200. Tomoka VS Gaara
With a crack of lightning Tomoka disappeared from the waiting area reappearing the next instant inside the arena. No one saw her move, one moment she was just standing there in the waiting area and then she wasn’t. Even Kagami who just arrived with Satsuki couldn’t catch her movement despite having her sharingan uncovered.
Gaara for his part simply jumped over the railing landing on sand-made scaffolding. With a neutral aloof expression Gaara began descending sand-made stairs step by step. Seeing this Tomoka’s smile became a grin as she couldn’t help but remember the conversation they had just now.
~Flash back no jutsu~
“You want me to kill you?” Gaara asked, wondering what kind of madness had settled inside the girl’s mind.
“I said try, you won’t be able to anyway. Also you should work alongside Shukaku otherwise it will be boring.” She had seen Shukaku helping anyway as the biyu was the one controlling Gaara’s automatic defenses anyway.
“Why?” Gaara still didn’t get it. If he were to go all out he might not win but he at least believed he could injure her gravely.
“Because I want to show off. No matter what happens, continue in your attempts to kill me unless I say otherwise.” Gaara had wanted to continue arguing but that blood-thirsty, predatory, deranged smirk made him stop.
“Oh, one more thing. I won’t be holding back much either. If you feel your life is in danger then call Shukaku, otherwise you will die. Don’t worry, I will give you a long enough window for you to do so, just don’t waste it.” As the girl disappeared from the mindscape Gaara couldn’t help but shiver a little.
[That woman is scary] The one tail said as his head was forming from the very sand on the ground.
“That, she is.” Gaara answered, shivering slightly once more.
~Present no jutsu~
“Are both participant’s ready? Good, begin.” As soon as Genma finished speaking Gaara attacked with full power. A massive sand fist landed where Tomoka had been a moment prior striking nothing.
“You will have to do better than that if you want to hit me.” Everyone turned to see the girl now covered from head to toe in lightning with electric-blue, glowing lichtenberg figures all over her skin. Without missing a beat Gaara controlled his sand to strike where Tomoka had moved to.
His little show of walking down stairs of sand worked for more than just a show. He had suspended some granules of sand everywhere. He knew Tomoka was fast, too fast for his eyes to follow so instead he would use the sand to know where she went. The method worked. Unfortunately the girl was still too fast to hit.
All the spectators could see was the flashing of lightning as Tomoka moved all around the place dodging Gaara’s relentless assault. This had gone for a minute until the girl suddenly stopped. A veritable tsunami of sand approached her. All those watching that didn’t know her thought she would be done for, they were wrong.
With an easy smirk on her face Tomoka raised her hand in the direction of the sand. There was no chakra molding involved, no hand signs, nothing that would tell those present that a jutsu was coming. The truth was, there was no jutsu coming, only unadulterated power.
With the sand a single meter away from her Tomoka unleashed her attack. Once again those watching were blinded by the brilliance of a veritable thunderstorm being unleashed out of Tomoka’s hand cutting the tsunami in half. Everyone felt their hair raise as the air became charged with electricity.
Gaara came out of the counterattack unscathed, his sand doing its job protecting him. The sand however didn’t come out unharmed. Large swathes of it had turned into glass as the intense heat of Tomoka’s lightning did a number on it. Gaara wasn’t too worried about this. All he needed to do to regain his sand was grind it down using what he had left until it turned back into sand.
That however wasn’t the problem. Gaara couldn’t help but have a wry smile as he studied the situation. The constant unrelenting attacks had been a drain on his chakra leaving him with half of his maximum. He had asked Shukaku to abstain from helping as he wanted to test his own strength. Turns out he had worried about Tomoka’s safety for nothing.
Tomoka for her part was having the time of her life. Yes, the battle wasn’t all that hard but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy it. Putting up a show was something she could very much enjoy, especially on an occasion such as the chunin exams where the whole point is putting up a show. Now it was time for her to go into the offensive.
“Lightning release: Thunder lord’s decree” She didn’t need to say the name out loud. Hell, she didn’t need to do the hand signs either. She did so however, for the sake of the show.
Everyone watching heard Tomoka’s words as much as they felt them. The charged air became even more electrified as they could see snakes of electricity appearing and disappearing from thin air. Everyone that wasn’t privy to Tomoka’s time in the academy wondered what would come. Those that did know about Tomoka’s jutsu couldn’t help but sweat.
In a flash of electricity Tomoka disappeared the only thing that could even give those present a clue as to her position would be the stream of electricity flowing in her wake. With a deafening thunderclap Tomoka’s left leg struck against Gaara’s automatic defense as the struck sand once again turned into glass. Before anyone could even comprehend what had just happened she was gone again.
Those watching couldn’t help but wonder with some disappointment if that was it, It wasn’t, not even close. Once again a stream of electricity followed in Tomoka’s wake as her left hand struck Gaara’s defense once again. This time the flash of lightning and the roar of thunder came twice as strong as the last. Instead of glass Gaara’s defense exploded in molten chunks.
Gaara could feel his heart thumping hard against his chest. He knew Tomoka wouldn’t kill him, however that didn’t lessen his fear. He could almost taste the electricity in the air, he could feel his sand vibrating with the charge that had been delivered into it. He was in danger every cell in his body screamed so. Following his instincts Gaara covered himself in a cocoon of sand, his strongest defense.
Those watching felt it more than heard it, the scream of lightning that had grown into a roaring torrent. It was beautiful yet terrifying to see such devastating force follow in the wake of the girl. Then she struck the cocoon of sand with a right punch that blew half of the thing away. The sand had gone past the melting point into just straight up evaporating. If the last blow had been twice as strong as the first this was thrice the last.
The arena fell silent, everyone watched in awe of the damage caused by the blow believing that it was over. Gaara’s cocoon had barely been able to defend its charge. Unfortunately this was only the prelude for what was to come. The charged air vibrated with the cheer amount of electricity that ran through it. Then it came.
Everyone present began to hear it, like a whisper in a desolate wasteland. Static that flowed everywhere with an almost maddening murmur. The very air around them seemed to be eager to unleash its contents into the world. Then they saw it. Like a swarm of hungry beasts the electricity charged towards its prey.
The now smaller yet fixed cocoon stood like a rock in a thunderstorm. As if it had attracted the wrath from the very heavens above. It was nothing more than a moment that felt like minutes for those present. Then they saw the beautiful sight of a massive reversed lightning strike as all that electricity flowed through the cocoon into the clouds up above forming the visage of a majestic lightning tree.
The world seemed to dim for a moment as the sun’s light fought against the resplendent visage of Tomoka’s work, then silence. The winds stood still, the crowds unmoving. Gaara’s cocoon had vanished revealing the visage of the one tailed beast. One that looked worse for wear. However, with each passing second the beast’s form not only repaired itself but grew. That was when all hell broke loose.
People began screaming in panic only to fall silent the next second. Soft feathers fell from seemingly nowhere. A genjutsu, one meant to send everyone to sleep. Of course it didn’t work on everyone. Those that had been trained in the ninja ways easily dispelled the thing. Tomoka didn’t even bother rousing her chakra, her mind too rigid yet flexible to be affected by such a thing.
Instead Tomoka’s grin grew deranged as she felt two presences leaving the arena. Hinata and Nozomi were ready to do their part. They had known of Tomoka’s plan for the longest time and now it was their time to act.
Not wasting time, Tomoka made her move. One moment she stood in the arena the next she stood on the roof of the VIP spectator’s area where a purple cage held within the Hokage and Orochimaru.
“You are a slippery motherfucker, Orochi, I have been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty!” The Kage and Orochi turned with questioning gazes towards Tomoka’s nonsensical statement.
Before anyone could do anything Tomoka’s form got covered in black chitinous armor with lichtenberg figures running through with the same electric-blue glow they had before. Without any regard for her safety Tomoka’s hand touched the barrier as it began to burn.
“Cute.” Tomoka said seeing the fire spread over her armor without dealing any damage to it or her. Instead she pushed her clawed hand’s fingers into the barrier forcefully poking holes into the thing.
“For real though-” With that four chains covered in chitin looking like spider legs burst out of Tomoka’s back before pushing into the barrier as well. The next moment each chain began to pull the barrier apart creating a hole big enough for Tomoka to leisurely walk through.
“We need to talk.”
Elsewhere Hinata dashed with purpose following her father who had long ago escaped the arena with Hanabi tucked under his arm like a sack of potatoes. She had a self given mission to fulfill one Tomoka approved of. One she felt was necessary seeing the kind of chaos they would leave in their wake.
“Hiashi, hand over Hanabi.” Hinata’s tone held authority within it. She would take her sister away with her by any means necessary.
“So you have decided not only to betray the Hyuga clan but Konoha as a whole?” Hiashi was fuming. He couldn’t believe such a disgrace came from his own seed.
“Are you truly surprised about that after your treatment of me?” Hianata asked with an eyebrow raised. She had talked with Hanabi throughout the month trying to convince her to escape with them. She had succeeded in the endeavor and now she was here to collect her sister. Hanabi was the only Hyuga Hinata still held any love for.
“If you think I will let you take Hanabi you are mistaken. She still has a role to serve.” Hearing Hiashi’s words made Hinata’s contained anger resurface with a vengeance.
“See Hanabi, he never cared for you or me. You are nothing more than a tool for him, for the elders. The next heiress to the clan, nothing more nothing less.” Hinata said while seeing Hanabi’s saddened expression.
“Enough of this, don’t think because you could defeat Neji that you are anyway near my level. I am the Hyuga patriarch and I will put you in your place.” With that Hiashi struck Hanabi on the back of the neck sealing a tenketsu there and rendering her immobile yet conscious.
Seeing this Hinata’s wrath couldn’t be contained anymore. Her father, no, her sperm donor had dared to strike her little sister. He didn’t even let her say a word. He didn’t even try to hear her opinion. Just like he never bothered to hear her own.
“I would like to say that I won’t be enjoying this but then I would be lying.” Hinata said as a deranged smirk, one she had berated Tomoka one too many times for showing, appeared on her face.
Without wasting any more time Hinata moved forward, her Taikan Byakugan on display. Her fingers charged with the magenta chakra of the cloak that manifested around her. She could see each small movement her sperm donor did. She could feel the way the strings interacted with the world around him and herself.
It didn’t come as a surprise that her sperm donor went for the palm rotation once she was within its range. The technique would shred or at least cause a lot of damage to anyone or anything within it that wasn’t the performer of the technique. Hinata wasn’t just anyone though. As soon as the technique began to form, Hinata lazily struck a string. Like a balloon struck by a needle the bubble of chakra popped before it could even form properly.
Hiashi’s, as Tomoka called it, surprised Pikachu's face was priceless. Hinata’s madened grin grew as she landed the first strike against her sperm donor. Taking into consideration her sister was still present she decided against transforming the man into a bloody mess. Instead she would turn his innards into mush.
Hiashi felt an indescribable pain as Hinata’s palm connected with his chest. He could feel the girl’s chakra wreaking havoc inside his innards yet within the chaotic energy order was preserved. His vitals were damaged in just the right way it wouldn’t kill him. Instead he would suffer indescribable pain.
The next strike connected with his abdomen as another rush of chaotic chakra came to claim its dues. Hiashi felt like someone had shoved a blender into his guts before turning the damned thing on. He could do nothing to defend himself as he saw Hinata’s fingers approaching his forehead. He would die.
“You won’t die. That is too good for you.” As if reading his mind Hinata spoke as she gave him the final blow. Like a surgeon her chakra worked to cut all of his senses off. Hiashi’s brain had been damaged in a precise way making it impossible for him to discern the information his senses were feeding him. He had been condemned to a life of nothing but his own body's internal senses by his own daughter.
Seeing her sperm donor collapse brought little satisfaction to Hinata. Killing him or torturing him wouldn’t bring back what she lost, what her sister had lost. It didn’t matter now, what matters is her sister and her well being going forward. With a gentle tap to the back of the girl’s neck she dispeled what her sperm donor had done.
“Did, did you kill him?” Hanabi didn’t know what to feel. The mixture of positive and negative emotions threatened to overwhelm her until her beloved sister hugged her. Her doubts, her anger and sadness disappeared like sand washed away by the waves.
“He is alive, though he won’t harm us ever again, I made sure of that.” Hearing this Hanabi let out a small breath of relief alongside a small sob. She turned to look at her still breathing father. Did she make the right decision? She didn’t know but it felt right to her, to follow her sister, the only one that had ever shown love to her.
“Let's go, we still have a long road ahead.” With that Hinata took Hanabi and dashed away. With Konoha in chaos from the attack, leaving the village should be easy, if not, more fun.