Adventures of the Orange Flash

Chapter 44: Next Up

"…there you go, all done now," said Naruto as he moved his hands away from Lilac with the blue tribal markings glowing on his arms which symbolizes him having the Life Aspect active before reverting back to normal.

"Thanks Naruto, I feel a lot better now," said Lilac gratefully, sitting up on the cot inside the infirmary with Naruto nodding in response. After their match, Naruto went to visit Lilac at the infirmary and help her recover with his newly unlocked Life Aspect as well as increase his proficiency in it as suggested by Kurama.

"But I have to admit that water clone technique of yours really took me by surprise since I didn't think that you would be able to do something like it," said Naruto.

"Well I got the idea from your shadow clone jutsu and thought of doing my own version of it, Tetsuo helped me in its development to the point of using as decoys though it doesn't exactly reach up to your level," said Lilac.

"Well I gotta give credit where it's due, your technique reminds of someone I encountered in one of my mission. I can give you a couple of pointers to master your water clone," said Naruto in nostalgia as he recalled meeting Zabuza and Haku who were the ones that left a great impact on his life.

"Thanks Naruto, I really appreciate it,"

"No prob, I'll need to get back to the others for the next matches. I'll check in afterwards," Naruto stood up from his seat and prepared to leave the room.

"Okay, be sure to tell the others that I wish them good luck," said Lilac.

Naruto nodded in affirmation and left the infirmary before making his way to the waiting room where the rest of the competitors were, he had contemplated on going to the stands to sit with Milla and the others. The blonde kitsune had also received memories from a shadow clone which he had sent over to Carol to heal her, chuckling at the memories of the wildcat whining a bit about the fight. He arrived at his destination where Sonic took note of his entry.

"Hey there Naruto, how are Lilac and Carol doing?" asked Sonic.

"They're doing okay after a little pick-me-up, although Carol is a bit sore about her loss to Killua especially since she said that she didn't get to use all of her moves," said Naruto.

"Can't blame her for feeling that way, the guy keeps making himself hard to figure out every time,"

Espio then spoke "He is well aware there are many eyes upon him and is only revealing portions of his true strength as the tournament advances, a strategy frequently utilized by fighters,"

"Then we'll just have to see how many cards he's got hidden up his sleeves when we match up with him," said Sonic with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Hey guys, Scratch's back on the arena," Naruto spoke up, directing their attention to the screen.

[After such an intense battle, we will now move on to the next match with the hopes that it will be just as intense. This match will be between Sonic and Espio!] said Scratch with the Holo-screen displaying the portraits of the announced contenders as they appear on the arena with the crowd applauding them [And now the next theme of the arena is…] The arena is set on a small island plateau, in an area that looks mostly like the Green Hill Zone as it is surrounded with wooden bridges, waterfalls and palm trees […South Island!]

"Let's have some fun!" said Sonic with a smirk whilst bouncing on the tips of his toes.

Espio simply bowed before his opponent "Let us have a fair and honorable battle,"

[Now let the match begin!] Scratch announced out loud.

Music Start: O2Jam OST - End Of Fight (Round 2)

Espio started things off by flinging a handful of blunted shuriken which Sonic swiftly evaded by performing a sidestep for the incoming projectiles to miss their targets before rushing upon to the chameleon ninja and lashed out with a punch, Espio tilted his head to the side to avoid the punch and countered with a low sweep kick but Sonic jumped into the air to dodge. Sonic saw Espio open his mouth to launch a long pink prehensile tongue in his direction.

"Sonic Ballet!" the hedgehog performed an aerial somersault which created a burst in mid-air to quickly get away from the tongue and went into the offensive "Sonic Storm!" he performed an aerial spin dash to launch a shockwave towards Espio who dashed out of the way before lunging at Sonic in midair to exchange punches and kicks with each other before landing on the ground and leaping away to place some distance away from the other. Espio charged at Sonic whilst forming a handsign "Ninja Art: Doppleganger!" multiple copies of himself appeared next to him as they all attacked Sonic who weaved in and out of range of their attacks although taking note that the clones aren't solid despite appearing like the real thing. Thinking quickly, Sonic positioned himself in the middle of the dopplegangers "Sonic Flare!" he fell straight down and carried his entire body on one hand while using break dance moves to do a sweeping kick in a wide arc to knock Bunnie away, then he leapt after her in pursuit and continued to utilize his break dance moves to execute a Spin Kick to strike all of the copies to forcefully dispel them but then noticed something rather odd "Huh, where did the real one go?"

Then it hit him…literally as he stumbled forwards from a strong blow to the back of his head "I almost forgot that he can make himself invisible, must have done it whilst I was occupied with those dopplegangers of his. Now I gotta find a way to flush him out," Sonic muttered to himself.

[That's the technique which helped Espio earn his victory in the previous match, how will Sonic overcome this?] asked Scratch in anticipation.

Sonic was using short bursts of speed to avoid remaining in one place and making himself a bit harder to land a hit on whilst coming up with an idea "Might as well force him out into the open and reveal himself!" Sonic raises his right fist and calls out the move's name "Sonic Wind!" He then ran in a circle at high-speed to create a small cyclone made of sharp sky-blue winds, he didn't wait for long till Espio revealed himself entrapped within the cyclone for Sonic to perform his signature Spin Dash and launch himself into the cyclone whilst using the current to carry him towards his opponent to land a strong hit which forced them both out of the cyclone.

Espio crashed to the ground but then went up in a cloud of smoke before revealing a straw dummy in his place, causing Sonic to frown at this. Suddenly he felt something latch onto his arm and was pulled into the air before being swung around and thrown down to the floor, Sonic then realized that it's Espio's tongue currently attached to him and so went for a counterattack, he performed a tuck and roll along the ground before grabbing on to the tongue before taking off at highspeed whilst pulling a surprised Espio along as the hedgehog ran in tight circles before flinging the now visible ninja into the air "Sonic Eagle!" he leapt towards Espio at highspeed and executed a powerful axe kick to send the ninja crashing to the ground.

Espio struggled to his feet and took a glance at his opponent "There were some flaws in the plans, I may have to use that technique if I hope to prevail," he formed a handsign whilst channeling his energy "Ninja Art: Chroma Camo!" he disappeared from sight once more and Sonic was on guard again and he tried to sense for the ninja with his reflexes barely allowing him to evade glancing strikes as he came to notice that Espio's speed is much higher compared to his previous attacks.

"I doubt my Sonic Wind will work this time since he would be on guard for that, think I better shift things into high gear if I wanna get at him," Sonic performed a small jump into the air before curling up into a ball and started spinning rapidly in one place as if performing a burnout before taking off at speeds higher than normal with a blue aura trailing behind him. Sonic began ricocheting off the arena's boundaries in a pinball fashion.

Espio was taken by surprise at this new formation of attack and attempted to evade the onslaught of attacks with his invisibility and enhanced speed, however he was unable to emerge unscathed due to Sonic constantly changing trajectory and altering speed to confuse the ninja which in turn led to landing a lot of hits to the point forcefully cancelling out the invisibility. The ninja tried to recover his focus and locate his opponent but he was out of sight, Espio noticed the shadow at his feet growing larger and looked up to see Sonic diving towards him from above "Sonic Rocket!" he performs a powerful downwards kick whilst in mid-air to land a hit to the head with enough force to knock Espio out.

Music End

[…and the winner of this fast-paced match with a stylish finish is…Sonic the hedgehog!] Scratch announced as the crowd cheered loudly, Sonic smirked and performed his signature pose before zipping away from the reverted arena.

"Looks like Sonic was able to win this one too," Naruto said thoughtfully.

"No doubt that we might run into him before the finals, I'm rather looking forward to it," said Kurama with as slight smile.

"Same here, I wonder who will be facing who in this upcoming match?"

"Who knows? we'll just have to wait and see as usual," said Kurama with a shrug of his shoulders.

Naruto nodded at the statement, it was then that Sonic entered the waiting room with the Kitsune raising a hand in greeting "Hey there, that was a pretty good match there,"

"Thanks, it was a great one and Espio really showed that he got new tricks in his bag of surprises," Sonic replied as he plopped himself on one of the couches "At least I learnt that I need to come up with more ways to fight invisible enemies,'

"True that man, anyways I'll heading over to the stands to hang out with Milla-chan and the others since I don't any matches for now plus this place is beginning to feel kinda big now that there's lesser of us," said Naruto, looking around the room.

"Good idea, might end up getting bored to death from sticking around plus it's more interesting to watch from the stands than through a TV screen," said Sonic with a shrug of his shoulders "Not to mention that Tails could use some company, our buddy's a bit bummed out about not being able to go further in the tournament,"

"I'm sure we can figure a way to cheer him up after the tournament, maybe some new stuff for him to invent,"

"Sounds like a good idea so far, I'll catch ya later then,"

"Right back at ya,"

The two speedsters left the waiting room and took different paths leading to different parts of the spectator stands, Naruto tracked down Milla's and the Chao's energy signature and met up with them although there were some additional company namely Bunnie Rabbot and Relic the Pika being accompanied by her robot assistant Fixit, Naruto waved his hand in greeting as he approached them.

"Hey everyone, I'm back. Though I'm kinda surprised to see you here Relic," Naruto sat next to said person with the Chao sitting on his shoulders.

Relic nodded in understanding "I had received a ticket to the tournament from one of my fellow archeologists but I wasn't having any intentions of attending. That was until Fixit showed me a recording of your first match online which was more than enough to entice me to put my research on pause and come over to watch today, plus I must admit that I could use a break as well,"

"I can see that ya'll are familiar with each other since Nicole was introducing her to me," Bunnie spoke up, gaining their attention.

"Indeed she is, we worked together to uncover an ancient history but we can't tell due to confidentiality," Nicole explained.

"Are Carol and Lilac okay?" Milla looked to Naruto with concern with the kitsune smiling in response.

"They're doing just fine, I applied some healing when I went over to visit them in the infirmary," said Naruto.

"That's a relief, you and that Killua fella certainly pulled off some strong moves then," said Bunnie.

"I'm seeing that you're proving to be more than just power but I'm still yet to be fully convinced," said Carla nonchalantly.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders at her statement "It's progress I guess,"

"Sorry about Carla, she can be a bit hard to impress most of the time," said Wendy apologetically while the cat crossed her arms and looked away with a huff.

"Hey everyone, the announcer has reappeared on the arena," Relic spoke up, getting the rest to turn towards the person to know about the next match.

[Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, let's not keep you waiting any longer and move onto the next match of the day which is to decide the next victor to advance to the semifinals and they are…] Scratch gestured towards the Holo-screen displaying the portraits of the first two combatants [Barby Koala vs Knuckles the Echidna! Will the contestants please present themselves on the arena]

"So it's Barby against Knuckles huh?" said Naruto thoughtfully.

"This would make for an interesting match," said Relic, intending to pay rapt attention to this fight.

"I just know that Barby's gonna pull out all the stops for this one," said Bunnie.

"I'll be rooting for the both of them," said Naruto.

"Me too!" Milla was in agreement.

[And the theme for this battle is…] Scratch pushed the button on the remote for the holograms to activate and now the arena is set in an expansive frozen plane of ice, while are caged in by ice walls and an ice floor. Auroras shine brightly in the sky and chunks of ice can be seen laying around […Aurora Icefield!]

"Don't hold back on me, ya hear?" said Barby with a smirk.

Knuckles bumped his fists together with a grin "I could say the same for you,"

[Now let the match begin!] Scratch announced out loud.

Music Start: Sengoku Rance OST; Advance On

The fight started off with Knuckles charging first towards Barby and lashed out at her with a straight punch which she managed evade it through acrobatic agility and countered by using her claws to attack him which Knuckle moved away by tilting his head to the side before launching a barrage of rapid punches to overpower her which was able to land a few hits but not enough as she performed a low sweep kick to knock Knuckles down to the ground, but the echidna rolled back to his feet and swiftly crossed his arms in front of him to block Barby's barrages of claw attacks and some kicks to keep him down.

Knuckles use his raw strength to push back against a punch with enough force to make her stumble a bit before capitalizing on that moment to land a punch that knocked her back several feet away from himself. After recovering from that attack, Barby began thinking of a plan to one-up Knuckles if nothing works, with that in mind she proceeded to land swift strikes whilst using her agility to evade any retaliatory strikes from her opponent in a form of a hit-and-away strategy to get under his skin which eventually worked for a guy that gets worked up easily as known by Sonic and a few of friends for his quick temper. Because of his mistake, he was tricked and was beaten up pretty good with claw marks and bruises from punches and kicks.

[Knuckles is being forced to the defensive, how is he going to turn this around or does his road end here?] said Scratch with rapt attention to the match along with everyone else in anticipation.

Knuckles was a stubborn one, he's not one to give up just yet and realized her plans enough to regain his focus and thought of a countermeasure to it. He waited until Barby lashed out with a punch towards which he blocked and used to the impact to launch himself backwards into the air "Ground Shaker!" then dove straight downward with fists first and spun his entire body around rapidly while giving off a flaming red aura as he impacts the ground with his fists with such force that he creates a disruptive shockwave along the surface. Barby saw the incoming attack and leapt into the air to evade it, but Knuckles was yet to be done with his assault "Take this, Thunder Arrow!". He then forms several thin but straight lightning bolts above his opponent to attack her with.

With no way to dodge while in midair, Barby crossed her arms in front of herself to for defense and grunted in pain from the attack before landing on the ground roughly she shook her head to ease it of the pain and snap back into focus only for her eyes to widen in shock upon seeing Knuckles right in front of her with a clenched fist reared back for an impending attack "Spiral Upper!" he launches himself upwards whilst spinning around with a powerful uppercut, sending himself and Barby into the air "It's all over with this!" Knuckles raised both fists over his head before bringing them down with great force onto Barby to send her crashing down to the ground as she couldn't take anymore damage and lost consciousness immediately after with Knuckles gliding down to the ground.

Music End

[And so…the winner of this match is none other than Knuckles the echidna!] said Scratch with the crowd cheering loudly and the arena reverting to its default state, Knuckles simply nodded before going back the way he came through [And now that the four combatants have been confirmed for the semifinals, please pay attention to the screen as we now display the matchups!]

Everyone looked up as a large four-sided Holo-screen was projected overhead as the headshots of the remaining competitors were being randomly shuffled at high-speed before finally stopping to display the matchups

Semi Finals A

Knuckles vs. Killua

Semi Finals B

Naruto vs. Sonic

[Now that the competitors know whom they'll be facing, the matches will take place in the midday with the finals taking place tonight so be ready put all of your efforts into emerging as the victors!] said Scratch before leaving the arena with the crowds chattering with excitement and anticipation of the forthcoming matches.

"So, you against Sonic eh? That's a match which no one will want to miss in the least," said Bunnie with interest.

"She's right, everyone knows Sonic well and you're becoming a crowd favorite since your very first match," said Nicole.

"You'll be fighting the famous Sonic the hedgehog?" asked Wendy in wonder.

Carla scoffed "I wonder if you can even beat him,"

"I kinda saw it coming from a mile away that I might face him in this tournament to be honest," said Naruto.

"We finally get to test the hedgehog's strength for ourselves since it's been a while that you sparred with him," said Kurama with Naruto mentally nodding in agreement.

"You think you can take him on?" asked Relic.

"We'll just have to see when we face off on the arena," Naruto replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I can't wait to see what else you can do,"

"I'll be sure to show you what I got, till then I'll go and get myself ready," Naruto got up from his seat and prepared to leave.

"I'll be rooting for you Naruto, I'm sure Lilac and Carol will too!" said Milla happily with the Chao sitting on her laps and chirping in agreement with her.

Naruto gave her a two-finger salute and a foxy grin before making his way out of the stands and towards the private room to rest and meditate for the upcoming match.

This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto has now made it into the semifinals along with Sonic, Knuckles and Killua whilst being pitted against the Blue Blur. Naruto will need to bring on his A-game if he wants to contend against his fellow speedster and still have a lot to spare if he manages to advance to the finals itself to face either Knuckles or Killua. Be sure to read and review as always.

We're drawing close to the end of the tourney arc before moving onto one of the many game arcs. Sorry if the Knuckles vs Barby seems somehow short but I'll try to make it up in the next chapter.

This is Hussbek from Ghana.

Signing out.