Chapter 68 - 61 (1/2)

”I see that all of the contestants are here except for Kinuta Dosu, but that matters not. The Kages and I have changed the rules of the finals. Young Hikaru here has challenged all of the contestants present here for a one versus all. If he wins the fight, he will be promoted to chunin straight away and you guys guys will not be promoted to chunin, unless your Kage deems you worthy of being a chunin. But, if you guys were to win against Hikaru, he will not get promoted and instead, all of the ones who will survive the fight against him will be promoted to chunins. But those who've been knocked out, I'm sorry, but they will have to retake the exam next year.” Hiruzen stops his speech and stares at the people down in front of him for people who will be against this idea. He saw none, and continued his speech.

”All of you will have 5 Minutes to plan your attack, and Hikaru will be handicapped. He cannot use his chakra, or any other powers he has against you guys. He will be blindfolded so that he cannot use his eyes. These were his personal rules that he set for himself, do not worry about it. After all of you finished planning your strategy, you will have 30 Minutes to fight Hikaru.”

Hiruzen turned around to go back to the Kage Stands but not before saying, ”Good luck, all of you. Trust me, you will need it.” He then returned to Kage Stands.

In the middle of the arena was Hikaru, sitting calmly while eating another bar of chocolate.

Up where the contestants are, they seem to be chatting with themselves.

”Really? We all have to fight Hikaru-kun while he's handicapped? That's a load of bull! This is unfair, even for Hikaru-kun!” Hinata complained.

”No, if you think about it, it's not really that unfair, considering his strength. He could still slaughter us even if all of his limbs were cut off.” Sasuke said as he thought about it.

”Hm, yes, Hikaru's very strong. I'm even starting to be nervous with just the thought of fighting him.” Shino said with a very nervous voice.

”Hmph, I just want to avenge the defeat of my brother, that's all.” Airi said.

”Guys, this is no time for arguing. We need a strategy to defeat him. Right now he can only use his raw strength against us, not his other powers, which is a very big advantage for us.” Shikamaru said but his voice this time is serious, very unlike him.

”So what do you suggest, you lazy bastard?” Temari said to Shikamaru.

”Troublesome, let's go with the old tactic, protect and attack. From my own assumption, Airi here seems to be an Uzumaki, am I right?” Shikamaru said to the others.

Airi nodded her head.

”Then you know a lot of Fuinjutsu, right?” Shikamaru asked.

”I'm a level 6 Fuinjutsu Master, if that's what you're talking about.” Airi replied.

”Really?! That's amazing! Now i get my plan to work. Listen, Airi will be our main weapon against Hikaru. If we can get her enough time to prepare a seal that can bind Hikaru, then we have basically won by then. Our heavy hitters are going to be Sasuke, Azumi, and Gaara. The rest will protect Airi until she finishes the seal. I will serve as a distraction for the heavy hitters, as I am the only one here who can manipulate shadows. All of you got that, right?”

””Yes!”” ””Roger that!”” ”” Of course”” They all said in unison.

”Soo, I should use [Fuinjutsu: Art Of Binding]?” Airi asked.

”Yes, but can you make it stronger than normal?” Shikamaru replied.

”Of course, who do you think I am? But you will have to buy me 20 Minutes of time. It's easy to alter a Fuinjutsu technique if you have enough knowledge about it.” Airi said.

”Great! It seems like the time is up, let's fight Hikaru!”

”Wait! I should tell you something about Hikaru first.” Azumi suddenly interrupted.

”Hmm? What is it?” Shikamaru asked.

”He can hit tenketsus, just like the Hyuga does.” Azumi said gravely.

”What? That doesn't matter, he has his blindfold on. Even if he can hit our tenketsu, he can only probably use it when he can see.” Sasuke said.

”No, he doesn't need his sight to do that. He perfectly knows where each and every tenketsu is. I think he spent some time studying medical ninjutsu for a while back when we were all in the academy.” Azumi said with a grave look on her face.

”Well, this is a problem. Troublesome.” Shikamaru said, as if he has a lot of problems right now.

(A Few Minutes Later)

All nine of them finally went down to fight Hikaru after planning their strategy. They had to make a plan B, in case everything goes down.

Hikaru stood up with a smile on his face. When he did that, all of the people in the stadium sensed a pressure unlike any other. But it was not directed to them, it was directed towards the other contestants. They all kneeled down due to the pressure, they can even see the ground under caving in due to the pressure he is emanating.

'First step, break down their confidence. Let's see how they fight against this.' Hikaru thought with a smile.

But, suddenly, they all turned into Azumi before they disappeared in a poof of smoke.

”Huh, what?” Hikaru was flabbergasted.

”Behind you!” This time, he can clearly hear Azumi's voice.

”Oi! I haven't started the fight!” Hayate yelled, but he suddenly felt a stare coming from behind him. He turned around and looked up. He saw the Hokage gesturing to him to let them go. He was smiling, as if enjoying Hikaru's pain.

'Heh, brat. Now you will see the wrath of a Kage. Hahahahaha!!' Hiruzen laughed evilly inside his head.

Hikaru dodged a kick towards his head by crouching down slightly, but another kick came downwards, it was aiming for his legs. He dodged it easily by jumpin up, he landed on the ground and he was met with a punch on his face along with a giant fireball coming towards him.

He crashed on the ground because of that punch, it was aiming to immobilize him even for just a single moment for the fireball to hit him.

”Hmph, your futile efforts are nothing.” He backflipped and landed on his feet. He then slapped the giant fireball away, dissipating it easily.

”Good work, Gaara, Azumi, and Sasuke. But that wasn't nearly enough to take me down.” He stood his ground with that annoying smile on his face never leaving him.

”Tch, we nearly had him.” Sasuke cursed under his breath.

”Don't forget our goal, Sasuke.” Gaara reminded him.