And here's the second chapter of the double update! The conclusion of Kusari's match and a little inside on Taka. I do hope you like it. And without more delays, lets get down to the action:
Chapter #71: Underneath the Underneath
Title Page: Kusari is in the hot springs with a horde of monkeys and is filling a small plate with sake
"Sorry my friend, but it appears this match is over" stated Taka as he unleashed his chain at Kusari. The leaf-nin merely made the ripped end of his chain spin around his adversary's weapon, trapping it and he made the round end flew right at the masked boy.
Immediately the grass-nin jumped to his right, making Kusari's weapon hit air, but as Taka flipped in mid-air, the round end of his opponent's chain went after him again. Having no way to dodge, the masked boy tried to retreated his chain to use it to block the assault, only to realize he was unable to: "I can't pull it back!"
The instant his feet touched the floor, Taka received a powerful blow in the head, which made his mask crack a bit Kusari's chain made another turn and was coming right at him once more. Seeing no, other way to avoid the attack, the grass-nin made a desperate decision and let go of his weapon and jumped back, thus making his adversary's assault hit the floor where he stood a moment ago.
Kusari didn't stop there however and made his chain go after the Kusa shinobi again. Annoyed slightly, Taka performed a quick set of hand seals and then slammed his hands to the floor, calling out in the process: "Doton: Ishi Kabe no Jutsu!" In a flash a huge, stone pillar raised from the ground, blocking the leaf-nin's attack by making the round end of his chain bounce off its surface.
Hearing a crushing sound coming from the other side of the boulder that just blocked his view, Taka went through several more hand seals and again pressing his hands to the ground, he executed another technique: "Doton: Ishi Boketsu!"
Instantly Kusari found himself getting surrounded by something that could only be described as solid waves of stones that suddenly shoot from the ground and came at him from all sides. Incapable of getting out before the waves would come crushing down on him, the leaf-nin made the round end of his chain wrap itself around the boulder Taka rose earlier and pulled himself towards it, escaping the rocky trap.
"I like that Grass guy" announced Tarakudo cheerfully, turning towards Honemaru. His teammate only turned his eyes at the bandaged boy for a split second and still not showing any emotions on his face, he returned to observing the match bellow, where Kusari already found himself near the boulder, unwrapped his chain and made it seek Taka once more.
The instant the masked gennin appeared from behind the boulder, trying to escape Kusari's weapon, the chain master picked out some kunai and threw them straight at his opponent Occupied with avoiding the wrecking ball, the grass-nin noticed the incoming knives a little too late and tried to dodge them by suddenly standing on his left hand and spinning around in the process, but still he got shallowly cut by the blades in several places.
As the wrecking ball appeared again, Taka bounced off the ground and grabbed the chain with his hand, immobilizing Kusari's weapon. Or so he thought as a large blade attached to another chain suddenly came right at him. The grass-nin recognized that blade immediately: it was the same one he used.
"Way to go, Kusari!" Kumiko cheered from the platform, throwing her hands to the sky. Naturally Kai wouldn't allow her to take the spot light and cheered loudly as well. Naruto only smiled under his nose and then glanced at Ibuki and Takaru, who just stood there, without any sign of excitement. "Aren't you guys gonna cheer for your teammate?" he asked confused.
"Why bother?" Takaru replied, shrugging. "If he's good enough to win, then good for him, if he's not, then our cheering won't really make any difference…" and as he said so, Ibuki only nodded in agreement. The blonde jounin sweat dropped at the comment and then settled his eyes onto the arena again: "Okay, I do understand those two didn't really had a happy life or anything, but it wouldn't hurt them if they'd act like kids at least once in a while…"
Meanwhile Taka dodged under the wrecking ball that came at his head and wrapped an explosive tag around the chain as he charged forward, picking out several kunai. As the tag went off, making the round end of Kusari's chain fall to the floor with a loud 'bonk', the masked gennin came near the leaf-nin, unleashing the knives he held in his hands at him.
Having too little time to dodge, Kusari merely jumped back, trying to minimize the damage, yet still got his body cut all over. It was only then that he realized something: "Where the hell did he go?" he asked himself before he felt a hand coming from behind him and landing under his chin, while the other hand suddenly grabbed the chain he stole from his opponent.
"I believe that was mine" he heard Taka's voice as the hand under his chin suddenly pushed his neck hard. Kusari's feet hit something behind them and before he knew it, the chain master was already flipping back and landing hard on his face as the grass-nin got back his weapon.
"Boy, that chain guy's pathetic" announced Tasuki in a bored tone and then turned towards Teela, who only narrowed her eyes slightly as she glanced back. Immediately the green-haired boy shut up. In the mean time, Tobane was delighted: "Taka seems to be doing fairly well. It looks like we'll have the fourth in the final…"
But Hizoku didn't replied. With his eyes set on the arena, his face remained emotionless. Tokame gazed at the redhead from under his hood and then returned to observing the fight as well: "I know what you're thinking, Hizoku… but that was to be expected after all…"
Kusari slowly got back to his feet, looking p at his opponent, who stood calmly just a meter or two away. He then looked at his hands, that were still wrapped in his chain, now ripped to pieces almost entirely. His breath has become faster as his eyes settled on his opponent once more.
"Face the facts" announced Taka with no trace of emotion in his voice. "I'm stronger then you and now you don't even have a weapon to fight me with. The best you can do is give up…" but the leaf-nin only shook his head slowly as a 'no'. The masked gennin let out a sigh and then threw his chain at Naruto's subordinate: "Have it your way…"
Kusari immediately jumped to his right, trying to avoid the attack, but as the blade came right next to him, his skin suddenly got cut badly, almost like some drill have just went through his left side. Kai's eyes only widen in surprise as he yelled after his teammate: "Kusari!"
"Just now…" Ibuki's eyes narrowed at the sight. "Could that be…"
"What the hell happened?" Taki demanded as she looked at her companions. "That guy sensed the attack perfectly! The blade haven't even touched him!" but the moment she said so, Funbo spoke up: "It didn't had to…" and as the kunoichi glanced at him surprised, Akira cut in:
"That grass-nin surrounded his weapon with his own chakra, making it circle around it" the blind gennin began explaining, gaining the boomerang user's attention. "Which means that even upon dodging the assault, if Kusari would let the chain go near him, he'll still get cut by the chakra circling around it. It's kinda like that axe guy's technique from before…" and at this point it was Reiji who narrowed his eyes.
Meanwhile Kusari collapse to his left knee as Taka retreated his chain, still making it spin in his hand. Their eyes met for a split second, before the grass-nin unleashed his weapon once more. Having no time to dodge, the chain master ducked under the attack, getting his back cut by the circling chakra, which made him cry out in pain.
In a desperate move, Kusari bite his thumb and wrote a quick kanji with his blood on the scroll he just unwrapped. In a flash a Fuuma Shuriken appeared in his hand and was tossed at the masked gennin, flying at an incredible speed.
Surprisingly for everyone, Taka merely jumped over it and somersaulting in the air, he threw his chain at the shinobi star, making it wrap itself around it. The instant he landed back on the ground, the grass-nin swung his weapon quickly, making it let go of the Fuuma Shuriken, which now flew right at the Leaf shinobi.
Immediately Kusari ran to his left in the attempt to avoid the assault, however that was exactly what Taka wanted. Before the leaf-nin managed to react, the masked gennin appeared next to him and with one, quick motion, made his chain wrap around the chain master's neck, suddenly ripping Naruto's subordinate's lungs from air.
"And so it ends…" concluded Dekai emotionlessly. Kumiko only managed to cover her mouth in fear at the sight. Senkou merely narrowed his eyes as a single drop of sweat run down his face: "That Grass guy…" he thought to himself a little nervous. "Is fast!"
Takai suddenly felt excitement taking over as his body started shaking a bit again, which made Torune felt very uncomfortable. Almost immediately Naruto placed his leg on the rail, ready to interrupt the fight, but surprisingly for him, Shino placed his hand on his shoulder and only shook his head in negation. The blonde looked at him confused, but the bug user didn't said anything.
"Somebody should stop this fight…" stated Mikka quietly, worry for the chain master taken over her, but Kokoro convinced her not to do a thing: "No point in doing that… this match is over already anyway…"
Kusari felt his throat being crushed as he collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. Taka only narrowed his eyes behind the mask and looked up to the platform. His gaze stopped on his red-haired teammate, who had a stone face. The masked gennin then glanced at his opponent, who was still desperately trying to get some air into his lungs, but failed at achieving his goal.
"It's quite ironic, really" Taka thought to himself with a tiny smirk appearing on his face. "Out of all of us, I never cared about that stupid goal of yours, Hizoku. I came here only to become chuunin and couldn't care less whether you'd achieve the thing you came here for or not. In actuality, I don't suppose I even like you, Hizoku… so why the hell it's me that feels like sacrificing for your sake?" and at this point his grip on the chain loosen.
Kusari felt the chain crushing his throat retreat, allowing him to breath air again. He glanced confused at his opponent, who only wrapped his weapon back and then attached it back to his belt before turning around and walking away. As the masked gennin passed Lee, who was looking at him completely dumb-fooled, the grass-nin announced calmly, yet loud enough for everyone in the room to hear: "I give up…"
---a surprising conclusion… what lies beneath it?---
And that's it for the double update. Hope you enjoyed it and that you'll review once you're done. Remember that I won't update unless I get reviews!
As usual, time for the jutsu encyclopedia:
Doton: Ishi Kabe no Jutsu (Earth Element: Stone Wall Skill) – technique used by Taka. Basically the user must first gather chakra in his hands and then, using the right hand seals, he sends it to the ground to use it to lift up a rock. Simple, isn't it?
Doton: Ishi Boketsu (Earth Element: Stone Grave) – technique is use not so different from the Stone Wall Skill. The major difference is that in stead of a boulder, chakra lifts up a mass of small rocks, wrapping itself around it, thanks to which the stones make a sort of a snap trap.
And to end this, another list of gennin:
Konoha #7: Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari (theoretically: still in progress), Haisha Kai
Konoha #3: Konpaku Rei, Rikoteki Kogane, Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune
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 (theoretically: still in progress), Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku
Ame: Kasano Youji, Eshaku Ryo, Furikuzu Tsuino, Hebereke Nazaa
Bakufu: Azarashi Kawa, Abura Tetsu, Makko Shita
Tsuki: Junsei Teela, Tenka, Chishio Nobu, Kihako Tasuki
Hane: Ono Reiji, Sentou
Yuki: Nadare Aisu, Sarumaru Yari
Kumori: Kyuu
And that's really that for this time. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time everyone!