Author's note: I don't own any of the characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The original characters belong to me.

Chapter 33: Strategy Comes First

Inside the Hokage Monument, the Village Hidden in the Leaves

Having just witnessed the match between Kimiko and Kotone, Nashiko was very surprised to see Kimiko being beaten and so were Menma and Shunsuke. In fact, the pinkette admitted that she was starting to feel worried about facing the red-haired girl in combat, not because of her blade, but because of Kotone's perceptiveness in combat. This made her feel at unease.

"If I ever get chosen to battle this Kotone, it will be a big challenge" Nashiko noted in her head. But there existed a hidden determination beyond her fears. "I must improve my thinking of strategy. Charging forwards like some idiot won't be of great use to me in combat" she realized, as her head was filled with many thoughts.

Shunsuke could notice how concerned Nashiko was and the raven-haired boy admitted that he felt the same. "Nashiko's probably worried about fighting either Minami or Kotone. But who am I worried to stand up against, except for my brother?" he wondered in his head. Shunsuke realized that he would have to wait before jumping to conclusions. "It will have to wait. But then again, Itachi is the one I worry about fighting against" he added with unease, considering that he had watched the fight between Takeda and Minami and how the match ended.

"This must be difficult for Nashiko and Shunsuke to come to terms with" Menma noted in his head while noticing the reactions on his students. "I must begin to consider my way of guiding them, even though it won't be an easy task" he added to his thoughts, realizing his duties as a jounin.

The giant screen began switching names and all eyes were focused on it once more. But considering that there weren't many combatants left, the switching ended quickly. Saburou and Hisoka were given a surprise by what they saw on the giant screen.

HISOKA SADO

VS

SABUROU ABURAME

Saburou had no comment to this. He was about to jump down, until the voice of Kazue interrupted him. The blonde-haired boy could see that she felt somewhat concerned for him. He needed to ease her fears.

"Don't worry, Kazue-sensei. I will not underestimate my opponent" he assured her and took a brief glance at Minami, who had her arms crossed while having her eyes shut. Nevertheless, Saburou didn't expect her to care and quickly ignored her as a whole. "Wish me luck, sensei" he added to the white-haired woman.

Although Kazue was unsure about this match, she couldn't help but to put a smirk on her face. Among her students, Saburou was someone who took her guidance seriously enough. Therefore, she had no reason to doubt his abilities.

"Very well. May fortune smile upon you, Saburou" she told him with an encouraging smile.

Saburou returned the favor by doing the exact same thing, before jumping from the tribunal. He landed on the floor, waiting for his opponent.

Over at Team Hideki, Hisoka was getting ready for his match. Guy wished him luck, but the boy with dreadlocks seemed to ignore him. Furthermore, he didn't even bother saying something to Hideki, as he was leaning against the wall with his eyes shut, not that he expected him to at least care. Guy eventually understood that he was alone now, considering that Kimiko was not here to support his mood. All that remained was the seriousness coming from the two Sados.

Before jumping from the tribunal, Hisoka cracked his knuckles. "I will end this match quickly. Don't even dare interrupt me!" he said to his teacher and comrade.

The brown-haired man stared at Hisoka with dispassion, as he couldn't stand his attitude. "Always so arrogant and cold during a fight, as usual" he noted lowly. He suddenly fixed a smile on his face. "But do your best, Hisoka!" he said while giving him a thumb.

Unfortunately, the young boy with dreadlocks only give him a cold shoulder, indicating that he was not interested in any encouragements from a teammate. While Guy was struggling to come to terms with the black-skinned boy's cold attitude, Hideki could care less and only snickered lowly.

"Just do what you're supposed to do, punk" the muscular man with black hair said to himself lowly. But he was not finished yet. "And don't even think about me cuddling you in case you lose this match!" he added with steel in his voice.

Hisoka grunted in return. "Fine by me, I never expected you to cheer for me anyways!" he said to Hideki before turning his back on him. "And by the way, I always know when to win or lose a match. So don't go lecturing me about what's right or wrong….uncle" he said determined and jumped from the tribunal.

Guy was surprised by hearing Hisoka address their sensei with that word. "I thought he always hated addressing you like that, Hideki-sensei. Care to explain why he did that just now?" he asked him.

But the brown-haired boy could see his teacher in deep thoughts at the moment, making his attempts to gain answers from him fruitless. There was something to what Hisoka just said, that began bothering the muscular jounin at the moment. Surprisingly, Hideki grinned with pleasure.

"Uncle….it's been a while since you last said that word to me, boy" he noted in his thoughts. "What caused you to say it?" he wondered.

Hisoka stood a few meters away from his opponent, who adjusted his sunglasses. Many were actually optimistic about this match, considering that both boys had very calculating personalities and were very perceptive in combat. But could Saburou match up against Team Hideki's strongest fighter? There was no answer to that at the moment, as everyone just had to wait and see the results.

Udon gave them the green light after saying the word "begin" and Hisoka was the first to make the move. He quickly activated his Kekkei Genkai. "Kaminaraigan!" he said and his eyes changed. Thanks to these, he could actually see what was inside of his blonde-haired opponent. "What the hell…bugs" he said lowly.

By hearing this, Saburou shrugged his shoulders. "I take it those eyes of yours can see through a human body, correct?" he asked him and suddenly ran straight towards him. Hisoka remained calm and readied his battle stance. "I guess I will have to make the first move, physically! Insect Clone Jutsu!" he said and all of a sudden, a clone appeared running beside him.

"That's not a shadow clone!" Hisoka noted in his head. "He made it with the bugs dwelling inside of him!" he added and made a few hand seals. After doing it, lighting enveloped on his hands, and they grew powerful. "Lightning Style: Thunderbolt!" he exclaimed and fired the bolts simultaneously.

His attack caused chunks of dust to cover the area, and it was impossible for those on the tribunals to see what was going on. Tsunade were amazed by what she saw, as were Naruto and the other adults.

"That boy is indeed destructive" the Hokage noted wile seeing the dust settling. "This will be a battle of perceptiveness" she added to her words.

Hisoka stood among the rubbles, watching carefully for his opponent to show himself. There was dust covering all sides of him, but he remained on guard. When he could see a silhouette lurking near him, Hisoka immediately responded by delivering a punch.

"Hah, I see you, fool!" the black-skinned boy taunted as his fist hit the silhouette. But it surprised him, because he couldn't feel a thing. Only chunks of dust were left in the wake of his fist flying. Knowing that it was a trick, Hisoka immediately refocused his attention on every direction around him. The young boy was caught by surprise, when Saburou and his insect clone appeared from each side to tackle him. "Damn! They're fast!" Hisoka cursed as the two tackled him together.

"Iron Tackle!" both Saburous shouted together as they sent the black-skinned boy flying away from them. However, he quickly landed on his feet while sliding, indicating that he managed to withstand his attack. Hisoka smirked and spit out blood before standing up on his feet. Saburou remained cautious about his opponent. "Obviously, he seems to have a remarkable talent in durability. I foolishly underestimated him" he thought in his head.

The dust cleared and everyone could see how the match was going. Hisoka quickly readied his stance once again. "Using the dusts I created with my attack to tackle me. You must be a talented brainy to be able to pull that on me" he said to his blonde-haired opponent. "But enough fooling around, this time, I will get dangerous!" he added to make sure that Saburou could hear it.

Saburou adjusted his sunglasses. "Actually, that is something I should say to you" he said lowly and reached out his right hand, pointing his finger towards his opponent. "You probably wondered how I was able to detect you amidst the dusts. Just look at your left arm, underneath your sleeve" he said to Hisoka.

The boy with dreadlocks got confused, but decided to take a brief look at his arm. But before he could move up his sleeve, he could see small insects crawling out of it and onto his hand. It really shocked him. Hisoka faced Saburou outraged.

"You punk, when the hell did you plant these nasty things on me!?" he demanded an answer to this.

Surprisingly, Saburou smirked in return, something he rarely did with his opponents. His insect clone began disintegrating and the bugs that formed it quickly crawled back to him. "While the dust covered this area, I used my insect clone to lure you into punching it. And yes, you did manage to hit it, but a portion of the bugs that composed of it jumped over to your hand the moment you launched your attack" he explained to Hisoka, who was now beginning to realize how foolishly he had acted with regards to this.

"That boy ain't kidding. Those bugs of his are completely obedient of him. They also act as his eyes and ears in addition to being his weapons" Hisoka noted in his head. However, he forced a smug look on his face, indicating that he was intending to continue the match. "Hey bugboy, this surname of yours: Aburame. Is it true that they are all born with insects living inside of them?" he mockingly asked him.

Saburou raised an eyebrow at this. "Just what are you talking about? Your sense of information on my clan is misguided. Insects don't live within us, but we are given insects to breed them the moment we are born" he clarified on his information and readied his stance by pointing his sleeved hands towards him. "If you want a demonstration to how it works, I will gladly show you" he said and before everyone knew it, swarms of bugs began sprouting out from his sleeves.

Seeing the swarms fly straight towards him, Hisoka knew that he had to act but not with the help of lighting-based jutsus. He felt shocked by their speed and he was too slow to come up with a counterattack. The swarms of insects completely overwhelmed him. But the black-skinned boy tried to fight them off.

"Those things are everywhere!" he expressed frustration while trying to fend off his small adversaries.

While seeing his opponent in distress, Saburou did a few hand seals, intending on increasing the growth of his swarming insects. "Hidden Jutsu: Insect Cocoon!" he said and his chakra took hold over his body.

"Saburou is trying to overwhelm him as far as I can understand" Kazue noted. She then fixed a smirk on her face. "It's just like many people say, Saburou is the spitting image of his father, even though they have differences" she added while musing to herself.

Hideki had only opened one eye to see how Hisoka was doing in his match. He snickered by what he could see. "Hah, being made an ass of himself by mere bugs. How embarrassing" he remarked in his head. But he soon formed a sarcastic grin across his face. "It's true that the Aburames are indeed dangerous foes….but so are Sados" he added to his thoughts.

Guy was feeling concerned, and could only watch his teammate being enclosed by the swarms of insects. "Hisoka…..are you" he said lowly, not knowing how to respond.

Realizing that Hisoka was not gonna give in to him, Saburou knew that he had to take drastic measures. "It seems that I must make him realize what true despair looks like" he remarked and did a hand seal to change the tactics of his bugs. "This will make him feel lost! Hidden Jutsu: Beetle Sphere!" he called out to his bugs.

Before Hisoka knew it, all the insects surrounding him covered his entire body. Everyone was starting in awe as Saburou managed to pull a dangerous technique like that on his opponent. They could also see Hisoka just standing still.

"Woah, I didn't expect Saburou to be that ruthless in combat" Naruto noted.

Shikamaru only scoffed at him. "Ya think? It's obvious that he's planning on forcing Hisoka to submit defeat. But I doubt that the kid will survive. Those bugs are sucking his chakra out from his body" he explained.

All eyes were on Hisoka, who was still standing still with all the insects feeding on his body. As most of them wanted to believe that he was finished, they were too early to conclude the match's end.

Out of nowhere, bolts of lightning could be seen beside Hisoka, and without warning, a big explosion erupted from where he stood. This explosion of lightning caused all the bugs to die and wither to death, much to Saburou's shock. Everyone was awed by seeing Hisoka standing there, almost unharmed, with a powerful chakra covering his body.

The black-skinned boy smirked as his Kaminaraigan were focused on Saburou, who had most certainly not predicted this to happen. "That's much better! Those things were beginning to become a giant pain in my ass! Too bad they couldn't withstand my lightning" he said lowly and began readying his stance once more, his chakra cloak becoming stronger by the minute. "I've had enough of watching you playing with your bugs. Now, it's time I take this match seriously" he added with a taunt directed at his blonde-haired opponent.

Saburou was sweating a little, as he saw how easily Hisoka had managed to take care of the insects that were onto him a few seconds ago. Luckily, he still had many insects left within him. "Damn. He's capable of using chakra cloak! But from what I can see, that's not just any ordinary chakra cloak!" he noted in his head.

Naruto's eyes were filled with realization once he got a look at Hisoka's chakra cloak. "Hey Grandma…is this the…..ya know…" he was at loss of words as he spoke with Tsunade.

She was just as stunned as he was. "Yes. That is without a doubt the Cloak of Lightning, the same jutsu used by the Fourth Raikage: A" she noted lowly and suddenly fixed her eyes upon, as were every other jounin and adults. "The rumors must be true then. The Sado clan had distant blood relations to both the Third and Fourth Raikages. But what caused your clan to be banished from the Hidden Cloud, Hideki?" she wondered in hear head.

"Menma-sensei, what is that?" Nashiko asked her teacher, who was surprised by what he saw.

Shunsuke watched the fight with concern. "It looks like Saburou might have met his match" he noted lowly.

"Perhaps Shunsuke could be right" Menma noted in his head and fixed his eyes upon Hideki. "You've really turned him into a weapon, haven't you?" he wondered.

"This is just as I was expecting" Ayumu noted in his head while seeing the black-skinned boy being empowered with chakra. "Kimiko may have been promising, but Hisoka is without a doubt the strongest of the three students, depending on whether Guy has something to show us" he added to his thoughts.

Even Guy was surprised by this turn of events, although he had seen the Cloak of Lightning from before. "Woah….I wouldn't want to be in Saburou's shoes right now. The moment Hisoka unleashes that technique, he's serious about it…..serious about defeating his opponent!" he noted in his head.

Hisoka took a few steps forward before stopping, indicating that he sought to intimidate his blonde-haired opponent. "Here I come! Prepare for some ass-whopping for making me look like a fool!" he called out and before Saburou knew it, he vanished from his spot.

However, it was only Hisoka's fast speed and he was heading straight towards his opponent, who knew he had to react. "What an incredible speed!" Saburou noted and quickly did some hand seals. "Wall of Insects Jutsu!" he called out and the insects within his body began flying around him, forming a shield. But the blonde-haired boy could see his opponent still heading forwards. "It's a good thing I didn't send all my insects to him. But let's hope this will be enough to withstand that cloak of his" he hoped.

As he could see his opponent using his bugs as a shield, Hisoka only grunted. "Can they also be used as a shield? You lame-ass bitch!" he taunted and proceeded in full speed. He readied his right fist as he neared the shield of insects. "THIS WON'T SAVE YOU FROM MY WRATH, PUNK!" he shouted as he forced himself through the swarm.

Saburou was filled with fear, by seeing his opponent being right before him. Before he could do anything, a punch was delivered on his stomach, and it sent him flying above the floor. Blood was running from his mouth. The boy with sunglasses rolled on the floor, and tried with all his might to stand up on his feet. The bugs quickly came back to his side.

Hisoka only stood there, while cracking his neck and shoulders. He watched as his opponent struggled to withstand the pain, even though he had insects that protected him. "I'm not gonna lie. You do have a good sense of strategy. However, your defense is not strong enough to hold me back" he commented.

Saburou was standing with one feet and one knee. He suddenly coughed out blood, considering how painful it felt to be punched in the guts. "Shit…..I made a serious miscalculation here" he noted in his head while gritting his teeth. He then remembered what his father had said, about not to underestimate the Chuunin Exams. By remembering this, Saburou got more frustrated and irritated. But he slowly formed a smirk across his face. "Perhaps I didn't take your advice seriously enough….father" he added to his thoughts and slowly got up, standing on his two feet.

The black-skinned boy admitted that he felt surprised by seeing Saburou managing to stand on his two feet, but he scoffed at the amount of spirit he had left within him. Hisoka was about to charge at his opponent, until he could see Saburou unleash swarms of insects from his sleeves. They began covering the boy with dreadlocks and eventually formed into a tornado.

Saburou panted as he sent his insects while coughing out blood from his mouth. "This will be my trump card. I know that I haven't practiced much on it, but it better work…just this occasion!" he noted with determination in his voice. "Hidden Jutsu: Beetle Tornado!" he cried out and his bugs began forming a tornado around his opponent.

The tornado caused winds to blow to each and every side and the people at the tribunals could feel how strong they felt. But even though it was powerful, it wasn't enough to hold back Hisoka as he stormed out of the tornado and grabbed Saburou, eventually lifting him up in the air. The blonde-haired boy was too slow to recognize his speed and presence.

Hisoka stood there, while holding his opponent up in the air with his own hands. "THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET REAL IN HERE! NOW FEEL THE THUNDER INSIDE OF YOU!" he roared and he used his chakra cloak to actually electrify his opponent.

Even though he had thousands of bugs living inside of him, Saburou could still feel the enormous amount of pain, and he cried hysterically as he was shocked. Everyone was terrified, wondering whether Hisoka was actually planning on killing the blonde-haired boy. Even Guy was worried that he was doing it.

But Hisoka's chakra cloak disintegrated and he stood still as smokes chunks of smoke came out from Saburou's body. From what everyone could see, the boy with sunglasses was knocked out of his senses, or shocked out to be more specific. The black-skinned boy dropped his opponent on the floor, and he was lying there unconscious. Saburou had even lost his sunglasses and people could see that his eyes were shut.

"You failed to impress me as a whole. However, I salute your way of handling your fighting, as well as your wise tactics. For that, I spare you" Hisoka said to his unconscious opponent before walking away.

Udon had begun studying Saburou's body and he decided to call it quits. "Saburou is in no condition to continue the fight. So winner by knockout: Hisoka Sado" he proclaimed Hisoka the winner, although the black-skinned boy had already jumped back to the tribunal.

"I…..I don't believe it!" Kazue said within herself. "This must be the first time I've seen Saburou lose a match! How…..how could this…." the white-haired woman was interrupted by the voice of Minami, who was still sitting against the wall.

"Don't act so surprised about this, Kazue-sensei. We both know that against someone as monstrous as Hisoka, Saburou had no chance of winning" she said, and Kazue was infuriated and began glaring at her. Minami could notice it and faced her with her bright eyes. "Why are you so upset? Even I would've had challenges with battling Hisoka" she insisted to her.

"It's not about that! Why didn't you so much as support Saburou? Didn't he even deserve something like that!?" she wanted an answer from the young bluenette. "Instead of focusing on your own objectives in the Chuunin Exams, you could've thought about your teammates" she added to her words.

Manami narrowed her bright eyes at her teacher. "My goals for these Exams are my business and mine alone. So you can as we say in the Inuzuka clan: go chase your own tail!" she said with a stern voice.

As much as Kazue just wanted to slap Minami's face for treating her with such disrespect, she knew better than to let her anger get the best of her. However, she chose to completely ignore the bluenette as a while, leaning against the wall with her eyes shut.

As he returned to his team, he was first approached by Guy, who was somewhat relieved to see him survive this match. "Gosh, I almost though that you were gonna get killed by those swarms of insects, Hisoka" he remarked to him. But the brown-haired boy in grey jumpsuit eventually lifted his thumb at him while grinning. "Nevertheless, solid work out there! I might wanna start thinking about planning a strategy in order to defeat you!" he commended him.

The black-skinned boy with dreadlocks only shrugged his shoulders, as he didn't take Guy seriously. "Plan all you want, but you ain't getting close to the level I'm already standing on" he said lowly, and walked past Guy to sit against the wall.

Hideki had nothing to say to him, as he only showed acknowledgment by nodding at him. Even so, Hisoka didn't necessarily seem to care. "Heh…brat" the muscular man with long hair said lowly.

As Saburou was carried by the medics, Tsunade had a discussion with her assistants about what had just transpired. "Kimiko Inoue may not have been what we expected, but Hisoka Sado is indeed one of a kind" she noted lowly to the adults surrounding her.

"Well what do you expect? He's the nephew of Hideki" Shikamaru pointed out, before focusing his gaze on Hinata, who was now standing on her two feet, although she was leaning against the wall. "Hey Hinata, wasn't Hideki just as advanced as Hisoka was during his fights?" he questioned her.

But he could see that she was having her mind on something else. However, she did in fact eye him and forced a slight smile. "Yeah, you could say so" she said lowly and took a brief glance upon Team Hideki. "But even though he was stern, Hideki will always be remembered as a talented student of mine" she added while seeing her former student.

Sai's eyes widened. "That's right, Hideki was also a student of yours how could I forget?" he remarked. But the pale-skinned man was thinking about something else. "I noticed that Hinata was silent throughout the entire match, just like the one between Takeda and Minami. Could it be that she didn't want to choose between her former students?" he wondered in his head.

All eyes were focused on the giant screen as it had already showed them the next round and who the combatants were, considering that it had done so fast. Since there were only two rounds left, switching through names was not necessary.

SHIKAIEN NARA

VS

BUNKO MITARASHI

By seeing this, Bunko formed a smile and stretched her arms up in the air. "Finally it's my turn. I was starting to get sleepy by just standing here all the time" she exclaimed, but she could notice her mother standing beside her. She looked kind of grim. This made her only sigh in irritation. "Fine, I won't kill him, even if he does possess some freaky jutsus. Just take it easy!" she assured her.

By hearing this, Anko formed a smile on her face. "Glad to hear it. I trust you will also show some dignity to him as well. Come on, he's just a boy" she told her daughter, who only rolled his eyes in return.

"Whatever you say, madam" Bunko replied before jumping off from the tribunal.

Shikamaru admitted that he felt somewhat excited in seeing his own son going up against someone like Bunko, and his comrades could tell it by just looking at him. But deep down inside, the he realized that Shikaien had no need for his laziness, as he knew well who Bunko really was.

"The Elite Squadron is composed of jounins, who were all formerly mentored by us when they were genins. Tadeshi was under Naruto's tutelage, while Isamu was of course under my tutelage" he noted in his head. He then took a brief glance at Sasuke, who was still leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. "But Bunko on the other hand…..was one of Sasuke's students…and that is not very surprising given how Sasuke's students were always the elusive ones" he continued with his thoughts.

Sasuke had begun to open his eyes, and he could see his former student standing down in the fighting area. "Bunko…it's been a long time since I last saw you" he thought while seeing the young woman standing ready.

Shikaien was surprised by getting a female opponent. "Wow…..that was…unexpected" the dark blonde-haired boy with ponytail uttered out the words he could muster, before forming his face into that of a smirk. "Well, well, there's no way turning back now" he said while musing to himself.

But his teacher immediately leaned onto him to whisper something, causing Shikaien to only raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Don't let Bunko's girly attitude fool you. She may not look like it, but she's more perceptive than Tadeshi and Isamu combined" Ayumu whispered into his ear.

Despite being told this, Shikaien didn't necessarily seem to care, and he only brushed off his teacher's worries. Nevertheless, he fixed a smug look upon his face. "Thanks for the information, Ayumu-sensei. I'll do my best" he told him before heading down to the fighting area.

As he saw Shikaien standing down there, Ayumu could not help but to smile. "You really are a slacker sometimes, but you understand how things work. I appreciate it" he said to himself lowly.

The punkish boy stood ready, although he put his hands in the pockets on his pants as with things were easy. But his opponent only crossed her arms while facing Shikaien as if she was dissatisfied with him.

"It's very unwise of you to put your hands in your pockets during a fight, rookie. I advise you to put them at your sides. They are to be used in combat, as a matter of fact" Bunko advised him sternly.

Although he would often refuse to do something like this, Shikaien did that she just told him and forced a smirk on his face. "You sure are a harsh lady" he commented.

Bunko twitched in anger by hearing this, but easily restrained her anger and readied her fighting stance. She also fixed a determined look on her face, something her opponent could notice. "I may not know what you're capable of other than your Shadow Possession jutsu. Nevertheless, it really doesn't make a difference. Unlike my comrades, strategy is they to win a battle" she told him, as if she wanted him to know it.

By hearing this, Shikaien raised his eyebrows with interest. "Woah, is she just bluffing or is she saying that for real?" he wondered in his head. But he quickly reverted back to his focused expression. "Even so, I also must come up with a strategy, for I just realized something. If Inojin hadn't used his Mind Destruction jutsu and if that Aoi-guy hadn't used that fog of his, they wouldn't have stood a chance against their opponents" he came to a realization and readied his stance. "From what I can tell, this woman will probably not be as negligent as her buddies were. Yeah, there is something odd with her" he added to his thoughts.

Udon raised his hand and swung it down, giving the combatants permission to fight. "Begin!" he said and the fight started.

Before Shikaien could reach for his pockets to throw some shurriken at Bunko, he was too late as he could see eight kunais coming towards him in fast speed. It was obvious that she had thrown them. With tough luck, he managed to avoid them, although he was forced to fall on the floor with his stomach. Before he knew it, the light blue-haired woman was standing beside him, kicking him in the process, thus sending Shikaien rolling.

"Damn….she got me!" Shikaien cursed as he quickly got up on his feet. But as he stood there, he could see Bunko running straight towards him. This made the dark blonde-haired boy distressed. "How is she even capable of…" Shikaien was interrupted as he was tackled by Bunko's elbow.

She smirked at seeing this. "Being a slow learner, I see? Well that's too…..huh!?" she was stunned once she noticed that she wasn't actually hitting Shikaien. It was only a substitution. She quickly realized that she had been fooled. "Why you little…" Bunko immediately turned around, only to see her opponent standing ready with the signature jutsu from the Nara clan.

Shikaien smirked. "It looks like I caught ya, madam! Time to teach you some manners!" he said and his shadow began stretching towards Bunko's.

Seeing that she was likely to get caught, Bunko knew that she had to avoid it. She just got the perfect idea how to do that, and perhaps using Shikaien's position to her advantage. She did a hand seal and faced her younger opponent with a grin. "Earth Style: Great Mud Flow!" she called and a river was running from where she stood and towards Shikaien. His technique was cancelled thanks to the mud river. Bunko beamed with confidence. "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!" she exclaimed and from where she stood, the head of a dragon was formed and it opened his mouth to shoot out mud balls towards Shikaien.

The young boy was already taken by the river and was struggling to free himself, but he noticed the mud balls heading straight for him. "Crap! I have to counter these mud balls somehow! But I can't get loose!" he said and was about to use a different justu, only for Bunko to pull yet another jutsu.

"And now for the finale! Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bomb!" she exclaimed and breathed out a large fireball, which set aflame on the mud balls. This transformed them into a flurry of projectiles.

Shikaien was shocked by what he saw. "That woman…is combining both earth and fire style jutsus!" he was at loss of words. But he immidiatley came back to his senses, as he witnessed the projectiles heading straight for him. In desperation, the young boy did a few hand seals quickly. "This better work! Wind Style: Propelling Winds!" he called out and suddenly breathed out air from his mouth.

As she could see it, Bunko thought that he was intending to blow away the projectiles she just made. "You idiot, wind is weak against fire, don't you get it?" she asked him, but became surprised by seeing that Shikaien was not blowing towards the projectiles. He was rather using it fly backwards in the air, thereby freeing himself from the mud river. "What in the hell….." Bunko said lowly, as the projectiles landed in the mud river.

Shikaien was sent flying, almost hitting the wall. But with tough luck, he managed to land on one of his feet and his knees. As he was out of the mud river, Shikaien took his time to catch his breath, as his trick had taken a slight toll on him.

Shikamaru mused to himself, as he was impressed with how his son had managed to free himself from Bunko's mud river. "I'm really amused, son. You managed to free yourself from getting fried to crisp. I'll admit that your mom was wise to have taught you that jutsu" he thought with a smirk. But that smirk soon changed into that of a serious frown. "But nevertheless, Bunko almost had Shikaien there. And she managed to combine earth and fire jutsus. Quite different from what Isamu and Tadeshi did" he admitted.

Naruto could notice how troubled Shikamaru felt, and he had a right to do so. The blonde-haired man remained focus on the match taking place. "I'm starting to wonder whether Shikaien can actually manage to beat Bunko. I mean, she's a different shinobi than the one you took down many years ago, Shikamaru" he noted in his head, while recalling the time Shikamaru was fighting the Sound kunoichi Kin Tsuchi during the Chuunin Exams at their time. "Furthermore, I believe that Bunko possesses some talents she hasn't showed us yet" he added to his thoughts.

Shikaien was now standing on his two feet, walking slowly towards his opponent, who only stood there waiting for him while having her arms crossed in boredom. Bunko only shrugged her shoulders as he readied himself.

"I admit that you surprised me by that wind jutsu of yours. However, what I just showed you, was only one of the many jutsus that I'm capable of" she revealed to him and suddenly began readying her fighting stance. "Mark my words, rookie. The way the shinobi world works is more complicated than what you actually think it is" she suddenly told him.

The dark blonde-haired boy's eyes widened. But he soon began to notice that irritation was growing inside of him. "Shit, she's only toying with me with her know-it-all personality. That really pisses me off" he remarked in his head. But he soon came to a realization, while Bunko had begun to move, as she was getting tired of doing nothing.

"That's enough slacking for now! Let us resume the match!" she declared as she was running straight towards him. She even reached for a kunai and held it tightly in her right hand.

Seeing this, Shikaien immediately reached for a kunai too and he was ready to clash with Bunko. "Come at me then, tomboy! I accept your challenge!" he said in return and began running towards his opponent.

The two combatants clashed as they reached one another, but there was something which made it not just an ordinary clash. All the adults could tell it as they could see that their kunais were empowered by their own chakra. Both Shikaien and Bunko used their chakra to empower their weapons, not wanting the other to cut the kunai.

Ayumu smiled as he saw this. "A wise move there, Shikaien. You realized that she was gonna charge at you with a chakra-empowered kunai, so you did the exact same thing" he thought while observing the clashes. "But even so, don't repeat any move your opponent makes. It will only make your moves predictable" he added to his thoughts.

As they clashed, Bunko was finding her opponent to be amusing, considering that he could actually clash with him toe to toe. "I must commend you for being able to empower your kunai with chakra, Shikaien Nara. Ayumu taught you well" she told him as they clashed.

Shikaien only chuckled lightly in return at her words. "Thanks for the compliment, but Ayumu-sensei pretty much convinced me to learn this technique on my own" he said and to Bunko's surprise, pushed her way with all his might, sending her a few meters backwards. She watched him surprised, as her opponent held up another kunai in his left hand, therefore having two chakra-empowered kunais. Shikaien was filled with determination, even though he had difficulties in showing it. "But I've had enough compliments for today! I'm beginning to like this match. Shall we?" he asked with a grin.

Although she was lightly stunned at his words, Bunko immediately smirked in return and also took a kunai and held it in her left hand empowering it in the process. "If you insist, rookie" she answered in return.

As the dark blonde-haired boy stood ready, he suddenly held them in his mouth while doing some hand seals, which made Bunko raise an eyebrow. Once finished, Shikaien repossessed his kunais with his hands and made the first move.

"Wind Style: Art of the Gust Blade!" he declared and he suddenly swung his kunais in bow shapes, creating blades of wind, much to Bunko's surprise.

The young woman could only notice the winds, but little did she know that these winds were actually as sharp as blades. Therefore, they managed to create cuts on her legs and arms. It was then she began to notice and feel the pain.

"ARGH DAMN!" she cursed in anger and pain as blood was running from the cuts. She immediately stepped to the side and observed the way Shikaien was using his kunais. "That little punk, he's able to….create blade of winds!" she noted with surprise.

Shikamaru was stunned by seeing what his son was capable of. "I don't believe it! How is he capable of performing that jutsu with only two kunais?" he asked in wonder. "I mean, the case of Temari and her large fan is logical but this…I'm impressed….." he admitted to his colleagues.

Tsunade mused by what he said. "Well. Shikaien managed to find a way to perform that wind jutsu with just his kunais. He really is your son" she told him, as she was actually beginning to be impressed by the son of Shikamaru and Temari.

Bunko charged towards his opponent, but got cautious once she saw Shikaien creating blades of wind that was formed like an x-axis. She knew that she had to avoid getting hit. "I was fool to underestimate this brat! Time for me to take this seriously!" she declared and to her opponent's surprise, made a high jump over the x-axis. She quickly landed on her feet and did a long series of hand seals.

Shikaien was awed by what he just witnessed. "Woah…..this lady sure has an impressive stamina" he remarked, but he got cautions once he could see that Bunko was actually putting her right arm against the floor, creating lightning. "What the hell is she doing?" he wondered by seeing her preparing the attack.

Bunko faced her opponent with deadly eyes and the expression on her face was much more deadly than what she previously showed. The lightning in her hand began to bristle and she began her move. As she made her move, the ball of lightning became stronger, as she put much chakra into it, as well as her energy.

"You're mine now, brat! Lightning Style: Chidori!" she declared and ran straight towards Shikaien.

Naruto and his friends were caught by surprise in seeing this. But Shikamaru was somewhat outraged. "What…..since when did Bunko learn….the Chidori!?" he asked out loud. The man with ponytail fixed his angered look upon Sasuke, who only scoffed at him in return. This made Shikamaru pissed. "Don't give me that bullshit! Answer my damn question!" he demanded.

Sasuke eyed him dispassionately. "Look gentius! Do you honestly think that I would've taught my students the Chidori without their consent?" he questioned him. "None of them ever requested that, so I am just as surprised as you!" he told him.

But Shikamaru was not convinced. "What the hell do you mean by…" he was stopped by Naruto, who put a hand on his shoulder, thus calming him down. They were soon joined by Tsunade, who had also not expected to see Bunko using this technique.

"I don't seek to make enemies of you, Shikamaru, but Sasuke speaks the truth" Naruto answered him.

"Indeed. And if Sasuke did not teach her, it was someone else. And besides Sasuke, there has only been one user to have completely mastered the Chidori" Tsunade added to the discussion.

Anko was only filled with fear over seeing her daughter performing that deadly jutsu. She began sweating and Ibiki noticed and stood close to her, hoping to ease her fears. But it was futile, even though he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Anko, is it what you believe? Did….."he" teach that to her?" Ibiki asked the middle-aged woman.

But he got no answer, as Anko didn't even have the strength to reply. She watched the match with unease. "Bunko…..why….." she asked in her head.

Shikaien was standing in shock as he could see his older opponent charging towards him with lightning in her hand. Her speed was remarkably fast, and the young boy was wondering whether he could actually dodge it. "Holy shit….what do I do know!?" he wondered distressed as his opponent neared him. But something hit him in his head. "Perhaps I could…..no…or yes….but it's too risky" he suggested in his head and did a few hand seals. "I owe it up to you, dad!" he suddenly said with a grin forming on his face.

Bunko had her eyes fixed on Shikaien, speeding up her running. She was actually gonna do it, she was actually gonna use the Chidori on the young boy. "I WILL MAKE FINISH THIS MATCH QUICKLY!" she shouted and swung her arm with lightning at Shikaien.

In the nick of time, Shikaien had already concluded what he had to do and began performing a jutsu. Everyone on the tribunals were very shocked and feared that he could actually get hit. Even some of the adults had begun to jump from the tribunals, only to get stunned by seeing what the dark blonde-haired boy had done to his opponent.

Shikamaru was filled with surprise over seeing this. "I…..I don't believe it!" he said lowly.

Believe it or not, Shikaien had actually managed to catch Bunko, only a few meters away from him. But he had captured with a jutsu that was used by those of the Nara clan. He only stood there with pride as his opponent was completely paralyzed an injured at the same time.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Stitching Jutsu!" he declared as Bunko was captured by shadows formed like sharp needles. She was caught, with her Chidori beginning to disintegrate. Shikaien only chuckled lightly. "It looks like I caught ya for real this time! I was saving this technique as my last trump card. And by seeing you putting so much effort, energy and chakra into that "lightning-attack" of yours, you became vulnerable to my Shadow Stitching jutsu, which is a more advanced version of the Shadow Possession jutsu" he explained his techniques.

Bunko was filled with anger over hearing this. "So all this time…..he wanted me to actually come at him in full force…so that he could catch me!?" she wondered in her head.

Shikaien grinned cockily at her outraged expression. "I'll admit that my plan sounded crazy, but sometimes, a tactician must take risky moves. That is why I waited to use my jutsu on you, once you had been completely drained off energy and chakra. Other than that, you were impressive in combat, much better than your comrades were" he answered her and for some reason, flipped his middle finger at her in a rude manner. "You may be a jounin, but you should know better than to use up all your strength and stamina on some lame jutsu. So do me a favor and learn the basics, dumbass" he said.

As he was finished, the shadows began disappearing and Bunko fell on the floor unconscious. Udon knew that it was useless to study, so he decided to formally end the match. "Very well, winner by knockout: Shikaien Nara!" he declared him the winner.

Shikaien only mused to himself and headed straight to his sensei. "Hmmm…just as I promised you Chouta. Team Ayumu will have to students making it to the finals" he remarked while thinking about the vow he made to Chouta. As he got back, Shikio was surprisingly banged on his head by Ayumu and it felt painful. "Ouch! What the hell, sensei!?" he asked him.

Ayumu stared at him with seriousness. "That was for being a jackass with regards to your tactics" he told him strictly. But his expression quickly changed into that of pride. "But this is for your good efforts and results" he said and tightly embraced his student in a hug while kneeling.

As he felt that, Shikaien could only realize that his teacher had indeed been extremely worried about him. For that, he warmly accepted it. "Thanks…..I guess" Shikaien replied lowly, not knowing what else to say.

Seeing his son, Shikamaru could not help but to feel proud over both his former student and his son. He liked how well the relationship between them, as student and teacher worked. The man with ponytail decided to lean against the wall, while smoking a cigarette. "Well Temari, it looks like we will be celebrating later" he noted in his head. "In spite of the deadly threats, you confronted them Shikaien. I'm proud of ya" he added to his thoughts.

Menma watched how happy Ayumu was feeling, now that all his students had their own matches with both Shikaien and Inojin making it to the finals. "Congratulations Ayumu. And good luck, even though we're still competitors" he said inside of him. HE could also see that his students were just as interested.

"Wow, Shikaien really did it!" Shunsuke remarked. "Both him and brother are have made it to the finals like us" he added while facing Nashiko.

She nodded her head with a giggle. "I know, right? It seems very odd but also cool at the same time" she replied to him. "But I feel sorry for Saburou, though" she suddenly spoke with a low voice.

This made Shunsuke realize something. "I am too, Nashiko" he said and took a brief glance at Team Hideki, or specifically Hisoka. "If I'm going up against him, then I'm in serious trouble.

"Well Lady Tsunade, what do you think about the Elite Squadron's efforts in this phase?" Sai asked the Hokage, who was smiling at him.

"They did a good job. Not just as spies, but also as opponents and role models to these young genins" she commented, but suddenly set her eyes upon Anko, who was now leaning against the wall with her eyes closed in regret. This made Tsunade feel troubled. "But there is something I would like to know from Anko once the third phase is officially over" she added lowly.

Naruto scratched his neck and yawned. He had realized that Sasuke had remained quiet for the rest of the match, even though Bunko's use of the Chidori had caught his attention. Naruto wondered what the raven-haired man was thinking after what he had just seen. Nevertheless, this case would have to wait.

As the medics brought Bunko to their quarters, Udon stood in the middle as the giant screen showed everyone the names of the combatants in the final match. "Alright, this will be the final match. Will the two last combatants who have never had their round come down here please?" he declared loudly.

And the combatants in the final round were:

JUROU KAGUYA

VS

ROCK GUY

To be continued…

Author's note: Cool chapter. We got to see how Saburou and Shikaien had their matches and lost and won respectively. The next chapter will be the last involving the third phase and as you already read will be between Guy and Jurou. See you around.