Chapter 100: Anti-Climatic
Due to using such a powerful jutsu, Fujin flew backwards, in the air, for a few minutes. From this view, he got a perfect view of what was happening. He saw as the wind cut Rentaro into pieces with ease.
Fujin's eyes widened before sensing something was wrong, 'There's no blood! And the winds cut through him a bit too easily. As if there was no solid obstruction at all! Was it a water clone? But when did he make one?'
The judges and many ninjas were shocked as well. Fujin flickering and using such a strong jutsu so quickly wasn't something a genin should be able to do. In fact, even among chunins, only a few could replicate this.
As everyone was thinking, Rentaro's body pieces dissolved into water.
Fujin was continuously sensing chakra as he was thinking. He suddenly realized, 'The chakra was distributed among his body pieces. And now all that chakra is in the water that he dissolved into. What jutsu is this?'
Fujin created some distance as he was thinking. The crowd calmed down on seeing the body waters transform into water.
Suddenly, the water began gathering together, and Rentaro's body began forming. Fujin squinted his eyes and threw an explosion tag attached to a kunai right at the center.
He and many ninjas realized, 'Hydrification technique of the Hozuki clan!' The Kiri jounins breathed in relief on seeing Rentaro use this jutsu in the nick of time.
Fujin wondered, 'Isn't this the Kekkei Genkai of the Hozuki clan? How did he get it? Was someone from his family from the Hozuki clan or is he using a fake family name?'
[A/N : It's not a Kekkei Genkai. It's a secret technique of the Hozuki clan. Similar to the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans. That said, Kabuto did use Suigetsu's cells or DNA to get access to this technique. So it is sort of in a gray area.]
Genma noted, "First an Ice Kekkei Genkai. Now the Hydrification secret jutsu. The Kiri genins are strong."
Raido agreed and pointed out, "Yes, but Fujin is very strong too. He forced him into using it."
Ibiki observed Rentaro putting his body together and stated, "He isn't proficient with this jutsu. The body is reforming too slowly."
The Kiri genins got excited about seeing Rentaro use this jutsu. Sora said excitedly, "In this form Rentaro is invincible. That Konoha genin will lose badly!"
Mieko and Hoka also observed this carefully. Especially Mieko who might have to fight him if Fujin loses.
As Rentaro's body was reforming, the Explosion tag reached it and exploded, dispersing the water again. However, soon it began reforming once again.
Fujin grabbed another kunai with an explosion tag and wondered, 'Isn't his speed too slow? If I recall correctly, Suigetsu was able to liquefy some parts of his body and not be helpless unless a Lightning jutsu was used.'
He threw the kunai, and it dispersed once again. The process was repeated three more times.
The ninjas, who knew about the Hydrification technique and were excited to see it in action, were dumbfounded. Especially the Kiri jounins and genins. They saw one of their strongest secret jutsu be dismantled by cheap explosion tags!
Of course, if Rentaro was stronger or had better control over this secret technique, then the Hydrification technique wouldn't be neutralized so easily. However, this fact didn't reduce their humiliation.
Mieko looked at Sora and asked, "Is this what you call invincible in your village?" Sora's face went red with shame. He wanted to rebuke, but no words left his mouth.
Fujin threw the 7th Explosion tag. At that time, Rentaro's jounin sensei jumped into the arena. Fujin noticed his chakra and immediately flickered into the woods.
The Kiri jounin appeared in front of Rentaro and deflected the kunai. He said, "We give up this fight."
The ninjas looked at the arena with disappointment.
Inoichi announced the result of the match.
Ibiki sighed, "First Hidden Mist Assassination technique and now Hydrification technique. Both were dismantled through Explosion tags. What a disappointment."
Raido nodded and said, "Yes. We need to ban the use of Explosion tags. Especially in the finals."
Genma agreed, "While it's true that they are one of the ninjas' important tools, this is just disappointing."
Fujin and Mieko would never think that their fights would result in explosion tags getting banned from the final tournament!
Rentaro's body finally managed to reform without any further disturbance. As soon as it reformed, he fell unconscious! His sensei immediately grabbed him, preventing the fall. Soon, his clothes were dyed red with his blood. The medical ninja quickly moved and treated him.
Fujin saw and wondered, 'Can someone using Hydrification techniques can still be harmed with Explosion tags? Or is it just because he is a noob at this technique?'
The Kiri jounin sighed looking at his student, 'The Hydrification technique puts a huge strain on his chakra. Despite his huge chakra, he can only maintain it for a short while. If this had continued, he might have died due to chakra exhaustion!'
The medics healed Rentaro in the arena, before carrying him away. The wounds on him weren't an issue as they healed easily. The main issue was chakra exhaustion.
Fujin left the arena thinking, 'Well, this was anti-climactic. He trapped himself by using a jutsu he couldn't use properly. I was expecting a close fight.'
Fujin's sentiment was shared by all the Jounins and most chunins in the seating area. The end to the fight was just too anti-climactic.
Genma looked at Fujin and commented, "He is getting promoted to Chunin." Ibiki and Raido nodded. Though his opponent gave him a couple of openings, Fujin grabbed them both and took full advantage of them. His performance was very good.
While Fujin was walking up the stairs, two shady-looking men in black suits blocked his path. Fujin looked at them.
One of the men said in a deep voice, "You have to lose the next match to Uchiha Mieko."
Fujin's eyes twitched. He asked, "I do? Why?" At the same time, he wondered, 'Do these jokers threaten genins every tournament?'
He replied, "Our boss has made huge bets on the Uchiha kid. If you win, he will lose all his money. So you have to give up the fight, or we will make you regret it."
Fujin ignored the threat and asked, "How much money did your boss bet?"
The two men were shocked by the question. They had done this a few times, but for the first time, they were asked such a question.
The second man asked, "Why do you want to know?"
Fujin gave him a deadpan look and said, "You two don't even know what your boss has bet, and still came here to threaten me?"
Hearing Fujin's tone angered them. But they controlled it as Fujin seemed reasonable.
The first man replied, "He bet 20 million Ryo on the Uchiha girl."
Fujin thought for a moment and said, "I see." He looked at them and said, "Give me 4 million Ryo and I'll give up the fight."
This left them both tongue-tied. Both cursed him. The second man said, "Asshole! You think a brat like you can take money from us?"
Fujin replied in a neutral voice, "If I win, your boss would lose 20 million Ryo. I'm not even asking for half. Do you think your boss will let you go if I win?"
This pushed them over the line. Both immediately grabbed their kunai and threatened Fujin.
"If you don't agree, then we will make you incapable of fighting in the tournament!"
"We were ninjas in the Land of Grass. A brat like you is easy prey for us."
Fujin sighed and said, "Alright, I'll give up the fight."
This made them relax. They put their kunais back while smirking and saying, "Finally you realize your pla…"
However, at that instant, winds flew. Both the men had their throats cut. Many cuts appeared on their bodies. They dropped their kunai. They were about to scream when Fujin grabbed their faces and slammed their head on the stairs. They both lost consciousness.
Fujin bent down and began checking their clothes while muttering, "How do idiots like them exist? Didn't they see my two matches?"
He grabbed both their wallets. There were 80 thousand Ryo in them. There were also a couple of scrolls on them. He took them all and put them into his own scrolls.
Fujin left the stairs and looked around. He noticed an Uchiha police officer and an Anbu in the stand. He thought, 'So whom to report to?'
After a few seconds, he decided to report to the Anbu analyzing, 'Those 2 attacked me so that Mieko would win. While I don't think they would go easy on them for that reason, it is a possibility. If he has sharingans, then he could make them spill all the beans, and if they tell about how much money they had, it's possible that the Uchiha might ask me about it. As for the Anbu, I doubt they would be so focused on what they had and instead focus more on the act. Even if they do, it'll be a long time. And those thugs would assume that the anbu confiscated their belongings.'
Having decided, Fujin flickered in front of him. The Anbu ninja was surprised to see Fujin.
Fujin waved his hands and said, "Hello Anbu-san. A couple of former ninjas from the Land of Grass attacked me on the stairs and were injured. Can you check on them and take the necessary actions?"
The Anbu ninja was surprised. He asked, "Why did they attack you?" Fujin replied, "Not sure, but they were talking about their boss placing some bets."
The Anbu ninja understood and nodded. He said, "Good work. I'll apprehend them." He flickered. He would arrest those 2, and send them to the T&I department to torture them till they confessed who their boss was. Once they confessed, they were tortured even more for their crime. Their boss was arrested as well and all his businesses were seized by Konoha.
Fujin, unaware of the tragedy his self-defense caused, went back into the waiting room. There was a half an hour's break before the Semifinals began. Hoka, Fujin and Mieko meditated. Yumi was a bit tense. She thought, 'We started this tournament with 6 Kiri ninjas and only 3 from Konoha. Now all 5 from our village except me have lost!'