"How?! How is it possible for a mere human to move like this? It doesn't make any sense, not even Bee can dodge me forever." Yugito's thoughts were interrupted by a flash of green. A burning punch to her chest almost caused her to collapse. Even with the Two-Tails fueling her she was taking too much damage. If she didn't do something she would lose.

"This isn't good. I'm almost at my limit. I need to end this." The Inverse Limit Seal came with a huge problem. Despite the power boost it was destroying his body, pretty soon he wouldn't even be able to stand. That was just the seal, another problem he was facing was that he was running out of chakra very fast. His limit break was the culmination of all of his abilities. Between the seal, whole body plasma style and his En, Maruku was channeling his chakra three different ways into three different things. That tended to drain a lot of chakra. In fact without a constant supply the form wouldn't even last a full minute.

That was where the White Divider was supposed to come in. He had applied the seal countless times to Yugito's body over the course of several seconds. Each and every time the seals were destroyed before they could activate. He was starting to run out of time.

Either his body would give out or he would run out of chakra. Then his saving grace came. A giant burning blue fireball.

A grin came to the boy's face as he flipped through five hand signs.

"White's Shield!" A sealing matrix appeared before him. It's design the exact same as the seal he bared on his right arm. The fireball slammed into the matrix before it was absorbed in seconds.

Feeling power flow into him, Maruku felt a bit of his confidence return. That was one problem solved. Now it was just a race against time to see who's body would give out first.

He rushed forward seemingly gliding across the destroyed pad,two green orbs of plasma in his hands. His opponent seemed to be thinking on the same wavelength as she too raced forward holding up a brilliantly shining clawed hand.

"Plasma Crusher!"

"Kitty Claw!"

The two techniques met in a fiery explosion. Any rock left of the Pad was completely obliterated and the dense clouds that had supported them were dispersing leaving just a small patch no larger than that of a kitchen table.

Yugito let the power of the Two-Tails reside as she stood alone on top of the remaining cloud, her opponent missing. She sat down to help catch her breath. That had been the hardest fight of her life and it was by a human of all things. Despite the difficulty of the fight she had no doubt that she would lose. She was the Two-Tails and human no matter how extraordinary could best her.

FIREFIREFIRE

Maruku was currently having a full on panic attack. The reason being was that he was currently falling to his death and his body would not do what he wanted it to. The ground was coming up fast and he was starting to run out of ideas. His limit break had worn off and his body was broken. But there was still one more thing he could do .

Slowly he went through hand seals. Feeling his chakra swell and heat up inside of him he knew that if he didn't pull this off he was going to splat on the pavement.

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu!" A roaring flame erupted from his mouth seeming to accelerate his descent but with extreme difficulty and a lot of chakra control the dragon seemed to turn on its creator.

The dragon grabbed the boy with its talons and turned around once more this time climbing its way back into the sky. The flaming dragon soared past the little bit of cloud that remained going higher into the sky before it finally flickered out.

Using the sun as cover Maruku prepared to unleash his final technique. Despite his body's protest he raised his hands above his head and an orb of plasma formed between his two hands.

"Full Auto:Stardust Fall!"

Hundreds of lasers fell from the sky some even going so far as to reach the village streets below. With only that little cloud as a foothold there was no dodging this. Yugito's screams of pain were the only confirmation he needed to confirm he had hit his target.

As the last of his chakra expired his technique finally petered out. Falling through the air for a second time that day Maruku landed hard on the last remaining cloud. White filled his vision from the pain of his landing. Slowly opening his eyes he saw fingers gripping the edge of the cloud in front of him.

Crawling over he saw a burnt and beaten Yugito hanging on for dear life. Without thinking the boy extended his hand to her.

"Take my hand! I'll pull you up." Maruku reached down as far as he would dare extending his hand to her. Yugito however looked insulted.

"How dare you." She hissed. "I am Yugito the Two-Tails and I will not be continuously humiliated by some human! I'd rather die than to accept help from some one lower than myself."

Maruku was rather flabbergasted. What should he do? If he pulled her up the fight would continue. If he lets her fall then she'll no doubt die. If Yugito dies than it will take a while for the Two-Tails to reform but that could make things easier for the Akatsuki.

Damn

He would have to do his best to talk her out of this.

" Listen, If you let go now you will die. The last memory you'll ever have is being defeated by some clanless, no name human. But if you live you can always grow stronger. After a bit of training and time we'll have a rematch and you can prove your power then instead of dying like a coward. Now grab my hand!"

He could practically see the gears turning in her head.

"Fine. Train and grow stronger. I want you at the height of your power when I rip your throat out. Then the whole world will be forced to acknowledge my power." Using her free hand she grasped the extended arm and let herself be pulled up. A devious look on her face.

Maruku pulled the girl up, getting to his feet to do so. Once she was up with him on the confined cloud he dodged the expected claw swipe that would have blinded him permanently and chopped the girl in the back of the neck knocking her out.

"Winner: Maruku of Konoha!" As his victory was declared the cloud moved to where the medics were waiting. Feeling the comforting sensation of medical ninjutsu the boy finally allowed himself to pass out.

The proctor turned to look at the mostly stunned faces of the remaining genin.

"We'll be having a short intermission while the testing site is being rebuilt. You're all dismissed until tomorrow." They all shuffled downstairs back into the village. Naruto and Sakura however remained.

"When can we visit him?" Naruto blurted out.

The proctor looked annoyed. "You can't, that boy is going straight to ICU. It would behoove you to focus on your own matches instead of worrying about others." the proctor turned away clearly done with the conversation.

FIREFIREFIRE

Kakashi lowered his head band as Maruku's fight ended. The finals were being televised live and he honestly thought he was going to have a heart attack with all the near misses the boy had once those strange seals appeared on his body. The man made a mental note to talk to his student about those.

He was taken out of his thoughts when he heard tapping on his window. A sense of unease filled him when he saw it was a Leaf messenger hawk. Taking the scroll from the bird he broke the seal and started to read. His feelings of unease morphed to those of disbelief and shock.

Pocketing the scroll Kakashi gathered his and his students' things sealing them away before rushing outside the hotel where he was met with the rest of the jonin sensei. All of them were wearing equally grave expressions. The message was clear. They all vanished in flickers of speed intent on finding their students.

They needed to return to the village immediately.