With the first round of the training match over, the group retired to the mess hall for some food and a break. Helping regain their energy and balance their chakra levels. Hattori's group had been able to come out on top, showing Kujira and Chika that they still had lots of room to improve and would have to train hard.
Kimimaro, on the other hand, had learned a valuable lesson in not to underestimate his opponent, be they friend or foe. That and the fact he had been facing one of Fuyōna's clones didn't help. If not for Fuyōna being on the squad, Kimimaro would have in fact won, something Hattori wouldn't admit to anyone other than himself.
However, no one was aware that Fuyōna was even there, instead believing that it was a person by the name of Kurōn, another chunin-level ninja of the Hidden Mist village they had never met.
The group was quiet for the most part. Clearly not realise how hungry they had been before they started their training. However, time passed and the group soon found themselves back at the training field, ready for another round of it.
This time it would be Haku, Koyuki and Yuri facing off against, Hattori, Rokuro and Kurōn, given that Hattori and the others had won the first round.
"I hope you are ready, I won't be holding back," Koyuki said as she cracked her knuckles, looking at the others with a fierce intensity burning in her eyes.
Hattori didn't say anything, instead looking at Haku as he remembered their last fight during the chunin exams.
"He may not be as strong as Kimimaro when it comes to Taijutsu... But, his Ninjutsu is far more deadly." Hattori thought to himself, knowing he was dangerous at close and long range.
Rokuro was also feeling nervous, knowing that this time they wouldn't allow him to set up any traps, let alone give him time to think.
"Don't worry. Just do your best." Kurōn said, trying to put him at ease.
"Alright..." Kimimaro said before he took his position as referee.
"Each team to their place." He said, allowing them to move back and get some distance before the fight began.
Each squad did so as they took a ready stance, already planning and plotting their first moves.
"Ready..."
Both Chika and Kujira watched from the sidelines, feeling the intensity in the air, waiting for Kimimaro to give the signal.
"Begin!" Kimimaro yelled, waving his hand as the sign for their battle to start.
"You're mine!" Koyuki yelled as she rushed forwards, not wasting even a second in doing so, pulling a kunai from her weapon pouch with each hand as she charged right towards Hattori.
Hattori expected as much, along with Rokuro who launched a counterattack by throwing a barrage of shuriken.
Koyuki easily blocked all of them, laughing as she dashed forwards, quickly closing the distance.
"Now!" Rokuro yelled, pulling the wires in his hands tight and giving the signal to Hattori.
Suddenly small wires that had been invisible to the naked eye appeared all around Koyuki, wrapping around her tightly as they locked her in place, rendering her unable to move.
Koyuki tried to cut the wires but struggled to get free, feeling the pressure around her arms and legs.
Suddenly Hattori appeared behind her, having used his swift release to move to fast for her to see.
"Game over!" He said, about to slam a knife hand into the back of her neck and take her out of the fight.
"However, Koyuki's body suddenly faded, revealing that it had been a wind-style clone.
Hattori was quick to turn around to defend himself, blocking her attack with his arm as he activated his steel release.
Koyuki's kunai sparked against his flesh as he held her back, feeling her strength as she clawed at him with both kunai.
"She hid in the afterimage of her clone the whole time..." Hattori thought as he pushed her back, trying to move back so he could get some room.
"I don't think so!" Koyuki said, jumping into the air before she locked his arm in place with her body, wrapping around him like a snake as she placed him into an armbar, pulling back on it so she was out of the way of what was about to come.
"What in the!" Hattori said, feeling the pressure on his arm, but knowing she would never be able to do anything with it.
It was then that he realized that she was only using him as a shield, seeing the paper bomb that he had stepped on ignite, knowing this wasn't about to tickle and he would take the blast.
"Shit!"
Meanwhile, Haku and Yuri had launched an attack towards Kurōn and Rokuro, knowing that Koyuki would only complain if they interfered in her fight with Hattori.
Both Haku and Yuri were proficient with senbon needles, preferring them over kunai or shuriken for their deadly accuracy. Something Rokuro and Kurōn were forced to deal with rather quickly.
Rokuro was forced to drop his wired shuriken after seeing Koyuki had already outsmarted his first attack. He was quickly pushed back by Yuri as he jumped out of the way of a volley of senbon, watching as they hit the ground where he had been stood.
"Crap, if she gets me with them I'm screwed!" He said, pulling out a kunai so he could use it to block if and when needed.
"Yuri was fast and attacked using Taijutsu, kicking and punching Rokuro while holding the senbon as a weapon to distract him before sticking one into the back of his leg.
"Shit!" Rokuro yelled, feeling the stabbing pain before his leg suddenly went dead and he couldn't put any more weight on it.
"I watched your last fight closely. You are very smart, but your close-range fighting ability is poor." Yuri said quietly as she stood in front of him, watching carefully for any traps he might have up his sleeve.
Haku, on the other hand, had gone after Kurōn. Having watched his ability during the last match, Haku had a feeling there was more to him than met the eye, deciding he wanted to fight him from the start.
Kurōn dodged a barrage of senbon needles with impressive agility, flipping and springing out of the way, along with blocking the small number of needles that he was unable to dodge too before counter-attacking with a barrage of shuriken.
Haku watched them carefully, already trying to calculate their trajectory as he twisted in the air and blocked only two that he was unable to avoid.
However, Kurōn had already expected as much, and watched with a smile on his face, something Haku reacted to quickly as his ears picked up on the metal clang from behind him.
Haku dropped to the ground in a sprawl, avoiding the two shurikens that Kurōn had changed trajectory with another shuriken, clearly planning on taking Haku by surprise.
Kurōn didn't wait there though, quickly dashing forwards as he pressed on the attack with an impressive display of Taijutsu, throwing punches and kicks with great skill. Forcing Haku on the defensive as he stepped back, parrying both strikes and checking a kick before returning his own kick, only to have it blocked and countered by Kurōn as he sidestepped and pushed his kick aside, returning a right cross that hit Haku in the jaw.
Haku felt the weight of the punch as he took a couple of steps back, trying to regain his sight before Kurōn rushed in throwing a liver hook at him, forcing Haku to drop his guard to block the body shot.
Kurōn threw another hook and another one, hitting with both hands, forcing Haku to curl up to defend himself, quickly rushing forwards trying to headbutt Kurōn with a surprise attack.
However, Kurōn was able to step back and gain a moment of space, quickly pushing off his back leg before twisting around in the air with lightning speed, bringing his other leg through and slamming it into Haku's chest, delivering a perfect spinning back kick.
Haku's body was sent flying back into the ground, crashing with impressive force and kicking up a large amount of dust that clouded everyone's vision.
Kurōn smiled as he let his shoulders drop a little, seeming to relax before kicking off of the ground to avoid the area around where he had been freezing over in a large pillar of ice.
The dust settled and revealed that Haku had used a substitution jutsu to avoid the kick, trying to attack once Kurōn had let his guard down, only to see that his speed and reflexes were amazing.
Kurōn blocked another round of senbon needles before landing on the ground, seeing that Haku was only ten feet away from him.
"Are you going to attack me, or should I attack you again?" He asked, seeing that his words had no effect on Haku.
"Come on, show me what the son of the Mizukage can do!" Kurōn then yelled, seeming to get a better response this time as he saw Haku's eyebrow twitch.
Haku didn't waste any time as he dashed forwards, using his wind style to boost his movement allowing him to attack head-on with a flurry of punches and kicks, aiming at every vital point on the body as he had stopped holding back.
Kurōn did his best to block each attack, feeling an impressive force behind each one of his strikes as he stepped back to continue his defence, seeing a small opening and throwing his own attack to counter.
However, Haku blocked his punch with his forearm, locking Kurōn's wrist with his hand, allowing him to use his free hand to form hand signs at an impressive speed.
"Ice style, One thousand needles of death," Haku said, locking eyes with Kurōn who knew he would not be able to break free of Haku's grip easily.
"Sorry, but not this time." He said, taking Haku by surprise before turning into a pile of mud, forcing Haku to watch as the ice needles pierced the clone instead of the real Kurōn.
The others watched from the distance, seeing how much Haku was also struggling with Kurōn, just as Kimimaro had done in the match before.
"That guy is seriously strong!" Kujira said with his arms crossed.
"Yeah, no way this guy is a normal chunin." Chika also said, watching their fight.
Kimimaro was thinking the same thing, knowing that his movements and knowledge of each of their jutsu were much more than they should be.
"Something feels off about this... Don't give up, Haku." Kimimaro said, willing his brother to keep fighting.
"BOOM!"
The sudden explosion was enough to take everyone's attention away, drawing it all to the black dust cloud to see what had just happened.
Hattori had fallen for Koyukis's trap, having stepped on a paper bomb she had left for him. However, having used his swift release to move out of the way, he was able to avoid the explosion, even with Koyuki holding onto his arm.
"Get off of me!" Hattori yelled, turning around at speed before throwing her into the air.
Koyuki let go, knowing it wasn't a good idea to keep hold of him, instead, she flipped in the air forming hand signs as she did.
"Don't think this is going to be easy for you!" She yelled, watching him from above, knowing he was going to try and close the distance to stop her from using ninjutsu.
Hattori could see that she was making hand signs, and from that distance, he knew she would be able to come up with something dangerous.
"I won't let you!" He yelled, taking a quick breath before using his swift style to propel him into the air, reaching her in a second.
"Got you!" Koyuki yelled, suddenly releasing a small burst of wind-style chakra from all around her, pushing Hattori away from her, and now having nothing to push off of to move as they started free-falling.
"Let's see you move out of the way of this!"
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Alright, going to end this one here! Hope you enjoyed that chapter, more to come soon!