Writing these chapters takes longer and longer... then again, I had all 8 of my stories on FictionPress to update in the meantime, since I thought the need to do so before Christmas, so this was greatly delayed. However, in the same spirit, I figured I at least update NNG for Christams too, especially since half of the chapter was done way ahead :)
This is a special, Xmas update really, coz the interest in this tale is lower then I'd want, so without reviews I doubt I'll have a kick to update in 2012. So, being the evil me that I am, if you wish to know what happens next, you know what you need to do ;)
And now, without further ado:
Chapter #137: Sensor
Title Page: Hishu, Hiashi and Naraku (Rei's spirits) are dancing around the campfire, while Rei herself is laying a bit further, sleeping, as usual
"The point of this exercise is simple" Kankuro stated as he unwrapped several scrolls, summoning five puppets. "Your job will be to destroy one of these. One of you needs to break only one of the dolls, however if you're incapable of doing that before nightfall, the ones who failed will be send back to the Academy. Are these rules clear?" the jounin asked his gennin-to-be, receiving nods from most.
"Lets just get on with it" Horamaru urged with a wave of his hand, not bothering to look at their teacher. The puppeteer ignored his attitude and with a calm voice he yelled 'begin', making all five youngsters scatter.
Many hours later he once more stood in the center of the oasis, his hand holding string to merely one, last doll, his very first; Karasu. Meanwhile a boy from his squad stood a few meters away, huffing heavily as he held his huge sword tightly, eyes settled on the jounin.
"You're running short of breath" Kankuro stated the obvious with a stoic face. "Perhaps it'd be preferable that you rest a while before resuming your attack? You still have about an two, three hours til sundown. If you attack me with full force, it's possible you'll succeed."
"I haven't so far" Dekai responded simply. "Plus all the others already cleared the test... it's demeaning to be the last one" but at this point the puppeteer interrupted: "Wouldn't it be even more demeaning to be the only member of the team to fail the test?"
To that the swordsman lowered his head and looked to the side. Finally, after a moment of hesitation, he sat down, crossing his legs, while he gently propped the blade against his shoulder. Even Kankuro dropped his arm, yet the chakra strings connecting it to Karasu remained in tact. The two stayed silent for a few minutes, until the jounin spoke again, gaining the preteen's attention: "You know, one thing I don't exactly understand... throughout this entire session, you're the one who came at me the most, generally using nothing more then that sword of yours... following a simple logic, both your sword and my puppet are just tools... if you'd calculate that, it becomes quite obvious your chances of succeeding are minimal, especially since, by comparison, the puppet is the more formidable of the two; it allows the user to fight from a distance and grants him access to several, different weapons, while the sword in itself is a close-range weapon. That alone puts you at tremendous disadvantage. I heard you're good with wind element... why don't you use that?"
Dekai didn't reply at first; he merely gazed at his instructor for a short while, before turning around once again: "Coz I can't. It's true that I'm supposed to have talent for 'wind', but the fact is I, quite literally, have no skills in either gen- or ninjutsu. For me, physical combat is the only way to achieve victory."
"That's not good" Kankuro announced calmly. "Most shinobi use chakra in their battles. With kinjutsu alone, you're at a disadvantage the instant the fight begins..."
"I realize this much" the boy responded as he slowly rose back to his feet. "But it can't be helped; even if I were to learn how to actually utilize chakra in battle, I'd still be a swordsman first and foremost; this blade of mine... is more then a tool for me and, if necessary, I'll prove to everyone that a ninja can climb to the top with physical skills alone" he proclaimed, charging forward.
The puppeteer only smirked under his nose as a memory of a certain idiot with enormous eyebrows popped into his head. As the gennin-to-be nearer, he launched his doll into action... only to have it break into piece a moment with his student's first swing. Dekai froze in spot, seeing his handy work, while the jounin spun on his foot and walked away slowly.
"Why?" the boy asked, shifting his gaze at the man, somewhat dumbfooled. To this Kankuro stopped and, without turning around, he replied, his voice calm: "Because you remind me of two people from my past... both of which proven to be great shinobi. I'll be counting on you to follow in their footsteps, so do not disappoint me" he added before resuming his walk, leaving Dekai alone in the oasis...
-Flashback end-
Akira charged again, cutting horizontally from the left, yet the instant his blade struck, Dekai spun and swung his sword, going for the blind gennin's head. The leaf-nin quickly skid back, feeling the massive blade graze his cheek. He wiped the blood from the wound, his face stoic, as he analyzed the situation: "Well, it's official; he counters every, single time I attack and is getting more accurate with each assault. There's no doubt about it; that guy found the way to beat even the Void."
Meanwhile Dekai stood motionless, waiting for another strike as he began collecting chakra into his blade: "Sight, hearing... he even took away my sense of smell... a genjutsu that affects all of the senses. This is troublesome... thanks to my reflex, the moment I feel the blade sinking, I'm able to dodge, avoiding a fatal wound and I can pinpoint the general location of the guy, but this won't do, since that way I can't really land a good blow. Luckily for me, that guy's not stupid and eventually he'll switch to long-range weapons like shuriken or kunai. Once that happens, this battle ends..."
And just as he predicted, the blind gennin put down his tanto, reaching for the throwing knives. He performed a few, quick, hand seals and then relocated himself, tossed the blades straight at his adversary's back. As the first projectile sunk into the sand-nin's left shoulder, the latter instantly bended forward, spinning around on his foot.
Immediately he swung his massive sword backwards, deflecting the second knife, yet the third struck his right side. His eye twitched at the pain and yet, Dekai couldn't help but smile behind his mask: "I guess we've finally reached the main event" he thought to himself .
"There's no doubt about it" Akira concluded to himself. "Despite being rid of all the senses, he's using his pain receptors to locate where the attack is coming from and act accordingly. I rid him of touch, so there's no way he even knows there was a third knife, which he deflected with his sword, but the sensation of pain isn't touch per say... I guess I should get ready, this match is coming to an end..."
He ran to the side, unleashing another barrage of projectiles, that came at his adversary. The instant first blade touched the latter's skin, the Suna gennin maneuvered as a powerful hurricane suddenly erupted around him, blasting the knives and shuriken in all directions, much to most people's surprise.
One of the wayward blade flew straight at Akira and as a buzzing sound reached the blind ninja's ears, he made an attempt to dodge. Too slow, as the shinobi star hit his arm. In a flash the darkness surrounding Dekai started fading away, releasing the boy from the illusion.
"I got you on my first counter? Didn't expect that to be this easy" the sand-nin announced, finally able to see his opponent, standing few meters away. The Leaf gennin made no indication the last hit had any effect, in stead he readied his tanto, awaiting a charge.
"What the hell was that tornado?" Kai asked, looking at the group of Suna shinobi.
"That's Dekai's ability" Karame replied simply, making the blond's eye twitch from annoyance. Seeing that the mummy made no plans to continue, he pressed further: "Which is?" he urged.
"To put it simply, Dekai has no skills at using chakra" Hari explained. "He can release it, but forming seals is a lost concept on him. He wouldn't be able to form that chakra into an attack to save his life. That's partly the reason he carries that sword around; you see, it's a form of a... container, into which Dekai can store the chakra it releases. Considering his clan consists of blacksmiths, they must've made the blade being able not only to collect chakra, but also convert it into elemental type of the user, in this case: wind..."
"Blacksmiths, huh? Kitsune thought to himself at the revelation, narrowing his eyes, while the blonde kunoichi went on: "Thanks to that, he can release stored chakra at any, given time in the form of a wind burst. He can't exactly control, mind you, but by concentrating that burst into a certain space, he can fill it with air, either making his sword sharper or creating a cyclone at a certain area..."
"This seems kinda far-fetched when you put it like that" Kumiko noted suspiciously.
"Well, does it really matter how it works?" Torune asked with a shrug. "The fact is: it does. In battle, it's not about the mechanics of the attack, but that the attack is executed and finding means to stop it. True, knowing how it works might help, but essentially it's irrelevant..."
Meanwhile Dekai lunged towards Akira, swinging his sword from the upper left. The blind gennin blocked the assault with his tanto, yet the force behind the attack pushed his blade down, making the edge of the massive katana tip his shoulder. As the masked ninja pressed his weapon further, the leaf-nin started to weaken, dropping to his knee from the strain.
Suddenly however, the Suna representative retreated his sword and spinning it in hand, he thrust it backwards, impaling Akira, who appeared behind him with his tanto ready. Dekai narrowed his eyes as the gennin before him started to get blurry, only to fade into the air in the next instant.
"Don't think I'll let you trick me this easily" the sand-nin announced, still holding his sword tightly, even as the blind shinobi behind him began following in the previous' footsteps. In a flash he ripped it out and once more spinning it in his hand, he brought it down, making the tip dig into the ground beneath him.
Momentarily the earth cracked as dirt got tosses aside by the wind circling the blade, revealing a third Akira under the ground, his heart now pierced by Dekai's katana. This time the masked teen didn't wait to see the phantom disintegrate as he pulled the weapon back, carefully glancing around the battlefield: "Dammit, is he trying to piss me off, using a simple bunshin?"
His eyes narrowed as figured began forming all around him, each a perfect copy of his blind adversary, holding the tanto. As the phantoms charged, he put his blade into motion, cutting through every, single one of the targets, making them blur upon impact. Yet, this time, they remained in tact, making it hard to determine which were already revealed to be illusions.
"He's aiming to exhaust him?" Funbo wondered at his teammate's strategy as he observed Dekai swinging his massive katana left and right.
Instantly the sand-nin lowered his body as another burst of wind exploded from the sword, cutting every, single phantom around the masked teen. While most of the figures merely blurred, like they usually did, one in particular was pushed back due to the sudden breeze.
"There you are" Dekai concluded and charged forward, ignoring the bunshin and their attacks. In a flash he beat the distance and stopping just before the Akira he managed to blow back, he thrust the blade, piercing through the blind gennin's chest.
The leaf-nin cough out blood as the weapon went through his gut, but his opponent immediately retreated the katana and spinning on his foot, chopped his head off, delivering the final blow.
"I didn't wish to go this far" he proclaimed as Akira's head dropped to the ground. "I'm sorry..."
-a killing blow!-
And this concludes chapter 137. Akira gets killed and Dekai advances. Man, that's a downturn way of stopping the tale, so I hope I get reviews to keep me going ;P I have little more to say in the matter (except for one thing, but I'll leave that for the end of this installment), so just as a reminder:
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, Tarakudo, Takai
Suna #2 (Kankuro): Sabaku no Sabure, Hari, Dekai, Karame
Kusa (none): Hokku Tobane, Kanraku Nezumi, Kuchibashi Taka, Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku
Tsuki (Hinami Hoshiru): Junsei Teela, Tenka, Chishio Nobu, Chishio Kumo, Kihako Tasuki
Kane (unknown): Futatsu
And, as usual, here's a reminder of the tournament match-up:
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. Gekido Takaru
Fight 19: Benda Kokoro vs. Tarakudo
And now, before I go, I'd like to wish you all MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Take care.