27 Preliminaries Part 2
Neji Hyuuga
vs
Hinata Hyuuga
Suki could say that of all of the fights that she could remember, this took the place as the second most brutal fight.
"I never thought I'd be facing you, Hinata-sama." Neji spoke, his voice somewhat cold, somewhat polite.
Polite as in, it has been taught to you for your whole life and now you don't really see the difference between normal talk and polite.
"Neji-oniisan." Hinata spoke back.
"They're siblings?" Naruto asked.
Despite all the time that they have hung out with Lee, they actually hadn't met his team. Which makes sense since Lee had only been on his team for a year.
"Cousins." Suki told him. "From the little bit I hear about the Hyuuga clan, it is split into two categories: The Main Branch and the Side Branch. Hinata falls within the Main Branch while Neji falls within the Side Branch. Typically, the stronger Hyuugas fall under the Main Branch. Though, that is no fault of the Side Branch. There are techniques that are only reserved for the Main Branch members." Suki explained.
"So Hinata should win, right?" Naruto asked.
Suki didn't say anything for a moment, giving Naruto his answer. "Neji is also known as a prodigy the Hyuuga Clan haven't seen in a bit of time. Typically the once in a generation for their clan."
"So this won't be as simple as their Main Branch vs Side Branch." Sasuke commented.
"What are her chances?" Kiba, who had walked up to them, asked.
The three of them, alongside a few others including Jonin nearby, were looking at her, waiting for her input.
She thought a bit, seeing if there could have been anything that could have changed due to her being here, before coming to the same conclusion.
"Based on the fact that Neji is a year older, is a prodigy, alongside one other crucial piece of information..." She held off for a moment. "Hinata has no chance of winning this fight."
"What?! Not even a small chance?" Kiba exclaimed/asked.
Suki shook her head. "The most crucial piece of information I didn't mention is Hinata's personality. She will not want to harm Neji who she views close to a brother. Neji, however, does not hold the same opinion. He isn't afraid to hurt her or worse."
With her piece said, she turned all of her focus back to the match, with those listening nearby doing the same.
"Are the two of you ready?" Hayate asked the two Hyuugas. He received two responses of yes. "Begin!"
"Before we begin," Neji began. "Save the both of us the trouble and surrender. You are too kind to fight me while I will not hold restraint."
"I refuse. I won't let myself be the old, timid version that you remember me as." She told, determination blazing in her pupil-less, white eyes. "I have changed."
Neji scoffed. "It is impossible for someone to change. Just as you were fated to be born to the Main Branch, I was fated to be born to the Side Branch. You were fated to be the kind, shy little girl I see before me. I was fated to be looked down upon for my blood." He continued listing things. "There is no chance for a person to change when they are connected to so many unchangeable things. That, is what fate has decreed."
Suki couldn't hold in her scoff, getting Sasuke and Naruto's attention.
"He really is pathetic." She scowled. "He really reminds me of an older Inari if we didn't show up."
"That's what has been bugging me." Sasuke muttered.
"Byakugan!" Neji declared, causing the veins near his eyes to become prominent.
"Byakugan!" Hinata right behind him.
Suki activated her three tomoe Sharingan and began to watch.
'What better time to study the taijutsu style that rivals Lee's and my own style-the Gentle Fist.'
The two charged each other before Neji and Hinata were blocking and deflecting each others attacks until Hinata managed to 'poke' Neji in the side, making him skid back about a foot.
"Not hard enough." Naruto muttered.
"Quite the opposite." Gai, who suddenly appeared behind them, told. "The Gentle Fist can be called the opposite of the style Lee-san, Suki-chan, and I practice. While ours focus on using strength to break bones in strong hits, the Gentle Fists work by having the user [Hyuuga] 'inject' the target with their own chakra. Their chakra can disrupt the target's chakra in places that can damage their internal organs. If one is a master at the style, one could easily blow apart a target's heart just by tapping their chest." Gai explained. "That is what makes the Gentle Fists 'Gentle.' It doesn't require a strong attack to be successful."
'Theoretically, anyone can use the Gentle Fist. However, its true potential comes out when combined with the Byakugan.' Suki theorized.
Hinata struck Neji in the chest, only for her to throw up a bit of blood.
Neji had placed a hand on her left chest and two fingers into the inner part of her arm near her shoulder.
He jabbed into her arm a few more times before pulling back her clothing on her arm, revealing several markings from his hits.
"Chakra openings." Suki muttered.
Neji threw her back before telling her that he was honestly more disappointed than he thought he be against fighting her.
Hinata didn't give up though.
Something wouldn't let her give up.
They continued 'fighting,' if you could call it that. Neji kept landing more and more hits, each getting progressively more harmful.
He finally landed a strong hit on her chest once more, causing her to fly backward and land on her back.
She slowly got back up, blood dripping down from her mouth, looking like she should have fainted long ago.
Suki closed her eyes, turning her eyes back to normal. "It's over."
"This match is over!" Hayate started just as Neji charged forward.
Three figures appeared.
Gai had his arm locked around Neji's neck, Kurenai-Team 8's Jonin-sensei- grabbing onto her legs while crouching with a leg blocking his right leg while grabbing his left, Kakashi holding Neji's outstretched hand, while Hayate had his fingers pushed against Neji's forehead/headband.
"More favors for the Main Branch." Neji muttered, scathingly.
"No," Suki called out, catching his attention and seeing her staring at him. "You broke one of the rules. Once the match is called, both combatants stop. They don't care about your clan business, because in here, everyone is a Genin. Doesn't matter if your the children of a Kage or a peasant."
Neji didn't seem happy about that before being released and heading back to the top floor.
--------------------
Suki could count the number of people she hated on one hand. Yes, she disliked quite a few people, but hated? No, that list was smaller.
However, Neji Hyuuga falls at number 5. Her reason for such a label? He was everything she hated.
He preaches of how fate demands things be a certain way. That takes away the ability to say that they did something themselves. 'I finally mastered this technique I worked 5 years on!' "Fate said that it was time for you to finish it." Or something along those lines.
Alongside that, he basically says one can't improve themselves. He's a hypocrite. He's from the Branch family that is always told 'that they were weaker than the Main family.' Then why does he go through the effort of trying to become stronger than the Main family?
And finally, he's a prick.
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The screen spun before landing on two names.
Temari of the Sand
vs
Tenten Higurashi
--------------------------
"Go Tenten!" Lee exclaimed.
Suki had activated her Sharingan once more.
The match...was incredibly one-sided.
As hard as Tenten tried, she couldn't hit Temari. Tenten specialized in her own unique fighting style of using seals and weapons to attack.
However, Temari was from Sunagakure, which are known for their wind style users.
Temari also carried around a large fan that enhanced her wind chakra attacks and were able to easily swat aside each and every weapon Tenten threw at her until she managed a hit before finishing the attack with Tenten either unconscious or almost.
"The winner is Temari of the Sand!" Hayate declared.
Tenten was quickly taken to the infirmary.
-----------------------
Suki glanced at Lee.
"Lee." She spoke getting his attention. "If you fight that sand boy, do not hold back."
"Hold back? Are you underestimating me?"
She shook her head. "Not at all. However, he is one that is worth your time to go all out against. That is," Her tone went deadly. "If you want to live against him."
"Rock Lee and Gaara of the Sand, will you come down here?" Hayate declared.
------------------------------------
Suki was watching with such intent, it actually began to unnerve Sasuke and Naruto.
"Suki?" Sasuke asked.
Her eyes narrowed as they could see her fists tighten.
Sasuke and Naruto both knew what that meant.
Something was about to happen that Suki was going to hate.
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"Tomon [5] Release!" Lee yelled out as he grew faster and faster, quickly breaking through Gaara's Armor of Sand.
Gaara's Armor of Sand is him controlling sand to create a thick and dense armor all around him. The downside is that it constantly saps at his chakra and can be bypass through strength and speed.
Which is what is happening at the moment.
Lee's skin was red, his hair pointing upwards, and his eyes had turned pure white due to the chakra blocking his eyes.
He slammed his fist into Gaara's chest, sending him slamming into the ground. Lee shot his arm forward, causing his bandages to shot forward and wrap around his waist.
"Extreme Lotus!" Lee declared before Gaara and Lee began moving at speeds that Suki could only see due to having her Sharingan activating sometime during the match.
They were moving too fast for any other Genin and some Chunin to see.
"HAA!" Lee exclaimed, slamming a foot onto him, just as Gaara's sand container shifted into sand, cushioning his fall as Lee fell further away.
Lee breathed in deeply as all of his muscles burned, either stretched to their limits or past them and snapped.
Only for sand to wrap around his left arm and leg.
"AHHH!"
-------------------------
"LEE!" Sasuke and Naruto yelled out.
"I'm shocked that Suki's not yelling out as well." Choji mumbled in shock.
"Choji!" Shikamaru barked, surprising Ino and Choji. "I'd suggest you look before you speak."
Choji and Ino both looked at Suki before gulping.
While no one besides Naruto and Sasuke could have seen that her Mangekyou were now activated, they all noticed the steel railing that she was gripping.
As the match was called, Suki slowly calmed her chakra before releasing the steel railing.
Causing it to finally show just how close it was to snapping off.
The part she held onto was only still connected to the rest of the railings by what seemed about the thickness of hair. In fact, it seemed to be slightly swaying.
"The winner is Gaara of the Desert!" Hayate declared.
After Lee was taken to the infirmary, the screen scrolled once more before stopping.
--------------------------
Choji Akamichi
vs
Dosu Kinuta
-------------------------
"Are you ready?" Hayate asked before receiving his answers. "Begin!"
"Human Expansion Jutsu!" Choji then seemed to...well...expand from his chest, becoming about 2-3 times larger before spinning his body like a wheel.
He charged Dosu who dodged out of the way, causing him to crash into the wall.
Dosu finished him off by slamming his hand into Choji and releasing sound through him.
'It still affected him due to how much our bodies are made of water, which is a great conductor for sound.' Suki determined.
"The winner is Dosu Kinuta!" Hayate declared. "Will our final combatants make their way down?"
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Suki walked down the stairs before facing her opponent.
"Are you ready?" He received a yes from both. "Begin!"
"Do you happen to remember what I told your teammate last time we met?" Suki asked.
"I don't really care. All I care about is making you pay for this!" Her opponent gestured towards his missing eye and a missing hand.
"I suggest you give up." She warned him.
His response...
He shot his arm up at her. "Die!"
"Release: Level 1." She spoke.
Since she had reapplied her Resistance seal, she can release either all of the levels of the seal or a certain amount of levels.
She quickly got out of the way before she grabbed a handful of smoke bombs before throwing them.
Soon, no one could see either of the opponents.
"What? You think just because I can't see you that I can't hit you?!" Zaku yelled out.
He then suddenly heard things flying through the air before dodging a kunai. More and more came before he shot his hand at the ground, causing the cloud to disperse, revealing a large amount of kunai stuck in the ground.
"Goodbye." Suki told before finishing signs. "Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
A small but thick wall appeared in front of her.
Zaku about charged if he didn't hear a sizzle. He looked and saw multiple seals that looked eerily similar to what Sasuke used in his match.
His eyes widened as he tried to shoot air at them before all 27 tags poofed and revealed several kunai, shuriken, senbon, and ninja wire.
"I-" Zaku started before 27 explosions went off.
By the time everything settled, there were kunai, shuriken, and senbon embedded into the walls and ground of the arena.
There were quite a few that were even embedded into the rock wall Suki made before that went back into the ground, causing any that were in it to pop out.
From behind the wall, Suki simply stood there with a relaxed look before everyone could finally see Zaku.
No chance.
There wasn't a 1 in a million chance that he could still be alive, especially with the few instruments that had stabbed or sliced through the man's lungs, heart, throat, and head.
"The winner of the final match is Suki Uchiha!" He declared.
Suki then made three clones, surprising a few of the Jonin.
"Don't mind these three. They'll be going around and picking up any weapons that are around." Suki explained.
Not even five minutes later did all but one clone disappear before handing the original Suki a seal, which contained all of the weapons before disappearing itself.
"With this!" Hayate started. "The preliminaries for the third test are completed!"
"Will all the winners come on down to the arena once more?"
About 5 minutes later, everyone was standing down there.
The Sand Trio were near each other, then Dosu, Neji, Shikamaru, Ino, Sasuke, Naruto, and Suki.
"Congratulations to all of you that have passed." The Sandaime began. "As I explained earlier, you will be representing your country during the Third Chunin Exam. We want all of you to represent them to the best of your abilities. Which is why the Chunin Exam will resume in one month time." He then gestured to Anko. "Anko-san will now come around with slips of paper that will determine who you will fight."
Anko walked from left to right before ending at Suki, giving her the number 10.
"From left to right, please state your numbers." Ibiki asked.
"7." "3." "9." Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara announced in order.
"5." Dosu called off.
"1." Naruto.
"6." Sasuke.
"4." Ino.
"8." Shikamaru.
"2." Neji.
"10." Suki.
Ibiki nodded before quickly making a tourney of how the fights would go.
"Alright, here is how you will be fighting in the third part of the exam!" Sandaime announced.
--------------------------------
Match 1: [Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuuga]
Match 2: [Kankuro of the Desert vs Ino Yamanaka]
Match 3: [Dosu Kinuta vs Sasuke Uchiha]
Match 4: [Temari of the Desert vs Shikamaru Nara}
Match 5: [Gaara of the Desert vs Suki Uchiha]
Match 6: [Match 4 Winner vs Match 5 Winner]
Match 7: Semi-Finals [Match 1 Winner vs Match 2 Winner]
Match 8: Semi-Finals [Match 3 Winner vs Match 6 Winner]
Finals: [Match 7 Winner vs Match 8 Winner]
*Visual*
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"With that, you all are free to start strategizing about how you plan to spend the month preparing for the tournament." Sandaime told.
With that, everyone started going their own way.
Suki had quickly made her way to her usual training grounds before thinking on what she planned on doing for the next month.
'I can't really train with Gai or Lee, Kakashi may train Sasuke still since I already know the Chidori.' She thought.
She then made 14 Shadow Clones.
"As you already know, I've already thought of a training program. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, you clones will be improving our Resistance Seals. Every Tuesday and Thursday, you'll be learning new seals until you can do it without needing to think. Finally, every Friday and Sunday, you'll be working on completing Project Storage." Suki listed off.
The clones nodded before going to work and since it was Wednesday, they were going to try and improve their Resistance Seal.
Suki sighed before placing a hand on her left arm.
"Resistance Seal: Activate." She told before it activated and she felt the familiar pressure on her body.
She then began running.
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End of the Preliminaries!
Next Chapter: The Month Training "Montage"
Just a small reminder regarding the Eight Gates, Suki can use up to the 4th Gate at this moment.
