Chapter 95

Kimimaro and Hattori stood face to face, each of them squaring off against the other as they prepared for an all-out battle.

"The time for our battle has finally arrived. Now I will show you that you are only second best." Hattori said as he slowly wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword.

Kimimaro felt the same and slowly took his arms out of his shirt as he let it fall to the ground, revealing his bare torso.

"I feel the same." He said as he slowly raised his head to look Hattori in the eye before he allowed his bones to sprout from his body.

Hattori was shocked at the monstrous site, but smiled never the less, as he quickly jumped in for the kill, regardless of how his opponent looked.

Hattori moved so fast that he seemed to disappear. Kimimaro was only just able to dodge the quick draw as his sword skimmed past his neck, with Kimimaro dropping back onto his hands as he flipped back onto his feet.

He had little time to relax though as Hattori pressed on the attack again, slashing and swiping with great skill and control. Kimimaro did his best to dodge as he danced from side to side, jumping back and ducking under another strike as the blade cut a small slither of his hair.

"Not bad, but I can move faster than that!" Hattori said as he was starting to get angry.

Quickly he in with a sideswipe slash, using it as a feint, then jumping on his lead foot as he twisted and spun around, throwing a spinning back kick into Kimimaros chest to try and take him by surprise. However, his foot hit tough bone almost trapping it in place.

"What the?" He said as he pulled it back, quickly slashing downward with his sword to counterattack.

Kimimaro lifted his arm and blocked the attack, not flinching as the steel hit, and bounced off the hard bone that had formed around his arm.

The sword didn't cut through it at all. No, Kimimaro had allowed his bones to grow from his arm, blocking the sword with ease as it rang off into the air.

"Your sword can't touch me," Kimimaro said as he looked into Hattori's eyes.

Hattori was forced to jump back to avoid more bones that shot out of Kimimaros body, threatening to skewer him, seeming to have a mind of their own.

Hattori flipped back as he twirled in the air throwing a set of shuriken to cover his landing and watching as Kimimaro deflected them.

"I can see now why you take off your shirt before fighting at your full power," Hattori said.

Kimimaro nodded.

"This way I don't have to replace my clothing every time I fight." He said as a bone started to grow particularly from his shoulder.

Hattori watched as he pulled it out, as if he was drawing a sword, giving it a couple of swipes before he took a ready stance.

"You intend to battle me in kenjutsu?" Hattori asked, almost seeming amused.

Kimimaro nodded.

"I intend to defeat you no matter what." He said, countering his comment.

Hattori laughed before he quickly stuck his sword into the ground and slapped his hands together.

"Fire style, dragon bullet jutsu!" Hattori shouted as his hands formed the hand signs in quick time.

Kimimaro was surprised that he could use fire style but quickly prepared himself to deal with the attack.

Hattori unleashed the large dragon-shaped fire style, letting it roar towards Kimimaro before it exploded into the ground, creating a huge cloud of black smoke that blinded both of their vision.

Kimimaro suddenly burst out of the smoke with his arms crossed over his face.

"I'm not that easy to defeat!" He shouted as he landed in front of Hattori, spinning around as he planted his hand on the ground, using his advanced taijutsu to attack, letting his entire body become a weapon.

Hattori, however, was able to dodge each and every attack, shuffling back as he kicked his sword up from the ground, using it to stop a kick from Kimimaro with the flat of the blade. Hattori then quickly dodged under another kick, as Kinimaro twisted, again and again, seeming to move and attack in an unlimited number of ways. Hattori was forced to jump back, getting clear of his range before he dashed out of the way, appearing to almost disappear.

"What?" Kimimaro said, baffled as Hattori had seemed to move at a much faster speed than he had before.

Hattori suddenly appeared behind Kimimaro and slashed down with his sword at his head. Kimimaro was just able to stop the attack as he dropped to his knee and crossed both his arms over his head to trap the sword.

Kimimaro also allowed the bones from his back to burst out in order to counterattack, nonetheless, Hattori was able to disappear too fast for them to hit him.

"Where did he go?" Kimimaro thought as he turned around in an attempt to try and locate him.

Hattori quickly appeared from above and slashed down again, disappearing once more before attacking from the front in a blinding display of speed.

Hattori was so fast that he was able to avoid Kimimaro's kekkei genkai abilities. Still, Kimimaros's defence was too great for Hattori to break through with his own taijutsu and sword attacks, leaving them in a kind of stalemate as they continued to try and land a clean blow against one another.

"This is no good, even with my speed I can't seem to land an attack through those bones of his." Hattori thought as he continued to attack, knowing that he would have to rely on his ninjutsu and genjutsu abilities.

Hattori quickly dashed away from Kimimaro before he appeared on a tree branch opposite him.

"It would seem your defence is quite powerful. In fact, you are the first person I have faced who I couldn't use my swift style to counter." Hattori said.

Kimimaro raised an eyebrow.

"Swift style?" He asked not having ever heard of it.

"Not that I have to explain myself to you, but I guess it won't matter once I defeat you." He said as he crossed his arms.

"I too have a kekkei genkai, called swift release. What it does is allow me to move at incredible speeds, moving almost too fast for the eye to see. It comes in very useful when facing powerful opponents in taijutsu, and is a huge buff to my kenjutsu." Hattori said as he pulled his sword from the ground with skill and placed it back in its sheath.

Kimimaro was surprised that Hattori had a kekkei genkai too, more so that it was one he had never seen or heard of, however that didn't matter at the moment as he took a lower stance, trying to figure out how he was going to drive him into a corner so he could land an attack.

"If Taijutsu won't work, then genjutsu it is," Hattori said in his head as he suddenly disappeared using his swift release.

Kimimaro remained in an alert position as he waited for Hattori to reappear. Knowing that was his only chance to attack, in the small moment, he reappeared to launch his own attack.

"If I can just catch him where he appears..." Kimimaro said as he turned around, waiting for his moment.

"Now!" He said as he suddenly thrust his hand forwards in an attempt to predict Hattori's movements.

"Wrong side!" Hattori shouted as he appeared on the other side of Kimimaro, taking him by complete surprise.

Hattori suddenly placed his hands clapping his face together before he jumped back and threw a handful of kunai at Kimimaro.

Kimimaro was surprised and easily deflected the kunai with his bone blade before he fired his own bone bullets as a counter. Hattori watched as he deflected the kunai and smiled before he disappeared again, allowing the bone bullets to pass through an afterimage of himself before they pierced through a tree.

"Looks like he fell for it," Hattori said as he dropped down to the ground, looking up at Kimimaro who was now placed in a genjutsu unknowingly.

"Now that I have him in a genjutsu, it's time to finish this fight and capture the flag," Hattori said as he quickly moved back towards Kimimaro, coming face to face with him.

"It's over for you..."

Meanwhile...

Iseto Uchiha was currently rushing through the forest with the flag on his back. Hattori may have stolen theirs, but at least they had secured another to replace it, knowing that they were only allowed to carry one at a time.

"I wonder if that Kimimaro guy will be alright. I mean that Hattori, or whatever his name was seemed strong." He said to himself as he jumped from branch to branch.

Iseto jumped off one branch and landed on another that was in his site, getting ready to push off again so he could jump. However, as Iseto pushed his weight from the branch, it snapped seeming to give way to his strength.

"What?" He said surprised as he fell through the air along with the branch.

He was even more surprised when he noticed the explosive tag on the bottom of the branch that was about to explode.

"Oh shit!" He shouted as he quickly kicked the branch through the air, knocking it just far enough so that it exploded at a safe enough distance that he was only knocked back by the shockwave.

Iseto used the pressure of the shockwave to flip back in the air before he landed on the ground safely, looking up and around him to see what was going on.

"Who the hell did that!" He shouted as he rolled out of the way of a barrage of shuriken that had been aimed at his head, pulling out a kunai as he got ready for a fight.

"I'm surprised an idiot like you didn't fall for my trap." A voice said before its owner slowly appeared from the ground.

Iseto recognized him from his match with Hana, seeing that it was Gogi of the hidden rain.

"Look pal, if you don't get out of my way I'm gonna have to take you down," Iseto said as he pointed at Gogi with his kunai, seeming more than confident that he could take him.

Gogi sighed before he placed his hands together to make a hand sign.

"You leaf ninja are so arrogant. I'm going to kill you and take that flag." Gogi said as he slowly sank into the ground.

Iseto was pissed now as he watched Gogi disappear. Deciding to plant the flag into the ground before he took a fighting position.

"I'll show you just how tough us hidden leaf really are!" He said as he waited for Gogi to make his move.

"I remember this trick when you were fighting Hana. I won't fall for it!" Iseto shouted as he grabbed the flag and jumped as high as he could onto a tree, using the chakra in his feet to stay standing on it before he started to run up and around the thick trunk.

"If I can get enough distance and make him chase me, he won't be able to use his poison gas." Iseto thought as he made sure the flag was secured to his back before he jumped onto a branch.

"Going somewhere?" Gogi suddenly asked as he appeared out of the branch next to Iseto and grabbed his arm, stopping him from getting away.

"If you think running away from me will save you from my poison, think again!" He shouted as he suddenly burst a poison smoke bomb in the palm of his hand, letting it completely engulf both of them.

"Now it's over!" Gogi shouted as he pulled Iseto down into a shoulder lock while he was busy coughing and placed a kunai to his throat.

"Checkmate." He said with a smug grin behind his rebreather.

Iseto coughed and then suddenly burst into smoke, revealing to Gogi that he was a clone.

"Shadow clone?" Gogi asked confused.

"But when did he!" He shouted, shocked that he hadn't noticed him switch out with a clone.

The image of when he ran just out of sight behind the large tree coming to mind.

"Too late for you sucker! Fireball jutsu!" Iseto shouted as he unleashed his fire style attack from above, letting his jutsu crash down and mix with the poison gas.

"Nooo!" Gogi shouted as the poison gas turned out to be flammable, igniting in an instant and causing a massive explosion, catching Gogi in the centre of it as he didn't have time to escape.

"Got you," Iseto said as he watched from the distance, readjusting the flag strap and making his way back to his base.

"That's one down, hopefully, Kimimaro is holding up his end."

Meanwhile...

Kimimaro looked at Hattori as he faded out and his bone bullets, watching as they passed through the afterimage before hitting the tree behind.

"How did he..." Kimimaro said before he looked down.

He could feel the tree branch start to swallow him, letting his body sink into the wood up to his shoulders while not being able to do anything about it.

"Genjutsu," Kimimaro said as he tried to concentrate to break his chakra flow and escape.

However, that was easier said than done, as Hattori's genjutsu seemed to be quite strong.

"It's not use Kimimaro you can't break out of my genjutsu that easy," Hattori said as he slowly stepped out of the wood, having been moulded into the very tree itself.

Hattori now stood in front of Kimimaro, slowly kneeling down to look him in the eye in a squat position.

"This is my realm, in here I control everything with my genjutsu," Hattori said as he slowly pulled a kunai from his hip holster.

"Time to finish this," Hattori said as he lifted the kunai, getting ready to stab him with it.

Of course, in real life, Hattori did not kneel in front of Kimimaro and he was not trapped in the wood.

He was simply stood still as his mind was trapped in Hattori's genjutsu, allowing Hattori to walk behind him while trying to find a weak spot among his bone defences.

"Even when under a genjutsu he's not easy to take down," Hattori said as he spotted a small point at the base of his skull that he could attack.

"Got you."

Kimimaro continued to try and break his flow of chakra, even while trapped in the wood as Hattori's got his kunai ready to attack with.

"No... I can't let this happen. I have to get free!" Kimimaro said as he even bit his lip, hoping that the would help break the jutsu.

However, nothing seemed to work and Kimimaro was beginning to lose hope.

Hattori was just about to thrust his kunai into the back of Kimimaros skull, knowing that the attack would finish him for good when suddenly he felt a fierce pressure weigh down upon him, breaking him free of the Genjutsu.

"What is this?" Hattori asked as he heard a demonic voice.

"Never will someone control me against my will again!" It shouted as it's very words held power.

Kimimaro could feel the power of the three tails inside of him suddenly burst to life as the tailed beast spoke to him, breaking him free of the genjutsu.

With his sudden burst of chakra, Kimimaro had suddenly broken free and was able to turn around and stop Hattori's frantic strike, hoping that he could act before Kimimaro was able to react.

Hattori had no choice other than to retreat amd gain some space away from him, using his swift release to move back before Kimimaro skewered him.

"Just what the hell are you?" Hattori said, knowing that there was something monstrous lurking within his body.

"My name is Kimimaro. And I am the son of the fifth Mizukage!" Kimimaro declared as he let his chakra flare to life.

Hattori could only watch as a red cloak of visible chakra started to surround Kimimaro, forming one tail behind his back.

"What is this chakra... It's visible!" Hattori shouted as he was forced to cover his eyes from the pressure.

Something he regretted all too soon as Kimimaro suddenly disappeared from his sight, only to reappear next to him before he slashed down with his bone blade.

Hattori was in a state of shock and had not been able to move fast enough to keep up, taking a direct blow from Kimimaro's bone blade, with the blade cutting down from his shoulder to his lower chest.

"No..." Hattori thought as he fell backwards, watching as Kimimaro loomed over him with red eyes.

"He's a monster..." He said again knowing that this fight was now over.

"No... I can't give up. I can't lose here!" Hattori said as he caught himself on his backfoot, somehow remaining standing.

Kimimaro noticed this and quickly jumped into the air, having lost most of his sense other than for battle. He was no longer holding back and was now fully prepared to kill Hattori, coming at him with everything he had.

Hattori had no other option than to raise his arm in an attempt to block Kimimaros's attack, knowing that he would most likely be sacrificing his arm.

Kimimaro pulled his bone blade through the air, slashing down with all of the force he could muster before it made contact with Hattoris's arm.

The sound was unexpected as it gave off a metal clashing on metal vibration and even more shocking was that Kimimaros's blade had bounced off Hattori's arm.

Hattori watched wide-eyed as he couldn't believe it. Somehow at the last second, his arm had turned hard, looking as if it was made out of steel, not only allowing it to absorb Kimimaro's attack but to repel it.

"What is this ability?" Hattori thought as he watched his arm turn back to normal.

The force of him being pushed back was enough for Kimimaro to also come to his senses, as he was able to control the chakra that flowed through his body, letting his mind relax as he let it dispel, returning to normal.

"So you can control such a power?" Hattori asked as he reached his good arm up to his wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

Kimimaro could see the damage that had been done, and although it was not life-threatening, it was enough to take him out of the exam.

"I admit, you are stronger than me right now. And with my wound, I no longer stand a chance." He said, swallowing his pride.

"I surrender," Hattori said as he laid down his arms.

Kimimaro was quite surprised, but respected his words, allowing his bones to retract.

"Very well. I will honour your surrender and take the flag." Kimimaro said as he nodded to his fellow shinobi.

Hattori returned his nod.

"I look forwards to a rematch in the future." He then said, watching as Kimimaro took the flag and left him alone in the forest.

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Alright here is the next chapter! Sorry for the wait, I hope it is worth it! This fight has been brewing for a few chapters now, and it was really tough to write!

I also wanted to say a huge thank you to all my supporters who are still with me. If not for you I would probably lose the motivation to co continue writing this story so I just wanted to say a massive thank you to all of you!

Anyway I hoped you enjoyed and have a great day!