Chapter Fifteen
It was a three day journey to the Kusa border for shinobi, which gave the newly formed Team Fourteen a chance to compare notes on their skills and talents — up to and including light sparring to get a feel for each others' instincts and tendencies in battle. Muta, even after suggesting the latter idea, decided to remain distant from this process to help them focus on each others' skills, though he kept an eye on their spars and offered last-minute advice where he felt necessary.
Ken came to learn that Kato's skill set was very similar to his older sister's, if understandably less wide or refined. He had signed the Monkey Summoning Contract and had a strong relationship with a pair of snow-white, dark-skinned, and seemingly young monkey twins — resembling bonobos in the same way Yama resembled an orangutan — named Tsukumo and Sho, dressed in leather vests with Leaf headbands and wielding bokken, wooden katana. He was well-versed in hand-to-hand fighting and heavily trained in the escrima sticks he carried as well as kunai and shuriken, had mastered Fire Release and a few Sarutobi clan secret techniques including the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
Hotaru was a member of the Branch House of the Hyuga, a fact she vocally refused to be ashamed of even as she hid her seal behind her forehead protector. She possessed a byakugan of average range and potency and was, as befitting the protective role of the Branch house, highly-trained in the basics of the clan's famed Gentle Fist combat style and possessed excellent chakra control. She had also taken it upon herself to learn the basics of medical ninjutsu, with her byakugan acting as a powerful and precise supplementary tool for the art.
In turn, Ken shared what he could about his own skills. He was trained by an ANBU in close combat, skilled with shuriken, kunai, and his wakizashi, had decent chakra control and exceptional reserves, high stamina and a quick healing rate; not to mention he was a relatively newly-minted seal master of the Uzumaki school, which meant he was on a level above even other fresh masters.
When he mentioned sealing, Kato had finally noticed that Ken lacked a travel pack and commented on it, to which Ken had smiled and held out his arm that bore the leather bracer that covered his right forearm. On closer inspection, the bracer was carved with sealing arrays, which Ken activated to reveal several packs worth of supplies and weapons. "I was raised by an ex-ANBU who earned the title 'The Prepper'. Of course I know how to prepare," he chuckled. He then held out his hand for his teammates' packs and stored them in a different seal.
The night before they were set to cross the border into the Land of Flora and then arrive at Kusagakure, Ken gathered his new teammates for a private discussion, placing a quartet of privacy seals around them next to the fire. "So, you've both been through this before, right?" Ken asked. Both nodded. "What can you tell me about what to expect?"
The two teens looked at each other before Kato shrugged. "Might as well."
"The first stage, from what we've been able to figure out, is different for every Exam set," Hotaru explained. "It usually focuses on mental discipline, creativity, and focus; it weeds out those who lack the creative and outside-the-box thinking to be a chunin. The second set is usually a survival exercise of sorts to weed out those who are not physically fit for the rank."
"Then comes the fun part," Kato picked up. "The third section is a tournament. If there's too many who pass the second round, they have an immediate tournament to select the strongest contestants. Then the winners of that get a month to prepare before the real tournament, which is highly publicized to basically advertise each village's strength to each other and to clients."
Ken thought this over and sighed. "Okay, well … it's more than I knew before. I suppose it's unwise to strategize beforehand. So, we'll just have to make it up as we go."
"They are designed with that exact scenario in mind," Hotaru confirmed.
"Meh, we'll be fine," Kato decided. "I mean, come on. A Sarutobi, a Hyuga, and an Uzumaki. Representatives of three of the greatest clans in Konoha's history are going up against this thing. There's no way we can lose."
They arrived at the gates of the Villages Hidden in the Grass the next day just after noon, passing through the walls to find a village of stone and glass buildings with the infrastructure dotted by large gardens and groves of trees and giant mushrooms. Ken smiled at the focus on nature, remembering his various times in this country and village growing up.
As the Exams wouldn't begin until the next morning, Muta suggested the group explore in order to get a feel for the village before reporting to the hotel reserved for participants. And perhaps try and gather some intel on any of their foreign competitors in said Exams. Ken, as the only one with experience in this particular village, took the tenuous lead; it had been nearly ten years, but he could make his way without too much confusion.
"So what's with all the mushrooms?" Kato asked lightly, gesturing to a grove of mushrooms in a public display that stretched nearly as tall as Ken and just as wide.
"I'm not sure of the details," Ken answered, "but something about this country enriches the soil. Probably something to do with runoff from the Land of Cliffs and the rivers that have cut deep ravines throughout the nation. This rich soil has led to large forests of massive trees, vast bamboo groves, and the indegenious mushrooms. That's what led to the nation being named the Land of Flora."
With that little history lesson, the group continued its leisurely stroll through the village; and also their unofficial mission of collecting information on the competition. They bought a lunch of meat and mushroom skewers braised in a salty sauce and took a seat on a rooftop to view the village.
"Y'know, I've always wondered why they call them 'hidden villages'," Kato commented.
"How so?" Hotaru asked with casual interest, her manners impeccable even when handling a skewer.
"Well, for one, they're not hidden," he noted. "I mean, everyone knows where most of them are. The only shinobi village I can think of that is actually, literally hidden is Taki." He took a bite of his meal before continuing, allowing his team to process his comment. "And then there's the size of these places. I mean, look out there." He gestured at Kusa as a whole.
"This is supposed to be a minor village, right? Or at least the village of a smaller nation. Villages are supposed to be smaller than towns, but I would call this a decent town if not a large one. And Konoha's even bigger than this, both physically and population-wise."
His explanation was met with silence before Hotaru spoke up. "It's probably a traditional term," she replied, having quite a bit of experience in such a thing. "They've been called 'villages' for so long that no one wants to change it. What's the phrase? 'Don't fix what isn't broken'."
"Not to mention when these 'villages' were founded they were probably much smaller," Ken added. "It's been under a hundred years since the end of the Warring States Period, right? That's a lot of time to have civilian populations grow even after three wars."
The group's introspection led to a comfortable silence for some time before Hotaru picked something up with a flash of her byakugan. "I think I've got a bead on some non-Kusa participants," she said, keeping her body language loose and relaxed to avoid suspicion of local shinobi.
"Talk to us," Kato whispered.
"Judging by clothing styles and weapon choices, we've got several groups from Kiri, Ame and Suna, and a few from Iwa, Kumo, and Taki." Hotaru, whose byakugan were still active, glanced at Ken as his muscles tensed. His face was stony, and she couldn't help but notice that he'd tensed at the mentions of Kiri and Kumo. "Everything alright, Uzumaki?" she asked.
Ken let out his held breath and nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."
With his still-hardened gaze on the remains of his food, he missed the look his teammates traded. Was he really okay? Kato shrugged and Hoartu nodded. They'd have to wait and find out.
As Team Fourteen moved on to continue their exploration, a child on the street had her eyes fixed on them. The child, a young girl, brushed her red bangs from her face and readjusted her glasses. Why she did this, even she couldn't say for sure; it just helped her to focus the technique her mother had taught her to open her mind's eye and see the energy of ninja, to see chakra.
And the chakra of one of those Leaf shinobi looked awfully familiar.
"Karin?" The girl, Karin, looked back to see her mother approaching. Karin, a bright girl, frowned at the faint age lines that had slowly appeared on her mother's face during their time in this village; age lines from the stress of her duty healing the wounded with her special healing power. Karin was afraid to think of what would happen if the hospital ever reached her limit. Would they force her to take up this duty?
"Come along, Karin," her mother said, hefting a paper bag of groceries. "We need to get the ice cream in before it melts." Karin took her mother's other hand and let her lead the way to the small house the village provided for them.
"Mama?" she asked hesitantly. Her mother looked down at her with a quizzical look. "Will we see the Chunin Tournament?"
Her mother sighed, the lines on her face seeming a bit deeper for a moment. "Yes, dear. I will be assigned to heal the wounded there." She arched an eyebrow. "Why do you ask, dear? Are you hoping to see some stunning displays?"
Karin glanced backward, her fledgling chakra senses already sharp enough to track the familiar chakra she had seen before. "Something like that," she replied.
The next day, the rising sun greeted a steadily growing collection of prospective chunin gathering at the location given to the jonin mentors; the location of the first phase of this year's Chunin Exams.
The growing group was settled in front of a chain link fence separating them from what looked like an unfinished hotel. Hotaru had taken the initiative to scan the area with her byakugan and told them the building was divided into multiple floors, each containing a series of long, parallel hallways with a room at the end of each of them. Dozens of chakra signatures resided within, too.
A crowd-twitchy Ken, who had applied a Transformation seal into his brown-haired and dark-eyed persona, discreetly checked his watch for the upteenth time. The orders for the Exam had stipulated that the participating teams arrive at the location by seven o'clock, but the number of teams didn't quite match the records.
What was supposed to happen to the teams that were late?
As if in reply to his thought, the gate of the fence was enveloped in smoke that cleared to reveal a Kusa shinobi in standard attire and a bandana-style forehead protector with Kusagakure's stylized grass symbol. "Listen up, fresh meat!" the shinobi shouted into a megaphone with a voice so gravelly he couldn't have used it often. "Whatever teams have not arrived or are missing members are now disqualified! Punctuality is a part of the job, and if you haven't figured that out you don't deserve a promotion.
"I am the proctor for the first phase of the Exam, so let's get this show on the road. All of you are about to receive a wooden disk with a floor and room number. Your team will report there for further instructions! Any jostling or fighting from this point in the phase will result in immediate disqualification!" With that, the proctor disappeared again and the gate rolled open. Two chunin stood and were asking for team names and handing out disks about the size of an open hand. The line moved slowly, but Team Fourteen had gotten there early and were some of the first through.
Ken was eternally grateful that the powers that be, and the Lord Third, had been kind enough to put a Hygua on his team. They found their room without trouble and awaited instructions. They didn't have to wait long before a PA system squealed and emanated the proctor's voice, now more clear and soft-spoken.
"To any who have not reached their room, we know who you are and you are disqualified. To those of you who are in position, congratulations on mediocrity. Now, behind the door before you and the curtain behind that is a set of three lowlit parallel hallways. They all lead to the same place: a back room containing a chest, which in turn contains a scroll and a disk identical to the one you have been given.
"The hallways are patrolled and monitored by chunin who are under orders to detain anyone they can catch; the hallways are their territory, the curtained-off areas and back rooms are neutral zones. Your mission for the first phase is to enter the back room, memorize the contents of the scroll, and return to the starting point with the disk in hand. From there, you will be quizzed on the contents of the scroll.
"Failure to summarize the scroll's contents or return with both disks means failure. Returning with the scroll also results in failure. Dealing serious harm to the patrollers will result in failure. Any candidates who are caught by the patrollers will be detained until the end of the phase. However, if even one of your teammates completes the parameters of the Exam, your team will move on."
Team Fourteen each thought they could hear a collective sigh of relief. "But, all of your team must participate in this phase. Relying on only one or two members will result in failure." The tension racked back up with those words. "You have thirty minutes to complete your mission or fail. Begin!"
Kato took the job of monitoring time, setting a watch to thirty minutes. "So, anyone have any ideas?" he asked.
"First, we must examine the instructions," Hotaru cut in. "The parameters were very strict and are tailored to have us fail if we try to deviate too far from a specific mission type."
"Infiltration and memorization of sensitive information," Ken surmised. It was a simple set-up: a shinobi would be assigned to break into a fortified area and steal information that may contain weaknesses for an enemy or provide a source of strength for their village. Corporate espionage was a fairly common application. The important aspect of it was to remain undetected; being discovered could lead to anything from alienating a powerful business to a full-blown international incident.
"Is it just me, or did the proctor say we were out if we get caught?" Kato asked.
"Which means distraction is an option," Hotaru finished. She activated her byakugan and examined the hallways. "Give me a few moments to examine their patrol route and timing. If they're on a strict clock, we can use it to our advantage."
While she clocked the "guards," Ken and Kato looked to each other. "If they're at all competent, they're not all going to fall for any number of distractions. He said the guards couldn't receive serious harm, which means we can probably choke them out," Ken noted.
"But if we're caught, we're out," Kato noted. He grinned. "But it doesn't really mean anything if they catch a shadow clone or a summon, does it?" Ken grinned in reply. After a few more minutes, Hotaru drew a quick diagram of the patrols and timing on a scroll Ken had produced.
While the team waited a few more moments to wait for an opening in the patrols, Ken produced a handful of shadow clones while Kato summoned his monkeys and filled them in on the plan. Hotaru counted down her fingers … Three, two, one. They parted for Tsukumo and Sho to enter and make as much noise as they could, drawing several faux-guards into the far right and keeping out of their way to keep them occupied.
Hotaru tsked at the sight of two guards staying behind to guard the back room. Naturally, that was where the shadow clones came in. They ran down the middle and left corridors, slapping sealing tags along the walls and drew the last few guards into the far left hallway.
And like a flash, the real Team Fourteen bolted for the back room, Hotaru keeping her byakugan flared for any signs of interference. They just made it as the memories from Ken's dispelled clones caught up to him, the guards returning to see the curtain of the back room flapping closed.
As the team took some time to catch their breath, Kato let out a shrill whistle to give his summons the signal to return home. Not for long, as they would be needed for the second part of the plan, but it would get them out of "enemy" hands. After a brief discussion on the wording of the rules, they each copied the contents of the scroll to carry.
Then came the question of who would carry the hand-size disk, the key to their success. This was the real catch; if the person carrying the disk was caught, they would all fail.
"Hotaru," Kato said. The Hyuga seemed surprised at his words. "Your eyes are best suited to anticipating an ambush. Ken's got his shadow clones to bar the guards' way and I've got my summons, too. It's just like the way in here, except we just need you to get back through."
"It's a good plan," Ken admitted with a small smile. He couldn't help but think that Tomoko would be proud of her little brother's decision.
Hotaru nodded and took the disk, securing it in her robes. She flared her byakugan and timed the partols, which had reverted to their original schedule. But first she noticed the sealing tags lining the walls. When she asked about it, Ken laughed to himself.
"I totally forgot about those during the chase. Okay, quick change of plans. Hotaru, let me know when the most guards are about to be in the halls with the tags. Cover your eyes and ears before I activate them, and then get ready to run." The younger genin nodded and Hotaru counted down. She relaxed her byakugan and covered her ears as Kato did the same and Ken made a one-handed seal. With a flash of light and a sound that was more percussive than loud, the team darted back toward the entrance, keeping to the previously far left that was now on their right.
Most of the guards were incapacitated by the flash-bang seals Ken had activated, but the ones from the hallway furthest from them were nearly unscathed. The guards appeared on each side and charged for them. Kato summoned his monkeys while Ken conjured his clones, each group carefully redirecting the enemy forces to allow Hotaru the chance to slip through to freedom and success.
As more and more memories flooded Ken's mind, he caught an image of the girl's robes passing through the curtain. "She made it!" he cried, before a sucker punch caught him in the jaw and stunned him long enough for the guards to restrain him and force him against the wall. Ken could barely see Kato in a similar bind from the corner of his eye.
"Let's wait and see if your teammate is worth your faith," one of them said neutrally, as calmly and without malice as if he were commenting on the weather.
After a few minutes, a sharp whistle echoed through the chamber and the guards let them go. "Team Fourteen passes," one of the guards declared.
After the rest of the allotted time had passed, teams of prospective chunin were gathered once again before the building of the first phase to listen to the proctor explain the point of the test. Ken glanced around at the teams, about two-thirds of the amount that had gone in, and tried to make himself shorter. He was without a doubt the oldest person here by a fair number of years.
"As you all should be aware," the proctor said through his megaphone, "chunin are leaders amongst their own kind and genin. They act as team captains and they are given duties that require intelligence, competence, and decisiveness. And they need to be able to see the truths of a situation in order to determine the most logical course of action.
"Some of you will eventually rise to the rank of jonin, while others will remain chunin for the rest of your careers. And while seeking a promotion is admirable, make no mistake that chunin are just as necessary. You are the grease that keeps the cogs of the village rolling, the buffer between greenhorn genin and the relatively few jonin. Your minds are as valuable as your techniques and will elevate you far further than flash and pomp."
With that, the proctor threw down a smoke bomb that cleared to reveal another person entirely; a woman, also in standard attire, with close-cropped black hair, a large hook hanging from one ear, and her forehead protector tied diagonally across her chest. "Silence!" she shouted, her presence quieting the crowd down. "Most would congratulate you on passing the first phase of the Exam, and I am no exception. But I can assure you that by the time you finish the next, you will regret not giving up now.
"Every passing team retrieved a disk as part of your first test. On one side is the location of a training ground outside this village and the other a gate number. You all have a half hour to report to gate one of this training ground for further instructions. Those who are late will be disqualified. Ready, go!"
Ken took the disk and examined the title of the location, the words making his skin pale. "Oh boy."
Thirty minutes later, all of the qualifying teams were gathered before a massive electrified fence with a sign reading, "Training Ground: Thirteen - Gate One." The proctor arrived and scratched off the very few teams that had not arrived before ordering them to collect liability waivers in exchange for the first wooden disk from the first phase to compete in the second phase of the Exams.
"This phase is a survival exercise to prove to the powers that be that you have the skills, the resourcefulness, and the sheer grit to survive on the missions of a chunin. If any of you score a promotion from these exams, the gloves are off. No more coddling or hand holding; you will be sent on missions that will encounter enemy shinobi and other dangerous elements for likely unsavory goals. But you must prove you have the will to not only survive, but complete your missions.
"There is a base in the center of this swamp that acts as your end point. While inside the swamp, each team will have to survive attacks from wild animals and other teams while finding food and clean water. And to make things more interesting, you have three days, including the rest of today, to retrieve a disk from another team. Any teams who arrive at the base with one or no disks, or arrive after the time limit, will fail. Only those who arrive with two will pass.
"Be forewarned: killing is not prohibited in these Exams, but is not looked kindly upon. Should there be proof you killed a team, it will reflect poorly on your chances to be promoted, should you have that opportunity. Just something to think about. Now, ten minutes to report to your designated gate! Move!"
Several minutes later, the team stood before gate thirteen. "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence," Kato muttered, his arms crossed as they waited. Hotaru seemed to be meditating to pass the time, while Ken had elected to lift his sleeve and check a diamond-shaped seal beneath the underside of his wrist.
Without warning, the gates flew open with a clank, allowing them to enter. And as they did, Ken swallowed thickly at the wet, black ground and the bright or discolored vegetation around them.
"Welcome, everybody, to the Swamp of Despair."
Chapter fifteen! Fair warning, I will be slowing down my updates to weekly from here on out - I just thought ya'll could use some extra content after a 4-5 month hiatus.
*A lot of the info on the Hidden Grass and the naming conventions of the shinobi villages is based on my own reasoning. It was VERY fun to analyze those topics.
*I'm not gonna lie: Coming up with the first phase was HARD. Sorry if it seems weird, I was prioritizing uniqueness. But, whacha gonna do?
Hope this was fun to read! And next time we're taking a look at the goings on back in the Leaf. Leave a review if you liked it - they keep my will to write up! And may your inspirations flow freely!