Sorry for being so late with this upload.
Again I own nothing in this story. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Avatar the Last Airbender toMichael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
The three ninja stood proud atop one of the many mountains peaks, the mountains in this area where roughly the same size as the Hokage monument except these rose up in tall craggy spires. From their vantage point they could easily observe the town situated below them. Mountains flanked this town on all sides with foliage dotted around the area.
"This is the place." Announced Neji his Byakugan deactivating "Welcome to Gaoling."
"Alright let us go!" Lee spoke up. "Neji I will race you to the town!" was heard as a green blur started heading down the mountain.
"Oh great not again. Lee wait up!" Tenten cried following after Lee. Sighing Neji too dropped down from his position on top of the mountain and begin the long descent to the bottom.
This town despite being in a war had no security thought Neji and he said this as they walked straight into the town from the street with no guards or anything trying to stop them.
"Your right Neji this could get them killed" Tenten replied.
"They probably think the mountains will protect them, but relying only on that is going to get them killed." Neji replied looking around the town.
"Alright, since this is quite a large town and we don't know how much time we have left we're going to split up." Neji commanded. "There's a tea shop over there we can meet up there in two hours clear?"
"Yes Neji!" was his response before each member of team Gai chose a path and began walking away.
Neji walked down the street calming observing the activities around him with his peripheral vision, no need to freak people out with the Byakugan he didn't need it for this level of observation. He started thinking about their financial situation since they had been forced to buy supplies from towns on the way to Gaoling they were beginning to run low on money. He passed a corner store catching a glimpse of three young teenagers, two dressed in blue arguing over a bag and one dressed like Naruto with a hat pulled over his head. Dismissing it as a regular scene as no one else nearby seemed to be paying it much attention he cursed the lack of information he had. Sure he knew he needed to find the avatar, but he didn't know what he looked like. Since he was so famous people had just assumed he would know what he looked like. Hopefully they could get some information on that later Neji thought as he turned round a corner and noticed a good way to make some money. Squatting amongst the wooden houses of the town stood a table with a man standing behind it. The man wore light brown trousers and a darker brown tunic, he wore a green belt with green cloth squares hanging off and his black hair was up in a top knot. He had two swords rested against his bazaar and three cups were resting on top of the table. There was a crowd of people gathered around and by the sounds of disgust and moans they were making it was easy to deduce that they were being scammed.
"Come on come on gather round just guess where the ball is and win a prize. Hey you there with the long hair yes you want to play? It doesn't matter if your blind I'll show you the cups and all you have to do is guess where the ball is!"
Neji approached the table deciding that this would be a very good way to earn money as well as stopping this scam artist, two birds one Byakugan. The crowd started muttering as he stood in front of the table, he touched the cups with his hands to fool the con man into thinking that he was blind. The man quickly shuffled the cups oblivious to the fact that Neji had activated his Byakugan and was watching every move with ease. He had placed his hands over his eyes to block out the veins so no one could notice.
"Ok which cup has the ball?" The con man asked smirking. Whilst the crowd started to complain amongst themselves about how unfair this was. Neji however pointed straight to the right cup unfazed and was rewarded with a look of pure annoyance from the man as he lifted it to reveal the ball.
"Want to try again, double or quits? Whilst you're still lucky of course." He asked preparing the cups again.
"Of course" replied Neji preparing to activate his Byakugan again. The same trick happened again as Neji observed the ball from behind the safety of his hands. He saw the man quickly swap the cups around, but when he got towards the end he stealthily managed to flick the ball into his sleeve. Then with a great flourish he set the cups down.
"So where is the ball?" He asked grinning at his so thought victory.
"Let's see I think it's in..." Neji began miming thinking whilst moving his hand from cup to cup. Eventually he stopped and looked up. "Your right sleeve."
***
This blind brat may have gotten lucky last time, but this time I'll show him just how a great trickster I am. The con man thought watching him cover his eyes, as if that will help him. He began switching the cups as fast as he could, then with one flick of the wrist the ball flew into his sleeve. He placed the cups in their final resting positions.
"So where is the ball?" He asked thinking about how much money he was going to get off this idiot, it would almost make up for being attacked recently. The kid seemed indecisive; this was getting better he thought. All the more fun when he picks the wrong cup. However what he said shocked the man.
"Your right sleeve."
"WHAT!" The con man exclaimed and jerking his body in shock. Unfortunately this sudden movement caused his arms and more importantly his sleeves to move in an upwards motion sending a small object hurtling out of the right one in full view of the crowd.
***
Neji smirked as the man jerked his arm revealing the ball.
"Can I have my money now" he asked calmly before picking up his winnings from beside the stunned man. Before he left the man to the tender mercies of the angered crowd he heard the man mutter something about unfair life and being attack and robbed by a man in a blue mask after making an old man dance for money.
Lee walked through the city looking left and right. The town was truly a sight to see with the beauty carved into the paper and wood building materials. After they had split up Lee had decided to walk towards the town centre to pick up information. As he walked along the dirt streets he was approached by a man dressed in green holding a sheaf of papers.
"Come to Master Yu's Earthbending academy you get one free lesson with this coupon" said the man handing Lee one of the papers before rushing off.
'This will be a great opportunity to learn about this earthbending fighting style' thought Lee as he carried on his exploration of the town.
***
The bell jingled as a figure stepped into the Emerald Leaf tea shop. Jia looked up from behind the counter to see the figure move towards a table which housed two other customers who had yet to order, they must have been waiting for this comrade as when the third figure joined them the male with long hair raised his hand. Jia approached them noting that the newcomer was just as strangely dressed as the other two if not more so in the tight green material. He carried a piece of paper in his hand and seemed to be making excited gestures to the text contained on it. Jia stepped around the wooden tables to answer the man's call. In all honesty when she had seen the man first enter she had been confused as to what gender he belonged to. She had thought of him as a her, but this only lasted until he spoke which easily dispelled any illusions that he could be a she. He had told her that he needed a table for three and not to bother him until he called for her. With that he had moved over to his table and sat down, closing his eyes and seeming to meditate. When the second person had entered, the girl he had immediately signalled her over and began talking to her. This third person had confused Jia even more as none of the three wore any clothes consistent with the four nations let alone each other except for the headband.
"Can I take your order now?" Jia asked as she approached the table causing three sets of eyes to turn on her.
"Do you have curry?" asked the latest arrival before getting elbowed by the girl. Jia thought she heard a faint whisper along the lines of 'not again Lee' but she dismissed it as none of her business before turning to the other person who simply asked for three cups of green tea. As she turned to fetch their order Jia could hear the sounds of their conversation restarting.
***
"So what do you think Neji? Is it worth checking out?" Lee asked as soon as the serving girl had left pointing at the flyer on the table.
"Yes Lee, you've convinced me you can go to this academy as we need to learn about this earthbending I've already said you could go." Was Neji's exasperated reply.
"Alright!" Lee exclaimed you could almost see diamonds appear next to him to show how excited he was. Almost.
"Anyway, did any of you find out where this eathbending tournament was taking place? This Earth Rumble VI." Neji asked his comrades, although it was aimed at Tenten more as Lee was too busy thinking about the new fighting style he would get to learn about.
"I did Neji" Tenten replied. "It's being held in a mountain this evening."
"Excellent." Neji responded. "Lee can take his class and we can do a bit more research before heading there."
"Good plan Neji, ah thanks" Lee said taking his tea from the girl.
"Yes thanks" Neji said whilst receiving his tea and digging around in his satchel to find not only the correct amount of change, but also the correct currency. "Lee Tenten and I will go with you to this academy and research around that area as I don't think any of us have been there yet."
"Ok Neji" were his two replies before Team Gai started chatting about less important things as they enjoyed their green tea.
***
Lee entered the academy with anticipation as he was always ready and willing to learn new techniques. He was however a little distraught at the fact that he had been forced to make alterations to his clothing to enter the training area. When he had entered he had been ushered into a hat and tunic which had covered his jumpsuit, but he was happy he still got to wear the jump suit passed down from Gai – sensei. The students were assembled in a courtyard and Lee easily towered over the rest of the students as he was obviously older then everyone including the dumbstruck kid with blue arrows covering his body. Master Yu began walking down in-between the two ranks of kids instructing them in earthbending.
"Take your stances" he commanded leaving Lee and the kid with the arrows not knowing what to do.
"Now attack as if punching through your opponents head!" Yu yelled which caused the students with rocks hovering in front of them to punch forward. Lee realised that he was not going to learn anything here so he would improvise. As the other kids replied with defensive earthbending Lee jumped up and hooked the attacking rock with his foot he then flipped onto his hands and with the momentum of raising his legs above him kicked the rock high into the air where it impacted on the walls surrounding the academy smashing the rock apart and chipping off part of the wall. Lee finished his flip to see that the other kid who did not know what to do had been smashed into a nearby vase causing its contents to leak out over him and submerge him in dirt and pottery.
"So are you ready to commit to further lessons? If you pay in advance I'll bump you up to the next belt." Master Yu said to the prone boy and then turned and said it to Lee.
"I will turn down your offer" Lee replied before heading towards the changing rooms.
Whilst Master Yu was teaching Tenten and Neji lingered in the area around the academy for a while. Soon however they found out that the area only contained the academy and a forest with the nearest other buildings being a block of cheap houses where no one lived anymore. So they resorted to resting on one of the benches outside the academy. It appeared they were not the only ones doing this as Neji noticed two of the teenagers he had seen earlier wearing blue resting on the other bench. Neji and Tenten left them to their own business and were quite surprised when it didn't take long for Lee to rejoin them stating that they would not learn anything from master Yu here. The three shinobi turned to leave when they overheard a conversation about who would be a good master of earthbending. They saw two people in blue and one in yellow robes talk about Earth Rumble VI with two of the students, but figuring it had nothing to do with them team Gai left to head towards the mountain arena to get their own tickets.
Team Gai soon made it to the opening in the mountain where the tournament was taking pace and upon entering they were amazed by the size of the stadium. Most of the mountain had been hollowed out and rapidly filling stands surrounded a square stadium that stood a good number of feet off the ground. The team took their seats in the middle of the stands and watched as the group of teenagers that they now appeared to be stalking took front rows seats whilst questioning why no one else was sitting there. The question was answered as a boulder as tall as Gai sensei crashed down next to them. Dust and boulders were being kicked up from the centre of the arena until a man with long black hair and a green tunic raised the earth beneath him up and announced.
"Welcome to Earth Rumble VI! I am your host Xin Fu! The rules are simple, just knock the other guy out of the ring and you win!" Xin Fu then began to narrate the fights between the other competitors.
"This is quite an interesting fighting style." Neji commented as the token 'bad guy' was easily dispatched. "They seem to be building this off stances of what could be a normal martial art discipline except they can use their chakra to amplify their movements and control the earth."
"What are you saying Neji my eternal rival? Could I learn the basics of this style?" Lee asked eager to learn more to impress Gai sensei and his love interest Sakura.
"Yes Lee you could certainly learn the moves and adapt them for your own fighting style" Neji replied as more opponents were easily dispatched by the so called 'Boulder'. Neji noticed that the group in front were discussing getting an earthbending teacher and he pointed it out.
"You're right Neji" Tenten replied. "Do you think one of them could be the avatar?"
"It's certainly a possibility" Neji conceded. "We'll have to ask them later to gain some more solid information."
The tournament continued on predictably with the 'Boulder' winning every match he was in. This continued until an usual challenger appeared. After the unusual creatures, 'they're badger moles they're not unusual' came from the stands near team Gai when the noted this, cleared the stadium Xin Fu began to announce the next fight.
"Now the moment you've all been waiting for the Boulder vs. your champion the Blind Bandit!" As Xin Fu finished his speech a young girl emerged wearing a dark green cloak and holding a dark green and yellow belt aloft. She also wore no shoes and had green and yellow clothes which became easily visible after the two women on the stage removed the cloak and belt so the Blind Bandit could fight. The most striking feature however was her eyes as they were pale green and pupil less. The exact same question got asked by the female member of team Gai and the blue clothed female in the group a few rows down.
"She's not really blind is she? It's just part of her character right.."
Neji turned to face Tenten his Byakugan still active. "She is Tenten, unlike me she is blind."
"But she's fighting." Tenten replied.
"Yes. I would imagine she has some other way of finding her opponents. Perhaps she has an advanced sense of hearing so she can hear their moves."
Whilst this conversation was going on the fight was starting in the ring below.
"The Boulder is conflicted about fighting a young blind girl."
"Sounds to me like your scared Boulder."
"The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings and now he's ready to bury you in a rockalanche!"
"Whenever you're ready, the Pebble! Hahaha"
"It's on!" and with this the taunting was finished and the fight began. The Boulder began to step forwards and as he placed is foot on the ground and readied his attack the Blind Bandit moved in time and sent a counter which misplaced the Boulder's footing making him forcibly do a splits which given by his face caused unimaginable pain.
"Interesting." Neji said focussing on not only the Blind Bandit and the Boulder, but also the ground near them. "She used her chakra with her bending to locate him, in other words she can see via the earth!"
"That's amazing" Tenten said. "If a shinobi could do that they would become almost impossible to sneak up on."
After immobilising the Boulder the Blind Bandit sent three pillars of rock to finish the job and sent him flying out of the ring.
"Your winner and still the champion the Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu cried before jumping down from his podium onto the ring.
"To make things a little more interesting I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit." The crowd murmured no one daring to take up the offer. Well almost no one as two cries were heard one after another.
"I will! To prove my youthfulness!" Lee cried leaping and flipping to land gracefully on the stage and he adopted his signature pre fight pose with one hand behind his back and one raised in front of him. The other cry of acceptance came from the other newcomer at the academy who simply walked onto the arena.
"Do people really want to see two girls fight out here?" The Blind Bandit said directing her gaze at the Bald headed kid.
"I don't wanna fight you I just want to talk... by the way I'm Aang!" The kid said.
"And I am Rock Lee!" Rock Lee chirped in.
"Oh great another rock to crush." The Blind Bandit said this time looking in Lee's general direction and with this she sent two bursts of earth erupting from under Aang and Lee. Aang jumped off and used his airbending to hover around the arena confusing the Blind Bandit.
"Somebody's a little light on his feet, what's your fighting name the fancy dancer?" said the Blind bandit turning to face and attack Aang again with erupting earth. She then turned to face where Lee had jumped to.
"and what's yours? The skipper?"
"I am the beautiful green beast of Konoha!" Lee responded charging the Blind Bandit. "and I would appreciate it if you did not taunt me!" and with this he leapt high above the Blind Bandit and raised his leg for an axe kick. The Blind Bandit however created a dome of earth around her as she felt Lee leave the ground.
"Time to test Neji's theory about how you see." Lee mumbled to himself as he began channelling chakra to his feet like a ninja who was about to walk on walls or water.
"What! Where have you gone... there you are, but you're all fuzzy!" The Blind Bandit exclaimed as Rock Lee's chakra interfered with his connection to the earth lessening the Blind Bandit's visibility of him. Still she knew where about he was and launched a boulder at him whilst turning to face Aang again.
"Where'd you go... Found you! Even with two on one I'll win!" She said.
"Please wait, I just want to talk" Aang emphasised again as he leapt out the way of another boulder sent his way. He twisted in mid-air and sent out a blast of Airbender which rocketed into the Blind Bandit knocking her off her feet and sending her crashing into the floor. The Airbender attack had also caught Lee as he flipped out of the way of the Blind Bandit's projectiles and he too was sent flying out of the ring, however he managed to turn and land on a wall before dropping down and assuming his 'nice guy' pose proclaiming.
"You have beaten me my youthful adversary, I hope we meet again."
As the shock left everyone in the stadium including the Boulder who had been watching, Aang's companions and Xin Fu Aang straightened up and began to run after the Blind Bandit.
"Listen, I need an earthbending teacher and I think it's supposed to be you" He cried.
"Whoever you are please leave me alone." Was his response as the Blind Bandit stomped on the ground creating an exit for here which she promptly disappeared into.
"Wait!" Aang cried knowing it was too late. Aang trudged back onto the stage and his male companion eagerly took the belt and money from the reluctant Xin Fu.
Whilst Aang mourned the loss of his chance to gain a possible earthbending teacher team Gai headed towards the exit to find an inn to stay the night in.
***
The sun rose over the town, casting shadows and chasing the darkness. The long shadows hid behind paper and wood buildings hiding what needed to be hidden and creating two dimensional monsters that ate up anything that approached. Three figures stood engulfed in the shadows.
"We need to find the avatar." Neji said. "Split up and search all over town for him. Question anyone you can on his appearance, companions, where they saw him anything. We know he came here and I checked that nobody left town by any means so he must still be here."
"If he was here he probably was at the Earth Rumble VI tournament." Lee interjected. "I will search the tournament grounds for any information."
"Good idea Lee, whilst you are doing that Tenten and I will scour the village meet up at the Emerald Leaf tea shop again for a de-briefing at lunch. We can't fail now move out!" Neji commanded.
"Roger!"
In the mountainous area that housed the tournament grounds two figures met up. They had their backs to the entrance which gleamed with light, though the light did not look like it came from the main heavenly body circling the world. As they discussed a disturbance flickered across the light creating a brief moment of darkness before disappearing. One of the figures turned around casting a weary glance across the entrance tunnel before returning his attention to his companion's speech.
"I'm telling you, The Boulder was standing right there. I saw the kid strike, but there was no earthbending. Nothing made contact. The Blind Bandit and the other kid just fell out of the ring. They must have taken a dive and split the money with the kid."
The other man slammed his fist into the rocks next to him creating a minor shockwave and causing them to crumble and fall. Some landed on his foot creating pain for the man. This was short lived however as his face assumed a persona of utmost rage. He raised his head glaring at the opposite end of the stadium.
"Nobody cheats Xin Fu."
With that the two men walked deeper into the stadium and came out with five more people and they left dragging two large metal crates.
"Alright men we need to go and capture 'the Blind Bandit' or Toph Bei Fong and the other two kids, one is apparently the avatar so be careful!" Xin Fu yelled before leading his men out.
After the team of angry earthbenders left the shadow dropped down from the ceiling.
"This is most unyouthful, I would not take a dive in an honourable fight and neither did this Toph Bei Fong... On a separate note I now know who the avatar is! Alright I must get this information to Neji!" Lee exclaimed watching the retreating backs of the earthbenders with a concerned face.
"First I should check out the administration here... knowledge is power after all."
***
Shinobi are trained for all sorts of missions: assassination, theft, bodyguards and gaining information is invaluable to all these missions. So Neji and Tenten's searching of the city had turned up some information on the town and important earthbenders that might be approached by the avatar. Neji had been planning a stake out ever since he learned this, but as soon as he heard Lee's information the plan became much more focussed on one location. The Bei Fong mansion.
"It turns out that we were right on the mark. The avatar's here all right." Neji said veins bulging against his skin showing the signs of an activated Byakugan. To most people this would be an abnormal situation and would be repulsed and despise it, but to his comrades it offered a sense of security and reassurance that their teammate was working well.
"We need to get in that mansion, but how... noble families don't take well to random people showing up do they? The avatar would manage, but I don't think we'll be as lucky." Tenten commented.
"Yes in noble families you would have to arrange a meeting to get past the front gates." Neji replied.
"Do you have any idea how we can get in Neji?" Lee asked. "You are from the Hyuga clan. Their status might not mean much here, but you are used to the way things work right?"
"Yes, but the only way we are going to get in is by being creative." Neji replied.
Unfortunately for team Gai they weren't the only team seeking entrance as this night began to fall and eclipse the earlier light a metaphor for the state of the world. This team however weren't as concerned with stealth as much. Tact made no part in their plan as the guards on patrol around the perimeter were dispatched of. Soon the earthbending gang had sprung their trap encasing two of their targets in metal coffins. They returned from their trip triumphant lugging their captives in toe towards the mountains. However this ruckus had alerted the guards and they had sent more men out to seek the perimeter guards and find out what the situation was. As any team leader will know bad luck can destroy the best laid plans and tumble the most skilled. Team Gai were now getting a refresher course in this as the guards had found them sneaking around the gardens as the security was tightened. Lady Luck conspired against team Gai as the very Earth they stood on rose and moved to do battle with the shinobi. Despite Neji's best offerings of peace and trying to establish that they should be allies and were on the same side the guards kept on flinging earth and boulders at them. Neji decided that a strategic withdrawal was needed to reassess the situation as the other team had obviously had more success in their plot. Retreating to the forest outside they laid in wait knowing that they would find out what they wanted to know soon enough. Sure enough after a few minutes they heard a gasp followed by.
"Whoever took Aang and Toph left this"
If you want to see your daughter again, bring500 gold pieces to the arena. It's signed "Xin Fu and The Boulder."
"I can't believe it... I have the Boulder's autograph!"
"Master Yu, I need you to help you get my daughter back. "
"We're going with you."
Team Gai left to track their quarry back to the mountains. First they wanted to get Lee and now they interfered not only with their self imposed mission, but also interfered with their link to their homes. They had made this deeply personal.
A mountain stronghold is usually a good place to hide. It's a very defensible position, any sensible strategist could tell you that, but it can also have honeycombed caves for hiding supplies and troops and launching ambushes out of. Unfortunately this can also be the problem with cave fortresses, especially ones that rely with being in the mountain. The caves can build up a sense of security as they can be your greatest strength, but also the greatest weakness. Enemy attacks from below can terminate morale. They also work just as hiding places just as well for your enemy which is why none of the gloating earthbenders noticed that three completely uninvited people were hanging off the wall hidden in shadows right next to the stands. It would have really infuriated them to know that the other person they wanted was hiding amongst them and that they would just need to earthbend the cage a little bit to get it into position to capture him... not that it would hold him though. An interesting argument had been happening between captor and captee when they had entered. This conversation conveniently ended when the avatars friends and Toph's family entered the arena. The three people watched the events impassively waiting for the right opportunity to enter.
"Toph!" said the man that was obviously Toph's father.
"Here's your money. Now let them go." The blue clad teenager said dropping a bag of gold onto the floor. Master Yu then kicked forward to deliver the bag to Xin Fu who opened it up to check its contents before turning to issue a signal to someone else hidden in the shadows. Soon the chain began moving to lower the right cage towards the arena stopping but a few feet above to open up its bottom and deliver its cargo to the ground. Toph fell the short distance and landed hard on the earth stadium. She gained her bearings quickly and ran to meet up with her father who turned to leave with master Yu whilst he guided her with his hand.
"What about Aang?" This time it was the blue clad girl that spoke.
"It's a shame we haven't got that other kid yet, he could turn out to be valuable. Anyway I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the , get out of my ring." Xin Fu said taking out and unfolding a scroll. After he did this the competitors revealed themselves. A tornado whipped into the ring only to disperse to reveal the fire nation man. The green masked man jumped down from the ceiling to land in his battle position as the Hippo stomped onto the arena crushing a boulder with his hands. The man with the painted face appeared amidst rock and dust to join the group as the final member rose up from below to complete the ensemble leaving the two blue clad siblings outnumbered and disheartened.
"Go. I'll be ok." The boy, no avatar in the cage said waving his companions away.
The two siblings wavered before turning. The girl spoke up.
"Toph, there's too many of them. We need an earthbender. We need you!"
"Should we enter now Neji?" Tenten asked looking at Neji.
"Not now, we should see how this plays out for a while longer. If it looks like the avatar is going to be abandoned we will step in." Neji replied observing the scene below with his Byakuan.
Toph's father had turned by now and replied.
"My daughter is blind. She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile. She cannot help you."
Toph however took this opportunity to wrench her hand out of her father's grasp.
"Yes, I can" She stated marching back towards the arena whilst her father looked on distraught. Toph marched back onto the stage and quickly stopped her old captors by earthbending a wall blocking their escape as they tried to leave with the Hippo carrying the avatar's cage over his shoulder.
"Let him go. I beat you all before, and I'll do it again." She cried sweeping her arm out in front of her in a challenging gesture.
The earthbenders stopped and turned to glare at her.
"The Boulder takes issue with that comment." The Boulder stated pointing at Toph and glaring at her eager to get his revenge for his stretched nether regions. The Hippo threw the cage across the arena and prepared to attack along with the rest of the benders. The blue clad teenagers moved up to support Toph, but she waved them away.
"Wait... They're mine!" she claimed as her opponents began to rush her. Toph then began her earthbending. First she slammed her foot down and began to raise her arms. As her opponents neared her she stomped again this time sending up an explosion of dust and rock to obscure the battlefield which doubled as an attack as her opponents went flying backwards to slam down and be covered by the debris and dust cloud. Which she calmly walked into so she could meet her opponents head on. Yu and Toph's father looked on anxious as Toph walked in, whereas Neji on the other hand smirked.
"Interesting. She is blind, yet she can see anyway via her techniques. This is an amazing tactical ploy as it robs her opponents of their sight rendering them near useless whereas she keeps her sight. She has changed the odds to her advantage in one move. It will be interesting to see how this plays out... of course this wouldn't work on a Hyuga." Neji stated. "Her parent and teacher on the other hand seem completely oblivious to this."
"They must underestimate her because she is blind." Tenten said. "I wish I had your Byakugan Neji, now I can't see the fight."
As they talked Neji could see Toph encounter her first opponent who managed to send an attack her way though Toph easily dodged and countered with a barrage of earth columns sending him flying out of the ring to smack into the stands and then crash onto a pile of earth and rocks beneath, though this did little to ease the adult's fear. The next opponent was the green masked man who was taken off guard by a pebble to his head. After finding his attacker he leapt up and threw two boulders at Toph who easily snatched the out of the air and sent them crashing behind her before raising columns to smash the Gecko out of the ring and onto his already fallen companion fire nation man. The mole was the next opponent to challenge Toph surfacing and throwing a boulder at her. Unfortunately for him she caught it, span with it and returned it along the same trajectory so that it smashed into him and threw him into the growing pile outside the ring. The male water tribe member continued to smash the avatar's cage with a rock whilst the female tried to pry open the metal doors to no avail until finally a lucky hit managed to score a penetrating blow and the doors snapped open. The avatar jumped out adopting a fighting stance until the male water tribe member pointed out the battle already in progress. At which point the Hippo spun out carrying a large stone disk and he was soon joined by the Boulder who was unceremoniously thrown out of the dust cloud. Toph appeared and took up a central position in the arena over the Earth Kingdom style stone disk embedded in the centre. The Hippo and Boulder taunted her before rushing into attack, the Boulder picking up a boulder on the way in. The Wild Man timed his attack at the same time as he swung down with boulder in hand to deliver a pincer attack. Toph however heard him and countered by rotating the stone disk so that the Wild Man slammed into the Boulder and Hippo sending them crashing onto the arena floor and Toph allowed them no rest by following it up with ore eathbending to send them all spiralling out of the arena to join their already defeated companions. Toph's father Neji noted had now moved on to devouring his nails. Toph's victories and his confidence seemed to be indirectly proportional.
"I never knew. Your daughter's amazing." Yu said obviously shocked.
"Hey they are starting to catch on!" Lee pointed out before directing his attention back to the combatants. Toph cleared the playing field showing the final two earthbenders. Xin Fu and Toph herself. Xin Fu cracked his neck before adopting his stance whilst Toph spat out some saliva and assumed hers. The two earthbenders began to circle each other wearily seeking out each other's weaknesses and openings in their guards. Xin Fu made the opening move by pulling up and firing off a barrage of boulders of varying size. Toph however counted by pulling up a defensive barrier that formed an arrowhead in front of her which worked as a bulwark against the incoming blows. After the barrage had finished Toph slammed her palm forward sending one side flying off at Xin Fu who flipped out the way so it went to crash harmlessly in the stands. Amidst his flip Xin Fu added offense to his evasive manoeuvre by stabbing his palm into the ground and catapulting up more boulders and debris at Toph. Toph sensed the attack and deftly sidestepped the incoming projectiles with off cuts barely missing her face before she returned face on to send another powerful earthbending attack out which crashed into Xin Fu and sent him flying into the stands between her teacher and her father. The avatar and his female companion ran to catch up with Toph as the male companion fainted.
"She's the greatest earthbender I've ever seen!" Yu commented awestruck. The group reunited and began to leave the stadium.
"Neji should we join them now?" Tenten asked.
"No those guards thought we were the enemy and will no doubt have warned their employer about us. If we appear now the avatar will join with them and think of us as an enemy. We'll have to find the avatar before he leaves." Neji replied. "We need to follow the avatar, but remain hidden." Team Gai followed idea so followed the avatar at a distance as night began to fall. Unfortunately the guards at the Bei Fong mansion were doing even wider patrols so team Gai were forced to stay further away than they would have liked. Neji still followed with the Byakugan and watched as the confession happened. He saw the daughter and father have an argument and lip read it so he could tell Lee and Tenten of the progress.
"The avatar has been kicked out. Now's our chance" Neji said before realising that it would be much easier said than done as the avatar and his companions climbed onto their bison and flew away from the mansion.
"Damn that's quick." Neji exclaimed as the bison managed to escape his vision for a split second as the speed at which it could move was underestimated.
"Quick find it." Neji ordered as Lee and Tenten moved to obey and follow in the direction the bison had disappeared in. To their shock however a wave of earth erupted from outside the wall and Toph appeared at the crest before surfing off in the same direction. This type of earthbending surprised team Gai for a second, but no longer as they also gave pursuit.
Toph had arrived a minute before them and had obviously exchanged greetings as the avatar now lay on the floor after falling out of the tree next to him she also clutched her belt as she had liberated it from the blue clad teenager who wore it without doing anything to earn it.
"C'mon let's go quickly." The avatar said leaping onto his six legged bison. Team Gai chose this moment to step forward. Lee and Tenten were looking at the bison and wondering about it. How could it fly? Why did a bison have six legs? Did it have chakra? Neji could answer that final question, but he was too busy in negotiation with the avatar's group.
"Hello I am the leader of team Gai I would like to talk with you avatar..." Neji started with, however before he could carry on he was interrupted by Toph.
"Quick Aang we need to flee, the guards said they tried to break in, they probably want revenge just like Xin Fu and the rest of those idiots."
"If we wanted revenge we would have attacked you by now." Neji countered, but it was to no avail. The avatar's group was clearly shaken and their response to the fight or flight syndrome was flight, literally in fact.
"Yip yip" Aang cried sending his bison skyward.
"We'll have to track them." Neji stated watching them rise and fly into the distance. We need to ally ourselves with him.
"Yes Neji!" was the response as team Gai prepared to track the avatar. They jumped up into the trees to quickly follow the bison's trail.