Chapter 11- The Finals
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Karui Vs Uzumaki Naruto
Both of them walked down the stairs to the arena, Karui looked over the blond critically to assess his abilities.
Karui was a practicer of single-sword kenjutsu, much like the major popular of Kumo. She was proud of her skills with blade. Given her proficiency over kenjutsu and proud nature, it wouldn't be wrong to assume her a little arrogant.
Call it her cocky nature or self-confidence but she couldn't hold herself from taunting her opponent.
"Blondie, you still have time. Forfeit and I will show you mercy" The arrogant smirk on her face amused Naruto, the girl was in for a surprise
"I appreciate your foresight, Kunoichi-san, but I'll take my chances" He returned with a grin of his own.
"Pity, I was ready to allow you to leave the arena with some of your dignity still intact." She returned getting in her taijutsu stance.
"Start" yelled Genma, and Karui didn't miss a second to rush forward.
She came with a right hook and followed it with a roundhouse kick, Naruto used his left forearm to halt the kick after he had dodged her punch. He never expected the amount of strength her kick could carry, contrary to Karui's lithe body structure, her kicks were astonishingly strong.
She stepped back before returning with a packed punch, ready to deliver it to Naruto's gut. Naruto jumped up, and flipped in the air to land a little far away. He moved as soon as his legs touched the ground, lessening Karui's recovery time.
A swift right hook kick was blocked without much effort, he followed with a straight kick that was pushed down. The kunoichi wasn't a slouch in taijutsu, there was no question in that, but was she in par with his Uchiha teammate?
With a single hand sign he expelled a copious amounts of poisonous gas in the air, not lethal. It wouldn't be fun to defeat her without any effort, it was a poison he has learnt from the toads. They used it to train their tadpoles to check every food before consuming.
Karui's eyes swelled automatically, tears streamed down her cheeks. She had done a grave mistake by underestimating the boy, as she was nearly blind due to the poison she failed to stop the side kick to her gut.
She coughed due to the pain it caused, inhaling more of the posinous gas. A short mumble some metres away and a wind blast propelled her far away from the poison cloud, she landed on her feet but crouched down to vomit the content of her last meal this morning.
"Ma..Ma.. Kunoichi-san, I was in illusion that I was at your mercy" Naruto teased from his place outside the cloud.
"Bastard—You'll *Cough* pay for that" She wheezed out between her coughs.
She unsheated her katana and rushed toward Naruto, with a wink Naruto touched his forearm and his Bo appeared in his hand.
Naruto used the Bo as a pole vault to jump above her sword strike, with a quick manuever he brought down the Bo on her. Karuri blocked the strike with her sword, but she was shocked at the amount of strength the Bo let upon her.
Karui did a quick sweep to unbalance him and moved out of his strike, she couldn't allow him to overpower her this easily.
She moved forward aiming at his face, he countered her attack with his Bo. He couldn't accept that Karui was unskilled with her choice of weapon, though her kenjutsu wasn't fully mastered yet, still she can outmaneuver Sakura in Kenjutsu with little effort. As she moved forward for another swing, she applied some of her lighting chakra to her Katana to make it a bit shocking for the defender.
Naruto noticed the hue surrounding the Katana, and did what was needed. He applied his wind chakra to the Bo, dissuading the shocking properties of her sword. Karui quickly noticed that her strikes weren't gaining any results, the blond had wind affinity to her bad luck, her lighting affinity working against herself.
She decide to save her chakra and use it to efficiently, with a good rotation she took his Bo head-on, and returned with a swipe that drew blood from his left cheek
The boy didn't respond even minimally, instead broke into her guard to receive another slash to his gut. He was fortunate but his tee-shirt wasn't, Karui instantly recognised her mistake when his high kick connected with her face, drawing blood out of her nose.
Naruto pushed further into her guard to twist her hand, her Katana flying out of her grip. It flew up in the air and landed beside Naruto, embedded in the ground. She staggered backward, attempting to hold the blood leaking from her nose. His taijutsu was better than hers, she couldn't find a gap to push around effortlessly.
With her Katana gone and her taijutsu being ineffective against the blonde, she chose ninjutsu for further bout.
It was a grave mistake on her side, not only Naruto's natural wind affinity gave him advantage over her natural lighting, but Naruto had been also trained to use the other elements. Karui wasn't a idiot but the humiliation of losing her Katana was enough to blind her battle-honed senses, rather she was fighting on her impulses.
"Raiton: Electromagnetic murder" Electricity traveled through the ground toward Naruto at a great speed. Genma moved back to avoid receiving shock, he didn't want to get in midst of crossfire.
"Futon: Bursting air pockets". Naruto fired the balls of compressed wind toward the electric currents. The pockets exoloded just as they neared the current, the wind blast dissipated the electricity back to the ground.
"Bingo!" whispered Naruto to himself.
The jonin stand
"Naruto's wind affinity holds advantage over the Kumo kunoichi's lighting affinity, she should try another strategy, if she doesn't she will lose" contemplated Asuma as he lit another one of his cigarettes. Zabuza chose that moment to walk up the stair with Haku in his tow.
"Did we miss the brat's match? He'll pluck out every single strand of my hair If Haku isn't present during his match due to my tardiness" drawled Zabuza nudging Kakashi.
"Well, you certainly did miss Sakura's match—" Zabuza cringed at that, his student will surely punch him into oblivion. "—and half of Naruto's match, if you look down you could see him in the arena" replied Kakashi nonchalantly.
Zabuza groaned, turning an annoyed eye at the masked shinobi. "Don't be such upright, Hatake, You've to still provide the details of yours and snake lady's tirade"
"Maa...Maa, You don't need to advertise it" Kakashi replied lazily, ignoring the curious faces of the other Konoha Jounins.
It was a popular opinion that Hatake Kakashi didn't date, hell!, he didn't even participates in one-night stands. Hatake Kakashi and Mitarashi Anko in a single frame was just too shuddering thought on its own.
In the seats:
"Woah!" Gasped Karin as he watched her cousin battling the rehead from Kumo.
"He's holding back" Shizune said distractedly.
"Yeah, he is. A rather sly approach coming from him, he isn't the kind to preserve his stamina" Tsunade replied eyeing the blond curiously.
"It's Hokage-sama strategy then, right?" Asked Shizune eyeing the redhead with narrowed eyes.
"Maybe, there's a slight chance that its Jiraiya's" Tsuande supplied.
In the Arena
Karui was stuck, she didn't have a second affinity or an another long range Raiton jutsu. Most of the genins and chunins didn't develop a second affinity naturally until a particular age, Karui wasn't any different. She could only save herself from utter humiliation, if she could reach to her sword. It was her last resort for the time being, but it was impossible. It seemed Naruto could read her inner turmoil, he was guarding the sword aggressively.
"Katon: Fireball jutsu" another fireball was fired toward her, she jumped right to avoid the scorching ball of yellow menance. Naruto was trying to tire her down completely, he hadn't used any of his unique techniques untill now. It was a strategy beaten into him by Jiraiya, Naruto had suffered losing many spars against the Toad Sennin due to his inclination toward large-scale jutsus.
The strategy was working perfectly, as a result Karui was slowing down, Naruto had fired at least five fireballs untill now. With his mastery over the jutsu and immense reserve of chakra, it didn't had much effect on him, on the other hand Karui was getting slower and slower as the time passed.
"Katon: Fireball jutsu" a fireball of the size of a volleyball was fired toward Karui, this time she avoided it by mere inches, confirmed by the hot sensation that ran across her left arm and shoulder.
Naruto understood that the iron was hot, it was the time to hammer it, he started forming hand signs in quick succession. "Futon: Wind shuriken jutsu" he yelled and threw some shuriken toward Karui, a transparent shield started to form around each shuriken, rotation and speed of each shuriken increased by several folds. Karui, in panic, formed a electric shield around her self but to no avail the shurikens passed through them like a hot knife passes through butter.
The shurikens didn't inflicted any physical damage to her body parts, instead she was pinned to the ground through her clothes. Naruto appeared above her in a blur, a quick hand sign and he was exhalling blue smoke from his mouth at a steady pace.
"Forfeit or You'll die" said Naruto expressionlessly, the smoke was suffocating his opponent to certain extent, where she can only breath alternatively.
"I quit" Karui choked, the air to her throat being suppressed.
"Loudly" demanded Naruto firmly.
"I quit" Karui accepted loudly, her breaths got normal as the smoke dissipated slowly.
"Winner of the match, Uzumaki Naruti" announced Genma, his eyed held the impression that he has been a fool for years.
In the Kage booth
"Yet again, you have succeeded in nurturing a skillful shinobi, Sarutobi" A remarked, not harshly.
"Thank you, Raikage dono" smirked Hiruzen.
"You haven't yet answered my first question, Hokage dono. Is he your apprentice?" asked Rasa sounding genuinely interested.
Hiruzen knew that Rasa wouldn't bulge untill he gets his answers. It would atleast setup Naruto standards, if nothing else.
"He is, but he isn't" answered Hiruzen genuinely.
"Don't play around with words, Hiruzen. Is he or Is he not?" this time the question was asked by A.
"He isn't my full time apprentice, I was only interested in teaching him Saru-style Bo-jutsu, so I just did that." Hiruzen replied coolly. "In the foresight, if you must remember I am not oblidged to answer you questions, my fellow kages" his tone didn't gave impression of amusement as before, it was a warning.
No-one, means no one was allowed to demand answers from the Hokage, Hiruzen had tolerated some of the questions from his fellow kages, but the eminent boundaries shouldn't be forgotten.
"Indeed Hokage dono" replied A, and took up his time to think. "I suggest the blonde boy is eligible to be a chunin, his skills are easily chunin level, he could use two affinities at this young age. That's a feat in itself." praised A.
'You haven't even seen half of his skills' Jiraiya and Hiruzen both thought at the same time, Hiruzen just nodded in the response.
"I suggest we see some more of the blonde boy" suggested Rasa.
The decision went into Rasa's favour for now, Naruto would have to show a few more of his skills to get promoted.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
"The next match of the day- Sabaku no Garra vs Shin" announced Genma.
As the both competitors descended toward the ground, the silent crowd didn't display any sign of support. The crowd had went silent as soon as Naruto's match was announced, this represented how much they distained the blonde shinobi. As for Shin and Gaara, the Konoha public didn't know anything about the purple haired boy while the Suna crowd had same animosity toward their own jinchurikki.
"Both fighters ready, Begin" yelled Genma.
Waves and waves of sand leaked out of Gaara's gourd and rushed toward Shin, who jumped back to avoid the waves of sand. The sand followed him around, and soon he was running around the arena to avoid the sand trailing him. He had to formulate a plan to defeat the redhead, he couldn't keep running. A slight mistake could end his life, confirmed by the menacing look the redhead was sending toward him. Shin had seen Garra kill the genin in prelims, he knew Gaara wouldn't hesitate to end his life if given a chance.
Across the halfway of his third round he got an idea, he started forming hand signs as fast as he can. He waited for the sand to reach him as he slowed his speed, and as soon as the sand neared him he turned around and yelled, "Suiton: Water Pistol". A jet of clear water was fired upon the wave of sand following him. Given the water would make the sand heavy, the onslaught stopped for a few minutes.
This was all Shin needed, given Gaara hasn't displayed a second of taijutsu he wouldn't be proficient in one. Neither did he carry a weapon around, furthermore, no more sand was leaking out of his gourd signalling it was empty. Shin rushed toward Garra unsheathing his tanto in the process, as he neared Gaara he attempted a right swipe. The tanto didn't cut through Gaara as expected by Shin, instead it stopped as soon as it hit Gaara's arm. He felt as if he had hit a rock, the redhead boy's body couldn't be made of rocks. Can it be?
Shin's situation worsened, further, unexpectedly more sand leaked out of Gaara's gourd and started encasing the tanto Shin held. Shin tried to leave his tanto but he understood he was late, Gaara's sand had already started to incase his legs and arm. His nose wasn't as precise as an Inuzuka but even he could smell the blood on Gaara's sand.
"I forfeit" he yelled as Gaara started applying more force through his sand.
Gaara ignored his plea and continued his onslaught.
"I said, I forfeit" This time Shin less or more pleaded.
Gaara further ignored his pleas as he continued.
Naruto was about to jump off the stands with Sasuke at his tow when suddenly two green blur passed across the arena, suddenly there was a senbon aimed at Gaara's jugular point while Shin was standing outside the sand, guarded by a older version of Rock lee, all genins had to look again to confirm that an elder Lee was standing in the middle of arena guarding Shin.
"When he said he had surrendered, you should've stood back" Genma warned tersely.
"Why should have I? A weakling like him isn't allowed to live the life of shinobi, he'll prove my existence" drawled Gaara seething in anger.
"And who do you think you're to decide that?" questioned Guy with an equally angry tone.
"This is your first and last warning. If you'll try to do something like this again, not only will you suspended from the tournament but you'll be also barred from entering again" instructed Genma calmly.
Gaara went off toward the stand silently, but his facial expressions opposed the word calm.
Winner- Gaara
In Kage Booth:
"Your ward needs to have control over himself, Kazekage dono" warned A.
"Correctly mentioned, such lust for blood couldn't be tolerated" agreed the Hokage.
"He was merely trying to complete his match, I must deeply apologise for his behaviour" said Rasa ruefully. Internally he was seething in anger, his idiot of son never did follow his instructions. He had warned him against any rogue behavior, the day was too important for their village's future to handle him and his insane tantrums. Well, Rasa knew he was also partially responsible for his son's bloodlust and rebellious nature, but that particular thought was buried deep inside his mind. He was accustomed to blame his mishaps on his younger son, only if he deems him to be one of his offsprings.
No comments were passed after that.
The next match was revealed as Shikamaru VS Sai, another of the Danzo's genin.
Shikamaru was reluctant to set foot in the arena, he simply didn't want to mover forward from here. The sudden drive that had inspired him to participate in the tournament in form of Naruto had worn off. He strolled down the stairs toward the arena where Sai was already waiting for him, although his lack of inspiration or excitement didn't mean his desire to win has also dimmed. He was surely determined to win the match at the hand. It only meant that he didn't want to use much of his physical prowess during the match, rather he would take a more sly approach.
Shikamaru started to devise plans as soon as he reached arena, it wouldn't be wrong to assume whatever tactics Shika will make the competition intresting for Sai.
"Begin" yelled Genma.
Sai and Shikamaru stood at their place even after acknowledging the command, neither one of them was a fool. Taking his shogi tactics under consideration, Shikamaru knew that whomever choses to take the first move couldn't acquire upperhand. He waited for quite some time, at last Sai patience ran out and he paced forward, unsheathing his Tanto in the process. Shikamaru didn't fail to understand Sai's tactics, he unsheathed his chokuto and blocked Sai's first strike. Eventually, strikes were being exchanged continuously, neither of them seems to have upper hand.
In midst of the sword fight, Sai jumped up in the air avoiding Shikamaru's swing and unhooked one of the scrolls attached to his waste. As soon as he landed he started drawing something on the scroll. Ignoring Sai's tactics, Shikamaru pounced toward him adjusting his chokuto for a downward flick. Before the sword could disturb Sai, he had completed his jutsu. Shikamaru's strike was blocked by a black figure, the figure emerged out of the scrolls in form of a beast that held Shikamaru chokuto firmly in his mouth, the figure was that of a Foo dog. A medium sized Foo dog made up entirely of ink, stood beside Sai holding Shikamaru's chokuto in its jaw.
Shikamaru jerked his sword a little to successfully relieved it from the dog's jaw. As soon as the dog lost the sword it pounced forward toward Shikamaru, who jumped back and paced off to shake the dog off his tail. A quick step-back and a slash cut the ink dog in half, but as he looked up to check on Sai he saw two more lion-dogs standing beside Sai ready to attack. He groaned internally, what the fuck were these dogs? he had never seen or heard about such animal jutsu. He rushed toward the dogs, as soon as he reached his range he slashed the air and muttered, "Shadow Slash".
Sai was confused, was the Nara idiot? That wasn't what he had heard about the black haired boy. SHikamaru Nara, as suggested by Danzo-sama, was one of the usual genius produced by the renowned Nara Clan. He had the highest IQ out of the his academy batch. Sai, Shin and Yakumo Kurama were the genin squad under Shimura Danzo for past three years. They didn't attend academy instead they were handpicked by Danzo due to their special abilities. The three of them were informed about the teams competing in chunin exams this year from Konoha, they were instructed to look after several individuals, like Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura, Hyuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto.
He soon found that two shadows of Shikamaru's sword were racing toward him, he turn his body just to avoid them but his dogs weren't that fortunate. They were sliced in half, he had learned about the ability of Nara clan to use shadow as a weapon. But he had never foreseen such deadly jutsu from the ability.
In the jonin stands:
Shikaku Nara was shocked, his mouth agape and his eye widened to size of a plate. He knew his son was a genius, nothing different from him, but to able to use shadows with a sword, now that was something new. He side-glanced toward his son's sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, he was standing across the other side of the jonin stand. His face didn't show any signs of surprise, that meant he knew about Shikamaru's abilities. It was Asuma who had came to Shikaku with a proposal that Shikamaru should learn kenjutsu, well he wasn't wrong in that conclusion. Shikamaru did show much interest in weapons training, that itself wasn't like his lazy self. The results were pleasing and surprising at the same time, surprising because Shikaku knew about his Son tardiness.
In the Kage booth:
"That was unexpected, I didn't knew Shikamaru possessed such abilities. While the Nara clan is known for its shadow morphing abilities, none have shown such affinity before" vocalized Hiruzen.
"Trulu said, Hokage dono. The other boy isn't any less either. I haven't heard of ink controlling abilities before, does he belong to a clan?" asked A suggestively.
Hiruzen arched an eyebrow. What was the fascination of other two kages with Kekkei-Genkai and Clans?
"I don't think so, Sai isn't from a specific clan as far as I know" clarified Hiruzen.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
In the arena:
Sai quickly drew two more Foo dogs out of his scroll, in retaliation Shikamaru sent two shadow slashes his way. Sai avoided the slashes but again his ink dogs weren't that fortunate, they came in direct contacts with the strikes and fell victim to them. Before Sai could contemplate more Shikamaru threw his sword up in the air, Sai's focus diverted toward the in-flight sword trying to assess Shikamaru's strategy. He never noticed black shadow leering toward him at an alarming speed. According to Sai's mind, he had calculated the range of Nara clan's shadow technique so the incoming technique never fell to his notice, soon the shadow constricted his body tightly.
It appeared Sai's calculation had left out some points, Nara clan's shadow technique could extend its range if it can capture a few more shadows in its path. The limitations of his shadow techniques had fallen under notice of Shikamaru in his training sessions, he intentionally threw his sword up in air both as a distraction and a medium. A distraction because Sai, as calculative as he seemed, would surely get confused at his abrupt movement, a medium as he had noted sun's position in the sky and had moved accordingly and situated his opponent in the same manner. The sword's shadow gave a push to his technique that he used to constrict Sai, "Shadow constrict".
"It would be wise for you to surrender now, killing you would be troublesome but not far-fetched" Warned shikamaru with calm demeanors.
"I forfeit" accepted Sai in neutral voice.
"Winner of the match, Nara Shikamaru" declared Genma.
In the kage booth:
"A rather deceptive and sly approach, so expected by a Nara" commented Rasa.
"Precisely, it is to be expected by a clan full of sharp minds, I propose to look after a few more matches of Nara-san to promote him" proposed A.
"Agreed' responded Hiruzen in a word.
Rasa nodded as a reply accepting the Raikage's proposal.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
In the arena:
"Next and last match of first round, Uchiha Sasuke VS Yakumo Kurama" announced Genma.
Both the competitors stood in the arena facing the each other, accounting Genma's voice of "Begin" Yakumo focused all her chakra to her brain, and pictured a wall of inferno surrounding Sasuke. Suddenly, fire erupted around the ebony-haired boy of nowhere, forming a wall of fire around him. Sasuke was taken aback by the sudden appearance of red and yellow walls of inferno surrounding him, he quickly started forming hand seals. "Suiton: Water pellets" bellowed Sasuke as he fired several small sized balls of fire toward the fire wall, it wasn't enough to extinguish it completely but gave Sasuke enough time to jump out of the fire circle.
Just as he jumped out of the fire, Sasuke's limbs were constricted firmly by tentacles of mud emerging out of ground. Sasuke tried to slither out of the tentacles but it didn't seem in mood to lose him anytime soon. Yakumo rushed toward Sasuke.
In a few moments flurry of punches were hurled upon Sasuke, Yakumo wasn't as skilled as Lee in taijutsu but still she didn't need that much skill if she could simply restrict her opponent's movement.
A sudden movement by Sasuke and she missed, her fist collided with one of the mud tentacles and cracks spread through the tentacles.
A little force and Sasuke broke out of that particular tentacle, instantly he cocked his fist and punched Yakumo on face with blinding speed. A few of the more experienced occupants in the stadium were able to note the spark that erupted out of the punch, Yakumo staggered backward.
Benefiting himself from the slight distraction, Sasuke shunshined himself out of the tentacles with one hand seal. Before Yakumo could regain her composure, Sasuke appeared behind her and kicked her. The strength of his kick launched her forward as she landed on the ground, after crashing through the formation of tentacles.
"Katon: Fireball jutsu", yelled sasuke, and fired a ball of fire toward his opponent. Yakumo glanced toward the fireball coming in her direction and muttered something, as Sasuke had been practicing with his Sharingan for the last month, his reflexes and response time had increased dramatically. He activated his sharingan to understand her wordings. "Magen: Waterfall walls" was the exact words whispered by Yakumo.
'Magen? A genjutsu couldn't possibly protect her from fire, could it?' Sasuke thought to himself.
The answer came as a surprise when a wall of water erected infront of her and extinguished the fire, it was beyond apprehension of Sasuke how could the girl cast realistic Genjutsu. Was he under a genjutsu himself?
'Release' thought Sasuke as he tried to yank out of the possible genjutsu, no further effects were noted. If it wasn't an illusionary genjutsu then what could be the possibility of the girl casting a realistic genjutsus.
In the stands:
Naruto was astonished by the abilities of the girl, she was casting ninjutsu without hand signs, he didn't possess Sharingan so he couldn't possibly assess that the girl was casting genjutsus. In Naruto's point of view, Yakumo had displayed the abilities to use three of five elements without hand signs, and that was impressive.
In the arena:
Sasuke was thrilled, only Naruto was able to draw such fight from him in his age group. Yakumo Kurama was surely a strong and keen genin, any doubt of her being weak flew off to the wall when she casted "The Waterfall wall" without any hand signs and it came as realistic as possible.
He was in desperate need to formulate a plan if he wanted to defeat the kunoichi, she was proving to be quite dangerous for an unknown genin. As far as Sasuke remembers, there wasn't any genin in the academy in higher class or his class named as Yakumo Kurama. Furthermore, her last name sounded familiar to Sasuke, he had surely read about Kurama clan in last semester of academy, he just needed to focus on his memory to recall it.
Yakumo built up some distance between herself and the Uchiha, she was in deep trouble. Casting sealless genjutsus drawled allot of chakra out of her, the Uchiha was a formidable enemy. Danzo-sama had advised them to be wary of certain individuals, and all of them were displaying allot of talent in their respective fights.
The Uchiha was not only able to deflect her attacks but also able to drain allot of her chakra in defending his attacks. She couldn't allow herself to reach her chakra limits, that could be disastrous for her, if she reached her limits the other one would be able to influence her. Given her painful acquaintance with the other one in past, she wasn't looking forward to another confrontation.
Sasuke activated the second level of tomoes in both of his eyes for better understanding of Yakumo's genjutsu tricks. He moved forward unsheathing one of his Katanas, considering Yakumo was deep in her thoughts Sasuke sliced at her thigh drawling blood out of her skin.
Yakumo growled in frustration as she clutched her thigh and avoided Sasuke's second strike by ducking under it. Sasuke spun 180 degrees on his heels, and aimed the sword at Yakumo's neck. But this time Yakumo was ready for his move, she quickly diverted her eyes toward Sasuke's arm that was holding the sword, fire engulfed Sasuke's right hand. Alarmed, he jumped back and ripped off the sleeves from his shoulder, he didn't has the chance to extinguish the fire.
He glared toward Yakumo with full intensity, recalling his prelim fight, she diverted her eyes away.
Sasuke was trying to find a loophole in her techniques, he couldn't just let her cast genjutsu after genjutsu. Yes, he had recalled Kurama clans ability, Kurama clan was an ancient clan said to be direct decendent of Kyubi no-yoko, it was most probably a myth as Sasuke had read that Kyubi wasn't a real beast, rather it was a chakra formation given life.
Kurama clan had a unique kekkai-genkai that let them cast genjutsu fluidly, after every 3 generation a certain member of the clan developed this kekkai-genkai to a higher level where he/she can cast realistic genjutsu. Yakumo was this particular individual, she can cast realistic genjutsu but it certainly should have a draw back.
Coating the Uchiha's arm in fire did have its drawback, Yakumo was now feeling the presence of the other one in her mind. For nearly six years she had it locked up in the deepest corner of her mind, its presence couldn't be beneficial for her or anyone near her. Desperate to get rid of its presence she looked up frantically, Sasuke reflexes built up and he quickly casted a genjutsu as soon as she looked up.
But instead of Yakumo falling to ground unconscious, Sasuke was drawn inside her mind, he felt a two presence in her mind. One was calm and pure on the other hand second one was radiating malicious aura and anger, Sasuke saw a yellowish-green cloud forming up in front of him it took a form of a lion like beast.
The other entity, which was IDO, sensed the darkness inside Sasuke, particularly in the mark on his shoulder. It started drawing darkness out of it to overwhelm the boy, Sasuke felt his seal pulsating, before Naruto's securing seal could restraint it, it started influencing him recalling the same feeling in the forest Sasuke tried to control it his best but was unsuccessful in doing so. Outside Yakumo's mind, Sasuke's right eye turned black and kanjis started to spread on his arms.
Genma and many of the jonins and genins felt the sudden rise of malicious chakra around both Sasuke and Yakumo. Shocked at the sudden transformation of Sasuke Kakashi tried to jump off the railing to aid his student, but before he could do that Naruto formed a hand sign and muttered "Securing Seal Fūin". The seal drawn by Naruto over the curse mark shone bright orange, and begun overcoming IDO's influence over Sasuke.
In the Kage booth:
"Such malicious chakra, this isn't good definitely not good. What's the matter with the Uchiha, Hokage dono?" asked A gruffly.
"It's the influence of Kurama san, and her case is confidential. It's her personal issue" Hiruzen avoided answering his questions, rather his attention was focused on Naruto who was trying to restrict the Curse mark from influencing Sasuke.
In the stands:
Naruto slumped down as he successfully stopped the curse mark from spreading it's influence over Sasuke, He didn't understand what triggered the Curse mark suddenly.
In the arena:
Sasuke regained his senses as the curse mark receded back to its original stage, as soon as he regained his senses he found Yakumo's facial structure morphing into that beast inside her mind. He pounced forward and touched her forehead. She looked directly into his eyes, he simply muttered "Magen: Sea of darkness". Yakumo slipped down in deep slumber and fell to the ground unconscious, Sasuke was panting heavily. He glanced up toward with gratitude, Naruto had agained saved him from a disastrous ending.
Genma moved forward and checked Yakumo, nobody noticed the sudden stiffness in Hiruzen's second bodyguard.
"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke" declared Genma after checking her pulse, soon nurses carried her toward infirmary for medical support.
In the Jonin stand:
"Did you saw her last transformation? That wasn't usual, was it?" asked Guy seriously to Kakashi.
"No, it wasn't. But concerning she is under the genin squad of the old dodger, she ought to be unusual" replied Kakashi swiftly.
"Still, this much? I reckon that, dontcha think Asuma?" Guy turned toward Asuma.
"Reconsider it Guy, Danzo isn't call Yami no Shinobi for nothing" argued Asuma back.
"Such un-youthfulness" whispered guy.
Kurenai was being silent throughout the whole conversation between her colleagues, instead her focus was drawned upon the Kurama clan heiress.
In the stands:
As Sasuke climbed up the stairs he walked toward Naruto who was sitting on one side with Sakura, Hinata and Shikamaru at his side.
"That was pretty ugly, I didn't contemplated she could activate the mark" said Sasuke as he sat beside Naruto.
"I agree with you, her abilities in ninjutsu are remarkable I didn't think she could contain such malicious chakra inside her" replied Naruto.
"That suggests us to be more careful toward our opponent" suggested Shikamaru.
"Yep, precaution should be taken by us, by the way thank you, idiot" Sasuke thanked Naruto.
"Mention not, teme" teased Naruto lightly.
In the Kage booth:
"I suggest we hold the promotion for further matches, Uchiha-san surely displayed some remarkable skill but he lost his control quickly" suggested Rasa.
"I agree with your argument, Kazekage dono" supported A.
"I concede with your opinion" Hiruzen said.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
In the arena:
"The first round of the final stage had ended with this match. 8 participants namely Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Nii Yugito, Rock Lee, Uzumaki Naruto, Sabaku no Gaara, Nara Shikamaru and Hyuga Hinata have qualified for second round" announced Genma.
"The First match of second round; Hyuga Hinata Vs Rock Lee" Declared Genma.
With the announcement from Genma Hinata Hyuga walked down toward the arena, she would be lying if she denied being nervous. Lee had displayed great skills through his fight with Neji, Hinata wasn't as skilled as Neji in her clan's traditional taijutsu style. How would be she able to defeat him?
Hinata knew she needed to up her confidence for the match to turn her away, but it wasn't that easy. How could it be when Hinata was always a stuttering mess until someone came to her rescue, and that someone was Naruto for most part.
He was her savoir untill now, she looked up to him instinctively. As her eyes met his, Naruto smiled tentatively, as if saying he has full confidence in her. Her inner turmoils laid forgotten for the moment, if Naruto had confidence in her then she couldn't disappoint him. Her line of sight also landed on Hizashi who was sitting beside her father, Hizashi's face adorned a rare gente smile to cheer her up.
As soon as Genma said "Begin", Lee took the initiative to advance toward her in quick strides. A right hook was avoided was Hinata, a left the next time, then again a right and the flurry of punches went on. It seemed Lee had put allot of time in his punches, Goken was always a dangerous style of taijutsu, punches and kicks were more involved than grabs. Abandoning her defensive approach Hinata stopped Lee's next punch with a half formed claw, she used the delays between Lee's punches to hit him directly in the middle of his chest with a right-hand claw.
Lee wasn't expecting it, he stumbled back, he had heard about the girl from her cousin. Neji had told him and Tenten a little about Hinata. However, Hinata wasn't the same underconfident, stuttering mess that Neji made her to be, though she had shown nervousness in first few moments of the match but that demeanor of hers didn't last long.
She had actively blocked one of his punches and went on offensive, but the most striking thing about her was she wasn't using her clan's taijutsu style, Jyukken. She was using an another style, an unknown one to be more precise. In pursuit of his knowledge of taijutsu, Lee had read about several types of taijutsu used amongst Konoha's clans. There wasn't a single mention of a style that used claws as offence, although he could recall reading about an ancient branch of taijutsu, a mysterious one because he couldn't find much about it.
Before he could ponder much on the topic, Hinata directed another claw strike toward his stomach. He adjusted his footing a little and flicked off the claw strike with his hand. He thought by doing so he could dishelve her footing but instead she placed her hands on the ground and spinned to deliver a kick to his jaw. He would've been hit if his honed instinct didn't block the kick with his forearm, Hinata regained her footing but frowned as she saw Lee standing tall as if the kick didn't even hit him.
Lee smirked. "Yosh! The fire of youth burn brighter in you, Hyuga-san. I shall defeat you with same enthusiasm, and if I am unable to do that then I'll run hundred rounds around this stadium"
Hinata looked at him blankly, before nodding awkwardly.
She jumped back to make some distance between them, but Lee didn't give her the chance. He closed the distance in mere seconds and followed with a swift punch to her stomach. Hinata felt the power behind the punch, she gasped in pain, but quickly regained her senses to jump back in time avoiding a downward kick from her opponent.
She took the advantage of Lee's stretched leg to strike it with her palm morphed into a claw, channelling as much chakra as she can in it. Lee struggled as he felt his knee-socket get dislocated slightly. He jumped back and punched the other side of his leg to readjust the bone, the socket wasn't dislocated completely so it didn't need medical attention, slightly dislocated joints ought to readjust themselves if little pressure is applied to them.
Converging his thoughts he looked up from his kneeling pose to locate Hinata, but as he looked up he could only see a leg merely inches away from his face, at a speed too fast to dodge at his current state. During the last few moments before the impact he considered that not unbuckling his weights was a mistake, he underestimated Hinata and that wasn't like his former self but the excitement he felt after he defeating Neji has overwhelmed his senses for the fraction of the match.
A running knee was delivered spot on to Lee's face, he fell backward on the ground due to the impact. Hinata passed by him rummaging her knee into his face in the process, but instead of laying on the ground he kicked his feet and stood up as soon as he had fell. Hinata glanced over her shoulder to see him standing, she knew she just got lucky this time, Lee had probably underestimated her to the point he lost his focus.
"That was really awesome, Hinata-san!! You don't use jyukken, but whatever you uses, its so youthful!! I apologise for underestimating you, I wouldn't repeat my mistake again" Lee praised her as he cleaned his nose off the blood. Hinata had busted his nose with her knee, though fortunately it wasn't broken.
"Give me a moment my youthful opponent, I will get off these weights" declared Lee as he started to unbuckle his socks.
'He was using weights until now? How fast is he if he could move so easily with his weights on? I couldn't dare to slack off, he would pummel me to the ground' Hinata mused as Lee removed his weights. Lee slid off his weight and stood up to stretch a little as he hadn't used his full speed without weights for a long time. He separated the covers of his weights, and re-wore it as shin warmers.
In the Jonin stand:
Kakashi's attention drifted toward the weights, as he put more focus over them his eye widened for a fraction of second in realization.
"Don't tell me Lee was fighting while wearing those weights untill now, Guy" he looked toward Guy for confirmation.
"He surely did, my youthful rival." Guy clarified grinning a little.
"What's so different about those weights, Kakashi? They must be normal weights that most of the chunins use during trianing" Asuma tried to diffuse the situation.
"You don't get it, Asuma. Those are a pair of weights with five sets of bar in each, and each bar weighs at least twenty-five killos, they weigh over hundred and twenty killos when combined" Kakashi explained awestruck.
Asuma's cigarette fell off from his mouth, his mouth was agape as he looked between Lee, Gai and Kakashi. He swallowed a little thinking about Hinata's current situation, he glanced toward Hinata's sensei. Kurenai stood a little far away from the particular group staring intensely toward the competing genins in the arena.
In the Kage Booth:
"If I am not mistaken, isn't the girl Hyuga heiress, Hokage dono?" asked A with a frown.
"Indeed, she is" replied Hiruzen easily.
"No offense, but why isn't the girl using her clan's taijutsu style" intervened Rasa.
"It's her choice, she wanted to use another style of taijutsu than Jyukken as a challenge" Hiruzen hid her situation and choices smartly. His reply concluded their discussion for now.
In the arena:
One moment Lee was stretching infront of her, and the next moment he had broken through Hinata's guard and was about to deliver a right hook, and so he did. Hinata flew back certain distance due to the strength in Lee's punch, before she could adjust herself Lee was upon her delivering a downward kick, she tried to block it at last second but failed miserably.
She picked the dust around herself as she was pummeled into the ground, creating a small crater around herself.
Naruto's brow furrowed as he stood in the stands, it wasn't easy seeing her getting manhandled like that. Yet, he couldn't fail but admire the taijutsu prowess of Lee. The boy was truly a terrifying opponent to fight against, still if he knew Hinata properly then this match was far from over.
The stadium was silent suddenly, every pair of eyes was fixed on the dust covered crater in middle of arena. The dust cleared and everyone got a good look at the Hyuga heiress, she was laid on the ground while a small trickle of blood leaked out of her mouth.
Suddenly, she sat up blinking het eyes rapidly, she wiped the blood off her mouth and looked up toward the stands to Naruto. Naruto nodded as if allowing her do something, she tried to stand up wobbling a little in the process. Flexing her shoulder and leg, she adopted an unknown taijutsu stance, he right leg was stretched in front while the left one was held back positioned diagonally. She leaned a little to put a little pressure on her knees and out stretched her right hand into claw while her left arm was situated at back. She signalled Lee to bring it on, Lee didn't missed a beat and was infront of her in a second.
Hinata blocked Lee's high kick and tried to claw his gut with her left hand, tried being the key word as Lee flicked off her claw with his left arm and moved forward inside her guards, that proved to be a mistake. With a view toward his previous moves Hinata had predicted this move and was ready for it, she grabbed his right arm and threw him off her shoulder in a typical judo throw. He landed on the ground with a thud, it wasn't like Lee could deflect Hinata's move, as suddenly her speed has increased.
He tried to open the second gate but before he could do that Hinata struck on his right shoulder with full force, dislocating his shoulder joint. He let out a high pitched scream, an immense pain surged through his arm to his shoulder. Such display of strength was completely unexpected from the meek and shy girl, many were surprised but two people were nodding their heads in approval.
She quickly followed with a spinning righthouse kick, that connected with his jaw perfectly. It send him flying, unknown to Lee and the audience Naruto had allowed Hinata to drop her resistance seal, increasing her speed and power three-fold. While it wasn't as big of change as Lee's, it was still enough to surprise her opponent. .
"I respect you for your.." grunted Lee to catch his breath, "...strength, Hinata-san and the level of taijutsu you are displaying" Lee completed his sentence standing up.
He punched his shoulder to try and relocate it but it wasn't working, the relocation didn't succeed, he needed far more strength in his punch to do so. With a thought in his mind and a glancing look toward Guy-sensei, he stood his ground and closed his eyes to focus on his inner self.
"Third gate: Gate of life open!!" he shouted opening his eyes in the process, his body started to turn red while his pupils disappeared, and the hair on his head straighten up feeding off the energy he was protruding.
'The hell is this guy' thought Hinata alarmed. Nonetheless, she smirked as a plan found its place in her mind. She couldn't let him complete his transformation, since that wouldn't go in her favour in any manner.
He shrugged his shoulder aggressively popping it back into its place, he looked up to see Hinata crashing toward him with another roundhouse kick. With his new found speed, he ducked a little bit to avoid the kick. Hinata slid off her kick with gleeful look and a smirk, she just wanted him to that. As she landed on the ground Lee rushed forward, she spinned around with the intent to deliver a back hand that was blocked by Lee.
However, Lee failed to notice that Hinata's second hand was too near to his stomach. A dagger appeared out of thin air in her hand as she sliced it through his abdomen inflicting a deep gash across his abdomen, before he could comprehend the situation she flicked the daager and plunged it into Lee's right shoulder. He gasped for air, agony reflecting on his face as he went on his knees due to the pain he felt. His aura disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, Hinata was already behind him without any emotions on her face.
A second dagger appeared in her hand, given Lee's pain struck position Hinata used it inflict a cut across his back making him scream again as he fell flat on the ground. Medical team appeared quickly and took him off toward infirmary for quick aid.
The whole stadium went silent, no one had expected such brutality from Hinata. She was known as being the kindest person in her clan, for her to show such brutality against a fellow Konoha shinobi was shocking to say atleast. As for Hinata herself, she was nervous and felt guilt constricting her senses. She didn't want to hurt the green-clad boy but he hadn't left her with any other choice, she couldn't afford to lose this tournament. If she did then she would be relinquished of her title as the heiress, all the responsibilities would fall upon Hanabi's shoulder.
Moreover, she knew the clan elders wouldn't leave a chance to try and make her as stoic and arrogant as themselves, she had to win this tournament, if not for herself then for her sister. If that required brutality she wouldn't hesitate to kill her nervousness and kindness to achieve that. She glanced up toward Naruto expecting a glare of hatred but to her surprise, his eye displayed understanding. Understanding for her courage and power, she was further pleased when she noticed the proud look she was receiving from her uncle and mentor, Hizashi.
"Winner of the match, Hyuga Hinata" announced Genma recovering from his semi-shocked state.
In the seats:
Hiashi sat shell-shocked at the level of power, skill and brutality her elder daughter had displayed throughout her match. When Hizashi had asked him for some powerful techniques to teach Hinata, he has assumed that Hizashi wouldn't be able to teach her those technique as she was too meek and kind to attempt them. Particularly, a single technique needed non-quivering courage to use it, but he could confirm that she had indeed changed her personality to match that of a heiress that their clan required. Furthermore, he wanted to rub this as salt at clan elders' wound to show them that her daughter wasn't weak in any way, although he could see a hint of nervousness in her face but he knew a little motivation would rub it off through time.
"You surely did manage to strengthen her" Hiashi praised Hizashi.
"It wasn't just me who did this, I just provoked her wiyj some leverage. She already had it in her, she was too kind to hurt someone, specially Hanabi. With right motivation and provocation I made her phase through that, and personally I would suggest you against interfering with her life for now. I could develop her into a kunoichi that the whole clan would fear and respect at the same time, I understand your responsibilities as a clan head but ignore her certain actions and you would get a powerful daughter" warned Hizashi, he had became possessive of her niece. He had seen her interaction with the Uzuamki boy and Hanabi, he had used the boy a leverage for her motivation and Hanabi as a provocation.
"I think you're as mistaken as others, my brother." Hiashi replied swiftly, as Hizashi raised his brow.
"You see, I never wanted her to be a weapon. I am a father myself Hizashi, Hinata and Hanabi are always my first priority." He admitted, while Hizashi nodded in understanding.
"The stoic and unforgiving leader mask, I wore, was for their safety. Now, when she had displayed her prowess openly by defeating a genin under Guy's tutlega, I don't need to put up my mask infront of her" Hiashi replied calmly.
"I see" Hizashi shook his head chuckling to himself.
In the Jonin stands:
"Your genin surely packed punches, Kurenai. I have never seen Lee defeated in such a way. Her youthfulness exceedes Lee's" praised Guy pumping his biceps.
"Commenting about a Girl's youthfulness is wrong in so many ways, Guy" muttered Kakashi shaking his head.
As they were about to continue their banter, Anko walked up the stairs with a stick of Dango in her hands.
"Plans are set, take these, your locations are all marked in them. No-one is allowed to move out of the circled area around their location" instructed Anko and passed parchments to the jonins. Kakashi took up the dango from her hand and gulped it down in instant. Anko glared at him for a moment before revealing another stick of Dango from under her sleeve.
"It was one time Hatake, If you try to attempt such stunt again I will poison you" warned Anko.
"Ma..Ma Anko, Don't be so rude" Kakashi shrugged her off nonchantly.
She walked up to him and pointed the stick at his chin provocatively. "Don't ignore me, Hatake, I have killed men for less than that"
Kakashi didn't want to embarrass himself by showing his nervousness due to Anko's closeness, he could literally smell the Dango off her breath. He slid his hand to her waist and pulled her forward, "You shouldn't mess with a scarecrow, I am not even a little bit scared of you" whispered Kakashi.
It was Anko time to get nervous she started babbling incoherently.
"Ahem..Ahem, that's too close, Hatake. Particularly for your taste" interjected Zabuza from behind.
Kakashi noticed it and let her go, but he could still smell her breath over himself. He felt something fluttering inside his stomach, an unknown and strange sensation ran through his body.
"Is there something I should know?" asked Zabuza mockingly.
Kakashi looked toward him with uninterested eyes and flipped open his book next moment, but not before glancing a last time toward Anko who's eye were on him only.
In the kage booth:
"I suggest we promote the Hyuga to chunin, her skill while handling dagger was impressive and she didn't lost her cool even after the fascinating show of strength by that boy" offered A.
Hiruzen nodded absently, while he had a smile on his lips.
"I agree with, Raikage-dono. The Hyuga heiress surely displayed great skills. Specially, if we consider she didn't use her clan's taijutsu style" expressed Rasa.
"Its final then, Hinata would be promoted to chunin" declared Hiruzen among his fellow kage.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
In the arena:
"Now for the next match, I would want to call Haruno Sakura and Nii Yugito to the ground" announced Genma.
Both the girls walked down the stairs to reach the arena at the same time.
"Both fighters ready, Hajime" shouted Genma.
Yugito bolted forward at the first chance, soon her nails grew up into claws and she attacked Sakura head on. Sakura started dodging her swipes, she didn't expect such speed from the blonde kunoichi from beginning, that misconception of hers resulted in her incurring a few cuts across her arms.
Yugito kept on her offense, however a little slip of her aim gave Sakura enough time to punch her square on the face. Sakura had applied quite the amount of chakra in her fist, as a result Yugito was thrown back quite the distnace. Sakura was panting heavily from constantly dodging Yugito's swipes, she had to continuously jump and crouch to avoid getting cut at some critical part of her body.
Yugito stood up a shaking the dirts off her trouser, her face soon morphed into sneer as she started leaking a little of Nibi chakra. She again jumped forward, this time faster and more agressive than before.
In the genin stands:
Naruto was shocked again as the Kyubi immediately recognised Nibi chakra and informed Naruto about it, for Naruto the tournament became more dangerous. With three Jinchurikkis participating in the exams, including himself, the matches were surely going to be explosive.
In the arena:
Sakura saw the tint of red chakra leaking out of Yugito and figured that it wasn't a good signal for her. She quickly unsealed her heavy sword and the next moment Yugito was infront of her. She deflected Yugito's first claw swipe, however as Sakura warded off Yugito's strike it imprinted three claw marks over her sword. She glanced down at her sword with wide eyes, it was confirmed now, she didn't want to face those claws head on.
Yugito spun on her heels and delivered another swipe with her claws, this time Sakura infused a little of her chakra in her sword. This technique was taught to her by Zabuza, he had told her that he used the same technique to ward off low level elemental attacks. It chopped off the nails of Yugito's right hand, Sakura smirked a little on her success. But her smirk soon turned into a scowl, when Yugito grew another set of claw, it meant the claws were regenerative.
Sakura didn't waste a single moment in thoughts, instead she opted to attempt another swing at Yugito head, the blond ducked under her sword and rolled infront. Sakura didn't give her the chance to attack, instead she stepped back from her and used the back of her blade to hit on Yugito's leg. That tripped Yugito and she fell backwards, Sakura used this moment and tried to deliver a downward swipe to Yugito's chest. Yugito expecting it, as her village had allot of kenjutsu specialist, rolled back to avoid the slash and used her momentum to kick the sword off Sakura's hand.
Before Sakura could reach to her sword, in quick succession Yugito cleared the distance between herself and Sakura to break through her guards, she quickly pointed one of her claw nails at Sakura's juglar point.
"Surrender, you're done here" Yugito warned Sakura.
Sakura nodded her head reluctantly, she wasn't an Idiot she knew she was at disadvantage now. Yugito had far more speed and resilience than her, not only that but her claws were regenerative unlike Sakura's sword, and not to mention that strange red-tinted chakra leaking out of her. Even if she refused to surrender, inevitably it would lead to a more painful defeat for her in a few minutes.
"I forfeit" she blurted out.
"Winner of the second match of the second round, Nii Yugito." announced the senbon wielding man.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
In the Kage booth:
"That was impressive, both of them displayed great skills and sense of mind. I propose that we should promote them both" Hiruzen proposed his offer.
"I agree with you, Hokage dono. Since the konoha kunoichi was able to defend herself for quite sometime and even forced Yugito on backfoot on a few occasions. I agree with you" replied A.
It was truly remarkable and alarming how each of the Konoha genins were displaying different abilities in their matches. Konoha indeed hasn't faltered its reputation of producing skilled and powerful shinobi. If his father would have been able to see beyond acquiring kekkai-genkai for the village, he could have assess the benefits of Konoha being an ally with Kumo. Yet, he wasn't his father, he wasn't hungry for clans that held kekkai-genkai instead he needed allies. Unlike Raikage's proud and arrogant self, he had deducted that his village needed allies. Tsuchikage was an idiot to plan with his father and commence a war on Konoha. Konoha didn't go on backfoot as expected, instead with the quality of ninjas it produced and an unlikely ally as Suna, it had decimated whole battilions of Kumo, Iwa and Kiri.
Rasa didn't speak but just nodded his head in agreement, this wasn't unlike the present Kazekage. He was always aloof and unemotional, talking less and acquiring more was his moto from the beginning of his term.
A had seen the power of Gold dust first hand, Kumo, Iwa and Kiri were able to form an alliance against Konoha, Suna came as an unexpected ally for Konoha and equalled the battlefield. In the end Konoha and Suna had demolished the armies of three combined nations, and that was due to the number of skilled shinobi from Konoha and Suna. Although, Suna's rank has fell down after the Third great shinobi war. However, Konoha even after losing a large number of its most skilled shinobi like Minato Namikaze, Itachi Uchiha and Orochimaru, had held to its reputation of producing dangerous and skilled shinobi. What he didn't predict was that the real show of strength was still to come, he would see the true power of Konoha in a few hours time, nonetheless the matches moved forward as usual.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
"The next match, Uzumaki Naruto Vs Nara Shikamaru" announced Genma.
Naruto smirked toward Shikamaru in the stands, he knew Shikamaru will draw him to the edge for a win. Shikamaru wasn't physically stronger than him but his intelligence was something Naruto respected, he knew his shogi loving friend wasn't a pushover in any way.
"Why are you smirking toward me? Do you really think I will fight you? With your current arsenal of Jutsu, of which half is still unknown, you would easily defeated me. I am not an Idiot to challenge you Uzuamki" drawled Shikamaru lazily.
"Come on Shika, don't be like that. It'll be fun, let's go" Naruto whined trying to push Shikamaru for the match.
"As I said before, I am not an idiot" Shikamaru reminded him and raised his hand, "I forfeit" he yelled from the stands earning a few chuckle from Kiba and Lee who had returned to the stands as his wounds were healed up by Tsunade personally.
"That baka Shikamaru, he's is going to get it sometime" Ino yelled in frustration. Choji was sitting beside her trying to calm her down, they both knew Shikamaru's lazy attitude.
"Ma..Ma Asuma, that boy is sure a lazy ass, he should have been in my team" Kakashi said lazily.
"You bet, Hatake" chuckled Asuma, he knew about Shikamaru and was astonished that he even fought untill now.
"You're a fucking lazy ass, you know that" Naruto scolded him irritated at his antics.
Shikamaru just shrugged and went on to sit on his chair.
"Winner of the third match of the second round, by forfeit, Uzumaki Naruto" Genma announced stoically.
In the Kage Booth:
"Well, that was anti-climatic" chuckled Hiruzen.
A and Rasa just shook their head in disappointment.
In the arena:
"The last match of the Second round goes as; Uchiha Sasuke VS Sabaku no Gaara" announced Genma.
"Both competitors please walk down to the ground" instructed Gemma further.
Sasuke and Gaara instead chose to appear through shunshins of their own to the arena, Sasuke in a leaf shunshin while Gaara with sand Shunshin.
"Begin" shouted Genma.
Gaara was stalking the ebony coloured boy with angry red eyes, his eyes accurately displayed his hunger for Sasuke's blood. Gaara had been restricted form ending the life of his last victim, and quenching his thirst for their blood so that his mother could pleased. His mother was screaming for blood and death inside his mind, she was provoking him to kill the boy infront of him. And he couldn't dare to deny her or else she would cause him great mental pain, he would kill the boy for his own sake and quench his mother's thirst. Without giving a second thought he signalled his sand to pace toward Sasuke, much to his ire the boy dodged the first wave of sand.
The tentacle erupted behind Sasuke, trying to tear him to shreds but he had already activated his sharingan. He quickly jumped up to avoid the tentacle and fired a fireball toward him. The fire wasn't hot enough to damage the sand but it did churned it a little bit, as Sasuke landed on the ground Gaara's sand was on him again. Sasuke jumped and ducked around to avoid every potential attack from Gaara, for a change of pace he quickly tricked the sand otherway and moved toward Gaara. As he neared Gaara he decked a punch but failed in delivering it as Gaara sand reappeared infront of him.
Concluding his plan was failure, he tried to flee back and return with an another plan but Gaara's sand didn't wanted to leave him and started trailing him. He quickly formed three hand signs and a clone appeared above him, before Gaara could understand anything the clone used his full life force to exhale a huge amount of fire toward Gaara's sand. The fire was far more hotter than the previous one as Sasuke had conjured up a shadow clone and it had forced its full life force into the technique ending it self.
In the Jonin stand:
'A shadow clone? How unlikely of Sasuke? It must have been one of the techniques taught by Naruto' mused Kakashi and looked up toward the genin stand, precisely toward Naruto. His suspicion was proven right by the slight smirk adorning Naruto's face.
In the arena:
Sasuke kneeled down and started forming hand seals faster than ever, while Gaara was distracted by his headache. As Gaara's sand broke through the glass, it moved toward Sasuke and impaled him. Every person present in the stadium gasped in fear that the Uchiha has failed, even Naruto and Kakashi's eye widened in shock.
However, before anybody could comprehend the situation completely Sasuke's body turned into a flock of Raven that flew off in different directions.
In the Jonin stand:
Kakashi's jaw hung down, He had seen Itachi and Shishui using the same technique. He never predicted that Sasuke would be able to do it in such small amount of time. In a month time Sasuke had conjured one of the most difficult techniques ever seen by Kakashi, he knew its dynamics already and understood how difficult it was. He glanced toward Shishui to see him sending a content look toward Sasuke's previous location.
In the arena:
The flock of Raven circled around the arena for a few second before they gathered at one place and reformed Sasuke's body. That one place was behind Gaara, and Sasuke had one of his Katana incased in lightning chakra in his hands. Sasuke plunged the sword forward but Gaara was able to build up a sand dome around himself in mere seconds. However it didn't helped much, as Sasuke's sword was incased in lighting chakra it cut through sand, like a hot knife cuts through butter, and impaled Gaara's left shoulder. Gaara let out a heart wrenching screech just as Sasuke pulled his katana out of the dome. His Katana was red with blood, he could smell the blood on his katana clearly.
In the genins stand Temari and Kankuro gasped and looked in horror as the Uchiha passed through Gaara's double defence and impaled him, they have never saw anyone else do so not even their father.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; All rights are reserved to Kishimoto.