Chapter 11: Chapter Eleven
Pre-Chapter AN: Hey, thanks for reading this. It's literally my favourite thing to write these days. Enjoy the chapter, and let me know how it sticks if you enjoy it.
After reading this, you can either wait till next week for the next chapter or read the next two on pa-treon right now and keep reading as I write. For the pa-treon, you can remove the hyphen between pa and treon and google it then search for my username- Oghenevwogaga. Or you could copy the link in my bio and remove the spaces before pasting in your address bar.
Have fun with this- Also, in case you haven't checked out my other story (Gamer of the Desert) yet, then please do so. It's also set in the Naruto universe. It's an SI into Gaara with some gamer elements. I can guarantee you'll love it. It's also much farther along than this one so gives you something to really sink your teeth into.
I was on the back foot from the beginning. If I'd been foolish enough to get the thought in my head that this would have been an easy night after watching my opponent limp out into the field, then he would have thoroughly disabused me of that notion in seconds. I jumped out of the way of another volley of lava-release projectiles. I'd make sure to get at Uzume for her stunning inability to convey scale when she gave reports later on. He did not pause between jutsu, it was like he was attempting to flood the arena with lava.
In the first exchange, I'd decided to try to go jutsu for jutsu with him, countering each lava ball with a water jutsu of my own. I wasn't so stupid any more. I jumped out of the way of another attack, banking in my run. And then, I came face to face with a volley of about seven different lava balls.
I formed a single seal. "Water release: Water Severing Wave" I formed a thin blade of water between my lips and moved my head across, slicing through all of them and then dropped to the floor, placing my hands on the ground to form a wall that managed to block one attack before melting against the second. I pushed off, banking to the right sharply.
He was quickly turning this into a ninjutsu battle, and unlike him, I didn't have the chakra equivalent of a nuclear reactor sitting in my gut to keep me going. I strongly doubted Tsunade would be kind enough to top me off after this one ended. Even worse, I still had another fight waiting for me after I managed to beat this guy—if I managed to beat him.
He flipped seals for the first time, and I breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was a tiger seal. Finally, no more lava release.
"Monkey flame arson," he said, taking a deep breath. The older teenager bent forward and breathed out what I would be underselling to call a firestorm of green flames. It was so much fire—so much bloody fire. The closest in-universe example I could think of was Madara's great fire annihilation, and all of it was coming right at me.
I formed two seals, forcing as much chakra into my stomach as possible. I kneaded it once, twice, thrice, forcing the chakra to bend in on itself as I created water-release chakra and then used that to create even more water release chakra. And then I funnelled all of it down into the ground beneath me. Water release chakra did as it ought, it made water. And then it looked for water, multiplying everything until there was so much water beneath me that I barely needed to force the next step. This was a jutsu I'd been saving to use against Uzume, and I was going to have to pull it out here, still miles away from the finals.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave," I screamed as I slammed my fist into the ground. All around me, water burst from the ground, rushing onwards to meet the slow-moving firestorm. The water came in waves, moving first in a smaller wave and then widening as it got farther and farther from me. In the beginning, the fire evaporated the water, creating harsh steam, but more and more water closed in on what fire remained.
"What a Show!" Jiraiya's voice cut through the silence as I stared through the steam, looking for my opponent.
"Senju!" I heard suddenly and whipped around to see him standing on the water that had formed a solid one-foot-deep layer across the entire arena. It was evaporating rapidly, as I wasn't using my chakra to slow down the process. I doubted I had the reserves to pull that off, even if I wanted to.
"You are strong. Stronger than they said. Goodbye. You fought well" He said, and then closed his eyes. Oh fuck no. Any other opponent and I'd be confused. This one? I was just scared.
I unseal my bow and quiver faster than I ever had. I loaded a single arrow and shot it, applying wind release to make sure it shot straight through his head with no resistance. It flew faster and surer than I could have run the distance. But it was still too slow. He reached up and caught the arrow in his grip. His eyes were red. And they were glowing.
The transformation began with the hand that had caught my arrow. Bubbling red chakra surrounded it. And then that chakra began to spread until it surrounded his whole body. Something told me that I should be doing something. Making some movement, some jutsu, shooting an arrow, maybe. But I stood transfixed at the sight. It was so fascinating. The chakra actively boiled the water at his feet as it got that far. And then, after surrounding his body, it amassed at his tailbone and then branched out to form a tail. A tail that waved in the air behind him. All that red chakra then began to heat up. I could feel the heat from here even. Lava. It turned into lava. It was instant. Almost like I'd blinked. Where the first transformation had been slow and methodical, this one had been instantaneous.
It also came with an instant burst in speed. He covered the distance between us almost too quickly for me to keep up with. I only dodged by commanding the water at my feet to carry me backwards. He punched the ground where I'd stood, forming an instant crater. Oh fuck me, I lamented to myself.
I nocked another arrow and fired it right at him. The water release chakra was able to last better against his armour instead of burning up at first contact, but it still meant nothing as he deflected the attack with a savage backhand that showed more rage than one would expect. I don't think I've done very much to piss him off, I thought to myself. Only to facepalm as I figured that it was probably a result of the tailed beast's chakra running through his body. Tailed beast chakra. That was right. This armour only worked because he was powering it with the Yonbi's chakra. Otherwise, I doubted he had the reserves and control to pull off something like this on his own.
But did that matter? Was it anything more than an academic discovery? It wasn't like there was anything I could do about it now that I knew it was tailed beast chakra. Maybe if there was some sort of rule against that, then I would be able to cry foul to the ref and get things settled in my favour. I looked in his direction, seeing him watching everything with an amused smile on his face. Yeah, there was no chance Orochimaru was stepping in.
I body flickered all the way to the other side of the arena to avoid the stomp that shattered the ground I'd been standing on. And then I scowled, noting that I'd dropped my bow in my haste. Moving, I focused my chakra in my arm and began to command it to take shape as I needed. He ran towards me again, not giving me time to breathe. Working on a jutsu, I didn't have the opportunity to body flicker away. I ducked under the first swipe that threatened to turn my head and neck into distant acquaintances, and stepped back from a stomp that tried to grab hold of one of my feet. My footwork was immaculate as I danced around the pissed off Jinchuriki. He was faster than I in a straight line. He could cover distances faster than I could truly think. But none of that mattered in close combat. Not against me, at least.
He moved quicker than I did, but it didn't matter because every move he made was hideously telegraphed. I stepped to the side of a thrust aimed at my chest, and knowing my jutsu was ready, I completed a thrust of my own. Unprepared and caught with his pants down, Roshi of Iwa took a full powered Rasengan right in the head. I pushed down with the jutsu from the second I made contact, forcing it to grind further and further into the Iwa Genin's armour before the jutsu finally exploded and sent him flying backwards.
Breathing room. Finally. I took stock of my body, noting the burns on my left hand and the ones across all my exposed skin from being in such close proximity to the lava armour. The former was much more severe than the latter, but the latter were still something to worry about. I looked at the hand, figuring that I hadn't damaged any of the important tenketsu and that the damage was most likely superficial. The only problem was that this was going to make it a bitch and a half to weave hand seals. Luckily, the next jutsu did not require any of them.
First things first, rotation. I forced the chakra to spin all around my arm. I added the power next. And then came containment. The rasengan formed in no time, a ball of spinning threads of chakra. An impressive jutsu all on its own. And then I turned the containment up a notch to force the ball to change shape. I hadn't managed to figure out a way to form this type of rasenshuriken any quicker than this. But luckily, my opponent seemed satisfied thinking about his life from his half buried position into the stadium wall.
He only really seemed to zone back in by the time I'd completed my jutsu. I held it above my head, waiting for him to move from the wall so I could throw it without risking the integrity of the entire structure. He acquiesced to my unspoken request, pushing himself off the wall with a slow movement. It was then that I noticed that he clearly hadn't just been laying there doing nothing. Where one tail had once floated behind him now there were two. Two tails of dense lava. There was no change to the armour itself, I thought.
A thought that fled my head when every instinct I had told me to dodge. I did it, moving out of the way of an attack I hadn't seen coming at all. He stood where I'd stood, tilting his head at me, and so I did the only thing I could think of. I thrust the rasenshuriken in my hand into his chest at an angle that I knew would send him flying upwards, not towards the civilians. This time, I was more than content to allow the jutsu fly without me right from the get-go. The spinning blades ground into his armour as they pushed him further and further into the air. Even as I watched it, I could tell it wouldn't be enough. Maybe if I could have pulled off a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, then I might have some chance of putting him down with that blow alone, but I knew the limits of my jutsu.
"Kukuku" I turned to the third member of my cousin's team and saw him watching Roshi's floating form with a slimy smile on his face. Creepy bastard. I'd found him creepy from the moment I was introduced to his character in the anime. Thinking about that brought another memory to my head. He'd subdued a rampaging Jinchuriki. How? I tried to remember as much as I could. It had something to do with odd and even numbers. Naruto had the eight trigrams seal. Orochimaru had sealed his seal with something odd-numbered? What was it? The Five Symbols seal? No. Not that. Five Elements! Gyogo Fuin.
I could try that here. Only problem? I didn't know Gyogo Fuin. In fact, I knew precious few seals that would have any effect here. If only I'd been born with the adamantium sealing chains like a good Uzumaki. Life would be so much easier. No use crying over spilt milk. The jutsu ran its course and allowed its victim to drop to the ground. Looking into the crater he'd formed, I saw that he was already healing the would that went most of the way through his stomach. Any other person would be either dead or dying. He just had to take a few seconds to breathe.
I turned to Orochimaru, hoping he would call the match in my favour either way, but the man seemed satisfied with avoiding my gaze. Fuck him. I jumped into the crater, kunai in my hand. I could already feel my chakra reserves and how they'd dropped to dangerous levels. Using exploding water colliding wave on such short notice had taken more than its usual due. A usually draining technique became punishing without the efficiency gains from slow use. Adding a Rasengan and then a Rasenshuriken to that was just begging for punishment.
His eyes were closed. His armour was gone. I just had to do this quickly and end it. I squatted near his position and reared my kunai up. I closed my eyes at the thought of what I was about to do. But Roshi would grow into a powerful jinchuriki that would threaten my life in future. This wasn't murder. It was self-defence. I brought the blade down. One foot, two feet, and then it stopped. I felt a powerful grip on my wrist. I looked down to see the Iwa Jinchuriki staring at me with red eyes. No. Fuck.
He began to squeeze. I could feel my wrist straining. The bones weren't made to take this kind of pressure. With his hand around my wrist, he climbed to his feet, taking me along for the ride. He lifted me up like I was some sort of trophy. Fuck him. I stabbed my right hand right at his chest, wielding my chakra as a lance and tearing through his heart. He just tilted his head at me, as if the attack hadn't even registered. Red chakra poured from him in waves. My wrist was burning. It was like I'd dipped it in acid, but even worse because the pain wasn't reducing as my nerves fried themselves. Fuck.
The chakra around him crescendoed until it formed three floating tails behind him. Fucking Jinchuriki.
_"There are some seals I teach you only for you to have the knowledge. You are never to use them on anyone. Pay close attention, Shori-kun. This is what our ancestors called the Three-body disruption seal."_
_"Three body disruption?"_
_"Exactly what I said. It works to divorce the relationship between a target's mind, body, and soul"_
That memory played over and over again in my mind. It was like the universe was sending me a message. I had to use it against him. I had to. The only problem was that I'd never been taught how to actually apply it on a target. Grandmother had taught me about the seal, and its effects, and even shown me the matrix but I'd never practiced it before. I had no idea if I could even use it. Especially without a matrix. I'd be applying a new seal with touch.
Everything I'd been taught told me it was impossible, but how true was that really. I was a genius without peer. I'd learned seals so quickly even an Uzumaki seal mistress was impressed. I could do this. I had to.
I formed the matrix in my mind, making sure I had a clear picture of everything even as my body burned from within. I made sure I had it, and then I took the chance to plant my hand on his chest. He laughed. He was playing with me.
I ignored the burning from both sides of my body. My wrist and my right palm. I zoned it out. I smashed the image of the seal into my chakra and slammed that against his chest with my hand. I watched the kanji spread across his body with a grimace on my face. The pain was too much for me to even remain conscious anymore.
As I lost touch with reality, all I heard was a single deep voice saying, "That was a mistake".
Sakumo knew that something was wrong the moment that his student placed the seal on the Iwa boy. Perhaps it was simply a bad feeling, but one did not survive as a shinobi by ignoring bad feelings. That was why he was already moving before disaster truly struck. When the red chakra surrounding Roshi of Iwa was cut off, he hesitated. That hesitation almost coast Shorirama his life. The other boy stumbled backwards, dropping his student from his grip, and the fell to his knees. Some sort of pain causing seal? Sakumo asked himself as the boy curled in on himself holding his stomach.
But that turned not to be the case. The boy's skin turned red, and in less than a few seconds, he had jumped into the arena, grabbed his student and jumped out. He noted Tsunade Senju also on her way into the arena as he left, but she aborted the movement once she noticed him. His actions proved to not be a second too hasty, as right behind him swelled a body. He could feel the malicious chakra behind him but dared not turn around. He carried cargo more precious than most things in Konoha. The heir to the Senju clan. Speaking off, he moved to the other Senju he was familiar with and dropped her cousin in her hands. If there was anywhere for Shorirama to be, then the custody of the greatest medical ninja in Konoha who also happened to be his cousin was the undoubted best choice.
No longer burdened by his unconscious student, he returned his attention to the arena. He'd heard the roars and the screams earlier, so he'd thought he would have been prepared for what he saw, but the sight of a massive monkey with four tails and bright red fur was not one that he was ready for. Especially not when he could feel the being's malicious chakra pressing down on him. He warded it off well, shrouding himself with his own chakra, but he had to spread that shroud further to cover the chunin near him that had almost collapsed to the floor from the force.
"Thank you, Hatake-san" One of them said. He nodded. He knew that man. He had been one of those who had claimed that Sakumo was too young to have been promoted to Jounin back when he was. Oh, how things changed.
He maintained his stare at the beast. Tsunade was busy healing her cousin. He could already tell that she would be occupied there for a while. The boy's wounds had not been pretty to see, and there had been something very wrong in his chakra network. Sakumo could not diagnose what it was, but he could tell a problem when he saw one. He noted Orochimaru from the corner of his eyes, making a very hasty retreat from the field, not gathering any of the beast's attention. Jiraiya stood at the edge of the commentator's box. If Sakumo did not know better, he would have thought that he had some plan that involved jumping down and facing the creature.
Sakumo took his attention to the Kage box next. The Raikage had left in a huff after his Jinchuriki had lost today, and both the Mizu and Kaze kages had not bothered staying for the final round with all their shinobi eliminated. That meant that there were only two kage in the box, and if this wasn't an accident, then the Hokage could be in danger from the Tsuchikage.
He spotted the Tsuchikage's small form fly out of the kage box as the Hokage jumped down to the ground in front of the tailed beast. Sakumo took a deep breath and prepared to jump down as well. He would not let his kage fight alone.
"Don't" He heard. It was Tsunade's voice.
"What?"
"My Granduncle has it more than handled. If you jump into a fight like that, you'd just be getting in the way" She said.
"No Konoha shinobi worth anything can watch his Kage fight alone and not step in." He replied.
"Well, this is an exemption to the rule. Just stand and watch" He nodded at her. She would know better than he. It was her Grandfather who had captured all the tailed beasts in the first place. And wasn't that just one hell of a feat? Now that he'd felt the chakra of the Four-tails, he was beginning to reconsider all that he'd thought about the First hokage. He'd thought at least some of the famed power he was said to have must have been exaggerated, but to be able to capture Nine such creatures as this one, and to then be capable of giving those creatures out like sweets at a store showed a level of power that went beyond Sakumo's imagination.
And now he watched that same man's brother prepare to do battle. Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage of Konoha, shared some similarities with his Grandnephew, Shorirama. One of them was their affinity for water release, but when Tobirama brought his own water release to bear, he made it clear that the difference between a grown Senju and a child was night and day.
He formed a single handseal. One seal. He didn't even announce the name of the jutsu out loud, but Sakumo knew it was the same jutsu that his student had used earlier. Instead of enough water to overwhelm a firestorm, the Hokage made a tsunami. A Tsunami! With no water supply. Just how own chakra. And all this with a single handseal. He maintained the seal as the massive wave of water bore down on the tailed beast.
XXXXX- CHUNIN- HIDEO UMINO
He stared at the devastation around him with wide eyes. There was so much death. More death than he'd ever seen in one place before. He'd been too young to fight in the last war, and part of him was beginning to wonder if this is what war really like. His elders always said that war was nothing like what the stories made it out to be, but he shuddered at thinking that it could have been this terrible. Surely, if it was this bad, then wars would never happen. After the first one, everyone would have seen the damage and decided not to do it again. Wars couldn't be as bad as this, he concluded, and then moved on to perform his duties.
He and a team of dozens of chunin had been placed in charge of three things; counting the dead, gathering the bodies, and taking them to the hospital for families to claim them at the morgue. It was an efficient system, he thought. And then hated himself for the thought. These weren't just cargo to be sealed up and moved. They were people too. He turned and saw Ukitake on the floor. He was vomiting again. He'd vomited twice already. Thrice now. Surely, if he didn't have the stomach for this, he would have applied to be sent elsewhere. There was no shortage of work to be done in the village.
He was one of the few who had been at the stadium and watching the entire thing happen with wide eyes. After the Iwa monster had defeated Shorirama Senju, it had decided to transform into a massive beast. A tailed beast. The four tailed Sage Monkey, he'd heard it called by the older jounin. Such a creature in the centre of Konoha had caused damage beyond anyone's imagination. If he hadn't been lucky enough to stand next to powerful Jounin like Hatake Sakumo and Senju Tsunade, then he doubted that he'd have made it out alive.
But he also recognised that the fact that the beast hadn't managed to leave the arena was a testament to the power of Hokage-sama. He had used water release like Hideo had never seen in his life to put down the beast. Not fast enough, however. The beast had created multiple volcanoes in the middle of the field, sending lava everywhere.
He still remembered one massive glob of the corrosive liquid dropping at him right from the sky. And then Hatake was there. A single handseal and the lava was gone. Hideo still had no idea how he'd done it or even what it was that he had done exactly. In all fairness, busy worrying about his life, he had more important things on his mind. At the end of the day, that was the part of the stadium that sustained the least damage. Some other Jounin protected some other areas, but not all of them. They couldn't reach everywhere. Not even close.
But work was already beginning. In the areas his squad had cleared, another squad used Earth Ninjutsu in concert to rebuild the stadium. Whispers in the wind said Hokage-sama would be continuing the tournament since all the foreigners had been eliminated, but he doubted it. This was just too much damage. You couldn't move on from that.
"How many have you got, Umino-san?" He turned to his Jounin captain and smiled. She was so beautiful. A Hyuga. Everything about her was perfect. From the long hair that went down to her wide hips to the eyes. Those pupil less eyes that seemed to stare through him. It felt like she was the only one who saw him as he was. Not as how she hoped he would be.
"Ahem," he heard her cough. He also heard the others laughing—bastards. A glare at Nara and Sarutobi did nothing to stop their horsing around.
"Fifty-seven, Hyuga-san," He told her. Himiko-chan, he really wanted to call her.
"That means the total number comes in at One thousand, three hundred and ninety" She said. Everyone stopped laughing at that. Over a thousand people dead. That was a disaster.
A/N: This chapter took a life of its own. This is not what I planned for it, but I think this is the right way to go. Guess what real-world natural disaster killed 1390 people? As I said earlier, the next chapter comes up next week or skip the wait and read the next three along with daily uploads on pa-treon. For the pa-treon, you can remove the hyphen between pa and treon and google it then search for my username- Oghenevwogaga. Or you could copy the link in my bio and remove the spaces before pasting in your address bar.
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