Chapter 9.3- One Thousand Hands

He turned to his teammate and whispered “Good luck” to her as she stood from her seat to walk towards the battlefield. The fact that her chosen opponent was Inuzuka Inokuro must have brought no small amount of joy to her. She’d enjoyed kicking his arse back in the academy, and she was probably going to love doing it even more now that she had an audience here. At least more of an audience than she was used to from the academy matches.

He watched the two of them face off at the centre of the field, and already the Inuzuka boy had opened his mouth to say something. He couldn’t quite catch the words, but he could catch the way Uzume’s smile lightened in the close up of her face on the screen. The screen panned out from that view to show both candidates facing each other and making the seal of confrontation. As Orochimaru dropped his hand, there was no movement from either party before Inukuro suddenly began screaming while scratching at his ears, and nose, and even eyes. The idiot had looked Uzume right in her eyes. What a fool. Always assume that your opponent has gotten stronger. The fact that she hadn’t been able to use Sharingan genjutsu back in the academy shouldn’t have been enough to make him let his guard down like that.

By his side, Shiro leaped up and nipped at his ear with a harsh bark. He snapped out of the genjutsu instantly, scowling at her and barking something to his companion. He clearly wasn’t pleased with the public humiliation , especially since Uzume had not bothered to even take advantage of the time he’d been incapacitated for.

Shiro barked back, and both man and beast assumed similar positions, staring down Uzume. She merely stretched out one hand and made a ‘come here’ gesture that they were all too happy to heed. They covered the space between them and her with impressive speed, and she acted just as quickly. The first claw that was sent at her throat was dodged with a quick backwards lean. Shiro jumped at her, but was too slow as she’d been able to correct her stance and place her gunbai between her and the dog. He slammed into the War Fan just as she pushed out with it. Both the dog and his human companion were sent flying by the wind release imbued into the weapon.

Inukuro was quick enough on his feet to flip with the wind’s momentum and then stop himself by planting his claws in the ground. He came to a skidding stop a few minutes later. His canine competition did the same thong by his side and they both snarled at their opponent who was still smirking at them.

She tossed her fan into the air with one movement while bringing both hands together in a ram seal and breathing in. Almost as if to prove a point, she used the same jutsu Omoikane had used in his own fight, but with only a single seal, and to far greater effect. The fireball that flew for the man and dog duo was at least the size of a small house and moved as quickly as a train. They moved to dodge immediately, but the difference between man and beast showed itself. Kuro was able to make it out of the attack’s path, but his friend was not. The attack slammed into the dog and exploded, sending him flying into the stadium’s wall. He collapsed, unmoving.

My heart stalled in my chest. Uzume wouldn’t dare. No. Not with the Clanhead’s son. She wouldn’t b so stupid. It was almost like the entire stadium let out a breath it didn’t know it had been holding when the dog’s chest began to move.

“You bitch” Kuro snarled at Uzume. His voice was so loud that even this far away, I could heard him.

“You’ll pay for that. Gatsuga!” He screamed and then began to spin. He covered the space between them with even greater speed than the first time. She dodged out of the way of that attack, but he would not be deterred. It was like a game of whack-a-mole, as Uzume moved quickly to make sure she wasn’t in the path of any of the dangerous spinning attacks. He was like a whirlwind of grinding movement that was sure to rip apart anything he came in contact with.

I could see a few ways for Uzume to get out of this situation. The fireball she sent simply washed across his spinning form, doing nothing to stop or even deflect his momentum. The most obvious solution was the sitting duck laying at the edge of the battlefield. Threaten the dog, and the Inuzuka would surrender almost instantly. Of course, it wasn’t going top make her very popular with the watching crowd. She dodged out of the way of another attempt by the Inuzuka, and then turned to meet him as he came sweeping around again. This time, in her hand was a quickly condensing ball of spinning chakra. She wouldn’t. Fuck. She did.

Rasengan and Spinning Inuzuka met in mid air, and only one spinning motion could win. He was sent flying away as the rasengan overpowered his jutsu and exploded right in his face.

“Winner: Uzume Uchiha” Orochimaru said with a tone in his voice that I did not quite like. I also did not like the look he was giving her as she was walking away from the field. I calmed myself with the knowledge that we still had decades before he’d turn traitor. He was still a teenager now. A teenager that was loyal to Konoha. He’d never do anything to hurt Uzume. I contented myself with that information and made sure to scowl down at Uzume when she looked up at me. The smile she sent back reeked of smugness. Of course she’d launch my own jutsu before me on the global stage. I wanted to glare at Sakumo for making me teach it to her in the first place but he was nowhere to be found.

A/N; Here's more for you.