< SHARINGAN! >
Sasuke activated his eyes…
"YYYEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" The crowd went crazy, after seeing Sasuke activate his Sharingan.
"The boy from your village has the attention of the entire stadium…" Rasa commented.
"Well, he's the only one remaining of that clan after all…" Hiruzen said following which he turned over to Raidō.
"Get the latest reports!" Hiruzen ordered.
"At once!" Raidō disappeared from the spot he stood.
("Anytime now, he might start with the plan…") Hiruzen thought as he looked towards where Orochimaru stood.
("Those eyes…") Orochimaru stared at Sasuke who was on the battlefield.
Gaara also continued to stare at Sasuke who was in front of him.
("Did he circulate that lightning natured chakra all over his body in that split second to destroy my move…") Gaara thought.
Sasuke placed his right hand with the sword behind him and lifted his left hand towards Gaara.
("Why don't you come at me?") Sasuke taunted Gaara using a gesture on his left hand.
Gaara responded to the taunt by sending his sand towards Sasuke to attack.
Sasuke clad himself in lightning natured chakra and dashed towards Gaara at the same time.
(Whoosh!)
The sand and Sasuke approached each other.
(Whoosh!)
Sasuke dodged past the sand and continued to dash towards Gaara.
(Bam!)
Gaara placed both his palms on the floor.
("What is he doing?") Sasuke thought.
< Sand Tsunami! >
Gaara announced following which a vast ocean of sand, rose from the battlefield and flooded the entire stadium.
(Whoosh!)
Genma landed near Gaara.
("I almost got swallowed by that ocean of sand back there…") Genma sighed as he looked towards Gaara from the side of his eyes.
("WHAT?")
The people in the stadium were astonished.
"SASUKE-KUN!!!!!" Sakura shouted at the top of her voice, afraid of Sasuke being buried alive in the ocean of sand.
"That brat named Gaara is too powerful…" Hiruzen sighed.
"Don't you have that brat named Naruto on your side?" Rasa asked.
(Bang!)
Sasuke flew out of the ground while he rode upon the head of a snake.
"He summoned a snake…" People in the stadium murmured as they continued to watch the match.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura sighed with relief upon seeing Sasuke come out alive.
"Aoda!" Sasuke called out.
"Yes!"
"Sasuke-sama!" Aoda responded.
"I want you to go towards that boy!" Sasuke said as he pointed towards Gaara.
"Mm!" Aoda accepted the order and slithered his way over.
Gaara brought his hands together and created a platform out of the sand.
(Whoosh!)
Gaara flew into the air on top of the sand platform.
Sasuke frowned at this new development.
("This makes things way more difficult than it was supposed to be…") Sasuke thought as Sasuke and Aoda tried to chase after Gaara on the ground.
Gaara moved his hands to summon sand out his gourd, following which he turned towards Sasuke.
(Whoosh!)
The sand split into multiple blobs and charged towards Aoda.
(Bang!)
(Bang!) (Bang!)
(Bang!) (Bang!) (Bang!)
The blobs landed on the ocean on the ocean of sand after missing Aoda who crawled between the attacks and continued to chase after Gaara.
Sasuke was angry to see Gaara floating away from him.
("Looks like I can only resort to that attack for now…") Sasuke thought as he looked towards Naruto who continued to watch the intense battle that was taking place between him and Gaara.
("If I win this, I'll get to face him.")
("Until then I cannot reveal that yet…") Sasuke thought as he turned back to Gaara who kept floating in the air on top his sand platform.
"Are you done attacking, Uchiha Sasuke?" Gaara asked.
"Hmph!" Sasuke snorted,
"Aoda, Guard me!" Sasuke said following which he brought his hands together….
"Yes, Sasuke-sama!" Aoda said.
Sasuke brought his left hand down, following which he placed his right hand over it.
(Bzz!)
A strange electricity buzzing sound came about
(Bzz!)
(Bzz!)
(Bzz!)
(Bzz!) (Bzz!)
(Bzz!) (Bzz!) (Bzz!)
(Bzz!) (Bzz!) (Bzz!) (Bzz!)
Sasuke raised his head as he looked towards Gaara.
("What is that Jutsu?") Gaara thought as he stared with unease at the blue colored lightning orb that was gaining power on Sasuke's hand.
The same question played on everyone's mind, especially Rasa, Baki, Temari, and Kankurō.
"It can't be…" Gai stared at Kakashi who was on the next column with wide eyes.
Kakashi nodded towards Gai, following which Gai finally understood that it was indeed Kakashi who had taught Sasuke the jutsu...
meanwhile, Orochimaru felt like he was almost about to drool.
"Kakashi, I would like to thank you for taking such wonderful care of my vessel," Orochimaru said.
"…" Kakashi turned towards Orochimaru and frowned.
He knew Orochimaru was the type that enjoyed having psychological warfare, but this was a. Blatant threat.
"Naruto!" Sakura called out.
"Hmm…?" Naruto looked at Sakura.
"What is that?" Sakura asked.
"Oh!"
"You must be talking about Sasuke's jutsu."
"It's called Chidori," Naruto said.
"What does it do?' Sakura asked.
"Just wait and watch!" Naruto said.
Back on the battlefield…
Aoda continued to crawl his way over to where Gaara was flying.
"Aoda!" Sasuke called out.
"Yes!"
"Sasuke-sama!" Aoda responded by positioning its head towards where Gaara was flying.
"Now!" Sasuke shouted, following which Aoda launched Sasuke by using its own head as a launchpad towards the sand platform which Gaara was floating on…
"AAARRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!" Sasuke brimmed with battle intent as he flew towards Gaara with one hand with the chakra in the lead…
< Chidori: One thousand birds! >
Sasuke announced as he flew through the air.
(Whoosh!)
Gaara brought up the sand barrier around him to defend against the incoming attack.
(BANG!) Sasuke landed his Chidori.
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
*CRACK!*
*, SHATTER!*
The sand shield shattered, following which Gaara said "I Give Up."
(Whoosh!)
Sasuke powered down the Chidori by releasing the chakra it had accumulated into the atmosphere.
"What did you say?" Sasuke asked Gaara.
"I Give Up!" Gaara said emotionlessly.
"…" The entire stadium stared in complete pin drop silence.
Naruto was also stunned.
"Did Gaara just say he gave up?" Naruto asked.
Lee was beyond stunned.
However, no one knew why a great fighter like Gaara just gave up.
"My family is saved…" The servant sighed in relief as he looked at his master whose face was drooling.
"I just hit it big…" The man murmured with wide open eyes as he kept staring at the field.
"Why…?" Sasuke asked.
Genma walked to the middle and announced…
"WINNER OF THE FIFTH MATCH…"
"UCHIHA SASUKE!"
(Poof!) Aoda disappeared.
"YYYEEEEEAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Some of the Uchiha fanboys cheered for Sasuke's win followed by the rest of the stadium.
Gaara walked past Sasuke, following which Sasuke's expression changed.
"I see…" Naruto murmured.
Just as Gaara was passing by Sasuke…
"There's a bigger battle to fight…" Gaara said as he walked past Sasuke.
Sasuke was stunned.
Though Gaara did not expect Sasuke to know of the change in the destruction of the leaf plan, it remained that Sasuke was a part of Naruto's team, and could only hope that the message he just spoke would serve as a warning to Sasuke for the upcoming battle.
Sasuke turned around to look at Naruto who was standing at the balcony of the Waiting room…
("With the upcoming battle, will I still fight him at my full strength…?") Sasuke thought as he stared at Naruto.
Genma looked at the waiting room.
"Temari of the Sand and Uzumaki Naruto of the Hidden Leaf!"
"Please come to the center of the field." Genma requested.
Temari stepped up to the balcony.
"I withdraw from the next battle!" Temari announced.
"What are you doing Temari?" Kankurō asked.
"I still feel a bit dizzy from the earlier ear pain, though I was able to suppress it for the battle against the boy who controls the shadows."
"The pain suddenly flared up in the last few minutes," Temari explained.
"I see…" Kankurō murmured.
Genma looked at Sasuke who stood in front of him.
"Uchiha Sasuke!"
"You will be granted ten minutes of rest until the next battle!" Genma said.
"Mm!" Sasuke nodded.
Naruto sighed upon staring at Sasuke's back.
"Looks like I will never be able to escape that battle after all…" Naruto murmured.
"Naruto…" Sakura stared at Naruto, and then looked towards Sasuke who was on the field.
("To think that they would last till the end to battle against each other") Sakura felt complicated upon the thought of a battle between them.
Shikamaru was also a bit worried, especially for Sasuke's sake, since Sasuke was the one who got the short end of the stick.
The significant figures like Jiraiya, Hiruzen and the others knew that the only battle that mattered was the one to be started by Orochimaru.
However, the unexpected was that Orochimaru was more excited over the upcoming match.
("Naruto!")
("It will be great if you can help me unravel the hidden talents of the Uchiha brat…") Orochimaru thought.
Soon, ten minutes passed by…
(Whoosh!)
Naruto landed on the floor and walked towards the center of the battlefield.
"Naruto…" Hinata and Karin stared at him with concern.
("Naruto-kun will probably win…") Lee thought as he looked towards Naruto.
Neji also had the same thoughts.
Meanwhile, Hiashi and Hanabi were a bit interested in the matchup, especially since it was Sasuke, a ninja of a famous clan that rivaled the Hyūga clan. This match would also help them know if the two clans were fated to be defeated by the person that was Naruto…
*Step*
Naruto stood opposite to Sasuke!
The people amongst the audience were quiet. In the past, rumors about Naruto said he cheated, which he proved wrong on this day. However, since it was proved wrong, there was also the matter of Sasuke in the second place.
However, which one of them will win?
That was the question that plagued everyone's mind.
Genma looked towards the two that stood opposite to each other.
"Are you both ready?" Genma asked.
"Mm!" Naruto and Sasuke nodded.
Following which a small windstorm evolved into being as leaves flew around the duo, creating a picturesque scene that would almost never be forgotten by anyone in the stadium.
"THEN THE FINAL MATCH BETWEEN UZUMAKI NARUTO AND UCHIHA SASUKE OF THE HIDDEN LEAF."
>>>>BEGIN<<<<
"huh?" Jiraiya spotted a white feather land on Hiruzen's cap.