[Alright, Readers. Here is my first chapter! The reason this chapter came out so soon was because I was already three-fifths done with it when I posted the introduction, which this chapter replaced. Tell me what you think of this chapter in reviews or in PM's or whatever you want. Also, expect Chapter Two in the next week and a half, tops.]
Chapter One
1
I'm late!
It was about 7:37AM on the second Wednesday in June. The darkness had just abandoned the sky an hour ago and now clouds littered it, leaving the sky with a gray tone and one with an occasional view of the sun.
Even this early in the morning, there was some activity going on in the Hidden Leaf Village. Some people were on their way to their jobs, some were giving their pets an early morning walk, some were going for a jog, and most kids were at the Academy. Most of the kids were already at the Academy, seeing as classes began at 7AM. Almost all of these kids made sure to be there on time because today was the day of the Graduation Exam. Almost all of them were on time, except for one kid.
Oh, dammit! I'm late!
Keiji Jakunen, age twelve, was the only student of the Ninja Academy who overslept and therefore, he was the only student who was late. The exams began at 8AM, so there was still some hope for him to get there on time to take it.
After waking up at 7:25AM, it had taken this tardy boy about fifteen minutes to get ready to leave. He had packed his bag with a hastily prepared lunch, some writing utensils, a black case a bit bigger than a dictionary, and notebooks and quickly left the house at 7:40AM, being careful to not slam the front door to his house shut. He wouldn't want to wake his dad and have him realize that Keiji was late. That would cause him to go into Lecture Mode and then Keiji would surely be late for the exam itself.
Keiji was standing outside of his house, his right hand behind his head as he let out a deep sigh. Days that started out stressful tended to progress further in that direction. He knew this from personal experience. This wasn't entirely too stressful, though. He was running late but he would definitely make it to the Academy, which was five minutes away from his house, before the exam started. He might receive a lecture from his sensei, but Keiji was sure that he would still be allowed to take the exam.
He started to briskly walk down the sidewalk, not bothering to break into a run since he would get there before 8AM either way. The Graduation Exam had changed over the years. It used to be held all on the same day, but it had been broken down into a two-day exam a few years back. The first day, students would take the Written Exam where they would be tested on all sorts of basic informational knowledge which they should have retained during their time at the Academy.
The second day was a Physical Exam, where the students would be paired off and set up to fight each other. The students would be allowed to use any Ninja Tools or Ninjutsu at their disposal. In the match, it wasn't about winning or losing. The proctors would watch you and grade you on how well you fought and reacted to danger during the match. Therefore, the person who lost the fight would have just as much of a chance at graduating as the person who won. There was only one rule in these fights, and that was that you could not kill your opponent.
Keiji, along with all of the other students at the Academy, had taken the Written Exam yesterday and he had passed. He was a decent student and never really needed to study for anything. He would always get decent grades on any test that he took, and he assumed that this meant that he could be a pretty good shinobi when he graduated. Either that or he was extremely lucky. Keiji was actually willing to bet that it was the latter, only because he didn't seem like the smart type.
Keiji arrived at the front doors of the Academy in four minutes, a whole minute earlier than he had expected. Stealthily pushing open the large wooden doors, Keiji slipped into the building and made his way over to his classroom. The door to his classroom had been left slightly open, making it easier for him to slip into the room.
The classroom was set up in a circular fashion. There were three rows of seats, which started from the back wall and moved down towards the center of the room. The three rows of seats existed in four sections around the room, the sections only being separated by aisles which led up to the doors and down to the base. The room itself had a slight decline once you entered it, so the people who sat at the back row could see the center of the room without having to look over or around the kids who sat in front of them.
At the center of the room, in a smaller circle, there was a raised platform. The platform, along with a small area around it, was the only area in the room that was on a leveled floor. The sensei that was teaching the class at the time would typically teach from this raised platform. They could roll a blackboard up onto the platform if they needed to by using one of the two access ramps on either side of it. Whenever sparring matches were held, they were also held on this platform.
The class was made up of twelve students, including Keiji, and a single sensei, so most of the seats in the room went unused. Boys outnumbered the girls at a 3:1 ratio, meaning that there were nine boys and three girls. Keiji wasn't too well acquainted with all of the other kids, but he knew about them. About eight of the twelve kids in the class were part of well known clans, such as the Hyuuga clan or the Uchiha clan. Two of the remaining four were aspiring specialists and the remaining two were not included in the two aforementioned categories. The last two consisted of Keiji, himself, and one other student.
Luckily for Keiji, the class was in the middle of reviewing the rules for the Physical Exam, so no one appeared to notice as he entered the room. The instructor had her back to the class as she was writing something on the blackboard, which gave Keiji the perfect opportunity. He moved down the aisle that led away from the doors and down the decline and noticed two of his friends sitting in seats in the second row. Keiji started towards an empty seat next to his two friends but was stopped when the instructor called out his name.
"Keiji Jakunen." the female instructor Amane said in mid-sentence. Keiji froze in place as every other student turned to look at him. Amane sighed and waved her hand for Keiji to continue. "Don't even give me any excuses. Just sit down and we'll begin the exam."
How did she notice me? Keiji thought, sitting down in the seat next to his friends. Even before today, Keiji was usually late to class. It happened often enough for Amane to expect it. Fortunately for Keiji, she liked him as a student. Amane saw that Keiji had promise as a shinobi and wouldn't let something as minor as being late ruin his chances at becoming a shinobi.
"Keiji, you idiot." the boy sitting on Keiji's right said in a hushed tone. This boy had shoulder length jet black hair and eyes of the same color. His name was Kurizu Shimizu, of the Shimizu clan. The Shimizu clan sprung up in the Hidden Leaf Village about thirty years ago, eighteen years before Kurizu was even born. At the time, there were quite a few members of the clan. Their numbers had grown considerably since then.
The Shimizu clan was known for their Midori no me, or Green Eyes. This was the term given to their technique by those unfamiliar with the clan. The technique was a Kekkei Genkai called the Bariagan. The users eyes become green when the Kekkei Genkai is active, which was where Midori no me originated.
"Really, Keiji. If you were any later, Amane-sensei wouldn't have let you take the exam." the boy sitting next to Kurizu said. This boy had a shaved head, which was almost always covered by a plain dark blue bandana, and a pair of light brown eyes. His name was Yasuo Arai and he was probably ranked somewhere near the top of the intelligence list, out of the other Academy Students.
Yasuo was an exceptional student. This had caused rumors to be passed around the class about him. Some say that he has mastered ten jutsu before even graduating from the Academy while others say that he knows how to skillfully use several different kinds of advanced weapons. The rumors centered around the boy's talent. These rumors were mere exaggerations. Yasuo had only mastered a single jutsu, which was more than most of the other students could say, and he was only familiar with the use of bladed weapons.
Keiji, the only boy in the Ninja Academy with short, spiked white hair coupled with deep blue eyes and a height that falls to 5'5, grinned as his two friends spoke. These two were probably the only kids in the entire class who Keiji actually got along with. It's not that the others actively picked on him or anything of that nature. Keiji was just the type of person who only opened up to a few others.
"I told you that I'd become a Genin with you guys, didn't I?" Keiji said, taking the backpack off from his shoulders and placing it onto the floor. He reached into the bag and pulled out the black case. "The reason I overslept is because I've been training to use this."
Kurizu smirked as Keiji unveiled the contents of the case. "If you're able to use this thing properly, then there's no doubt in my mind that you could pass this exam." he said, Keiji closing the case and slipping it back into the bag.
2
"Alright, everyone. We're going to start the Physical Exam." Amane said, still standing in the center of the classroom. The twelve Academy Students in the class all sat scattered in the three different rows of seats. They all sat directly in front of her in one of the four sections of three seats, though, so they were in her line of sight. "When I call out your name, please step onto the combat space."
Amane turned to the blackboard that was behind her and promptly rolled it down one of the ramps that led down from the platform. When the blackboard was out of the way, she pulled a small slip of paper out of her pocket.
"Yasuo Arai." Amane read off of the list on the paper. Yasuo got up from his seat in the second row, crossed over behind Keiji and Kurizu into the aisle, and started walking down towards the platform. "Azumi Uchiha."
As the second name was called out, the whispering began. Everyone knew about the history of the Uchiha clan. The Uchiha were supposed to be the elites of the elite. They had the Kekkei Genkai known as the Sharingan, and that alone made them a force to be reckoned with. The clan had supposedly been butchered over a hundred and fifty years ago by one of their own. Itachi Uchiha was the murderer's name. Sasuke Uchiha was apparently the only survivor of this tragic incident and coincidentally, he happened to be Itachi's brother.
Sasuke was out to take Itachi down to get vengeance for his clan and in a matter of time, he succeeded. Sasuke deserted the Hidden Leaf Village and took down Itachi, becoming a part of the Akatsuki shortly after. The Akatsuki was a organization that existed during this time period. This group of ten powerful shinobi had attempted to hunt down and capture the nine Jinchuuriki that existed during this time, Naruto Uzumaki being one of those Jinchuuriki.
During the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Sasuke played a key role even though he no longer belonged to a village. Sasuke, with the help of an unknown accomplice, eliminated Kabuto Yakushi, who was one of the main forces of the war. Kabuto Yakushi had used a technique to resurrect the dead and used them as an army to attack the five nations. One of the people who Kabuto had brought back to life was Madara Uchiha, who had been sent after the five Kages. Sasuke had taken down the resurrected Madara Uchiha, defending the five Kages from his onslaught and assisted Naruto Uzumaki in defeating Tobi, another one of the main forces of the war.
After the war, Sasuke Uchiha had been welcomed back into the Leaf Village, his former crimes all pardoned and overlooked. Both Tsunade and Naruto contributed to this. No one knows why Sasuke had a change of heart. Many believe that the accomplice who had helped Sasuke defeat Kabuto was actually Itachi, and that he had opened Sasuke's eyes.
Several years after he had been accepted back into the Hidden Leaf Village, Sasuke married Sakura Haruno, a member of his former team when he had originally been a part of the Hidden Leaf. The two of them had two children and the Uchiha line started up once more.
Azumi was a fourth generation Uchiha. She had long black hair which was almost always worn back in a ponytail. The ponytail stopped just above the center of her back. She had a piercing in her right ear. Azumi wore a sleeveless dark blue shirt which stopped just above her naval. She wore black pants with blue sandals. There was a blue kunai holster on her left leg and a beige pouch on the back of her waist. Azumi had a metal bracelet on each wrist, along with a metal necklace that hung around her neck. The necklace had an Uchiha emblem hanging from it.
Azumi Uchiha rose up from her seat, cracked her knuckles effortlessly, and started down towards the platform where the fight would take place.
"This is going to be intense."
"I know, right?"
"The elite versus the enigma. How many jutsu do you think Arai will use?"
"Up against her? All ten, no doubt."
The two Academy Students made their way up to the platform, each standing on their own side of the arena. They stood directly across from one another, each eying the other one down.
"Whenever you're ready, you may begin." Amane said to the two kids on the arena. She knew about Azumi. Azumi was a physically tough girl. Throughout most of her childhood, she was able to best the boys in every kind of competition, whether it be arm wrestling or even a footrace. She had the potential to truly live up to the Uchiha name. The thing that made her strength problematic was that she also had a fighting spirit. She would not hold back, nor would she refrain from using dangerous techniques in a classroom setting. The Uchiha clan was known for their Katon techniques. If a stray fireball was to hit anything in the classroom, the entire building could be lit up quickly.
During the Physical Exam, Amane's job was to act as the proctor. She would set the matches up, she would call the fights to a close, she would stop the fight from progressing past a fight between comrades, she would do her best to keep any stray techniques from trashing the classroom, and then she would evaluate how each student did in the fight. Amane knew several different kinds of Sealing Jutsu and Binding Techniques, and restraining Academy Students would be no problem with the techniques at hand.
The fight started quickly enough with Yasuo sprinting across the arena towards Azumi. He had never personally fought Azumi before, so it was wise to test out her close combat skills first. If he could overwhelm her in hand to hand combat, he wouldn't need to bring out any of his special tricks. He had kept his techniques a secret, even from Kurizu and Keiji. He had no intention of revealing them in front of the entire class unless he absolutely needed to.
Yasuo threw a punch aimed at Azumi's face followed by another punch aimed at the right side of her head, ending this combo by spinning to his left and trying to connect a backhand with the other side of her head.
Azumi reacted quickly enough. The first punch had been a straightforward attack so sidestepping it would not be a problem. She was able to see through this punch in two ways. First, it was easy enough to avoid, meaning that it was probably just meant to guide her into a following attack. Second, sidestepping it would be playing right into this boy's plan if the first point was true. Instead of sidestepping the punch, Azumi took a step back and pushed Yasuo's arm to the left with her right hand, just before the punch hit her face.
Regardless of the deflection of his first punch, he had continued with his combination and tried to punch her in the side of her head. Azumi blocked the punch with her right forearm and was not surprised when his fist quickly left her arm.
The backhand came next. Azumi watched as Yasuo spun to his left in an attempt to deliver the main force of his combination. Azumi quickly moved her left forearm up by the left side of her head, reinforcing her guard with the palm of her right hand. Yasuo's fist slammed into her forearm making her entire body shake, the backhand being successfully blocked nonetheless. Almost immediately after the backhand had been blocked, Azumi grabbed Yasuo's wrist and pulled him to her right until he was facing her. Azumi brought her knee directly into Yasuo's gut, following it up by elbowing him in the jaw and nearly making him stumble onto the floor.
Blood was now dripping down Yasuo's lower lip, a drop falling to the floor every five seconds. The pain in his gut made it hard for him to stand. Apparently, this girl was an exceptional fighter, so holding back was not an option. The crowd of classmates were cheering, clearly impressed by what had happened. They were rooting for Azumi. They were probably expecting her to win, too.
"Okay... You asked for this." Yasuo said, spitting up a combination of saliva and blood. He stood up straight, ignoring the pain in his gut, and made a single hand seal. Using his left hand, Yasuo rolled up his right sleeve until his wrist was showing. There was what appeared to be a small tattoo on his wrist. With his index finger and his middle finger, Yasuo pressed down onto the tattoo, causing a small burst of smoke to appear in his right hand.
The smoke cleared quickly enough, revealing a blade which he now held in his right hand. It was a shortsword. The entire sword was a solid black, from the tip of the blade and to the metal of the hilt. There was a white cloth wrapped around the hilt and the blade had a serrated edge. It was a sinister looking blade and it was Yasuo's favorite blade.
"Kuroi Kiba." Yasuo said, pointing the tip of the blade at Azumi. He noticed the tip of the blade glint in sync with the metal bracelets Azumi had on her wrists. He had a smirk on his face, now. He knew exactly how he was going to defeat Azumi, and it would involve revealing another one of his tricks.
"It doesn't matter how many weapons you can summon, Arai. The result will always be the same." Azumi said, starting to move towards him. There was no point in actually trying against an enemy who you were clearly better than. That had always been how Azumi saw things, and that was why her loss was inevitable.
Yasuo ignored Azumi and stuck the sword into the floor beside his right foot. He made seven quick hand seals and picked up the blade again. Electricity was visibly flowing through and around his entire body. As soon as his right hand touched the hilt, electricity started to flow through the blade as well. The electricity was creating a loud sound, similar to that of chirping birds.
"Raiton: Denryu!" Yasuo practically roared. The electricity felt good coursing through his body but it had to leave his body in order for him to win this fight. He started to concentrate the electricity into his hand, essentially making more and more of it flow into the blade.
"He's a... Raiton user?" Azumi asked, becoming more and more intrigued with the more of this display that she witnessed. "It doesn't matter! I'll just dodge your slashes like I blocked your punches!"
The entire class and Amane watched in awe as Yasuo charged the electricity into the Kuroi Kiba. To put it mildly it was amazing, but there was one concern. How had Yasuo learned such a powerful technique at such a young age? Same with the summoning seal on his wrist. How had he acquired it at such a young age?
No. Raiton: Denryu is a basic Raiton technique that sends a small electric current throughout the body of the user. It's mainly used to repel physical attacks, as a person would be less likely to punch someone who is visibly coursing with electricity than they would with someone who is not. His chakra is amplifying its power and is making the electricity more virulent... or at least, it must be. It's the only thing that makes sense. Amane thought. Anyone, whether they are an Academy Student or a Kage, could easily learn this technique if they have the right chakra nature and someone to teach it to them. Yasuo's chakra transformed it into something completely different, somehow.
Kurizu and Keiji watched from their seats. They were both grinning in awe. Yasuo was every bit as amazing as the rumors about him implied. Yasuo only had to graze Azumi with the sword and the fight would be over.
Azumi started to charge at Yasuo, not wanting to allow him more time to make the electrified sword even more powerful. Yasuo ran at her at the same moment, grasping onto the hilt of the blade with both hands now and holding the sword horizontally to his right. They met in the center of the arena and Yasuo let loose a simple straightforward horizontal slash. Azumi reacted quickly and jumped into the air, doing a flip over the blade and meaning to land on the other side of Yasuo. Before she could even touch the ground, however, the electricity jumped from the blade to Azumi, engulfing her entire body with blue and white.
The electricity kept her suspended in the air as it shocked her, the chirping becoming loud enough to mute Azumi's screams. The entire class watched with open mouths as Azumi was endlessly attacked by the electricity. They couldn't even grasp how this could have even happened. Azumi clearly dodged the slash, but the electricity still got her. Had Yasuo done something to her before charging up the sword?
After about ten seconds, Yasuo released the technique, stabbed the sword into the floor, and allowed Azumi to fall out of the air. He quickly moved towards her and caught her before she hit the floor. Azumi was unconscious; alive, but unconscious. He gently put her onto the ground and also released the summoning for Kuroi Kiba, causing it to disappear in a small cloud of smoke.
"Yasuo Arai is the winner!" Amane exclaimed, clearly impressed by the fight, herself. It started off slowly, mostly because of the other students still wondering how he had even won, but the class applauded him all the same. "Yasuo Arai and Azumi Uchiha both pass the Physical Exam. You may return to your seat and will the medics please come and get Azumi!"
Amane understood exactly why Azumi had gotten hit by the attack as soon as the electricity was gone, and this realization impressed her even more. Azumi's bracelets, earring, and her necklace were charred, as if they had taken most of the electric attack. The electricity was most likely drawn to the metal in those objects.
Two medical shinobi walked into the room with a stretcher and made their way over to Azumi. The medics were for the rare event that a student severely injures another student and since most Academy Students didn't know powerful Ninjutsu, they were almost never needed.
Yasuo quickly returned back to his seat next to Kurizu and Keiji.
"Yasuo! How did you do it? That was amazing. Everyone thought Azumi dodged your attack." Kurizu asked.
"It was really simple once I realized it. Azumi was wearing metal bracelets, a metal necklace, and a metal earring." Yasuo explained, the pain in his gut and jaw wanting to take priority. He wouldn't let it, though. Showing weakness now would diminish his victory, slightly. "Raiton: Denryu is a basic Raiton technique and it isn't supposed to be powerful. I poured most of my chakra into this technique to boost its power, but more importantly to increase the range of the electricity on Kuroi Kiba. Even though she dodged the attack she could immediately see, the electricity was still drawn to the metal that she was wearing so-"
"-so she got hit by the attack that she couldn't see." Keiji finished, impressed by how clever the strategy was. "You know, you're a real genius, Yasuo. You were able to come up with that on the spot like that."
"Nah, I'm not a genius. She just got cocky and let her guard down, that's all." Yasuo said, smiling away.
3
Three more matches passed by and it was finally Kurizu's turn. Amane had called out his name and Ichiro Yamanaka's name. For Kurizu, this was bittersweet. Ichiro was a decent guy and the two of them got along fairly well, so the fight would be fun and something to look forward to. Kurizu wasn't looking forward to how Ichiro fights, though.
According to the Yamanaka boy himself, Ichiro is a long ranged fighter who mainly fights with ninja tools. A long ranged fighter pitted up against someone who can only really fight at a close range has the potential to be complicated, for the close ranged fighter. Regardless, this could only make the fight more interesting. An easy fight wouldn't really be worth winning and if Kurizu could win this fight under these circumstances, it would be even better for him.
Kurizu and Ichiro had both walked up to the arena, standing across from one another at their own respective sides. Looking at Ichiro, Kurizu felt that the boy didn't exactly look like much of a fighter.
"Whenever you're ready, you may begin." Amane said to the two boys who had gone up to the arena. She looked over to the two boys. Neither of them were as special as Yasuo or Azumi, except for maybe Kurizu since he was a part of the Shimizu clan. As far as Amane's knowledge of the two students went, neither Kurizu nor Ichiro knew any flashy techniques. Kurizu hadn't even awakened his clan's Kekkei Genkai yet, as far as she knew. This fight probably wouldn't excite the spectating classmates as much as the previous fights had, but it would still be interesting all the same.
Even Amane thought that Ichiro didn't look like much of a fighter. Ichiro had shoulder-length blond hair with bright blue eyes. He wore a red long sleeved shirt, the sleeves being a lighter tint of red than the rest of the shirt. The boy wore plain black pants and dark blue shinobi sandals, two beige pouches on the back of his waist, and a single blue kunai holster on his right leg. It was a quick judgment, and probably an inaccurate one, but both Kurizu and Amane felt that Ichiro wasn't much of a fighter.
"Yo, Kurizu!" Ichiro called out, waving from the opposite end of the platform. Kurizu waved back with a grin. Even though they were about to fight, they were still friends. "Try not to get hit by too many of my attacks, now. Wouldn't want you to drop dead in the middle of the fight."
"Same to you, Ichiro!" Kurizu said back, not bothering to question any of what Ichiro had said. They started the fight after this brief exchange of words.
Kurizu stood on one end of the platform and Ichiro stood on the opposite end. Kurizu knew that he was already at a disadvantage if Ichiro decided to start attacking with Ninja Tools. Ichiro could hypothetically start attacking with Ninja Tools right away, so closing the gap between them might not be an option. Kurizu would just have to start attacking first.
Kurizu knew all of the basic Ninjutsu, from the Bunshin no Jutsu to the Henge no Jutsu. Amane had been right about him not knowing any flashy techniques. He knew that his chakra nature was Fire so he would be able to learn Katon techniques, but he never felt that he would be able to make a great head on fighter. Kurizu made this realization about two years ago and had decided to use a different approach to fighting.
He reached down and flipped open the holster on his right leg, pulling out two kunai knives and holding one in each hand. He threw the left kunai knife at Ichiro on a slight downward curve. Ichiro dodged this kunai knife easily, jumping to his right to avoid it, causing the thrown weapon to stab into the floor where Ichiro had stood mere moments prior.
Kurizu threw the second kunai knife at Ichiro, directing it more towards his throat. Ichiro reacted quickly and drew a kunai knife of his own, blocking the incoming weapon and redirecting it upwards and towards the ceiling. Kurizu's kunai knife stuck directly into the ceiling. Kurizu threw more and more kunai knives, all in pairs of two, Ichiro deflecting them all with ease. By the time Kurizu stopped, he had thrown eight more kunai knives. They had all been stuck either in the ceiling or in the floor.
Now, it was Ichiro's turn to go on the offensive. He had quickly reached into the holster on his leg and pulled out numerous senbon. Without giving it entirely too much thought, Ichiro started to indiscriminately throw the senbon in Kurizu's direction. Senbon were small weapons and were often thrown at a higher speed than most weapons. Since they were smaller and faster, they were typically more difficult to dodge and deflect.
Kurizu pulled out a kunai knife and started to deflect most of the incoming senbon while running to his right. There were three senbon that Kurizu was not able to avoid while running or deflect with the kunai knife. One had hit him on his right thigh, another hit him on his left shoulder, and the third one hit him on the right side of his chest. These wounds were very minor and only caused small amounts of bleeding, so they didn't exactly concern Kurizu right away. What did concern him was the look on Ichiro's face after the senbon stopped flying.
"I told you not to get hit by too many attacks, Kurizu." Ichiro said with a serious smirk. He had started to make a few hand seals, holding his hands out in front of him after they had been cast. Ichiro was standing in the dead center of the arena, Kurizu standing more towards an edge directly across from Ichiro. There were two of the kunai knives that Kurizu had thrown in the floor behind Ichiro, one of them directly behind his left heel. There was one in front of Ichiro's right foot.
Kurizu's eyes widened at the sight of this. Ichiro only knew one jutsu and that was a technique that had been passed down in his clan for numerous generations. It was one that would allow Ichiro to take over the mind of his opponent, ultimately allowing him to gain full control over the person. If you're hit by this technique, especially during a controlled match like this one, you'd might as well kiss your chances at winning goodbye. The technique had a drawback. The execution of the technique was slow and predictable so it was easy enough to avoid it. Why would Ichiro use such an easy to evade technique right now?
"Here goes. Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Ichiro exclaimed, practically nothing appearing to actually happen. The only thing that happened was that Ichiro appeared to lose consciousness, his body swaying back and forth.
Ichiro's spirit had been launched at Kurizu. It didn't move at a high speed, but it couldn't be seen so Kurizu couldn't tell how much time he had to get out of the way. All that he knew was that he had to move immediately.
He tried to move but found that he couldn't. His entire body seemed to be unresponsive and disoriented. He could feel numbness in the three parts of his body where the senbon had directly hit him. Kurizu wasn't able to move his fingers or his head, let alone his legs. Looking down, Kurizu wasn't able to see anything physically restricting his movement so he was able to guess what was going on.
The bastard used poisoned senbon to make it so I can't move... and so I wouldn't be able to dodge this attack.Kurizu thought, watching Ichiro's body start to sway mere moments before the attack hit Kurizu. Kurizu noticed the kunai knives at Ichiro's feet and felt somewhat relieved.His body is going to fall into-
At that moment, Ichiro's spirit reached Kurizu and immediately took over. Kurizu fully lost control over his body and found his opponent in control instead. It was like being a passenger in the vehicle that was his body.
"You lose, Kurizu..." Ichiro said through Kurizu's vocal cords. Even though Ichiro had gained control over Kurizu's mind, the mind still belonged to a poisoned body. He wouldn't be able to have Kurizu walk over to Ichiro's now lifeless body to get the antidote for the poison. He wouldn't be able to have Kurizu walk out of the arena and forfeit physically. What it would come down to was a verbal forfeit. Even speaking loudly, however, would be difficult for Kurizu to do. It could be done, though.
Ichiro's unconscious body had stopped swaying and now, in fact, began to fall backwards. This didn't concern Ichiro too much. So what if he sustained a minor injury from falling back onto the floor? He had Kurizu in the palm of his hands. He won this fight as soon as Kurizu had been poisoned. The falling didn't concern Ichiro at all, until he noticed his body get snagged on something in midair.
There was a bright light in the form of a line directly behind Ichiro's body, suggesting that it had been caught on a thin metal wire. The metal wire was connected to one of the kunai knives that had been behind Ichiro and one of the kunai knives that had been embedded in the ceiling. The metal wire started to give, Ichiro's body causing the connecting kunai knives to pull out of their homes in the floor and ceiling. As this happened, the other eight kunai knives that had been scattered started to pull out simultaneously, all of them being drawn in towards Ichiro's body.
Kurizu's eyes widened as Ichiro watched this chain of events occur through them. Ichiro's body had tripped a single wire that Kurizu had cleverly set up with his first and only series of attacks, and this tripping of the wire caused four more wires to be tripped. When all of the wires had been tripped, the kunai knives had been drawn to the epicenter, which was precisely where Ichiro's body was. The kunai knives that had been in the ceiling fell down towards Ichiro and with that momentum, they began to wrap around his body, the blades sinking into Ichiro's body after the wire was tightly wound around him.
Too little too late, Kurizu... Ichiro thought. It didn't matter that his body had been rendered immobile. He could still win this fight by making Kurizu forfeit, which was exactly what he intended to do. Forfeit the match, Kurizu. Say the following words: I give up.
Kurizu resisted as much as he could, but his mouth seemed to be forming the words against his will. He resisted with his eyes shut tightly, trying to mentally push Ichiro and his control away.
Get out... get out... get out... get out...Kurizu thought, unaware that his eyes had become green beneath his closed eyelids. He felt power, though, as if he was regaining control over his body. He wasn't, but the power that he was feeling was inspiring him. Get out! Get out! Get out! GET OUT!
Kurizu roared this last one both mentally and verbally, his eyes opening as he did. A green light emanated from his body for two seconds, at the very most, and a strange force was exerted from his body. It was an invisible force pushing away from Kurizu's body with enough power to crack the ground beneath him. At this precise moment, Ichiro had been forced out of Kurizu's body and back into his own.
"What the... How? How did that happen?" Ichiro questioned, confusion present in his question. His body was wrapped up tightly in the metal wires from Kurizu's trap, so he couldn't move to get a look at him.
"The... Bariagan?" Kurizu groaned as he dropped onto his knees. The green had already begin to fade from his eyes.
Amane watched with surprise. Any normal viewer probably wouldn't have been able to follow the match the entire time. They wouldn't have understood that Ichiro had first poisoned Kurizu, then he had practically possessed Kurizu, probably tried to make him forfeit the match, and then that he had been somehow forced out of Kurizu's body. Amane had understood what had gone on and she knew that Kurizu had gotten extremely lucky.
Kurizu's body had been put under a lot of strain from Ichiro's poisoned senbon and Kurizu's mind had been put under a lot of strain from Ichiro's Shintenshin no Jutsu. These two combined factors had caused Kurizu's Kekkei Genkai, the Bariagan, to activate for the first time.
There are several types of visual Kekkei Genkai, such as the Sharingan, Byakugan, and Rinnegan. Unlike these three, the Bariagan is only a visual Kekkei Genkai because it turns the eyes green, solely to indicate that it is active. While the Bariagan is active, it sets up a defense mechanism for the user. Whenever the user is hit with an attack while the Bariagan is active, the defense mechanism will force the users chakra to momentarily exert from their body instantaneously, causing the attack to be redirected. Apparently, it could also cancel a Yamanaka's Shintenshin no Jutsu, probably by expelling the unwelcome spirit from the body with the chakra that gets exerted. Either way, there is a drawback to this jutsu. When the technique is used, the user loses a great deal of their chakra for a small amount of time. The Bariagan draws the chakra back into the body slowly, so using a jutsu during the time when most of the chakra is still outside of the body could be dangerous. As the user gets stronger and stronger, the technique will require less and less chakra to activate and provide the same effect.
Amane decided that now would be the best time to cut this match short. It was a double knockout, with Kurizu immobilized by the poison in his body and Ichiro immobilized by Kurizu's trap. Both of the students had fought in a very intelligent and clever manner. They had managed to put the other in a situation where they could no longer fight. They would both lose the match, but they would also both pass the Physical Exam.
"Neither participant wins the fight, but both participants successfully passed the Physical Exam." Amane announced, the rest of the class cheering. For two Academy Students who had no Ninjutsu other than what had been passed down to them by their clan, the fight managed to draw their classmates' attention. "Medics! Please move Kurizu and Ichiro out of here and treat them." The medics went up onto the arena and moved Kurizu and Ichiro out of the classroom on stretchers.
4
Keiji and Yasuo were both sitting at their seats. They were pretty surprised by the fact that Kurizu had lost the fight in a double knockout, but they were relieved by the fact that Kurizu had passed the Physical Exam. There was only one match left now, meaning that there were only two Academy Students who had yet to fight. Keiji Jakunen and Midori Sarutobi were the two remaining Academy Students.
Midori Sarutobi was a special case. Back during the time of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha defeated Tobi and the Juubi. The Juubi was basically a combination of the nine Bijuu. The Juubi that Tobi had summoned was incomplete, as he had only been able to capture a portion of the Hachibi's and the Kyuubi's chakra. When Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha had taken down this behemoth, the ten tails that the Juubi had returned back to the forms of their respective Bijuu, seven of the ten tails becoming the seven captured Bijuu. The eighth and ninth tails simply became chakra and returned to the two Bijuu that had not been captured. After this had happened, the Kyuubi and the Hachibi had been returned to their respective villages. The other seven Bijuu were divided among the nations, the Hidden Leaf excluded since they had the most powerful one in their possession.
Due to Naruto gaining the trust of the Bijuu, creating Jinchuuriki was no longer such a gamble. Bijuu grew to give humans more of a chance before immediately judging them to be horrible creatures. Because of this, any person could be a suitable host for a Bijuu so there was no longer a risk to creating a Jinchuuriki. Midori Sarutobi was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki of this time. As of this moment, she has not yet made contact with the Kyuubi, but she still knows what she is. Keiji also knows what she is.
Keiji had never been able to witness a Jinchuuriki in action, but he had been told rumors and stories about them. They supposedly had these demons sealed inside of them and the Jinchuuriki had access to the demon's chakra and abilities. Jinchuuriki were supposedly extremely powerful. Midori didn't seem it, though.
Midori was slightly short for her age, which was twelve, and had long dark brown hair. Her eyes were a deep hazel color and she had odd whisker-like markings on her cheeks, probably due to the fact that she was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. The Jinchuuriki was a nice girl. She seemed to care more about others than herself and she even went out of her way to help other people. Little did Keiji know, she was not this way in a fight, but he would find that out soon enough. Keiji didn't see how she could possibly have a demon sealed inside of her.
"Either way, I'm not holding back, even if I am going up against a girl." Keiji said as he reached down into his bag. He pulled out the black case again. This time he kept it out, putting it on his lap instead of back in the bag. As he was taking out the case, Keiji noticed Yasuo shaking his head at him from the corner of his eye. "What is it?"
"She's going to be too much for you." Yasuo said, closing his eyes now. Keiji was preparing to see Yasuo break into jocular laughter. His eyes narrowed when Yasuo didn't even utter a single chuckle. He was entirely serious about what he had just said. Was it because Midori was a Jinchuuriki? It couldn't be. Yasuo wouldn't know what it's like to fight a Jinchuuriki.
"Why do you say that?"
"You know how she fights. You'll end up getting confused."
"You could at least have a little faith in me."
"You could just try to prove me wrong."
Keiji looked at Yasuo, whose eyes were still closed. Keiji understood just what Yasuo was trying to do and decided to play into this. It could only be beneficial to do so.
"Deal. I'll kick her ass and I'll show you just how awesome I am!"
Before Yasuo could have the chance to say anything in response, if he even intended to do so, Amane spoke up.
"For the last match... Midori Sarutobi and Keiji Jakunen." Amane announced.
Keiji stood up and opened the black case. Inside of it was a kusarigama, or a chain-sickle. The curved blade was a very light silver and the handle of the sickle was made of a glossy black material which resembled onyx. Carved into the handle was 半月, or Hangetsu, which meant Half Moon. The chain which was connected to the base of the sickle's handle was a dark gray. This weapon was a gift from his father and Keiji had been training to use it every day for the past four months.
Keiji and Midori made their way down to the platform. They stood on opposite ends of the arena facing each other. Midori didn't say anything to him, so Keiji didn't say anything either. He wanted nothing more than to win this fight.
"Whenever you're ready, you may begin."
Midori made fast hand seals. They were hand seals which Keiji was able to immediately recognize, which led him to realize why Yasuo told him that this girl would essentially be too much for him to handle.
"Bunshin no Jutsu!" Midori exclaimed, numerous illusory clones appearing in the spaces surrounding her. The clones looked exactly like Midori and there were at least fifteen of them moving around on the arena in front of Keiji.
Keiji started to spin Hangetsu, holding the end of the chain in his left hand and holding the opposite end of the chain, a few inches below the handle of the sickle, in his right hand. It was difficult to tell which one of these Midori clones was the real one. If there had been grass, the clones wouldn't be parting any of the grass where they stood. That would have made it easy to tell which ones were the clones and which one wasn't. They were on a solid floor. The best that he could do was try to see which one kicks up dust if and when they decide to charge him, but that would never work.
It wasn't even getting injured by the clones that he was worried about. Clones created through the Bunshin no Jutsu cannot physically harm anything, but they can create openings for the real person to take advantage of. They're just illusions, so charging in and attacking them was a hopeless idea. In all honesty, it was all Keiji could do at this point in time. What would be very good was if he could find the real Midori and mark her somehow, with a cut or something.
Keiji let out a deep sigh as he stopped swinging the sickle, grabbing it by the handle instead. He sprinted forward and headed towards the scattered mass of clones before him. He plunged the sickle directly into the chest of one potential Midori clone on his right as he passed her, but the blade passed through her with no resistance. Slashing at clone after clone, Keiji started to wonder why they were just standing there like lifeless idiots.
They're just a distraction. That's why. She knew that I would charge in and start attacking the clones, so she didn't even bother to have them pretend to attack me. That must mean that she's going to try to attack me on her own... I just have to... Keiji thought as he immediately stopped pointlessly attacking the clones. If he was right about Midori's plan, then she would be the only one moving. She would be trying to get close to him while he was distracted by the clones.
Keiji turned to his left and only saw copies of Midori standing around. The view was the same to his front and to his right. When he looked behind him, he saw Midori sprinting towards him. Keiji smirked and readied his kusarigama. When Midori was only a few feet away from him, Keiji held the chain out diagonally in front of him at the precise moment when Midori launched her own punch. Normally, the fist would have rebounded off of the chain, throwing Midori off balance, and leaving her open to one of Keiji's attacks. Instead, her fist passed right through the chain and stopped right in front of Keiji's face. Mere moments after this confusing incident, Keiji felt an elbow connect with the right side of his head. The attack sent him onto the floor with a groan.
"How stupid do you think I am?" Midori asked, speaking her first words of the entire match. "Did you think I wouldn't notice you as you stopped attacking the clones? That made it obvious that you realized my intentions and that you would start looking for me. I stopped moving and had a clone charge at you. You fell for it so easily."
Ignoring Midori was easy enough when Keiji focused on the pain in his head. He had made an idiotic mistake and this was the price for it. The way this girl was using the clones to her advantage... the absolutely clever and intelligent way she was using the clones was aggravating Keiji. If he had a large scale jutsu, he could hit all of the clones and Midori. If he had the kind of chakra that Midori had, he would make an equivalent amount of clones.
Looking around, Keiji could tell that Midori had managed to blend back in with the mass of clones. When all of the clones started to run towards him, Keiji cursed under his breath and just braced himself. Attacking against this would be a stupid idea. Defense was the only option.
The onslaught of mostly illusive attacks began. The first punch passed through his chest, the second punch passed through his shoulder, but the third punch connected with his face. This kept going on for ten minutes. It seemed as though every third attack made contact with some part of Keiji's body but even with this information, there were so many attacks going on and there were so many copies of Midori surrounding him, he couldn't do anything about this situation.
She's going to be too much for you... You'll just end up getting confused...
Keiji heard this voice within his head. It was Yasuo's voice, sounding all distorted and mocking. He could picture Yasuo sneering as he said it and that infuriated Keiji.
"He's right, though... He was right..." Keiji mumbled before being punched again by Midori. Blood was now dripping down several open wounds all over his face. He was gripping the handle of his weapon tightly. The pain was pretty bad, but the humiliation was worse. He had to win this fight. He couldn't allow himself to lose after just promising to prove Yasuo wrong.
Holding his weapon so the blade was facing away from his body, Keiji gripped onto the handle with both hands and slashed at one Midori clone, extending the slash into one circular motion by pivoting to his right and doing a 360 degree turn. By doing this, Keiji had been able to quickly cut through every single clone of Midori, as well as the real one. She was probably the fourth figure that he had managed to cut through with the sickle. He could see her as she realized what he was about to do. He could see her as she tried to turn and run. He could hear her cry out as the blade carved a deep cut into her forearm.
This was perfect. Keiji had now marked Midori, so picking her out from the other clones would no longer be a problem. Midori was retreating now, grasping onto her bleeding arm with her uninjured hand. The blood dripped down onto the floor through her now bloody fingers which had tried to block off the wound.
Keiji had to take this opportunity to attack. Now ignoring the barely existent punches and kicks from the clones, Keiji charged towards the bleeding, retreating Midori. She was off guard, probably more concerned with getting away from Keiji than she actually was with defending herself. Keiji rammed his shoulder into her body, sending her sprawling onto the floor. At that precise moment, he held Hangetsu to her throat, effectively pinning her to the floor.
"And you lose..." Keiji said, resisting an overwhelming urge to stick out his tongue at the girl who had managed to beat him up so much. That was when Amane stepped in and called the match to an end, announcing that the both Keiji and Midori had passed the Physical Exam.
5
It was a few hours later, after everyone who had been injured during the fights had been treated by the medics, that the actual graduation took place. Everybody was told their combined scores of the first and second parts of the exam. Those who had passed, namely everyone, were given their own forehead protector and they were grouped into squads of three.
The first squad, Squad One, consisted of Azumi Uchiha, Ichiro Yamanaka, Yutaka Rikishi. Squad Two was made up of Koji Inuzuka, Takeo Akimichi, and Midori Sarutobi. Squad Three had Kurizu Shimizu, Yasuo Arai, and Keiji Jakunen in it. Squad Four was made up of the remaining new Genin, Hisao Hyuuga, Kurou Aburame, and Kazumi Nara.
The following day, Squads One to Four would be required to meet up with their new sensei's in meeting areas. Amane told each squad to which meeting area they were to report before letting them out for the day.