Sasuke didn't want to continue the match; there was no point. So he asked Shika to stop and give up. But to his surprise, the boy stood up and then said that he would win.
He couldn't understand what was giving him that confidence. The boy was seriously injured. Seeing that the boy wasn't going to give up on his own, Sasuke was about to knock him out.
But before he could do that, something happened. He heard an explosion. Following the sound, he looked up and his eyes widened in shock.
Others were a little late to figure out what was going on, but when they did, their eyes also widened.
The explosion happened at the ceiling. Multiple explosive tags were set up in a circle at the ceiling. Shika had placed them there when the mist was still covering the ring. And now they finally exploded, taking down an entire area of the ceiling in a circle. Shika had planted them in a way that they effectively destroyed a part of the ceiling without affecting the rigidity of the building itself.
He could have used the explosive tags directly on Sasuke, but with the Sharingan, Sasuke would most likely have dodged. Not to mention, with the curse seal active, Shika doubted that normal explosive tags would be effective against Sasuke.
He made them, but unlike Conan, he too had a limited number of them. Wasting them on Sasuke wasn't an option, let alone alerting the boy that he had explosive tags.
After all, not everyone keeps explosive tags with them; they are expensive. Making them is also a pain in the ass—one mistake and they go kaboom. And God help you if you have some of them lying around when one of them explodes on you.
So in this condition, Shika went for this one knockout blast, and the blast happened right under the targeted place where he was trying to bring Sasuke all this time. If that wind earlier hadn't blown away all the mist, then this match would have been over a long time ago.
Sasuke, who was right underneath the falling ceiling, was completely caught off guard. He tried to move, but something blocked him from doing so. He looked down only to see a kunai dug right where his shadow was, and the kunai had a tag.
This was the exact trick Shikamaru used against Hidan. (I am actually not sure who he used that against exactly. If I'm wrong, then please tell me in the comments.)
Of course, Sasuke could overpower this little kunai with the shadow-capturing tag, but the issue was time. The ceiling was above him.
He tried to move but he couldn't.
BAAMMMM.
The entire ceiling fell right on top of him, making enough noise to wake up those distracted people in the hall. It made half of the Jonin stand up as they thought they were under attack, while some even thought that the building was falling apart.
"That crazy kid," Kurenai said, slack-jawed at what Shika did. On the side, her team was nodding and gulping at the same time.
"Yeah, Shika-kun can be scary at times like this," Hinata said with a smile, awkwardly. Out of all, she knew Shika the best. Due to Shika training with her intensively, she was now a little aware from the few quirks he had, one being his knack for going over the top in fights like this.
"Sasuke!" Both Ino and Sakura shouted, even now only worried about Sasuke.
The Hokage, seeing this, had his eyebrows twitching. After all, he had to provide funds to repair this. Orochimaru, on the other side, was strangely looking at Shika.
"Though he is not that strong, this Nara boy acts more like a Shinobi than all those brats combined."
Orochimaru wasn't honestly expecting anyone here besides Gaara to give Sasuke a good fight—maybe Neji, but none other.
But now, seeing how this Nara boy was performing, he was getting excited. 'What will it be, Sasuke? Can you come out of this?'
Even the proctor was freaked out when that ceiling fell on Sasuke, internally cursing the kids for breaking things.
Shika, seeing the plan successful, finally sighed and let out the breath he had been holding. He knew that by following this plan, he might later get scolded by others, but to become a Chunin, he had to do it.
And as for Sasuke, well, if he survived Orochimaru, then this shouldn't be that big of a deal, right?
"If we are done here, then please announce the result so we can maybe take out the Tattoo Guy from that," Shika turned back to the proctor, who was still looking at the place where the ceiling collapsed and then snapped out of it.
'Is it just today, or am I getting too old for this?' Gekko Hayate thought. After coughing a little, he was about to quickly announce the result so he could save the last hope of the Uchiha clan.
"Shika, that was too much," Kurenai shouted on the side, her eyebrows trembling with a little anger and a little excitement.
Shika just smiled at her, not bothering to talk. At least she wasn't cursing at him like those other fangirls were doing right now.
"This boy isn't like the rest of the Nara," Hiruzen puffed on his pipe and sighed. He could only hope that Sasuke was fine.
Kakashi, seeing this result, was a little worried about Sasuke but still didn't make any move. Because beside him were Guy and his team, and Neji, along with them, told others that Sasuke was fine. The same was the case with Hinata.
'Sigh, finally it's over. Now I just have to worry about the finals and impress those old fools to make me a Chunin,' Shika muttered to himself.
He was just waiting for this eternally ill Jonin to end his nonstop coughing session and announce him as the winner so that he could get going.
But…
Boom…
Just when the proctor was about to announce the result, a sound came from where the ceiling had fallen, making everyone snap back to that spot, and Shika internally had a bad feeling about it.
From beneath the rubble, stones shifted and crumbled away, and suddenly, Sasuke emerged. His body was battered, his clothes torn, but his eyes—those piercing Sharingan—were still flaring with intensity. He looked more feral, more dangerous, as if the collapse had only fueled his rage.
To some degree, he looked more like a demon than a human, as his hair was a little longer now and no longer black but gray, and his white skin was now a little dark.
He no longer had those black markings spreading on his skin anymore; in fact, he had entirely changed to a certain degree.
"If I can't even beat a slacker like him, how can I ever be able to kill that man?" Gritting his teeth, Sasuke suppressed the pain. All he was thinking about was killing that man; that was his source of motivation.
'Itachi killed his parents and his entire clan. He was the same age as I am when he did it.
So why…
Why am I so weak?
Why…
Why…
Why…
Sasuke was roaring this to him, his anger feeding more and more power to the curse seal. And even unknown to him, his emotions have made him stronger.
Others didn't understand, but Shika did.
'Stage 2'
His eyes were wide, his mind working overtime to understand what was going on. Sasuke's current look was much like the second stage of the curse mark shown in the anime.
But Shika, after calming down, realized that it wasn't entirely the second stage yet. Neither were his eyes completely dark nor his looks that much different from base Sasuke. Only one side of his body was darkened, and there was no star mark in the middle of his face.
More than anything, he didn't have those wing-like things on his back. Shika could tell that Sasuke was stronger now but not that strong.
"Partial stage 2 transformation," Shika muttered under his breath. Now things were really getting troublesome.
The crowd gasped in shock. Most of the Genin, watching from the sidelines, couldn't believe their eyes. Kiba and Ino exchanged worried glances, while Hinata covered her mouth, her eyes wide with fear. Even Neji, usually calm and composed, narrowed his eyes, sensing the dangerous power emanating from Sasuke.
On the balcony, the Jonin were tense. Kakashi's expression was unreadable, but his eyes showed how much he just wanted to end this match right now.
'The fuck, what kind of plot armour is this you third-rate author, I know you lack imagination but FUCKK, fuck you and this stupid fic,' Shika cursed after seeing the proctor.
The proctor hesitated, his gaze flickering between Shika and Sasuke. By Sasuke's looks alone, he could tell that he shouldn't let this match continue, but…
He turned back to the Hokage, who didn't say anything…
He sighed and moved back, not planning to interfere in this fight for the time being but ready to take action as soon as possible.
It's not like Hiruzen wasn't planning on stopping the fight; it's just that he was too distracted right now by Sasuke's transformation to say anything.
Orochimaru, on the side, showed a delightfully crazy smile. After all, out of all the people here, he was the only one who knew the curse seal best. This was indeed the partial stage 2 transformation.
'Ku ku ku ku… You are indeed the perfect vessel for me, Sasuke-kun. Others need mind-awakening pills to even achieve this stage, and you can partially achieve this all by yourself.
Now I'm looking more and more forward to taking your body.'
Karin, too, was watching this fight from the start, and all this time, she was internally cheering for Shika. But when Shika started to lose, she kind of lost hope. But then she was amazed at how Shika turned that situation around with proper planning and captured his opponent in his trap.
Though she had to say that the boy he was fighting with was handsome, she rather cheered for Shika, who saved her life, than a nobody. All the girls were cheering for that boy anyway.
And when she thought that Shika had won this match, that boy once again came out of the trap, and this time he looked even more inhuman for some reason.
Shika cursed internally, his mind racing to figure out a way to beat Sasuke. But unfortunately for him, Sasuke wasn't planning on giving him time to think this time around.
Sasuke came out of that rubble with only one thought in mind: winning. To do that, he would do anything he had to.
"I will win, I'll not lose," Sasuke roared.
"That's fine, just let me win," Shika again tried asking nicely. Maybe this time it would work?
The next second, Sasuke was rushing at him.
"Maybe not."
Shika's eyes narrowed as he tried to assess the situation, but there was no time to think. Sasuke moved faster than Shika could react, closing the distance in an instant. Before Shika could even raise his arms to defend himself, Sasuke's fist slammed into his stomach, sending him crashing into the wall.
The impact was brutal, knocking the wind out of Shika. He tried to push himself up, but Sasuke was already on him, delivering a flurry of punches and kicks. Each blow was precise and devastating, leaving Shika no room to counterattack. It was as if Sasuke was toying with him, overwhelming him with sheer speed and strength.
He didn't even had time to make hand sigh to bring his Ten Shadow. It was clear that the fight has gone beyond his current capabilites.
And now he had to use his Ten Shadow's if he desire to win, of course he can always accept his lost but that wasn't an option if he needed to promoted to Chunin and get System Reward.
'Maybe I should have just blown him up with those explosions.' Shika gritted his teeth as he tried to hold on and block, desperately trying to use his shadow techniques, but Sasuke was too quick. Every time Shika was ready to move his shadow to buy him some time by capturing the lost demon child, Sasuke was already there, interrupting him with another punishing strike. It was a one-sided beatdown, and Shika knew he was in trouble.
The onlookers watched in stunned silence as Sasuke continued his relentless assault. Even the other Genin, who had been confident in their own skills, was taken aback by the sheer brutality of the fight. Shikamaru's brow furrowed in concern; Shika would be happy to know that at least there was someone looking after him and worrying for him.
Well, there were Kurenai and Hinata and others, but when you are getting a one-sided beating like this, it's very easy to believe that you are alone.
Shika's vision blurred as he struggled to stay conscious. His body screamed in pain with every hit, but his reverse curse energy was fixing him just as fast, and no matter what he tried, Sasuke was always one step ahead, like the Uchiha knew that he couldn't give Shika time to think.
This was the point when finally the Hokage and others were ready to end the battle. Testing out their powers and strategies was fine, but still, they couldn't let this go on anymore.
xxx
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