Chapter 25: Measured Ability

Itachi had decided that in order to best prepare for the Chuunin Exams, he'd have to train with Kimimaro to get a grasp on his style. Unfortunately, due to the "unique" way Itachi experienced battles, it was difficult to try and work with someone on the battlefield. That didn't stop Itachi though. He looked for a solution and finally found one.

"Kimimaro, do you mind if I try something?" Itachi asked when they met up for the day.

"Tell me what it is first." He was a very straight forward child. Itachi supposed it'd be simpler to just let him see.

"I want you to press Yes or No, though I'd prefer you press accept," Itachi said. After a bit of navigation, he saw a prompt appear in front of Kimimaro.

Itachi Uchiha has invited you to his party! Accept?

Yes/No

"Itachi, what is this?" Kimimaro asked. His eyes remained transfixed on the blue box in front of him.

"The simplest was to explain it is that how I experience my life is not 'normal' compared to other people. By pressing Yes, you'll experience things as I do," Itachi explained.

"Are you going to explain more?" His wariness and skepticism were earned in Itachi's opinion. They'd only recently met, after all.

"I'm afraid I've never tried this option, nor did I know of its existence until this morning. I don't know to what extent you'll gain my powers," he said. It was all he could say.

Kimimaro held his finger above the "yes" option for an indeterminate amount of time until he finally pressed it. If any subsequent boxes presented themselves to him, Itachi could not see them. It must've been some perk of his power that gave people at least some privacy.

"Interesting," Kimimaro said after finishing reading through the explanation. He took it quite well in Itachi's opinion. Then again, in the little time he'd known him, he'd shown himself to be as expressive as most Uchiha.

"Shall we spar?" He asked. Kimimaro made a small motion to indicate "yes." Itachi flipped through the menus until he found the "spar" option.

How would you like to spar?

Action Commands/Real Time

Itachi thought for a moment before selecting the real time. It'd tell him more about Kimimaro's general prowess than the Action Commands, though introducing him to them might give them an advantage.

They were moved into position across from each other. It provided Itachi with a shot of nostalgia. He hadn't sparred with anyone since Shisui had passed away, giving him the role of defender for their clan. But the spar started, and he had to focus.

Immediately he saw that Kimimaro had a small picture of a few sickly green bubbles over his head. So it seemed his illness still transferred to a certain extent. Itachi did not have much time to consider this as Kimimaro made his move.

A barrage of bones came flying from his fingertips. On instinct alone Itachi brought up a kunai to meet them. Kimimaro took advantage of the opening and closed the distance, nearly impaling Itachi with his arm. He countered with a thrust intended to cripple, but the blade stopped dead on his skin.

Itachi leapt to the other side of the arena to create some room. So Kimimaro's ability revolved around bone manipulation of some sort. He rather doubted that he could harm him with kunai. However, this was convenient as he didn't have to worry about hurting him.

These thoughts went through his mind in an instant. Kimimaro was already on him again, this time with a bone sword extended from each of his palms. Itachi was grateful for his Sharingan. Kimimaro was an incredibly graceful fighter, perhaps even on par with himself.

Still, the Sharingan's perceptiveness meant all he had to do was move his arms appropriately and he could not touch him.

However, he was being pushed back, and the edge of the arena was dangerously close. He found an opening in his guard and aimed a kick at his chest. Kimimaro had the unfortunate disadvantage that he was one of the few people shorter than Itachi.

A sharp pain shot through his foot as the kick connected.

Kimimaro was pushed back as he'd intended, but Itachi had suffered. He caught what had pierced his foot as it retracted back inside. Kimimaro's ribs. The Gamer's Mind gave him almost full immunity to the pain as he put weight on his foot. But the pain had left him with an unsettling realization.

Kimimaro's bone manipulation could not be read by the Sharingan.

However, with that realization, Kimimaro's greatest advantage had been revealed. The two began circling each other, each aware of what the end of their last exchange meant. Itachi was left with a problem though. He didn't have a way to win short of casting a genjutsu.

He didn't get any further in his thoughts as Kimimaro chose to engage. He'd acknowledge Itachi, and upped the ante. Itachi focused, forcing himself to not focus on any part of Kimimaro.

Head. Sides. Right shoulder. Right leg. Hips.

Itachi found that he had drawn a second kunai to help deal with the assault. A brief pain on his leg caused him to jump back. Kimimaro didn't pursue. He'd gotten caught up in following his arms, and as such, he was able to get in a kick that had escaped his vision.

Kimimaro took it a step further. Patches of dark grey skin began dotting his skin, growing until his entire body was covered. Wordlessly, he reached behind him and pulled out his own spine. Itachi was glad for his Gamer's Mind.

He returned his kunai to his pouch and drew his ANBU sword. He pumped a slight bit of chakra into it, hoping it'd be enough to keep it from breaking. They waited. Itachi realized Kimimaro was waiting for him to move, so he did.

He gave a few cautionary swings, which were all blocked. Kimimaro made no attempt to counterattack. Itachi caught on quickly. He ramped up the difficulty, trying his best to hit Kimimaro. Sweat began drenching his clothes.

Ever so slightly though, he was gaining ground.

Kimimaro got fed up and shoved Itachi, hard. He stumbled back, and Kimimaro advanced. Itachi saw the swing before it happened and raised his sword to block it. They never connected though, as Kimimaro stumbled and fell forward.

He stopped himself but began having a severe coughing fit. Itachi waited for him to recover. He stopped and took a vicious swing at Itachi. However, Itachi had seen enough. He weaved a genjutsu and used it to get behind Kimimaro.

With a gentle shove, he ended the spar.

"I can see how you defeated all those ANBU now," Kimimaro said after the results screen cleared. He replaced his spine before allowing the grey skin on his body to recede.

"That was actually done through a different system," Itachi informed him. "Most of my battles are not done as they were here."

"Why did you stop?" Kimimaro asked after a moment. "An enemy would not have had the same mercy."

"I doubt anything short of a wind enhanced blade would pierce your skin, so I thought it pointless to attack," He explained. It was most of the truth. "I think we're done for now though. We've both got a good grasp on each other's abilities." A shadow of a frown crept onto Kimimaro's face.

"You should be more careful," Kabuto said, suddenly appearing. "You wouldn't be very helpful to Orochimaru if you died." He handed Kimimaro something. "I've brought you a little pick-me-up to help you recover."

Kimimaro ate it silently, and it wasn't until he'd finished that Kabuto left. Itachi noted that they had him under some sort of surveillance, probably due to his condition. Something bothered him though.

"Does your condition usually affect you this much?" he asked. If the answer was no, then perhaps having him in his party wasn't the best of ideas.

"No, but when I go on missions, Lord Orochimaru usually provides something to counter the effects," he answered. He flipped through some unseen menus. "According to my 'Status' though, what Kabuto just gave me halved the effects for the next 12 hours."

"Interesting," Itachi said. So it seemed the rumors surrounding Orochimaru had some merit after all., which meant he knew who to go to should he have medical issues.

"Is there any way for me to experience battles as you do?" Kimimaro asked.

"Yes," Itachi answered. He flipped through the menus again, and selected the Action Commands type for their next spar. The world underwent its usual shift, and they were standing opposite each other. Itachi noted the very slight drain on Kimimaro's HP.

He gave him some time to adjust to the battle system. Unfortunately, Itachi soon learned that even with the lessened effect, Kimimaro's sickness made him an ill-suited candidate for the Action Command battles.

It took about as long as their previous spar, but Itachi won much more comfortably.

Kimimaro didn't have any comments as their vision returned to normal. Itachi was glad, as he was greeted with an alert that he wanted to look over.

Quest Alert: Contingency Plan (Optional)

The battles of the Chuunin Exam may not be optimal. See if Orochimaru can help even the odds in case things aren't favorable

Completion Award:

500 XP

Ultra Medicine

Completion Failure:

Possible increased difficulty in the exam

Itachi accepted the quest. He didn't like trusting all the battles to be in Real Time when he had a safe strategy right in front of him. Kimimaro had apparently had enough of sparring for the day, as Itachi received another notification moments later.

Kimimaro Kaguya has left your party.

He dismissed it with a thought and watched as Kimimaro went inside. Itachi followed at a distance and tried to find Orochimaru. He ended up wandering through the tunnels he was comfortable with for a few hours. Eventually he did find him.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but I have a question about Kimimaro," Itachi opened. Orochimaru looked up from his desk.

"Is this regarding his condition and the Chuunin Exams?" he asked.

"Yes." Orochimaru made a motion for him to continue. "Kabuto made an effective medicine, but is there anything stronger that you could make?"

"Not satisfied with the potency? I can appreciate that," he commented. "I do know of a more powerful remedy but as it so happens I'm unable to make it as of now."

"Why not?" Itachi asked.

"I ran out of the ingredients," Orochimaru said. "Now that you mention it though, do you mind getting a few things for me?"

In hindsight, Itachi thought the answer should've been obvious.