(The epic Chunin Exam Arc is underway! In the Thirty Seventh Chapter of the arc, the final match of the Chunin Exams has begun and Kuroda has summoned an elephant to fight with Hoshi. 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!)
Kuroda warns her, "Don't stop the match!"
A gust of wind tugs on Tatsuki's hair and clothes. The exam proctor looks at him and questions, "Why not?" She wonders why he is insisting that the match continue when he is just standing next to her in the middle of the arena and not even participating.
"Because I said so," he replies.
"What kind of reason is that? I don't have to listen to some kid," she responds while taking a step forward and slowly raising her arm.
He gives her another warning, "If you attempt to stop the match I won't hesitate to break your neck."
Tatsuki takes the threat seriously and begins to draw a kunai. Kuroda advises, "I wouldn't do that either. It won't matter if you have a weapon or not, I can kill you in less than a second. But also it would look really bad if you had your weapon drawn. There are hundreds of people from many different countries watching right now. They would all be very eager to know why a proctor was attacking a competitor for no apparent reason. It would make the Hidden Rock Village look very bad and disrupt the newly formed relations between our two villages. On the other hand, if I attacked you then I could simply make the excuse that I believed you were an assassin from another village sent to kill the Tsuchikage's daughter. Plus, I have made all the necessary preparations for that scenario."
Tatsuki realizes, "This kid isn't playing around. I doubt he would take me down as fast as he claims, but I don't think he was lying about the assassination thing. Reports say that our forces have been tracking him for the past month, but he goes missing for long periods of time. He could have it all prepared. What should I do? Why doesn't he want me to stop the match? All I can do now is watch and wait, and see what he does." She slips her kunai back into its resting place and continues to observe both the ongoing match and the mysterious young ninja by her side.
"It looks like Hoshi is struggling a bit against this elephant," comments Mazuma.
"Normally with her Kekkei Genkai, she would be unbeatable in close range combat," explains Kenji, "But I guess she hasn't had much experience fighting against ninja animals."
"And certainly not an elephant," replies Mazuma, "I haven't heard of anyone who could use that kind of summoning in a while."
"What was that all about?" asks Chiaki as she watches Hoshi dodge a powerful stomp from Dantoloxo.
"What do you mean?" inquires Kenji.
"For a second there it looked like Tatsuki was going to attack Kuroda," says Chiaki.
"Your eyes must be playing tricks on you," says Kenji, "No way would she ever attack any competitor."
"I guess," she agrees, "But I could have sworn…"
"Do you mind if I ask a personal question?" inquires Kuroda.
"What is it?" replies Tatsuki, showing slight irritation.
"You don't happen to be ill, do you?" he asks.
"Excuse me?" she replies, confused by the question.
"I have noticed that you've been looking a little pale ever since I first saw you at the tower. You also seem to be suffering from uncontrollable shaking mainly focused in your right arm," Kuroda deduces, "So I was wondering if you happened to be inflicted with some sort of disease or suffering from an illness."
"There is nothing wrong with me, I am fine," she says firmly.
"I guess it is just my imagination then," he comments.
Meanwhile Hoshi is getting irritated, "This isn't working. For an animal that big he moves very fast, and is very agile. I can see the weak points in his defense, but I'm not fast enough to take advantage of them. I need a distraction."
Dantoloxo pulls out a special kunai that is a little longer than a normal kunai and has blades on both ends. "Time to optimize my Taijutsu attack capabilities," he thinks. Hoshi charges in and slices down with both her arm blades parallel to each other. The ninja elephant curls its trunk up and blocks both the blades with his special kunai. Then he pushes back up and throws her backwards a few feet.
She lures him into attacking, and dodges so that the kunai he is wielding goes straight into a tree. It gets stuck, and while he attempts to pull it out she backs off to a distance and momentarily drops her hand blades Jutsu. The blades return to debris and rocks, and they fall to the ground, but this now allows her to perform hand signs. "Earth Clone Jutsu," she shouts out when she finishes the seals. Nearby exposed dirt and roots gather together and form into two copies of Hoshi. Dantoloxo frees his weapon and turns around to see three girls running at him in an attack formation.
They all have their hands morphed into sharp blades of stone. He, on the other hand, only has a single kunai to defend himself. The two clones run off and circle around to both sides, going for a pincer attack. The elephant grips his double-sided kunai with his trunk and waits until they close in. When they are right on top of him he hops up into a rapid side-over-side rotation. This enables him to deflect the incoming stone blades of both of the clones. After their attacks fail the clones leap away, wary of getting caught by the buzz-saw like move.
"So Hoshi is able to use earth nature chakra, very impressive," comments Yoshikuni.
"It makes sense considering her Kekkei Genkai," says Kayo.
"Yoshikuni-sensei, you are able to sense a ninja's nature element also?" questions Sakura.
"No, I don't have the same ability that Kayo does," he replies.
"Then how do you know Hoshi has the earth element?" asks Jando.
"It is because of her clone Jutsu," says Tousen.
"Her clone Jutsu? What do you mean?" asks Rame Tsu.
"Those aren't the same variety of clones she used against Jando in yesterday's match," explains Yoshikuni, "Those were Stone type. They are very strong and hard to defeat, but also very slow. These ones are dirt clones. They are much faster and more agile. The only problem is if the enemy gets a solid hit on them they will fall to pieces. But as you saw they didn't fall apart after being hit right now. If you add earth type chakra into them they become a lot more durable."
"She is already able to actively use nature chakra at such a young age," says Tousen, "What a magnificent young girl."
"You are such a pedophile," mutters Naoko.
Meanwhile one of the copies is slashing across Dantoloxo's torso as another comes at him from above. He jumps back and lifts up his kunai to defend from the sky attack. However the clone on the ground leaps forward and smashes its shoulder into his gut. He falls on his back, but rolls over the top and lands on his feet again. The enemy appears right at his side and stabs her stone blade at his feet. He hops to the right to avoid it and then whips his trunk around and smashes her in the temple before she can withdraw her blade from the ground. He watches her fly off, but is almost too slow when another copy appears on his right side.
He whips his trunk back around in time to meet her blade with his special kunai. She slices downward with her free arm, but somehow he is able to block it with the other side of his kunai. Another figure suddenly slides under him on its back. The third Hoshi pulls her legs into her chest and then they explode upward into his gut and shoot him high into the air. The two clones regroup and jump up as gravity pulls him into the air. They sync their movements and perfectly time opposite leg spin-kicks that slam into his side. He flies across the arena and when he hits the ground, he tumbles over multiple times, before sliding to a stop.
As Dantoloxo stands he thinks, "Damn, she was just starting to slow down from exhaustion too. I wish I was able to use some sort of clone Jutsu. That would make my job a whole lot easier. Oh well, I thought I saw a pond around here somewhere. I can just use that Jutsu." He quickly sprints over to the pond with Hoshi and her clones in pursuit. He jumps into the shallow part of the pond and then turns around to face them.
"Hold up, it is a trap," the original Hoshi shouts. The two clones come to a halt a few yards away from the elephant.
He laughs, "You shouldn't have stopped. If you were closer, you might be able to avoid my next attack. Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" A pillar of water shoots up from the pond, twisting and turning, and taking on the appearance of a dragon. Then it lunges forward at the clones as they scramble to get out of the way.
Kuroda is pleased and thinks, "I didn't think Dantoloxo would be able to use such a powerful Jutsu. This is very good. He will be a great asset for me in the future." The attack easily wipes out both of the clones and then turns to head towards the original, who had stopped a lot further away.
"Shit," yells Hoshi. Her stone hand blades fall to pieces and out of instinct she rattles out a number of hand signs. "Earth Release: Earth Shore Return," she screams as the water dragon rushes straight at her. She thrusts her hands into the ground before her and a large block of stone rises from the earth to form a wall between her and the incoming attack. The water dragon crashes against the wall that has just formed. The wall stands sturdy under the pressure until all the water is gone and sits motionless at its base.
Kuroda thinks, "That defensive Jutsu she just used is very interesting. It is crude, but effective if the attack is only coming from one direction. Plus I think it is much stronger than my ice shield, and I don't have to account for the weather."
Tatsuki accidentally comments, "When did the Tsuchikage's daughter learn that Jutsu? I thought she wasn't ready yet?"
Kuroda glances at her and smiles, then returns his gaze to the battle.
The advanced Ninjutsu leaves Hoshi drained of energy and chakra so she can barely catch her own breath. Dantoloxo has charged forward and circled around the wall to her left side, so he can have a clear line of sight. "Looks like she is out of chakra," he thinks, "I guess I should end it then." He charges at her as fast as he can and then curls himself into a ball and launches himself straight at her. Hoshi doesn't have enough time or energy to dodge, so the attack hits her flat in the chest and sends her halfway across the field. Dantoloxo then jumps high into the air and comes crashing directly down on Hoshi. She is just able to roll out of the way, but before she can do anything he slams his trunk into her face. Hoshi falls to the ground a few meters away. She tries to stand up, but is too weak and tired to lift herself up.
Dantoloxo looks like he is going to attack again, but Kuroda appears next to him and says, "The fight is over. Thank you for your assistance in this matter. I was very impressed. That is all, you may return to wherever it is that you come from."
Dantoloxo sighs, "As you wish," then disappears in a puff of smoke. Kuroda walks over to the battered Hoshi. He stares at her while she lies on the ground hardly conscious. He bends down and lifts her up into his arms, and then he carries her all the way over to Tatsuki and gently lays her on the ground.
"She is not critically injured, but she does require medical attention," he says.
Tatsuki realizes, "He ended the match before that elephant used its final attack. Most likely it would have killed her. But why? He did not treat his other opponents with any concern for their well-being. Is it because she is the Tsuchikage's daughter? Well, it doesn't matter, it is over. I just need to report all of this to the Tsuchikage and he will decide what to do about it."
Tatsuki raises her arm and officially declares, "The winner of the match and the tournament is Kuroda Taishi," and then she speaks into her ear piece, "We need a medical team down here immediately."
(That is the end of the chapter, what did you think? Dantoloxo is victorious meaning that Kuroda is the final shinobi standing in the Chunin Exams, but who will be elevated to Chunin rank? 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.)