Kaito Chapter 98

Author's note: Kaito will begin making significant changes to the timeline after the Chunin Exams Arc

Kaito Chapter 98

As Hotaru found herself trapped in a water prison, she struggled against the dense liquid that surrounded her. Every movement was restricted, and she could feel her lungs burning for air. Cursing herself for letting her guard down, Hotaru took a deep breath and activated her Byakugan, scanning for any weaknesses in the water prison. "Ah, there it is "she thought as she spotted the weak point.

Injecting chakra into the weak spot, the water prison came undone, catching Chojuro off guard. Seizing this opportunity, she swiftly executed the 64 Palms technique. As Chojuro tried to jump back, Hotaru struck him twice calling out "two palms", then "four palms", "eight palms", "sixteen palms" and "thirty-two palms" each strike faster than the last. With one final cry of "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!", Hotaru delivered the final blow that sent Chojuro skidding across the ground, unconscious.

….

Hotaru's body was thoroughly drenched, her long dark hair matted against her face from being trapped in the water prison. She stood in the arena, panting heavily as she deactivated her Byakugan and looked down at the unconscious body of Chojuro. who she had used the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique on. "That took a lot of chakra," Hotaru thought feeling drained, she had to use a lot of chakra to break free from the water prison jutsu and then to use the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms right after.

Raido landed beside her, and Hotaru nodded seeing him. Raido seeing Chojuro's state, raised his arm towards Hotaru and announced to the crowd, "The winner is Hotaru Hyuga!" The cheers and applause from the spectators filled the air, their voices blending together into a deafening roar.

Hotaru couldn't help but smile when the crowd cheered loudly for her, their voices echoing through the arena. she waved to the crowd and made her way back to the waiting area.

Up in the stands

Kushina leaped to her feet, her voice ringing out in a cheer for Hotaru as she landed the finishing blow on Chojuro. "Atta girl! You showed him who's boss!" she exclaimed, her enthusiasm contagious among the cheering crowd.

Happily hugging Hitomi next to her, Kushina exclaimed, "I was worried when Hotaru-chan was trapped in that Water Prison, ya know" Letting go of Hitomi, kushina continued excitedly "She sure Suprise me with that move! breaking free from it! " Hitomi smiled and nodded in agreement. "I was worried too, but I knew Hotaru-chan would find a way out."

Meanwhile, below them, Hinata was woken up by the loud cheers of the crowd and Naruto's booming voice as he cheered for Hotaru's victory. "Way to go Hotaru-nee you were super cool! ya know" he exclaimed.

Naruto's bright smile widened upon noticing Hinata stir awake, he eagerly asked, "Hinata-chan! Are you okay? You just missed it - Hotaru-nee just won, and it was super cool! ya know"

Hinata turned her gaze to the field and watched as Hotaru made her way back to the waiting area. She couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed that she had missed the match. "I missed it," she murmured to herself.

Neji, sensing Hinata's disappointment, reassured her, "Don't worry Hinata-sama, you can watch a recording later."

Hiashi, who sat with his brother, smirked in satisfaction as he watched his eldest daughter break out of the water prison and land the "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms" on Chojuro. he closed his eyes feeling immense pride in his daughter.

Just as Raido announced Hotaru as the winner, Hiashi opened his eyes and nodded with a small smile. His twin brother Hizashi remarked, "Hotaru is truly a prodigy. Though she did let her guard down and got caught in the Water Prison Jutsu. But she was able to break through it with her quick thinking."

Hiashi hummed, saying, "Hotaru underestimated her opponent and almost lost the fight, she must have wanted to conserve her chakra for the next round."

Further down from them, Choza sitting next to Shikaku commented, "I have to admit, I was certain the girl had lost when she was trapped in the Water Prison Jutsu."

Inoichi chimed in, saying, "I thought the same. I've never seen anyone break out of that jutsu without external help before."

Shikaku hummed in agreement and explained to them all, "Her Byakugan allows her to see the weak points of a jutsu, and with her Gentle Fist she can inject chakra at the right spot, disrupting the jutsu."

In the waiting area

As Hotaru entered the waiting area, she spotted Kaito and Itachi. Kaito waved enthusiastically and made his way over to congratulate her. "Hotaru-chan, you did great!" he exclaimed with a smile.

Taking notice of her damp hair and clothes, Kaito then grabbed a scroll and unsealed a towel, handing it to Hotaru. "Here, you should dry yourself off before you catch a cold, ya know."" he said kindly.

Hotaru gratefully accepted the towel, smiling back at Kaito. "Thank you, Kai-kun," she replied as she wrapped the towel around herself.

Not long after, Itachi joined them in congratulating Hotaru. "You did well out there, Hotaru," he said with a small nod.

Their conversation was cut short as Raido called for Itachi and C to come down to the arena. Itachi began to walk away, saying "My fight is up next. See you guys later."

Kaito punched Itachi's shoulder lightly as he moved past them and wished him luck. "Good luck, Itachi!"

Hotaru chimed in as well. "Good luck, Itachi-kun!"

As they watched Itachi make his way towards the arena C followed closely behind Itachi, Kaito motioned for Hotaru to follow him. "Come on, Hotaru-chan," gesturing to the balcony.

They made their way over to the balcony just as Itachi arrived on the arena floor.

Kaito unsealed some dango and then offered Hotaru. "Do you want some dango?" he asked with a playful grin.

Hotaru nodded eagerly and took a dango, savoring its sweet flavor as they watched Itachi's match begin.

Back on the filed

As soon as the unconscious Chojuro was taken away, Raido turned towards the waiting area and called out for "Itachi Uchiha and C of Kumogakure, please come down to the field!"

A while later Itachi walked over to where Raido was standing, followed closely by C. They both stood opposite each other, their eyes locked.

Seeing them, Raido asked, "Are you both ready?" Receiving a nod from both Itachi and C, Raido began the match, shouting "Hajime!".

As soon as the match began, C jumped back to create some distance, He quickly grabbed several kunai and shuriken from his pouch and hurled them at Itachi. Itachi quickly unsheathed his tanto and deflected the kunai and shuriken as he ran towards C.

dodging and deflecting, Itachi closed the distance between them, Itachi swung his tanto at C who raised his kunai to block it. As they exchanged blows, it became clear that Itachi had the advantage. With one swift sweep of his leg, he knocked C off balance and kicked him sending him skidding across the arena floor.

Skidding back, he activated the explosive tags he had attached to the kunai he had thrown earlier, creating an explosion around Itachi.

 Activating his Sharingan, Itachi used the Body Flicker technique to create some distance as the explosive tags detonated. Crossing his arms, he shielded his face from the explosion. Itachi's feet skidded on the ground as he landed a bit further away from the explosion, unharmed.

Seizing this opportunity, C quickly performed a series of hand signs to create a Lightning Style: Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Shadow Clone Jutsu. The clone rushed towards Itachi, who had just used the Body Flicker to escape the explosion.

Nearing Itachi, the clone skidded to a stop as the real C made a few hand signs and shouted, "Lightning Style: Flash Pillar!"

The "Lightning Style: Flash Pillar" genjutsu blinded Itachi as C glowed brightly, causing Itachi to cover his eyes to shield them from the blinding light.

While Itachi was momentarily blinded, the clone used "Lightning Ball," and more than a dozen lightning balls formed around it, shooting toward the blinded Itachi.

Itachi, relying on his senses, jumped back and started dodging them narrowly avoiding the onslaught of lightning balls. However, there were too many, and soon one impacted Itachi and exploded and the rest of the lighting balls pelted him causing an even larger explosion.

But Itachi had substituted himself and reappeared above the explosion, performing a few hand signs after throwing some shuriken and calling out "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu." Small fireballs shot from his mouth and engulfed the shuriken as they rained down on both C and his lightning clone.

C jumped back and managed to dodge the flaming shuriken, but the clone who was nearer to Itachi was struck by a few causing it to dissipate in a burst of lightning.

Using the distraction to his advantage, Itachi closed the distance between him and C once again.

With his Sharingan predicting C's movements, Itachi swung his tanto at C. C struggled to block it with his kunai as he desperately tried to keep up with Itachi's speed and skill. Finding himself on the defensive, C jumped back to gain some distance and made a few hand signs as he unleashed another jutsu. "Lightning Style: Thunderbolt!" as he called out lightning bolts shot out from his palms and aimed directly at Itachi.

Itachi, who was close to C, was struck by the lightning bolt. However, as the lightning bolt hit him, his body turned into a murder of crows as they split apart and scattered in all directions. Reappearing behind C, Itachi twisted C's arm and slammed him onto the ground, placing his tanto at the back of C's neck.

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