Bab 42: Chapter 41
Chapter 41
The first fight of the preliminary round began with two combatants looking at each other. Temari of the Sand had a confident smile, while Choji Akimichi looked nervous. Seeing that Choji wouldn't charge at her, Temari decided she would be the first to attack. Removing her massive fan from her back, she swung it in Choji's direction, creating a gust of wind.
"His first mistake," Kaen commended.
"What do you mean?" It was Choji's teammate Ino who asked for clarification.
"As a close-quarter combatant, he didn't rush at his opponent and let her attack him," Kaen replied. "Too bad for him, she is a long-range combatant, and now he has put himself in a tight place."
Choji wasn't fast enough to dodge the wind gusts, so he could only block them with his body. He tried to get closer to Temari, but she controlled the battle and would distance herself without stopping attacking. The victor was clear if Choji didn't do something to get himself out of this position.
Maybe realizing it himself, Choji used his clan's jutsu to enlarge himself. It surprised Temari, but she didn't stop attacking. Yet, her attacks didn't work as well this time as Choji's large frame strengthened his defenses. He charged at his opponent with immense speed, surprising Temari again. It was clear that Choji wanted to overpower her with his brutal force.
"His second mistake," Kaen said, continuing before Ino could ask him why. "He didn't think of a plan beyond charging her. Even if he is physically stronger than her and could easily overpower her, it means nothing if he can't hit her."
To confirm Kaen's words, Temari was too agile and, with precision, avoided Choji, sending more wind gusts at him. It was clear that she planned to wear down Choji. She didn't dare to risk getting into a direct confrontation with Choji. The tactic worked as more and more wounds appeared on Choji's body. Yet he didn't give up and used another clan jutsu to turn himself into a ball to roll at Temari rapidly.
"Predictable," Kaen said.
"Would you stop it?" Shikamaru didn't like Kaen's comments.
"What's wrong? Don't like when someone insults your friend?" Kaen asked. "Rather than trying to stop me from commenting on him, you should listen to my words and teach your friend to do better in the future. A shinobi world is brutal, and he is unprepared for it."
Temari had predicted the last effort Choji could conjure and quickly stepped away from the massive rolling ball, letting it crash into the wall. It was apparent that Choji hadn't mastered the Jutsu yet, or that was the limit of the jutsu, as he could only move in a straight line and couldn't react to Temari's movements. She baited Choji several times to crash into the wall before finishing him with a stab of her massive fan at his body.
With accumulated damage and exhausted chakra, the final strike broke through Choji's defenses and big body. Choji deflated to his usual self and collapsed on the ground. Temari scoffed at the poor performance of her foe, and with the winner announced, she left to join the others. Asuma sighed but didn't look disappointed in his student.
"Your student is lacking a lot, Asuma," Kaen said.
"He does have much room to improve," Asuma agreed. "But he has great potential, so I am not worried."
Kaen couldn't disagree with him. While Choji lacked skills and thinking, his body was quite strong. With the proper training and time, it wouldn't surprise that Choji could surpass many participants here. Yet if he had no will no improve, he would never reach his full potential. Maybe this defeat will wake him to the reality of his situation.
The first fight was short, and after Choji was cleared off the premises, the screen above them showed two new names. Kaen smiled as one of his students' names appeared on a black screen. Kaen hasn't seen his team fight someone else yet. He was curious how Shino would perform against Yoroi Akado.
Yet soon, Kaen came to regret his anticipation. As Shino and Yoroi descended to an arena, Kaen and mostly everyone else noticed how Yoroi looked confident and even arrogant. He didn't take Shino seriously. It irked Kaen how he dared to look down on his student. It was like he was looking down on him. But it wasn't that that made Kaen regret anticipating the fight. It was how Shino started the battle.
As Hayate announced the start of the fight, Shino lifted his hands, and a swarm of bugs emerged from his sleeves. It disgusted Kaen how the swarm covered Shino. If he were in the arena, he would have already used Fire Ball jutsu multiple times. Even stuck up there, Kaen considered burning the swarm to ashes with fire jutsu, but he didn't think Shino would like it.
Ignoring the nauseous feeling in his stomach, Kaen continued to observe the fight. The swarm around Shino soon dispersed into several groups and flew toward Yoroi. Shino's opponent tried to dodge the insects, but Shino's control over them was too great. It seemed that the bugs followed Shino's will and followed Yoroi.
Kaen knew of Yoroi's ability to absorb chakra. As a teammate of Kabuto, Kaen made sure to familiarize himself with him. It was quite a good jutsu but almost useless against Shino. As Yoroi tried to absorb chakra from the bugs, they would scatter and attack from different positions. It only made Shino aware of his ability.
"The fight is over," Kaen said.
"What do you mean?" It was Naruto who asked, as the fight just began.
"You should learn from this fight," Kaen commented. "That's how a shinobi fights."
"Hmph, I don't see anything special," Kankuro from the Sand responded with a smirk.
"Didn't he think of you as beneath even insects?" Naruto asked.
"He is lucky he isn't my opponent," Kankuro replied.
"Kankuro, be quiet," A low growl escaped Gaara's mouth.
"It doesn't matter whom he fought. Shino would win," Kaen said, and Hinata and Kiba nodded in agreement. "For he doesn't rely on brute force but tactics and observation. From the start of the fight, Shino has thought of how he would defeat his opponent, and now he is doing so."
"You have a high opinion of your student," Kakashi stated.
"He won't be my student for long," Kaen said. "I see no reason why he would not pass the exam and become a chunin."
To confirm Kaen's words, the fight neared its end. Seeing that he could do nothing about the bugs pestering him, Yoroi rushed at Shino and ignored the insects attacking him. He was fast, and it seemed that he caught Shino by surprise as he extended his palm and struck Shino's chest. Yet, Yoroi's palm went through Shino's chest, and before Yoroi could realize what had happened, Shino turned into another swarm of bugs and caught Yoroi's arm.
The bugs Yoroi left unchecked quickly caught the rest of Yoroi's limbs, and Shino appeared from within the swarm behind Yoroi. The fight ended with Shino putting a kunai to Yoroi's neck. Shino orchestrated the whole battle, and it led to this moment. With Hayate announcing the winner, Shino, as silent as ever, he walked back to his teammates.
"Well, done, Shino," Kaen complimented his student. "Even I couldn't have done better. He was older and more experienced than you, yet you disposed of him efficiently, not letting him gain an opportunity to strike. He had no chance."
"Thank you, sensei."
"How did you do that?" Naruto asked Shino.
"I simply hid among my insects," Shino replied with half-truths.
"Amazing," Naruto was easy to impress.
"Pff, it was nothing," Kiba said. "Just wait for my turn. I will show how a real shinobi fights."
"Don't be foolish, Kiba," Kaen said. "Have you learned nothing from the fight? Arrogance will not bring you victory. It is better to remember that anyone that isn't a toddler can kill you if you are not careful enough."
And there was no way anyone could have fought so well. From the very beginning, Shino used one deception after another. Firstly, he used his bugs to hide himself and create a clone in his place. Then he hid his destruction bugs that eat away one's chakra with bugs that restrain one's movements.
From the beginning, Shino thought of tiring his opponent and baiting him into attacking his clone. It was flawlessly executed. Even if someone else could have noticed the trap, not many would be able to react to it. And yet, Shino hasn't even revealed half of his true strength. He didn't use any seals or other jutsu, nor his taijutsu. Nobody truly knew about Shino's true capabilities aside from his team.
"Neji, what did he do?" Kaen heard the girl on Gai's team ask.
"What a guy," Neji replied after observing Shino through his Byakugan. "Not only is his body covered by bugs, but they also live inside him."
"Must not burn Shino. Must not burn Shino," Kaen didn't know that fact about the Aburame clan, and he wished he never knew it.
Before anyone could say anything more, the black screen showed another set of names. Tenten vs. Misumi Tsurugi. Gai gave his student an encouraging smile and patted her back. As the two descended to the arena, Kaen heard Misumi say that he won't underestimate his opponent like his teammate did in the previous fight.
As the battle commenced, Tenten quickly jumped back, gaining some distance. She maintained a defensive stance as she unrolled some scrolls, shooting weapons at her opponent. Misumi was very flexible and had great reflexes managing to dodge all the weapons flying at him. He utilized his ability to stretch and contort his body, making it difficult for Tenten to strike him accurately.
Seeing that her attacks would not affect Misumi from long range, she used her attacks to distract him. Kaen noticed wires attached to the weapons that fell to the ground and quickly realized Tenten's plan. Yet, Mizumi, even though he didn't know the plan, could feel that a trap was set. So, he acted carefully, using his ability to contort his body. He dodged most of her attacks and tried to get her to fight him in close quarters.
Tenten couldn't escape the conformation as Mizumi's ability to avoid her attacks would deny her victory. Kaen was surprised at how efficiently Tenten could use her weapons from knives, sickles, kunai, and shuriken. Even Kaen wasn't confident in learning to use most of the weapons Tenten could.
"Too bad her chakra is weak," Kaen couldn't help but comment.
"Isn't she amazing?" Gai hearing Kaen's comment asked. "She can learn how to use any weapon from picking it up. Talent like hers is scarce."
"Yet, to fully utilize her talents, she needs powerful weapons," Kaen said. "But because her chakra is so weak, she wouldn't be able to wield them for long."
While Kaen spoke to Gai, the fight continued. Now both combatants were close to each other and started to utilize their taijutsu. Mizumi was going for wrestling moves, trying to pin Tenten down. But it wasn't easy, as Tenten used her mastery over weapons to push Mizumi away. Yet the difference between experience had shown when Mizumi managed to counterattack Tenten.
Once Mizumi got a chance, he stretched his limbs and wrapped them around Tenten. He made sure that Tenten could barely move before he started to strangle her. Hayate was about to call the fight but stopped when he saw thin wires connected to her fingers and weapons lying around the floor. Yet using only her finger was hard to move the weapons as she wished.
Kaen could tell that Tenten was losing consciousness. She couldn't breathe, and Mizumi's arms wrapped around Tenten's throat got tighter. It was over as her strength left her, but she didn't give up even when Mizumi warned her. Using the last strip of her power, she managed to move her hand, and the weapons on the ground flew, hitting Mizumi.
Mizumi was stabbed by countless kunai and shuriken and fell to the ground after letting go of Tenten. Yet Tenten herself had lost consciousness and fell limp to the ground, unable to get up. And the third battle of the preliminaries ended in a tie. It was a shame that Tenten couldn't pass to the next stage, as Kaen thought there was more to her than he imagined.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone