Chapter 13: The Second Phase
The following day, every team that was still in the Shiken was in front of training ground 44, popularly known as the Forest of Death. It was basically a forest surrounded by a fence and with a big tower in the middle.
"Every team that goes in will receive a scroll. Either the Heaven Scroll or the Earth Scroll. The objective is to enter the tower with both scrolls before five days pass. Anything is allowed. Go in that shed to receive your scroll."- Anko said, eating dango and pointing at a small shed by her right. Everyone headed in before coming out to tell their team which scroll they had.
"What is our scroll? Where is it?"- Shino asked Hono, his face as expressionless as ever. He was never worried, or at least didn't seem like it.
"Heaven Scroll, it's somewhere safe."- the white-haired boy replied. Shino knew him well enough not to even ask where he hid it. After everyone had retrieved their scroll, they all turned to Anko, waiting for further instruction.
"Every team will enter through their designed gate. Good luck!"- she said, dismissing them. Hono wasn't content.
"Screw that, why should we go around the forest to enter through our gate?"- he asked. Anko rose her head.
"Because it's the only way to get in."- she replied with a smile. Hono slowly walked towards the fence before blasting a hole through it with his gloves.
"Not anymore."- he signaled Shino and Hinata to follow him, and thankfully, they knew him well enough to just simply go with it. Everyone just looked at them, shocked, except for the Kirigakure kunoichis and the Sunagakure siblings. The Kiri girls were simply insane like him and the Sunagakure siblings were either used to him or used to how Gaara was.
"I think I like him."- Akasha said with her classic smirk. Her two teammates giggled.
"Welcome to the club."- Temari replied.
"We all know he likes me."- Ino commented.
"Nah, he likes me. After all, he spends so much time at my house..."- Tenten joined in, proud.
"What the actual fuck? How does such a fucked up guy like him get so many chicks to argue over him?"- Kiba asked Sasuke.
"How should I know? Let's just go."- the raven-haired Uchiha replied.
After just ten minutes, they found another team. It was the team of the Grass ninja that Hono blasted away.
"Oooh, I was praying to find you. Are you ready for a little payback?"- their leader asked. Hono cracked his knuckles.
"Shino, Hinata, make sure none escape. I intend to have some fun."
Ten minutes later, the Grass team was history and they had everything they needed to complete the phase.
"I suggest we head to the main building and stay there. Our mission is over."- Shino whispered.
"I have a better idea. You stay in the main building and I get to go out, hunting and killing and at the last day I come back to finish the mission."- Hono replied with a grin.
"...fine."- he didn't even think of complaining. It was Hono after all.
Four days later, Hono had finished his hunting. He had destroyed so many teams that he didn't even bother to count. He had stuffed all of the scrolls in a seal before searching for the next team. As he was heading back to the main building, he came across a strange sight. Rock Lee was in the ground, next to Kiba. Sakura was kneeling and crying, Team Ino-Shika-Chou was at its limits and the sound team was defeated. Sasuke was trying to pull the arms off of one of them. His body was covered in black flame tattoos and a dark chakra was emanating around him.
"Yo! I'm the only psycho in this forest!"- Hono shouted, making everyone turn their heads. Taking this opportunity, the two other members of the Sound team grabbed the one that Sasuke was torturing and ran.
"Fight me."- Sasuke commanded. Hono jumped down.
"Nah, you are too weak."- Sasuke got pissed and ran at him. Hono simply slapped a chakra seal on his face before blasting him away with his gloves.- "I call that Ninpou: Bitchslap."
"What the?"- Shikamaru started. Hono took out a scroll and made a pile of scrolls appear.
"Take what you need. I recommend you take Sasuke to the doctors. Don't worry about Lee. Tenten and Neji are up in the trees."- he said before starting to run away.
"Wait! Why don't you come with us?"- Sakura asked.
"I'm no babysitter. You know Sakura, if you keep relying on Sasuke or Kiba to save you, you're going to die soon. Instead of combing that pretty hair of yours, train."- he replied, turning around and running towards the tower, leaving the pink-haired girl dumbfounded.
Minutes later, Hono had arrived at the main tower. A bunch of other teams had too, including the Sunagakure siblings and the Kirigakure babes, each with their own senseis. The Sunagakure had Baki and the Kirigakure had a slender woman in her thirties wearing a blue dress that was made of fishnet at the top. Her hair was ankle-length and auburn. She was accompanied by Zabuza. Hono quickly approached them.
"Hi girls. Zabuza, what are you doing here?"- the white-haired boy asked, completely disregarding the woman.
"This is an old friend of mine, Mei Terumi. She did me a favor and let me come to watch the matches."- the former assassin replied.
"Matches?"- Hono asked, confused.
"Too many teams made it. So, you must take preliminary matches to see who goes to the third phase."- he answered.
"Oh, this is going to be nice."- he said before turning his head to Mei Terumi.- "Miss Terumi, it's a pleasure."
"That goes both ways."- she replied, smiling. Hono quickly turned around and started walking towards the Sunagakure siblings.
"I just think that a woman like you shouldn't have dated someone like Zabuza."- he commented, walking away, leaving the two adults dumbfounded. The girls turned to them and laughed at their embarassment. Hono approached the siblings and high-fived Gaara and Kankuro before kissing Temari on the cheek, action that both made her happy and sad that it wasn't on the lips. Then, he hand shaked Baki.- "Can I get a report on the situation?"
"The Kazekage is dead. The Hokage has been told of everything by us and a plan is being created at this moment to counter attack."- the former Kazekage's right hand man explained.
"Sorry, for your loss."- Hono said, looking at the four Sunagakurians.- "But that snake's plan isn't just to kill the Hokage. He has already shown himself."
"What do you mean?"- Baki asked, alarmed.
"A student from Konoha has received a seal designed by Orochimaru to give him power. I put him to sleep and he's being carried over here as we speak."- the white-haired jinchuuriki answered.
"I'll report this to the Hokage right away!"- Baki said before using a teleporting jutsu.
"Anyway, good luck mates, Gaara I am glad to see that your rings have disappeared, but you should fake them with Temari's make up. If Orochimaru sees you, he'll realize that you've been sealed."- Hono turned around and walked back to his team. Shino and Hinata seemed bored.- "I guess that sitting around for four days isn't very fun."
"Tell me about it. Thank god it is over. At least we get to have preliminary matches to end the boredom. Where is our Heaven scroll?"- Shino replied. Hono performed Kuchyiose and a small dragon appeared, handing them the scroll.
"If your opponents aren't from Konoha, Sunagakure or Kirigakure, kill them. Alright?"- Hono also asked with a smile.
"Sure."- Shino smiled. It was the very first time that Hono saw him as a psychopath, and man was he proud.
Several minutes passed before the Hokage, accompanied by the two examiners, came in and made a speech about how the Chuunin Shiken was just a substitute for war. He wished best of luck to the fighters and went up to the middle of the stands. A man named Gekkou Hayate came forward.
"The preliminary matches will last as long as they need to. The match will end if one of the fighters is knocked out or killed. I may decide to end the match if I believe the situation requires it. The names of the match participants will appear on the screens behind me."- he pointed behind him to the two giant screens that had a hand sign statue between them.- "The names will be picked randomly. When your name is picked, please step down from the stands to fight."
"Alright."- Yoroi, an Otogakure shinobi said as his name appeared on the screen with Uchiha Sasuke's name as well. Sasuke's curse mark had been sealed and he could fight, but he was obviously exausted. The match went pretty well. In the middle of the fight, Sasuke's seal broke loose but he managed to force it back and pull off a mid-air taijutsu technique that immediately knocked Yoroi out.
After Yoroi was carried out, Hayate gave an order and names shuffled through the screens until they froze.
"Zaku Abumi and Aburame Shino. Please step up."- Hono fistbumped Shino before he jumped down to face the spiky haired boy that almost had his arms pulled out by Sasuke.
"Give up now, and I won't kill you."- the Aburame calmly spoke. Hono smirked. He was so concentrated that he almost didn't notice Akasha walking up to him.
"You seem pretty confident about your teammate."- she said, looking at him with her blood-red eyes. He turned his face to look at her and smiled.
"Shino might not seem the coolest or the strongest, but that's because he actually acts like a shinobi. He's strong."- Hono replied, looking back at the two fighters.
"You don't smile just because someone is strong, I've noticed that. Why are you smiling?"- she asked. He gave her a grin.
"Because of his fighting style. Let's just say that after he is done with his opponents, they're either dead or unable to fight for the rest of their life."- Hayate gave the order for them to fight. Zaku immediately ran at Shino and blasted him with one of his air pressure holes. After the dust set, they saw a shape that looked like Shino just dissolve into a mass of bugs.
"What the fuck?"- Zaku was shocked. He was sure he blew the fucker away.
"Bug Clone. A technique from my family."- Shino explained, appearing behind Zaku who had one of his arms bandaged and slowly turned around.
"Well, now you're fucked!"- the sound nin shouted, raising his right arm.
"Before you try to kill me, please take notice of your surroundings. Behind you is an ocean of bugs and in front of you is me. If you attack me, the bugs will end you, if you attack them I will end you. This is your last chance to give up, that is recommended."- Shino explained, showing no emotion as Zaku looked behind to see he was surrounded by bugs. Zaku closed his eyes and pulled his left arm out of the bandages.
"HOW ABOUT NOW, BITCH?"- he said, making air come out of both arms, determined to end all of them. Suddenly, chakra came out of holes around his arms, as if overflowing. Suddenly, the arms exploded and became useless.- "AAAAAAH!"
"I knew you weren't going to give up, they never do."- Shino appeared in front of Zaku who was looking at the bugs coming out of his arms.- "When I recommended you to give up, I told the bugs to hide in those stupid air holes and block them with their bodies. You lose."
"AAGH!"- Zaku yelled as Shino punched him in the gut, stabbing him with the small spikes and injecting bugs into him. A few seconds later, Zaku fell to the ground, dead. His eyes were still open. Shino went back to the stands and fistbumped Hono, standing by his side.
"Good job. None will survive our team. I pray for a fight with someone that I can legally kill."- Hono said before looking at Akasha. She had a smirk on.
"You were right, Shino is strong. He has the same style as Mizore. Silent and strong."- she commented. Hono pointed behind him.
"They're way ahead of you."- Shino was standing by Mizore's side. None said a word, none did a thing. They stood there for a couple of minutes before Mizore handed him a piece of paper. Hono used Akumanogan and saw that it was a place, date and hour.- "They have a date. Tomorrow at Romaz's Veggie House in Konoha at eight pm."
"Ha. Love flourishes."- she said before they both laughed. The next match was between Tenten and Temari. It went pretty fast since Tenten's weapons couldn't do crap against Temari's wind. After she won, Temari blew a kiss at Hono who just smiled.
"Akashiya Moka against Inuzuka Kiba!"- Hayate read. Kiba jumped down while Moka slowly walked down the stairs and walked her way to face him with a shy expression. Hayate ordered the match to start and Kiba charged at Moka, ready to tackle her. But as soon as he got in a three meter radius, he stopped. He stared at her with his mouth open and drooled so much he made a puddle on the floor. Hono laughed.
"Hahahaha!"- Sakura and Sasuke walked over to him and asked him what was happening to their teammate.
"She put him in a Glamour!"- he replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"A what?"- Sakura asked.
"It's a type of genjutsu that only affects the opposite sex. The more the victim finds the user attractive, the stronger it is. Kiba has no chance whatsoever."- he explained before laughing again. As if proving his words, Moka walked up to Kiba, avoiding the puddle and held a kunai to his heart, making Hayate stop the match.
"Handsome, Smart, I might just take you home with me."- Akasha said as Hono grinned.- "How did you know?"
"I read the whole Konoha Library in a day. I know everything there is to know about genjutsu."- he replied with a smile. Akasha was surprised, but she didn't show it and simply smiled.
"You're up."- Shino said, looking at Hono.- "Remember, no mercy."
"Hono against 2."- Hayate read. A rain ninja walked down the stairs and to the center of the arena. He looked like he was the strongest of his team.
"Finally!"- Hono said before howling and jumping down the balcony, landing with no effort at all. He pulled out a coin and flipped it before grabbing it and putting it on his hand. He grinned. Hayate was between them, ready to start the match.
"Just out of curiosity, what was the coin for?"- the rain genin asked, his voice distorted by his mask.
"I was trying to decide wether to kill or maim you. Killing being tails and maiming being heads. Want to know what came out?"- without another word, the rain nin quickly ran at Hono, throwing five shuriken. Hono waited until they were really close before he unsheathed his Katana and managed to stuck it inside the holes in the middle of the five shuriken while they still spun. He forced chakra through his weapon and threw the shuriken with one swing. All of the shuriken were covered in fire, ready to simply fuck the rain nin up. The rain nin ducked to dodge them, but as Hono created an activating hand sign with his right hand, he got worried.
"TAKE THIS!"- the jinchuuriki shouted as the shuriken exploded behind the rain nin who was sent flying towards Hono who struck his glove's palm against the ninja and blasted him back. The rain nin didn't get up for a minute and Hayate was close to call the match before the ninja got up and performed hand seals.12 clones appeared and 5 ran at Hono while 7 remained with their boss.- "Nice."
"DIE!"- the clones shouted, jumping at him with kunai. Hono opened his eyes to reveal the Akumanogan.
"Ninpou: Jikantoketsu."- time froze and Hono quickly jumped from one clone to the other, slicing them several times before going back to the ground and ending the jutsu. Five blood clouds appeared as the clones felt the slices and fell to the ground before disappearing.
"Kami..."- Shikamaru said, receiving nods from most Genin around him, except Shino and the Kirigakure girls who had different reactions. Mizore didn't show emotions, Moka had her mouth open in surprise and Akasha had a smirk as if she knew this was going to happen.
"Just fucking die!"- the ninja yelled as the remaining clones jumped above Hono in order to end his life. Hono just performed one seal. Tiger.
"KATON: GORYUUKA NO JUTSU!"- he yelled, spitting out three giant fire balls shaped as dragon heads that hit the clones and carried them up to the sky, breaking the ceiling three diferent spots and headed to the sky without stopping. The water nin was terrified and everyone was shocked. Akasha was fascinated with the power, Shino was smiling for the first time.
"No one, and I mean no one, can beat that guy when it comes to causing chaos."- he said, Mizore smiled as well. The water ninja desperately threw a kunai that hit Hono straight in the forehead. After a bit, he dissolved into water.
"Fucker copied my Mizu Bunshin."- Zabuza exclaimed. Suddenly, a mist appeared. Though everyone on the stands could see what was going on, the water nin couldn't at all.
"Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu!"- Hono's voice was heard. The water nin was close to flipping out with fear.
"Ninpou: Kasai no sutoraiki!"- the mist disappeared and everyone, even the water nin could see Hono's palm enveloped in fire. He striked it into the water nin's stomach, sending him flying against the wall, breaking it and falling to the ground, smoke coming out of his stomach. Hayate was about to call off the match when the body suddenly tilted and the mizu nin got on his knees, looking at the ceiling.- "Never mind him, he's dead."
"What do you mean? He's on his knees."- Hayate said, confused.
"Hehe, look again."- the mizu nin's eyes had melted, his mouth had opened and smoke was coming out.- "My attack sealed fire inside of his body. Burned him inside. He got on his knees not because he wanted to, but because the hot air and gasses inflated him and put him in that position."
"..."- Hayate didn't answer, shocked at the cruelty of the Konoha jinchuuriki who simply disappeared in a vortex of fire, appearing by Shino's side on the stands. They fistbumped.
"Two down."- Shino muttered. Mizore was closer to him.
"I'll leave you two love birds alone."- Hono walked up to Akasha.- "Imagine a date between those two. They'll just sit in front of each other, eat, remain silent and look at each other in the end, passing notes planning the next date and saying that that one was great."
"Hey, I heard that!"- Shino warned. Akasha laughed and Hono soon joined.
"Smart, Handsome, Funny and Very Powerful. I am so going to take you home!"- she said with a smirk. She looked at his gloves.- "What's with the gloves?"
"As I drive my palms forward, the seals seal the air space inside them and release it when my palm hits my enemy's stomach. It's like being hit by a rhyno. If I channel my chakra nature through them, they catch on fire and seal it inside the enemy. The rest, you know."- he explained before giggling.
"You're a genius."- she admitted.
"It's mostly due to not having any respect for the human life. It helps me think outside the box."- he said, looking at her.
"They don't joke when they say you are a psychopath do they?"- she asked.
"That's an understatement."- when he answered, a genuine smile came to her face and she got closer to him. He was more and more like her.
The next match flew by. Kankuro simply decimated Kabuto's teammate with no effort at all. He smirked after breaking the boy's bones.
"Hyuuga Neji vs Hyuuga Hinata!"- Hayate read. Everyone focused on the arena, waiting for the cousins to approach each other. Hono stopped Hinata.
"He might be your cousin, but he won't show you any mercy. Don't show him any either."- seeing that he wasn't doing a good job of helping her, Shino approached.
"You're no failure. You're powerful now. You can beat him. Show everyone how much you've changed."- encouraged by this, Hinata quickly hurried over to the center of the arena to face her cousin.
"Begin!"- both of them got in a complex Gentle Fist fight that went on for several minutes. Neji's face expression was getting angrier and angrier, frustrated at his failure of beating his cousin. They sped up and it became almost impossible to follow their movements. At some point, Neji grunted in pain before Hinata was sent flying backwards, coughing blood. She stood up, but it was obvious she was really hurt. Hayate stopped the match, but Neji was so angry he ran forward to execute the finishing move. The jounin moved to stop him, but they never had to. A loud boom was heard and Neji was flying against a wall. He crashed against it and was immediately pinned to the same wall by Shino and Hono. His face was turning purple from not being able to breathe.
"Let him go."- the Hokage ordered. After two seconds, they let Neji go as he gasped for air.
"Another display of favoritism towards the main branch."- he said. Hono quickly turned around, pusing his Katana against Neji's throat.
"Shut your stupid mouth. The only reason you are alive right now is because Hinata made us promise we wouldn't kill you if this happened."- the jinchuuriki made it pretty clear.
"You better pray that you don't face either of us in the Third Phase. We won't kill you, but we'll make sure you'll wish for death."- Shino followed before turning around and walking away.
"You're a disgrace to the Hyuuga clan."- Hono also turned around and left. Neji and Hinata were taking to the hospital.
"Next match, Sabaku no Gaara vs Rock Lee."- that was the best match so far, no doubt. Lee's speed managed to outrun Gaara's sand defense, but still, the sand jinchuuriki proved himself too much for the green beast's student. The match ended with Rock Lee knocked out, yet healthy. Then, it was Sakura vs Ino. The most boring match ever, which ended in a double knockout. The final two matches were between Akashiya Akasha vs 1 and Akashiya Mizore vs 3. Mizore ended her match with an amazing exploding tag attraction technique that blew 3 to bits and Akasha used Katon to burn 1 to ash.
"Now that the matches are over, I'll tell you about the matches in the Third Phase."- Hayate started.- "First match, Hono vs Hyuuga Neji, Second, Dosu vs Aburame Shino, Third, Sabaku no Temari vs Nara Shikamaru, Fourth, Uchiha Sasuke vs Sabaku no Gaara, Fourth, Shirayuki Mizore vs Sabaku no Kankuro and Fifth, Akashiya Mok vs Akashiya Akasha."
"..."- everyone turned their heads to Hono who was just grinning like a mad man. He cracked his knuckles.- "Neji, you are so fucked!"