Kaito chapter 74
Shikaku responded with pride in his voice, "It will be held in our village in one month's time."
Hotaru glanced at her form before looking up at Shikaku with a curious look. "Do you think we're ready, sensei?"
Shikaku nodded confidently and reassured them, "I wouldn't have nominated you if I didn't think you were ready."
He then continued, "For the next month, we will focus on preparing you for the chunin exams." The trio exchanged excited glances and eagerly nodded in agreement.
….
The sun shined down, as its bright rays pierced through the thick canopy of leaves surrounding the training grounds. In a small clearing, two figures collided in a fierce battle. One was noticeably shorter than the other, he had long black hair down to his shoulders. The taller of the two, had short wavy black hair.
Both wore matching black high-collared t-shirts with the uchiha clans cress on their backs and grey shorts, both wore konoha's forehead protectors. The taller one also had a tanto strapped to his back. Despite the age difference, Itachi Uchiha, held his own against Shisui uchiha who was around 12 or 13 as they both matched the other's movements with equal agility.
At the edge of the clearing, two figures sat watching the intense sparring match taking place before them. These were Kaito Uzumaki and Hotaru Hyuga. The day had started as a regular team training session with their sensei, Shikaku Nara, until he was abruptly summoned by the Hokage to discuss an urgent matter. Without their sensei, team 11 continued their usual sparing.
But they were soon joined by another familiar face - Shisui Uchiha. After being away on a month-long mission, Shisui was eager to catch up with his friend Itachi. Eager to catch up and see their progress Shisui joined in on the spar.
For the past two hours, the four ninja had been locked in intense combat, switching opponents every few rounds to keep things fair. They even engaged in 2 vs 2 battles, with Itachi and Shisui paired against Kaito and Hotaru. Each team had emerged victorious twice, resulting in a draw overall. After each round, they took a brief rest for three minutes before diving back into sparing once again.
They only had one rule - they weren't allowed to use their Kekkei Genkai during training. This meant that both Itachi and shisui couldn't use his sharingan, Hotaru wasn't allowed to use her byakugan. and Kaito not allowed to use his adamantine-sealing-chains.
Shisui gracefully jumped back, his body contorting in a fluid motion as he landed and flashed a smile. "Yeah, training with you guys really makes me put my back into it," he said with a hint of excitement in his voice.
Both Itachi and Shisui were drenched in sweat, their hair sticking to their foreheads as they continued their intense sparring session.
Their movements were lightning quick as they flung shuriken at each other, the metal weapons colliding in a loud clash in mid-air. Some shuriken fell to the ground, while others flew off in random directions around them.
Neither Itachi nor Shisui spared a glance at where the shuriken landed, fully absorbed in their spar.
Suddenly, one of the shuriken flew towards Kaito who was watching the battle while talking with Hotaru. With quick reflexes, Kaito sensed the danger and moved his head just in time to avoid being hit.
"Hey, watch it!" Kaito shouted indignantly at both Itachi and Shisui. But his words fell on deaf ears as the two continued their intense spar, focusing solely on each other's movements and techniques.
As Itachi and Shisui closed the distance between them, their bodies moved with fluid precision. They leapt into the air, exchanging kicks and punches with lightning speed. Shisui crouched down, his leg sweeping out in a powerful kick towards Itachi. But Itachi was quick to block, the impact sending him back several feet.
Shisui weaved through hand signs and suddenly called out "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" A massive ball of flame shot out from his mouth, heading straight for Itachi. But Itachi simply smiled as the fire engulfed him. Shisui muttered "No way," not expecting Itachi to take such a direct hit.
However, just as the flames died down, Itachi's body burst into a murder of crows that scattered in every direction. Realizing that Itachi had used the substitution jutsu, Shisui couldn't help but smile as me muttered "Substitution".
As the real Itachi appeared behind Shisui with a kunai pressed against his throat, Shisui regretfully conceded defeat. "So you win," he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
On the sidelines, Kaito and Hotaru remained calm. Kaito had already sensed Itachi's substitution technique, while Hotaru watched with her Byakugan eyes as the real Itachi made his move.
As the sun beat down on them, Itachi and Shisui joined Kaito and Hotaru at the side of the training field to rest. "You three are already beyond genin level," Shisui commented as he took a swig of water. "Are you planning on entering the chunin exams this year?"
"Yeah," Itachi replied confidently.
Hotaru nodded in agreement while Kaito leaned against a nearby tree said "yeah in about a week".
Shisui hummed thoughtfully before asking, "So you've all been preparing for the exams then?"
Hotaru answered him with a serious nod. "Hai, sensei wants us to be fully prepared."
Shisui nodded in understanding before turning to Itachi with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Speaking of which, what ever happened to that girl Uchiha Izumi?"
Itachi's eyes widened in surprise and he quickly looked away from Shisui's gaze. But Shisui only chuckled and said, "It's usually hard to figure out what you're thinking, but I can guess this time."
Hotaru couldn't help but giggle, while Itachi looked confused and slightly embarrassed. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Go take a look in the mirror," Shisui said with a playful smile.
As Kaito caught sight of Itachi looking awkward, he decided to come to his friend's aid. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but all that has made me quite hungry," he announced as he stood up and stretched his muscles. Turning to the group, he asked, "What do you say we grab some Takoyaki? You wanna join?"
Hotaru eagerly raised her hand, her ponytail bouncing as she nodded. "Hai, I would love to join!" With a warm smile, Kaito offered his hand to help her stand.
Glancing at both Itachi and Shisui, Kaito questioned, "What about you two?"
Itachi shook his head with a small smile. "No thank you, I think I'll head home."
Shisui also stood up and stretched. "I should probably get going too."
Kaito shrugged nonchalantly. "Suit yourselves then. See you next week, Itachi! And it was nice seeing you again, Shisui-san." He waved goodbye before turning to Hotaru. "Come on, Hotaru-chan!"
Hotaru smiled and waved to their friends as they left the training ground together. The sun shone warmly above them as they made their way towards the delicious smell of Takoyaki, chatting and laughing along the way.
As they reached their favorite Takoyaki stall, the tantalizing aroma of grilled octopus balls filled their noses. Without hesitation, they bought a few dozen of those mouth-watering delicacies and eagerly bit into them as they walked down the familiar path to Hotaru's home. Kaito hummed with pleasure, savoring every bite with his eyes closed while Hotaru followed suit, humming in delight as she indulged in her own takoyaki.
But just as they were both lost in the blissful experience, disaster struck. Kaito collided with someone, causing his precious takoyaki to fall to the ground. With wide eyes, he looked at the fallen treat in despair. His anger boiled within him as his killing intent palpable even as his gaze remained fixed on the fallen food.
There were two things that Kaito could not tolerate - harm to his loved ones and anything that threatened his food. And anyone who dared to cross these lines would face his full wrath without mercy.
The person who had bumped into him apologized nervously, feeling the intensity of Kaito's killing intent. "Oh no, I'm so sorry," they stammered out. But Kaito's anger was already ignited and it would not easily be extinguished.
He looked up from the fallen takoyaki at the person who had disturbed him and saw a scrawny-looking kid with light blue hair around his age. The kid wore glasses and a blue t-shirt, paired with traditional shinobi pants.
Behind the first kid stood another young boy, also around the same age, with white hair and purple eyes. He wore a sleeveless shirt and loose bandages around his neck, giving off an air of confidence and strength. Beside him stood a slightly older boy with brown hair that fell over his right eye in a carefree manner.
And behind them all stood a beautiful older woman, around Kakashi's age, with red-orange hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. Some stray locks cascaded down her left eye, adding to her mysterious yet captivating appearance. She wore a blue t-shirt with a black waistband and black Anbu-style pants, hinting at her impressive skills as a ninja.
All four of them proudly displayed the headband for the village hidden in the mist on their foreheads. Seeing them, Kaito recognized some of them immediately. "Is that Mei Terumi?" he thought to himself. "And the kid who bumped into me...he looks just like that guy who became the sixth Mizukage." He couldn't quite remember the name, but it didn't matter.
He didn't recognize the other two individuals, though the white-haired boy did seem vaguely familiar to him. "They must be here for the Chunin Exams," Kaito concluded.
As Kaito's intense gaze softened slightly, the boy who had bumped into him apologized again, his voice filled with remorse. Mei, noticing the tense situation, chimed in, "Oh my, what a waste." She then reached into her pocket and pulled out some money. "We are sorry for that. Here, this should cover it," she said, handing Kaito some money.
Kaito let out a sigh and shook his head, his killing intent dissipating completely. "It's not your fault. I wasn't looking where I was going," he admitted.
As they began walking away, Kaito and Hotaru were suddenly called back by a kid with striking white hair. "Hey you," he called out, pointing in their direction. "What's your name?"
Kaito turned around to face the curious trio, gesturing towards Hotaru before responding politely, "My name's Kaito Uzumaki and this is my teammate, Hotaru Hyuga. It is customary to introduce oneself when asking for another's name."
The white-haired kid responded with a smug smirk, "Names Mangetsu Hozuki," as he pointed at himself.
The brown-haired boy next to him chimed in, "And I'm Utakata."
Kaito nodded in acknowledgement as the blue-haired kid added, "Chojuro."
Recognizing all of their names, Kaito smiled and said, "Well we'll see you three in the exams."
Walking alongside Hotaru, Kaito couldn't help but think, "This is going to make things very interesting." He had recognized Mangetsu as Suigetsu's brother and knew that Utakata was the jinchuriki of the Six-Tails. The upcoming exams were sure to be challenging.
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