Chapter Twenty-eight: Storm vs Ice Part One

Previously on Hope of the Senju Clan

Once Sai had been declared the winner, the undercover ROOT agent sheathed his tanto sword and made his way back to the finalist box. But before he could get very far, he suddenly heard Karui call out to him.

"Hey!"

"Yes?" Sai asked as he turned around to face Karui with his normal fake smile

"Aren't you going to get these things to let me go?"

"No!" Sai replied simply.

"Why the hell not?" the girl asked angrily.

"Because I don't help ugly old hags" the boy replied simply with the same fake smile before turning back around and walking away. Leaving a furious Karui behind him, who preceded to scream out in rage, swearing she would get him back for this and that she would kill him.

Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters! I only own the Characters I created myself.

-In the Kage Box-

After Sai had been declared the winner, the Kages watch as the young boy calmly made his way back up to the finalist box, while his defeated opponent was still screaming out curses at him.

"Impressive" the Mizukage remarked with a small smile, "Wouldn't you agree Raikage-sama?"

"Not bad" the Raikage grunted, as he was rather annoyed with Karui's loss to Sai and hadn't missed the amused tone in the female Kage's voice, since this time it had been one of his Genin who lost.

It also irked him that Karui had barely been able to lay a hand on Sai and made her look like a fool in the end.

"The boy is quite skilled, and uses unusual techniques Hokage-sama" the Kazekage commented as he joined the conversation.

"Yes Sai is a capable young man and has the potential to become a fine Shinobi" the Sandaime replied. Not wanting to give much away about Sai, especially since he was from an organisation that is supposed to be disbanded.

"Indeed" Mei added, "The boy knows how to use his techniques and used his opponent's emotions against her."

"So what would your opinion on the girl and him, Mizukage-sama?" asked Tsunade.

"I believe the boy named Sai has potential, but I would like to see a little more of his capabilities before coming to a decision. As for the girl I'm afraid I cannot recommend her to become a Chunin. Despite the fact that she showed exceptional skill in swordsmanship and excellent use of Chakra flow. She still lacks disciple and was easily played by Sai-san who used her temperament against her. To be a Chunin one must remain calm under stressful situation and not allow their enemy to play on their emotions. Such actions like the girl took when she was angered, could result in her putting her team in danger when on a mission."

"I too must agree on the Mizukage's comment on the girl" the Kazekage added. "Her skill with a sword is impressive to say the least, but her emotional state and ability to make rational decisions is questionable. I believe with a little more time and seasoning, she will become an excellent Shinobi. Although the boy named Sai I believe would make a capable Chunin, given how well he performed in the match."

"Although I do agree with what you said about the young girl Kazekage-sama" the Hokage said. "I also must agree with what the Mizukage said about Sai. Since I believe we should wait and see what else Sai shows us in his next match before we decided if he should become a Chunin."

"I agree on both accounts" the Raikage said gruffly, as he had to agree with what the other Kages said about Karui. Plus he was also interested in seeing how well Sai would fair against Yugito, who would be his next opponent.

With the matter settled, the four Kages and the two Sannin turned their attention back on the arena for the next match, which would begin soon.

-In the Finalist Box-

After Sai had won his match, the young Shinobi artist made is way to the finalist box, where once he arrived he settled himself in the corner and started to paint again.

Not long after, an angry Karui, who had been freed from her binds by Genma, stormed into the box.

Upon seeing her former opponent the red haired Kumo Kunoichi glared murderously at the boy, who simply ignored her and continued painting.

Angered by this, Karui looked ready to beat the hell out of Sai. But thankfully before anything could happen, her team-mates came over and pulled her away to the railings, telling her to let it go.

After some heavy talking with her team, Karui eventually calm down, although remained in a sour mood, and glanced angrily back at Sai from time to time.

"How's Karui doing?" Naruto asked after Omoi re-joined him.

"She'll be fine, it's more wounded pride than anything else" Omoi replied, where Naruto just nodded. "But at least one good thing has come out of this."

"What's that?" a curious Naruto asked.

"Karui might actually let go of her grudged against you for beating her, since she seems to hate that Sai guy more than you now."

Hearing this Naruto just smirked and said, "Maybe, but I'll believe it when I see it."

Not long after the finalist suddenly heard Genma call out to them, "The next match between Kankuro of Suna and Aburame Shino of Konoha is about to begin, will the participants please come down."

When Kankuro heard his name being out for his match, the male puppeteer began to worry and started to wonder what he should do, "My match isn't important. Besides I don't want to show Crow's hidden weapons before the plan. Not to mention if I win, I would have to go against Gaara and I am not fighting him, plan or no plan."

Looking to his sister, who just nodded, Kankuro knew what he had to do.

Just when Shino was about to jump down into the arena, Kankuro suddenly called out to Genma. "Hey Examiner, I forfeit my match."

As soon as Kankuro send this a sudden stir erupted among everyone.

"What?" Shino and Genma thought at the same time in surprise and some confusion.

They were of course not the only ones, as many of the other finalist and members of the audience where also like minded.

"What's going on here?" Yugito thought with a frown.

"Why is he giving up? If he had no intention of fighting, why did he wait until now to forfeit?" Naruto thought as he stared suspiciously at Kankuro.

-With the Audience-

"Something doesn't feel right here" Kushina muttered as she stared down to the arena.

"I concur" Yamato said, where he was joined by Anko, Shizune, Asuma and Kurenai, who all nodded in agreement.

"Something funny is going on here" Tsunade muttered with a large frown on her face.

"Yea I know, there's something happening that we aren't seeing" Jiraiya said with a frown of his own.

The Sandaime was of course of the same mind, as like his students, he found Kankuro's sudden forfeiture suspicious. He was even more distrustful given recent events, such as Suna sending their jinchūriki into the Chunin exam. The appearance of Orochimaru in the forest of death, his attack on Naruto and Sasuke as well as the deaths of Hayate and the Oto Genin during the one month training period.

"I must say, I'm disappointed that your son gave up so easily Kazekage-sama" the Mizukage said.

"Indeed, I would have expected better from a Shinobi of your village, least of all your son" the Raikage added.

"Unfortunately, I cannot make any excuse for my son, all I can say is that if he forfeited, he must have had a good reason for doing it."

Naturally this didn't answer any of the other Kages quires. But they could not press the matter further since there was no rule against a finalist forfeiting before their match. Suspicious it may be, but it was not illegal.

-In the Arena-

"Kankuro of Suna has forfeited his match, therefore Aburame Shino of Konoha wins by default" Genma announced.

Naturally this announcement wasn't received well by the audience who were hoping to see another good fight, where many of them start booing and yelling angrily.

"Damnit this isn't how things were supposed to turn out" Temari thought angrily, since they thought the invasion would've started by now.

After Kankuro forfeited his match, Genma moved on to the next round which was supposed to be between Gaara and the Oto Genin Dosu. But given how Dosu was dead (unknowingly killed by Gaara), the match was an automatic win for Gaara.

Naturally this wasn't received well by the majority of the audience either, where once again people began to boo and jeer.

Ignoring the crowds anger, Genma decided to move on to the next fight, which was between Sasuke and Omoi. But the problem was Sasuke had yet to arrive.

-In the Kage Box-

"It seems that the crowd is getting rather noisy due to the recent forfeitures" the Kazekage commented.

"Yes I hear that" the Hokage replied.

"If I am not mistaken, Uchiha Sasuke and one of the Kumo Genin are schedule to fight next?" the Mizukage said

"Yes but sadly Sasuke hasn't arrived yet" the old Hokage replied.

"This is highly irregular Hokage-sama, my Shinobi had the decency to show up on time, the least yours could do is to arrive on time" the Raikage said with some annoyance.

"Yes I know that Raikage-sama, and I do apologise for this" the Sandaime said before his guard Raidō leaned over to him and whispered in his right ear.

"I'm afraid we still have not located Uchiha Sasuke or his sensei Hatake Kakashi. Perhaps we should disqualify him from the finals before everyone causes an uproar?"

"Perhaps we should" muttered Sarutobi, since they could not hold up the entire tournament for one Genin.

"Damnit, where the hell are those two?" Jiraiya thought with frown.

"Did Orochimaru get to them?" Tsunade wondered with a small frown of her own.

"I apologise for this, Raikage-sama, Mizukage-sama, Kazekage-sama, but it seems I have no choice but to disqualify Uchiha Sasuke from the finals and move on with the tournament.

"If I may Hokage-sama" the Kazekage spoke suddenly. "But could you hold on before disqualifying Uchiha Sasuke?"

"With all due respects Kazekage-sama, but those who think lightly of time as a Shinobi have no right to become Chunin, no matter who they are" Tsunade spoke.

"With respect Tsunade-sama, both you and your son narrowly arrived on time and were nearly disqualified" the Kazekage rebuked.

"I will admit to that but, we still arrived in time for the match and we did not hold up the tournament" the female Sannin retorted with a slightly irritated tone.

"I'm afraid I must agree with my former student Kazekage-sama" the Hokage said. "Unless there is a clear explanation that will convince the visiting Shinobi heads, Daimyo's and Feudal Lords here, we cannot delay the match."

"I see" the Kazekage said, "Then I'm pleased to say there is a good reason."

"Oh is there?" the Sandaime asked.

"Including myself, I can say that most of the visiting Shinobi heads, Daimyo's, Feudal Lords, as well as the Mizukage and the Raikage came here to watch not only Senju Naruto fight, but also Uchiha Sasuke. Since both of them are the last heirs to the founders of Konoha and many would be greatly angered over not seeing both of them fight."

"Also" continued the Kazekage, "I can say with the utmost certainty that like myself, both the Mizukage and the Raikage wish to see their most talented Genin fight both boys to see how they would fair."

When the Kazekage said this, both Kages nodded, since technically the Kazekage was correct.

At the same time, both Tsunade and Jiraiya frowned deeply and stared at the leader of Suna as he confirmed what they had already suspected. The other villages were specifically targeting both Sasuke and Naruto.

Hearing this Raidō decided to interject and make his opinion known. "With respect Hokage-sama, there is no guarantee that Uchiha Sasuke will come…even if we delay the match."

Closing his eyes, the Hokage thought everything over, after a moment or two Sarutobi opened his eyes and spoke. "Very well…We'll put the match on hold, and wait for him. Do you have any objections?"

"I do not" responded the Mizukage, as she was interested in seeing Sasuke fight given what she had heard. Also if Haku won her match and Sasuke arrived in time and won his the two of them could face off, which could gain her village some much needed publicity.

"None" answered the Raikage, even though in most cases he would have voted to disqualify Sasuke. But the fact was he needed Sasuke to compete for his plan to humiliate Konoha to work.

"Sensei are you sure about this?" Jiraiya asked with some concern.

"I am" Saruotbi replied before he turned to Raidō and told to tell Genma of what they had decided upon.

Nodding to this, the Jonin quickly Shunshin (Body-flicker) down to the arena to inform Genma.

Once Raidō had left the Sandaime turned to his counterpart from Suna and said "It's rare for you to say so much Kazekage-sama or to go to such lengths, especially for a Genin not from your own village."

"As I said Hokage-sama, I am eager to see my son face against Uchiha Sasuke, for with the exception of Tsunade-sama son Naruto. I can think of no better opponent for my son Gaara than Uchiha Sasuke, as it is the perfect way to show the Daimyo's and the Feudal Lords the quality of our Shinobi."

Regardless of the Kazekage's reason both the Sandaime and his two former students remained suspicious, since they were certain there was more to this than what the Kazekage said.

-In the Finalist Box-

"Damnit, what the hell is taking Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke so long? Sure I know how Kakashi can't be on time if his life depended on it. But you think with Sasuke with him they would be on time? Since he's not the type of person who would miss out on something like this" an annoyed Naruto thought.

"So what happens next, will I get to fight Uchiha Sasuke or not?" Omoi thought as he began to suck on his lollipop "If he doesn't, does that mean the mission fails or do we continue to target Naruto?"

"Fuck! Where the hell is he? He should be here by now!" Karui thought angrily.

"This could complicate things" Samui thought to herself, since if Sasuke was disqualified then they would fail their mission objective.

"What the hell is Konoha playing at? Where is Uchiha Sasuke?" Yugito thought with some irritation. Given the importance Sasuke's participation in the exam depended on their mission to improve their village's status.

"What are we going to do?" Kankuro whispered to his sister, "If he doesn't show our plan could…"

"I know" interrupted Temari, "All can do is wait and hope he comes before he is disqualified."

After saying this, the blonde Kunoichi glanced worriedly over to her brother near her. She then began to wonder if her brother had secretly killed the Uchiha, just like he did with the Oto Genin.

-With the Audience-

"Typical, Kakashi is late for everything" Anko muttered with some annoyance

"Damnit what is Kakashi playing at, he should know better than this" Kushina thought with a frown.

"I hope nothing has happen to Kakashi-senpai and Sasuke" Yamato thought, since he was becoming concerned that Orochimaru may have gotten to his former captain and his student.

"What are Kakashi and Sasuke doing?" Asuma asked out loud, not understanding why they were so late.

"What's happening, where's Sasuke?" Ino asked out loud, not noticing the concerned look on Sakura's face.

"Sasuke-kun…" a worried Sakura thought.

-In the Arena-

After Raidō arrived in the arena, he quickly told Genma what was happening and what the Hokage's decision regarding Sasuke was.

When Raidō finish explaining everything, the Tokubetsu Jōnin just nodded, telling Genma he understood. After which Raidō Shunshin back up to the Kage box.

Once Raidō returned to the Kage box, Genma began to speak to the crowd, "Ladies and Gentlemen, an examinee for the next match has not arrived just yet. Therefore this match will be delayed, and we will continue with the next match first."

Naturally when everyone heard this, most were surprised and confused by the sudden turn of events.

-In the Audience-

"Hey don't look so down Sakura" Ino said, after finally seeing the worried look on the pink hair girls face. "They're holding the match, so he won't be disqualified, so there still time for him to show up."

"Yea…I guess your right" Sakura said with a small weak smile, which showed she was still worried about the young Uchiha.

-In the Finalist Box-

"Looks like you lucked out Sasuke" Naruto thought with a frown.

"Good" Yugito thought, who like the rest of her team looked pleased that Sasuke wasn't disqualified, since they still had a chance at completing their objective.

"Phew, we got lucky" Kankuro thought as he whipped the sweat of his forehead.

At the same time a look of relief appeared on his sister Temari's face, while a pleased looked appeared on Gaara's.

With the Sasuke's and Omoi's match delayed, Genma moved on to the last match, which was between Haku and Samui.

After Genma called them down, the two girls quickly made their way down to the arena, where Haku's used a Mizu-Shunshin (Water Body-flicker) to go down to the arena, while Samui simply jumped down.

"This should be an interesting matchup" Naruto thought, since he knew from past experiences that both girls were quite skilled.

"Hey Naruto" Shikamaru said as he walked over to the blonde. "You know these two girls pretty well, don't you?

"Yea"

"So who do you think will win?"

"Hard to tell" Naruto replied, "Both of them are no pushovers and are pretty strong. In terms of skill, I would think they are about even, although Haku has her Hyoton Bloodline which could give her the edge. But even with that it doesn't mean she will win, as Samui is not someone you should underestimate. Not to mention I haven't seen her fight seriously in a while, so who knows what she can do now since then."

After hearing this Shikamaru just nodded, as he was pleased that he was out of the exam and wouldn't have to fight either girl as both of them would have been too troublesome for him to deal with.

-In the Arena-

Once the two girls had appeared in the arena and were facing one another, Genma began the match.

As soon as Genma shouted "Begin!" Haku made the first move and took out a set of Senbon needles and fired them at Samui. Who in turn, drew her Katana from her back and skilfully deflected them. But as soon as she had dealt with the flying needles, Samui caught a blur at the corner of her eye.

Acting fast, Samui quickly spun around where she narrowly blocked a strike from Haku with her needles. Who had used the Senbon needles as a distraction to move around behind the Kumo Kunouchi and attack her from behind.

"Fast!" thought Samui as she blocked Haku's needles with her Katana. Before pushing the ice user back and attempted the Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri (Cloud-Style Front Beheading) technique in an attempt to cut her in two.

But when Samui swung her Katana at Haku, the Kiri Kunoichi reverted into a split log, revealing that Haku had used a Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique).

Realizing what Haku must have done, Samui quickly spun and deflected several incoming Senbon needles using the Kumo-Ryū Mikazukigiri (Cloud-Style Three Days' Moon Beheading) technique. But after she did this, Haku appeared directly in front on her and delivered a sharp kick to Samui's stomach, causing the blonde girl to double over and drop her Katana.

Following up with her attack, Haku attempted a spinning back kick to the side of Samui's head. But to her surprise Samui recovered faster than she had anticipated and blocked the kick with her right arm and pushed the Kiri Genin away.

Unwilling to let go of her advantage, Haku moved forward and attempted a straight forward punch to Samui's face which the Kumo Kunoichi blocked with her right hand. She then attempted to punch Haku in the stomach with her left fist, but before her fist could hit Haku's stomach, the ice user disappeared in a blur. She then reappeared behind Samui in mid-air and attempted spinning kick to the back of Samui's head.

Unfortunately for Haku, Samui had anticipated her move and ducked under Haku's kick. She then grabbed hold of Haku's leg as it flew above her and then spun the ice user around before throwing her away to the other end of the arena.

When Samui threw her away Haku quickly recovered by preforming a mid-air flip, allowing her to land on her feet. But as soon as she did, she saw Samui racing towards her with her Katana in hand.

Wasting no time, Haku immediately took out a set of Senbon needles and blocked the Kumo Kunouchi's swing.

After Haku blocked Samui's Katana with her Senbon needles, a battle for dominance erupted between the two Kunoichi, each trying to push the other back.

After a minute or so of struggling, Samui eventually gained the upper hand and started to push Haku back, revealing that she was the stronger of the two.

Realizing that she could not win in a battle of strength with Samui, Haku began to preform several one-handed hand seal, much to the surprise of Samui and several other people in the audience.

-In the Audience/Finalist Box/ Kage Box-

"Wait! She can perform seals with just a single hand!" Izumo said in surprise when he saw Haku perform hand seals with her one free hand.

"Damn" Kotetsu said with equal surprise.

"Not bad Ice Princess" an impressed Mai mutter when she saw this.

"I didn't think something like that was possible" Akatsuchi said in disbelief.

"Looks like she more than just a pretty face" Kurotsuchi commented with some measure of respect.

"That Kiri girl is just like Hanzo's Granddaughter" Asuma remarked, where Kurenai and the others nodded in agreement.

"Impressive" the Sandaime commented, even though he had heard from Naruto and Kakashi that Haku had the skill to perform seals with one hand.

Naturally the most of the other Kages were in agreement, although the Raikage frowned slightly knowing that this could pose a problem for Samui.

"Damnit, she even more skilled than we thought" Yugito thought when she saw Haku using one handed hand seals.

"This could be trouble" Omoi thought with a frown.

-In the Arena-

After Haku finish performing her hand seal, she said "Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishō (Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)!" After which a thousand long water needles form around them.

Once the Water needles surrounded them Haku had them fly forward attacking Samui from all angles, while she jumped away from the Kumo Kunoichi, leaving little chance for her to escape.

But when the attack ended and Haku land back on the ground a few feet away from Samui. The Kumo Kunoichi reverted into a wooden long, revealing that Samui had replaced herself at the last second, just as Haku jumped away from her.

As soon as she realized that Samui had escape, the Kiri Kunoichi immediately began to search for her opponent.

When she looked up, she saw several dozen of Kunai flying towards her.

Knowing she couldn't avoid them all in time, Haku quickly formed an ice dome around herself to block the incoming Kunai. But when the Kunai embedded themselves into the ice dome, Haku saw that several of the Kunai had exploding notes tied to them, where they then lit up and exploded, destroying the ice dome.

After the explosion, Samui reappeared a few feet from where the explosion happened. But as the smoke from the explosion dissipated, she was surprised to see that Haku was gone. Before she could do anything, Samui suddenly felt the air around her go cold, the next thing Samui knew she saw an ice mirror appear behind her with an image of Haku. Who then said "Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals) and fired a hail of Senbon needles at Samui back.

Seeing this, Samui tried to avoid the Senbon needles, but they came in too fast for her to avoid them all and was hit in the back by two needles, causing her to fall to the ground in a small heap.

After hitting Samui, Haku then emerged out of the ice mirror, which then melted away, where she then threw several more Senbon needles at Samui, who was still on the ground pulling the needles from her back.

Remarkable though, Samui was able recover quickly from her attack and was able to avoid the Senbon needles by jumping away. She then picked up her Katana again and raced towards Haku at top speed, intending to cut the Kiri Kunoichi in two with a wide horizontal slash.

Seeing Samui coming towards her, the female ice user waited until the last second to avoid Samui's slash and used her superior speed to appear behind Samui and strike at her from behind.

But what Haku didn't know was that Samui had predicted this and used the Kumo-Ryū Uragiri (Cloud-Style Reverse Beheading) technique, where she spun around and swung at the female ice user right when she appeared behind her.

But luckily for Haku, thanks to the several years of training under Zabuza, she had developed excellent reaction speed and was able to avoid the slash by jumping backwards. Although she did receive a large slash on her blue top, exposing her fishnet shirt underneath a little along with her chest. (1)

After Samui's slash, Haku landed back on the ground several feet away from Samui, who was now facing her.

"Impressive, you are quite skilled, your swordsmanship is excellent and your Taijutsu is clearly superior to my own" Haku commented, as she looked at her now cut shit.

"Thank you, you're very skilled as well, your Ninjutsu skill is quite remarkable and your speed is vastly superior to my own" Samui replied. "I have heard rumours of there being a single survivor of the fame Yuki Clan of Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) after the Bloodline purge. I had even heard that you were gift prodigy, and that you were a student of the infamous Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist) Momochi Zabuza, clearly those rumours were true."

"Yes, I was and allow me to show you what else I have learned from Zabuza-sama" Haku replied, where she formed a single hand seal and said "Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique)." After she said this the arena once again became filled with a thick mist, much like when Yugito and Chojuro fought.

-In the Audience/Finalist Box-

"That a girl Haku" Zabuza thought with a smile, when he saw Haku use the Kirigakure no Jutsu. He knew better than anyone how skilled Haku was when fighting in the mist, as he had trained her how to fight effectively in places with limited sight range. Her skill in using Sairento Kiringu no Jutsu (Soundless Murder Technique) was vastly superior to Chojuro's and in some ways rivalled some of Zabuza's former comrades in the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist). Also using Kirigakure no Jutsu and Sairento Kiringu no Jutsu worked well Haku's way of fighting, where she preferred to take down her opponents quickly and efficiently using her high speed and natural stealth.

"Ah man not this again" Kiba muttered, since now they couldn't see the fight.

"Samui, will have trouble now, as Haku is a lot more skilled in fighting in the mist than Chojuro is, thanks to her years under Zabuza" Naruto thought.

"So she using the same tactic as the Kiri Genin I fought" Yugito thought before a small smile appeared. "But if she thinks she will have a better chance of beating Samui with it, than that other Genin had with me. She's sadly mistaken, as Samui is the worst person to fight this way."

-In the Arena-

Seeing the mist beginning to cover the arena, Samui quickly raced towards Haku in the hope of reaching her before she could hide in the mist. Unfortunately though for Samui, Haku kept her distance from the Kumo Kunoichi and soon disappeared within the mist once it fully formed.

After Haku disappeared inside the mist Samui found herself under assault from different directions, as Haku used her high speed to her advantage and circled around Samui firing Senbon needles.

As the battle progressed Samui did her best to block all the incoming needles, but sadly they were coming in so fast and because of the mist limiting her sight she couldn't deflect them all.

After a little while Haku decided to move in for the final blow, where she used her high speed to silently maneuver behind Samui and strike her in back of her neck and disable her. But to Haku's surprise Samui spun around and blocked Haku's strike with her Katana and then pushed the ice user away and attempted to slash Haku with her blade.

With little time to spare, Haku quickly jumped into the mist to hide, while at the same time thinking, "How did she know where I was? She couldn't have predicted where I would strike nor could she have seen or heard me. So how was she able to block my attack?"

Before Haku could think any further on the matter, the female ice user suddenly heard the sound of something flying through the air from her right.

Falling to her knees, Haku narrowly avoided several shuriken that whooshed past her head.

Once she got back on to her feet, she heard the sound of something flying towards her in the opposition direction of where the Shuriken came from. Not wasting a moment, Haku jumped backwards to avoid the flying projectiles, which turned out to be Kunai, after she saw them fly past her. But as soon as she avoided them, she found herself under attack again by Samui, who appeared out of the mist in front of her and attempted a vertical slash down on Haku head.

With only a moment to spare Haku threw the Senbon needles she had in hand at the blonde Kunoichi, forcing Samui to use her Katana to deflect the incoming needles. This then gave Haku enough time to disappear into the mist again. But to the ice user's surprise, Samui followed after, no matter how well she hid in the mist, Samui kept finding her.

After blocking another of Samui sword slashes with her Senbon needles, Haku pushed Samui back, where two Kunoichi once again faced one another.

"It seems I have underestimated you Samui-san, I did not know you were a sensor–type Shinobi" Haku said, since it was the only possibly explanation as to how Samui kept finding her. (2)

"A true Shinobi should only reveal their true abilities when they have to" Samui answered as she readied her sword again.

"Indeed" Haku replied, where she readied her Senbon needles while also performing a single one handed hand seal that deactivated the mist. Since with Samui now revealed as a sensor type Shinobi there was no point in having the mist since she could find Haku by sensing for her Chakra.

As the mist slowly faded, the two Kunoichi continue to stare at one another, each waiting to see who would make the first move. After a little while, once the mist had fully cleared, Haku decided she would make the first move.

Putting her Senbon needles away, Haku took out two medium size scrolls and opened them up and laid them on the ground.

Unsure as to what Haku was up to, Samui readied herself for an attack.

Once the scrolls where open and on the ground, Haku formed two simple hand seals and tap the centre of each scroll with her foot. After which a large amount of water erupted from the scrolls and flooded the surrounding ground.

"Damnit!" thought Samui, as she quickly realized what Haku was planning but before she could act, she suddenly felt a familiar cold chill in the air around her. After which Haku formed an unfamiliar hand seal and said "Makyō Hyōshō!" where the water began to turn into ice and in an instant, multiple mirrors of ice were created around the two Kunoichi. Before Samui knew what happen, she was trapped in a dome of twenty-one floating mirrors made out of ice.

-In the Audience -

"So Haku has been forced to use the Makyō Hyōshō" Zabuza thought with a frown when he saw Haku trump card. "Something must have happened in the mist between her and that Kumo girl to force Haku to use her best technique."

"That bitch! She stole my idea" annoyed Mai thought, as she had used scrolls to create a small field of water when she fought Naruto in the Preliminaries.

"That technique!" said Sakura, recognising the ice user's technique.

"You know that technique Sakura?" Ino asked as she turned to her friend.

"Yes, I saw her use this technique when we fought her and Zabuza at Nami no Kuni (Wave Country). She used it to defeat, Sai and Sasuke-kun and nearly defeated Naruto with it as well."

When Ino and the others heard this they were of course surprise, especially her former classmates. Who were surprised to hear of a technique that defeated Sasuke and nearly defeated Naruto.

"So that's the technique, Kakashi and Naruto were talking about" Kushina thought as she looked down at the ice dome. This was of course the first time Kushina and Yamato were seeing Haku's Makyō Hyōshō since Naruto had just defeated the ice user when they arrived at the bridge. But they had heard about it later on, from Naruto and Kakashi and from what they heard it was a dangerous technique to go up against.

-In The Kage Box-

"A most unique technique" the Sandaime commented when he saw Haku's Makyō Hyōshō. He of course knew about the technique from Kakashi and the others report after the mission in Nami no Kuni. In the report Kakashi and Sakura, had mention the technique, while Naruto, Sasuke and Sai had explained how it worked in their reports.

"Indeed" the Kazekage with a tone of intrigue, "Your Shinobi Haku has a great deal of talent Mizukage-sama."

"She does indeed Kazekage-sama" Mei replied with a smile, "I dare say she has this match won, as with the exception of one, no-one has ever escaped Haku's Makyō Hyōshō."

"I would not be so quick to claim victory Mizukage-same" the Raikage said, as he joined the conversation, "As the fight is far from over and Samui has yet to show her true skill."

This remark from the Raikage of course got the other Kages interest. Who were now curious to see what the Raikage was talking about and how exactly would Samui escape Haku's Makyō Hyōshō.

-The Finalist Box-

"Damn, this doesn't look good for Samui" muttered Naruto when he saw Haku's Makyō Hyōshō.

"You know this technique?" Yugito asked, turning to her fellow blonde.

"Yea, back when I first met Haku in Nami no Kuni she used this technique to fight Sai, Sasuke and me and nearly defeated us with it. Once Haku is in one of the mirrors it's possible for her to move between the mirrors at the speed of light. It's nearly impossible to follow her attacks as every mirror shows her reflection, one could say it's impossible to see all of Haku's attacks, since they come in too fast to see. Even if you try to attack the real Haku, she will have already moved to another mirror when you make your move. Without eyes like the Sharingan or maybe the Byakugan, it's impossible to keep track of her."

When Naruto finished, a look of concern for Samui was shared between the Kumo Genin, since from what Naruto told them. The technique sounded extremely deadly for anyone to go against.

"But you were able to defeat her when she used it, so there is a weakness to it" Omoi stated.

"Yea the technique has some weakness, one being that it focuses mainly on what happens inside the dome and is vulnerable to outside attack. So it would ideal if the person inside the dome had someone outside the dome to help, where they could make a coordinated attack. Another weakness is that it takes up a lot of Chakra to use and maintain, hence the longer the battles last, the weaker the user becomes. Haku although knows this better than anyone, which is why she will try and finish the person off as quickly as possible. That why the best way to beat this technique when you are alone and inside the dome, is to get outside the dome as quickly as possible. But that is easier said than done, as Haku will not let anyone out and the dome and the ice mirrors are not easily broken and are highly resistant to Fire techniques."

"How were you able to escape?" Karui asked.

"I created a large number of clones to create a distraction and used my Super human strength to break the mirrors, which forced Haku out and allowed me defeat her. But I only succeeded because I caught her off guard with my inhuman strength, so unless Samui has something up her sleeve her chances don't look too good."

When Naruto said this the three Kumo Genin gave each other a look, which told Naruto that they knew something he didn't, when he asked, they simply said he would see soon enough.

-In the Arena-

Once the ice mirror dome was fully formed, Haku backed into one of the mirrors and merged with it. After which an image of Haku appeared on each of the mirrors around the Kumo Kunoichi.

"Cool" Samui said both because of the chill in the air and because she was impressed with what Haku did.

"Now I will show you my true speed" Haku said, where she threw a Senbon needle, with such speed that Samui didn't know what happen until the needle flew past her and cut her left cheek. After which Haku unleashed a massive barrage of needles from multipliable directions, Samui did her best to try and deflect the Senbon needles with her Katana. But they came in too fast for her to block them all. It got so bad that Samui was cover in needles and cuts and was forced to drop her Katana and raise her arms to cover her face.

"This isn't good, I can't defend myself against her attacks, there's too many of them and they're coming into fast for me to block them" Samui thought.

Eventually after minute or so, Haku halted her assault and said "Please give up, I do not wish to hurt you. If you forfeit the match now I will not harm you any further."

"I'm afraid, I cannot do that" replied Samui as she slowly stood up. "If I surrender I would shame my village and my team-mates…and that would not be cool."

"I see" said Haku in a disappointed tone. "Then I am sorry to say you will lose, with the exception of one person, no-one has ever escaped my Makyō Hyōshō and there is no technique that can defeat it."

At this remark, Samui suddenly smirked, which was very unusual for her, since Samui rarely ever smirked, let alone smiled.

"Heh, I must say you Kiri Shinobi are certainly an arrogant people".

"Excuse me?" Haku asked in confusion, not fully understanding what Samui said.

"You say that there is no technique that can defeat this technique yours?"

"Yes"

"Well I am about to show you how wrong you are and how you shouldn't underestimated the power of the Shinobi of Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud)" the blonde Kumo Kunoichi replied.

-Enter Naruto OST 2 - Raikiri (Thunder Break)-

After saying this Samui then began to do a series of high speed hand seals where once she finished said yelled out "Ranton: Reizā Sākasu (Storm Release: Encouraging Crushing Chain Tormenting Principle)!" (3)

As soon as she yelled this out, bright blue laser beams shot out of her hands and broke into several more laser beams and flew straight for all of Haku's ice mirrors.

"Impossible" Haku thought in disbelief when she saw the beams of lights before they hit her mirrors and shattered them instantly.

As the mirrors shattered, Haku suddenly emerged from one of the larger pieces above Samui and attempted to strike her from above. But before Haku could reach Samui, the laser beams that Samui fired suddenly turned around and flew straight for her.

Seeing this Haku was forced to halt her attack and move out of the lasers beams path, which were coming in from multiple directions and collided together in a large explosion when she moved away.

-In the Audience -

"That's the way Samui!" Killer Bee cheered from the crowed, "She ain't down or out of the count… Her power is all a-flash, with some still left in her stash."

"Shit! She's a Bloodline holder too!" Zabuza said in shock, when he saw Samui use the Reizā Sākasu to break Haku's Makyō Hyōshō.

"What do you mean Zabuza-sensei?" Saito asked as he turned to his sensei.

"In Kumo there is a group of Shinobi with a unique bloodline called Ranton (Storm Release). Like Haku's Hyoton (Ice Release) it involves combining two nature elements with one another to form a new element. The Ranton Bloodline involves the user combining Water and Lightning to create beams of energy that move at a phenomenal speed and can destroy almost anything that gets in their path, it's a fearsome power to go up against."

"How do you know so much about it Sensei?" Saito asked.

"Before I first left Kiri, I once fought a Shinobi from Kumogakure, who possessed the Ranton Bloodline. He was known as Darui no Kuroi Kaminari (Darui of the Black Lightning)." Zabuza replied, remembering the Kumo Shinobi who had been powerful adversary when Zabuza fought him.

"So she's a Ranton user" Kushina muttered with a hint of surprise in her voice, "I have to admit I didn't expect her to be this powerful."

"Agreed" Yamato acknowledge.

"Looks like this battle has turned into a battle of Bloodlines, with Kumo's Ranton Bloodline facing off with Kiri's Hyoton Bloodline" Asuma remarked.

"Hmph! Looks like you won't have is so easy after all Ice Princess" Mai muttered after seeing Samui destroy Haku's Makyō Hyōshō. "Guess there's more to Cow-tits than just her big breasts."

-In The Kage Box-

In the Kages Box the other Kages (with the exception of the Raikage and his guards) were all reeling from the shock of Samui being a Ranton user, as none of them had expected the girl to be Bloodline Holder.

The Mizukage was of course the most shocked out of all the Kages, as she never expected Samui to actually destroy Haku's Makyō Hyōshō.

"As I said Mizukage-sama," a smirking Raikage spoke, gaining everyone's attention. "Samui is much more powerful than she appears."

Naturally the female Kage was slightly irked by what the Raikage said, especially when he was smirking. But to her credit she didn't let it show and said "She is indeed an impressive Shinobi, but I would not count Haku-chan out just yet, as she is a highly resourcefully Shinobi as well."

"Very impressive" thought a disguised Orochimaru, as he was intrigued with the two girl's level of skill and their Bloodlines. So much so that considered having his agents capture both girls when the invasion began. If captured they would make useful subordinates if he could successfully turn them or useful research material for his experiments. At the very least they could be usefully breeders for future vessels for him at a later time.

- In The Finalist Box-

"No way, Samui has a Bloodline!" Naruto said in surprise as he recognised the technique Samui was using.

"Wait you didn't know about this?" Shikamaru asked who was standing next to Naruto on his right side.

"I had no clue, she never used it when we first met and she never said anything about having one."

"That's because she hadn't learned how to use her Bloodline yet when we met you" Omoi replied, who was standing next to Naruto on his left side.

"Huh, guess I wasn't the only one who was keeping a few secrets" Naruto thought before his attention turned to Shikamaru who was speaking to him.

"So what exactly is this Bloodline of hers?"

"It's called Ranton and from what I heard it's a pretty powerful one, where it allows the user to fire powerful blasts of energy, only a select few people in Kumo have it."

"This is just too troublesome" mutter Shikamaru, "Both of them would such a pain to deal with, I am so glad I quite."

Naruto just smirked at this remark, although he did agree with what Shikamaru meant. Both girls were very strong Kunoichi and they would be difficult opponents to fight."

-In the Arena-

After Haku avoided Samui's attack, the female Ice user emerged out of the smoke caused by the explosion when the laser beams collided with one another. But she was soon followed by several more energy beams, which continued to pursue her no matter where she went.

Seeing that the energy beams were converging on from several different directions, Haku realized she could no longer avoid the beams and stop running and created an ice dome around herself.

As soon as the dome went up, the beams hit the barrier and exploded causing another large explosion.

-End Naruto OST 2 - Raikiri (Thunder Break)-

After the explosion much of the arena was filled with a thin lair of smoke, although was still clear enough to see through.

As Samui walked towards the point of the explosion, she could make out an unconscious Haku lying on the ground in the centre of a small crater caused by the explosion, which also damaged the arena wall behind Haku. But before Samui could walk any further, she suddenly took out a set of Shuriken and threw them at several Senbon needles that were flying towards her from her right and hit them with pinpoint precision. She then quickly spun around to her left and blocked another attack from an assailant with her Katana, which she had picked up earlier.

After the failed sneak attack, the assailant jumped back and landed several meters opposite Samui, revealing it to be Haku.

"I assume that you sense my attack and realized that the me you saw was a clone" Haku said as she stared at her opponent and glanced over at her clone, which broke and shattered into ice, revealing it to be a Koori Bunshin (Ice Clone). (A)

"Correct, I kept my senses alert for you, even when I saw your clone."

"I see I had hoped that my clone would fool you long enough to catch you off guard" Haku said. "You're even more skilled than I ever expected, I never suspected that you too possessed a Bloodline like myself."

"Thank you, you're equally impressive" Samui replied, "I did not think you would actually evade my attack, yet you did. I'm assuming that you used the dome to protect yourself long enough for you to create the clone to trick me and then used your Makyō Hyōshō technique to escape my attack at the last possible second."

"Correct" Haku answered, as she was impressed with Samui's deductive skills, as in just a few moments she had figured out how the ice user escaped her attack.

For the next few minutes the two Kunochi stared at once another, both looked worn from their long battle.

Haku was fairly scorched up from narrowly avoiding Samui's Reizā Sākasu twice, her clothes were also torn up a bit and she had several small cuts on her arms and legs.

Samui on the other hand was slightly worse off, where her clothes were cut up pretty badly from Haku's needle barrage and were covered in dried blood dirt. She even had a few needles still stuck in her arms and legs, yet despite her appearance she was still ready to continue the battle.

-With the Audience-

"That girl is good I'll give her that, I didn't think anyone, other than the Senju and Uchiha kids could push Haku like this" Zabuza thought.

"Man those two are intense" Kiba commented, clearly impressed with the two Kunouchi.

"They're very strong" Hinata said, who could not help but feel slightly inferior when compared to Haku or Samui.

She was of course not the only one as Sakura and Ino were also feeling the same way as they watched the battle and thought back to their own matches during the preliminaries. Naturally it was hardest on Ino, as she had been Samui's opponent during the preliminaries and was taken out within seconds by the older Kunoichi, with little effort.

"Both of them are very skilled" Kurenai remarked, as like most people she was highly impressed with the two foreign Kunoichi.

"Yea, Kiri and Kumo are taking this year's exam serious by sending these two to the exam" Asuma replied.

"Alright, now this is more like it!" cheered Anko, as she was enjoying the match between Haku and Samui.

"Who do you think will win?" Shizune asked, as she turned to Kushina and Yamato, who were sitting next to her.

"I'm afraid it's very hard to tell, both girls seemed to be quite skilled" Yamato said before turning to his former ANBU captain. "What do you think Kushina-senpai."

"Too close to tell, that Haku girl, as gotten a lot stronger since Nami no Kuni and as much as I hate to admit it. That Kumo girl is just as good, more than likely it will come down to who can last the longest or who makes the first mistake."