I know, I'm back fairly quickly. After some editing, I think that I've achieved a fairly decent chapter.

So, with that said, let's get on with the show.

"As the winter winds sweep through the trees, so shall this blade sweep through you." Kitsune's blade glowed softly, under the yellow moonlight, his blood-red eyes filled with thousands of years of hatred. His rage was passed down for generations, hundreds of Kurama's Jinchuriki manifesting their strength.

"As the lion hunts, so shall I hunt you." Several dozen Kage Bunshin, created without a need for hand signs, separated themselves from him. They ran off, into the night, to appear when they were needed.

"As the nonexistent gods judge, so shall I judge you." The blade's glow increased, to a brilliant blue-white that hid the blade's true edge under its light. His stance widened at the shoulders, one arm pulling out his second sword before tossing it back to Sakura...while she wasn't about to question the benefits of extra steel, she didn't know how to properly wield it.

"As the demons feast," Kitsune's voice was a growling rasp now, with clawed fingertips poking out from his gloves, "so shall this demon feast on you."

All that they could see was the residue of Kitsune's immense chakra output, which was solid enough to remain intact for several seconds. Rather than blue, however, it was a distinctly vile-looking red. One after another, the clones blitzed Orochimaru in an attempt to slice the man into pieces. Even their swords had left visible chakra traces...and, at the end, the man had been diced into dozens of chunks.

All of the flesh and bone, however, quickly showed itself to be no more than mud; Orochimaru wasn't an S-class shinobi for nothing, after all, and such a simple trick would never have worked. "You're not fighting very fairly, Kitsune. What would you do if I decided to do the same?"

"Kill you just as easily as I normally would." The answer came without pause, absolute certainty in the Kurojutsu leader's voice.

"Your pride makes you blind, fox-child. Be careful that it doesn't consume you."

"This, coming from the man whose summoned creatures constantly threaten to kill him. Go ahead, summon Manda, let him vanish and tell the animal peoples that I have returned. I, Kitsune, Yami-sama, the one who wields the summon-killer." His voice was smug, and Orochimaru knew that his gambit had failed. "Who are you to lecture me on pride, betraying Konoha in your experiments on human life? Angered and spurred to violence by Namikaze Minato being chosen over you for the position of Yondaime Hokage? Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth!"

Swords clashed, grinding against one another, slashing and parrying at speeds neither could track; their hands were moving too quickly for either to see, and a single mistake would mean death...a mistake that they both made. Orochimaru was split from navel to jaw, while half of Kitsune's throat was torn out.

Kurama!

[I'm on it, but you're going to have to hold still and hope that he takes just as long!]

It was a vain and short-lived hope, to be sure, as Orochimaru cast his skin-shedding technique and hit the ground running. Kitsune wasn't pinned down for much longer, though, and managed to twist himself out of the way just before the Kusanagi blade would have gutted his armor; while it was reinforced with seals, and was virtually indestructible under normal circumstances, one of the ten Spirit Blades would be able to shred it like cheese.

The dodge made him vulnerable, if not to a sword strike, and Orochimaru seized his chance...with five quick hand signs, and a laugh, he had won. "Gogyo Fuin!"

The five-pronged sealing technique struck Kitsune on the back of his neck, right on the spinal cord. While it wouldn't be enough to kill, it would certainly keep him knocked out for a few days...of course, knowing that he was a Jinchuriki, it could be as little as six hours before he woke and managed to unseal himself.

"Now, children..." Trying to hide had been useless, as Orochimaru's fluorescent snake-eyes cut through the darkness with all the ease of a flashbang seal-tag. "...let's play a game. It's called, 'how far can I run before Orochimaru catches me.' First, though, I think that I'll help you and your black-clad friend." A swipe at his neck removed Orochimaru's number, as well as two of his compatriots' number-seals; Sasuke and Sakura's necks glowed, their own numbers increasing.

"Oh, and one more thing." The rogue's mouth opened wide, revealing fangs that would make any snake proud, and his neck extended. "You lose!"

"His energy's gone, and there have been three more casualties. Total death count is fifty-seven."

Anko relaxed, the burning sensation on her neck beginning to abate. "So...he did it. He killed him, or at least drove him off."

"What did I tell you, Anko? Think of his past, and who he was. If anyone could have done it, it would have been him."

"Life readings on Genin zero-zero-one, Uzumaki Naruto, are gone. He's either dead or in a coma."

Every other head whipped in Aoi's direction as he spoke, shock and horror present on their faces.

"Life readings on Genin zero-zero-two, Uchiha Sasuke, are almost gone. He is in a jutsu-induced coma. Life readings on Genin zero-zero-three, Haruno Sakura, are almost gone. She has broken most of the bones in her body and will likely require medical attention some time within the next two days."

Ibiki was conflicted, but his hardened gaze held resolve. "Get them an evacuation, now."

"Sir?"

"You heard me, Iida. Get those three out of that hellhole."

"Didn't you say that we couldn't-"

"Get. Them. Out."

"But-"

Ibiki's rage exploded. "I am not going to lose one of the greatest war heroes this village has ever seen, or let us suffer the political self-destruction that would be caused by the death of our last loyal Uchiha. Their teammate has a strong familial history with the village, and her mother is a member of the civilian council, so she can't die either. You will get them out one way or another, Iida, or I will do it myself over your corpse!"

The man ran, and Ibiki sighed before holding out his hand. He didn't know what had been placed in it, but he heard a sharp crack after several seconds...one of Anko's kunai was buried in the back of the man's skull.

"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." He grumbled, readying the teleportation technique. "Aoi, give me coordinates on Genin zero-zero-one through zero-zero-three."

Deep within the recesses of Kitsune's mind, a caged fox waited for its container to show himself. Blood-colored eyes glared into the darkness, knowing what had been unleashed by Orochimaru's botched sealing technique.

"Why so hateful, dog? You should know that I'm the true inheritor of your power."

"Menma."

"Yes, that's my name. What's your point?" The black-haired young man laughed; he cut a much more imposing figure than Naruto, with larger muscles and a taller build, but still couldn't hold a candle to the fear inspired by Kitsune.

"You are the byproduct of Kitsune's sealing, and are not supposed to exist. Leave, now, before I obliterate you."

"You wish you could, you flea-ridden rug. If anything, you're the one who should worry about destruction. Of course, why not allow me to remove the seal? I could do it, you know..."

"You're not going to like the results, child. That seal is more ancient and powerful than you realize."

Menma ignored Kurama's warning, reaching for the seal that held the Kyubi inside of its prison. His body was wracked with pain at a single touch, making him draw back in shock, and a third voice was heard.

"You should have listened, shade of a shade."

"Namika-"

A blinding yellow light filled the chamber, followed by Menma's screams, and the voice of the Yondaime Hokage echoed throughout the dimension of the seal. It was not kind, or authoritative; it was cruel and violent, evil to the very core. "The experiment is not over yet, and has been tampered with for one time too many. Never again!"

Naruto woke, devoid of any clothing from the waist up, to the feeling of his blood burning. Opening his mouth to scream, he felt superheated air leave his lungs without a sound...and Kurama healed the damage. His entire body ached, as it always did whenever he had to rely on his Biju's chakra for an extended period of time, and he noticed that he wasn't in the open wilderness.

"You're awake." Sasuke said. "...we passed, given the circumstances. They were actually waiting for you to wake up to start the preliminaries for the third round. You've been out for five days."

Sakura's first instinct had been to run and hug him, but she had refrained; she didn't know if he was healthy enough for it, or how he would react if he was.

"Let's go then. I'm not about to disappoint them."

He grabbed his sword, and tore off the sleeves of a black t-shirt that had been left for him before he put it on. It was nothing against the shirt, plain and ordinary as it had been, but simply his habit with shirts. He marched down, his teammates flanking his sides from behind, and took his sword when Kakashi offered it. "Congratulations." The Jonin offered, though he didn't elaborate as to which of them he was talking to; Naruto, for waking up, or his teammates for surviving against Orochimaru?

Once they reached the floor, the proctor at the front of the room spoke up.

"Hello, and good on you for making it this far into the Chunin Exams! I am Gekko Hayate, the proctor for the Third Exam. As you can see, there are sixty-four of you left...quite frankly, that's still far too many. Now, with that having been said, we'll hold a preliminary round of one-on-one matches." He coughed several times in succession. "Until there are sixteen or fewer of you who are left. These fights are only to knockout or surrender, not to the death; if I can see that one fighter is clearly victorious, I reserve the right to call the match. In all likelihood, each of you who wins their first round will have to fight twice, so keep that in mind. It's possible that some of you won't need to fight at all, however, and you should count yourself lucky if that's the case."

"Get to the point!" Came a cry from the back.

"Get up here, Genin." Hayate called, and the younger man moved to the front. "State your name."

"Hozuki Suigetsu, brother-in-law to the Mizukage."

"You're in Fire territory now, Genin, so think again if you thought that would get you anywhere. Your fate will be determined by the board at the top of the screen...it will choose your opponent."

UCHIHA SASUKE

Sasuke moved to stand in front of his chosen opponent, a white-haired and purple-eyed boy from Kirigakure. Suigetsu seemed to be sizing him up, and looked confident in himself.

"I'd expect a little more from the last of your kind...or did your brother take all of the clan's potential with him?"

Hayate leaped away, knowing that the shit had hit the fan; if there was one thing that you did not do around Sasuke, it was mention Uchiha Itachi. Even if it was in passing, the name was tantamount to suicide...especially if he thought that he would be able to kill you. Madara's Second Coming had been breached, however, and that meant homicide was coming...two-tomoed Sharingan spun in his eye sockets, awakened by Orochimaru's assault, and one of the Uchiha clan's signature gunbai was unsealed from a scroll in his back pocket. It was, in fact, the same war fan used by all of the clan's chieftains, dating even before the time of the Warring Clans Era. Each of the strongest Uchiha of their generation had wielded it, using it to aid their Katon techniques to unparalleled levels.

"There will be no saving you from your fate."

Believe it.