Fey said as the two genin walked down a path to the canyon they trained on.
"Yeah, well, I think it sucks. He wouldn't know fashion if it bit him in the…" Gaku started, but he stopped talking and turned around. Shiso stood before him.
"Fashion isn't a factor here, Gaku, and neither is how I want you to wear your hair. Don't worry about it and stay quiet for once." He said. Then he led them down to the canyon.
"Have you practiced those techniques I showed both of you?" Shiso asked, looking down the cliff.
"Yeah, but how is switching bodies with people gunna help me?" Gaku asked, taking off his jacket. Shiso had recommended he left it off anyway.
Fey sighed, "Think about it." Gaku thought and came up with nothing.
"Then do it when I tell you to…" Shiso whispered. He took out a shuriken and hurled it at the unsuspecting Gaku.
"Now!" Shiso cried. Gaku made a hand sign and shut his eyes in fear.
"Advanced replacement jutsu!" he shouted. He and his master switched places, and Shiso caught the shuriken he threw at Gaku. But now that Gaku was one the cliff's edge, he fell off it backwards. Fey gasped and made four quick hand signs. The gravitational pull on Gaku stopped, and he was left suspending in mid-air.
"Very good, Fey," Shiso said, impressed, "You've made substantial progress."
That night, Shiso explained the exams and each opponent in detail. "Your three biggest challenges are Kusen Ryu, Inoyue Oiyoba, and Hayate of the Sand. Pray you don't get paired up with one of them in a battle. If you do, fight until you can't, then forfeit. But, let's not speak of failure. The three I hope you get to battle are Hoashi Saratobi, trained by Kishimoto Gensai, Shimasu Satsuma, trained by Karoli Raien, and Sausuke Isshinta, trained by another Sausuke." He explained, "I expect that the Sausuke has been trained beyond anything I could teach you, and, knowing Gensai, Saratobi is probably armed with knowledge. But that Raien character…I don't know anything about him." Gaku and Fey nodded. Shiso smiled at them and took out his notepad of parables, "I'll take note of you two. You began as two undisciplined, inexperienced, and ill-equipped genin, but you'll leave me as two hard, intelligent, and swift killing machines. Don't let me down." Gaku grinned.
"Thanks, but we still have two weeks left…"
Training with Kankuro
The first night, Kankuro had them battle three of his puppets in the dark. Hitomi and Hayate had received quite the beating, but Ryu was untouched. Hayate had collapsed from exhaustion, so Kankuro waited until the next day to tell him about Shino of the Aburame clan.
When Hayate woke up, he had to push the sleeping Hitomi off of him. "Who put you there?" he whispered, rubbing his eyes. Ryu walked around from behind a tree.
"Good morning. I got you breakfast, although I'm sure you won't like it." He said, handing Hayate a plate of rice.
"---The hell is this?" Hayate asked, taking the plate.
"Kankuro put each of us on a pure rice diet. That includes you too, cannibal." Ryu replied, setting the other plate next to Hitomi.
"Didn't you tell him I only eat meat? Human meat?" Hayate said putting his plate down on the ground.
"Yes, and he just shook his head and laughed," Ryu stated, pulling down his mask, "By the way, he's ready to talk to you about that Aburame person now." Hayate jumped up and ran off, leaving his rice for Ryu to wolf down.
"Shino…we fought during this time at the Chunin Exams six years ago. He's not that much older than you. After Ryu told me your background story, I can tell you right now it wasn't Shino." Kankuro said.
"How'd Ryu know!" Hayate cried, without thinking, "Oh, yeah, we read minds…" Kankuro shifted in his seat.
"How'd you get to read minds, anyway?" he asked. Hayate shrugged.
"Well, it's not that important. You can here to learn about the Aburame clan..." Kankuro then looked away, "Hey. If you want to know, just read my mind." He said. Hayate growled.
"It takes chakra, you know." He complained, but Kankuro didn't seem to care.
"Alright, fine!" he cried, closing his eyes.
"Ryu didn't have to close his eyes…" Kankuro said, breaking Hayate's concentration.
"Ryu's a pro! He can even read the future! Now shut up, so I can get some decent information!"
Half a month later, Hayate, Ryu, and Hitomi had become fighting machines, as if they weren't already. Kankuro knew how good they already were so he only trained them for things in the long run, expecting them to pass the third exam with flying colors.
"Just go do anything you want until the exam, but don't get fat or quit training." He had said. The three set off to do different things, and Hayate began his quest for the Aburame clan.
Training with Kashime Katsuhiro
On the first day, the brothers met their master where Kashime village once stood. When the clan was wiped out, the village was cleared down and used for construction, but it never happened. All that stood was a shack laborers stayed in when they attempted to build over Kashime village. On the outskirts of Konoha, many people wanted to use it as something ninja related, due to their growth in people who joined the ninja way of life. They trained there, where their memories of the good and bad times filled the air.
"That's where Korosu earned his name." Daisuke said, pointing to an open field of dead grass. Korosu lost all emotion and walked towards it.
"I can still smell his blood…" he muttered, kneeling in the middle of the field. He grabbed a chunk of the dead blades, and grinned, "But he deserved it…" he continued. Daisuke followed his brother to the center of the field and punched him in the back of the head.
"Remember what Katsuhiro said? One reason we'll be training here is because he have to endure these memories!" he cried. Korosu picked up his glasses that had fallen off.
"Yes, I'm sorry…I was only ten back then, you know?" he asked. Katsuhiro watched them with a smile.
"Boys, you're both idiots. For that, I'll teach you summoning…Kashime style!"
From then on, Katsuhiro taught them the Henshin Summon. Known as the improved version of Henshin itself, this maneuver used up a massive amount of chakra.
"Think of something fearful," Katsuhiro said, drinking from a sake jug, "Something that'll make me piss my pants and send me crying. Then summon it. With Henshin, you can summon anything." Daisuke and Korosu looked at eachother.
"Is that the real truth behind Korosuke? Is he just Muchu's Henshin Summon?" Daisuke whispered.
"A Henshin Summon can change shapes at your own will, and, in all cases, it can talk back to you." Katsuhiro continued, drunk.
"Then why would she lie about making him with the hundreds of dead bodies?" Daisuke asked. Korosu pushed up his glasses and scoffed.
"She was just trying to psyche us out." He replied. Daisuke shook his head and finally listened to his teacher.
"Something fearful…" he said, concentrating on all his memories, "I've got one…What about you, bro?"
Korosu nodded, rubbing his hands together, "I'll go first." He took out a needle and squeezed it. It transformed into a giant representation of the Death god, Shinigami. It flew at Katsuhiro at mach speed, screaming like a banshee. Katsuhiro stood as firm as a drunken man could be, and let the fake spirit fly through him.
"I thought that would work…" Korosu whispered. Once the ghostly visage turned back into a needle, Katsuhiro took it and threw it back at Korosu. Korosu was going to catch it, but it transformed into Katsuhiro and punched him in the face. "Replacement jutsu?" Korosu asked, straggling backwards.
"No, you idiot, that was a true Henshin Summon. Your attempt was just Genjutsu garbage. A summon is a solid fighting partner…to the Kashimes." Katsuhiro replied, still standing where he was when he threw the needle, "Daisuke, you try." He nodded and took out a shuriken. "The only two downfalls to this form of summoning is the amount of chakra it consumes and the fact that it is made from a weapon or other metal." Katsuhiro said, as Daisuke concentrated. Then Daisuke jumped in the air and whipped the shuriken at his master. It exploded and from out of the smoke flew a larger form of Korosuke. The imitation mutant roared and tried to smash Katsuhiro with its oversized arm as it flew down. Katsuhiro placed one hand on its fist and tossed it aside. The fake Korosuke rolled back along the floor and disappeared in smoke. "How do you know about him?" Katsuhiro asked, fixing his glare on Daisuke. The elder brother panted in shortage of breath from losing so much chakra.
"It's Muchu's Henshin Summon, isn't it?" he asked back, confidently. Katsuhiro grinned.
"You wish, idiot. Last time the Jinchu Five gathered, we all watched her make it from the corpses of every other Kashime." He replied.
"And you didn't try and stop her!" Daisuke yelled. Katsuhiro shrugged.
"She went totally insane. I couldn't stop her, not even with the help of Sanjuro." He said, taking another drink from his sake jug. Daisuke and Korosu gasped and fell silent. "In fact," Katsuhiro continued, "She even made another creature that attacked your little genin friends back at the tower. And she made those three injured ninja who gave you the scroll in the forest, come to think of it…" Then all three of the Kashimes stood still.
One month after all the training began, everyone gathered back at the coliseum, including the annoyed crowd from last month. "I can't believe she put a price on the admittance! That was so my idea!" cried the man who had complained about how he had to pay to get in last month. Itachi and Katsuhiro stood in a dark corner.
"Nobody needs to know we're here…" Itachi mumbled, his red eyes searching the crowd for the person they were still on the hunt for.
"He keeps changing his name," Katsuhiro said, now in his black and red robe, "So nobody's heard of him before…" Itachi shook his head and disappeared.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let me announce the judges for today! We have a baker's dozen of beautiful shinobi sitting in the booth today, let's give them a hand!" Tsunade cried, in her announcer personality. The audience cheered and whistled as a few of the judges waved back. "Let's see who's in the booth this fine midday!" Tsunade said, making her way to the booth in which the judges sat. "Hey, what's your name?" she asked, putting a microphone up to the man's mouth.
"I'm the Kazekage…my name is Gaara." He said quietly. Tsunade continued down the line.
"Great to have you, Gaara, and who do we have here?" The next person leaned back far in his chair, far from the mic.
"I'm Kankuro. I taught the Sand trio, and I bet that they'll all win." He said.
Next was Hinata, "Um…I'm Hyuga Hinata, and I represent Setsuko…" Tsunade smiled and moved on.
"Name's Karoli Raien!" he shouted, "I'm here on behalf of Zawato and Satsuma!" Next up was an empty seat.
Then Gensai appeared out of nowhere, "S'up! I'm Kishimoto Gensai, and I taught Saratobi!" The next seat was also empty.
"That's my chair, folks!" Tsunade said, moving on. An extremely tall person was next.
"…Zanza, here because of Kiyuta…" he whispered. The man in the next two chairs was laughing at a joke he heard from the man next to him.
"Excuse me, Mr. Laugh Your Pants Off; care to tell us your name?" Tsunade asked.
"Inoyue Yukinari. I trained Oiyoba." He said, and continued to laugh.
"And I'm Kashime Katsuhiro!" he announced leaning into the mic. Tsunade continued and placed the microphone by the next man.
"My name is Aburame Shino…" he whispered. Fortunately, Hayate was in another room with all the other genin. The next man chose to say nothing.
"He's here for Watashi Gaku and Aikakze Fey," Tsunade read from a list, and then she moved on to the last person.
"We are the Sausuke assassins, and we have brought Isshinta to the fray. We promise you all: he will pass!"
The genin waited patiently in the back room. Nobody was anxious to battle, nor were they afraid. They just stood.
"Anybody learn some cool moves they wouldn't mind sharing?" Oiyoba asked, sitting on the couch. Everyone glared at him, but said nothing. He really just wanted to see their eyes. Yukinari had told him that you can tell how hard they've been trained by viewing their eyes. Satsuma's stood out, because her left eye was taped shut. Other than that, he noticed, only Isshinta had a totally different look to him. Then the door opened and a black-haired man walked in.
"Hey, you all gotta come outside now…" he said, reading a book.
"H-Hey, aren't you…Cho? The guy who helped me out a few weeks ago?" Isshinta asked.
"No, my name is…Hiko…" Cho lied in return.
Meanwhile, Muchu stood beside Korosuke outside the coliseum. "Here we are, Korosuke; the third exam." Muchu said. A man in a uniform stood in front of the door.
"Can I help you?" he asked. Muchu pointed to the man and Korosuke leapt onto him. Korosuke's jaws ripped open and thousands of weapons fired at the man's head from point-blank.
"Well, I'd say I'm sorry, but I'd be lying. And by saying that I am sorry would make me a liar, which is a lie." Korosuke said when his jaws reformed into the correct position. Muchu stared up the walls.
"Katsuhiro and Yatsume are in there. Let's wait for the exams to end, and then we'll ambush the brothers Kashime."
"First battle: Hyuga Setsuko vs. Hayate. No holds barred, you two! Go all out!" Tsunade announced, as the two vicious looking genin walked out into the middle of the arena. The crowd roared as they stared eachother down.
"Learn any new tricks?" Setsuko asked, mockingly, "Oh, yes…You can't teach an old dog new tricks…silly me." Hayate scoffed and shook his head.
"I hope your sensei teaches you some better insults next time," he said, "Because I'm sending you right back to her!" Setsuko grinned.
"Is that so? Well, for your information, I learned quite a lot of new tricks. Now I'll get my revenge for what you did to Sasuma!" he cried, then he ran at Hayate with his back arched. He thrusted his open hand at Hayate's chest, but Hayate blocked him with his arm.
"You're gunna have to be faster than that!" Hayate yelled, flipping Setsuko over himself. Setsuko landed on his feet, but his arm was still in the hands of Hayate. Then Hayate swung Setsuko around in a full circle, and the Hyuga used the momentum of being swung to land on his feet and swing Hayate around. He released Hayate and watched as he rolled across the floor.
"Interesting turn of events!" Tsunade said into the microphone, "It seems that Hyuga Setsuko was trained very well by his teacher, Hyuga Hinata! Based on previous battles, Setsuko was considered to have achieved fourth or fifth this year!" Setsuko chuckled to himself, "Fourth? Please…If I have just have to beat this guy, being first won't be a problem…" Hayate jumped up.
"Nice, kid, real nice." He said. Then Hayate ran at Setsuko and jumped up high in the air. Setsuko kept his eyes on his opponent, but didn't expect that Hayate would be in front of him.
'Clones?' Setsuko thought, as he looked back down and got punched in the stomach. He fell to one knee and got kicked across the face.
"Go, Setsuko! Use Juken!" Hinata cried from the judge's booth. Setsuko leapt up and grinned.
"Don't fret, Hinata, he'll be feeling it soon." He replied.
"What are you talking about?" Hayate asked, about to cross his arms, but the left one gave out. "What the heck? What'd you do!" he yelled, noticing three dimples on his arm.
"I just poked you. Guess I'm stronger than you thought?" Setsuko said, taking his new open-handed stance. Kankuro leaned farther back in his chair.
"Hayate, quit screwing around and beat this guy!" he yelled. Hayate growled and tried moving his left arm again, but to no prevail. Instead, he appeared behind Setsuko, where he swung his right fist across the boy's head. Setsuko crashed into the floor and rolled over. He then clamped his legs around Hayate's.
"Don't you move, kid!" Hayate cried, but Setsuko used his hands to flip backwards from the floor. Because his feet were attached to Hayate's, they switched positions. Now on the ground, Hayate groaned in pain. Setsuko rolled across Hayate and poked him in the other arm seven times, so fast that most people didn't catch it.
"Whoa, Setsuko got good!" Daisuke exclaimed.
"I agree. That wolf boy is finally getting what he deserves." Korosu replied, nodding. Then Hayate scrambled up, without the use of any of his arms.
"That's it! I'm unleashing it, sensei!" he screamed, biting the wrappings around his arms off. Kankuro and Ryu both nodded.
"What's it?" Hitomi asked, rubbing the scar around her neck left by Saratobi.
"It's his curse-mark, from what I can tell," Ryu said, observing in interest, "But I never found out what it does. I want it to be a surprise." After all of the wrappings were removed, a dark design could be seen coming from his shoulders. It was growing, as well. Tsunade dropped the mic, but quickly picked it back up.
'Orochimaru got him, too? What's this boy's connection with him?' she thought. Setsuko smirked.
"Are you trying to scare me with a tattoo?" he asked. Hayate just continued to growl. His already sharp teeth began to grow until they stuck out of his mouth. Then his eyes sharpened and he became much more animal-like.
"You're going down now," he muttered, leaning forward. Setsuko stood firm, but immediately fell over, because Hayate had somehow punched him in the ribs.
"But I disabled your arms!" Setsuko cried. Then the cursed Hayate bit Setsuko's right arm. The audience fell silent.
"You speak of revenge, but all I see is you losing to same way as your comrade." Hayate said, taking another bite out of Setsuko's arm. Tsunade was about to step in and stop the battle, but Hayate began yelping rapidly. He got off of Setsuko and grabbed his head. "Earth style: Death by Burial!" he cried. He shoved his hands into the ground and began pulling. The audience gasped as Hayate pulled a giant boulder out of the ground. Setsuko looked up and made a hand sign.
"Byakugan!" he said. Then he jumped up and poked Hayate. In Setsuko's Byakugan vision, he noticed a pulsing node in Hayate's Keirankuei. That's where he attacked. The curse on Hayate wore off, and he was left standing there with a giant boulder over his head. The two boys screamed as it dropped on them both. Tsunade ran out and grabbed to rock.
"Seems we have an interesting turn of events…" she said as she pulled the boulder of the boys, but both of them were gone. All of the sudden, Hayate crawled out of the ground, without the use of his hands. Setsuko stood on top of the boulder with his bleeding arms crossed. Tsunade put the rock down and stepped back.
"I'm not done yet…" Setsuko said, leaping off the boulder at his opponent. Hayate looked up and moved his head to one side, so Setsuko would miss him. When the Hyuga landed, he was head butted in the back. Hayate followed Setsuko's body as it skidded across the ground. He put his foot on the back of Setsuko's head and rubbed it in the ground.
"You got your revenge…" he whispered, but then his arms could move again. He stretched them out and grinned.
"I take that back. You failed." Tsunade ran over and lifted Hayate's arm up in the air. "The winner: Hayate of the Sand!" she announced. Kankuro nodded, and wrote something down on a paper in front of him, as well as the other judges. Hayate walked back to the sidelines.
"You may have overdone it a little…" Ryu said, laughing. Hayate spit on the ground towards Setsuko.
"He deserves it after all his talk."
Meanwhile, outside, Muchu and Korosuke sat patiently. "Did the fighting end?" Muchu asked. Korosuke's head was underground for a few seconds, but then it came back up.
"Yes, Miss. The two kids have stopped fighting. At the end of their battle was a winner. The winner was victorious!" Korosuke cried, shaking his fists. Muchu smiled.
"Yes, winners normally are victorious…" she replied quietly. She pulled her legs up and rested her head on her knees. Then they saw three figures walking towards them from nearby. Muchu lifted her head as the three men surrounded her and Korosuke.
"Good afternoon, miss. Are you trying to get inside?" The tallest man asked. He had pale skin and sharp eyes.
"No, thank you, I'm just waiting…" Muchu replied, with a fake smile. The man to his right pushed up his large glasses.
"So then, are the doors locked?" he asked. Muchu stared at him with a hysterical grin on her face. Her eyes widened as she stood up.
"Korosu?" she said, grabbing him by the shoulders. The man glanced at her and placed his hand on her arm.
"Get your hands off of me…" he said. Then his hands glowed, and Muchu twitched. She drew back, realizing she was mistaken.
"She's just an insane case, Kabuto, don't bother asking her anything." The shortest man said. Korosuke crawled up to his feet.
"Don't make fun of Miss Muchu! It is she who should make fun of you, for you have a hideous zigzag hairline!" he said. The short man grinned.
"What an insult, freak…" he whispered. Then the three men continued walking.
"I sure showed them what is up, yes, Miss? I totally showed them who not to mess with!" Korosuke said, watching the three leave. Muchu grinned,
"This is perfect…"
"Second battle: Kashime Daisuke vs. Watashi Gaku!" Tsunade cried, "Any words on this battle you two?" she asked the boys' teachers.
"Although Daisuke is an idiot, I think he can beat this guy to a pulp." Katsuhiro said, rubbing his chin. The enigma said nothing, as usual, and sat back down.
"To stunned to speak, I guess! Now boys, let's battle!" Tsunade announced. Daisuke and Gaku groaned. "Again? I have to fight you again?" Gaku asked himself.
"At least I know I can win." Daisuke said.
"Shut up, man. I've trained so hard, and I'm not about to let it go to waste." Gaku replied. Daisuke glanced at Hayate, who was shaking out his arms.
"Those guys in the last battle didn't show off enough…" he said, going back to staring at Gaku, "Let the kings of boasting fight." Then he starting running at Gaku, who smiled.
"Let's," he cried, dodging Daisuke's rush, "Go all out!" Then Gaku threw a shuriken at his rival. Daisuke deflected it and countered with the kunai on a chain from his sleeve. Gaku made a hand sign, indicating something.
"Advanced replacement jutsu!" he shouted. Daisuke and Gaku switched positions on the ground, bringing Gaku into safety. Daisuke, on the other hand, fell to a knee. The chain was coming out of his sleeve, but it went into his shoulder. "Whoa, I didn't even think that would work…" Gaku said, grinning. Daisuke winced and ripped the kunai out.
"You've learned some fancy jutsu, so what? You haven't seen my new moves yet." He said. Then he drew his two swords. Gaku continued to grin.
"Oh my, Daisuke, that's really a new move. I'm afraid." He said sarcastically. Then one of the blades suddenly extended and cut some of Gaku's hair of as he dodged it.
"That isn't new, either, but this is!" Daisuke cried, "Henshin: Level One: Summon!" His other blade exploded in smoke and light. Gaku covered his eyes with his arms as a giant radiant beast stepped out of the explosion. It looked as if it was made of stone, and it had a large sword in one hand. Daisuke fell over in exhaustion as the giant lifted its sword into the air.
"Oh!" Korosuke exclaimed from out side the coliseum.
"What is it?" Muchu asked, leaning up against him.
"It appears Daisuke has learned to summon Henshin creatures! I know this because he just summoned a Henshin creature." Korosuke replied, with his eyes extending out from the back of his head. He was looking in the stadium through a crack in the wall. Muchu stroked the backside of her hand across Korosuke's side.
"What did he create? Anything as great as you?" she asked, turning around to see him.
"No, Miss. But you flatter me to much. Flattering leads to bad things, so if I was allowed to disagree with you, I would." Korosuke said, drawing his eyes back to his head. Muchu stared emptily at his face. "Not again, Miss! Snap out of it! Regain your hold!" Korosuke cried, shaking her.
"Korosuke," Muchu said, still staring blankly, "Have I ever told you about the people you're made out of?" Korosuke released her and shook his head. "You consist of very important people…My mother, my father, my best friend, and my boyfriend. We were on the verge of marrying, my boyfriend and I…" Muchu explained.
"Then why did you curse them all and make me? I am not a living memory of them, if that's what you're thinking. I am a curse you made by using their bodies as memories…? Wait…what?" Korosuke asked himself, foolishly.
"I made you so I can kill the brothers Kashime!" Muchu screamed. Korosuke sighed and nodded.
"Yes, yes, I know…"