After I confidently declared that the twins have no chance against Minato, Kushina snorted in agreement, leaning back in her seat with crossed arms.
"If not, I'm going to tease Minato about it forever."
"That would be interesting," Sayuri said as she glanced between us, then toward the arena where Ayame was being escorted away by a medic, her legs still not working properly after Hiashi's strikes. "However, I don't know. That looked terrifying from up here... If he touches you, that's it, right?"
"Mostly." I rubbed my chin, trying to put it into words without sounding like I was downplaying the Hyūga. "The Gentle Fist is dangerous, because you can train muscles, bones, skin, whatever, but your chakra network? If they hit the right points, things start shutting down... Well, at least, chakra-wise. But, for that, they have to get to hit you."
"Exactly," Kushina said. "Just don't get hit, dattebane!" She declared proudly.
"That's your whole strategy?" Sayuri asked with a chuckle.
"Why not? Can't be defeated if we don't get hit." I said and grinned at the two.
Before they could speak again, Sakumo returned to the center of the arena, where the attendants had finished smoothing the ground, removing Ayame's wires and senbon, and checking the seal-lined walls once more. The crowd was still buzzing from the second match, but the moment Sakumo lifted his hand, the noise began to fade.
"Third match," he announced. "Hizashi Hyūga of Konohagakure against Haru Kazenami of Yugakure."
Hiashi had just won, and now his twin was stepping into the arena, huh? People were, of course, curious and wanted to compare them. Everyone knew that the main family heir had shown his quality, and now the branch family twin had to step onto the same stage. Will he overshadow his brother... or? While I was also thinking about it, Hizashi entered first. He walked in the same way Hiashi did, almost as if he were a perfect clone... huh. Interesting. As for Haru Kazenami, he entered from the opposite side, rolling his neck with a grin, and he raised one hand to wave at the crowd. Some of the Yugakure observers cheered back, though I noticed they looked more nervous than he did.
"He's too relaxed," Sayuri muttered.
"Or he's making himself look relaxed," I said, "Everyone has a way to cope with being nervous."
"So?" Kushina leaned forward. "You think he's strong?"
"He got this far," I shrugged. "So… yeah, he is strong enough."
"Hm," Below said, stopping at his mark and beginning to measure his opponent. "So, you're from the famous Hyūga clan."
"..." Hizashi's expression didn't change while answering... I mean... he didn't say much... at all.
"Begin," Sakumo said instead, and the moment he did so, Haru vanished.
He burst forward in a zigzagging step pattern, his chakra visibly flaring beneath his feet. Hizashi's Byakugan activated immediately, the thick veins around his eyes popping as he turned before Haru completed the arc and met him with two fingers aimed straight at his chest. Seeing the immediate counter, Haru twisted his body mid-air, and the strike grazed his vest instead of landing cleanly. The pressure behind it still sent him spinning away, and he landed on one hand, pushed off, and shot backward with a grin.
"Whoa," he said, patting himself down. "That was almost bad."
"Almost?" Kushina repeated, snorting. "He nearly lost in the first exchange, dattebane!"
"Hm, I don't think so," I said slowly, watching Haru's feet. "He was testing his range..."
"Reckless, if you ask me..." Sayuri frowned. "By almost getting hit? Is that a good test?"
"Yeah. Some people are idiots like that." Kushina said as she glanced at me.
"What?" I asked, playing dumb.
"Nothing," they said together.
Below, Haru began circling this time around. As for his opponent, unlike Hiashi, this brother simply stood still and waited. Is he pure counter-type? He was letting Haru move, probably because chasing a speed specialist was useless if you didn't know his pattern yet... Seeing him not attacking, Haru flicked his wrist and a small knife shot toward Hizashi's face. He easily tilted aside and deflected it with a palm, and when the knife spun away, Haru was already behind it.
His speed spiked suddenly, and he closed the gap with a low sliding kick aimed at Hizashi's ankle. He stepped over it and countered downward, two fingers stabbing toward Haru's shoulder. Haru flattened himself almost parallel to the ground and slid under the strike, one hand touching the dirt, the other flicking another knife upward from his sleeve. Even though the attack came from a point-blank range, Hizashi's head moved half an inch, allowing it to pass his cheek and bring his palm down at the same time, but Haru managed to dodge it and roll away.
"Damn," I muttered. "He's fast."
"Haru?" Sayuri asked.
"Both..." I smiled because I didn't expect them to be this fast.
"Tsk," Haru clicked his tongue, "You Hyūga really are annoying... You can see everything, huh? It wasn't just propaganda."
Getting no answer, Haru inhaled once, then his chakra surged again, and the air around his legs began to ripple, maybe displaying a wind release...
"Fūton?" I murmured.
"Hm...?" Sayuri leaned in, trying to see, "Wind?"
"Looks like it." I muttered, my Sharingan coming on, "He's reducing friction or boosting his steps and their speed. Maybe both..."
"If you say so..." Kushina squinted, too, "So he's trying to become faster than the Byakugan can follow?"
"Maybe, he just needs to be faster than what his opponent can keep up with."
That was the real trick, wasn't it? Seeing an attack didn't mean you could answer it. I knew that better than anyone after training with Fugaku, because even if my eyes could show me everything, if my body couldn't keep up, I could do nothing about it. Dust kicked up behind Haru when he crossed the arena in a blur. Hizashi turned, his palm rising in defense, but Haru broke left at the last second, then right, then vanished behind a spray of dust as three knives came from three angles he had thrown out as if he was at all the places all at once.
Hizashi spun around, but he wasn't using Kaiten. Maybe he couldn't? Anyway, his palms moved well enough, deflecting two, but the third cut his shoulder as a thin red line appeared through his sleeve. Seeing it happen, the crowd erupted in cheers, as a hit had finally landed. As for Hizashi, his expression didn't change. Without stepping down from the gas pedal, Haru appeared behind him, already following up with a heel aimed at the back of Hizashi's head. Of course, Hizashi ducked and thrust backward without looking, but Haru twisted away in mid-air again, his wind chakra giving him ample mobility, even if he was standing on air alone.
"Okay," I said, sitting up. "That was neat."
"What do you say...?" Sayuri looked worried now, not wanting a fellow villager to lose, "Can Hizashi keep up?"
"For a while... But he needs to do something, or he will lose."
I think Hizashi realized it too, because he began moving more aggressively. Every time Haru tried to curve around him, Hizashi stepped into his path, forcing him to change tactics or break off or get stabbed by his fingers. In the end, Haru attacked from the left, then the right, then threw two knives again. Hizashi deflected one, dodged the second, and nearly tagged Haru's knee with a Gentle Fist strike, but he avoided it by a hair and answered with a spinning kick that forced Hizashi to block.
The impact pushed him back, and Haru was on him at once. The problem was... that Hizashi was not panicking.
"Huh... He's learning him," I said suddenly.
"Hizashi?" Sayuri asked.
"Yeah. Haru needs to end it soon, or Hizashi would have seen everything and take over his rhythm. I can tell he is already adapting himself to Haru's style..."
As if hearing me, Haru pulled back suddenly and formed three quick hand seals. Wind gathered around him in a low spiral, catching dust as it wrapped around his limbs, then burst outward into several faint afterimages as he moved. He was using wind and dust to leave visual trails, false bodies appearing a half-step behind or ahead of him. The crowd shouted in confusion as three Harus seemed to attack at once, but Hizashi's Byakugan immediately saw through the images. However, the time it took for his brain to analyze and react was still giving enough of a delay for Haru to have a chance.
Hizashi, identifying where Haru was, struck toward the real one, but Haru shifted at the last instant, sacrificing his left hand to a Gentle Fist strike while sliding past the range of Hizashi's defenses, and his right hand slapped against Hizashi's ribs.
"A tag?" I exhaled, "Oh, that's bad."
Hizashi reacted instantly, spinning away, but Haru snapped his fingers, and the tag detonated. To his luck, it was not a full explosive tag but a concussive burst. It exploded with a sharp crack and threw Hizashi sideways across the dirt, causing the crowd to surge to its feet.
"DATTEBANE!" Kushina sucked in a breath, also standing. "Did he—?"
"He's alive," I said quickly, my Sharingan locked on the dust cloud. "He guarded with chakra... But that hurt him."
Hizashi slid to a stop on one knee, one hand pressed to his side. As the dust settled, it became clear that his clothes were torn there, his skin burned, but he still stood, panting heavily.
"So..." Haru stood across from him, breathing harder now, trying to shake the horrible feeling from the hand he got hit on, but to no avail. "Yield?" He asked.
"..." Hizashi finally spoke up this time around, "No." And then he became very still.
Haru sensed the change too, and he looked cautious. Releasing his side, Hizashi raised both hands, palms open, as his body slightly turned at an angle. Haru attacked anyway, knowing he had to try and capitalize on the fact he was injured... he couldn't let him recover.
"Tsk..." I clicked my tongue when Haru entered range, and Hizashi moved.
His palm was surprisingly fast as it struck the air beside Haru's chest, not even touching him, and chakra burst from it, and it blew apart his wind-reinforced chakra. The next moment, Hizashi stepped in, landing two fingers to the thigh, then to the shoulder, the forearm, all before Haru finally managed to twist away, but... Ouch.
"Air palm?" I muttered. "Already?"
"Hm...?" Kushina looked at me. "What?"
"Short-range chakra burst, a Hyūga technique." I murmured, "He used it to disrupt Haru's movement and defenses before touching him."
Haru stumbled, forced to rely on one leg more than the other. He still moved, doing his best, but he couldn't escape anymore. He fought back desperately, but then Hizashi landed a palm against Haru's abdomen. Haru's eyes widened at once, and all the chakra in his body was almost snuffed out at once. The next moment, he collapsed forward, unconscious, caught by Hizashi before he hit the ground. For a second, Hizashi held him upright, checking him, then he lowered him carefully onto the dirt.
"Haru Kazenami is unable to continue." Sakumo appeared beside them. "Winner: Hizashi Hyūga."
The crowd roared at once, while I was looking at Hizashi. I liked this Haru guy... Too bad he lost, haaah. As for Hizashi, he stood there, breathing hard, one hand still pressed slightly near his burned ribs. He is out. No matter how much he tries to heal, whoever goes up against him next time will have an easy victory.
"Hm," I muttered.
"Hm?" Sayuri glanced at me. "Hm, what?"
"Nothing... I was simply rooting for Haru."
The arena attendants entered again, but this time they took longer to fix the ground. Haru's wind movement had torn channels into the dirt, and the concussive tag had cracked a section near the outer wall. Medical shinobi helped Haru out, though he was awake by then, laughing weakly as Daichi waved at him from the competitor area. At least Yugakure fighters had good spirits. I can respect that.
"They're done," Kushina said, realizing only Konoha shinobi would enter the second round.
"Yeah," I said. "But they didn't embarrass themselves."
"Not even close," Sayuri agreed, and just then, Sakumo stepped back into the center.
"Fourth match," he announced. "Shibi Aburame of Konohagakure against Inoichi Yamanaka of Konohagakure."
To civilians, this probably sounded less thrilling than speed against Gentle Fist. Two boys walking into the arena, one with a high collar and sunglasses, the other blond and serious looking. Well... This was going to be strange.
"Who wins?" Kushina asked, nudging me.
"I have no idea," I said honestly.
"Huh?" Sayuri blinked at me. "Really?"
"Really."
"Begin!" Sakumo's voice echoed just then, but neither moved.
The crowd waited as a second passed, then two... five. Ten. Nothing.
"Um..." Kushina frowned. "Are they fighting or staring, dattebane?"
"Fighting," I said as I activated my Sharingan.
And immediately regretted saying that I had no idea, because now I had even less... Shibi's chakra, from what I could see, was… weird. The countless tiny chakra signatures inside and around him made the hair on my back stand up. His insects were not all out yet, but they were there, nestled beneath his clothes, within his sleeves, under his collar, probably inside his body too. EEEEW! It was like looking at one person and a swarm at the same time. Nasty... As for Inoichi's chakra, it had grown thin and focused, stretching forward in invisible threads.
In the end, Inoichi moved first, as two of his fingers rose in a seal, and, in response, Shibi's insects moved at the same time. A thin black stream slipped from his sleeves and scattered across the ground, spreading in several directions.
"Inoichi wants a clear line for whatever mind technique he's preparing." I said, as far as I could read, "And I think Shibi is breaking up the space with his insects, not wanting to give him that."
"Can bugs stop a Yamanaka technique?" Kushina asked.
"I don't know," I said, looking at Sayuri.
"Me neither." She shrugged.
Apparently not, because Inoichi's eyes narrowed as he shifted one step to the left just as Shibi shifted one step to the right. By now, the crowd began murmuring, getting impatient, just when Inoichi suddenly formed the full hand seal.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
For one heartbeat, I thought it hit, because Shibi's body stiffened, then collapsed into insects. The crowd gasped as his form broke apart into a swarm, scattering across the ground.
"What?!" Kushina yelled.
"Bug clone," I said, eyes wide, because I couldn't tell when he switched, "He baited him... Damn..."
The real Shibi emerged from the side, half-hidden by the swarm he had released earlier. Inoichi's body swayed, briefly vulnerable after the technique missed, and just then, Shibi's insects surged toward him. However, Inoichi recovered faster than expected. He slapped his palm against his own chest, forcing his chakra to stabilize, then leaped backward as the insects crawled over the spot where his feet had been. A few still reached his ankle, and his face tightened.
"They drain chakra," Sayuri whispered.
"Yeah," I said. "And if enough get on him, this ends very quickly."
By then, Inoichi formed another seal, but instead of using the full mind transfer again, his chakra came out in a broad wave. And Shibi stopped... No... his insects stopped. Only for a second, but a second was enough for Inoichi to shake off the ones clinging to his ankle and retreat even further.
"Was that a mental pulse?" Sayuri asked, now fully invested. "Huh, I never managed to pull off one."
"So," Kushina frowned. "He can affect bugs with mind techniques?"
"They're living things, so it has to," Sayuri said. "But… controlling a swarm has to be harder than controlling one person, and I wouldn't even dare to try."
Shibi raised one hand just then, and the insects spread wider around him, while Inoichi's expression became more serious. If the swarm surrounded him fully, his line of attack would vanish, and he needed to hit Shibi directly, but the Aburame was hiding among too many moving pieces. I don't know what he came up with, but Inoichi suddenly ran forward. He drew two kunai and threw them into the ground on either side of him, and I could see that wires trailed from them back to his hands. Shibi stepped back again as his insects rose in a defensive cloud, while Inoichi used the wires to pull himself to the side, changing direction mid-run, then reformed the seal.
"Mind Body Switch—" Shibi's insects surged up, but Inoichi smiled. "—Feint."
His real chakra pulsed out toward the swarm. For a moment, the insects scattered unevenly, their formation breaking apart, and Shibi's head turned slightly to track the disruption. Inoichi used that opening to close another five meters.
"I bet this was a strategy Shikaku came up with," I said with a grin.
"Huh?" Kushina looked at me. "What happened?"
"He's not trying to control all the insects; instead, he's disrupting the command link between Shibi and a section of them."
Shibi did not look worried, though, but then again, no Aburame clan member ever looked like anything. He lifted both arms from his sleeves as swarms rose from the ground, from his clothes, from cracks in the dirt, forming a shifting black curtain that moved between him and Inoichi. The sound reached us a moment later, a dry buzzing that made my skin crawl.
"Uuuuuuuugh!" Kushina grimaced, her teeth clattering, "Gross, dattebane."
"Very!" Sayuri said, pulling herself up into a curl, disgusted.
Inoichi stopped advancing, too, and he jumped back, but the swarm followed him, splitting into two clouds to flank him. His hands flashed through seals, then he pressed two fingers to his forehead, and his chakra became like a net. The closest insects faltered mid-air, dropping in a small rain across the arena floor, stunned. Inoichi moved down that path that opened instantly, and he threw another kunai, then another, forcing Shibi to shift position. He kept sending out small mental bursts to disrupt only the insects closest to him, creating temporary gaps.
"He should use explosive tags..." Sayuri muttered, and I agreed, but.
"He doesn't want to hurt him," I said, "That kind of explosion would be indeed useful, but it could seriously injure or even kill him..."
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
It happened while I was speaking. Shibi reacted at the last moment as a dense mass of insects exploded outward from his mouth, the mind technique striking the swarm. Both of them froze in that moment, and for half a second, nobody knew what had happened... Then Inoichi staggered, gasping, one hand clutching his head.
"Oh no," Sayuri whispered.
"What happened?" Kushina asked.
"He hit the swarm," She said, frowning. "Imagine trying to shove your mind into hundreds of targets at once..."
"Ehhh..." Kushina made a face. "Ew."
"Yeah." I shivered too.
Of course, Inoichi dropped to one knee, breathing hard, and his technique had backfired. Maybe not fully, but enough to disable him for a moment. Shibi raised one hand by then, and the remaining insects collapsed inward. A second line of insects surged from behind Inoichi just then, probably ones that had crawled underground while the main fight drew attention. They climbed his legs, then his arms, spreading across his body in seconds. Inoichi clenched his teeth, trying to get free... Then, Inoichi lifted his head toward Shibi, and for a moment, I thought he would surrender.
Instead, he smiled.
"Got you..."
Shibi's head snapped slightly to the left, but it was too late. One of the kunai Inoichi had thrown earlier had a wire attached to it. With his last clean motion, Inoichi pulled it tight, and the wire snapped up behind Shibi, to drag a small paper tag across his back.
"..." I just gave a speech about explosive tags! Do you have to make it this dirty?!
But it was a flash tag, as light exploded, making everyone cover their eyes. Shibi's insects scattered from the sudden burst, their formation breaking just long enough for Inoichi to force himself up and use the last vestige of his chakra.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
Both boys froze, then Shibi's body moved first. It did it so slowly, mechanically, he raised one hand toward his own throat, but before he could press the kunai there and force surrender, insects crawled from beneath Shibi's collar and across his neck, biting into his skin. His body spasmed, as did Inoichi's real body, and the technique broke apart, and they both staggered.
"What the hell?" I blurted it out.
"I guess..." Sayuri looked pale. "His own insects broke him out?"
It was clear that Shibi had prepared a countermeasure against mind control... Probably about something, if his body behaved erratically, the insects would harm him enough to disrupt the control. That was hardcore! By then, Inoichi had fallen back to one knee, completely drained. The insects on him resumed feeding, and this time, he didn't have enough chakra control left to shake them off.
"Enough." Sakumo appeared between them, and the insects stopped immediately. "Can you continue?"
"Ugh..." Inoichi inhaled slowly, then exhaled, eyes closed. "…No."
"Winner: Shibi Aburame."
It had been one of the most unsettling fights I had ever watched, but then, Shibi walked toward Inoichi and offered him a hand. At first, Inoichi just looked at it, then accepted, while the insects had already retreated from him, leaving tiny red marks across his arms and neck.
"Good match," Inoichi said, as he was pulled up.
"Mhm," Shibi nodded. "Your final attempt... Almost got me."
"Still, it's only almost." Inoichi smiled weakly as he said, "Oh well... I'll take it."
They left the arena to a surprisingly strong wave of applause, while I leaned back, letting my Sharingan fade. Now... Only one first-round match remained. Shikaku Nara versus Chōza Akimichi. And after that... I really, really hope it is finally my turn! Watching these fights go down, I can't wait to try myself out against them!