The Tale of Ely Senju

Chapter 8

As soon as the signal sounded, all the remaining teams ran into the Forest of Death. Nao, Ryoko and I hid in the crown of a tree and discussed our next steps. We had practised several scenarios for this. 'Nao, Ryoko, someone's coming our way. What do you want to do?' 'How about we use our age and your genjutsu?' 'That's not a bad idea, Ryoko. Ely let's do this. You'll face him, start crying and when he's told you what scroll he has, you'll put him in a genjutsu. Ryoko and I will take the scroll and then we'll be on our way.' Rolling my eyes, I jumped down and ran in the direction where the strange chakra had come from.

'Well, who have we got here? A little girl. Ha, this is going to be so easy. I've got the scroll in my pocket.' Let's get this show on the road. I started to cry and looked at my counterpart for a moment and, sobbing, I began to speak. 'I don't know why our sensei signed us up here, we're just kids. I have an earth scroll, take it, then we can finally go home.' Now I added another heavy sob so that the guy would really believe me. 'Ha, perfect. Just the scroll my team needs. As you can see, I have a heaven scroll.' Then he started to walk towards me and when I was sure that I would look him straight in the eye when he stood in front of me, I raised my head. My Sharingan was already activated and as I looked him straight in the eye, I spoke: 'Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique'. Now he was trapped in a not-so-nice genjutsu. Nao and Ryoko came running towards us and Ryoko took the scroll. Now we had both of them and could walk towards the tower in the centre.

With the scrolls in our pockets, we jumped from tree to tree and tried to avoid the other teams as best we could. Suddenly, several kunais came flying in our direction. Ryoko was quick at blocking the kunais. He was always incredibly good at that. 'There are at least three people coming. Each of these people has produced two shadow clones. But their chakra signature is relatively weak. They're coming from the right.' Nao looked at me with a wide smile while Ryoko frantically tried to figure out how I was doing this without my Sharingan. 'How do you do that?' 'I'll be happy to explain it to you after the exam. For now, we have to get them off our backs.' Ryoko nodded eagerly and we got ready.

As soon as we got into position, the three shinobi jumped towards us and as expected, sent their shadow clones into battle first. Ryoko knocked out the two shadow clones coming towards him with Lightning Release: Lightning Net Technique. With this jutsu, Ryoko fires a beam of lightning release chakra from his hand, destroying the two shadow clones. Nao had some difficulty as she didn't have time to form hand signs. But Nao wouldn't be herself if she didn't come up with a new strategy. So, she took her kunai and went into close combat and the shadow clones didn't stand a chance. Then there were my 'opponents'. So, let's try out a new jutsu. 'Heavenly Weeping!' In this technique, I transform the chakra in my body into water and then form senbon in my mouth. I then eject the senbon at high speed, destroying my two opponents.

Now only the three originals were left. We needed something stronger, so our favourite combination came to mind. Ryoko quickly formed the hand signs for his next jutsu. Lightning Release: Thunderbolt. With this jutsu, he stretches out his arm and releases a powerful discharge through his palm. I formed the hand signs (Dragon → Tiger → Hare) for Water Release: Wild Water Wave. I spit water out of my mouth and by controlling my chakra, I can control the amount and force so that it doesn't become too much. Nao formed the hand signs for her favourite jutsu; Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique. She can use her chakra to manipulate an external wind source to create a wind blade. We use all three jutsus at the same time and our opponents have absolutely no chance.

After defeating the three, we continued on our way and made it into the tower without further incident. Once inside, we placed the scrolls on the floor as instructed and waited to see what would happen. However, as we had to expect anything here, we stood in a fighting stance. With a 'poof', all we could see was white mist and when it cleared, Sensei Jumo was standing in the middle of the scrolls. Ryoko jumped straight into his arms. 'Sensei, what are you doing here? Did you miss us?' Grinning cheekily, Ryoko stood in front of him and Sensei Jumo gave him a good smack on the head. 'I'm here to congratulate you. So, congratulations on passing the second stage. The third will be a little different than usual. But one thing I can say for sure is that I am incredibly proud of you. In the eyes of the others, you have turned your greatest weakness into your greatest strength.' Sensei Jumo grinned broadly and brought the three of us into a big hug, and as tightly as he hugged us, we could only hope that we would survive the embrace.

Sensei Jumo was right, stage three was a lot different to the previous years. Standing in front of us was Inoichi Yamanaka, known for prying into our minds. 'Dear teams, you have now reached the third stage. This year's stage is a little different than usual. You will have to defend yourselves against the intrusion of strangers into your heads and thoughts. Team performance no longer counts. Everyone who passes will make it to the final round, those who don't will be eliminated. Good luck.'

'Ely, Nao, everything will be fine, we just can't let him into our heads.' I turned to Ryoko and thought for a moment. If I could manage to use my Sharingan, then I should be able to do it. My thoughts were racing as I searched for a solution. Then I heard my name being called. Nao and Ryoko wished me luck.

Once in the room, I sat down on the chair and Inoichi Yamanaka began his work. I immediately realised how he was trying to snoop around in my head and now it was now or never, and I activated my Sharingan with my eyes closed. So now I had to concentrate on turning my Sharingan against the intruder. Suddenly I heard a muffled thud and when I opened my eyes again, I saw Inoichi Yamanaka lying on the ground. I think I've done it. That's amazing!

So, I helped to free our proctor from the genjutsu. 'Very well done. You're our second finalist.'

With a smile on my face, I left the room and ran straight to Nao and Ryoko. They were both looking at me excitedly. 'I've passed. I'm the second finalist. You shouldn't be impressed by him and his attempt. Get him straight out of your head. You can do it. Try to remember our training sessions in which we practised recognising and releasing genjutsus. Somehow this task is almost nothing else.' 'Thanks Ely, that helps us a lot. Now go and wait for us outside.' I said goodbye to both of them with a final hug and good luck wishes. They'll manage, I'm sure of it.

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-Ely❤️