"Byakugan," said Neji, making a single handsign as he activated his bloodline.
Lee's gender had changed, and so had his chakra. Where before it had been thin streams, now it was all thick and volatile. It also looked as if it saturated his body. His tenketsu were visible, and so he was still vulnerable to Jyuuken strikes, but they looked slightly diffuse.
"Begin!" declared Gai, making a dramatic gesture to start the match.
Neji went forward, confident in his victory. Lee had changed but his fate remained the same. Lee blurred, moving at speeds he had never attained before.
Neji adapted, fluidly shifting and hands jabbing out at a tenketsu in Lee's right arm before Lee could retract that fist. Fingers tapped a tenketsu and a spike of chakra was sent out.
Instead of retracting that fist though, Lee shifted his arm to swat at Neji. Since that would have little strength behind it, Neji didn't bother to dodge, just inclined his head so it would rob that swipe of any purchase.
It was like being swiped by a tetsubo. Robbed of much of its power, but still carrying a fair amount.
"Hmph," managed Neji, leaping back to get some distance. "The outcome of this battle was-"
"HADOKEN!"
Neji's eyes widened for a second as he leapt again, this time going over the green fireball Lee had just launched. How had Lee done that with tenketsu closed?
"HADOKEN!" followed up Lee.
Neji crossed his arms, genuinely not having thought that Lee could pull off the manuever again that quickly.
There was a moment where the chakra from the attack dominated his Byakugan, and the green flames surrounded him. He knew Lee enough though - Lee would be charging in to press any advantage he could manage. Which was one of the more tolerable things about Lee.
Yes, Lee was there as Neji managed to twist out the way in midair, a flame-enshrouded kick shooting past Neji. Fingers stabbed out, closing tenketsu and providing a thrust as the two fell again.
Now he could see and correct his mistake. The diffuse tenketsu were only partially closed. Neji frowned as something still didn't seem quite right about what he was seeing. He'd have to hit each tenketsu twice to close them off.
"Ah, Kakashi. Did your genin meet your standards?" asked the Hokage.
"Well, yes, they seemed to be slightly above average and did manage to pass the Bell Test," said Kakashi. He didn't miss how smug the Hokage looked. "Is there anything I should know about my team?"
"Oh? Did anything unusual happen?" asked the Hokage.
"Oh, nothing much," said Kakashi. "Except all three showing exceptional skill in reinforcing their bodies with chakra. Sakura reacting to a genjutsu by using an advanced henge. Oh, and all three of them showing signs of advanced chakra manipulation with bloodline abilities."
"Well, that's interesting I suppose," said the Hokage.
Kakashi was silent for a few seconds. "Sir? What exactly is going on?"
"Ah, well, that's a long story. If you weren't constantly late - you'd already know it." The Hokage considered the jonin for a moment.
"I see," said Kakashi, reading the underneath on that one pretty easily.
"Grasshopper, get Naruto." As the ANBU vanished from the office, the Hokage tapped his desk a couple of times. "Apparently, in order to get into Naruto's invisible flying base, one needs to be in the company of one of Team Seven."
"Naruto has an invisible flying base?" asked Kakashi.
"Oh, it gets much much worse," said the Hokage. "That's why it is best to explain such things there."
Neji had managed a win, but it was VERY difficult for him and he felt bruised and battered and his chakra level was down into the dangerous zone.
"Not going to say anything about 'fate'?" asked Tenten.
"Lee is -" Neji hesitated and drew a deep breath, wincing at the reminder that his ribs had been grazed by one of Lee's kicks. He'd have to have a medic check them for cracks later. "Lee is somewhat more capable."
"Neji," said Tenten. "Did you see the crater she put in the ground with that axe kick?"
Neji glanced at the crater. "Yes."
"Did you notice Lee can throw fireballs now?" asked Tenten.
"I noticed," said Neji drily.
"Did you see what happened to that tree? You redirected her attack to it, but nearly got nailed with the debris," pointed out Tenten.
"YOSH!" said Lee, bouncing to her feet. "A good warmup!"
THUD!
Tenten looked down at her other team-mate in concern. "Neji?"
Neji considered all the things he could say, but he felt too exhausted for most of them. Oh. There WAS one thing. "Tenten? Your turn."
Tenten's expression was actually somewhat rewarding.
Kakashi had remained silent when Naruto had transported the Hokage, himself, and the ANBU Owl to what turned out to be an invisible island floating in the sky above the Forest Of Death. He had merely made a few noises to indicate he was paying attention as the crystal with its odd glowing writing was coaxed through several displays. He had nodded at the appropriate places as the experiment with one of Gai's students was relayed as well as its results.
"So, in summary, we have no real verifiable information on this individual responsible other than what we can infer from the crystal and what physical evidence remains," summed up Owl. "Motives unclear and purely speculation at this point."
"Just that it created an invisible island measuring one kilometer on the outside, with a park on the top, and measuring six kilometers square inside, that turns intangible without a dragon being present, is indication that whatever this individual is - we don't want to needlessly antagonize it," stated the Hokage.
Kakashi slowly lifted his headband and looked at the crystal with his Sharingan eye. He visibly flinched and lowered the covering back into place.
"What did you see?" asked the Hokage curiously.
"I think the creator of that thing either doesn't like the Sharingan, or they have a bizarre sense of humor," said Kakashi.
"Oh?" prompted the Hokage.
"I saw horribly cute things," said Kakashi. "And they were singing."
"I see," said the Hokage in a voice that indicated he really didn't.
"About love and friendship," said Kakashi with a shudder. "If I had two Sharingan eyes - I might not have been able to break free."
"Well, that's something to remember I suppose," said the Hokage. "I wonder if young Sasuke has tried that?"
"Nope," said Naruto, the dragon lifting his head to regard them. "So what's your take on this, Kakashi-sensei?"
"I think," said Kakashi slowly. "That we're going to have an interesting team."
"I think we'll have to fast-track some C-Rank but local area missions after a week of D-Ranks," said the Hokage. "To be able to train in both forms is going to be needed."
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(Posted Thu, 23 Jul 2015 18:45)
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