Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.
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Chapter Forty-Two
The Preliminaries Continue
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"Hozuki Suigetsu of Uzu versus Sasuke Uchiha of Konoha."
Sasuke perked up and turned to walk down the stairs.
"Good luck." Hinata called and Sasuke smiled.
"Thanks."
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Sasuke glanced at Suigetsu. The white-haired teen returned his look, a cocky grin on his face.
"I believe that I have heard of the Hozuki clan." Sasuke said. "Your brother was one of the Seven Swordsmen of Kiri before he was killed for having a bloodlimit."
"Yeah. So?" Suigetsu asked as he unslung his sword.
"Your entire clan are suiton users of great skill." Sasuke continued and Suigetsu smirked.
"An Uchiha saying I've got great skill. I'm honored. Still not going to let you win, though."
"We shall see." Sasuke said, pulling a small scroll out of his pouch. Unrolling it, he unsealed a sheathed tanto and fastened it to his belt. "Hayate-san, I am ready."
"Blade versus blade." Suigetsu laughed, placing both hands on the hilt of his sword. "This is gonna be fun!"
Hayate glanced at the pair, then nodded. "Begin!"
Sasuke almost blurred forwards, his tanto unsheathed and swung in a single move. Suigetsu gasped as the blade cut into his side, then he chuckled as his hands were suddenly covered in water and the wound closed without leaving even a scar.
"Okay, you're fast." He admitted, angling his sword.
"…and you can heal." Sasuke said, blinking. "I may need more of an advantage than I thought."
Sasuke's eyes turned red with two tomoe in each.
Suigetsu's grin widened and once again, his hands were suddenly covered in water before his muscles began to grow.
"That sword is holding the water…" Sasuke stated. "And with you using water…"
Sasuke's tanto started to shake, then a bolt of lightning leapt out of it…
…and grounded itself against the spike on the end of Suigetsu's sword.
"Like that will work." Suigetsu sneered. "Try this!"
Suigetsu swung his sword, unleashing a wave of spray, then he lunged forwards and stabbed the spike of his sword into the moving wave. The water promptly lit up with a strong white light that caused almost everyone to fling their arms up in an attempt to protect their eyes.
Sasuke yelled in agony and dropped his tanto, clasping his hands over his eyes and Suigetsu laughed victoriously as he walked slowly forwards, hefting his sword.
"You use raiton against me, I use it against you." He gloated. "That was my flash wave technique, guaranteed to blind anyone looking at it and you Uchiha rely on your eyes. Not so hot now that you can't use them, are you?"
As Suigetsu advanced, Sasuke backed away, still rubbing at his eyes, until he bumped into the wall.
"Nowhere to run now." Suigetsu said, extending the tip of his sword and aiming it at Sasuke's neck. "You should surre-wha?"
Sasuke opened his eyes and slapped at Suigetsu's sword with his left hand, pushing it aside as he lunged forwards. His right hand swung forwards, wreathed in electricity and Suigetsu didn't even have time to to react before the lightning-coated fist slammed into his stomach.
For an instant, Suigetsu seemed to glow, then he exploded into a spray of water, leaving Sasuke drenched and holding the sword.
"Did… did I just kill him?"
"No." Terai answered from the balcony as the water drained away. "He will recover, and soon, but he will not be happy about ending up in the drains. May I please have his sword?"
"Huh? Oh! Right, sure." Sasuke said, looking befuddled. "So… I win?"
"You win." Hayate confirmed.
"Oh, good." Sasuke said. "That was… disconcerting. Oh, the sword."
Terai took the blade from Sasuke's hands and turned to return to his team.
"Are you sure he'll be alright?"
"It has happened to him before." Terai confirmed over his shoulder. "He will rejoin us soon."
"Oh, ummm, good." Sasuke managed, then he slowly walked towards his team. Naruto watched him go, then looked up at the two new names on the screens.
"Chojuro of Kiri and Inuzuka Kiba of Konoha."
"Whahoo!" Kiba shouted as he slid down the bannisters of the staircase. Chojuro followed him down, adjusting he spectacles. Both of them came to a stop in front of Hayate and Chojuro unslung the bandage-wrapped twin-handled sword on his back. Kiba looked at him, then down at Akamaru who was stood by his ankle.
"Akamaru and I are ready!"
"I am ready, Proctor-san." Chojuru said as he hefted the bandage-wrapped sword.
"Then… begin!"
Kiba snarled at Chojuro, even as Akamaru scampered round behind the swordsman. Chojuro lunged at Kiba, who pulled out a pair of kunai and blocked the giant sword, then Akamaru leapt onto Chojuro's back, scampering up his spine before leaping off his head.
"Eeeeurgh!" Chojuro yelled. "Your mutt pee'd on me!"
Grinning, Kiba flicked a small pill at Akamaru, who snapped it out of the air. Even as Akamaru shivered and began turning red, Kiba crouched, his hands in a tiger seal.
"Shikakyu no jutsu!"
A shroud of chakra formed around him and he growled as his fingernails lengthened and thickened into claws. His face took on a more feral cast, then Akamaru, by now a solid red, jumped onto his back.
"Jujin Bunshin!"
A plume of chakra smoke engulfed the duo briefly, clearing to show that Akamaru had transformed into a perfect duplicate of Kiba. Akamaru dropped off his master's back, then the two of them growled and sprinted towards Chojuro, claws ready to rend and tear. Chojuro reacted by sidestepping and swinging his sword, letting one of the Kibas simply continue past him while he deflected the other.
The two Kibas slid to a halt and exchanged glances before they lunged forwards in another attack, kicking off to leap high into the air before spinning with wisps of chakra forming around them before their technique kicked in and they turned into spinning ariel drills.
"Gatsuga." Sasuke nodded. "One of Kiba's better attacks. He can't currently see to aim, but Akamaru took care of that."
Chojuro wrenched himself out of the way of the first drill while swinging his sword to deflect the second. Shreds of bandages cascaded to the ground and the metal of the sword Hiramekerai glinted in the light and Chojuro regained his balance. The drills curved round, ricocheting off the walls and homed back in on Chojuro, who did a diving roll to avoid the attack that left a long gouge in the stone flagstones, then swung his sword to place it flat against his back, just in time for the second drill to slam into it and bounce off.
"Kiba-san's improved." Hinata noted and behind her, Itachi nodded in agreement.
"How are you doing this?!" Chojuro demanded as he frantically evaded another strike, then swung his sword to bat away an attack that would have hit him in the stomach.
"Hmmmm." Zabuza mused, giving a measuring glance at Sasuke. "Scent. Has to be."
Chojuro slid back from the impact of blocking another strike, his skin glistening with sweat and a couple of trickles of blood from the flying shards of rock, then he frowned in concentration.
"Ryuseisui!"
From the two holes near the tip of the fish-shaped sword, a wave of chakra shot out, forming into a semi-solid chain and ball. Leaning back, Chojuro spun, swinging the chakra construct in a rising arc that intercepted both incoming attacks, sending Kiba and Akamaru cartwheeling through the air. As the duo managed to land on their feet, the chakra construct dissipated.
"…the hell?" One of the Kibas growled, then he dived sideways, barely managing to avoid the diagonal slash. The other one launched himself at Chojuro's back, only to receive both pommels of the twinsword to his chin, dropping him. As he hit the ground, a cloud of chakra smoke marked the dispelling of the transformation technique and Akamaru lay motionless.
"Akamaru!" Kiba growled. "You bastard, I'll kill you!"
"And he was doing so well until now." Sasuke sighed as Kiba lunged forwards, claws swinging round in an attempt to eviscerate Chojuro…
…only to drop as he ran headfirst into the flat of the hastily-positioned Hiramikerai. Chojuro staggered back from the impact, then lowered his sword, staring at the two unconscious forms.
"Winner, Chojuro." Hayate announced as the medics entered the hall with two stretchers. The Kiri swordsman started to place his sword in the carrier on his back, then paused with a grimace. Instead, he carried the sword up the stairs and carefully placed it against the wall before pulling off the harness that normally held it.
"You'll need to wash that tonight." Zabuza said with a smirk in his voice. "otherwise you'll be stinking of dog-piss for weeks."
"I know, sensei." Chojuro sighed as he pulled out a cloth and began scrubbing at the leather. "I know."
Naruto smirked under his armour, then turned his attention to the wall-screens as they cycled through the remaining names before settling.
"Suchīrukuran Taromaru of Uzu versus Higarushi Tenten of Konoha." He announced and on the balcony, the tall genin with a long-handled battlehammer straightened up. Balancing the hammer across his shoulders in a manner akin to a lopsided quarterstaff, he strolled down the stairs while on the opposite side of the hall, Tenten descended with an eager grin on her face.
"So." She noted as she reached the arena floor. "A melee specialist, right? You realize that a hammer isn't that great against thrown weapons?"
"It's useful enough." Taromaru shrugged as he flipped the hammer from across his shoulders to hold it in front of him, one hand just under the head and the other half-way down the shaft. "I'm ready."
"So am I." Said Tenten as three Kunai popped into existence in each hand. Taromaru raised an inquisative eyebrow and Tenten angled her hand to show a line of ink tattood onto her inner wrist.
"I helped the Hyuuga with developing their bows." She explained and Taromaru frowned at the apparent non-sequitor. Most of the Konoha ninja, however, nodded in understanding.
"Since you are both ready…" Hayate said as glanced between them, "Begin!"
Tenten's hands blurred and a veritable stream of kunai hurtled towards Taromaru, the weapons being unsealed and thrown in the same move. Taromaru spun his hammer, leaving a glowing trail of chakra that deflected the kunai until Tenten paused.
"That's quite a defense you have there." She admitted and Taromaru grinned.
"My hammer was created specially for me. I helped to make it and bonded it to me with my own blood."
Tenten whistled in appreciation. "Nice… so any move only needs half the chakra as it's attuned to you. Okay, this is more of a challenge than I thought. Time for the big guns!"
Tenten pulled out a pair of scrolls and slammed them onto the ground so that they stood vertically, then her hands flashed through a series of seals before ending with her arms crossed across her chest.
Tiger, Dragon, Monkey, Hare, Snake – "Soshoryu!"
The scrolls seemed to explode upwards and Tenten launched herself vertically as the scrolls rose in a double helix. Reaching out, Tenten let her fingers brush the inner side of the unravelled scrolls, then her arms blurred as she sent a near-solid rain of kunai, senbon and shuriken at Taromaru, who responded by hunching down before he vanished under the descending river of sharp metal. After almost half a minute, the sharp-edged waterfall ceased and Tenten dropped to the ground, her eyes fixed on the lump underneath the virtual carpet of weaponry. For a long moment, nothing happened, then the bulge shifted and cascaded as Taromaru stood, his now-metallic skin unmarred by what he had been through, although his clothing was virtually non-existent, with the sole exception of his metallic loincloth.
"What the…" Tenten began, then Taromaru swung his hammer overhead, its head glowing with chakra, then it slammed into the ground.
The entire tower shuddered as the impact seemed to cause a wave to ripple across the arena. The discarded weapons bounced into the air and Tenten staggered back, using the chakra wires attached to the weapons to hurl them away from her, then she dodged backwards as the head of the hammer slammed down just where she had been standing. Recovering quickly, she leapt onto the head of the hammer to prevent Taromaru from using it for another strike, only for him to swing the handle upwards, the pommel slamming into her forehead and knocking her out.
"That… was not fun." Taromaru sighed as he reverted back from his steel form, causing several of the watching females to start drooling.
"Winner, Suchīrukuran Taromaru." Hayate confirmed as hestepped aside for the med-nins to reach Tenten. "We'll need to pause for a moment to clear the weapons."
Naruto looked at the metallic heaps around the room and nodded in agreement.
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Authors Afternote – Suigetsu and Taromaru's weapons can be found on my DeviantArt page.