Ay stood staring at the sky, his chest was burning, he let the arena blur into a distant hum. A memory rose quick and sharp, angling his focus away from the present.
"If you are here about your teammate then, I deeply apologize. I failed as a team captain by letting this scum torture your friend like the way he did." Ay's words made Hinoka stare daggers at Kuroi who looked in disbelief at Ay.
"How DARE YOU!!! You bring dishonor by apologizing! That bastard was weak and he died because of it. There is nothing to apologize for!" Ay backhanded Kuroi, making a crunch sound breaking his neck, paralyzing him.
Ay's eyes met with Hinoka was baffled by his actions. She didn't expect him to hurt kuroi when they both referred to the Raikage as Father.
'His own brother!'
"It's not like I'm completely blameless either. Back then, I just did it for the thrill of crushing my opponent. I didn't understand the consequences of my actions until...I saw your rage."
Ay went on his knees and bowed down in front of her, his forehead touching the floor.
"Forgive me."
Her face changed the instant the words landed. Shock flared, then a fury that was more grief than anger. She stepped forward and struck him so hard he tasted iron. She hit him again and again, each blow a hurtful punctuation, tears mingling with rage.
She cried while she struck, the sound more accusation than comfort. "My friend will never come back because of you," she sobbed. "Don't say sorry and pretend that fixes it."
He took the hits without flinching. When her fists finally slowed, he rose in increments until he stood and turned to Kuroi. Hinoka's eyes followed where he looked, stumbling, she was desperate to pin some meaning onto him.
Kuroi's room was dim, upon getting close she saw the actually condition of Kuroi. His neck was nock bent in a weird way. 'He is clearly paralyzed from the neck down...just like Soma.'
Ay's hand moved to Kuroi's throat with the same calm the rest of the memory had. Kuroi's eyes widened. His breath hitched. No one intervened. corridor empty, curtains half-drawn. Hinoka stood next to Ay, frozen, her mouth pressed to her palm.
The pressure tightened.
Kuroi's struggles grew weaker, then stilled. The light in his eyes went out as if someone had closed a lid. When it was over, the bed was still. The room smelled of antiseptic and the copper tang of new blood.
Hinoka's scream broke the hush, a raw, broken sound. She stumbled forward. "Why?" she cried.
Ay turned slowly. He did not look like a terrified child; he looked like a man stating a fact. he said, flat. "Your friend wasn't supposed to die. killing is forbidden. But, mind you, In the real world, I will not hesitate, and I will not apologize for what I must do."
Hinoka's anger thinned into something stunned and smaller. She tried to be furious and found only a hollow where fury had been. "Are you even sorry?" she managed.
He stepped closer, unnervingly calm. "Are you still angry?" he asked.
She nodded, It held none of the force it had earlier.
Without waiting for more, Ay walked away. Hinoka remained at Kuroi's side, staring at the stillness he had left behind.
Back on the arena floor, the present slid into place. Ay breathed in shallowly, his expression colder, quieter.
Ay looked back to see everyone shouting, alarmed, he looked at who they were shouting at. Satoru...he was healing Tatsuo all this time he was thinking about that.
"BOO this guy! Why isn't he fighting? God damn fence sitter brat!" People from the crowd shouted.
Some even threw popcorn and other things into the stadium, demanding the proctor to take action.
Satoru just continued heal Tatsuo to the best of his abilities without draining his own chakra. Tatsuo was breathing hard, his chest was rising and falling so much he couldn't even muster strength to talk.
He looks at Satoru with gratitude which then turns into annoyance. "I can win, I will win! Just wait and sit there quietly, since you wanted to fight me."
"We'll, this is how far I can heal you, i couldnt replenish your chakra, so, dont even bother using your wind coat. Don't die, kay?" Satoru said, before stepping back and letting Tatsuo stand up.
Ay, during this time had placed yang release patches on his body. They slowly poured yang release chakra which was sealed into them directly into his chakra reserves.
He directed the chakra into his sore muscles and immediately felt his pain soothe into something manageable.
'If I use chakra mode on him, then, I'll become a sitting duck for Satoru. Guess it's just straight hands for this guy.' Ay cracked his knuckles and walked to begin his round 2.
Ay dishes out a right hook, which Tatsuo slips under before he tries to uppercut him.
Ay saw the punch and directly brought down his own fist on Tatsuo's fist, instantly a loud cracking resounded in the air.
The clash had broke Tatsuo's knuckles.
He grunted in pain, quickly recollected himself and attempting a kick on his occupied hand.
Ay grabbed his legwith his other arm, before trying to slam him one more time.
Tatsuo once in the air, used his undamaged hand and pushed off the ground with a handstand, pulling his leg and forcefully brought Ay off his feet, like he was.
He immediately slammed Ay into the ground, whose body moved through the like someone used a German suplex and crashed straight into ground, face first.
Tatsuo rolls away, before throwing a kunai at the boy who instantly stood up after being slammed.
The kunai didn't even make him bleed, as a brutal forearm-strike hit and broke through Tatsuo's guard.
Tatsuo used what little chakra he had to strengthened himself, and Ay raw, base power was still higher than him, no it dwarfed him.
Tatsuo attempts a palm strike to Ay sternum, then a knee to his inner thigh, only for it to do squat. Ay absorbed it all like a boulder.
He went for another kick, which was dodged easily. Ay was able to read him.
He took a step forward with explosive footwork and then landed a devastating body blow that knocked the air out of Tatsuo.
He staggered and his knees began wobbling again, his vision became blurry as he found it difficult to even stay awake. But he didn't stop. He couldn't, he had to win... no matter what!
Tatsuo slowly walked to Ay, who stayed still, watching him intently. Hie eyes widened a little, the desire to fight with all your strength, to put everything down on the line and to still have the desire to fight even if the body fails...it was respectable.
Tatsuo tried to chain three fast punches, then a sweep kick only for Ay to sidestep all the punch and jump over the kick, then stomping the foot which was aimed at his ankles.
He pulled Tatsuo up with one arm and then drove a knee straight into his gut. Then finished him off with a clean strike to the chest.
Before Tatsuo could fall on his back, Ay caught him. His eyes glimmer with respect for his opponent who was barely conscious.
"It is honorable that a shinobi falls while facing forward, on his chest. It shows that a warrior faced defeat head-on and fell fighting it...and also that you don't choke on your own blood and die." Ay said, slowing placing Tatsuo on his stomach, who coughed out blood.
Tatsuo's eyes open barely, everything feels in slow motion, the medics entering the stadium to take him back, Satoru who stared at him and who Ay...who stood breathing heavily.
His chest was puffed up with pride as he looked up in the VIP areas most luxurious seat, the place where the Kages sat.
Tatsuo coughed again, looking at his broken hand. He couldn't help but smile.
'So...this is where I stand? So much to do, so much to learn. Finally I was able to use my full power and even go beyond his limits. He had adapted to Ay's fighting style, pushed his Wind Coat beyond it normally do and was able to dish out damage he thought he could never do!
This was a good fight, could I have reached this state if Satoru hadn't interrupted my fight? Why didn't he trust me enough to fight Sakumo to my limits? I would have lost against him too..." Tatsuo thought about what Satoru told him, his justification, his desire to fight him in the finals.
Both Tatsuo and Satoru were left unfulfilled because of it.
'But indirectly I should thank him...Sakumo would never let me use my full power! He was a shinobi through and through...like Satoru. He would have fought unfairly, use tricks and attacks befitting a deceptive shinobi. Ay was the only other Nin-taijutsu jutsu user that could have helped me test myself.' Tatsuo smiled once while looking at Satoru, who smiled back before stepping in Ay direction.
The medics reached him and picked him up in a stretcher, he was taken away from the battlefield, the proctor himself declared that Tatsuo has lost, even if he never gave up. He knew that holding a grudge against these guys was the right thing!
First that guy who assumed he was just fiery and not windy, yeah! His match today would teach him...he was fiery AND windy!
And now the proctor declaring him a loser. He was sure he could throw in a kunai or two...
"...Hahahaha..." Tatsuo laughed at his own thoughts, how absurd they were completely went over his head until he repeated them in his again.
---
"I'm not honorable or anything, so don't expect me to heal you before I fight you." Satoru said blankly.
"Hmph...as if I need you to heal me. " Ay smirked, removing a patch from his upper back and then throwing it on the ground.
"How are you planning to defeat me? Tatsuo dealt pretty good amount of damage to you." Satoru asked, eyeing up Ay's injured body.
The injuries were missing! At least the shallow ones, the deep ones were still present, although less intense.
Ay noticed him looking at his body. He began, "These stickers which I attached to myself before fighting your friend." He pointed at the patch on the floor
"They had yang release chakra in them. I slowly but steadily healed myself and restored a bit of my chakra while I was occupied with him."
Satoru looked at the patches and noticed seals on them, coming to the conclusion that they were some high tier ninja tool.
"As expected of the Raikage's son." Satoru muttered.
"I think I am at at least eighty percent of my full power. And my chakra reserves are two-thirds full. Full seeing how tiny your chakra reserves are...mine are at minimum five time larger than yours." Ay said, removing all the patches, now that they had emptied all the chakra sealed in them.
"Well then, shall we continue? I want to feel your blood on my hands!" Ay said, building up chakra in his legs to rush at Satoru.
"I see, then bring it!" Satoru slightly bent his knees, ready to evade, his hand never leaving his sword.
Ay dashed at Satoru, his arm reaching outwards with three fingers pointed outwards like a lightning spear.
The moment Ay reached close enough, Satoru whispered...
"Lightning style: Hollow purple!"
An extremely bright light burst out of Satoru, blinding literally everyone. The air became charged as it moved away from Satoru, like it was escaping for its life.
After the bright light, soon followed a deafening roar of lightning. Every glass shattered in the stadium. The ground itself cracked and tore apart making rumbling noises as if it screamed in pain from the electrifying assault.
...Some people cried, children ran away in fear, thinking the attack would hit them too...
...some people laughed, the powerful ninjas and few of the kages, witnessing a finishing blow in the beginning...
...most people remained silent....
And Ay took the full brunt of it at point blank range.