The seventh fight began without haste.
Ino swallowed hard, looking at the handsome boy who smiled kindly at her.
Ino's cheeks flushed, she looked away, swallowing hard, reminding herself that she was there to fight, not to flirt.
Ranmaru, on the other hand, was pensive, trying to figure out how to fulfill Guren's request. He could release a large amount of water like Suigetsu, but that would only be a copy. Punching the ground forcefully like Karin was also out of the question, although he wasn't weak, he would hardly reach the same level as her.
Ranmaru focused on Genjutsu and his werewolf body.
He thought for a while, until he came up with an alternative: to use a genjutsu that would even involve the audience.
Sighing, he heard Orochimaru-sama start the match, and Ino jumped away immediately, throwing kunai at him.
The kunai hit directly without Ranmaru moving, which surprised Ino. Ranmaru fell, covered in blood.
If Ino didn't know Ranmaru, she would have believed it, but since she did know him, as one of the three monsters of Oto, she doubted that a few kunai could kill him.
This could only mean...
Ino brought her fingers together, focused her chakra, and shouted. -Kai!
However, when she opened her eyes, she wasn't back in the arena, instead, she found herself in a dark, dense forest. She looked around, shocked.
She tried again and again, but she couldn't break free from the genjutsu.
As she tried, Ino heard something, it was a howl, but that was only the first of many. Soon, howling sounds continued to appear from all directions, and the dark night was slowly illuminated by a red light.
Looking up, Ino saw a blood-red moon, completely full, so close it seemed as if Ino could touch it.
The sounds around in the forest continued, red eyes slowly appearing from behind the trees, Ino soon saw their figures, wolves, giant wolves, and humanoids.
Ino drew her kunai to fight, but the moment the kunai touched the wolf, only a metallic sound was heard, her eyes widened, she couldn't even cut the wolf's fur.
Before she could react, a huge mouth bit her on the neck.
She knew it was an illusion, but the pain... she tried to breathe as her trachea was closed and her own blood began to drown her.
In the arena, Ranmaru never moved, whether it was Ino or the surrounding audience, everyone was caught in his genjutsu. Of course, Ino was the true participant, the others were merely observers, seeing what Ino was seeing.
Of course, not everyone fell for his genjutsu. Jugo, Orochimaru, Tsunade, Mei, Kakashi, Guren, Suigetsu, and Karin managed to escape. Naruto, on the other hand, also escaped with the help of Kyubi, not of his own volition, but because Ranmaru's genjutsu affected even him, thus making him curious and causing his chakra to pulse.
Ranmaru's eyes were red, his curse mark fully open in its first stage, yet he was still sweating.
The next moment, Ino woke up, and with her, the entire audience, who were shocked. They felt the same as Ino, for a moment, a large mass of people panicked.
In his cabin, Jugo sighed again, causing the wooden clones to calm the most agitated ones, Guren had truly brought him a lot of trouble.
Ino was already lying on the floor, screaming in fear. Ranmaru didn't move, only maintained his smile, remaining there, motionless.
When Ino had finally calmed down enough, he spoke. -Please, give up.
Ino looked at Ranmaru with eyes full of fear, she hesitantly opened her mouth, but when she saw Ranmaru's eyes slowly turning red again, her eyes widened. - I give up, I give up!
Ranmaru smiled and waved to her, then after Orochimaru announced his victory, he simply waved to Ino again and left.
Ino was still breathing heavily, it was truly terrifying, she thought she had really died!
//-//
(Tsunade's POV)
Tsunade had been frowning since the fight with Ranmaru, while Kakashi, standing beside her, looked thoughtful.
-That brat is dangerous.- Tsunade finally said.
-Yes, a genjutsu on that scale with such realistic sensations...- Kakashi agreed. -Placed on a battlefield...
Shizune, standing beside Tsunade, couldn't escape the genjutsu, she was still experiencing mild spasms.
Tsunade placed her hand on Sizune's head and began to heal her, Shizune's gaze slowly calming down.
-Another monster.- Tsunade sighed. -Those red eyes... Sharingan?
-No.- Kakashi shook his head. -I opened my Sharingan as soon as I saw it, it wasn't a Sharingan, it was another Dojutsu.
-Hey, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-baachan, was that genjutsu really that strong? I got out as fast as I got in.- Naruto asked, confused.
They both looked at the idiot at the same time, feeling that it would have been better if he had stayed quiet.
//-//
It wasn't just Tsunade who thought that the "students" of the leader of Otogakure were all monsters, practically the Oto version of the 3 Sannin of Konoha.
It took a while for the crowd to calm down, some even left immediately, clearly scared, deciding to stay away from ninjas, but nobody cared, the vast majority stayed.
The effect Guren wanted was achieved, but the woman also experienced a headache.
She asked them to exaggerate, yes, but they exaggerated way too much!