Yo everyone! As some of you probably noticed, last time I've decided to put this fic on hold, due to the lack of popularity, but considering that throughout the last, four months, when this fic was not being updated, quick a few reviews came in, I've decided to give this story another shot.
However you should be aware that if the popularity won't be satisfactory, this fic will be put on hold again or maybe even discontinued, so if you'd like to know what happens next, REVIEW!
And now, without further to do, here's the newest chapter of "Those Who Inherit the Will of Fire":
Chapter #10: Saved by the Bell
Title Page: Buryaku is sitting on the top of a huge elephant with Toramaru sleeping on its fang and Naraku holding onto its trunk
"Okay, enough chit-chat…" announced Teigo with a bored tone as he tied the two bells to his belt. "Lets get this over with quickly… ready and… BEGIN!" and the moment he said so Buryaku jumped away, hiding in the bushes around the meadow. The jounin glanced after the kunoichi for a second and then looked back at the boys that stood in front of him with a single drop of sweat falling down the back of his head: "And you guys ain't gonna hide?"
"No need for that…" Toramaru shoot back as he went to his fighting stance. "The two of us will simply beat you senseless and then take those stupid bells…" Naraku only nodded at his friend's comment, making Teigo shake his head in disagreement. Buryaku only sweat dropped at this.
"And I thought every team had only one idiot…" stated the masked man calmly. "But tell you what, I'll give you guys a chance: I promise I'll only use taijutsu to bring you brats down… that way I'll at least have a little fun kicking you around…"
"You ass!" yelled Toramaru seriously pissed as he charged forward, activating his Byakugan. He launched an attack with an opened palm at the jounin's chest, yet Teigo instantly side-stepped it and grabbed him by the wrist before the blonde managed to react. In a flash Hokage's son felt his hand being dragged behind his back and before he knew it, he landed hard on his back, while Teigo let go of his hand.
"First rule of a shinobi fight, brat…" began the jounin calmly as the stared at the laying blonde. "Don't get carried away by emotions… otherwise you're an easy target…" and the moment he said so, he lifted his hand with the melody arm up in order to block a spin-kick that was coming at his head. As the masked man glanced to his right, he noticed Naraku standing on his left foot with his right leg still in the position after the kick.
In an instant Teigo bended his knees and spinning on his foot kicked the young Uchiha's left leg, thus making the boy lose his balance. The raven-haired boy however managed to prop himself with his hands and launched a double kick at his instructor. To his great dismal though, the former sound-nin merely jumped into the air and somersaulting over him, landed safely on the ground.
Immediately the jounin spun on his foot in an attempt to deliver a spin-kick into Naraku's face, yet before the attack connected, Toramaru appeared between the two and blocking the kick with his right hand, he launched an assault with his open palm right at the back of Teigo's head.
Surprisingly for the blonde however, Teigo simply bended forward, making the young ninja's attack go above his head, and then spun around, aiming a punch into the boy's face. Toramaru instantly jumped back, avoiding the attack, but for some reason his body suddenly shook uncontrollably, while a weird sound hit his ears.
The son of Hokage collapsed to his knees, covering his ears as Teigo stood straight again and looked at him: "Unpleasant, isn't it?" he asked, gaining the blonde's attention. The white-eyed boy only looked at him, the sound disappearing as sudden as it appeared. "I know I promised I'll use only taijutsu, but I just couldn't help myself with this… and besides, in a shinobi world, someone's word isn't really worth that much…"
"You'll pay for that!" announced Naraku, making the jounin look at him over his shoulder. The young Uchiha only performed a quick hand seal and called out from the bottom of his lungs: "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" and in a flash Teigo found himself surrounded with the boy's clones.
"Shadow Clone Skill, eh?" the former sound-nin thought to himself as he looked around. "To think someone his age would be capable of using such a technique… and quite a few bushin at that. I guess I can play with this guy for a while then…"
A second later tens of Naraku came charging at the jounin from every direction, aiming their fists at the man. As the first clone came within his range, Teigo elbowed it, making it disappear in the cloud of white smoke, while he grabbed the bushin that ran right after it by the shirt, using the same hand he elbowed the first with.
In a flash the masked man spun on his foot, tossing the clone he grabbed at one that came at him from the right, delivering a spin-kick into the other and punching the third under its chin with his free hand, making all, four Naraku take by the familiar smoke.
The jounin's eyes narrowed as he spotted one clone that came at him from above. Acting on instinct, Teigo jumped into the sky to and blocking the punch Naraku aimed at him, he kicked the bushin in the stomach, using the moment the attack connected to bounce off and fly above the other clones to land safely outside the circle Uchihas made.
The instant his feet touched the ground, the nearest clone aimed a spin kick into his face, however Teigo's reaction proven to be better as the jounin managed to spin on his foot while leaning forward slightly, thus avoiding the hit, and delivered a spin kick of his own, making the bushin get dispelled.
Another Naraku came charging in, but the former sound-nin simply side-stepped the assault and landed a hit in the back of the clone's head as it came by him, while delivering a punch right into the face of another bushin that tried to catch him off guard. Without a second waste, Teigo bended to his left and propping his hand on the ground, he threw his legs to the sides, thus disposing of two, more clones.
"With such a mass shadow clone, he's capable of staying untouched while using only taijutsu?" Buryaku, who observed the whole scene from her hideout narrowed her eyes. "Taking those bells is really going to be pretty troublesome…"
As the jounin delivered another spin-kick, thus getting rid of the last clone, Toramaru came charging at him with his palms surrounded with chakra. As the blonde launched an attack at the man's face, Teigo simply threw his hand off course, by hitting him in the wrist and then slammed his opened palm into the boy's stomach, making Hokage's son collapse to his knees, gasping for air.
At that time the real Naraku came at the former sound-nin as well, however Teigo simply jumped forward and somersaulting in the air, grabbed Toramaru by the back of his shirt. As the boy suddenly flew along with the jounin, his eyes only widen before the man landed back to the ground and tossed the blonde straight at his incoming friend, making the two, young shinobi collide.
"Well, I'm disappointed" announced Teigo calmly as the two boys slowly got back to their feet. "I've expected better from the son of Hokage and the prodigy of the famous, Uchiha clan. I knew you weren't very good, but didn't expect you to suck out loud that much…"
At those words Naraku snapped and once more performed the Kage Bushin, making all his clones charge at the jounin with a wild yell. However Teigo merely bended his knees slightly and then swung his right hand at the air. An instant later all the copies of the young shinobi collapsed to their knees or at least stopped, covering their ears, before they disappeared in the cloud of white smoke, leaving the masked man standing unharmed.
"What the…?" Naraku began, but Toramaru only narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the melody arm attached to Teigo's hand: "That thing" the blonde thought to himself, settling his sight on the device. "At one instant he filled it with chakra and then all the clones suddenly disappeared. It's the same as that time when he got me! He uses sound! He really is from the Hidden Sound!"
The jounin merely crossed his arms, like he was inviting the young ninja to come at him again. The on to do so, was Toramaru: "Your ass is mine!" he yelled, preparing his gentle fist. In a flash he attacked from the left, however Teigo managed to block the assault by using the melody arm on his hand. The former sound-nin then quickly twisted his hand and grabbing the boy by his wrist, he turned his arm the other way around, making the blonde flip and land hard on the ground.
While Toramaru was still laying on the ground, Naraku attacked as well, aiming a spin kick into Teigo's face, yet the jounin managed to avoid the assault by ducking under it and then he immediately rose back up, making the young Uchiha's leg rest on his shoulder. Surprised by this, the boy didn't manage to react in time and before he knew it, he received a powerful elbow in the stomach and then hit in the chin, thus making him fall backwards and land on the ground just like his friend did a moment earlier.
Using the short time Teigo had to sacrifice to knock down Naraku, Toramaru shoot back to his feet and unleashed the storm of attacks at the jounin, each aimed to block one of his chakra openings, but to the blonde's great annoyance, the former sound-nin managed to avoid all of them by either hitting the boy's wrists, thus throwing the assault of course, or by simply dodging in time.
However the son of Hokage kept pushing and forced his opponent to take several steps back. As his attacks speed up, Teigo decided to break the fight and jumped back, away form the young ninja.
Toramaru's eyes widen as he saw the masked jounin somersaulting in the air and landing safely on the water, standing on it with his feet without drowning. "What the hell?" demanded the blonde as he pointed at his instructor. "How in the world are you doing that?"
"What, you mean they don't teach you tree climbing in the Academy?" asked Teigo, making his voice sound superior, which annoyed the son of Hokage even further. "This is basically the same, only in stead of releasing just a specific among of chakra and keeping it at that level, you must keep on expelling the appropriate amount constantly…"
"Sounds easy!" Toramaru shoot back. "Just wait, I'm coming for you!" and with that he charged straight at the lake, gathering chakra in his feet. However, the instant he took a single step into the lake, he went to the bottom with a loud 'splash', making the former sound-nin cover his eyes with his hand in embarrassment.
Teigo only shook his head softly and then his eyes stopped at Naraku, who was just finishing a set of hand seals. "If I'll do this, the only way he can dodge is to sink!" the young Uchiha thought to himself. "This time I'll manage to perform it!" and with that he gathered air in his lungs, only to release it a second later, but in the form of a huge fireball that came right at the surprised jounin: "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
The former sound-nin only widen his eyes as he instantly retreated chakra from his feet and went bellow the water surface, thus making the flames go right above him. However Toramaru was already waiting for him and immediately the blonde launched an attack with his opened palm, aimed at the man's chest.
"As long as he's underwater, he won't use that thing on his arm!" the son of Hokage thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes. "There's no sound bellow the water surface!" but to his great dismal, Teigo did not required his melody arm to save himself. The jounin just somersaulted in the water and kicking the boy's hand from above, he once more made Toramaru's attack change its course.
Before the blonde even manage to do anything, the former sound-nin threw his other leg and him, delivering a powerful kick in the face, which send the son of Hokage a little back. Teigo then swam to the top and instantly jumped out of the pond, landing safely on the ground just few meters away from Naraku.
A moment later Toramaru came up to the surface and struggled back to his feet while glaring at the jounin. As the three ninja stood in front of each other, Buryaku suddenly appeared next to the two boys and with a calm 'Can we talk?' she dragged them by their shirts into the bushes, leaving Teigo alone in the meadow.
"What the hell are you doing?" demanded Naraku as he looked at the kunoichi the instant she let them go. "We almost had him!" but as he said so, the lazy girl only looked at him with pity, making the young Uchiha scratch the back of his head. "So what do you want?"
"I've been observing you guys for a while now and came to a simple conclusion:…" began Buryaku calmly with a little sleepy voice. "You guys will never be able to get those bells. Not at this rate at least. The way I see it, that guy isn't even using half of his real strength to hold you two off and still you failed to land a single blow on him…"
"We kinda know" responded Toramaru annoyed. "We were there!"
"I take it you have an idea concerning how we could get a hold of those bells?" Naraku asked the kunoichi, ignoring his friend. The lazy girl only nodded and then announced: "I have a plan that might help us achieve our objective. It's going to be troublesome, but if we won't do this, we won't be able to get those bells…"
"You're missing one thing here" noticed the son of Hokage, calming down: "There are only two bells. Even if we go for them, all three of us, one will still land without having one and thus be send back to the Academy…"
"Yeah and if we won't work together, we're all be listening to Iruka-sensei's troublesome lessons" Buryaku replied, making the blonde instantly quiet down. "However I don't suppose that's the case either. Didn't it even crossed your mind? We've been divided into three-man teams. Why would they do that, if someone would have to end up returning to the Academy in the first place?"
"The way you put, it does make some sense" stated Naraku after giving what the girl said a moment of thought. He exchanged glances with Toramaru and as the blonde nodded, the young Uchiha turned towards the kunoichi: "So, what's your plan?"
"Those brats have been in those bushes for a while now" Teigo thought to himself as he stood with his arms crossed. "What are they up to?" and just as that question appeared in his mind, tens of Naraku came out of the bushes surrounding him, charging straight at the jounin with their fist ready: "Oh come on, I was hoping for something original!"
The instant he said so, he dodged to his left, thus avoiding the incoming punch and delivered his knee into the first clone's stomach, making it disappear in the cloud of white smoke. The bushins kept on coming and soon Teigo found himself backing away again, while successfully blocking every, single attack.
As he came close to the shadow that a nearby cast, he notice that it suddenly extended, almost as if it was trying to pierce through his shadow. The former sound-nin's eyes widen in surprise as he immediately jumped into the air and propping his hand on the head of one of Naraku's clone, he bounced of it, away from the shadow's reach.
"That must've been this whole Shadow Mimic I heard about" Teigo thought to himself as he landed safely on the ground few meters away. Instantly he found himself side-stepping to his right in order to avoid the attack with an opened palm from Toramaru, who suddenly charged at him from behind.
In a flash the jounin grabbed the blonde by the back of his shirt and tossed him straight at the incoming clones, making two of Narakus disappear in the cloud of white smoke. However, in a flash, more bushins came at him and once more Teigo was being pushed back by the storm of attacks.
As he kept on getting closer to the bushes, another shadow came out of it at him. The former sound-nin's eyes only widen in surprise as he quickly threw the hand with the melody arm on it to the ground, making the sound wave lift up several stones that surrounded him, making some of Naraku clones get dispelled.
"Just now it was that girl's shadow!" Teigo realized as the stones covered him from the young shinobi view. "The shadows cast by the trees and bushes around must allow her to extend her range, thus making it not problem for her to attack from any side of the bushes. If I wanna stay clear from her technique, I need to locate myself in the center of the meadow. Only there will I be out of her reach!"
"How the hell did he do that?" demanded Naraku as he pointed at the stones that just been lifted up. Toramaru only narrowed his eyes before replying: "It'd appear that I was right: that thing on his hand somehow allows him to control sound. Most likely, just now he created a powerful sound wave that hit the ground. High sounds can be destructive, so its not that surprising he managed to dig a hole in the ground with such an attack, making the rocks move aside and pop out from the ground…"
The instant he finished that sentence, Teigo jumped out of his hiding spot and landed exactly in the middle of the meadow, getting into his fighting position to show the two boys that he's ready to fight. In a flash Toramaru along with Naraku and his clones charged at him, ready to fight.
The first bushin that came within the man's range received a powerful spin-kick into the face, which made it disappear in the cloud of white smoke. Another clone, that tried to get the jounin from behind, got hit by the masked ninja's elbow, which made him take few steps back and share the fate of the previous Naraku.
As the next clone aimed a spin-kick of its own, Teigo simply ducked under it and delivered a hit with an opened palm into its chin. As the smoke covered the man's view, Toramaru saw that as his chance and launched an attack with an opened palm of his own, only to have his hand grabbed by the wrist by the former sound-nin.
The blonde was far from surrendering however and immediately raised his knee, aiming to hit his opponent in the stomach, yet the jounin saw that coming and easily blocked the assault with his other, free hand.
A tiny smirk appeared behind his mask as Teigo attempted to launch a knee of his own, but the smile quickly disappeared as he found himself incapable of moving his leg. His eyes widen and soon narrowed slightly at the realization: "I… can't move my body at all!"
"Great job Buryaku!" yelled Naraku cheerfully. "Kagemane success!"
And as Teigo settled is eyes at the young Uchiha, all the clones began disappearing, leaving only the original Naraku and a clone that stood on the man's left, which shadow was falling on his. A second later that bushin also got covered in white smoke, only to reveal that it was the lazy girl all along. The jounin's eyes widen again as he finally figured out what happened:
"So that mass Kage Bushin never meant to defeat me… it was just to hide the fact that you used Henge to look like that other brat and using the crowd of the look-alikes to get close enough to perform your own technique…"
"That would be a bull's eye, Teigo-sensei…" Buryaku replied calmly.
"And now those bells are ours!" announced Toramaru as he grabbed the two bells from the man's belt. "What do you say to that, you asshole?" he asked with a smile, which instantly turned to a frown as the man standing before him suddenly disappeared into a cloud of white smoke, making the bells he held in his hand follow.
"What the…? Kage Bushin?" and completely confused the son of Hokage turned around to look at the spot where the lift up stones still stood. The real Teigo slowly walked out from between them, still having the bells tied to his belt. "So when he covered himself from our view he made a clone so that we'd give it all of our attention!"
"Well, I must admit that I'm quite impressed" announced Teigo as he walked closer to the young shinobi. "I didn't saw your strategy coming. I just made that clone to make things more interesting and if it was the real body, those bells would've been yours by now. Congratulations. Who knows, maybe I'll grow to like you guys just yet…" and just then the alarm clock went off, making the jounin turn around to look at it. "And your time is up…"
"Dammit!" cursed Naraku as he tightened his fists in anger. "All this work and we still failed!"
"I believe that is for me to decide" the former sound-nin replied, gaining the attention of the three. "I'll admit that at the start I'd have never thought that you guys could pass this test. You two…" with that he turned to the boys. "Shown that you're capable of working together. That's a very important trait in a team, however you completely forgotten about your third teammate" and with that he pointed at Buryaku. "Yet, at the end, all three of you joined forces, which I find quite interesting. Tell me, do you know the reason for having only two bells?"
"The reason?" Toramaru repeated, completely clueless.
"I take that as a 'no'…" announced Teigo with a smile. "Let me put it differently: with just two bells, do you think it's possible for all three of you to get promoted to gennin?"
"Well, there's three of us, so having two bells kinda makes it obvious at least one would be failed" noticed Naraku in a way that made it seem like he was surprised he had to explain something that obvious to a jounin.
"You're only half right" the man replied and made a dramatic pause before continuing. "It's true that if each of you came at me alone and even being strong enough to take the bell, one would end up empty-handed, however there's a special trick to it. I recall saying that those of you who won't get their bells will be failed… I never said what I considered 'getting your bell'…"
"I still don't get it" announced Toramaru still totally confused.
"Okay, the let me put it this way: two of you come at me, working together, but you manage to take only one bell away from me. Since both of you had an impact on the outcome, how should I decide which one is to fail and which to pass? Should I just judge it by look at which of the two grabbed the bell and ignore the other who helped the successful one get that bell?"
"Wait, so you mean?" began Naraku, finally understanding, while Teigo only nodded: "It's exactly as you picture it. This test was never meant to test your skills. The sole purpose of this exam was to see how good your teamwork was and the reason for only two bells was to divide the group. That way I'd know which of you wouldn't mind sacrificing themselves for the good of their team… and you three actually proved that you can think of others beside yourselves…"
"Wait, thus that mean…?" Toramaru asked unsure, but the jounin didn't even wait for him to finish and for the first time showing them a happy face, he announced: "Yup… you three have just passed!"
"Alright!" instantly the blonde threw his hand to the sky, while Naraku began jumping up and down. Only Buryaku didn't seem to care at all. Teigo gave them a minute to calm down and then, walking away, he informed them: "Starting tomorrow we'll go on a team related missions, so bring all your shinobi tools. We'll meet up at the bridge at six in the morning… oh, and one last thing… good job, brats…" and with that he was gone, leaving the three to celebrate.
However neither of them knew that the road ahead was still very long and hard. Or maybe it was more that they didn't care at that point? They just made the first step and a long journey has just began.
---to be continued… maybe (it depends on you)---
And so this chapter ends. Hope you enjoyed it and that you'll leave a review once you're done reading. I'd also like to wish you all HAPPY EASTER and ROUND EGGS, just in case the next chapter (if there will be one) won't appear before that time.
Take care and may the Rasengan be with you!