Battle

Satsuki smirked as her hands had a light blue glow to it. Yoroi widened his eyes in shock, recognizing it as his Jutsu.

"But how—" Yoroi widened his eyes egem more as he looked at the Sharingan in Satsuki's eyes glowing menacingly at him.

"I had it on from the start." Satsuki whispered before she appeared in front of Yoroi via Body Flicker.

*BAAM!!!*

Yoroi spat out blood as Satsuki punched him in the solar plexus with a chakra enhanced punch. He felt her absorbing a bunch of his chakra with the Chakra Absorption Jutsu.

Satsuki continued with her combo of punches to her opponent's torso and head relentlessly, taking a chunk of Yoroi's chakra with each punch. She turned around delivered a devastating chakra enhanced roundhouse kick to Yoroi's head, sending him flying back and crashing into the brick wall of the arena building.

Yoroi fell out of the crater and his neck was grabbed by Satsuki who stared into his soul with her Sharingan flaring menacingly.

"Give up, or I'll absorb all of your chakra in your body and kill you." Satsuki threatened while leaking out her killing intent. Yoroi got scared and immediately raised his uncontrollably shaking hand.

"I give—GAK!!!"

Goroi was punched in the solar plexus by Satsuki. She let the unconscious body fall onto the ground. Satsuki sneered down at Yoroi.

"Do you think I'm stupid? You still have the Chakra Absorption Jutsu activated." Satsuki muttered as Hayate went over to check on Yoroi.

After confirming that Yoroi was gonna be fine, he stood up and raised Satsuki's hand. "Winner! Uchiha Satsuki!!" He announced. Satsuki smiled to herself as she heard Naruto clapping his hands while cheering her loudly.

She put her hands into her pockets and walked up the stairs while the Medic-nin on standby put Yoroi on the stretcher and carried him away.

Two more names appeared on the board.

'Yamanaka Ino vs Haruno Sakura'

Without wasting any time, Sakura leaped off the platform she was standing on and landed on the ground gracefully.

She waited for Ino who used the Body Flicker to appear in front of her. The two looked at each other seriously. Everyone could feel the tension in the air.

"Go! Sakura-chan!! You can do it!!" Naruto shouted with a grin on his face. Sakura smirked as she cracked her knuckles, making Ino gulp at her gesture.

"Are both fighters ready?" Hayate asked after recovering from a coughing fit. When they both signaled readiness Hayate nodded.

"Start!!"

"I hope you know Ino, there's no hard feelings behind this." Sakura reminded Ino who nodded.

" Yeah I know. Let's get on with it." Ino whispered back before assuming her fighting stance. Sakura dashed towards Ino who widened her eyes at how fast the pink haired kunoichi was.

"Clone Jutsu." She whispered as she created 10 afterimages of herself to move alongside her. Ino widened her eyes in shock as Sakura didn't use any hand seals for the Jutsu.

"Woah! No hand seals! How does she do that?!" Tenten asked with a shocked expression. Kakashi hummed, impressed at how far Sakura has grown in just a month of training.

"Sakura has gotten so skilled in summoning and moulding her chakra that she doesn't need hand seals for such a simple technique like the Clone Jutsu anymore." Kakashi explained to them. Naruto's proud grin could not get any wider.

Hiruzen was also watching this on the sidelines and he was impressed too. "Sakura-chan's chakra control must be very good to be able to use a Jutsu without any hand seals. Even if it's an E-rank, it's still impressive." Hiruzen whispered to himself.

'They're all moving so fast! I can't even tell which one's the real one—

"Earth Style: Ripping Drill Fang."

*BAAAM!!!!*

Ino spat out blood as Sakura launched out from the ground below her and punched her on the jaw, sending Ino flying up to the air.

Ino's feet were grabbed by Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi pulled her down and slammed her onto the ground face first, cratering it. Ino grunted in pain as she suffer even more injuries.

"Yeah, Ino's losing this one." Shikamaru muttered confidently, Choji looked at him with a shocked expression.

"How dare you Shika! Have some faith in your friend!" Choji argued with him. Shikamaru looked at him lazily.

" Dude, she only knows one Jutsu and that's her clan's Jutsu, Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu. How the hell do you think she's gonna use that when Sakura's basically moving in a blur?" Shikamaru asked him.

" But still.... why not support her? " Choji asked himself. Shikamaru shook his head.

" It's a drag and I don't wanna face the disappoinment and sadness if I do support her. It's better if I just stay neutral." Shikamaru grumbled back, but everyone could tell that he had a worried expression on his face.

'Damnit Ino! This is exactly why I told you to train harder and be more versatile than just being a one trick pony.' Shikamaru scolded Ino in his mind.

Ino gritted her teeth as she stood up. She took out some shuriken and kunai before throwing them at Sakura who raised her hands and casually caught them.

Sakura threw them back at Ino who flinched as the shuriken and kunai grazed her skin, giving her small cuts all over her body.

Ino staggered back a little and bumped into something. It was an earth wall created by Sakura's Earth Style Barrier Jutsu.

"Woah, it wasn't there a minute ago. It just suddenly appeared like magic. Just how good is Pinky's Genjutsu?" Omoi muttered to himself.

" Good enough to fool the whole stadium with how subtle she is with it. " Karui replied while staring at the fight intensely. She always thought the Genjutsu was a pretty useless section of the Shinobi arts unless used properly.

"C'mon Ino, give up. I don't want to hurt you." Sakura muttered to her. Ino snorted and assumed her fighting stance again.

"Like hell I will!" Ino shouted. Sakura sighed to herself as Ino charged towards her again. Ino widened her eyes as her movements became sloppy and her body became numb all of the sudden.

"Ugh...." Ino groaned as she landed on the ground in front of Sakura. Sakura stood over her while looking down at the blonde.

Hayate went over and flipped over Ino. He looked at her body and found extremely thin needles stuck in Ino's stomach and legs.

"Damn, needles used in acupunctures." He whispered before coughing a little.

"They're coated with anesthetics. I threw them when I caught the shuriken and kunai Ino threw at me before I threw them back, adding the anesthetic needles with it." Sakura explained as she gently took out the needles from Ino's body.

"She'll wake up in a few minutes." She added while letting Hayate grab her hand and raise it up high.

"Winner! Haruno Sakura!!" He declared as there was some applause given to the pink haired kunoichi. Naruto was the loudest one of them all.

"That's my Sakura-chan!!!" The blonde shouted energetically as Shikamaru looked at him weirdly but decided not to speak about it.

Sakura carried Ino up to the platform as the rest of Team 10 and Asuma approached her. "She'll be awake in a couple of minutes. I'll heal her cuts now." Sakura quickly told them before laying Ino against the wall. A bright green glow covered her palm as Sakura started healing Ino's cuts.

"Dude." Naruto called Shikamaru who turned to him. Shikamaru looked at what Naruto was pointing at and groaned. Two names have appeared on the board.

'Nara Shikamaru vs Omoi'

"Good luck." Naruto grinned at Shikamaru who hummed as he walked past him.

"One Jutsu is all I need to win this." Shikamaru told them, surprising them at how bold he suddenly became.

"Pft!! He's just messing with y'all!" Kiba stated after snorting. Naruto chuckled.

"Shikamaru ain't the type to joke around during serious situations. I know him better than anyone, he'll win this in one move. " Naruto replied confidently. Everyone stayed silent as they looked at Shikamaru who was picking his ear with his pinky finger while standing in the middle of the arena.

Hayate coughed a little while looking at the Nara. 'He's so casual. But inside his mind, he's already 10 steps ahead of you before you even know it. That's how the mind of a Nara works. Every single step you make, every single breath you take, is all apart of his plan.' Hayate thought while trying not to smirk out in the open. The Kumo nin is about to be in for one hell of a ride.

Omoi gulped as he looked at Shikamaru in the eyes. He was sweating profusely while thinking about a thousand things at once.

Omoi is a very cautious person and likes to think things through before acting, and as a result, gets lost in his thoughts quite often. He is more level-headed than Karui, but often demonstrates a wild imagination and has a habit of exaggerating the end result of minor things.

'What's with this guy? He's so casual about all of this! Could I be fighting the Hokage himself right now? Oh Sage! What should I do?' Omoi panicked in his mind.

"Start!" Hayate declared as Omoi jumped back while unsheathing his katana. Shikamaru stared at Omoi before smirking evilly, scaring Omoi who began to think that Shikamaru was about to unleash some mega destructive Jutsu.

Shikamaru channeled chakra to his legs and dashed at Omoi at full speed. Omoi widened his eyes at his sudden movements and raised his katana.

Shikamaru arrived in front of Omoi who swung his katana downwards at the Nara. Shikamaru raised his right hand and grabbed the blade.

He grunted as he felt the pain of being cut by the katana. Blood flowed down his right arm and dripped onto the ground.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu complete." Shikamaru muttered before jumping back. Omoi widened his eyes in disbelief as he jumped back the same time with Shikamaru. He also jumped back the same distance as Shikamaru did.

"That's what happens when you overthink." The Nara told him as he raised his right hand. Omoi raised his right hand, mimicking Shikamaru's movements. Coincidentally, Omoi was also holding his katana in his right hand.

"Oi!!! Omoi!!! What the hell are you doing?!" Karui shouted angrily at Omoi. Omoi ignored her as Shikamaru made him point the tip of the katana at his neck.

Omoi could only talk. And he decided to do the most logical thing in his mind.

"Proctor..... I give up!"

To be continued...