(The epic Chunin Exam Arc is underway! In the Twenty Second Chapter everyone is forced to compete in a 1v1 preliminary match before being allowed to take the Third part of the exam. In the Seventh match Kenta of the Leaf forfeited to Rino of the Rain. Then in the Eighth match Rame Tsu and Ichimaru were picked to square off against each other. 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!)
The fierce battle between the two Leaf Ninja continues as Rame Tsu takes out another shuriken and prepares to attack, but Ichimaru uses a Clone Jutsu to create replicates of himself on both sides. "That same trick won't work twice," he says.
Rame Tsu retorts, "Having those clones won't make a difference. Go Demon, Wind Shuriken, Windmill of Shadows!" The shuriken slices through the clone on the left and it fades away. A second shuriken slices through the other illusion and it also disappears.
Then a third shuriken comes and Ichimaru is surprised, "What, a third shuriken?" He leaps out of the way, barely avoiding it, but then, when it is a foot past him, it changes into a cloud of smoke and a black-and-brown-clothed girl appears and throws a kunai at his back.
The kunai hits him in the chest, but passes right through his body and the illusion fades away. Rame Tsu is astonished, "What? All three of them were clones. When did he do that?"
She scans around the room, looking for him, "Where did he go, and how did he switch places with the clone without me noticing?" She is unprepared when one of the shuriken in the wall turns into Ichimaru. She spins her head around just in time for him to land a punch to her jaw and temporarily paralyze her.
She drops to the ground with a thud and stutters, "I can't move."
Tatsuki looks at her then declares, "Rame Tsu is unable to continue, Ichimaru Nara is the winner."
"Yeah, great job, Ichimaru!" cheers Kenta from the balcony.
"How did you do that?" asks Rame Tsu as she lies on the ground.
Ichimaru reveals, "When I used that Escape Jutsu earlier I simultaneously did a Clone Jutsu and a Transformation Jutsu. Then I just acted like I was one of your shuriken that hit the wall. I figured if you could hide one shuriken in the shadow, then you would probably be able to hide more. It was just a matter of waiting for you to get close enough for me to attack."
Rame Tsu just laughs and comments, "Looks like you have really grown up from that lazy troublemaker you were back in the academy."
"I had to if I wanted to beat someone like you," he replies.
"Thanks for the compliment, but I'm still not going to go out with you," she says with a smirk.
Surprised he replies, "What? But I never…"
Rame Tsu calls for Shun, "Hey, Shun, can you bring me back to the balcony? I want to watch the last match."
"Sure," says Shun as he leaps down and then walks over and picks her up, "I also want to see just how good Kuroda has become."
Ichimaru shakes his head and thinks, "Girls, I will never understand how their minds work."
He makes his way back up and stops by Kuroda to talk.
Kuroda comments, "It was wise of you not to reveal your more advanced Ninjutsu in the preliminary rounds, because I know that your father must have taught you some of the famed Nara Clan's Jutsu by now."
Ichimaru agrees, "Yeah, but if I had a different opponent I might have had to use it. Now it's your turn to fight, I'm looking forward to seeing you in action."
Tatsuki yells at Kuroda, "Hey, you, hurry up and get down here." Kuroda looks down to see that his opponent Naga Takeuchi is already standing there.
"Well, then I had better get down there," says Kuroda as he takes a seat on top of the railing.
"Good luck, Kuroda," says Kenta.
"What are you doing? The stairs are over there," points out Jando.
"The stairs are so inconvenient," replies Kuroda as he now stands on top of the rail.
"Stop fooling around and go fight your match already," scolds Kayo.
"As you wish, Sensei," says Kuroda as he stifles a yawn, "Sakura, some assistance please?"
"Yes, of course," she replies as she steps over to him, places a finger on his chest and gives a slight push.
Kuroda doesn't try to catch his balance, and drifts off the rail. "What the hell are you doing?" yells Ichimaru as he reaches over the rail to try and catch his friend. Kuroda smiles as he falls to the ground, and he stretches his right arm out to his friend's. Their fingertips barely brush each other, and Kuroda seems to float in place for a moment.
"Don't be so concerned, Ichimaru, I can land on my own two feet this time," says the boy clad in black before he plummets to the ground. On the way down he twists in the air and then lands neatly on the ground with seemingly no effort.
"What a show off," complains Jando.
"You could have warned me, Sakura," sighs Ichimaru as he resumes his previous viewing position. Sakura shrugs in return and settles in next to him.
Kuroda stuffs his hands in his pockets and slowly walks to the center. All the eyes in the room are on Kuroda, and the anticipation grows with every step he takes. "Okay, Kuroda," thinks Shun, "It is time to show me what you can really do."
"Here it comes," says Mari to her team.
"Maybe we will see what is so special about this guy," comments Hara.
"Just watch and wait," advises Mazuma.
"Can you feel it?" asks Hoshi.
"Feel what?" replies her teacher.
"Something big is going to happen," explains the young Genin.
"So what are you going to do now?" wonders Yamashita.
Kenji catches a yawn and then looks over to see Chiaki biting her lip. "What has you so nervous?" he inquires.
"Maybe if you stopped gaping at me and paid attention you would know," she replies harshly without looking at him.
"But you are much more interesting than anything going on here," responds Kenji as he relaxes his arms behind his head.
Ignoring his remark she explains, "The troublemaker we have been dealing with is making his debut."
"Nothing about him stands out to me," says Kenji.
Remaining silent next to them the Tsuchikage thinks, "So, Leaf Ninja, are you going to show me that special Jutsu of yours?"
Naga yells at Kuroda, "Hurry up you; I want to get this started so I can get my revenge for earlier."
"So eager to lose?" thinks Kuroda, "Oh well, who cares. Right now I need to decide what kind of show I am going to give everybody."
Tatsuki watches the final Leaf Ninja and is hit by a wave of something sinister. "What is this feeling?" she thinks as she starts sweating severely, "I've never felt anything like this before. This chill is so paralyzing. Something bad is about to happen."
Kuroda glances at the proctor when he arrives and notices the change in her demeanor. "Interesting," he thinks to himself, writing a mental note about her reaction.
Trying to ignore her uncomfortable feeling Tatsuki announces, "All right, this is the last of the preliminary matches. The winner will go on to the third exam. Now that you are both here, begin!"
The match starts, Kuroda hops back a few paces and distances himself from Naga.
Naga laughs and starts to gloat, "I don't know what kind of Jutsu you were using in the forest, but I suspect you had help from someone else and you really are not that powerful. My Barrier Jutsu combined with Yamashita's Jutsu would have certainly killed you if….."
Kuroda cuts off his sentence by charging forward with unimaginable speed. He punches a hole in Naga's chest with only a hand. Then he rips out Naga's heart and crushes it in his hand. Blood splatters everywhere. It all happens so fast that it takes a second for everyone to realize what happened. Naga falls to the floor dead.
(That is the end of the chapter, what did you think? The Preliminaries have officially started and Ichimaru managed to defeat Rame Tsu. Next, Kuroda seemed to defeat Naga, but is it really over? 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.)