Ino's POV (Medical Section of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)
Resting after the intense conversation between Tsunade, Naruto, and herself wasn't easy. Tsunade's words seemed so sure; there was no dishonesty in them. And to Ino, there were only so many others as qualified to give advice as Tsunade.
There were very few famous kunoichi, even fewer that Ino felt comfortable holding as a role model. Tsunade was one of their few. As far as anyone knew, she was the only female S-ranked kunoichi. Furthermore, she did so without venturing into the darker side of kunoichi. As such, she and many other up-and-coming kunoichi idealized the woman as the prime example of a woman's potential in a shinobi's world.
Hearing an idol of hers being so cynical and defeated had been disheartening. Ino had felt her heart drop as the conversation went on. Even more so when not only had Tsunade detected her hidden feelings for the blonde. Then, warn her not to pursue them. Ino hadn't decided to pursue a relationship, nor had she even fully decided if that was what she wanted. Yet now she couldn't help but feel like Tsunade had a point. She had decided to walk off such thoughts for now.
As soon as Ino left the section for the medical ward, she ran into some familiar faces. An exhausted Yuno and worried-looking Choji walked towards her.
"Ino!" Yuno called, her usually friendly and teasing tone replaced with an all-business voice. "Have you seen Kiba?"
"We've been looking all over for the guy but can't find him," Choji added.
"Worse yet, Sakura and Lee said his room looked like he had been attacked. Sakura, Lee, Gai, some samurai, and ourselves are looking for them. But we're worried something bad happened to him."
"Umm, no, sorry," Ino said with a frown. "Any way I can help?"
"Well, we could use someone else covering the ground. The Iron Arena is large, and we want to ensure he isn't being kidnapped or hurt somewhere nearby." Yuno explained. "It's strange though, it almost looked like some kind-" Before she could finish, smoke suddenly exploded around them with a boom. The injured Ino and Yuno were sent flying back from the cloud of smoke as yells could be heard from Choji. Before the two women could do much, two guards arrived and bravely dived into the giant cloud of smoke. Before both were sent flying back, the armor was dented, and bones likely shattered. They cried out in pain, breaking Ino and Yuno out of their stupor.
Ino hesitated, not wanting to dive into a bad situation. But Yuno, with a howl, dived in as well. Ino flinched as her screams joined Choji's before suddenly the smoke converged, condensing before, in mere seconds, it was gone entirely. There was no trace remaining of Choji or Yuno. Ino was frozen for a few seconds, confused about what to do before the shock wore off. She first checked on the two samurai, noting neither injury was life-threatening. Before she glanced at the spot, her two friends had been. The smoke covered the surrounding area, which had scratches and cracked concrete throughout. Even a couple small puddles of blood. Ino gasped as her mind took in the scene. Before she could panic much, several samurai arrived on the scene. Some stopped to aid the still-conscious samurai, who did a better job than Ino at describing what had happened.
'I couldn't even help.' Ino thought miserably.
"Two more Genin are missing in our land. This may prove troublesome; the Hokage would be within his right to hold us accountable." One of the arriving samurai noted.
"Save it for now; we must keep searching." Another replied before the group ventured off. One female samurai stayed behind to help Ino back to the medical bay.
But Ino felt barely any pain; she mostly felt numb.
Kurotsuchi's POV (Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)
Kurotsuchi had known this fight would be a good one. Naruto had admittedly impressed her in his battle with Tenten. In the Trial of Janus Naruto, she had figured that she was simply a clown, someone fun to be around but not a shinobi to be careful of. Naruto had shattered that perception; in fact, it had made her slightly annoyed. Because Kurotsuchi was still determining if she could beat him based on his fight with Tenten. Naruto hadn't seemed particularly challenged during the battle and, upon taking it seriously, had utterly overwhelmed her. Kurotsuchi would've struggled against Tenten. She had doubts she could've done much better. But more than frustrate her, it had excited her. Kurotsuchi had seen an opportunity, the opportunity to defeat someone who had the same ambition as her. Someone who seemed incredibly powerful would serve as her stepping stone. All she had to do was prove herself better.
Though this was ridiculous! Naruto had dominated their first exchange using pure physicality; now he seemed to be countering her ninjutsu using pure kenjutsu and damn clones! She jabbed at a clone who swayed around it, helpless it was to dodge the gauntlet around her fist, suddenly spiking out and impaling it. She twirled as she held her hands together. The gauntlets became a large club that smacked several more clones away. She tore it apart, forming blades as she blocked the slash of two more clones. Kurotsuchi's eyes widened as another appeared before her, its blade coated in chakra; she also felt another behind her! 'He's faster than me! Worse yet, the clones make it impossible to hold my own!'
"Smashing Waves!" The clone yelled in unison as they slashed toward Kurotsuchi. Desperately, she formed her gauntlets into shields. She raised both to her front and back to block the slashes. This managed to stop the blades, but the chakra still boomed with energy, destroying the rest of the clones and stunning Kurotsuchi, leaving her slightly singed and dazed. Before she could fully recover, Naruto unleashed a powerful and harsh kick to her ribs. She spat blood as she flew away. Before Naruto could pursue her further, she seemed to sink into the earth. Kurotsuchi took the time to breathe and reassess the situation.
'This is ridiculous; up close, he's picking me apart; I need to limit his movements to guarantee I can hit him with one of my stronger techniques. Time to stall; let's see how easily you deal with this, Shortie!' Kurotsuchi thought as she weaved hand signs underground.
From the surface, Naruto saw none of this, instead feeling a slight tremble of the ground; this was the only warning as suddenly a large portion of the ground beneath him writhed with large earthen hands. Each erupted from the ground and attempted to swat or crush him.
"Earth Style: Gaia's Grasp!" She called from her hiding spot. Naruto jumped back narrowly, avoiding a hand directly underneath him. He leaped again to prevent another, but a third caught him mid-air. It sent him high up in the air, avoiding the rest but leaving him wide open for the last two that surged forward to clap Naruto, crushing each bone in his body. Kurotsuchi rose as this happened, using her hands to direct the stone. He summoned two clones, each grabbing an arm and leg, spiking him towards Kurotsuchi.
"Naruto Spear!" Kurotuschi flinched before Naruto crashed into her painfully. Head collided to head as the two "future Kages" crashed into each other. The force of which caused the two to bounce and skid. Naruto beat her to her feet and rose Riptide to finish the fight. Before he could, one final hand of Gaia burst from the ground blind, siding him. Naruto twirled through the air painfully; Kurotsuchi watched as he summoned several clones to cushion his collision with a tree. The clump of clones crashed through the tree. But they somehow managed to ensure the original was barely damaged, only showing minor cuts and bleeding, which seemed to be already healing.
'He's wearing me out just like he did her.' "Luckily, I have something for powerhouses like you! Earth Style: Earth Golem!" She called as her creation rose from the earth below. Easily twenty feet tall, it was a rough resemblance to an Iwa Shinobi, though it made up for this simple appearance with intimidation; it was large and roughly assembled with both stone and metal.
She watched as Naruto eyed it warily, as she predicted he intended to eliminate it rather than risk it. 'This should buy me a little time. I doubt I can land a clean enough hit to keep him down. Better to win by disabling him!'
"Let's see it! Show me that technique you used on Tenten!" Kurotsuchi roared. "Show me why you'll become Hokage! Show me your village isn't inferior to mine!"
Naruto nodded solemnly as he raised a hand sign. "Personal Atmosphere: Level One" Like his bout to Tenten, wind surrounded the blonde. Gust of it sent dust and lightweight objects flying through the air; Naruto's eyes almost seemed to shine as he gazed at the large construct before him. The breeze seemed utterly wild and uncontained if not for its waning influence, slowly waning as it got further from the blonde. "I don't care about proving my home to be better than yours. They both mean the world to us, and I have no interest in saying otherwise. I'm fighting you only to prove my power, not superiority. I won't fight you to prove the Leaf is better than the Stone, but I'll fight you to see which of us is stronger. It won't mean the victor is better, merely further ahead than the other."
Kurotsuchi was stunned by his point. She thought it over before she suddenly burst out into laughter. Rising from the earth as she did so. Momentarily forgetting her own strategy to face the blonde. Kurotsuchi wanted to gauge his honesty. She was shocked to see he meant his words. "I've never met anyone quite like you, Uzumaki. Maybe you have a point; prove it by beating me!" Kurotsuchi screamed as her Golem surged forward with some unseen signal. It ran forward and attempted to punch Naruto. Naruto jumped up, twirling around the punch with precise control. Seemingly unbothered by gravity entirely. As if he was merely willing his body to go through the air. The giant spun and attempted to swat the blonde. But Naruto seemed to jump against the air, to dodge the strike and fly toward the creature.
'Good luck hurting it like that, Shortie. Even with your monster strength, my Earth Golem can tank explosive tags.' She thought as Naruto reared back his fist to punch the giant. He roared as he did so, speeding in and unleashing a powerful punch to the Golem's head. This splintered the stone throughout the head and made the construct stumble back. Kurotsuchi couldn't believe her eyes. 'He is hurting my golem with his bare hands?' Naruto did not rest; after his punch, he once again seemed to jump against the air; shooting off like an arrow, he slammed feet-first into the Golem's upper arm, breaking it off. He appeared to skid against the air somehow, bodily stopping his momentum and shooting off again with a kick to one leg, which broke it off, and a mighty hand chop to the other leg made the giant golem fall. 'Is he secretly the son of Tsunade the Slug Sannin?!'
"Size doesn't matter when it's that weak!" Naruto teased. As he did so, the Golem managed to rise behind him silently. This left him open for the somehow fully formed Golem to slam him into the ground, not unsimilar to swatting a fly. Naruto painfully climbed to his feet, feeling sore. 'Best to avoid getting hit by that thing again.' The beast seemed determined to repeat the action as it marched towards him to continue smashing him.
Naruto seemed to skip up into the sky. Glaring at the Earth Golem for his airborne view. He now bled from a cut above his right eye. Naruto thought over the Earth Golem. It was undoubtedly an impressive jutsu, and it could repair itself. Jiraiya had talked to him about complex techniques, summarizing almost any method that could be countered. If a man was creative and gutsy.
Jiraiya laughed bodily as the blonde struggled to drag himself free from his jutsu. "Ya "Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld" is one of my favorites. It's easy to avoid if you know it's coming, but it can be shockingly effective if used correctly.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, drunk!" Naruto yelled, still stuck ankle-deep in the dark mud. "What kinda mud is this anyway! I can smash concrete with my bare hands but can't escape this!"
"Rumor has it, this is the mud one can look forward to in the afterlife, a grim preview of what awaits most shinobi. In truth, it's a mixture of mud and chakra, which makes it sticky and incredibly durable." Jiraiya explained.
"Ya, well, it's so stupid; you keep catching me in it. How am I supposed to learn from you if you keep trapping me in this shit!" Naruto complained.
"Blame yourself for falling for it. I use it every spar, and you seem unable to avoid it. Find a way around good techniques, brat; it separates the greats from the average." Jiraiya lectured.
"Sorry Shortie! My Golem can heal pretty quick! Better do something better to keep him down!" Kurotsuchi taunted. Naruto merely nodded as he summoned six more clones. Each suddenly was turned headfirst, facing the Golem. The clones were each frozen in the air as if in the grasp of a large, invisible being. Suddenly, each shot forward as an arrow; the slow Golem could do nothing as each impacted relatively ineffectively. Causing craters in the summon but little else. Kurotsuchi smiled before Naruto offered his own. Clearly, he needed to destroy the golem in one go to stop it. Luckily, overkill was something Naruto might as well specialized in.
"Naruto Artillery, " he said calmly as the Walking Landmine Clones exploded, destroying the entire Golem in a chain of explosions. Before the chunks could begin to reform, Naruto smiled as Riptide glowed with power.
"Uzumaki Style: Raging Wave!" A large blast of chakra exploded into the construct, destroying the remains left from his previous attack. Kurotsuchi was stunned as Naruto landed softly in front of her. Riptide in hand and seemingly glowing eyes locked onto her.
'He took apart an Earth Golem Casually?' She thought with shock. 'It's good. I have one more trick.