Chapter 85: A feral growl

The next few battles were a lot more boring.

Kankuro's opponent ended up being the Sound ninja Jack, relying on his puppetry techniques, that these genin had never seen before, he managed to win quite easily.

Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka's fight ended up being... entertaining? Okay, that was a lie.

He wasn't being sexist, it's just watching two women with no battle sense brawl was not very appealing.

If it had been Mei and Samui that fought, he would have been all for it.

Encouraging, it even.

Next up, was Temari and Tentens clash.

Just like in the original, it was a completely one sided battle.

With how hard, wind style countered the Leaf ninja's fighting style, she couldn't even fight back.

With two wins for Sunagakure, it brought pressure upon Konoha.

They had boasted to be the strongest village in previous years, and so far had only been miserably losing.

Haku Yuki VS Shikamaru Nara!

Finally, an interesting battle, with an unpredictable outcome!

Kakashi turned to look at him closely.

"This is the last shinobi in the Cloud's line up... that surname... ice release, maybe?"

Shikamaru and Haku hopped down the steps leading to the arena.

Shikamaru yawned and said lazily,

"Huh? A woman? I hate hitting women. Why don't you surrender~"

Haku gave a kind smile before saying the traumatising words, "Don't worry, I'm male."

"Nani!?"

The spectating shinobi felt their world view simultaneously collapse.

Their chins metaphorically hit the ground, displaying their astonishment.

M-M-Male?

Haku gave a soft chuckle, finding amusement in their reactions. He then said in kind.

"Would you like to give up this match?"

The lazy Nara scratched his head and replied,

"Nah, I'll fight. If my mother finds out, she'd beat me to death."

Hayate lifted a hand before dropping it.

"Haku versus Shikamaru Nara, start!"

"Shadow Imitation Technique."

Shikamaru took the initiative to strike first.

Aside from fighting other clan members, he had only fought in team combat before.

Haku's hands blurred as he formed seals several times faster than his opponent.

"Water Style•Water Dragon Bomb!"

He spat out a beam of water which gathered in the form of a dragon that rushed towards Shikamaru.

"What!"

Shikamaru exclaimed from shock before instantly regaining his wits and jumping to the side in an effort to dodge.

He used his intelligent mind to easily decipher that the opponent could create hand seals at a record breaking speed.

Asuma showed surprise.

"Water Style? That's unusual for a Cloud shinobi. They usually don't have a great opinion on 'soft' elements."

Kakashi frowned and voiced his analysis.

"More than that, he or she, only used a fifth of the usual seals required."

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned while panicking to himself.

That technique was a favourite of his sensei, but he doubted that he could do it much faster himself.

Shikamaru hid behind a tree and wiped off the water running down his face.

Hinata said with clear boredom.

"Over, all reaadddyyy~"

Asuma knit his eyebrows and asked,

"What do you mean? Shikamaru is still fine, isn't he?"

Hachiro replied for her.

"Not for long."

Shikamaru looked down with cold sweat dripping down his neck.

Below, his feet were firmly affixed to the what was previously puddles of water.

Guy muttered with a stern expression.

"The mist's Yuki clan..."

Tenten repeated baffled,

"Mist village's, Yuki clan?"

Why were all the special shinobi from other villages in the Cloud?

I thought Kumogakure didn't have many bloodlines.

It wasn't just her and the other genin, the Jonin' were questioning the knowledge, they had acquired in their younger days.

If it hadn't been for the fact that they were already recognised kekkai genkai, then they would have labelled that knowledge under the 'BS' section in their brains.

The Hokage started wondering if they had a talent excavator, I need that! I really need that.

Haku walked over beside Shikamaru and held a senbon needle to his throat.

"I win, right?"

Hayate nodded to himself, and announced,

"Winner, Haku Yuki!"

And like that, all three genin from the Cloud passed.

Kakashi said sarcasticly,

"Oh my, Kumogakure is one powerful village. They seem to attract talents of all sorts from all over the world."

Hachiro grinned and replied.

"It's hard being the best of the best. We do, though, make sure to cherish the talents in our village properly."

Some of the Jonin shuddered, if this trend continued, in a hundred years the Cloud would have legitamet clan's filled with bloodline users.

Next fight, Naruto Uzumaki VS Kim.

She was a genjutsu specialist from the Village hidden in sound.

Naruto didn't have many jutsu besides Multi Shadow clones and didn't even know where to start when it came to cracking illusions.

As such, within seconds...

Thud!

He fell to the ground.

Before his defeat could be announced, blood red chakra flowed out from him.

He slowly crawled back up to his feet, he dangled his head for a moment before looking at his opponent blankly.

A deep animalistic voice hummed in the air.

"Groowwlll~

The sound ninja looked at him.

Gradually, the mass of red chakra twisted into a ferocious fox face that spoke volumes of its maliciousness.

"Ahhh... AHHHHHHH!!!"

The kunoichi fell onto her butt in horror, she tried to let out a scream that was held in by her fear before even that was overcome by sheer terror.

Thud!

She fainted as her surroundings faded into a monotone white with black outline.

There is a lesson to be learnt, if your name isn't Madara, don't f*** with tailed beasts