Hey! I gotta admit that this took me longer to upload then I hoped it will, but I had a busier week then I expected. Anyway, I finally manage to finish this and as said before, this time around I'm giving you guys a DOUBLE UPDATE! The eliminations end and the match-up for the final exam is revealed.
To be honest I'm not all happy with how these chapters turned out as the first one proven to be quite informative (Takai's ability took more space then I've expected), so I re-wrote it a bit, leaving things that seemed obvious (or ones you can figure out on your own) out. If, because of that, you'll find some things about Takai skills confusing, do ask and I'll answer your questions.
As always I wish to thank everyone who took their time to review the previous chapter. I hope you'll do the same with these two. Also, due to Littlej45's request , I've placed a list of all the elimination fights at the end of the chapter, putting the chapter numbers in which the match occurred so that you could find the fight you want.
With all that said, I believe there's nothing left for me to do then invite you to read (and review) the newest chapters of "Naruto: Next Generation"! Hope you're going to enjoy them:
Chapter #101: Heart of Darkness
Title Page: Takai is sitting on a throne made of skulls
"I want you in my collection" Takai announced with an evil smirk as all the wounds inflicted upon him just moment ago vanished. Kyuu got paralyzed with fear as the sand-nin slowly reached for his scythe, taking it off his back. His opponent's body shook uncontrollably as the crimson-eyed boy marched forward, taking his time.
"Dammit, I can't move!" Kyuu cursed in his mind as his eyes settled on Takai. "What the hell is that guy? How can he stand after my attack? The sound wave alone should be enough to keep him down!" and with that thought the scythe user was now just few meters away, jumping into the air in order to bring his weapon down on the shadow-nin: "Move, dammit! Move!" he commended his body, but still it wouldn't listen.
Finally his panic was taken over by fear, which immediately made his body jump back, thus avoiding certain death, yet still his chest got slashed by the huge blade, making his blood spray the floor. Instinctually Kyuu tried to cover his wound with his hands, yet the slash went down his torso, stopping only where the legs meet with it. He gazed at Takai terrified, even more after doing so as he saw the scythe user licking the blood off his blade with a wicked expression of satisfaction on his face.
"Your blood tastes nicely" he announced, sending shivers down Kyuu's spine. "You'll certainly be a great add-on to my collection" and with that he reached for his pack back with his free hand. The shadow-nin once more found himself incapable of moving an inch, while his body shook again.
"This is not possible!" Kai finally yelled with his skin slightly paler then it usually was. "How in the world did that scythe guy survived the previous attack? Any, other human would've died immediately!" and as he turned towards the sand-nins, Kankuro replied, not taking his eyes of the fight: "This is one of the scariest things about Takai: no-one knows any way to kill him. Any wound you inflict upon him, heals almost instantly, regardless to where and how you hit, he won't stay down. He's a perfect weapon that cannot be destroyed… but that's just half of the horror behind him…"
"Just half?" repeated Shino in a questioning tone, but this time it was Temari, who answered: "Takai is unique and it's not just about his healing abilities. Even above the fact that he, most likely, cannot be killed, there's something much more scarier in him. It's the ability he gained through that genetic experiment we've mentioned…"
"So… what is it?" began Taki with a little shaking voice. It was only for a brief second, but Horohoro noticed she shivered at the thought. Now Honemaru joined the conversation: "Just like me, he has total control over his bones, however his case is a bit different then mine. When he was… created, the experiment effected his body. Mixing genetic information made his bones crumble… basically, his skeleton became dust when the experiment was initiated."
"Wait, that's not possible!" Kumiko interrupted, completely confused. "Even if he somehow survived losing his skeleton, with no bones he shouldn't be able to move! This doesn't make any sense!" but at this Tarakudo merely laughed: "And who said Takai has no skeleton?"
"You guys did" noticed Kusari, slightly unsure. "Just a moment ago…"
"No" Aoru corrected with a sad expression showing on her face. "We only said Takai's natural skeleton went into pieces. However, he managed to… substitute it. The mutation rid him of every bone he had in his body, besides one: his skull. But while his bones crumbled, his organism was still working and naturally tried to save itself. It's like in some cases certain people can form antivirus when they get infected, while most people can't. In Takai's case, the organism used that Kaguya guy's cells to alter the bloodline limit Takai was supposed to receive with them…"
"Alter into what?" Takaru asked calmly, though his eyes were wide as plates. At this point Torune spoke up, gaining everyone's attention: "With no bones, the body cannot survive. However Kaguya kekkai genkai gives the user the ability to control bones to a certain extend and defining the number of bones in the body was one of the abilities Shikotsumyaku users gained. You might say Takai took it a step forward: he learn to create bones by using his chakra alone. Basically, the whole skeleton inside his body, is made out of chakra!"
"Is that some sort of weird, chakra materialization skill?" Rei asked, ALMOST acting like she was interested. Kankuro merely shook his head in negation however, replying calmly: "We do not know exactly what that is, but the fact is that Takai can recreate any skeleton… every part of it, except for the skull. But that's not all there is to it: since the bones are made of chakra, once they connect with the skull, a weird process takes place…"
"Weird process?" this time it was Kitsune who repeated his words and then shivered at realizing where this was going: "Wait, so you mean this collection that scythe guy keeps talking about…?"
"Yes" Temari nodded with a serious face. "By using his chakra to form a skeleton, he can drain any sort of information about the being the skull belonged to. We're not sure how that is done, but most likely some of the person's chakra remains in the skull and by connection the chakra Takai used to form a skeleton with it, he's capable of recreating the person entirely: not just skeleton, but any techniques the person knew at the time of death! The collection he keeps referring to, is a gallery of skulls he carries in his back pack…"
"Wait, are you actually telling me that if I died and this Takai guy would take my skull, he'd be able to revive me?" Funbo yelled, for the first time ever losing his calm, as he pointed at the scythe user. Aoru only shook her head at this: "No, but by using your skull, he could form a skeleton body that would fight for him, using any skills you know…"
"This is why he could still use chakra, even though I closed his tanketsu points!" Hitomi realized, widening her white eyes. "Using Gentle Fist I can close and disturb the flow of chakra in ones body, but those attacks are aimed at natural routes! When I blocked them, he used the chakra his skeleton was made of!" (A/N: not sure if this is clear, but, in a way, it's similar to how Naruto was able to use chakra when he fought Neji… at least that's how I saw that)
"Truly he's a very troublesome foe" came a sudden voice and as everyone turned in the direction it came from, they saw Shikamaru standing right next to them. Hanamaru was first to get out of the shock and ask: "Shikamaru-sensei, how's Kogane-chan?"
"Currently she's resting" replied the lazy jounin, turning towards his student. "Her body suffered some damage, but with Kenji-dono's help we've managed to stabilize her condition. As long as she'll take her time recovering, she should be fine" and with that said, he made a mental note, which caused his face to turn grim: "But the strain on her body did it's part…"
Meanwhile, down at the arena, Takai finally found what he was looking for and held his left hand forward, which carried a strange skull. In a flash white chakra began escaping the scythe user's body, gathering bellow the skull and forming itself into something. A moment later, chakra turned into a skeleton of something that could be considered a wolf, but was much bigger and, judging from the skull, once it lived, it had three eyes.
"He's all yours" announced Takai emotionless as he gazed at the beast. "You may devour him, but leave the skull unharmed" and with that command, the skeleton jumped forward, aiming its claws at Kyuu. Once more in the last moment the shadow-nin managed to break through his paralyze and move out of the three-eyed wolf's way, picking out kunai in the process.
"Okay, so you're a freak" stated Kyuu, managing to regain his calm. "So what? I'm still gonna bring you down! Nobody's undefeated!" and with that he threw the knives at his adversary, while he picked out a scroll and unwrapping it, he bite his thumb, making it bleed slightly. In an instant he wrote a symbol on it, making a katana with a sliver blade appear in his hand.
By now Takai deflected all the kunai flying towards him and went into his fighting stance as Kyuu charged at him. Before the shadow-nin managed to reach his opponent however, the wolf skeleton appeared again, jumping the swordsman with his claws extended. Acting on instinct, Kyuu blocked the assault by placing his weapon in the claws' way, coming to a stop. That was enough for the Suna shinobi, who charged forward, ramming his scythe through his chest, making Kumori gennin cough out blood.
However it was at that moment that Kyuu's sword began vibrating wildly and in a flash a high-pitched sound hit Takai's ears, initiating a powerful headache. Before Kai knew it, the wolf skeleton went into pieces, while the scythe user was brought to his knees. The shadow-nin merely smirked at this, ignoring the pain that shoot from the wounds on his chest: "Unpleasant, isn't it? This sword works on a similar basis as tuning-fork, though is much more deadly. Upon hitting something, it starts vibrating, emitting high-pitched sound that injures the ears of any being nearby. Well, any besides me that, since I specialize in controlling sound with my chakra. It's not that difficult for me to neutralize a sound wave near my ear area. You, on the other hand… well, guess you've figured out on your own by now. So you survived my piercing your heart, lungs, brain, kidneys… wonder if when I chop your head off, you'll still be able to get up" and with that he raised his katana, ready to swing it at his opponent's head.
But it was then that a skeleton of some small, flying creature flew out of Takai's backpack, smashing against Kyuu's face, thus making the Kumori gennin take several steps back. The monster scratched the boy's face with its claws, making the shadow-nin yell in agony as he tried to toss the beast away. Finally he managed to grab the skeleton and throw it at the floor, thus breaking the creature into pieces, but as he gazed at his adversary with scratches all over his face, he saw a huge rhino-like skeleton standing right next to the scythe user, aiming its three, huge horns at him.
"Kill" was all Takai said before the new monster charged forward at the paralyzed Kyuu. Sweat mixed with his blood as the shadow-nin realized he cannot avoid this assault. Completely taken over by panic, he called out, making his voice echo through the room: "I give up!" but the beast didn't stop.
With the horns less then inches away, a sudden gust of wind befall on the rhino, breaking it to pieces, just like the previous beasts did. Terrified, Kyuu only saw Temari standing before him with her fan opened: "Takai, that's enough. He gave up, thus this fight is over. You won. Return to the platform."
"I'm sorry, Temari-sensei, but I cannot do that" replied the scythe user emotionlessly as his free hand again traveled towards his backpack. "I want that shadow-nin in my collection" but right before his palm vanished inside the pack, his wrist got grabbed by someone. As he gazed over his shoulder, he saw Kakashi standing there with electricity surrounding the hand he used to grab him.
"Cool down, please" the Rokudaime said calmly, but there was a note of order in his voice. "This fight has been decided and furthermore one should listen to his teacher. Or… do you want to have me to deal with?" at those words Takai's eyes narrowed. He froze for a moment, be it from fear, anger or excitement, and then retreated his hand before slowly heading towards the stairs leading back to the platform.
"What a scary kid" the Hokage thought to himself as he observed the boy. "When he reached for his backpack the first time, he took his time in order to make that bird-thing. The creature was suppose to stay hidden in case the situation would get worse, however it all seemed like he just had trouble finding the skull he wanted. His skills are both amazing and terrifying. And just now, if he did decide to fight against me… would I really be able to defeat him?"
Silence filled the room as Kyuu was taken away by medics. Takai reached his team, to which Temari also returned. Everyone gathered settled their eyes on the scythe user, who didn't seem to care at all. He just stood there with his arms crossed, gazing into the distance. Kakashi merely nodded towards Lee before getting back to his seat, making the Leaf's Green Beast cough slightly in order to gather everyone's attention: "And with that I'd like to announced that the eliminations… have ended!"
---the end has finally come… and now the main events begins!---
And this concludes this chapter. Before I invite you to read the next one (which should be up in a moment), this one, last time I'm gonna give you the list of gennin and after that the list of elimination fights. Also I'd like to ask you to review. It'd mean a lot.
Konoha #7: Murasakki Kumiko, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari, Haisha Kai
Konoha #3: Konpaku Rei, Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune, Gusoku Hanamaru
Konoha #4: Benda Kokoro, 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: Furikuzu Tsuino, Hebereke Nazaa
Bakufu: Abura Tetsu
Tsuki: Junsei Teela, Tenka
Hane: Ono Reiji
Takaru Gekido vs. Fuma (49-51)
Galu Kobushi vs. Kumo Chishio (52)
Hogosha vs. Horohoro (52-54)
Hari vs. Kasui Rein (54-55)
Raina vs. Tenka (55)
Futatsu vs. Tarakudo (56)
Bakara vs. Akira Manako (56-57)
Kumiko Murasakki vs. Kuri Subaru (57-59)
Rei Konpaku vs. Teela Junsei (60-62)
Naginata vs. Torune (62)
Hizoku Wanabi vs. Yamazaru (62-65)
Karei Nokogiri vs. Tobane Hokku (65)
Hanamaru Gusoku vs. Reiji Ono (65-67)
Miaka Tora vs. Nezumi Kanraku (68)
Kokoro Benda vs. Kato Urufu (68-69)
Kusari Hagane vs. Taka Kuchibashi (69-72)
Nobu Chishio vs. Toku Amagasa (72-73)
Yari Sarumaru vs. Tetsu Abura (73)
Hitomi Hyuuga vs. Aisu Nadare (73-75)
Dekai vs. Youji Kasano (75-76)
Ryo Eshaku vs. Tokame Kyohaku (76-78)
Kitsune Debano vs. Tasuki Kihako (78-80)
Sentou vs. Horamaru (80)
Senkou Hatake vs. Kai Haisha (80-85)
Taki Hamano vs. Kawa Azarashi (85)
Mikka Igaku vs. Aoru (85-88)
Kogane Rikoteki vs. Karame (88-92)
Funbo Tanken vs. Shita Makko (92-93)
Tsume Inuzuka vs. Honemaru (93-96)
Nazaa Hebereke vs. Tsuino Furikuzu (96-97)
Ibuki Tanken vs. Sabaku no Sabure (97-100)
Kyuu vs. Takai (100-101)
And this is it for this chapter, but don't go nowhere, coz the next one is already on its way!