I'm back again! My exams are finally over (still have collage stuff to do, but that shouldn't be so time-consuming) and so I was capable of writing this (actually, it was done the other day, but my internet screwed up back then xx). Hopefully the next chappie will be done in a typical, one-week time (if the number of reviews will be satisfying, that is).
As usual I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. Glad I managed to surprise most of you about who… or rather what Yamazaru was. Also, about the technique Hizoku used at the end of the previous chapter, you'll find some info in the jutsu encyclopedia (I'm not giving away all the details though). With that said, I believe the only thing left to do is to invite you to read this chappie.
And just before that, the usual warning: I WON'T UPDATE UNLESS I GET REVIEWS.
Now on to the story:
Chapter #65: Deadly Blade
Title page: the circus: Ibuki is throwing knives at the balloons that are tied all around Kusari, who's tied to a large, spinning bull's eye, above Takaru is juggling on a rope near the top of the tent, Kumiko is sitting high above the stands on a trapeze smiling and Kai is in the cage, running away from a lion
Yamazaru let out a yell of pain which echoed in the entire room as he collapsed to the floor with his face first. As his large body hit the ground, everyone gathered managed to see a strange symbol on his back that was cut by Hizoku's spear. Mikka only shivered at the sight, while Ibuki narrowed her eyes: "That technique just now… it was the one mentioned by my father… one of the famous Five Blade Dances… but how can this be? According to my father, there was only one person in the entire world who managed to perform them… and he was a Leaf shinobi!" and with that she gave her brother a questioning glance, yet the older Tanken merely smirked under his nose: "This is fun…"
Lee checked the unconscious snow-nin and after a very short examination, he stood up and glancing at Hizoku, he only announced, much quieter then before: "Seem like this is it for this match…" and at hearing that, the redhead reattached his spear onto his back and slowly walked up the stairs back to the platform while Yamazaru was taken away by the medics.
Takai's body shook slightly from excitement, making Torune's heart beat faster then usual. She moved away from her teammate with fear showing on her face, yet she didn't took her eyes from the scythe user. Aoru, who stood right behind the two, notice that and glanced over at the younger boy as well. Realizing what was going on, she lowered her head with a worried expression crossing her face: "This is not good… if things will go on like this, Takai might go out of control… if he won't get his match soon, the opponent he's gonna face will surely die!"
"So, Yamazaru actually lost…" concluded Aisu, crossing her arms and smirking under her nose. Yari only glanced at her a little angry, but said nothing. In stead he turned his eyes onto the huge gorilla, which was now disappearing behind the door. The spearman's eyes narrowed as he looked back at the screen, awaiting the next match.
"Good job, Hizoku-kun!" yelled Nezumi, giving the redhead a powerful pat on the back, which made the Grass spearman bend over a little in order to keep his balance. Seeing this, a sad expression crossed Hanamaru's face. Kogane, who stood right next to the chubby gennin, noticed that and for some reason also felt a little sad, but immediately she shook it off and elbowed her teammate softly: "What's with that face, Hanamaru? You're sad you didn't got a chance to fight yet?" she asked with a smile and as the overweight boy looked at her, a tiny smile crossed his face as well.
Taka only give Hizoku a small nod as a recognition that his teammate won his match. The redhead nodded back, but could've swore that the masked boy acted a bit different then he usual did. Only Tokame narrowed his eyes as he set them on the spearman. The young Wanabi knew exactly what he had in mind: the hooded boy didn't approve him using one of the dances.
"Not bad, Hizoku…" stated Kai with a wide smirk appearing on his face. "But you won in a real lame way… your style needs a little work" and at this point the redhead smiled under his nose as well, before he replied: "I'm counting on you to show me how it should be done then, Kai-kun…"
"So you even taught your son the Five Dances…" Naruto concluded in his mind as he observed Hizoku from his standing point. "Was it really wise to throw such a burden on him? Do you really want your own son to finish the work you couldn't have… Nakamoru?"
"Lets proceed to another, elimination fight!" announced Lee loudly, thus making everyone turn their gazes onto the screen again. After another, short lottery of names, the next two participants were revealed: NOKOGIRI KAREI versus HOKKU TOBANE.
"My turn already?" Tobane's eyes widen slightly at the sight. She glanced over her shoulder at her companions and after received a 'good luck pat' from Nezumi and a nod from Tokame, she jumped down onto the arena, awaiting for her opponent to arrive. Kumiko set her eyes onto the Grass kunoichi and studied her closely: "She's one of Hizoku-kun's teammates… those that managed to collect a scroll even though they separated into pairs… after seeing what Hizoku-kun is capable of… what she'll show?"
"Good luck…" Tsuino said to his teammate, a girl with short, brown hair, carrying a long chain ended with a round saw. "That blonde girl is on the same team as that redhead from just now, so you should stay alert…"
"Don't worry, I don't intend to hold back…" Karei responded before jumping down to face her opponent. Ryo only adjust his glasses, which felt slightly, as he glanced after his female companion. His eyes narrowed as the two kunoichi reached the center of the arena, ready to begin the next match. Youji merely crossed her arms and propped herself against the wall, not really interested in the fight. Nazaa let out a sight: "This isn't how you should act when your teammate is about to fight…" he announced in his mind, but decided against lecturing the umbrella-carrying girl and just concentrated on the battle that was about to begin.
"Twelve match: Nokogiri Karei from Ame against Hokku Tobane from Kusa!" announced Lee loudly as the rain-nin grabbed her chain, that was still wrapped around her arm, while the Grass kunoichi settled her hands near her belt, where she carried strange, metal weapons that could be easily describe as hooks. "Ready and… BEGIN!" and in a flash he jumped out of the way as the two girl immediately charged at one another.
In a fraction of a second Karei unwrapped her chain and send the saw that was at its end spinning towards Tobane. The blonde only widen her eyes in surprise as she saw the round blade shooting off the rain-nin's weapon and coming right at her, leaving a long cut on the floor behind itself.
Without wasting a second Tobane picked out her hooks and kept charging forward, only running a little to her right in the process. As she run pass the saw that came from her left, she jumped into the air and came down straight at Karei with an attempt to stab her with her weapons. Surprisingly for her however, the rain-nin only smirked under her nose and performed a quick hand seal single-handed while flipping her chain. At the very same moment the blonde heard a buzzing sound coming from behind her and as she looked over her shoulder, she saw the round blade she just dodged flying right at her.
Having no way to dodge in mid-air, Tobane flipped and hit the flat side of the incoming saw with the tips of her hooks, finding it surprisingly hard to move her weapons the way she desired. As sparkles flew all around her, the blade got thrown of its course enough to not cut the Grass kunoichi in half, yet it still managed cut the blonde's right side, making her cry out in pain as she hit the floor, landing hard on her left arm.
"Tobane!" Hizoku yelled from the platform as he saw his teammate got badly wounded.
The saw continued its flight and finally got back to the end of Karei's chain, just like it was being controlled by an invisible force that choose its route. Tobane slowly got back to her feet, holding her right side with her left hand, yet still holding both her hooks tight as she felt like they were trying to escape her grip. Horamaru merely smirked at the sight and then glanced over to Sabure and then Takai, who still stood just like they were the whole time, yet the blonde sand-nin could feel their urge to fight.
"Hey, how the hell did that rain-nin did that?" demanded Kusari as he looked around. "She just did that seal with her hand and all of a sudden that saw of hers switched directions! What's going on?"
"It's magnetism…" replied Taki with a single drop of sweat falling down her face. "That's the reason why she uses that long chain as well in stead of the saw alone…" Hitomi merely narrowed her white eyes as he glanced over to her teammate, awaiting for her to reveal more, but the boomerang user stopped at that. The first one to lose his patience was Kai, naturally: "What's that stupid chain has to do with anything?" he yelled more then asked.
"When you charge metal with electricity, it releases a magnetic field around itself…" explained Taki calmly as she glanced at the blonde. "And that field attracts other metal objects… it's simple Physics…"
"Yeah, I still don't get what all this has to do with that chain…" stated Kai hesitantly.
"To put it simple…" Horohoro cut in with his arms crossed. He didn't even looked at the blonde, his eyes were focused on the match bellow: "That Rain girl's ability is creating electricity. She charged her chain with it, thus making it emit magnetic field… because her chain is so long, the area its magnetic field works in is quite wide. Thus by moving her chain alone, she's can determine her saw's route…"
"So why wasn't that Grass girl's hooks effected by that field anyway?" asked Tsume a little confused, while Kai said nothing, even though he still understood very little of it all. The one to answer the dog kunoichi's question was Kitsune: "Most likely they were, but that Kusa girl managed to hold them tight enough so that they didn't flew out of her hands…"
"So that hand seal she performed just then was to charge her chain with electricity…" Takaru concluded in his mind as he set his eyes onto Karei. Reiji only smirked as his eyes set on the Rain shinobi as well: "Most interesting…"
"Time to finish this…" stated Karei with a little bored voice as she flipped her chain again, thus sending her saw flying straight at Tobane once more. The Grass kunoichi only smirked under her nose as she replied: "I couldn't agree more…" and in a flash she threw her hands to the sides.
Before anyone could yell something, all the spectators notice the flying saw started shaking and then, all of a sudden, it got blown of the course again, bouncing off the floor and flying right above Tobane, leaving the blonde girl save.
In a fraction of a second the grass-nin charged forward with her hooks ready. Karei immediately called her saw back, which flew right after Tobane, yet it wasn't fast enough as the Kusa girl managed to cut the Rain shinobi's hands with her weapons. She then immediately jumped to her left, thus making Karei be the one in her own saw's way.
The Ame kunoichi didn't manage to act in time and found her own saw sinking deep into her left side. She cried out in pain as she collapsed to the ground, with her blood spraying the floor around her: "What… what the hell did you do?" she demanded, glaring at her opponent.
"I just used the same forces you did…" replied Tobane calmly, once more holding her left side. "I realized you used magnetism the moment I felt my hooks were trying to fly out of my hands. That's the main reason why I've decided to block your previous attack the way I did… the tips of my hooks scratched the whole top of your spinning saw…"
"You mean…" Karei eyes widen in surprise as she realized what just happened.
"That's right…" nodded the blonde with a smile. "You know what happens to metal when you scratch it fast and hard against another metal? It produces the magnetic field of its own… when you attacked me with your saw for the second time, your chain wasn't the only thing that effected its flight. It came at me, heading for my hooks that were charged… when I suddenly changed their place, your saw had three, magnetic sources that attracted it… I used your own technique against you…"
"Winner: Hokku Tobane!" announced Lee loudly as medics took Karei away. The grass-nin simply jumped back to the platform and didn't even bother to give her opponent a last glance. Once she was there, Hizoku hit her cheek with his fist softly as a sign of 'good job'. Taka nodded to her just as he did to their redheaded teammate a while ago and Tokame didn't seem to be moved at all. Nezumi turned out to be the most energetic as she started to congratulate the blonde and shook her hand widely.
"You should get a medic to look at that…" announced Tokame, glancing at Tobane's left side. The kunoichi followed his sight and a worried expression crossed her face as the wound she received began burning. "Yeah, I guess you're right…" she agreed with a little sadness in her voice, but just then Kai cut in:
"Mikka can treat you!" he announced with a wide smile as he gave a pat on the shy girl's right shoulder. The Grass kunoichi glanced over at the now blushing girl, who only nodded softly. Tobane smiled warmly towards her and walked closer: "Thanks…"
Senkou only shook his head in disagreement slightly: "She just can't resist that Dead Last…" he thought to himself as he glanced at his teammate. Hinata only smiled under her nose as she looked at her female subordinate.
With all the fuss going on, no-one even realized that the next pair of contestants was chosen. Toku glanced up at the screen and his eyes widen slightly at spotting who was going next. He turned towards his companions and stopping at Hanamaru, he announced: "Your turn…"
The chubby gennin glanced at the screen to see if his teammate wasn't joking. Kitsune rested his hand on the overweight boy's shoulder as he saw who was his comrade's opponent: "Best watch out, man… that guy doesn't look like someone you can take lightly…"
Kai looked at them a little confused before turning his eyes towards the screen as well. It was only then that he realized who Hanamaru was going to fight. Ibuki only narrowed her eyes at the realization: "It's him!" and with that thought she glanced at Kusari, on whose face she saw a single drop of sweat falling.
The screen showed: GUSOKU HANAMARU versus ONO REIJI.
---The opponent that brings fear… who dares to challenge him? ---
And that's it for the time being. Hope you enjoyed it and do keep in mind that I WON'T UPDATE UNLESS I GET REVIEWS, so you know what to do.
Also, since I promised, here's the jutsu encyclopedia with the description of Hizoku's technique:
Ekibyougami no Mai (Angel of Death Dance) – the technique used by Hizoku. Basically it's a forbidden jutsu, which was used by only one person: Wanabi Nakamoru. To put it simply the user must first release chakra into both his feet and his weapon, Once that is done, he or she becomes faster then before and the chakra that surrounded the weapon's blade becomes more deadly as it is capable of cutting almost anything. The reason this technique has became a forbidden one however rests in the way it was used by its inventor. What was it that made it so dangerous? Sorry, but that I won't be telling you… not yet at least.
And, since things happened lately, here's another list of the chuunin exam participants, just so that you won't get confused as to who's who (it includes the result of the fight that occurred in this chapter):
Konoha #7: Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari, Haisha Kai
Konoha #3: Konpaku Rei, Rikoteki Kogane, Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune, Gusoku Hanamaru
Konoha #4: Igaku Mikka, Inuzuka Tsume, Benda Kokoro, Hatake Senkou, Kobushi Galu
Konoha: Hamano Taki, Hyuuga Hitomi, Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro
Suna #1: Aoru, Torune, Honemaru, Tarakudo, Takai
Suna #2: Sabaku no Sabure, Hari, Dekai, Horamaru, Karame
Kusa: Hokku Tobane, Kanraku Nezumi, Kuchibashi Taka, Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku
Ame: Kasano Youji, Eshaku Ryo, Furikuzu Tsuino, Hebereke Nazaa
Bakufu: Azarashi Kawa, Tora Miaka, Abura Tetsu, Makko Shita
Tsuki: Junsei Teela, Tenka, Chishio Nobu, Kihako Tasuki
Hane: Ono Reiji, Sentou
Yuki: Nadare Aisu, Sarumaru Yari, Urufu Kato
Kumori: Kyuu
And this is really it for the time being!
Until next time!