The week following the first phase was chaotic. The chuunin exams had been postponed and Itachi had spent the past week doing excavation and supplying trips. Akio was in the same boat as him and Michiko switched between helping in the hospital and vanishing off for presumably jinchuuriki-related business.
Konoha agreed to help and sent medic nin and medical equipment to Suna. Water jutsu users were next and the Akimichi and other clans in the food business promised to donate some food. Overnight, Suna's economy collapsed as many civilians were killed and businesses were demolished. Shelters were flooded and there were talks of Konoha taking some of them as citizens. Konoha wanted skilled citizens as there was a dip in population from the Kyuubi attack and they already had too many orphans. But Suna needed skilled workers to boost its economy.
Today was the day of the second phase and Team 11 was gathered in the middle of the desert. Even though it was fairly cool, the sun was unrelenting and Itachi had slathered himself with sunscreen. As he had made the mistake of not applying sunscreen under his clothes, his lower left leg had been completely sunburned after his pants got torn. He had more sunscreen than water and was utterly regretting that he had ignored his mother's advice and dismissed her special sunblock as unnecessary.
The only thing around them was sand dunes and a giant wall surrounding what was presumably going to be the testing site. There was a huge gate and three chuunin stood guard in front. Beside the gate was a small temporary booth that facilitated paperwork and seemed to double as a break room for the guards. Out of the 51 teams that had entered the chuunin exams, only 16 remained.
"The second phase of the chuunin examinations will be held within this field. Your goal is to find a golden scroll and bring it to the group of chuunin on the other side of the field. You have three days to accomplish this task. After signing the waiver indicating that you accept the risk of death, you will be allowed into the desert team by team with a one-hour interval. The order of your entrance will be determined by your score in the first phase and the highest scoring team will enter first. Any questions?" The proctor waited for half a second. "Line up at the booth to collect and sign a waiver. The exam will start at 7 am sharp."
A genin raised his hand. "Erm… I have a question? How would we know which teams go first?"
"I'll call your team's name when it's your turn. Any more questions?" The proctor stared down at them, daring them to ask another question. No one asked anything and a silence hung in the air for a few seconds. Michiko walked briskly towards the booth and everyone simultaneously realised that they were supposed to do the same and most of them started queuing up.
Team 11 were amongst the first to return their waivers and they automatically reconvened some distance from the group.
"What did you do, Michiko-hime?" The booth was a place where all competition was certain to pass through. Michiko's wariness of public areas was probably a direct result of her tendency to booby trap them.
Michiko smirked. "I'll tell you later."
Akio frowned at the exchange, but he had gotten used to not understanding things and knew to wait until an appropriate time to ask instead of demanding an explanation and causing a scene. Itachi still couldn't understand why Michiko would want someone so oblivious as an assistant, but it was not his place and he pushed his curiosity away.
It wasn't long before all the paperwork was signed and everyone gathered before the jounin proctor.
The jounin stared at his watch until it was 6:59 am. "The Second Phase of the Chuunin Examination will start in a minute. First up is Konoha's Team 11." Not a surprise. Itachi had gotten the hardest possible paper with a maximum score of 150 and had completed and used genjutsu to pass another 150 point paper to Akio. Itachi had no doubt that Michiko had also completed a 150 point paper.
Team 11 walked to the gate and waited for 7 am to come before one of the chuunin guards opened the gate. They walked into the desert with Michiko in the lead and the gates slammed behind them.
"Michiko-hime, are we going to trap the gates?"
Michiko smirked. "No. We'll sent up camp and then find the scroll. We'll discuss further plans when we've arrived."
"Understood."
"Fine."
Michiko got down on one knee. She placed her left hand on the ground and made the seal of confrontation with the other. A gentle pulse of chakra could be felt as Michiko did an in-depth scan of the area. Michiko frowned and three successive chakra pulses, each stronger than the last, were felt.
After fifteen seconds, Michiko stood up and reported her findings. "We have our work cut out for us. The field is pretty big. Normally, I'd expect a one-week time limit for a chuunin team, at the very least, five days. There are 16 teams and a three-day limit. The last team will be short of 16 hours and will almost certainly fail. Not to mention that there are only three locations with notable chakra emissions in my range, though I expect that there are more outside of my range and some that are hidden from my sensing."
Akio looked shocked. "Eh? Outside of your range? But I thought you had a pretty large range. You're a B-class sensor, right?"
"I'm a Yin-type. If you want to specialise in sensing, having an extreme inclination towards Yin or Yang is important because the type of sensing you go into will depend on your chakra type. Yang-types have a much broader reach and are better at accurately keeping track of motions once they've locked onto a target, making them more suited for direct combat. Yin-types are more sensitive and are more suited for deciphering intricate traps and deconstructing jutsu. I may be a mid B-class, but a barely C-class Yang-type could beat me in terms of range. You should have learned this in the Academy."
Akio did a frown/pout/glare and looked away. "Well, yeah, but I didn't realise it was a class and a half difference. Besides, no one ever uses anything they learn from the Academy. Who does velocity equations or probability calculations when seeing an opponent throw kunai?"
Itachi blinked. Ninja didn't do trajectory predictions or statistical analysis of their opponents? "I do."
Akio stared at him. His mouth opened and shut a few times before words finally left his mouth. "Well, you're the freak who thought training 14 hours a day and being able to throw 100 shuriken perfectly in all directions within five seconds was normal. I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore."
Michiko gave an amused smirk. "I do that too. Does that mean I'm a freak?"
"What? Of course not! You're not a freak! You're just special and really smart!"
"But I think training 16 hours a day is perfectly normal. And does that mean Itachi's really smart as well?" Why was Michiko provoking Akio? What could that possibly aid?
Surprisingly, Akio seemed more embarrassed than angry. "That's different! Itachi's only good at reading scrolls and reciting the Ninja Code. You have the smarts that actually matter and you're also socially aware, unlike that idiot. You know that training 16 hours a day isn't normal, it's just normal for you, whereas the bastard actually thought everyone was as weird as him."
Michiko's smirk widened. "I'm just teasing. Back to the matter at hand, I think I've found a good spot to camp. Let's go."
It took Team 11 twenty minutes to get to the camping spot. At first glance, this particular patch of sand and rock was no different from any other. But the air felt thicker, suggesting that the chakra saturation in the area was more suited for putting up barriers. Maybe there was a geological advantage and a scroll location was nearby, hence the extra chakra emissions.
"We don't have much time before the second team comes. I'll set up a 500-meter barrier."
"That's a lot smaller than usual." Akio commented.
"I'm still tweaking the barrier to Suna's chakra atmosphere. Due to the lack of living organisms, there is very little chakra to draw from the surroundings. Not to mention how unstable the sand is and how unsuited it is for sturdy and long-standing barriers. It's almost as hard as creating underwater chakra structures. The barrier's quality is going to be a half class lower even with the scale down so be careful."
"Understood." Both Itachi and Akio rang out their affirmations in unison. Akio was Michiko's fuuinjutsu assistant. Michiko had probably drilled everything necessary into Akio and Akio probably knew more about the subject than Itachi. Despite knowing this, Itachi found himself somewhat surprised when Akio didn't ask what a half class difference meant.
After that, it was standard routine. Setting traps, scouting the area and setting up the camp. There were some adjustments due to their environment, but Itachi had read as much as he could about how to adapt to Suna and how to set traps. It didn't take long before they reconvened at the center of the base. Now that Michiko had set up privacy barriers, they could discuss the plan.
"What is the plan, Michiko-hime?"
"I've hacked into the master seal that contains information on the whereabouts of all the genin at any one time."
Akio's expression shifted between shock, exasperation and resignation within two seconds before settling on a mixture of the three. "But isn't that illegal?"
Michiko shrugged. "Wouldn't be my first time. I don't want to access it too often just in case and I'm sure they suspect something, but after we've got a scroll, we'll start thinning the herd ourselves. We'll be able to hunt down groups with ease if they aren't going to come to us. I've set the barrier to send pulses of chakra and reflect a lot of light. The average genin would be able to figure out our location." It still didn't really line up. Michiko should've trapped the gate as backup even she had complete access to the master seal. There was something else going on and Itachi got the feeling that it was more than just teaching Akio about slaughter.
Akio looked surprised as well, but for a completely different reason. "But I thought you already got rid of the important competitors."
"Not all of them. If only the chumps make it into the final round, not only would it look suspicious, but our victories wouldn't be all that impressive. I let the ones we have information on and those whose abilities aren't a bad matchup to ours slip through. There were two Iwa teams. Kuromoto Kuromi's and another one estimated to be borderline B-class. Kuromoto Kuromi's team is under investigation and thus isn't allowed to participate, but the other ones should make it through. Generally, 9-12 genin is the ideal size for a tournament match. I plan to let the Iwa team, the kenjutsu Kiri team and perhaps another Konoha team pass if there is a Konoha team that meets my standards." Michiko got down on one knee and did the sensing pose again. "The two of you should head to the possible locations now."
"But what about you?" Akio questioned.
"The next team should be entering soon. I'll see if I can attract them to our base." Michiko was moving much faster than normal. Itachi had expected her to wait for a day or so before acting.
"Where are we to head to?" Itachi asked.
"The nearest one is a kilometer away at around 94 degrees. The next one is 3 kilometers away at 186-187 degrees. Then its 7 kilometers at 74-75 degrees, 10 kilometers at 120-122 degrees and 15 kilometers at 17-20 degrees. Check every location and obtain all the scrolls if possible. Make sure to leave signs that it was our team that took the scrolls. If you are not back by the end of the day, I will come looking for you. A large part of the locations seem to be underground, so use chakra flares rather than light flares if you are in trouble."
"Understood. Akio-san and I will head out immediately."
Without further ado, Itachi started sprinting towards the east and Akio followed behind.
Ian was really fed up with this whole situation. He had never liked Suna. There was too little water and the effect of his team's water jutsu were halved at best without a steady supply. They had to wait for twelve hours in the heat before they were allowed onto the battlefield. Their jounin sensei was down and barely hanging on. Kiri's medical team was even shitter than Suna's and Suna was too busy taking care of their own to bother with the 'Kiri barbarians'. Suimi had spent the whole trip bitching about the heat and worrying about her skin and Umihiko was his usual silent self.
But if there was one thing that bound their team together, it was bloodlust, plain and simple. They were all adrenaline junkies through and through. Even Umihiko got wild and gave into the insanity when the chips were down and there were sheep to be slaughtered.
So when a wave of chakra spread across the battlefield, all of them instantly recognised and accepted the challenge.
With a glance, all of Team 5 confirmed that the others were on the same page before they sprinted straight towards the signal, with Ian and Suimi in the front and Umihiko tailing behind.
"What do you think about the situation, Umihiko?" Suimi asked.
"Nara kunoichi. Tough."
Suimi flashed a wild grin before she could cover it up. "Ah, the one with the genius Uchiha and that stupid, elitist, sexist piece-of-shit Uchiha that needs to have his guts splattered across the desert? Should be a fun fight."
Umihiko's face was as blank as usual. "Misogynist yours. Kid solo player. Girl support type. Split them up. Girl smart strategist. Don't give time. Kid low chakra. Draw out battle." After Umihiko figured out that adding a couple extra words would save him the trouble of repeating himself, his communication skills drastically improved. Ian had been put off by it at first, but after realising that most Kiri-nin were rich kids who only knew how to trash talk, Ian had come to appreciate Umihiko's minimalistic style.
"I'll take the kid then, you can take the girl." Ian said. Umihiko nodded in response.
Suimi struggled to control her grin. "It's settled then! After I kill the little shitstain, I'll help one of you out. We'll show those privileged Konoha brats not to look down on us."
Ian glared at her. "You're a clan kid. You've hardly led a tough life."
Suimi snorted. "Yeah right. Do you seriously think clan kids have it peachy? I'm from one of the lower branches and I get attacked by every slummie trying to show off how pathetic they are."
"You were eating a bento that cost more money than they'll ever be worth. You even wore a ceremonial kimono with a shit ton of gold and sparkling jewellery. What did you expect?"
"So? They still shouldn't have attacked me. It's not my job to make sure everyone is happy and well fed."
"Why do you even bother fighting with us?"
Suimi sighed dreamily. "Because Kaichi-sama has the most amazing ass I've ever seen. He's just the cutest thing ever and I want to pinch his cheeks so bad!"
"Liar."
Suimi's dazed smile widened. "You're right. It's really because he looks stunningly gorgeous with a sword. When we invaded the Eastern Slums, he took out the leadership almost single-handedly with hardly any chakra at all! It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, I tell you."
"Stop lying, clan cunt."
Suimi snorted. "Whatever. You should've been there instead of taking your time with the eastern slummies." That stupid, stuck-up, clan cunt. Ian hated Suimi's guts, but Kaichi had chosen her, had chosen them, for a reason.
"I'd like to see you take out three of the eastern gang leaders in under ten minutes."
Suimi rolled her eyes. "Please, they probably didn't even know what chakra was. I could've taken them in under ten seconds."
"Well, you can-"
"Stop. Now." Umihiko interrupted as he stopped running. The fact that Umihiko had chosen to use two whole words instead of a hand signal had Ian and Suimi stopping in their tracks instantly.
"What is it, Umihiko?" asked Suimi.
"Smell blood." Umihiko could smell the chakra emitted by battle even though they were still two kilometers away? Unless Umihiko had suddenly improved by two whole classes, there had to be a body count of at least a dozen people.
"What's your analysis?" Ian asked. Umihiko closed his eyes as he did the seal of confrontation and sniffed a couple times. His eyes snapped open.
"She's already here."
The air in front of them shimmered, revealing the Nara kunoichi in her bloody glory. She had abandoned her shirt and wore bloody and sweaty chest bindings. Dried blood caked her trousers while fresh blood dripped down her left arm. Ian wasn't sure if the blood was hers or not. She didn't seem to have taken much damage and her trousers had more sand and dirt than rips. Her long black hair had fallen out of its bun and fell around her face in messy tangles. Even though she panted heavily, her black eyes were alight with passion and her bloodthirsty grin was reminiscent of those worn during the Kiri Slum Wars. But what Ian was most drawn too was the sword in her right arm. With that craftsmanship, it looked like a traditional Kiri-style sword with its double-edged blade, long grip and what seemed to be a trademark hilt that Ian had never seen before.
"As expected of the Asaka clan. My imperfect barrier isn't enough to fool you. I really do need to buckle down and get the adjustments right." The Konoha kunoichi's speech was enough to snap the Kiri team into action, drawing their swords and readying for combat.
"What do you want?" Suimi demanded.
"I want you to pass a message to Kaichi for me." So she had overheard them talking. Ian had told Suimi time and time again that mentioning Kaichi was a bad idea. Now retreating wasn't an option.
"What business do you have with Kaichi-sama?" Suimi snapped.
"Tell Kaichi that Akua is here as well." She knew about Akua as well? How? That was impossible! Kaichi often spoke about Akua as a fallen sister-in-arms who greatly inspired him, but only those who had been inducted should know about her.
"How do you know about Akua?" Ian demanded.
The Nara's grin widened impossibly. "Ah, so Kaichi talks about me? How sweet of him. Did he also tell you I can beat him in kenjutsu?" What? That was impo-
The Nara charged at him and Ian blocked her sword with his own. Suimi rushed in and attempted to stab the Nara while Umihiko jumped back and started rushing through the signs of a water jutsu. The Nara quickly disengaged and ducked under Suimi's sword swing. Ian attempted to stab the Nara, but Suimi overreached and Ian was forced to back off before he stabbed Suimi.
Umihiko completed his ninjutsu and a linear wave of water rushed towards the Nara. The Nara grinned and didn't bother to dodge. The wave of water hit the Nara's shadow before it hit her and she flooded the wave of water with her shadows. Umihiko abandoned the jutsu before her shadows could reach him. While this was happening, Suimi had started on an Ice jutsu and Ian tried attacking her from behind with his sword. The Nara half-turned and blocked his sword strike. They engaged in a short exchange of blows interspersed with Suimi's ice attacks and Umihiko's water attacks.
No matter how much they tried, they couldn't hit her. She dodged by a hair and retaliated before they could breathe. Umihiko and Suimi did a combo attack with Suimi creating a sharp gust of icy wind and Umihiko following up with a basic water bomb jutsu. The Nara's right hand and sword lit up as she activated a fuuinjutsu embedded in the sword. Ian was pushed back as he attempted to block her swing. Two blindingly quick hand seals and the Nara summoned a wall of water from the remnants of Umihiko and Suimi's attacks. The initial icy wind froze the wall of water and the Nara jumped back as some of the water was pushed back and frozen by the wind, forcing her to dodge the spikes. Next came the mini tornado of icy cold water that froze halfway. The Nara dodged the big frozen icicles with easy, but the little blobs of water that had broken off from the main body froze quicker and charged at her faster. The Nara blocked them all with her sword. Ian stayed out of the way and got ready to launch another water jutsu. Before the Nara blocked the last of the icicles, Suimi went in with a sword strike and the Nara dodged again.
It was immediately apparent that the Nara wasn't trying to kill them, despite the ample amount of bloodlust she was leaking. What stood out the most was her minimal and efficient style. She dodged sword strikes with barely any margin, attacked with just enough force and all fancy movements were eliminated. That was the core of Kaichi's style. The way he could walk into battle with a sure grin, predict all his opponents moves on almost no information and walk out giving the impression that it took no effort and that the battle had been won before it had started. The more Ian thought about it, the more the similarities between the Nara and Kaichi sunk in. The way she had immediately commanded the attention of everyone in the room. The way her battle driven passion contrasted with her usual calm mask. The way she gave the impression that she was untouchable just by the way she dodged. It was all a part of Kaichi's style.
"Who are you?" Suimi demanded. The Nara retreated to a safe distance, panting heavily as the feral grin on her face faded slightly.
"For now, I am Nara Michiko, but I think I'll be picking up the name Akua again. I'll be sending someone to meet Kaichi at the place where it all started. Pass the message on to Kaichi."
"You can't be Akua! Kaichi mentioned Akua before you were even born!" Ian declared.
Michiko's grin slid into a smirk. "Kaichi's situation can be described as impossible as well. Unfortunately, I'm at my limit. Fighting with taijutsu against three tokujou, even if only for five minutes, is kind of tiring."
"Go on and you lose." Umihiko stated. "What now?"
"My message has been delivered. As much as I enjoyed our brief battle, I'll have to withdraw. I have a pesky Suna jounin on my tail. After I exit lockdown mode, try not to mention Kaichi. I doubt Suna can do anything about it, but try not to endanger Kaichi's revolution." Lockdown Mode? What did she mean?
Umihiko sniffed the air. "Gone."
"What do you mean?" asked Ian.
Michiko smirk took an amused edge. "Isolated spaces and chakra locks happen to be a speciality of mine."
Umihiko's body tensed. "Trap barrier."
Michiko gave an innocent and gleeful smile that could not have looked more out of place against the drying blood splattered all over her and the trace amounts of potent bloodlust she still emitted. "Bingo! As sharp as ever, Umihiko. My boys should be back soon. I'll have to find some fresh genin to kill. I bid you good luck and farewell."
Michiko turned her back to them and took off.
"Oh no, you don't!" Suimi yelled as she made to pursue Michiko.
"Don't." Suimi paused at Umihiko's word.
"What? Why? She knows about-" Both Ian and Umihiko gave their versions of a glare.
"Space barrier B-rank. Trap B-rank. Barrier is stagnant structure. Trap is opposite. Combining is A-rank."
Suimi growled in frustration. "So? Even if she's jounin-level, there are three of us! She's tired right now! We should use that opportunity!
"She support type. Body condition, barely B-rank. Kenjutsu, mid A-rank."
"So taijutsu is her weakest point?" Suimi asked.
"No." Ian said. "What's weird is that there is a class and a half difference between her body condition and her skill level. It makes no sense that she would invest so much time into raising her kenjutsu skills to jounin level if she's not specialising in taijutsu."
"And what does that mean?!" Suimi yelled in frustration. She was always so slow. This was why Ian hated it when she acted like hot shit.
"There's a possibility that the body isn't hers."
"Wait, so you mean- that what she said-"
"Yeah. What do you think, Umihiko?"
Umihiko nodded gravely. "Tell Kaichi."