Hey everyone.
So last time, Naruto became a pseudo sadist with his Illusion magic…and from what I gathered from you guys, you all had a laugh.
This chapter, Naruto will chuck the illusion magic away for something a little more…destructive.
Ok, ok…a lot more destructive…
Responses to Reviews:
Anko4Life: Hope you enjoy the chapter.
dlowe265: Will do.
Silvdra-zero: Hehe. Somehow I knew that people would like the trolling Naruto to be in the story somewhere.
On with the story…
Chapter 9: You have got to be kidding me…
Usually the 9 Schools competition Committee could cater for each and every one of the attending guests…not this time.
The final round of Monolith Code this year was different…in that there wasn't enough seats for all the officials and students that came to watch, so projectors and alternate viewing methods had to be put in place for those who couldn't find seats.
Meanwhile, in their changing rooms, the two teams were discussing tactics…or rather most of their members were…
With 3rd High
Gaara was sitting to the side, prepping a device that he would need during the Monolith Code Finals. He had convinced the others to let him deal with Naruto since he knew him better than most people did, claiming to be a childhood friend of his. Masaki and Jiourji relented, saying that unless Naruto and Tatsuya worked together, they'd allow him the fight.
Jiourji, Masaki and that other guy (1) meanwhile were discussing how to deal with the main known threat: Tatsuya.
Masaki volunteered to take him on, being the most combat orientated of the three of them whilst Jiourji would use his invisible bullet to snipe the others.
That left the other guy to guard the Monolith, something he was ok with doing as that was what he had been doing up until now anyway.
Meanwhile, with Tatsuya and co…
"Are you being serious?" Leo asked, holding the piece of cloth he had just been given.
"You have got to be joking." Mikihiko agreed, holding a near identical piece of fabric. Of to the side, Naruto had his hand on his mouth to silence his laughing, with Tatsuya standing in front of the two guys grinning like he had just earned a big achievement.
The pieces of cloth turned out to be cloaks that had magic seals placed on them to help the two with their respective magic.
"Say, why isn't Naruto getting one of these?" Leo asked, trying to hand Naruto the cloak he was holding.
"Because he is facing off against that fourth guy from 3rd High, whom we have little to no knowledge about." Tatsuya said.
"You may not know him…but I do." Naruto said. "Gaara and I go way back."
"How do you know him?" Mikihiko asked.
"We're childhood friends." Naruto answered as he went about finishing the calibrations on his own strange device.
"And what are you working on right now?" Leo asked.
"Something that Gaara and I have been wanting to use for years now." Naruto said, his eyes glowing white and a grin on his face.
A few minutes later
The crowds from 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th High were roaring when the team from 3rd High walked out of the gate and onto the field.
Many of the other schools were supporting them because of the actions of one Uzumaki Naruto towards their own…though there were quite a few girls who didn't support 1st High because they learnt that Naruto was off the market…
The cheering turned to laughter as the team from 1st High walked out, two of whom were covered in long cloaks whilst one was trying not to laugh and the last one with a blank expression on his face.
Naruto turned and by some way or another met the eyes of Hinata, causing both to smile.
Next to her Erika was having difficulty breathing because of how Leo and Mikihiko looked like.
Temari, having known long ago that her youngest brother was competing as part of the 3rd High team, didn't know whom to support, her brother or her school…until she took some advice from her boyfriend and declared that it was to 'troublesome to pick a side'.
The others, minus Hinata, were surprised that that Gaara was her brother.
Seeing the cloaks, the 'other guy' commented that they were probably bluffing, though Masaki suggested that it was possibly a countermeasure against Jiourji's 'Invisible Bullet', to which Jiourji responded that while 'Invisible Bullet' had no penetration power, it wouldn't be stopped by a mere cloth.
Gaara, looking eyes with Naruto, nodded, getting a nod in return.
Both teams tensed as the count-down began.
Loud cheers erupted as the horn to start the battle began, with Naruto and Gaara running both away from their respective teams, whilst approaching each other, taking their time as they did so.
Masaki meanwhile was advancing whilst shooting of spell after spell of 'Air Bullet' spells whilst keeping his 'Interference Armour' active.
Tatsuya countered the 'Air Bullets' by destroying the magic circles before they were fully charged, whilst also advancing, returning fire with Oscillation-type magic, which was blocked by Masaki's armour.
This was noted by Jiourji who was surprised that he was using a different set of spells whilst during the previous matched he had used Non-Systematic Magic and Weight-type Magic…he didn't know that it was possible to interchange the spell list on CAD's that fast.
Leo and Mikihiko were by now already approaching their positions, as were Naruto and Gaara.
Leo and Jiourji met a small distance away from where Tatsuya and Masaki were duking it out, with Jiourji preparing to fire one of his bullets at Leo, who used the cloak he had as a shield that deflected said bullet. Next thing Jiourji realized was that there was a large piece of metal heading his way. Tsk-ing in annoyance, he dodged the strike only to land and see that the other guy with the cloak had closed in. He quickly began casting another bullet, only to stop when Mikihiko used his spells to cast multiple illusions of himself as well as place an hallucinogenic effect on Jiouji.
Leo, who was about to finish him off, was suddenly hit by one of Masaki's 'air bullets', saving Jiourji from a painful fate.
The crowds were cheering at this high action event, though when they turned to see what the other two were doing, the arena shook with the combined force of their face-planting…
Naruto and Gaara…were playing Holographic Play-Station…
Gaara was controlling a huge Raccoon made from sand whilst Naruto was controlling an orange Fox with 9 tails. Above the holographic creatures were health, stamina and mana bars…
Many viewers chose to return their attention to where the real fight was…
Jiourji, following the save, cast a double layered Gravity-type magic on Mikihiko, one that sent him flying, the other that sent him crashing into the ground with twice the acceleration of gravity.
The other guy was leaning against the Monolith, whistling away whilst watching the fighting.
Masaki, who was focusing on his friend doing this, was distracted and thus only realized too late that Tatsuya was rapidly closing in, which alarmed him. quickly casting a spell, he realized far too late to adjust the strength of the new barrage he had just cast.
He knew that he had just severely violated the rules and that he was most likely about to kill Tatsuya…
To his great shock however, Tatsuya began destroying many of the circles he had created…unfortunately, not enough of them.
The resulting explosion from 2 full power 'Air Bullets' sent Tatsuya flying in the general direction where Masaki was standing in shock.
He wasn't the only one in shock…all the students watching were in a similar situation, whilst Tatsuya's friends had the worst of it.
As Tatsuya passed Masaki, the look on Masaki's face turned to one of horror. He knew that he had just severely trespassed the rules and, without meaning to, probably killed someone.
Unseen by everyone, lines of script were passing though Tatsuya's eyes as his Emergency Eidos Re-writing magic kicked in, or as Naruto called it when he found out about it from Tatsuya, "The most Broken Healing ability ever to exist".
An instant later, Tatsuya stopped rolling and landed on his feet, holding a hand to Masaki's ear, fingers ready to snap…which is exactly what her did…with liberal application of 'Sound Amplification Magic'. Everyone within a mile radius held their hands to their ears as the sound came over them. Jiourji had to stop his spells because he was getting so distracted.
Gaara and Naruto had also stopped their match, wondering who the hell had created that noise. Their holographic avatars just standing there, ready to continue the fight…
After the sound was gone, Everyone watched in bated breaths as Masaki fell to the ground, unconscious and Tatsuya fell to his knees, breathing heavily and bleeding from his one ear.
Back at the 1st High Command Tent, Mayumi was wondering what just had happened, with Jumonji suggesting the sound amplification theory, to which Mayumi responded that that wasn't what she had meant.
"I mean, how did Tatsuya survive the impact from a fully charged 'Air Bullet'?" Mayumi said.
"He probably used Ninjutsu to strengthen his body and tanked most of the attack." Jumonji said, adding that he had heard of such techniques in the past.
Back on the Battlefield
Jiourji, having made the same mistake Masaki had made earlier of getting distracted, allowed himself to get caught in a trap by the spirit user who sent a earth-type attack at Jiourji, who flew into the air to dodge, but didn't realize that there were a bunch of Lightning spirits ready to zap him when he did.
The 'other guy', seeing both his teammates defeated, sent a earth wave like spell towards Mikihiko, who accepted the fact that he would be defeated, until Leo came in an blocked the spell with his cloak/shield, before sending that damn piece of metal flying into the 'other guy'.
The two of them regrouped with Tatsuya moments before a colossal dust cloud erupted into the air near their position…
Moments earlier
"It seems as though your team has beaten mine, Naruto." Gaara said as he switched of his controller.
"Told you." Naruto said, doing the same.
Both of them stood up, then jumped back a fair distance, magic sequences whirling around their limbs.
On Gaara's hands formed claws of sand, whilst the same happened on Naruto's hands, except his were made of fire.
As though on unspoken command, the two of them rush at each other, claws clashing, resulting in the dust cloud.
The spectators were stunned…they had not expected this turn of events.
Neither did Leo or Mikihiko, whilst Tatsuya had thought that Naruto would pull off something like this…he was a prankster to the core after all.
Several more clouds went up as the two remaining combatants clashed here and there, sand vs fire, CQC vs CQC…or rather MCQC vs MCQC (Magic Close Quarter Combat).
Naruto and Gaara were grinning…technically physical combat wasn't allowed in Monolith Code…and nobody ever said that covering your limbs with Magic of various sorts was a violation of said rules.
The few glimpses the crowd had of the two were of them duking it out until they disengaged and separated some distance…and began throwing long distance spells at each other. Tatsuya and the others as well as the medics carrying the unconscious forms of Gaara's teammates, wisely decided to leave the battlefield. Despite keeping the spells only at C-rank…there were a bloody lot of spells flying through the air.
"Screw Monolith Code…those two are staging a War scenario…" Kakashi muttered, shaking his head. Sometimes he questioned Kushina's method of upbringing…
Several others in the stands silently had the same thoughts as Kakashi, and the general impressions of the two fighters held by the schools was thrown completely out of the window.
And amongst the students from 1st High, the Konoha group just sat there, mouths hanging and eyes wide…
"We are indeed lucky to be alive. Why do you ask? Because had we started a magic battle with Naruto back then, it is unlikely that we'd have lived." Shino said, somehow being the only person in the group to maintain a stoic expression.
"Shit…just how powerful is he?" Kiba asked.
The others were asking themselves the same thing and any lingering doubts of him and Red Spiral…let's say there weren't any doubts anymore…
With Naruto and Gaara
Both of them were back at MCQC, filling the area with patches where the Grass is no longer green…or there for that matter…
"When was the last time we had this much fun?" Naruto asked Gaara, who was matching him grin for grin.
"That one time in Arabia when we posed as gladiators and destroyed the Illegal fighting syndicate." Gaara answered.
"Geez…that was ages ago…" Naruto said. "That was the last Op you had before becoming an SL, isn't it?"
"And whom do I have to thank for that damn Promotion?" Gaara asked, spawning a few magical attacks close range. In the last second, Naruto returned the favour…
The resulting explosion sent both of them flying in different directions…
With the merry bunch from Konoha
"How is this happening?"
The world seemed to go quiet for Hinata as she heard those words from a group of 3rd High students sitting nearby.
"Gaara-sama is a member of Red Spiral…even if the rumors of that Uzumaki being in Konoha were true, there's no way he should be able to keep up with Gaara-sama…" a girl with long black hair asked.
"Yukata, did you remember what Gaara-sama said? One should never underestimate one's opponent." A girl with shorter, light brown hair told her.
"But Matsuri, Gaara is a member of Red Spiral's Shadow Blade…there is no way for him to lose, is there?" the one called Yukata said.
'Red Spiral's…Shadow Blade?' Hinata thought.
Hinata thought back to what Naruto had told her about Gaara after the Semi-Finals…
Flashback
Hinata knocked on Naruto's door whilst he was going through some of the recent footage of 3rd High's Monolith Code Battles.
"You should really get some rest." She said. "The Finals are tomorrow." She stood behind Naruto and began playing with his hair.
"I am just trying to see if he has changed over the past few months since I last saw him." Naruto said, stopping the video on an Image of Gaara.
"Who is this?" Hinata asked.
"Sabaku no Gaara. Temari's younger brother." Naruto said, making her stop playing for a moment.
"How do you know him?" Hinata asked.
"We go back a few years." Naruto said, smiling as though he was recalling a few memories.
"Anything you want to talk about?" Hinata asked.
All he gave her was a sad smile.
Flashback end
'They know each other for a few years…Gaara is not only a member of Red Spiral, but also one from Shadow Blade…he and Naruto are keeping up such an intense fight…' Hinata's eyes were widening by the second as realisation hit her…'Naruto-kun…is a member of Shadow Blade as well!'
Slowly she began thinking about the pieces of the puzzle that had been bugging her for a while, and slowly, they began to make sense. The one conclusion she came to…
…was that Naruto was none other than Shadow Fox himself.
Back with Naruto
Naruto landed in a heap, as did Gaara. The spectators all looked on to see what would happen next.
Slowly Naruto and Gaara stood up, both injured and both of them struggling to stand.
Gaara was the first to fall, leaving Naruto as the victor.
"That was fun." Naruto said as he forced himself to ignore the pain.
"Next time, I'll manage to beat you." Gaara murmured, before announcing his forfeit.
A horn went off and the Screens all announced that 1st High was the victor.
As the crowds cheered, medics rushed onto the field, where Naruto and Gaara were. Gaara they put onto a stretcher, as they did with Naruto when he collapsed into their arms. Naruto's last words before falling unconscious were: "Was so worth it."
Loud music accompanied the cheers of the students, all of whom, whilst the vast majority of them did not support the winning team, enjoyed this rather unique battle.
There were a pair of girls who were standing or sitting there with tears in their eyes though…one being a bro-con and the other a soon to be official girlfriend.
(1): I couldn't find out his name on the wiki…if you know what the guy's name is, please let me know.
…
AND DONE!
So that wraps up the Monolith Code part.
Hope you guys enjoyed Naruto and Gaara first trolling the crap out of the crowds, then scaring them senseless with their fight that followed.
I was contemplating whether or not to add the reveal for Hinata in this chapter or not, but eventually decided to add it here.
Also…Gaara is a SB operative…who'd have thought?