Starring:
Fudo, Nori, Hashiramako, Akane
Date: September 11, 2013
Summary:
Nori and Fudo fight for their Chuunin-hood. It is a close fight but Nori comes out on top in the end.
"Third Promotion Exam - Final Round Bout: Nori vs. Fudo"
Konohagakure
As the match begins, the Hokage stands on a platform above the arena. Eager onlookers surround the arena in the stands. Six large pillars have been placed around the arena and on top of each appears to be a single ninja wearing the clan insignia of the Uzumaki, each making a different hand seal. As the crowd talks and generally makes eager noises for the match, the Hokage raises her hands to silence the crowd then states:
"Greetings! We bring today's match. Yamanaka Nori against Uchiha Fudo. As was explained earlier, each match will have an additional challenge in this finals round. Today we are pleased to have the assistance of the Uzumaki clan."
With this the Hokage gestures to the six Uzumaki standing on the pillars. "We welcome the contestants!" With that each of the two contestants is let into the arena from opposite sides. "And now, the added complication!" With that each of the six Uzumaki place their hands on the pillar tops which appear to have been previously prepared with a rather complex seal. Lines of barely visible shimmering chakra shoot out and link the pillars then there is a small shimmering across the whole arena, lighting seals that were previously placed on the competitors, and… the effect fades.
The Hokage explains, "During this match, all summoning and transformations will be suppressed. You must fight on your own, without the aid of outside assistance and without the aid of your kekkei genkai. And with that we wish you the best of luck and may the match begin!" The Hokage moves to sit back down on a rather well placed chair so she may watch the match with the loud crowds.
As the match begins, the Hokage stands on a platform above the arena. Eager onlookers surround the arena in the stands. Six large pillars have been placed around the arena and on top of each appears to be a single ninja wearing the clan insignia of the Uzumaki, each making a different hand seal. As the crowd talks and generally makes eager noises for the match, the Hokage raises her hands to silence the crowd then states:
"Greetings! We bring today's match. Yamanaka Nori against Uchiha Fudo. As was explained earlier, each match will have an additional challenge in this finals round. Today we are pleased to have the assistance of the Uzumaki clan."
With this the Hokage gestures to the six Uzumaki standing on the pillars. "We welcome the contestants!" With that each of the two contestants is let into the arena from opposite sides. "And now, the added complication!" With that each of the six Uzumaki place their hands on the pillar tops which appear to have been previously prepared with a rather complex seal. Lines of barely visible shimmering chakra shoot out and link the pillars then there is a small shimmering across the whole arena, lighting seals that were previously placed on the competitors, and… the effect fades.
The Hokage explains, "During this match, all summoning and transformations will be suppressed. You must fight on your own, without the aid of outside assistance and without the aid of your kekkei genkai. And with that we wish you the best of luck and may the match begin!" The Hokage moves to sit back down on a rather well placed chair so she may watch the match with the loud crowds.
Nori walks in, his blonde hair tied up in a bun rather than in a pony-tail behind him. The boy looks up and around him, gathering in the Uzumaki pillars and the crowd. His attention only momentarily falls on the crowd though. It is the Hokage that quickly garners his attention. The young Yamanaka, all of 12 years in age, bows to her as she begins speaking. If anything, the boy was taught his manners.
As Hashiramako explains the rules and the complications, Nori nods. His face remains rather the same before and after the comment…he has a smile. ~Fun,~ is all he can think. Nori turns to Fudo once the Hokage finishes speaking and bows, keeping his eyes on Fudo. "Good luck Fudo-san. I think we both will need it," and he looks to the Uzumaki.
This was not quite the match he wanted. Katsurou was still on the mind of the Uchiha as he was made his way to the arena. He would nod towards Hashiramako as well as Nori before scanning the crowd lightly. His sharingan would look them over, taking in the differences to hopefully more easily spot those he was looking for. Of course then, suddenly, it all shut down. He was not left in darkness, but instead… without the power of his blood. "Hm…" Fudo would say with a blink before hearing the rules of this exam. When it was done being explained, Fudo would chuckle lightly at that, "I see." he smirked before taking another step forward. "How appropriate."
As Nori speaks to him, Fudo would nod and bow respectfully towards Nori, "Or survival exam fight was merely the warm up, it seems. In this regard, I am glad it is you I am facing. Let us see how we stand with nothing but the "basics" at our disposal." Fudo would say towards Nori in a friendly manner. 'Yuzuna, Akane, Naru… The Uchiha. My family. Now, you can see me as only "Fudo".'
Nori nods again to Fudo, "Indeed," and with that, the Yamanaka starts to gather his chakras. As he turns his natural stamina into spiritual energy, or at least that's how he sees it, the Yamanaka begins to circle Fudo. He's gone quiet, watching and waiting.
Raising his head a bit in acknowledgement, Fudo would not Nori's posture. He was preparing himself. Though he could not see his chakra churing within him, nor the elements he would bring forth, Fudo would just have to use his memory and his wits. It made him smile. Just like Fuuma Alley. Fudo's left foot would slide back smoothly as his left hand would touch to a pouch on his belt, formerly hidden by the long coat. It was a slow movement, a preparatory one as his chakra was also gathered, his eyes level and focused on his opponent. If he was at all apprehensive about this, he wasn't showing it.
Nori starts the match off then. If Fudo isn't apprehensive, then Nori is being aggressive, almost enjoying himself at this stage in the early game. The young Yamanaka prepares some handseals and says a verbal, "I hope you don't think we betrayed you," and it is on the word betrayed that the Genjutsu should attempt to work its chakras into Fudo's system. What would happen if the Genjutsu worked is that Fudo would see Katsurou-san flash instantly in front of him (perhaps it was fast without Fudo's Sharingan) and send out a series of ice-needles…no, ice-daggers that pierce into Fudo's body. It is a betrayal…though how false, who knows. Nori is trying to play a mental card, throw Fudo off his game.
The young Yamanaka doesn't stop there though, he goes into more handseals and adds, "we were playing the game, the game you played yourself when you and Katsurou-san ambushed me…albeit somewhat of a fair fight at the time." Those handseals cause a set of dirt arms to rise from below Fudo. They try to touch him and sap away some energy.
Nori continues to talk, "I hope you know I am still just playing the game and that I value the Uchiha greatly. Narusegama-sama taught me too." Finally, a last set of handseals is woven and eye contact is attempted. Without the Sharingan, Nori isn't as worried about using Genjutsu as before. Eye contact with a Sharingan user is dangerous. If the Genjutsu works again, Fudo would see those dirt hands from before multiply as a stone golem, glowing with spiritual energies, rises out of the ground and sends his own hands rippling through the earth towards Fudo. These hands though don't just touch Fudo and sap him of energy, but rather try to beat him…all an illusion, wrapped around a real attack to make it more difficult to see through.
The false betrayal technique would not work in quite the waythat it was expected too, but it still would have the proper effect. Fudo would, in this case, be reminded of Katsurou and his betrayal in the exams, the sound of ice flying through the air behind him and the feeling of it sticking in to his back, all too familiar, even if it was not quite the same as before. But he did not at all shift from focusing upon Nori, Instead, blood would be drawn from his bottom lip and he would take a step forward, enduring the memory while licking his lip. However, his concentration upon the false attack did make it harder for him to manuver from the actual attack beneath him, his leg being grabbed and chakra being taken from him for a moment. Before he tugged and rolled away. The continuation of the attack would close in on him, seeming to surround him just as his finger slipped in to the pouch of weapons, cutting his finger a bit as he would stand, unaffected by the illusions, but just barely so as his eyes adjusted to the earthen hands around him fading away.
"I know what happened, and I will never forget it." Fudo would respond sharply as he began to run towards Nori at full tilt, fingers creating a hand seal as he'd skid to a sudden stop, exhaling an invisible gas in to the air as his shuriken were drawn in a flash. The blades would fly through the air, arcing around and towards Nori, closing in towards his body… before crossing just before reaching him and grinding together, creating a spark that soon turns in to an explosion of firethat danced around him and looped, trying to contain him where he was. Fudo would have leapt from his location, preplanned and calculated to allow him enoguh range to reach Nori, but also, to form a couple of hand seals as several orbs of lightning were sent down upon him.
The mist blaze dance was new. Not being able to see the gas meant that Nori was succeptible to it. The young Yamanaka was busy throwing up a half-walled earthen dome in order to protect himself from the kunai when the gas is ignited and he is suddenly hit all around him with the explosive gas. Nori grunts and rolls. Fire. More fire. He was in a sorry state after the survival fight with Fudo because of fire.
The boy tries to stamp out the clothes, the last of the flames dieing down to nothing as he attempts ot fully enclose that earthen dome from Fudo's looping string. Nori's seen this attack before, and it hit him last time too. He does all he can to try and wiggle out of the string, but he isn't in time and the lightning hits him square and hard. His skin is sizzling, but luckily, so too is the string. With the string weakened, Nori manages to break free and, since his defense failed miserably, he goes on the offense again.
This time, the boy makes a series of handseals and throws his hands out in an odd fashion. Many might never have seen a Yamanaka Mind-Body-Switch seal before now, but that is what he's doing…only, this is different. Instead of sending his full consciousness out, Nori only sends out a small portion aimed at shutting down Fudo's motor skill function in his brain. If the MBS is a haymaker, then the mind-lock is a jab.
As soon as the jab is sent out and returned, Nori goes into more handseals and tries to make eyecontact again. This time, if the Genjutsu works, those small dirt hands would be much much larger, full formed earthen hands that move to grab Fudo. Instead of just touching and draining chakras though, they'd try to squeeze the life out of his limbs and torso.
The proprietary jab of the Yamanaka is sent towards Fudo in it's slow and meandering way. Which, is fortunate for the Uchiha as he'd never seen that aprticular seal before, and needed time to think. It wasn't a genjutsu, at least it wasn't a normal seal, so if it was a genjutsu it was some type he'd never knew about… thus… Fudo took a chance. The psychic "jab" at his mind would seem to strike home, Fudo standing still a moment, as if frozen in place, but in reality, and as soon as Nori's perceptions caught up, Fudo would have tucked and rolled to the side, staying low a moment until Nori made his next move.
The gamble paid off, but Fudo would never know how close he came to falling under the jutsu of the Yamanaka. More earthen hands would come to get him from his near prone position, and while Nori was able to produce real ones as well as fake ones, Fudo was paying attention to the way he used his seals to try to help him distinguish between the two. And since Fudo himself was versed in Genjutsu, he was more easily able to intercept it this time, digging in to his lip once more to reopen the clotted wound as he'd leap to his feet.
Dusting himself off lightly, Fudo would cant his head to the side a moment before creating a hand seal of his own, a single one that would be similar to Nori's first, but based entirely on reality. Shoudl be fall prey to it, the wounds he received earlier would begin to tingle and burn and irritate, radiating pain and reminding him of what he's been through, feeding off of his experiences in the forest and the rerun in this battle. It would shift then however, to weakness and submission, the desire to fall to his knee from the pain in a moment of mental and physical fatigue. By this time however, Fudo was right on top of him, shifting and twirling in to a sharp side kick that rotated directly in to an over hand kunai slash down on him.
Luckily for Nori, the young boy is very familiar with his own chakra system. Being a sensor-nin has its quirks. So, when he feels Fudo's chakras forcing their way into his own system, he stops his chakra flow and shifts it in another direction through hand-seals. He has to do this twice in fact before Fudo is right there. Nori pulls a quick two handseals as he drops down towards the ground. The earth rises upwards, cutting off Fudo's arc of attack, making him cut wall instead of Nori. Still, Nori is in a tight spot. He's hunched behind a small wall with Fudo right there.
Thinking quickly, it is what Nori does, the Yamanaka pulls a set of handseals, flowing from one right into the next. The first set of handseals is similiar to the previous genjutsu attack…but not. Fudo might note that these next arms, while similar to what he had seen in his mind's eye, are indeed very real. Still, like their lesser version, these hands, while bigger and defined to look real through chakra shaping, do nothing more than try to touch Fudo and drain his chakras. The second set of handseals merged through the first is Nori getting out of his bad situation. The boy tries to sink below the ground and stealth disappear out of the way and off…somewhere under the arena.
Without having a proper line of sight on Nori, even though fudo did try by moving up and over the barrier, he simply could not create a convincing enough illusion for Nori's earthen hands not to make contact with him again. Grunting a bit, Fudo would trip and fall over the top of the barrier, missing his ability to watch Nori slip in to the earth, thoguh even if he saw him do so, he couldn't track him with any ease now. The Sharingan would have made such a stealth technique almost pointless as unless he truly burrowed deeply in the earth the chakra would not simply disappear so easily, but with just his eyes… just his eyes…
Fudo would push himself from the ground and begin to run rapidly from their previous location, kipping from foot to foot and actually leaping and barrel rolling through a couple of branches of one of the trees before landing on his hands against the outter wall of the arena. He'd continue up it, getting a perch that was off of the ground and gave him the widest field of view possible. He then would form a seal once more, exhaling slowly as he waited for Nori to give himself away some how.
Nori can only hold his breath for so long…so eventually he would have to resurface. That and, well, he didn't want Fudo to catch his breath for too long. So, Nori resurfaces, slowly, off to the side of the arena. It just so happens that he's got a fair amount of distance between he and Fudo. The boy pulls himself out, sucking in the air. He's fatigued, but he is doing his best not to note it. The young Yamanaka walks forward in a determined manner. He calls out, "That was close Fudo-san. Well done. I am glad it was you that was chosen as my opponent. You see, the Yamanaka are still a minor clan, while the Uchiha are quite possibly the power-house of Konohagakure. I know we are showing the power of both of our clans now. You should be proud, as should I. We both came from little and have made it this far." Nori really does like Fudo as an opponent and remembers when Fudo first showed up…the boy from Fuuma Alley. In fact, Fudo is the reason Nori made it out to the alley to begin with, to see just what Fudo had come from.
So, as Nori finishes his shpeel, the boy says, "But…now it is time to fight again," and with that, Nori goes into handseals and, with being a little bit closer, tries to make that eye-contact again and pull Fudo into another illusion.
Fudo knows this Genjutsu. It is what allowed Nori to escape in the first place during the survival rounds. If Fudo is succeptible to the Genjutsu, then Fudo would see an ancenstral spirit come out of the wall Fudo was on and suck him backwards into the arena wall…only the arena wall was now an iron maiden, a casket full of spikes that could potentially leave Fudo prone again.
Nori was now drawn out and speaking to him of his clan pride versus his own, even though the situation disallowed anything having to do with Fudo's clan to even be used. Still, it was correct on all other counts. The genjutsu that began to come about him, Fudo was indeed very familiar with, and yet he would not act. Just as in the forest, Fudo would be entirely taken by the genjutsu, and perhaps, just like in the forest, he may not have the proper tools to deal with it this time either. Still, he held firm to the wall, unmoving, unable to do anything but for the time being as well.
Fudo just tensed it? That was interesting. Well, what Fudo doesn't realize perhaps is that Nori is about to show the strength of his clan off, and perhaps put a hit on Nori's own head for this very move. Nori pulls out a few handseals and finishes with the Yamanaka clan's handseal. The full force of Nori's mind is forced towards Fudo's in an attempt to take over the Uchiha's mind.
And the invasion begins! And… ends just as swiftly. Fudo is, for all intents and purposes, pushed to the side of his own mind. Certainly an interesting experience, and for the time being, whether he truly wanted to or not, he allowed for it to occur. His will was no longer his own, which to all who knew him, was certainly not a place he was fond of being.
Fudo's body would grow rigid for just a moment as it was siezed by Nori, though he would grow familiar enough with it quickly. His hands would fly through the proper seals to create the Phoenix Immortal Fire jutsu, spraying the flames carelessly about the arena walls and even sometimes coming close to the closest seats. It almost appeared as if Fudo was going on some strange rampage over how the battle was going, but the blasts were careful not to endanger anyoen else, especially Nori himself.
Nori releasees the mental attack, and like a yo-yo, the portion of his will controlling Fudo is recalled. Nori had been standing there, perfectly fine the whole time, keeping that special clan handseal out and focused on Fudo. The young Yamanaka calls out, "That was what we Yamanaka excel at Fudo-san. We can make you attack your friends, make you attack yourself. If this were not a spar, I'd have had you stab yourself in the throat, heart, or eyes…and I would have come out of it unharmed." As Nori says this last bit, he starts making handseals again. He wants that to sink in. These spars, to him, were not about the spar, but about showing off the might of the clans and villages involved. They are here to act as a war deterent. Nori himself may very well be a reason to be suspicious of Konohagakure now. He can take over even the Uchiha's best and bend him to his will. Imagine the intelligence that could be gained in this way.
So, Nori's attacks commence. The boy sends out another set of hands. These are both real, but one set are fully formed hands, while the others are more just dirt mounds wiggling around like snakes.
Growling sharply as soon as he was released, his other wise entirely placid demeanor is betrayed instantly when control over his form is given back to him. Even though Fudo is able to truly get away from any harm, it only takes a touch and while the image of him is fully grasped, a mere tap along his leg was enough to take his energy fro mhim yet again. The folow up however, Fudo just moved his body away from it, entirely avoiding it as he would form a few hand seals and launch his barrage of lighting at Nori once more, his shuriken would flow from his hands, sliding in to the orbs of lightning as he doubled up the barrage. "On this day, no one will see what the Uchiha are capable of." Fudo would state firmly.
Nori knows just what Fudo meant. Then again, Nori had other tricks up his sleeves too that were also being restricted. So, when Fudo comes for him, the lightning barrage finds…two Nori's! That's right, a set of handseals creates a clone. Fudo did say at the beginning that only the basics would be used. And unfortunately, Fudo chose wrong. The clone goes up in smoke, but that leaves the real Nori open for the shuriken attack. Nori has seen this before, and again, his earthen dome doesn't protect him. The boy is snagged tight by the razor wire; unable to move.
Fudo would pant a bit as he tightened the razor wire around Nori with a tug of his fingers. "The only thing that I can possibly display right now… is Fudo!" he would finish his statement as he prepares for what he plans to do to Nori now that he has him. It was a gamble really. Fudo could take advantage of him right here and now, or he could gather his strength for later usage. But some how… he just smirked. Regardless of the outcome, this was certainly a good battle. "And you are the only one in this match who considers the Yamanaka an inferior clan."
Shifting from his position then, Fudo would rush towards Nori, drawing his blade with a tride and true flow of movement, twirling it to thrust it deeply in to Nori's shoulder. "I could have hit your eyes, your heart, your neck… but that is not the person I am… in a spar." He would say as he sent his knee towards Nori's chin, drawing the blade out as he followed through in to the air, launching a tightly packed series of kunai down at his legs.
"Your power was great, even in the survival exams… but it has shown one flaw to me…" Fudo stated as he would once again press the attack against Nori, a hand seal drawing out that invisble gas, but this time ti down not even settle as Fudo would lanuch his shuriken, causing them to spark and ignite the blades and string and air aroudn them as Fudo continues to fuel the technique with his breath, guiding it with the strings as they soar through the air between them and the wires would move to wrap around him one more. Fudo leapt from his position, a solid kick comnig down towards Nori's head as he would say, "You rely too much on Chakra."
Nori grunts as this time he's in a tough spot. Fudo was correct, but he's not done yet. Nori tries to dodge the gas that he knows is being spit out, but he is too slow and gets hit with a back full of flames anyway. Nori knows what is coming next…the string reel, so he fiddles for a kunai from his clothes and throws it, trying to hit the shuriken out of the air, but he misses and the strings grab him around the waist. He again takes that solid kick to the head, the impact throwing Nori out of the strings. He rolls and slowly gets up. "That might be true…but…I have a supply of it." Nori is panting, very injured, but he's right where he was during the exams too. He's not going to let a few, okay…a BUNCH…or burns and bruises stop him now. Nori is the one that Fudo tested his flame attacks on even prior to the exams. So, Nori continues what he was doing, retreat, refocus, gather energy, finish this out one way or the other.
Of course he wasn't going to give up. He still had an advantage to press, and he knew that despite Fudo's brief turn around, he had to be wearing him down. Though the Uchiha would not allow for him to see it. He made sure to at least keep the face of relatively unscathed. There were few options left, as even though Fudo did not rely on Chakra, some of his best jutsu were based on it and unlike Nori, he did not have a fresh supply to use. Fudo would suddenly begin to throw a barrage of shuriken and kunai and even senbon towards Nori, not allowing his range to dictate anything in this match and displaying that the quick witted Uchiha always tried to have some sort of plan in his back pocket.
Nori might have been hurt, indeed he was greatly hurt, but he wasn't still out of this yet. He had burns all over him, some of his clothing even embered slightly still. In fact, he rips his shirt off for just that reason and…he's scrawny. I mean, he's certainly a shinobi, but he has barely any muscle compared to most of them. Yes, he is 12, but there are others his age that look like they weight lift, or boulder lift at any rate.
So, when Fudo's attacks come, Nori raises up a barrier of earth from the ground. The shuriken and kunai and senbon would hit the wall, and when the shuriken swept back around the barrier to find Nori…only the barrier would be there. Nori dipped below the ground, only to pop back out immediately and perform a series of handseals.
The earth under Fudo would suddenly shift, and then open up. Hands of earth, much like those that were attacking Fudo all along, would reach out and try pulling Fudo underground. If they succeed, the earth would look like it was going to swallow Fudo whole as giant ribs of ground would move to hold him even more tightly than the dirt arms.
The earthen hands once again, but this time… they were much faster. They were up to something far more… powerful than before. But Fudo was not sure what that was yet. All he did know, was that it would take an extreme amount of effort to do anything, and so he would not. He would choose to take his chances, to buy time and see if opportunity or luck favored him. Nori had done much in the begining of this to ensure that he had little reserves left, and that was most certainly still the case. So, Fudo would do his best to keep all he had, and strike when the time was right… or well, fail any how. AS he is buried in the ground, Fudo begins to consider what his options are, and likely what Nori plans to do himself.
Nori has Fudo in the grave. The Uchiha didn't even try to fight it. Unfortunately for Fudo, Nori has control over the grave, including the earth that Fudo was within. So, Nori draws Fudo upwards until just Fudo's eyes are visible. Not even Fudo's full head, not even his nose, is allowed to come out…just the eyes. Nori creates several handseals and stares into Fudo's eyes. If the grave holds and the Genjutsu hits, Fudo would see the earthen arms of the massive grave crushing him tighter and tigher. At the same time, Nori continues the attack. He isn't hurting Fudo, not really, just wearing him down. That is how the Yamanaka operates, but he is relentless. The young boy would continue another spiritual attack genjutsu where Fudo sees the same demon grave actually come to life as a spiritual figure, and it raises up a large bouldering hand that attempts to knock the head back into the ground for good.
As far as anyone can see, Fudo is being made to sufficate in the ground, and watching Nori make him do so. In a way, that is literally what he is doing. Though for Fudo it is a far different experience. Fudo had waited until Nori was making his move, and he would try to use what little chakra he had remaining to surge lightning through his body like a circuit, attempting to disable to control over the earth that Nori had. However, it simply was too little chakra to make a difference, and thus despite his efforts, Nori's control remained firm. So now, lost in his mind, Fudo would be crushed and battered within and back through the ground, though he was actually out of it far before most of that happened. The jutsu would take all of his remaining energies, and then some as he would be thoroughly unconcious.
The earth would crumble as all of the chakras in the grave were used up by holding Fudo there. As the dirt just gives way and receeds away from Fudo's head, falling back towards the ground, Nori notes that Fudo grows limp. Maybe this was a trick. Either way, Nori would move to catch Fudo before that head hit the ground. Nori succeeds and gets to Fudo before the ground does. Nori would place Fudo down gently, still unsure if this was a trick by the Uchiha. He even goes so far as to perform another genjutsu kai just to be sure. It seems that Fudo is indeed out. Nori looks up finally to the stands…and takes a knee himself. While he tries to disguise the action as showing respect to Fudo and the stands, it is really Nori giving in finally to his wounds. He's in a lot of pain.
From Stands,
The Hogake barely can be seen to move. One moment, was in her chair, and then, with the aid of that standy of ninja everywhere, the Body Flicker Technique, she's down in the Arena floor. "The match has concluded!" she announces to the crowd, making eye contact with Taiki. "Yamanaka Nori is the victor!" She barely pauses a beat before she calls, "Medic-nin, to the arena floor!"
From Stands,
(Akane) The black clothed Kunoichi narrows her eyes as Nori goes down and is in motion as soon as the Hokage calls for medics. She uses her treewalking skill and slides down the high wall around the arena, landing lightly and moving directly to Fudo's side. She looks at Nori with a bit of ice in her eyes then speaks softly to the blonde boy. "You should see a medic." Then she proceeds to lift the unconscious Fudo as though he were a child, cradling his head against her shoulder. She walks off the field with him silently, a lone figure in black carrying the exhausted Uchiha to safety.
