It was a real relief when the examination tournament rolled around. Akio was really worried about Michiko's health. She never ate right, she never slept right and she constantly put herself in dangerous and stressful situations. She took over three hours to finish a couple of sandwiches and drank more coffee than she ate. Despite how good she was at handling other people, Michiko was fucking terrible at taking care of herself. Akio wasn't sure how he was going to convince her, but he wasn't going to let her continue like that for a whole year. If the only way Michiko time would take a break was when sparring with an interesting opponent for her, then so be it.
Akio was quite worried about how he would fare himself. Itachi had written up an even more long-ass report than usual on all the teams participating and they were supposed to be the cream of the crop this time around. Michiko's orders were to completely crush them. Akio wasn't stupidly good like Itachi or amazingly smart like Michiko. He didn't have a trump card jutsu or even a specialisation. At every single training session, at every single team interaction, Akio was always reminded of how he was the weakest and how he would never compare to Michiko, Itachi or Noa.
But he wasn't going to fail. He would not drag the team down.
It was a single elimination tournament and the rules were same as always. Fight until the other was unable to or the referee called it, surrendering was permitted, winning didn't mean promotion, yadda yadda. The fights were 'randomly' generated by a computer program after every fight so contestants couldn't pre-prepare as much. For the first time in nearly ten years, there were no contestants from the host nation and Suna was quite pissed off at Michiko for that. Judging by how gleeful Michiko was when Katashi told her, she really hated Suna.
Michiko was worryingly attached to the Suna jinchuuriki. She fussed over him, showered him with affection and once even took a whole hour out of her schedule just to cook for him. The way she regularly dispensed life lessons was disturbingly similar to how she treated Itachi. Akio had mixed feeling about the whole arrangement. It made Michiko happy (she looked really cute when she was happy), but it ran the risk of ending up like her relationship to Itachi (which caused Michiko to freeze over and royally pissed Akio off).
Speaking of the bastard, all 12 contestants gathered in a VIP area that gave a perfect view of the arena. There was the Iwa team, the Kiri swords team and a Kusa team. According to Itachi's report, their power levels were all enough to get them promoted. The Iwa and Kiri teams were glaring at them while the Kusa team was merely on guard. Itachi stood silently before the railings looking like a fucking princess doll as usual with his stupidly long hair waving in the wind and the sunlight somehow managing to frame him perfectly.
Whereas Itachi looked like he belonged on the front cover of a fucking hair care magazine, Michiko was as grubby as usual, sitting behind a table mashing buttons on her handheld calculator. She didn't do as much exercise so she spent longer periods without bathing. Akio had to wipe her face and hands and convince her to change clothes for the tournament while Michiko was more concerned that her handheld calculated wasn't as powerful as the main calculator and many important functions were missing. Akio had convinced her that she could just save work that could be used to fill the time between matches and that she didn't need to pull even more all-nighters. Michiko had been providing less resistance to his care and listened to him more, but every day was still an uphill battle to get her to eat or bathe. Akio had cooked just in case Michiko finished or felt like eating, but that was very unlikely. He'd even entertained the idea of bathing her for ten seconds before realising that was completely inappropriate and he didn't need Michiko picking any more weird habits.
(He also won't be able to bathe her without popping a boner and completely embarrassing himself but that was beside the point.)
Akio set a bento in front of Michiko. "You should eat a little." Akio opened the box and Michiko looked up when she smelt the takoyaki. After staring at it for a second, she popped one in her mouth and went back to doing math equations and jotting down potential answers.
Akio sighed in relief. He lined out all the eight boxes of food that he had prepared before her and made sure they were in arm's reach. They won't grow cold because of the seals on the bento boxes so he opened them up. Eight boxes of food might seem like a lot, but spoons took up most of the space. He found that Michiko was more likely to eat if the food was bite-sized and easy to pick up. He ended up cutting all the food and placing a toothpick on every single piece. He was happy when Michiko started eating more before realising that he couldn't do that for important staples like rice and noodles. Thus, he placed them in large spoons with bits of meat and small vegetables in them so Michiko didn't have to spoon it herself. But then he realised that Michiko was less likely to eat them because the spoons were too big and they were more likely to drop food. This lead to an experiment in which he bought a huge variety of spoons to see which was the best one. Once he had one that was just the right size and caused minimum spillage, he bought 50 of them and donated the leftover spoons from the experiment.
It was only after Katashi pointed it out that Akio realised that maybe he had caught a little of Team 11's insanity. Whatever. It was for Michiko's sake.
"Hey, Uchiha! Isn't that a little hypocritical of you?" The Iwa kunoichi in the corner said. Akio proceeded with opening up the bento. "Uchiha, I'm talking to you!" Akio glanced over at Itachi, but Itachi didn't seem to react to the kunoichi. Shrugging, Akio continued his task.
Growling, the kunoichi stomped over to Akio and reached to grab him by the shoulder. Akio grabbed the kunoichi's arm before she reached him.
"What's your problem?" Akio asked.
"Listen when people are talking to you, you bastard!"
"Oh, you were talking to me?"
"Who else would I be talking about?"
"I thought you were referring to Itachi. I quit being an Uchiha quite a while back. Since the Uchiha are huge crybabies who kick up a fuss over the smallest things, not many people refer to me by that name."
The kunoichi yanked her arm back and crossed her arms. "Whatever. What's your deal?"
"What do you mean?"
The kunoichi snorted. "Don't play dumb. You were going on about how women belong in the kitchen during the first phase and now you're serving lunch to a girl. What's your deal?"
"Oh, that?" Akio glanced down at Michiko. Michiko shrugged. "Michiko-chan told me to be like that."
"Hah?"
One of the kunoichi's teammates grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back to her group but she stubbornly resisted. "I told you it was an act. Didn't you hear the rumours? That Nara girl attracted and provoked every team she could and then slaughtered them. She probably provoked everyone on purpose so she could wipe them out."
The third Iwa-nin looked at Michiko doubtfully. "That little girl? She's like, only 15. It's probably the little Uchiha over there."
"No." The Kiri kunoichi spoke up. "I saw her myself. With that much blood on her, she must've killed at least 10 people."
The Iwa kunoichi turned to Michiko. "So? What's your deal?"
Michiko didn't bother looking up. "All inquiries are to be directed to my PA."
The Iwa kunoichi slammed her hands down on the table. "Look at people when they are talking to you! Argh! This is why I hate Konoha ninja! They're all privileged and arrogant clan brats who think that they're all powerful and that everyone is beneath them!"
Akio grabbed her shoulder and pulled her off the table. "Don't disturb Michiko-chan when she's working."
The Iwa kunoichi slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me, you sexist pig!"
Akio looked down at her and snorted. "Who would ever want to? I'll happily ignore your existence if you don't bother us."
"Are you trying to pick a fight?"
"I could ask the same thing."
"You-"
A Suna chuunin burst through the door. Despite his violent entry, his voice was one of disdainful displeasure. "As long as you carry your forehead protector, your behaviour reflects upon your village. You are capable enough to be considered for promotion and are viewed as adults by your country. Many of you have even reached physical maturity. I would have thought that such disputes were beneath you. If you would like to be taken seriously, I suggest handling the situation with a little more tact and civility."
The Iwa kunoichi hissed in annoyance but was smart enough not to rebut against a foreign senior officer and stomped back to her teammates. Akio sat on the table and the chuunin stood by the door. The 12 genin waited in tense silence for a few more minutes before the announcement speakers blared to life.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Katashi, the proctor for the final phase of the Sunagakure Chuunin Examination. In this tournament, the matches will be randomly generated by a computer and the results will be displayed on the screen behind me. The rules are the same as any other chuunin exam tournament so those unfamiliar with the rules may want to refer to the pamphlets located near the refreshment booths. Without further ado, we will begin generating our first match-up." The delivery of the announcement was completely flat and failed to inspire any sort of hype. Akio was fairly sure that Katashi was reading off a script as the announcer took over and begun to do a better job.
Akio snorted in amusement. "Katashi's pretty horrible at this whole thing."
Michiko had temporarily diverted some of her attention to the screen that was quickly flashing through names. "Almost all the males I come across display some degree of emotional incompetence. He's not that special."
The first name was decided and the name 'Suimi' appeared. The crowd cheered and the second name began generating.
"Does that include me?" Akio asked.
"Obviously."
"You said almost. Is there anyone in particular?"
'Suimi' was apparently the Kiri kunoichi and her opponent was a Kusa-nin. The Kiri kunoichi grinned as she turned to her opponent.
"Looks like it's going to be you and me, buddy. Let's go."
The two headed down to the arena. Now that the match was decided, Michiko turned back to her calculations. "Remember that friend I mentioned?"
"You mean the one with lots of money?"
"Yes. He's about the most emotionally stable male that I'm close to. He's even a little above average by my standards."
"You're close? But I thought he was just a friend."
"He is the first person I took under my wing in the last 13 years of my life."
"Oh." As her PA, part of his duties involved remembering as much of Michiko's network as possible. He knew he didn't know all of it and probably would never, just because having someone who knew everything was stupid. But Michiko was publicly announcing her connections with this mysterious person that Akio had never heard of.
Akio was curious. Akio was very, very curious and maybe just a little bitter.
The two of them took their positions on opposite sides of the field. The crowd cheered and placed bets as Katashi signalled for the start of the match.
Suimi immediately dashed forward, brandishing her sword as the Kusa-nin ran through an earth jutsu. Earth was strong against Water and Suimi's face twisted in displeasure as spikes erupted from the ground, blocking her path. The Kusa-nin was a ninjutsu type and he used another earth jutsu. Slabs of the ground rose and moved to trap Suimi. Meanwhile, Suimi sheathed her sword, grabbed her water canteen and emptied it. Blades of water sliced the base of the earth slabs and she pulled out a scroll. She unrolled the scroll facing outwards and Akio instantly recognised it as a storage scroll tuned for liquids. The Kusa-nin guessed what the scroll was for and immediately threw shuriken at the scroll but it was too late. A flood of water gushed out of the scroll, knocking the shuriken off course. Suimi unravelled the scroll even further and continued unleashing more water into the arena.
It was beginning to look bad for the Kusa-nin and he backed off before the water could touch him. Michiko had used similar tactics before. Between her shadows and her water jutsu, Akio knew from experience that touching the water could be deadly. If the Kusa-nin stayed in the water and if he couldn't stop Suimi soon, he would be at a crippling disadvantage.
But while Suimi was busy emptying her scrolls, the Kusa-nin could've shaped the terrain to fit him or at least surrounded Suimi with his earth jutsu. Akio didn't know much about earth jutsu, but Noa used some and she wasn't that great at it. Maybe the Kusa-nin wasn't that good at earth jutsu? But wasn't he a ninjutsu type? Maybe he was the weak link of their team.
"What clan are you from?" The Kusa-nin asked.
"How do you know I'm from a clan?" Suimi replied.
"Scrolls like that are crazy expensive. With Kiri's economy, that's the only way you can afford such tactics."
Suimi smirked. "I am Asaka Suimi. Have you heard of the Asaka clan?"
"Can't say I have."
"Then no wonder you're trying such obvious tactics."
Suddenly, sharp streams of water erupted from around Suimi and the Kusa-nin. The Kusa-nin barely escaped with a long gash down his left leg. Akio frowned. The water hadn't been very fast. It didn't even look well controlled. Even if it had been a surprise attack, the Kusa-nin had been fairly slow at escaping. It seemed as if his speed was even worse than Akio's and Akio knew he was slow as fuck.
As the crowd looked on in confusion, the announcer explained.
"It seems as if he tried to use the plants to suck up the water, but our Kiri kunoichi saw through him! She maintained a chakra connection to the water sucked up by the grass and caused the grass around him to explode with water!"
By now, Suimi had moved onto her second scroll. Akio wondered why she wasn't attacking with the water she already had. Michiko could defeat Akio with half that water. Then again, Michiko was all about precision. Maybe she preferred huge, flashy water jutsu? The water that had exploded from the grass had been pretty wild and unconcentrated. She probably wasn't that good at chakra control.
The Kusa-nin attacked head on with an earth jutsu. More spikes erupted violently from the ground, sending shards of earth flying out as they headed towards Suimi. Suimi grimaced but danced out of the way and continued releasing water. This continued for a while, but earth jutsu were clunky at best and Suimi was faster than the Kusa-nin, if only by a bit. She was still a lot slower than even Akio himself.
"Would you mind telling me more about the Asaka clan?" The Kusa-nin asked.
"Trying to gather information? Ah, well. It doesn't really matter. The Asaka clan doesn't have a kekkei genkai, but it has a hiden ninjutsu. Five variants, to be exact. Sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. It heightens that sense so much one can sense chakra even when not using the jutsu. Usually, an Asaka will have one they specialise in and most can do three by the time they hit adulthood."
"No wonder you were able to detect the grass sucking up your water."
"Yes. Can you guess which variant I specialise in?"
"Sound?"
"Correct! How did you guess?"
"You have a long fringe. It could get in the way of sight. Touch and smell would've made it hard for you to sense that tactic. You haven't been sticking your tongue out so taste is probably out. You winced at my loud attack right after you used your hiden ninjutsu to detect my grass, making sound the most likely."
"Not bad. So what are you stalling for?"
"Nothing in particular. It's just that the more water you release, the better it will be for me."
Suimi frowned. "What do you mean?"
The Kusa-nin smirked. "Let's start the true battle."
The Kusa-nin began walking towards Suimi's water. Suimi's frown deepened and she put away her scroll, readying her hands in front of her. As the Kusa-nin approached the water's edge, he slammed his hands down into the water.
"Lightning!" The Kusa-nin yelled.
The water was electrified, but Suimi remained unaffected. Suimi smirked. "A second element? Impressive, but is that all? All Kiri-nin have clothing that make them immune to water electric shocks. Did you think-"
Suimi frowned and her ears twitched. She swore and immediately begun backing away. The spikes that the Kusa-nin had previously created exploded. The force of the explosion knocked her onto the ground, into the water. She let out a scream, but gritted her teeth and used a water jutsu. The water near the Kusa-nin rose to attack him, but he held his arm out.
"Explosion Release!"
The water vaporised at the explosion. So he had a kekkei genkai. That meant that he had kept his explosive chakra within the spikes and set it off. Michiko had been doing that sort of remote detonation long before they met. Not to mention he was using a kekkei genkai, which made it a lot easier for him. Akio supposed he got points for the strategy, but at this rate, he couldn't imagine either of them being promoted based on this fight.
Suimi got to her feet hastily and drew her sword with her left hand, her entire right side still steaming from the electrocution. Her sword crossed with the Kusa-nin's tanto and while it was obvious that she was more familiar with the sword, it was also obvious that her right hand had been her dominant hand. It also didn't help that the Kusa-nin's left hand was shrouded in explosive chakra. Akio frowned. Even if it wasn't her dominant hand, Suimi's attacks were weak and a little too clumsy. Itachi was better at the tanto and he didn't even use it that much. Suimi couldn't even be compared to Michiko's skill. This was her specialisation, right? Unless she could pull out B-ranked jutsu like it was nothing, she was really weak. Given that she needed so much water though, that was unlikely.
As they locked swords, the Kusa-nin used his superior strength to push Suimi's sword aside enough for his left hand to meet her neck. Suimi immediately froze. The hand on her neck was steaming, a warning that he could activate his chakra at any time.
Suimi gave a small laugh. "I should've known. For a genin to have two elements, it's usually because they have a kekkei genkai. But are you really fine with revealing your trump card so early in the game?"
The Kusa-nin smirked. "There seems to be a couple of monsters this time around, but all I need is one good match. So what are you stalling for?"
Suimi crackled. "Nothing in particular. I surrender!"
As soon as the Katashi gave the signal, the announcer immediately responded.
"And that's the match, ladies and gentlemen! What a surprising turn of events! The victory goes to Kusagakure!"
The Kusa-nin removed his hand and Suimi sheathed her sword.
"You're hilarious. I'd ask for a rematch, but I don't think I'm up for it." Suimi gestured to her burnt arm. "Want to grab some coffee after you lose?"
The Kusa-nin raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me out?"
"Something like that."
The Kusa-nin gave Suimi a once-over. Suimi was a fairly pretty girl with chocolate hair, big blue eyes and tanned skin. She had a wider figure, which was typical of Kiri girls, defined muscles and a C-cupped bust. Michiko was still ten times prettier in Akio's opinion and she was only 13, leaving a lot of room to grow. Akio was sure that if he got Michiko to eat better and take regular baths, she would be the most beautiful girl in the world.
(Akio was somewhat aware that he was a little biased but whatever. Michiko was still the best.)
The Kusa-nin grinned. "I guess I'll take you up on that offer."
Katashi cleared his throat. "If you are done flirting, we need to carry out the next match. Please leave."
As they exited the arena, medics moved to help Suimi but she pushed them away. After a little argument, the two of them returned to the VIP area with a medic tending to Suimi so she could watch the matches.
The Kiri-nin with the broadsword sighed. "Suimi sure lost quickly. I expected better, but she was always a real bitch."
Akio glanced at him. "Really? She didn't seem that strong. Her chakra control was shit and her kenjutsu was average."
The Kiri-nin frowned at him. "Then you mustn't have looked very hard. She could remotely control water within an enemy's jutsu and she can wield swords in her non-dominant hand."
Michiko and Itachi had been doing long distance elemental manipulation within the first year of training and Akio could do it within the second year. Being ambidextrous was a given and right from the start, Michiko and Itachi had no preferred hand. Akio had a tendency to use his right hand, but Seishiro had beaten that out of him before he died. Neither the Kusa-nin nor the Kiri kunoichi had displayed a level of skill that was impressive or even unusual outside of their clan jutsu. Suimi hadn't done anything Michiko couldn't have done when they first met three years ago. Considering that water jutsu and kenjutsu were likely her specialisations, Akio could only view her as weak.
Akio returned his attention back to the screen as names begun flashing. "She didn't do anything impressive."
He flashed a shark-like grin. "You sure talk big. I hope you can back it up."
Akio snorted. "If being on Team 11 has taught me anything, it's that empty words get you nowhere." For someone like that bastard, that is. Itachi was shit with words, but a smart mouth like Michiko's could get you to places.
The screen flashed, revealing Itachi's name. The crowd went berserk and waited with bated breath for the second name. Itachi's opponent turned out to be the Kusa kunoichi. Itachi casually leapt over the railings, directly into the arena that was at least five stories down. The Kusa kunoichi looked a little nervous and received encouragement from her teammates before she took a much more normal route down.
Akio watched on in boredom as Itachi whirled into action the instant Katashi gave the signal. Without even activating his sharingan or bothering to draw any weapons, he crossed the distance between them in a blink of an eye and punched her in the gut. The girl coughed up her breakfast. Before the vomit hit the ground, Itachi was behind the girl and he kicked her across the arena. The girl slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the arena, causing the reinforced wall to crack.
The girl stood up unsteadily and stumbled. Her hands glowed with chakra and she got into a taijutsu pose. Her equipment didn't hint at any specialisations and she carried a few more weapons than usual, suggesting that she was taijutsu-focused.
Itachi stood in a casual pose as he waited for the girl to catch her breath. The audience gasped and the announcer quickly explained as the civilians couldn't see what had happened.
All of the participants except for Michiko were now completely focused on the match if they hadn't been already.
"I couldn't see anything!" exclaimed the Iwa kunoichi. "Damn, what sort of monsters are you hiding, Konoha?"
The Iwa kunoichi threw Akio a glare before turning back to the match. Akio looked at her in surprise. She couldn't see what was happening? Didn't Michiko say that all the Iwa team's members were in the upper-middle chuunin level? Then again, Itachi was definitely jounin-level and Akio was used to seeing him move.
Suimi spoke up. "I thought it was the Nara girl who slaughtered all those people, but this chibi Uchiha could definitely do the same thing."
The Kiri-nin with the broadsword glared at her. "That kid? Look at how nicely he's treating his opponent, you stupid clan cunt. The Nara bitch was definitely the one who sliced up all those genin."
Suimi rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Ian. Quit picking a fight. I'm just saying it's possible. What do you think, Umihiko?"
Umihiko replied in a monotone, deadpan manner not unlike Itachi's. "Improbable. Profile incomplete."
Ian glared at the Suimi. "See?"
Suimi glared back. "He said it was improbable, not impossible and also that he had incomplete information."
The two of them glared at each other for a few more seconds. The profile had said that their teamwork was amazing for Kiri-nin, but Akio supposed that just meant they didn't seriously try to kill each other over petty disputes.
The match continued soon after that so the Kiri-nin's attentions were refocused. Seeing as the Kusa girl wasn't going to attack him, Itachi slowly walked towards her. The girl edged her way towards Itachi as well, clearly still trying to recover from his attacks. The moment Itachi was in range, the girl threw a punch, only to miss by a whole meter as Itachi sidestepped and slammed her into the ground from behind. The girl hit the ground and bounced a couple of times before she rolled away and struggled to get up.
Akio was mildly surprised at how weak the girl was. Wasn't this supposed to be the top of this chuunin exam's participants? Despite being taijutsu-focused, the girl's punch had been slow as fuck and had practically no power behind it. Taijutsu was Itachi's weakest area and while Itachi's speed was a bit higher than Michiko's, his physical strength was fucking terrible. Akio could beat Itachi in an arm-wrestling contest with little effort even if Itachi used chakra and both his arms. Itachi hadn't even been going that fast and the girl was struggling after three hits. But then again, the Kusa team was the weakest this time round, having barely met Michiko's standards and everyone looked pathetic when compared to Itachi.
Before the girl could get up, Itachi pulled off his shurikenjutsu flawlessly, throwing 20 shuriken in under two seconds. Every single one just scratched her. They were so precise that even though they all made contact and their edges were razor sharp, none of the 20 scratches drew any blood. The girl was so stunned that she froze, clearly recognising the vast difference in skill. Itachi casually walked up to her with a kunai in hand.
As the girl contemplated her options and begun to shakily reach for her equipment pouch, Itachi made the kunai catch fire.
While the civilians cheered, the ninja in the stands were silent and wide-eyed. The atmosphere thickened so rapidly it was impossible not to notice. Their thoughts were obvious. To the civilians, it would just seem like a fancy trick, but all ninja understood the implications. Itachi had been doing one-handed genjutsu and sealless genjutsu for a long time, but while genjutsu require more control, it was also easier to do sealless once mastered because it was yin-based.
Elemental ninjutsu was a different story. One's chakra was comprised of different ratios of the two overarching elements, yin and yang, and the five elemental elements. It was easy to separate two elements, but juggling five was a lot more difficult. Being able to heat up a kunai with no seals was a common test in separating the elements. It meant that one was able to differentiate between the elements just enough to use them separately. The hotter the kunai, the better your control. But causing it to catch fire? That spoke of mastery, of being able to isolate an element until it was almost pure. It was the first step to nintaijutsu and that was what made nintaijutsu an S-ranked field. Akio knew that he would never reach that level no matter how hard he tried and every ninja had felt the struggle with their own chakra.
In other words, Itachi's little display put him very close to S-ranked territory at 9-years-old in a field where every adult ninja had wrestled with. Itachi's taijutsu was obviously jounin-level and Itachi's ninjutsu would be S-ranked in at most a year or two. Then what of his genjutsu, the pride of the Uchiha? How monstrous could this chubby-faced kid be?
The dumbfounded and almost crushed reactions of the ninja audience were easily understood by Akio. After all, it was something he felt everyday.
In the five seconds it took Itachi to approach the Kusa girl slowly, the civilians began to realise that there was something wrong from the ninja's reactions and the cheers started to die down. Itachi pointed the flaming kunai at the girl.
The girl, still stunned and on the ground, looked away. It would have been deadly in a real fight, but she knew that she had no way of winning.
"I surrender." The girl muttered to the ground.
The crowd couldn't hear her mutter, but Katashi did and he signalled to the announcer.
"We have a surrender! The match goes to Uchiha Itachi from Konoha!"