'Thoughts' "Speaking" Author's Notes "Bijuu Speaking" "Telepathic Talking"
Writers block.
Do I need to explain more?
Oh yeah and also: school.
=Chapter 17: Start the Finals!=
"Damn it, so I have to put that mask again?!" whined Boar as he kept on complaining about why he had chosen to transform into someone with dark green hair.
"Then why'd you choose dark green hair? You could've chosen maybe red or not even transformed at all! It's not like they'd know who you were!" responded a frustrated Horse. "Plus, don't insult my hair colour like that, even if it is a different shade."
Boar grunted in his transformation before disappearing into the bustling crowds of Sunagakure, flocking to the stadium to watch the fight. His two teammates disappeared in a whisper, supposedly finding their teammate.
The training weeks had been... pretty eventful for the graduating teams. Onoki personally trained his team from Iwa, along with some of the top commanders to secure their win in the finals.
Kirigakure? Good luck trying to find a team training there, with all the mist and random islands dotted around the place.
Konoha? Well... you know what happened there...
Suna? None of the citizens of the city never saw their aspiring ninja over the weeks and so wondered where they were.
Kumo? No one knows too...
The great doors to the stadium opened and the crowds rushed, anticipating the matches and placing their bets on the teams they thought they would win. A few minutes passed and the crowds filtered into their seats as the trumpets blasted signalling the start.
"Welcome everyone to the Jonin Exams final! As most of you know, this is a replacement for wars and for strengthening alliances between villages! This exam is fairly new and now let's start the first ever Jonin Exams! Now let's welcome Iwagakure!" called out a voice through speakers before the crowd roared as the team from Iwa appeared on the stadium floor and landing on top of created rocks.
"Kirigakure!" Water seemingly flooded part of the arena as the water formed the shape of three humanoids, before bursting and revealing the team from Kiri, with the famous twin swords Kiba, being held by the leader.
"Sunagakure!" Sand filled part of the arena as the three disguised teams arrived in style.
"Konohagakure!" A large spike of chakra was felt before nine figures leapt into the stadium, revealing the Konoha Chunins.
"Kumogakure!" A flash of lightning and then two teams appeared in the arena out of nowhere.
"And let the games begin! Please can Konohagakure Team Gai and Kumogakure Team 24 stay while the other teams make their way up to the viewing area!" called out the voice before Darui appeared in the stadium. The teams made their way up to the viewing area while the two teams started to face each other. The ground in the arena changed with an open desert taking control of the arena floor.
"I'm your proctor for this match and no holding back. This will secure your place as a Jonin. Finals Match 1: Start!" Darui brought his hand down before the two teams immediately tensed up.
"Gate of Joy: Open!" Lee's skin turned red, his pupils disappeared and a green aura surrounded him. He disappeared and reappeared behind the Kumo-nin. Only their trained reflexes allowed them to dodge the attack in time, although still getting hit by the shockwave.
Sand flew into the air, clouding the arena before being pushed away from the pressure of Lee.
"Triple Rising Dragon Scrolls!" Three scrolls were thrown into the air and started swirling around each other. Weapons flew out of them, an extremely thin string attached to them, heading towards the disguised Team.
Snake threw senbon at the incoming projectiles before jumping out of the way and realising it was useless. The weapons hit the front where she was before she looked at her teammates. They managed to deflect most of the weapons incoming, albeit a few scratches on them from the stray kunai.
The weapons rattled before being drawn back into the scrolls, waiting to strike.
"Snake Lightning!"
"Earth Style: Rock Spikes!"
Snake put her hands down on the ground before lightning erupted out of the sand and reaching for the Konoha-nin. Rocks sprouted behind the channel of lightning before forcing the nin to dodge the attack by hair's breadth.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Sakura called out as a dragon burst out of her mouth and soaked the sand beneath it as it charged towards the disguised nin. (1)
"Summoning: Single Rashomon!" A large gate rose out of the ground from Ox's command, shaped like a traditional samurai palace, save the face on the great gate in front. The dragon impacted the gate, turning the sand around into mud. The gate sunk back into the ground, leaving the area clear of any ninja.
"Striking Shadow Snakes!" A crack appeared in the ground behind the nin before Lee jumped up in response. Snake jumped out of it before snakes rushed out of her arms, only to be intercepted by Lee who kicked them away.
"Morning Peacock!" Lee called out at almost point-blank ranged before hitting the air and creating fireballs from the friction. Snake smirked before a cactus appeared in her place, being burnt without hesitation.
"Strike!" Boar flashed in front of Sakura and got ready to kick her, before he retreated from the incoming barrage of weapons.
"Watch yourself!" Tenten looked behind her to see Boar hit her on the back, knocking her clean out.
"I could say that to you too!" Sakura charged in and hit Boar square in the face and sent him flying backwards to the arena wall, knocking him out too.
Boat's teammates sighed in relief that his transformation hadn't dropped suddenly before re-focusing on their task.
"Youth!" Lee appeared behind Snake before kicking her into the air multiple times. Lee aimed for the final hit with his fist and succeeded, sending Snake straight into the sandy arena and creating a hole her size. He then spat out blood, his gates closed once more and he landed on the ground. "What is this?!"
"P-p-pois-son..." came the weak voice of Snake.
Sakura, on instinct, rushed over after finally healing Tenten and began to extract the harmful substance out of the body as Tenten faced of against Ox.
"Take this!" She unsealed a mace from a scroll before getting ready to hit Ox with it.
"Rashomon Chains!" Dark metal chains sprouted out of the ground and collided with the mace before Tenten unsealed a sword mid air and going back into the battle.
Over where Lee was, Sakura had finally finished extracting most of the poison with Lee showing signs of recovery from the damage.
"Good, it won't kill you. Now sight tight while I help Tenten."
"Damn you!" Ox ducked under a sword swing from Tenten once more before hitting her in the stomach. "Why you..." Tenten roared in pain.
"Cha!" Sakura punched the ground and it split in half before rocks rushed out of it. Ox widened his eyes before a rock flung him into the air. His last vision consisted of two fists heading for his head.
"Winner, Konohagakure Team Guy!" called Darui as the medical corps rushed onto the scene and tended to the injured. The crowd roared in approval of the great match before the Konoha-nin jumped back into the stadium.
"Onto the next match!" The sand disappeared in the arena before it turned into a meadow, a few trees littered around the edge of the arena. "Please can Sunagakure Team 1 and... Sunagakure Team 3 come down please?"
=Elsewhere=
Three figures looked upon the deserted figure of the Gedo Statue, sealed deep underground.
"So this is how we catch the bijuu and revive Kaguya?"
"Affirmative, although it appears there are slight traces of tailed beast chakra for the first seven."
"Will that be enough?"
"All that will be affected is the time."
"We should focus on getting that desert tanuki first, since it is the weakest."
"Let's go boss."
The statue sunk into the ground and the three figures disappeared, before the cave started crumbling in on itself.
=Sunagakure: Kage Lounge=
"My my Kazekage-dono, two of your shinobi teams? I wonder how they'll cope," stated Onoki, chuckling to himself.
"I would prefer if you don't indirectly or directly insult my shinobi, Tsuchikage-dono. I am not know as the master of the desert for no reason."
"Cocky aren't you? My team will surely beat yours."
"I wouldn't be so sure, remember what happened when Mizukage-dono, said that." Gaara looked over to see Mei with her head down. "Anyways, let us continue." 'I wonder how you're going to do this, Naruto? Fighting against your own teammates.'
=Arena Floor=
Menma grit his teeth as he eyed down his comrades. Why was this world so cruel to him? He didn't deserve this!
'This wasn't planned, someone must have sabotaged the- Danzo.' Menma grit his teeth, his nails and teeth starting to sharpen slightly.
"Now Naruto before you jump to conclusions-"
"Finals Match 2: Start!"
"-you might want to think this through-"
'I'll show that old geezer what I'm made of.' Menma disappeared into air before appearing behind his own teammates.
"-I give up."
'Leader-sama's serious!' were the thoughts of Team 3 before they exploded, burning the trees in their area.
"Ninja Art: Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Temari brought her fan up and pockets of air collided with each other, tearing apart the trees and causing the members of Team 3 to jump out of hiding.
"Plasma Style: Lion's Fist!" A yellow aura came from Tiger's hands as he launched towards Kankuro only to be trapped at the feet with puppets. "The hell is this?"
"Puppet Art: Desert Dunes Trap!"
"Wind Style: Sea Dragon Jutsu!" Two green tornadoes formed out of the clear sky, spreading dirt and trees across the arena, before heading towards the trapped Tiger. A log appeared in his place before the two tornadoes clashed, disappearing in the aftermath.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" called out Menma as he appeared behind Dog.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Only trained reflexes allowed her to react in that way before the wall rose up, blocking the blast of wind and shattering moments later.
Menma reached in to punch, only for him to hit the ground as the Horse and Dog jumped away. "Wind Style: Great Gale Palm!" Menma reached into his pocket and threw out shuriken and kunai, followed by a large gust of wind in the palms, increasing their speed.
"Striking Attack Lance!" A silhouette flashed before disappearing, followed by a puff of smoke and a large weapon of a grey handle with two spear heads at the end appeared in Horse's hands before she brought it down to hit Menma.
"Wind Style: Air Bullets!" Pellets of wind appeared behind Dog before rushing at Menma who started jumping about on the ground as not to get hit.
"Focus on your surroundings! Plasma Style: Lion's Beam Barrage!" A red and yellow aura surrounded Tiger before multiple white orbs appeared around him, only for them to shoot a beam, disappear and reform around him elsewhere.
The ground was torn apart from the immense pressure before the flashing lights disappeared, the air pellets gone and the weapon out of sight. Menma stood panting, tired and gasping for breath but unscathed from the attacks.
"Wind Style: Air Current Dance!" Temari swung her fan up, followed by dust from the ground and loose leaves and trees before a great wind threw them towards Team 3.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" The wall formed but got torn into pieces from the attack of wind and rubbish just seconds after.
"Plasma Style: Lion's Head!" A translucent lion head engulfed Team 3 before its mane turned red, the fur turning orange. It roared, sending shock waves through the arena, before bracing itself against the incoming attack of clutter.
The two teams regrouped from the attack, panting for breath and analysing their opponent, even if they were teammates. Most of them were just imagining this as one of their spars but knew better.
"Karasu and Kuroari, come forth!" Kankuro threw two scrolls into the air before two of his puppets came out of them, their teeth ready to kill. "Poison Mist Inferno: Consecutive Needle Combo!" He flicked his fingers and the two puppets scuttled around their opponents before Karasu launched a gas bomb at Team 3, surrounding them in a purple smoke before both puppets fired senbon out of their mouths into the mist.
"Scale Powder: Blast from the Sky!" Naruto heard the booming voice of Chomei before senbon fell lifelessly to the ground from the defence.
"Wind Style: Air Bullets!" Pellets of air rushed out of the purple smoke, forcing Team 1 to jump out of the way as not to get injured.
"Wind Style: Cutting Air Scythes!" The great fan swung up before fast-moving wind scythes headed for the mist and splattering of blood could be heard. "How did that..."
Paper rushed into the air showing Dog evaded that attack but no so much as Tiger who fell to the ground, cut in many places with blood bleeding out.
"Well... this was one match I couldn't win..." Darui came into the arena and took Tiger out as to not get hit by the soon-to-exist attacks.
The remaining three Orange Flames nodded to each other before engaging in a fierce blow of Dog and Horse evading Menma's punches and blows.
Menma ducked under a swipe from Horse before kicking Dog, only to hit thin air as she flickered away.
"Release!" An almost undetectable genjutsu revealed paper bombs lying on the ground around the black-haired boy. The patterns on the tags started glowing yellow before exploding
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" A large gust of wind headed straight for Horse who leapt backwards doing the hand seals for Earth Style: Mud Wall. As if on cue, she ducked her head behind the wall as the blast of wind tore the top half apart.
Horse seized this chance to run forward and punch Menma, only for it to be intercept with Menma's own.
"What do we do, obviously we can't go on forever, that will raise too much suspicion!" came Horse's voice through their bijuu link.
"We'll lose. We can pretend to be injured but patrol the arena for those Otsutsuki." Horse shook her head in the link before sighing.
"You sure about this?"
"Positive."
"Wait! What about the transformation?"
"Kura will take care of it."
"Damn you brat."
The colliding punches echoed throughout the arena before Menma was thrown back, blood seeping from his hand. "Well, it's about time anyways. Let's finish this! Temari, Kankuro!"
"Come forth Sanshouo!" Kankuro unsealed a third scroll revealing Sanshouo: a salamander puppet. "Ninja Art: Dancing Attack of the Trio!" Each puppet started moving and weapons started appearing out of books and crannies in them.
"Wind Style: Hurricane Force Winds!" The sky rumbled as the wind picked up into a stormy gale in the arena.
"Great Spiralling Ring!" A purple orb formed in Menma's hand before multiple thin white rings formed, each different sizes and orbiting around the centre orb before they aligned around the centre. Menma brought the orb up before it grew in size, the main body reach the size of his head.
"Wind Style: Wind Shuriken!" Dog brought both of her hands up before a faint outline of a wind shuriken could be seen forming, before dragging the air around it at extremely high speeds.
"Scale Powder: The Rage of 7!" Above Horse, a line moved around, creating the outline of '7' before it filled green and emitted smoke. She brought her hands together before a forest green orb formed it in, particles being drawn towards it out of thin air.
=Kage Lounge=
Danzo looked over the scene unfolding and started pondering: what was going on? This was Sunagakure!
Sunagakure!
Joint weakest with Kiri out of the elemental nations!
He sighed internally and made sure to get his spies to work on this. Something was out of place and he didn't like it. At this rate, they'd be a threat to his nation, especially with the rumours they have allied with Kumo.
He was cut off by his thoughts and listened into the conversation with the Raikage and Gaara, along with Mei joining in at times. Some small talk of power, techniques and alliances. Well, just a trade alliance or something. Suna and Kiri didn't like each other too much, with them being the weakest nations and such.
=Arena Floor=
"Attack!" Dog threw her spinning disc first, only for Menma to counter with his own attack.
"It's just wind! How the hell is it so strong?" Menma commented before leaping up into the sky and starting to throw multiple shuriken. Kurama face palmed at his containers idiocy. Could they really have forgotten about Rasen-Shuriken already?
The three puppets leapt forward and extremely fast speeds to Dog who had to keep dodging as the puppets launched senbon, kunai and paper bombs at her. Horse took this chance to attack and shot her beam towards Menma, only for him to dodge and the beam to start to circle around the centre of the storm.
"Hurricane Force Winds: Attack!" The sky turned darker as the ninja were starting to get pulled out of the ground, with seals to protect the onlookers and city bursting into life all around them. Menma lost balance first and got pulled higher and higher into the sky from the winds before being dropped down the eye and landing face-first on the ground.
"Rage of 7!" The green beam shot towards Menma who only sighed and let the attack win. It exploded on contact and Menma's scream could be heard through the arena. Dirt piled into the air as the smoke cleared and Menma's unconscious form could be made out on the ground, with a flicker later making him disappear off of the field.
"Shuriken!" Shuriken appeared out of the air as Dog aimed at the remaining two members as they flew through the air, extremely small ninja wire attached to them. "And that's not all!" A seal pattern enveloped the shuriken before they hit the puppets and the two siblings.
The shuriken glowed the familiar explosion colour before taking out the three puppets belonging to Kankuro, who was quickly taken out by a chop to the neck. Horse appeared next to Dog, balancing on the tree branch as they watched Temari grip her fan.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!" Temari looked behind her and jumped out of the way as pellets of dirt came fired into the sky where she was before.
"Now you're open!" She looked back to see Horse jump at her, using the air to boost her speed. Temari released the jutsu and the wind started dying down as Horse reached Temari with her hand and grabbed her which caught the sand kunoichi off guard.
Temari felt herself be pulled back before being thrown towards the floor of the arena and landing like Menma: face-first onto the ground.
She steadily got to her feet and faced the two other sand kunoichi before fainting onto the ground.
"Winner: Sunagakure Team 3!" Darui called out. The spectators erupted into cheers and applauding for the match before the medical corps rushed onto the scene of battle and brought the fighters in for healing.
"Now for the next fight, please can the arena now change," said Darui back to his bored voice before the arena shifted once more, forming a rocky landscape with towering rock pillars across the arena. "Now, can Kumogakure Team 25 and Konohagakure Team 8 come down please!"
=Elsewhere, again=
"I don't get it. I really, really don't," Naruto ran his hand through his spiky hair. "I get that by you have to use shadow clones but it's impossible!"
"Not impossible, but improbable," came the words of a figure approaching the pitch.
"Also, why the hell does boss leave a clone to try and do it. No wait, five of us! Working with myself is awkward and annoying! Anyone's I'm going to dispel now. He should be finished now so it's alright. See you later old man!" And with that, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, fading back into the wind.
The figure sighed before looking up into the sky and spoke to no one in particular: "Otsutsuki. Your reign of terror is going to be over soon."
So... How'd I do? Good? Bad? Awful? Trash? Amazing? Tell me!
If you have any suggestions, let me know and I'll incorporate them if I like them!
Feel free to tell me if you want any fillers to explain somethings that don't make sense, for example: HOW/WHY IS FUU ALIVE? or HOW DID NARUTO BEFRIEND KURAMA? or others like that.
I'm going to spend a bit of time polishing some chapters and clearing up any plot holes, as there are quite a lot in this story that I really want to get rid of, so chapters might take a fortnight now.
And that's all for now!
See you later: Ja ne!
