A wave of murmurs spread throughout the stadium as the battle came to an end. The spectators were far more confused than excited.
"...Did anyone else see that?" one genin asked, rubbing his eyes.
"I know I wasn't imagining things," another replied. "How did Kyoraku's sword come out of Guy's shadow?"
A chūnin shook his head. "That shouldn't be possible. Shadows don't work like that."
"But then Guy..." another spectator interrupted. "Guy actually jumped into his own shadow... and somehow came out of Kyoraku's shadow on the other side of the arena."
"What kind of ninjutsu was that? Was it a space time ninjutsu? That should not be possible though."
"I've never even heard of anything like it."
The confusion only grew.
"And what about earlier?" someone else asked. "Kyoraku was thrown straight at the arena wall."
"Yeah! He should have crashed into it."
"Instead, it looked like he... jumped off the wall."
"No, that's the strange part," a jōnin muttered with narrowed eyes. "His body actually jumped from the wall which should not be possible since he was not even trying to jump."
The surrounding shinobi fell silent for a moment.
"...What kind of technique lets someone do that?"
Before anyone could answer, another voice spoke up.
"Forget that. Explain the tornado to me."
Everyone turned toward the speaker.
"You mean when both of them started spinning?"
"Exactly! Neither of them formed a single hand seal."
"They just spun faster and faster... and somehow created a massive tornado."
"Isn't Wind Release supposed to require chakra control and hand seals?"
"Not always," an older shinobi replied. "Some advanced users can perform techniques with a single seal... but creating a tornado just by spinning?"
Around the arena, countless shinobi could only stare at each other, wondering what exactly they had just witnessed.
While the spectators were confused about how Shunsui abilities worked, Orochimaru quickly used an Earth Style jutsu to repair the battlefield since Guy under the influence of Irooni, the Color Demon game and in four gates had delivered quite a devastating blow to it, destroying it completely with cracks all over it.
The ground shook slightly as the earth moved and filled the cracks, making the arena smooth and ready for the next fights.
Orochimaru's mind though was analyzing the fight that he had just witnessed. 'Truly Interesting. I will have to get sensei or Danzo to tell me how the boy's ability work. But I am pretty sure that it is something to do with his swords that he could summon or unsummon on his whims.'
After the field was fixed, the next two semi final matches took place one after another.
In the first one, Obito faced Kisame. Kisame had a huge amount of chakra, and he used it well to control the fight. He did not give Obito any chance to use his own techniques properly. Kisame ended the match with a single powerful water style jutsu.
A massive wave of water had rose up and covered the entire field. The water slammed Obito hard against the wall of the arena. Then more waves crashed down on him. Obito suffered a few broken bones from the water pressure.
In the second semi final match, Mukai fought against Kurenai. Kurenai was known as a genjutsu specialist. She tried to trap Mukai in her genjutsu right from the start.
However, Mukai had his byakugan activated. With his deep mastery over the byakugan eye, he could see through almost any illusion. He was basically immune to her attacks.
Mukai closed the distance fast and struck Kurenai with gentle fists at her chakra points. The match ended quickly without much struggle. Kurenai could not land any hits, and Mukai won easily.
The audience clapped politely, but it was clear they were not very excited.
The crowd was not happy after seeing these two easy victories. Many spectators had come to watch the genin struggle and bleed in tough battles.
They wanted to see fights full of effort and close calls, just like the intense match between Guy and Shunsui. People whispered among themselves and some even shouted lightly in disappointment.
These two quick matches gave Shunsui enough time to recover his chakra. He had used up a lot of his energy during the fight with Guy because he kept changing the game being played.
Now it was time for the last and most important match. It would be a three way battle between Kisame Hoshigaki, Mukai Kohinata, and Shunsui Kyōraku.
The three genin stood opposite each other in the repaired arena. They looked at one another carefully, sizing up their opponents.
Shunsui raised an eyebrow as he noticed Kisame holding Samehada, the special sword that could eat chakra. 'So even he was lent the sword huh? Well this should make the battle interesting but I should avoid getting hit by the sword or else I would risk emptying my chakra and giving it to Kisame,' Shunsui thought to himself.
He then looked over at Mukai, who had removed his eyepatch. Mukai now showed his byakugan in full view for everyone to see. He stood ready in a gentle fist stance.
'I bet that the Hyuga are having an internal crisis at that. Well it serves them right and it might lower their attitude a bit. They are too stern and egomaniacs for their own good. It might do them good to be taken down a peg by someone with a byakugan and not a member of their clan,' Shunsui thought with some amusement.
Truth be told, Shunsui kinda liked Mukai and he did not blame the future Mukai for his actions either.
He remembered about Mukai from Itachi Shinden which was that Mukai's family split off from the Hyūga clan several generations before his birth. Many people assumed this meant his bloodline was too diluted to possess the byakugan.
But Mukai did in fact have a byakugan in his left eye. He preferred to keep this a secret from anyone he was not close with.
Once he became a Konoha ninja, Mukai led an accomplished career. He ultimately joined the Anbu at the same time that he was promoted to jonin. Although his membership in the Anbu had to remain a secret from most people, Mukai's performance was nevertheless stellar enough to earn the trust of the Third Hokage.
Shunsui also recalled that Itachi and Shisui Uchiha had been assigned by Danzo Shimura to eliminate Mukai for betraying Konoha. 'Anyone that does not get along with Danzo is to be respected and a trusty individual,' Shunsui thought amused as he gave a smile to Mukai.
Mukai looked confused at the smile for a moment but still nodded back politely in return.
"Now then, this is going to be a tough fight," Shunsui mumbled as he unsheathed his blades and held them in his hands. .
Orochimaru looked at the three genin standing ready in the arena. His eyes scanned them with interest before he announced in a loud voice, "Begin."
-------Author Notes--------
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