"Taki and Konoha have been allies for years," Hatake says. "And she isn't loved by her village for nothing. All of the sensei from Taki say she has the charm of a leader to go with the skill." I take a quick look at Gai to see what he thinks of Fu's charm, and find him looking down at Lee with an even, expectant gaze. Almost unworried.
...
A faint memory gnaws at me while Fu closes the distance between them and crouches down, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You can forfeit now and I'll give you the antidote. If you don't, I'll make sure you don't drown when you drop." What had he said, back then?
Lee mumbles something, too quiet for even Fu to hear. She pulls her hand back, ready to move but not all that worried. "What was that?"
"Gate of Opening," he says. Fu gasps and jabs at his throat. "Open."
Lee reaches up and catches her fist.
My eyes narrow while shocked exclamations go up around the ring. His arm is still shaking. It's even worse than before, now. The poison is still hurting him.
Fu tears her hand free and jumps back, flitting through seals. The same shifting construct from earlier bursts out of the water in front of her, except there are two this time. Both of them take on the shape of a distorted version of a dragon again. They dive down into the water and reappear twice as large, as one dragon, which opens its maw wide and barrels towards Lee. Lee, who still hasn't moved from his spot. His whole body is starting to shake from his efforts to move and the effects of the poison. It wasn't the first gate that I remember. Which one was it?
"Gate of Healing: Open."
There we go.
Chakra explodes out from the youthful genin, potent enough to form a visible shroud around him. The tremors wracking his body disappear all at once, and he jumps up to meet Fu's jutsu. He slams a lightning fast punch into it and the resulting shockwave tears it apart.
Fu jumps back until her back is pressed flush against the wall again, and starts running through a ridiculous amount of seals at a ridiculous speed. "You really are something!" She calls. "I don't know much about the Celestial Gates, but I know that they're not a genin skill for sure." Her blurring hands come to a stop on the bird seal, and the water beneath her feet lurches. "I can't let you win, though!"
Water rises up in front of her, spiraling in a circle larger than she is. It spins faster and fast, pulling at the water pooled on the floor and growing even larger in size. Lee rushes forward in an attempt to disrupt it, but the second water dragon breaks through the surface in front of him. The two didn't merge at all.
"Shit," I mutter.
Fu's jutsu continues to ramp up in size until the tip of it is on eye level with the proctors. Tendrils of water lash out of it at random, tearing chunks out of the walls and slapping waves into being tall enough to splash over the top of the arena and soak my feet. The roar of a hurricane fills the stadium.
Lee's Leaf Whirlwind knocks the second water dragon into oblivion, and Fu shouts, throwing her hands forward. "This is it! You better brace yourself!"
Neji steps inside her guard and taps the inside of both of her wrists. She jerks back, crying out in pain, and the mini hurricane wavers around her.
"Two palms."
Before she can react he's already brushed aside her hasty defense and tapped four more spots on her right arm, causing it to fall limp at her side. Her jutsu heaves one last roar and then collapses. "Four palms."
She doesn't have a chance after that. He weaves through her desperate attempts to defend herself and fight back, and doesn't give her the slightest chance to escape as he taps more and more points on her left arm, stomach, legs, and chest. He hits sixty-four palms, his arms little more than a blur as he shuts down her tenketsu one by one, and she collapses into the water, unable to maintain the slightest of chakra currents in her feet.
Neji watches with dispassionate Byakugan eyes as the proctor from Kiri dives into the water to fish her out, while the proctor from Kumo does the same for Noriko on the other side of the arena. When both have left in twin Body Flickers he allows his bloodline to fade and straightens up out of his Gentle Fist stance. Then he sighs.
"I told you to stop toying with your opponents, Lee. You could have ended that fight as soon as you took your weights off."
Lee cocks his head, hair still on end from the chakra flickering around him. "I did not toy with her. All I did was allow her to collect herself so we could continue our fight."
"Sometimes I wonder why you're a shinobi."
The Konoha proctor touches down on the surface of the water and raises his arm. "Winner of the sixth match between Team 5 of Taki and Team 9 of Konoha- Team 9."
"Hell yeah!" I whoop, and then I'm quickly overtaken by Gai as his mask of intensity breaks and he flies off into hysterics. Through the Green Beast's bellows I catch a few Taki nin booing, and I flip them all a one-fingered salute, as is customary.
Neji and Lee start up the stairs, and halfway up Lee's chakra shroud fades and he stumbles on the next step. Neji catches him with one hand and a moment later he regains his bearings and continues on, a lot more sluggish now. As soon as they make it back to us Gai wraps them both up in a bear hug, praising them in between uncontrollable sobs.
I observe the spectacle, along with everyone else in the stadium, and then give Hatake's sleeve a tug.
"Yes, Naruto?"
"I appreciate you, sensei."
He smiles. "Why thank you. I appreciate you, too."
Down in the arena the Iwa proctor has dropped down and is draining the arena with an earth jutsu. When that's done she moves onto the numerous holes and gouges in the walls, filling each in with a slab of wet earth that dries and hardens into stone in seconds. Less than five minutes after the end of the match the arena looks good as new, and the samurai rustles through his box again.
"Match seven. Team 13 of Iwa, consisting of Taro."
A single Iwa shinobi walks down the steps on the opposite side of the stadium, walking up to the middle of the arena and crossing his arms over his chest. He's wearing a loose, parted shirt that shows off his collarbone and the very top of his chest, along with a baggy pair of shinobi pants. Both are red, in typical Iwa fashion, but he's foregone the vest for a thick brown sash tied around his waist.
The samurai pulls out the second slip. "Versus Team 4 of Suna, consisting of Shijo, Kinzo, and Terao."
"Ouch." Even I have to feel bad for the guy, Iwa nin or not. "That really sucks."
Sasuke nods in agreement. "None of them even look tired."
"He's going to be crushed," Neji says.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asks suddenly.
"Yes, Sakura?" He asks, book still held over the railing.
"Did you learn anything about Taro while we were taking the first task?"
"Afraid not."
"Nothing?" I ask, tilting my head.
"Well, no." He shrugs. "Their sensei wasn't exactly thrilled to trade stories with me and Gai, even if only to brag."
"It's true," Gai agrees. "The jonin from Iwa were all most unyouthful. Even more so than my eternally hip rival."
"Thanks, Gai," Hatake says wryly.
The Suna team, a trio of shinobi geared up in navy blue and black clothing with beige flak jackets, marches down the steps and stand at attention across from Taro. The Konoha proctor clears his throat with a harsh cough.
"We'll start once the other proctors get back. You all remember the rules?" All three of the Suna nin answer in firm unison. Taro just stares straight ahead at a point over their shoulders. Seconds pass, and the Suna nin in the middle steps forward and bows his head a fraction.
"Good luck, Iwa nin," he says, voice taught with subdued politeness. The Iwa nin doesn't respond or return the gesture at all, and flash of rage steals across the Suna nin's face. A breath later it's gone, and he steps back between his teammates, expression carefully blank.
...
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