Second Chance

Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Devastates all that it touches
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"The third match of the chunin exam finals is between Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Fu." Genma announced and watched as the two walked down to the center of the arena both looking confident in their training. Taking a deep breath Ino smiled and nodded to the jinchuriki across from her who did the same.

"Begin." Ino wasted no time trying to put distance between her and the powerhouse. She knew there was no way that she could match Fu in taijutsu. There was no way not without immense training. That was something she just didn't have the time for. Weaving her hands into seals she took a breath and exhaled.

"Doton: Sajin Arashi!" A massive cloud of dust rose obscuring Fu's vision and hiding Ino from view. Nodding to herself Ino palmed several senbon and took a calming breath. She didn't really have the chakra stores to do jutsu recklessly and she had designed this one to keep her hidden. The dust was much heavier and harder to blow away then it otherwise would have been and as a result Fu would have to spend a few extra seconds if she wanted to get rid of it. Throwing her hand out she let several senbon fly in a slight arc.

Fu looked at the dust in annoyance. Though it should have been expected especially since she was primarily a taijutsu user. Clapping her hands she focused the chakra and then pointed them towards the cloud.

"Futon: Daitoppa." Fu watched as the jutsu barely caused the dust to move. Gritting her teeth she funneled more chakra into the technique and after several seconds finally managed to blow it way. However, her focus had been on the dust and as a result she almost missed the senbon flying towards her from the side. Jumping out of the way she grinned at Ino.

"You'll have to try harder than that."

"I will." Ino replied pulling something from her pouch as Fu vanished and reappeared near her. Ino's hand lashed out and from the pouch a long object flew towards Fu making her jump back. Blinking in surprise Fu glanced back at Ino and felt a small jolt of shock upon seeing the long dark forest green whip in Ino's outstretched hand. Even Inoichi felt himself blink in shock. He hadn't even known that she had that.

"A whip?"

"Yup. Perfect for a mid range combatant like me. I'm not that suited for taijutsu and it will be a long time before I can handle a prolonged ninjutsu battle. However, by keeping my enemies at a distance with the whip I can force them to fight on my terms. As for the long distance enemies, my ninjutsu covers that." Fu grinned at the explanation.

"A whip is perfect for you, in my opinion." Ino smirked and then flicked her wrist the whip speeding towards Fu's face once more. Forced on the defensive Fu was forced to look for openings in her friend's form while dodging the weapon that only seemed to get faster the more it was used. Jumping in the air Fu was forced to draw out her wings to try and get some distance and breathing room from the girl. Ino had become much more lethal and dangerous in just a month. Fu couldn't help but grin though. She was afraid that Ino was going to forfeit the match without trying because of the poor matchup.

'Well, that is one dangerous technique. Her form is nearly flawless but she has to slow the whip in order to change its direction. It's not by much but it is there and not for long. She hasn't mastered this yet. That is good for me, but I feel like she knows that the whip won't hold me off for long. What is the catch? I could just grab the whip and yank her closer to me, so why?' Fu thought to herself as Ino twitched below.

'Of course she would fly into the air for breathing room.' Calming herself she grinned. She had nowhere near mastered it or the chakra requirements to use the original technique but she had managed a weaker version that was perfect for this fight. Glancing towards the stands she caught both Naruto and her father's eyes and winked. Naruto beamed in confirmation and Inoichi's eyes widened.