Chapter 43: A Thousand Birds
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And in a blink of an eye, the whole month had past by like it was practically nothing. All the contestants in the finals poured all their hard work into their training.
Except. . . maybe a few — to be more exact — one person didn't did take it too seriously.
Nara Shikamaru.
Though what he did during the whole month break before the finals was a story for another day and another time. There was no use talking about someone that sat and lazed around for now.
And Naruto? Well, he was having a hard time getting out of bed. Why? It's due to him messing up his calculations. What were his calculations? The day of the Chunin Exams.
"Can't believe no one bothered to tell me," said Naruto, apathetically looking out of his own window. While today was the day of the Chunin Exams, it was originally not supposed to be today.
His body ached just a tiny bit as he got himself ready.
He was already so late to the finals — but his match was supposed to be last, so that was convenient for him. Though he'll probably get a lecture from the higher-ups due to his tardiness.
It was the academy all over again. Naruto thought, pulling the door to the outside world open. Now, let's move back to the former topic at hand.
So, today was a Wednesday and it was the day of the finals. Though this was not always the case before. This was because the finals of the Chunin Exams was rescheduled to this day.
Before, the finals were supposed to be on this week's weekend — Sunday to be more exact. But this changed during yesterday evening. It seems he was training too much to the point he fell asleep on the ground and missed the meeting between all of the contestants.
The news only got itself to Naruto this morning via Anbu Black Ops.
Now, as you know, Naruto was going to be arriving late. It was only natural that since he was going to be in the last battle, that he should make a cool-looking entrance.
Though I think just walking in the arena is more beneficial for me in the long run. Just think about it — trying to make a cool entrance would have to make Naruto use more than the necessary amount of energy than him just walking in late.
~~~
"He's late," Shikamaru said, lazily observing the contestants that were there. Some things never changed, he guessed. First, it was Naruto missing or tardy to class.
Now, it was him being missing in an event that was about to shape another part of their lives and future. He did also notice that Naruto was not at the meeting yesterday made by the Hokage to inform of this change.
Shikamaru figured Naruto would naturally not know of this change. But he was aware that Hiruzen wouldn't be so ignorant to not notice this and not send a higher-up to inform him.
He internally sighed.
God, this was so troublesome for him. Not only was Naruto going to be late, but his lateness might cost him the tournament and hold back the tournament itself.
And it's quite funny -- Naruto, being more late than the infamous Kakashi. That's quite an achievement on his part.
Well, there was no use for them to think about it as of right now. Such a topic was only important at the very end.
Everyone -- except Naruto -- was lined up in a singular line.
"Well, I will be the proctor for the finals of the Chunin Exams, Shiranui Genma." There was a man with a toothpick sticking out of his mouth.
Everyone saw Genma observe them all. A sigh came right after.
"It seems one contestant is currently not here — Ahihcu Naruto was it? Well, it seems it can't be help — his battle with Gaara of the Sand will be bumped to the last round." This seemed to be expected.
The audience wanted to see the mysterious Ahihcu Naruto fight, due to the reason of him being considered even stronger than that of Uchiha Satsuki. And that caught their interest.
So, in a sense, Naruto attained a certain amount of privilege through this, but it wasn't as nearly as much as someone like Satsuki, who had a lot of it. But it was privilege, nonetheless.
"Though, their battle was already intended to be last anyways. Now, let us get the show on the road, shall we?" Genma then looked at both Satsuki and Neji.
"Uchiha Satsuki and Hyuga Neji, please stay in the field for your battle. The others, please go to the spectating area." Everyone nodded, going to their respective places in the arena.
The two contestants that were about to fight — Satsuki and Neji. The two faced each other, with Neji calmly glaring at Satsuki with a hint of disdain that was hiding even more disdain from behind.
"To think I'd have to defeat an Uchiha. It's almost like fate, isn't it? For a Hyuga to defeat an Uchiha." Satsuki narrowed her eyes at Neji for a few moments or two.
"The way you're talking — it almost seems like you're implying that the Hyuga are better than the Uchiha. More specifically — myself." Genma looked at the two for a split moment.
"And let me tell you, Hyuga Neji—" The two readied themselves as Genma was about to start the first match of the day.
"Fight fair and no cheating. Start!" The two simultaneously launched themselves towards one another as the matched immediately started.
"My clan is superior," finished Satsuki, engaging in close combat with Neji.
~~~
"Who do you think will win this battle, Shikamaru-san?" Asked Shino as the two of them observed the battle from the spectating area from above.
"Heh? Who cares? Whoever wins just wins." Shikamaru didn't really care about the outcome of his battle. What he did care about? His battle with Temari.
He absolutely did not want to fight anyone. And him being in the finals did not help him even the slightest. He kind of wished Kin won the fight in the preliminary, but things just happen and Shikamaru won.
"I would just like your opinion on this matter. There are many conflicted opinions among the current crowd — with most being a 50/50 split between Satsuki-san and Neji-san." Shikamaru sighed at that.
That was most certainly true to a very large extent, but in Shikamaru's case, he could care less about it.
"Ah, well, If I'm being honest, it can go either way. On a basic stand-point, people may choose Neji due to his superior amount of experience that he holds, due to him having 1 more year of knowledge than the rest of us." Shino nodded.
"On the other-hand, that experience can easily be overcome by someone of superior ability. While Neji is considered a prodigy, Satsuki is also considered a prodigy alongside Naruto. Though the Hyuga are quite well-known for their lethal close-combat prowess. Quite difficult." Shino nodded once more.
"But, on the other side of the spectrum, experience is very valuable. As you know, it has only been recently since Satsuki bad unlocked her Sharingan. And with Neji, he has a lot more experience with his doujutsu. So, he has the more likely chance to win." Shikamaru sighed as looked up to the clouds.
"Though you must not forget that Satsuki associates herself with someone like Naruto. And as far as he is, he's in another league of his own as a genin — probably as strong or even stronger than that Gaara guy. And, of course, his skills and ways can and will rub on Satsuki without a doubt." Their conversation was cut off from the sound of fighting.
~~~
Satsuki knew that she was at a disadvantage in close-combat from the beginning — it was so obvious. Satsuki didn't know much about the Byakugan, but she did know one thing.
That the Byakugan relies on close-combat encounters with their opponent when it comes to blocking off chakra points and all that shebang. How does she know this?
Trade secret.
All she has to do was prevent them from creating too much close encounters.
But that was going to be harder to do than one would actually think. As the two go closer to one another, Satsuki quickly pulled out a kunai from her holster.
She then threw it towards Neji. Once she had done that, she redirected herself by jumping up with the use of her built-up momentum from the amount of meters she had ran.
Satsuki then started to form hand seals at a rapid rate.
Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger
"Fire Release: Great FireBall Jutsu" Satsuki inhaled then exhaled to throw out a large fireball from her mouth. The winds blew as the fireball traveled the lengths toward Neji.
He clicked his tongue. "Futile," said Neji, readying himself to perform his move.
"Eight Tigrams Palm Revolving Heaven" In one slick motion, Neji rapidly spun, chakra emitting from their bodies to create the perfect shield that deflected the fireball without much problem.
"I told you — it's futile. This is fate, a Hyuga defeating an Uchiha." He then noticed something once he looked up at the air — Satsuki was completely gone from his sight.
Does she know? The blind-spot of the Byakugan? Neji thought as he instinctively shifted himself and jumped away just in-time before Satsuki could hit him.His features hardened.
"Shut up, you talk too much for someone so serious," said Satsuki as she stood up from her current spot. Even though she knew keeping her distance was a good idea, she had to create direct damage to Neji to defeat him.
That move — I didn't expect it. Father never told me of that kind of move. Satsuki thought as she built up tension. Though she did notice something odd.
I'll keep that thought to myself. She then started to form a rapid amount of hand seals as she jumped up into the air around them. Her eyes looked down on Neji as she inhaled.
Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger
"Fire Release: Great FIreBall Jutsu" She finished the numerous amount of hand seals and exhaled another large fireball that honed itself right toward Neji himself.
Is she trying to use the same method? Does that mean she knows? Neji thought with much skeptic thoughts as he saw her try and do the same method twice in a row.
"Eight Tigrams Palm Revolving Heaven" And once again, Neji rapidly spun around, with chakra emitting from his body as he deflected and disarmed the fireball jutsu.
It was the same tactic as before. But this time — Neji was prepared this time around. And with perfect precision and prediction, Neji moved to the side, repeating the same action, but just simply faster than before.
Once he had done that, Neji saw Satsuki miss completely and decided that this was his moment to defeat her. First he had to disable her arms, then everything else afterwards.
"Eight Tigrams Sixty-Four Palms"
Once he had landed the first hit, his eyes widened from the unexpected. Shards of wood floated in the air as a large log took Satsuki's place instead of herself.
Satsuki then appeared right behind Neji and threw a nasty punch from behind. Neji created a nasty expression as he felt pain course through his neck.
Without much thought, Neji aimlessly threw his arm back, making Satsuki jumped away in a hurry.
I see. From the minimal amount of attacks that I had thrown at him, he keeps on going on the defensive when I try to attack the back of his head/neck. That must be a weak-point of his or just in general when it comes to the Byakugan. Thought Satsuki, analyzing the past experiences that she had witnessed.
She then saw Neji jump right towards her in a singular motion. His eyes were full of disdain and hate. Satsuk activated her Sharingan — 2-tomoes spinning rapidly.
"There's no way I'd lose to a fate-worshipper like you," said Satsuki, jumping towards Neji in high speeds as well. Her hearted thumped fast, knowing that she only had one shot to get another good direct hit off.
"You're playing right into my hands. You've lost." Neji readied himself, preparing for multiple possible outcomes in their fight. And to his anger, what could've been a direct close-encounter, turned into an anticlimactic twist.
"Such cheap tricks," said Neji, landing on the ground as he felt the graze wound of the kunai that Satsuki had threw right at him.
"What? Did you actually think I was dumb enough to engage in hand-to-hand combat? A Hyuga nonetheless." Without more hesitation, Satsuki rushed right towards Neji.
She then pivoted her direction and started to run numerous amount of circles all around Neji. What she was planning to do at this current moment?
To go with the flow.
Perfect defense? But can you block hundreds kunai after one another? Satsuki thought, knowing she was going to have to go with a chain-attack that would deal a severely amount of damage to Neji in just a small moment in time.
Her speed started to increase at a tremendous rate.
"I'll have my overwhelming victory in short time," said Satsuki, her voice moving from one end to another. She was now becoming a blur, too fast for Neji to even begin to comprehend.
And in the next second, 2 kunai were shown, speeding right toward him in accelerated speed. Without too much problems, Neji stepped back a few inches to let the kunai from opposite sides to pass through one another.
Abruptly stopping, another batch of kunai came straight at him in both sides. This tactic was quite risky for Satsuki. She knew that she couldn't sustain this amount of speed for so long.
And even less now.
Neji ducked down and dodged the weaponry as a bead of sweat slipped down from his forehead. The difficulty of this match was getting increasingly more difficult every second.
Every moment.
Then even more kunai came his way and the speed of Satsuki started to increase even more; but her ability to sustain such amounts of speed was slowly slipping away from her own grasp.
Come on. Come on. Come on. Satsuki thought, seeing Neji dodge another set of kunai from numerous amounts of directions. Neji huffed as he dodged another after another.
Where are all these kunais coming from? Neji thought, observing his surroundings. His eyes soon widened while he was dodging the kunai once again.
She was reusing the kunai that she had thrown. Each kunai that fell on the ground, she had picked up and thrown them back not even a second later.
This speed — it's unreal! Mused Neji, gritting his teeth with much anger to his own name. If push comes to shove, Neji is going to have to use it once more.
Time after time, Satsuki kept keeping her distance at the maximum and only engaged in close-encounters at necessary times. This kept him from blocking off her chakra-points.
After each batch of kunai thrown and each batch of kunai dodged, the two enemies rapidly became tired to a very high-extent. He clenched his teeth down as he saw the next batch of kunai arrive at quick pace.
Neji decided that he had enough of this loop. He quickly stopped himself.
"Eight Tigrams Palm Revolving Heaven"
And once again, Neji spun rapidly in a circular formation, letting chakra emit from his body and deflected the numerous amount of kunais that came his way.
Satsuki threw another batch of kunai as Neji started to quickly slow down from the rotation that he just undergone. And like neji, she also started to slow her pace down.
The fatigue washed over her as the ever-so quick kunai pierced Neji's flesh very roughly. It seemed Neji was desperate and wanted this endless loop of kunai and dodging to stop once and for all.
And he got it.
But his victory was his cost.
Neji widened his eyes as pain and fatigue fell right on top of him all at once in a singular and forsaken moment of his life. But this did not stop him at all.
"N-no!" Yelled Neji, stumbling just a bit back and pulled out the numerous kunai that had been inflicted upon his body. Once he had pulled them out, blood started to escape from the flesh wounds that Satsuki had delivered to him.
By this point in time, they were at least 10 meters away from each other. Even though Satsuki had stopped using her maximum speed and was panting at a tremendous rate—
Neji was in an even worse state than that of Satsuki. Her ragged panting started to slow down and she began to refocus once more on her current enemy in the Chunin Exams.
She then started form a rapid amount of hand seals quickly.
Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Snake → Dog → Tiger → Monkey
"Chidori!" With a terrifying gaze, a high concentrated amount of lightning formed on her hand. The audience widened their eyes at this magnificent development.
Satsuki then jumped way back from Neji and readied herself for her final attack. Satsuki fastened herself and ran towards Neji at such fast speeds.
By no means was she aiming to kill Neji at all. What she wanted to do was build up and maximize the destructive power of the Chidori that she was currently using.
How you're asking?
Kinetic energy and its wonders. A pained Neji jumped back, expecting her to attack him with it with direct contact.
Oh, how wrong he really was. In reality, Satsuki did the very unexpected and stopped abruptly and aimed the Chidori downwards and pierced the grounded with such power.
The lightning traveled through the soft ground that the two stood on. She saw the tension that was building up within Neji. The fear was invoking his mind — his mentality.
"Checkmate," said Satsuki, the lightning that traveled through the ground officially reconnected once more and created a daring high explosion of power that was just big enough to knock Neji back with such sheer power and force.
Pillars of smoke loomed through the air.
As the smoke cleared, Satsuki saw an absolutely battered and bruised Neji laying on the ground in utter pieces. Satsuki wiped the sweat off her panting face.
"Asshole,' said Satsuki.
Genma looked at Neji and saw that he was unable to move at all.
"Winner: Uchiha Satsuki!" The crowd roared in cheers.
~~~