Chapter 52: 52
"Next Match. Sasuke Uchiha. Versus. Shino Aburame." The proctor announced loudly as the two boys walked down to the ring.
"Don't injure him too badly, alright. Just enough to win." Naruto whispered as Sasuke walked passed him, while the latter just grunted lightly in response.
"Give up, bug boy. I don't want to hurt you." As soon as the two entered the arena, Sasuke tried to persuade the opponent to forfeit.
"While I agree that your strength is much higher than mine, I would be a fool to not even try. After all, I might even surprise you by winning." Shino spoke softly, his features covered by the tall collar and the shades.
"Tsk. Very well. Don't blame me if you get hurt, though." Sasuke clicked his tongue as he waited for the proctor to announce the start.
"Begin!!"
As soon as the proctor yelled, a horde of flying bugs swarmed out of Shino's coat, before rushing towards Sasuke.
As if on instinct, Sasuke's eyes blazed red, as his Sharingan analyzed every single bug flying out of the man's coat and kept track of them.
From the previous encounters at the Academy and the various mission stories going around, Sasuke understood a few of the opponent's abilities. Hence, he dodged every single bug and didn't allow it to come in contact with his body. His incredible speed created afterimages, eliciting gasps from the audience.
"Is that the best you got, Uchiha Sasuke? My bugs will never stop following you once they have your scent. It's best you give up now." Shino reflected the same words Sasuke used back onto him, as he controlled the bugs to keep following and try to absorb Sasuke's chakra.
"Interesting. The Aburame clan really lives up to its name. Though I'm more impressed by the Uchiha boy. Being able to keep dodging such small and fast bugs is really impressive for his age.
Moreover, the Sharingan. Being able to keep track of every single bug around him is almost an inhumane feat." The Kazekage commented as he watched Sasuke avoid every single bug.
"Yes. It truly is impressive. But I would say Sasuke is more impressive seeing that he is able to handle and control the Sharingan to such levels." Hiruzen replied with a hidden smile.
"Ugh, this is getting annoying. That's it. I'm bored now." Sasuke nonchalantly stated as he jumped back hard to create a distance.
Crcrcrcrcrcrcrccrrccrrc
Suddenly, the sound of a thousand chirping birds surrounded Sasuke, as his palms were covered with a small electric current, constantly emitting a screeching sound.
Looking at the horde of bugs coming his way, Sasuke assumed a stance familiar to many of the clans of Konoha. Surprisingly, it wasn't the stance that the Uchiha were famous for.
"what?? Impossible. How can he know that?" Multiple white-eyed people gasped in shock as Sasuke took a stance eerily familiar to that of the Gentle Fist.
Just as the bugs came into reach, Sasuke's lightning palms moved accurately, before each palm strike disabled a handful of bugs, as he quickly moved to the next.
In less than a minute, the huge horde of more than a few thousand bugs was quickly neutralized, forming a pile around Sasuke, as Shino looked at him with hate.
"Do you give up now?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.
"y-yes." Shino nodded weakly, as he started to walk away with his hands up in forfeit.
"Shino Aburame forfeits. Sasuke Uchiha is the winner." Sasuke heard the rowdy cheer from the audience as he roared to the sky, expelling a huge fireball, just to show off a bit.
"Oi, Shino. Where do you think you're going?" Sasuke suddenly called out to the loner boy, who looked back with pain in his eyes.
"Take your bugs with you. They aren't dead yet. I just paralyzed them to disable them. Do you really think I would kill someone's ninja companions in an exhibition match?" Sasuke called out, causing the hateful glare that Shino was giving to soften before nodding and collecting the now weakened bugs into his arms lovingly.
"Ah, what a youthful display of comradery."
"The Will of Fire is strong in this one."
"I guess that Aburame was not strong enough to test your limits. I knew I should have had Kabuto manipulate the matches a month ago."
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"You're a big softy under that emo look aren't you?" Naruto teased the boy as he walked up the stairs and sat beside Ino.
"Shut up, brat." Sasuke retorted as he held Ino's hand lightly.
"You did well out there. You looked so cool." Ino blushed as she felt Sasuke's hand intertwine with hers.
"Thanks. I think next up is your teammate." Sasuke motioned quietly to the foodie with painted swirls on his cheeks.
"Yeah. We should see how he does in his match." Ino got up and walked up to the railing, as the match between Choji and Temari began.
Temari opened up with a quick barrage of wind attacks with just a 1/3rd of her fan open. Choji was quite slow due to his size, as he had trouble dodging the fast and sharp wind attacks.
However, a turning point occurred, when Temari's wind slashes slashed across his pockets, and a bag of potato chips spilled to the ground, making a crispy and crunchy mess on the arena.
That was a very strong trigger for the boy, as he quickly enlarged his body using his Clan's special jutsu and used the Human Boulder Technique in an attempt to roll over the offender against potato chips.
However, Temari was not just some random kunoichi. She had the potential to be one of the strongest wind style users in the world in the future, as well as special training since birth due to the fact that she was the Kazekage's daughter. She also had seen her fair share of life and death battles, causing her to develop a strong base of experience.
Nimbly dodging the human boulder just like her chakra affinity, Temari let the boy tire himself out, as she opened up her fan completely, before waving it with enough force to cause a small tornado in the arena.
The tired Choji who had long deflated into his usual size was blown away by the sharp and strong winds, as numerous scars littered his skin, before landing outside the arena.
"Winner. Sabaku no Temari by knockout." The proctor announced as Choji was dragged to the medical area on a stretcher while Temari directed a smirk at the Konoha genin looking at her with hate.
Soon, the arena was cleared up and it was time for the next match.
Rock Lee, versus, Ino Yamanaka.
"Stay as far away from him as you can, understand. If your jutsu fails, give up quickly, alright. Don't let him hit you. He's too strong for you physically." Sasuke whispered in Ino's ear as she walked down the stairs to the arena, while Lee jumped down enthusiastically, looking forward to the match.
"Don't worry. I know what the boy is capable of. I have seen his speed and power when he was training. I don't stand a chance against him. However, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve." Ino smiled at the boy's concern, a warm feeling filling her heart, as the anxiety of fighting a very strong opponent and the previously witnessed scene of a teammate getting thrashed settled down.
"Be careful," Sasuke yelled out, as Ino and Lee's match began.
Lee started off respectfully, testing the waters lightly while keeping his distance.
Ino pulled several kunai and senbon out of her kunai pouch and threw them out to keep the boy at distance. However, the speed of Lee along with his reaction time outpaced the speed which Ino could throw.
Forming a circle around herself with thrown kunai, Ino watched as the kunai suddenly lit up brightly, before exploding with a huge bang.
"Coming close to the kunai will set them off, and a special treat of having a flash bang effect makes it good for troublesome opponents like yourself.
Ino muttered as she saw Rock Lee hold his ears tightly in pain while struggling to keep an eye on his opponent.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu." Ino formed a sign with her outstretched hands and aimed it at the figure of the green spandex-wearing training maniac.
A stream of chakra rushed towards Lee, who went stiff for a second, before violently struggling.
'Ugh. Why is his will so strong? Let me take over you!!!!' Ino shouted in Lee's mind as she tried to suppress his mind into submission and make him forfeit.
However, for someone to be a training maniac like Lee without any cheats, his Willpower was off the charts.
Ino struggled to take over his mind, but less than 30 seconds later, the kneeling figure of Ino jerked back as a trail of blood flowed from her nose.
"I give up." She weakly stated before promptly fainting.
"Winner by Forfeit and Knockout. Rock Lee." The proctor checked the girl's condition just before Sasuke rushed forward to hold her, as he announced the results.
Lee stood up panting from the ground as he approached the couple and spoke.
"Sasuke-san. Please pass on my message to Ino-san that it was very exciting to fight a battle of wills. She was an incredible challenger." Lee bowed to the boy before walking back to the stands to wait for the next match.
"Fuck you." That was all Sasuke said before leaving with the medics and following Ino. He didn't hit Lee because he knew that it was a rough world out there and it was either kill or be killed.
He didn't blame Lee. Also, he knew how strong Ino must have been if she stood strong for 30 seconds inside the mind of that freak.
It was now time for the next and final match of the first rounds.
Naruto Uzumaki. Versus. Sabaku no Gaara.
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Hey guys. Thanks for the well wishes from everyone. I, unfortunately, caught COVID as well, it was not the flu.
I felt a bit better before my symptoms flared up over the weekend. I felt a bit better today, and I was really bored, so I scribbled out a new chapter.
Let me know if there are any problems or mistakes in the chapter.
Also, chapters might be inconsistent this week, because, obviously, I'm still recovering. So, hang in there.
And. Enjoy!!
Weekly Power Status
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