After finally waiting, the match he had been waiting to get over with for so long came.
"Sukuna Haruno vs Shino Aburame. Begin."
The arena felt strangely quiet.
Shino adjusted his glasses. "I shall not hold back, Haruno-san… please do the same."
Sukuna rolled his shoulders lazily. "Do what you want."
Of course he was going to hold back. Otherwise, Shino would have been cut into pieces by now.
As soon as the match truly started, the insects came first.
A dark cloud erupted from Shino's sleeves, humming violently as it surged toward Sukuna like a living storm.
Sukuna didn't move much. His Mangekyo easily saw every insect closing in on him. He didn't even have to move—Kamui could handle all of them. But he reminded himself that he had to hold back.
He flicked his wrist and an exploding tag snapped into his fingers, already lit.
He tossed it casually.
Boom.
A controlled blast of fire consumed the leading wave of kikaichu, burning dozens instantly. The smell of scorched chitin filled the air.
Shino didn't flinch.
"That's dangerous…" Shino pursed his lips. He wasn't even talking about himself. For Sukuna too, using exploding tags so closely was dangerous. That was why no one used them like that.
On the side, the other genin and jonin were thinking the same.
First: 'Is that kid an idiot? Does he have a death wish?'
Second: 'How the hell is he not injured?'
"I know what I'm doing. Don't worry about me. You focus on the battle, Shino." Sukuna waved his hand nonchalantly, without any care.
He wasn't even using Kamui for this, just reinforcement. During his training phase, he had intentionally taken damage outside real combat to train.
More insects poured out, spreading wide to surround him from multiple angles.
Sukuna clicked his tongue. "Same thing again."
Another tag.
Another explosion.
He moved minimally, stepping just enough to avoid direct contact while detonating the swarm in controlled bursts. The tags were precise—each blast wide enough to incinerate insects but contained enough not to endanger Shino himself.
"Is that brat somehow related to that bunned hair girl from before? How the hell do these genin have access to so many exploding tags?"
"God, are all Konoha genin so rich they use exploding tags like candy wrappers?"
It was inevitable that others would talk. Exploding tags were not cheap, no matter which village they were from.
As for Sukuna, he didn't care. Because he made them. He was a fuinjutsu master—of course he would make his own exploding tags.
From the stands, Naruto squinted. "Is that it?"
"It's practical," Sasuke muttered.
"Just not economical," Karin muttered under her breath. She always knew Sukuna had deep pockets—here was the proof.
One by one, Sukuna burned through his supply.
Ten tags gone just like that. And that exhausted his stock. At least the ones he had on him. He only carried them just in case—otherwise he didn't even need them.
The arena floor was littered with charred remnants.
Shino's breathing grew heavier beneath his coat. The swarm was thinning.
Sukuna reached into his pouch.
Empty.
"…Tch, holding back is such a drag," Sukuna muttered under his breath. If it weren't a friendly fight, he would have long ended it with a Dismantle.
The remaining insects rushed in desperation, forming a dense sphere around him.
'He still isn't giving up… I thought he would by now considering his hive.'
For a brief moment, Sukuna considered simply ending it cleanly in close combat against Shino, but decided against it.
Instead, he exhaled. Reverse cursed energy generated inside him.
"Fuga."
Unlike the inferno he was capable of, what came out was a torrent of icy wind, freezing everything in its path.
One second those insects were flying toward him, and the next they were all frozen dead, dropping like flies.
The attack didn't stop there, though. It headed straight at Shino and half-froze him as well, including the area of the fighting ring.
There was complete silence around the arena before everything broke into muttering.
People were surprised the pink-haired boy used Ice Release. But no one was more surprised than Haku himself. Only his clan could use Ice Release, as far as he knew.
Sukuna still held back to not completely break off Shino.
Shino looked at the thinning cluster of insects crawling weakly along his sleeve. Most of his hive lay frozen dead. He wasn't expecting this kind of attack here—at least not from a Konoha shinobi.
"…I concede."
He bowed slightly. "Continuing would endanger my colony."
"Wise decision. Good match." Sukuna nodded and turned around.
Amid everyone's muttering, he returned to his seat while many eyes still lingered on him.
"Winner. Sukuna."
Sakura saw her brother coming back and looked a bit unsatisfied. "I thought you would use taijutsu. Why not punch that guy like you used to do with us?" she complained.
"That was unnecessary. Fighting close combat or at a distance doesn't matter. Winning was the objective, and I won. As for why not—well, I don't like bugs."
Everyone looked at him with baffled expressions.
'So he burned all those exploding tags just because he didn't like bugs? Seriously?!'
The next match was interesting, unlike his own. So he planned on watching this one with glee.
"Gaara of the Sand vs Kimimaro of the Mist."
The air itself seemed to tighten.
Gaara stood motionless, sand already swirling lazily around him like a living shield.
Across from him, Kimimaro stepped forward barefoot, pale and composed, eyes devoid of hesitation.
"Begin!"
The first move came from Gaara.
Sand surged forward in a crushing wave, seeking to engulf.
Kimimaro didn't dodge.
Bones erupted from his forearm, forming a blade. He spun, carving through the sand mass with sharp, precise arcs. The grains scattered—but immediately regrouped.
Gaara didn't even look phased. If anything, he looked more excited to fight someone strong.
The sand lunged again, faster this time, snapping toward Kimimaro's limbs.
Kimimaro allowed it to wrap around his torso—
"Sand Burial."
The arena floor cracked as pressure compressed inward. Right off the bat, the same technique that almost ended Lee's career as a shinobi in the canon snapped at Kimimaro.
A thunderous crunch echoed.
When the sand fell away—
Kimimaro stood there almost unharmed.
The wounds on him were only skin-deep since most of his body was protected by a thick layer of bone.
Only when his skin split slightly at the shoulders could others see the hardened bone plates pushing outward beneath it, absorbing the crushing force.
Blood dripped faintly.
He didn't even react.
From the balcony, murmurs rose.
"That should've crushed him…"
"That guy's a monster as always."
No one knew better than his own team—and Sasuke, who fought him the last time.
Kimimaro pulled a long bone sword from his spine in one smooth motion.
"Ew… that's disgusting."
Some felt like vomiting at the sight.
Kimimaro almost vanished from there.
In a blink, he was before Gaara, blade slashing downward.
The sand shield intercepted automatically, hardening into a dense wall.
The impact rang like metal striking stone.
Kimimaro pressed harder, bone spikes erupting from his elbows and knees as he launched a relentless flurry.
Gaara's sand armor thickened, blocking strike after strike—but each impact drove him inches backward.
Gaara retaliated, sand spiraling upward into a towering column that attempted to trap Kimimaro midair.
Kimimaro twisted unnaturally, bones extending from his back to anchor into the arena walls, avoiding complete capture.
He ripped free.
More blood now streaked his chest.
Yet his expression remained tranquil.
Gaara extended both arms.
The entire arena floor shifted.
Sand rose like a tidal wave, threatening to swallow everything.
Kimimaro responded in kind.
"Dance of the Seedling Fern."
The ground exploded upward in a forest of jagged white bone pillars, tearing through the sand mass and piercing the arena surface.
The collision was violent.
Both were the kind who attacked ruthlessly, never backing down. One had never felt pain in his life, and the other didn't mind pain in his life at all.
Sand crushed bones.
Bones skewered sand.
Neither yielded an inch.
The fight was a spectacle unlike most until now.
Until Kimimaro's cough came suddenly.
A thin spray of blood stained his lips. His age-old illness was acting up again.
He ignored it and charged again, bone blade gleaming.
Gaara encased himself fully in a hardened sand shell. Seeing that the boy with the Bone Release kekkei genkai was the first person who wasn't dying after his full-on attacks.
Temari's and Kankuro's eyes widened when they saw that.
Because they knew exactly what Gaara was doing.
After seeing Kimimaro almost unharmed, Gaara thought he had to go all out. He partially planned to release Shukaku already.
Kimimaro's strike came first.
But it did not pierce through.
Gaara's sand retaliated, slamming Kimimaro into a bone pillar with immense force.
He rose again.
However, his condition was deteriorating.
He coughed again, and blood poured out of his mouth.
This time, his knees buckled briefly.
The sand surged, wrapping around him completely.
"Sand Coffin."
Pressure intensified.
Kimimaro struggled, bones jutting outward to resist the compression—but his movements slowed.
His breathing faltered.
Gaara lifted his hand higher.
The sand tightened.
Kimimaro's body trembled—
Then stilled.
His illness had finally claimed what the battle could not.
Before Gaara could complete the burial—
"Enough!"
A blur landed between them.
Zabuza of the Mist, blade resting over his shoulder, glare sharp.
The jonin moved swiftly to restrain Gaara's sand.
The pressure ceased.
Kimimaro collapsed fully, unconscious, blood staining the arena floor.
Gaara lowered his hand slowly, eyes unreadable.
Medics rushed forward.
"He needs immediate treatment!"
As the Mist shinobi gathered around their fallen comrade, all eyes shifted toward Sukuna.
He exhaled irritably. "Troublesome."
Perhaps he shouldn't have shown his healing capabilities in front of everyone earlier.
Grumbling, he still stepped forward.
As a medical ninja—and with the Mist currently guests of Konoha—there was no refusing.
He knelt beside Kimimaro, RTC already flowing into the boy's fragile system.
"…Severe internal deterioration," Sukuna muttered.
But there was more. The boy's body seemed to be failing.
'His illness, I presume…'
Sukuna sighed.
Grumbling under his breath, he stabilized the immediate damage before helping carry Kimimaro toward the hospital.
xXx
A/N: Man, that was a big fight. Though I personally wasn't that interested in this one. The next one, though—that's the fight I'm most looking forward to.
Hope you guys liked the match. Tell me if there are any mistakes—I'll fix them ASAP.
As for anything else, of course there are stones and comments.
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