The Red Flash Chapter 71 (Blood and Lightning)

Ashara Uzumaki vs Gitago of Kumo

The Kumo Team looked anxiously at the screen, especially Samui, while they knew Gitago was more than capable of defeating the girl; they knew well to not underestimate an Uzumaki, especially after the last time in the Forest of Death.

Yugito still remembered it, how Gitago had looked at her with contempt. At the same time, she couldn't care less what he thought of her; a-sama had made him the leader of the squad behind Bee for a reason, and she had publicly protected Naruto from him; in Yugito's eyes, what she did was justifiable; but not sure her Raikage would see it the same way as her.

"Ohh boy, Gitago with the hot head girl from Taki!!" Omoi murmured under his breath with a hint of fear in his voice; Karui quickly slapped his shoulder before he could start another rant on how this fight could cause the end of the Shinobi World as they know it.

Gitago had no visible reaction to the enemy he would face, except his eyes narrowing slightly; he knew his enemy was a strong one; the way how she handled herself could easily tell him that much; what was possible a red flag was her sword.

Gitago knew a Good Sword when he saw one; that one was on par with the most legendary swords out there, in pair with Kisame's sword and others.

Saying no words, he started walking towards the stairs that lead to the arena, his face cold and emotionless, his footsteps feeling heavy; before he could get further away, a hand on his shoulder stopped him dead on track, looking over his shoulder to see Bee-sensei with an actual serious look on his face.

"Don't underestimate her," that's all he said before he let him go. The others were more fazed by his warning than Gitago; to see Bee acting seriously was something new for everyone. The Kumo Shinobi said nothing as he reached the arena; the warning he got from his sensei he put it at the back of his mind, deciding to think later about it. The Uzumaki girl was already waiting for him in the center of the arena, her hand on the hilt of her sword. Her face and eyes looked darker than he remembered.

Ashara simply held her fingers tightly around the pommel of her sword, her knuckles turning white, and her skin started aching; she knew this one had tried to kill Naruto when he had been unconscious, a dishonorable thing to do, not to mention he did not need to do something like that.

She swept her katana down and to the side, sending a rush of air arcing through the arena between them.

The Konoha team didn't know how to feel except for Naruto and Fuu; the others didn't know the girl from Taki, simply knowing she was a friend of Naruto.

Kakashi had moved away his Shinobi emblem, making his Sharingan visible to everyone that caught the attention of many Jonin around him, especially Guy, who arched an eyebrow; if all of the things Naruto told him were true, then this Ashara girl was a strong one.

Sasuke was silent all of a sudden; while usually, he was very quiet, right now, he was extra quiet and cautious of this duel. The Uchiha knew the Uzumaki girl was strong; he was quite curious about just how much.

Fuu was holding the railings tightly with her hands, her knuckles turning white like milk, her face showing that she was worried for her fellow Shinobi and teammate. While she fully believed that Ashara would come out on top, the word that Gitago was a student of the Raikage had reached her ears; Ay was one of the strongest Shinobi alive at the moment, not to mention a Kage. Knowing that showed everyone that he wouldn't have someone with no talent be his student; it was no doubt that Gitago was a prodigy.

Ikashu, the teammate of Fuu and Ashara, who had been sleeping the whole time, suddenly was awake, his eyes gazing at Ashara's form before checking Gitago's form. With a sigh, he quietly announced...

"Ashara can't win this one!" He stated much to the surprise of everyone, especially Fuu, who was quick to say that Asha was stronger than he believed. Surprisingly Naruto and Shikamaru were silent, something noticed by their perspective sensei.

"You know I'm a realistic man, Fuu, and I'm telling you, Asha can't win this fight. Just look at her; she's already angry with her enemy; anger could lead to predictable mistakes, not mentioning Gitago's form, his body, and everything better than Asha," Ikashu stated with a serious tone and grimly; before turning to look at Asha.

Fuu waited for Naruto to say anything to support Ashara, but Naruto's eyes narrowed at the symbol on Gitago's arm.

That's a Lightning seal of Speed; this is bad; I hope Asha has noticed it by now, he thought before raising his fist in the air, ready to support her, despite having a bad feeling in his stomach.

"You can do it, Asha-chan, show everyone your Kenjutsu talent," He shouted with a smile; Ashara briefly glanced at the redhead, giving him a smile of her own before turning to her enemy.

"Begin," Hayate announced.

Both enemies pulled out their Katanas the second the fight started, their moves swift; before rushing towards each other, their footsteps alone causing the concrete to crack slightly; their swords aimed at each other's chest. Gitago's katana was about to pierce her when she suddenly moved downwards, dodging it just by a second. Her Katana now aimed at his chest from underneath his arm.

Ashara noticed Gitago didn't move his Katana downwards to counter her attack as her blade was almost at his chest, ready to pierce him, near his heart, resulting in a slow but painful death.

"Almost there," she murmured, the blade inches away from his skin when the seal on his arm started shining before he disappeared, much to her shock.

"Too Slow," a voice said from underneath her, near her ear; Ashara didn't even have time to counter as his fist connected with her face sending her flying upwards before colliding with the wall; the debris flew everywhere.

"Asha" Fuu shouted with worry; she couldn't understand it; one moment, Ashara had everything on her side, and in the next moment, her friend was sent flying, but she wasn't the only one who hadn't seen anything. The same was for every Genin, except Naruto, Yugito, and Iwa team.

Sasuke was using his Sharingan, but despite that, he had seen nothing that angered him; he had hoped to see something, but the Kumo Shinobi had moved so fast that he had seen nothing even with the Sharingan.

Naruto had seen the red lightning, which was an immediate Red Flag, so he has the Red Lightning or, as Kumo calls it ''Ketsueki Kaminari' the redhead thought with a serious look on his face, now he understood why Ikashu stated that Ashara couldn't win, but a big part of Naruto wanted to shout that Ashara would win, a small part told him that she was completely outclassed.

"What the hell happened?" Sakura shouted, confused, leaning over the railing. She wasn't the only one confused, and so was almost everyone.

"What happened?" Temari asked Kankuro with fear sneering in her voice, that kind of speed was something she had never seen before, but despite that, she knew Gaara could easily take him out. Kankuro just shook his head, not knowing how to answer, before giving his brother a brief glance, knowing how Gaara reacted to powerful people.

The Jinchuuriki of Shukaku, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes at the Kumo Shinobi; that speed was something new.

"So that's the Red Lightning Bloodline!" Jiraiya commented, impressed; he had heard of it but to see it in action was an entirely different thing. Tsunade was somehow wary of that Bloodline; it had enormous potential.

"Indeed, let's see if young Gitago can fully utilize his Bloodline!" Hiruzen commented, smoking on his pipe, paying attention to the fight.

Ashara grunted as she tried to come out of the small hole created in the wall; her back was aching like crazy, and her nose was bleeding. Her eyes were on her enemy again, analyzing what happened carefully.

He used a seal on his arm to suddenly move very fast; but the cost to that is his chakra reverse, not to mention he could harm himself if used too many times, she thought, her purple eyes glancing at his lighting tattoo on his arm, it was covered to look like a simple tattoo instead of an actual seal.

I wonder how long it takes for him to activate it, she thought, raising her sword again, jumping from the hole, and landing softly on the ground. She knew a seal like that couldn't be used all the time; he needed to wait for it to recharge, a time that could be from ten seconds to one minute.

Silence took over the arena as they carefully analyzed each other; the tension could be cut with a knife.

"Give Up," Gitago suddenly said with a sneer in his voice, looking at her with contempt.

Asha said nothing; she wouldn't get angry at simple petty words. The Uzumaki girl just scoffed before crossing her fingers; making three clones around her, each one rushed towards Gitago from different directions, who simply sliced through them like nothing with his Kunai, from the smoke left by one of the clones several Shurikens enhanced with wind chakra suddenly cut through the smoke flying towards him.

Pulling out his Katana enhanced with Lightning, as soon as his blade made contact with the Shurikens thrown at him, they exploded in white smoke, blocking his view of the Uzumaki girl.

The glumly brat is using smoke, he thought before jumping outside the smoke, immediately greeted by Ashara from behind him, her sword raised in the air, ready to slice his head off.

"Raito"

Gitago disappeared in a bolt of red lightning before reappearing right behind Ashara; cutting through skin and muscle, he chopped her head off, only to reveal a Shuriken cut in half in her place.

Gitago clicked his tongue in annoyance as a Red Fire was launched at his location. The Kumo boy raised his sword before sending a wind blade through the fire with his sword, cutting it in half before rushing towards the girl with maximum speed, ready to end this.

Jumping upwards, he rushed towards her; he was right in front of Ashara, moving his sword forward, ready to stab her head, knowing she didn't have enough time. Ashara used the hilt of her sword to change his trajectory, cutting her shoulder instead; Ashara winced slightly before jumping away, gaining some distance.

"Asha-chan," Fuu shouted with worry, knowing her friend was injured, almost jumping into the arena if it wasn't for Ikashu holding her back. Naruto clenched his teeth in anger, especially where the sword had cut her.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the bleeding shoulder. That amount of blood will tremendously harm her, not to mention the amount of muscle tissue damaged; she needs to give up at this point; that arm is useless, the Sannin thought with a grim look on her face; hoping the Uzumaki girl would give up, knowing how much Naruto fancies her.

Her shoulder was bleeding, and the sleeve near her shoulder started turning red from the blood. Clenching her teeth, she ignored the sharp pain; now, she understood it now.

He waited until the right moment to use it, and it was precisely one minute, and it's been 45 seconds!!

With that thought, Ashara sheathed her sword back before making four more clones. Gitago simply stood looking at her, knowing she couldn't do anything actually to win.

"Fire Style: Scarlet Flame," sending a massive ball of scarlet fire towards Gitago, who simply moved to his left; the flame brushed off against him, burning his clothes slightly, something he ignored for now before one clone showed up right at his left.

Crouching in time, he used his sword to slice her stomach; she disappeared into a puff of smoke, revealing several paper bombs.

Clever bitch!

The explosion sent fire and a shock wave all around the arena. Gitago appeared in a different place, away from the explosion; when a Katana stabbed him through the chest, Asha smirked from behind him when Gitago looked at her over his shoulder before turning to red lightning; a Lightning Clone?!! The jutsu spread everywhere around the arena; Ashara screamed, being caught by the powerful jutsu. The lightning spread around the spectators; some backed away.

20 seconds

Every clone of Ashara was destroyed; the smoke from all the explosions cleared, revealing Ashara lying on the ground bleeding; her injury on her shoulder was bleeding even more due to her keep using her right arm, forcing the blood around her veins to flow faster.

30 seconds

Gitago stood just three feet away from her, his sword in his hand, ready to kill her. "I win," He declared with a smirk before moving for the kill.

I need more seconds for the seal to activate, but that's not important, but I still have one more hidden move if anything goes wrong, Gitago thought, knowing he had won this duel. Taking the first step towards her lying figure.

40 seconds

"Ashara" Fuu and Naruto screamed with concern; Naruto was about to stop him; it didn't matter if he broke the rules. Hayate was about to stop him; the Kumo Shinobi had clearly won. Hiruzen frowned, and so did Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Kumo Team had mixed feelings; killing someone on a Chunin Exam was always frowned upon, especially when it wasn't necessary.

Everything seemed to have gone in slow motion; one second, Ashara was lying injured on the ground; Gitago was advancing, ready to finish her off.

But he didn't get to make any move before a sword pierced his stomach from behind. The lying figure of Ashara on the floor disappeared, replaced by blood.

"I won," Ashara murmured from behind him, missing the sudden smirk on his face. Everyone was shocked by the sudden change of events.

"Gitago" Samui screamed in horror and shock, her eyes welling with tears. Even The Hokage was surprised how easily the Uzumaki girl had changed the situation in her favor but wondered what kind of clone turns into blood??

Fuu jumped in the air, but Naruto's attention was on the Kumo Shinobi, especially his smirk. Naruto knew at that moment what Ashara hadn't won. Suddenly Gitago, who had a sword pierced on his stomach, turned into red lightning.

Asha screamed in agony, getting electrocuted before the real Kumo Shinobi appeared from behind her, his sword high in the air, ready for the killing blow.

"Good Fight," he stated before bringing his sword down on her; Ashara, just in time, whirled around with her own sword; both blades didn't clash this time, cutting through skin and muscles; the blood splattered everywhere as everyone's eyes widened in horror.

For those wondering what Ashara looks like. She looks like Naori Uchiha from Itachi's flashback.