𝘉𝘖𝘕𝘋𝘚 | ⁿᵃʳᵘᵗᵒ

twenty nine

"S'he gonna do anything?" Naruto leaned over the railing and squinted at the collection of trees where Shikamaru was hiding.

I gave a shrug. "Who knows. But if he doesn't do something soon, Ryuu is going to get very, very impatient. I'm surprised he hasn't done anything yet really. Other than that smoke screen. Not sure what that was for still."

Ryuu pulled on the strap securing the massive scroll to his back and gave a 'hmph'. "Fine! You don't wanna come outta there, I'll make you come out!"

He made a couple hand signs, but at the sight of the familiar bird seal, I knew my dumbass teammate was going straight in for the kill.

"Wind style: Great gust!" Ryuu took a gulp of air and leaned back onto his haunches, before he jolted forward, wind bursting from his mouth and striking the arena. Those in the stadium who sat behind the collection of trees got the full force of wind, cries of irritation and shock coming from them.

The trees he aimed at bent over, wind forcing them into a backwards bow. Bark blew off in strips and flew into the crowd. Some even flew so far they whirled out of the stadium entirely.

I could see Shikamaru now. Thanks to Ryuu's spectacular wind jutsu, the cover the trees had given him was no more.

The Nara covered his face with his forearms and struggled to stay where he was, and surprisingly, didn't move more than a few inches backward. His footing slipped a few times, but it was definitely an accomplishment. The fact he didn't end up like those flying bark pieces was not something to scoff at.

Ryuu looked a little winded (ha—get it? Winded) but other than that, he didn't seem to have used too much chakra. He always had a massive amount of chakra reserves (another supposed gift from his mothers clan) and didn't tire easily. It would take a lot for him to get chakra exhausted, not to mention I had a good feeling the scroll on his back wasn't just for cool effect.

Now I know what you're thinking—I thought Ryuu said he had lightning chakra. Not wind. And you'd be halfway right.

You see, Ryuu actually has two chakra natures. The lucky bastard.

Lightning and wind. Similar to our Sensei, who also had those two natures. Only he didn't get the cool swift release she did.

Combining the two natures of wind and lightning gave the user the power of swift release. That was, only if you were a Jinsoku clan member. It sucked, but to each their own.

As far as I knew, I only had one nature. Truthfully I had never gone through the hassle of testing it with actual chakra paper. But I did have lightning. That was for certain.

The cluster of tree's Ryuu was aiming for took a number from his jutsu. Only a couple still stood, while others had fallen and were laying in the grass. Shikamaru took the initiative to hide behind the fallen logs now that his previous cover was no more.

Ryuu gritted his teeth. "Dammit. It didn't even do anything!"

I would have to call that a bit of an understatement.

A dark shadow suddenly shot out from the fallen tree's and made a beeline toward my distracted teammate. It crawled across the ground like an entranced snake; precisive, quick, and almost unnoticeable.

I didn't know how he hadn't sensed the sudden burst of chakra—but it was probably because he wasn't paying attention to the fight, too fixated on his failed attempt to force Shikamaru from the shelter.

"Ryuu—!" I screamed, trying to get his attention. But there was no need, the silver haired boy flipping away into a back handspring from the shadows range.