Chapter 27: What People Are Made Of

As soon as the moderator began the match, Kannin did the same trick he did on the raft to stop the rain, creating a dome of whirling wind to nullify any rain tactics from his opponent. At the same time, the rain ninja summoned a massive jet of water, which propelled itself with a whistle at Kannin's head.

'They really aren't pulling punches, huh.'

Kannin retorted with his own water shot, which emerged from his mouth in a geyser-like fashion, and slammed into his opponent's jet stream. Both attacks exploded into a fine, wet mist which lingered in the air.

'Opportunity!' Both contestants thought at the same time.

Kannin took out Koseki, eager to use the reduced visibility from the mist to his advantage, and rushed to where his opponent last was. His opponent thought to do the same, and she met Kannin in the middle with a kunai in hand. Unfortunately for her, Koseki is longer than a kunai, and Kannin managed to make a good slash across her chest.

"Damn!"

She leapt back and readied another jutsu. Kannin recognized the hand seal order she was making as a quite powerful water release jutsu, and began to counter with his own after momentarily sheathing Koseki. Both of them were forming hand seals at lightning speeds.

Team 4, looking on, had concerned expressions on their faces.

"A battle of two ninjutsu specialists of the same affinity." Shin said, "I hate to say I have my doubts, but the water jutsus available in the rain country surely outclass the ones in Konoha. I don't know how Kannin will get out of this."

Tetsu replied, "But water isn't his only option, sensei. He still hasn't shown us the extent of his wind release, or his kenjutsu."

Shin's contemplation deepened, "That is true, young Sarutobi. I suppose we can only watch."

Kannin and the rain-nin had finished their hand seal by this time, and simultaneously shouted

"Water Release: Dark Deluge!"

"Water Release: Torrent!"

A murky outpour of water gushed out of thin air from above the rain-nin's head, while a smaller, but more intensely pressurized stream of clear blue water shot out of Kannin's hands. Again the two jutsu met in the middle, but this time, Kannin's jutsu cut through the opponents due to its pressurization, and struck her in the left shoulder. However, because Kannin's torrent didn't fully block the rain shinobis dark deluge, it still poured forth, washing over Kannin, who withstood the onslaught, and let it wash away.

While he thought he had won one over the rain shinobi, he realized that the water from his opponent's jutsu was strange. A thick, black substance stuck to his skin where it touched the water, and began to harden quickly.

Nursing her shoulder, the rain-nin smiled to see her tactic working. With the sludge hardening on Kannin's skin, his speed would decrease significantly, and his kenjutsu would suffer severely as well. Her shoulder was badly injured, and she wasn't sure how well she could weave hand seals anymore, but she should be able to finish it with kunai at this point.

She rushed in, kunai in had, and swiped at the now impaired Kannin, but as she did, Kannin struggled to weave a few hand signs, and as she reached for him, he shouted

"Tornado!"

As her kunai was about to grace his skin, a violent wind sprung up around Kannin, spinning clockwise with fury, knocking the kunai from her hand, and send her spinning. Kannin remained in the tornado with one basic gamble: for the wind to strip away the sludge before it dried it up. The rain-nin watched, with her head on the ground, the black sludge began to fly off in every direction, and dye the gale a sickly brown.

It was at that moment that Hanzo himself laughed and said, "To think Konoha had such a talented wind and water release user as to repel one of my own! Maybe I should keep him."

Kannin was not paying attention to the Salamander guy, only the woman on the ground. He dispelled the tornado once the sludge came off his body. The impact had concussed her, and he wanted to take every advantage he could. He ran up to her, unsheathing Koseki and held it to her throat. But just then, a feeling like what he sensed with Minato in the woods tickled the back of his mind. He whipped around and inadvertently knocked a kunai out of the real woman's hand.

"That trick won't work on me."

The rain-nin frowned and leapt back, again beginning to form hand seals. Kannin didn't recognize these, but he could tell that it was a big technique. He readied himself for what was to come, Koseki in hand. When she finished the hand seal, no one, perhaps except for Hanzo himself, could believe their eyes. A massive wave of water, almost 50 feet high had accumulated behind the rain-nin and was rapidly careening at Kannin.

'This has to be her last trick. If I can survive, I'll have a good opportunity.'

Warai looked at Shin, "Sensei, is Kannin going to survive this?"

Shin was about as awe-struck as Warai was, but then she noticed the determination on Kannin's face, and said, "Whatever I think is irrelevant. But it sure seems like Kannin thinks he'll survive this. Come on, have faith in your friend." She said with a nervous smile.

As the tidal wave passed over his opponent, his opportunity came. He banked on the reduced visibility through the water, and created a shadow clone, which he sent around to flank her. His real body gathered chakra and balanced his mind; Koseki in a steady position, he closed his eyes.

Tetsu whispered, 'What's he doing?'

"I have no idea," Shin responded with an incredulous look.

Just as the wave was going to smash into Kannin, his eyes opened, and he made a slash with Koseki so quickly and with so much fury it barely registered in the minds of the onlookers.