Mortal Kombat: Elemental Realm

AN: Hello there, my dear readers! Today we get another action-packed chapter as we continue the Mortal Kombat tournament. Let us see how our heroes fare in this.

Now to reviews.

Dragonninja1983: Because finishers are usually done at the end of a battle while Reiko made his kill during one. And as I said before, this isn't a romance fic so don't count on it.

ferpet: Thank you for the praise. And yeah, I try to have things balanced, unlike some fics where you have things like Goro being easily one-shotted by Naruto.

dlmauricio19: Reptile having a tail was honestly my choice as I thought he would look interesting with it. And he had it in Deadly Alliance.

Abyss-Trinity: No problem.

jossblue13: As I said before, I didn't nerf anyone.

Cacao: Sorry, sometimes I just can't help myself.

DOCTOR GUEVO: Maybe, but I still like to keep some truth to them. Which is why, for example, I didn't write a fic where Conan the Barbarian is in the Seven Deadly Sins universe.

Akakiru: What?

benedict616z: Thank you for such high praise. And yeah, Rain's gameplay was badass. And I don't really know about referencing the Kamidogu considering they play no part in this story.

Guest: Ok, from what I understood, you want the cameo of the Kollector, and I can safely say... absolutely not. The Kollector is a completely pointless character in the MK franchise.

6 One vs Many

If the ninjas weren't nervous before, then they sure were now. Their friend and ally has been killed in one of the most brutal ways they had ever seen, and they could be next if they aren't careful.

And it was time for the next one, the man clad in purple, Rain, was already in his position. Chojuro swallowed some saliva as a drop of sweat dripped from his brow, nervous about facing this unknown opponent.

"Chojuro!" he heard his Mizukage call out and turned to her, seeing a smile on her face. "You can win this. As the next Mizukage candidate, you have what it takes to defeat your opponent. I just know it."

Chojuro let out a small blush, before giving a smile and a nod, his confidence returning. "I won't disappoint you," he said before going to the arena.

Ay then turned to Mei. "You seemed to be talking more out of faith than assurance."

"Faith isn't inherently a bad thing, lord Raikage," Tsunade chimed in. "Sometimes faith can be paid off."

"It is not just faith that I have in Chojuro," Mei said. "He is an excellent ninja, and there is a reason I chose him to become my successor. Didn't your successor also win his match?"

"I'm sure that lord Raikage says that because he has never seen Chojuro fight," Gaara commented while Ay just crossed his arms.

In the middle of the arena, Chojuro and Rain stood across each other, a determined look on the young ninja's face as his hand was on his sword while Rain smirked under his mask.

"Did your mommy back there encourage you enough to fight?" Rain taunted his shorter opponent.

Chojuro's eyes narrowed as he took out his blade and got into a stance with his blade aimed at his opponent, with Rain doing the same in his Zi Ran Men stance.

"A swordsman, eh?" Rain said amused before checking the design of the weapon. It was quite huge and a lot thicker than a normal sword, and it also had two handles. He was also curious why it was wrapped in bandages. "Though, that is quite a peculiar sword."

"You'll see just what it can do," Chojuro said.

Shao Kahn then shouted. "FIGHT!"

The two didn't immediately go head-on, instead inspecting each other for a bit as they stood unmoving, waiting to react to any movement the other may try. Having enough, Chojuro charged at his opponent, with Rain tightening his stance for anything the boy might do.

Deciding to end this fight as quickly as possible, Chojuro activated Hiramekarei's ability immediately. The bandages unwrapped from the blade as it was coated in blue chakra, before forming a huge hammer construct, Rain's eyes widening at the sight. Chojuro swung his weapon at Rain who dodged just in the nick of time by moving backward, the hammer only centimeters away from his chest.

Chojuro swung again, but Rain ducked under it, some water forming beneath his feet as slid down along the length of the weapon. The moment he got behind Chojuro, the water retracted, making him stop his slide before Rain kicked the young ninja in the back and sent him flying.

The construct dissipated as Chojuro landed on the ground with a grunt, but he quickly went to get up and turn back to his opponent.

"My turn," Rain said before taking out a pair of curved daggers and dashing towards Chojuro. The Mist ninja quickly blocked several piercing strikes from Rain before moving backward, the purple ninja continuing his assault with a series of quick stabs and slashes, all of which were blocked by Chojuro.

At the stands, the ninjas had their own thoughts.

"Hmm, looks like little Chojuro is on his back foot," Ay commented.

"This opponent isn't any less of a threat than those three before," Onoki said. "This Outworld definitely has some incredible fighters."

"Let us hope not too incredible," Tsunade said as she crossed her arms.

The fighting between the two continued, Rain still in the lead as the metal of his daggers scraped against the young ninja's sword. Chojuro blocked another stab before Rain swiped his other hand, materializing some water that hit Chojuro in the face, stunning him. Smirking beneath his mask, Rain went for a stab but was surprised to see that it was blocked again even with Chojuro stunned.

"Good reflexes," Rain complimented before moving both his daggers right in the middle of the two hilts, twisting them, disarming Chojuro of the sword before throwing it several meters away and giving a nasty kick to his chest that sent him to the ground.

"Looks like you lost your toy," Rain said seeing the young get up while holding his chest in pain, some blood dripping down his mouth.

Chojuro silently cursed. This was really, really bad. Without Hiramekarei he was at a severe disadvantage.

"Tell you what," Rain said before sheathing his daggers. "I'll play fair."

Chojuro grumbled. This man was clearly mocking him, purposely ridding himself of the weapon advantage. But maybe that was a good thing. Perhaps he could use Rain's arrogance against him.

The Mist ninja was interrupted from his thoughts as Rain disappeared in a burst of water and immediately reappeared right in front of Chojuro, whose eyes widened in surprise before he was sent upwards by an uppercut.

Rain then dashed forward and immediately used his water teleportation, appearing right in front of the airborne Chojuro, and with his momentum he put both of his feet together, delivering a double kick that sent Chojuro crashing down on the ground while Rain safely landed.

Mei's eyes widened as she almost let out a gasp. Chojuro was being decimated in this fight.

"Well, looks like your successor may not make it," Ay said.

Gaara glanced at him. "Now isn't the time to be disrespectful, lord Raikage."

"That isn't disrespect, it's just truth," Onoki said as he watched the fight. "This man's ability over water is impressive, controlling it by will."

"Indeed," Ay agreed. "And his use of transportation reminds of the way Shisui Uchiha fought."

Back where the Outworld kombatants were, Goro let out a loud yawn.

"This is getting boring," he said as he crossed his bottom arms. "They should have just let me fight all of them. At least that would have been quite a spectacle."

Duroc chuckled. "Be patient, brother. You'll get your chance soon."

"Not soon enough."

Chojuro got up with several heavy pants. This man caught him off guard way too many times, and he can't afford for that to happen again. He needed to get his sword back.

"Did you have enough, boy?" Rain asked with his hands on his hips. "This fight is beginning to bore me."

Chojuro wiped the blood on his lips with his sleeve. "I'm not done yet," he said with determination before making several hand signs. "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

Rain quickly got in a guarding position, seeing what the two ninjas from before had done he didn't want to be unprepared. After several moments, Rain wondered what that was supposed to do before mist started to appear around him. He looked around and saw the mist beginning to cover the arena before becoming thicker, blocking his vision and making go even more on guard.

Chojuro smirked. His plan had worked. While he wasn't really skilled in the assassination techniques this jutsu was used for, it still served as a great distraction.

The crow within the arena began loudly voicing their displeasure at not being able to see what was going on down there.

As Rain kept looking around and attuning his senses to track Chojuro, he was getting annoyed that the Mist ninja apparently didn't try to make a move on him.

"This is getting ridiculous," Rain said under his breath before spreading his arms and using his manipulation of water, completely dispersed the mist around them. Then his eyes became wide as he saw Chojuro, the young man dangerously close and the sword back his hand emanating a huge chakra blade.

Chojuro then swung his sword at Rain, ready to end this fight quickly. The purple ninja didn't have enough time to dodge at the blade struck his body. But then to Chojuro's surprise, Rain's body then turned into water, the blade simply passing through him.

A water clone?! Chujuro thought as he began looking around to see where the real one was.

"Where are you looking at?" Rain asked the moment his body turned back into flesh and blood, surprising Chojuro. Rain then took out a dagger aimed a stab to which Chojuro was able to react, but he still ended up getting stabbed through the forearm.

Chojuro grunted in pain was didn't get any rest before Rain punched him right in the face, breaking his glasses and making his nose bleed. Chojuro unwillingly let go of the sword and Rain delivered a mighty kick to the young ninja's head, sending him away before he fell on the ground.

Rain glared at his downed opponent, but then he saw that he wasn't getting up. He walked over to Chojuro, seeing him laying down, the eyes closed on his bloodied face and his mouth slightly hanging open.

Rain gave a scoff. "Looks like he can't fight anymore," he said disappointed. He wasn't able to bring his best in the fight and the fight and that annoyed him.

Shao Kahn felt a little disappointed that the fight didn't end in a death like the last one. But still, it is in his favor. "The winner… RAIN!" Shao Kahn exclaimed as the crowd cheered.

Mei looked down in shame. She didn't blame Chojuro for losing, but herself for giving him so much false hope. She thanked whatever god was there that Chojuro was knocked out and not killed.

Raiden quickly teleported to Chojuro, picked him up, and teleported back where he used his healing powers to heal the ninja's wounds. Most of the damage he suffered was internal but Raiden didn't have too much trouble fixing it.

Sakura walked up to the thunder god. "You know, I can heal him as well. You don't need to look out for us like that," she said.

Raiden shook his head. "No, you need to preserve your energy for the tournament," he said before putting Chojuro on his feet as he slowly awakened.

Chojuro's eyes fluttered open as he looked around, seeing that he was back with the others but his vision was a bit blurry. Rubbing his eyes he noticed that his glasses were gone.

A hand then appeared in front of him and he could make out that it was holding… his glasses. He put them on and saw that it was Raiden who handed them. "Thank you," Chojuro said which got a smile from Raiden.

Chojuro then turned to his Kage and gave a bow, his face ridden in shame. "I'm sorry, lady Mizukage. I couldn't defeat him. I failed as your future successor."

"Don't talk like that, Chojuro," she said in a comforting tone. "You did your best, but that man was too much for you. That doesn't mean you aren't worthy, and you're still a good ninja in your own right. That strategy of yours didn't work only because of special circumstances."

Chojuro looked up with a small blush on his face before giving a nod, feeling a bit better but still sad he cost them a victory.

"Still, I didn't think that our own ninja experiences could be used against us," Gaara commented, remembering how Chojuro was distracted when he thought Rain was a water clone when he actually turned into water.

"That is most troublesome," Onoki said. "It looks like the youngsters will have to be even more careful than before."

When the cheers from the crowd died down, Shao Kahn spoke again.

"The next match is about to begin!" Shao Kahn said. "Sakura Haruno!"

The said kunoichi got a serious look on her face as she walked towards the center of the arena.

"Good luck, Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Don't die," Sasuke said, inwardly really worried about her.

"Come on, Sakura, you can do this!" Ino yelled as she cheered her best friend. "I hope," she added in a whisper.

"And her opponent… Sheeva!"

The female Shokan smirked as she approached the arena and standing across her pink-haired opponent.

Sakura clenched her fists before getting into a battle stance, one fist in front while the other is at her side, with Sheeva doing a similar pose.

"Be ready, girl," Sheeva said. "To see the might of a Shokan warrior."

Sakura only gave her a glare. "Bring it."

"FIGHT!"

Sheeva gave a battle cry before running at Sakura, throwing several mighty punches in her direction. Sakura began blocking the punches but found herself almost overwhelmed, being attack with four arms at the same time.

Deciding to change her approach, Sakura began avoiding the punches, sidestepping them as they came before giving her own counters but those ended up blocked by Sheeva.

After a bit of back and forth with no clear edge, Sakura then leaped over the double punch made by Sheeva. Flying over her, Sakura prepared a kick to Sheeva's head but her foot was then caught by one of the Shokan's arms.

Using the opportunity, Sheeva slammed Sakura on the ground leaving a huge crack with kunoichi grunting in pain. Smirking, Sheeva repeated the process several times more before Sakura had enough. In mid-swing, Sakura twisted around, her foot out of Sheeva's grasp before she was able to deliver a mighty kick to the female Shokan's head.

When she landed, Sakura began attacking the dazed Sheeva, landing several quick punches right into her stomach, pushing her back, and ending her assault with an uppercut to Sheeva's chin, sending her flying.

"Way to go Sakura!" Naruto cheered while Sasuke smiled, others joining in cheering, even the crowd being pleased by the entertaining display.

Sheeva quickly got up before spitting some blood. "Not bad, I have to admit," she complimented. "Now the kid gloves are off." Sheeva's hands then began emitting fire before she shot one fireball at Sakura.

The kunoichi quickly avoided the fireball, but another one quickly followed making dodge again, the process repeated two more times before Sheeva herself was upon Sakura, once again beginning her assault.

Being caught off guard, Sakura tried her best to block the punches but was quickly hit in the face, then the stomach, in the cheek, the stomach again. The punches came faster than she could keep up.

Sheeva then double-punched Sakura right into the ground below, making the young kunoichi spit blood.

Tsunade bit her lip in nervousness at seeing her former student being beaten like that. After everything that happened, she began fearing the worst.

Her friends felt the same way as well, with Naruto's fists loudly clenching in worry of his teammate while Sasuke's grip on his sword tightened.

Seeing the downed girl, Sheeva decided to finish this battle. She crouched down before making a jump high into the air, ready to deliver a mighty stomp right on top of Sakura.

Sakura's eyes opened as she looked at the descending Sheeva, and acting quickly, she rolled backward in a half-kneeling position before punching the ground, causing a large rock to rise up. With Sheeva close to the ground, the rock hit in the back, stopping her momentum and sending her forward. Sakura then prepared a mighty punch, rearing her fist back before giving a mighty scream and hitting Sheeva straight into the stomach.

The female Shokan spat a huge amount of blood from her mouth as her eyes became as wide as they could be, first time ever feeling such a huge amount of pain. With grit teeth, Sakura then delivered another strong uppercut to Sheeva's head, sending her flying before she landed on her back, hard.

Sheeva lay unmoving. Her eyes were shut and some blood spilling from her mouth. Sakura could tell from the distance that Sheeva wasn't dead, but she was definitely knocked out.

Grumbling under his breath, Shao Kahn then proclaimed. "Sakura Haruno wins!"

Sakura smiled at her victory and quickly returned to her friends while Sheeva's unconscious form was being taken away from the arena, the cheers of the crowd overpowering any other sound in the entire area.

Tsunade let out a sigh of relief at Sakura's victory and gave a proud smile at her victory. She knew her faith in Sakura wasn't misplaced.

"Looks like this one goes to us," Onoki said. "Though considering she is your student, Tsunade, I'm impressed that her opponent was able to withstand so many direct punches."

"These Shokan are definitely far more durable than a regular human," Ay commented. "Attacking them directly shouldn't be the first option. But we were fortunate that Sakura Haruno is one of the physically most powerful among the shinobi."

The said girl was back with her friends who congratulated her on the victory.

"The next match is about to commence!" Shao Kahn said making everyone look in anticipation. "Shikamaru Nara!

Shikamaru gave an annoyed sigh at his name being mention. "Well, looks like it's my turn," he said before walking to the arena with his hands in his pockets but a hand on his shoulder stopped him making him turn and see Temari with a worried look on her face.

"Be careful," she said in a hushed tone, to which he smiled and nodded before continuing towards the arena.

"Don't die, Shikamaru!" Choji told his friend.

"I'll try not to," Shikamaru said.

"And his opponent… Ermac!"

The black and red-clad, green-eyed ninja then approached and positioned himself across Shikamaru.

"You cannot defeat us," Ermac said in an echo of many voices, making Shikamaru look at him confused. "We are souls of many warriors joined into one. When you fight us, you fight many."

"Man, what a drag," Shikamaru complained before getting into a battle stance. So this man was a combination of many souls, which probably meant that he was a master of numerous fighting styles and probably possessed great intelligence.

Great. Just great.

"Now… FIGHT!"

After a little silence, Ermac immediately ran at Shikamaru. The Nara predicted that Ermac may do something like this, so he reached into his pouch before throwing several shuriken in his opponent's direction.

Ermac's hand then began emanating a green aura, and then he deflected all the projectiles effortlessly with it. Shikamaru was caught by surprise as this wasn't the outcome he was expecting. Ermac was already upon him, and Shikamaru took out a kunai to defend himself. However, with speed and precision that Shikamaru couldn't keep up, Ermac delivered a chop to Shikamaru's fingers, making him drop the kunai. Ermac then delivered a palm strike to Shikamaru's face before following it up with a kick to the chest.

Shikamaru decided to put some distance between him and the bandaged ninja but before he could move far, Ermac extended his glowing palm towards him as it blazed with green magic and Shikamaru found himself in place by some external force, the green energy now surrounding him.

Ermac then made a pulling motion, which made Shikamaru fly right at him. The Nara heir received an elbow to the cheek. Ermac then kneed him in the stomach making Shikamaru lose his breath before giving an upward elbow strike than moved him away.

Shikamaru cursed under his breath. That was only several strikes but he was already feeling like passing out. He could already tell that this guy was a bigger threat than the other five. He needed to think of something, and fast.

Just as Ermac went for another attack, Shikamaru quickly made a hand sign, causing his shadow to extend towards his opponent. Ermac noticed this moved out of the shadow, which then turned and began to follow him. He was avoiding the shadow until it came to a sudden stop.

Thinking the young man reached his limit, Ermac turned towards him only to see several shuriken and kunai coming towards him. He was forced to duck several before deflecting the rest with his magic. Shikamaru then jumped in front of him and immediately began using his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

Despite that, Ermac once again moved away from the shadow and was about to retaliate with his telekinesis but then he noticed that he was passing a shadow of one of the pillars in the arena which made Shikamaru's shadow move at greater speeds and catching up to Ermac instantly, and making him freeze in place.

"Got ya," Shikamaru said, gaining a glare from Ermac. Then Shikamaru began walking forwards, with Ermac imitating the movement.

"You took, possession of us using your shadow," Ermac said. "A valiant effort, but in the end, it will be worthless."

"Yeah, I can't keep it up forever," Shikamaru said. "But I also know that your powers don't work unless your limbs are directed at someone, otherwise you would have used them already."

Ermac's eyes narrowed. "And what do you plan to do now? You can't hurt us unless you plan to hurt yourself."

"Really, I beg to differ," Shikamaru said with a smirk before he began reaching down to grab something, only there was nothing to grab. Ermac then noticed that since he was imitating what Shikamaru was doing, his own hand began to reach down for a kunai that was stuck in the ground. His own fingers wrapped around the handle as Shikamaru then motioned his hand to the point Ermac was aiming the kunai at his own neck. "Now, how about you surrender otherwise you end up killing yourself."

At the stands, Tsunade smiled at Shikamaru's successful strategy.

"Looks like this young man's intelligence served him after all," Onoki complimented. "The most fitting for a Nara."

"It is what made him the only one promoted to chunin at the Chunin Exams that I attended," Gaara said as he remembered what happened years ago.

"I think you're celebrating too quickly," Ay said. "The match isn't over."

At the arena, Ermac replied. "Never." The voice, or voices in Ermac's case, showed that his resolve was not wavering.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Well, I can't say I didn't warn you," he said and moved his hand so Ermac would pierce his neck… but his hand wasn't moving. Shikamaru was confused at what was happening until he saw that Ermac's hand was enveloped in the green energy, not emanating it as it did before.

"As we said," Ermac began as his hand moved away from his neck, with Shikamaru's hand doing the same. "A valiant effort, but worthless in the end. You were only partially right about how our powers work, but you didn't know how they work on ourselves." Ermac moved his hand to where he was pointing the kunai at Shikamaru, who was forced to imitate the movement.

Shikamaru grit his teeth in frustration. This guy practically trapped him in his own shadow possession. Seeing that Ermac let go of the kunai which began floating, he knew he needed to let go of his shadow possession.

"We humored you long enough. Die!" the kunai then flew at Shikamaru who let disengaged the possession and moved away, but the kunai still ended up slicing his side, making the Nara grunt.

Ermac then used his telekinesis to once again pick Shikamaru up and slam him into the ground. Shikamaru yelled in pain as he felt some bones break, one of which was in his leg. He got into a kneeling position but was then met with a sight of Ermac floating in the air, the weapons that Shikamaru threw at him now floating beside the bandaged ninja encased in a green aura, and all pointed at him.

Shikamaru tried to think of a way out of this, but with a broken leg, mostly useless equipment, and this man's telekinesis countering his Shadow Possession, there was only one thing to do.

"I forfeit!" Shikamaru said loudly.

The whole coliseum then went silent for several moments as Ermac floated down, the weapons he was controlling dropping on the ground.

Shao Kahn scoffed. Forfeiting wasn't against the rules of Mortal Kombat, but it definitely made the ending disappointing. "Ermac wins!"

This time the crowd's cheers were more silent, as some were displeased that the match was ended by surrender.

Ermac walked away while Raiden teleported there and healed Shikamaru's bones, with Shikamaru easily walking again.

"Hey, could you teleport us back?" Shikamaru asked as he rubbed the back of his head. "I don't feel like walking back."

Raiden gave an amused smile. "As you wish," he said grabbing Shikamaru's shoulder and calling down the lightning which teleported them back to the stands.

Shikamaru then turned to his friends. "Sorry, guys. I just couldn't beat him."

Naruto walked up and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey, no sweat. You did the best you could, and at least you made it out of this alive. Besides, now we know what this guy is capable of."

"But now we are even on wins and losses," Sasuke said. "We still have ways to go."

"The next fight begins!" Shao Kahn proclaimed. "Kurotsuchi… who will go up against… GORO!"

AN: And that is that, my dear readers! We get another three fights in this chapter, and I hope they were to your liking. And we have our favorite Shokan prince in the next one so I hope you are ready for that.

And I implore you to check out my other stories, trust me, they are worth it. And leave a review, they are great motivators.

See you next time!