Chapter 16: Chunin Tournament - 3
"Up first, Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara!" Genma announced.
"Good luck guys." Naruto nodded at them.
"Thanks Naruto. Don't feel bad about cheering for Ino. She's your teammate after all."
"Naruto you'd better cheer for me." Ino said with a fake smile that made no effort to hide the malice in her voice.
"Yes ma'm!" Naruto saluted, "I will cheer for you."
Sasuke patted Ino on the shoulder, "Good luck."
Ino nodded, "Thanks."
The two genin walked down to the arena. Both knew the other's jutsu well from their fathers. Of course Ino had the Astral Clone, but she didn't doubt Shikamaru had some equivalent.
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Ino smashed a smoke bomb on the ground and sent three Astral Clones at Shikamaru while she used an Earth Style ninjutsu to tunnel underground.
"Fire Style: Flame Bullet Jutsu!" Shikamaru shot three quick bullets of fire towards the clones, popping each of them. He spotted the hole that Ino made before and quickly ran towards it. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he blasted a large flame down the tunnel.
"Water Style: Raging Waves!" Ino's voice came from behind Shikamaru. A blast of water hit him in the back and knocked him over. "Ha! I tricked you Shika!" she taunted as she ran towards him. She dodged three kunai from the Nara heir and kept going, or at least tried to.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu, success." Shikamaru said. His shadow extended to the kunai and then to Ino. "Shadow Stitching Jutsu!" spikes of shade erupted from the shadows around Ino's feet, leaving cuts around the girl's feet and legs.
Shikamaru's shadow returned to him and he tossed three kunai around Ino in a triangle. Each kunai had a seal on it, "Three Pillar Sealing Jutsu!" Shikamaru focussed chakra into the kunai.
Suddenly a large blue shield of chakra formed from the kunai, blocking Ino from leaving.
Naruto's eyes widened. Shikamaru hadn't told him about any fuinjutsu. 'Guess he was keeping it secret.' "Ino! Tunnel!" he shouted. Sure Shikamaru would hear but there was no way to avoid that.
Ino nodded. She gathered chakra and broke the ground beneath her. She jumped into the tunnel and cam up right beside the barrier. As she came up she threw ten shuriken and ran towards Shikamaru.
The Nara made a hand seal and shadows danced around him, blocking the shuriken, "Nara Style: Shuriken!" Shikamaru tossed five shuriken. Ino dodged them but as they passed their shadows linked with Ino's and the throwing stars were pulled into Ino, stabbing her in the back.
Shikamaru ran towards Ino and punched her in the stomach twice before kicking her away. "Fire Style: Flame Bullet Jutsu!" Shikamaru fired off three bullets of flame that honed in on Ino, creating a large explosion.
Suddenly Shikamaru's vision changed. He looked around and saw a large field of grass. He reached down, rubbing his fingers across the blades, "Hmm, it's soft." he laid down, "And the clouds are nice." he smiled at the sky, "I'll stay here for a bit. I've done enough." then a frown crossed his face, "Troublesome. Asuma-sensei will get disappointed if I just give up. And after what happened to Hinata and Choji and Kiba. I can't stop here."
He stood up and shook his head, "Genjutsu: RELEASE!" he pulsed chakra off of himself. Suddenly he was back in the arena.
"Sorry Ino. I won't give up though, troublesome as you may be to fight."
Ino smiled, "I kinda hoped that genjutsu would've made you wanna give up. Too bad."
Shikamaru and Ino met in a clash of taijutsu. Ino's Serpent Style helped her slip into Shikamaru's openings but the Nara's clan style made use of all of the openings their attacks made to follow into another attack. Ino jabbed at Shikamaru's chest but suddenly his foot was in her stomach pushing her back. He followed up by stepping into Ino and slamming both elbows into her shoulders, slipping one foot behind her feet and pulling his foot back, knocking Ino off balance. She jabbed at Shikamaru but he caught both her hands. Ino hit the ground and Shikamaru placed his knee onto her chest.
Ino tried to move but Shikamaru's grip on her wouldn't cease.
"Ino, give up." Shikamaru said. Suddenly shadows wrapped around her wrists and with his free hands Shikamaru held a single handed hand seal and the other held a kunai to her throat.
Ino growled, the only genjutsu she could cast without hand seals was a basic illusion and that wouldn't do anything. She felt shadows wrapping around her ankles and sighed, "Fine, I surrender."
Genma looked impressed, "Shikamaru Nara is the winner of this match!" he announced, "Next up will be Rock Lee and Ayato Hattori!"
Lee jumped down onto the arena floor and immediately kicked off his weights. He grabbed the four pieces of metal that rested in the weights and attached them, forming a bo staff. Ayato noticed Lee favouring one leg
Ayato appeared on the field with white sparks flying off of him. He already had his sword drawn.
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"The Eight Gates! First Gate, Gate of Opening, OPEN! Second Gate, Gate of Healing, OPEN! Third Gate, Gate of Pain, Fourth Gate, Gate of Life, Fifth Gate, Gate of Closing, OPEN!" Lee's skin turned red as his blood flow skyrocketed. Lee's injured leg didn't seem to bother him anymore either.
Ayato and Lee met in a clash of sword on staff. Lee kicked Ayato hard in the side, sending him flying.
'Even with my Swift Style activated he's still faster than me?' Ayato blocked a powerful staff strike with his sword. He jumped back and held his sword upwards. "Hazy Moon Night." he whispered. Suddenly his sword appeared to be clones, forming a large circle. Suddenly a second Ayato appeared behind Lee. The taijutsu specialist watched as his bo split in two. Suddenly the first Ayato disappeared. Three gashes exploded on Lee's chest. The bowl-haired boy dropped the pieces of his staff and clutched his chest, a look of pain on his face.
Ayato turned around and looked at Lee, "You're fast, but I'm faster."
"Are you? I will show you my youth." Lee said, appearing in front of Ayato faster than the boy could see and kicking him in the chin, knocking him into the air. Lee appeared above the boy, "LEAF DROP!" he spun around and slammed a heel into Ayato's stomach, knocking the boy to the ground, hard. "I believe I remember you from my first year in the academy. You took the exam as soon as you could, and passed. I was jealous of you." Lee said as he landed beside the boy, who was laying on the ground.
Ayato stood up, "I'm sorry for thinking you were worthless." he said, "I should have tried to help you instead of pitying you." Ayato spun his blade around, "As an apology I will finish this with my strongest jutsu." lighting erupted around Ayato's sword, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Ayato made two clones of himself, each with their own lightning covered blade. Suddenly the Ayatos were around Lee, slashing from the front, left, and right sides. All three bodies converged in on each other behind Lee as three more gashes appeared on the taijutsu user.
Lee fell to his knees. He was bleeding too much, he couldn't keep going like this... no he would. Lee stood up and looked to Gai, "Gai-sensei, I am going to win, I promise! And if I cannot I will perform 5000 push-ups in five minutes."
"Lee, no!" Gai shouted, about to jump down but Asuma stopped him.
"Believe in the kid, he's got this." Asuma said. Gai still looked antsy but stepped off the railing.
"Sixth Gate, Gate of Joy, OPEN!" Lee shouted. Power radiated off of him, loose rocks floated around him in a vortex. "I am ready to end this Ayato!" Lee appeared before the boy faster than even some of the jonin could see, "Leaf Triple Hwechook!" Ayato's head rocked to either side then he flew forwards. "Severe Leaf Hurricane!" Lee smashed his foot into the flying Ayato's stomach, knocking the air from the teen's lungs and sending him in the opposite direction. "Morning Chicken!" Lee punched the air incredibly fast, sending small fireballs at Ayato, who was helpless to the assault. The Swift Style user fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Rock Lee is the winner of this match!" Genma announced. "Without further ado, we'll continue on to the third match of the quarter finals, Nyxx and Sasuke Uchiha!"
Lee dropped to the ground and a medical squad grabbed him at the same time as Ayato, shaking their heads.
"You know Gai, as much as your enthusiasm is admirable, you didn't have to go passing it on." Kurenai said as she shook her head, "Lee could have killed himself or either of his opponents."
"Oh but he didn't. Lee knows better than that." Gai said, "Even so, he should not have opened the sixth gate, I told him that I would watch over him as he did so, in case it went wrong."
"That was his first time opening the sixth gate?" Kakashi asked, "That's impressive."
Gai smiled, "Of course, he is my student after all. And in the contest of strongest students I'm afraid that I have won this competition Kakashi." Gai smiled.
"We'll see. Either Naruto or Sasuke will make it to the finals, and if Lee manages to make it as well they'll battle on behalf of us." Kakashi said, he usually tried not to give in to Gai's antics, but he was proud of his team, and he was sure they could beat Lee.
Sasuke idly spun his sword as Nyxx tossed a small ball of flame from hand to hand.
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Immediately Nyxx threw the fireball at Sasuke, who stepped under it and flew forwards in a burst of speed, slamming a shoulder into Nyxx while slashing the teen's stomach, leaving a deep gash.
Nyxx flew back, catching himself and flipping so that he faced Sasuke. "You're good. Faster than I anticipated, even after your last match. But you are no match for the might of a phoenix." Nyxx clapped his hands together, "Phoenix Style: Spear of the Phoenix!" pulling his hands apart he created a blazing spear of flames, which solidified into molten gold. Nyxx charged at Sasuke, who managed to just barely dodge or deflect each jab of the spear, until Nyxx planted the spear in the ground and spun around it, kicking Sasuke hard in the side and sending the Uchiha flying.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan, this wouldn't be as easy a match as he had hoped. His sword was covered in lightning as he charged Nyxx. He saw the boy's attacks just before they were started and jumped over a series of jabs, cutting the spear in half and planting his foot in Nyxx's face.
Nyxx hit the ground, dropping his weapons and clutching his broken nose. His hands lit up in flames and he burnt his face. When he moved his hands the blood was gone and his nose was fixed. He smirked darkly as Sasuke, "Let's move onto round 2!" he ran towards the Uchiha, grabbing the two halves of his weapons and spinning them both around, changing their shape to that of two broadswords. He slashed at Sasuke, who blocked each attack, but just barely. Nyxx smirked and jumped away from Sasuke, dropping both his swords, "Fire Style: Immolation Jutsu!" he shouted, exhaling a white hot cone of flames.
Sasuke's eyes widened and he jumped away, that attack would have killed him. Time seemed to slow down around him as he landed. He didn't pay it any mind and rushed towards Nyxx, who was moving in slow motion. Sasuke took his sword and slashed Nyxx across the chest twice, leaving an X-shaped gash.
Sasuke spun around, twirling his sword and slashing Nyxx again, this time across the back. He jumped away and grabbed his left wrist, "CHIDORI!" he screamed, running forwards and plunging his hand into Nyxx's chest, just missing the boy's heart.
Nyxx fell to his knees as Sasuke pulled his arm out. The Uchiha sheathed his sword and stepped away, waiting for Genma's announcement.
Suddenly Nyxx exploded, literally, into a pillar of flames. "Phoenix Style: Flame Pillar!" the teen's voice rang out. "Phoenix Style: Ascension!" the pillar condensed into Nyxx's form and the flames started to peel away, floating around the boy. His hair was now seemingly made of scarlet flames, his eyes now matched his gold scarf and his black pants hadn't changed. There were strange red markings along his torso that went up his arms and onto his back. The flames that swirled around him formed into huge wings. "Now, witness the power of an Ascended Shinobi!"
Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Sasuke! Get outta there!" Naruto shouted.
Gaara's eyes widened, 'To think, there was someone in my own village with this level of power.' the sand swirled around him as he walked to the edge of the balcony, "He will feed us well mother."
Shikamaru looked to the jonin, who were all about to jump in and stop the Suna genin. The Suna jonin were all laughing except one, Baki -the jonin in charge of Gaara's squad. He was looking towards the Kage booth.
"Troublesome. Naruto, we should stop this." Shikamaru said, "Ino, Astral Clones. Naruto, Shadow Clones and Rasengan, as many as you can. I'll try and catch his shadow."
"He's too bright, your shadow won't reach him." Naruto said, "Let me use my clones as water pumps while I go in for a Rasengan. Sasuke should be able to use Chidori at least once more."
Sasuke looked up at Naruto, "Dobe, stay up there. I've got this." he took out a soldier pill and swallowed it, 'Listen up you stupid seal, give me your power!' he then grabbed his head, screaming out in pain. Black asterisks began to cover his skin. "Perfect, now I'll take you out." Sasuke smirked, though the pain in his head was still making it hard to keep the Sharingan active.
And that's where I'm leaving it! Hope you all enjoyed it! Sorry Linkie and ZeroTailedJinchuuriki for having your OCs lose, but don't worry, they'll still have time to shine coming up!
End chapter 16