Other world chimera [Naruto fanfic]

192. Prelims end

“Tomoka what the actual fuck?” Hearing that Tomoka couldn’t help but make a double take. Hinata who despite losing most of her meekness and shyness rarely cursed did so just now. 

“What?” The question could mean anything from incredulity to Hinata’s curse to confusion as to why she was being questioned. 

“Don’t what me. I am asking what you did? What was that gas? Why does she look like she is about to have a mental breakdown? Scratch that, why does she look like she just had a mental breakdown?” After rapid firing all those questions Hinata had to take a deep breath. 

“I must admit I am also curious. All I got to see was a cloud of green gas and nothing more. Hinata did tell me a bit of what she was seeing with her byakugan but that didn’t help.” Besides the trio Yamato too listened without interrupting, he also wanted to know what she did. 

“Well, the gas is a special nerve agent I made, I call it the fear toxin. As the  name implies it causes the person to feel all the physiological symptoms of fear. Increased heart rate, cold sweat, dilated pupils, the works. Aside from that it also contains some hallucinogenic properties. With low exposure the person will start to see shadows in the periphery of their sight. High exposure and this is where the fun begins.” Tomoka took a moment to lick her lips as if she was savoring the left over taste of the overwhelming fear she had forced onto her poor victim.

“The mind is its worst enemy. The end result is that if the hallucination isn’t guided with visual or auditory cues it will spawn what the person fears the most out of nowhere. The best part is that since it isn’t a genjutsu you can’t just break out of it. You would need to take the antidote.” Tomoka continued all smiles as she revealed how one of her inventions worked. 

“What I did down there was guide the hallucination using the song and some genjutsus. The best part about this is that even if the genjutsu is full of discernible holes or is disabled it won’t matter much since the hallucination will fill the gaps.” After that Tomoka explained exactly what kind of genjutsu she had and the inspiration behind it… kinda. Since Yamato was listening she had to spin some random explanation as to why a scarecrow. Meanwhile she used her phantoms connected to the girls to explain the real story behind it. 

Meanwhile the trio conversed as the medics went to check on kin who began to lash out full force as soon as one of them touched her. She began to scream like crazy about a scarecrow and how it would hunt her down. Poor kin had to be knocked out and sedated before the medics could take her to the medical ward. 

Silence reigned as everyone wondered about the happenings inside the green gas. Only three people had been able to see inside it. Neji, Haruto and Hinata had bared witness to the horror Tomoka unleashed on the poor sound girl. In reality all they saw was a puppet of a scarecrow made of what looked like scrap stalking the girl as she ran around like a headless chicken. 

After a while Hiruzen finally gave a rough cough before speaking. “With that the preliminaries are over. The final exam will take place a month from now. Use this time as you see fit, be it to rest or train, be sure to be in your best state.” With that he left making everyone understand that they were dismissed.

As the Konoha fifteen left, conversation could be heard amongst them. Most of them were heading to the infirmary be it to get their minor wounds treated or to visit their less fortunate teammates. 

“Hey Tomoka, you wouldn’t use that gas against any of us right?” Naruko suddenly asked, making everybody else shut up instantly as they stared at the girl in question who just kept silent and smiled.  

“R-right!? You wouldn’t, we are all friends here.” Naruko asked again this time with a bit of panic in her voice. She really, really, didn’t want to experience whatever that girl had gone through. 

“I wonder… akgh” Tomoka had wanted to tease them a bit more but a good smack behind the head from one Hinata putting a stop on that. 

“Don’t worry you all, she is just messy with you, right?” Hinata's scary smile that didn’t reach her eyes made Tomoka nod without thinking about it. Seeing this everyone present couldn’t help but think: ‘What happened to the cute and shy Hinata?’ Everyone knew the answer of course.