Drifting

by AlphaDelta1001

Naruto is many things; troublesome, wild, unpredictable, adventurous, untamable, unique. But there's a benefit to being wild and unpredictable; no one has the faintest idea what you're going to do next. NarutoHarem

28. Chunin Exam Arc II - Not Tough After All

NARUTO

Drifting

Not So Tough After All

BOOM!

Before Gaara could finish executing his next move to liquefy his opponent and eliminate all traces of her, the massive mound of crushing sand suddenly exploded upwards in a ball of fire and white smoke. Immediately afterwards, a black silhouette flew straight up out of it, followed by the three Sannin dummies that had also been caught up in the shit. Though covered in grains and dirt, and looking a little bit worn, the three marionettes were fine.

Tayuya too. However, she'd decided to make her exit her own way.

The crowds looked up towards the sky in awe as the black shadow that appeared first from the hill parted the white cloud it was sheathed in to reveal an enormous owl made of copper-colored metal plates. Wings fanning out and spreading to full width, the enormous bird let out a terrifying, metallic shriek that echoed throughout the entire region and had people clap their hands over their ears. After which, the bird began to flap and hover in place, its suspended form revealing a slightly grungy Tayuya sitting on its back.

Panting heavily from pulling the summoning technique at the last second, the red head wiped the sand off of her face and glared down at the arena several stories below. There, she saw her partially transformed foe glaring straight up at her through his hate filled eyes, which flashed to an even more enraged look as he saw his foe looking down at him.

OOO

(Stadium – Kage Section)

Mei blinked in surprise after seeing the appearance of the enormous owl made out of metal. As she watched it hover in place with every flap of its powerful wings, she placed her hand on her chin thoughtfully. "I've seen many summons in my time, but this one is most unusual…" While the Doki and puppets from before had been intriguing, this one was an actual living thing not being influenced by the girl's flute and was also made out of synthetic material.

Onoki on the other hand knew exactly what he was looking at and took on a serious guise, "There was a shinobi who was actually able to seal a contract with the Songbirds? Those summons are supposed to be incredibly picky about their masters."

A smile forming on his face, a relieved Hiruzen chuckled as he laced his hands together. "Well… it appears they've picked the one they wish to have as their partner." The fact that it was a Genin from his village and one of his most promising students swelled his heart with pride.

The rest of the audience, much like the Kage in their box, watched in interest as the fight was taken up another notch.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

"Man… that was close. I nearly drowned under all that sand," Tayuya breathed out, placing her hand on her bird's back as she hovered in place. "Thanks a bunch, Sora. I owe you one." The bird let out a few clicks and chirps, earning a smirk from the musician. "Don't worry. I'll make it up to you later. But for now, I've got a battle to win." She brought her flute up and lowered herself on her partner. "Let's do this!"

Grinding his teeth momentarily, the half-monster transformed Gaara gave a wide grin before bellowing out with laughter. "Interesting! Very interesting… Tayuya!" He raised his transformed arm and clenched it into a fist above him, his eyes fixed on his airborne target. "I didn't think I'd find you this entertaining!" He then threw the massive arm across and brought both hands up, his sand coming back to life around him and beginning to lift off of the ground. "Now… COME AT ME! LET ME DESTROY YOU AT YOUR ABSOLUTE BEST AND CRUSH ALL OF YOUR HOPES!"

Smirking, Tayuya lunged forward. "BRING IT ON!" Sora let out another loud shriek and dove, flying straight towards the boy as the red head brought her flute to her lips and started to play.

When her mechanical owl flew close to the ground and pulled up, Tayuya's three marionettes jerked to life again and immediately began making their way towards Gaara across the newly made sand dunes. Leaping and jumping this way and that on their approach, they broke up and went at the boy from all sides, the Jiraiya copy opening up with a barrage of senbon.

The transformed Gaara swung his tail around and blocked the barrage of needles, before having to turn his attention to the Orochimaru replica coming at him from the other side. The snake Sannin puppet extended its hands and fired a string of arrows at the boy, only to have his projectiles caught by his arm and absorbed by it. In a single, clean motion, the jinchuriki threw his arm across his shoulder before drawing it out, flinging the absorbed arrows back at the marionette like a shotgun spraying its rounds.

"I'll return these to you ten times over!" the sand user shouted maniacally, the arrows flying towards the Orochimaru puppet at an even greater speed. They moved so fast in fact that the tips ignited and turned into flaming arrows. In the blink of an eye, the snake Sannin puppet was cut down by the arrows and sent toppling to the ground, where its form twitched and jerked violently before dispelling in a puff of smoke.

Glare shooting across, Gaara responded again to block another barrage of arrows from a Tsunade copy dashing around him and ducking behind a distant boulder. With the Jiraiya puppet still out in the open, the red haired sand user threw his transformed arm forward and extended it at a ridiculous rate. His claws closed in on the marionette and attempted to catch it, but the attacker could only watch in annoyance as the white haired puppet ducked under it, cracked open its mouth and launched several fireballs in his direction.

Responding quickly, the transformed Gaara brought his massive tail in front of him and deflected a couple of shots. Anymore he wasn't able to block was caught by his automatic sand jumping up and blocking the rounds. "Insignificant pests!" With another swipe of his hand, he sent a wave of grains in all directions, sweeping up the Jiraiya marionette and burying him. The crushing pressure of sand the Suna Genin managed to catch the puppet with eventually dispelled it, returning it to its dimension in a puff of white smoke.

Gaara was then forced to bring his sand shield up in front of him in vast quantities to suddenly block a flash of shadows that came darting at him from the sky. It was a good thing that he did, because what he stopped weren't ordinary projectiles sent at him. Massive, brown blades that resembled feathers sliced through the wall of sand he called up and nearly impaled him, earning a stunned blink as he then looked around his barrier to see his airborne foe flying in circles above him. Seeing Tayuya still atop it playing strings from her flute, the transformed Gaara let out a growl and once more called upon his sand from the ground and sent enormous tendrils flying up at her.

"TAKE THIS!"

Spotting the whips flying up at them, Tayuya silently bade her partner to move. Using maneuvers a bird of its size and make-up probably would not have been able to perform, Sora darted out of the way of the first onslaught, spinning and diving to avoid the lashes of sand before climbing high into the sky again. Unfurling its wings quickly, the metallic owl then sent another barrage of metallic feathers flying down towards the boy like kunai thrown by a shinobi. The enormous blades cut through the air, only to be stopped by the same masses of sand trying to take them out. The tendrils jumped in the way, hardened, and stopped or deflected the large blades that would have skewered their user. The rest of the ground floor was peppered as those feathers that missed their mark impaled the ground and changed the landscape even more.

After blocking the assault with his airborne elements and the matter near him, Gaara prepared for another attack, only to respond to a new shadow coming over him, and looked up in time to see the Tsunade marionette descending upon him with her fist drawn back and loaded. Immediately spotting her brace's steam and knowing full well what was to come if that punch landed, a fearful Gaara sucked in air quickly through multiple mouths that appeared all over his body. His chest expanding rapidly, he then launched his counterattack straight up at the marionette.

"Futon: Mugen Sajin – Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Infinite Sand Cloud – Great Breakthrough) A blast of sand and wind stopped the puppet's fall upon him, slowing her descent to suspend her above her target before she was battered and ripped into by the high velocity gale. Immediately after which, and seeing the marionette fail to deliver her shockwave punch, Gaara then used his enormous tail to smash her out of the air, sending the puppet bouncing across the arena before she dispelled seconds later. His victory over the marionette brought a grin to the boy's face. "Useless! All of your attacks are useless against me!" Spinning around, he was then caught by surprise when he saw the giant bird diving straight for him in an attempt to blindside him.

Reacting to the incoming threat, the boy brought his sand tendrils around and attempted to fend the metallic bird off. While trying to knock her out of the air, he succeeded in forcing the bird to climb, but in the owl's swoop he was caught off guard by a black substance suddenly splattering him in the face.

Seeing her foe recoil in shock and try to wipe the gunk that completely covered him off, Tayuya lowered her flute and directed her companion in again. Sora rolled and returned for another assault, diving through the clouds of sand that tried to take them out and getting the bird to spin, splattering the sand with more black water that rained down onto the shifting dunes below. Tayuya repeated this process with her companion, coming in and out in several attempts to get Sora close enough to attack her opponent using her bird's talons, only to be driven off. With every dive, she would paint the sand by splattering it with more of the black liquid, baffling the sand user at her actions.

It also pissed him off something fierce.

After flinging a barrage of sand shuriken at his foe in an attempt to take her out, but missing, Gaara then roared out when she swung around for another attempt. "ENOUGH!" He then willed even more clouds into life, and sent his natural element barreling after his foe to shoot her down.

The metallic owl flew through the incoming barrage, maneuvering, rolling and spinning around the tendrils, before taking flight as the streams of sand pursued her. Sora flew at full speed around the airspace of the stadium, moving over the crowds who watched in bewilderment as Gaara's sand chased the enormous, metal creature across the sky. The pursuit was epic and certainly stirred up more than its fair share of 'oos', 'aahs', gasps and startled cries when the giant bird came in too close.

Taking it up to a higher altitude, Sora kept avoiding the sand before coming up above the danger zone, after which she then let out a screech and went in for one last dive. While it did, the owl's talons bared and flashed under the sun as she made her way towards her foe. Responding accordingly, Gaara opened up by flinging more clouds and blasts of sand at the approaching bird, hooking at her this way and that before using a double shot to clip her wing and send her spiraling in. Immediately upon disabling the bird and knocking her off course, the jinchuriki brought all his sand streams around and threw them upon the falling creature, catching her and wrapping her up with everything he could muster.

To avoid being trapped herself, as Sora fought desperately against the sand wrapping her up with her wings, beak and talons, Tayuya jumped off of her partner's back and descended to ground level. Rolling to cushion her fall, the red had jumped up onto a rocky outcrop and looked into the sky to see her summon fighting a losing battle. Soon, her wings were bound to her body and, in a matter of seconds, the mechanical bird was being constricted by an enormous serpent made up of the element.

She was trapped.

"SORA!" Tayuya cried, looking up in desperation as she heard the strangled cries of her bird echo out.

Even the audience watched on fearfully as the majestic creature was consumed and crushed by the sand.

Bellowing out with laughter, Gaara raised both hands up and began clenching them into fists, willing his mass of grains to tighten and aiming to finish the annoying avian off once and for all. "This disgusting thing is your friend, yes? Well then… watch closely as I snatch the life right out of her!" As his hands tightened, straining to actually crush the animal made of metal, the bird fought back, only to find her body's movements being further and further restrained. Soon, she couldn't even writhe.

Watching in horror as her partner was close to perishing under the pressure, Tayuya then suddenly took on a devilish smirk and brushed her thumb across her nose. Gaara missed this, but the camera and the audience did not as she leaned forward and shouted out loudly.

"SORA! PLAY DEAD!"

The moment she gave that command, her bird suddenly frozen up, her eyes shut like roller doors on a shop going out of business, and before Gaara could even respond, a split second later the bird suddenly exploded. The explosion alone was enough to send a concussive shockwave out towards the stands that blew people's hats off. However, with the explosion, there also came metallic debris and a massive fireball, which then suddenly ignited the tendrils of sand binding the bird and surrounding it. The fire traveled down the clouds of grains at speed, causing Gaara's eyes to widen when he realized too little too late that it was heading straight towards him, moments before both the sand at his feet, the sand all around him and his entire body went up in flames.

A bloodcurdling scream filled the air as the red haired Suna sibling stumbled backwards in a blaze, standing directly in the heart of hell itself as he was quite literally roasted alive. Not even his ultimate sand defense stood a chance, as it too was glassed by the absolute heat of the flames that had engulfed him.

OOO

The crowds were in shock.

"W-What's going on?" Kurotsuchi asked in astonishment, shaking her head at the sight. "How can an explosion generate that much fire?"

Working it out quickly in her head, a now present Sakura leaned forward in surprise before smiling triumphantly. "I get it! That black liquid Tayuya's bird was splattering Gaara with every time she came around to attack, it wasn't ink… it was flammable oil!" She clenched her fist tightly and brought it up. "She knew she wouldn't be able to get any attacks through to him by going for his armor directly, so she mixed in a substance with his sand to ignite it and burn him underneath. Since she got some on him directly too, that means he won't be able to shake it off!"

If that were the case, then Tayuya had more or less won.

This realization spread around to everyone in sight as they watched the land and sand burn, and heard Gaara's cries of agony fill the stadium. Those who knew the boy's strength the most and knew him best, Temari and Kankuro, could only watch on in disbelief, unable to do anything as their younger brother was cooked directly on top of a stove with no pan underneath him. Not even his seemingly invincible sand armor could save him.

It looked like it was over.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Watching the landscape burn, Tayuya focused hard on the affected area to see if the attack was actually doing its job. While she was watching, she then saw the individual plates and remains of her partner Sora suddenly started to rattle along the floor where they landed. Within seconds of seeing the first pieces start to move, she then observed them fly across the ground towards a particular spot, where all the gears, machinery and scrap converged and started putting themselves back together.

A minute after seeing the terrifying explosion that had seemingly taken the life of her friend, the musician then watched Sora rise up from the ground as the last of the pieces screwed back into place. The mechanical owl, shaking its metallic feathers out, gave a tired shriek as she staggered across the ground, before sitting herself on the grassy patch.

Smiling, Tayuya nodded to her. "Take a break, Sora. You've earned it."

Acknowledging her command, the synthetic avian then disappeared in a puff of white smoke, returning to the dimension whence she'd come. Immediately upon seeing the cloud dissipate, Tayuya turned back to the field and focused on her foe still burning like a thousand suns.

While she watched, the girl breathed out heavily and wiped the sweat from her face. As it stood right now, her body was feeling incredibly weak, like she was carrying a ton of lead in her bones, and her muscles were sore. The fact that she was also feeling a little bit dizzy told her just how much this fight had and was still pushing her. As much as she would like to say she'd fought a lot of battles like this in the past with Naruto, the truth was Tayuya had never been forced to use so many partners in a single session before or manipulated such a high number of her Doki to such an extent. The strain of using so many marionettes was exhausting.

"I'm almost out of chakra…" Tayuya breathed uncomfortably while swallowing. "This technique had better have finished him off… otherwise I'm fucked…"

It was then, just as she was getting comfortable with the idea that she'd probably disintegrated her foe in the flames, the red head's eyes widened when she suddenly saw the wall of fire several dozen yards in front of her part and a charred, black shadow come dashing out at her at an unbelievable speed.

A gasp escaped the musician's lips when she saw the half-transformed Gaara appear directly in front of her with his enormous arm extending and an enraged look on his face. Before she could rise back to her feet completely, the enormous palm of the appendage slammed into her and the claws of the monstrous limb wrapped around her, lifting her off of the ground. Coughing up blood, the red head was elevated above the floor and held there, with the transformed Gaara sliding to a stop and looking hatefully at the enemy he now held at his mercy.

Upon grabbing hold of the kunoichi, the sand user allowed a grin to spread across his face as his hold tightened. Though he was burnt and looked like he'd had the shit kicked out of him, he was still in good condition to battle. His clothes were still intact and so was his sand armor, some of which was molded to his body in the form of glass from the intense heat. However, what was most glaringly obvious was his transformed state.

It was still up, active and emitting powerful feelings of bloodlust and killing intent. Though he'd lost his tail, half of his face and right arm was still morphed into that of a monstrous creature.

This was only magnified as he proceeded to constrict Tayuya herself with his hand, a strangled scream of pain escaping her lips as the fingers curled around her increased in pressure.

"Finally! I've finally caught you!" Gaara exclaimed in a manic and terrifying voice that practically promised murder. As his grip tightened, his opponent continued to writhe fruitlessly. "At last… your life is now weighed in the palm of my hand! I will crush you… destroy you… and show to the world that I DO exist and that I truly live with GREAT PURPOSE!" Tayuya cried out in agony as a low crunching sound echoed out as the enormous hand binding her increased in pressure. "Disappear from this world and complete me! MAKE ME THE STRONGEST IN THIS ONE UNIVERSE!"

However, just as his hold over the girl increased even more and Tayuya was biting her teeth together to stop the blood trickling out of her mouth, she then gave a pained smirk. It was at that Gaara suddenly became aware of a sudden shimmering in the air, which encompassed his foe before the curtain that had been pulled over his eyes was completely unveiled.

In a shocking turn of events to both the Suna Genin and the audience, the Tayuya that he was holding suddenly vanished in an iridescent wipe, where she was then replaced by the unmistakable form of red samurai armor. The familiar crest, mask and form belonged to none other than Hayabusa, the same mannequin she'd used to defeat Shirotsuchi in the previous round and which she'd now used as a replacement and was being throttled.

"What?" Gaara thought in alarm.

A genjutsu? But how? When?!

Realizing his blunder, the boy quickly threw up a wave of sand particles and spaced it out. Using it as an extra sensor, he felt the particles break when they struck something invisible on the wind and, picking up on the phenomenon, the boy spun around. His eyes landed on the air space behind him, where he saw the illusion fall away and reveal his opponent directly behind him.

Tayuya materialized right out of the air swinging her flute across at the boy in an arc. With a determined look on her face and in spite of her genjutsu being broken, the girl thrust her instrument forward with the tip, the air breaking as she pumped her chakra through it for an attack Gaara recognized all too well from his first encounter.

She was intending to finish him with the exact same move!

"Got you! Mateki…"

However, just before she could close the final inches, a grin formed on Gaara's face before, all of a sudden, the sand behind him suddenly lifted up off of the ground and attached to his back, connecting him to the floor. While this surprised Tayuya as she swung in with her weapon, what came as an even greater shock to both her and the crowd was that immediately after the sand attached to Gaara, the tendril clinging to his back lifted off of the arena surface and formed into the exact same tail he had before.

The regenerated limb then swiftly came about from the side and slammed into the approaching red head. Tayuya was knocked clean off her feet and blasted across the arena, a loud cry of agony filling the air before she tumbled violently over the battlefield. When she eventually came to a stop, she was bleeding from the head, had dislocated her arm, and was both bruised and battered from her numerous rolls across the hard floor.

The hit that she took looked just as bad as the hit that downed Tenten during her battle. However, after the long fight she'd just had, the results appeared to be much worse.

"It seems that you're finally all out of chakra."

On her stomach, the girl panned forward with a pained expression. Tayuya glared ahead of her furiously, where she saw her opponent toss her mannequin Hayabusa away before leaping towards her. When he crashed to the ground directly in front of her, he leered at his prey with murderous intent.

"You've used up all of your tricks against me," the boy chuckled, cracking his neck. "You're done."

Tayuya, assessing her damage, knew she'd broken some bones from that hit, as well as some ribs. Not even Naruto had ever hit her that hard before. It was almost like she'd been sparring with one of Jiraiya's toad summons, only the blows were several times more intense. Now, with her chakra completely depleted, flute thrown out of her grip and blood dripping down her eye from her head, she just couldn't hash it anymore.

Still, with the face of defeat glaring down at her, she couldn't help but make one last brave stand, even though she couldn't any longer. A smirk formed on her face as she stared at her opponent's feet. "Look me in the eye and say that."

Gaara chuckled, "As you wish," and, without hesitation, picked her up with his transformed arm. His fingers wrapped tightly around the girl as he lifted her up to his height and forced her to look at him, the girl giving a glare as the audience clamored in fear of what was going to happen next.

Seeing the danger, the proctors quickly rushed in.

The boy's mouth maintained its cocky, dangerous smile. "My face may be the last thing your pathetic eyes ever see." His grip tightened significantly, a choked cry coming from Tayuya as she felt her bones creak under the increasing pressure. It felt like she was being held in a vice, with the fingers constricting her like a boa ready to devour its meal. However, this boy wasn't going to eat her.

He was going to crush her.

The sand making up Gaara's transformed limb began to envelop the girl more completely. It wrapped her up in a cocoon, with her face being the only thing spared from the creeping shell. Soon, the spreading stopped and he was ready for the final step.

"Farewell. Saba-"

If it were even possible, for the second time that day the Sunagakure Genin was interrupted prematurely from his incantation by an unforeseen event. This time however, it did not come from Tayuya… it came from the other side of the arena in the direction of the competitors box in the form of a fast moving mass of wind traveling at supersonic speed. The gale of wind smashed into Gaara's face with the force of an artillery cannon, shattering the demon-face covering his right side and unveiling his true face underneath the armor, while at the same time propelling him off his feet and releasing Tayuya from his hold in a shower of sand.

In that exact instance, in perfect sync with the wind attack, the giant arm was sliced at the wrist by the combined blades of Hayate and Tenga, the latter of which had his sheathed in lightning chakra, which lopped the hand clean off and freed the redhead from the transformed Gaara's hold just before he was sent flying. Mizore dispersed the sand cocoon incasing the girl in a similar manner, freeing the girl even though the grip of the hand had been loosened in the wake of the opening jutsu that stopped the jinchuriki from following through with his killing move.

The musician landed painfully on the ground in a crouched position in time to see Hayate and Tenga drop down in front of her along with Mizore. In the meantime, her opponent barreled across the arena, bouncing and spinning bonelessly before he slammed into the far wall, smashing a crater into it and hurling dust in all directions.

Tayuya herself looked up in astonishment at the sheer accuracy of the technique that had been used to dispatch her foe, before smiling weakly at what must have done it.

"That idiot… thinks he's so cool… playing the hero all the time…" she whispered, before keeling forward when her legs gave out.

However, instead of hitting the floor, she was suddenly caught in the arms of somebody wearing orange. Knowing only one person in this world or the next who would wear that color, Tayuya looked up through the blood running down her head to see Naruto, adorned in his trademark jacket, holding her with a concerned expression on his face. When he saw the girl's eyes pan to his, he smiled in relief.

"Are you alright?"

The red head laughed painfully and grinned, "Better… now that you're here." She then developed a bit of a disappointed air and tried to look away. "Sorry… I must have scared the shit out of you there…"

"You scared me more than a couple of times during the fight, especially that time when he had you buried under all that sand," Naruto responded and shifted her so that she sat more comfortably on the ground. "But you were able to work your way out of that problem and a second time when you tricked him into grabbing Hayabusa instead of you. That was a fantastic move. I didn't even see it coming." Looking over his shoulder, he saw the discarded samurai puppet in question disappear in a puff of smoke, indicating he'd returned to his own world.

Tayuya chuckled half-heartedly, "I only did what I was trained to do… and what you taught me. Every strategy I tried wound up failing anyway… so in the end all I'd been fighting was a losing battle." She closed her eyes and breathed out. "He was… too strong…"

Naruto beamed, "But you were still amazing." This earned him a slap on the chest from his girlfriend, whom he received a giggle from as well.

"You're such an idiot, shithead. Always saying useless things."

"Well, at least I got my timing right. There was no way you could have gotten out of that last hold without losing an arm or a leg." And it's a good thing he stepped in when he did. If he didn't, then his friend would have wound up squashed into a cube.

But the proctors would have acted in time to save her. He was just a second faster than they were.

Speaking of which, after their little moment, when both Naruto and Tayuya finally looked up, they saw the match official and resident medic Mizore sweep in to check on the red haired kunoichi. When the jinchuriki surrendered her over to her care and she assessed the damage, the woman then concluded that she was really no longer fit to fight this battle. After popping her arm back into place with a loud 'click' and getting a pained yelp from the musician, the medical kunoichi waved a hand in the air.

"Match over. The winner by TKO is Gaara of Sunagakure." Though this did drive the metaphorical knife through Tayuya's heart and left her in a more desponded state then before, she was also quite relieved.

She couldn't even pick herself up right now. That and the searing pain was more than enough to convince the redhead that her fight was over. With her arm now being wrapped up in a sling, it was clear she was in no position to argue against the decision.

However, just as the other proctors were converging on the scene, the cloud of dust blocking the crashed Gaara from view parted sharply, revealing the still half-transformed Sunagakure Genin slumped over with his sand armor cracked all over from his violent stop. He still had the tail, parts of his body transformed and his arm, but his face was clear of the demon's physical features. Staggering out of the hole with one of his hands pressing up against the bruise on his mug, and pushing aside the boulders surrounding him, the jinchuriki growled furiously as he turned his attention on the one responsible for throwing him off his feet so suddenly.

"Y-You again…"

Stare fixing on the boy, Naruto gritted his teeth and stepped around. The second he did, his eyes flashed a dangerous red and his pupils became slits, a low growl escaping his throat.

"Yeah. Me. Problem?" the blonde spoke in a forced voice, an indistinct orange haze starting to waft off of his shoulders like smoke.

Gaara gave a hoarse snarl as well and tightened his fingers around the part of his face he was holding, "You kept me from finishing off my target… my very reason for existing. Just for that, I'm going to kill you where you stand." His hand then shot up and fingers curled in clear intent for a jutsu. "You're mine."

His own teeth grinding and his impatience audibly growing in volume, the blonde stepped forward. Knuckles cracking when he tightened his fists, Naruto spoke, "You tried to kill Tayuya-chan. Do that again, and I will shave your skin off with a fucking cheese grater. You hear me?"

The sand user returned his threat and fiery red eyes with a challenging expression of his own.

Not condemning the youngster for his heroic actions for the day and yet not wanting the boy to carry out his threat, Hayate stepped forward and stood between the incredibly pissed Naruto and the partially transformed boy still glaring at him. The official raised a hand. "The match is over. Your opponent is no longer able to continue the fight. Stand down!"

Voicing his fury, Gaara stomped forward, eyes flashing murderously. "You dare stand between me and my prey? I'M NOT FINISHED YET!"

"Continue this fight and you will be finished!" Hayate shouted warningly while the other two referees stood by nervously. "If you insist on moving forward with this battle, I will disqualify you. As proctor, it is completely within my right to do so." Gaze narrowing, the man stepped forward fearlessly. "This is your last warning. Stand down now."

Still looking hatefully at the man, Gaara's eyes then fell upon the wounded and exhausted Tayuya. While the voice in his head kept screaming at him to continue the battle, to kill her and to finish her off, the boy was unable to act on his 'mother's' taunting instructions when his attention suddenly fell on Naruto stepping out from behind the proctor to stand in full view of him. When the sand user's attention fixed on the blonde and saw his frown turn into a confident smirk, the image of him alone was enough to shake Gaara out of his intent to rampage.

Looking back at the child in orange, the one who stopped him from killing twice and the one who knocked him back with that last attack, Gaara immediately realized right then and there that he was the one.

The strongest in this tournament. The one that he had to beat to ratify his existence.

Nobody had ever attempted to stand in his way so willingly before, nor had someone caused him this much pain and frustration. The sickly, orange aura that he'd produced and only Gaara had been able to see on him beckoned his undivided attention, and the blow to his face and the resulting agony of it supported his reasoning.

Upon coming to a decision, Gaara was able to sway the voice inside of his head to wait until the opportune moment and slowly began transforming back. Calming down but still visibly exhausted and wounded from his battle, the extended body parts molded onto the sand user broke apart and turned back into their original element, which fell to the ground at his feet before returning to him in the form of his body armor and gourd. Lumbering forward, the jinchuriki's visage calmed as he started towards the competitor's box.

Stopping for a moment, he glared in Naruto's direction and lowered his head towards him. Above the stunned clamor of the crowd and the wary stares of the match officials, the Suna Genin spoke.

"I will be waiting for you in the final round, Naruto Uzumaki," Gaara hissed, narrowing his gaze significantly. "If you don't make it there… I will hunt you down and kill you myself."

Naruto grinned confidently in return, "I'll try not to keep you waiting then."

Grunting, Gaara then folded his arms and slowly returned to the waiting balcony.

Seeing the redhead's back, the blonde breathed a sigh of relief.

"Damn, I nearly lost it there. But I'm really glad I was able to change his mind."

Good thing he stepped in when he did.

While watching him leave, Naruto then had his focus drawn to Hayate, who placed his hand on his shoulder and got the teen to look up at him. The man wearing the bandana smiled slightly before nodding over to Tayuya, who they saw was helped up by Mizore and was having her condition looked over through use of the mystical palm technique. The fact she was on her feet was enough to bring relief to the audience that the girl was going to be okay.

"That's the second time you've done that," the man chuckled with a bit of amusement. "You're not going to make a habit out of saving people in this tournament, are you?"

Blinking, Naruto gave a sheepish look and rubbed his head uneasily. "Am I… going to be disqualified for jumping in like that?" He wasn't an official nor was he a proctor, so you could understand his immediate concern, even though he acted without a second thought to save a person he cared the world for.

Hayate shook his head. "Not at all. Protecting your comrades and looking out for your teammates is one of the many qualities of a good leader. I think your little stunt actually earned you some more points in the eyes of the judges."

Grinning, Naruto then turned to Tayuya to see her being helped away by one of the runners from the sidelines. Before she could limp off, he saw her stop the man and look back at him, her eyes locking onto his. After a brief moment of pause, the musician then allowed another smile to come into play and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Knock 'em dead, shithead," she exclaimed brightly.

Hearing this, Naruto nodded back. "Yeah."

With that, Tayuya was then carted off to the stands. The girl spoke to the young man helping her out and insisted on staying in the arena, as she wanted to see this next battle and how it would play out for herself. Even though she'd broken a couple of ribs, had tons of bruises, had cuts all over, she was still intent on watching and supporting her boyfriend in his next match. Reluctant at first, the official eventually complied but still said he would have a medical ninja come check on her while the next match was being prepared.

OOO

(Stadium – Kage Section)

Mei sighed and leaned back. "That was a terrific battle. But… I'm still a little disappointed."

"What? That the flute player from Konohagakure lost and not the Kazekage's power-mad son?" Onoki asked with an amused grin, earning a glare from the man next to him. The short elder raised both hands. "Hey, I'm just calling it how I'm seeing it."

A grunted and looked across at the two next to him with a hard expression on his own face. "Onoki's got a point, Kazekage. You really need to teach that boy of yours some restraint. That battle was getting a little bit out of hand."

"The fact that he was transforming into his biju too proves that," Onoki murmured, folding his arms. "As impressive as it was, the last thing we need is one of the two jinchuriki here transforming and going on a rampage."

Too many civilians and too many innocent bystanders. Of course, while the other Kage could agree on the whole 'transforming' thing, the Third Hokage didn't exactly feel like correcting his would-be rival on his first statement about 'two' jinchuriki.

While everyone else was willing to flex their arms and show off their 'tools', Hiruzen wasn't too keen on them knowing his village's jinchuriki was there as well. Though he was certain they would find out sooner or later, now wasn't the time.

The responses from the other village leaders had the Kazekage sigh and, maintaining his composure as best as he could, laced his fingers together tightly. Initially he'd been readying himself to step in should Gaara take the battle too far and his transformation worsen. However, thankfully the fight didn't get that far, and his son was able to suppress the demon's chakra… for now. Nevertheless, the entire fight had given him a good idea of the youngster's strengths and glaring weaknesses, which he was able to address to the others clearly.

"It seems that the only way my son will ever get promoted is for him to earn enough credit on the field to warrant it. While not effective on a team, he can still serve his village through his power…"

"Power isn't everything in a battle, Kazekage-dono," Hiruzen spoke up, earning looks from all the leaders as the hidden leaf elder made his evaluation. "Even though Tayuya lost that fight, she showed marvelous strategic thinking, tact, coordination and level-headedness. Using a combination of all those things and displaying a creative use for her techniques, she was able to push an opponent with strength and ability greater than hers into drawing out more of his biju's chakra."

Hearing this, Mei cracked a smile. "True. If it weren't for the tailed beast inside of him, Gaara would have lost that battle. But in the end, he was able to plow through all of his opponent's attacks by partly transforming into a biju state. If he was to meet somebody like her who had the strength to actually carry out her strategies to their full potential, then the result would probably be the other way around."

Upon listening to what the other two Kage had to say, the village leader of Sunagakure closed his eyes and returned to meditating on the fight he'd just witnessed.

After assessing the battle and relaxing from the amount of drama and action it had managed to bring to the stage, the Kage then waited patiently for the next fight to start. That first match for the second round for today had been one head turner, and with everything they'd seen so far they were bound to see another one in this next match.

Hiruzen and the others actually felt their anticipation grow even more so when they saw the names pop up on the big screen as the two next promising candidates stepped forward, even though one of them was already on the pitch.

OOO

(Stadium – Team Instructors Section)

"Well… it was a good fight," Genma sighed, rubbing his head. "But damn it. That sand kid was just way too much." Actually, he believed that Gaara would be too much for most of the competitors there. He'd been able to defeat a really brilliant and effective fighter from Team Gai, was able to turn Shikamaru around without so much as flinching, and he defeated Tayuya through use of brute force, who probably had the best combination of long-range techniques and intelligence out of all the Genin present.

"I think Tayuya fought well," Kurenai exclaimed, smiling slightly at the others. "Even though she lost, she still showed excellent skill and judgment out there, even when up against such a dangerous adversary." Her use of genjutsu was superb to. When one method failed, she simply switched to another in a heartbeat, as she'd anticipated somebody would attempt to counter her musical ability. It was an astonishing show of adaptability.

"I'm sure she's shown more than enough to the judges to secure a promotion for herself," Asuma nodded.

Anko, grinning widely, folded her arms. "I can't wait to see the look on her face when she gets her vest after today."

While the team leaders spoke amongst themselves on all the positives they saw in that battle as well as the few negatives, Kakashi and Gai focused on the big screen just as the rest of the audience did when they saw the competitors for the second round come up. The latter actually gave a smile when he saw who the next fighters were going to be and folded his arms in anticipation, while the former gave a more serious expression as to who it was his student was set to fight.

"I wonder how Naruto-kun will deal with her," the man in green spandex wondered out loud.

"Hopefully… he'll manage to make it out in one piece," Kakashi replied.

Even though he'd seen this one practically walk over one opponent effortlessly and stand through punishment that would have killed an ordinary shinobi in another, he was still confident in his student's abilities to make it through this next fight.

To actually finish the match as the winner though seemed like a bit of a stretch, but the silver haired man wasn't going to count out his most unpredictable student just yet. He was sure Naruto was going to surprise him.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Once Tayuya was safely off the field and much of the mess from the last match was cleared away, Tenga then led Naruto over to where the starting area of the next battle would be. Seeing as that he was already out there, they could safely skip the part of calling him down and so focused on preparing him for the second match. During which time, Mizore also called down for Kiyoko to join them on the battlefield, which the blonde haired girl from Kirigakure gladly did so.

"AWESOME!" the teen's cry echoed out. "My turn! My turn!" Jumping over the railing and landing on the hard ground, the blonde in the figure hugging outfit then rushed out to meet her opponent with a bright expression engraved upon her face.

As he watched his next opponent sprint on over, Naruto couldn't hold back the excited grin that also tugged on his lips and the energy surge that shot through him as his fists clenched tightly.

This was the girl, the kunoichi who defeated both Ino and Lee, and who he was going to be standing off against. If she was as strong as he knew she was, then he was definitely going to enjoy this next battle. After all, since watching her last fight and seeing how she fought, the jinchuriki had had enough time in between then and now to formulate a plan against her.

He also had a strong theory he was playing on, something he was sure he would be able to work on during this battle.

If he played this right, then he was going to make this match quick and simple. As much as he wanted to test this person, he didn't want to push himself too far, not to mention he didn't want to go overboard. After all, he still had a lot more to do before this tournament was over. Knowing who his next opponents were going to be, the jinchuriki decided right away that he couldn't face Kiyoko with restraint.

He was going to need his old self for this bout; the one that was famed for causing nothing but chaos and mayhem back in his village. For that he was certain.

Skidding to a stop in a cloud of dust from how fast she'd been running, the ever exuberant Kiyoko stopped directly in front of Hayate, Naruto and the other two proctors present. The adults looked on in surprise as the young girl giggled as she emerged from the smokescreen and waved her mane back, grinning from ear to ear as she then stood proudly before them.

Her jinchuriki opponent returned her feelings likewise with an enthusiastic smile and a spark in his own gaze.

"Okay! Let's do this!"

"Hold on a second. It hasn't been two minutes yet," Tenga exclaimed while thumbing up toward the screen at the clock counting down the intermission period between the matches. "Wait till the timer's out, then we can get the match started. Alright?" Upon seeing the girl nod in understanding and give a miserable, deflated expression in return, the young man from Kumo chuckled lightheartedly at her response and scratched his cheek. "I've never seen someone so eager to get into a fight before." Aside from Lee of course, but that kid was a whole other bag of weird.

It was understandable though, considering how this girl had dominated all of her previous fights up until this match. She was only one out of four in this tournament who were really taking any of their battles in stride while exerting very little effort in return.

Oh well. At least she was hyped for it. The crowd certainly was.

While looking around with a bored expression on her face, her eyes then fell on Naruto who was looking at her curiously. When their gazes met, the blonde haired girl brightened up and stepped forward, walking up to the boy and extending her hand to him. The proctors watched them carefully, but were surprised to see her silently ask him for a hand shake.

"Hi there. It's nice to meet you again, Naruto-kun."

Realizing the girl wanted to exchange pleasantries, the jinchuriki stuttered a little before beaming in return and shaking her hand firmly, "It's nice to meet you again too, Kiyoko-chan."

"Hey, hey! I really enjoyed watching your matches, especially your first fight against Neji-san! That was awesome!"

"Oh? Really? Thanks a bunch," Naruto chuckled while responding to her delight with equal vigor. "Your fights were fantastic too. I didn't know how strong you really were until your battle with Busy-Brows. But after seeing you go toe-to-toe with him, I could tell how good you were at fighting. Nice taijutsu."

The girl brushed her hair back at that. "I work hard. It's been ages since I'd fought somebody outside of my village that could make me go all out, and Lee-san really forced me to fight at my absolute best. Maybe you'll be able to take me the rest of the way."

"Maybe I will. Who knows," Naruto chuckled while puffing his chest out a little. "Hopefully I can live up to your expectations, because if I win this fight I'm going to end up fighting either your teammate or Samui-chan in the next round."

"That's only if you can defeat me, which I'm pretty sure you'll find to be extremely hard to do," Kiyoko replied, clenching her fist and holding it up. "As you've probably noticed, my fighting style isn't exactly normal either."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah." His smile widened even more so as his eye gave a small twinkle. "You use a positioning style that allows you to utilize your superior strength and speed to wear an opponent out while wasting very little energy in return. You use that style against opponents who aren't at your level yet or have been unable to figure out a way around it… but I'm going to venture a guess that that isn't your only fighting style." He looked her from head to toe. "Your build is more suited for a well-rounded fighter at all distances involving close combat, with a combination of both speed and power driving you forward… mostly power."

"You've got a sharp eye," Kiyoko chirped with an impressed look. "I can tell I'm going to enjoy this match."

"Mm," Naruto replied affirmatively, "Likewise…"

OOO

(Stadium – Stands)

Up in the back isle, Haku looked on with keen interest as she saw Naruto face down his next opponent. After watching both of their previous fights, the raven haired girl could say without a shadow of a doubt that this next fight between the two of them was going to be the most interesting bout in the tournament.

So far, Naruto had contested his fights purely around brains and wild instinct. There was a good chance that this fight was going to push the jinchuriki into showing off even more.

"This girl is tough," Haku murmured, furrowing her brow. "Including Neji, Sasuke, Lee, Tayuya-san, Gaara and Tsubaki, she's one of the strongest here. Even for a Jonin level shinobi she can be a real handful." She looked at it from every angle. The girl was physically strong, quick, and insanely durable. Her beating at the hands of Lee beforehand in which she received some staggering injuries after facing the full power of his Eight Gates was irrefutable proof of that.

So far she'd been extremely sedated in her fighting style, choosing not to move around so much and allowing her opponents as much leeway as she wanted. She strategically maneuvered them so that she could hit them from the most advantageous positions, showing a crafty and deceptively intelligent fighter underneath. However, what would happen if she started fighting back aggressively?

That was a question Haku was hoping to find in this fight, with an answer that did not result in Naruto's defeat. She was supporting him every step of the way.

While Haku was stressing up in the top isle, Iruka was also looking down at the field with an intense look on his face along with Hiashi and Hanabi. Those that had seen the previous battles and knew full well of what the remaining competitors were capable of had mixed feelings about how the next match was going to transpire. Those in the front row beside the competitor's box were looking just as tense, with Ino giving the scene a fearful look with her hands held tightly together, as she'd been on the receiving end of that particular girl's wrath.

Even Lee, who had also come about on a wheelchair to sit alongside Tenten and Neji, and Sasuke, whose head, chest and right arm were wrapped up in bandages, was looking just as nervous and wary as they watched Naruto face down his next opponent on screen.

Shizune, sitting quietly beside her teacher and having remained silent and in awe throughout the whole Gaara and Tayuya battle, swallowed as she saw the big screen pan over the two participants out in the center of the field.

"Naruto-kun… please be careful," the brown haired young woman thought, while at the same time glancing towards her master, who had just as serious a look on her face. The apprentice's visage scrunched up nervously as she took in the emotion in the blonde haired woman's eyes, before turning back to the field to keep tabs on all possible developments. "She's just as interested in this fight as everybody else."

At least the Sannin, the woman who had previously expressed such enormous doubts about the whisker-marked boy below doing well in the competition, was investing time and effort into his matches. That was good.

It showed the apprentice that her master genuinely wanted to see how the boy functioned as a shinobi, how he acted, and how he fought that made him as good as he was. What with everything else that had gone on in the matches, the jinchuriki was showing everyone in the stadium that he was in fact capable of doing something and not just barking. He could actually throw down when the situation called for it.

It brought somewhat of a small smile to Shizune's face.

OOO

(Konohagakure- Chunin Exam Stadium)

Meanwhile, many miles away, Isaribi looked across towards the raven haired kunoichi sitting beside her, where she could see and practically feel the distress wafting off of her. The way Kin's body trembled, her fists tightened around her pant legs and feet tapped against the floor showed just how restless and nervous she was at the match set to begin in the next minute.

She didn't need to explain the reason why she was so nerve-rattled. The reason was up there clear as day on the gigantic screen, facing down the blonde haired boy who'd saved her life. The very person that destroyed her entire team was facing off against Naruto, the boy who carried her halfway across hell, stood by her bed when she was recovering and offered her a home to live in when she had nowhere else to go.

The tension was eating her up inside.

"K-Kin…" Isaribi murmured, bringing a hand up to touch the shaking, sweating girl.

The kunoichi steeled herself and sucked in air. "I'm fine…"

Lowering her fingers, the purple haired diver nodded and returned to watching the screen, leaving Kin to watch on and recover at her own pace.

Tapping her foot on the ground and wrapping her hands together, the kunoichi breathed deeply.

"Watch yourself, Naruto…" Kin thought while biting her teeth together. "Don't let your guard down… not even for a second."

For the first time ever, she was putting all her hopes and determination on the head of a boy she'd only known for a month. This was something she was not afraid to show.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Once both opponents had made pleasantries with one another and were once again standing at each other's distances, Hayate stood between them and raised his hand. He looked between the pair warily, seeing their smirks being shot across the way and their eyes narrowed on one another. Right now, the only person in their little universe right now was the one standing in front of them.

While they may have been friendly with one another before, it was time to get down to business.

With the clock reaching the final second, Hayate cleared his throat to get their attention. "Are both competitors ready?"

"Yes," Kiyoko nodded.

"More than ready," Naruto added.

"Very well then. Match 2 of the second round: Naruto of Konohagakure vs Kiyoko of Kirigakure." Upon lifting his hand up and, giving it the necessary moment of pause and watching the two fighters ready themselves, dropped it like an axe. "Begin!" He then leapt back, expecting blows to immediately start flying as the audience gave a loud cheer to urge them on.

After stretching out, the pair gave each other a warm smile and nodded to each other respectfully.

"Good luck," Naruto exclaimed.

"You too," Kiyoko replied.

Right on cue, the pair's expressions became dead serious and they slid into stances. Under the watchful gazes of the crowds, Kiyoko brought her fists up into the form recognized from her fight with Lee, with her left fist extended further out and her right held across her chest and stomach to cover her cheek. She then began to gently rock from side to side, at the same time Naruto's feet began to shuffle and skip across the ground like in his fight against Neji, and both of his arms were positioned comfortably at his sides.

With the silence of the crowd prevailing, both Naruto and Kiyoko began to circle each other, throwing hard stares at the opposition while at the same time keeping the space between them wide. It was while they were moving around each other that the intently watching Shikamaru, Neji and Lee then noticed something strange about how they were moving and sizing each other up, at about the same time the Jonin and even the Kage recognized the anomaly.

Those who weren't completely in tune with the fight or didn't possess the level of skill necessary to comprehend the situation didn't get it right away. However, all those who were focused on the battle and looking at both competitors closely noticed how the pair's eyes were darting over the other, how every slight movement and twitch they made earned a counter movement in return and drew a response from the other, despite there being several yards of distance.

From a shinobi's point of view, most notably between Shikamaru, Shiho, Tayuya, Shino and Neji, it was like they were positioning shogi pieces for a game….

In the competitor's minds it was a different story for both sides, but both were thinking along the same lines.

"This match will come down to reason and intelligence, not wildness," Naruto thought with a frown. "However, I'll use that element in my style to my advantage. This girl isn't that strong. She only appears strong because she's been hiding her trump card from everybody else this entire time… and that's why she was able to beat everyone she's faced so easily. Lee made the mistake of showing his hand too early, rushing in without considering his situation properly and as a result he ended up trapped in his opponent's rhythm. That's like sending out your best pieces first and losing them to pawns one after the other. That's where he went wrong." The jinchuriki then slowed his pace and switched to southpaw, getting his opponent to switch up as well, and also switch to southpaw. "She accommodates for every situation presented to her and takes advantage of every mistake. She's sharp."

"The wildness in his style is merely an illusion for cold, calculating, and terrifying precision. Even knowing this, it will be impossible to predict his next move because he always executes them instantaneously and they come without warning," Kiyoko thought while changing directions in her circle, watching her opponent respond likewise and switch to orthodox. "Despite the Hyuuga's perfect field of vision and perfect fighting style, he was able to overcome it with his own undisciplined form of combat. That's a feat that would have been impossible to accomplish for an ordinary class shinobi. But this one isn't ordinary. In the real world, out there on the field, it's always frenzied, always flashy. But not when you're dealing with someone of world class, not when you've got two shinobi with similar tools."

"Things quiet down then," Naruto thought, his gaze narrowing. "Like a game of chess."

"A battle of wits and psychology," Kiyoko finished, eyes flashing. "I love matches like these… because…"

"She fights just like me," Naruto thought, a smirk also tweaking at the corner of his mouth.

In the blink of an eye, it happened.

Crouching down, Kiyoko sprang forward in a cloud of dust, a complete opposite to her previous style where she would hold her ground and wait for her opponent to come to her. However, she ended up surprising the entire audience with a sudden change of tactics, where she advanced on her foe in a blindingly fast dash that stunned the crowds that were watching and waking up those who were on the verge of falling asleep.

From their perspective, her entire form blurred out of focus when she closed the gap between her and Naruto. One second she was several yards away. The next, she was right on top of him.

The battle had begun!

Responding immediately, the jinchuriki reared his left hand back before throwing it straight down at the ground. The moment he did so, he fired several pellets from his gauntlet into the ground, which exploded into a thick white cloud that filled the entire area.

Kiyoko looked up in surprise when she saw the cloud and frowned. "Smoke? Are you trying to run?" Without thought or hesitation, she charged straight into the mist, undeterred in her advance. "Not going to happen!"

As the audience watched the cloud grow and spread over the center of the arena, blocking out view of both competitors for several seconds, they suddenly saw a body fly out the other side.

Moving backwards as quickly as he could, Naruto exploded from his own cover with his teeth bared and eyes set forward. As soon as he was out of the haze and skidded to a stop, he saw his opponent come barreling out of the wall as well, a grin on her face and fists held back. The fingers of the smoke pulled across her form as she sprinted straight towards her target, left fist leading her as she closed the final distance between them.

Naruto swung away; avoiding the girl's jab when she cut at him with a blindingly fast left. Immediately upon dodging, the boy began weaving and bobbing around a series of more shots that came flying at him from his opponent, the Kirigakure kunoichi pressing forward an assault with a combination of consecutives jabs, hooks and uppercuts with the one arm. Not willing to stand there and let her set the pace, the boy sprang back for some room, only to find his opponent in hot pursuit of him. The girl forced him to circle around the open ground, chasing him down with her fist and attempting to harry him to her right.

When the blonde eventually swayed to his left, he saw Kiyoko cock her other fist back before swinging it out at him in a full-powered, right straight. Naruto's eyes widened in shock when he caught a disturbance in the air and threw both arms over his face, a split second before a loud gunshot rang out as the girl's fist slammed into his guard and sent him flying backwards across the grassy knoll. The sheer volume of the impact had the audience gasp in shock, as they watched the Uzumaki dig his feet into the ground and slide to a stop. When he did, he looked over his guard with a surprised expression on his face, moments before his gaze became deathly serious.

Smirking at seeing his astonishment, Kiyoko swiftly closed in on him. Before Naruto could completely recover from the opening hits, the kunoichi began launching combinations of straight punches and hooks at him, her swift attacks cutting through the air and forcing the boy onto the defensive.

Naruto twisted and weaved left and right sharply, dodging the fists that came flying in his direction by a hair. He bit his teeth together as his eyes followed the attacks while his body kept him out of their way. His repeated evasions and slow retreat across the ground brought another smirk to Kiyoko's face as she closed in with a series of more lefts, forcing the boy to weave even more, his arms up to protect his face.

She had him!

"He's got a terrific pair of eyes. His dodging is really skillful to," Kiyoko grinned as she fired off more lefts and a right hook. "But, how long can you keep up with me?" Her left then tightened and she fired off another jab.

Then… it happened!

In the blink of an eye, Naruto slipped under it. The second he did so another loud 'bang' rang out as Kiyoko's head was blasted backwards by a lightning fast blow connecting with her face. From the way Naruto's arm was positioned at his side, it looked like he'd just finished throwing an uppercut.

Those in the audience watching the battle closely on the field or through the television screen let out a collective exclamation of awe, as they had no idea what had just happened as they suddenly saw a stunned Kiyoko stagger backwards.

Even the Jonin were having trouble fathoming what just transpired.

OOO

"What the hell was that?" Kiba asked, shaking his head in bewilderment. "Did she just get hit? What the fuck?"

"Naruto countered her," Shino informed, glasses flashing as he also leaned forward in his seat in bewilderment. "She must have over flourished one of her attacks and left herself open."

"Bullshit. She was attacking him faster than Neji did in his match. How the hell did Naruto manage to hit back during all of that?" the Inuzuka asked, with Akamaru giving a yip of agreement.

Hinata on the other hand was watching the field with her Byakugan activated and an astonished look on her face. After watching the opening, her immediate thought was that Naruto was in big trouble when she saw them escape the cloud of smoke. The speed of his opponent's approach and consecutive attacks prevented him from dodging correctly and making a proper retreat, which also meant both their hands and legs were sealed off from making any hand seals or kicks. However, in the middle of the storm of punches Kiyoko had raining down on her target, somehow the jinchuriki managed to slip under one of her attacks, and countered with a short-motion uppercut from a bent over position.

It was incredible.

"S-So fast…" Hinata exclaimed.

OOO

(Stadium - Arena)

Stopping herself from stumbling, Kiyoko let out a low growl and returned fire on her opponent, who was still standing in front of her. Cocking her right back, the kunoichi hurled it forward in a spearing straight that sliced through the air like a blade. However, the second her fist seemingly made contact with her target, it suddenly passed right through him when Naruto turned transparent and vanished altogether. The result was her twisting blow striking nothing but air, and had Kiyoko's eyes widen in shock.

Pulling back, the girl froze when she heard the sound of footsteps tapping behind her.

"You're getting careless."

Spinning around, Kiyoko saw her opponent directly behind her and coming at her with a left straight. Twisting, the girl attempted to counter with a right cross, only to have her opponent swing under it and his fist crash across her face as a result. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Kiyoko's body was sent blasting to the side with a cloud of sweat exploding off of her face, while her foe leapt away for distance.

As soon as he was back out in the open, Naruto began skipping on the spot, right fist up and protecting his cheek while his left swung at his side. He watched as his foe recovered and looked at him, her eyes wide in bewilderment at what she just or what she thought she just saw. While he moved around, the girl followed him, blinking away her astonishment little by little before her gaze steeled into a glare.

"That's the first time in an actual fight I lost someone standing directly in front of me. Lee-san was super fast, but I could still read his movements and track him. Naruto-kun though… his speed is different." It was almost like a shunshin. First he was standing several yards in front of you and the next thing you knew, he wasn't. "His movements are razor sharp and the way he shifts makes it look like he's teleporting. He's just like Tsubaki-chan…"

This wasn't the time to be comparing notes though. If this boy was anything like her teammate, then she knew she had to kick it into high gear right now if she had any chance of catching him. He was clearly well-versed in close combat, probably even more so than Lee was, only he expressed it with his body in his own unique way. His approach was also entirely different to any shinobi she'd ever come across, and after watching it for the past two rounds was now experiencing it firsthand.

Bringing her fists up, Kiyoko once again took her stance, but this time with a tighter guard. "If I show him even an inch of space he'll go right for it. But don't think I'm throwing in the towel just yet." A second smirk formed on her face. "Enough warming up. I think it's time we got serious."

Still skipping on the spot, Naruto glared back at her before also cracking a competitive smile. "Agreed." He then stopped moving and dug his feet into the floor. "I've seen all that I need to see for now."

The entire crowd began whispering amongst each other, wondering why the boy had suddenly paused and was now taking up a lowered position.

He was so fast fighting the way he had been before that people figured he would simply carry on at the same pace all the way through to the end. However, in a surprising twist in his fighting style, Naruto had chosen to plant his feet and take his opponent up on her challenge in a head-to-head scrap, holding his ground just as she was.

But why? What for? What was the point of mounting such a defensive position?

The answer to those questions was answered shortly afterwards when, all of a sudden…

Naruto turned tail and bolted for the hills. He actually sprinted off so fast he left a dust version of himself standing in place for several seconds before it slowly faded.

Recoiling and jaw dropping at the sight of her opponent suddenly running away, Kiyoko stood there flabbergasted for a few more seconds, watching the dust form of her opponent fade away before realizing what had just happened. When she saw the orange back of her adversary dashing over the next hill, the girl shook herself out of her dazed reverie, stamped her foot into the ground childishly and waved her fist in the air.

"HEY! What gives?! Where the hell are you going?!" she shouted, before deciding to chase after him. "I thought we were going to fight! Get back here, damn it!"

Well, apparently he wasn't intent on fighting.

The sight of course did perplex a great number in the audience and amused some of the others as Kiyoko locked onto her foe's trail, screaming after him as he made his way towards the rockier areas of the ring. It soon became an all too familiar scene for many of those from the Konoha contingent present in the stadium from years ago, where Naruto could be seen fleeing from the authorities after pulling one of his damned pranks on the poor locals and getting the hell out of dodge.

OOO

(Stadium – Near the Competitors Balcony)

Watching the sudden game of cat and mouse open up, Neji raised an eyebrow in interest. "This is unusual. I never figured Naruto would run away from his opponent." It sure was a first for him, and definitely a first for Tenten and everybody else sitting alongside them.

Hearing the Kirigakure Genin's yells echo out over the arena in pursuit of her foe, Tayuya gave a quiet giggle and scratched her head thoughtfully with her good hand. "I wonder what the hell shithead has planned for his opponent this time?"

He was running from the enemy.

Naruto never ran from the enemy. He either faced his opponents head on with his unusual fighting style or used deceptive plays to overwhelm them from all sides.

To see him actually retreat was a new experience for everyone. However, the red haired musician of the Konoha group knew that her boyfriend didn't simply run away from a fight. He never ran away, not from anyone.

Anytime he turned tail and sprinted off in some random direction on the battlefield was what he called a 'tactical retreat'. Basically what was involved in this was instead of plowing straight through the opposition and breaking a few limbs in the process, he resorted to attacking in the opposite direction where the defenses were weakest. This was strange for a number of different reasons because nobody, not even those closest to him, really saw how something like that would work, but for someone as sly and underhanded as Naruto, Tayuya was certain he would be able to pull it off.

As to how exactly he planned on doing that was beyond any of them. He was just secretive about that sort of thing.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Panting as she sprinted after the boy, Kiyoko gritted her teeth as a bead of sweat ran down the side of her head. In spite of running at full speed and being physical fitter than most people, for some reason she just couldn't catch this kid, even with chakra helping to power her along.

"Geez. How fast is he?"

The guy was bloody quick. He was kicking up dust at the speed he was running and he looked like a little, orange blur as he literally lapped the field, ducked around corners and disappeared over rises. The path he was following too was absolutely random, which annoyed the girl chasing after him.

It quickly became abundantly clear to the audience and the blonde haired Kiri Genin who had the superior speed of the two of them. Even though Kiyoko claimed to be quite fast in her own class, even able to keep up with a super powered demon like her opponent Rock Lee in the previous round, it was always only in short bursts and dashes. This allowed her to fight in certain areas where others would find hard to contest in, allowing her to utilize the full capabilities of her unique counter-style taijutsu, and switch it to full offensive mode when the situation required it. However, when it came to endurance runs and going long distances, the task of keeping up said speed was an entirely different story.

Naruto obviously trumped her in this department.

Not to mention for some strange reason her body wasn't responding how she wanted it to at the moment.

It was unusual… but nothing for her to be concerned about at the moment.

"Just where the heck is he going?" Kiyoko thought, glaring ahead to see her target sprint up a grassy hill before disappearing over the other side. "We're inside a ring surrounded by walls, so the best he can do is run around in circles." Seeing him disappear, jumping over another ridge, the blonde haired Kiri Genin smirked and cranked up her speed even more. Her feet carrying her across, she then arrived at the same hill and apex he disappeared behind and ran for the ledge. "I'll catch you, even if it means chasing you the entire match!"

Unbeknownst to her however, Kiyoko had just chased Naruto to the edge of one of the barren regions of the arena. This being the same space Samui had led and caught Utakata off guard in from one of the tors, it meant that the place was absolutely riddled with blind spots and hiding places. Too bad this fact remained clear from the blonde haired girl's mind, whose primary focus at the moment was catching her opponent and butting heads with him.

Thanks to this one-track route of thinking, and with her mind being completely distracted from strategic process, the girl completely missed the blind spot she got when she mounted the same rocky apex her opponent had used to hurdle the hill, and leapt through the air over it.

The audience saw it however, with Tsubaki reacting in immediate alarm and causing the orange haired girl to reel forward in panic.

"YOU IDIOT! HE BAITED YOU!"

"Doton: Yama-Dan!" (Earth Release: Mountain Bullet)

Unfortunately, her teammate's echoing cry came too little too late, as Kiyoko suddenly found herself face-to-face with an enormous boulder the size of a train cart rocketing towards her from up ahead at speed. Covering a distance of thirty yards between her and its launch point in under a second, the blonde haired girl only had enough time to change her determined, grinning visage to one of absolute dismay, and shout.

"WHAT THE? KOTON: TEKKAI!" (Steel Release: Iron Mass)

The next thing she knew,the mass of stone and dirt slammed into her with concussive force.

The sonic boom that rang out on impact was only matched by the sheer velocity the flying chunk of earth had reached before hitting its intended target. Once Kiyoko was sprawled up against the ball and disabled, what followed soon after that was a quick relocating of her person at bullet-like speed from one side of the arena to the other. That meant that the next target of the massive boulder being propelled by a wind ejection point like it had a burning thruster attached to it was the barrier wall in the attack's line of sight.

The crowd directly in the path of the flying chunk of rock gave a cry of terror as they all bailed the fuck out of there, with the ninja present leading the charge out of the seats. Seconds later, another loud shockwave rocked the entire stadium when the train-sized tor crashed into the barrier wall and literally tore a section of it down with one hit. Though it didn't reach the stands, the tremors it caused shook people out of their seats and scared the living daylights out of all those in the vicinity of the collapsing divider.

Those who weren't in the surrounding area either gaped or cringed respectively at the enormous hit that Kiyoko took.

With rubble cascading down upon the heap that was the crater formed by the impact, Naruto stood from the place he'd thrown the attack from and smirked proudly.

"That wasn't an earth release technique. I just used my Jet Hand to rip that massive thing out of the ground and threw it at you," the jinchuriki thought while rolling his shoulder and grinning. "I just wanted a name for it."

Sure. Cheesy. But it was the only thing he could think of on the spur of the moment.

OOO

Needless to say, both Tsunade and Shizune's eyes had also bugged out of their heads just like everybody else's when they saw the enormous chunk of rocky outcrop fly past them at breakneck speed with what looked like a tornado of wind propelling it across the arena. When they followed its trajectory and saw it slam into the far wall with the boy's target attached to its front, the only response they gave it were open jaws and…

"What the fuck was that?" Tsunade asked in bewilderment.

Gulping, Shizune pointed at the mass of stone that was just relocated to the other side of the field over three hundred meters across. "He just… threw that… at his opponent." Yes. Not collapsed it or destroyed it. Threw it.

There was a big difference between certain versions of chaotic destruction, and hurling something equivalent to a rocky tor that was able to remain intact throughout the entire flight, was not something you saw every day in a Genin.

OOO

Breathing out for the effort, Naruto smirked triumphantly in the direction he'd made the new landmark and placed his hands on his hips. "Shit your pants?" Yeah, he was pretty sure the people that had been in that general direction did. He then yelped in pain and gripped his shoulder tightly when a shot of electricity ran up his arm. "Ah! I think I pulled a muscle there."

He made a mental note to officially apologize to the crowd for all the trouble he'd caused at the award ceremony later that day.

However, forethoughts and apologies had to be put on hold for a moment, as the next thing Naruto became aware of after burying his opponent under several tons of rock was the side of the pile of rubble facing him splitting and cracking open. After several moments of watching, counting down from ten from the start of the anomaly, the boy then saw the entire back end of the largest piece of wall that had fallen onto the heap explode outwards in a hail of rubble. When the dust eventually cleared and allowed a clear shot of the damage zone, it revealed an incredibly ruffled and bruised Kiyoko marching out of the wall dusting crap off of her arms.

After shaking the debris out of her hair, the pissed off girl with blood running down her head and from the corner of her mouth looked up at the boy, "Oi! What the hell was that?" She pointed back at the newly located tor furiously, "Did you know how big that thing was? I could have died!" A growl then came from her and she staggered, gripping the side of her head. "Damn it… that actually hurt. I wasn't ready for that."

Smirking when he saw the girl shudder to a stop, Naruto then rolled his head around and cracked his neck. "This is supposed to be a fight. As far as I'm concerned, anything goes in this match. After seeing what you were capable of doing, don't expect me to take it easy on you."

Hearing this, and after recovering enough of her bearings to regain her balance, Kiyoko then gave a grin of her own. Ignoring the sweat that continued to drip down her face, the girl chuckled and wiped the blood off of her mug, at the same time straightening up. "Heh. Well played." The girl then brought her hands to her sides and tightened her fists. "Your moves are great, your reflexes are incredible, and you also have a flare for some interesting parlor tricks. Looks like I'm going to have to take this fight up another level if I have a chance of beating you. No more restraints."

Naruto frowned at this when he watched her shift her head to the side and a loud, metallic crack echoed out, alerting the audience to an odd irregularity. Those with a doujutsu and watching closely then noticed, much to their surprise, the girl's chakra spike considerably as the flow of her circulatory system suddenly sped up and began producing energy for a technique. Though as to what kind of technique, they had no idea.

Stretching momentarily, Kiyoko rolled her shoulder before gesturing for the boy to 'bring it on.'

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto crouched low and dashed in, coming at the girl at speed while she walked forward. Zigzagging to throw her off, the blonde then lunged straight at her with a kunai drawn, his blade cutting through the air with intent to nail her if her aim was to leave herself open for attack.

Knowing her though, she wouldn't.

However the second he came within reach, her left hand shot up and literally stopped the tip of his weapon without a thought or care. A loud clang followed by a metallic grinding sound reverberated off of the stadium walls, with Naruto looking up in shock when he saw what was stopping him.

Kiyoko had raised her left hand to block his attack. While at first the audience thought they were about to see the blade go straight through her palm, the entire crowd was stunned to see the girl's hand, as well as a small portion of her arm, had turned metallic black, and what had stopped Naruto's kunai from skewering her was a black glove of metal.

Sparks flying from Naruto's blade trying to grind into the palm, the boy growled and flicked off her hand, and cut at her with two punches. Kiyoko slipped around them, parrying his third thrust with the knife and swaying back to avoid his backwards spin kick. She countered with a left hook with her clawed hand, but missed when he slipped under it and he came up while thrusting the knife in his right hand for her head, only for the girl to block it with her other arm, which had also become encased in black metal. Sparks flew as the jinchuriki's blade was deflected, with Kiyoko corking her right back and, with an excited grin, threw a wild hook.

Naruto smirked and ducked under it, springing off of the ground the second he dodged and into the air above her, with his kunai swinging down for a cutting strike. However, instead of carving into her head, his blade was blocked by both her arms crossing above her protectively, parrying his attack in a shower of sparks.

"So that's it," Naruto thought, kicking off of the floor as soon as he made land fall. "She has metal skin. That's why physical attacks don't affect her."

"Sorry. But that's not going to work. Not on me," Kiyoko shouted with a grin, advancing on the boy as she watched him leap away.

Teeth bared, Naruto landed and hurled a barrage of shuriken in her direction, which she effortlessly smacked out of the air before the boy knelt down on the ground, placed his hand against a large rock sticking out of the ground, and literally blasted it to pieces with his palm, sending the debris flying with a gale of wind towards his opponent. "Jet Hand!"

Kiyoko had to throw up both arms to protect her eyes from the shower of stone, wincing under the sharp projectiles. Because of this action she completely missed her opponent dropping down at her from above, wrapping his legs around her neck, swing around her like she was a branch, before driving her upper body straight into the floor with his knee against her jugular, punching a crater into the earth.

A loud crack rang out from the impact, with Kiyoko choking up saliva at the solid hit.

"Guard your head next time!" Naruto exclaimed, only to jump away in a hurry when the girl's left slashed out at him and drew bloody marks across his chest, a spray of blood flying through the air when she cut through his shirt in the space of his orange jacket.

Stumbling backwards, the jinchuriki skidded to a stop and glared up while clutching his newly formed wounds, with the Kyuubi quickly moving to heal the damages. When the boy locked onto his opponent once again, he saw her sit up from the ground and glare at him with a visible bruise around her neck.

"Ugh. That really stings. And I thought Lee's attacks would be the only ones that hurt. A move like that would have hospitalized most people," the kunoichi groaned, massaging her spine before rising up from the floor slowly. "Nasty…"

Naruto frowned as he checked the blood on his hand before clenching it into a fist, "But you're not like most people, are you?" Yeah. It was pretty obvious. Her talent in taijutsu aside, there was something abnormal about her body that had everyone questioning over what was physically possible for humans nowadays. After seeing her catch an explosive tag and have it explode in her hand without leaving a single mark on her, and then stand up after two pile drives through solid rock, it was becoming glaringly obvious she had an interesting trick up her sleeve.

And it had something to do with that black metal covering her hands.

It actually looked like it was grafted to her skin and that she summoned it out of nowhere. What the hell was that?

It was a question his opponent wasn't hesitant in answering as she cracked her neck again and looked across at his intense glare. "My body is human. The only thing that sets me apart from every other person in the world is my unique bloodline ability… my kekkei genkai."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Kekkei Genkai?" Fuck. So she had one of those clan-given-Sharingan-watchamacallits, only her ability appeared to be much more lethal.

Wiping the sweat still gathering on her and breathing out raggedly, Kiyoko continued speaking.

"It's nothing special, but you're never going to beat me while I've got it, so I recommend throwing in the towel now while you have the chance," the girl stated, giving the boy a cheeky look. "But then again… you are one of those people. You don't care if someone beats the crap out of you. As long as there's a goal on the road ahead or you have something worth protecting, you'll fight for it to the bitter end." Her expression softened at the end and she gave him a warm look. "I can understand that completely."

Naruto smirked, "Yeah. But it's not like I've got anything to worry about. I managed to get through your guard and you're hurt. Not to mention your weird shield thing on your hands doesn't cover much, so I'm all good he-"

He was interrupted from his analysis by Kiyoko giving a hearty laugh before she flipped her hair back. "Sorry to let you down, but my hands aren't the only things my kekkei genkai covers!" Stepping forward, she raised her right arm out. As soon as she did so, her opponent and the rest of the crowd looked on in shock as the black metal around her hand began creeping up her arm to her shoulder, before beginning to encase every inch of her body. The competitors in the stands, the Jonin and the Kage's eyes widened when they saw her transformation take place. "This stuff makes me look scary, so I try not to use it that often. However… for this fight, it looks as though I'm going to have to go all out."

Naruto's expression turned to one of horror when he saw his opponent become completely encased in the black metal. Soon enough, every inch of skin on his foe's body was covered in armor, her fingers transformed into claws and eyes turned grey with red irises.

Needless to say, after seeing how she was able to block his kunai before and cut into him with her nails, this was not a comforting sight.

Kiyoko chuckled, before speaking with a metallic tang in her voice. "My kekkei genkai is a rare one, one that not even the current Kage have seen before, Steel Release. When not active, my body is naturally sturdier and tougher than an ordinary person's, and grants me increased strength. However, when I manipulate my abilities in this way, I can cover any part of my body in black metal. Using this, I'm completely impervious to all physical damage and my body becomes virtually indestructible." To demonstrate, she pulled a kunai out from her pouch, twirled it, and slammed it into her chest. The second she drove the knife in, it literally shattered into a dozen pieces. Grinning at the result and rolling her shoulder, she then held up her right hand for the whole world to see. "This is my battle attire. Koton: Kongo Yoroi! (Steel Release: Adamantine Armor) Hope you're ready for it."

Seeing Naruto's shocked look brought a smile to Kiyoko's face. But the jinchuriki, undeterred in the slightest, gritted his teeth and took his stance again. Despite his wound, he was still standing strong, and he was far from giving up at this point.

OOO

Lee's eyes shimmered in realization as he and everybody else in the entire stadium watched in utter silence and astonishment as Kiyoko tested out her newly brought out, black armor. Blinking away his disbelief, the bushy-browed fighter then looked down at his heavily bandaged hands, which he could see were still recovering from his fight with the girl in the earlier round.

After seeing her remarkable transformation, he now knew what had happened to him.

"I didn't mess up. I executed all of my attacks perfectly," Lee stated, gritting his teeth and looking back up at the big screen. "It was that armor. That armor was what saved her. She must have activated it at the last second when I hit her through the air using my eight gates and deactivated it when I finished attacking her."

"That explains why your knuckles and shins were smashed up," Tenten remarked, a disbelieving look of her own still in play. "You didn't even realize you were attacking something as tough as an anvil and busted up your limbs trying to damage her."

"It also explains how she is able to block throwing weapons with her bare hands and survive an explosion at pointblank range," Sasuke stated, looking across at the others, particularly Ino whom he saw gulp and look back nervously. "Physical attacks don't work on her, unless they have a certain amount of brute force behind them. Anyone who went up against her wouldn't have known about her abilities until she chose to reveal them."

That was the kicker. If you went into a fight not knowing what your opponent was fully capable of and were hiding their real abilities from you, then chances are the one fighting them was going to lose, and lose badly.

Since the Kiri team had been so good at hiding their capabilities up until this point, it was like everyone that had fought them had practically been trying to attack them with one hand tied behind their backs.

"B-But why is she showing everyone now? I don't get it?" Choji asked, looking around at all of the ones among them he perceived as the smartest, most notably Neji, Shiho and Sasuke. "How come she's using her armor in full view of the audience if she's been hiding it this entire time?"

Neji, being the most composed of them at the moment and having recovered a lot faster from the shocking realization, gave a smile as he looked down at the field. "It's because her opponent has pushed her to the point that she's had no choice but to use her abilities to their fullest."

That being said, it quickly dawned on everyone there that out of all the people who've fought so far, the one who's been fighting both the hardest and the smartest at the same time was the jinchuriki currently facing off with the terrifying bloodline user. It had everyone steel themselves in preparation for the battle ahead, as all eyes fixated on the arena and the two competitors standing in its center. Despite the stunning turn of events, the kids saw that the battle wasn't over yet, and that Naruto was still intent on fighting his opponent for the win.

However, now that the Kiri kunoichi has shown her hand, how was Naruto going to counter it.

Indestructible armor? Though they'd seen something similar in Gaara in his previous fights with both Tenten and Tayuya, this time the armor they were looking at seemed even more impervious then the shield of sand and his sand armor.

That wasn't a good thing.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

"Every technique has a weakness, no matter how invincible or flawless it appears," Naruto thought with a smirk, suddenly unzipping his jacket and removing it, followed by his ruined shirt.

Up in the stands surrounding the arena, many of the girls who were able to get a good view of the show, either on the big screen or down below, blushed brightly as all those who were watching saw Naruto flex his arms and roll his bare shoulders once he'd removed his tops. The scars he received across his chest from his opponent's last attack didn't detract at all from the material whatsoever, as his stretching before his opponent made for an intriguing performance.

The light from the sun seemed to accentuate the masculine tone of his athletic build as he waved his hair in a cloud of perspiration, refreshing himself under the beams of sunlight passing over him and illuminating his form like a model on a poster.

Tayuya, Tenten and Samui blushed shamelessly at the sight, while Temari and Hinata did their best to try and cover their eyes, but failed miserably in that endeavor as they couldn't help but look up at the television screen where the camera was magnified on Naruto and his half-naked glory, and drink in his impressive figure.

Even Kiyoko paid the kid a bit of attention, with a shade of red poking through the dark metal of her cheeks.

Upon dropping his ruined shirt to the floor next to him and slipping on his jacket, leaving it unzipped, the blonde then formed a cross-fingered hand seal and held his ground. Even in the face of this new development, the jinchuriki remained focused on the task at hand and kept his opponent clearly in his sight. "Just stick to the game plan. I've been expecting her to draw this kind of card from the get-go… I just didn't think it was going to be so troublesome." A smirk then formed on his face as he saw his opponent leer at him. "I still have one thing in my favor… and that's the fact that I can be a real bastard."

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Shadow Clone Technique)

In a series of white explosions of smoke, Naruto literally multiplied across the field. Within seconds, over a hundred of him could be seen surrounding his opponent on all sides, with every single doppelganger sliding into their respective stances and some of them even drawing weapons from their pouches. The crowd gawked in shock at the sheer number of bodies that now occupied the arena, leaving his foe looking around in bewilderment at how many of the boy in orange now stood around her. Though the Jonin instructors and a lot of the Genin from his village knew he could use this technique, the great majority of the audience including the judges was baffled.

Looking around momentarily, Kiyoko raised an eyebrow at the count she made. "Whoa. What's up with this number of clones? How the heck were you able to make this many?" Looking around to see all of them step towards her, the girl gritted her teeth momentarily at being unable to find the real one, before a wide grin appeared on her face.

Taking a stance of her own, she brought her left forward and formed it into a tight chopping-hand, which suddenly elongated slightly and developed a notable cutting blade on either side. "Koton: Kusanagi no Tsurugi." (Steel Release: Grass-Mowing Sword) Her smirk widened as she renewed her stance. "No matter how many times you multiply yourself, it won't be enough," Kiyoko remarked, whipping her long head of blonde hair back over her shoulder.

One of the Naruto copies at the front smiled and crouched low, "We'll see. You won't really know until I try." He gestured for her to 'bring it on' just as the kunoichi did earlier before activating her steel armor. "Come."

"As you wish!" Kiyoko shouted before blasting forward, at the same time every single shadow clone surrounding her charged, leaping into the air and converging on her all at once.

At that moment, all hell broke loose. The platoon of clones that met her at the front and charged forward first were blasted away by the black and yellow blur crashing straight into them. Like a freight train, Kiyoko plowed through the wall of clones and began cutting them down in droves. Her right arm, which she had transformed into a blade, sliced through the first lot and engaged those with kunai, her weapon literally slicing through theirs and cutting into her targets one after the other. Those she engaged directly put up a brief fight, but quickly met a swift end at her sword.

Those that came at her from the other corners were dealt with differently. Those that rained down on top of her and attempted to land blows were avoided and then kicked away, or blocked and then beaten or cut into submission. Much like the finesse she displayed before in her one-on-one battles with her opponents much earlier, the girl showed terrific taijutsu in her protective form. The only difference here was that instead of evading and guarding excessively, her armor filled that part in for her as every attack the incoming squads of clones threw at her bounced off useless.

After jackknifing a copy that flew at her with a kick and sending him barreling through a whole mass of them, the girl spun around and chopped out with her hand, slicing into another's chest and dispelling him. She then took a hook to the face that had the clone back off holding his broken limb before she head-butted him to the ground, which he hit with a deafening thud before going up in smoke. She then threw a corked up left straight at another that came at her with a kick, slamming him in the face and propelling him through the air, where he then dispelled a split second later.

Dull thuds and shouts rang out as the clones hurled themselves at her, attempting to harry her into entering danger zones, but failing and ending up on the receiving end of her vicious assault.

She battled the army of shadow clones across the entire field, effortlessly blocking thrown kunai and stabbing through squads mercilessly. Hell, she didn't even hesitate when one threw a knife with an explosive tag at her, which she caught, removed the tag, slapped it against one of the clone's bodies and hurled it back at a random enemy. She then kicked the clone with the tag slapped across him into a crowd of doppelgangers, where she then watched it explode and take a whole bunch of them out with him.

From the crowd's point of view, it seemed like a one-sided slaughter fest that had everyone wondering whether she could even be beaten. She took several knives to the back without flinching and responded by beating those clones into submission, before switching from her arm sword to her fingers. Using repeated Shigan strikes, Kiyoko peppered the platoons, downing them instantaneously with devastating blows.

Spinning around, she effortlessly parried swift blows from a clone, before thrusting her finger into it and dispelling it.

As she charged another group down, two more copies came at her with kunai, only to bounce off of her when she ran straight through them, dispelling them at their useless endeavor. Kiyoko rushed up to another formation and engaged them, cutting down the first few with her finger when they jumped her, before suddenly blocking a kick and watching one of the copies hike off of her in a flip. Seeing him skid, she prepared to dash him, only to see him throw his gauntlet across and fire off something small and fast-moving at her.

The next thing she knew, Kiyoko was seeing purple and red as paint splattered across her face. Shouting out in pain, she quickly began rubbing the shit out, but found it incredibly difficult due to her metal armor. "Ah! Fuck! Lucky shot!" While stumbling back, blind, the girl suddenly felt her legs get kicked out from under her by two clones sliding across the ground and knocking her legs with their feet from behind. When she crashed to the ground with an earsplitting crack, forming a small crater, the sprawled out kunoichi was unable to see due to the paint as several clones somersaulted into the sky above her and spun down towards her simultaneously.

"Bunshin Kaiten Kakato Otoshi!" (Clone Spinning Heel Drop) the squad of copies shouted, before crashing down one after the other on top of the girl in a devastating barrage, literally punching an even larger crater into the ground as they embedded her even deeper.

Coughing out air at the sheer force, the girl suddenly knocked the clones on top of her off with a backhand before sitting up. Grabbing her face, she literally removed the paint covered piece of armor and tossed it away. Eyes cleared, she then allowed her black armor to encase her again, leaving her a brand new mask.

"Clever. But not good enough!" she shouted, launching herself from the crater and at another formation, slicing through them with wild punches and kicks.

Managing to drive the clones back, Kiyoko's eyes cut around at all the shadow clones that remained, before marking out one of them and rushing at him. She watched that copy take a defensive stance and with a yell, threw a right cross at him that impacted against his guard. A loud crunch sound echoed out when her attack threw him across the open area, where he then slid to a stop gripping his forearm. The Kirigakure girl blinked when she saw this and smirked.

"From the sound of it, I think I just cracked your forearm, Naruto-kun," the girl chirped triumphantly at finding the real one and seeing him glare in frustration at her. She tapped the side of her nose teasingly. "It was a good effort. But you should know you can't hurt me."

Appearing angry for a moment, the jinchuriki then broke out a smile and chuckled. Confusing the girl when he stood out of his fighting stance, the boy massaged his arm and threw the girl a grin. "True… I can't physically hurt you. Not with my bare hands anyway." He then narrowed his eyes and his smirking visage became a lot more serious, at the same time the remaining clones surrounding him dispelled. "The trick to beating you isn't attacking you head on with brute force… but by attacking the parts of your body where you don't expect to be hit."

Baffled at first by his statement, Kiyoko was about to respond in kind with a question as to what he actually meant by that, only to suddenly see her vision turn blurry and feel her body unexpectedly weaken. Stumbling like someone had dropped an extra ton of weight on her, the girl was unable to stop the sweat seeping through her steel skin as she gripped the side of her head nauseously, before starting to cough and splutter.

Smiling across at the girl, Naruto watched his opponent grip her head and cough out white fumes of smoke. The way he regarded her with that confident glimmer in his eyes, people knew right then and there that he'd been expecting this.

"As much as I would have liked to test that armor of yours against some of my other jutsu, I didn't want to waste chakra throwing everything I had around in this fight," the jinchuriki informed, placing his hands on his hips as he watched the girl stumble. "I've got two more opponents to fight before the end of the day, so I'm sorry this couldn't have lasted longer. I had fun though."

Finally catching her breath, Kiyoko glared up at the boy as she tried to focus. However, due to her distorting vision, she was finding this task to be close to impossible, "What? What the hell?" With her balance lost and through the strained expression she was currently wearing, you could tell she was not only surprised and angry, but becoming increasingly concerned for her wellbeing. "What… did you do to me?" It was then, as she felt her body's condition gradually start to worsen and her strength pretty much leave her, the girl's eyes snapped open in realization as she thought back to the events that had transpired. She then looked up at the blonde in disbelief, remembering to when her body started acting strangely right at the beginning of their match. "No way… you planned that far ahead?"

Naruto chuckled, "Figured it out?" He then raised his arm and pulled back the sleeve to show off his gauntlet. "One of my specialties from yesteryear. That smoke I popped at the beginning of the fight wasn't ordinary smoke. It was laced with a powerful knock-out toxin I mixed in from the berries I found around my village. Since you only got a small shot of it, it took a while for the effects to kick in, which is why I had you running around the arena so that the poison could spread quicker. Your body attempted to filter it out through sweat, but it eventually became too much. While I could have beaten you ten other ways, this method I would have to say is my personal favorite. Gets people every time."

"B-But how come… you didn't get affected by it?" Kiyoko asked in bewilderment. "You were… inside the same cloud as me."

A sly smirk formed on Naruto's lips. "Simple. I spent the past five years developing immunity to the toxins by adding the fruits to my diet. I wouldn't even think about using something like that on the battlefield unless I had appropriate countermeasures for it, so I came prepared."

Giving the boy a stunned look at the revelation of his strategy, Kiyoko then gave another cough before her eyes suddenly became half-lidded. Straightening up, the blonde kunoichi slowly began wobbling and swaying on the spot, nauseous groans escaping her lips as she staggered towards her foe. Reaching out, the armor clad girl attempted to grab a hold of him, only for her now seriously distorted world to send her sprawling to the floor. When she hit the ground, a loud thud echoed out, and the kunoichi gave one last moan before her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her vision faded to black, and she went out like a light.

The second she lost consciousness, her metallic black armor bled back into her skin, leaving her completely and utterly defenseless.

Looking down at the girl's peaceful expression and hearing her start to snore, Naruto gave a light-hearted chuckle, drew a kunai from his leg holster and threw it so that it landed right next to her head. His action drew a gasp from the crowd, but when people realized the youngster didn't finish her off in cold blood, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"I suspected that there was something off about the way you fought from the very beginning. Like how you were able to take the full force of an explosive tag head on, slap kunai out of the air with your bare hands and take an attack that should have turned an ordinary person into slurry. You pretty much confirmed my suspicions when you activated your armor and started coming after me with it."

The boy strolled over and picked up the knife from the ground, before sheathing it into its holder. "The truth is though, you're not invincible… and you're not some overpowered monster. In all honesty, Gaara is a much bigger threat then you. You only seemed unbeatable because nobody had the faintest idea of what your real abilities were, since you were hiding them so well. All you really had over them were your reflexes, your close-combat skills and your ability to deflect all physical attacks. There are many other ways to take down a person like you, like using genjutsu to knock you out, exhausting you, attacking your other senses including your sight, smell, and hearing, using an attack with high penetration power capable of carving through metal… and best of all, poison. I can name several other competitors in this tournament that could have beaten you easily. The people you fought with however drew short straw, as they didn't have the tools or means to bring you down. Hell, you would have been the perfect opponent for Sakura-chan… even Tayuya-chan and that puppet guy, because they all used genjutsu or poison in their fighting styles." He then threw up his fist and held it high in the air. "I believe I've made my point, so I'll leave it at that. Checkmate."

As soon as the proctors recovered from watching the fight, and upon seeing Kiyoko hit the floor after succumbing to the anesthetic toxins in her body, Hayate moved forward and raised his hand to the crowd, "Winner of Match 2 by knock-out: Naruto of Konohagakure!"

That being the call they wanted to hear, the entire audience, most of who were standing, erupted into cheers and applause, which rained down like thunder upon the arena. Naruto, welcoming their praises, smiled up at the people and waved, taking the time to catch his breath seeing as he'd used up a bit of energy in that fight staying ahead of his opponent. After several seconds of standing there and waving to the people, he heard someone clear their throat and turned around.

Looking behind him, he saw Samui standing there holding up his T-shirt. It didn't escape his notice that she was also wearing an all-knowing smile and had a bit of color in her cheeks as she gazed at him, but he tried to pass it off as some girl thing and walked over to her. When he stopped and tried to take his shirt, she pulled it back and gave his bare front a once over.

"Samui-chan," Naruto laughed with an amused grin.

"Just admiring the craftsmanship," the blonde kunoichi replied, nodding approvingly before handing his piece of clothing back. Watching him slip off his jacket first and dust down his shirt, she placed a hand on her hip and beamed. "Don't need to be so shy about it. You should be pleased with the work you've done on yourself. Besides… you owe me for that time at the waterfall."

Slipping his top on, Naruto then unfurled his jacket as he smirked at the girl. "Well, aside from the fight, I'm sure you also got a decent show out of it. Are we even now?"

Thinking over it for a moment, the girl shook her head slightly. "Not quite. You still owe me a date… and a bit. I was completely naked, you know." And he was only half. Even with the pants and jacket, the sight of his bare form had not been as fulfilling for her as she had hoped. However, she was all too happy to have the image of his partially clad body burned into the back of her brain for future reference and wasn't afraid to go about doing it from the way her eyes panned up and down the teen. After seeing him adjust his pouch and leave his trademark jacket unzipped, the kunoichi nodded, "That was a really cool fight, by the way. You really do bring a different kind of game to the field."

Hearing this, Naruto grinned brightly. "I'm looking forward to seeing the kind you bring to the next round when we fight." Lowering his hands, he gestured to her hopefully, "See you in a bit?"

Samui nodded back, "Of course." She then tagged in with him, giving him a respectful high-five as he passed and watched him return to the competitor's balcony.

While he was walking, Naruto waved to the crowds while they cheered him off, and also spared a glance over to where Kiyoko was lying. Seeing her unconscious form loaded onto a stretcher and hearing her still snoring loudly away, the boy gave her a moment of concern and wished her well. Upon which, he then turned back to his task of returning to the stands, and left that field with a spring in his step and a good feeling in his chest.

It wasn't just the fact he'd put on a good show out there. He'd also got to fight someone strong and got the ride of his life out of it. While it wasn't to the degree of his fight with Hidan a couple months back, the stakes in this one had still been high and allowed him to cut loose to show the world just how much stronger he'd become.

"And this is only the start," Naruto thought, his eyes panning up to the waiting box where he saw Gaara was glaring down at him. Returning the redhead's gaze with a serious one of his own, the jinchuriki grunted and turned back to the isle. "My job here isn't done yet…"

Oh yeah. Kiyoko was just one of his problems. Though she would have proven difficult for some, in contrast she wasn't as tough an opponent as he initially believed. Had the fight deteriorated to a pure physical one, Naruto was certain he would've been able to beat Kiyoko in taijutsu, but in her armored state she would have been ridiculously hard to overcome if he didn't use subtle tactics to bring her down. The fact that he hit her with debilitating gas made the fight so much easier.

Now, there were only two more beasts left to worry about. Hopefully Samui could deal with hers.

OOO

(Stadium – Near the Competitors Balcony)

"That was a pretty fun fight," Tenten chirped, leaning back with her arms crossed, "Both of the last two were. Man… there were so many moments in them that had my hair standing on end."

"That's top-class skill for you," Neji stated, eyes fixed on the center of the arena as he saw the next two competitors change out with the last ones. "Can you expect anything less from the competitors who have made it this far? Since the first rounds are over, we can start seeing some really interesting material." He only wished that he could have advanced from the previous rounds, but that was just his luck.

Now it was the turn of the blonde haired kunoichi from Kumogakure and the girl from Kirigakure who had pretty much flicked all of her opponents into submission the entire tournament. It wasn't that big of a stretch to imagine that the whole stadium now had their sights set on the big screen and were waiting with heavy anticipation for the next round. After the first match of this round saw the entire arena set ablaze and the second one had its two competitors batter the arena and flood it in a close-combat mash up, this third one was bound to be a real kicker as well.

The atmosphere was ripe with excitement. This was clearly evident by how Lee's leg was bouncing up and down while he was still in his wheelchair and everyone's collective expressions reflected both seriousness and nervousness.

The still wounded Tayuya, having been overwhelmed and joyous in the face of Naruto's victory, had calmed down enough to focus on the arena just as everybody else now had. With her glare set on the two Genin on the screen that had finally come to face each other, the girl clenched her fist and waited for the bell to be rung. Not at all fussing over her injuries any longer, she was now more concerned over who would be advancing into what would be the semi-final round.

The winner of this match would decide Naruto's next opponent, and that would undoubtedly be the smarter and the stronger of the two.

Silence fell once more amongst the audiences, with those in the balcony also focusing their complete attention on the ring below. That included Shikamaru, Naruto, who had just returned from his battle to rest, Temari and Gaara.

The latter of which, who'd been riled up from the last match as noted by the slightly anxious Temari, now had his complete attention fixed on this next fight, as he knew where the results would inevitably lead.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

With Samui and Tsubaki facing each other, one with her hands at her sides and the other with her hands in her pockets, they waited for the proctor to be done explaining to them the rules. Droning out all other noises, once Mizore had finished addressing both, the Kumo Genin bowed her head to the orange haired teen in greeting, to which she also nodded respectfully.

"Let's have a good match," Samui spoke with her normal, impassive gaze.

Tsubaki acknowledged this with a small smile of her own. "You're the first ninja outside of my village to defeat Utakata in a straight-up battle. I'm sure that this will indeed be an enjoyable fight."

"While I'm not too sure about you, I also intend to give this audience a good show," Samui remarked. "Don't think that just because you practically waltzed over the rest of the competition that I'm going to go easy on you."

Looking between the pair one last time, Mizore smiled. "Do you two understand the rules?" Seeing the pair nod in understanding, the older kunoichi raised a hand and fell it. "Match 3 between Tsubaki of Kirigakure and Samui of Kumogakure: Begin!" That said and done, she then leapt back for space, as all of the proctors have done throughout the tournament. Whether this one would start out with guns blazing or start out slowly it didn't matter.

For the safety of all those involved, all of the competitors were given their space the moment the fight was started.

When the cheers of the crowd subsided at the start of the final fight of the round, both Tsubaki and Samui stood facing each other firmly. Their eyes darted over the other in an attempt to work out an appropriate means of defeating their foe, and as silence finally prevailed, the tension in the atmosphere escalated, leaving both drowning in a sea of intensity. The Kage, the Jonin, the daimyo, and the former competitors all broke into a bit of a sweat, wondering which of the two would make the first move and begin the exchange.

It was like watching a movie; a classic stand-off between adversaries and something that would have anyone sitting on the edge of their seats.

That showed just how much people invested in this sort of entertainment.

Then, after a certain amount of time had passed and it seemed like nothing was going to happen, a move was finally made.

The Kumogakure kunoichi reached back and gripped the handle of her tanto. As soon as her fingers curled around it and the click of her blade beginning to exit the sheath sounded, Tsubaki responded instantaneously.

Samui's eyes widened when, in the blink of an eye, her opponent suddenly appeared directly in front of her with her finger held up and extending towards her. The crowd didn't even have time to gasp as her finger shot forward to make contact with the kunoichi's face. However, when it seemed like the fight would be over the moment the limb made contact, an even more shocking development occurred when Samui unexpectedly ducked right under the finger as it sailed above her, causing Tsubaki's eyes to widen when, at the exact same time, her opponent swiftly drew her short blade and swung out at her.

Responding immediately, the orange haired girl with the white samurai robe draped over her shoulders leapt back with speed. Sailing through the air gracefully, the girl gently touched down several meters away, causing the crowds to blink in confusion as to what had happened and why the teen suddenly retreated.

Even the Jonin were confused.

Why would the Kirigakure girl retreat and dodge an attack when she could have simply allowed it to pass through her. She did it for all of Sasuke Uchiha's attacks, and nobody had seen anyone stand up to so much firepower without even breaking a sweat. Everything he'd thrown at her didn't work, not even the impressive jab of the Chidori.

However, as the entire crowd was left questioning why Tsubaki suddenly moved back so quickly, they then saw the reason why.

Samui's tanto, which everyone had thought was just a simple blade with nothing special or unique about it, was bathed in lightning chakra. The blue current of electricity could be seen running up and down the blade, extending it somewhat and making it even more lethal than it previously was. This had all of the Jonin, including most of the Kage, staring in interest, since they'd yet to see any of the other Genin save for Sasuke utilize an elemental affinity in that manner.

It was then, all attention set on Tsubaki when the girl suddenly smacked her lips as she watched her opponent rise back to her feet.

"I see. So you can also use that kind of attack," the orange haired teen spoke, allowing the hand she had brought up to strike at the girl to dangle at her side, "You can run your lightning style chakra through your blade. How troublesome."

Samui, glaring across at her foe with a bead of sweat running down her head, then raised her short blade and pointed it in her direction. "It took me a while to figure it out, but I finally realized the trick behind your intangibility." She was certain the other shinobi had figured it out too. When she saw Tsubaki raise an eyebrow and felt the confused gazes throughout the stands lock onto her, the Kumo girl smiled. "Like your friend Kiyoko, you also possess an incredibly rare and tricky kekkei genkai… perhaps the most lethal one I've ever seen. Your ability is a type of lightning release, nothing more, nothing less."

Blinking in surprise, Tsubaki smirked, "So you've figured me out?"

Samui also chuckled, "It wasn't that big of a mystery. I simply took what I saw and what I learned from your battles and came up with a reasonable hypothesis. Everybody else would have simply clashed with you head on and perished without even knowing the secret behind your techniques. But the key to beating you isn't rushing in blindly; it's solving the riddle."

Holding out her right hand, the kunoichi from Kiri curled her fingers and allowed a visible shot of electricity to shoot between them. When the cameras caught sight of the anomaly, the crowd shivered when her stare intensified. "I'm the first person in Kirigakure to be born with this bloodline in seventy years. I'm an electro-master, a lightning user, one who can fully immerse themselves with the element and use it like it is second nature. It is my one and only affinity. This means I'm not only the most powerful user of the lightning element in my village but I can also make myself completely intangible to all physical attacks by becoming lightning itself, whether they are taijutsu or ninjutsu. Since I can transform into a highly volatile element, I can survive in an atmosphere that would normally be difficult for a normal person to even breathe. With my level of control, I can restrain our village's tailed beasts by electrocuting them into submission. While the Sharingan hypnotizes biju and the Wood Release binds them, my kekkei genkai functions like a cattle prod, and stuns them."

OOO

Up in the stands in the front row, the Jonin who were watching the screen and listening to the speakers intently all blinked in realization when the secret was finally unveiled. While Genma, Kurenai, Asuma and Anko expressed mild levels of astonishment at the answer, Kakashi and Gai were the only ones unfazed by the news. In fact, it looked like both males had been expecting this answer, and were just waiting for confirmation on it to settle on a conclusion. With this unveiling, the entire audience started to murmur.

"So that's it. She's a lightning release user," Asuma said.

"And not an ordinary one either… it's her kekkei genkai," Kurenai stated, pulling her thumb up to her lips and biting on her nail nervously. "Is that even possible?"

"Kekkei genkai aren't just limited to advanced chakra natures," Kakashi spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to him to see his serious gaze locked onto the field. "There are many different kinds of bloodline abilities in the world; these include doujutsu users and ones involving different elements not related to the known affinities. The Sharingan and Kaguya's Shikotsumyaku are good examples of this."

"Those with a kekkei genkai display skills and abilities that are a little more advanced than what you'd normally see in other shinobi who use a basic nature transformation or an advanced chakra nature," Gai also said, adding his own knowledge into the mix. "It's all a matter of working out the ordinary shinobi from kekkei genkai users and telling them apart. Kekkei genkai users can sometimes produce their abilities without the use of hand seals and can use their abilities at will. You also wouldn't be able to copy their abilities or utilize them in any way for yourself." He looked across at Kakashi, whom he could see was also looking incredibly serious. "Even the Sharingan won't be able to copy kekkei genkai based abilities, but kekkei genkai users can still adopt existing techniques as their own to a certain degree."

Hearing this, everyone looked back at the arena, with Anko's expression becoming a little grimmer. "Well… this certainly explains a few things."

"It certainly explains why she's so fast. That she can allow attacks to pass through her. That she was able to dispel Akatsuchi's earth release technique just from touching it and also absorb Sasuke's Chidori on contact," Genma led on before narrowing his eyes.

"And it also explains why my Kikaichu ran away from her," Shino thought.

It made sense. Animals and insects had a much greater sense about their environment compared to humans and perceived their surroundings in a variety of different ways. They could pick up natural disasters and storms approaching over the horizon before they were even within sight, and even sense the most subtle disturbances in the ground and air. If Tsubaki was able to wield lightning and electricity like it were an extension of her body, then she must be emitting some sort of electrical signal from her person that animals could sense and didn't agree with. It made them uncomfortable to be around her, even scared of her.

Because she used lightning as her main element and could turn herself into it, it was like she was an actual, walking storm system, which also supported Hinata's observation of her chakra signature fluctuating like crazy. Given her element is electricity it made sense insects didn't like her. They weren't accustomed to bad weather conditions.

"Can she even be beaten?" Genma murmured.

"Yes. She can," Kakashi stated, getting everyone to look at him again. "On the surface it appears that she is invincible, but the truth is that her abilities are limited to the same restrictions as the other four affinities. I believe she was made aware of this earlier in her life and has trained herself to utilize her capabilities to their fullest. So far, lightning release jutsu are the only techniques that can make contact with her because she absorbs them as opposed to fazing through them, and that gives her opponent a window of opportunity."

Blinking, Kurenai allowed a smile to form on her face as she looked down at the field. "So there's still hope. If you can coat your weapon or your limb with lightning release chakra, you can still touch her."

"Yeah. It sounds simple in theory, but applying it in battle is another thing entirely," Asuma stated, biting down on his cigarette nervously. "Even knowing how to beat her, that girl is still ridiculously fast and quite powerful. I think Samui is going to have a bit of trouble trying to catch her, since Tsubaki now knows her opponent uses lightning as her main affinity and knows what her intentions are…"

Yeah. Even Kiba, Shino and Hinata acknowledged that it was going to be tricky.

The girl was quick and her attacks packed a punch, using her speed to develop power. Furthermore, Tsubaki can also absorb her opponent's chakra if it is lightning based, so that meant it was going to take a sizable chunk out of your reserves to actually deal her some physical damage. By the end of this, even if Samui did manage to win, she would need to sacrifice a lot of chakra and effort to get it.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Tsubaki, looking her opponent over and noting her weapon and use of her natural affinity, allowed a smile to cross her lips. As the crowd murmured uneasily, the orange haired teen tilted her head in interest, "Now I can see why Utakata had such a tough time against you. You are definitely a dangerous adversary."

Lowering her stance, Samui responded, "You can absorb lightning release chakra, but while jutsu of that nature can't hurt you, you still become solid when you make contact with them. You can absorb the electricity on my blade, but you won't be able to faze through it at the same time. It'll cut you badly if you make the wrong move."

Yes. Very dangerous indeed.

Chuckling, Tsubaki stepped forward and surveyed the area. There was about fifteen meters of distance between them. Earlier, at the beginning of their fight, there was only five. The fact that Samui was able to duck her in the time it took for her to cover that distance was simply astonishing. It was a question that the Kiri girl couldn't help address, "You must have had plenty of training to be able to avoid someone as fast as me."

"My team leader is one of the strongest lightning release users in our country," Samui informed, her frown reappearing. "I'm used to your kind of speed."

An intrigued grin formed on Tsubaki's face as her mind finally completed its lap. The shadow passing over her eyes at the same time meant that whatever she'd just come up with did not promise her opponent an easy conflict to come.

Case in point; as soon as Samui saw her opponent sprout that smirk, Tsubaki raised her foot off of the ground and, with her hands now in her pockets, cocked it back for a kick. Even though she was also standing over several yards away, the sight didn't bode well as everyone braced themselves for an attack.

But what good use was a kick from that distance going to do?

"Let's see how long you can keep that up," Tsubaki said before her foot suddenly started glowing blue. "Raiton: Raigeki no Yari!" (Lightning Release: Spear of Lightning) Before anyone in the audience could blink, the girl thrust her foot forward in a side kick before a beam of energized blue light shot from her sole and was sent flying straight towards Samui as fast as the lightning release technique the Kumo girl had used against Utakata.

Eyes widening, the blonde haired girl leapt out of the way as the beam shot past her and, a split second later, struck the arena wall behind her with explosive forced. The blast sent a fireball and a cloud of dust hurling into the air, the crowd crying out in terror at the shockwave that caused the entire arena to tremble. Samui of course, had managed to barrel out of the way of the attack and after sliding to a stop on all fours, looked up to see her opponent lower her foot back to the ground and vanish in a flash of electricity.

Tracking her, Samui sprang off of the ground and spun through the air just as a foot slammed down into the ground she was resting on, splitting the earth with the force of her kick. When she landed safely away and skidded to a stop, the blonde haired kunoichi glared to see her foe smiling in her direction, obviously enjoying this little game of tag they now had on.

Becoming wary of her, the Kumo Genin leapt away for more distance to analyze her situation, only for her opponent to respond instantly and yank her foot out of the earth. With her leg glowing blue and her face scrunched up in effort, Tsubaki thrust another kick forward with a yell, "Catch!" and fired another beam of blue light that shot towards Samui like an arrow.

Timing the attack, the defensive kunoichi cocked her tanto and, upon encasing it in lightning chakra again, thrust it forward in a stabbing motion and intercepted the shot coming at her at full speed. The result was intense, her blade slicing into the beam of electricity and splitting it into several beams that shot out in different directions. The dispersing blasts of electricity struck the ground all around the pair, the proctors shielding themselves when some of the rays crashed into the floor in front of them with concussive force, sending blasts of hot wind and dust whipping into their faces.

Spinning her tanto around in her grip after blocking the jutsu, Samui gritted her teeth and dashed forward as fast as she could.

Lowering her foot in time to see Samui rushing at her with her lightning covered blade pulled back, Tsubaki smirked and brought both hands out of her pockets. Holding them in front of her with one hand over the other, electricity began to crackle between her palms like in her fight with Sasuke to form what looked like a ball of lightning. This flow of electricity then began to course over Tsubaki's entire body before she suddenly started to glow completely blue.

"Raiton: Yata no Kagami!" (Lightning Release: Eight Yata Mirrors)

Her now pure, energized form then broke apart into several bolts of electricity that shot into the sky, a split second before Samui struck out with her weapon and went right past the spot her opponent had been standing. Eyes widening in shock, the Kumogakure girl slammed her feet into the ground and coasted to a stop. As soon as her momentum ceased, the girl spun around and glared towards up, where she saw the photons of electricity converge several stories above and her opponent materialize out of the air again.

Tsubaki was already descending while her body was reforming, and as soon as she was completely restored she threw another roundhouse kick and fired a third beam of lightning at her opponent.

"Here you go!"

Responding just like before, Samui swung her blade out and intercepted the beam. Her tanto cut right into it, separating the attack and causing it to pepper the battlefield in a series of scattered explosions that sent clouds of smoke and debris hurling into the air.

As the crowds watched both the arena and the screen when the smoke cleared, they saw Samui spring out of the wall of fumes with her blade cutting through the cloud. Emerging from the mess, the slightly scolded girl began sprinting across the arena, looking to her side in time to see electricity crackle alongside her before her opponent appeared out of thin air. Her hands still in her pockets, Tsubaki looked across at her foe to see a smile also appear on the Kumogakure girl, who continued to stare back with amusement while her adversary matched her speed to run right next to her.

"I must say, your reflexes are astonishing. You definitely have a better fighting sense than most of the Genin in this tournament. I'm impressed," Tsubaki stated.

After both of them skidded to a halt, Samui lunged out, only for her opponent to slip around her blade and leap away. When they made distance, the Kumogakure girl brought her tanto up defensively. "I've been training hard to face somebody just as strong as you. Though I can chalk up my current level of ability to experience, it will be the most vigilant one here who wins this battle."

"I respect a kunoichi who can step up even when a situation seems dire," Tsubaki replied, clapping her hands together before pulling them apart. When she did, lightning began zapping between her palms as she pulled them through the air and formed a beam. This mass of lightning then solidified into a katana, a sight that had everyone in the stadium gawking at her ability to shape transform her element in that manner. "Raiton: Ama no Murakumo!" (Lightning Release: Gathering Clouds Under Heaven) Tsubaki then gripped the sword single handedly and held it behind her. "Feeling a little in over your head?"

Samui frowned and lunged forward, swinging her tanto around and coming at her with a diagonal slash. "It would be un-cool of me to just step down from a fight without even giving it a shot. Plus, I've got another opponent waiting for me up ahead… so don't expect me to surrender so readily!"

A loud clang rang out when both girls exchanged blows with their weapons. Clouds of dust bellowing into the air, both opponents began hammering away at each other with everything they had, their swords intersecting in a shower of blue sparks every time they rattled the other with their swings. With barely any form or grace, the two Genin traded attacks that filled the entire arena with flashes of light and the sounds of cold steel impacting against each other. Eventually, after a quick exchange of hits, both pulled back and struck out for a final blow, a flash of light exploding from between them where they passed before the ground was ripped to pieces from the point of impact. Rubble and debris flew in all directions like confetti and the sound of rolling thunder echoed out over the stands.

Tsubaki smirked over her shoulder, "Touché." She then leapt into the air, putting a greater amount of distance between her and her opponent after punching the sizable crater into the ground.

Samui also spun around, bringing her blade out in front of her in a stance as another smile crossed her lips. Upon watching the dust settle and her opponent emerge far on the other side, she stole the defensive. "Don't you ever believe you're taking your opponents too lightly?"

Holding her left hand out, Tsubaki frowned while she focused her electricity around her limb before forming a finger. "I never take any of my opponents lightly. That's the first mistake a shinobi can make when stepping into a one on one battle on the field."

It was the sight of her extending finger that had Shino and Hinata lean forward in their seats in alarm, as they knew exactly what that technique was.

It was the same jutsu that wiped both of them out in one go.

"Unlike others, I take all of my opponents seriously, which is why I apologize for this," Tsubaki stated as the tip of her finger suddenly glowed a brilliant blue and, after three seconds of charging, what looked like black sand particles gathered directly in front of her nail to form a tiny ball of compressed iron. When electricity began to course down her arm, a flash of orange and blue occurred. "Raiton: Chō-Denjihō!" (Lightning Release: Super Electromagnetic Cannon) In that instant, a powerful beam of electricity shot out of her finger and charged straight for the waiting Samui like a bullet, stunning the blonde at the sheer power behind it and forcing her into a more protective stance.

Arm cranked back, Samui then thrust it forward and intercepted the attack. The spearhead of the Railgun rammed into her blade and split with a tremendous thunderclap. The force behind the attack pushed the Kumo Genin backwards across the ground, her feet digging trenches into the earth as she held firm and the jutsu slowly dissipated. After scattering the beam in several different directions, literally decimating her surroundings and forcing the proctors to duck and cover as entire areas exploded, Samui cocked her arm back before dashing forward in a shunshin.

Seeing her opponent advance at speed in her direction had Tsubaki blink in surprise before summoning her lightning sword again. Bringing the katana up to defend, she blocked the thrust of Samui's lightning sheathed weapon as she drove it in, sparks flying when their blades clashed. However, while it seemed like the Kiri Genin had successfully defended against the stabbing blow; the real danger actually came from the explosive tag wrapped around the end of the girl's blade, which she had carefully slipped over it in her run.

The moment Samui thrust in with her tanto, her explosive tag ignited before detonating with concussive force, the fiery blast engulfing Tsubaki completely and lifting the girl off her feet inside the jet of flames. When the blast subsided seconds later, it revealed the orange haired girl's body had been blown to pieces and was now in the process of scattering across the ground. However, through her eyes and high up on the big screen, both Samui and the audience watched as the individual body parts of Tsubaki suddenly shone a bright blue before dispelling into photons of electricity, leaving no trace of her behind.

This had the blonde haired girl from Kumo grit her teeth when she realized what must have happened, her blade slowly lowering back to her side. "A Raiton Kage Bunshin? Damn. She must have pulled it the second after she shot at me with that last technique." Upon lowering her weapon to her side, the girl suddenly felt her legs buckle and she fell onto all fours. Managing to keep herself propped up, the girl panted heavily and wiped the sweat from her brow, her eyes squinted in pain when she looked up again. "She's seriously fast. It's taking everything I have just to keep up with her. If I'm going to beat her, I'm going to have to be smart about this."

She then, very discreetly, formed a hand seal, keeping it out of sight of the cameras and, more importantly, her opponent.

"Ninpo: Iro Tenko." (Ninja Art: Color Conversion)

The second she made the sign and spoke the incanatation, a flash of electricity in Samui's peripheral vision caught her attention and the blonde kunoichi sprang to her feet. Spinning around, the Kumo Genin looked just in time to see her opponent materialize out of thin air with her lightning made sword held back, and responded just in time to avoid the pure nature blade carving her in two. Another clap of thunder rang out as their weapons clashed, sparks flying while Samui braced herself firmly to block the blow.

Tsubaki grinned while she pressed down with a double-handed grip upon Samui's lightning imbued tanto, her own energized blade humming and sparking loudly as she pushed. "You won't be able to match my speed with your body even with your superb reaction time. As we speak, the longer you try to keep pace with me in this battle the more chakra you burn up." She continued to press forward, pushing her opponent struggling to steel against her sword back across the ground step by step. It was clear Samui wouldn't be able to last much longer. "I'm surprised you were able to block my Railgun. You were able to intercept it with your blade and dissipate its force by splitting it from the point of impact."

Samui grinned as she fought against her adversary with everything she could, but found herself losing out, and fast. "That's not all I can do. If you're so confident you can defeat me… then defeat me!" With a shout she threw Tsubaki off of her and lunged in with her tanto again.

Holding back her sword, the orange haired girl smirked, her body suddenly transforming into a bolt of lightning that shot into the sky as Samui struck out. As soon as the Kumogakure kunoichi skidded to a stop after missing her opponent, the Kirigakure Genin rematerialized out of thin air directly behind her in a flash.

The second she reformed out of the photons of electricity, Tsubaki dashed right at her target with her blade cutting through the air like a bullet.

She was on her before the audience could even finish blinking.

"You're finished!"

A loud sound of steel slicing through a person filled the air when the orange haired kunoichi buried her sword into the back of her opponent, with both Genin shuddering to a halt. The moment the gale of wind that blasted off of the two at the execution of the attack faded, the entire stadium went silent, with people rising from their seats in shock at what they just witnessed. Even those former competitors looked on in astonishment at the final exchange.

With her hands gripping her lightning element sword firmly, Tsubaki glared straight into the back of her foe's head, unable to see the look of shock slapped across Samui's face at having the weapon driven right through her. However, just when it seemed like the fight was well and truly over, the Kiri Genin blinked in surprise when she saw the form of her opponent dispel like smoke on the wind, her body shimmering into nothingness until she was left staring into open air. It was then, after a moment of staring, the orange haired kunoichi's eyes widened in horror before she suddenly coughed up blood, which dribbled down from her lips in a splatter.

"W-What?" Choking on bodily fluids, the lightning user looked down to see that Samui was crouched in front of her, her tanto buried straight into her torso in a two-handed grip.

The Kumo teen, eyes locked straight onto her enemy's chest and panting exhaustedly, then allowed a smile to cross her face when she finally realized she'd scored a direct hit.

"Got you."

OOO

Leaning over the wall, Sasuke looked on in disbelief at what he was now seeing.

"She… she took a hit?"

"What happened?" Sakura blinked in astonishment, having initially believed that it was Samui that had gotten cut down. However, after a closer, second inspection of the situation; it was Tsubaki that had in fact taken damage from a blade now sticking through her all the way to the other side. "How did she hit her? I thought she got her back when she shunshined behind her?"

Tayuya, taking a moment to process the sight, then shook her head out of its daze and grinned triumphantly. "It was genjutsu. Samui caught Tsubaki in an illusion that made her believe that she was attacking the real one. She waited for the bitch to reappear after teleporting behind her and as soon as she did, she went for it."

The timing and execution of that move was flawless.

If a shinobi came across an opponent who was superior to them in both speed and strength, in order to slow them down or stop them dead in their tracks, it made sense to hit them with an attack that could take out their mobility and mess with their focus. Get them with a technique that could nullify their physical capabilities and force them into making a mistake. That was the exact same type of thinking Tayuya had and allowed her to overcome other foes with a physical advantage over her.

Hell, not even she thought Samui had such a well-rounded skill set. Even though she wasn't as skilled in taijutsu as Neji, as fast as Naruto or her, or as smart as Shikamaru, she had the right balance of everything.

That decisive blow may as well have won her this whole thing.

OOO

Gritting her teeth, Tsubaki's lightning sword dispersed on the wind as she felt Samui continue to hold her tanto in place and buried in her stomach. Body and knees shaking, the orange haired kunoichi remained standing where she was, and glared down at the shoulders and eyes of her adversary staring back at her.

"Y-You set me up," the kunoichi choked, clenching her jaw while trying to maintain consciousness when the pain from the wound started to flood up to her. "You knew that I was going to attack you from behind, so you created a genjutsu and simulated the engagement until the exact moment I struck." Since it was such a subtle technique, she wasn't able to pick up on it until it was too late. When it seemed like she'd had a victory, her opponent just came out of nowhere with a jutsu that gave her an opportunity to run her through with her blade.

Now she was feeling the sting of her mistake.

Any shinobi worth calling themselves one would have fallen for this.

Samui, still holding her blade firm even though her opponent had naturally absorbed the lightning chakra into her body, continued to lock eyes with her now stricken foe. "The trick to beating an opponent who possesses overwhelming speed is to either; trap them in a corner, cast an illusion over them, take out their legs, or aim for a simultaneous exchange. In this case, I chose options three and four… and it seems to have paid off quite well."

Coughing up more blood, Tsubaki hunched over when she felt the short-blade of her opponent dig in a little deeper. To accompany the bolts of pain running up her body from the point of the weapon's entry, a spark of electricity traveled over the girl. The kunoichi then smirked when she reran the previous exchange in her head. "So that's it… you memorized the timing of my attacks… and aimed for a counter the moment I broke the engagement."

Smile remaining, the blonde went on. "Thanks to your intelligence and the abilities granted to you by your kekkei genkai, people immediately pegged you as the strongest competitor in this exam, as well as the most dangerous. In all honesty, I think that's just a gross overestimation of your strengths. The people who fought against you were just mismatched… and didn't know what your abilities really were until it was too late." Seeing more sparks of electricity run up her opponent, Samui frowned. "It's the three aspects of your bloodline ability that gives you an extra edge over other shinobi; your ability to manipulate lightning, and your intangibility and speed that comes with it. If people weren't able to figure out the tricks behind your techniques, then you would've been able to breeze through this entire competition. But with your secrets out, you're just like everybody else; a kunoichi with both strengths and weaknesses. You're just better than most at using the former and hiding the latter."

Breathing raggedly and holding her ground, Tsubaki processed the words spoken to her by her opponent before chuckling through bloody teeth. "I… never thought… I'd ever face somebody in this tournament who could match me," the orange haired girl stated before suddenly grabbing Samui's hands around the blade. She tried to pull it out, but said blonde held firm and remained where she was. "Here I thought only the Hyuuga and the Uchiha would be a challenge for me… but your perceptive abilities are equally terrifying. Definitely… in a class all their own…"

Samui's frown deepened when she saw more sparks fly off of her enemy. "Your eagerness to win and carelessness led you here. Now comes the part where I recommend that you surrender."

Seeing blood run down the blade stuck in her side, Tsubaki clenched her teeth before using her other hand and grabbing her opponent's arm.

With the pair locked together and staring at each other with fire in their eyes, they stood off. Even though she had a short-blade sticking through her and the Kumo Genin had the advantage, the two of them knew it wasn't over yet.

"You're a dangerous and talented kunoichi without question," Tsubaki growled, blood continuing to run from the entry wound. "But I'm not going to lose in this round… I CAN'T lose. I swore to myself… after that night all those years ago… that I would NOT become weak prey." Seeing the confused glint flicker across her opponent's eyes, the orange haired girl let out a growl and tightened her grip around her adversary's hands, now becoming stained with her blood. "You may have neutralized my speed and intangibility… but I've still got one last element left that I can play. Raiton: Kaminari!" (Lightning Release: God's Song)

The second she shouted that incantation, lightning suddenly exploded around her in the form of a bright aura before flowing straight into Samui, lighting up both of them in a literal storm of energy. With the sound of rolling thunder echoing off of the two girls, the pair became imbued in the dangerous element, with the target of the close-range technique letting out a bloodcurdling cry of agony.

Eyes wide open, Samui screamed in pain as her body was deep-fried by the immense amounts of lightning chakra, her opponent also letting out a roar of pain and effort as she forcefully pulled the blade out of her and threw the girl off.

The audience could only watch in horror as the lightning faded from the two, with one girl clutching the sword wound in her abdomen and the other standing in place, grey and smoldering.

Stunned, the kunoichi from the hidden cloud fell to her knees before dropping onto her front, lying sprawled out on the ground with smoke wafting off of her charred form. At the exact same time, Tsubaki keeled over onto her front as well, hitting the ground with a dull, heavy thud.

The proctors and crowds then watched from their positions around the enormous arena as, for the next minute or so, the two competitors lay lifeless on the ring's floor. Eventually however, after what felt like an eternity of waiting, life soon returned to the competitors when, both groaning and coughing, both Samui and Tsubaki opened their eyes and glared across at the other.

Still smoking, the Kumogakure kunoichi tried to move, but found to her dismay that she couldn't. Instead, she just lay there, her body twitching, and expression showing the sting of the final attack that practically ended the battle.

"Damn… so… un-cool…"

Gripping the barrier wall in front of her, Karui reeled forward with a look of desperation on her face. "COME ON, SAMUI! GET UP! GET UP!" she screamed, slamming her fists into the concrete. "If you get to your feet before she does, you can win this match! COME ON! I've seen you take a lot worse than that! Get up!"

However, in spite of her teammate's frustrated cries, Samui could only watch silently as her opponent clenched her fingers around a clump of dirt, slammed her fist into the floor before slowly, but surely, rising to her feet. Managing to push herself onto one knee, the orange haired kunoichi gave a pained hiss and, bringing a kunai around from her pouch, held it above her side.

Samui then proceeded to watch as the blade of her adversary's weapon turned red hot, before it was pressed against the skin around the hole in her side. Tsubaki did this to both openings, with the heat literally sealing them up and clotting the injuries brought on by the weapon.

The sight had the charred Kumogakure girl grunt in amusement and smile, "You're using your electricity to heat up the blade and cauterize the wound. Smart."

"Sometimes, when the situation is bleak, a ninja must adapt in order to survive. With the main entry wound closed, my body's natural makeup will help do the rest," Tsubaki replied, tossing the kunai away before smirking across at her foe. With sweat dripping down her face from enduring the searing pain of fixing her own injuries, the orange haired kunoichi nodded her head, "You are the first kunoichi to ever push me this far in a fight before. For that, you have my respect."

Trembling a bit, Samui chuckled and closed her eyes, "Well… I did my best… but even a kunoichi like me must sometimes accept when she's been beaten." Unable to hold on anymore, the girl allowed herself to slip into unconsciousness peacefully, leaving the victory to the teen from the hidden mist.

It had been an incredibly close one, but in the end, it was clear who got the best hit in.

Straightening up from the ground and wiping the blood from her mouth, the still stricken Tsubaki stared down at the girl's body for a few seconds longer. After which, she then turned heel and limped off with one hand in her pocket and another still clutching the freshly cauterized wound. "You put up a good fight."

Perhaps the best fight she ever had.

She nearly lost… an experience that she would learn well from.

As she was beginning to walk away and the proctors started to converge on the area under the stares of the stunned, silent crowd, the kunoichi suddenly stopped when she heard a series of footsteps landing behind her and looked around to see Omoi, Karui and Naruto had come down from the stands to help their friend.

While Naruto checked on the fallen Samui, who was breathing lightly in sleep, Karui and Omoi turned to glare at the emotionless Tsubaki.

The red haired girl sneered, "You bitch…"

"That was overkill," Omoi remarked, frowning deeply with his sucker stuck in his mouth, "Why did you hit her with something like that?"

Blinking, the orange haired Genin turned and glared back even harder. "The two of you are pretty naïve if you believe that the world of shinobi is all roses and sunshine. When you fight someone out there on the battlefield, you put every part of you on the line… and not just your life. It's a high-stakes game that encompasses the fighters, their comrades and their villages." She nodded towards her former opponent. "Samui fought a tremendous battle, but I wouldn't think of utterly destroying a masterpiece like her. I'm not a monster."

"You still hurt our friend," Karui stated, reaching for her sword. "I should cut you to pieces right now!"

Tsubaki turned to her, removing her hand from her wound with electricity shooting off of her warningly, "If that is what you want."

"Make that two," Omoi followed-up, also going for his weapon.

"Don't," Naruto's voice suddenly spoke, interrupting the trio and drawing everyone's attention down to him when Samui's care was placed into the hands of Mizore. While the kunoichi was shifted onto the medic nin's lap, the jinchuriki stood up and glared across at the orange haired girl with a frown on his face and an intimidating shadow over his eyes. "You guys don't need to get involved in this. I'll pick up where Samui-chan left off and beat her in the next round. She's my opponent."

Omoi and Karui stared at him momentarily, but after seeing his determined gaze, relaxed from their offensive stances and nodded. They then moved past him to check on their comrade as the stretcher was rolled in, leaving Tsubaki and Naruto to stare each other down. While the former remained unmoved and emotionless as she looked the boy over, the blonde kept his hands tightly locked and gaze fixed squarely on his next adversary. When their gazes met, the kunoichi from Kiri grunted.

"You fought an interesting battle against my teammate. She must have been tough, no?"

Naruto smirked, "She was, but I can think of a few others who would be a lot tougher. I wasn't interested in breaking my bare hands against a walking slab of steel, so I went with an alternative route."

Tsubaki chuckled. In spite of her injury, she was still able to speak incredibly clearly, "Well then… I hope you also bring me something interesting to the field in the next match. I highly recommend you use it right from the get-go, because I don't plan on holding anything back." A spark of electricity ran past her face. "Your tricks may have worked on Kiyoko, but they won't work on me."

"We'll see," Naruto replied before waving over his shoulder as he turned around. "I'll meet you here in center ring." Dismissing the kunoichi, he then quickly jogged over to check on Samui along with the others, leaving Tsubaki staring at his back.

While the wounded was tended to, Tenga raised a hand in the air and made the announcement to the crowd, "Winner of Match 3 by knockout: Tsubaki of Kirigakure." Once the cheers and applause started down, giving the victor her cue to vacate the vicinity, the Kumo ninja then moved on with his next set of announcements. "There will be a half an hour break before the next round, so feel free to stretch your legs in that time. We'll see you in a bit."

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

Author's Note: And another chapter, moving on to the epic clash between Naruto and Tsubaki.

Tayuya lost against Gaara. While I really wanted her to win, unfortunately against a jinchuriki, she still fell short of expectations. She still went out fighting though, which shows her determination to win. She would have won smart, but her opponent wasn't just dangerous, he was also strong and quite sharp for someone border lining insane.

The Naruto and Kiyoko match was the most interesting. I actually rewrote this chapter five times, giving him and her five different fights using different strategies in taijutsu. But since he knows he has other opponents to fight, Naruto showed everyone the easiest way to beat someone who is immune to all physical attacks by attacking somewhere nobody had before. Kiyoko isn't some overpowered monster (not like Lee with the Eight Gates. That kid could plow through anyone, and would have her if she didn't have her ultimate defense like Gaara did). It's the fact nobody knew what she was capable of and didn't have the means to take her down and deal her any real damage that made her seem unbeatable. Being matched up against Ino and Lee, the former of which isn't all that much and the latter could only use taijutsu, solidifies that. Had she faced Sakura or Kankuro though, Kiyoko would have met a similar end as she did against Naruto.

Samui and Tsubaki's match unfolded in a similar manner, showing intelligence, patience, technique and decisiveness can overcome ridiculous speed and tact. Samui realized the weakness in her opponent's form at the same time everybody else did, but unlike Sasuke was able to realize her strategy. It came close to a double knock-out, but Tsubaki was able to get up before her opponent could.

Now that the Kiri Team's weaknesses have been shown, Tsubaki knows she needs to go all-out right from the get-go in her next fight with Naruto. She's not going to make the same mistake she did against Samui, so our resident hero might not find her to be as cordial as the blonde from Kumo did.

I loved writing the next fight, it was fun.

Now, the question I want to throw out to you all; who do you think will receive promotions? You can even count all those who only fought one battle, since Shikamaru got promoted from only one fight in the original storyline.

Hope you all enjoyed this one and are looking forward to the next one.