Chapter 9
Naruto Uzumaki vs Dosu
I actually felt a flicker of surprise when the names came up. Another non-canon match-up. Finally, it looked like things were starting to shift for real.
"Finally!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist so hard I thought he might launch himself into the ceiling. He was already halfway to jumping down into the arena when I caught his shoulder.
"Just remember," I said quietly, keeping my voice low enough that only he would hear, "go all out right from the start. No holding back."
Naruto paused, then turned and flashed me that big, stupid grin of his. "Watch me win this even faster than you did, teme." With that, he leapt down, landing with a dramatic puff of dust.
"It seems you've finally decided to act like the team leader after all," Kakashi said from beside me, his tone light but with that knowing edge. "You two are getting along surprisingly well these days."
"Hey! I'm the leader of Team 7!" Naruto yelled back without missing a beat, already bouncing on his toes while he waited for the match to start. He twisted around to glare up at Kakashi. "Don't go stealing my title!"
"Focus on the match," Kakashi and I said at exactly the same time.
Naruto blinked, then huffed and turned back to the arena, muttering something about "copycats".
"Match start!"
"Naruto-kun…" It was barely more than a whisper, but I caught it anyway. Hinata's eyes were locked on the blond idiot below, hands clasped tightly in front of her.
"Quite the confidence in his victory," Kurenai said, half to herself and half like she was asking a question. Her gaze flicked from Naruto's energetic bouncing to Hinata's flushed face, and I could practically see the pieces clicking together in her head.
"The match was decided the moment the names went up," I said calmly, arms folded.
Down in the arena, Naruto clearly had one goal: beat my time. Dosu, without his usual sound gauntlet giving him that nasty edge, decided to close the distance fast, probably thinking he could end it quickly with a taijutsu combo or being even more tricky using his hidden weapons that I could see clearly because of my Sharingan.
He didn't get far.
Naruto suddenly flared his chakra so hard it became visible, swirling around him in thick, bright blue waves. The sheer volume of it rolled out across the arena like heat from a furnace. Gasps and murmurs rippled through the stands. Even some of the jounin leaned forward.
I felt a sharp, familiar pang in my chest, jealousy, plain and simple. I still had a very long way to go before I could output chakra on that scale.
"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"
The hand seals snapped together, and the arena exploded with clones. Hundreds of them. Orange jackets and blond hair filled every inch of space, surrounding Dosu in a sea of grinning faces.
"What the—?!"
"How is that even possible?!"
"How much chakra does that kid have?!"
Voices overlapped everywhere shock, disbelief, a few outright curses. Even the proctor looked momentarily stunned.
"ALL RIGHT! TIME TO END THIS!"
The shout came from every Naruto at once. They didn't waste a single second. A tidal wave of orange rushed Dosu from every direction. The sound ninja tried to dodge, tried to counter, but there were simply too many. Fists, feet, elbows, Naruto didn't bother with fancy moves. He just overwhelmed him.
In less than thirty seconds, Dosu was down, curled on the ground, black and blue, twitching like he'd been hit by a cart full of bricks. He looked exactly like Mizuki had after Naruto was done with him back then.
"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Yay! I'm the best! I'm the winner!" Naruto whooped, jumping around in a victory dance that involved way too much arm-flailing and monkey-like hops. He even did a little spin and pointed up at the stands like he was posing for a crowd that wasn't cheering yet.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a quiet sigh.
I almost felt embarrassed for him. Almost.
…
Then I looked at the next pair of names on the board and nearly choked. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing out loud.
Kiba Inuzuka vs Rock Lee
For a second, I actually felt sorry for Kiba's luck. In canon, he'd at least had the "honour" of being taken out by Naruto's legendary fart technique. This time? No such mercy. He was going up against a monster of hard work and youth with zero chance of coming out on top.
"Finally! Akamaru! Let's go! We'll show everyone who's really the best around here!" Kiba shouted, pumping himself up way too much. He was grinning like he'd already won, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "That green weirdo's going down in no time flat."
"Awoof!" Akamaru barked in agreement, tail wagging furiously. Poor little guy clearly had no idea just how badly his partner had underestimated the opponent. Looks didn't mean a thing when the guy in question could move faster than most ninjas could even track, weights or no weights.
"GUY-SENSEI! IT'S MY TURN TO SHINE!" Lee bellowed, completely ignoring Kiba's trash talk. He was already vibrating with excitement, fists clenched, eyes sparkling like he'd been waiting his whole life for this exact moment.
"THAT'S THE SPIRIT, LEE!" Guy roared back, sweeping his student into a bone-crushing hug. Then, because of course, he leaned in and stage-whispered loud enough for half the stadium to hear: "Keep a close eye on that adorable little puppy. And try not to injure it too badly, all right?"
"RIGHT, GUY-SENSEI! THANK YOU FOR THE WISE ADVICE!" Lee shouted, hugging Guy right back with equal force.
"LEE!"
"GUY-SENSEI!"
And just like that, the dramatic sunset backdrop appeared out of nowhere while the two of them stood there hugging, tears streaming down their faces in perfect dramatic unison.
I immediately looked away. Hard pass on whatever that teacher-student bond was supposed to be.
Down in the arena, I already knew Kiba wouldn't even be able to lay a proper finger on Lee, not with the weights still on and Lee holding back as much as he was. How long the match lasted would depend entirely on whether Lee was feeling merciful or just wanted to give a proper "youthful" demonstration.
Lee vanished from the stands in a blur and reappeared in the centre ring. "Rock Lee of Konoha! Let us both give everything we have!"
'Three-tomoe Sharingan really is on another level compared to two…' The thought came unbidden as I tracked every micro-movement. Not only could I follow Lee clearly, but I was also quietly confident I could take the current version of him, the weights on one, no inner gates opening one, using my Sharingan and no curse seal.
The Lee without weights, though? That was still an unknown. I hadn't seen him drop them yet.
"Hey! What's with this insane speed?!" Kiba yelped, his cocky grin freezing into something much more cautious. He dropped into a low guard, eyes wide, like a cornered animal staring down a predator. And honestly? He wasn't wrong.
Rock Lee was a monster forged from nothing but sweat, willpower, and sheer bloody-minded determination.
And Youth.
"It's better this way," Kiba muttered, trying to sound confident again. "Wouldn't be any fun if it were too easy." But his eyes never left Lee for a second. He placed Akamaru carefully beside him, both of them tensing.
I forced myself to relax. No point getting too invested, I knew this could end any second. My Sharingan spun quietly beneath the transformation jutsu, memorising every detail of the fight just like I had with the others.
"Both ready?" the proctor called.
Kiba flicked a special pill to Akamaru without hesitation. No messing around, he clearly planned to end this fast. At least, that was the plan in his head.
'It won't be that simple to catch Lee off guard,' I thought. 'The only reason the Sound genin managed it was that Lee was being reckless, and Dosu's attack was invisible. You've got none of that advantage here, Kiba.'
Both Inuzuka and Ninken shifted, features sharpening, feral energy rolling off them. Akamaru grew noticeably bigger in a puff of smoke.
"Start!"
Poof poof poof!
Smoke bombs detonated all across the arena floor, thick white clouds swallowing everything in seconds. Even with the Sharingan, I couldn't see much through the haze. Annoying.
"Fang Over Fang!" Kiba's voice rang out clearly from somewhere in the smoke.
…
+Kiba Inuzuka+
Kiba had to admit it, he'd been way too cocky at the start. He might have bitten off more than he could chew with this one. 'But I'm not giving up,' he growled to himself, locking eyes again on the green blur that kept slipping through every attack like water.
It was frustrating as hell. Every time they thought they had him, every time their claws or fangs were about to connect, Lee would just shift a fraction and push them off-balance with the lightest tap. Not hard hits, just enough to ruin their rhythm and send them stumbling. It stung more than any real punch could have.
They weren't getting seriously hurt, but the constant near-misses were humiliating. Kiba wanted a real fight, not this cat-and-mouse nonsense. He knew he wasn't the strongest genin out there; that title probably went to the psycho redhead from Suna, but he wanted to prove what he and Akamaru could do. If he lost, fine. He'd take it like a man. Especially against someone who could read their moves like an open book.
Still, it didn't make the wasted stamina feel any better.
"Damn it! Akamaru, no stopping!" Kiba barked.
Akamaru got it instantly. They shifted rhythm on the fly, picking up speed, then broke apart to create distance. Both spun into Tsuga at the same moment, coming in from opposite sides to sandwich Lee between spinning drills of fang and fury.
Impact!
Kiba felt the solid connection, and a wild surge of joy shot through him, until it froze solid.
"I cannot allow such a cute little puppy to be harmed over a simple tactic like this," Lee said calmly. "I will make this as quick as possible."
Both of Kiba's arms were suddenly caught in iron grips. At the same instant, Akamaru's paws were trapped in Lee's bandaged hands on either side.
He'd caught them.
'HE'D CAUGHT FANG OVER FANG, WITH HIS BARE HANDS!'
That was the last coherent thought Kiba had before everything went black.
+Sasuke Uchiha+
'That took a little longer than I expected. But the result didn't change. Kiba still lost.' I thought quietly to myself as Lee stood victorious in the centre of the arena, breathing steadily, not even sweating much.
Deep down, I knew the current version of me wasn't a match for that kind of speed and raw power, not yet, anyway.
If I went all out? If I activated the curse seal? No. That wasn't happening unless there was literally no other choice. It was my absolute last resort, the kind of thing I didn't even want to think about using in a place like this. The risk wasn't worth it.
"Wakey wakey, 'Mr I'm-not-gonna-take-long'! Come on, I wanna see that smug little smile again!" Naruto's voice rang out loud and clear from down below.
He was already crouched next to the unconscious Kiba, splashing water from a canteen right into his face. Team 8 was gathered nearby, Kiba's teammates looking half-amused, half-exasperated, while Naruto played his favourite role to perfection: the annoying loudmouth who could rile anyone up in seconds.
Kiba groaned, eyelids fluttering. Naruto grinned wider, clearly hoping the Inuzuka would wake up swinging just so he could dodge and laugh about it.
Troublemaker is doing what he does best.
I turned my attention back to the board, wondering who the next unlucky pair would be. The canon matches had already started breaking apart, so maybe—
'…Or not.'
I almost felt like I'd just jinxed myself the second the names appeared.
Hinata Hyuga vs Neji Hyuga
'Some things are still the same,' I thought, suddenly at a complete loss for words. Speechless didn't even cover it.
....