Done! I must admit that this chapter turned out to be much more troublesome then I intentionally thought it will, but all things considered I'm quite happy with the final effect. It may not be as spectacular as I hoped, but I sorta feel some sort of edge to it. All besides the title I'd pass as "acceptable" ^^'
Naturally, I wish to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter, although the number of reviewers is much smaller then I hoped. Either way I really appreciate you taking time out of your lives to leave a comment. It truly means a lot.
Now, before I start, just on a side note, I wish to inform everyone that my other, next generation fics are updated as well: "Those…" finally gets revived, while LoL is getting continued… we'll see for how long.
And with that, let me invite you to the newest installment in NNG series!
Chapter #130: Because I'm Special
Title Page: Takaru is holding his hand out with split fingers, each blasting off a steam of flames
Takaru blew smoke out of his mouth as the fire died down before him, leaving black earth. Sasuke nodded towards the boy with approval as he observed the effects of the technique: "Good… you're learning much faster then I have anticipated" he admitted, looking to the side for a split second: "I guess that's the reason he's so keen on retrieving you" he added to himself before speaking up again: "I have not heard of anyone being able to perform so many of these attacks in such a short spam of time. Most admirable."
"Thank you, Sasuke-sensei" the scar-faced boy replied respectably with a bow, to which the ANBU merely frown: "No use for honorifics, especially since I'm doing this as a favor… and redemption" he whispered the last part, making the son of Tsunade gaze at him confused, yet the Sharingan master said nothing more in that regard: "I suppose we should move on to something else... but teaching you any more of these techniques of that level would probably be pointless, since what you learned should suffice for the exam itself. This is why I'm gonna show you something different…"
"What?" Takaru urged as his sensei smirked: "It's considered the most devastating of all Uchiha techniques. In general, its range and power makes it perfect to fight large numbers of opponents…"
"But if it's for a massive battle, then wouldn't it be a waste of time right now?" asked the young gennin a bit confused. "The final exam is supposed to consist of one on one battles… it's not like I'll be able to use this skill in these conditions…"
"You never know what might prove useful and when" Sasuke castigated his student. "Especially with the current situation. That is why I'm gonna teach you a very specific jutsu, but before that you must be aware of one thing: you noticed that using these, fire techniques put a strain on your body?" he questioned, making the boy nod. "That's because they burn chakra directly from your body… once you master them, the aftereffects will lessen, but I doubt you'll manage to advance that far within a month… anyway, the skill I'm about to perform is the most chakra-draining of them all… it's a gamble you take when there's no, other way. It doesn't matter how much energy you possess, upon activating this jutsu, it consumed most of it, leaving you, in a very literal sense, dry. However, dodging it is near impossible... once I'm done, you're gonna try it" he announced as he began a new set of seals…
Takaru was kneeling on the ground, smoke escaping his body, desperately catching his breath as the area around the two got burned to ash. The Sharigan user glanced around calmly, his face as stoic as ever: "Well, not bad for your first try, although it's obvious you still have a long way to go before you manage to contain it. Also, your blockade leaves a lot to be desired for, since just now you almost used all you chakra... if I haven't gave you some of my own, you would have died… I suppose, all things considered, it was too early to show you that one…"
"Just you wait, Sasuke-sensei" Takaru responded with a smirk, huffing heavily, gaining the man's attention. "I'll master this technique before the exam" he proclaimed and as the ANBU asked 'how so', the boy answered with confidence beaming from his voice: "Because I'm special…"
-End Flashback-
Flames burst out of Takaru's body as he completed the technique: "Katon: Kasai Arashi!" In a flash a pillar of fire shoot to the air, breaking into tens of sparkles at the top of its flight while steams of flames blasted in every direction from the boy's feet, scourging the ground.
Immediately Lee jumped away, running up the wall to the honorary lounge, apologizing to people gathered there: "Forgive my intrusion, but I'm afraid it's not safe for me to remain below for the time being…" he explained, receiving a nod from Kakashi and a tiny smirk from Gaara. Genmei and Shinkou remained indifferent, but Satsuki couldn't help herself to comment: "Hunks are always welcome…"
Saiken narrowed his eyes at the sight, feeling a single drop of sweat running down his face: "What the hell is that technique?" he asked himself, for the first time getting a bit scared. Worry also struck Torune's face as she stared at the happening down on the arena, flames obsrucing her view: "Honemaru…"
The bone user automatically jumped back as fire engulfed his target, heat itself making his body produce sweat beneath his calcium armor. His eyes traveled to the sky from where burning meteorites fell, ready to finish the job the wriggling steams of flames began. The white-haired boy instantly realized he was surrounded by a ring of fire, blocking any of his escape routes.
He quickly started moving around the little space he was left, doing his best to avoid the deadly rain, but with every drop, the ground was set on fire, riding him of precious inches of his maneuver area. Finally he was incapable of dodging all the sparkles, receiving a blow to his back, at which he allowed himself to grimace from pain, even though the armor took most of the damage.
"I won't hold out long like this" he realized, feeling his shell cracking as another meteor hit his left arm. In a desperate attempt he flipped, making his spine shoot from the back of his neck and striking the ground. The bone kept extending, pushing his body away, over the flames that were trapping him as he readied himself to land on his feet.
Before he managed to do that another fireball came from above, hitting him dead-center in the chest, making the spine break and smashing the sand-nin to the ground. Honemaru had no time to even grown as a fiery steam came at him, forcing the boy to roll out of the way, barely avoiding another hit.
By now smoke wrapped around the area, making things even harder for the white-haired teen's sight. His armor was already gone from the left arm and his lower back. The plates on the chest were about to follow. At this rate, his downfall was immanent: "I need to stop this jutsu" he concluded, his face still stoic as he dodged a few more meteorites.
"Dammit, when did Takaru learned that sort of technique?" Kai demanded, tightening his grip on the rail. The one to answer was, surprisingly, Takai: "My guess is during that month-time between eliminations and now" he announced calmly, earning a confused glance from Aoru: "Wait… was he actually trying… to make a joke?"
"To quote a popular, Konoha phrase" Kusari cut in, his body shivering from both fear and excitement. "Duh… question is how did he managed to make this much progress in such a short amount of time! I mean, he's still a gennin!"
"True" Hizoku admitted in his mind as his eyes traveled to the honorary lounge. "Makes one wonder; since a gennin has this much power, then what of the Hokage? Now I'm really starting to doubt I have a chance at completing my own mission…"
"You're really getting worked up over flashy tricks" Horamaru stated with an evil smirk plastered on his face. "It doesn't matter how powerful the technique, this still won't do… that Leaf brat can't win…"
Honemaru ripped another bone from his body as he charged through the smoke, strafing left and right when the sparkles came from above. Finally locating his adversary, he sped up, his eyes set on Takaru's body that was wrapped in flames. While he came closer, airborne scourges began shooting from the scar-faced boy's body in random directions. As one went for the white-haired boy horizontally to the ground, the sand-nin ducked under the assault without slowing down.
But as soon as his head lowered, a steam traveling on the ground came his way with a sizzling sound. Left optionless, Honemaru jumped up, blasting through the steam he just dodged, ignoring the pain that hit his back as well as the fact his back armor cracked further. His grip still tight on the bone, he prepared a swing, aiming for the Leaf gennin's head.
Yet as he was still in mid-air, another meteor struck, smashing his right shoulder and putting his body into an involuntary spin. Thrown off course, the bone user thrust his weapon down, making the 'spear' dig into the ground, stopping his momentum. This gave him a chance to stretch his other arm and blast another bone from his palm, once more going for his opponent's head.
Takaru managed to avoid the attack however be tilting his head to the left, making the bone go inches away from its target. The Suna teen was not done though and using his immobile weapon, he put himself into a spin, delivering a kick to the son of Tsunade's face, riding his leg of the armor as the hit connected with the flame-wrapped body of his adversary.
As the scar-faced boy's body was sent flying, another scourge got released, smashing Honemaru's face, forcing a flip. As his head came towards the ground, the white-haired gennin rolled, avoiding a concussion and coming to a stop, he threw his hands to the sides, unleashing a barrage of small bones that hit Takaru, making the leaf-nin fall to his back, the flames around his figure finally extinguished.
The storm soon followed, clearing the surrounding area, thus allowing the spectators to see what was going on. The whole arena remained silent as both combatants slowly rose back to their feet, their bodies shaking from fatigue and pain.
The two stood before one another, huffing. All that was left of the bone user's armor was the cracked cover of his head, while his opponent had to deal with blood that now dripped from all his limbs and chest. He vision was getting blurry as he felt his legs shake.
"That's quite a technique" Honemaru admitted as his skull helmet broke into pieces, leaving the rest of his bone armor laying on the ground. Countless burns ached on his body as he stood, his face calm as usual. Takaru on the other hand dropped to his knees, doing his best to gathered at least some air in his lungs. At this the white-haired boy merely gave him a sad look before speaking up again: "But I'm afraid I win…"
-another of Naruto's students fall?-
Phew, it's done. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. And please, write a review before leaving. It'd certainly help me get motivated to continue writing. Next up this match is officially finished and the eliminations move forward And, as usual, below you find the list of gennin along with the finals match-up:
Konoha #7 (Naruto): Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari, Haisha Kai
Konoha #3 (Shikamaru): Konpaku Rei, Rikoteki Kogane, Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune, Gusoku Hanamaru
Konoha #4 (Hinata): Igaku Mikka, Inuzuka Tsume, Benda Kokoro, Hatake Senkou, Kobushi Galu
Konoha (Shino): Hamano Taki, Hyuuga Hitomi, Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro
Suna #1 (Temari): Aoru, Torune, Honemaru, Tarakudo, Takai
Suna #2 (Kankuro): Sabaku no Sabure, Hari, Dekai, Horamaru, Karame
Kusa (none): Hokku Tobane, Kanraku Nezumi, Kuchibashi Taka, Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku
Ame (unknown): Kasano Youji, Nokogiri Karei, Eshaku Ryo, Furikuzu Tsuino, Hebereke Nazaa
Tsuki (Hinami Hoshiru): Junsei Teela, Tenka, Chishio Nobu, Chishio Kumo, Kihako Tasuki
Kane (unknown): Futatsu
Fight 4: Honemaru (7) vs. Gekido Takaru (8) – in progress
Fight 5: Benda Kokoro (9)vs. Horamaru (10)
Fight 6: Furikuzu Tsuino (11) vs. Tarakudo (12)
Fight 7: Manako Akira (13) vs. Dekai (14)
Fight 8: Hyuuga Hitomi (15) vs. Tenka (16)
Fight 9: Hokku Tobane (17) vs. Sabaku no Sabure (18)
Fight 10: Murasakki Kumiko (19) vs. Debano Kitsune (20)
Fight 11: Junsei Teela (21) vs. Kanraku Nezumi (22)
Fight 12: Horohoro (23) vs. Hagane Kusari (24)
Fight 13: Aoru (25) vs. Hamano Taki (26)
Fight 14: Torune (27) vs. Hari (28)
Fight 15: Amagasa Toku (29) vs. Kyohaku Tokame (30)
Fight 16: Kobushi Galu (31) vs. Karame (32)
Fight 17: Takai vs. Wanabi Hizoku
Fight 18: Tanken Funbo vs. ?
That it for now. Thanks for reading and especially for reviewing. Until next time!