Chapter 14
Con9512: Thank you friend, I was apprehensive over whether I could write a good fight so your words are most welcomed.
Nypism: Thank you for the detailed review. And yes any relationships won't won't start for years yet but we're nearing another the final time skip before Canon starts. Also I won't hint at anything for Tri since it might trigger spoilers. And yeah, Yoton's origins are unknown but I went with Kiri since it seems to be the land of a million Kekkai Genkai.
Funnily enough you get your very first glimpse into Tri's past in this chapter even thought it doesn't reveal anything, this plot point is going the distance, just as an FYI.
I was unsure on whether to give Naruto Mokuton initially but he needs an ace card so he will likely learn it. But his ability with it will be more like Yamato's instead of Hashirama's. Tri's learning the Hiraishin will be for transport only since he's pretty bad at Taijutsu (plus it would make him pretty much unbeatable). Itachi's full power and his disease will be answered as will the summoning contracts further down the line.
Only one Winner
Everyone had retaken their seats, the anticipation amongst the Konoha section of the crowd had built and built. Who would come out on top, the Uchiha clan heir or the Uzumaki clan heir. Both were some of the highest scoring graduates since Minato set the record nearly two decades earlier.
The anticipation wasn't just confined to the arena in Kumo, Konoha had slowed to a standstill. Thousands were watching on screens set up around the village. The rest of class 14 were sat together in Konoha's Chūnin Exam stadium to watch their friends compete. Hundreds of Shinobi of all ranks from Genin to off-duty ANBU were also present.
Also in attendance with her parents was an 8-year-old girl with pink hair. She was all set to join the Academy in just a few months' time so the tournament captivated her. That and one of her best friends was about to contest his semi-finals match. He assisted with her training when he had time and it had helped her greatly. Instilling in her a steely determination to succeed as well as establishing a comprehensive training regime that she stuck to.
"This is going to be good," Tsunade declared as Tri and Itachi took to the arena. "YOSH! The fires of youth will be on full display!" replied an elated Gai. "There'll be no sandbagging from here on, they'll both be going full tilt for this, they have to," Hiruzen added. Mikoto and Kushina were a mix of nervous and excited while Rezano and Sasuke were bouncing in their seats.
The two boys were stood across the arena floor from one another. Naruto and Fū were still up in the Enclosure as was Kurotsuchi who'd moved down to the front row too, all be it, she was still sitting several seats away on her own.
"Uchiha Itachi, ready?" He gave a slow nod. "Uzumaki Tri, ready?"
"Hai Proctor." As Tri responded Itachi span his tomoe menacingly. "Out of the ordinary for you Itachi," Tri called over.
"This won't be an ordinary match," he replied with a slow shrug. "You're right, it won't be."
"Competitors ready, Hajime!"
C began the match to a great cheer from the crowd, the fighters answer, however, was to do nothing.
Both were stood stock still, neither wanting to be the first to blink. The seconds seemed to last an eternity but finally the battle began.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."
The opposing balls of fire clashed and fought for control but as those who knew expected Itachi's won out as it slowly overwhelmed Tri's. The Uzumaki having to take a leap to the side to avoid the encroaching flames. "Ah well, can't say I'm all that surprised. Your Katon was always stronger than mine," Tri admitted.
"So why did he try?" Kushina asked in bemusement. "To waste chakra," Tsunade replied, "Tri's chakra reserves are vast compared to Itachi's. Every exchange in Ninjutsu that doesn't end the fight is in Tri's favour."
"Hmph, not that it matters. He can have all the chakra in the world and it still won't be enough to beat the Sharingan," Fugaku smugly stated, speaking for the first time. Tsunade rolled her eyes, 'We'll see if that delusion lasts the match,' she thought to herself.
"Not much point in us bothering with Taijutsu is there Itachi." The Uchiha shook his head, "Not really since I can't get close enough, little reason to use Genjutsu either, you helped me train my Sharingan Genjutsu after all." Tri took heed of his comment as his mind began analysing his words. 'What are you up to, Itachi? Why would you be trying to make this a Ninjutsu fight only?'
"Kaa-chan, why are Itachi-san and Nii-chan not doing anything?" asked a confused Rezano. "They're fighting not just with their Jutsu, they're fighting with their minds. They're trying to figure out what the others plan is. Both of them are very smart so you might have to be patient, ok?" she explained. "Okay, Kaa-chan."
"Spot on Kushina-sama," Hiruzen said, "Both are very smart, this fight might go on for a while. Whoever figures out the other first is probably going to win."
'Ok, I need to corner you somewhere Tri. But where is best.' He envisioned a birds-eye view of the arena layout in his mind, he quickly found what he was looking for. 'Those stone buildings are long enough and close enough together to act as one half of a tunnel, If I make the other half I can trap him in there.'
Itachi kicked off towards Tri, throwing multiple kunai at him. Tri dodged with relative ease as they both wound up the pace. 'Ok Itachi, I'll let you lead this dance of ours.' Tri was being made to move fast enough that he didn't notice some of the kunai were supplemented with explosive tags. He also missed that some of the kunai weren't aimed at him.
It continued for nearly a minute but none of the kunai struck Tri and Itachi was having to recycle them moving around so he could pick them up. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu," Itachi called out firing another sphere of flame towards his friend and teammate. Tri jumped slightly to the side, "Suiton: Suijinheki," (Water Release: Water Formation Wall) using chakra kneaded in his stomach he expelled a large volume of water that he shaped into a wall to confront the fireball.
The wall of water was built vertically but at a 45° angle to the fireball, it meant it had more water to travel through to reach its target. 'That fireball is still pushing through, managed to make your Katon stronger, eh Itachi.' Tri mentally chuckled. "Suiton: Mizurappa," (Water Release: Wild Water Wave) [1]. Using the time he had Tri began firing water left and right across his liquid wall, reinforcing it. It worked as the flames began to ebb.
"Two Suiton Jutsu to counter one Katon.. Either Tri's Suiton isn't very strong or Itachi's Katon is very strong indeed," said an interested Kakashi. While his ever-present book was in his hand, his eyes were solely focused on the fight going on beneath him. "It won't really matter, the stamina of an Uzumaki against an Uchiha is only ever going to have one winner," Jiraiya commented.
The fireball was finally quelled as the last flickers were extinguished. Tri charged a lot of chakra as he started more hand-seals. "Fūton: Reppūshō," (Wind Release: Gale Palm) with a mighty clap of his hands the wall of water that had defended him began to rumble forward. Itachi acted immediately, "Doton: Doryūheki," (Earth Release: Mud Wall) a wall of mud rose in front of Itachi as the water slammed into it.
Itachi's wall held. With the threat posed by the water blunted Itachi jumped atop his new mud structure. "Doton? Since when have you kn.. Wait that's what you were doing during the first round. You were stealing a few Jutsu you little copycat," Tri laughed. Itachi gave him a wry smile.
"Just for that, I'm breaking your wall." Tri threw several kunai with explosive tags and summarily blew Itachi's wall to pieces. As the smoke cleared it became clear to Tri that Itachi had moved elsewhere. 'Bah, smart move. I have to be careful looking for him lest I look down the barrel of his Sharingan.'
Tri closed his eyes and formed the bird seal with his hands and opened his senses up to the environment around him, flooding the arena with his chakra allowed it to act as a detection net. 'Now, where are you hiding?'
A minute passed with no results, 'He's perfectly still.'
"Let's make him move," Tri whispered to himself. Changing his hand-seal to Ram, "Fūton: Kamikaze." (Wind Release: Divine Wind) Tri released a gust of wind that formed several small tornadoes that quickly descended on the grove of trees, branches were snapped off and chunks of bark were torn away.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu," Tri said as he poured fire into the funnels of wind, the effect was immediate as the two techniques combined. Flames were thrown across the arena igniting all the greenery. But nothing came out of the trees, "Hmm, not in the trees then. So where are you Itachi?" he wondered aloud as the trees burned.
Suddenly his senses alerted him to something behind him, quickly spinning on the spot he found Itachi in the air heading straight for him. Tri threw a kunai and it hit the Uchiha in the shoulder. 'No blood? Can't be a shadow clone, that leav…' Tri went wide-eyed as Itachi began glowing white.
He took a huge leap back as the clone detonated, the shockwave threw him back yet further than he'd of liked as he crashed into the arena wall. He fell to his knees and moved a green shrouded hand to the back of his head to quell the pain from his head bouncing off the wall. As the throbbing in his head subsided he scanned the arena looking for any signed of his quarry.
He was brought out of his silent observing by a light hissing to his right, he turned his head as the illusion on a piece of rubble faded to reveal a roll of lit explosive tags. 'Oh come on!' he thought as he scrambled away quickly running through hand-seals as the tags exploded, "Fūton: Reppūshō," he brought his palms together aimed at the tags just before the shockwave hit him.
The wave of wind blunted some of the shockwave but not enough to prevent him getting launched into the wall of one of the stone structures.
This time Tri had to pick himself up off the floor. His exposed face and arms were riddled with small cuts and scuffs, there was a cut somewhere on his scalp as blood trailed down the side of his face. There was a slight rumbling as Tri once more went to numb the throbbing pain in his head.
As his swimming vision lessened he again began his search for Itachi. He had noticed something just before he'd discovered the explosive tags. The flames consuming the trees was throwing off a lot of heated air that left heat haze at the other end of the arena floor. Except for a small section where it was bizarrely absent. Tri allowed himself a ragged smile, 'Found you.' He dragged himself to his feet with far less difficulty than he made it look.
"Tri-kun isn't looking too good, he's going to end up with a concussion if he keeps hitting his head off of everything," said a worried Shizune. Fugaku wore a smug grin as he watched his son take control of the fight, "See, I told you all that chakra wouldn't help him."
"Don't be so sure Fugaku-sama," Hiruzen countered, "things aren't always what they seem." Rezano had quickly decided he didn't like Itachi's dad while Kushina was doing everything in her power to not stare daggers at the Uchiha.
Tri looked uneasy on his feet, struggling to stand still. Itachi was wondering whether they'd even reach the end game. He watched the Uzumaki closely so saw the flick of the wrist, he barely got a moment's warning before a flurry of shuriken embedded themselves deep into the wall surrounding him. Turning his head he saw that the shuriken were properly buried in the wall, 'Those were coated in Fūton chakra' thought a relieved Itachi. Seeing the gig was up he dropped the cloak.
Tri shook his head in mirthful disbelief, "the Kakuremino no Jutsu, (Cloak of Invisibility Technique) really?" he shouted over. "What was it Hiruzen-sama-sensei told us after we left the academy, 'Never under appreciate the academy techniques'. Nevertheless, Tri, I believe it is time I ended this." Tri raised an eyebrow, "And how do you intend to do that?"
"I'll spare telling you, it's much quicker to just show you. Pictures speak a thousand words or so they say." Tri furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, 'What does he mean, he's being cryptic. I wonder..' He formed the Ram seal and flushed his system with chakra.
Sure enough an illusion dissipated revealing a lengthy mud wall to his right, with the stone buildings to his left he was boxed in at the end of a makeshift tunnel around 15ft wide. Both sides he also noticed were lined with explosive tags.
"You see, Tri. The way to beat you is to get you to stand still," Itachi called over to him as he placed himself at the 'exit' to his tunnel. "You were so focused on not looking me in the eyes even going so far as to close your own eyes to search me out. It made using non-ocular Genjutsu much easier. I built the mud wall as my clone launched you into the wall. The tags were to get you into a position where I could finish the wall and trap you."
Tri was unmoved as Itachi explained further. "But illusions won't beat you, nor Taijutsu so that leaves only Ninjutsu but again your speed allows you a great of deal of freedom in regards to dodging. Now, however, you can't dodge my Jutsu without meeting my explosive tags."
"Seems the Uchiha has gotten the best of your kid, Minato," Rasa commented. The Hokage was too busy watching on to pay him any heed.
"So what do you think, is it over?" Fū asked Naruto sat next to her. "I'm not sure, Tri always has a plan B but Itachi's plan seemed to have worked perfectly."
"Well Gaki, if you were ever going to show me that you learnt something, now's the time," muttered the figure watching from Suna.
"See, it's over. He should concede before Itachi ends up doing some permanent damage," Fugaku arrogantly declared drawing a deep scowl from Rezano which the Uchiha clan head noticed. "Sorry kid but that's just how it is. He's good I'll admit but we've already seen he can't beat Itachi's Ninjutsu."
"Then I suggest you keep watching," Hiruzen snapped back. "Oh? Know something we don't, Sensei?" asked Tsunade. He turned to face her with a grin, "Of course, did you really think Tri wouldn't have something to counter Itachi's Ninjutsu."
Tri, who had been silent since discovering the Genjutsu started to chuckle, slowly the volume increased. Finally he threw his head back and laughed deeply, there was the slightest maniacal edge to his laughter. He also started clapping, "Well played Itachi, well played. You came in with a plan and executed it brilliantly… But."
"While it is correct that you've forced me to remain stationary, it has the double-edged sword effect of making you stationary too. And thus my plan also comes to completion. But alas, I agree Itachi. It is time to end this."
Both immediately began calling on vast amounts of their remaining chakra, both holding the Tiger seal whilst doing so. Hiruzen took note, "This is it, hold on to something."
Itachi finished preparing chakra first, he wove the horse hand-seal, "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku!" (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation) Itachi released a sea of flames wide enough the completely fill the distance between the mud wall and stone buildings.
Fugaku was in shock, "My son, how has he learnt the pinnacle of Katon at such a young age!?" Mikoto was wearing a small smug smile but said nothing. Hiruzen, however, was unconcerned, "Keep watching, he's almost ready," he said as he watched what looked like steam coming from Tri's mouth and nostrils.
Despite the wall of flames bearing down on him, Tri continued kneading more chakra. Finally he began his hand-seals ending with Tiger. First taking a deep breath he spoke, "Shakuton: Kami Hi Kaze no Jutsu." (Scorch Release: Divine Fire Wind Technique)
Everyone's jaws dropped as Itachi's sea of flames was met by a howling firestorm as the two Jutsu slammed together. With the flames hemmed in on both sides it had nowhere to go but up as the two walls of combating fire pushed against one another, each seeking dominance over the other. The combined heat thrown off by their clashing Jutsu had many in the crowd holding their hands in front of their faces in a vain attempt to shield themselves.
It started slowly but began building up a head of steam, Tri's Shakuton powered Jutsu started pushing Itachi's back. The Uchiha realised he had a huge problem, 'What in the name of Kami is this Jutsu, the most powerful Katon Jutsu known can't hold it.' He began thinking, desperately looking for something, anything that would help.
The seconds passed and the firestorm drew ever closer as Itachi had an idea. 'That's a terrible idea but it's all I've got.' He cancelled his Jutsu and formed the Seal of Confrontation. "Here goes nothing," he said aloud as he triggered all his remaining explosive tags. The detonations shattered the mud wall and buildings, it also completely destabilised both Jutsu.
*BOOM!*
The resulting explosion was absolutely enormous as the built up power behind both Jutsu was released in an instant. It was strong enough to rock the stadium and parts of Kumo. Every window in the arena shattered as the shockwave hit. The overwhelming heat was thrown up into the crowd as debris was thrown clean out of the stadium to land on roofs and streets surrounding the arena.
The dust and smoke thrown up completely shrouded the arena as it plumed into the sky through the open roof, spectators could barely see one another much less the competitors. And it was clearing incredibly slowly, so slowly that Minato waited no longer and jumped down to clear it himself.
"Fūton: Reppūshō," a single powerful clap of his palms sent another plume skywards. He was quickly joined by others as Kushina and Mikoto jumped down. "Tri-chan!"
"Itachi-chan!" shouted both the concerned mothers. Naruto had a look of shock, Fū's bottom jaw had dropped while Kurotsuchi was wide-eyed. The other Kage stared on in wide-eyed amazement. Rezano and Sasuke looked on the verge of tears.
It was still difficult for the audience to see much of anything but they could hear, "TSUNADE, SHIZUNE, GET DOWN HERE NOW!" Minato shouted as he released another Fūton Jutsu to clear more of the persistent debris hanging in the air.
The two Medic nin were on the ground in moments as the arena floor finally cleared revealing the utter devastation wrought. Itachi's mud wall and the stone buildings had been utterly flattened along with what remained of the trees which by now had been reduced to cinders. The sand in the ground had been turned to glass under the immense heat giving it a slight reflective quality. The arena walls were riddled with pockmarks with a large crater on either side.
Beneath either crater was the still body of each competitor, the explosion had catapulted both of them into the wall with frightening speed. Shizune and Mikoto were immediately by Itachi's side while Kushina and Tsunade were by Tri's. Both medics' immediately set to work.
"Don't worry Mikoto-sama, he's alive." As her scan continued she began listed off injuries. "Concussion, Skull fracture, Shoulder Blade fracture, Two Broken Ribs, Internal Bleeding, Broken Finger."
Meanwhile Tsunade was doing the same for Tri, "Concussion, Fractured Eye socket, Fractured Shoulder Blade, Broken Collar Bone, Five Broken Ribs, Internal Bleeding, Cracked Pelvis."
Kumo medical teams quickly joined them both and they set to work stabilising them. And as the seconds turned into minutes both were successfully stabilised.
Genma, Hiruzen and Gai were re-joined by Kushina and Mikoto who moved to Rezano and Sasuke. "Don't worry, they'll both be ok," they reassured them. "When Naruto-chan's fight is over, we'll go see them, ok?" Kushina added, she got two mute nods in reply. "Hiruzen-sama. Why didn't you tell us Tri-chan had a Kekkai Genkai?" she inquired taking Minusha back from Genma. "Truth be told I still don't know whether he does. Nothing in his bloodwork suggests he has inherited one. But since we don't know his ancestry, it remains a possibility."
"Genma-kun, has he ever displayed something like this before?"
"No, Gai-kun. Only Katon, Fūton and Suiton, all of which he has affinities for." Kushina was visibly shocked by Genma's words, "Three af-affinities?" Genma and Gai awkwardly looked anywhere but at her, "Did you not know that?" asked a confused Mikoto. When she didn't get a reply the Uchiha mistress continued her questions, "What about Naruto-san?"
"He has affinities in Suiton, Doton and Fūton," Genma answered. "Doton? He has my and Minato's affinities but where has Doton come from?" Genma simply shrugged.
"You mean you've never seen him do that before?"
"No, Fū-san, I've never seen Tri do that before, I'd never even heard of Shakuton before just now," Naruto replied still in a state of shock and awe at his teammate's display. "Can't say that's too much a surprise. Shakuton is incredibly rare, rarer than my Yoton. I've heard there's only one Shinobi in the world who has Shakuton."
"Mm, the Suna Kunoichi called Pakura," Fū added.
"Wait, Pakura!" Naruto exclaimed, startling Fū slightly. "You know her?"
"Know her? I've met her.. Well kinda but her and Tri have met."
"When?" asked a somewhat intrigued Kurotsuchi. "Months ago when we were on a mission to Sunagakure. Tri already knew who she was because of her Bingo book entry."
"So he would have known about her Shakuton Kekkai Genkai beforehand, intriguing." With that she stood from her seat and went to lean against the railing to await the Proctors call.
For nearly ten minutes the medical teams worked tirelessly getting them to a state where they could be safely moved to the hospital.
As they were stretchered away Tsunade joined Minato, A and C who were deep in conversation. "Well Tsunade-sama, will either be able to compete again?"
"Absolutely not, while their injuries were serious, they weren't immediately life-threatening but they'll likely be in the hospital for several days at least. In addition to all their major injuries, Itachi is suffering from chakra exhaustion and Tri has numerous burns across his body. Thankfully, however, both will make full recoveries."
"That's good to hear but what happens now, Raikage-sama? We're going to have a final with only one fit competitor."
"I don't see any other choice, C. We'll have to make the second semi-final into the actual final." Minato nodded his agreement. "Very well, I'll announce it to the crowd."
He walked to the centre of the arena. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the previous bout between Uchiha Itachi and Uzumaki Tri is to be declared a draw. In addition, neither competitor is medically able to contest the final. Subsequently the second semi-final between Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto and Kurotsuchi will now become the grand-final. We will begin momentarily."
The crowd seemed to take the news relatively well with only a few murmurs of discontent, not that they had any other choice.
As the two Kage returned to their seats and Tsunade left with the medical staff C surveyed the arena. The arena floor had been utterly flattened, the trees, buildings were all gone. A hole in the ground signifying where the pond had once been, all the water had been evaporated. C himself had jumped up the arena wall to keep himself away from their final Jutsu clash. 'Those kids are something else, they really did a number on this place and each other. And now we're down to two.'
"Kurotsuchi and Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto, to the arena floor."
"You gonna be alright on your own, Fū-san?" Naruto asked, Kurotsuchi having already vaulted the railing. "Yes, I'll be fine Naruto-san." He inclined his head in understanding and leapt over the railing after his final opponent.
He landed to find her already in position, staring at him, a smug looking grin plastered on her face. "What's got you so happy?" he replied with a grin of his own. "Well. How better to prove myself than by beating the son of the Namikaze Minato in the final of a Chūnin Exams." Naruto cocked his head slightly in confusion, "There's no need to prove yourself in this match, I'd say you already had."
She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to decide whether he was poking fun at her. "Besides, you're assuming you can actually beat me."
'Ok, now he's poking fun at me,' she thought. "I hope you don't get too upset being beaten by a girl," she mocked which brought another look of confusion from Naruto. "Why would that matter? Whether the Shinobi is Male or Female is irrelevant. If you beat me, it'll be because you had the better match or were simply the stronger."
Kurotsuchi couldn't think of a way to reply so Naruto did it for her. "Besides, do you think my Kaa-chan would tolerate any nonsense from Tou-san simply because of her gender. Or Tsunade-sama-sensei for that matter, anyone daft enough to try that has a very short remaining lifespan to ponder their mistake," he joked.
Kushina couldn't help but smile at her son's attitude. While sexism wasn't as major an issue as it once was, it still persisted in the attitudes of some, civilians more so than Shinobi.
"So. Are you two ready now or did you wish to continue your friendly chat?" Earning him a pair of glares from the Genin. C shook it off, "Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto, ready?"
"Hai."
"Kurotsuchi, ready?" This time a silent nod was the reply. "Competitors ready, to the winner goes the tournament. Hajime!"
Neither wasted a fraction of a second, both flashing through hand-seals.
"Suiton: Teppōdama." (Water Release: Gunshot)
"Yoton: Sekkaigyō no Jutsu." (Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique)
The two Jutsu clashed and fell to the ground as a rapidly hardening mass but neither stopped there. "Suiton: Teppōdama," another ball of water forced Kurotsuchi to roll to her left and continue rolling as Naruto fired shot after shot of high-velocity water. For each roll she made, she placed a delayed fuse smoke bomb. After her fifth roll they all detonated. The blonde soon lost his opponent in the dark cloud.
He wasn't waiting long for her counter-attack, "Suiton: Mizurappa." (Water Release: Water Trumpet) This time it was Naruto having to roll away from the Jutsu as the jet of water slammed into the ground he'd vacated. Kurotsuchi had jumped before firing thus claiming the high-ground even if only for a few moments. She used the time she had remaining to throw a flurry of shuriken and kunai. Naruto drew one of his tantō to block and deflect those he couldn't dodge, despite his best efforts he was still on the receiving end of one or two scratches. He took note of the smallest dribble of blood rising from the minuscule cut.
He couldn't help but chuckle, "Well, that's first blood to you." She gave him a disgustingly sweet smile, "and it won't be the last drop I spill today." Before another word could be said Naruto charged forward, tantō still in hand.
Kurotsuchi's speciality was in Ninjutsu, her bloodline lent itself incredibly well to it. And while she had a little-defined muscle mass, it was used to help her disengage from close range engagements and get distance between herself and her opponent. And that's exactly what was happening, Naruto threw punches, kicks and jabbed, slashed with his tantō and everything missed.
'Gah, again an opponent with more agility than me,' Naruto bemoaned as Kurotsuchi successfully got out of his Taijutsu range. She didn't wait before turning it back to a Ninjutsu battle again. "Doton: Doryūsō," he was forced to backpedal rapidly as the phalanx of sharpened spikes made a reappearance. "Doton: Doryūheki," Naruto brought the march of earthen stakes to a standstill as the mud wall halted them. He wasn't safe for long, however, as the spikes simply went around the wall forcing Naruto to jump on top of his barrier.
'And now I'm surrounded,' thought Naruto as he tried to think of a way out of his predicament. "To have a Raiton affinity right now, something to smash through the mud spik…. Oh that'd do it." He withdrew a few kunai, explosive tags attached. He threw them in the shape of an arc in front of him, the explosions blew apart the spikes caught in the blast radius. Kurotsuchi made to replace the destroyed spikes but Naruto kept casting more explosive kunai and then he jumped.
Kurotsuchi was taken aback by his leaping into the air. 'What is he doing?' she wondered. As he began to fall back to earth he pulled back his fist, 'I can't put much power into this as I'd like but it should be enough.' "That looks worryingly familiar," Kakashi remarked.
With the ground rapidly approaching Naruto let fly, the exact moment he connected with the ground he unleashed all the chakra built up in his fist. The effect was immediate as the ground cracked and buckled under the strain. Kurotsuchi was thrown to the ground as the previously stable earth beneath her fragmented and shook as if it an earthquake had struck. Parts collapsed while others were thrown upwards.
By the shakings end, the formerly flat terrain was covered with changes in elevation. Both Naruto and Kurotsuchi moved to claim higher ground in their own halves of the field. "The legendary technique of Senju Tsunade, impressive."
"Thank you," Naruto grinned, "although it was an unfinished version with only a fraction of the power. The real deal does far more damage than this."
Kurotsuchi didn't speak again, she instead pulled two scrolls from the pouch on her hip. Opening both she channelled chakra into them, opening them. Water shot out of both as she cast them into the deepest parts of the arena she could find. 'Now what are you planning?' wondered an intrigued but on edge Naruto meanwhile Ōnoki was sporting a wide grin, 'The boy has no idea'.
Kurotsuchi made no attempts to move thus neither did Naruto, he was still trying to figure out her plan of action as the water level began to rise. Naruto spared a moment to take in his surroundings, the chunk of rock and dirt he was stood on rose several feet higher up than any other, he'd have to move nearly 15ft to reach the next point of similar height. 'Is she trying to trap me? Why use water if she is?'
He was dragged out of his thoughts by the sound of shuriken cutting through the air. He ducked under the first and jumped high into the air to dodge the rest. Seeing her chance Kurotsuchi revealed the next stage in her plan. "Yoton: Yōkai no Jutsu," (Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique) she unleashed a huge stream of scolding hot lava into the air. It wasn't high enough to reach Naruto but it was wide enough to carpet almost half the arena floor. As well as covering what remained of the ground it also covered and sealed in the rising water level.
Naruto had managed to get about 25ft into the air before gravity took hold once more, pulling back towards the ground and the layer of waiting lava. With no tagged kunai left in the arena to Kawarimi with Naruto improvised, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." A clone popped into existence next to him, grabbing him by the arm the clone spun him around several times before letting go. Naruto flew through the air and finally found the arena side wall.
Using chakra to hold himself there he was still confused by what Kurotsuchi was doing. "First water and then lava. But they'll only cancel each other out, right?" he quietly said to himself as he watched his clone fall into the lava, immediately dispelling. He took another glance at her, she was grinning. "Well whatever her plan is, I'm still playing into it. Might be her end-game though, she's looking tired."
*Thud*
"What was that?" Naruto muttered looking around and finding nothing.
*Thud*
"There it is again, it sounds like a door slamming underground," Naruto was baffled by the sudden emergence of the noises. Then he heard the hissing. He looked down at the ground as it began contorting, rocks rising and falling.
*BOOM!*
Hardly a moment passed before the ground seemed to vanish in a huge explosion. Rock, lava and a huge cloud of steam were thrown into the air. It wasn't as big an explosion as in the previous match but the side of the arena Naruto found himself in was engulfed.
Kushina held her hand over her mouth at the prospect of another child being seriously injured within an hour. Minato again found himself gripping the armrests of his chair to stop himself from jumping down once more. Thankfully this time the cloud of dust cleared rather quickly revealing a crater encompassing nearly a third of the now destroyed arena. The hole was partially filled with rubble with small pools of cooling water and lava.
And standing on the edge of the crater was a battered and bloodied Naruto. He was breathing heavily, his outfit sported numerous rips, burns and singes. Even some of his hair had been singed away.
The look he was giving her was a mixture of annoyance and awe. "Whatever that was, that was awesome. What did you do?" She had just tried to blow him to pieces yet here he was excitedly asking her how she'd done it. Nevertheless she explained it to him, "I covered the rising water with lava which flash boiled it. But since the steam was trapped under the lava the pressure built and built before eventually exploding."
"Well exploding is right, damn near did a number on me."
"Not nearly enough though, how did you escape being steam-boiled?" Naruto lightly chuckled at her question. "Truthfully I don't know, luck perhaps. Anyway your gambit seems to have failed, you're running on empty."
"Ha! I could say the same of you," she retorted.
"True," Naruto conceded, "However, I am an Uzumaki."
He formed the clone hand-seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Next to him, a single clone appeared. Naruto held out his hand to the clone, the clone held both of its hands over the originals. Slowly at first a swirling blue mass sparked to life in his hand.
The gasps from across the crowd were evident and in the Kage box as Minato's eyes again attempted a bid for freedom. 'Tsunade's Taijutsu was one thing but the Rasengan!' he shouted in his head as the blue mass developed into an orb of chakra.
Kurotsuchi was mesmerised by the first of the Yondaime Hokage's two legendary techniques. Her gaze was so transfixed that she never noticed what was happening around her.
*SMACK*
Kurotsuchi was absolutely floored by something but before she could rise again she felt a blade against her throat. "What the.." Kneeling over her was another Naruto, his tantō held against her neck. A few moments later there was a light bang, she looked over in time to see the two Naruto's performing the Rasengan dispel.
"Ah great…" Kurotsuchi moaned, the realisation that she'd lost dawning on her. She sighed, "Proctor… I.. concede…" the disappointment evident in her voice. The tantō was withdrawn as Naruto placed a glowing green hand against the jaw he'd just uppercutted. She was about to complain before the words died in her throat as the pain subsided.
Both were silent for a few moments, Kurotsuchi eventually broke it, "How did you do it?"
"When your lava/ water combination went off; Very nice by the way. My being on the wall meant almost all of the explosion missed me. Under the shroud I created a clone and had it masquerade as me while I tunnelled towards you. And while you were fully focused on the Rasengan I popped up from the ground and clocked you on the jaw."
"You mean the Rasengan was nothing more than a distraction."
"Yep, it was a bluff too. I can't do it properly yet."
"You what?! Your final play was a bluff?"
"Total bluff. I've got the first two steps down but I couldn't complete the third in time for this tournament."
Kurotsuchi didn't know whether she should laugh or cry at falling for such a thing. She settled on a sombre chuckle as the pain in her jaw ceased. "You alright to walk?" he asked offering her a hand. She looked at his hand then gave him an accusing gaze. "Unless you'd like me to carry you to the hospital," he teased.
She quickly looked away as she took his hand, pulling her to her feet and as he did C officially ended the match.
"Winner by concession and winner of this year's Chūnin Exams, Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto." The Konoha section exploded in cheers of celebration as the Iwa section lamented being denied victory by a Namikaze yet again. As C spoke, Naruto, still holding her hand raised their joined hands above them to renewed cheers. "I was right you know."
"Huh?"
"You are really interesting," he replied letting go of her hand as she again looked away, this time with a twinge of red atop her cheeks. It was then they were escorted away by the medics.
Up in another of the enclosed VIP viewing boxes a middle-aged man called his attendant to him. The attendant moved to stand next to his side and leant forward. "This one too?" the attendant inquired. The man nodded, "Hai, this one too."
"Very well, I will extend an offer at an appropriate time."
The images were garbled in the extreme, he couldn't distinguish anything with clarity. Just vague shapes with blotches of colour.
The sounds weren't any better. He could tell someone was speaking, screaming, crying? But nothing else, even the volume of whatever was transpiring was corrupted beyond his ability to decrypt.
The images while incomprehensible still held colour but even that wasn't lasting. A blinding white light, which seemingly created from nothing grew in intensity to the point where all other colours drained away to be replaced with blank nothingness.
Then it ended.
Tri groggily opened his eyes, his vision slowly refocused and adjusted to the bright light above him. 'That dream again, it's still no clearer than any of the other times,' he pondered. Tri had experienced this dream multiple times over the past two years. Each time it was the same, he couldn't clearly see or hear anything and it always ended with the bright white light which without fail woke him each and every time.
He took in the room around him. He was lying in a bed, a small bedside cabinet on one side, an IV drip on the other that led into his right arm. The walls were painted entirely a dull white except for a horizontal line of worn green about one-third of the way up the wall. The ceiling seemed like an even duller white with several long rectangular lights with slow-spinning ceiling fans in between. "Yep, I'm in a hospital," he whispered to himself.
He tried to sit up but got nowhere, the pain in his ribs flaring. "Ok then, I'm not going anywhere." He flexed his extremities, 'Eight fingers, two thumbs, ten toes.. I think. Means my arms and legs are there.' Next he tried raising an arm to his head, he managed it but it was difficult, all the muscles were stiff and ached. He moved his fingers from one side of his face to the other. 'Ok, an ear, the nose is all there, two eyes and the other ear.' He ran his tongue around his mouth confirming all his teeth were still present.
His physical checks finished he looked back at the ceiling. "Well now what, this is really boring." It was as if Kami was listening in because the doors opened as soon as he'd finished speaking.
He tilted his head to the side as his family walked in. "Nii-chan!" squealed an excited Rezano who rushed to his brother's bedside. "Hey Imouto, have you been good for Kaa-chan?" Tri smiled. "Yeah I have!" he cheered. "Don't be too loud Rezano-chan. Itachi-san's still asleep." Kushina lightly chided her youngest son. He covered his mouth with his hand as if he'd said something rude, "Sorry Kaa-chan."
"How do you feel, Tri-chan?"
"Terrible, Kaa-chan" Tri laughed, "Everything aches and I can barely move."
"Tsunade-sama said you'd be like that when you woke. She and Shizune-san spent the better part of an hour pouring medical chakra into you and Itachi-san to deal with your major injuries. You really did a number on each other."
Tri took a moment to take in her words, "Wait, how long have I been out?"
"Nearly a day," Naruto said. Everything went silent for a few moments before Naruto spoke again. "Tri, I think I speak for all of us when I ask you. Why and how do you know Shakuton?"
"It was shortly after we graduated from the Academy. I was training my chakra control when I made a spur of the moment decision to see what would happen if I tried to meld a tiny amount of Katon and Fūton chakra together. And to my surprise it didn't immediately destabilise and blow up."
"So what happened?" asked an intrigued Minato. "It destabilised after about a second and then blew up," Tri replied with a laugh. "So you've spent the last year or so learning to control Shakuton?" the Yondaime enquired. Tri laughed heartily at his question which got him a few confused looks.
"Sorry," Tri said, "But control? I barely kept it stable. As for learning it, yes I've spent the past year practising, especially the month leading up to the tournament. But as good as my chakra control is, it wasn't something I could do alone so I sought advice from the only person in the world who could help me."
"Who is?" Kushina asked but it was Naruto who answered. "Pakura of the Shakuton."
"When did you even have a chance to meet her?" Minato next asked, surprised he'd know such a renowned and dangerous Kunoichi, again it was Naruto who answered. "When you sent us to Sunagakure, Tou-san. We met Pakura at the village's entrance. But I heard every word of your conversation, Shakuton was never mentioned."
"The Bingo Book, Naruto."
"You henged a shadow clone into one. You said something about it being against the rules to show a foreign Shinobi Konoha's Bingo Book." Tri's smile turned into a grin. "While that is technically true, Sunagakure is an ally so such rules are for the most part suspended or ignored."
"So why did you Henge the clone then?"
"So I could have a second conversation without anyone knowing. The first page was indeed her Bingo Book entry, the second page was a written request asking her to meet me in private at some point. She even gave me her answer without you knowing, if she'd have refused she'd have thrown the henged book back to me."
"So that's where you disappeared to!" exclaimed an understanding Naruto.
"Yep, I asked her how she stabilises her Shakuton which helped greatly. But how we make it is totally different, she uses a Katon, Fūton mixture of 2:1 . Mine is the reverse."
"Which is what made it so unstable, Fūton is incredibly difficult to control," added Minato. "Hai, Tou-san. When Itachi detonated his explosive tags it removed what little control I had and well, you saw what happened next."
"So who won?" the bedridden Uzumaki asked suddenly. "I did," Naruto sheepishly replied. "You don't seem to happy about it."
"It's just, if you or Itachi had been able to contest the final, I don't think I'd have won." Tri shook his head, "Doesn't matter. In a real-world situation I and Itachi would've killed one another and you'd have still been the only one left standing at the end."
"He's right Naruto-chan, the Chūnin Exam is unique, every other time it'll be a real combat situation," Kushina added.
"So how much longer will Tsunade-sama-sensei have me cooped up in here for?"
[1] Suiton: Mizurappa is actually two completely separate techniques (Water Trumpet/ Wild Water Wave). They share the same Romaji name, chakra nature and hand-seals.