Adventures of the Orange Flash
Chapter 40: Turn up the Heat!
Naruto was currently in the waiting room and meditating deeply to calm himself down for the upcoming battle, he had taken off the ECG-X gloves and instead wore black fingerless gloves with metal plating which reach up to his elbows. The blonde Kitsune inhaled and exhaled deeply before opening his eyes to reveal the Mind's Eyes before deactivating once he blinked before shifting from the cross-legged position to sitting on the side of the bed.
"Still feeling nervous?" asked Kurama.
"Only a little, I'm now mostly excited. I can tell that each and every one of the competitors are no doubt strong and I really want to compare the levels of over between myself and them," said Naruto with a smirk which the Kyuubi mirrored.
"So what will you do now before being called out for your match?"
"I recall that there are two rooms where the competitors can meet up and socialize, pretty sure that some of them are already there so I'll go to the one on my side since the other is on the other side of the building," Naruto replied.
"Alright then, let's go say hi to some familiar faces,"
Naruto nodded in affirmation and got off the bed then left the room before making his way through the hallways and following the signs till he arrived at his destination where he saw that the others are already there. Namely Natsu, Vector, Lilac, Sonic, Bunnie, Espio and Honey. They all turned to see him enter and called out to him.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up," said Sonic with a grin.
"I was doing some meditation to calm my nerves before the upcoming fights," Naruto replied.
"Wise decision to remove a sort of tension from the body," said Espio as he leant back against the wall with his eyes closed.
"Not me, I'm all fired up for our match!" said Natsu with a look of excitement.
"Same here!" Naruto grinned at the thought of it.
"Before that, the match between Rouge and Killua is about to start," said Bunnie, getting everyone to turn towards the large TV screen which was currently broadcasting the match live.
[Ladies and Gentlemen, the match between Killua Zoldyck and Rouge the Bat is about to go underway. We will now change the theme of the arena] said Scratch before pressing a button on a remote.
The entire arena including the borderlines suddenly shimmered as the hologram features were activated and the arena features many neon lights especially one that resembles a green Chaos Emerald with the bars around being neon versions of giant playing cards while the background was made to feature a roulette wheel and slot machine which seems to never stop spinning.
[The arena theme is Casino Night…now let the match begin!]
"Let's see what you got my cute whiskered friend," said Rouge with a saucy wink.
"…," Killua didn't reply and simply took a loose combat stance.
"Oh a silent type, met many others like but I always found a way to make them talk,"
Rouge flapped her wings strongly to launch herself quickly towards the lynx and lashed out with a high kick aimed precisely for his head with the intention to knock him out in one hit…but Killua tilted his head to the side and redirected the direction of the kick with a palm of his hand before backpedalling away from Rouge with his eyes trained upon her and not blinking in the least with the wind ruffling his silver hair. Rouge frowned at this and attacked once more with another kick at his torso in a wide arc but Killua dodged again by sidestepping and parried the kick like before.
Killua lashed out with several jabs which Rouge was able to evade before retaliating with a barrage of swift kicks that forced him back into the defensive but would throw in a punch or kick at opportune moments as the two combatants traded and evaded strikes with the crowd going wild at the spectacle as Scratch served as the commentator.
[Quite the match we are having here folks, they just started and yet things are already heating up between those two!] said Scratch.
Rouge performed a low sweep kick for Killua to leap into the air to avoid then she flapped her wings to take chase after him and lashed out with a combo of kicks, forcing him to block and parry with his arms and his eyes widened slightly when he saw Rouge attack with a heel drop kick bearing for his chest. The lynx somersaulted in midair and grabbed onto the leg before using the momentum to flip around and land back on the ground on all fours then looked back at Rouge who descended back to look back at him with a saucy grin.
"You certainly have some quick reflexes, I must say I'm impressed," said Rouge.
"…," Killua remained silent and continued to stare silently at her.
"You know it's quite rude to not respond when someone speaks to you,"
"…,"
The lynx made no reaction whatever then he began to pace around Rouge who kept her eyes trained on him as he stared back at her intently. Rouge continued to keep him within her sights and paid attention to his action when she began to notice something very strange about Killua…his footsteps are completely silent and made no sound as he walked even with her powerful sense of hearing much to her shock.
"How can it be possible? It should be extremely difficult to pull off such a feat…what the?" her surprise didn't stop there as she saw Killua begin to actually multiply into more of them and she wasn't the only one as everyone watching were knocked for a loop at the sight of this, none more so than Naruto whose eyes were wide in disbelief.
[Am I seeing things or is there more than one of Killua?! I might need to get my eyes checked after this!] said Scratch, getting mumbles of agreement from some of the spectators.
Rouge had placed herself in full alert now as she tries to pick out the original out of all the copies which she figured to be intangible, listening for his position is out of the question and sight isn't really going to help her much, unless of course…she stood at the ready and carefully looked at the copies…
"Over there!" she lashed out with a razor sharp towards the Killua closest to her left "Figures you would try to take me out by getting close to me while using your copies as a distraction!" her kick made contact…only for it to go right through! "What?!" the copies instantly disappeared and the original was nowhere to be seen, which could only mean…
"…that was the wrong one," a cold whisper was heard from before Rouge felt something hit the back of her neck and everything went black for her.
Scratch saw Rouge fall to the ground unconscious with Killua standing behind with his back to her and an arm outstretched to depict that he had knocked her out with a chop to the back of the neck, then he made his announcement [This match is over and the winner is Killua Zoldyck! He will move on to the next round on the tournament]
The crowd cheered loudly in appreciation of the match with Killua simply bowing his head in response and left with the arena having already reverting to its default state while a team of medics appeared to carry Rouge away on a stretcher. The large four-sided Holo-screen was projected overhead to display the tournament ladder as the headshots of Rouge was greyed out and Killua's was moved further ahead to signal his advancement.
"Wow, that was quite a sight to see," said Bunnie, still trying to come to terms with what she just saw.
"That's saying something, I thought you need to move very fast to leave behind afterimages not slow like that," said Vector.
"First time seeing this in my case, and I'm all about speed," said Sonic while crossing his arms with a frown on his face.
"His fighting style is good and all, but his fashion style needs a lot of work," said Honey, getting everyone to sweatdrop at her review.
"The guy likes dodging a lot though," said Natsu.
"Kinda hard to figure out a fighting style since he didn't take on a combat stance," said Lilac.
"Knowing that there are many eyes upon him, he making sure to lesser moves as he advances to reduce chances of strategies planned against. However his techniques appeared…subdued," said Espio.
"Yeah…," Naruto was in complete agreement with his fellow ninja, he could tell that Killua was holding back on his techniques…those were meant to kill the opponent and he had reduced the potency to half their true power "We better watch ourselves should we run into him,"
"Don't have to tell us twice," said Vector with Espio nodding silently in affirmation.
"There is more to that lynx than we can think of kit, be very cautious around him," said Kurama.
"Way ahead of ya on that one," thought Naruto.
Honey then called out to the others "Hey guys, they're announcing the next match!" everyone turned towards the screen to see Scratch back on the arena after the short intermission.
[The next match from Group B, we have Naruto Uzumaki versus Natsu Dragneel! Will the contestants please present themselves on the arena] said Scratch as the Holo-screen displayed the portraits of said combatants with the crowd murmuring in excitement of the upcoming match in hopes of it being just as interesting as the first one.
"Looks like we're up next," Naruto turned towards Natsu who looked ready to bolt out of the room judging from how his body was absolutely shivering with anticipation.
"Finally, let's get out there and start our fight already!" Natsu immediately ran out of the room before anything else could be said.
"Dang, he sure sounds like a kid on a sugar rush. You got yourself a wild one there Sugah fox," said Bunnie.
"I know Bunnie-chan, but I can't deny that I want to fight him badly too and I don't really know why myself," said Naruto.
"Good luck Naruto, I can't wait to see you fight," said Honey giddily.
"Hope to see some slick moves out there," said Sonic with a smirk.
"I'll be sure to deliver," Naruto turned to leave when he heard Espio call out to him.
"Be wary for many shall be upon you this day,"
Naruto nodded in understanding of the underlying message and left, he made his way through the hallways and was soon approaching the arena where Natsu was already waiting for him with a look of slight impatience. He looked towards the stands to see Nicole and Milla waving to cheer him on with Wendy looking on in excitement while Carla looked rather indifferent.
"It looks like your fox friend iz about to fight, I can get to see what the fuss iz all about him," said Antoine.
"Same here, he has certainly piqued my interest from what you said about him," said Breezie.
Elias smirked in response "You two won't be disappointed, seeing is believing after all," Sally didn't say anything as she was watching Naruto quite intently, but she wasn't the only one as there are certain people who are just as interested in the nine tailed Kitsune and are watching the match as well.
"So it was true, the Yakan have made their return after all these years," said a female Mobian chameleon as she stared at the screen within her throne room.
"What will be our next step?" asked a male Mobian chameleon who was bowing next to her.
"We'll shall wait for Espio to return and relay the results in hopes that it would enable the Shinobi Clan to recreate its alliance with the Yakan clan,"
"As you wish, Bride of Constant Vigil,"
"And so it has come to past according to the Web of Fate, a Kitsune of nine golden tails shall appear and with it the rebirth of a once forgotten clan which shall rise to protect the oppressed in the light and from within the shadows," said a female Mobian spider dressed in dark priestly robes.
"Is it truly him milady? The one possessing great power?" asked a Mobian spider ninja.
"I am sure of it as the Bride of the Endless Reach and having been in interpreting and reading the Web of Fate, watching this match will allow the Gossamer clan to view the level of his current power," said the Bride with the ninja nodding in understanding.
"So the rumors were actually true, there really is a nine tailed fox aside the one that hangs around Sonic the Hedgehog," said a female Mobian bat with a look of interest.
"Aside from his name and species, we also received information about him bearing an emblem which serves as a symbol of the Yakan clan?" said one of the Mobian bat ninjas serving her.
"Yakan clan? I believe I heard that name somewhere in the archives, a clan which similar ideals to that of the Shinobi clan but possesses great power which caused an intense rivalry with the Raiju clan,"
"We shall we do next?"
"We'll simply keep an eye on him to see if he really is a member of the clan, best to learn more about him to see if he could potentially be a friend or foe of the Yagyu clan,"
"Very well, it shall be done, Bride of Rich Nights,"
Conquering Storm was also watching the tournament and currently glaring at Naruto upon seeing him on the screen "So he has finally shown himself, now to see how strong he is. It wouldn't be so satisfactory to erase the Yakan clan from existence by destroying a weakling. And I never thought to see him again after all these years, now to see if he has changed at all since his disappearance,"
The Bride of the Raiju clan paid close attention to the match which would soon be underway.
[And the theme for this battle is…] Scratch pushed the button on the remote for the holograms to activate and now the arena has taken on the appearance of a sweltering desert with numerous sand dunes, pyramids and a giant sphinx statue in the distance. Naruto and Natsu were currently standing in the midst of ancient ruins as they faced each other […Sandopolis Zone!]
Naruto took the stance with his legs apart, his left hand balled into a fist and positioned at his chest, and his right hand thrust forward with his claws out "Are you ready Natsu?"
"Heck yeah! I'm all fired up!" Natsu took a combat stance of his own.
[Looks like they're rearing to go, now let the match begin!]
Music Start: Metal Gear Rising OST; The Hot Wind Blowing (Platinum Mix)
"Here I go!" Natsu quickly closed the gap between himself and Naruto then lashed out with a straight punch, Naruto ducked below it and countered with a low sweeping kick only for Natsu to reflexively evade by somersaulting overhead to land a bit further from the Kitsune. Naruto jumped to his feet and dashed towards Natsu and performing a jumping roundhouse kick which he crossed his arms to block the incoming attack, Natsu pushed back and retaliated with a swift kick of his own but Naruto dashed backwards with a short burst of speed to evade.
"Not bad, now it's my turn!" Naruto rapidly approached his opponent in a zigzag pattern with great speed and attacked with a claw swipe which was evaded then he switched to a backhand only for Natsu to block with an arm and tried to punch him in the chest, Naruto quickly jumped with a raised knee to block the punch and used his other leg to kick him in the chest and somersault away immediately afterwards. The blonde fox charged in once more and this time performed a slide along the ground with his left foot sticking out, he carefully timed his next move as he drew close before slamming his palms on the ground to launch him into the air and over Natsu and somersaulted in midair to lash out with a dive kick, but he was mildly surprised when his opponent spun round to grab his foot and was slammed to the ground then was tossed away as he recovered in midair to land on the ground with a skid.
"Fox Fang Fist!" he rushed forwards at high-speed then unleashed a barrage of punches, clawing and kicks with Natsu having crossed his arms to defend against the assault before finishing with a double palm strike, sending him skidding backwards from the powerful force. Natsu was quick to bounce back as he reengaged Naruto in close combat once more in close combat with both fighters managing to land a strike every now and then.
[Look at them go at each other! These two are clearly fighting for dominance, the question is who will attain it?] said Scratch as he watched the battle along with the crowd.
"Wow, Naruto-san is really good at fighting," said Wendy as she watched the ongoing battle in wonder.
"I know right? Naruto is super strong!" said Milla happily.
However Carla scoffed at the praise "I'm still not seeing what you're expecting me to see, he doesn't seem all that powerful like the way you're describing him,"
"I can understand your doubt a bit, but remember that this battle has just started which means Naruto has yet to show his true prowess," said Nicole, feeling a bit peeved at the underestimation by the cat but chose to shrug it off.
Back in the fight, Naruto deflected a punch and retaliated with one of his own which Natsu caught in the palm of his hand then countered with a headbutt to send the Kitsune stumbling backwards and shaking his head to clear it. He looked up to see a punch bearing towards him so he quickly had himself fall to the ground on his back and kicked the opponent up into the air with both feet, creating a small shockwave. Naruto then used Shadow Step to appear over Natsu and sent him crashing to the ground with a heel drop kick before landing on the ground as well.
Natsu got back to his feet as his body was covered in dirt and bruises but was smiling nonetheless "I knew it, you really are strong!"
Naruto smiled back "I can say the same for you,"
"Then I'll need to fight harder than before…," Natsu suddenly reared his head back as he took in a deep breath with his cheeks puffed, making Naruto narrow his eyes at the action and was taken by surprise at what happened next "…Fire Dragon's Roar!" he opened his mouth to launch a large stream of fire in his direction, Naruto dashed sideways to evade the flames then flipped sideways when the flames were redirected in his position and forced him to run ahead of the flames.
"What is that guy, a human dragon or something?! Guess I got no choice but to do it!" Naruto skidded to a stop and turned to face the incoming flames as he activated his fire aspect as his fists and the tips of his tails ignited in red flames and his body emit heat which grew intense, the flames slammed into him and seconds later began to reduce and soon revealed them being absorbed into his body much to the surprise of everyone especially Natsu "Right back at ya with interest! Dragon Breath!" he opened his mouth to spew a powerful blast of fire towards who was momentarily stunned then snapped back into focus as he opened his mouth and actually ate the fire attack "Dude breathes and eats fire…Sasuke would have killed to get such an ability with the large arsenal of fire jutsu that he has,"
"Not only him, I'll bet that all the Uchiha would have wanted it. I was right to caution you about this guy," said Kurama.
Natsu licked his lips and smirked at Naruto "Thanks for the meal, it tasted great!"
"Uh, you're welcome?" Naruto replied.
"Now that I got a fire in my belly, I'm ready to bust loose! Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Natsu ignites both his hands in flames and then brings them together, launching a large fireball. Naruto thought fast to counter the attack and decided to use one of the techniques suitable for it "Burning Flip kick!" he ignited his left leg in flames then performs a somersault to strike the fireball with a fiery kick, sending it high into the air to explode.
Naruto saw that using the current aspect won't have that much and decided to switch as he reached into his ninja pouch and took out a small gourd with Fuinjutsu inscribed all over it, he attached the gourd to his waist and popped open the cap with a thumb. A stream of water came out of the gourd and pooled around Naruto's feet with bubbles rising into the air from it to signify the activation of the Water Aspect. "Here I go, Water Shuriken!" Naruto raised his hands as small spheres of water rose into the air and took on the shape of spinning shurikens which he then launched at his opponent.
"Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Natsu rushed forward whilst igniting his fists into flames once more then proceeded to swipe at the water shurikens in a clawlike fashion as he closed in on Naruto who kept launching more while running backwards till he caught up to him "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" then he lashed out with an apparently powerful fiery fist. "Bubbled Shield!" Naruto quickly manipulated the pooled water to encase himself in a bubble to protect him from the attack but not from the impact which sent him ricocheting off the broken pillars like a pinball but he was quick to readjust his trajectory and bounce towards Natsu "Water Snake!" the bubble burst as a large stream of water shot out from the gourd and took on the form of a snake which hissed before wrapping itself around Natsu, effectively restraining him whilst extinguishing the flames at the same "Now's my chance, Water Prison!" he had the snake transform into a huge ball of water and imprisoned his opponent while sticking his hand into to maintain the technique.
"Just how much water does he have inside that gourd? It's too small to contain such an amount," said Carla confusedly as she watched the ongoing battle.
Milla then spoke up "I remember asking him about that, and he told me that the seals which expanded the space inside it that the gourd could contain a lot of water to that of a lake,"
"That's a lot, did he use some kind of magic on those symbols?" asked Wendy with curiosity.
"Not magic to be exact, he uses a certain variation of energy in conjunction with the seals," Nicole answered but not revealing too much information, something Carla was quick to pick up on.
[Looks like Naruto has his opponent in a tight hold, it might be that this match is his!] said Scratch.
"Better surrender Natsu, there's no way you can escape from this jutsu," said Naruto.
However Natsu frowned in response "No way! I'm not giving up this fight when I haven't given my all!" Naruto began to notice that the water was getting warmer and emitting heat "Fire Dragon's Roasting Bath!" the water's temperature rapidly rose to boiling point, forcing Naruto to cancel the technique and back away with his hand smarting from the scalding which was an opportunity which Natsu wasted no time to seize "Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!" he created a stream of fire from his elbow which propelled him forward and launched a powerful uppercut to send Naruto flying into the air before crashing to the ground.
"Hey kit, are you okay?" asked Kurama with concern, his response was a groan of pain from the blonde as he got up from the ground and shook his head to clear of the dizziness.
"I am a little bit, man that punch is a bit close to that of Sakura or Tsunade-baachan's punches. Would have knocked anyone else out," thought Naruto.
"I can tell, got anything else in mind?"
"He gets stronger from eating my flame attacks and turns my water techniques into steam, using wind is asking for trouble so the best chance is to use my Lightning attacks to paralyze him then go for the knockout,"
"I hope your plan works, he's just as stubborn as you are,"
Naruto got to his feet and capped the gourd before putting it back into his ninja pouch, he switched to his Lightning aspect with blue bolts of electricity arcing through his body with a majority from his hands, he turned towards Natsu and took a step forward before dashing at high-speed with electricity trailing behind him and rapidly closing the gap. Natsu lashed out with a kick but Naruto ducked underneath and countered with a 3-hit jab to the chest, he dashed sideways to evade a fiery punch then slammed a strong high kick to the left side of his opponent's ribcage.
"With my lightning aspect active, my reflexes and reaction are heightened, making countering this guy much easier," thought Naruto before snapping into focus to dodge another fiery claw swipe which burnt a bit more of his clothes before retaliating by charges at the opponent and side kicks them up into the air. Then, he uses Shadow Step to reach up and roundhouse punches the opponent away before blurring and reappearing behind to elbow him in the stomach as he turn around. Then Naruto attacked his opponent with a punching and kicking barrage and kicks him up into the air before kneeing him in his back and Double Axe Handle punching him down to the ground, inflicting a high amount of damage.
Natsu got back to his feet, looking determined as ever to continue fighting "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" he lit up his entire body in flames before rushing towards Naruto at high-speed while leaving behind a trail of fire. "A head-on attack? How interesting! Lightning Impulse!" Naruto radiated a mass amount of electricity and transformed into a lightning ethereal before charging right back in the middle and they collided with each other, triggering an explosion which sent them skidding backwards "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu attacked once more with his fiery fists and Naruto was just as quick to respond in kind "Thunder Punch!" he increased the amount of electricity in his fists before engaging Natsu in a bout of fists
[This is amazing folks! These two keep attacking each other with neither side wanting to give up or give in and…hold on, something seems to be going on with Natsu] said Scratch.
Natsu himself noticed that his body was beginning to feel numb as the exchange of fists continued and his eyes widened upon realizing the cause of it and quickly backed away, Naruto smirked as he saw this.
"Looks like you finally noticed, I've been channeling electricity into your body with each of my attacks to inflict a paralysis status on you and it has now taken effect," Naruto channeled more electricity "And now I'm going to put an end to this! Lightning Shock!" he held his hands in front of himself to form a sphere of compressed electrical energy which he then launched at Natsu who tried to move out of the way but the paralysis kept him immobile and was sent tumbling back and laid there unmoving "It's over now…,"
[And there you have it, the winner of this match is…]
"RAAAAAAH!" there was a loud roar which came from a supposedly unconscious Natsu whose body was ignited in flames and this time there was blue electricity arcing around his body as he stood back up and glared at Naruto "This fight is far from over!"
[Unbelievable, Natsu is still rearing to go and appears that he has somehow absorbed the electricity and using it to his advantage!] said Scratch as the crowd went wild at this spectacle.
"How can this be even possible? Even I got knocked out when Raiga struck me with a literal lightning bolt and it took Tenten using the Curry of Life with revive me," said Naruto.
"His body must have somehow adapted to the electricity as the battle went and your last attack was what must have jumpstarted this new power of his," said Kurama thoughtfully.
"Ugh, nothing is ever simple in my case,"
"Has it ever been simple? It was quite obvious ever since your first C-rank mission that nothing happens the way you expect it,"
"Don't remind me, now I gotta deal with this one too,"
Natsu retook his stance "It's on now! Lightning Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" he rushed up to Naruto in an instant with his fists engulfed in lightning and flame and punched at him rapidly, Naruto was quickly evading the barrage with bobs and weaves while stepping backwards but then he made a mistake which resulted in his left shoulder being struck, the lightning didn't have any effect but the flames burnt him badly to the point that he used Shadow Step to quickly retreat.
"Now I know that I'm in trouble," Naruto muttered to himself.
"It looks like your friend iz in quite a predicament, I don't see how he can work his way out of zhis," said Antoine.
"I have to agree with him, his plan to paralyze his opponent has completely backfired on him," said Breezie.
"This fight isn't over yet, I'm sure Naruto can pull through somehow and turn it all around," said Sally as she continued to watch the match.
"Sally's right, this match isn't over until someone is knocked out," said Elias with a serious look on his face as he watched alongside his sister.
Naruto was currently evading the barrage of flaming/lightning kicks and punches the best he could while Kurama was using his chakra to heal him, Naruto was contemplating on using his stronger techniques and abilities but at the same time wants to reserve it for the matches ahead…which might be pointless if he was to lose here. "Swift Release: Shadow Dance!" he began moving around Natsu at high-speed with afterimages trailing behind to confuse him before appearing overhead as he formed a large blue spiraling sphere of energy "Giant Rasengan!" he dove to strike with his secondary signature jutsu, he was taken by surprise to Natsu raise his head towards him as he reared a fist back to attack "Lightning Fire Dragon's Firing Hammer!" his fist and forearm is engulfed in fire and lightning as he performed an apparently powerful punch which clashed with the Rasengan for a few seconds before breaking through it and slamming into Naruto to send him flying as his body was badly burnt with his vest having been completely burnt away, leaving his chest exposed before crashing for the ground.
[Natsu's new power up has completely overwhelmed Naruto, is this the end of the road for him?] said Scratch, filling the crowd with suspense especially Nicole, Milla and Wendy while Carla just watched to see what else is going to happen.
Naruto rolled over and struggled to his feet, his body was hurt all over and he noticed that his Lightning aspect was deactivated which he reckoned was that the attack must have made him lose focus for it to happen. He was finally up to his feet and turned to face Natsu and smiled despite the pain.
"Man, those attacks of yours really hurt. To be truthful, the way you act and fight is so much like myself. However just like you weren't giving in to the fight, I'm not going to give in either cause I trained too hard to lose here!"
Natsu smirked in response "Then show me what you got!"
Naruto was about to call on Kurama's chakra mode when he felt a pulse of power akin to that of a heartbeat then he felt a sense of heat from within him and it was steadily growing in intensity, he wrapped his arms around himself to endure the growing heat as blue flames began radiating from his body with everyone watching in awe.
"What's going on?!" asked Naruto through gritted teeth.
"It's your foxfire! It's surging all of a sudden and with twice the intensity than before," said Kurama as he watched a bonfire of foxfire turn into a wildfire.
"RAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Naruto roared out to the sky as he was engulfed in a pillar of blue fire which soon died down to reveal that he had completely changed. Naruto's fur had changed color from rustic orange to ocean blue, his hands, feet and the tips of his tails where engulfed in foxfire which burned intensely with multiple wisps of foxfire flew around him. Naruto opened his eyes to reveal blue flames emitting from it, concealing both the irises and pupils.
[It appears that it's now Naruto's turn to awaken a new power within him, this fight is going into the history books!] said Scratch.
Naruto raised his hands to look at him, the foxfire had stopped hurting and were now empowering him than ever before…and he likes it.
"Kit, I've managed to figure out the cause of this," Kurama spoke up from mindscape, seeing the foxfire was still surging but more controlled this time.
"What happened?" asked Naruto.
"Apparently the foxfire had been partially repressed and wasn't able to unleash its full power, it seems like your emotions unblocked whatever was limiting it as foxfire is linked to your emotions,"
"And now I have access to the full power of my foxfire, looks like my Uzumaki luck has turned the tides to my favor once more," Naruto smirked with glee as he turned to face Natsu "This match has reach the peak of its climax. Yooosh…Ikuze! Ikuze! Ikuze!"
Music change: Naruto OST; Strong and Strike
Naruto disappeared in a burst of azure fire, Natsu's eyes widened in shock as he crossed his arms in from of himself just in time to block an aerial roundhouse kick which was powerful to the point that there was a shockwave and that Natsu was sent skidding backwards from the impact. The Kitsune wasn't through just yet as he rushed up and proceeded to unleash a barrage of fiery punches and kicks with his opponent blocking a majority of the incoming, Naruto took him by surprise by rapidly dashing sideways and leaving behind an afterimage which continued to fight in his place then moved to stand behind him with his fist reared back to punch. Natsu unleashed a burst to knock both Naruto and his afterimage away from him, dissipating the latter before turning to attack the former.
"Lightning Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!" he created a stream of fire from his elbow which propelled him forward with his fist engulfed in lightning and launched a straight in Naruto's direction "Kitsune Spinjitzu!" Naruto twirled rapidly like a top to form a tornado of foxfire around himself, the technique successfully deflected the incoming punch before Naruto went in for the counterattack "Azure Blaze Kick!" he used the momentum from the spinning to slam a powerful kick on Natsu's chest to knock him away "Kitsune Fire Wheel!" then he curled up into a ball and started spinning rapidly as he shot forward whilst leaving behind a long trail of azure fire before slamming into Natsu and knocking him back further.
Natsu rolled back to his feet with a skid while panting a bit and looked up to grin at his opponent, he has never met anyone who could push him this far besides a few whom he and his companion had encountered and engaged them in combat. He ignited his fists with fire and lightning and charged at Naruto who flared his fists with foxfire before charging right back at him as well, the duo constantly clashed punches and causing shockwaves and mild explosions from the collisions. He ducked underneath a roundhouse kick and countered with a punch to the chest but Naruto immediately burst into numerous wisps which flew behind Natsu and reformed into the Kitsune who slammed a palm into his palm and unleashed a burst of foxfire to blast him away from where he stood.
"Let's see you handle this, Foxfire Skulk Rush!" Naruto launched the wisps to take on the forms of one tailed foxes as they ran across the arena and lunged at Natsu who rapidly kicked and punched them away when they drew close to attack, he made to move for another attack but then felt that his body was beginning to feel "Looks like I'm reaching the limit of how long I can remain in this form,"
"Same could be said for him," said Kurama.
Naruto looked at Natsu to see that he too was panting in exhaustion before calling out to him "Hey Natsu, what say we wrap this with our strongest attack?"
"Sure, I'm down with that!" Natsu replied.
Naruto held out his right hand to form a Rasengan then he breathed a stream of foxfire into the spiraling sphere which was absorbed within it as he could see the blue flames spinning around inside it, Natsu reared his fist back as it and the forearm is engulfed in fire and lightning with twice the power than the first time. They stared at each other intently for a few moments before dashing at each other with great speed as flames trailed behind in their wake until the distance between them is almost nonexistent and they struck out with their strongest attacks.
"Foxfire Rasengan!"
"Lightning Fire Dragon's Firing Hammer!"
The attacks collided in the middle and pushed back and forth as the fighters struggled for dominance and poured in more energy, this resulted in a large that shook the entire stadium and there was smoke everywhere. Eventually it cleared to reveal Naruto and Natsu standing there with their modes having been deactivated and stared at each other in silence.
Naruto smiled tiredly "Wanna have a rematch some other time?"
"…yeah, having too much fun to stop at just once…," Natsu smiled back in response.
The duo continued to smile until one of them fell to the ground face first, and that person was…Natsu.
Music End
[After a blazing battle, the winner if the match is none than Naruto Uzumaki!] Scratch declared loudly.
Causing the crowd to go wild as they cheered for both Naruto and Natsu but mostly the former as the Kitsune smiled at the crowd, particularly Nicole and the others who were cheering for him happily and gave them the victory sign before walking out of the now reverted arena and towards his room to recover and acquire a change of clothes.
"He won! Naruto won, I knew he would!" Sally had jumped off from her seat and was cheering happily and turned towards Antoine with a look if smugness.
Said coyote raised his hands in admittance "Alright alright, I'll admit it, I underestimated zhe fox. Although he certainly took me by surprise with zhat sudden surge of power,"
"True I was worried there for a moment, but then he turned it all around at the last minute. I should expect no less from him," said Elias with a fond smile.
"And judging by the crowd's reaction, he's slowly becoming a favorite for the tournament besides Sonic the hedgehog and a few others," said Breezie then she thought "I'm sure that the betting ring which I had made for the higher VIP would prove most beneficial from here on end,"
"I see…he has managed to achieve the Azure Drive," said Tetsuo who had been watching the entire match from the scrying pool inside a room of the Yakan palace "It has been years since I saw one of our kind access the true potential of the foxfire, not since my old friend Okori. Makes me wonder what other potential he would possess? But one thing's for sure…he will be at the center of many things whether he wants to or not,"
This is Hussbek online with the latest, the tournament is now underway with the first match having been between Rouge vs. Killua with the former having suffered defeat from the skills and deception of the lynx. The next match was between Naruto vs. Natsu which turned into an all-out brawl and in the end, Naruto emerged the victor. Just like Espio had alerted him of, the other ninja clans were watching the tournament with varying intentions which might come into effect in the future.
So read and review as always.
This is Hussbek from Ghana
Signing out.