"Now, we will start the first match," announced Hayate. "Will everyone who is not fighting please move to the upper balconies?"

The people inside the room all complied, however Kakashi stopped for a moment when he walked by Sasuke.

"Don't use the Sharingan," he whispered.

"So you knew?"

"If that mark on your neck activates, you might lose your life. but if that happens I'll just jump in and stop the fight, got it?"

"Stop the fight!" thought Sasuke in surprise. "It seems like this thing on my neck reacts to my chakra. If I try to release my chakra, it steals control of my body and starts pulling out all my energy. So no only is my Sharingan sealed, I can't even use my normal jutsu!" Sasuke then took a closer look at his opponent. "On second thought, I might be fine. He can't use his arms, meaning he has no ninjutsu and his taijutsu is severely limited."

"You may now begin," the sickly jonin coughed.

"I'm kind of insulted," bluffed Sasuke through his pain. "You really think you can beat me without the use of your arms?"

"Not really," replied Zaku. He then wriggled one of his arms. "But this one moves a little bit." He then took the arm out of its sling. "Zankuuha (Decapitating Air Wave)!"

The spiky-haired sound ninja fired a blast of wind from the holes in his arms. Unable to defend himself from the surprise attack, Sasuke was blown away halfway across the room.

"Get up, Uchiha," ordered Zaku. "I'm not done paying you back for what you did to my arms in the Forest of Death."

"Damn," cursed Sasuke, wiping some blood from a newly formed cut on his cheek. Damn it, if he's going to be using that technique then weapons are useless. My Sharingan's shot, I can't use ninjutsu very well, and weapons are useless. All I can depend on is taijutsu at this point. My only solace is that I'm pretty sure that I'm faster than him."

Sasuke grabbed two kunai and charged at the Oto ninja. He slashed at Zaku, but the spiky haired genin dodged the strike. Zaku then threw a punch with his good arm, but Sasuke parried with his forearm. Sasuke then tried to stab his foe's arm but Zaku jumped away before Sasuke's attack could land.

"If I aim for his arm, then the match will be decided," strategized the raven-haired boy. "I can't risk using up too much chakra, because then the mark on my next will activate. I have to end it quickly."

Sasuke then threw the two kunai that he had at Zaku. However, Zaku blew them away with a well-timed Zankuuha. The two kunai were blown into the air, which Sasuke had predicted. He jumped after one of the kunai and caught it. In a fluid motion, he threw the regained kunai at Zaku. Zaku had been left open from his previous attack, leading him unable to avoid being hit in the shoulder by Sasuke's attack.

"Damn, he moved in what little time he had to avoid getting his arm injured," cursed Sasuke.

"Damn you, Uchiha!" cursed Zaku, painfully taking his other arm out of his sling. "I'll kill you with this! Zankuukyokuha (Extreme Decapitating Air Waves)!"

Zaku fired off a massive blast of air from both his hands, trapping Sasuke in a large explosion of air. The raven haired teen fell through the air like a rag doll before hitting the ground.

"Sasuke-kun!" called worried a Sakura and Ino.

"Oh crap, Sasuke! What's up with you!"

"Is this as far as he goes?" mentally asked Kakashi.

"What will you do now, Sasuke?" thought the disguised Orochimaru.

"Shit!" cursed Sasuke as he struggled to his feet. "I won't lose," he thought, activating his Sharingan. He then cried in pain as the Curse Mark began to crawl up his neck. "I won't lose! I won't lose! I won't LOSE!" With each reassurance of himself, Sasuke pushed back the Curse Mark, much to the surprise of several spectators, namely all the Konoha jonin, Orochimaru, and Dosu.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu)!"

Sasuke spat a fireball at Zaku, but the sound ninja blew it away once again. However, this fireball had be a distraction, as after it had dissipated, Zaku lost sight of Sasuke. Sasuke then showed up right under Zaku and kicked him into the air. He then tailed the Oto ninja on his flight, acting like his shadow.

"Impossible, that's the…" thought Might Guy up in the observation deck next to his team.

"When did he get a chance to copy the Omote Renge (Initial Lotus)?" wondered Rock Lee.

Sasuke then proceeded to do his Shishi Rendan on Zaku, knocking him out at the end of the technique. The recoil from the attack also affected Sasuke, causing him to fall to the ground afterwards.

"Like I even have to check," thought Hayate, checking on Zaku's consciousness. He then looked over to see Sasuke standing back up. "I'm stopping the fight here, thereby making Sasuke Uchiha the winner. Uchiha has passed the preliminaries and will move on to compete in the third exam.

Sasuke nearly fell back to the ground in exhaustion but Kakashi stopped his fall. "Good job, Sasuke."

"Sasuke, what a lame way to win!" called Naruto. "You look like you were the one who got his ass kicked!"

"Damn moron," thought Sasuke. "But he's right though. Plus I really have to thank that Rock Lee kid. If he hadn't used that technique on me before, I'd be sunk."

"Mastering part of the Omote Renge without going through the grueling training involved is damn near impossible," thought Guy, "even with the Sharingan at his disposal. Plus the way he finished up the technique on his own like that… he reminds me a lot of you, Kakashi."

"Wonderful," thought Orochimaru, evilly licking his lips. "This is the blood of the Uchiha!"

"Sasuke, can you walk?" asked Kakashi. "We're going to go seal up that nasty curse on your neck."

"Can it wait until after the preliminaries?" Sasuke asked. "I'd like to see the rest of the matches."

"No. If we try to wait it'll be too late. And I don't want any arguing from you either. Besides we can't get in the way of the next matchup."

The match decider went through it's naming cycle and the two names that came up were Tenten and Temari. Kakashi and Sasuke left the fighters' arena as Temari and Tenten walked down onto the field.

"Now we'll begin the second match," Hayate coughed.

"That's one of Lee-kun's teammates," thought Sakura, referring to Tenten.

"That's that girl from the Sand," thought Kiba, looking at Temari. "She's with that crazy kid with the gourd."

"You may now begin the match," said Hayate.

Tenten made the first move by jumping into the air and throwing several shuriken at Temari, however the Suna kunoichi deflected the weapons with her large fan.

"So that's what she was carrying on her back," noted Tenten.

Temari then swung her fan and Tenten was hit with a large gust of wind, however, she managed to land back on her feet.

"Damn, she's a wind user…"

MEANWHILE

Sasuke was sitting in a cryptic-looking sealing circle that Kakashi had finished making. His body was covered in markings matching the ones in the circle. Kakashi finished making several hand seals then placed his hand on Sasuke's curse mark.

"Fuuja Houin (Evil Sealing Method)!"

The markings from the circle made their way up Sasuke's body, forming a circle around the Curse Mark. Sasuke screamed in pain during the whole ritual.

"The next time that curse tries to activate, the seal should contain its power," explained Kakashi after the screams were over. "However, the seal relies on your own strength of will. If you let the curse try to take your over, it will."

Hearing this last piece of advice, Sasuke passed out from exhaustion.

"Take this chance to rest, you've earned it."

"So you can use sealing jutsu now, Kakashi," came a voice from behind the masked jonin. "You've grown."

Kakashi looked in shock and horror as the onlooker came out from the shadows: Orochimaru.