Gaara stared impassively from his position in the Arena. His sister Temari was on his left whilst his brother Kankuro, the coward, was as far away from the 2 as possible.
Gaara looked at his competition with only the slightest bit of interest. He remember the names, they would be food for his Mother.
Shino Aburame, a user of insects; they would all be crushed. Shikamaru Nara, a user of shadows; he would die before he could even form a Rat seal. Neji Hyuga, Taijutsu prodigy; he would die instantly – Gaara learned his lesson when fighting Rock Lee about disregarding Taijutsu. Naruto Uzumaki, a clone user; not even worth sacrificing to Mother.
He impassively though of the missing members of the group. Dosu Kinuta, a sound user; he had been used to feed Mother 3 nights ago. Sasuke Uchiha, unknown fighting style; his own opponent – he had better show up, else once the Invasion began Gaara would not hesitate to allow Mother to hunt down the Genin.
Raiga Uzumaki, a fellow Jinchuriki, Raiton user, Fuinjutsu prodigy and apparent pervert.
Gaara was unsure how he would deal with that.
Mother claimed that she didn't want Raiga's blood, but she did want to hurt him. Yet, how could Gaara hurt somebody without spilling their blood?
It was a conundrum he had yet to figure out.
Hiruzen, along with Rasa who had arrived minutes earlier, stared at the arena. He had been looking forward to this year's exam, mainly because his pseudo-grandson would be participating.
It was always nice to watch children attempt to kill each other.
His musing was cut off by the hoarse shout of "OI SHITFLINGER!"
He turned to his left to see A, the Yondaime Raikage making his way over with his infamous brother Killer B on his right and Ranton no Darui on his left.
Clearly he didn't believe in overkill.
Hiruzen coughed out a snicker at his favorite nickname, "Greetings A, what kept you?"
A grunted and plopped down into his designated seat, his guards going to his sides, "We were trying to find Raiga. Lil' shit hasn't been seen since the preliminaries according to his team."
Hiruzen paused, taking a puff from his pipe, "Did they know where he went?"
A shrugged, it wasn't a big secret and Raiga – if he showed up – would let the world know anyways, "He was given permission from his Summons to train with them."
"He has a Contract?"
"Slugs."
Hiruzen choked on his pipe, "Ex- Excuse me?"
Rasa was also curious, "I thought only Tsunade-hime and her apprentice were Slug Summoners."
A grunted, "He's called Dorobo for a reason. When the Senju was passed out drunk he snatched the scroll and signed his name. Tsunade may have been the head Summoner, but Katsuyu had the final say and she liked him." That was the story they came up with to explain his use of Slugs. Raiga didn't want anybody to know his relationship with Tsunade and A wanted people to fear his Shinobi more.
It was a win-win.
Hiruzen drummed his fingers on his armrest, "Perhaps he needs an added bounty from Konoha?"
A offered a shrug, "Do what you want. He considers his bounties trophies."
Hiruzen nodded, "On the topic of Raiga, he seemed a peculiar boy during the exam. Did you know he seems to take after Jiraiya?"
A blinked, not exactly sure how to respond, before he grinding his teeth, "Lil' shit got the books didn't he? Our Daimyo made them illegal since Jiraiya tried to sleep with his daughter before she was of age."
He let out a huff before turning to Hiruzen fully, "You know why I brought a team here."
Hiruzen nodded, it seemed A was serious about wanting to give peace talks a second try, "We will speak of such things after the Finals, but yes, we will speak."
A nodded, placated for now and looked towards the arena, more specifically at Neji, "Hyuga, huh?"
"Yes, that is the son of the body that was sent to you."
A did not wince, but he did soften his naturally hard gaze lightly, "Ah…"
He was cut off when a plume of smoke the size of a small house erupted from the Arena. Him, Hiruzen and Rasa all jerked in attention.
When the smoke cleared A palmed his face to hide his embarrassment.
The smoke cleared to show one of the larger forms of Katsuyu, roughly the size of a horse, wiggling around happily.
Atop her head was Raiga Uzumaki, dressed in his standard gear with the addition of a white and blue haori. He had one foot on her head while the other was dangling in midair and he was dancing kabuki style.
"From the Great Tree of Taki, to the Mountains of Kumo and the Shikkotsu Forest! Women swoon and desire him, Men hate and envy him. He is the Dorobo! He is the Namekuji Sennin!
He is Raiga Uzumaki!"
Katsuyu chose that time to speak, "Now that my Sage has stopped acting the fool, I must depart. Enjoy the Exam Raiga-sama." She disappeared in a plume of smoke.
After Raiga succeeded in become her sage Katsuyu had allowed her submissive personality to lighten somewhat. She was still highly submissive as a whole, but she now teased Raiga and called him out; which she would have never done to Tsunade or Shizune.
Raiga looked at his fellow competitors and couldn't help but blush lightly at the dumbfounded stares he was receiving. He coughed lightly and gave them a small salute, "Yo."
Naruto chose that moment to speak up, "YOU'RE AN ERO-SENNIN!"
Tsunade stared at her Godson and couldn't help but groan.
He was far too much like Jiraiya.
She had, after learning from Katsuyu that he had completed Senjutsu training and would be competing in the Konoha Chunin Exams, chose to watch. Shizune was with her, as was Tonton. Karin, along with a Kumogakure Jonin named Yugito, were with them as well. Karin had been given permission to travel here by the Raikage while Yugito was after a short vacation.
Tsunade looked over at Karin and immediately scowled when she saw the redhead drooling at the sight of her lover. When she was informed about Raiga and Karin's relationship in one of many letters, she had been elated. Karin was a good girl, very pretty, and would help keep the Uzumaki strong if they ever considered children.
Now?
Now Tsunade saw Karin drooling at the sight of her Godson acting like an idiot.
She wasn't sure what to think.
Hayate took that moment to enter the fray, coughing as he spoke, "The Chunin Exam Finals will now begin. First match: Naruto Uzumaki v Neji Hyuga. All other competitors please vacate the arena."
Raiga walked towards the stands while keeping Hayate in his perifials.
Huh, so killing Kabuto kept the guy alive. Who woulda thunk it?
As he reached the competitors balcony/stands he immediately found his place against a wall and closed his eyes.
"Shino."
He bug user turned toward Raiga with a cocked head, "Yes?"
"Wake me up when it's my turn, will ya?"
Shino stared at him lightly before nodding lightly.
He happily drifted off to sleep.
A watched happily as the blond Uzumaki gave that Hyuga and uppercut to end the fight.
By Kami was that kid a little bitch.
Okay, yes, he understood that his village was responsible for that mess, even if it was against orders, but hadn't the kid learned of the word subtlety?
When he said it was Kumo's fault, the brat had the gall to stare directly at the Kage box and sneer.
If that were his own Shinobi he would have had his head on a pike for such dereliction.
"Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen winced, he knew A's character well enough. The use of proper honorifics were rare and it showed how annoyed he was, "Yes Raikage-sama?"
"Control your Genin."
The Kazekage watched this exchange with blatant amusement.
Shino lightly tapped Raiga on the shoulder, "Your match is to begin Raiga-san."
Raiga opened his eyes and nodded, "Thanks man!"
He jumped up, stretched lightly, and headed over to the balcony bars.
He jumped over them.
A short fall later Raiga found himself in the center of the Arena.
Hayate chose that moment to speak, "If Dosu Kinuta does not arrive within the next 5 minutes Raiga Uzumaki will be declared the winner."
A stared at the field before he began to grin, "Hiruzen."
"Hmm?"
"If this Dosu brat doesn't show up I want to see a fight between Raiga and that Gaara kid."
The Kazekage intervened, "While I am sure it would be an entertaining battle, Gaara has been training for young Sasuke."
A shrugged, "And the Uchiha's late. We'll do the same thing we did with the Oto Genin, 5 minutes or bust."
Hiruzen gave a nod, "A Chunin that shows up late during a mission is no Chunin. If Sasuke does not show up while we wait for Dosu Kinuta, then he will be disqualified."
The Kazekage scowled behind his veil.
"Dosu Kinuta has not shown up in the allotted timeframe; Raiga Uzumaki is the winner."
The crowd offered boo's at the unsatisfactory win.
"Next fight with be Gaara v Sasuke Uchiha please-" Hayate was cut off by Genma, one of the Hokage's guard. He began to whisper into Hayata's ear, and left when Hayate gave a nod.
"Sasuke Uchiha has been disqualified for tardiness." The crowd began to scream in outrage, "The next fight will be Raiga Uzumaki v Gaara."
Raiga grinned happily.
Gaara made his way into the Arena via a Suna shunshin.
Hayate looked the two over, "Are you both ready?" They gave each other a tight nod.
"Begin!"
Sakura couldn't help but let loose a sigh. Nor could Ino, who was sat next to her. Tenten, who was next to Ino was already in a slump from when Neji lost.
Sasuke-kun never showed up.
She had known that he was being trained by Kakashi-sensei but…
But did that mean he had to be as late as their Sensei?
Her musing was interrupted by a very loud cheer from a group of distinctively female voices directly behind her. She, Ino and Tenten all turned around to see who was being loud.
There was a redheaded girl with glasses and red eyes.
A blonde girl with her long hair held up in a braid.
Both were wearing Kumogakure Hitai-ates.
Then there was a brunette in a dress of some sort holding a… pig?
Then there was-
"Tsunade-sama…" Came the voice of Tenten. She had stars in her eyes as she took in her idols appearance. It was safe to say that the appearance of the female Sannin was a big deal.
Tsunade, noticing that her name was called, looked down, "Yeah kid?"
Tenten was starstruck, she couldn't form a sentence so Ino decided to help he out, "What are you doing here Tsunade-sama?"
She shrugged, "Cheering on the new head Slug Summoner." Tsunade had agreed with Raiga about keeping their familial relationship a secret, at least for now.
The Genin trio gawked, "How?!"
She shrugged, "He learned Senjutsu from Katsuyu. Any time there is a Senjutsu user from a Summons, the user immediately becomes the news head. I've been contracted to Katsuyu for over 30 years and rejected each and every attempt to teach me Senjutsu from her.
"But, enough about that, this is Shizune – my apprentice, Karin – Raiga's girlfriend, and Yugito – one of Kumo's S-rankers."
They immediately zoned on to Karin at the mention of her being Raiga's girlfriend, Tenten especially since she had gained a slight crush on the boy, "What's he like?"
Karin blinked, looking down at the younger girls, "Well… Raiga's a bit of a loner. He doesn't mind being outgoing, but his preference is to just be on his own and learn new techniques-"
"No, I meant as a boyfriend."
Karin's cheeks pinked lightly as she grinned lecherously, "Welllllllllll, he has an… Impressive... amount of stamina."
Tsunade groaned good-naturedly at Karin, who was acting like Toka more and more.
The Konoha Genin all went beat red.
As soon as Hayate called for the match to start Raiga shot into the air, his Chakra Wings buzzing loudly, as he dodged a blast of Sand from Gaara.
He flew high up into the air and grabbed a pair of thick scrolls, "Kai!"
The scrolls opened and from them came a torrent of Water. Gaara immediately backed away and hopped onto Sand that then began to float away from the impromptu lake that formed in the Arena.
Gaara, with a scowl marring his face, found his way to the Arena wall. His Sand began to surround him and a thick sphere formed as he began to chant. His Mother claimed that she wanted to hurt the Uzumaki, so what better way than to let her out?
Raiga looked at Gaara and more specifically at the sphere of Sand that surrounded the boy before grinning.
He took off to the opposite wall and sat down on the ledge. He closed his eyes and his face went blank.
While both Genin were on opposite sides of the Arena doing nothing a large-scale Konoha shunshin erupted from the middle of the Arena.
Kakashi Hatake, along with Sasuke Uchiha, had arrived.
They were standing atop the new lake looking quite bored.
Kakashi spoke up, "Ah, are we late?"
Hayate came down, "Yes, yes you are. Sasuke Uchiha has been disqualified."
"WHAT?!"
Kakashi let loose a sigh of relief. Truthfully, he didn't want Sasuke to fight Gaara. Gaara was an extremely dangerous foe, one Sasuke could have been killed by.
Hayate decided to repeat himself, "Sasuke Uchiha has been disqualified."
"But why?!" Sasuke's voice was cracking slightly.
"You didn't show up when all competitors were supposed to, nor did you come till over an hour later. Chunin that won't even show up to missions aren't worthy to be Chunin."
Sasuke grumbled lightly but nodded, he understood.
He just didn't like it.
"Currently the fight is Raiga Uzumaki v Gaara, please make your way out of the Arena while this is going on."
They nodded and left.
Raiga opnned his eyes. His pupil had expanded to where it covered the whole of his eye and his sclera had turned gold. His eyes were now surrounded by teal ovals that met at the bridge of his nose. A single black circle was prevalent between his lips.
He had gone into Sage mode.
Raiga had always been fascinated by Senjutsu. When he signed with Katsuyu he knew he would eventually learn Senjutsu. He had a goal in mind that required it.
And now he had met the goal.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Raiton Chakra began to form at the soles of his feet. The Senjutsu overlay turned the Chakra from what would normally be azure into silver. The Chakra began to climb up his body, to his legs, then waist, then torso, then his arms and finishing on his head.
He yelled out to the world his accomplishment, and was sure his Raikage was going to shit himself.
"SENJUTSU – RAITON: RAITON NO YOROI!"
Raiton no Yoroi was considered the pinnacle of Raiton Jutsu. It was what allowed the Sandaime Raikage to fight over 10,000 Shinobi during the 3rd Shinobi War. It was seen as Kumo's staple; their mark of glory.
And Raiga had learned it.
Well, in truth he stole it from A when he was living with the man, but A didn't care since there was a reason he was the only user of the technique.
Raiga was not born with the right body type to use the Raiton no Yoroi.
Raiton no Yoroi required the user to reach the pinnacle of their body's physical strength, in such a way that they would be able to treat their own body as the metal in which Chakra Flow was used on.
Yet, Raiga refused to believe he couldn't use such a technique purely due to a physical limitation. So, he researched constantly for a way to learn to Jutsu and found his way to Senjutsu. Senjutsu users instinctively hardened their bodies to the point that it was considered a form of blunt armor. That, in combination with the memorized notes of Raiton no Yoroi led to Raiga's claim to fame.
As he finished his statement Gaara's sphere of sand imploded in smoke. As the smoke cleared the Ichibi no Shukaku, in all its glory, was loose for the world to see.
The crowd erupted in pandemonium.
In the Kage box all 3 respective Kage had their jaws on the ground; none more so than A.
Raiga had said he was a Slug Sage but by all that was holy he was using Raiton no Yoroi?!
Yes, A took back his initial thought of Raiga. When he had found the lad he equated Raiga to a gold mine along with the mountain.
Raiga was now worth the gold mine, the mountain and all the land that encompassed it.
Raiton no Yoroi was an S-rank technique, and yet Raiga Uzumaki had improved upon it. How? Raiton Chakra, in its most pure form, came out silver. Kakashi Hatake's Chidori was so deadly due to the fact that it was a pure spear of Raiton Chakra.
And yet, Raiga had purified the Raiton no Yoroi.
B, as well as Darui, also had his jaw on the ground. His bro was able to go toe to toe with Gyuki due to that technique and now his own apprentice could do it?!
Hiruzen had always believed that the next generation would eventually outstrip the current one.
Clearly he was correct.
The Kazekage was just glad his fellow Kage were more interested in Raiga than the fact the Ichibi was loose.
Shukaku roared, "I'M BACK BABYYYYYYY!"
He looked at Raiga, the host of Chomei, bathed in silver and only knew that he wanted to kill the brat.
He sucked in his breath and let loose a blast of wind toward his annoyance.
Hey there y'all, Umodin back once more with a small update. I know it's a tiny chapter, but I honestly couldn't think to well. I'm still in rest mode from Finals.
So, there you go; the reason Raiga had wanted to learn Senjutsu. Aside from the fact that it gave him a huge power boost, Senjutsu allowed him the ability to utilize Raiton no Yoroi.
Next Chapter will be a Bijuu bash. As well as the invasion.
If you liked this, please Favorite/Follow and don't forget to give me a Review.