Chapter 56: Toru vs Gaara

Standing in front of Neji, who at that moment was lying on the ground, Naruto felt that this fight was finally over.

Fate, the elite and the unsuccessful, Naruto understood a little of these words, after all he also lived something similar to this boy who was born in the secondary branch of the Hyuga clan.

"We can change ourselves, we are the ones who forge our own destiny, no matter what others say, that's the path I chose, this is my ninja path."

Clenching his fist tightly, Naruto sighed and fell to the ground, he was tired after all. Still, everyone in the stadium remained silent, they could not believe that Uzumaki Naruto had defeated Hyuga Neji in such a strange way, but this victory was completely legal, since it was Naruto himself who used his wits to defeat his opponent, so no one could say anything against it, the only thing they could do was to swallow their own words and remain silent.

"Alright, it looks like the winner is Uzumaki Naruto."

Looking at the boy lying on the ground, Genma was satisfied with the outcome of this fight. Not only was he able to see the Hyuga clan prodigy in action, but also the demon child use the chakra of the nine-tailed fox. When Naruto was enveloped in the red colored chakra, his eyes changed and he somehow looked wilder.

(This kid is strange, but somehow I like him).

With a slight smile, Genma called an end to this fight.

(Naruto used the fox chakra, it seems to be getting better as time goes by. At some point he will be able to become Hokage, if he doesn't die first.)

Crossing his arms, Toru's eyes glowed in the darkness. He had been analyzing the fight from start to finish, no doubt gaining valuable information about the Hyuga clan's techniques and the Kyubi's chakra.

For someone like Toru, who had recently obtained a new ability, the Sharingan and Byakugan were superior to the Shigan, after all he still had things to discover about this mysterious dojutsu, even so, the way he obtained it was strange, being on the verge of death gave him this ability? Maybe it's because he ate something that passed its expiration date? And what was that shadow in that place full of blood? There was no way of knowing without first investigating.

"Naruto-kun has become very strong, he defeated Onii-sama...."

Looking at Neji, Hinata felt a little pity, after all it was Naruto who taught Neji a life lesson. Hanabi on the other hand, shared the same opinion as her older sister, but apparently, Hiashi didn't.

"Where are you going, Otou-sama?"

Looking at her father who was leaving with a scroll in his hand, Hanabi was curious.

"I have business to attend to, stay here with Hinata."

After saying that, at the same time as the medical ninja were taking the unconscious Neji to the infirmary, Hiashi disappeared into the crowd, leaving his two daughters with many questions.

"The ninja of Konoha are undoubtedly talented."

Nodding his head, Kazekage was satisfied with the outcome of this confrontation. The strength and ideals of two ninjas clashed, leaving a good show where the more human side of the assassination tools known as 'ninjas' could be seen.

"It looks like they took their time to train properly, I guess it's due to the determination of these kids to better themselves every day."

With a few words, Hiruzen took a puff of smoke from his pipe and, sighing, let the smoke out in the form of a small cloud that relaxed his lungs.

Kazekage looked at him for a few seconds before narrowing his eyes. Everything was going according to Hiruzen's plan, but something was missing and that something was Sasuke.

"Looks like the boy from the Uchiha clan won't be coming."

Smiling under the veil, the man looked forward to watching Sasuke's fight against the winner of the second bout. It didn't matter much which of the two won the bout, the Kazekage wanted to see Sasuke's true strength.

But, he also wanted to see something else. The participants of the second fight were Asahi Toru and Gaara, this was something important, because no matter which of the two would take the victory, he wanted to see Toru use all his power against his enemy, and that was something that was going to happen very soon, after all his opponent is the very demon of the arena, the Jinchuriki of the one-tailed beast.

"You shouldn't be impatient, by now the Uchiha clan boy should be on his way, so don't rush things."

Closing his eyes and exhaling a small cloud of smoke, Hiruzen didn't know what to do, Sasuke didn't show up and that's a problem. With Orochimaru on the loose out there, both Toru's life and Sasuke's life will be in danger.

Hiruzen wasn't entirely sure, but he didn't know how Orochimaru managed to find out that the Asahi clan carries the blood of the Uchiha clan in their veins, why else would Orochimaru be so interested in Asahi Toru?

Hiruzen thought that Orochimaru perhaps wanted Toru because of his bloodline or possibly because he wanted to force him to awaken a Sharingan, something that for someone from the Asahi clan is impossible due to certain circumstances in the past. At the end of it all, Orochimaru's intentions are still a mystery, but this left Hiruzen with many doubts.

(What do you want to do, Orochimaru?)

Staring at the battlefield, Hiruzen saw that the second fight was about to begin. This also attracted the attention of the Kazekage, who made himself comfortable in his seat to enjoy this fight.

-Waiting room-

Passing through the waiting room, Toru was approaching the door that led him straight to the battlefield. All his equipment was already ready, for the moment he was thinking about some strategies and arranging strategies he had already thought of before.

(It's about to start, Gaara... he has a shield and sand armor that protect him from any blow, this will force me to use ninjutsu, but the first thing is to measure the opponent's strength and mental stability, so I will start with basic taijutsu, this will also help me to measure the range of the sand, it will be easier because the battlefield is big).

Looking at the ground with his hair coming his face, Toru was already thinking about how to start the fight. One of the things he won't use is the Kuchiyose no Jutsu, as it expends a large amount of chakra and wasting chakra in a fight against an enemy like Gaara was a stupid decision.

"Nii-san, why did you disappear without saying anything."

Walking through the door of the waiting room, the Hyuga sisters and Ino appeared.

"Because it's already my turn..."

Closing his eyes, Toru adjusted the strap holding the large scroll behind his back. Ino saw this and was curious, since, ever since Toru arrived she has been holding that scroll on her back.

"Anyway, the scroll on your back..."

"It's something I'm going to use during the fight, you'll see it when I use it."

Hinata and Ino were a little scared, Toru was going to face against Gaara, who can crush his enemies like ants, so they still felt a little distrustful.

"Toru-kun... be careful and... it's nothing..."

Closing her eyes, Hinata remembered some things from the past. For her, remembering such things was a bad sign, but all she could do was to stay and wait to see the outcome.

[Asahi Toru, you may advance]

Hearing a voice through a speaker that was attached to the ceiling, Toru looked forward and took a deep breath.

"Good luck, Nii-san. If you die, I'll kill you with my own hands."

Raising her hand as she waved goodbye to Toru, Hanabi felt she had to trust, after all Toru is not someone weak, she could prove that during the month-long training.

(Okay... here I go)

Passing through the door, Toru's eyes tried to get used to the bright sunlight, at the same time the shouts of excitement from the audience echoed throughout Konoha.

Murmurs from the audience were soon heard.

-That boy is from the Asahi clan, isn't he?

-The one who came in last?

-Yes, there are rumors that members of the Asahi clan cannot use ninjutsu because of the little talent they have.

-I have heard that there is now only one member in that clan.

-Well, I don't think it's that important, besides he's going to fight that kid from the Hidden Sand Village.

-I don't think he'll last long, someone with no talent for ninjutsu can't be a ninja, right?

Different opinions from different people. Human beings will always judge with their eyes and never with their brains, well, that's something Toru already knew a long time ago. So, without taking much notice of the murmurs from the audience, he walked to the center of the battlefield with his head held high.

The wind made his cloak move a little, making a small silver flash visible to everyone.

People, seeing this, began to draw their own conclusions. Some just thought they were typical ninja tools that can be found anywhere, others thought Toru was prepared to cheat and, those who remained, stood quietly watching intently.

At the same time, Sakura, Naruto and Rock Lee had joined the group of Ino and the Hyuga sisters, who returned to the stand as quickly as Toru went out to the battlefield,

"Bunnies, you're looking good!"

Holding up a thumbs up, Naruto eyed the big-browed boy curiously. Lee had bandages on most of his body, as well as carrying two crutches in his hands due to the weakness of his legs at the moment.

"Haha, thanks. I've been trying my best, no matter how injured I am, I will always get up and keep going."

Looking at Lee with wide eyes, Sakura recalled the preliminaries. Rock Lee had been beaten up by Gaara, so she thought the mushroom hairstyle boy would be depressed, but it was quite the opposite, indeed, he seemed to be more positive than usual.

"What are you two talking about?"

Approaching the group of ninjas that had gathered, Kiba appeared next to Enko and Shino. The ninja looked at each other before Naruto's voice was heard.

"Hm... I thought you wouldn't come here, you didn't pass the final exam after all."

"Even if I didn't qualify, I have the right to come and watch my teammates' fights."

Looking at Naruto, Kiba was a bit angry, ever since he lost the fight against him, Naruto started to tease him about it every time they saw each other, but after thinking about it for a bit, Kiba felt that he deserved this, after all he always belittled Naruto.

"Ino-chan, after this fight we're next, don't be nervous."

With a big smile on her face, Enko gave a thumbs up. After trying to kill Hakuto, she felt guilty, so in this last month, she asked her father for help so she could control her wild side. Thanks to a lot of effort and dedication, she managed to stay sane while using the possession summoning.

Meanwhile, in a place a little further away, was Shikamaru's team.

"This is going to be interesting, I was lucky I brought some snacks before we went in."

Throwing some food in his mouth, Chouji looked around the battlefield intently. This made Shikamaru sigh tiredly, as Chouji was making too much noise while eating and also because Hakuto was holding onto his arm.

"Hakuto, let go of me."

"Oh, sorry! I didn't even notice, I'm so sorry!"

Letting go of Shikamaru's arm, Hakuto felt embarrassed, as he was inadvertently hugging his teammate's arm.

-Battlefield-

Approaching the center of the battlefield, Gaara looked at his opponent with narrowed eyes. Right now, the demon in his inner aged blood, wished to crush his enemy and bathe in his blood, obviously the expression on his face remained neutral on the outside, although under the layer of sand acting as armor, Gaara had a big disturbing smile.

At the same time, Toru sighed and looked at the audience.

(People are very noisy, but... this feels familiar. Being surrounded by people, hearing the voices sound in unison, but still... it feels disgusting, like I've experienced something similar in the past, yet I still can't remember.)

Shaking his head, Toru questioned his own sanity, as he was once again thinking about things he shouldn't care about.

"Come closer, both of you."

Looking at the two children, Genma raised his hand.

Almost instantly, the entire stadium fell silent. Hinata, Hanabi, Ino, Naruto, Sakura, Rock Lee, all his former ninja academy classmates looked at Toru.

"If you are ready, respond..."

Genma looked at Toru, then at Gaara. The two boys responded with a slight nod, confirming that they were ready for this fight.

"Then, let the second fight begin, NOW!"

The instant Genma finished speaking, Toru jumped back and pulled out two daggers from his clothes. Like two iron thorns, the daggers reflected the sunlight and could be visible to the audience. With a black hilt, the blade was of a silvery color which shone due to the good maintenance it has had, and it was as if it had thorns on the edges.

At the same time that Toru walked away, the cork of Gaara's gourd bottle shot upwards and seconds later fell to the ground, rolling to a stop.

(Let's begin)

Crossing his arms, Gaara allowed sand to pour out of the bottle, which sprayed onto the ground covering his feet a bit.

Toru saw this and narrowed his eyes.

(As I measure the extent of the sand, I mustn't let it catch me).

Thinking of that, Toru was the first to attack.

Arriving quickly, Toru tried to cut Gaara with one of his daggers, but it didn't work, the sand rose from the ground and protected him.

"Is that all?"

Looking Toru in the eyes, Gaara felt disappointed, after all Toru didn't show the speed from that day in the preliminaries.

"No..."

Looking back at him, Toru threw another punch, but the sand did its job and stopped the dagger strike successfully.

Toru didn't like this, as the sand managed to catch his arm.

(What a disappointment...)

Closing his eyes, Gaara sighed and raised his hand. At the same time, the sand obeyed its master, and threw Toru away from it.

The stability of Toru's body was lost, as he had been thrown away, the only thing he could do was to restrain himself by stabbing the daggers into the ground.

-This is a bit...

-It seems that the victory belongs to the boy from the Sand Village.

-How did he make it to the final exam?

The murmurs were heard again. Everyone expected a little more from Toru, as he was one of the talented ninja who made it to the final exam, but his fighting was anything but talented.

*Boom!

The sound of the sand hitting the ground echoed in the place. This made the expression on Toru's face change.

(Finish the preparations, the sand can reach each end of the battlefield. Apparently Gaara's body can't withstand heavy blows, I guess being protected by that pile of sand neglected his physical training.)

Shaking his head, Toru was already prepared to fight for real. So, throwing one of the two daggers into the sky, he made the ram hand seal with one hand and with the other he held the remaining dagger, at the same time closing his eyes.

"Shigan!"

Saying this one word, Toru opened his eyes and they glowed brightly. The pupil now had the shape of a black colored X, while the edges of the iris glowed blue like the sky.

Gaara was impressed by this, so he made the sand rise up and impact Toru, but when the sand came, Toru was gone.

"I'm here."

Appearing behind Gaara, Toru took a swing with the dagger, but the sand managed to barely block it. Still disappearing and reappearing, leaving residual images of his movements, Toru was moving at a speed that made everyone in the arena's jaw drop to the ground.

The Kazekage didn't seem to believe it, as he had risen from his seat to get a better look.

(Those eyes... those eyes...)

Breathing heavily, the Kazekage was acting weird, or so Hiruzen thought.

(Someone who carries the blood of the Uchiha in his veins, huh...).

With a smile on his mouth, Hiruzen had great expectations ahead of him.

_______

Author's note: Who will win, Toru or Gaara? Place your bets.

Now that I remember, I changed the prologue, you can read it if you want, you won't expect what's written.