Two days had passed since Team Seven returned from the Forest of Death, and since Naruto had learned the truth behind his parentage. In that time, the three Genin had managed to bond somewhat better with each other, and Kakashi had successfully managed to seal the Cursed Seal of Heaven that Orochimaru had branded Satsuki with (a painful process that everyone involved regretted). Now that the five day period had drawn to a close, the nine teams that had survived the forest were gathered within a small arena located within the tower itself, waiting to be addressed by the Hokage.

The first of the teams to arrive had been the Three Sand Siblings, who had set a new record by making it to the tower with two scrolls in ninety minutes. The next to pass had been Team Eight, who had come across the corpses of the second team Gaara had slaughtered and took that scroll into their possession. Third to arrive was Team Kabuto, who were the last to arrive on the first day, followed by Team Zabuza early on the second day. Team Ten and Team Gai had also arrived on the second day. The Oto team had arrived early on the third day, followed by Team Yugito and Team Seven as evening had drawn in. After that, the exam had continued, but no other teams managed to pass successfully by the fifth day's end.

"Congratulations to all of you on making it through the Second Exam! Normally, there are not nearly so many teams, but clearly this year's crop of examinees is quite exceptional. Now then, if Mister Gekko would be willing to take it from here, that would be excellent" Hiruzen said, looking to a somewhat sickly-looking man wearing a standard Konoha flak jacket.

"It would be cough my pleasure cough, Hokage-sama cough" the man said, turning to address the crowd. "My name is cough Hayate Gekko, and I am the proctor for cough this stage of the exam. Now cough unfortunately, there are too cough many contestants to advance to the actual finals one month from now, so we will cough be holding a preliminary qualifier round. Would anyone wish to cough drop out of the competition, now that this tournament is every man for cough himself?"

Kabuto raised his hand. "I'm out" he said. "I got injured back in the forest, so I no longer wish to continue."

"Kabuto Yakushi, your request is granted" Hayate responded, before the computer generated the first matchup.

"Satsuki Uchiha, Yoroi Akado, please cough remain in the ring. The rest of you may cough return to your seats" Hayate said, before addressing the two contestants.

"Good luck, teme" Naruto said, elbowing the Uchiha slightly.

"Like I need it, dobe" Satsuki responded, rolling her eyes slightly. Her opponent was a tall man wearing a Konoha fore head protector and a mask over his face, with sunglasses obscuring his eyes.

"The rules are cough simple: the fight will continue until one of the two competitors is incapacitated or surrenders. No unnecessary killing cough; otherwise I will intervene. With that said...begin!"

The taller man's face (what was visible of it) betrayed no emotion whatsoever, but underneath the mask he smirked. "Thanks to Orochimaru-sama's Cursed Seal, the Uchiha should be unable to use any chakra whatsoever...not that it makes a difference against my ability."

Much to his surprise, however, the Uchiha immediately wove several hand seals. "Katon: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Yoroi's eyes widened under his sunglasses. "What the actual fuck? This shouldn't be happening-!" he began in his mind, before the fireball hit him.

"AAAAAARGHHHHH!" the undercover agent screamed, partially out of pain and partially out of shock at something that should have been impossible happening. The stream of fire tapered off, leaving a burnt Genin lying on the floor in agony. The last thing he saw before passing out was the Uchiha walking away from him, the sealed Curse Mark visible on her shoulder. "Orochimaru-sama...I failed you..."

"Yoroi Akado has been incapacitated. Satsuki Uchiha cough wins!" Hayate called the match.

The Uchiha climbed the steps of the arena back into the seating area, taking a seat next to her teammates. After a few moments of silence, Satsuki finally groaned. "That...was the most boring fight of my entire life."

"I know, right?" Naruto exclaimed. "He didn't even dodge your Great Fireball! Lamest match ever!"

"Shut it dobe" the Uchiha groaned, not wanting to relive the utter letdown of a match that had gotten her to the finals.

"Shino Aburame, Zaku Abumi, please come to the ring."

With that the Oto Genin and the Aburame heir made their way to the ring. "Are you ready?" Hayate coughed.

"Born ready!" Zaku responded gleefully.

"You may proceed, Gekko-san. Why? Because I am-!" Shino stated, when the man interrupted him. "Begin!"

Zaku sprung into action, shooting blasts of air, sound and chakra from the holes in his palms. "Decapitating Airwaves!" the Oto Genin shouted, as both his blasts hit Shino head-on...only for the Aburame to dissolve into a Bug Clone. The real Shino stood nearby, eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.

"I would advise that you consider forfeiting. Why? Because-!" Shino began, before Zaku cut him off again. "Again! Decapitating Airwaves!" This time, the Aburame dodged, before charging in and engaging Zaku in a taijutsu battle, the duo exchanging rapid-fire strikes as the other Genin watched in awe. "Not bad...not bad at all" the Kiri kunoichi commented, as Shino ducked under a swing and hit a palm strike to his opponent's chest, forcing the Oto shinobi back.

Zaku hissed in pain. "Dammit! Why won't you just die already!" he growled, raising his hands again. "Using that ability again is unwise. Why? Because, your-!" Shino started, only to get cut off yet again. "Enough! Take this!" Zaku roared. "DECAPITATING AIRWAVES!"

And then the boy's elbows exploded violently.

"GRAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Zaku screamed in agony, looking at his crippled left limb and the bloody stump of his right arm. Small black insects crawled out of the wounds as Shino approached.

"During our taijutsu battle, I snuck some of my family's signature kikaichu into the holes in your arms, blocking the air vents that you used to attack. I could have explained why continuing to fight me was unwise, had I not been interrupted" the Aburame stated neutrally.

Hayate took a quick look at the Oto shinobi's arms, and, suppressing a wince, looked towards the audience. "Zaku Abumi cannot cough continue; Shino Aburame wins! Medics - now!"

As the medics carted Zaku off for immediate trauma treatment and possibly surgery on his remaining limb, Shino returned to the stands, where all the other Genin sat in stunned silence. Finally, Kankuro spoke up. "...I didn't think you had it in you, but that was brutal!" the puppeteer said.

Shino cocked his head. "It did not seem overly violent to me. Why? Because I attempted to provide ample warning about the dangers of using his abilities." Everyone present sweatdropped at how casual and neutral a statement this was.

"Ino Yamanaka vs Karasu no Kankuro...begin!"

The blonde started off the match by throwing a number of shuriken at the puppeteer, who did not dodge. The spiked weapons embedded themselves in the puppeteer...who did not react at all. "What the fuck?" Ino said, voice just above a whisper. Then, the boy shot forward and threw the Yamanaka to the ground underneath him, Ino finding herself unable to move under his physical strength. "I surrender! Please don't let Kankuro-san do anything lewd to my innocent, virgin body!" she shrieked.

The package on Kankuro's puppet's back wiggled slightly, before a voice asked "What the actual fuck, woman?" from within it.

Hayate sighed loudly. "Ino Yamanaka has forfeit. Karasu no cough Kankuro wins!" The red-faced Yamanaka made her way back up to the stands, the very disturbed puppeteer following her.

"Sabaku no Gaara, Misumi Tsurugi...please cough come to the ring" Hayate called. Gaara appeared in a swirl of sand, while Misumi walked slowly down the stairs. The match lasted about five seconds before Gaara crushed Kabuto's teammate inside a ball of sand before Hayate could stop him. "Winner...Sabaku no Gaara" the proctor said, slightly shaken by how effortlessly and automatically the red-haired boy had murdered his opponent.

"Now, can Neji Hyuuga and Hinata Hyuuga please come to the ring?"