?￢ﾜ ? ~ Chapter Twenty-two — Caged ~ ?￢ﾜ ?ￂﾠ
All of the passing Genin from the exams and their senseis were in the exam room. They all grouped together by village. Ka'rai and the rest of Kumo were at the opposite side of the balcony they stood on. An entire tournament arena separated them. Naruto saw that his brother had a smirk on his face. He must've been excited to fight.
He would've been too… but again, he felt nervous. Against Orochimaru, he managed to use the Kyuubi's chakra. What was even better was that he remembered every bit of what happened. There was barely an action that he wasn't in control of. Hell, he even quipped at Sasuke.
He was ready to harness the power of the Kyuubi… but he just didn't know how. Papa Ryu was at the opposite of the Konoha group, which was a shame because he wanted to talk to him about it. Shinrai wanted to stand by Ms. Miya, and well he wanted to stand by Shinrai.
But… why didn't he just walk over? Yeah, that was smart. Naruto patted Shinrai's shoulder. "Gonna be back in a bit…"
"Gotcha," responded his brother as Naruto walked to where Papa Ryu was. He looked… mad. But he walked up to him with a proud smile anyway.
"Hey, Papa Ryu!"
"...What is it, Naruto?" he asked after a bit.
"When I fought Orochimaru in the forest… I managed to use a bit of power. And I was completely in control!"
His eyes widened a bit in surprise. Gosei—who stood near—showed a bit of alarm. That made Naruto a bit prouder. "That's good to hear…"
"You think you can train me on how to summon it now—?"
"No," immediately denied Papa Ryu. "There's a difference between controlling a bit of chakra under a special circumstance, and what you're asking for. You're not ready."
It's the same bullshit he always says! Naruto's fists clenched before he turned away without saying a word. There was nothing he could do to convince him. He tried. Naruto crossed his arms over the balcony railings and huffed.
Shinrai looked toward him with a frown. "No luck?"
"Nah…"
Shinrai huffed and narrowed his eyes. After a bit, he asked, "Doesn't it feel like somebody's missing?"
"Uh…" Naruto paused. "Wait, yeah it does!" He stopped to think. "Where's Team 10?"
Ms. Miya winced. "They… didn't make it."
"Oh, they failed?!" questioned Shinrai… yet his inquiry didn't seem to be resolved.
Naruto frowned. "Well, that sucks."
"Yeah, they failed," confirmed Ms. Miya, looking visibly hurt. "But you won't be seeing them again."
Shinrai immediately caught on. So did Naruto, as well as everyone in earshot. "Damn," was all that Shinrai could say.
Team 8 was by Ms. Miya, their sensei. "That's unfortunate," mumbled Hinata, looking down with a shadowed expression. Shino didn't say a word. Kiba seemed too distraught to say a word.
"D-Do you know who did it?!" questioned Naruto, fists clenched.
Miya sighed. "Asuma thinks that you know who had something to do with it."
"Of fucking course," muttered Shinrai with a scoff.
Sakura's next words quivered from her lips. "Ino's… dead?"
The following silence was her answer.
She stepped back against the wall and sat down, hugging her legs with her head hidden. All found it wise to leave her be. With clenched fists and tears in his eyes, Naruto looked back on to the arena.
Old Man Hokage stood ahead of a giant statue of the Ram Seal. Another Jonin stood beside him, he looked sick. The old man spoke. "Alright… I've noticed that quite the amount of examinees passed the Second Exam this year. So, the proctors of the exam decided to host a Preliminary Tournament to thin the numbers."
The sick Jonin coughed. "My name is Hayate—"cough"—and I'll be the proctor for this exam."
"The reason I'm here," the Hokage began. "Is because I've noticed quite the amount of power amongst the examinees this year as well." He then eyed Ka'rai, then the Nanabi girl that stood next to him. Lastly, he eyed Gaara… Shukaku's Jinchuriki.
But he didn't look at him. A pit of shame sank in his stomach…The Kyuubi was supposed to be the strongest Bijuu and yet, he wasn't even put in the same conversation as the other Jinchuriki. His fists clenched harder and his eyes narrowed. He hated this.
"I am a safety precaution should the worst happen."
A beat of silence passed, and Hayate spoke up next. "Alright… I'll start the exams now. Two combatants will be chosen at random, their names will appear on the screen there." He snapped his fingers and the names of the dozens of Genin there flashed over and over.
After thirty seconds, two names were chosen. Ka'rai Uzumaki vs Gaara of the Sand.
"Damn," mumbled Shinrai. "Two Jinchuriki off the bat…"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. I guess I'll get to see how real Jinchuriki handle their Bijuu…
In a flash of blue and black flames, Ka'rai appeared in the arena. With a whirl of sand, Gaara appeared next. Hayate looked really nervous. He could even feel the tension from all of the Jonin. Especially Papa Ryu.
"The match may begin…" Hayate gulped. "Now." He flickered out of the way. Ka'rai and Gaara stood off against each other. His fellow Uzumaki looked really mad. A cobalt firestorm whirled like a vortex. It was so hot that he could feel his skin sear from being in the same room as it. The intensity of the flames died down just a bit.
A transparent blue aura of fire coated Ka'rai entirely. It was shaped like a two-tailed feline. A ghostly presence chilled Naruto to his core—and yet his skin still burned. Ka'rai's eyes had two different colors, yellow and green. His claws were long, his canine teeth stuck past his lips, black flames blazed over his face.
"Use Shukaku's power. Don't bullshit me," demanded Ka'rai with a fierce glare.
Gaara, however, just stood stoically. Ka'rai's dramatic eruption didn't affect him in the slightest. His head tilted in response to his question. An angry blue-eyed gaze pierced through the flame. "I won't give you the honor… you weakling."
Naruto barely saw what happened. All he registered was the aftermath. Glass and blue fire spattered throughout the arena. Waves of sand were cut to ribbon by flaming claws. In another blazing blast, Gaara's face was slammed to the arena floor by Ka'rai's clawed hand.
"I SAID DON'T BULLSHIT ME!" A second cobalt inferno burned Naruto's skin. Smoke even rose from the orange of his jacket. The same went for Shinrai, Ms. Miya, everyone.
"Shit!" yelled Shinrai with a laugh. "This dude's hardcore!"
Naruto nodded with sweat steaming off of his face. "Yeah—"
Ka'rai screamed out in pain. Naruto's eyes widened. His body was impaled over a dozen times over by sand. After Ka'rai screamed, Ka'rai roared. His fire evaporated the sand. Gaara writhed with agony and fury. Sand smoldered and crumbled off his upper body like ash.
"You dare… you dare injure me?!" sneered Gaara. Ka'rai responded with another attack. Claws of fire grew from his body to burn through Gaara's defenses—it was barbaric. A vicious kick plowed through Gaara's sand and into his torso. A spear of flame shot through Gaara's body.
Ka'rai's claws burned and tore skin and sand from Gaara in a brutal assault. Gaara could barely do anything—any sand he sent to attack Ka'rai was burned into nothing by the blue fire. It looked like it had a mind of its own. Despite the many wounds, not even a drop of blood was spilled from Gaara.
It was all cauterized on the spot.
Naruto's fists clenched. What abilities did the Kyuubi have? What otherworldly elements could he control? What was the true extent of the power he had inside of him?! He knew he could be as strong as Ka'rai or Gaara—maybe stronger.
But Papa Ryu didn't teach him a damned thing.
Naruto grit his teeth as he shielded himself from the searing heat.
"Fire Style! Jinsei Inferno!" yelled Ka'rai. An ocean of blue fire ravaged the arena. Naruto's skin smoldered and his jacket caught fire.
He screamed out in horror. "HOT! HOT!" It seemed that he wasn't the only one. Shinrai was panicking, so was the rest of Team 8, 7, and everyone else was on fire. Immediately, Ms. Miya weaved hand seals for a barrier seal. It prevented any further heat from coming through.
At the same time, Kakashi-sensei spat out a weak Water Style Jutsu. Rain and mist put out the flames that spawned. Naruto still trembled from the pain. "OUCH!" he yelled. Naruto slammed his fist on the barrier. "WATCH YOUR FIRE YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"
"He can't hear you, Naruto—" Ms. Miya muttered.
Through the barrier, he did hear Gaara scream. He wailed—the sound was the definition of agonizing. "MY BLOOD!" cried Gaara as he attempted to console a gaping gash on his chest. Blood pooled on the sand-stained floor like a waterfall. More blood gargled from his mouth.
It was horrifying.
Gaara's quivering was so intense that he convulsed. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THISS! I-I-I'LL MAKE YOU SUFFER! I KILL YOU AND EVERYONE YOU LOVEE!"
The threats only made Ka'rai cackle. It was sadistic… did having a Bijuu make everyone crazy?! Suddenly, the red love kanji on Gaara's forehead shimmered into a magnetic blue. Sand erupted from it—the coarse and shattered earth consumed Gaara's face, his arm, his torso. Blue eyes dimmed into a sandy eye with a four-pointed star.
Ka'rai bared his fangs and cackled even more. "This is what I've been WAITING FOR!"
A single tail of sand rose like dune. Half of Gaara's face was the face of a tanuki, growling with torment and rage. His wounds were scabbed over with dense sand stained red. "I REFUSE to lose to a bright-eyed bastard like you! My existence will be the end of YOURSS!"
The tournament arena crumbled into sand like a miniature desert. Grains whirled in the wind—from there Naruto could barely see a thing. He could see Gaara's hulking silhouette and the blue glow of Ka'rai's fire.
Ka'rai was flung across the arena many times. Ka'rai screamed just as many times—then just like Gaara, he wailed. The sound made him cringe in pain he didn't even feel. Another scream hit Naruto's ears—this one had words—it bellowed out, "BAKUGAMI!"
Had it not been for the barrier, everyone's eardrums would've burst. Parts of the balcony outside the barrier crumbled. A hellish detonation of blasted blue flames in a mushroom cloud. Sight outside of the barrier was shrouded by the fire that blazed throughout the arena.
"Why the fuck is he so strong?!" questioned Shinrai, sweat dripping down his face.
Naruto let out a sigh. "He's a Jinchuriki… that can control his Bijuu's power. Why wouldn't he be so strong?"
"Fair enough…" mumbled Shinrai.
Eventually, the dust settled. Ka'rai's cloak looked different. It was a brighter blue… he almost looked like a miniature blue sun. Gaara was still the monstrous half-Shukaku thing. But Gaara wasn't prepared for Ka'rai's next attack. His sand defended automatically with an attack— but Ka'rai's new fire cloak did the same.
The two clashed again and again but neither could damage the other. Eventually Ka'rai managed to free himself to weave hand seals. "Fire Style: Jinsei's Breath of a Thousand Suns!" The bright blue flames from his cloak melded with the one from his mouth in a gigantic firestorm—ending with spherical points of chakra.
The shield of Gaara's sand melted from the attack. Again, they clashed and struck each other—dozens of times over. None was damaged more than the other. Gaara rasped out an enraged scream and went fully offensive. Ka'rai's cloak defended against it. But Gaara's attacks were becoming faster and faster. The fire had to put more and more of itself in harm's way to keep Ka'rai safe.
Gaara's power was increasing… that must've meant that domain thing Papa Ryu told him about. Shukaku's was the desert. Shukaku in the desert was just as strong as the Kyuubi.
Ka'rai was pulled under the sand. A grained spear shot from Gaara's cloak and into Ka'rai's chest—it barely missed his heart. Ka'rai only ran forward—the spear skewered him deeper. He clawed into Gaara's face and with a burst of flame he ripped the skin from Gaara's face.
Another ghoulic scream rasped from Gaara's throat. A convulsive maw of magnetic sand coalesced over Gaara's arm. "IT ALL ENDS WITH THIS!" It morphed into a churning monstrosity of spikes and sharp edges.
Ka'rai grabbed the sword strapped to his waist and shouted, "BRING IT ON!"
Two ferocious elemental storms of sand and fire burned. Ka'rai's sword raged orange—then blue as he defended against Gaara's magnetic maw. He could barely see through the sand and flame. Blue and tanned particles raged. The inside of Ms. Miya's barrier was heated like an oven.
The two Jinchuriki screamed words at each other, but Naruto could barely make it out. Another deafening explosion rang through the arena and Gaara was flung back by a flaming blue beam. A hole blazed through his chest and both elemental storms subsided.
Ka'rai's cloak was gone, so was the white armor he wore. Now, he could clearly see all of his wounds. Countless gashes, imaplments, even his eyes were bleeding from the strain. As expected, he collapsed to the floor, heaving bloody breaths from his mouth.
Gaara didn't stop screaming. The scalding hole in his chest damn near burned him alive with torment. His arms spasmed. His head convulsed. His legs looked like they were being shocked with current. Gaara's screams were distorted with gargling.
Naruto winced. "Damn… is he gonna die?"
"Look at him, Naruto," said Shinrai, deadpan. "I'm surprised he lasted this long—"
A sprawling clawed arm of sand erupted from Gaara's face. Deathly chakra of pure flame tore through Ka'rai's skin—burning him. Rotating in the massive claw, transparent chakra whirled at hypersonic speeds. At the same time, Ka'rai was pulled away—a beam of transparent chakra atomized everything in its path.
More chakra roared from Ka'rai—flashes of his own death filled his mind… every possible way his life could end in that moment. Naruto stumbled back as the rest of the chakra took shape. The head of a giant feline growled—made up entirely of blue and black flames.
"The Nibi…" gaped Naruto with utter terror rattling his voice.
The Konoha Jonin watched on with their own dread and concern. Ms. Miya weaved seals to strengthen the barrier.
The Nibi growled. "Calm yourself, Shukaku!" it—no—she screamed.
"YOUR JINCHURIKI STARTED IT! MINE HAS A HOLE IN HIS CHEST!" bellowed Shukaku from Gaara's unconscious body. His voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard.
"Both of you calm yourselves!" commanded the Hokage. He stood between the two feuding Bijuu. His white robes flapped in the wind of power from both. His elderly expression was stern.
The Nibi tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "I will take care of it, Shukaku."
"Fuck you!" screamed Shukaku before returning to his seal. Immediately, the hole in Gaara's chest was filled with sand.
Shinrai frantically patted down Naruto, then himself. "We're all alive? Right?!"
"Yeah, I think so…" muttered Naruto, still shaking.
In the arena, Ka'rai groaned in pain to himself. Old Man Hokage let out a sigh. "The winner of the match is Ka'rai Uzumaki."
Shinrai managed to clap for him. Ka'rai celebrated to himself… before falling unconscious.
"How are any of us supposed to live up to that?!" yelled Shinrai in outrage. "That was a bullshit ass first match!"
Ms. Miya let down her barrier. At the same time, the Hokage slammed his hands to the ground. "Earth Release: Hardening Polish Jutsu." In an instant, the sand hardened into polished stone. The arena looked no different from it was before.
All Naruto could do was sink into the deepening pit of shame and insecurity he felt. Shinrai was right… how could he live up to the level of power Ka'rai and Gaara just displayed?! Even when he was in control of the Kyuubi, he didn't have any chakra tails or anything! It was just slivers.
Ka'rai and Gaara could transform. The amount of power they could summon was astronomical compared to the ant's amount of chakra he could control, not even muster. Shinrai's elbow knocked him out of his insecurity spiral.
"W-What?!" he asked.
Shinrai pointed toward the screen that displayed the matches.
Naruto Uzumaki vs Natsuyo Senju.
"Oh!" Naruto spattered. It was Gosei's little sister that he was fighting… Naruto smirked. Yeah, he could win this. There was no way he'd lose to a little girl.
Meanwhile, Shinrai laughed to himself as he made his way to Gosei. He wrapped him in an armlock with a cackle. "Oh yeah, I have to see the expression on your face clearly when Naruto whoops her ass."
With a grunt of distaste, Gosei pushed Shinrai off of him. "There's no way Natsuyo is losing to the likes of him."
"My brother would beat both of your siblings," interjected Kusari.
Shinrai looked at with a dramatically incredulous look. Then he theatrically turned his head toward Neji, who stood right beside Kusari, still wrapped in bandages and visibly burned. "It does not look like that."
"That…" Kusari let out a breath. "That was insensitive, Shinrai."
"I—" He pursed his lips. "Y'know what, you're right—my bad."
Neji huffed. "Watch your mouth…"
Back in the arena, Hayate stood between Naruto and Natsuyo. They both sported competitive smirks as they gazed into each other's eyes. "I've been looking forward to fighting you!" exclaimed Natsuyo.
"Yeah! I heard you fought my brother!" Naruto brandished the kunai he pulled from his pouch. "Unluckily for you, I'm the stronger one!"
She let out an excited laugh. "Is that so?!" She pulled out her own kunai and grinned.
Wait—that got her more excited?! That was supposed to scare her, shit—Naruto hid his panic with a grin. "Yeah! That means I'm not gonna lose to a little girl like you!"
"If you underestimate me, then you're definitely gonna lose!"
Above in the balcony, Gosei scoffed. "He has no respect for the strength of a woman."
"Yeah he does!" defended Shinrai. "You never heard of trash talk?! I've taught him better than that."
"You don't respect women, you crave them," Gosei muttered.
Shinrai huffed with crossed arms. "I can do both!"
Kusari shook her head.
Slowly, Hayate rose his hand into the air. It faltered as he heaved out a series of coughs. "The match may begin…"
Naruto tensed with a smile. Natsuyo's smirk sharpened.
Cough—"Now!"
Hayate flickered out of the way of a Summer Sun Shower from Natsuyo. With widened eyes, Naruto leapt above the jutsu. Dammit! She has the elemental advantage over me!
Naruto made a clone to fling himself toward her. Mid-air, he made two dozen more. Now, it was Natsuyo who was surprised. "So many—" she sputtered, barely reacting to one she popped into smoke. From behind, Naruto kicked her, another clone punched her, another clone—she couldn't do anything.
Or, so it seemed. A burst of pure chakra blew the clones back—but surprisingly, they didn't burst. They did after Natsuyo yelled, "Fire Release: Flame Bang Blast!"
A pluming dome of golden flames ravaged the clones. For the second time that day, Naruto was on fire. He frantically threw off his jacket and barely evaded a flaming kunai slice from Natsuyo. His fist clenched hard and he threw it right into her gut. The sheer impact knocked the breath from her and made her drop the kunai.
Naruto smirked. His smirk was blasted off his face by a windy fist. While flying through the air, he barely made a shield of clones in time to black another fire jutsu. When Naruto landed, he and his two remaining clones shrouded the area in smoke with bombs.
"You think smoke is enough to blind me?!" she shouted. It was followed by the calling of, "Wind Release: Omni-gust!" A unidirectional gust of wind blew the smoke away. All she saw were even more clones surrounding her.
Natsuyo huffed and weaved two quick hand seals. "Fire Clone Jutsu!" A dozen clones of Natsuyo erected themselves in flame. They managed to fight off the Naruto squadron for her to weave more hand seals. Another Omni-gust boomed and her clones became human avatars of fire that decimated Naruto's clones.
Ahhh! I don't wanna use my Wind Style because she can just counter it. I can only use my clones so many times—His head whipped from the impact of Natsuyo's fist. She grinned at him before kicking his stomach, elbowing his jaw, kneeing his chest, and striking his chest hard. Naruto stood his ground, grabbing her arm.
Like he was climbing a tree or walking on water, he latched his grip onto her. When she tried to pull out she couldn't. Naruto cackled. "IT ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKED!" He pulled her into his next fist. His signature orange glow of chakra surrounded it and her eyes went vacant from the impact.
He whirled her into the nearby arena wall and struck her with a chakra filled kick. "You can't make seals for jutsu with just one hand, huh?!" Both of their clones were long dissipated.
Natsuyo smirked at him. "Well, you can't either!" she countered. With a grunt she blocked his chakra fueled fist. Before Naruto could counter, she kicked his knee and Naruto lost his balance. When he fell down he made sure to bring him down with her.
She tumbled down on top of him and Naruto quickly switched that arrangement. With his superior strength and more powerful chakra, he pinned her to the floor. Natsuyo strained against his grip with little avail. "So… what's your plan now?"
"You've been on your back for three seconds. That means I win."
"What—?"
"YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT WWE?!"
"The hell is that?!"
Naruto gasped in offense—a devious smirk crossed his face. "WELL LET ME SHOW YOU!" Suddenly, he yanked her off her back, quickly slamming her head into the floor with his own. She needed to make sure she was disoriented. He locked her arms around her head and flipped over to dig her knee into her back.
She groaned with immense discomfort. "I guess I should see what this WWE is all about…"
Naruto nodded even though she couldn't see it. "YEAH!"
With a strained grunt, she summoned every ounce of strength she could muster. Off-guard, Naruto found himself flung into the air with his back hitting the hard tile. Of course, his grip on Natsuyo hasn't faltered one bit. She stomped on his elbow and pulled, but she had no luck.
"Are you ever gonna let go?!"
"Nope!"
Natsuyo groaned and stomped her foot to his face. Since both of his hands were occupied with her arms, he couldn't block. Natsuyo stomped again and again and again—With a haphazard shout, Naruto finally let go.
He immediately shielded himself with clones. As expected, fire blew past him. But, it gave him time to weave a single hand seal. From two places on Natsuyo's arms, the sound of sizzling could be heard.
Naruto smirked.
Natsuyo paled.
A massive bang rattled the arena and left the tile broken. His powerful chakra combined with the potency of an explosive seal… made a really big boom. Naruto wasted no time and rushed down Natsuyo with five clones in tow. It wasn't a lot, but it was all that he needed.
A clone punched Natsuyo right in the jaw. The satisfaction of cracking bone was felt under his knuckles. Another clone kicked her, a different clone jabbed her in the back of the head. Only three clones attacked. The other two clones and the original stayed right behind the three attacking, shadowing the clone's movements. Each impact was doubled.
Natsuyo made space, stabbing a clone with a kunai. The real Naruto was right there to shatter the kunai with his fist. He moved in perfect sync with himself to absolutely pummel Natsuyo. Six beings—one mind.
She managed to dodge a hit from the original. Tanking two clone blows, Natsuyo grabbed the original and flung him into two clones, decimating them. She kicked one another clone out of existence, weaving seals for a jutsu. "FIRE PUNCH!" she roared with a fist of flame, burning the last clone out of existence.
Naruto paled. Natsuyo kept her fist alight and sprinted toward him. With a single seal, he flickered out of the way, making distance. He flung flurries of shuriken and kunai toward her. Her Fire Punch evaporated and she shouted, "Wind Release: Zephyral Storm!"
The wind blew Naruto's weapons back on him. A second set of hand seals were weaved. "Fire Release: Ignition Wave!" Sparks flew as fire burned toward the wind-enhanced weapons. The extended blades burned bright and Naruto was left in the direct path of it.
"Fuck."
He made a shield of two dozen clones to block, but they were cut through like butter. Naruto made himself as small as possible to minimize the damage. A pained growl echoed each painfully searing cut he was forced to endure. It ended after a couple seconds—Natsuyo's Fire Punch pummeled him in his face.
Flames burned his face—he was sure he didn't have eyebrows anymore. His head was dizzy and whirling against the floor. He barely saw Natsuyo's grin above his face. A frantic double kick to the gut knocked her off of him. Somehow, he managed to flip onto his feet and not vomit.
Natsuyo's fist dug into his gut. Instinctively, he slammed his fist into her gut. They both stood in pain for a couple seconds before attacking again. Naruto punched her gut so hard he could feel her spine. Natsuyo punched him both in the face and throat in kind. A wheeze escaped Naruto's breath as he was kicked. His butt hit the floor and a kick to the face knocked his head into the shattered tile.
Naruto roared and rolled out the way of another Fire Punch. He pounced upward and made a bunch of clones—he couldn't be bothered to count at that point. Ahhh! I'm not going to win at this rate!
He and his clones' minds became one again. They dashed toward Natsuyo, attempting to dogpile her. Naruto made the Ram Seal and made himself mad. He thought about the Genjutsu Shinrai put him under. He thought about how Gato treated The Land of Waves and Zabuza's corpse. He thought about how Choji and Ino were murdered. He thought about all the times Papa Ryu refused to teach him to use the Kyuubi's chakra.
Well, he would do it now—to hell with all of those warnings.
Naruto roared and his orange chakra spewed in an aura around him. Panting, Natsuyo took care of the clones just in time to see it. The anger fueled Naruto's chakra and it poured out like nothing else. His rage was felt in the epicenter of his seal. Where the Kyuubi was held.
"NARUTO!" shouted Papa Ryu. He had a warning glare of anger.
Good.
Naruto responded with a smirk that said, 'You can go fuck yourself.'
He channeled even more chakra and rage to the seal—he could feel something eating at it. It was the Kyuubi. He latched onto Naruto's anger and fueled it. Sparks of red flickered in the orange—he felt his power spike… then it flickered out.
The red went away and Naruto's chakra subsided. Naruto barely had time to process his failure before Natsuyo punched him to the floor. Naruto's world was blurry and his chakra didn't feel like it was his. Each breath was like heaving a boulder up a mountain—I'm… I'm gonna lose. He barely managed to look up at his opponent. She smiled down at him.
"Thank you for the match, Naruto Uzumaki! I truly enjoyed myself."
All it took was a simple punch to make his world go black.
?￢ﾜ ? ~ Chapter End ~ ?￢ﾜ ?