(The epic Chunin Exam Arc is underway! In the Seventeenth Chapter everyone is forced to compete in a 1v1 preliminary match before being allowed to take the Third part of the exam. In the Second match Hoshi of the Rock defeated Yui of the Leaf. The Chunin Exams continue! What will be the outcome? I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
All eyes are on Hoshi Ishimaru, daughter of the Tsuchikage, as she rejoins her team on the balcony. The remaining competitors carefully ingrain her fight into their memories so they will have the information to draw upon if they get matched up against her later on.
"That Rock girl was pretty good," comments No as he bobs up and down, "That thing with her arms was pretty cool!"
"It did look impressive," his elder sister agrees, "But we won't have to worry about her."
"Why not?" inquires No.
"She is obviously a close combat specialist," explains Rino, "With our techniques she won't be able to get near us. You, on the other hand will have your hands full. That is if you even make it through this round."
Kenta laments, "Yui was not fully healed from her injury; we shouldn't have allowed her to fight."
Ichimaru mumbles, "Even if she was at full strength, she still would have lost."
The selection machine's internal gears come to a halt and the next two opponents are revealed.
"Hmm, it looks like Hara Gaki from the Village Hidden in the Grass, and No Shigure from the Village Hidden in the Rain will fight in the next battle. Please make your way down here so we can start the battle," says Tatsuki.
"Yes, my turn to fight!" shouts No as he sprints over and quickly runs down the stairs, excited about the match.
"It looks like it is my turn," says Hara.
"Good luck, not that you will need it," scoffs Kuro.
"I'll try to make this fast so you can get your turn," jokes Hara.
"Thanks, I appreciate it," replies Kuro. Hara jumps off the balcony, landing neatly on the ground near Tatsuki.
"Well, it looks like someone wants to show off," comments Rame Tsu.
"Boys, how typical," adds Naoko.
Shun steps forward and says, "This is the guy who is supposed to be number one. Too bad he has to go up against that runt. Still, we might be able to see at least one of his moves so pay attention."
"Right!" reply the girls.
"No Shigure of the Hidden Rain reporting," says the small boy still bobbing up and down.
"You seem pretty excited," comments Hara.
"I have been waiting to fight!" replies No, "I need to show my brother and sister what I can do."
"Well, then I don't want to keep them waiting," says Hara, "I am Hara Gaki of the Hidden Grass, reporting for the match."
"Great, another lame match," sighs Tatsuki in her head, "Oh well; maybe the Grass kid will be nice and end it quickly."
"Come on, Hara, show everyone here why you are the number one prospect!" cheers Mari from the upper deck.
Tatsuki asks, "Are you both ready?"
They nod.
"Then Begin!"
Hara bends down and shifts into an unusual stance. His mane of hair and posture make him look like a wild beast ready to pounce on his prey. He darts forward with surprising speed. The young Rain Ninja does nothing, seemingly frozen in place. When in range Hara lunges forward with a powerful strike from his left fist. No somehow slides out of the way and with perfect timing slips out a kunai and jabs it at his opponent's chest. Without losing a step Hara rotates on his left foot to dodge the strike. While spinning, he cleanly pulls his own kunai into his left hand and uses it to deflect the incoming blade. He continues his spin, leaping slightly into the air and aiming to bring a heavy foot to his enemy's head.
As the foot comes towards his head, No is able to duck under it just in time. Then he brings his kunai up high and stabs down at Hara's back. Hara swings his leg back the other way while retracting it in towards his body. Next he thrusts it outwards intending to strike his heel into the Rain Ninja's gut. No forgoes his attack and sucks in his belly while pushing his butt outwards just enough to evade the kick. Hara places his weight on his hands and turns his body face up, then kicks upwards towards his opponent's chin.
No moves into a back flip that just barely allows him to evade. He continues doing back flips until he lands safely a few yards away. Hara chooses to halt his attack and instead analyze the situation.
"This match is a no-brainier," says Rame Tsu, "It is going to be over in a few seconds."
"That Hara guy is pretty impressive, but he didn't land a single blow," comments Naoko, "There is something strange about the orange-haired kid. What do you think, Shun?"
Shun chooses not to respond, instead focusing on the battle.
"All of those strikes should have made some contact," thinks Hara as he assesses his enemy, "I wonder what he is doing to avoid them. I guess the only way to find out is to keep attacking."
Hara changes from his previous stance, this time choosing to stand up while charging in to attack. Before even getting close to his enemy the Grass Ninja leaps feet first into the air and goes into a dazzling spin, appearing as nothing more than a green blur. No watches intently as his opponent comes toward him, preparing for a counterattack. A kunai explodes out from the blur and No raises his own to block the attack. Then as gravity starts to take effect Hara shifts in the air bringing his right foot into a pendulum kick. No steps to the right, easily avoiding the kick. Hara lands on his free hand and immediately goes into a rotation.
His left foot swings around to knock No in the side of the face with a thick heel. Like the previous encounter No is able to duck under the kick and counters with a downward strike of the kunai. This time Hara drops to his back and swipes at the Rain Ninja's legs first with a kunai, and then closely followed by his legs. In order to elude the attack, No falls into a cartwheel and puts distance in between the fighters again.
"So that is what he is doing," thinks Hara as he returns to his feet, "If that is the case then I will just have to catch him before I hit him."
"Again impressive, but no hits," comments Naoko as she observes from above.
"I see now," says Shun, comprehension illuminating his eyes.
"You know what the kid is doing to avoid the attacks?" asks Rame Tsu.
"Yes, and I think that Hara has figured it out as well," replies Shun.
Hara moves into his original stance, placing his body low to the ground and dashes forward once more.
"This is getting boring," Jando complains, turning away from the match, "The little guy is just going to dodge again. I thought that Grass Ninja was supposed to be good."
"I suggest you watch, Jando," comments Kuroda, "This time is going to be different."
"Really, how do you know?" asks Sakura eagerly.
"Just watch," replies Kuroda.
Hara carries his kunai behind him in his right hand. He brings the weapon to his front and flings it straight at the orange-haired boy. No easily deflects it, and the ninja tool is knocked off to the side. Instantly Hara is right in his face, throwing a punch to his gut. Somehow No is able to slip out of the way. Again he counters by stabbing down with the kunai in his right hand.
However instead of evading, this time Hara catches the young boy's wrist. A smirk slips across the Grass Ninja's face, "You can't dodge me this time!" Hara swings his right leg around and it lands right in his opponent's gut. No gets knocked back a number of yards until he hits the wall.
"I told you it would be different," says Kuroda.
"Well, that was not what I expected," comments Shun, rubbing his chin.
"You thought he was going to do something different?" inquires Naoko.
"I would have done a different move, but his way got the job done too," replies Shun.
"I get it," announces Sakura, "He wasn't able to figure out a way to hit the kid. Also every time after the second move the Rain Ninja always tried to counterattack in the same way. So instead of trying to hit the kid, he made sure that the kid could not dodge. He caught his arm when he went for the counterattack, and then there was no way to dodge the next strike."
"Yes, that is all good," says Kuroda, "However I think he figured out how to hit him, he just chose to do it that way in order to throw people off."
"So then what is the secret to hitting that kid?" asks Sakura.
"I'll tell you later," responds Kuroda, "Look, he is getting back up."
No braces against the wall to get back to his feet. "You should give up now," calls Hara from across the room, "I figured out how to hit you. And if you had any good Jutsu you would have used them by now. You can't beat me." Without a word No starts forming seals for a Jutsu.
"I guess he still wants to fight," sighs Hara, rubbing his scalp, "I wanted to end this quickly, but I guess it is going to take a little longer than planned."
"Mist Servant Technique!" announces No as a mist begins to creep out across the field. Copies of the Rain Ninja begin to emerge from the mist.
"A clone Jutsu? Not bad," thinks Hara, "I wonder why he didn't use it earlier."
Ino comments to her older brother Rino, "Our brother is stupid. That technique is useless if there is nowhere to hide."
"At least he didn't get knocked out on the first attack," replies Rino, "Maybe he can make himself useful for once and actually get the Grass Ninja to show us one of his Jutsu."
"I guess he is good for something after all," agrees Ino.
Hara rushes towards the clones immediately, hacking and slashing at them. He hears the whistle of a kunai and ducks in time for it to fly over his head. He looks around to see where it came from, but instead finds the very clones he thought he just destroyed repairing themselves.
"They are reforming?" questions Hara, "Impossible, no Genin would be able to make a clone that can heal itself, let alone ten of them. Damn, I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner."
He leaps backwards to gain distance and then clasps his hands together and begins to focus. The chakra inside him begins to build up until he shouts, "Release!" The clones disappear and the real enemy is revealed. "Nice Genjutsu," he calls to his enemy, "But you should have waited to use it until I was more tired out from the fight. It would have been more effective then."
No responds by flinging two kunai at the Grass Ninja, which are easily sidestepped. Hara glances down and notices where he is standing.
"If you want to play that game then fine," he thinks as he begins making seals. No sees this and rushes to attack, throwing two more kunai in order to prevent the Jutsu from being completed. Hara is too quick however and he finishes the seals then reaches down towards the ground.
"Leaf Shuriken Jutsu!" calls out Hara as the two kunai fly towards him. He starts grabbing the leaves that were left over from Mari's clone Jutsu. When they make contact with Hara's hands his chakra pours over them, and they become flat and razor sharp. With amazing speed he picks them up and hurls them at the enemy. Two of the new weapons make contact with the incoming kunai and slice them completely in half. No tries to evade, but the leaf shuriken are much faster than normal shuriken, and Hara is able to fire them at a rapid pace. Eventually they catch up with the evasive Rain Ninja, and slice his skin to pieces. No falls over, bleeding from a multitude of cuts.
Tatsuki raises her hand to stop the match, "This one is over, Hara Gaki is the winner." Hara instantly halts his attack when her arm is raised.
"I really didn't think that little Rain Ninja would last as long as he did," says Sakura once the match has concluded.
Ichimaru comments, "Those Rain Shinobi could be dangerous opponents, I won't underestimate them again."
"Were they the ones you fought in the forest?" inquires Kuroda.
Ichimaru nods, "The kid who just lost was pretty decent, but his strategy wasn't that great. Those other two however are very dangerous."
No is carried off the field by two medical ninja and the opponents for the next match are selected randomly. Hara makes his way back to the second level and is greeted by his team. "Nice one, Hara," congratulates Kuro.
"Thanks for making up for my loss," says Mari, blushing.
"No problem," replies Hara, "Thanks for leaving those leaves on the field. I didn't have to reveal my best techniques because those were there."
"I didn't do it on purpose, it was just a lucky break," Mari says bashfully, "But you're welcome nonetheless."
"Good work, Hara," says Mazuma Shiranui, the Jonin leader of the group who had been silent up to this point.
"Thank you, Sensei," replies Hara.
(That is the end of the chapter, what did you think? The Preliminaries have officially started and the number one pick Hara of the Grass was victorious in his match! Who will fight next? How will everyone else fair? As usual, if you want more information on my characters you can see their bios on my profile page. Be warned, there may be some spoilers. Also I'm in the process of getting pictures drawn for the characters, but I have no idea how long that will take. If you're interested in drawing and have a DA account then send me a Message. Enjoy the next chapter, and please review.)