With her eyes shut, she needed to constantly disperse chakra to sense her surroundings, resulting in rapid chakra depletion. But that didn't stop her from feeling a sense of excitement rise from the bottom of her heart.
Someone who uses such dirty strategies during battles, if she can get her hands on Fu...
"You're staying to fight?" Fu floated down and stared at Hinata
"Naturally" Hinata replied
"Even if you can't see?" Fu asked
Hinata didn't respond this time, she needed to act fast now that her chakra is being rapidly depleted. On each hand, she formed a sphere of rotation, and threw them at Fu decisively.
Fu seemed to have anticipated that, and flew to the side and avoided them both. But as they flew past her, they expanded rapidly, disrupting the air flow around her greatly. It may not have made contact, but it threw Fu off balance for a moment, which was enough for Hinata to leap against a tree and lunged towards Fu who was trying to stabilise herself.
Fu quickly formed a hand seal, but Hinata had already appeared before her, with her palms striking towards her.
'Fast!' Fu's pupils shrunk, not expecting Hinata to be this fast, and wondered how she can locate her so precisely.
With no time, she could only raise her arms and block the attack. Hinata's palm came crashing down on her, and she felt foreign chakra invade her body upon contact, throwing her further off balance.
Hinata's palms were rapid, and although she didn't stay in the air for long, it was enough time to knock Fu down, and pull her to the ground.
*Bang*
Grabbing Fu's ankle as she fell, Hinata pulled Fu with her, and slammed her to the ground. A smile slowly crept onto her face.
"Urgh, wow, that hurts, and you're like, crazy strong" Fu jumped up from the ground and leapt backwards before Hinata could follow up on what she just did.
Hinata's strength made her amazed, and didn't discourage her in anyway. If anything, she found Hinata to be very admirable.
"Take this" She formed a hand sign, and shot a white bundle towards Hinata.
Hinata's brows furrowed, she felt that something was flying towards her, but she didn't know what. She quickly decided to avoid the object, but amidst this, she remembered what happened to Shino's clone.
Her heart went cold as she instinctively activated rotation, covering herself from the projectile. When it expanded into the net, Hinata knew she was right, and proceeded to tear through it with rotation.
"That move was so cool! Can you teach me?" Fu exclaimed
Hinata's rotation stopped, and she quickly condensed more rotational spheres on each hand.
"That again? Nope, nope, not happening" Fu flew up in an instant, and stared at Hinata warily.
That attack made Fu extremely cautious around Hinata, as the powerful rotation force seems to draw her in if it's nearby, which could be devastating if she's caught in the center.
"Hah, what to do against her, she has such a troublesome jutsu, and she can somehow still find me despite having her eyes closed" Fu flew high above the trees so Hinata couldn't reach her, holding her arms crossed as she sighed.
Amidst her thought, she felt something was amiss, and looked down towards Hinata, and...she ran!
Hinata turned around and darted in a different direction!
"Ah, damn!" Fu panicked a little, not expecting Hinata to run, and quickly put on chase
In tow with the light orbs following behind her, Fu quickly sped up and dove down towards Hinata, preparing to strike her head on to stop her retreat.
As she got closer, her hand was slowly covered in a dense blue chakra that seemed to form claws.
*Whoosh*
She appeared right behind Hinata, her gaze became sharper, and an uneasy feeling suddenly rose in her heart.
'Danger!' Her heart beated faster, her instincts told her that something was wrong.
[Get back]
With Chomei's warning, it confirmed her suspicion, so instead of striking Hinata, she suddenly halted, and flew backwards whilst condensing the blue chakra around her whole body.
*Bang*
Right when she backed off, two white flashes zoomed down, landing where she initially was, destroying the ground.
"Tch, we missed" Kiba and Akamaru appeared in the small crater, clicking his tongue that they missed.
Fu, who flew back was honestly surprised
"You can see where I am?" Fu was a little confused as to how they can keep finding her despite having their eyes shut.
She took a closer look at Kiba, and like Hinata, he also had his eyes closed.
Kiba grinned
"Heh, my nose is sharper than all my other senses combined, even with my eyes shut, you cannot hide from me" He rubbed his nose and said proudly
Fu suddenly hugged herself and shuddered
"Urgh, that's creepy" She muttered
"..." The excitement in Kiba's face suddenly vanished completely when she said that....
"Creepy...." He turned around and slowly bumpe dhis head into a tree
"Ah, I said that instinctively, I'm so-" Fu waved her hands and said, realising that she did more damage than sheexpected with what she just said
But as she was about to apologise, she remembered something else...something Naruto had told her...
"Right, emotional damage is also damage, no? I'll apologise later, for now, I gotta win!"Fu was suddenly grinning from ear to ear as she placed her hands on her hips
"Yep, creepy" She spoke towards Kiba again
"...."
Slowly, his eyes became slightly hazy as he felt his eyes moisten up...
Hinata was stunned, he went into a slump just like that!?
*Whoosh*
*Bzz*
Insects rose from behind Fu, buzzing as they began swarming towardsher whilst she was throwing more insults at Kiba.
"Huh?" Fu turned around, and was quickly engulfed by the insects.
*Bzz*
Her wings began beating even faster
"Ah, no, not good, not good!" Fu began spinning to thrash the insects off herself as she flew around in the sky, trying to use her speed to shake them off.
As she was distracted with them, Shino appeared behind Hinata
"Now" He said
The two rotational forces in Hinata's palm never dissipated from since she ran, she focused even more, and threw it towards Fu, who had slowed down significantly due to the insects.
"Disperse" Shino muttered
The insects swarming Fu all paused, then flew off in all directions in an instant when the two orbs reached her.
"Ah...crap" Fu watched as it approached her, appearing right in her face before expanding rapidly.
It rapidly spun Fu, who was caught in between.
*Bang*
The collision between the two didn't bring much harm to Fu, who was protected by Chomei's chakra, but it did make her very, very, dizzy.
Under intense stress from the collision, the two forces exploded on her, sending her flying off in the opposite direction.
"Wheeeeee~" Fu, though dizzy, couldn't help but laugh as she was thrown off, enjoying the moment
Shino grabbed Hinata's hand and placed something in her hands.
Sunglasses
"Wear it, then we run, we can't waste time on someone like her, it's better to find other teams to take their scrolls" Shino said
"Right" Hinata was a little reluctant, she wanted to keepfighting, but with how little damage the attack just now dealt, she realised that even if they win, it will come at a cost.
She wore the sunglasses that eased up the problem of the light orbs Fu created, then turned to Kiba, whow as huddled up on the ground.
"Get up" She snapped at him
"Am I creepy" He asked back
"With how you are right now, very" Hinata replied in a low voice
Shina lifted a brow
"Kiba, why are you so down? Didn't Naruto call you creepy before as well, you didn't react that way at that time" He asked
"..." Kiba blushed a little as he covered his face
"It's different when a pretty girl calls you creepy" He replied
"..." As if something snapped in side Hinata's head, she walked over, and grabbed his collar
"Once this is over, you're dead to me" She said
*Gulp*
So she's not even going to hide it anymore!? She's revealing her true nature! Kiba shuddered as he got up slowly.
"Hah"
The three (plus Akamaru) headed off in the opposite direction Fu was blasted off in, and during the travel, Kiba turned to Shino.
"Hey Shino...am I creepy?" He asked
"Kiba, you're just an idiot" Shino replied
Oddly enough...it made Kiba feel a little better. Being an idiot is still better than being creepy, right?
Shino sighed at how easy Kiba is to please, his teammates are truly...unique.
"Kiba, you're too easy" Hinata said
"Hah? I'm not easy at all!" Kiba replied immediately, but when his eyes met with HInata's, he couldn't help but shrink back a bit...
As for Fu, who was blasted away, she couldn't help but laugh as she landed on the ground.
"Hahaha, Konoha shinobi are so fun to fight, they have so many interesting things" She grinned
Her two teammates also arrived at this moment, and when they saw how Fu was laughing while on the ground, they felt that she's finally lost all her marbles. But at the same time, they felt wary that a team was actuallyable to repel Fu.
Fu jumped up, and fluttered in the air in front of them
"You two are late like usual" She grinned
"You fly too fast" One of them complained
"Hahaha, or you're too slow" Fu replied, her eyes curved into a crescent shape as she flew around them in circles.
Her contempt towards them wasn't hidden, she expressed them openly
"How many teams have I eliminated? How many scrolls have I stolen? Now...what have you two done aside from holding onto the scrolls for me" Fu asked
The two stared back in silence, neither denying what she said, nor did they humour her. Seeing how silent they were, Fu's smile faded.
"Boring" She turned around and looked up
"Bestie~, how'd I do~" She waved her hands and shouted
Naruto's clone smiled helplessly, he couldn't exactly reply back as a supervisor, could he? So thebest he could do was give her a wave before teleporting elsewhere, out of their sight.
"Boo, at least say something"Fu tucked her lips and huffed
But she turned back with shining eyes
"Now~, time to find more teams! The team just now is too bothersome to catch, we'll look for another" Fu said
Even she had to admit that the other team was a difficult bunch. Kiba may seem dense, but his attack was incredibly well timed and had Chomei not warned her, she might have hesitated, leaving her open for follow ups.
Shino was incredibly calculative in his actions, using Kiba's little antics to set up his insects to swarm her, allowing Hinata to land a solid attack on her. All of them cooperated very well together, and it actually made her a little jealous.
To see teams trust each other, and work together so well...
'I want teammates like that as well' She looked back at her own team, neither acknowledged her as a member, nor did they care about her contributions.
Despite this being a team competition, she didn't feel like that was the case.
"Onwards!" She laughed as she flew off into the distance without waiting for her teammates.
The first day gradually came to an end, with the number of teams greatly reduced on the first day.
The sun set, encasing the entire forest in darkness, with only flickers of light across, where teams set up fires.
"Are you sure it's fine to start a fire? Won't other teams find us?" Choji asked
"Let them come then" Sakura clenched her fists and said with a wide grin
Choji's lips twitched, Sakura's strength is so absurd that he finds it to be unreal. Not just that, she seems to have extremely high combat experience as well despite not leaving the village often.
She is capable of lifting him up when he enlarges, and swing him around like a weapon. He had wondered how the Ino-Shika-Cho formation will work without Shikamaru, but it seems his worries were for naught!
"Bestie, you're becoming a human gorilla" Ino giggled
"Ah, don't say that about me, if anything, following lady Tsunade's footsteps!" Sakura said proudly
"Hehe, yeah" Which girl didn't admire Tsunade?
But honestly, the admiratio Ino had for Tsunade has...wavered, after being in contact with Naruto for so long. Especially when she finds the two of them drunk on the floor with bootles of wine everywhere.
'Just don't follow her footsteps and become a gambling alcoholic' Ino thought to herself
To many, Tsunade is still a legend, to her, she's an alcoholic who drags her boyfriend around to drink!
Also...her future sister-in-law...
'Wait, does that mean Sakura needs to call me aunt? I mean, Tsunade is her teacher, and when she becomes my sister-in-law, would I become her aunt? No, that makes me sound so old, the seneority is all messed up because of Na-kun!'
*Rustle*
From the bushes, the sound of movement caught their attention, and the three of them took up a defensive stance immediately.
The air was tense for the moment of preparation, and soon, three figures came into view. Upon seeing them, the tense atmosphere slowly vanished.
"You three? That's unexpected" Ino gasped
"What? You thought we'd be eliminated early?" A cheeky laughter responded
"Jeez, Tenten, your group had us worried" Sakura patted her chest in relief
"Hehe"
The group that just arrived is exactly Tenten, Neji, and Lee. The three of them greated the others with a friendly smile, including Neji, well, the most friendly smile he could pull off.
"Well, since you're here, wanna join us?" Ino suggested
Tenten rubbed her chin
"Well, if you insist" She replied and walked over
All was joyous and calm until Tenten entered five metres of their range, and...
*Bang*
Tenten suddenly threw down many steel balls onto the ground, which exploded on impact, releasing a purple gas that filled the air.
Neji and Lee both swallowed a pill the moment it happened, as if they had prepared for this.
Meanwhile, Ino and the others...
*Whoosh*
Choji expanded rapidly, and blew a gust of wind that dispersed the gas in a matter of moments. When it dispersed, Ino and Sakura had a cigarette in their mouths, already lit.
"Wow, you anticipated that?" Tenten giggled as she jumped up and took out a scroll
"As if we'd trust anyone here" Sakura held the cigarette with two fingers as she grinned back
"Neji, Lee, engage" Tenten landed on a tree branch and shouted
Neji struck first, directing his attention towards Choji and slammed his palm against the bloated boy's stomach.
His attacks seemed to bounce off without leaving any damage, however, Choji's face began changing as he rapidly shrunk down.
*Bang*
Sakura launched forward, stopping Neji from attacking Choji, and directing his attention towards herself.
"Choji, prepare for phase two" Ino said
"On it" Choji enlarged his arms, and bashed them against the trees around them, forcing Tenten to jump off.
Right after, he crouched down, and leapt towards Tenten, who had just landed on the ground.
"Lee!" Tenten shouted
Rock Lee flashed by, standing in front of her, and raised his arms to grab hold of the incoming fists that were bigger than he is.
*Bang*
"Heavy! You're incredibly strong, I can't wait to fight some more with you!" Lee smiled as he held the two fists back, while Tenten retreated.
*Bang*
Behind them, Sakura and Neji were engaged in a fierce hand to hand combat
"Tsk, when did you become a gorilla" Neji muttered as he pushed Sakura's fist aside
"Hah! Who's the female gorilla!" Sakura's voice rose as veins popped out of her forhead
*Bang*
Herfist struck, but her other hand was prepared for a follow up.
However, with Neji's byakugan activated, he saw through her tactics, and quickly pushed on more fiercely to force her to stop her attacks.
While their battles raged, Choji was constantly being pushed back by Lee.
Ino and Tenten however, stoodby the side
"Not going to help" Ino smiled
"I should be asking you that, both your teammates are at a disadvantage" Tenten smiled back
Ino stuck out her tongue
"Too bad, we may be weaker individually, but I dare say our cooperation is better" Ino said
As she said that, Choji was thrown by Lee, landing right beside Sakura.
"Really?" Tenten's eyes curved into a crescent smile
Ino slowly removed the cigarette from her mouth, holding it between two fingers and tapped it lightly.
"Of course"
Tenten didn't know what she meant, but soon, hse understood. Sakura, at this very moment, grabbed Choji's ankle, and started to spin.
"Neji, I heard your rotation is impressive, and can block projectiles! Let's see it block this!" Sakura burst into a crackling laughter as she threw Choji at Neji, with his massive fists pointing at him.
!!!!!
Neji broke into a cold sweat, yes, his rotation can block projectiles, but does this even count as one!? That's a f**king canonball!
His only option is to dodge, even Lee would be forced back by this, not to mention him!
*Bang*
Choji's attack was destructive, it destroyed everythin in his path, trees and rocks alike. The destructive power linked to not only Sakura's raw strength, but also a little gift from Naruto.
After Choji landed, he took out a small bottle and drank the content
"Hooh, they're making good use of that" Naruto smiled as he watched from above
[The thing you gave them before the exam?]
"Yep, the liquid condenses the chakra in the body into an external layer, hardening the skin and flesh, I made a prototype years ago, now, it's perfected" Naruto chuckled
[...] Kurama couldn't help but feel that this battle is filled with nothing but Naruto's inventions.
First it was the poison Tenten used, then the antidotes and cigarettes. Now, it's another strange drug that Naruto concocted.
"Phase three" Ino snapped her fingers and grinned
Where Choji stood, collosal hands reached from beyond the trees, pulling them apart, revealing a massive puppet.
"Th-That-a puppet!?" Tenten exclaimed
Ino giggled
Choji expanded into a massive ball, and the puppet picked it up.
"Let's go bowling!" Ino grinned as the puppet rolled Choji towards Lee.
"This-I will give it my all!" Lee narrowed his eyes and steadied himself
"First gate, second gate, third gate, open!" Lee shouted as he prepared to take it head on.
*Bsht*
Choji spun faster and faster, boosting the momentum of the roll towards Lee. But the others did not stand idly by, Nejihad already noticed the puppet strings, and traced it back to Ino.
'Take her out first!' He shot Tenten a quick glance, and she made a small gesture with her eyes to signify that she understood
"Sakura~ I'm about to be targetted" Ino waved
'How did she-' Both Tenten and Nejo couldn't understand how she immediately realised, but that only made them act faster.
"Hehe, the Yamanaka clan's mind reading jutsu can't be used well from a distance, but understanding simple intentions are easy" Ino giggled
Tenten opened up her scroll and rained down weapons towards Ino, who stood there without fear
Neji struck from behind, preparing to knock her out in one go if she chose to dodge. But what confused them is...why is Ino still stationary? She did not take a single step away, not even faltering before them as she turned around to face Neji, ignoring the incoming weapons.
"Bestie~ thanks a lot~" Ino grinned
*Bang*
Sakura landed behind Ino, and looked up at the weapons that rained down upon them.
Ino formed a circle with her hands as she aimed it at Neji, who immediately understood what she was going to do, and began weaving around to make sure she cannot land her jutsu.
*Poof*
Sakura took out a scroll, and from within, a steel rod that was thicker than a man's arm landed in front of her. She grabbed it with one hand and spun it before her. The heavy rod spun, and with each rotation, the grass would wave, and wind blew.
'Just how ridiculously strong is she!' Tenten gulped
The weapons that rained down were deflected with ease, as if they were cotton in the wind against the metal rod.
But a smile crept onto Tenten's face
"If that's all you think I can do, sorry" She chuckled coldly as she snapped her fingers
The weapons that were deflected suddenly lit up with a seal on each of them. Sakura furrowed her brows and pushed Ino down.
On Ino's side (before Sakura's action), Ino aimed at Neji, and for a moment, she seemed to have a clear shot, and she immediately smiled.
"Bang-"
*Whoosh*
Just before she let it out, Sakura pushed her down, causing the jutsu to miss. Sakura covered Ino with her body before a series of explosions occured.
*Bang*
*Boom*
The earth crumbled from the explosions, and an intense heat washed over them.
'Was it too much?' Tenten frowned
The dust cleared, and what she saw next made her shudder. Sakura was there with heavy injuries, while Ino seemed to be unconscious. But that wasn't the point, the point was, the 'heavy' injuries Sakura had were vanishing incredibly fast! Abnormally fast!
Neji took this chance to strike
'Ino missed, so it's one against two, once Lee handles Choji, we will win' He rushed forward towards Sakura, who was still healing her injuries. She turned around, and her pupils shrunk.
"You were strong" Neji said
He was right in front of Sakura now, and was about to strike
"Bang, hehe" A playful voice entered his ears from behind
His pupils shrunk as he felt an intense force knock him unconscious.
"Yay~ Success!" Neji who fell into a daze for a moment suddenly jumped up with a cheerful smile on his face
"And...recorded" Naruto had a scroll in his hand, recording Neji's rare smile...
As for Tenten, she was in disbelief
"H-How, you missed your jutsu!" She exclaimed
At this moment, Ino, who is meant tobe unconscious got up and waved at her.
"Heyo, did I surprise you?" She grinned
"Th-This-" Tenten stared at her, then at 'Neji', who was smiling at her as well
Ino giggled
"Seems like the plan worked, good job bestie" Ino gave Sakura a high five
"Hehe, fantastic plan"
"Me too, me too, give me a high five as well" Neji said as he pointed at himself
Tenten's lips twitched, seeing neji act this way is truly...different. The usually serious Neji is now smiling brighter than most people she knew, and she had a gut feeling this will somehow come back to haunt Neji in the future.
*Achoo*
Naruto suddenly sneezed, rubbing his nose
"Someone's talking about me again" He muttered
Tenten sighed, she turned to see how Lee was doing, and as she had expected, he was now facing both Choji and the massive puppet, resulting in a much more difficult battle. He was holding his ground well, in fact, he is pushing them both back, but once Sakura and Ino joins in...
"We lost" She said
She turned to Lee
"Lee, call it a break, we lost" She said
Choji and Lee both stopped, as well as the puppet.
"We win?" Choji asked
"Yep, good work Choji, you held Lee back well" Ino nodded
"Hehe" Choji scratched the back of his head shyly, he knew that the puppet was the biggest reason he could contend with Lee, but it still felt great to be praised.
As for Neji...
"Hehe, cheese" Ino posed using Neji's body, making all sorts of faces, and even striking some provocative poses that made Tenten and Sakura shake as they held back their laughter.
Of course, Naruto, as an umpright individual...recorded the whole thing.