Chapter 82: Rending the Foundations to Fill the Firmament

Following Ino's victory, Sasuke and the now serious-looking Naruto made their way into the arena. The latter hadn't trained much, if at all, over the past month, but Sasuke knew better than to underestimate him. Naruto's stamina and Chakra gave the impression they were near-inexhaustible, so he would be at a disadvantage the longer the match continued.

With the only words between them being Naruto stating, "I have to win..." in a firm tone, Hayate announced the start of the match. Sasuke opened things up by charging toward Naruto, throwing several shurikens while his opponent wove together a familiar set of hand signs.

Just as Sasuke was about to reach him, Naruto exhaled the Wind Nature Chakra that had accumulated in his lungs, aiming at the ground to both propel himself upward and pepper the Uchiha with a wave of dust and stone debris. Sasuke managed to weave between the larger pieces, his hands forming a series of seals as he quickly tailed after Naruto.

While most people would be helpless in the air, Naruto's mastery of Wind Release and immense Chakra Reserves allowed him to stay airborne, well out of range of most opponents as he barraged them with more and more Wind Release Jutsu. Sasuke was well aware of this, so he used his Fire Release: Phoenix Flame Jutsu to exhale dozens of homing flames from his mouth before reaching into the pouch behind his back to pull out a Fuuma Shuriken.

Undaunted by the flames closing in on him, Naruto took advantage of those directly in front of him by exhaling a massive tempest that could give Temari's various fan-empowered Ninjutsu a run for their money. Wind Ninjutsu had the effect of empowering Fire Ninjutsu, but the momentum of Naruto's attack allowed him to be the beneficiary as his Wind Release: Great Breakthrough abruptly caught fire, enveloping tens of meters of the battlefield with a swirling vortex of flames.

As the crowd, including many Shinobi, stared in awe at the tremendous display of power, far beyond the standards of a typical Genin, the Fuuma Shuriken previously pulled out by Sasuke emerged from the flames and nearly cut through Naruto's left leg. The latter managed to twist his body at the last moment, but he wasn't out of the woods just yet as the Fuuma promptly burst into a cloud of smoke, revealing a slightly charred-looking Sasuke with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning rapidly.

Though he was unspeakably dizzy, Sasuke twisted his body faster than Naruto could turn around, nailing the boy's left arm with a kick. This made it appear as though Naruto had successfully intercepted the attack, but Sasuke was just getting started. He used the rebound from their collision to twist his body in the opposite direction, slipping into Naruto's blindspot before smacking the boy in the face with a heavy backhand that sent him crashing toward the ground.

Flinching due to the heavy blow to his face, Naruto was barely able to get his guard up as Sasuke timed a spinning ax kick at the precise moment his body hit the ground and attempted to rebound. The force behind the blow created a small crater and caused spiderweb cracks to spread out several meters, but Naruto appeared unharmed as he shouted, "Sasuke...!" with a fierce, determined look on his face.

Flipping away from Naruto's attempt to grab his ankle, Sasuke asserted, "It's over..." the moment his opponent tried bounding away from him. Now that he had Naruto within his preferred range, there was no way in hell he was letting the boy escape to continue his barrage.

Though Naruto did his best to guard and counterattack, Sasuke's speed, precision, and technique vastly exceeded his blonde-haired counterpart. Naruto's greatest strengths were his strength, stamina, durability, and his ludicrous Chakra Reserves. However, most of that came from his heritage as an Uzumaki and his nine-tailed passenger, so he was below average in terms of actual ability.

Like Naruto, Sasuke was also blessed with a cheat-like heritage. Unlike Naruto, however, he worked 'extremely' hard to get stronger and master his abilities. Six years of hard work, combined with prodigious talent and one of the most powerful bloodlines in existence, would never lose out to someone who was practically a wastrel a month prior.

With Naruto refusing the Nine-Tails' offer to 'assist' him, it wasn't long before his world went dark, courtesy of a heel strike to his right temple. He didn't want to become the 'monster' everyone had accused him of being in his youth, and Sasuke was the closest thing he had to a best friend after falling out with Wu. Thus, even though he 'really' wanted to win, Naruto accepted his defeat and resolved to work harder as his face collided with the dirt...

Seeing Naruto stay down, a genuine sigh of relief escaped Sasuke's throat. Naruto had a penchant for getting back up no matter how much damage he had sustained. Since he obviously couldn't kill someone from Konoha, especially a team member, Sasuke wasn't entirely sure how he would close out the battle. Fortunately, Naruto had accumulated quite a bit of 'fatigue' over the past couple of weeks, so he was more than happy to accept the sweet embrace of unconsciousness...

As Naruto was carted off to the infirmary and Sasuke returned to the waiting area, Lee took to the battlefield alongside the orange and black-haired Ryder. The former was as energetic as always, giving his opponent a thumbs up and saying, "Let's both do our best!" while Ryder remained completely stoic, squaring his stance, closing his eyes, and placing his hands together as if he were praying. He was the last representative of Kumo, so he was determined to give a dominating performance.

The moment Hayate gave the signal to begin, Ryder opened his eyes and spread out his hands, orienting them toward Lee. As he did so, bands of purple electricity spread out from his feet, flowing into the ground before he raised his hands, uprooting a large section of the arena, including the area where Lee was standing.

"Whoa...!"

Having never witnessed such a technique, Lee attempted to escape the range of Ryder's jutsu by bounding from stone to stone. He managed to do so, but his chosen path placed him on the opposite side of the arena, exactly where Ryder wanted him to be.

Pushing forward with his hands, Ryder seemed to change the direction of gravity for the affected terrain, sending it accelerating toward Lee like a veritable landslide. Lee was able to weave and dodge between the debris, shattering the larger stones with casual punches and kicks, but that was also within Ryder's expectations. The moment approximately half of the dust and debris had slipped past Lee, crashing into the wall of the arena as if it were the ground, he brought his hands together to form a circle.

To the increasing surprise of the crowd, all of the debris still affected by Ryder's technique began to contract toward Lee as if he had become the center of gravity. Lee immediately realized what was happening, but the attack was too encompassing. He was actually much stronger and faster than Ryder, especially if he removed his ankle weights and vest, but the unexpected nature of his opponent's attacks had caught him completely unawares.

To endure the pressure mounting against him, Lee contracted himself into a ball, a green aura exuding from his body until a familiar voice whispered in his ear, "Don't. You'll have your chance momentarily. Let them have this one."

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Though the thought of 'giving up' didn't sit well with him, Lee trusted the voice and closed his eyes, allowing himself to be entombed. The pressure was incredible, but it wasn't beyond his ability to bear, especially with his opponent holding back to ensure his survival.

Upon realizing that Lee wasn't going to be able to escape from the debris field, Hayate quickly called the match. Killing your opponent was allowed during the Exams, but if the Proctor determined that one side had a clear advantage, they could call the match on the spot.

As he had been waiting for Hayate's decision, Ryder opened his hands as if he was expanding the circle they had formed. In response, the sphere of dirt and stone debris entombing Lee expanded similarly, releasing the largely uninjured youth from his confinement. At the same time, the crowd recovered from their stupefaction, erupting into cheers after witnessing a scene that could best be described as god-like.

Hearing the cheers, Ryder suppressed his urge to sigh in exhaustion as he raised his hand and greeted the crowd with a smile. His 'Gravity Release' was a Kekkei Tota, a never-before-seen amalgamation of Wind, Earth, and Lightning Chakra. The amount of Chakra required to utilize his Kekkei Tota was, simply put, monstrous. Thus, while it was true he had Jonin-levels of Chakra, he could only manipulate gravity for around three minutes before completely exhausting himself...

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Witnessing Ryder's performance, Wu would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little impressed. The orange and black-haired youth could only manipulate the gravity of objects infused with his Chakra, but having the ground beneath them uprooted and turned against them was more than enough to overwhelm most opponents. Wu had already thought of more than three hundred different methods to utilize the ability more efficiently than Ryder, but he assumed the boy was just showing off. After all, even if Gravity Release didn't work against his opponent's body directly, it should still affect their clothes. So long as he managed to touch them, their only option would be to strip, or it was game over.

While thinking of ways he could utilize and improve upon Ryder's Gravity Release, Wu received a sequence of image-based memories as one of the clones he had keeping an eye on the invasion forces popped.

Furrowing his brows in irritation, Wu muttered, "Couldn't they have waited until Hinata and Tenten had a chance to exhibit their skills? I'm starting to get tired of people interrupting my girls' opportunities to shine..."

Rising from his perch atop Hiruzen's hat, Wu flew over to Tayuya, who, at the present moment, was transformed to resemble a very freaky-looking Puppet Master. Upon reaching her ear, he surprised her a little by asking, "Did you miss me~?" in a teasing tone.

Since she couldn't respond verbally, Tayuya settled for a slight, nearly imperceptible nod. Because of Wu's size, even insignificant movements were 'very' apparent, so he exhaled a soft chuckle, adding, "It will all be over soon. For now, just follow whatever plan the snake bastard has you taking part in. I won't let anyone harm you, not anymore..."

Though she had a lot she wanted to say, Tayuya just gave another slight nod. The past two months hadn't been easy for her, but she had endured and kept her promise to Wu. So long as he kept his, she wouldn't have any complaints. Rather, she would devote herself to him absolutely...

Feeling her heart beginning to race, Tayuya closed her eyes in an attempt to appear calm. Her actions were immediately noticed by Jirobo, but the piggy bastard just assumed she was feeling uncharacteristically nervous. They were, after all, about to try and assassinate one of the most famous Shinobi in history, a man previously hailed as the God of Shinobi. Even he was feeling nervous, and his only job was to erect a barrier alongside the rest of the Sound Four, preventing Hiruzen's escape...

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(A/N: What did you guys think of Gravity Release? How would you use it? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, and I may just incorporate them into the novel. My personal idea was to have Ryder control the orbit of blades and objects around, basically emulating Viza from Wold Trigger. If you don't know who that is, I advise you to check out his battle against Yuma on Youtube. The old man has swag.)

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