Here's the new chapter. Match 4 takes place.


The Kumo team they were fighting against drew their swords and entered into a formation, with Karui in front in a standard forward facing stance, and Omoi and Atsui on either side in a sideways stance. They then charged forward as a group.

He looked at Shikamaru and asked, "What's the plan ?"

Shikamaru just shrugged and said, " Why don't you test them out with that new jutsu of yours for now ?"

All right then. Kage Bunshin no jutsu.

The instant he finished the hand seals, the arena was filed with about 50 shadow clones, all of whom charged the Kumo team while wielding chains.

The Kumo ninja stopped for a moment and stared in shock at the sheer number of clones, but seemed to compose themselves and continued their attack. Atsui switched places with Karui and released a wave of flame with his sword. That attack managed to take out a bunch of clones.

Karui then used her brutal strength to take more out with powerful swings, while Omoi covered her back.

They were managing to wipe out the clones well enough. Omoi's swordsmanship was tricky, filled with fake outs and clever tricks to obfuscate his real aim. He was channeling lightning chakra through his sword, and so was Karui, which made it possible for them to destroy the clones with just a touch of the sword.

Atsui had managed to use the distraction to close in, going for Naruto and...

Was caught by the shadow paralysis used by Shikamaru, who had been disguised as him, while he was disguised as Shikamaru. Ino then quickly made him resign.

He then charged for Omoi, as he and Karui were basically done with beating the clones. It seemed like he'd caught Omoi off guard, but he was suddenly forced to catch the blade between his hands, while it was sizzling and shocking his palms. Damn that hurt. Karui began moving to support Omoi, but before she could, Ino took over Omoi in the second he'd been standing still and sucker punched Karui, then quickly resigned in Omoi's body.

Karui realized that she was the only one left, and resigned herself.

That had been easy enough. Though he couldn't say the next match would be so easy.


"Hoh, so that's the son of the fourth hokage." said A. "And from that name and those chains, he's an Uzumaki in name and ability. I guess this result was to expected given his legacy."

Onoki grinned at him and snidely remarked, "Oi Hiruzen. Quite sneaky of you to hide that brat for this long. None of us were even sure if that brat was still alive. Quite a waste if you ask me."

He smiled and replied, "Yes, well Konoha didn't particularly need his strength till now, so we decided to let him relax for a bit."

Yes, this was an excellent tournament so far. 4 teams in the final, and all but one has gone through so far. He wasn't as sure about the next one, given that the team they were up against is the team of the granddaughter of the third Tsuchikage, Onoki himself. But it was Kakashi's team, so a surprise victory certainly was possible.


A/N

Here we go. Match 4 is done. I've mapped out how I want the rest of the tournament to go. I'm particularly fond of this arc to be honest. Every match so far has kinda been against fodder teams, and exists to kinda establish the power scaling. This batch of Konoha teams is incredible in universe, so I wanted to make that clear. I'm trying to make the power scaling as clear as possible.

Omoi

Ninjutsu: 2

Taijutsu: 2.5

Genjutsu: 1.5

Intelligence: 2

Strength: 2

Speed: 2.5

Stamina: 2.5

Hand Seals: 1.5

Total: 16.5

Notes: His swordplay is based on speed and clever tricks, has a good balance of abilities.

Karui

Ninjutsu: 2

Taijutsu: 2.5

Genjutsu: 1.5

Intelligence: 1.5

Strength: 3

Speed: 2

Stamina: 2.5

Hand Seals: 1.5

Total: 16.5

Notes: her swordplay is based around overwhelming strength. Is headstrong and the one pushing the team ahead along with Atsui.

Atsui

Ninjutsu: 2.5

Taijutsu: 2.5

Genjutsu: 1.5

Intelligence: 1.5

Strength: 2

Speed: 2.5

Stamina: 2.5

Hand Seals: 1.5

Total: 16.5

Notes: Has the greatest skill in ninjutsu in his team, with some ranged fire style attacks through his sword, which forms the basis of his swordplay. Helps push his team forward along with Karui.

Naruto Uzumaki

Ninjutsu: 3.5

Taijutsu: 3

Genjutsu: 1.5

Intelligence: 1.5

Strength: 3

Speed: 3

Stamina: 4

Hand Seals: 1.5

Total: 21

Notes: Incredible physical abilities and stamina due to special status. Can sense negative emotions with good amount of skill.

Shikamaru Nara

Ninjutsu: 3

Taijutsu: 1.5

Genjutsu: 2.5

Intelligence: 4.5

Strength: 1.5

Speed: 2

Stamina: 1.5

Hand Seals: 2.5

Total: 19

Notes: Incredibly clever, incredibly lazy. Needs to put in more effort. Surprisingly charismatic, natural leader.

Ino Yamanaka

Ninjutsu: 3

Taijutsu: 1.5

Genjutsu: 2.5

Intelligence: 2

Strength: 1.5

Speed: 2.5

Stamina: 2

Hand Seals: 2

Total: 17

Notes: Is smarter than she looks with good understanding of psychology.