CHAPTER TWO
Centre stage-Part 2
As the crowd around them roared, Moegi glanced one more time at her teammates, then at her immediate surroundings. She looked at the sea of heads in the crowd, trying to find a familiar face for encouragement but there was no way she could find someone from this distance. Suddenly, the announcers voice rang out from the overhead speakers and around the arena.
"Participating in the semi-finals will be team 4 of Konohagakure, and their opponents will be team 7 of Kumogakure". "From the Konoha team, we have Sarutobi Konohamaru, Hyuuga….."
"Hey, Moegi!" a sharp whisper drew her attention to her left, where Konohamaru was standing.
"We've got this okay! Remember what sensei said, it's okay to be nervous". He gestured to the Kumo team across and continued. "As long as we remember our training and work as a team we can beat these clowns!"
"I like your attitude Sarutobi", Hanabi chimed in. "Lets go out there and make our people proud"
"Right! We've got this" said Moegi, feeling a little bit better after hearing her teammates words of encouragement.
"And finally, Nezuko Wasabi" the announcers' voice snapped them back to reality, as they discovered he had finished calling out their opponents names. "And with that, may the semi final match, begin!"
A deafening cheer could be heard around the arena as the two opposing teams lunged into combat. The team from Kumo engaged first, with a boy sporting a bright red headband performing a set of hand signs and slamming his hands on the ground, causing a set of walls to separate the Konoha team from each other, with a clear passage way to Moegi in the middle.
Seizing the chance, his two teammates charged Moegi at once, aiming to overwhelm her.
"So that's their strategy huh", Konohamaru said to no one in particular as he turned to seek his other teammate.
"Hanabi, we need to bail out Moegi!"
"Right!"
Both genin dashed towards their stranded teammate, who was currently engaged in a close range brawl with the other two Kumo ninja.
[Shadow clone shuriken jutsu]
A barrage of shuriken was sent raining down on Moegi's attackers from Konohamaru's attack, but it proved futile as a new wall simply sprung up between the projectiles and their target. Hanabi quickly molded chakra to her feet and ran up the newly sprung up wall in an attempt to land on its other side and rescue Moegi, but just as she reached the top, the surface under her feet vanished, sending her crashing to the ground and narrowly dodging a kunai thrown her way. She regained her bearings and got up right in time to deflect a fist covered in a metal knuckled glove and electricity aimed at her face, quickly delivering a blow to the exposed ribs of her attacker. Right as she got in her battle stance, she noticed a new set of walls isolating her from the rest of her team, along with a new face stepping forward to engage.
"Heiress of the Hyuuga clan, it's an honour to do battle with you" one of her opponents, the girl sporting the electric charged gloves declared, accompanied by a courteous bow. Surprised by her politeness, Hanabi scrambled for a response.
"Uhhh, the honour is mine miss….."
"Nezuko Wasabi" the girl completed her sentence for her.
At this moment, Nezuko's teammate, a young boy wearing a grey cloak, around the same age as Konohamaru joined in the conversation.
"You're outnumbered heiress, but we won't let up". "We've heard a lot of things about the Byakugan and we expect a decent challenge".
"Well, I promise not to disappoint" Hanabi responded, activating her dojutsu.
The girl was the first to lunge, charging her gloves with electricity and attacking Hanabi with a barrage of rapid jabs and swings. The Hyuuga countered well, dodging and deflecting every single blow while keeping an eye on the cloaked boy menacingly standing just outside her engagement range. She wondered for a bit what he had in mind by not aiding his teammate but her question was answered shortly after as he pulled out a short sword and joined in the attack, seizing an opportunity when Hanabi had her back turned to him while she prepared to strike at an opening on Nezuko's flank. Hanabi quickly reacted, expertly blocking his attacks while delivering a few quick jabs of her own, targeting his chakra points. However her opponents proved a match for her, leaving her very little room to target their chakra points and quickly recollecting or diverting her attention whenever one of them found themselves exposed.
Meanwhile, outside the stone enclosure, Konohamaru and a more exhausted Moegi regrouped and were deciding on a new plan.
"We should to take out red over there first" suggested Moegi, gesturing at the boy with the headband responsible for creating the earth barriers. "That jutsu of his is very annoying"
"It looks like their plan is to separate us and fight at the same time, making sure they have numerical superiority in every engagement." Konohamaru looked at the earth style user and jumped away just in time as another earth wall sprung up between him and Moegi.
"Konohamaru!" Moegi called for her teammate. She anxiously looked over her shoulder, expecting the other two Kumo shinobi to appear behind her and double-team her again
"Moegi! We're going after red! We need to take him out before cloak and knuckles can hurt Hanabi! It's the only way we can help her out right now" came the instructions from Konohamaru as he sprinted towards the earth style user.
Moegi took a few moments to understand what she had just heard but immediately sprung into action after she got what her teammate was trying to say. As she sent a barrage of kunai flying at the boy in the headband, she only wished Hanabi could hold on for a bit longer.
While all this was going on outside the barrier, the Hyuuga heiress wasn't having the best of days against her two opponents. They proved more than a match for her and she was forced to fight defensively for the most part. The girl wearing the chakra gloves was particularly annoying to fight. She seemed to twist and turn away from every opening she left in the middle of her attacks before Hanabi could capitalize on them and her cloaked teammate was always there to support her actions with attacks from his blade.
Up in the stands, Hinata and Naruto watched the unfolding battle closely. Naruto was uneasy throughout the whole ordeal, he felt his heart rate spike every time one of his students dodged an attack narrowly or carried out a powerful attack of their own. Team 4 had come a long way and he was incredibly proud of them, however the job wasn't finished. He could only hope they pushed themselves harder to reach the finals. He turned to Hinata by his side, who had activated her Byakugan to monitor what happened behind the constantly changing earth barriers.
"Hinata, how's Hanabi doing?"
"She's still holding on but I don't know how long she can keep doing so", Hinata's reply came with a hint of worry.
Naruto redirected his focus to Konohamaru and Moegi who had begun to engage the earth style user.
"That's it guys, you can do it" he muttered to himself, hoping they could defeat their foe before Hanabi got overwhelmed.
The truth was as bratty as Hanabi could be, she was still the most powerful member of their team, and Naruto could see it. Her being taken out first would affect their offensive output significantly, and it looked like the Kumo team had seemed to notice that fact, as the pair of Nezuko and the boy in the cloak hadn't switched targets in a while.
"Hurry up guys, please" was the thought in Hanabi's head as she found herself struggling to turn the tide on her opponents. Finally, she found the chance she was looking for as the glove wearing girl looked to send an uppercut at Hanabi, which she preemptively dodged. The attack proved to be a feint however, as Nezuko stopped her attack prematurely and instead lashed out with her other fist, connecting with Hanabi's midsection. The Hyuuga felt the air knocked out of her body as she ducked into a side roll and got back on her feet , struggling to regain her composure before the next barrage of attacks would arrive. She saw Nezuko hesitate for a moment before preparing another attack. She also caught a glimpse of the boy in the cloak charging her from her left, blade raised , and decided dealing with him first was more important .
[Eight trigrams air palm]
A powerful gust of air sent him flying to the ground , giving Hanabi just enough time to refocus on her other enemy and try to defend herself.
She was too late.
Nezuko sent a powerful blow to Hanabi's face, following up with two more punches from her iron-cladded fists. Not intending to give her opponent any time to react, she ducked under a clumsy palm strike from Hanabi to drive a fist into her ribcage and kicked at her shin, causing her to stoop lower. She immediately darted back in front of her and continued her assault, sending rapid jabs and swings into any opening she saw to exploit. Nezuko was determined to finish the fight. The original plan was to knock out the red haired girl from the fight as fast as they could, granting them the numerical advantage. Of course, carrying out this plan would leave their teammate, Gon the earth style user vulnerable to attacks but they were confident he could hold off the Hyuuga heiress and the protégé of Naruto Uzumaki long enough for them to dispatch their first target. But the rest of team 4 didn't take the bait and Hanabi had proved a formidable foe. Things were not exactly falling apart just yet but she had begun to feel fatigue wear her out.
"Arggh!"
A scream from the recently defeated Gon distracted Nezuko from her fight with Hanabi momentarily, giving the latter a chance to air palm her assailant and send her a good distance away. Hanabi raised her head and struggled to refocus on her opponents. The cloaked boy was already sizing her up for another attack and Nezuko was back on her feet. She could feel warm liquid dripping from a cut on her forehead, and her left eye felt swollen. The Hyuuga tried to ignore her injuries, but her entire body ached. In the corner of her eye, she picked up movement heading towards her position and felt a wave of relief wash over her.
She had never been happier to hear Konohamaru's voice.
"Hanabi! Are you okay?" Konohamaru rushed to her side and quickly looked over her injuries. "We're sorry we couldn't make it in time".
"I'm…. I'm fine"
Konohamaru wasn't entirely convinced with her reply but in their current situation it had to do.
Moegi sized up the enemy team and spoke to her teammates. "Its 3 vs 2, we have the advantage here guys". "Its all or nothing, we need to finish this now", she added as she spread a scroll in front of her which produced two Sai in a puff of smoke.
Team 4 led the attack this time. Preceded by a deafening roar from the spectators in the arena and under the cover of a smoke screen produced by Konohamaru they charged their two disoriented opponents and engaged in close range combat
Moegi and Konohamaru fought the cloaked boy while Hanabi sought a rematch with Nezuko.
"You're not one to quit Hanabi" Nezuko remarked with a smile as she parried several palm strikes from her. This time, the Hyuuga had her on the defensive. The last battle had left Nezuko low on chakra and energy and Hanabi looked to exploit that. Nezuko didn't seem as quick footed as before and Hanabi had taken notice, more of her attacks seemed to land with each passing moment. The tide was beginning to turn in her favour. Konohamaru and Moegi had also managed some sort of breakthrough in their fight against the other Kumo genin but it had come at the cost of the latter, as she was completely knocked out of the fight. The fatigue from her first battle had finally taken it's toll, and the cloaked boy exploited it by seeing an opening and sending a roundhouse kick to Moegi's face, knocking her out for good.
Moegi's effort wasn't in vain though as their foe also seemed to have run out of steam, his attacks becoming sluggish as a result. Konohamaru was beginning to find it easier to fight him and was now also on the offensive, pushing his opponent closer to the walls of the arena with each attack.
The crowd had grown even more restless at this point in the battle and the spectators roared and cheered with each deflected blow and dodged kunai. Up in the stands, Naruto had gotten up from his seat, gripping the handrail nervously.
"Hinata, can you see if Moegi is still moving?"
Hinata focused her Byakugan on the motionless girl and gave her reply.
"No, she's down for good. Her fight is over".
Naruto wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with his girlfriend's words and watched his last two students fighting two separate battles. He noticed Hanabi looked to be wearing down her opponent and felt a wave of optimism wash over him.
"Konohamaru and Hanabi are still in this fight, we can count on them to win". He said before adding, "I bet their opponents are exhausted too".
"Hanabi looks to be winning!" came Hinata's voice. It was now her turn to grab the handrails in anticipation as she watched her little sister outclass the Kumo genin that had given her so much trouble only moments before. Hinata could barely watch Hanabi get battered in the unfair fight she found her self in a few minutes before, she didn't quite have the stomach for it. But now, watching her twist away from every swing and jab from Nezuko and follow up with palm strikes of her own, she couldn't control the sudden rush of adrenaline that flowed inside her as her eyes widened with pride from watching the battle below.
"Hanabiiiii! You can do it! Go Hanabi!" Hinata screamed at the top of her voice. She doubted her sister would hear her over the noise in the stadium but cheering her on was the least she could do at that moment.
Down below, Hanabi thought she heard her name from the stands as she dodged another one of Nezuko's fruitless blows. She toyed with the possibility that it was her older sister cheering her on in her mind and couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. She was way too exhausted to reactivate her Byakugan but nonetheless, she persisted. Thoughts of her loved ones raced through her mind.
Hinata.
Hiashi.
Her sensei, Naruto.
Moegi, sprawled out on the ground not too far from her.
Even Konohamaru, still locked in combat to her right. The teasing from him would be relentless if she lost this battle, even if he failed too. She couldn't bear to let that happen.
She couldn't let them down.
Fueled with determination, she retook her gentle fist stance and locked eyes with her opponent.
"What are you smiling about?" Nezuko asked as she noticed the small grin that had suddenly found it's way to her opponents face.
Hanabi responded by increasing the intensity of her attacks, giving Nezuko even less time to react. For the Kumo genin, it was like she was fighting a different person. She was showing more and more cracks in her posture with each passing minute and Hanabi punished her severely for it, shutting down her chakra points in her left arm completely and leaving it hanging lifelessly. Nezuko staggered backwards, struggling to stay on her feet. She knew she was going to lose at that point. Mitoma, her teammate in the grey cloak was also running out of steam and she was all but finished herself. She looked at her opponent and couldn't help a slight grin from forming on her face.
The Hyuuga heiress lived up to expectations.
Falling to her after such a performance was a thing of pride, not shame. And as she saw Hanabi take a stance that had been continuously drilled into her by her sensei to fear, she knew her fight was over.
"Well done" was all Nezuko could muster as she braced for impact.
[2 palms]
Hanabi went through all the steps she had practiced so often, targeting the chakra points of her opponent like she had been doing it all her life. It was significantly harder to pull it off without her Byakugan activated, but she had trained for precisely this situation in the past. She thought she heard someone calling her name and hesitated for a split second, then decided to proceed with her onslaught.
[8 palms]
Six quick strikes hit her chest and torso and Nezuko could feel liquid welling up in her throat. She wasn't surprised when she saw the front of her shirt start to colour red.
[16 palms]
Her other arm went limp with the next barrage of precision jabs, and she could feel herself start to buckle over. The noise from the crowd grew louder and louder, clearly the spectators were more than pleased with the display.
[32 palms]
With that, Nezuko's vision started to blur. It must be one of the effects of being on the receiving end of the Hyuuga technique. Her breathing also grew heavier, but she just assumed it was all the ash in the air.
Wait.
Nezuko caught a quick glimpse of her surroundings and noticed the sudden cloud of ash that engulfed both of them. Surprisingly, the finishing blow she was expecting from Hanabi never came. She hesitated for a moment, not believing her luck. Then she mustered whatever energy she could…..
[Rasengan]
Konohamaru sent his opponent crashing to the ground with his jutsu, eliciting a roar of approval from the spectators. He paused to look at the boy beneath him.
He didn't look like he was going to be getting back up anytime soon.
Quickly he turned to look for his teammate and he saw her on his left still locked in combat. He noticed she was a good distance from the girl with the iron knuckled gloves and decided to take advantage with a more destructive jutsu.
"Hanabi! Get out of the way!"
His teammate looked to be taking a step back as he did the required hand signs and let out a cloud of ash that engulfed both Hanabi and her opponent
But Hanabi didn't move away. Instead she rushed back into the fight before Konohamaru could react. Igniting the flames at this point would hurt both Nezuko and Hanabi, so he had to cancel his attack halfway. He decided that taijutsu would be a more useful method of helping Hanabi and gripped two kunai in his hands, getting ready to run to her aid. At the back of his mind, Konohamaru hoped Hanabi's Byakugan would enable her to see through the ash cloud he just engulfed her with, turning it into an advantage for her.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his right thigh. He looked down at the sword protruding from it and dropped to one knee, gritting his teeth in pain. Behind him, Mitoma plunged his sword into Konohamaru's other leg, though this time he could only manage to graze him. Still crawling on the ground, he raised his arm for another attack but a kick from the Konoha genin knocked him out for good.
"What is this?" Hanabi muttered as she suddenly found herself covered in ash that blocked her visibility. Her mind quickly registered what had happened as she remembered her stupid teammate trying to get her attention right as she was about to end things on her part. And now she just lost sight of Nezuko because of him.
"Konohamaru you idi-"
A heavy, lightning infused punch to her face prevented her from finishing her sentence as she fell to the ground, knocked out cold.
Team four's fight was over.