Finally. Part 2

(AN: Follow me on twitter at @toxinfraser to see my art! I'll post regularly over there from now on, so don't hesitate to show some love!)

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Judging from my knowledge, Shino was a very underrated character.

Although he struggled against Kankuro, that was because of the disadvantageous nature of his opponent; He thrived against human opponents, not puppets.

A naive person would assume that my sand armor would make me impervious to his bugs, but it's quite the contrary.

Using the armor could prove to be a fatal mistake. Shino's bugs eat chakra, so they would directly bypass my defense... It requires extensive amounts of chakra to maintain.

Closing my eyes, I focused my chakra, in search of any bugs lying about. As luck may have it, there was one hidden in my clothes.

Smiling, I crushed it with a small wave of sand. Feeling this, Shino started sweating. While everyone else was confused, I just smiled viciously.

"You drew the short stick buddy."

Hearing my words, Shino unconsciously took a step back, but finally resolved himself. He seemed ready to fight.

"You may begin!"

After Hayate's signal, my gourd's cork flew out of its hole, hitting Shira in the face. Sand started pouring out of it, swirling around my motionless figure.

First, let's test the waters. With a smirk, I crossed my arms and sent a wave of sand toward Shino, who started running away, not wanting to come into contact with it.

As the sand followed him closely, a mass of bugs crawled out of his sleeves and started crawling towards me.

"As if I'd let you."

More sand poured out of my gourd, swallowing the bugs and crushing them. Shino looked worried as he retreated even further.

When he felt like he was at a safe distance, a bunch of sand appeared right behind Shino, rushing towards his legs.

Reacting quickly, he dodged out of the way and continued running and dodging my sand.

Not giving him any time to think, I continuously assaulted him with huge waves of sand. At this rate, he would run out of stamina in no time.

(Shino's POV: 'My bugs are useless against his sand... I have to think of something or I'll run out of stamina! Think!')

Clearly pushed to the limit, Shino ran towards me at full speed. From the looks of it, he planned to engage in physical contact.

As if I'd let you.

Performing hand seals, I placed both of my hands on the ground made it shake violently.

"Doton: Retsudo Tenshō!" (Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm)

The floor under Shino shifted, enormous cracks appearing all over it.

The shockwave was so strong that it sent him flying into the air.

Not wasting this chance, raised my sand up towards him, since he couldn't dodge anymore.

When my sand reached him, it quickly swallowed up his whole body, leaving his head out.

Got you.

Raising my hand, I turned it and slowly closed my fist.

"Sabaku Sōsō!"

The sand exploded with enough strength to take down Shino without threatening his life.

In the future, I might have to ally with these people. I must make the right decisions. But before I could rejoice about my win, I realized that there was no blood at all.

Looking closely, Shino's body had turned into countless bugs that were crawling out of my sand. It was a substitution.

Suddenly, I heard a noise behind my back and turned around. What I saw was a struggling Shino, trying to stab a poison-coated Kunai into my back.

He had failed though, with the sand shield getting in the way.

'Shit... That could've been bad. I let my guard down, thinking that I won. I should be more careful next time...'

Now angry, I decided to finish this quickly.

No more games.

Raising sand bullets in front of me, I made hand seals and inhaled a great chunk of air, expanding my chest in the process.

"Fūton: Mugen Sajin — Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Infinite Sand Cloud — Great Breakthrough!)

A destructive air force hit Shino at point-blank range.

It was imbued with sand bullets, which drilled into his body like countless steel needles.

Shino was sent flying, hitting the wall behind him with great force. In front of him lay a trail of destruction.

As everyone stared in shock, Shino's bloodied figure rested on the ground, immobile.

Snapping out of his shock, Hayate flickered next to Shino, confirming his defeat.

"The winner is Sabaku Gaara of Sunagakure!"