Chapter 36: The Exploding Balloons and the Medic's Grudge part-2
[System Note: The Indestructible Leotard has a hidden feature. When wet, it emits a faint, holy light to censor any potential indecency. You currently look like a glowing angel of awkwardness.]
"I... I am fine!" I shouted, activating my Bunny Fists to generate heat and dry myself off.
"Hey," Naruto said, walking over. "Can you try it? The Rasengan?"
"Me?" I shook my head frantically. "I don't have Wind affinity. And my chakra control is... sporadic."
"Just try," Naruto handed me a water balloon. "Maybe your weird luck will make it work."
I took the balloon. It felt heavy and wobbly.
(Okay. Rotate the chakra. Like the Gentle Fist, but messy.)
I focused. I poured chakra into the balloon.
The water inside started to swirl.
"You're doing it!" Naruto cheered.
I pushed harder. The water swirled faster.
But instead of popping, the water inside the balloon began to froth. My chakra turned the water into... foam.
The balloon expanded. It grew to the size of a watermelon. Then a beach ball.
"Whoa!" Naruto backed away. "Hinata, stop! It's too big!"
"I can't stop!" I cried. "It's stuck to my hand!"
BOOM.
The giant foam balloon exploded.
It wasn't a splash. It was a blizzard of suds.
It covered the entire clearing. Naruto was buried in foam. I was buried in foam.
Naruto popped his head out of a pile of bubbles. He looked like Santa Claus with a foam beard.
"That..." Naruto spit out a bubble. "That was awesome! Can we use that in a fight?"
I sighed, wiping soap from my eyes. "I hope not."
............…
The week ended. Naruto had worked himself to the bone. He could pop the rubber ball, but the final step—containing the power—was still incomplete.
The morning of the meeting arrived.
"Let's go," Jiraiya said, looking serious. "Tsunade is meeting Orochimaru today."
"Orochimaru?!" Naruto and I gasped.
"She hasn't accepted his offer yet," Jiraiya said grimly. "But we need to stop her if she tries."
We ran toward the ruins outside of town.
As we arrived, the standoff was already in progress. Tsunade stood facing Orochimaru and Kabuto.
"I will heal your arms," Tsunade said, her voice shaking. "If you promise to leave the village alone."
"Liar," Kabuto sneered. "I can sense your killing intent. You plan to kill him during the procedure."
Kabuto stepped forward. He pulled out a kunai.
"It seems negotiations have broken down," Orochimaru hissed. "Kill her, Kabuto."
The battle began. Tsunade, paralyzed by her hemophobia (fear of blood) after Kabuto cut his own wrist, was helpless. Naruto stepped in to protect her.
Jiraiya summoned a giant toad (Gamakichi, by accident). Orochimaru summoned Manda. Tsunade summoned Katsuyu.
It was the Battle of the Three Way Deadlock. Giant monsters clashed.
But on the ground, a smaller, more personal battle was taking place.
Kabuto Yakushi stood in front of me. He adjusted his round glasses. He held a chakra scalpel in his hand.
"Well, well," Kabuto smiled, a cold, clinical smile. "If it isn't Hinata Hyuga. The diary thief."
My blood ran cold.
(He remembers. He definitely remembers.)
"I... I didn't mean to read it!" I stammered, backing away. "Especially the part about you practicing your smile in the mirror!"
Kabuto's eye twitched. "You read that part too?"
His aura flared. It was purple and menacing. "I am going to dissect you. Slowly. And I will document it in my new diary."
[System Alert: Boss Battle. Kabuto Yakushi. Level: Elite Jonin (comparable to Kakashi). Special Ability: Chakra Scalpel (cuts muscles). Weakness: Social embarrassment and slippery surfaces.]
[Inventory Check: Boomerang Kunai, Lucky Coin, Bunny Fists.]
"Naruto-kun is fighting Orochimaru," I told myself. "I have to protect him. I have to stop Kabuto."
"Prepare yourself," Kabuto dashed forward. His hands glowed blue.
He swiped at my legs. I dodged... barely.
"You are slow," Kabuto mocked. "I have analyzed your movements. You favor your right leg. You flinch when shouted at."
He lunged again.
"BOO!" Kabuto shouted.
I flinched.
"Got you."
He struck my shoulder.
Slice.
I felt a sharp pain. My arm went limp. He had cut the muscle tendon.
"My arm!" I gasped.
"One down," Kabuto grinned. "Now for the legs."
I fell to my knees.
(I can't beat him with Taijutsu. He is too smart. He knows my moves.)
[System Suggestion: Use the Shop. You have 4,300 Points. Buy something stupid.]
"Shop!" I screamed internally. "Give me a weapon!"
[Item: "The Grease Bomb." Cost: 1,000 Points. Description: A capsule containing 50 gallons of high-grade industrial lubricant.]
"Buy it!"
A large, round sphere appeared in my good hand.
Kabuto charged. "Die!"
I threw the sphere at his feet.
CRACK.
The sphere shattered.
A tidal wave of clear, viscous grease exploded outward.
Kabuto, mid-sprint, hit the grease patch.
"Nani?"
His feet accelerated forward. His upper body stayed behind.
Kabuto performed a perfect, unintended backflip.
He landed on his face.
Smack.
"My glasses!" Kabuto yelled.
He tried to push himself up. But his hands slipped in the grease. His face slammed back into the dirt.
Smack.
He tried to use his knees. They slipped out sideways. He did the splits.
"Gah!"
I stood up (carefully, using my Coffee Table Sense to find dry spots).
"Bunny Fists!" I shouted.
I charged at the prone, slipping medic.
"Take this! For the diary!"
I punched him.
But my aim was off because of my limp arm. I didn't hit his face.
I hit his butt.
POOF.
My Bunny Fist exploded into sticky foam.
The foam reacted with the grease.
[System Alert: Chemical Reaction! Grease + Foam = Super Glue Cement.]
The mixture hardened instantly.
Kabuto's pants were now fused to his body, and his body was fused to the ground.
"I... I am stuck!" Kabuto thrashed. "I cannot move! What is this jutsu?!"
"It is... the Sticky Trap Jutsu!" I improvised.
I turned to look at Naruto.
He was standing in front of Tsunade, protecting her from Orochimaru. He had taken a sword through the hand. But he was forming a Rasengan.
.....
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