Chapter 15: Second Game: The Hidden Gems

AN: Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing well. Haven't wrote an AN in awhile.

WARNING: There is a bit of a "Rated" Scene in this chapter. Please Skip if you do not wish to read it. That is all. Thanks!

Chapter 15

Izaya and Hanabi were currently asleep on their hotel bed with the only source of light being the small sliver of sunlight that was able to peek through the tiny slit of the undrawn curtains. Hanabi was stirred awake as she felt Izaya tossing and turning next to her. As she rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them to see why Izaya was being so unrestful she frowned at what she saw and heard. Izaya was currently shifting in bed as he breathed heavily mumbling words of anguish. Sweat drenched his naked torso and his face scrunched up in pain. His muscles began to tense up as he balled up his hands into fists so tightly he would soon draw blood in his palms. Hanabi panicked a little inside and quickly shook Izaya awake.

"Hanabi!" Izaya shouted as he shot up in bed with a frightened expression.

Hanabi instantly wrapped her arms around Izaya from behind his back and embraced him in a warm comforting hug as she softly whispered in his ear, "I'm here...It's okay Izaya. It's just a nightmare. I'm right here."

At the sound of Hanabi's soft soothing voice his heavy and rapid breathing began to slowly calm down. After a minute or two of comforting silence Izaya finally took one last deep breath before returning to reality. He rested his forehead in the palm of his right hand as he felt a pounding headache reverberate in his mind. Hanabi frowned concernedly and let go of Izaya as she slowly crawled in front of him.

"Izaya? What's wrong?"

Izaya simply kept his eyes shut as the pounding headache continued to hammer away at his brain. The images of his nightmare flashing past his mind. The horrid images of Hanabi being taken from him. Of her being defiled. Of her being tortured. Of her pleading and begging for him to save her. A tear unknowingly fell from his eyes causing Hanabi to truly worry now. She repositioned herself by straddling his hips and embraced him in another heartwarming hug letting him rest his head against her shoulder.

"Izaya. It's okay. It's just a bad dream."

After another minute in silence the horrid images finally stopped flashing through Izaya's mind and the pounding in his head went away. Then without warning he immediately wrapped his arms around Hanabi and squeezed her tight to his chest deathly afraid of letting her go. His actions only caused Hanabi to worry more and more as she wondered exactly what sort of nightmare Izaya had that made him like this.

In all the years I've known and been with Izaya he's never had a nightmare this bad. What's going on?

She simply let Izaya embrace her as long as he wanted. She was startled when she started feeling drops of water fall on her exposed shoulder.

I-Is Izaya crying? What exactly did he dream about?

She frowned and ripped herself out of Izaya's tight embrace so she could face him, but she was a bit startled at what she saw. Izaya had tears streaming down his face as he looked incredibly hurt and pained. His eyes reflected lost, sadness, anger, frustration, and beneath all of that, murderous bloodlust. Hanabi felt just as pained seeing Izaya like this so she simply leaned in and gently kissed away the tears on his face.

"I love you. Everything's going to be okay."

Izaya simply nodded. "Hanabi. I think I might become a monster if the day ever comes where I lose you."

Hanabi was startled by his answer but simply nuzzled her face in his neck. "No you won't. I know it."

Izaya gritted his teeth. "You're right...I won't because I'll be damned if I ever lose you like that."

Hanabi raised her eyebrow curiously. "Lose me like what?"

Izaya shook his head. "I don't want to recall those images."

Hanabi simply nodded. "Izaya...you never had a nightmare this bad. Are you sure you're okay?"

He frowned as he turned to look at the black box in the corner of the room. "I'm fine. It was just a bad dream, but I'm pretty sure it was because of the influence of that black box."

Hanabi inwardly flinched as she too turned to stare at the Dark Moon Box they acquired from Kai that was in the corner of the room. "That thing? But it didn't affect me. Are you sure?"

Izaya nodded. "It felt like the pounding headache I had was somehow resonating with that box before it was drawn away by it. I think I was the only one affected since I was temporarily sealed inside."

Hanabi gave it some thought before nodding in agreement. "Well Kai did say that it was associated with the Otsutsuki clan. It's possible that one of its functions is to cause or accentuate nightmares?"

Izaya frowned at the mention of Kai's name as he had appeared in his nightmare. "Don't say his name. I should have killed him myself." Izaya growled darkly with murderous intent.

Hanabi slightly trembled at the sound and feel of Izaya's words. Izaya took notice and immediately turned his head away from her. "I-I'm sorry Hanabi. I didn't mean to scare you. I don't know what came over me just now. The images from my nightmare are still lingering around a bit inside my head."

Hanabi clenched her fist before she gripped the sides of Izaya's face forcing him to look at her.

"Izaya. Do you see any fear in my eyes?"

Izaya bit his lips in shame but did as she commanded and slowly stared in her eyes, however he was a bit taken aback. Hanabi smiled at his reaction.

"See. I will never be fearful of you. No matter what you do or say. I only know how to love you. And that's all I ever will know. If the images of those nightmares are so horrid..." She then dipped her head down and kissed the nape of his neck. "...then how about we replace those images with something else? Whatever you want."

Izaya's heart pounded in his chest as he gripped Hanabi's waist and growled in possessive desire, "You're mine!"

RATED SCENE BEGINS: PLEASE SKIP TO WHERE THE STORY RESUMES FROM UNRATED SCENE

In no time at all her thin nightgown was lost somewhere in the corner of the room as Izaya pushed her down on the large spacious bed. Their current situation immediately made Hanabi recall the night that Izaya had been poisoned by an aphrodisiac and she couldn't help but shudder with anticipation knowing that Izaya wouldn't hold back his carnal desire. Just the thought of knowing that Izaya wouldn't hold back on her at this moment made her ache all over with want. Izaya forced her down on her hands and knees as he embraced her smooth naked body from behind.

"Tell me what you want Hanabi?" He said with a heavy breath steeped in dark arousal.

Her entire body shuddered. The weight of his tall muscular body against hers. The feel of his incredible arousal brushing between her burning thighs. It was too much. She was more than ready. She was so ready that it ached not having Izaya take her already. She clenched her fists around the bedsheets and replied in near desperation, "You...please Izaya, I need you!"

"Damn it Hanabi! You're mine!" Izaya shouted in desire as he gripped her tiny waist and instantly filled her with no reservation. He couldn't help tilting his head back in pure ecstasy as he growled out.

"Nghhhh! Haaaaaa! Hanabi!"

She had wanted to respond but no words came to mind. She had already gone over the edge, but Izaya didn't let up for a moment and she didn't want him to. She simply felt too good. She couldn't even scream in pleasure because she was losing her breath at the rough way Izaya was loving her. Several more thrusts and that was all it took for her to lose it once more and reach that incredible high. The strength in her arms gave in as she collapsed on the bed burying her face and chest in the sheets and pillows. Her entire being quaked and trembled in the next instant as she felt Izaya bite down on her soft, smooth, and sweaty shoulder sending a feeling of pain and pleasure coursing through her entire body. Izaya's action caused him to pause just momentarily, but that momentary pause finally gave Hanabi the chance to catch her breath and release the howling scream of pleasure she had been wanting to shout all this time.

STORY CONTINUES FROM THIS POINT: RATED SCENE IS OVER

It wasn't until 4 hours later that the both of them made their way downstairs to the reception area. Izaya was currently piggybacking Hanabi around as her legs felt like pure jelly at this moment for obvious reasons. Izaya couldn't stop the grin that was plastered on his face and Hanabi couldn't help but continue to blush embarrassedly. After they had...made new memories they had gotten ready for the day. The Second part of the Games were being held at noon so they had about 15 minutes left to reach the Game site. During their little walk through the hotel they overheard people complaining about loud pounding noises that wouldn't stop for hours. Some people said they heard loud screaming. Many people had different speculations of what it was. Some were right of course...others were completely off.

As Izaya and Hanabi were about to leave the Hotel the reception desk staff quickly asked, "Excuse me. My apologies for stopping you so abruptly. I was just wondering, do you two know anything about a loud pounding noise or loud screaming? You see my friend and I were debating about it. Everyone we've asked so far has given us mixed answers but the most popular two was that it was either a ghost, or some couple madly going at it. The thing is...most people are starting to lean towards it being a ghost cause I mean...4 hours? Heh, unless that couple never runs out of stamina it seems pretty unlikely right?"

Izaya and Hanabi's face instantly flushed red as they quickly turned to face away from the reception desk staff member and replied, "Umm...maybe both?"

The staff member furrowed his brow for a moment before it seemed like he had an epiphany. "Both?! Ah, perhaps! It was two ghosts madly going at it! That would also explain the entire stamina issue! To think that our hotel is haunted by two lustful ghosts. Now that's a story."

Izaya and Hanabi just quickly made their way out of the Hotel as Izaya let out a loud laugh in amusement at how ridiculous the situation turned out. Hanabi pouted and hid her flushed face embarrassedly behind Izaya's back as she mumbled, "It's not funny...everyone heard us…"

Izaya grinned and continued piggybacking Hanabi making his way to the Game site. "Well...you have to admit that it's a little funny."

Hanabi poked Izaya's cheek. "Hmpf..."

While Izaya and Hanabi continued on their way all the participants were already waiting in their designated areas. Konohamaru sat on his chair with his brow furrowed in deep contemplation as he commented, "Let's not rush when we get out on the field. This time every single team is participating at once. We'll all be placed in one area and we have to survive for 6 hours in the field. The terrain has four giant mountains in each of the cardinal directions and the area in the middle is a forest of stone trees. There's a river that flows across from one mountain to another and there are a few deep trenches around the area as well. The name of this Game is called The Hidden Gems. As the name suggests there are hidden gems scattered throughout the field. According to the rules only 4 gems per team is set in the area. That means that since there are a total of 18 teams the total amount of gems hidden throughout the field is 72. Also, each participating team begins with 10 gems. At the end of the 6 hours any team without at least 14 gems will be disqualified-kore. Also, once a team obtains 24 gems they are no longer allowed to battle for or allowed to keep gems they find. If they violate this rule they will be disqualified. They are, however, allowed to defend themselves should they be attacked. There is also a rule that states that any person discovered or found to be unconscious or currently unfit for combat should be left to their own devices until they regain consciousness or revive themselves into a combat ready state, however raiding gems from unconscious individuals is allowed. Failure to comply with this rule and regulation will disqualify the team that breaks it. Each gem is worth 5 points-kore."

Hiroshi raised his eyebrow in curiosity at Konohamaru's quick summary and so he also commented, "Then...that means that since 4 gems are placed for every participating team, then there's exactly enough gems scattered throughout the field for each team to pass since each team starts out with 10. In the end everyone only needs to find 4 and wait 6 hours to pass."

Zen nodded but interjected, "True, but it's not going to be that easy. For instance how easy will it be to find these gems? I doubt they're just laying out in the open and I'm sure there are even traps laid around these gems making it more difficult to obtain. Also, what is the point of giving every team 10 gems to start out with if gems will be scattered throughout the area? It's obviously to encourage teams to engage one another in battle for gems. In some cases it may be easier to just battle one team and defeat them to obtain 10 gems at once instead of going through the trouble of finding hidden gems one at a time. There is also a gem cap at 24 and a regulation against fighting at that point. Not only that but there is a rule against tampering with and shaming individuals unfit for combat. This means that while they encourage teams to engage in battle they don't encourage bullying or continued physical abuse against one another. It also means that since fighting one team is enough for 10 gems it could automatically bring you up to 20 gems. But you would still be 4 gems short of the max so it still encourages you to search for hidden gems and not disregard the hunt. And even if you don't want to find hidden gems and battle another team for the remaining 4 gems you aren't allowed to take all of their gems if you max out. It's also possible that when you fight a team you won't be successful in recovering all 10 of their gems anyways. If I recall the Games were created by Karasuma-sensei correct? Heh...this sort of deeply thought out and intricate game play sounds exactly like something sensei would come up with."

Shikadai nodded in agreement. "My dad said that one of the purposes that Lord 6th designed the Games for is to give a proper stage and environment for shinobi to continue honing and testing their skills so they don't remain unpolished. It's a way to help shinobi gain proper experience without the need to kill each other. Anyways, I agree with what you said. Teams are probably usually encouraged to find 4 gems themselves and then engage in battle at least once for 10 gems totaling 24 gems off the bat and then they just have to wait out the 6 hours. Obviously this isn't the only combination to reach 24 gems and obviously the requirement isn't even a need to obtain 24 gems. It's just 14. But if any team wants a better chance at winning the competition then they will try their best to obtain as many gems as they possibly can. In the end if we can collect 24 gems with each gem being 5 points we can gain a total of 120 points."

Konohamaru nodded at everyone's analysis and took out the 10 gems given to them earlier on. "Alright, now let's decide who should hold onto the gems-kore."

Shikadai thought for a moment before suggesting, "How about this. Konohamaru-sensei, you hold onto 4 gems and the rest of us will hold onto 2 gems each. This way if something happens to you we'll still have our gems and if something happens to one of us we'll only lose a small portion of our gems. It won't hurt us that badly."

Everyone nodded in agreement. It was then every single team was called to step out from their designated area and into the field. After confirming the legitimacy of everyone's gems the start of the 2nd Game began. Konohamaru took the lead as Hiroshi and Shikadai ran in the middle whilst Zen brought up the rear in their formation. Immediately Hiroshi activated his Byakugan allowing him to easily scope out the area. As they continued to run and dash about Hiroshi smirked and pointed in the north east direction. "Over there I see a gem. It's 900 meters away. Surprisingly these gems are distanced quite a ways apart. I don't see another gem nearby for at least another 1.7 km in the distance west of our location."

Shikadai stared at Hiroshi in amazement. "Oi, Hiroshi, just how far can you see with your Byakugan anyways?"

Hiroshi smirked and proudly replied, "When I use my Byakugan I can naturally see everything within an 800 meter radius around me without having to focus. If I focus hard enough I can extend that range to 1.5 kilometers all around me. And if I truly focus in one direction at a time I can see up to 3 kilometers. Currently that's my limit. I need to train more. Compared to mom and aunt Hinata 3 kilometers is nothing."

Shikadai simply stared dumbfoundedly at Hiroshi's statement. In fact it wasn't just him. Even Konohamaru and Zen were a bit speechless at just how far Hiroshi could see. It wasn't long before they reached the site of the hidden gem. "Alright everyone be careful. It seems Zen was right when he said how it might not be so easy to obtain these gems. There's some sort of strange seal placed over it. I'm not really sure what it's for."

Zen frowned and asked, "Can you describe what it looks like?"

Hiroshi nodded and instead of describing it he grabbed a nearby rock and drew the picture of the seal on the ground. As Konohamaru and Zen took in the picture they both knew what it was immediately.

"It's a summoning seal trap." They both said at the same time. They then turned to look at each other a bit awkwardly as Konohamaru lightly rubbed the back of his neck and commented, "Hahaha...right, you probably learnt of seals from Lord 6th correct? Not bad."

Zen shook his head in response. "I'm alright with seals. I recognize it but I still have a long way to go before I can say I'm even proficient in Sealing Jutsu."

Hiroshi just scratched the side of his cheek as he interjected, "So...how do we disarm it?"

Konohamaru just shook his head. "They must have had a Sealing Ninjutsu master place the seal on. We have two options. Waste a lot of time to remove the seal, or just trigger the trap and deal with it hoping that it isn't anything too crazy-kore."

Shikadai just let out a sigh. "What a pain."

Hiroshi just shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, then let's just spring the trap. If it's a summoning seal trap then it'll either be some sort of creature or wooden puppets like during the Chunin Exams."

Konohamaru nodded. "Are we all in agreement that we should spring the trap?"

Everyone nodded and quickly dashed back to distance themselves as Hiroshi placed his hands on the ground and created a wooden vine that dug up the gem. Instantly the disturbance of the gem's resting spot triggered the summoning trap as a bright light and a large puff of white smoke appeared where the gem was. As the smoke cleared it revealed a giant 14 meter tall gray and black snail. Konohamaru widened his eyes in shock and exclaimed, "A Tar Snail Summoning! Everyone get back!"

Immediately they all dashed further away as a giant black inky pool of tar oozed out from the snail's shell and filled the area around it. Hiroshi frowned at this new development. "What the hell is a Tar Snail? And what in the world is that black goo?"

As the four of them grouped back together Konohamaru narrowed his eyes in focus. "If you get trapped in that tar it'll be incredibly difficult to get out. It's super sticky. On top of that it's flammable. One lick of flame and it'll set the whole thing on fire. Worst, the Tar Snail is resistant to most flames. Normal Fire Ninjutsu won't do anything to it."

Zen activated his Sharingan and observed the Tar Snail and took note of the gem embedded on the back of the shell. "The gem. There seems to be some sort of chakra that is being infused through it. It's probably what's keeping the snail summoned. If we remove it the snail should disappear."

Shikadai furrowed his brow in contemplation. "Easier said than done. How do we get close enough to it?"

Zen stood up and took out several kunai as he prepared to engage the snail. "Konohamaru-sensei, how fast are Tar Snails?"

"Errr...not very fast. Their strength lies in their unique tar property. Why?"

Zen then pointed to Shikadai. "Then it should be relatively easy for you to restrain it with your Shadow Paralysis Jutsu. Hiroshi can guard you from any projectile attacks it uses and once you're close enough you can restrict its movements. After that it'll be safe to dislodge the gem, which I'll do."

Konohamaru pointed to himself a bit lost and asked, "That's a good plan. But...what about me-kore?"

The three Chunin simply stared at Konohamaru and thought for a moment before they all said at the same time, "Keep a lookout."

Konohamaru felt his soul leave his body at the blunt response his team gave him. Just as Shikadai and Hiroshi approached within 20 meters of the snail it took notice of their presence and spat giant tar bullets right at them. Hiroshi widened his eyes in shock at the speed of the Tar Snail's attack and quickly shouted, "Wood Style: Wood Wall Jutsu!" Immediately a thick giant wooden wall appeared in front of them intercepting the tar bullets successfully. With Hiroshi's Byakugan he easily continued to monitor the snail and their own position as he controlled the wooden wall to shift forward ever so slowly acting as their shield. Just as they were close enough for Shikadai to use his Shadow Paralysis Jutsu Hiroshi widened his eyes in shock once more. This time in a bit of panic as he quickly grabbed Shikadai and dashed back as far as he could just before his entire wooden wall and the ground beneath them burst into a giant hole with gooey black tar leaking from it.

"What the hell just happened?" Shikadai exclaimed.

Hiroshi could only frown and shake his head. "That thing must have sensed something was wrong so it used its tar to dig under the ground and erupt beneath us. If I didn't have my Byakugan active we would have been toast."

It was then a hailstorm of black tar began raining from the sky right towards them. Hiroshi quickly placed his hands together and shouted, "Wood Style: Wood Dome Jutsu!" Instantly several giant wooden domes covered not only him and Shikadai, but also Konohamaru and Zen protecting them all from the thick gooey substance.

"Any plan B?!" Konohamaru shouted through his wooden dome.

Zen frowned at their current predicament.

Guess I have no choice. I'll have to reveal my Kekkei Genkai early.

"Hiroshi, tell me the snail's current position from my position."

Hiroshi raised his eyebrow curiously at Zen's comment but quickly said, "5 meters west, 28 meters north."

Immediately Zen placed his hands together and 7 brilliant flames of different colored lights floated around his wooden dome. He then focused 5 meters west and 28 meters north as he formed the sign of Dragon, Bird, and Ram before saying, "Ghost Flame Style: Blue Fire Scorching Heat." The shining blue fire floating around the wooden dome immediately flickered and condensed into an orb of pure heat before it shot through the air as a giant flamethrower right at the Tar Snail. The snail responded by blasting out a stream of its murky black tar from its mouth. The clash between blue fire and black tar caused black smoke to rise in the air. The fumes created from the collision were less than pleasant, however the blue fire began to easily overpower the tar from the snail. The heat created from the blue flames were so hot that even though it wasn't touching the pool of tar on the ground it was still lit aflame. The tar snail screeched in agony as blue fire wreathed its body. Even though it was resistant to most flames it couldn't bear the intensity of the blue fire and instantly disappeared in a puff of smoke. As Zen heard the screech of the snail come to a halt he knew that it had disappeared so he did all he could to focus on the blue fire that still burned through the area and forced it all to dissipate and vanish.

Hiroshi was the only one on their team who saw everything happen and his only expression was his jaw dropping to the ground with his eyes wide open in shock. He slowly released everyone's wooden dome but his expression remained the same. Completely dumbfounded and astonished. Shikadai and Konohamaru could only look at everyone completely confused as they had no idea what transpired. It was Hiroshi who came back to his senses and asked, "Z-Zen?! What in the world was that?! It was awesome! How come you didn't tell us you had such an amazing power?"

Zen took a few deep breaths to steady his mind. "I didn't want to use this power if possible. I've been training with sensei but it still currently takes a lot of my focus to use this power at full force like that. I can manage a few shots here and there, but to ensure the defeat of something as large as that snail it takes a lot out of me. Plus it's easier if I can visually see my target. I haven't gotten to the part of my training with sensei yet where I can efficiently use this Jutsu without sight."

Konohamaru was about to walk over to where the gem had fallen but quickly stopped in his tracks as the heat of the ground and the area surrounding it was so incredibly hot that he would get burned just by entering the vicinity. "What in the world kind of Jutsu was it? It's so hot I can't even walk by the area."

Hiroshi quickly utilized his Wood Style to collect the gem and formed a wooden box to hold it until the gem cooled down. "Don't worry about Zen's Jutsu Konohamaru-sensei. We have something else to worry about right now."

"Eh? Like what?"

Hiroshi turned serious as he pointed in their 7 o'clock direction. "Sunagakure's second team is 70 meters and closing." And as Hiroshi stated in but mere moments four shinobi of Sunagakure stood before them. Their lead Jonin was named Matsuri as she greeted, "Hello. From the looks of it you're all Leaf shinobi. If I'm not mistaken you're the Jonin-sensei Konohamaru. Grandson of the Third Hokage. The three Chunins on your team are Hiroshi, the son of the 6th Hokage, Shikadai, son of the Hokage's advisor and user of the Nara clan's Secret Shadow Possession Jutsu, and the last member on your team is Zen. He's a bit of a mystery."

Konohamaru smirked and stood in front of Zen and the others as he also greeted. "You're right. I see you did your homework-kore. I also know about you. You're Matsuri. You were once tutored by the 5th Kazekage many years ago and specialize in the Johyo weapon. The three Chunins on your team are Ren, Han, and Sylo, who happens to be a user of the Magnet Style that specializes in magnetizing metal weapons for combat."

A palpable tension filled the area between both sides before the stare off was broken from several kunai flying through the air straight at Konohamaru magnetically controlled by Sylo, however Hiroshi already took note of the magnetic kunai thanks to his Byakugan and shouted, "Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

Cling! Clank! Ting! Tink! Cling!

Sylo frowned and praised, "Not bad. Since you know I magnetize metal you used a technique that doesn't involve metal to defend against my attack."

Soon after a battle commenced between them. Ren immediately utilized a Lightning Ninjutsu technique to coat all of Sylo's metal kunai giving them more power as Matsuri pulled out her Johyo, a long wire weapon with a sharp metal point coated in poison at the tip and began her assault against Konohamaru. Han dashed straight for Shikadai and Zen as he quickly formed some hand signs. Instantly the area around them began to twist and warp becoming distorted. Zen simply disregarded Han's attempt to trap him and Shikadai in a Genjutsu as he formed a single hand sign causing the area around them to return to reality, however Han immediately widened his eyes in shock as he started seeing the area twist and distort around him instead. He tripped and fell over a rock, but in actuality he tripped over nothing but air as his mind began playing tricks on him. As Han lay on the ground he clutched his head and felt as if he was drunk or on drugs. He couldn't think straight nor could he see straight.

How did he do it? In a mere instant he easily reversed my Genjutsu and even made it stronger!

Han placed his hands together and attempted to break free from the Genjutsu, however he felt his entire body stiffen up and become restrained. At that moment Shikadai smirked in triumph as he held Han in a Shadow Paralysis Jutsu. "Heh. Nice try, but trying to use Genjutsu against Zen was a bad move."

Sylo took note of what happened to Han as he was also trying to support Matsuri, but because of Hiroshi's ferocious attacks he couldn't lend his aid even if he wanted to. Ren dashed over to Han as Sylo aimed all 20 of his lightning infused kunai straight at Hiroshi. Hiroshi simply smirked and shouted, "Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"

Bam!

Instantly all the kunai were deflected except for one which Hiroshi purposely let inside. He quickly formed the hand signs of Rat, Boar, and Snake and grabbed the kunai holding it for but a mere moment before tossing it right back at Sylo who stared confusedly at Hiroshi and easily controlled his kunai to stop right beside him. "Why the hell would you want to let one of my kunai into your defense and then grab it? You must be a fool. Now my magnetic chakra is attached to your hand. I won't miss my next attack."

Hiroshi simply smirked. "Oops! My mistake!"

It was then that the kunai Hiroshi had touched exploded right by Sylo's shoulder causing him to scream in shock and pain as the recoil of the explosion sent his body crashing right into the ground. Hiroshi easily trapped Sylo in his Wood Snake Jutsu and suppressed his chakra as he walked over. "Just kidding."

Sylo glared at Hiroshi in shock. "What the hell did you do?"

"Heh. New trick I learned after training with dad. Explosion Style: Time Bomb Jutsu."

Matsuri who was still engaged in a fierce battle against Konohamaru widened her eyes in complete shock.

No way? Just how many tricks and skills do they have up their sleeves? Genjutsu reversal? Shadow Paralysis! Byakugan, Wood Style, and Explosion Style? Impossible! Sylo's down for the count. So is Han. Eh? And now Ren as well? This isn't good.

Matsuri was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Konohamaru shout, "You're too distracted-kore!" It was then that all Matsuri saw was darkness as Konohamaru knocked her out. He let out a breath of relief as he retrieved 12 gems from Matsuri.

"Well, it looks like they found two gems before confronting us. Including the one we found that makes 23 gems. We're shy just 1 for maxing out."

Hiroshi nodded as he looked to Sylo who was the only conscious one left on the opposing team's side. "So...what should we do with them?"

Konohamaru just let out a sigh. "Let's go. We can leave them as is. There's still 4 more hours left before the end of the competition. Besides, remember the rule? I think we can safely say they are currently unfit for battle so there's no need to do anything more-kore. We have the gems we need and this is a competition after all. Not a death match. They might be able to regain consciousness later and find more gems to remain in the competition."

Hiroshi, Shikadai, and Zen nodded in agreement as Hiroshi released Sylo from his wooden snake. "Welp, guess I'll just let you go. Better tend to your teammates. Thanks for the gems guys, see-ya!"

With that the four of them dashed off leaving a very unsatisfied Sylo behind.

In the four hours they had left they managed to find another hidden gem thanks to Hiroshi's Byakugan. That time the trap that was set up was much easier to deal with than the Tar Snail from earlier. With that they had capped at the max amount of gems and decided to do their best to hide and avoid conflict as they weren't allowed to seek battle from others. With Hiroshi utilizing his Byakugan every half-hour they were able to easily continue avoiding unnecessary encounters with other teams. While they couldn't begin a fight, that didn't mean other teams couldn't chase after them forcing them to defend themselves. Since they maxed out they wouldn't be allowed to take any gems from a fight anyways so a fight would only serve to be disadvantageous to them. After running and hiding for the rest of the 4 hours the Second Game finally came to a close. The results of the Second Game were soon broadcasted.

Konoha's team 1 obtained 20 gems.

Konoha's team 2 obtained 24 gems.

Iwa's team 1 obtained 24 gems.

Iwa's team 2 obtained 18 gems.

Iwa's team 3 was eliminated for insufficient gems.

Suna's team 1 obtained 24 gems.

To Konohamaru, Zen, Shikadai, and Hiroshi's surprise Suna's team 2, which they fought had actually managed to obtain 21 gems in the end.

Suna's team 3 was eliminated.

Kiri's team 1 obtained 24 gems.

Kiri's team 2 obtained 19 gems.

Kiri's team 3 was eliminated.

Kumo's team 1 obtained 24 gems.

Kumo's team 2 was eliminated.

Ame's team 1 obtained 24 gems.

Ame's team 2 was eliminated.

Ame's team 3 was also eliminated.

Hoshi's team 1 was eliminated.

And finally Ishi's team 1 was also eliminated.

After the results of the Second Game were posted the results of the overall total scores for each non-eliminated team was revealed.

Konoha's team 1 had 190 total points.

Konoha's team 2 with 300 points.

Iwa's team 1 had 300 points.

Iwa's team 2 had 90 points.

Suna's team 1 had 300 points.

Suna's team 2 had 165 points.

Kiri's team 1 had 300 points.

Kiri's team 2 had 95 points.

Kumo's team 1 had 300 points.

And finally Ame's team 1 had 300 points.

All in all a total of 10 teams were advancing to the Third Game. All teams had currently dispersed to do their own things afterwards. Some decided to go relax, others left to join the festivities, and others decided to drown away their sorrows with the results they'd gotten indulging themselves in their own guilty pleasures whether that be drinking, gambling, eating, or something else. The Five Kage had left the area as well after the Second Game ended and were currently seated in a private room within the Tsuchikage's building as Izaya stood before them narrating what had occurred the night before.

Kurostuchi frowned after Izaya finished his recounting of the event. "Tch...to think that something like that happened here in Iwagakure! And it had to be during the Five Great Games competition as well. What do you think Chojuro? Kai was a shinobi from your village right?"

Chojuro furrowed his brow in seriousness. "I had no idea that Kai was working behind the scenes like this. Kai's position within Kirigakure wasn't terribly high, however he was still someone notable who fought in the war. He was a platoon leader in the Second Division and after the war he had a stable position in Kirigakure with a rank of lieutenant in our military division. I don't recall anyone reporting Kai doing anything suspicious...but...one of his duties was to make regular contact with the feudal lord of water. It's possible that Kai was one of the people in Kirigakure fueling the hardliners in our country with the idea of war and dealing certain illegal products. Whatever the case may be I'm also heavily concerned about how he died. Who were those two mysterious individuals who appeared that night?"

Izaya shook his head. "I don't know. I can say this though, whoever they were they weren't pushovers. In fact they were quite skilled. No...more than that. The Shurikenjutsu of that man in the red blindfold was easily one of the best I've ever witnessed. I dare say that even I couldn't have done a better job."

Everyone frowned at hearing Izaya's comment. Naruto let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "This is confusing. That man...he clearly attacked you but what was his aim? His goal? To kill you or Kai? And why did he leave you a clue? What is Kara?"

Izaya also let out a sigh as he took a seat. "I don't know. I'm just as confused. I believe the aim of those two individuals was to kill Kai before I could extract any information from him. It's because I believed their attack was completely aimed at me that I let my guard down and didn't defend Kai as well as I should have. I just don't know why they would leave me a note after with the word Kara. It's as if they wanted me to know something but didn't want me to know too much. One thing is for sure...we need to investigate and find any information we can about what Kara is."

Gaara closed his eyes in contemplation. "I agree that we should investigate this, however just the word Kara is very vague. Is it a code? The name of an organization? A password? A place? Location? Name of a person? Or is it perhaps a calling card? Something they leave behind at all crime scenes they commit?"

Darui rested the side of his head on his fist as he chimed in, "Well. One thing is for sure. We don't have enough information about them. Since that's the case there isn't really much of a use speculating. We need to do our own investigations, however I doubt we can just do them openly. The fact that the 6th Hokage has praised their skill means that they aren't going to be easy to deal with. I'm willing to bet that they are some sort of organization since there were two guys on the roof that night. There's got to be more of them. If we openly search they'll start to pick up on it too fast. Who knows what sort of crazy move they'll do. In fact since they left a note for the 6th Hokage it could be that they want us to make a move openly. Maybe that is what they are hoping for. If that happens what if they stir up public unrest and make this into a bigger deal than it was before."

Gaara nodded in agreement. "For now I think we should all try to investigate this in the shadows. Keep this information to ourselves. We should probably start with the underground that's been plaguing the world. Sending in undercover agents and what not. We shouldn't make any big moves until we have some sort of concrete information on what Kara is and who those two individuals are. If we make any big moves openly the worse case is that we may be played and drawn out into another war like Uchiha Obito did by declaring himself as Madara. If that happens the public might panic and this can all turn into chaos, especially if it blows up to be something more troublesome than it actually is."

Chojuro nodded. "Then we should leave it at that. Izaya has already drawn us a picture of the culprits. Interestingly enough one wears a mask and the other a blindfold. As for Kai, I'll deal with his body and perform a thorough investigation on him. I'll let you all know if I find anything useful. I'm sure that whoever these two individuals are they have probably left Iwagakure by now. Let's shelve this discussion until we find something. For now let's focus on the Games and ensure that nothing goes awry."

"Mn." They all nodded.

As the Kage's were having their private meeting the festival outside had become a bit chaotic. As the Tsuchikage's building was located near the center of the village the commotion happening outside hadn't yet reached them. By the village edge near the east gate of Iwagakure was a giant circular earthen wall erected by none other than Koen as he gritted his teeth and dodged to his left avoiding a fearsome strike from Chocho. Iraia also performed a backflip avoiding a deadly strike from an Iwagakure Genin.

Tch. This is bad! What on earth happened? Inojin and Chocho came to Iwagakure to enjoy the festival and they were hanging out with Koen, Asuka, and I. The five of us roamed around, ate some food, and played some games. Then Chocho decided to enter a food eating competition so the four of us watched on the side to support her. There were 20 contestants in total. As the contest went on eventually it was down to just 10 contestants. Chocho was one of the 10. Everything seemed fine until right after the 10 contestants began eating the hamburgers in front of them. After a few bites all of a sudden they sprouted a red chakra cloak and got super strong. They even sprouted chakra tails! 5 contestants sprouted one tails and 4 contestants sprouted two tails! But Chocho sprouted a total of three tails! Her physical capabilities and speed are insane! Not only did they all sprout a chakra cloak and chakra tails but they aren't in their right minds. It's as if they've gone rabid! Don't tell me someone poisoned their food? Thanks to Inojin he's helping keep the civilians away and Koen created this earth wall to seal in the 10 transformed contestants so they won't see and attack the civilians on the other side. Then he, Asuka, and I are trying our best to subdue them, but it's tough with 10 of them running wild.

Iraia was snapped out of her thoughts as she dodged Chocho's Human Boulder Jutsu that was aimed at her. She then spun halfway to her left avoiding an attack from behind her.

It's a good thing I have my Byakugan and Sharingan activated. They're fast but not so fast that I can't follow their movements. Papa's training has paid off. Their speed is nothing compared to his. But what what are we supposed to do...

Fwish! Bang! Whoosh! Boom!

As Iraia, Koen, and Asuka dashed around in the enclosed area they began feeling the pressure weigh them down. Koen frowned and clicked his tongue in annoyance and frustration. "Damn it! If only they were actually enemies I would vaporize them. This would be so much easier!"

Iraia frowned at Koen's comment and scolded him. "Koen, stop complaining. Don't you dare use your Particle Style or you'll obliterate them. Chocho is my friend. And the rest of these guys aren't our enemies. We have to save them somehow."

Asuka easily dodged an attack thanks to her insane speed and chimed in, "And how do you suppose we do that? We can't just keep running around or we'll be done for. We should at least fight back. Knocking them out might work."

Iraia nodded in agreement. "Let's go with that. Koen, use your Earth Style to try and slow them down by creating a rougher terrain for them to move in. Asuka, try to keep them from swarming and grouping up to attack us. I'll try to block their chakra pathway system with my Taijutsu. It should be able to stop them and get rid of their chakra cloak."

"Alright let's do that!" Koen and Asuka shouted at the same time.

WHOOSH!

Immediately they put their plan into action. With Asuka's speed it was easy for her to draw in the attention of multiple enemies by closing the distance between them while safely avoiding lethal strikes. For Koen he easily created trenches and erected rocks making it harder for the enemies to move around. This made Iraia's job easier as she could quickly focus engaging one opponent at a time. She quickly utilized her Gentle Fist Taijutsu to seal off the tenketsu points of one transformed contestant after another.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

It wasn't long before only Five remained. They were the 4 contestants who sprouted two chakra tails and Chocho who sprouted three. They were much stronger and faster than the others. Just as one of them attacked with a punch Iraia sidestepped and countered with a palm thrust, however she was forced to dash out to her left before she could be struck from above by another contestant. It was then that Chocho utilized her Partial Expansion Jutsu to throw a powerful punch right at Iraia. Before it could hit Iraia, Asuka dashed in and pulled Iraia into the distance. Before they could get hit by another contestant Koen created a giant earthen wall blocking them off. The three of them regrouped together as they huffed and panted with extreme exhaustion.

Asuka clenched her fist as she gasped for air. "This...huff...is...huff...a bit insane...huff...fighting without trying to hurt them is a bit much don't you think?"

Koen nodded in agreement. "If we weren't trying to be so careful we wouldn't be in this situation. We can't keep on much longer. We're exhausting too much chakra with only defending."

Just then the three of them widened their eyes in shock as a red chakra arm erupted beneath them. Their bodies involuntarily acted by dashing away to avoid the blow, however that action left the three of them exposed. Immediately Asuka and Koen gritted their teeth realizing their mistake. They curled up their body's defensively just as they were both hit extremely hard by a chakra tail from two of the transformed contestants.

Iraia saw the attack aimed against her because of her Byakugan so she was better prepared. She quickly spun her body and shouted, "Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"

Bam!

The contestant that attacked her was instantly knocked away, however Chocho utilized her Human Boulder Jutsu and rammed right into Iraia's spinning shield. In Chocho's physically enhanced state her attack overpowered Iraia's defense and smashed right into her. Iraia only had enough time to cross her arms before her chest before she was flung through the air crashing into the earthen wall in the distance.

"Kuuuuh!" She gasped out in pain.

Just as Chocho was about to strike once more a loud voice echoed in the air. "Lightning Style: Thunder Needle Jutsu!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In mere moments several thin lightning needles struck Chocho's tenketsus instantly sealing off her flow of chakra and dispelling the chakra cloak around her. She then fell to the ground paralyzed and unable to move. A single person dropped down from the air and landed right in front of Iraia at that moment. Iraia clutched her chest that was throbbing in pain from the impact of Chocho's attack while staring in astonishment at the person in front of her.

"M-Mom?!"

Hanabi simply smiled at Iraia's comment. "Sit tight for a moment Iraia. You kids did well. I'll take it from here."

It was then the last 4 contestants dashed right for Hanabi who quickly activated her Byakugan and engaged them in combat. She easily blocked and countered each attack with each of her strikes meeting their mark. In less than a minute of their exchange she had successfully sealed all the tenketsu points of the contestants dispelling their chakra cloak and knocking them out. Iraia simply stared in awe at how gracefully and easily Hanabi dealt with the issue. It wasn't long before news of this made it to the Kage's causing them to all rush over.

Izaya took note of Hanabi tending to Iraia, Koen, Asuka, and Chocho's wounds so he quickly dashed over to them. "Are you all okay?"

Hanabi smiled and nodded. "Don't worry Izaya. It was thanks to Iraia, Asuka, Koen, and Inojin that none of the civilians got injured. I already asked them about it. Apparently during the food eating contest Chocho and the other contestants were poisoned. Or rather their food had been doped in some sort of chakra enhancer. They sprouted chakra tails similar to the chakra cloak of the tailed beasts, however whatever drug it was caused them to not only gain enhanced physical strength, but it also caused them to lose control of their reasoning. Luckily Chocho seems okay as do the other contestants. It doesn't seem like it'll have a lasting effect on them, but what I can't understand is why something like this happened."

It was then a loud scream was heard in an alley not too far away. Izaya frowned and quickly said, "I'll be right back."

Hanabi nodded. "Go. It doesn't sound good. We'll be fine here."

Izaya quickly dashed off to where he heard the loud scream pushing his way through the crowd of people that were also heading in that direction. Just as he made it to the front of the crowd by the other Kage's he stopped and frowned at what he saw. The body of a dead corpse in the alley.

Gaara furrowed his brow in seriousness and asked, "Judging from the corpse he was killed not too long ago. I surmise that not even an hour has passed since his death."

Darui frowned. "Do any of you recognize this man?"

Chojuro nodded in response. "I do. That man is named Ogita. He's a famous business owner in the Land of Waves within the shipping industry. His company transports various goods all over the world. He does a lot of trade deals within Kirigakure as well."

Kurotsuchi clicked her tongue in frustration as she quickly commanded security to seal off the area. After the scene was secured the body was taken to the crime lab. The Kage's stood in a private interrogation room along with Iraia, Asuka, Koen, Inojin, and Chocho getting the full story directly from them. After hearing them out the Kage's paid a visit to the forensics lab to see if anything new was discovered. After several hours passed the six Kage's finally took a seat around Kurostuchi's office to relax and gather their thoughts.

Darui let out a loud sigh. "Haaaa...to think that someone would be so bold to commit a crime while the Five Kage were gathered in one area. Do you think this is a challenge to the Five Great Nations?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. This is unrelated. After all the information was gathered and the autopsy report came back I have a good idea of who did it."

The other Kage's including Izaya stared at Naruto curiously and asked, "Who?"

Naruto frowned and replied, "A mercenary and assassin organization called The Kaidan Killers."

Immediately the other Kage's widened their eyes in shock whilst Izaya raised his eyebrows in confusion and asked, "The Kaidan Killers? Who are they?"

At Izaya's question the rest of the Kage's simply stared a bit dumbfoundedly at him causing him to feel a bit awkward. "Err...I feel like I should know who they are if you all look at me like that."

Naruto laughed awkwardly and quickly chimed in, "Hahaha, right right. Sorry Izaya it's only natural you didn't know about them-dattebayo. You've been off-world and been busy doing other things so some of the issues we're facing aren't known to you. I didn't mention them since I haven't heard much about their activities for awhile. Anyways Sasuke told me about them. They are an incredibly dangerous mercenary organization. I don't know how many members are in their group or who their leader is. I only know that they are supposed to be extremely powerful. They work in the underground scene and are supposedly very difficult to contact. They are also supposedly very expensive to hire, but I hear they have yet to fail a single job they have taken. They kill, traffic illegal substances, things like that. They aren't ordinary. No one knows who their members are or what they look like. Currently their group is listed in the Bingo Book, but without any photo or much information to go on it's hard to pin them down. One strange thing is that according to the information we received from the police, Ogita was the one who bought Sasuke's sword during the auction for 60 million ryo, but according to them the sword is gone. Don't tell me they killed Ogita for the sword?"

Chojuro shook his head. "I highly doubt they killed Ogita for the sword. While not much is known about them, what we do know is that they only kill someone of Ogita's position and status for hire. Perhaps they stole the sword afterwards but it's not likely the motive for killing him."

Kurotsuchi nodded in agreement before rubbing the bottom of her chin in contemplation. "I wonder...what if the Kaidan Killers are related to the two mysterious individuals that killed Kai and attacked Izaya?"

Gaara furrowed his brow in deep thought. "It's not out of the realm of possibility. It could be that Kara is the name of a member in the Kaidan Killers. Still, it's too early to draw conclusions. With this incident happening it's going to cause people to be more uneasy now. We're going to have to make a statement to quell public unrest so the competition and festival can continue on without too much hindrance."

Kurotsuchi just let out a loud sigh. "And I suppose I'll have to be the one to make the announcement?"

Chojuro smirked. "You are the Tsuchikage after all and this is Iwagakure."

Naruto crossed his arms as he let out a sigh. "The Kaidan Killers, the incident with Kai and the mystery of Kara, it's starting to make me feel uneasy."

Izaya nodded in agreement. "After the Games we should hold a meeting at the ASF HQ. There we'll deliberate how we should move forward with all of this. We have a lead and that's Ogita's death. Furthermore there was the incident of chakra doping during the food competition. I'm willing to bet that it was the work of the Kaidan Killers. They operate in the underground scene so that's probably how they got their hands on it. They used that as a distraction so they could easily draw attention away from their movements to kill Ogita. We can use this to our advantage and create a team to crack down on this criminal organization."

"Mn." All the other Kage's nodded in agreement before disbanding. Kurotsuchi released a statement to the public and it wasn't long before the festivities resumed as normal. Although a slight tension remained in the air from the incident that occurred it wasn't enough to prevent the celebrations from continuing.