"One, two, three!" Kimimaro yelled, getting everyone to shake their hands and reveal where they had chosen rock, paper or scissors.
It was simple really. The winner of each round would be placed into a squad until everyone had one. Everyone played the game until only three people were left, naturally, they were placed into the same squad and the team had been set.
The first team was Haku. Yuri and Koyuki.
The second was Kimimaro, Chika and Kujira
The third was Hattori, Rokuro and Kurōn/Fuyōna in disguise.
"Alright, so how do we decide who will go first?" Hattori said, still a little salty that he had lost the game and been placed into the last team.
"How about we go first?" Kurōn said, stepping forwards and taking the others by surprise.
"Who wants to fight us?" He then asked, seeming confident.
"I never back down from a challenge!" Kujira then said, hearing his words.
"You ok with that, Haku?" Kimimaro asked.
"Yeah, we don't mind, right guys," Haku said to his teammates. Yuri of course didn't say another and simply nodded, while Koyuki on the other hand crossed her arms.
"Whatever." She said, not happy about going last but accepting it nonetheless.
"Alright then, it's settled," Kimimaro said as he looked at Chika and then at Kujira, seeing they were both ready and ready to go.
With that, both teams took their positions on the training field while Koyuki took the centre, getting ready to give the signal for their battle to start.
"Alright, time to show us what you've got!" Koyuki said as she raised her hand into the air.
Hattori smiled as he set his sights on Kimimaro, already knowing that he wanted to fight him after their training. However, he also had Chika and Kujira to deal with, each having their own tricks that he would have to work around.
"I hope you are both ready," Hattori said to Kurōn and Rokuro, who seemed a little nervous.
"Direct combat isn't really my style," Rokuro said, holding a kunai in his hand.
"Focus on your strengths, we will deal with the rest," Kurōn said, giving him some confidence.
"Let the battle begin!" Koyuki yelled, waving her hand through the air as the signal started.
"Here I come!" Hattori yelled, wasting no time in using his swift style to dash ahead of the others, taking the advance and trying to strike first.
"I don't think so!" Kujira yelled as he suddenly appeared in front of Kimimaro, blocking Hattori's downward axe kick that he had aimed at his head.
Kujira blocked the axe kick at full force and pushed Hattori back with a smile on his face.
"That was a strong kick... I've been looking forwards to fighting you!" He then shouted, charging in head-on as he used his breathing technique to harden his body and fists.
Hattori smiled as he allowed his steel release to cover his body, making him almost indestructible.
"Let us see who is strong then!" He yelled, throwing his own punch before their fists clashed, sending vibrations through the air.
Kimimaro watched the two as they fought, seeing how strong both of them had become before he turned his attention to the others, realizing that only Rokuro was in his sight.
"Where did he go..." He thought, keeping his defences ready for an attack.
Kimimaro's instincts were correct, as not a moment later, Kurōn appeared from behind him, using the silent killing technique.
Kimimaro was quick to let his bones shoot from his back, keeping the tips of them blunt of course, still very effective in combat.
Kurōn was able to dodge his counterattack and quickly threw a handful of kunai as a cover for him to jump back. However, Kimimaro used his bones to deflect all of them with ease, simply turning and flipping in a circle as he changed his point of attack with ease, charging towards Kurōn to press the attack.
"He's fast." Kurōn thought as he used his sword to deflect Kimimaros's attack, trying his best to deflect them all before being forced to flip backwards and jump into the air.
Kimimaro was also impressed that Kurōn had been able to avoid his onslaught and now watched what he was going to do next.
"Alright then, let's see how you deal with some ninjutsu..." Fuyōna thought, happy to see that Kimimaro's taijutsu was as strong as ever.
"Try this out, fire style, fireball jutsu!" Kurōn shouted, taking Kimimaro by surprise.
"A fire style..." He said, quickly lasing his fingertips with lightning style before throwing a barrage of bone bullets to shred through the large fireball that was heading towards him.
The lightning-enhanced bone bullets were able to shoot enough holes into the fire style that Kimimaro dashed through one of the openings, appearing on the other side without a mark on his body, taking Kurōn by surprise.
Kimimaro was quick to press back on the attack, clearly wanting to keep the fight at close range with his strengths.
However, Fuyōna who was posing as Kurōn already knew all of his tricks and quickly flipped his blade into a backhand position, getting ready for the assault.
"This is going to be fun."
Meanwhile, Haku and the other watched the fight from the distance, with each of them weighing up their comrades.
"Man that, what was his name again... Kurōn?" Koyuki asked, trying to remember.
"Yeah, he's strong," Haku said, having been paying close attention to him as he was dealing with Kimimaro.
"Yeah, he's alright I guess," Koyuki said, not impressed before she turned her attention to Rokuro and Chika.
Yuri on the other hand was watching Hattori and Kujira go at it, with each of the giving it their all in an all-out match of Taijutsu.
Kujira was certainly tough, having honed his body to become as hard as steel through breathing and focusing his chakra. However, Hattori had the real deal, possessing the steel-release kekkie genkai.
Each of them was holding out, hitting the other with everything they had in a true test of manhood and strength.
"Arghhh!!" Kujira roared, unleashing his punches in a very karate-style manner, trying to focus each and every strike dead centre to do maximum damage.
Hattori, on the other hand, was attacking in a more free-style way, tanking the hits and returning them with just as much force. Each of them could feel the pressure from the other, and both knew that this fight would come to a test of stamina.
Kujira smashed a right hand through Hattoris defences, landing it right on his jaw with a mighty blow. Hattori felt the attack rock his body but refused to give up, throwing his own right hand back at Kujira, hitting him straight in the nose, busting it open as his hardening seemed to waver.
Hattori sensed this, and quickly pressed on the attack even harder, willing himself to push his body to the max and give it even more.
"ARGHH!!!" Hattori yelled, throwing strike after strike, proving to be too much for Kujira to handle as he broke through his guard and powered through attacking his body.
"No way... I can't hold my hardening any longer!" Kujira thought, feeling his breath give way to the force of Hattori's attacks.
"Take this!" Hattori yelled, throwing one final attack with everything he had, delivering a right uppercut to Kujira's jaw, breaking his hardening technique and launching him off his feet into the air.
"Looks like their fight is over..." Koyuki said, watching the finishing blow first-hand.
"Yeah... And theirs is just beginning..." Haku also said, watching as Kimimaro and Kurōn were still going at it.
Kimimaro was having a surprisingly tough time-fighting Kurōn. He was going all out with his taijutsu, twisting and flipping around so that he could use his entire body as a weapon, letting his bones shoot out of his body, using them as a weapon in every direction there was to attack.
Yet, through all of that, Kurōn was able to deflect and dodge each attack, using his short sword to block the bones and keeping his body fluid as he dodged the rest.
Kimimaro was growing impatient now and was beginning to resort to more advanced movements in an attempt to hit him. However, each time he tried harder, Kurōn's speed seemed to only increase more, along with his strength.
"He has grown so much... His strength, speed and timing are all incredible... If he steps it up 'anymore I don't think I will be able to hold him off any longer." Fuyōna thought to himself, feeling proud of his adopted son.
"I'm going to finish this, now," Kimimaro said, suddenly jumping into the air as another of his attacks was blocked as if it were nothing.
Fuyōna watched as he did, already knowing what was coming, not being able to help the smile on his face.
Kimimaro suddenly let all of the bones that he could manage explode from his back, doing his best to overwhelm Fuyōna, in an attempt to leave him with nowhere to go, feeling as his bones trapped him before snapping them off from his back and landing back onto the ground to deliver his final attack.
"Now it's over!" Kimimaro shouted, forcing a lance around his arm made of bone with a blunt tip, getting ready to thrust it right into Fuyōna's stomach.
Kimimaro watched as his attack landed dead centre, feeling the resistance of his body against his arm as it made contact.
"I finally got you." He said, forming a small smile with his lips.
"No... I got you." Fuyōna said, causing Kimimaro's smile to quickly fade as his body burst into water and engulfed him inside a prison.
"Water prison jutsu." The real Fuyōna said, appearing behind the water sphere that Kimimaro was now trapped inside of.
"A clone... But when did he?" Kimimaro asked himself, not believing that he had been caught in such a technique.
"No way... He got him." Koyuki said, not quite believing her eyes.
"Kurōn... his fighting style is way beyond that of a chunin." Haku also said, wondering how Kimimaro would deal with this situation.
However, their battle was not the only one taking place on the training field. Rokuro was currently playing to his strengths, just as he had been told to do, running away from Chika as she gave chase.
"I swear to God, Rokuro! If you don't stop running and fight me, I'm going to stop chasing you and attack someone else!" Chika yelled, growing tired of trying to chase her teammate.
"Sorry, but there is no way I can beat you!" Rokuro said, almost laughing nervously as she was gaining on him.
"AGHHH! I've had it with you!" She yelled before extending her finger to create small bullets of water.
"Water bullet jutsu!" She yelled, suddenly firing the high-powered projectiles at him in an attempt to slow him down.
"Wow, what the hell!" Rokuro yelled as one of the bullets hit a tree and burst right through the trunk.
"Are you trying to kill me!" He yelled, quickly coming to a halt with his hands raised.
"Finally," Chika said as she kept her hand pointed at him.
"And no, I just wanted to scare you a little so you would stop running from me." She said with a wicked smile on her face.
"Of course..." Rokuro said, knowing he should have known better.
"Now, surrender. Otherwise, I will be forced to make you." She said, lifting her shooting hand towards her face and winking at him.
"Well, you see Chika... I would love to. But I just don't think my teammates would like the idea of me giving up so easily." He said, seeming cocky all of a sudden.
"Oh really?" Chika said, knowing that he was up to something.
"And what makes you think you can beat me?" She asked, knowing that there was no jutsu he knew that could take her down.
I might not be the strongest in our group, but I sure am the sharpest." He said, suddenly cutting a small wire that had been tied to a tree with the kunai in his hand.
"Wait, when did you!" Chika said, suddenly feeling the ground under her feet give way before she dropped into a pit.
Chika dropped into the somewhat large pit, surprised that he had managed to pull off a trap like this in such a short amount of time.
"Great, all you did was get me dirty you shithead!" Chika then yelled, trying to brush the dirt from her clothes.
However, the sudden ignition of paper bombs burning sparked her interest and caused her eyes to open wide.
"No way... You wouldn't!" She said, seeing that the pit had been laced with enough explosives to collapse it.
"It won't kill you, but it sure will stop you for long enough for me to get a win," Rokuro said, throwing his kunai at the ground, and cutting one more trap wire that was hiding there.
"I won't forget this, Rokuro!" Chika yelled as she tried to jump out of the hole, only to see a large rock fall from the tree above, hitting her and smashing her back down to the bottom and into the dirt again.
Thanks to Chika's ability to turn her body into water, Rokuro knew that the boulder and the small number of paper bombs he was using wouldn't kill her, not by a long shot. However, it certainly would take her a while to sliver her way out of the rocks and dirt once she was buried under it.
"I guess I will just have to deal with the consequences later," Rokuro said, walking off with a smile on his face, placing his hands into his pockets and leaving Chika trapped as the paper bombs exploded, causing the trap hole to cave in around her.
Chika could feel the weight of the gravel and dirt all around her as she had turned into water. However, the pressure was so great that it was proving hard to escape, feeling as if she would have to filter all of her body through the small cracks until she could get back to the surface.
"Mark my words, Rokuro! I'm gonna kill you for this!!!"
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Alright, thats the end of this chapter! I hope you are enjoying the story so far.