In the wake of Akira sensei voice there was only silence. The entire class was looking at me as if I was an alien, as if I was a body-snatcher that had replaced their classmate.
I shoved my hands back in my pockets and left the circle without a word. I didn't have anything to prove to these kids.
The tournament progressed as you would expect. The civilian kids all got out in the first or second round with the Hyuga, Aburama, Inazuka, Akimichi and Uchiha kids slowly eliminating everyone else.
My opponents were all dealt with the same way Sora was. I captured them with the Shadow Imitation Technique and made them walk out of bounds. This was a horrible tournament. We were confined to a small circular area where people with short range techniques would win without much difficulty. Anyone who relied on traps or range was screwed.
It also made me realise that fighting these kids would not help me grow. They were weak and too inexperienced. I did not even have to use my Shadow Spider to deal with them.
Misa tore through her opponents with ease, handling everyone she faced with just her taijutsu skill alone. She didn't use anything we practiced together or her byakugan.
At the end of each match, she'd turn to me and smile. I needed to find a way to tactfully deal with that crush sooner rather than later.
Only when she went up against her first Uchiha in the semi-final did she start trying. She tripped the kid with an invisible chakra string before he could do anything and knocked him out of the ring. It was over in a flash, but then, most fights between ninja were. You were either the best, or you were dead less than a second after the fight started.
"Kagen Nara versus Misa Hyuga." Akari-sensei announced.
I grinned. I was actually looking forward to this. I didn't know whether or not Misa could beat me if we both went all out, and I was looking forward to learning the answer.
Misa raised her hand. "I surrender."
My excitement died a quick death as I snapped to look at Misa.
Akari-sensei raised an eyebrow at her. "Why?"
"We're confined to the circle. That means I will be required to engage him at close range. If I do, he will trap me with his shadows before I can defend myself and I will lose. I would need range to defeat him." Misa explained calmly. I couldn't fault her reasoning.
Akari-sensei smirked. "Let that be a lesson to the rest of you. Not fighting a battle you're sure to lose isn't cowardice, it's common sense. This tournament was supposed to take another hour, but we finished early and I don't feel like waiting around. You brats can all go home." She turned around and walked away without another word, but that was pretty par for the course for her so none of us reacted.
"If you weren't confined to the circle, do you think you could beat me?" I asked Misa after everyone slowly scattered, leaving us alone.
Misa offered me a small smile. "I use the Gentle Fist as my main point of offense. I need to be close to you to use it, and getting close to you allows you to trap me in your shadows. All of my greatest strengths are completely negated by your proficiency with your shadows. You are a poor match up for me."
If the Hyuga got rid of their stereotype over elemental ninjutsu, they would not have this weakness.
Hyuga would have been squite overpowered if they did not focus on just their Taijutsu. They could do so much more. They can use long range weapons and jutsus and target people from a distance. They can be like snipers of this world. And let's not get to the fact about how effective iryõ-nin they would be with their eyes.
They were quite stubborn to change their traditions though.
I smirked. "I guess that's true. Still, my shadows could synergize really well with you. If the two of us were on the front line together, I could hold people in place while you took them out. I could also shroud the area in shadows, blinding everyone but you."
Misa seemed surprised. "You can do that?"
I chuckled. "Not yet. But I'm working on it. There's a lot I'm working on right now."
But then it hit me what I had said. Stupid me. I had just told the girl that had a crush on me that we would be unstoppable if we fought together. Me and my dumb brain ...Ughhhh!
"Will… Will we continue training together during the mid-year break?" Misa asked, refusing to meet my eyes.
"If you're up for it, I would like to." I said, carefully gauging her reaction.
A small smile spread across her face. "I would like to as well. I researched how teams are formed in the school library. It said the top male and female students are placed with the dead last." Her smile turned glowing as she tilted her head to the side. "Let's work hard to be the best in the class so we are put on the same genin team!" She rushed away before I could say anything.
I debated running after her, but that would just reinforce things I was trying to discourage. I sighed as I rubbed my forehead. I wasn't lying when I said we'd synergize well together.
Add our specializations to how well we knew each other's fighting styles and we would do great on the same team after a few more years to get better. Still, Misa's crush could prove problematic. This whole situation was troublesome.
I stuck my hands in my pockets and headed home. There wasn't much to be done about it right now, so the best I could do was keep trucking on. That genjutsu specialist Aiko knew was supposed to stop by the library some time during the break, and I wanted to get back so I could get started. I would deal with Misa later.
---------Author Notes--------
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