Starring:
Date: July 15, 2010
Summary:
The time comes to confront Team Secret on their actions. But what exactly are the pills that Zain has given to his team?
"Tournament of the Sun Goddess - End Game"
Tournament Grounds - Land of Fire
There's still no sign of Fuyu or Kuroji or Abel or the three advisors from Konohagakure when Hinotori returns to the judge's platform. Where did they go? There is definitely something odd going on here. Then, from behind Hinotori, Fuyu's voice calls out over the gradually diminishing grumbling of the crowd, "Hinotori!" If he turns around, there she is. Where she came from is unclear, but she is here now. Upon receiving the message about Team Secret cheating, the Uchiha woman nods.
"We know. Zain, the leader of Team Secret, has bribed at least one of the judges to decide in his team's favor. I was just collecting evidence. There is the high likelihood that violence might break out — and I don't mean in the ring itself. Kuroji is escorting the advisors to safety as we speak. We can't act until Team Secret makes its move. Did you find out additional information about what they might be planning?" Then she pauses and asks, "Where is Abel?"
Upon hearing Fuyu call him, Hinotori turns around. Looking to Fuyu for a moment, his sharingan comes up instinctively. With it up he knew he would be able to tell if this was her or not. As she begins to speak, Hinotori listens to Fuyu, his eyes scans the crowd as the onlookers are still taken aback from the match they have just witnessed. He then focuses on Fuyu as she asks him where Abel was. "I left him to keep watch here." sighing, "He must've wandered off, which he is prone to do even when on assignments." he tells her. "I will find him. But the informaiton I've found out was this."
Hinotori glance over his shoulder then Fuyus, keeping it non-chalantly. "Zain spoke with a man named Roku." he says. He gives her his description as well described his voice, "He handed Zain a bag of herbs. Roku didn't want to know what Zain was using the pills for. I spied on Zain as he gave instructions on how to use these pills. One pill white, the other black. Each member of the team has one of each pill." he tells her. He stops, and waits for her response, she did suddenly come up on him after he looked around this area.
Fuyu nods to Hinotori, though she looks at him suspiciously when he activates his Sharingan. "Roku is the sensei of Team Rice. So the pills are some kind of enhancement drug, probably. That is what Rice Town focuses on for its fighters. Hmm…" She turns around to look at the fighting ring. It seems that things have settled down somewhat, and the next two teams are preparing to fight. Team Iron and Team Secret. Already in the ring is the main fighter for Team Iron, a mountain of muscle greater even than the Team Log main fighter! In the process of cautiously slipping into the ring is a much smaller and scrawnier looking young man in a black gi — Team Secret's main fighter. His brown hair is tied back in a stunted 'ponytail', but his features do not appear at all feminine.
The moment the match begins, at the announcer's signal, the Team Iron fighter falls back into a defensive stance. Despite looking like he could probably throw an entire house about a hundred feet on his own, the Iron fighter is apparently not intending to launch into an offensive before he knows his opponent's capabilities. It seems that being strong doesn't mean being stupid too.
The Team Secret fighter doesn't get ready or anything. He just watches his opponent settle back into his defensive stance, and then… "Heh." He smirks! He smirks and covers his mouth with one hand, probably to conceal placing one of the pills inside. A moment later, after he has chewed and swallowed his pill, he lowers his hand and visibly swallows. The Iron fighter does not seem to notice, or perhaps he does not know enough to be concerned. The Secret fighter just stands there for about ten more seconds as the audience chatters and murmurs, wondering what's going on and when the action will start.
And then the pill kicks in. The Secret fighter's eyes widen, as a THROB of Chakra seems to emanate from his body. Not detectable or noticeable to all of the normal people around, but to both Hinotori's Sharingan, and to Fuyu's own senses, it would be VERY noticeable. It's not that the Chakra is greater than their own — it is probably barely Genin-level — that's not what's concerning. What is concerning is the fact that none of these fighters here in the tournament should have the ability to generate Chakra beyond what is normal for trained but non-ninja warriors. And this is definitely beyond that.
The Secret fighter's muscles seem to grow slightly, or at least to tense and become more defined. Then he clenches his fists on either side of his chest, hunches his shoulders slightly, and grits his teeth before vanishing from the sight of normal people. He doesn't actually vanish, of course. It's just Chakra enhanced speed. But he's still moving at ninja speeds for certain. The Iron fighter raises an eyebrow quizically, looking confused. Then his mouth flies open, and his eyes bulge in their sockets. Blood flies from his mouth, and his feet leave the ground, as his entire body seems to bend forward, despite the densely packed muscles seeming to indicate he likely can't even touch his toes from his bulk.
The Secret fighter has reappeared directly in front of the Iron fighter, and has planted a single punch in the man's abdomen. The Iron fighter's eyes roll up into his head, and then he topples backwards and SLAMS into the ground, making the entire ring shake. His arms flop a bit, bouncing off the mat, and then his head turns to the side, and he just lies there, unconscious.
There is dead silence. Then the judges all stand up, and the three on the left side of the platform raise their hands above their heads. The other seven seem to be hesitant to do the same, initially holding out one hand straight ahead — to indicate uncertainty. When they see the first three holding up their hands, however, they soon follow suit. They look very confused, though.
The announcer calls out, "Winner: Team Secret!" Some people in the audience cheer, but most seem to be more involved muttering and whispering about what the just saw.
By the time that the match has officially ended, the Secret fighter's Chakra is no longer 'barely Genin', and is closer to 'almost Chuunin'. It seems that whatever he took is gradually increasing his Chakra supply…
Watching as the Secret fighter ingest the pill and seeing his chakra spike, Hinotori sighs. The Iron fighter had no way of taking on the nin at this point. Watching the fight and easily able to keep up with the secrect fighter as he strikes the Iron Fighter, Hinotori eyes narrows. He was about to say something, but he looks over to the judges who seemed to be indecisive at the moment. He looks back over to the Secrect fighter and as he does his chakra levels reaches that of a chuunin level shinobi. This wasn't good and at this rate Team Secrect would have an easy victory each time they went up to fight.
As the judges seven judges who were indecisive and rule in favor of the Secrect Fighter, Hinotori looks over to Fuyu, "We have our proof." he says. "His chakra levels are still rising, he's about level with a chuunin now." he tells her. Though respecting her standing within the village and their clan, he keeps his tone respectful. "We have to end this now, because if not, Team Secrect will come out on top with no equal." he says as he watches the fighter, but using a henge to disguise his eyes.
Fuyu nods. "I know. But while we can claim that his Chakra is rising, we can't actually SHOW it to anyone else. No one else here can see Chakra. I think I know how to prove it though. Stay here. If you see Abel, grab him and drag him over here." Then Fuyu turns and walks towards the judges, making sure to speak to the ones closest, not the ones on the far end of the platform. Those three are the ones that Zain controls.
After a moment of heated discussion in whispers, the judge that Fuyu addressed speaks to the others. The three on the far end seem to be quite vehemently opposed to whatever is being discussed, but in the end, they're overruled. The announcer gets a message from the judges and then calls out, "The next match is being delayed momentarily, in order for the judges to confer with Team Secret and the team's sensei, Zain." There is renewed chattering amongst the spectators.
There is probably all kinds of speculation about what THIS is about, but no one will find out for certain until it's announced. Team Secret approaches the platform, the two warriors who have not yet fought looking worried, Zain looking calm, and the main fighter for the team sweating heavily, and looking extremely alert. His eyes dart back and forth, taking in everything. He almost looks nervous from the way his body twitches and fidgets, but his confident grin says otherwise. His Chakra, by this point is somewhat detectable even by non-ninja. They wouldn't quite be aware of what it is they are sensing, but there is a sort of 'pressure' in the air that is almost stifling. The main fighter is nearing an average Jounin's Chakra level now.
Fuyu looks around, doesn't see Abel, and so gestures for Hinotori to come over and join her, as the judges begin questioning Zain and his team.
She was right, Hinotori is used to action and not all the small investigative things ninjas do. This was something he would need to work on, but for now he bowed his head and stayed where he was. He hadn't seen Abel pop up anywhere, they would really need to get his priorities together. But then again, Abel was Hinotoris responsibility. He would rectified. Turning to see what was gonig on with the judges, Hinotori sees the heated discussion going on. Alert, but relaxed Hinotori watches as Fuyu discusses things with the judges, but after a moment the judges sends a message to the annoucer who in turn begins informing everyone that hte next match will be delayed.
As Team Secrect is called to the judges booth. He knew that if Team Secrect was called out for cheating, things could heat up and with one of their members already hopped up on drugs with another pill to spare, things could get pretty bad. Keeping his henge up, to hide his Sharingan, Hinotori is ready and he slowly begins moving towards the booth, but as he does he senses the Secrect fighters chakra rise to Jounin levels, 'Shit.' is all he says to himself. His hand twitches slightly, but as he looks back over to Fuyu, he sees her gesturing for him to come to her. Giving a slight nod, he heads over to her. Fuyu would note that Hinotori was ready to spring and jump to her defense. With the konohagakure members gone, they would be able to fight without worrying about them.
After questioning Zain and his team on where they obtained the ability to use Chakra, having them searched (against Zain's protests) for the pills that Hinotori saw, and the fact that Team Secret's main fighter rapidly transforms during the questioning from an incredible powerhouse of Chakra and physical capabilities, to a shivering, exhausted wreck until he is permitted to take the white 'antidote' pill that will cancel the black pill's effects, it is fairly evident that Team Secret has been using means and methods that they did not register with when their town entered the tournament. This is against the rules. The drugs themselves likely would have been permitted had they been part of the team's registered tools, but they were obtained after the tournament had already started, to keep them 'off the record' and prevent Konohagakure from having a dossier on those capabilities.
Following this, the seven judges who were NOT 'bought' by Zain are in agreement. Team Secret is disqualified from the tournament and a more thorough investigation will be held after it has concluded. Though Team Iron is upset that the decision regarding their fighter losing will be upheld, at least the cheaters will be punished. Not the most glorious start to what will likely be an annual event, but at the end of the day, the ones who sought to win through deception and rule violations will most definitely NOT be continuing on to join Konohagakure's ninja forces.
Abel is found later, knocked unconscious. It appears that when he attempted to follow the three bribed judges into the unused tent, he tripped in the dark and struck his head. He'll be lectured later on about following orders.
