De-Raz: Whew, finally got this chapter out and this story back on track. Sorry for taking half a year, I kept on getting ideas for this fight, only to write them and realize 'wait, that sucks' before throwing it out and having to try again. Not to mention High School is a real pain in the ass this year and with other stuff. But you probably don't care about this as much as just getting on to the story, so let's go!
Naruto: Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns the Naruto series. De-raz just makes a fanfic about me.
Makoto and Haruka, now Sailor Jupiter and Uranus respectively, were now within arm's reach of their teen sensei. Uranus, being slightly ahead, initiated the first strike of the test, a simple left handed punch that the shinobi blocked with his forearm that was still holding the Bleach manga. Jupiter followed up with a roundhouse kick to his midsection, but was blocked with his other arm. The older Senshi, seeing that his arms were occupied, attempted a hook to his face, expecting him to block with his other arm. Meitsuki's silver Sharingan had already calculated the action for him, so instead the teen shinobi tilted his head to avoid it while at the same time grabbing hold of Jupiter's leg. The brown haired girl jumped up with her free leg to kick herself free, but he was more than prepared for it. Instead of letting go to block her free foot, Meitsuki instead slammed her into Sailor Uranus like a baseball bat, sending her off her feet. He spun around a couple of times, and using the momentum tossed Jupiter into her fellow Senshi. Luckily, she had already recovered from the surprising hit in time to catch her, though she was once again sent off her feet before grinding into the ground.
"Come on now, not finished already are you?" Meitsuki goaded the two fighters, flipping another page in his reading material and was successful as they charged again.
Good, they're working together more he observed as the two weaved between each other, no doubt trying to catch him off guard. Though it didn't really work, he played along, setting up a block for an uppercut from Uranus. His silver Sharingans, even with just one tomoe each, were still able to predict her feint as her uppercut changed into a high kick. He rolled with the movement by jumping into the air for minimal damage, but apparently him in the air is all she was going for, as Sailor Jupiter followed him, setting up for a heel drop.
Meitsuki's eyes widened a little at the coordinated attack, and in his surprise forgot about the foot smashing him into his midsection. Luckily for him, it jarred his mind back to the current situation in time to land on his knees, crouching from the sudden stop.
Man, she might not have crazy strength like Sakura and Tsunade-baa-chan, but she does pack a punch.
His eyes caught movement from the corner of his sight, so was able to dodge the follow up combo by Uranus easily. For a little bit the young woman would try to hit the silver eyed shinobi, but no matter what he always seemed ready to react accordingly. And he was still reading that damn Bleach manga!
Sailor Jupiter observed their exchange of blows from behind a tree as she waited for a time to strike in. However, as she continued watching his counterattacks, she noticed similarities in his fighting style to a certain blonde haired friend of theirs who she had fought only two days prior.
FLASHBACK:
Makoto, aka Sailor Jupiter, and Naruto were walking along back to the Hikawa Shrine, where the rest of the gang was no doubt still eagerly opening Christmas presents. Though to be more precise, Naruto was supporting Makoto as she hung an arm around his shoulders, since in her eagerness to finally get a spar with the blonde had gone a little overboard, showing off some of her fighting skills gained as a Senshi.
Then again, it hadn't really mattered in the end, as Naruto was still able to beat her ass into the ground. Sure, she could see him breathing deeply even now, but her experienced eyes noticed the distinct lack of consistent sweating that'd accompany such actions, meaning he either just didn't sweat much or wasn't really as exhausted as he was pretending to be.
Not only that, but she could have sworn his expressive blue eyes had flashed silver a few times, but she tossed the idea around in her head awhile before dismissing it as a trick of the sunlight.
"Hey, Naruto?" Makoto asked, getting the blue eyed teen's attention.
"Yea, Makoto?"
"Where did you learn that fighting style of yours? It wasn't like any common stream style, and you were able to counter my moves so well, it's like you knew they were going to happen. So what was it?" Makoto was dying to figure it out. Who knows, maybe he would be willing to teach her at least some of it.
"Oh, well…um…you see…I kind of had this talent for being very perceptive" he began to explain, but noticed an incredulous look in her eyes at the mention of perceptiveness. "Hey, I can be perceptive too when I want…in a fight…anyways! The person who taught me to fight noticed that, so we began creating a style for myself that focused on counterattacks. You see, for nearly every form of hand-to-hand combat style, every form has some weak point that opponents look to exploit. However, the person adept in using that style already knows where their primary weak point is at any point of their attack, so they'd expect the opponent to attack there and prepare. Because of that, though, most people forget about their smaller, less noticeable weak points in a form, because those aren't the best places for the other guy to hit compared to the primary weak point." She was staring at the usually, somewhat slow blonde, as he lectured on it like a pro. "That forgetfulness, however, just turns those small flaws into the weakest point. With my great body perception, I determine where those small points are, and while I pretend to go after the primary weak point, instead I attack those tiny flaws, dealing blows the foe wouldn't expect. It doesn't really have a name, but I'm still proud of it."
"Wow, that's amazing!" Makoto said, astounded. The tomboyish woman had never dreamed a style like that could exist.
He puffed up his chest a bit in a prideful motion before continuing. "Yea, but it still isn't perfect yet. A person would need plenty of agility and flexibility to strike fast and unexpectedly, before the opponent can realize what a person using my style was actually attempting. The main basis is to keep attacking unpredictably in reaction to any of their attacks. Not to mention, real masters of hand-to-hand rarely, if ever allow themselves to forget any little flaw in any of their movements. Facing a person like that, my style becomes nothing more than an advanced, counter-based style, though the crazy flexible movements added in would help my attacks retain a degree of unpredictability."
He looked down to see if he had bored her enough with his ranting yet, only instead she was looking at him with…were those stars in her eyes?
"Umm…Makoto?"
"You must teach me that please!" Makoto yelled at him, before realizing what she was doing with him right next to her and calmed down. "Sorry, Naruto. Such a cool fighting style just got me really pumped."
He chuckled a little at the brown haired girl. "Hehehe, nah, that's okay. I knew a couple of people crazy about fighting like that. Who knows, maybe I will teach you some of it, though I don't know how useful that would be since I'm mainly adjusting it towards myself."
"Thanks, Naruto!"
"No thanks necessary, though I think we'd better hurry back before the others start getting worried."
It was then the tomboyish girl noticed that they had both stopped walking as he had explained his style to her. "Yea, we should hurry."
FLASHBACK KAI:
Her eyes widened at the memory of Naruto explaining his style, as well as her wondering of those silver flashes. No way...it can't be…Meitsuki isn't…is he?
"An important fact of taijutsu, Jupiter" the brown haired girl heard a familiar voice, "never let your opponent get behind you."
Where did he go?! Uranus and the rest of the Senshi asked themselves. The tomboyish Senshi had been trying to land a hit on the shinobi, when all of a sudden he had grinned maniacally, scaring the crap out of them. Then he just disappears on them! It didn't take long for all of them to get their answer when they heard a yell of "KONOHA HIJUTSU: SENNIN GOROSHI!" followed by a girl screaming. All of a sudden, Jupiter flies from behind a tree, clutching her…ass? Luckily, her flight path was towards Uranus, who was able to catch her before she hit the ground.
I seem to be doing a lot of catching today the Outer Senshi thought to herself setting the brown haired girl down. Almost immediately, Jupiter stood up again, an enraged look on her face.
"YOU POKED ME IN THE ASS, YOU DAMN PERVERT!" her accusation prompted a round of sweatdrops from the surrounding people.
Did he really?
"I can assure you, it was done for the most important reasons, and was not for perverted purposes at all" Meitsuki explained as he appeared from behind the same tree, still reading his manga. It made all of their sweatdrops even bigger.
Is he serious? Who does that in a fight? Was the basis of their thoughts.
"Oh yea, then what are those reasons!?" she retorted hotly. If anything, it just made his grin wider as he continued reading his manga, not even looking up as he replied.
"Well, for one thing, that kind of action will leave a lasting impression to make sure you remember the lesson, and secondly…it was the most entertaining way I could think of doing it."
Well, as much fun as this is, it's time to go to Stage 2. Let's see how the rest deal with lesson 2 and 3.
In the surrounding forest, four Meitsuki clones hid in the treetops above, watching their respective target groups as they pondered whether to aid the two Senshi still fighting the boss. A mental signal from 'boss' made both of them grin from under the hood of their cloaks, only placing an illusion over their eyes to a familiar shade of crimson.
Alright, time for more fun.
In the clearing, Sailor Jupiter was seething as she heard the silver eyed boy's second reason for her scarring experience. Who even goes around poking people's asses anyways!?
Before the tomboy could make another attempt for the coveted bells, however, both her and Sailor Uranus heard an explosion coming from two different directions. What worried the two of them, however, was when they heard screaming from a familiar bun-haired girl, which told them just who were the targets of said explosions.
Noticing the clouds of smoke and dust from the now destroyed forest, the two girls looked at Meitsuki angrily.
"What did you do to our friends?!" demanded Jupiter. Whatever he did looks like it could have killed them!
The boy with silver Sharingans shrugged, feigning indifference as he continued reading. "I just gave the other Senshi some of their own obstacles. They aren't going to get the bells if they don't do anything, so I just gave them a push." Getting a mental message from his Kage Bunshins, he sighed internally that the others were fine. I'd never forgive myself if I had hurt them seriously just for a test.
Michiru, Setsuna, Hotaru, and Chibiusa all looked around the manmade clearing that Meitsuki's clone had created; it was only thanks to Setsuna noticing the subtle signals of it getting ready to explode and good reflexes that they had missed the brunt of the damage. The trees around them weren't so lucky, scorched wood and uplifted dirt and roots littered the area. Now in front of them was another clone, though the hood covered its face so they could only see its silver eyes. At least it wasn't reading that Bleach manga.
"Well now, you didn't expect to be able to keep watching the whole time, did you?" they could hear his voice projected through the clearing, a hint of amusement flowing in it, "especially when you don't have much training in the stealth department."
"So what now?" Michiru asked their current adversary. Though they didn't see him move at all, the four of them could feel a change in the air, a pressure pushing down on them. It seemed that Chibiusa was taking it the worse though, while Setsuna didn't even seem fazed. Suddenly, Meitsuki's arms shot up, his hands coming out of his sleeves into movements that, even though they didn't know what they meant, they did know what they did.
As he began making the handseals, the blonde in disguise answered, "Now we begin Shinobi Tactics #2: Ninjutsu. Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
At the same time, Ami, Rei, Usagi, Minako, and Mamoru were each standing in front of Meitsuki, who for some reason had his hood up again, though they could still see his strange silver eyes observing them intently. It was a bit unnerving how the strange black marks traveled around his pupils slowly, taking in every minute detail. They weren't going to be intimidated though; they were going to get those bells.
"Sorry about the mess, but I figured it was the best way to get you out of hiding" he said, rubbing the back of his head in mild embarrassment at the destruction his clone wrought. The Senshi found it disturbingly similar to a blonde haired, blue eyed boy they all knew.
Usagi, who was still trying to get her heart beat back to normal, yelled out "That was a pretty scary way to do it, just suddenly appearing behind us and EXPLODING!?"
Meitsuki answered, "Well, I was confident in your skills to escape it."
"And what if we hadn't!?"
At that, he refused to meet them in the eyes as he turned his head to the side. "…It's not like I couldn't get you to the hospital fast enough if necessary" he mumbled to himself, but loudly enough for them to hear, making them pale a bit at the implications. Suddenly, his mood jumped right back up as his head picked back up. "But anyways, you guys are very lucky to be facing me!"
"And why is that?" Mamoru inquired.
"Because" the silver eyed nin answered, "you'll be learning Shinobi Tactics #3, Genjutsu, which is admittedly my worst talent. Now, get ready…"
The Meitsuki clone closed his Sharingan eyes in thought, while the group in front of him all transformed into the Senshi forms. Now, what were the handseals for that jutsu…hmm…ah, that's right! Well, let's hope this works.
The clone began the short string of handsigns, making sure they all remained in range for the technique. Luckily for him, he opened his eyes to see them keeping eye contact with him as they waited for the effects of his technique. Big mistake on their part.
"Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu!"
Sailor Jupiter and Uranus were standing in a ready position in front of Meitsuki, trying to capture some oxygen for their exhausted bodies. The tell tale signs of fatigue was planted on their faces, and there were bruises on places where the skin was exposed, and probably more underneath their Senshi forms. The two had tried in vain to get away from the cloak wearing teen, but it was obvious he wasn't going to let them help their friends. They did find some sense of victory that he was forced to put away his Bleach manga to halt their combined efforts.
"Damn, we're totally outclassed by him" Uranus whispered to the brown haired girl beside her.
"I know, but we have to find everybody else. Who knows what he's doing to them. Especially since one side looks so destructive while the other's totally quiet."
It was true. From what the two tomboys could see beyond the clearing, there was a lot of smoke and debris going around everywhere in one section, where the first explosion had taken place, meaning there was a large fight going on over there. The other side, where the second explosion had occurred, is what bothered the two. From here, Jupiter and Uranus could see no signs of a struggle of any sort happening. Considering the tricks Meitsuki has up his sleeve, they had no idea of whether that was a good or bad thing, but they were betting on the latter.
Well, if we can't get passed him together… "Jupiter, you go find your friends, I'll keep Meitsuki busy." The brown haired girl looked at her like she was crazy, which she wasn't afraid to voice out.
"What are you talking about, Uranus? We can't even beat him together, how are you going to beat him by yourself?"
"That's the point, we can't beat him by ourselves" she retorted, her face making it look like it left a bad taste in her mouth. "We need the others, but they're being distracted, probably by some of his annoying clones. If you can get them, we have a shot at getting those bells."
Though Jupiter didn't like it, Sailor Uranus made a good point. They were going to need everybody to have a shot at success.
Uranus saw that her comrade agreed, albeit reluctantly. "Ok, so what is your clever plan then?" the brown haired girl asked.
"I'm not done thinking of it yet."
Jupiter looked at her incredulously. "Then how's this idea supposed to work?"
"Just go along with it."
The brown haired girl sweatdropped slightly at Uranus' answer when a familiar male voice sounded through the clearing: "Hello, I hope you two aren't giving up so soon. We still have another hour to go."
The two of them turned their attention to the silver eyed nin, who, to their extreme frustration, had once again pulled out his Bleach manga. "I mean, I guess you could give up right now, I do have some reading to catch up on."
Jupiter and Uranus made another charge towards him, but as they neared his position, Jupiter broke off in another direction.
Trying to escape again, huh? When will they learn. Meitsuki made to intercept the brown haired Senshi, but before he could land a hit on her…
"World Shaking!"
Stuck between the choice of being crushed under the wind attack or letting Jupiter escape, the cloack wearing teen jumped to the side just in time to see the forest floor break apart where he had been not a second ago. Recovering, Meitsuki made a final rush towards the brown haired girl, but stopped short in order to block a right hook from Sailor Uranus.
He looked towards her, their arms still in a deadlock. "So you let her escape, but what about you? How do you plan on getting away?"
"I don't" she answered, obviously exerting herself to try to pass his guard. "I'm just here to keep you busy till the others arrive."
At the woman's answer, Meitsuki had to fight to keep the pleased smile from his face. So, sacrificing herself for the good of the others? It looks like she gets the point in this.
"Thinking of letting her get a bell, kit?" the Kyuubi inquired from the blonde in disguise.
Hmm…maybe, if she puts up a good enough fight.
"Keep me busy huh?" he questioned the tomboy, before his smile turned sadistic. "Well then, I hope you realize that with half the amount of people in this clearing, I'll just have to beat you down twice as hard to get my enjoyment. Better hope they show up swiftly." Sailor Uranus paled noticeably at the implication.
Damn it Jupiter, you'd better hurry.
The Senshi of her thoughts was currently wading through a mess of trees, roots, brush and other assorted plant life as she investigated the site of one of the 'bombings', thinking of no other description for it. There was a disturbing lack of noises coming from this direction after just a few screams, most of which could be recognized as Usagi's, compared to the sounds of techniques being tossed around like candy in the other location. And who knows, maybe the lack of fighting over here meant that her friends had already beaten the Meitsuki clone.
It was with that thought in mind that Sailor Jupiter entered the newest clearing in this small forest area, only to see all of her friends, the Inner Senshi, including Tuxedo Kamen, seemingly unconscious over the forest floor, while she saw Meitsuki sitting on a fallen tree trunk, his face stuffed in a Bleach manga. The brown haired girl noted his hood was up and his eyes were those same demonic red from before he exposed his face, but was shoved into the back of her mind in favor of worrying over her friends.
"What did you do to them?!" she yelled at the reading shinobi, pulling his attention away from his reading material. His red slitted eyes went from the book to her, then down at the inactive Senshi.
"Oh, them?" he asked, as if just noticing their presence for the first time. "There's no reason to worry about them, they're perfectly fine, just…sleeping." The honest truth though was that he had to knock them out when both Rei and Ami had broken out of the genjutsu, to the shinobi's immense surprise. Ami, the smart girl she was, had thought of whatever illusion she had been in like a sort of dream, and had taken the 'pinching yourself' approach of waking up from a dream. Granted, she had punched herself after the pinch hadn't been enough, which had amused the teen greatly.
Rei, however, had been the most surprising. He didn't know what the fire using Senshi had seen, he wasn't good enough at the Narakumi to be able to see what it did himself yet, but whatever it had been forced her into desperation, as the girl had unwittingly manipulated her chakra into a large pulse, effectively shattering the chakra induced illusion. Unlike the regular 'Kai' technique though, using a pulse of pure chakra like that had taken its toll on her reserves. Meitsuki had already analyzed her, and was glad to see it was just a case of mild chakra exhaustion that knocked her out. After those two had broken out of it, the clone had decided to knock out Usagi and Mamoru as well before they could do the same.
Sailor Jupiter made a move to wake up Usagi, who was the closest, being hearing Meitsuki call out "You don't want to wake them up, do you?"
She looked at the cloaked figure like he was an idiot. "Of course I do, why wouldn't I?"
His red eyes remained fixated at his current reading material. "Well, if you woke them up" he stated nonchalantly as he held up two of the coveted silver bells, jingling them in the process, "I couldn't give you these. I believe this should be good enough for both you and Sailor Uranus, correct?"
The only awake Senshi in the clearing looked at him and the bells he was holding intensely. "So, let me get this straight, if I don't wake them up…you'll just give me those bells?" her doubtfulness was obvious in the tone she used.
Meitsuki, on the other hand just nodded. "Yup, just walk away right now and I'll give you these bells for you and Uranus. After all, it's not like these four have done anything to help you this test, and I'll be staying right here to make sure your friends remain perfectly safe until the end of the test, or if they wake up. Whichever comes first."
Jupiter thought about it all for three seconds before kneeling by Usagi as she tried to wake up the girl. Meitsuki looked at the girl in confusion over the pages of his manga.
"Do you really think I'd leave my friends behind to an enemy just for some bells? After I wake them up, we'll just take those from you together." Sorry Uranus, but I couldn't leave my friends in good conscience.
Luckily for the clone, the hood hid his smiling face from view from the Senshi before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. With the clone gone, the Henge placed on the bells he was holding broke, revealing them to be two ordinary rocks as the hit the forest floor.
The real Meitsuki, who was firing jutsu after jutsu at the scrambling group of Senshi in front of him, received the memories of the recently deceased Kage Bunshin, and had to smile at the choice Sailor Jupiter made.
Excellent choice Jupiter, but lets see if you back up your words.
The four Senshi that were stuck in the same clearing were extremely grateful for the sudden pause in his attacks, for it gave the four of them time to find some cover in the few trees still standing.
As they were all regaining their breath, Chibiusa, right now in her Mini-moon form, looked up at Setsuna questioningly.
"What are we going to do, Pluto? No matter what we throw at him, he always has some way to fight back!"
Though she didn't respond outwardly, mentally the green haired woman had to agree with their little comrade. No matter what we hit him with, he can always counter it. Now, the Senshi weren't strangers to Meitsuki's abilities with the elements, they had seen him use a few jutsu in their numerable conflicts against youkai. However, the silver eyed nin had usually either used that Rasengan move, those clones, or his sword. It wasn't until now did she realize just how much he held back in those fights, if this was what he was capable of. Gusts of wind, rock walls, fireballs, water dragons, hell he even fired a bolt of lightning from his fingers one time! Whenever one of them attacked, he had a defense ready and could counterattack almost immediately. Pluto knew they had to combine their efforts, but just how they could do it was the question.
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"
Further thinking was immediately halted in preference to dodging the small flaming balls of doom, lighting up the tree they were hiding behind and the surrounding plant life. From there, Pluto stayed back as the other three fired their own attacks, trying to catch the shinobi off guard while she tried to come up with a plan.
We need to find someway to catch him off guard.
After awhile though, the green haired woman began to notice a pattern to his attacks as he continued blocking their attacks. She told them all to attack him again to see if what she thought was true.
Somehow, Meitsuki-san is capable of using five different elements. However, he seems to be using them in a certain pattern.
Sailor Pluto observed as Neptune fired her Deep Submerge, the torrent of rushing water flying straight toward the cloak wearing teen. His hands blurred though a series of motions, before he yelled the name of his counter.
"Doton: Doryuuheki!" The black tomoe in his eyes swirled as he spat out copious amounts of mud, an act that still baffled her, that soon hardened into a solid stone wall. Upon making contact, the concentrated ball of water exploded, sending the water everywhere, making only a sizeable dent in his defense.
Against Neptune's water attacks, he uses rocks and earth to defend himself.
"Silence Glaive Surprise!" shouted Sailor Saturn, taking Meitsuki's attention as he goes through more hand seals.
"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" Again, his hand circles around his mouth, only this time a powerful gust of wind appears, diverting the course of the attack to his left, knocking down another couple of trees.
Then he uses wind to knock Saturn's attacks away from him.
Immediately, the ninja turned away from the purple colored Senshi, who was jumping out of the way of his wind attack, to see Chibiusa, right now Sailor Chibi Moon, getting ready to use her own attack. His hands were blurs again, an indication of his next move.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!"
"Pink Sugar Heart attack!"
Chibi Moon's signature attack made its way to Meitsuki, and just as the rest of them thought it would connect, some of the water made from Neptune's attack rose up to defend him, forming a thick wall that held back her attack. However, the pink haired child didn't stop, as it seemed to be getting through, making her grin.
Sailor Pluto saw the exchange of tecniques, her mind still calculating on his attack patterns. When defending against Chibi Moon, Meitsuki-san then switches to water techniques.
"Ha, got you now, Tsuki-sensei!"
However, she wasn't the only one who noticed it breaking, as the cloak wearing ninja jumped above the water wall, his hands held together in a handseal.
"Mizu Myakuhaku!"
Something in Chibi Moon's mind told her that staying on the ground would be a bad idea, prompting her to follow her sensei/adversary into the air. Seeing the result of his latest technique, she was thanking whatever instinct drove her to do so, as the wall of water exploded outward in a ring, the pressure pushing away anything and everything not firmly rooted in the ground into trees that were amazingly still upright..
Taking advantage of their adversary being trapped in midair, Sailor Pluto charged up her own attack. Now if I am right, he should then use a fire move to counter my own.
"Dead Scream."
Meitsuki realized the exposure his jump gave before Pluto, as he was already moving his arms in a blur of motion.
"Katon: Goukakyou no Justu!"
The two attacks collided with each other, resulting in a fantastic show of light and fire, which managed to not catch any plant life on fire miraculously.
My assumption was correct the eldest Senshi thought to herself, before stepping into a puddle. Usually, such a thing would not have grabbed her attention, but it was then she was reminded of the previous water move he had made. Pluto looked around to see if her suspicions were correct, and sure enough, the entire forest ground was soaked; and all the Senshi happened to be standing on it.
But if my guess on his next attack is right, then… "Everyone, get off the ground, now!" the usually composed Pluto ordered the others, who decided to heed her words.
And not a second too soon, for when Meitsuki recovered from his jump, his hands were again going through seals before slamming in to the ground.
"Raiton: Raikoumou!" Usually, a lightning attack of this kind had only a range of a few yards, but the extra conductive power of water-soaked earth allowed the chakra powered bolts to extend the entire range of the clearing. It was only thanks to Pluto's warning the girls weren't lying in a paralyzed heap of flesh.
Taking a spot on a tree branch, Pluto was watching the silver eyed teen for his next move, and noted absently a pained look on his face.
Strange, does that move create a backlash effect, or did he just do it unsatisfactory? She shook her head a little to rid herself of unneeded thoughts, choosing instead to take Meitsuki's distraction to gather the others.
Okay, that didn't go as planned Meitsuki/Naruto thought to himself, moving his now charred black hands, making him wince in pain. Apparently, he had messed up on that last lightning jutsu, giving his arms a nice cook, courtesy of some chakra powered lightning. Then again, he should have expected it, seeing as lightning did go against his primary chakra nature of wind. He didn't even have this particular jutsu mastered yet; attempting it with all this water around had been especially stupid.
Ah well, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. He could already feel Kyuubi's chakra coursing through his arms, replacing damaged skin and muscle tissue and repairing overcharged nerve endings. Even then, however, his handseal making speed was definitely crippled. Which reminds me, Kyuu-sensei is oddly quiet today. Wonder what he's doing? ...eh, probably just sleeping or something.
The cloak wearing shinobi continued instilling some movement into his limbs, till he could comfortably make handseals again.
Just in time for the Senshi to make another assault.
"Silence Glaive Surprise!"
Cursing himself mentally for letting his guard down, the shinobi in disguise quickly jumped out of the way of the attack coming from behind. He turned around, expecting the purple haired senshi, only to instead come face to face with Chibi Moon.
"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!"
Unable to counter in time, he was forced to jump out of the way yet again. As he was doing so, however, his silver Sharingans caught a shock of green between the dense foliage that didn't match the scenery which he realized had to be Sailor Pluto.
Well, they're starting to time their attacks better now, but if they aren't going to attack together, they still won't beat me.
Pluto must have realized he had found her because Meitsuki could feel her gathering energy for her attack. Luckily, despite the crippled speed he could make handseals, his early warning of her position allowed him to finish his attack at the same time as hers. Expecting a similar explosive collision as a few minutes ago, he was already spreading his senses to find where Sailor Neptune would strike.
That was a mistake Meitsuki discovered he would pay for soon enough.
"Deep Submerge!"
The cloak wearing nin saw the woman's explosive water bomb, but instead of him, its target was his fireball! Water and flames collided, mixing into a boiling hot mist, but still mist, something Pluto's attack had no trouble cutting through.
Although Pluto and Neptune didn't realize it, not only did the mist block his regular view of Pluto's Dead Scream attack, but the swirling energies of the two attacks also screwed with his new Sharingan's precognitive abilities. By the time his new silver eyes could trace the path of the attack, he knew it was too late to dodge it. The most he could do was use his arms to block his face and chest from a painful impact.
BOOM!
Holy fuck, that hurts like a bitch!
The cloak wearing shinobi was sent soaring towards the opposite end of the clearing, his front side sending more than enough pain signals to his brain to affect him greatly. However, if there was one thing anybody who knew him well could admit, was that he was first-rate at fighting in debilitating conditions. All he had to do was recover from this flight, then-
"Silence Glaive Surprise!"
Only after Meitsuki heard that shout did he sense Sailor Saturn's presence behind him. He frantically attempted to make handseals, but found his arms to be even more fucked up than before! He could probably still do handseals, but nothing to save him in time for the pain to come.
Well…this is going to be a painful experience he thought absentmindedly as his body was engulfed by the beam.
The four Senshi gathered around the dust cloud caused by Saturn's attack.
"Alright, it worked!" Chibi Moon declared jovially.
"Do not lower your guard down yet" Pluto warned the pink haired Senshi.
Sailor Neptune stated "she's right. I have a feeling he's not done yet."
The dust cloud finally began to disperse, forcing the girls to tense in preparation for dodging an attack or making one of their own.
Such thoughts only left them flabbergasted when there wasn't even a body left in the clearing.
"H-hey, where did Tsuki-sensei go?" Chibi Moon asked, looking around confusedly at her fellow Senshi.
"Do you think my attack may have been too much?" Sailor Saturn inquired softly, her pale skin turning slightly green at the thought of accidentally killing their friend and teacher, even if he had ordered them to not hold back.
"No, there would at least have to be some remnants of his body that way."
"Maybe Uranus was right, and he was a youma that's nothing but dust now."
"I still have a feeling that he's around here some-"
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"
The sudden yell was all the warning the Senshi received as a large group of fireballs approached them. They all were able to dodge them safely, but that wasn't really the point of such a small attack anyways.
The four women realized that when they saw Meitsuki jump above the trees, his form shadowed by the sun behind him, a glint exposing a familiar sword he grabbed from who knows where. Though the realization actually came when the other three saw his target was Sailor Neptune, separated from the others by the fireballs.
Pluto was about to lead the younger girls back to aid the water using Senshi, but suddenly some instinct told her to jump back, allowing the woman to narrowly dodge a barrage of kunai. Out of the blue, she saw three more of the teen boy in front of them. They were just standing there, so the green haired Senshi assumed they were there more to keep them out of the way than to engage.
Neptune was too busy with the adversary in front of her, or above her she mentally corrected herself, to notice her comrades' situation, however. Despite the shocking entrance of the shinobi, she was able to recover quickly as she prepared her attack.
Pluto told us that Meitsuki injured himself with that one lightning attack, not to mention the damage we just did. That and the fact he's using his sword, he can't use those strange moves…
The water manipulator could feel her attack fully charged, and so aimed for her descending opponent.
So all I have to do is aim where he'll have a hard time to cut it with his sword.
"Deep Submerge!"
Her concentrated bomb of water rocketed towards its intended recipient, more specifically his legs so that even if he cut it, he'd become unbalanced. However, that was not to be, which Neptune might have realized had the sun not shadowed the brightly glowing sword.
"Kaze Kizu!" The nin twisted around once in midair, but as he faced the attack again he swung his katana as if cutting an unseen enemy in front of him, but instead fired a curved blade made completely of wind straight at the Deep Submerge, cutting it in two. Though still carrying its momentum, the water attack lost its cohesive sphere from the impact, turning it into little more than a large splash, soaking the nin through. Of course, what kind of shinobi would allow themselves to be deterred by a little water.
Shocked at her attack made useless, Neptune failed to recover before feeling a sharp sting of pain on her head before it her world went black.
Meitsuki checked over the injured Senshi briefly, making sure her injury wasn't too severe. Even if he had used the broad side, the nin had a habit of not watching his strength. Seeing that she was alright, besides being subjected to a bad headache when she woke up, he quickly charged toward the smokescreen provided by his recently dispersed clones.
Rushing through said smokescreen, katana in position, his silver Sharingans quickly analyzed the position, stances, and possible evasive maneuvers of the three remaining Senshi, all in a second. He noticed that Chibi Moon was the least prepared, making her the prime target.
Said pink haired girl narrowly squatted under a horizontal slash from his katana, but already expecting it had not halted his forward momentum. With a spinning kick Lee would have been proud of, Meitsuki sent the girl soaring before hitting a toppled log, falling unconscious on the opposite side.
Not missing a beat, Meitsuki twisted to the right, charging towards the second youngest of the Senshi. Saturn readied her scythe, catching the nin's strike with the pole before pulling it back, hoping to decapitate him from behind. Unlucky for her, she only reaped a few hairs from his head, before her abdomen caved in slightly from a harsh uppercut, knocking the wind out of her.
Meitsuki did not notice the girl drop to the ground out of breath as the nin was too busy with another assault in the form of an explosive ball of purple energy. Pluto, the owner of said explosive, saw the silver eyed nin caught in the attack, and couldn't help but smile a small smile of relief.
That was too close. He almost got all of us "but he must be finished by now" she whispered to herself.
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?"
The green haired woman immediately jumped forward, twisting at the same time to face the same silver eyed teen in front of her. It was obvious from the state of his cloak to the sight of some burns where his skin was showing that he hadn't escaped unscathed, but the fact he was standing there at all was shocking enough.
And for once, the Time Guardian Senshi was completely dumbfounded.
"Wah-wai-h-how did you…"
"Kawarimi no Jutsu" Meitsuki said plainly, as if that explained everything. Although he was chuckling at her stunned face, he knew it took a lot to do that. "allows a shinobi to switch with another object or person, like a log. See for yourself."
Said woman turned around, and lo and behold, where a stumbling Sailor Saturn was trying to regain her breath was a charred log (LOGGED!! Don't own NTAS).
"I have to admit you were this close" he added, his fingers less than an inch apart, "and I barely escaped to full force of the explosion. But I think this is over now."
The disguised shinobi noticed the green haired woman look around subtly, though he wasn't nervous at all about that. It was when she focused her attention back on him that he got a bit worried. After all, it wasn't everyday when the usually composed and unexpressive Senshi smirks at you, no matter how small it is.
"This is not as over as you may think, Meitsuki-san."
"Huh?" was his intelligent response. It wasn't until he heard the slight sound of a round object streaming through the air did he understand.
Fuck!
He tried desperately to Kawarimi out of the way, but was too late to dodge the watery projectile, sending him sliding through the hard earth. But that wasn't the end of it, the young shinobi realized, as he heard a familiar voice yell out a familiar attack he really did not want to deal with.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
Quickly recovering from the last water attack, Meitsuki attempted to dodge the ball of concentrated lightning, and was mostly successful. In fact, in most cases the brief contact the attack made against his calf would have resulted in a numbed appendage along with minor electrical burns that could have easily been healed by his tenant.
Of course, in most cases the boy with silver Sharingans would not be soaked wearing dripping wet clothing. Such circumstances left a much more…shocking impression on the cloaked boy.
Pluto, Saturn, and Chibi Moon, who was just recovering, were able to recover from the surprising turn of events just in time to see five people hurry towards Meitsuki, now slumped on an upright tree trunk, before quickly jumping away again. It was then the three of them could see the new arrivals clearly as they walked towards them.
Sailor Moon and Venus grinned triumphantly as they each held a bell up in the air, with Sailor Mercury doing the same, though with a more subdued smile. Sailor Mars' lips spread in a satisfied smirk as she held a fourth bell, and Tuxedo Kamen held up the fifth bell, his other arm wrapped over the bun-wearing blonde's shoulders. The last girl standing beside Sailor Neptune, Sailor Jupiter, wore a pleased grin on her face, having wanted to do that to the shinobi all day.
"Minako, Ami, Rei, Momo-chan, Michiru, Makoto, you're all ok!" the pink haired Senshi yelled happily as she made her way towards them with the other two right behind her.
Usagi developed a twitch on her forehead as she glared at the brat. "Hey, what about me?!"
Chibiusa blew a rasberry at the blonde. "What about you?"
"You cheeky brat!"
"It is fortunate to see you all still well" Setsuna interjected before the two really got ranting. "However, it appears that there is still one of us currently absent."
The reminder hit Sailor Jupiter light a freight train. "Oh my God, we still have to go help Uranus!"
"I don't think we have to worry too much, Jupiter. Haruka-chan is strong, and after all, if this Meitsuki's the real one" Michiru pointed towards the shinobi still slumped on the tree, "then all she's dealing with are some copies that disappear in a hit."
The others visibly relaxed at the sea haired woman's logic, until they heard a low chuckle, coming from none of the girls in the circle.
"Hahahaha, you'd like to think that wouldn't you?" Meitsuki asked them. He kept his head down though, keeping up the genjutsu was getting tiresome and he didn't want to risk showing a mistake on the face portion.
"What are you saying?"
"Doton: Tsuchi Bunshin" he replied to Mars' question. "It might be the only other clone technique I know, not to mention it's more difficult for me to use, but it compliments my Kage Bunshin perfectly. After all, when a clone can take almost as much punishment as the original, it proves a very valuable asset in battle."
His explanation of his newly revealed technique left them all shocked speechless, though it didn't take a genius to figure out the focus of their thoughts.
Crap, Haruka is in trouble!
"You'd better hurry, or who knows what might happen to that tom-boy."
Sailor Neptune was sorely tempted to deliver a severe beat-down on the shinobi leaning on the tree for that comment, but worry overtook anger as she dashed through the forest to the beginning stage of the test. The other Senshi wasted no time, following after their comrade to save the isolated Outer Senshi.
Hmmm, I wonder how they're going to react to the trap I put Haruka in? the shinobi thought to himself as he slowly stood up, using the tree to support himself. Fuck, I'm still not totally healed yet. This is why I fucking hate lightning, takes way too damn long to heal fried muscles and nerves. He knew his clones could handle the rest of the test from here, since only maybe ten minutes at the most were left, so for now he was content to let Kyuubi's youkai do its work.
Back to the Senshi, what they were looking at now was something that none of them were going to forget for a long time.
"Ah, I see that you all made it for the finale, excellent." The ten girls saw a Meituski clone step out from behind a tree, using his old style of covering his face, revealing nothing but red demonic slit eyes. "I have to ask you though, how does this fit for a finale?" he asked, patting the circular wooden tub next to him. It was huge, around eight feet in diameter, and the walls reaching the same height, preventing them from seeing what was inside except for some wisps of steam that rose above it.
It wasn't that which grabbed the Senshis' attention the most, however. That spot was reserved for the sight of Sailor Uranus, gagged and wrapped in rope and hanging upside down by another rope tied to the tree branch, only a foot away from dropping into the mystery concoction. The shinobi had been kind enough to tie her in a way that prevented the skirt from hanging down too.
Sailor Neptune was the first to reply, a fierce undertone not usually associated with her. "What did you do to Haruka-chan?!"
If Meitsuki reacted to the tone in her voice, the hood had hidden it. "Well, as you can see, I just set up a little prank, and Sailor Uranus here just happened to be the only one around to volunteer, albeit reluctantly. You don't have to worry over any injuries; I fixed all hers up already."
"What is it you require of us?"
Can always count on Setsuna to remain calm and collected the Meitsuki clone thought as he turned his attention to the older woman. "That should be simple enough to deduce, just a simple trade. Sailor Uranus for those bells in your hands" he declared, pointing at said objects held in the girls' hands.
"No way!" Sailor Moon half-yelled, half-whined. "We already got them fair and square, you never said anything about taking them back, especially with such an unfair plan!"
The other Senshi voiced their agreements toward the shinobi, who still remained unfazed.
"When did I ever say I wouldn't try to take them back? The test still hasn't ended yet, after all" he explained, his voice carrying a hidden edge. "And there is no cheap plan or cheating in a fight. Akatsuki won't hesitate to use any of you as a hostage, and while they'd rather not make publicity for themselves, won't be afraid of dragging innocent bystanders into the fight either. If that ever happens, you need to be prepared to make a choice, one much tougher than this one. So, what is it going to be?"
All of the test-takers looked at each other, a silent agreement ringing out between all of them. Those who had the bells stepped forward, and threw all five of them in front of them in a pile, the only sound in the clearing a small jingle as they made contact. Almost immediately, another Meitsuki appeared from the trees, grabbing the silver objects before tossing them at the one still standing near the strapped Sailor Uranus as the clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
It was then that the timer finally rang through the forest, signifying the end of the test.
The shinobi near the wooden tub quickly tossed a kunai, cutting all the ropes keeping Sailor Uranus bound, including the one tied to the tree. Before the girls even had a chance to worry she was going to fall into the mystery concoction, the shinobi had already gathered the woman into his arms, before making his way towards them.
"So, it looks like you all chose Sailor Uranus' well being over your desire to pass the test, huh?" they heard Meitsuki's voice again, only instead it was coming from behind them. Turning around, the eleven of them, including a now awakened Sailor Uranus, saw the original Meitsuki, his strange silver eyes containing…happiness?
"Well of course we did, we're a team! We're never going to abandon each other just to win a fight!" Sailor Moon declared heatedly.
Meitsuki's eyes scanned over the rest of them. "And I guess the rest of you feel that way too?" Their reply was a round of confirmations, which made his eyes gleam even brighter. "Well then, in that case…"
And now to shock them silly…
"Congratulations, you all pass!"
"WHAT?!"
De-Raz: Well, I hope you all enjoyed that, especially since I forced you to wait nearly half a year for it. Because of such understanding patience from you readers though (since I never got any flames for not updating it), I have a poll on my profile page that I hope will delight you readers. So, read, review, then check out that poll and vote.
Naruto: YEA, CHECK THAT POLL OUT, BELIEVE IT!
De-Raz: What the hell Naruto. Where did that … cursed phrase come from. Looks like you need some reeducation so you don't become canon Naruto!
Naruto: No, not that room, I'll be good, really! BELIEV- I mean-
De-Raz: See you later (pulls mysterious lever)
Naruto: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! (he screams as he falls down a trap door)
De-Raz: Well, see you next time.