Hey, sorry this chapter took so long to come out, but I hope you'll enjoy it!
Chapter 41: A Worthy Opponent
Reminder of the Name Changes:
Naruto / Gelato
Temari / Pallamano
Genma / Antifrizione
Sasuke / Tony
Shikamaru / Capriolo
Ino / Maiale
Sakura / Rosa
Might Guy / Scar Face
Kankuro / Oscuro
Kakashi / Spauracchio
Gaara / Tarma
Rock Lee / Beni Niro
As Pallamano and Capriolo were just about to leave the arena, there was a sudden rumbling noise, followed by a break in the rocky ceiling above as two figures landed into the arena. It was Spauracchio looking as disinterested as ever, while next to him stood Tony, wearing a short-sleeved black dress shirt instead of his usual white one, with black shorts, black stockings, and black shoes. Rosa gasped as her heart suddenly pounded, while Maiale's eyes widened.
"Well, I don't believe it!" shouted Antifrizione, waving his hand towards Tony while addressing the crowd. "When we thought that the most anticipated match wasn't going to happen, Tony Fuori of the Foglia Family made it just in time!"
The crowd cheered immediately, among them being Rosa and Maiale, but they glared upon noticing the other cheering Tony on. While Capriolo sighed heavily and walked back to the locker-room, Pallamano followed after him with a tense look on her face. She walked past Oscuro, who gave her a similar look. Meanwhile, Gelato was just getting out of the bathroom, which he went to during Capriolo and Pallamano's match, when he saw something that nearly made him piss his pants. To his left, there were two Foglia (Konoha) family Soldiers standing in the hallway, but then Tarma appeared behind them. Upon releasing the sand from his sack, they were killed within seconds. Capriolo had just entered the hallway when he saw the two dead Soldiers.
"This is just the beginning," Tarma said walking past Capriolo while retying the sack. "After I've fought the dark-haired one, I will kill all of you."
Capriolo was too stiff to move, and he didn't even watch to see Tarma enter the arena. Spauracchio quickly noticed him, and left to join Rosa on the benches. Tony, on the other hand, firmly stood his ground as Tarma untied the sack a second time, allowing the sand to swirl over his head, but it did not advance as Antifrizione eyed both him and Tony before he gave the signal. Everybody watched with anticipation as both opponents watched each other for a few seconds, before Tony broke the silence and threw a few Throwing Knives (Kunai) at Tarma.
However, the sand immediately responded and instead of becoming the Wall of Sand (Sand Shield), it changed instead into a Sand Double (Sand Clone) of himself, catching the knives in mid-throw. His siblings watched, noticing that Tarma was clutching his head, and saying incoherent things to himself, but they were loud enough for others to hear. Paying no attention to them, Tony attempted to sprint at Tarma using incredible speed that reminded Scar Face, who was seated near Spauracchio and Rosa, of Beni Niro's speed without the weights. But despite Tarma's state of mind, the sand attempted to assault Tony, yet Tony dodged it with a swift accuracy while attempting to hit Tarma from multiple angles.
It was at that moment that Scar Face jumped out of his seat and crouched near Spauracchio. "That system (fighting style) Tony is using…is it-
"Similar to Beni Niro's?" Spauracchio said, completing Scar Face's sentence. "Yes, I spent the past month training Tony to replicate Beni Niro's speed exactly, though he already knew his system after their first encounter due to his Specchio Occhi (Sharingan) eyes."
While Scar Face felt a certain pride in that mention, he stared at Tony with concern, despite the fact that Tarma's Wall of Sand was getting weaker. Then after a few punches, Tony managed to kick Tarma in the face in mid-air. Oscuro was standing in the doorway of the locker-room when it happened, while Pallamano was standing on the other side. They watched their brother getting beaten several times with great concern until they saw Tarma with a wild look in his eyes, but it only lasted seconds as he then created a sphere made of sand around himself that was so thick that neither Tony nor any of the audience members could see Tarma inside.
Tony chuckled. "Really? This is the guy that put Beni Niro out of business? What a load!"
He charged at the sphere with his fist extending in front of him, but before it even touched the surface, an eye made of sand grains appeared above the sphere, spotted him, causing sudden spikes to appear where Tony's fist would've gone if he hadn't pulled back in time. There were a few cuts on his knuckles, but Tony didn't give up, and attempted to go for a downward aerial kick, but found spikes popping near his feat. He dodged them, but quickly discovered that no matter where he attacked, the spikes appeared.
"Interesting…a shield that is so thick that a mere punch won't dissipate it," Spauracchio noted, folding his arms. "In other words, a perfect defense."
"This was what I was afraid of," Scar Face replied, clenching his fist on the seat in front of him, which was empty. "If you recall from Beni Niro's battle, his speed and agility weren't enough to defeat this boy, so how do you expect Tony to surpass him?"
"Oh, don't worry, Chemistry (Taijutsu) wasn't the only thing I taught Tony."
Just then, Tony ran up the side of the arena's wall opposite of him, causing the audience to look. After placing his feet firmly down due to his Wall-Scaling (Tree-Climbing) skills, Tony gripped his left arm, and concentrated really hard. As the minutes passed, Rosa and Maiale watched anxiously, when they were suddenly scared out of their wits by Gelato and Capriolo's sudden entrance.
"Capo Spauracchio!" Gelato cried, getting Spauracchio's attention.
"Gelato, Capriolo, what is the matter?" Spauracchio asked calmly.
"You've got to stop the match! Tony will die if this continues!"
This surprised everyone who heard him within hearing distance, including Rosa and Maiale.
"What makes you so sure that Tony will die?" Spauracchio didn't sound convinced.
"We saw Tarma kill two Foglia Soldiers on his way to the match, and last night…" Capriolo paused, bringing up the painful memories of what Tarma said to them. "…As you probably know, Tarma attempted to kill Beni Niro, but as we chased him, he told us his backstory, and he said-
"That his only reason for existence is killing others!" Gelato finished. "When I heard Tony showed up, I felt certain he could beat Tarma, but now I'm not sure."
"Well, maybe you should have a little more faith in your teammate," Spauracchio said as he turned to face the arena. "There's more to Tony than meets the eye, as you're about to see."
Gelato and Capriolo quickly ran to the railings, and saw a brilliant blue light pulsing from Tony's left hand. Rosa was equally fascinated, and so she turned to Spauracchio and asked, "The Nature Energy (chakra) on that attack (technique) Tony's using is visible! How is that possible?"
"Yeah," Maiale joined in. "Normally, attacks give off an aura from the Nature Energy that is being used, but this one has no aura."
"You're right, this attack doesn't have an aura," Spauracchio answered. "That's because what you're looking at is Nature Energy that is so concentrated that it becomes visible-
As he spoke, Tony ran straight down the wall and towards Tarma's sphere-shaped shield to where he was nothing but a bright blue blur, accompanied by a strange sound that reminded Gelato of the screeches Aquila-Jovis (Gamabunta) made during their awkward first meeting which involved Gelato hanging onto the giant eagle's talon for dear life.
"Which produces that sound of screeching birds that you hear, hence its name: Mille Aquile, or One Thousand Eagles (Chidori)," Scar Face said, finishing for Spauracchio. "When combined with intense speed, this attack delivers a devastating blow that can kill its opponents instantly."
"But how come we've never heard of this attack before when we were Cugines?" Rosa asked.
"It's not something that you can find in books," Scar Face continued. "In nature, it's an original attack that was created by Spauracchio himself during his days as an Assassin (ANBU agent) when he legendarily split a lightning bolt in half, which is why its more advanced version is called the Thunderbolt (Lightning Cutter)."
Upon mention of the Thunderbolt, Rosa and Gelato were instantly silenced when they thought back to the bolt of lightning that Spauracchio used to accidently kill Fiera (Haku), just as Tony pierced the sphere-shaped Wall of Sand with one enormous punch. Oscuro and Pallamano were horror-struck when they heard an ear-splitting scream come from inside the sphere. Gelato was shocked with awe, while the two girls squealed for joy. But just as the rest of the crowd was about to follow Rosa and Maiale's example, Tony suddenly pulled his hand out of the hole he punched. What followed next made everyone's stomachs feel queasy.
Out of the hole emerged a large front paw belonging to some monstrous feline with large claws, bristly sand-colored fur, and there were numerous scars scattered along the forearm. It swatted at Tony for a few seconds, and then it retreated back into the sphere. Afterwards, the sphere collapsed, revealing Tarma with a wounded shoulder as drops of blood were scattered on the floor. Gelato gritted his teeth as he watched Tony with a sudden surge of envy, but then out of nowhere, a dark mist shrouded his vision as a melodic harp played off from somewhere. He was overcome with a sudden urge to sleep, but despite his best attempts, the world went dark as Gelato and several hundred spectators among the bleachers collapsed from sudden sleepiness. This was then followed by a sudden explosion that came from the balcony where the Godfather (Hokage) and Teacher (Kazekage) were seated, which was only seen by the few Foglia family members who recognized the Illusion spell that was now cast throughout the arena, including Spauracchio, Scar Face, Rosa, Capriolo, Tony, the Rena Siblings, and one lone Assassin who wore a dark hood that covered his face.
End of Chapter 41