Chapter 99: Haku vs Hattori!

Both boys stared each other down, having already faced off against one another before, giving them some idea of what to expect was to come.

Haku couldn't help but notice that Yuri was with him, knowing for a fact that she was placed with Kimimaro for this exam.

"They don't have a flag," Seno said softly as she remembered how strong Hattori was from his match, and fighting the other squad.

"I can see that. Also looks like Yuri has left her squad to help you." Haku said, looking at the bandages wrapped around Hattori's body.

"I take it you had a run-in with Kimimaro." Haku then said, knowing they must have finally clashed.

Hattori smiled.

"Perspective as always I see."

Haku nodded.

"Yes, well since you don't have a flag there is no need for a fight." He said, not wanting to battle if he didn't have to.

"No..." Hattori said, knowing that with a three vs two in his condition, things would not be easy.

"It would seem that be best." Hattori then said, looking down as he ran his hand through his hair.

"But when else will we ever be given a chance to battle and see which of us is stronger."

Haku had a feeling something like this was coming, knowing he wouldn't be able to simply walk away once he had come face to face with Hattori a second time.

"I would prefer not to have to fight you in this condition," Haku said, trying to be kind.

However, his eyes opened wide as Hattori suddenly disappeared, only the slight feeling of the wind changing was enough for Haku to have any warning that an attack was incoming.

Haku quickly dropped to the ground, hitting his hands and knees on the deck as Hattori appeared above him, throwing a kick where his head had been.

"How did he move so fast?" Haku thought as he rolled back, avoiding a stomp from Hattori, only being able to pull himself to his feet at the last second to counter a kunai that was aimed for his face.

"This time I won't hold back against you!" Hattori shouted, clearly in the mood to fight.

Both Seno and Tomo had been too slow to even see what had happened at first, only Haku had been able to react to Hattori's speed.

"Haku look out!" Seno shouted as she rushed to help him, however, her path was blocked by a barrage of senbon needles that hit around her feet.

"You." She said as she looked up to Yuri, who was standing across from her on another branch.

"Stay out of this fight, otherwise, you will have to fight me." She said as she readied another first full of senbon.

Tomo knew that Yuri was strong, knowing that Seno didn't stand a chance against her and not sure if he did either.

Haku amd Hattori both struggled in their clash as their weapons ground against one another, until Haku pushed Hattori back, noticing his increased strength from the last time they exchanged blows.

"Looks like he really isn't holding back this time." Haku thought as he watched Hattori closely.

"Both of you go, try to capture another flag without me!" Haku then said to his teammates.

Seno looked over at him, shocked he was willing to sacrifice himself so they could get away.

"I'll be alright, just go." He said as he took a defensive stance against Hattori.

"Smart move." Hattori countered. Knowing it was the right choice.

"I'm only bothered about fighting two people in this exam. Kimimaro and You." Hattori said as he slowly raised his hand.

"Once I defeat you. I'll go and return the favour to him."

Haku smiled, having seen how his last battle with his brother had gone.

"I'm afraid you won't have the chance," Haku said as he interlocked his fingers, forming a hand sign to create an ice mirror.

Haku was about to step back into the mirror, getting ready to use his crystal ice mirrors as he planned to bring the fight to an end.

"I don't think so!" Hattori said as he vanished, moving so fast that once again Haku lost track of him.

Haku could only watch in horror as his ice mirror smashed to pieces, shattering behind him as Hattori flew through it with his arm extended like a spear.

Haku was forced to protect himself from the debris of ice that shattered around him, watching as Hattori stood up with his arm held in front of his face.

"How did he... His arm." Haku said in surprise, noticing the strange colour of it.

Hattori lowered his arm as he let it return to normal, smiling before he spoke.

"Your ice is no longer strong enough to stop me." He said as he took a crouching position, readying his arms behind him.

Haku couldn't believe it. Hattori had smashed through his ice style as if it were glass, making light work of it.

"We will see." Haku then said as he grew serious.

"Ice style, one thousand needles of death!" Haku shouted as he made the hand signs, triggering the ice all around them as it suddenly turned into spikes and flew towards Hattori with no remorse.

However, Hattori vanished again as he completely disappeared from site, causing the ice to smash into itself with no target.

Haku felt the wind change by his face again as he quickly dodged a punch from Hattori.

Hattori was surprised at Haku's own speed as he dodged his attack, watching as he moved with skill with a counter-attack in the same motion.

Haku quickly used his left hand to throw an uppercut from under Hattori's right arm that he had slipped past.

Hattori stopped the uppercut with his other hand but quickly realized it was a feint, watching as Hakus's right arm came from over the top with a senbon needle in it, aimed for the pressure point in his neck.

Hattori concentrated, letting his chakra flow to his neck as he willed his kekkei Genkai to take effect.

Haku's eyes opened wide in surprise as his senbon needle bounced off of Hattori's neck, creating sparks as if he had hit a sheet of metal.

"That won't work on me anymore," Hattori said as he watched Haku jump back in retreat so he could compose himself.

"What is that ability?" Haku asked himself as he watched Hattori from a distance.

"Not only can he move at incredible speeds, but now he can turn his skin into some kind of metal?" Haku thought as he twirled the senbon needle around in his hand.

"Does he possess two kekkei genkai?"

"Impressive, isn't it?" Hattori said as the skin on his neck returned to normal.

"I unlocked this dormant ability after fighting with Kimimaro. It's a secret jutsu that allows me to turn my body into organic metal as hard as diamond." Hattori explained.

"But I'm done babbling." He then said.

Hattori was done letting Haku think, after all, he knew how dangerous he was if given time to plan.

"It's time to finish this fight," Hattori said as he placed his hands together forming the horse and then tiger hand seals.

Haku quickly threw a handful of senbon needles at him, trying to stop him from finishing his hand signs. However, Hattori turned his entire body to steel, letting the needles bounce off of him.

"Fire style, fireball jutsu!" He shouted as he unleashed the jutsu.

Haku watched as the fireball came toward him, quickly placing his own hands together so he could counter the attack.

However, Haku was struck from behind as Hattori appeared before him in the blink of an eye, kicking him towards the fireball.

"It's over for you!" Hattori shouted as he landed, watching as Haku was about to collide with his fire style jutsu.

"Nowhere to go!" Hattori shouted.

Haku was feeling the pressure from Hattori, being taken completely off guard by his abilities.

But he wasn't out just yet. Quickly placing his hands together he created another ice mirror behind him, absorbing the fire-style jutsu into it before another mirror from behind Hattori unleashed it back upon him.

Hattori was quick to move out of the way, using his swift style to quickly avoid his own attack.

"Is that really all you have got?" Hattori then asked as he turned around to see where Haku had gone to.

However, Haku had taken full advantage of the opportunity and slipped inside of the ice mirror, activating his ice mirror trap that now formed around Hattori.

"I see now. You already planned this far ahead." Hattori said with a nervous smile.

"But I thought I already showed you that your ice is no match for me anymore!" Hattori then shouted as he used his steel style to cover his body before he charged toward one of the ice mirrors ready to smash it to pieces.

"That won't work this time." Haku's voice said, echoing throughout the dome that had sealed around Hattori leaving no gaps for escape.

Hattori was shocked when he made contact with the ice, in his head he had already pictured smashing through it, however, the reality of what happened was enough to confuse him.

Hattori simply passed through the mirror and out of another, landing back in the same spot as when he had started his attack.

"What the hell?" Hattori said as he looked all around him, seeing Haku's reflection appear in each mirror.

"This is my kekkei genkai. My crystal ice mirror infinite dungeon." Haku said, slowly raising his hand to show three senbon needles between his knuckles.

"There is no escape from this jutsu." Haku then said as he threw the needles.

Hattori tried to watch which mirror the needles came from, but was forced to cover his entire body in his steel style to deflect the large number of needles that seemed to come from every direction.

Hattori looked up as the needles bounce off of his skin, having no effect on him.

"Even if you think you have trapped me in here, you can't hurt me anyway!" He shouted as he continued to watch, always looking for some kind of weakness. After all, every jutsu had one.

Hattori quickly pulled out a handful of kunai as he tossed them at different mirrors, hoping one would reveal a way out. However, each of the kunai simply passed through the mirrors and shot back out of another, forcing Hattori to block them with his arms.

"It's no use. As I said, there is no way out of this jutsu." Haku said, reinforcing his words again as he held one of Hattori's kunai in his hand for him to see.

"Even if I explained how this jutsu worked to you, you would not understand it," Haku said as he threw the kunai back at Hattori's feet to get his attention.

"Try as many times as you like, but you will not escape this jutsu until I allow it."

Meanwhile...

"My, my... What a tricky jutsu indeed." The Hokage said as he and Fuyōna watched from the distance.

Fuyōna agreed as he watched with interest. Not only had he seen Hattori's hidden abilities come to life during this exam, but he got to watch his students perform at their best, both of them being pushed further and helping them to grow.

"Still, for him to resort to that jutsu I taught him. He must really have acknowledged Hattori as a worthy opponent." Fuyōna thought as he continued to watch.

Hattori currently held his ground as he waited for Haku to make a move. He knew that his steel style gave him an almost invincible like armour around his skin, making anything that Haku could throw at him useless. However, he also knew that there was a time limit to how long he could make it last, knowing that his chakra would run out with its continued use.

"You are thinking that if you can somehow outlast me I might run out of chakra and you could escape, am I right?" Haku suddenly said, seeming to take the words from Hattori's own thoughts.

"I'll tell you now that, that will not work," Haku said.

"Dont tell me what I can and can't do!" Hattori suddenly shouted as he took off at amazing speed, turning his body to steel as he tried to attack each and every mirror as fast as he could.

"One of them has to have a weakness!" He shouted as he continued to be disappointed, simply stepping through one mirror and out of another in what seemed to be an infinite loop.

"Maybe I can melt the ice with my fire style..." He thought.

"But if I try that and it doesn't work I will have used a lot of chakra for nothing. No, I have to bait him out to attack me so I can take him down." Hattori said as he stopped in the middle of the ice mirror trap, allowing his steel style to revert and expose his body to attack.

"That won't work either," Haku said, knowing what Hattori was trying to do.

"Seems to me that you are afraid to face me head-on!" Hattori shouted at him.

"No. The simple fact is that you are already defeated. You just don't know it yet." Haku spoke as he placed his head in his hand.

"You haven't defeated me yet! Hattori shouted as took a fighting stance.

"I'm sorry Hattori. But I grow tired of this." Haku said as he looked up, slowly placing his hands together as he formed a unique hand sign belonging to the Yuki clan.

"Try whatever you like, my body is invincible!" Hattori shouted as he activated his steel style, getting ready for whatever Haku was about to unleash upon him.

"Is he really going to use that Jutsu?" Fuyōna thought as he watched next to the Hokage.

Hiruzen couldn't help notice Fuyōna's body tense at what Haku was about to do.

"Is everything alright, Lord Mizukage?" He asked.

"No. I'm afraid not lord Hokage, I'm going to have to step in and stop him." He said with a sigh.

Hiruzen was confused seeing as they were so far away.

However, Fuyōna simply stepped into his own ice mirror and nodded to his fellow Kage.

"See you in a moment."

Hattori waited and waited, starting to feel strange as nothing happened.

"What is he doing? Is he going to attack or what?" He thought as he watched as many mirrors as he could.

However, no sign of any large-scale attack came, causing Hattori to question Haku's ability a little.

"He's just trying to scare me. He knows he can't get through my defence with his ice attacks." He thought as a small smile appeared on his face.

Hattori's smile soon faded though as a cold chill suddenly ran up his legs.

"W-what the hell is this?" He said as an intense cold suddenly surrounded him, causing his body to start shaking and his teeth to chatter.

Hattori slowly looked down at his feet seeing that they had been frozen to the ground, with a layer of ice that was starting to creep up the rest of his legs.

"No way! When did he?" He said as he tried to pull his feet free of the ice.

"No, they won't come free!" He shouted as he raised his fist, hoping that he could smash the ice away from his body.

But it was no use, every time he tried to break the ice it just seemed to form even faster as it continued to grow up his body, reaching his knees now.

"It's so cold... I... I cant feel my legs anymore." Hattori said as he looked up at Haku's reflection.

"You could have done this the whole time?" He asked, already knowing the answer as he looked at Haku in horror.

Hattori could feel the ice reach the top of his legs, feeling it continue to creep up his body as it was about to reach his waist.

"I can't lose like this..." Hattori said softly as he could feel his body going into shock from the intense cold and hypothermia setting in hard on him.

"This is the end," Haku said softly as he slowly stepped out of one of the mirrors and walked over to Hattori.

Haku reached his hand towards Hattori's head, opening the palm of his hand as he was about to finish him.

However, at the last second, as Haku was about to deliver the final blow to Hattori, his hand stopped, seeming to be blocked by something.

"That's enough Haku." A familiar voice said as Hattori tried to retain his focus.

Haku saw the hand around his wrist and turned to look, already knowing who it belonged to.

"Father?" Haku asked. Surprised that he would stop him from finishing the fight.

"Haku. That technique is not something to be used on another member of our village." Fuyona said as he watched the boy carefully.

Haku nodded and relaxed his arm in an instant.

"I'm sorry father, I just got carried away," Haku said as he backed down without a fight.

Fuyōna let go of his hand before he turned to Hattori so he could assess the damage, happy with Haku's response.

"It's bad but he will survive." He said as he placed his hand onto the ice and started to reverse the effects of Haku's jutsu.

Haku watched from the sidelines as he released his own jutsu, letting the ice mirrors melt and fade away.

"Hattori!" Yuri yelled as she could finally see what was going on, surprised to see that the Mizukage was with him.

"What happened!" She yelled as she saw the state that Hattori was in, knowing that he had been hurt badly.

"It's alright now Yuri," Fuyona said as he finished melting the ice safely around Hattori's body, letting him drop down into Yuri's arms as she caught him.

Suddenly Fugaku Uchiha appeared, watching Fuyōna carefully before he spoke.

"I'm afraid that Haku Yuki is disqualified from the exam due to you stepping in, lord Mizukage." He said.

Fuyōna sighed before he turned around to Fugaku.

"Yes, I understand." He said as he then turned to Haku.

"I'm sorry Haku, but the rules are the rules. Will you forgive me for getting you disqualified?" He asked.

Haku simply smiled.

"Of course father." He said, not seeming to care all too much.

"Alright, I guess we had better get out of the way so the exam can continue." He then said.

Fugaku had been watching the fight the entire time, and was impressed that Fuyōna had been able to cover so much distance in so short a time.

Clearly knowing he would have to be careful if they ever fought.

Both the Hokage and Danzo watched from the distance, seeing just how fast Fuyona had moved in order to stop Haku from finishing Hattori.

"It's as if I am watching Minato at work once again." The Hokage said with a small chuckle.

Danzo on the other hand was not as impressed.

"He is a threat Hiruzen. One we cannot afford to play around with." Danzo said.

"Yes. It seems the younger generation has come to surpass us now." He said as he took a poof on his pipe.

"But the Leaf and the Mist will remain allies to help our nations grow and prosper."

Danzo remained silent for a moment before he spoke.

"The other nations will not take kindly to this alliance Hiruzen. It could start another war." He said speaking sense.

Hiruzen remained silent this time, having already taken this into account. Of course, the alliance between the Leaf and the Mist would create a power vacuum, forcing the other nations to raise their hand if they didn't want to lose power. However, Hiruzen hoped that they would see sense and avoid a war.

"Only time will tell Danzo, but I believe that our alliance is something that will help our village to grow. So in the meantime, we will do nothing." He said.

Danzo nodded before he turned around to take his leave, having said and seen all he had come to.

"As you wish." He said before he spoke again.

"For now." He muttered too quietly to hear for him to hear.

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That's the end of this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, big things to come.

Remember to check out my P.a.t.r.e.o.n page, currently up to chapter 175 there so lots to read!

See you next time.