Restoration of Faith Chapter 25: Chuunin Exam 1st Phase IV, a naruto fanfic

Restoration of Faith

Karrafear

Summary: SEQUAL to Faith in Humanity; Naruto OOC; PG-13. After Sandaime's death, Naruto made a promise to himself to defy his own destiny and pursue a future that will lead to freedom and happiness. Chapter Twenty-Five: Chuunin Exam - First Phase IV

xxx XXX xxx

"Demon's talk", /Thoughts/, "Speech", 'Speech emphasis', (FLASHBACK), Titles, (Author's interruptions)

Warning: This chapter will be mainly about Team Gai and it's all about 'fighting'.

I'd like to take this opportunity to personally thank the following people for supplying the Original Characters that will be showing up from here on out (yes, you know who you are): Hitomi no Ryu, Sam, Reeki Shadowstar, and Bryan Terran! Thank you all very much for the creations of the OCs, and now, they're finally mine to butcher and maim as I see fit. Hee hee! This will be fun!

Chapter 25

Huffing and puffing, Tenten almost collapsed in exhaustion; considering she had spent the last 3 hours straight running at her top speed it was understandable how she had become so tired. Now, normally she could have kept this up for at least 5 hours or so. You do not become a student of Gai and not learn something about speed and stamina. She may not be as physically strong or as fast as either Lee or Neji, but she could still carry her own weight around.

However, considering that she and her teammates have been chased by a large crowd of Missing Nins all through the decrepit town throwing various projectiles and weapons at them, before they managed to find a hide out in an old, broken down barn, let's just say Tenten was not having a very good day. "We've... got to... find a way... out of this... place..." Her words came out truncated as she continued to huff and puff, dragging as much oxygen as possible into her lungs as she went along.

Neji leaned heavily against a half demolished pillar for support. He too, wasn't fairing much better than Tenten to tell the truth. At times like these, he hated the fact that as a Hyuuga, he really shouldn't be showing any physical weaknesses as is demanded by his own personal pride and the pride of his clan; but at this moment in time, he just couldn't find the energy to give a damn. It wasn't like his uncle Hiashi was going to pop out of no where and scold him on his shabby appearance.

Opposite him, Lee was breathing deeply with heavy beads of sweat surrounded his forehead. But unlike his other teammates, he was at least still standing. "Yosh! Now that was a good exercise!" Punching his fist in the air, Lee couldn't help but pull off a posture he had watched his beloved sensei pull off many times before – the nice guy pose tm. Neji and Tenten didn't even put an effort to reply. They were use to his eccentricity by now.

A few more minutes spent on recovering their breath and energy, Neji decided to take the lead and think about what their team had do from now on. "Well, I guess now's a good a time as any to look over the map, right?"

Pulling out the scroll that Jubei had given them what seemed like eons ago, Neji couldn't help but feel slightly hesitant in opening it. In all the time he had known and heard about his cousin, Neji knew Jubei was the kind of person who enjoys making the lives of other people as hard as possible. The man jus loves playing around with people's emotions. That was one of the reasons why Neji knew that no matter how innocent the scroll looked, it had to have some sort of trick up its sleeve.

Just as he expected, the scroll opened up to reveal a blank page. Further unrolling of the scroll continued to reveal blank pages, there was simply nothing there to see.

"Huh... Did Jubei-san give us the wrong scroll?" Lee asked innocently, huge eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Neji gave a tired sigh before activating his Byakugan to have another look at the scroll's contents.

"There's chakra sealed within this scroll. I can see the intricate lines but can't make out the words." He murmured, the words heavily reassuring Lee that Jubei had not given them the wrong scroll by mistake. "Tenten, can you have a look at this?" Neji delegated the task to their team's only seal user.

Frowning at Neji for giving her the task of deciphering the empty scroll, Tenten bit back on the retort ready to escape her mouth. It's true that she was the only member of Team Gai who regularly uses seals and especially sealed scrolls, but considering she couldn't very well see the chakra on the scroll, it's not like she could decipher anything when she can't see it in the first place. However, general knowledge on all sealed scrolls dictate that to apply a seal on a scroll, you use either ink or blood to create the seal; to release or open the seal, you activate it via the use of blood. As such, Tenten simply bit her thumb and swiped it across the empty scroll.

Neji watched in silence as the blood interacted with the web of chakra, mixing and bleeding into one another. But strangely enough, the blood only mixed with one-third section of the web structure before stopping. "Each of us has to place a drop of blood in order to activate the seal." He analysed correctly.

Not questioning his teammate further, Lee quickly followed the instructions, bitting his thumb and leaving a drop of blood on the once pristine white pages of the scroll. Neji soon followed and once all three blood samples had landed on the scroll's paper surface, the reaction was immediate. The three genins of team Gai watched in silent amazement as the three-dimensional hologram flitted across their gaze, pinpointing where exactly the Kuunoki no Sato was located within the mainland continent. Having studied the scroll for a few minutes, Neji silently rolled it back up again, deactivating the hologram as he went along. "Well, now we just have to figure out where we are before we set off."

Activating his Byakugan again and adjusting the range to a few miles further than he would normally, Neji spied upon a road sign that was about half a mile away. He read the inscriptions written upon the sign and immediately memorised the name. Releasing his eyes once more, Neji told his teammates calmly that they were located near a place called Tanake village (1). "We should head westward since we're on the northern tip of the Fire Country and the Kuunoki is located on our west side."

"Yosh! To the Kuunoki, my friends! We will show them our dedication and the power of our YOUTH in no time!" Punching a second fist in the air, Lee couldn't help but jump up and down in excitement while his two teammates just watched in disgust, disbelief or amusement, depending on whatever mood they were in at the time.

"Right, we should wait until nightfall before we move from this place, it'll be easier for us to avoid the band of Missing Nins outside." Neji concluded logically and his other team members agreed. With that said; team Gai sat down, relaxed and waited until night fall before they started their journey towards their destination, the Chuunin Exam held at the Hidden Air Village.

xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx

"Hmm... What to do? What to do? I feel like seeing some extreme fighting..." Jubei murmured to himself as he lounged around on a large cushion, watching team Gai's progress from one of the ringed mirrors surrounding him. "... but I can't be bothered fighting them myself... maybe I should find someone else to do my dirty work for me... hmm... Missing Nins of Genin rank are too easy... How about... Jounins?" Fidgeting now and again, Jubei unconsciously played with a small ring upon his fingers, twirling it and flicking it as he continued to think of an alternative to ease his boredom.

Snapping his attention to one of his special ring mirrors, he started asking the inanimate object as if it was a sentient being: "Find a group of Jounin hostiles for me to play with, please?" The ring rotated by itself in midair a few times before coming to a stop once more. This time, it no longer showed the progress of Team Gai; instead, it showed a group of what seems to be a band of Ninjas, led by three very distinct men.

"Hm." Jubei's smile turned into a sadistic smirk. "This will be fun!"

xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx

"It seems that the preparations are all complete, we should be able to take Nano Country without any problems." The largest of the trio of men sat on a large tree branch said with a superior tone of voice. Fatter and more muscular than the other two members, this man wore a low collared, aquamarine skin-tight shirt, with long fingerless gloves made of the same material. He also wore beige coloured baggy pants with a yellow cloth tide around his waist. He has long grey hair, yellow eyes and on his face were some strange curved strips upon each cheek like a tiger's face. Within his hand he held a mace attached through a metal chain to a small scythe.

"Indeed, soon we will become the Daimyo (Feudal Lords) of Nano Country. That is, once we kill off the current king and his only daughter." A second member of the trio said with a dark smirk on his face. "Say, aniki (Big Brother). Mind if I play around with the girl first before we kill her. I heard she's not bad looking herself. What's her name again? Haruka? Haruto? …" This man had yellow eyes, long lilac hair, and strange tear drop marks on his pale cheeks with a very small triangular blue mark upon his chin. He was of average height but thin, wearing a green, skin tight sleeveless high collar shirt, with long fingerless gloves up to his biceps made from the same material. He also wore baggy light brown pants and a reddish cloth tide around his waist by a thick belt. His ninja shoes are also the same aquamarine green colour as his shirt and gloves. Upon his hands he held two wooden, hand held Tonfas.

"Haruna. Do with her as you wish, as long as you kill her afterwards, I don't care what you do with her." The third member of the trio stated nonchalantly. His eyes peeled and focused upon the palace in the distant horizon. Taller than the other two members, this man wore the same aquamarine coloured shirt and gloves, but with a long purple jacket over it. He wore light blue pants covered by a long, white cloth and a thick yellow belt. He has long brown hair, yellow eyes and a darker skin tone; on each cheek of his face as well as his forehead was a curved purple tattoo (2). Behind the trio of Ninjas stood a band of 40 Shinobis, all ready and waiting to raid the small peaceful country of Nano.

"Looks like I caught you at a good time, neh?" A voice suddenly echoed from the trio's right side, a voice completely unfamiliar to them. Their reaction was immediate - the largest of the three threw his favourite weapon, a deadly looking mace attached through a metal string to a small hand held scythe towards the origin of the voice. The mace flew through the air at a rapid speed and if Jubei had not dodged in the nick of time, he would have found himself in a similar state as the tree that was behind him - completely obliterated. This all happened while the other members of the trio's Shinobi gang threw a barrage of shuriken and kunais at Jubei, all of which he dodged effortlessly. A few of the Ninjas came at Jubei with Katana's held high, ready to cut him into pieces.

Jubei yawned nonchalantly calling upon his rings to defend him automatically. Similar to Gaara's sand, Jubei's rings were sentient to a certain degree. They were able to protect him without his conscious manipulation of them. This can be done because when Jubei first created his rings, he had sealed a part of his soul within each and every one of them. The soul is a self-sustaining energy that has the ability to multiply if given enough power and directed to do so via seal manipulations. As such, Jubei created an absolute defence mechanism when the construction of the rings was complete, with the ability to protect him without him ever asking it to.

"Yo! Calm down people! I'm not here to fight or kill you!" Jubei called out in amusement as he continued to watch the various ninjas try and find a way to kill him. /Yet./ He thought sardonically to himself.

"Enough." The tallest of the original trio called out loudly and all the Shinobis immediately halted their attack. Glaring at Jubei fiercely, the man grunted dangerously. "Who the hell are you and why are you here?"

Jubei gave the man a cheeky smile. "The name is Dokudes Jubei." Giving a dramatic bow Jubei continued. "I'm one of the 10 Gate Guardians of the Kuunoki Gakure no Sato, here on behalf of my village to ask for your assistance."

"What kind of assistance?" The youngest of the three men, the second who spoke before, asked in trepidation. By now many ninjas all over the world had heard about the involvement of the Kuunoki Shinobis during the last invasion of Konoha by the Sound. And if the rumours were to be believed, it would not be a wise move to go against any members of the Air community.

Jubei's smile continued to irritate and unnerve the people before him. "I need you all to test and possibly kill a team of Genins I'm suppose to proctor over during the special Kuunoki held Chuunin Exam, which is basically now." He stated charmingly.

A large sweat drop appeared on all three heads of the trio leaders. "Excuse me." The youngest one asked again. "Why would you want us, three powerful Jounins and a mass of Chuunin Ninjas, to go against a small team of 3 measly Genins? And if you're really a proctor of the exam, why would you want us to kill them? And one last question, why the fxxk are you asking us in the first place, can't you do it on your own or find someone else?" The general irritation in the air grew with each statement being uttered.

"Well, I suppose..." Jubei tapped a finger against his chin disarmingly before coming up with his own replies. "I want to test them beyond anything they've had to face before. Facing a large contingent of ninjas of Chuunin and Jounin rank would definitely fit that criterion. If they can't even survive a battle against you guys, than they probably won't be able to survive the extreme training regimes in the Kuunoki anyway. I'm not the type to cuddle anyone of any rank; if they can't cut it, then too bad for them. Battles to the death are usually the most entertaining battles to watch and I want this test to be as extreme as possible. As for why I chose you guys... well, why NOT you guys? You're here, you're free and you're easy to manipulate. Perfect candidates if you ask me." Jubei's smile turned ice cold.

In the second Jubei finished his speech, every single member within the band of Shinobis fell onto the ground clutching their necks in surprise and terror. Each of them, including the three leaders, had one of Jubei's rings wrapped tightly around their necks, suffocating them in the process.

"Now, if you are able to fulfil my request, I will set you all free. If not, well, let's just say you won't have much time to live." Jubei threatened charmingly, as if this was an everyday occurrence.

After Jubei's little speech, to say the trapped ninjas were furious was an understanding. While still fighting the slowing tightening effects of the rings round their necks, all three leaders of the Shinobi band started performing their own attacks in retaliation. The youngest looking one silently called for water particles from the ground to rise - and it started to bubble forth, condensing and merging together to create a large ball of water. The heaviest of the three managed to swing his mace around dramatically before flinging it towards Jubei's form once more. The tallest of the three and obviously the one in charge, created a small, almost invisible ice crystal before his opened palm. It captured the light being shone onto it via the sun and somehow managed to reflect it towards Jubei like a focused laser beam.

Four rings appeared out of no where and defended Jubei. One of the rings enlarged itself and completely swallowed the ball of water in midair, before plunging underground and enlarging itself once more, completely enchasing the underground water supply from the Ninja's reach. A second ring allowed the mace to fly through its centre before contracting instantly, trapping the form of the mace before it could go further or retract back to its master. A third ring created a linked portal between itself with the last ring, creating a wormhole affect. The third ring allowed the laser to pass through its centre, swallowing the laser beam; the laser beam then came out from the centre of the other ring, located directly behind the three Shinobis, as such, their attacks were simply redirected against them.

"Now. Now. Let's not get too hasty. I do keep my word, you know. Help me beat those genins senseless or kill them, then I'll let you go. If you refuse, your nice throats will be sliced off right here, right now. I show no mercy to allies and enemies alike." Jubei answered with a shrug, completely unimpressed by the Ninja's retaliation techniques. In response to his mood, all the rings around the Shinobi's necks tightened even more, rendering a few of them unconscious due to lack of oxygen. "From my perspective, you really don't have much of a choice." Jubei's deadly calm words finally forced the three leaders to concede, lest they wish to die.

A few more minutes of threatening each other verbally, Jubei released the contracting of his rings, but did not take the rings off the Ninja member's neck as yet. "Pull this mission off and I'll take my rings away. Until then, you'll just have to put up with them. Remember, you're going after a Gennin Team from Konoha. One wears a horrible green spandex one piece suit with massively large eyebrows. Another is our typical Hyuuga with white eyes and long black hair. The third member – a female – has her hair up in two buns on each side of her head. She wears a traditional martial artist dress shirt and dark blue pants. Those are your targets. Don't lose." With those final words of advice, Jubei jumped and disappeared into another one of his transportation rings.

"Damn bxstxrd!!!" The largest of the three grunted in fury. "How dare he treat us like this?! Like we're some sort of toy for him to play with! How dare he..."

"SHUT UP! Jiga. That guy's one of the Kuunoki Gate Guardians. If he feels like playing with our lives, then there just isn't that much we can fxcking do about it!" The youngest of the three retorted, eyes blazing in anger and embarrassment at being defeated so easily.

"Watch your language, Ruiga! I'm the older brother here. If you don't keep a tighter grip on that ugly mouth of yours, I'm gonna..." The now named Jiga growled in a threatening manner.

"Enough, you two! I don't want to hear any more moronic comments out of your mouths." The third, older and taller member snapped and the two younger siblings shut their mouths instantly.

Giving a heavy sigh and a distracted tug on the ring around his neck, Ruiga asked his oldest brother for advice. "Oi. Renga. What the hell are we gonna do now? All our preparations for taking over the Nano Country have been completed. All we have to do now is strike. But with this interruption..." He trailed off, unsure of whether or not Jubei was still around and able to hear his words.

"We'll have to abandon our previous plans." Forestalling any outbursts from his younger siblings by holding a hand up for silence, Renga continued. "I highly doubt that the Dokudes would wait until we've conquered the Nano country before having us go after the Genin teams. The Nano country will have to wait. We go after the Genins first, kill them off as soon as possible and then we come back for our riches." He answered with a tone of finality in his voice.

Soon, once all members of the Ninja gang were gathered together, they all set off in different directions, all waiting and wanting to get this setback over and done with as soon as possible.

xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx

The next two days of travel went relatively smoothly for Team Gai. With his Byakugan activated now and again, Neji was able to direct the team's journey farther and farther away from the meddling Missing Nins until they've completely lost them altogether. It was a good day for Team Gai. They had gathered extra provisions while on their journey, having learnt from the Gai the necessities of survival training in the wild. They had made great progress and had even found extra time to rest and relax, or in Lee's case, train. So overall, Team Gai had become rather complacent during their travels and was in no way prepared to face off against what was ahead.

xxx XXX xxx

"We've found them."

"Good, send the men over to eradicate them immediately. If they can get rid of the pesky brats, then we won't even have to lift a single finger ourselves."

"You sure these kids will be that easy to kill, Aniki?"

"Who knows, let's just sit back and watch how skilled they truly are before we pull out the big guns."

xxx XXX xxx

Upon travelling through a dense forest, Neji suddenly called for his teammates to stop. Looking confused at each other, nevertheless, both Tenten and Lee kept quiet until Neji deems to answer the silent question as to why they had stopped moving.

With his Byakugan peeled for any danger within the vicinity, it was easy for Neji to identify the 40 odd Ninjas hidden all around them in a wide circle. These ninjas held no specific forehead protectors so Neji could only conclude that they were mercenaries for hire or Missing Nins. Quietly, he spoke to his teammates warning them of the indefinite battle coming up. "40 Ninjas surrounding us in a wide circle. They wear no forehead protectors so they're either mercenary, bandits or Missing Nins. They seem to be between high Genin to Chuunin level in rank from what I can see of the development of their Chakra circulatory system."

"GOSH! Let's see how many of them we can defeat! Let's show them our POWER OF YOUTH!" Jumping at the chance to exercise his body, Lee immediately leapt off to his right, instantly engaging a group of Ninjas in a fast paced hand on hand combat.

Tenten sighed in tiredness before jumping into the trees to follow in her teammates footsteps, but this time, she headed for her left in order to engage a few Ninjas with a mass swarm of projectiles and weapons mastery.

Neji continued to look forward, waiting for the ninjas that surround him on both his front and back to attack simultaneously. The enemy ninjas were ruthless as they threw hundreds of Shuriken at Neji, all aiming for vital areas upon his body. Neji waited until the last moment before performing a Kaiten in order to deflect the barrage of projectiles - rebounding the shuriken back to their original masters. For those ninjas who were unable to dodge the returned fire, they easily fell due to the injuries they had attained, rendering them unable to continue to battle. A few of the enemy ninjas pulled out their own swords (of various shapes and sizes) and began ganging up on Neji once more, aiming to slice him to pieces.

The Hyuuga prodigy (with his Byakugan still activated) easily dodged and out manoeuvred the attacks of his enemies. While dodging incoming swipes of the sword, Neji was still able to attack his foes with decisive Jyuuken strikes, aimed at critical areas to render a person unconscious, unable to battle or even dead.

A direct strike to the neck, chest or abdomen was able to render people unconscious. Further strikes to the limbs or chest were able to numb the opponent's body to the point of collapsing on its own. A few close shaves of incoming shuriken and sword parries forced Neji to perform the Kaiten once more. However, Neji never used his trump card – the Hakke Rokujuu Yonsho (Divine 64 strikes) or the Hakke Hyaku Nijuu Hachi Shou (Divine 128 strikes) through out the barrage. This was both because he didn't feel it necessary as well as the fact that he simply didn't have enough time to prepare for the attack.

A few more Kaitens later and Neji had rendered all 12 opponents unconscious and on the floor due to the backlash in power of his Kaiten or his previous attacks. Even though these were Chuunins, they had underestimated the power of a Hyuuga. And due to the fact that they charged forward into a hand-to-hand combat zone, with the Hyuuga's superior Jyuuken move, they were easily incapacitated by Neji.

xxx XXX xxx

Hundreds of kunai and shuriken flew through the air in a tornado of action. Ninjas dodged as best they could but most still managed to attain scrapes and cuts among their body. After all, Tenten's a reputation of being a weapons specialist who always hits 100 bullseyes within 100 strikes was well earned.

Releasing another scroll full of weapons at her opponents, Tenten managed to find some time in order to summon her trusty staff. As all the enemy ninjas eventually ran out of projectile weaponry of they're own, they charged at Tenten from different angles, each wielding a deadly looking sword.

Jumping up to avoid a frontal thrust of an enemy's sword, Tenten twisted and managed to parry a few other attempts at stabbing her with a graceful swing of her staff. Landing lightly, Tenten ducked beneath another sword before batting her staff forward, rotating her body as she went along and literary threw a few of her opponents of their feet due to the propulsion of her strike. Gaining some room to breathe, Tenten did not waste her time as she used her beloved staff effectively against the multitude onslaught of enemy ninjas and their deadly swords.

/As the old Chinese saying goes, for every inch longer, the weapon is every bit stronger!/ (3) Feeling confident, Tenten continued to literary bat her opponents away, that is, until one was intelligent enough to attack her from underground. A hand suddenly ripped out of the ground directly beneath Tenten's feet and grabbed onto her leg tightly. Unable to move from her position, Tenten thrust her metallic staff downward like a deadly spear onto the opponent's vulnerable hand. Through released from her capture, Tenten had to forfeit her staff as she jumped high into the air, just barely avoiding several swords slicing upwards in an attempt to end her life.

Upon landing on top of a sturdy tree branch, Tenten glared hatefully at the ninjas beneath her. /Damn it! That's one of my favourite weapons!!/ Tenten fumed mentally as she watched how the enemy Ninjas were confiscating her beloved weapon. /That's it! No more miss nice girl!/ Pulling the twin summoning scrolls from her pocket, she readied her attack. Instead of placing the two scroll beside her in a vertically standing position as she stood atop the slanting tree branch, she threw them up into the air before performing a set of seals. "Soushouryu!" (Rising Twin Dragons)

A loud boom echoed through out that side of the forest as thick smoke covered everything within sight. A second later, two long, thin and graceful white dragons emerged from the smoke cloud and flew directly upwards. Finally stopping in mid air, the dragons seem to twist and twirl around themselves, creating a perfect ribbon of movement. Soon after, Tenten jumped off her perch on the tree branch directly upwards and towards the two dragon's heads still spinning in mid air. Stopping in between the two long scrolls that now took over the forms of the heavenly dragons, Tenten twisted and turned gracefully in mid air, summoning forth hundreds of weapons and directed them all at the various ninjas beneath.

With such a huge barrage of weapons flying their way and no one with any real expertise in barrier or blocking jutsus, most of the enemy ninjas were struck down by Tenten's attack. However, a lucky few did manage to escape the initial assault by using their comrade's bodies as shields in order to protect themselves. These lucky few threw away their human shields the instant Tenten landed on the ground, and they rushed forward intending to kill the dangerous weapons mistress in one combined strike. Unfortunately for them, Tenten was not unprepared. She jumped off into the air again the instant she had landed upon one of the enemy ninja's sword. Raising both her hands up - small, slightly invisible strings could be seen attached to each of her fingers leading to all of the weapons that she had thrown previously. Flapping her arms together like wings, Tenten was able to lift up all of her weapons and launch them again at the remaining enemy ninjas. Suffice to say, after this second assault, no one was left standing to face off against Tenten.

xxx XXX xxx

"URAH!!!" Punching a man's face, Lee easily shattering the man's metallic mask and broke his nose in the process. His opponent screamed in agony at having his nose completed crushed by a single punch so powerful it could probably break boulders.

Ducking under a sword's swipe, Lee swiftly kicked behind the man's knees, forcing the man to drop down onto the ground. "Argh!" Jumping up again, twisting and performing a high kick, Lee was able to smash his heavily weighted leg across the man's neck, rendering his opponent unconscious immediately.

Jumping to avoid a small barrage of shuriken coming his way, Lee landed in between two swordsmen. Dodging the attack of one, Lee stooped low and swiped the other man off his feet. Straightening up once more, Lee ducked into the first swordsman's personal space before bringing forth a volley of punches and knocking the man unconscious. Turning his attentions back to the other man, who had finally stood back onto his feet, Lee jumped to avoid another sword's swipe. Jumping straight up and using his feet, Lee caught the man's head and neck within his feet's grip, Lee then twisted in mid air and flipped the man over his shoulders, possibly breaking the man's neck as a result.

Landing, flipping onto his hands and doing summersaults, Lee managed to evade all sorts of attacks and projectiles being thrown his way. He was actually very curious as to why the ninja's surrounding him didn't use any Ninjutsu whatsoever, but nonetheless, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Tekken! (Iron Fist)" He cried in enthusiasm as a single punched forced another one of his opponents off his feet and into a nearby tree, smashing against the tree and knocking the man out at the same time.

Sidestepping another sword thrust towards him, Lee grabbed onto the opponent's sword hand, held it tightly and started to twirl the man around in a spin not dissimilar to Neji's Kaiten. The swinging man helped Lee knock out a few more opponents due to his momentum before Lee finally released him, flinging him sidewards and knocking down a few more enemies.

"Yosh! Konoha Senpuu!" Rushing forward, Lee swiftly jumped and swung his feet around in a spinning, opened-split kick and knocking away two opponents at the same time. Not exactly a very attractive attack considering he was wearing a one-piece, green spandex suit, but nonetheless an effective manoeuvre.

Taking some time to look back at his teammates, Lee realised that he had become the slowest of them all, knocking individual people down while Neji and Tenten managed to render several people unconscious at one go. "Yosh! I will not lose to Neji-kun! If I do, I will run around on my hands for the next three days!" With that self proclaimed promise, Lee silently released the first of the celestial gates within his body. Now, he wasn't exactly planning on using the Initial Lotus, but he did need the speed that the opening of the first celestial gates grant him if he wanted to catch up to his eternal rival, without having to resort to releasing his weights.

That said, with the new found speed, Lee easily managed to strike at his remaining opponents, one after the other, rendering each one either unable to move or unconscious. He does not aim to kill, as is taught by his beloved Gai-sensei. /If your opponent is honourable and tries his best, then there is no reason to kill./ The honour code of a warrior - the code that was passed down from Gai to Lee had helped the boy handle his emotions in most cases that he had faced fighting an opponent. It does not deter from the fact that he was a Shinobi and will eventually be forced to kill in order to protect his precious people, but as a Shinobi he was still human, and for the moment, he would follow what his human heart dictates instead of what his Ninja skills are capable off.

Several more minutes of continual fighting, Lee too had managed to knock down all his opponents. Overall, all 40 mercenary Ninjas were taken down by Team Gai today, not a bad haul at all. After taking away the enemy Shinobi's weapons and tying them up to whatever trees were available, the three tired genins of Team Gai continued on their journey, this time, wanting nothing more than a hut for them to rest and sleep in peace.

xxx XXX xxx

"Che. Looks like all of them failed in killing off the three Genins, seems the brats are stronger than we had originally anticipated."

"Hm... It looks like we'll have to do things ourselves in order to make sure they truly die."

Sigh. "Let's just do this. The sooner we get it over and done with, the faster we can go back to Nano Country and conquer it. Once that's done, we'll finally become Daimyo (Feudal Lord)."

"HAI."

"Hai."

xxx XXX xxx

Another two days passed in relative peace before team Gai stumbled upon their next adversaries. So say Team Gai was tired of fighting would be an understatement. Since the start of this Kuunoki Chuunin exam, they have done nothing except run, hide and fight. It was a never ending cycle of meeting up and fending off Missing Nins one way or the other while trying to survive in the wild. Suffice to say, the three Genin members of Team Gai were extremely tired. Even Lee's enthusiastic exclamations about the powers of youth had dwindled slightly due to the fact that Gai-sensei was not there to encourage him, and neither of his teammates really appreciates his cheer.

As such, they simply weren't impressed when the three Jounins suddenly appeared before them standing challengingly.

"Oh hell! Not again!" Tenten cursed out loud uncharacteristically. "What the hell do you three want? And why the hell are you targeting us in the first place?! What the hell did we ever do to you?!" She shouted with all her pent up frustrations, eyes glaring at the three before her.

"Hmp. You think you're so special that we would go out of our way to attack you, fool? If we weren't forced into this confrontation, we wouldn't have bothered toying with your pathetic lives at all. How about you do us a favour huh? We'll leave you alone after you're dead." Ruiga snapped at the Genins, still surprised and angry that their forces had not been able to take care of these pathetic looking genins, even with 40 Shinobis against them.

Neji's eyes narrowed at the man's statement before coming to a logical conclusion. "Let me guess, Jubei, right? He somehow managed to coerce you into fighting us, against your wills." The tense silence that met Neji's statement only validated the truth.

Lee tilted his head to one side, looking slightly confused. "But if you truly do not wish to fight, then why don't you say so. I'm sure Jubei-san is an understanding warrior."

"As if, you idiots!" Jiga roared in anger. "You see these freaking rings around our necks?" Pointing angrily at the aforementioned ring, Jiga continued. "He's forcing us to fight you, possibly kill you. And if we refuse, we fxxking die!"

"Enough talk. Sorry, boys and girls, but you're time is up. I have plans for my future and it does not involve wasting time playing with you." The last of the three Jounins, Renga spoke with a frosty cold voice, eyes piercing like diamonds.

And without further ado, all six people jumped off to various areas to start their own fights.

xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx (Leen Vs Ruiga – First round)

"Konoha senpu!" Lee's jump kick was blocked by Ruiga's spinning tonfa. Pushing the enthusiastic, green-clan boy away, Ruiga strapped his Tonfa's away before performing a set of seals. "Suiton Seibun Houfutsu! (Water Element Water Cannon Replica)"

Upon his summoning, drops of water started emerging directly out of the ground beneath the two combatants. The water particles joined together to form larger and larger balls of floating water. Soon, the entire space between them were saturated with hundreds of balls of water, all of which Ruiga could command with a simple thought.

Ignoring the water balls for the moment being, Lee sprinted pass them, effectively dodging them as he made a sprint towards his target. Ruiga simply stood still waiting for the boy to reach him.

"Konoha Dai Senpu!" However, with the extra burst of speed and power, Lee did not notice that Ruiga had already called all the water particles towards him. And in that instant, Ruiga's summoned water surrounded and then swallowed Lee, even while his original assault bounced off a water barrier protecting Ruiga's body.

"Heh. Heh. You really can't use anything except Taijutsu? How pathetic! There's no way for you to escape my Water Techniques." Ruiga sneered haughtily at the trapped Lee.

Now, the green clad boy found himself trapped in a water prison, unable to breathe and worse of all, unable to escape. "Heh. Time to end this brat!" Ruiga taunted even while he bit his thumb and performed a few hand seals: "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Placing his opened palm onto the surface of the water prison, Ruiga summoned forth a swarm of piranhas to share the same space as Lee. The piranhas all hard massively sharp teeth, all grinning and ready to rip into Lee's spandex clad self. /Oh dear.../ Lee thought to himself as his large round eyes become larger in size.

xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx (Tenten Vs Jiga – First round)

"Take this!" Flinging hundreds of sharp and pointy weapons at her opponent from her summoning scroll, Tenten could not help but watch in horror as her bulky opponent simply swung his mace around, somehow managing to attract and attach all of her metallic weapons onto the mace itself.

"Hehe. Not bad but you made a very big mistake. Metals are my forte as I specialise in magnetic techniques" The other man taunted as he somehow released the attraction power he held over her weapons and repelled them straight towards her.

Desperately dodging her own weapons, Tenten did not manage to come out of this first assault unharmed. She was knocked back by one of her heavier projectiles and slammed into a tree behind her. She could feel that a few of her ribs had been cracked as well due to the impact, which was definitely not something she wanted to happen. And other than that, she also suffered multiple cuts, wounds and abrasions, ranging from shallow cuts to some deeper ones slowly oozing out blood. Gritting her teeth and taking her opponents words to heart, she called forth a wooden staff as her primary weapon this time. She was not going to trust that none of her other metallic weapons weren't going to be used against her again.

Unfortunately for Tenten, her single wooden staff was in no way strong enough to counter Jiga's mace, which managed to shatter the staff on its first impact. Having run out of options, Tenten decided to retreat, at least for the moment being. It hurt her pride to do this, but it's better than staying and dying.

xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx (Neji Vs Renga – First round)

Neji found himself unable to get close to his opponent. And as a Jyuuken Taijutsu expert, he was unable to harm his opponent if he didn't get within a certain range to attack. Suffice to say, Neji found himself constantly dodging the multiple beams of lasers aimed at him from the sky. With the Byakugan activated, he was able to tell where the beams are focussing on, however, there's no way for him to counter this power. He wasn't even sure if his Hakkeshou Kaiten manoeuvre would be able to properly counter the laser, and as such, he was not in the mood to try it out less he failed.

Launching off the branch of a large tree, Neji turned and flung one of his chakra enhanced kunai (something he learnt from Naruto) at the almost invisible ice crystal in the sky. The crystal structure shattered instantly to a million pieces upon impact as the Kunai was enhanced with power. However, before Neji even had a chance to celebrate, Renga had already created a second ice crystal from where the previous one had been destroyed.

/Shit. This is like a never ending game of cat and mouse. I have a limited number of kunai to throw at him while he can construct an endless number of ice crystals to counter me. I'll admit, next to Kidoumaru and Naruto, this guy is the strongest opponent I've ever fought against./ Neji mentally analysed. He knew he was at a major disadvantage against this opponent simply because he was not a long range fighter. The only long range fighter in their group would be Tenten but even she may have problems with this opponent as she just wasn't fast enough to dodge his attacks. That leaves Lee...

As much as it pained his Hyuuga pride, Neji knew that he had to switch opponents with his team mates. After all, that's why they were placed in a team in the first place, to balance ones strength and weaknesses. There is no 'I' in 'team', and it's wrong of him to always isolate himself like he had done in the past.

/Swap opponents, it's the only way to go!/ With that decision in mind, Neji expanded his view with the Byakugan, instantly finding both his teammates. /Damn, Lee needs help./ Neji dodged another laser beam aimed at his back, twisted in the air, landing and started running towards another direction, towards his teammates.

xxx XXX xxx

Upon arriving at the scene of Lee being (literary) eaten alive by hundreds of piranhas, Neji thrust an opened palm forward. "Hakke Kuushou! (Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm)" The chakra blast emitted from Neji's palm slammed against the water prison and broke it instantly. The summoned piranhas were scattered through the air, some were hurt by the blast and immediately disappeared into clouds of smoke, and others managed to remain alive and flopped haphazardly upon the wet ground. Lee, having been released from his water prison, sat up and vomited all the water that had accumulated in his throat before gasping for some much needed oxygen.

At the same time, Tenten suddenly jumped out of a near by tree to land before her teammates. Looking at the wet and relatively okay Lee as well as the rather irritated looking Neji, Tenten derived on the fact that none of them were having much luck with their own opponents. "Swap?" She asked succinctly.

"Swap!" Neji grunted out before rushing towards the largest of the three opponents, whom had followed Tenten through the woods and into this clearing. Producing another Hakke Kuushou, Neji managed to blast the man back to wherever he had originally come from, before following the man's path, giving Tenten and Lee the space they needed to start their own battles.

While Lee was still slightly disorientated on the ground, Tenten launched herself towards Ruiga, whom had been standing at the clearing gaping at the three genins in an annoyed fashion. "You! You're my opponent!" She shouted at him before launching a few kunai towards his head.

Rotating his tonfa into a shield, Ruiga managed to deflect all of Tenten's weapons before sneering at her with lust filled eyes. "You? As my opponent? Don't make me laugh... You're weapons are in no way superior to my water techniques. I can summon water from the ground beneath your very feet! I have an endless supply of weapons while you only have what you've carried upon your body. Useless child, there's no way you or any of your teammates can win against us."

Glaring angrily at Ruiga, Tenten pulled out another of her summoning scrolls, ready and waiting to make the man eat his words. "Lee, you go and take on whoever Neji was fighting before. Leave this guy to me." She growled. Behind her, Lee finally collected himself off the ground, giving her a snappy salute, Lee rushed off into the direction where he thought Neji originally came through.

xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx (Tenten Vs Ruiga – Second round)

"Soushouryu!" (Rising Twin Dragons) This time, instead of just letting the projectiles fly towards her enemy as it is, Tenten secretly attached exploding tags to almost all of her weapons as she threw them. When the projectiles were blocked by either the floating balls of water that Ruiga had called up, or even the large water shield that protects Ruiga himself, they immediately exploded, sending the millions of water particles flying in all direction. Using the flashy explosion as a distraction, Tenten launched two more kunai at Ruiga, this time enhanced with both power and control using her own Chakra.

The chakra seeking kunai were aimed at two specific objects, Ruiga's tonfas, as those two handheld weapons were what Tenten suspect were her opponent's greatest tool. Upon impact between the two weapons, the tonfas were instantly shattered to pieces, and if Ruiga had not abandoned his weapons and jumped away just in time, he might have been caught in the resulting explosion.

"Heh. You think I needed those tools to summon my water? You're a fool!" Performing a familiar set of seals again, Ruiga called out his technique. "Suiton Seibun Houfutsu! (Water Element Water Cannon Replica)" When a large amount of water rose up from the ground once more, Ruiga bit his thumb, performed another set of seals before placing his bleeding palm upon the surface of water ball. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" A large swarm of piranhas once again emerged inside the water ball. "Go after her!" Ruiga ordered as the strange mass of water and piranha fishes rushed forward towards Tenten's location.

Surprised, Tenten immediately turned tail and run, not looking back at her opponent while quickly trying to think up another counter attack. Ruiga used this time to summon forth a second large mass of water from the underground, and then he performed a second Summoning: "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" This time, a giant shark with human clothes (scarf and jacket) emerged from the smoke, and it too took off after Tenten as well. Ruiga followed his summons and prey from a safe distance behind.

Running at her top speed, Tenten's mind was a whirl of ideas, formed and then discarded. /Let's see, he summons water from the ground, so to take that advantage away from him, I have to go to a place that is very dry. Other than that, I also have to find a way to defeat him. HOW!!!/ Her mental voice rang through out her head. She was frustrated and annoyed that nothing she tried so far had worked. Not to mention she's down to a few kunai, shuriken and one scroll left on her body. /Shxt! I'll just have to wing it./

Jumping off a tree branch that was soon consumed by the piranhas flying behind her, Tenten's eyes swung around in all directions looking for a possible place for them to fight. And that was when she saw it - a rocky mountain top with no trees or vegetation around its cliff. /That means that there's very little water near there, the plants are unable to grow. Perfect!/

Putting more energy into her legs, Tenten increased her running pace slightly and jumped towards the rocky mountain. Two minutes later found her standing tiredly on top of her salvation. Behind her, she could hear Ruiga and his summons catching up. /Good. Everything's set. Let round two begin./

"Hehe! No where to run now, little girl! Time to DIE!" Ruiga shouted gleefully as he landed on the sandy surface of the mountain, not even noticing that the ground below him were very dry.

/He's within range, NOW!/ Biting her thumb to draw out blood, Tenten unrolled a small black scroll that she held in her hand, while consecutively smudging her bleeding thumb across the scroll of words, before re-rolling it up to it's original form, grabbing it and performing a few seals with the scroll still in hand.

"Ninpou Kuchiyose: Kinzoku no ame! (Ninjutsu Technique Summoning: Metallic Rain!)" Throwing the small scroll up high into the air, it suddenly exploded creating a large smoke cloud that covered the area above her. Emerging from the cloud instantly were thousands of weapons, sizes ranging from a few centres to full metre-lengths. The varieties of weapons include kunai, short swords, maces, senbons, shuriken and more. The rain of weapons flew through the air in elegant arches before plummeted forth onto the ground, each one precisely Chakra enhanced to the point of being 'Chakra-seeking' weapons. Because they were 'Chakra-seeking' weapons, they automatically attack anything with a high degree of Chakra upon an increased range of 30-metre radius around Tenten's own location.

The swarm of piranhas were rendered into pin cushions, each and every one of them disappearing into smoke as small metal needles pierced their bodies, even the protection of the water bubble they were inside of didn't protect them from the barrage of chakra seeking weapons. The summoned shark was no better, having been struck with a giant mace and a huge head-cleaving sword. Ruiga too, being the summoner, had most of the weapons aimed towards him due to his large chakra capacity. They flew so fast that he simply didn't have time to react, and when he instinctively tried to call forth his water shield as a defence – it wouldn't come as there was not enough water in the surrounding area. As a result, Ruiga's body was pierced by multiple swords, kunai, shuriken, senbon, and all sorts of other weapons.

By the end of the assault, Tenten was exhausted. But she had defeated her opponent and that was all that mattered. Looking around tiredly, she groaned as she realised that she would have to pick up every single weapon she had ever flung and re-store them in her scrolls again.

xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx (Neji Vs Jiga – Second round)

"From a very young age, I kept on drinking iron. With all the iron that has since accumulated in my body, I can change the magnetic polarity whenever and wherever I want. Incidentally, I can also turn things I touch into magnets." Jiga taunted cruelly. Raising his arms around and indicating the mountain cliff behind him, he couldn't help but smirk at the weak looking genin before him. "This mountain behind me has a lot of iron in it, making it my ultimate battle field. These rocks have all turned into magnets, magnets I use for my attacks!"

Neji charged at the man with his Byakugan eyes flashing and palms opened. However, at the last possible moment, Jiga suddenly slid smoothly to the right, and then up the rocky Cliffside. He stood perpendicular to the vertical cliff edge, looking as calm and natural as possible. Neji frowned as he hadn't seen Jiga activate any chakra around his feet when he seemingly levitated off the ground. It was unnatural - these smooth levitation techniques used by Jiga, and it annoyed Neji a lot.

"Didn't you hear a word I said before, you stupid punk? I can use my Magnetic Ninja arts to manipulate the magnetic fields in this place, enabling me to practically fly." The Jounin continued to taunt. Swinging his mace around, Jiga smashed it into the mountain's stones before him. "Jishaku Ninpou: Mugen Inseki! (Magnetic Ninja Arts: Infinite Meteors)" The iron condensed rocks were loosened from their confinement in the mountain side and it immediately flew towards Neji like Tenten's weapon projectiles.

"Hakkeshou Kaiten!" Performing the heavenly spin, Neji gracefully deflected all the stones thrown towards him.

"Hm. You're a tougher nut to crack, but it isn't impossible." Jiga then threw a handful of what seems like black dust into the air, before launching into a set of seals. "Jishaku Ninpou: Denji Genmu (Magnetic Ninja Arts: Electric Phantasms)" Suddenly, small sparks of electrical charges appeared through out the mass of released black particles surrounding Neji's form. The sparks of light and energy captivated Neji's attention, almost hypnotising in its affect. In fact, it was so effective that Neji no longer paid any attention to his surroundings, or even his opponent.

Looking at the boy in amusement, Jiga spoke in a deep voice. "Ah. A human's brain has faint cavities that allow currents to flow through them, enabling the brain to function. If I change the magnetic polarity, the interference that it creates will stop a person's ability to think... You're trapped in my Electric Genjutsu, boy and there's no way out of it!" The man sneered cruelly before he swung and slammed his metallic mace right into Neji's chest, smashing the Hyuuga through several trees before releasing him. "Ahahaha..." Jiga laughed in amusement.

Shaking his head to reorientate himself, Neji spat out some blood before glaring at Jiga once more. /He uses a combination of Magnetic Ninja arts and Iron Sand Illusionary techniques./ Neji analysed as he continued to watch Jiga's body, and especially how the man manipulates the magnetic fields from within his internal chakra pathways. /He switches his magnetic power on and off so that his own body will not become a magnet. I see. If that's the way he does it, then there is still a way for me to win./

Rushing forward towards his enemy, Neji concentrated with his Byakugan searching for the man's main weakness.

"Heh. That won't work! Jishaku Ninpou: Denji Genmu (Magnetic Ninja Arts: Electric Phantasms)" Jiga called out once more to activate his Jutsu.

However, this time, Neji was prepared. Performing a mid-run Kaiten blasted all the iron sand away from his body, stopping the man's attack instantly. Dodging the mace that Jiga had threw towards his head, Neji ducked and struck with two pointed fingers into the side of Jiga's huge body.

"Is that supposed to hurt?" Jiga growled as he swung his large hand towards Neji's face. Neji ducked just in time before jumping backwards, avoiding the returning mace, somersaulting and landing gracefully upon the ground once more.

This time, it was Neji who had a smirk upon his face. "Just now, I put an interfering electrical current into your chakra. Now your body will become a powerful magnet." He stated calmly even while Jiga grimaced as his own mace seem to slam right into his chest, crushing his own ribs and organs. But before the man could utter a single word, he felt himself pulled backwards, attracted to the iron filled mountain behind him. The impact of his body smashing into the hard but sharp, rocky surface of the mountain's cliffs left Jiga breathless. But more than that, he found a very sharp rock, shaped like a spear, sticking out his right shoulder, all the way through his lungs and ribcage. Choking on his own blood, Jiga's eyes widened at the implications of this. He swung his attention back to Neji, this time silently pleading for mercy and help.

Neji could only look back in slight sorrow. "I'm sorry, but the technique I used cannot be taken back." With that, Neji gave Jiga a small bow before turning his back and started limping away, waring of hurting his injured ribs anymore. His eyes were determined and mind focussed upon finding his teammates once more. Killing and death were all part of a Shinobi's life, sooner or later Neji would have to learn those lessens anyway.

xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx (Lee Vs Renga – Second round)

"Mou. Don't you know by now that Taijutsu is no use against me?" Renga yawned as the ice crystal lens in the sky continued to beam down with a powerful laser beam. "I can gather the tiny water particles from the water vapour in the air to create ice crystals. I then turn these ice crystals into a lens and by focusing the sunlight - I've created an unlimited supply of lasers. There's just no way for you to win. Give up now." Renga continued to mock Lee with an almost bored expression upon his face.

"I will NEVER give up. With the power of youth, I swear on my Nindou that I WILL beat you. And if I am unable to beat you, I will perform 5000 push ups. And if I am unable to do 5000 push ups, then I will do 10000 jump kicks, followed by running around the village 800 times, and if..." Lee enthusiastically shouted all his ambitions while running at top speed, effectively avoiding the lasers beaming down on him.

"SHUT UP! Don't you ever get tired of listening to your own voice?" Renga growled at the oddity of the boy's behaviour. With that said, he created a few more ice crystal lenses in the sky, all focussing on the individual, moving object known as Lee.

Dodging another condensed laser beam, Lee tried to think of a way to defeat his opponent. /He may be strong but he's not fast enough. My speed is the only thing keeping me alive. I will have to use that to my advantage. Gomen ne, Gai-sensei. Even though I am not protecting any precious person, I will have to use this technique in order to prove my Nindou. I refuse to lose now. This is a chance of a lifetime and I just can't let myself lose. I must pass this phase of the exam and go to the Kuunoki. Naruto-san and the others are waiting for me. I WILL NOT LOSE HERE!/

Skidding to a sudden stop, Lee took only a split second before unclasping the metal weights strapped to both his legs. With the weights gone, it was even easier for Lee to dodge the lasers, resulting in Renga getting more and more impatient.

By that time, Renga had reached his limit of patience with the boy. He created a large ice crystal under his feet, levitating him into the air and started following Lee around, mentally directing the multiple lenses' focus on the rushing form of Lee. But even from this distance, he watched perfectly as Lee had suddenly stopped running and was yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Hachimon Tonkou! Dai-San, Sei Mon... KAI! URA RENGE! (Eight Gates Opening! Number Three, Life Gate... OPEN! Primary Lotus!)" Lee screamed at the top of his voice, as thick veins sprouted upon his forehead and his skin turned an ugly red. The massive surge of Chakra could be felt many kilometres away and even Renga was shocked at the explosion of released chakra.

With the new surge of power, Lee suddenly sprinted off in a blur of dust and sand, running at incredible speeds towards Renga's floating position. Even though Renga was still in the air, Lee was able to jump and his propulsion launched him all the way towards Renga's location in a single jump. In a split second, Lee had reached Renga and slammed his red skinned fist right into the older man's face, punching him with enough power to bring a whole house down.

Instantly flung backwards by the powerful assault Renga fell from his ice crystal foundation towards the ground below. But even before he had the chance to land properly, Lee suddenly appeared behind him and launched a "Konoha Dai Senpuu! (Leaf Spinning Wind)" The powerful kick crashed into Renga's face launching him towards another direction. And again, Lee reappeared just in time to smash his interlocked fingered towards Renga's head like a man made mace, forcing the man to fly straight down towards the ground. Catching up to his opponent once more, Lee performed his final move against Renga. "AHHHH!" The green clad, red skinned boy screamed as he simultaneously punched and kicked Renga for a final time. The massive force of the impact shattered most of Renga's bones and ripped apart his organs before slamming him towards the ground, creating a huge crater. Beside the unconscious missing Nin, Lee finally released the Primary Lotus technique, slumping onto the ground in agony and exhaustion. Soon he too fell into unconsciousness.

xxx XXX xxx

Upon finding Lee's unconscious form and Renga's dying one, Tenten and Neji silently supported their incapacitated teammate between them, before walking away from the clearing, leaving behind their enemies without a backward glance. They had passed Jubei's test, and that was all they cared about at the moment. Three Genins facing against 3 Jounins and a swarm of Chuunin and other Genin Missing Nins was almost unheard of until today. They had only been on the road for less than a week and already they felt like they've been doing this for years. Simply put, they were simply too exhausted to care.

xxx XXX xxx

"You disappointed me. Renga-san, Ruiga-san and Jiga-san." Jubei's displayed his lips in a pout even while he held a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Three Jounins, forty Chuunins and Genins, weren't able to defeat or kill three small Genins from Konoha? How pathetic..." The icy tone of voice slipped from Jubei's slightly smiling mouth once more. "Well, your services are no longer required." With that said, Jubei turned away.

And with a flick of his fingers, he managed to silently severe all the necks of the Missing Nins whom he had captured during their first meeting before resizing his beloved rings back to return to his hands, arms and fingers. These deaths include Renga, Ruiga and Jiga's. As such, in that one short day, 43 Missing Nins were found dead, their heads decapitated seamlessly.

/I guess they passed./ Jubei though smugly to himself. /I don't think I've got anything else I can 'legally' throw at them that won't infuriate Ruri-sama. Guess they've pass my test then./ Sigh. /How boring.../

End.

(1) Don't ask, I completely made it up.

(2) That's right people, they are the same characters from the Naruto Cannon series – Nano Country arc. As such, for those of you who follow the animation, you should be familiar with their techniques already.

(3) This really is an old Chinese saying. Well, this is (sort of) a direct translation of it anyway, I hope I got it right.

Finally done!

I know some you may find that last scene rather disturbing since I've always made Jubei seem kinda harmless in the previous chapters. But you all must remember, he is the LEADER of the Gate Guardians, and he also has the nickname of being the 'SMILING KILLER'. There's got to be some truth to it.

Now, next chapter will talk about the time Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru spent in the Kuunoki, as well as what happens when the genins finally reached the gates of the Air village. Please be patient and remember to read and review!