HIATUS

This was the newest jutsu that Erik recently made. For both Ava and Grant, this is the second time they saw Erik do this technique, it is also the first time they saw the power of the said Jutsu.

"Look at that technique…It is so primal", Grant said while panting. The fight he had with Ethan had already made Grant tired, as well as losing most of his chakra. Now that he is on the outskirts of the battlefield, he is trying to get as much rest as he can before both he and Ava would go back in to provide support for Erik.

"I still can't believe that he proved his theory, and I'm seeing it for the second time already", Ava said with heavy breathing.

A few years back, Erik told them of an idea they both believe wasn't possible. Erik didn't agree so he still persisted. Chakra is the molding of physical energy and spiritual energy that one has in his or her body. Erik theorized that his Wakadan heritage could play a key role in the jutsu he had in mind. He theorized that at the moment of his conception his grandfather was the current Black Panther of Wakanda. The Black Panther had all these skills that would have made mere men afraid of him, but not Erik. He did not want the ordinary powers of the black panther, he wanted more, a far deeper connection to Bast, far greater than any of her champions had ever achieved.

To achieve this, he focused most of his time studying "Yin Release", the spiritual aspect of chakra itself. To tap into the connection his grandfather..no…to tap into the connection that all his ancestors had. So, after nearly 2 years of studying, trial and error, he was able to produce a Yin: Release jutsu, a jutsu that was based on his spirituality, but instead of it just being the image of a black panther, it combined with something else. Due to Erik spending most of his time with Roose, he was also fascinated with the idea of modifying his body to that of a snake. The change in his body also introduced a change in his chakra.

His chakra would transform itself into the body of a panther, with eyes of a snake and its tail was changed to that of a snake as well, a chimera of some sort.

"How is he able to wound Ethan, anyway?", Ava asked. She clearly saw that all of Erik's attacks were either block or parried, but it was pointless. Erik was still able to wound their teacher.

"His technique must have an aspect that allows some of his chakra to bypass any physical object. This move makes his technique even deadlier, especially if he is able to fully control it", Grant commented.

Meanwhile, the two onlookers who were watching the entire battle since the very beginning were having their own conversation.

"That is freaky", Bucky commented.

The Ancient One with a serious and contemplating look in her eyes said, "A technique that is using the spiritual aspect of his being".

"What do you mean by that?", Bucky asked her but the Ancient One no longer commented and just remained quiet. Seeing that he was not going to get an explanation from the Ancient One, Bucky focused his attention on the fight that was happening.

'Damn it, how can he wound me?', Ethan thought as he yet again deflected one of Erick's scratches. A claw mark wound has formed in his left shoulder after the attack. The wounds that Erik was able to deal to Ethan weren't that deadly, most of them were only shallow wounds, but it didn't make the wounds least irritating.

"ROAR!!!"

'His attack can somehow bypass physical objects, this technique truly is fearsome', Ethan thought. All the wounds that Ethan had in his body were slowly disappearing, in the midst of battle, he was using his chakra to heal himself.

Erik was like a mad beast as he engages Ethan for nearly 30 minutes. He was lucky that Ethan was more fascinated by his technique rather than fighting back. Ethan was trying to study the concept of his Jutsu.

Seeing that all the wounds that Ethan has on its body were healing made Erik even madder. Erik opened his mouth, and then suddenly powerful air bullets were being fired in Ethan's direction. Seeing this Ethan graceful use his blade to cut the air bullets in half, none of this attack was able to harm him. Upon Ethan destroying the last air bullet, Erik sprinted in his direction with the intention to deal him a surprise scratch attack.

"That's it. I had enough. Bad kitty, you need to learn to behave yourself", Ethan said as he receives yet another scratch attack, but instead of hitting Ethan, Erik hit a substitute due to Ethan's substitution Jutsu. Ethan suddenly appeared behind Erik and he made multiple one-handed hand sign and then a huge amount of raging wave of water came out of his mouth, the technique hit Erik's back in point-blank range.

"Shit, we need to support him", Ava said as he quickly sprinted to join the fight again.

Grant immediately followed Ava but the amount of chakra that he had left was getting smaller by the minute. The amount of rest he was able to have wasn't that much, he was slowly weakening the longer the fight goes on.

Seeing Ava approaching, Ethan did a stabbing motion towards her. His blade quickly extended with a powerful force. Seeing the incoming attack Ava phase right through it, but unbeknownst to her, she wasn't the target of the blade. Trailing behind her was Grant, he was too slow to react, the sword went pass through Ava and then stabbed him in the chest piercing through his bone armor.

"Dead", Ethan said.

Hearing what Ethan said, Grant took it that he failed the exam. With a sad look on his face, he removed the remainder of his armor and went to where Bucky and the Ancient One were.

"He getting serious", Ava said.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Erik came out of the ground where Ethan was standing, his claws were like a spear as he tried to target Ethan's head. Seeing the opportunity in front of her Ava immediately acted, by the position of Ethan's feet the only way for him to dodge that attack was to raise his head and step back, so Ava quickly phases behind Ethan and she channeled the highest amount of chakra she ever placed in her right hand, as she was going near Ethan she cocked her hand and release it with a quick motion.

'Damn it, I didn't want to use this technique on them', Ethan thought. He teleported behind Ava by using the flying thunder god seal. He had placed the seal in the past without the knowledge of his disciples. Ethan did not want to use this ability due to it being 'not fair', this was an exam after all.

Ethan appears behind Ava and he immediately pointed his sword in the side of her neck and said, "Dead", to make sure that Ava knew that he could hurt her, Ethan made a small stab in her neck which cause a small amount of blood to leak.

Before Ava could say anything, let alone admit defeat, Erik's snake tail charge towards her, she quickly phases to avoid the attack, while Ethan teleported in front of Erik, and he channels chakra in his hand and he punches Erik's stomach.

"AGH!"

Erik was shocked by the sudden pain, the panther chakra that was surrounding him soon vanish and his eyes soon turned white and he fell to the ground. That one punch knock Erik out.