Hanako walked towards Takeshi and Hiroki to wish them luck before following the rest towards where they had to go. The two Genin then walked to the center of the arena to wait for the match to begin.
"Well, any time..." Takeshi said as he breathed deeply.
"We're both ready." Hiroki added while stretching his muscles.
"I'm not losing today." Takeshi suddenly commented looking determinedly at his opponent.
"We'll see what happens." Hiroki replied with a playful smirk.
"Alright." Hayate spoke, making the two Genin get into a fighting stance. "Begin!"
Both ninja pulled out their kunai and attacked each other. Upon clashing, they quickly backed away. Takeshi threw some shuriken towards the green haired boy. Hiroki made some seals with his hands when he saw the weapons heading in his direction.
"Doton: Doryuuheki." An earth wall emerged from the ground, protecting him from the shuriken.
"Darn it..." Takeshi muttered with gritted teeth while planning how to land a hit on his opponent.
'The next thing that comes is...' Hanako thought while she observed with keen eyes the match. Hiroki had sunk into the land.
"Doton: Dochuu Eigyo." Hiroki muttered while he moved through the earth. Takeshi realized that his battle was going awfully alike to Kaichi's battle against him, and he jumped at the second in which, under him, Hiroki's hands appeared and tried to grasp him from his ankles.
"The battle's quite interesting, huh?" Hanako heard a voice beside her and turned her head to find Isao looking intently at her.
"Hm...It appears to be so," she replied curtly while turning back her attention to the arena. They were currently observing the match from the waiting area while resting their arms on the railing.
"Attention please, all the participants." A Chuunin suddenly appeared. "I'm afraid to announce that there has been a change of plans." While saying this, the ninja pulled out a paper with the new battles. Hanako widened her eyes when she saw them. Her opponent wasn't Isao anymore. She looked at the Senju girl, who looked back at her the same way. Now they had to fight each other. Hanako looked away from her and focused her eyes on Itachi but was surprised to find him completely calm. However, Isao really didn't like the new change.
"I thought there was no way to change the matches, that they were definite," he commented while glaring daggers at the Chuunin holding the plan.
"Sometimes there can be exceptions. Like this one," he said roughly before leaving the place.
"So, now I have to fight you?" Isao raised an eyebrow as he looked at the black haired boy. "Don't let me down, now I'm really pissed and I can promise I will take it out on you." Hanako frowned at him and quickly walked towards Itachi and pulled him away from the Iwagakure ninja.
"You're not letting him threat you like that, right?" she said at him. Itachi looked at her and sighed.
"There's nothing you should worry about. It's fine." Hanako pressed her lips.
"You're awfully calm considering the situation." She raised an eyebrow. "Did you know anything about this?"
"Well, it didn't surprise me." He shrugged.
"Tell me it doesn't have anything to do with you talking to the Hokage about what we discussed." Itachi focused his eyes on hers. They stood like that for a few minutes under a tense silence. "Itachi..." she spoke impatiently and Itachi took a deep breath.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: The Final Rounds
Начните с самого начала
