Chapter 65 - 65 - Series of Battles

"Temari, Tenten, please come to the stage," Hayate called them while coughing.

With a gust of wind, Temari appeared on the stage then looked at Tenten, who was still on the viewing gallery, looking at her.

"Wind jutsu." Tenten looked at Raito with complicated eyes then jumped down to the stage. Previously, she had made Raito fight with her but the result was her defeat. According to Raito, if her weapons didn't have enough power then a simple wind jutsu was enough to block all her chances of victory. And then there was his kenjutsu, just like her fast draw with different weapons, Raito also had sword drawing skills, which were even faster.

Standing on the stage, facing each other, Temari revealed a smirk, full of aggression. Tenten gritted her teeth, thinking of different ways to attack.

"Fight!"

Temari and Tenten didn't attack, waiting for other to act first. While Tenten looked cautious, her hands reaching over to kunai pouch, shuriken pouch, and back pouch, Temari was standing straight with her right hand placed on her big metal-encased fan.

"Are you waiting for me to attack?" Temari revealed her fan and gave it a light swing, forcing the wind to circle around her.

"You better act now… because if I do… you won't even have the chance." With each swing, Tenten could feel the winds against her.

Taking out shurikens from her pouch, Tenten looked at her enemy and calculated inside her head. 'She is a wind primary, which means she is going to have far more powerful wind-related techniques. And that fan… it must weigh some."

"Ha!" With a flick, Tenten threw several shurikens, which circled Temari, targeting different parts of her body at different speeds.

"Oh!" Swinging her fan, Temari created a barrier of wind around her. The shurikens lost their power easily then fell on the ground.

"Do you have anything else you want to try?" Temari smirked then closed her fan, looking at Tenten in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"A lot more!" Tenten brought out the scroll and unrolled it. There were several sealing marks with kanji for 'weapon', covering the entirety of the scroll, which was about ten meters long

Under her manipulation, the scroll twirled around Tenten like a snake and as she passed her hands above a seal, a weapon would pop out, which she threw towards Temari.

The sheer number of big shuriken amazed Temari and the fact that each one was aiming at the free spot that she had been forced to make, amazed her even more. A smile appeared on her face as she gripped her fan. "Good! But not good enough."

Opening the fan and revealing the three purple moons, Temari took a step back and waved the fan once, creating a sphere of wind, which erupted outwards, blocking all the shuriken. Then Temari revealed two moons and waved her fan upwards with force, which generated a blade of wind, cleaving towards Tenten.

"Hup!" Tenten hurriedly jumped and at the same time threw out some kunai.

"Hm?" Temari noticed the flying kunai coming towards her. With a wave of her fan, she stopped them but failed to notice the small black paper ball, embedded on the ring of kunai.

"[Fuinjutsu – Activate]."

"Explosion!?" Temari with her keen eyes saw smoke coming out of the kunai's handle and hurriedly jumped a few steps back.

The seals on the tags activated, letting out massive black smoke which spread in all directions, like a wildfire fueled by wind, acting as a smokescreen covering most of the stage.

Just as Temari wanted to clear the field using her fan, she felt a numbing sensation in her hand. 'Poison?'

"[Fuinjutsu – Explode]." With a hand seal, the kunai and shuriken on the ground, around Temari, started giving red glow before exploding into pieces.

With a big shuriken on her hand, Tenten had already created some distance and now was watching the smoke cloud.

With each passing second, she felt nervous as the proctor wasn't announcing her win.

"No way." Tenten drew the big shuriken towards her c.h.e.s.t, guarding herself as her eyes moved left to right.

"Looking for me?" Temari was crouching on her fan, gliding freely, high above in the air.

Standing up, she pressed her leg on the edge of the fan, tilting it. Grabbing the base of the fan, she waved it violently and added chakra on the fan.

"[Wind Release – Wind Scythe]."

"Ahh!!" The blades of wind didn't cut deep but rolled her inside, making numerous shallow cuts, all over her body.

Gradually the tunnel got longer and Temari was lifted high in the sky.

Raito, who was looking at this scene, was neither looking at Temari nor Tenten but at Temari's big fan.

"Sensei do you know what fan is that?" Raito knocked on Kakashi's arm and asked.

"That fan? Don't know. But being from Suna… it must be their own secret." Kakashi shook his head and answered. As far as Kakashi could remember, not many used fan-shaped weapons. "You can ask this kind of question at the information department, behind the Hokage monument… after you become a Chūnin."

"Chūnin?"

"Um… It's a ladder system. The higher you go, the more you can see." Kakashi gave Raito a complex answer then turned to look at the fight at the arena.

"That was soo unhelpful." Raito sighed then gave his attention to the fight.

[Sealed Jutsu – Wind Scythe]

'Even Jii-chan didn't know about sealing Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. But this Suna-nin… I should take a look at that fan.'

Winds died down as Tenten crashed on the ground, raising a dust cloud.

"It's over." Temari let out a breath and closed the fan then looked at Tenten who was lying on the ground.

Hayate, who was about to walk towards Tenten, stopped and quickly took a couple of steps back. 'That was careless of me.'

"What now!?" Temari glared at Hayate then looked at Tenten who was trying to stand up. "Are you still not done?"

"Temari," Gaara called out, scaring Temari, making her hurriedly turned back.

"Don't play around. You are wasting time." Gaara spoke monotonously but this made Temari tense up.

Temari turned to face Hayate then gritted her teeth and said, "If you are not declaring that she lost then…"

Tenten had a sword in her hand walking towards Temari.

"It's a sword now?" Temari smirked, raising her fan and slamming down. This time the chakra used was much more, as the wind formed blades, traveling in a straight line to pierce Tenten.

Seeing no panic in Tenten's eye, Temari clutched her fan tighter and with a step, swung her fan once more.

Soon the blades of wind passed Tenten and she disappeared like a mirage.

'Genjutsu!?' Temari went into the alert mode as she couldn't see her opponent, even after searching around.

Sensing the sudden change in the wind, Temari looked up. Tenten was high above, in the air and the swords, she was holding, was covered by chakra, letting out a silvery-white glow. Sword over her head, the wind was gathering around her and forming a sharp hook-like form.

"So much trouble for someone of this level." Temari clicked her tongue and bit her lips. Activating her chakra, she took a deep breath in, letting the chakra towards her fan.

"[Konoha Style: Kenjutsu – Talon]"

The talon made up of wind descended but Temari looked at it with unimpressed eyes. Even before it could descend, she gave it one gentle flick and closed the fan.

The wind kicked up from the ground, quickly enveloping the talon. In an instant, the talon, made up of wind disappeared and Tenten came crashing down.

"Not anymore." Temari disappeared from her spot, appearing just below Tenten. With a light swing from her fan, she hit Tenten, sending her flying towards the wall.

Bang.

Hayate checked Tenten then raised his hands and declared, "Winner, Temari."

"Tenten!" Lee jumped down the railings and appeared beside Tenten.

Raito also jumped down, crouching beside Tenten and started using '[Heal]'.

"Using big moves when you don't even have enough chakra. What a moron." Temari harrumphed, looking at the fallen Tenten.

"What?" Lee glared at Temari in anger.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Temari shrugged.

"Do you say things like that to someone who just tried her best!?" Lee stood up and looked unhappily at Temari.

"… There is nothing wrong with what I just said." Temari just walked back with the fan on her back.

"There isn't much damage, except chakra exhaustion." Raito healed all the small cuts over Tenten's body then checked with the diagnosis jutsu.

"Lee, she is fine," Raito called Lee. The cuts had all healed, so, there was nothing more he could do. The skill [Heal] had already crossed fifty, so, the time needed was less and the amount of HP recovered was large.

"Hey! Stop!" A man wearing onesie, shouted stopping Lee from carrying Tenten.

"Hai?" Lee looked at the medical personnel, coming towards him with angry eyes.

"What are you doing? Don't go randomly using healing jutsu." The medic hurriedly ran a diagnosis jutsu on Tenten then looked at Raito who was just a few steps away.

The angry look on a medic made Raito flinch as he looked away.

"Clear the stage," Hayate called the two Chūnin and ordered them.

"I checked and all, you know," Raito grumbled appearing beside Hinata and Naruto.

"Let the professionals do their work." Kakashi rubbed Raito's head awkwardly.

[Yamanaka Ino vs. Nakahara Karu]

"A Yamanaka, huh?" Karu crouched down and scrunched his brows. His fingers played with the railings as he looked at Ino stretching, "A Yamanaka, what should I do? Should I just knock her unconscious?"

Fumio sighed as he looked at his Genin then at Ino who was already waiting down.

"Oi, Karu. The proctor has already called you twice. Get your a.s.s down." Gennai kicked Karu and pointed down.

"You can forfeit if you want." Fumio leaned on the wall, exhaled a puff, and gave his Genin the option.

"Why would I?" Karu looked at Fumio weirdly then walked down the stairs slowly while shouting. "Coming."

Fumio let out a small smile as he looked at Karu leaving. "He's confident."

"He's confident." Raito mouthed the words, looking at Fumio then his eyes turned to look at the slowly walking Karu.

"Ino's gonna lose this one." At this time, Shikamaru commented with his low voice.

"Hey, whose side are you- mmph." Before Naruto's voice could get louder, Raito stuffed his mouth with a cloth.

"Stop talking." Raito glared at Naruto and slowly released him.

"Yuk." Naruto spat the cloth then looked at Raito venomously.

Ino stretched before looking at Karu, "So, you are finally here. Let's start."

Karu looked at Ino for a long time before a surprised expression appeared on his face, "Aren't you from that club? That love… no, was it blooming? – well, it was something, something club."

Ino felt a vein bulging as she looked at Karu.

"Just asking… wanted to know who got Sasuke's love in the end?" Karu smiled innocently as he continued with a sudden change to his expression, "…from all those stupid oafs- oops didn't mean to say that."

"This guy…" Ino frowned, taking a stance. 'Who the heck is this guy?'

"Heh~" Karu casually took out kunai from his kunai pouch and made a stance which made him look like, he was ready to throw the kunai.

"Ino, Karu, fight!" Hayate raised his hands, declaring the start of the match.

Swish.

Ino easily dodged the flying kunai coming towards her then countered with shurikens.

"Oh, nice throwing skills. Shame, Sasuke still doesn't like any of you." Taking out twin kunai, Karu immediately blocked all the shuriken.

"[Clone]." "What has that got anything to do with me?"

Taking out kunai from her pouch, she dashed towards Karu.

"Jealousy looks good on you," Ino commented, surrounding Karu.

"Jealous? Me??" Karu laughed.

"Ow." When Ino was about to step in, she walked into a trap and stepped into something pointed, and sharp and long enough to pierce her sandals.

"Got you. [Water Release – Water Bullet]." While Ino jumped back, flinching from the caltrops, Karu had already weaved through a sequence of hand seal.

"Ah!" Getting attacked from the short distance, gave Ino a powerful punch, sending her flying back.

"It's easier than I thought." Karu patted his c.h.e.s.t then walked towards Ino.

"Cough… cough…" Ino continued coughing while sitting on the ground.

'Must have swallowed the water.' Karu thought while taking out shurikens from his pocket.

"Ha!" suddenly Ino rolled back and threw Kunai.

"I don't really like surprises." Karu easily blocked the kunai and jumped back, throwing the shuriken from his free hand.

The shuriken hit Ino on her arm but it didn't stop her from continuing hand seals.

"[Lightning Release – Four Corner Lightning Array]."

"What!?" Karu looked around and finally saw the kunai stuck on the ground around him. As soon as he saw the kunai embedded around him, Karu moved his legs to walk out of this array.

"[Discharge]."

The lightning erupted from the kunai, discharging electricity and assaulting Karu, who was in the middle of the array.

"That would have been bad." Ino heard a voice beside her as Karu in the lightning array turned into water.

"Water clones." Karu appeared in front of Ino and answered her, pointing a kunai to her neck.

"Hehe." Ino smiled mischievously then disappeared in front of Karu.

"Seriously? Genjutsu?" Karu frowned then jumped back to stand in the water, made from the water bullet.

Horse… bore…snake… dragon… "[Water bubble]"

[Lightning Palm]

"Argh!" Karu's jutsu was canceled midway as numbing lightning coursed through his hands.

Ino appeared in front of Karu, her Genjutsu canceled. But it didn't matter now as she had caught the real one.

"With this…" Ino gritted her teeth as she forced more chakra to the jutsu.

"[Water Release – Water Prison]."

Karu, who was being held by Ino turned into water, encapsulating her into a ball of water. A thin but sturdy layer of water closed Ino from the outside world.

"Hey! Let me out." Ino shouted and tried to burst open the water membrane but failed to do so. Neither her punches nor the sharp kunai was able to open it.

"If you continue doing that… you will lose all the precious oxygen." Karu smiled as he moved near Hayate with Ino inside the water bubble.

Inside the water bubble, Ino struggled, occasionally discharging lightning.

"That water prison technique must have used most of his chakra." Shikamaru guessed then looked at Asuma.

Asuma shook his head and answered, "If that boy doesn't leave his hand then, this match is good as done. It's difficult to break this jutsu from inside."

"Damn it! What kind of jutsu is this!?" Ino hit the water barrier weakly then sat listlessly.

"Participant, Yamanaka Ino, are you giving up?" Hayate looked at Ino and asked in between coughs.

"Of course not!" Ino shouted pushing a kunai on the water membrane.

Karu looked at Hayate with a smile, "Let's wait a few more minutes… the oxygen will run out then she would have to use her leftover chakra to substitute for it. But the way she was using those jutsus…"

'I have chakra left.' Ino looked at Karu and made her clan technique-specific hand seal, hidden with her legs, form Karu's view.

"Roll," Karu whispered, making the water bubble roll violently.

"Wah!!" The jutsu was broken and the rolling made her head spin. Ino couldn't do anything but bear with it.

"Give up," Karu asked Ino while making the water bubble roll but seeing that she was holding, Karu made the bubble smaller and the rotation faster.

"I give up!!" Ino cried out after feeling a moment of blankness in her mind.

"Winner, Nakahara Karu," Hayate announced.

With a 'pop' sound the bubble burst open throwing Ino on the ground. Ino felt sick in the stomach and could still see the world spinning. When she came to be, she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.

"Yamanaka Ino, please leave the stage." Hayate went near Ino and asked softly.

Karu, with a victorious smile, walked upstairs and gave his teammates and Jōnin commander a thumbs up.

"Nice job, Karu." Ami, now all patched up, gave Karu a big hug.

"Oi, oi, leave me alone." Karu pushed Ami and looked at his teammate, Gennai, who had a serious face.

"Ou, Gennai," Karu called.

"Karu… It seems that I won't be joining you in the finals." Gennai shook his head in disappointment.

"Two Hyūga, one Nara, Two from the Suna, and those two." His eye traveled from one Genin to another but when it stopped on Gaara, Gennai's neck immediately shrank back.

"If it's that redhead from Suna then you better forfeit," Karu suggested, remembering the gore in the forest of death.

"Aha… I don't think anyone here can even hurt him." Gennai rubbed his arm looking at the other remaining participants.

[Gennai vs. Nara Shikamaru]

"Finally." Shikamaru yawned then stretched his tired body. "It shouldn't take a lot of time."

"Ho~ Shikamaru seems confident." Asuma looked at Shikamaru and rubbed his beard.

"He will win," Raito commented, seemingly confident. If it was purely about the numbers, Gennai had already won against Shikamaru in numbers but the reality was a bit different. Numbers were just numbers, while the experiences are the real deal.

As Shikamaru walked downstairs, he encountered Ino, who looked sullen.

"Shika…" Ino had tears in her eye and dirt on her clothes. With her fist gripped tightly, her face had revealed her bitterness. "I really wanted to win…"

"Ino…" He looked at Ino plainly but seeing that she was crying made him quite uncomfortable. 'I'm not good in these situations. What a pain.'

"You just have to train harder." Raito stood high up the stairs and looked at Ino. With a sigh, he walked down and gave Ino a small white handkerchief. [Gentleman code – Always have a white handkerchief which is lightly scented.]

"You will look ugly if you continue crying." Raito teased.

"I am not crying!" Ino turned and hurriedly rubbed her face and Shikamaru who saw this smiled and waved his hand. "I have a match to attend."

While Shikamaru was walking on to the stage Gennai and his team were discussing his next match.

"Fumio-sensei." Gennai looked the electronic board then at his Jōnin commander.

Fumio nodded. "That boy is the young clan leader."

Gennai contemplated for a bit but nothing came to his mind. "So, he must have techniques like yours, Fumio-sensei."

Fumio rubbed his head and replied, "Well, yes but I haven't used most of my jutsus while with you guys. So…"

"Participant, Gennai," Hayate called looking at Gennai. 'Why are these participants taking soo much time?'

Fumio looked at Gennai then sighed, "Just do your best and remember to be aware of the shadows."

"Hai, sensei." Gennai saluted then jumped down.

"You took your time," Shikamaru commented as he looked at Gennai. The well-defined, buffed physique, bandages on his hand, and most of his right leg gave Shikamaru some hints about his opponent.

'I got to be wary of the shadows. It's the worst.' Gennai sighed in his heart and formed his stance. Shadow has been his friend for the past year. So, Gennai was slightly anxious in his heart, thinking that he would mess up.

Opening the kunai pouch, Shikamaru took out a kunai from his pocket then made a one-handed hand seal with another hand.

'What the!?' Gennai frowned as he looked back at Karu.

"Like your friend did…" Shikamaru looked at Karu then back at Gennai.

'His shadow is getting darker.' Gennai sweated as his brain started finding solutions. His eyes traveled back to the kunai in Shikamaru's hand. 'Kunai.'

As he took out kunai from his pouch, Gennai took a deep breath in to calm himself. 'Calm down, Gennai.'

"Fight!"

"Hup!" With a strong kick to the ground, Gennai flew back and threw the kunai.

At the same time, Shikamaru also threw kunai towards Gennai. The kunai met at midway giving a light 'Clang' sound then fell on the ground. But while Gennai was empty-handed, Shikamaru had shurikens that were thrown towards Gennai. The shurikens were thrown towards the area where Gennai had landed.

'When did he get the shuriken?' Gennai thought as shuriken hit his arm.

"Ow, Ow." Gennai pulled the shuriken from his arms and looked at the blood leaking. "First blood…"

Trying to get back to his stance Gennai found that he couldn't move anymore, "Damn. Shadow imitation jutsu?"

While he was paralyzed, Gennai erupted with chakra, strengthening himself, trying to free himself. "Haa!"

"Hm." Shikamaru waited, strengthening the shadow to hold Gennai. "I have dealt with someone who was more brute than you."

Shikamaru had a small smile as chakra flowed from the body downwards, towards his shadow, strengthening it.

"I think he is talking about me." Raito frowned at Shikamaru calling him a brute.

"You think?" Ino sneered pointing at Gennai. "You are the one Shikamaru is talking about."

"Because that's the easiest way." Raito retorted, huffing.

"So, what are you gonna do? It's just shadow imitation jutsu. I just won't give up easily, know this." Gennai said stubbornly as he still tried moving.

"Shadow imitation?" Shikamaru looked at the hand seal he was making then at Gennai who had the same hand seal.

With an eye twitch, Shikamaru walked towards Gennai.

"Y-you can move? I can't move? What is happening?" Gennai panicked in this situation. He still had the hand seal but Shikamaru hadn't.

"Baka~." Shikamaru walked towards Gennai with a kunai in his hand.

Gennai moved his eye to look at his Jōnin commander, Nara Fumio, who seemed slightly shocked. For a Nara and even a Genin, maybe this was the first time in this couple of years.

"Although Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka clan are collectively known for their group combos, we also have techniques which are suitable for one on one fighting," Shikamaru explained while waving his kunai.

Although there are clan specific jutsu for one on one battles, the Nara clansmen are not really fond of learning them when they are still Genin. But when they become a Chūnin and for some unlucky event, they are separated from their regular partners. So, various people in the clan made rules to at least make shinobis from their clan learn these jutsus after they become Chūnin, at least.

"Winner, Nara Shikamaru." Hayate caught the kunai, which was about to pierce Gennai's neck. Forcing the proctor to save the life of the participants, also means direct withdrawal.

The shadow withdrew, releasing Gennai from the restrain.

'That was easier than I thought it would be.' Shikamaru looked at Gennai then his hand. Then he turned to look at Raito, who was in the viewing gallery. 'That arena is a nice place.'

"Shika! Nice!" Naruto shouted in joy.

"Yay! Shikamaru!" Ino jumped in joy, already forgetting about her fight.

"Told ya." Raito shrugged.

"Shikamaru-kun is really strong." Hinata gripped the railings tighter, worried about her match. Looking at the remaining participants she found that… it wasn't going to be a bit easy.

"Shikamaru! Treat!" Chōji shouted, letting everyone know his feelings about Shikamaru's win.

"No money." Shikamaru shrugged then continued, "But~ Raito's cooking is better than any restaurant."

"Bring the ingredients, I will cook." Raito gave up in the end as the names for the next fight appeared on the electronic board.

[Hyūga Hinata vs. Hyūga Neji]

Hinata looked at the screen then at Neji, who was also looking at her. She grasped both of her hands tightly and faced down.

"I…"

"Hup." Neji dropped down with a shout and quickly walked to his designated spot.

With a smirk on his face, he looked towards Hinata and said, "Hinata-sama, it would be for the best if you withdraw."

"What the…?" Naruto glared at Neji, his brows furrowed. Someone talking bad about his teammate, especially Hinata, who didn't talk back much, unlike Raito, made Naruto irritated.

"I have never won against Neji nii-san when sparring," Hinata confessed, her voice so small that only Raito was able to hear it.

"Hinata, don't listen to this guy." Naruto turned to face Hinata, patting Hinata's shoulder.

"And you! Don't tell others to quit." Naruto pointed his finger at Neji and shouted. If it wasn't for Chōji holding Naruto back, Naruto would have already gone for a punch.

"She is going to lose anyway." Neji shrugged. His face showed that he was fully confident of what he was saying.

"How the heck do you know that?" Naruto raged. With his fist pushed forward, Naruto declared, "Just you wait!"

Gai looked at Neji on the stage and said. "This isn't going to be good."

"Gai-sensei." Lee also looked at Neji with a mix of emotions. "This is very…"

"I understand, Lee." Gai sighed looking at Neji. While he was Neji's teacher, Neji never learned techniques from him nor did he learn any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu after the basic three. But it may be because of this that Neji was very proficient in Hyūga gentle fist style, defeating and subduing everyone only using the gentle fist.

"You should forfeit, if you…" Raito suggested with a bit of hesitation. If Raito was free to say, he would definitely ask Hinata to forfeit this match… because Raito knew the level and the skill difference between them.

"I…" she clenched her fist and looked at Neji.

"Participant Hyūga Hinata *cough," Hayate called looking at Hinata.

"Don't be so negative, Raito." Naruto made a face looking at Raito.

Then turning to face Hinata, who was looking down, Naruto clapped once, hard, startling Hinata. "Hinata… believe in yourself, believe in all the training you have done. That guy may be stronger than you but if you don't try then you will never know how much you have improved."

"We will never back down." Glaring at Neji, Naruto focused on his words, "And especially not to someone like him."

"Show him the result of all that training and kick his b.u.t.t, Hinata."

'' Hinata nodded then putting a bit of force, she jumped down, standing in front of Neji.

"Neji nii-san," Activating her Byakugan, she got into [Hyūga Gentle Fist] stance, the bulging veins around her eyes, giving her a dangerous look.

"Sure." Neji activated his Byakugan and got into [Hyūga Gentle Fist] stance.

"I just hope you don't regret it," Neji said while activating his chakra.

"Battle, Start!!"