It was to the uproar of applause from the hundreds of spectators literally packing Konoha's stadium that Jiraiya watched Naruto and the other Chunin hopefuls walk out. Each with various stern looks etched onto their faces, with the notable exception of Gaara and Shikamaru who both appeared to be as apathetic as they always appeared.
Eventually, the competitors came to a stop in a line in front of the final exams proctor, a lackadaisical-looking Jonin named Gekko Hayate. His sword strapped to his back, and to a very keen observer moving awkwardly about the waist, as a relatively fresh set of bandages was woven tightly over his chest.
Jiraiya glanced around at the company he had chosen to sit with, the various Konoha Jonin sensei from this year's crop of graduates, as well as Gai, the everpresent green jumpsuit-wearing taijutsu beast practically shaking in his seat muttering something about youth and his precious students. Kakashi appeared to be glad to have both the toad sage and Asumu between himself and the youth-loving man.
As if on cue, the Green Beast spoke up "Yosh, I almost can't wait to see our students battle Kakashi-Kun. I am certain it will stoke their flames of youth to burn brighter than ever before! I'm certain you trained Naruto as hard as I did Lee-Kun during their month break, and I am eager to see the results of your hip and cool tutelage!"
"Mah mah Gai, if you shake any harder you may just break your seat. Besides, I didn't train Naruto at all over the month." The copy ninja responded, eyes not once appearing to glance over towards his compatriot.
For his part, Gai looked flabbergasted at this, as did the other Jonin in attendance. But before he could speak up about this shocking revelation, it was surprisingly Kurenai who butted in. "But Kakashi-san, certainly you aren't so lazy as to completely ignore one of your students like that?"
"Well, for one Kurenai-San, there isn't really all too much I could impart upon Naruto other than purely physical conditioning." The masked man spoke up, "His prowess with his swords far exceeds my own in technique, and most of my other specialties don't really match up with his. Our little Naruto-Kun was all but a chunin when he came to me." The copy nin took a lazy pause.
"And 'B' he spent far more time with his research and smithing than any time he would spend training with me." He appeared to finish his statement, before glancing over to the other legendary ninja sitting next to him. "Besides, it isn't like I left him high and dry, he certainly spent some time training with someone."
The look of realization was apparent on all of their faces. So that was why the Sannin was seated with them? Had he spent the last month personally training this genin? If so, Kakashi's half-drunken boasts to them in the previous weeks about 'His golden team would spear through the competition like he did through porn in public' may not be that outlandish.
The collective Sensei may not all have a solid grasp on the Jinchuriki's exact abilities, but none of them doubted he was already quite skilled. Even with an at best apathetic population, word spread like wildfire about a prodigious weapon smith who graduated early and survived an encounter with the rogue Sannin.
Asuma finally spoke up, happy to have something to turn him away from Gai's excited antics. "So one of your brats got training from Jiraiya-Sama for the whole month? No wonder you were so cocky about their success." Asuma's own opinion of the Sannin might be a little tainted from their relationship with his estranged father, but he certainly still respected the hell out of their power. S-rank titles weren't handed out like candy to schoolchildren.
At this Jiraiya butted in, figuring he would indulge the 'plebeians' around him if only a little. "Actually, I didn't really spend the whole month training him, I am in the village on business after all. And I only actually worked with him on any strategy a few days ago."
Once again, all in attendance balked at this revelation. Either Jiraiya was as lazy as his student's student, or Naruto really didn't need much help for a ninja like Jiraiya to be confident that he could win. "Fuck!", was the uncharacteristic reply from the genjutsu mistress. Causing Kakashi's face to finally break out into an eye smile, the curl of his lips visible beneath his mask, and Jiraiya's own to appear confused.
"No wonder you made such a cocky bet, you bastard." She said to the copy nin. Who played his part perfectly, looking as innocent as a newborn and gesturing to himself in a 'who me?' motion. Asuma also looked downtrodden, if less so than Kurenai. Gai was the only one whose expression remained more or less unchanged, still supremely confident in his pupils.
At Jiraiya's questioning glance she spoke back up, elaborating on her outburst. "The dirtbag bet me three months' pay that his prized student would ream his way through the competition." She paused briefly, "There is no way I'm actually doing something that perverted you porn reading cyclops, I didn't know he was going to be trained by a damned Sannin when I agreed to that." She finished, a blush heavily evident on her face. The other Jonin sensei present nodded their heads along with her, apparently having made bets with Kakashi as well.
"Actually, I made that bet far before I had any idea Naruto would be receiving outside training at all, let alone from Jiraiya-Sama." He said before a perverted grin appeared on his face "And besides Kurenai-san, a deals a deal. I expect the pictures in a glossy print in my hands in two days' time, by the way."
At the mention of pictures, and the look on Kakashi's face, Jiraiya's interest peaked. And his pervy senses were tingling. "I'll give you signed manuscripts of everything I've ever written for a single picture Kakashi. Whatever you want…" The copy ninja's hand shot out so fast for a handshake that an outside observer would swear it was a jab meant to kill.
But Kurenai interrupted, "If even a single one of those sees the light of day you perv, I'll personally castrate you with-" but her threat would go unheard, as the start to the first match between Naruto and Neji had just been signaled.
—-
Naruto stood across from his first opponent of the day. No weapons currently visible on his person, although the telltale outline of some of his larger throwing knives were spaced sporadically about his person. His swords are currently sealed away in an attempt to piss off the Hyuuga in front of him. Not that he expected it to work, he just figured he would try.
Neji, did his best to look the part of the Hyuuga prodigy he held himself to be. Stern faced and all but literally looked down his nose at his competition. Really, what paltry attempt was this at trying to get under his skin? He wasn't nearly as dumb as the blonde's opponent from the previous round of the exams.
"Just because you were fated to be lucky and have such an unskilled opponent as you did previously does not suddenly make you better than me." He spoke up. "I bested you in the academy, and I'll continue to do so here. Face it, you are fated to lose, you will forever be grasping at the coattails of your betters."
It was true, if only partially. Neji had graduated one place ahead of himself at the academy, and Naruto had only ever beaten him a small handful of times in their spars during that time. But those were strictly taijutsu affairs, so Neji had a significant advantage even without the use of his Hyuuga taijutsu style. His superior size, reach, and technique made it hard for Naruto to beat him. But once again, that was a long time ago, and strictly taijutsu.
In response to Neji's well-thought-out and scathing taunt, Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders and flipped the older genin the bird. Holding his hand out for everyone in the arena to see it. He swore he could hear Kakashi giggle when he did so, but he also shrugged that off as having spent a little too much time with his nonchalant sensei.
Neji, now properly incensed, withdrew a brace of kunai and let them fly at the disrespectful blonde ninja. Figuring it would at least make him withdraw the gesture, maybe even put him off balance a bit. But what he definitely couldn't expect would be for his target to simply reach out and pluck each kunai out of the air.
That wasn't all too impressive though, he had thrown them rather hard and close together, and both Lee and Gai-sensei had done things far more impressive to mid-air weapons from both himself and his bun-haired teammate. What was impressive was as soon as the blonde plucked each blade out of the air, they seemed to disappear. Each kunai went into his hand and vanishing almost as soon as he touched them.
It wasn't until the sixth and final thrown weapon was grabbed did he notice anything directly out of place. It almost looked as though his opponent had melted them? But that made little sense, even some of the strongest fire ninjutsu wouldn't so much as begin to melt a kunai, let alone doing so this quickly.
Activating his doujutsu so as to not only rule out genjutsu but to try and figure out his opponent's trick. But he noticed nothing unusual, yes he was covered in metal weaponry but nothing that even resembled one of his previously airborne kunai.
The blonde simply stood there, as bored as when the match first began. Neji decided trying to puzzle this mystery out was most likely worthless and he chalked it up to a trick meant to further the blonde's mental game. So he dashed in, hands raised and ready to strike.
What should have been a devastating combo to many of the blondes' non-vital internal organs and chakra points was merely batted away by the blade that appeared in the blonde's hands. Neji quickly readjusted both his chakra control and his posture. Covering his fingers in more chakra than normal, a lesser-known Hyuuga jyuuken technique that allowed them to combat sharp weapons. And his posture dropped much lower than what most would expect of a jyuuken practitioner.
At this lower position, he was able to angle up and in towards the blonde's chest, another burst of jabs leaving him as quickly and more powerfully than before. But what should have been something too close inside the blonde's guard to have a hope of blocking, was still met with stiff resistance.
His first two jabs were met by the lower half of the blonde's weapon, Neji fully intended for this, allowing these opening strikes to push the sword up and away if only half a foot or so. But that was more than enough, his next salvo of blows were not aimed directly at chakra points like beforehand. But instead, they were aimed at his opponent's organs and larger pressure points, his Jyuuken strikes were no longer able to inject his own chakra into Naruto's body due to the change in coverage, but they were able to hit much harder than any normal strike had any right to.
He struck four times, both kidneys, a pressure point in the ribs meant to stun, and the final blow aimed at the stomach. But all of his blows were blocked by something quite hard, yet still relatively malleable. Allowing the blonde to tank the blows with almost no reaction, and retaliate by bringing the pommel of his Jinshaku down on Neji's head.
The sudden and intense force behind the strike, along with Neji's surprise, brought his head down even lower. His head now around Naruto's waist and off balance he didn't have the leverage or speed to dodge the next strike, a powerful knee right to his chin. This knocked the Hyuuga's head up into the air very sharply, his body following quickly behind his head.
If Neji hadn't spent nearly every waking minute of his life practicing and drilling his taijutsu, both with his clan and with the premiere taijutsu utilizer in all of Konoha. That blow might have just been the end of the bout. But instead, he landed hard on his back, and in a display of agility proving his work ethic he rolled into a backward somersault and pushed himself into the air, landing back on his feet. Only looking a bit worse for the wear, and further away from his opponent.
Pushing through the head-rattling pain, Neji immediately readied himself for what should have been Naruto pushing the advantage in a series of devastating blows. But instead, the blonde simply stood in place, a smirk hinting at his lips, and sword point tilted down towards him.
Neji's eyes narrowed, and the raging fire of his ire burned in his stomach, but he stilled himself. A chunin, let alone a Hyuuga chunin, did not give in to psychological taunts like that. And that is how he must act if he wished to gain the rank. Besides, with his all-seeing eyes, he thought he may have spotted what allowed the blonde to shrug off some of his strongest blows, but he needed to be certain. His visage shifted to a frown of annoyance, and he dashed back in to re-engage his opponent.
Unbeknownst to Neji, Naruto was not playing some deep psychological game to incense his opponent. It was simply rather difficult to pull off this technique, and move at the same time. Sure he could probably pull it off against a slower or weaker opponent, but a Hyuuga was certainly not one of those things.
Turning Neji's thrown kunai into molten metal was all but child's play to the weapon smith. The first step in the chakra smithing process was basically the same as breathing to Naruto at this point, and he consistently did it as a chakra control exercise and smithing practice. But the second part was a bit more difficult.
Moving the mostly melted-down kunai around his body under his clothes and jacket, heating it, protecting himself from the heat, and constantly playing with the consistency to allow it to absorb a significant amount of the force behind the blows, was a whole nother technique entirely. He actually thought of it because of his sparring with Neji back in the academy, although he hadn't had a workable version down until a few months after he was already a Genin. And even then it took him until a month or two before the chunin exams to be able to do it while fighting, even if he needed to mostly stay in place. But it had certainly been worth the effort and hours upon hours of chakra control exercises and burns along his body.
He was able to easily block most of the Hyuuga's strikes with his swords, occasionally allowing a jab or two through his guard. A move that would normally be intensely damaging at best, and fatal at worst against a jyuuken utilizer. But with his pieces of moving metal armor, he could safely take the blows, allowing him to take out swift and brutal reprisals in the form of strong pommel blows, sharp knees, and deep but nonlethal cuts from his chakra-smithed weapon.
After only a few minutes of fighting, Neji finally separated to gauge his opponent. Naruto barely looked ruffled, and the Hyuuga prodigy looked as if he had just gone four rounds with a blender. Deep cuts and bruises littered up and down his body, two more bruises appearing on his face alongside the one already formed on his chin from the knee he took in the opening 'exchange' of the bout if you can call a one-sided beatdown an exchange.
Meanwhile, the crowd was collectively losing their minds, cheers almost deafening the two combatants. The Konoha natives, and those who had some knowledge of the shinobi arts, were not only impressed with the very skilled-looking blur of a fight but at the fact that someone was beating a Hyuuga up close and personal and doing so with what looked like apathetic ease. While the visiting spectators were simply excited and enthused about the frenzied exchange of blows, and such an intense opening fight for the tournament.
Neji had finally figured out how the blonde was managing to negate his taijutsu so effectively, not that he actually had anything even resembling a clue as to actually how the blonde was doing it, but he had certainly seen the metal liquidating and moving around his opponent's body, both softening and blocking his blows. The problem was, he had absolutely no idea as to how he could get around it.
Even at his faster speeds, the blonde had seemingly little problem using his sword to deflect his blows, and while he definitely could get around the blade if he really wanted to, the gleaming edge of the sword threatened him with what would happen if he overextended his reach even minutely to do so.
That meant he would either need to slip past his opponent's guard with a disabling blow faster than Naruto could cut him, which was unlikely seeing as how Naruto had been taking those hits like they were thrown by a greenhorn academy student. Or, he would need to disarm the sword wielder, which he also guessed would be all but impossible, not even thinking about the backups he was sure to have, Neji could literally see the small armory of knives and other sharp objects hidden under Naruto's sleek uniform.
That did leave one option, one Neji hadn't planned on using until much later in the tournament. But he refused to let a fated failure like the one in front of him embarrass him any further. With a sharp nod, the Hyuuga gathered his wits and moved in once again, this time intent on ending his opponent.
For his part, Naruto simply kept to the same part of the ground, only ever shifting his body to change his stance or move his sword to annoy, harass, deflect, and injure his opponent. Although something was different from before, the blonde just wasn't sure what.
True, the look in Neji's eyes had definitely steeled over, but that was to be expected. He was getting his ass handed to him by someone he considered a destined failure. Someone that the village as a whole had deigned far below them, even though he had graduated early and displayed skill in his chosen arts, although Neji didn't know why they treated him like that. So it wasn't the look in his eyes that had changed.
It was only after the fourth set of rapid jabs from his white-eyed opponent that Naruto really noticed the difference. Neji was striking to kill, or at the very least maim him. His heart, lungs, a few dangerous clusters of arteries and veins, even his neck. But Naruto deflected them all, having not allowed Neji a chance to even strike at his body now.
Not that he was worried about the damage most of the blows would actually do, as they weren't necessarily harder or faster than before, and he could still use his trick to block and absorb them, they were just aimed with much more intent.
Naruto simply wanted to draw Neji in closer, make him commit to a strike more than he should, so that he could begin dealing far more dedicated and damaging blows. Shortening the match, and further displaying his prowess and tactical forethought to the judges. It was after doing this for a while that he saw his opportunity, Neji finally put more power into one of his jabs than he had on anything else he had done previously. Far more. Like, way more.
Naruto allowed this one strike, the last one in a very long series of strikes that he had counted out. Seriously, who the hell calls out and then counts their strikes like that? He allowed this final strike to pass into his guard, once again taking the blow meant for his right lung and blocking it with the melted-down form of Neji's kunai. It actually hurt a good bit this time, easily more than anything Neji had thrown at him previously, but it was still nothing compared to a blow from the toad sage.
Naruto was prepared to strike back out with his sword, looking to make two quick yet deep slashes under Neji's arms in his armpit, making it much harder to throw lightning-fast jabs like he had been all match. But before he could execute this maneuver he suddenly realized that Neji didn't look panicked or surprised at all.
Naruto soon noted why, as chakra was extolled from Neji's body violently as he spun up in the blink of an eye. The force of his rotating technique threw Naruto back, in a manner reminiscent of how Naruto had done so to him earlier at the start of the match. If not in form, certainly in distance and force.
Naruto quickly rolled and came back up to his feet, annoyed, but altogether not too worse for the wear. "Of course, you can use the Kaiten, you arrogant bastard." He let out, both annoyed and begrudgingly impressed. Although his words were barely audible to Neji over the deafening roar of the crowd, this was certainly a spectacle to behold.
If you listened closely, you could hear a shout of something that sounded weirdly like 'youth' over the roar of it, but both contestants chose to ignore that. The Kaiten would make things more difficult in the long run, but certainly not for this match.
Slowing his spin down to a halt, Neji stood facing him, arrogance once again returned to his face. "You see now that you are fated to lose, no?" He bit out, "Even with your cheap tricks you have no hope of penetrating my perfect defense, your defeat is inevitable."
"You know…" Naruto began, "The problem with every other ninja naming a technique like that, something like the 'perfect defense', or the 'unstoppable spear', or the 'lightning cutter', is that it makes it all the more disappointing and embarrassing when that name is proven wrong." At this, a ninja with gravity-defying hair in the stands was thankful for the mask covering his embarrassed face, because it would be far too 'uncool' for one's own students to embarrass you like that in public. He'd prove the little shit wrong at a later date, now was the time to act unfazed and save face.
With his theatrically motivated piece said, Naruto abruptly flung his prized sword as hard as he could at his opponent. Fast enough to surprise Neji, not only at the speed and force of the throw but that he would throw his main weapon away. Only for the Hyuuga to quickly and easily spin up once again with a shout of "KAITEN!"
Although a brief screeching could be heard from the weapon hitting the technique, it did not pierce it, bouncing off harmlessly to the side. The anticlimax of such a failed throw, seeming like a desperate gambit, was only put off by the very quick follow-up of Naruto appearing in front of him holding something that Neji thought resembled a spear.
In the split second, before Naruto could bring the weapon down on his 'perfect defense', in what Neji assumed to be another futile attempt to overwhelm him, the stern-faced Hyuuga was able to recognize the weapon as a naginata, as his teammate had used one on him previously. He watched as the blade was quickly brought down on his protective sphere of projected spinning chakra, and cut straight through it like it was water. Wavering only a minute amount before continuing right on through.
Both the force of the powerful blow Naruto had brought down on him, combined with the sudden shock of his technique and therefore his rotation being so forcefully interrupted, caused Neji to drop like a sack of potatoes. Hitting the floor of the arena, his knees buckled under him and removed any energy he had left in him. It took all of his pride and willpower to not simply pass out, and even then he most likely had a concussion from the force of his head slamming into the ground.
There was a single mind-numbing beat of quiet throughout the arena, and then a second, and finally a third. Before Naruto was suddenly deafened by the cheers and screams of the gathered audience. Surprise evident from the pause and looks on most faces, but awe soon replaced them.
"How?" Neji asked simply, barely gasping the question out. Even breathing was a bit of a struggle at the moment.
Hayate arrived a little late to call the match, but at this point, no one was listening to him anyway. The results were already known.
"Simple really, it cuts through chakra." His answer was honest and yet just as confusing.
'How in the hell could he possibly have something that cuts through chakra like that?' Neji thought to himself, that is in no way a simple thing.
That was also when the realization struck him, 'If he could cut through chakra like that the entire time, this fight was over from the start. He could have ripped right through my gentle fist even with my extended chakra protection.' The realization that he had lost before the fight even began was enough to make him finally release his strenuous grasp on consciousness. The medics had already arrived to remove him anyway, it mattered very little.
Naruto, for all intents and purposes, looked as healthy and rested as when he had started the match. Only looking a little miffed that he had needed to reveal his Chakra Forged naginata at all, let alone this early in the tournament. Stupid Hyuuga bastards and their stupid 'perfect defense'.
—-
The reactions and chatter in the Kage viewing booth was certainly exciting at the conclusion of the match. With four village heads in the room who had so far spent most of their time making well-veiled jabs at each other, had all truly been stunned by the conclusion of the match. It was the Mizukage, Mei Terumi, who spoke up first.
"No surprise really, even without that surprising weapon reveal at the end he had certainly had the fight from the outset." She quipped, Hiruzen found her observation to be a little blunt, but also entirely accurate. Although, as the Hokage, he certainly had more information to work from than she did. He was formulating a reply, one composed of both wit and class, when another voice spoke up.
"My my Mei-Dono, you were certainly quick to count such a prodigious Hyuuga out. Please tell me it wasn't simply because Naruto-Kun was wielding a sword compared to the gentle fists bare-handedness?" The voice belonged to the leader of Otogakure, the self-proclaimed 'Otokage', and former Konoha ninja, Orochimaru of the Sannin.
For her part Mei did not bristle at Orochimaru's use of the 'Dono' honorific, even if she wasn't really on the level of a Kage politically, she was more than fearsome enough power and reputation-wise to be allowed it. Even if doing so broke decorum and brought up a lot of unanswered political questions.
"Of course not, Orochimaru-chan," spoke the Mizukage, needling her 'fellow Kage'. "If I'm not mistaken, and I very rarely am, that is the Uzumaki Naruto." She continued, allowing a pause for the other Kage to turn their attention to her as the next fight was called to start. Some Nara and a sand-nin with a large battle fan. "One of my ninjas has confirmed that, among other things, he is the one to have slain Momochi Zabuza, the former wielder of the Kubikiribōchō."
The emphasis she had placed on the word former did not go unnoticed by her compatriot Kage, although it had drawn a rather quizzical look from Orochimaru. While Hiruzen had simply hoped that she would have not brought that up, though it was far from the worst secret that could get out concerning the young blonde topic of conversation.
"Hmm, that is certainly a factor in your rather apt appraisal of the young man. But I would have to admit it took me until he vanished those kunai out of the air to be assured of his victory. I'm still a little uncertain of exactly how he did it, to be honest. Perhaps you could enlighten us, Hokage-Dono?" His sand counterpart spoke up, not talking about the Mizukage's previous statement, although his seeming lack of interest in the subject gave Hiruzen as much or more information than if he had brought it up.
"Oh my, Naruto-Kun has certainly picked up and developed his own bag of tricks." His grandfatherly tone gone, the thinly veiled steel in his voice making his not-so-hidden meaning quite clear to the others in the room. Naruto was strictly off-limits.
Even if there were no true 'rules', at least not really, in the shinobi world. Not pissing off Hiruzen Sarutobi was as close to a functioning rule as anything gets, the death of his son in the previous war and the wrath many of them suffered afterward all but cementing it as law.
Quick to clear the tension heavy in the room, his normal warm and inviting presence returned, like flicking a light switch on. "I could never dream of revealing them, even if I had any true understanding of their inner mechanisms. Besides, where would the fun be in that?" The latter half of his response bellied his age and experience in contrast with his surrounding peers. Half-truths, covered in half-lies, shrouded in mysteries, all behind the facade of a grandfatherly visage, from the man once and still hailed as the God of Shinobi.
Truthfully, without Onoki here, the more delicate art of these conversations was a bit dull to him. Yes, Mei had a wit like the end of a whip, cracking out sharp insights and observations left and right, but they lacked proper depth and intrigue.
And Orochimaru was certainly one to needle and prod around conversations with deeper intent, she had been the Sandaime's student after all. But many of her statements and observations came out a little too, threatening. She lacked restraint in her hostility. Although he guessed that was partially her reputation as a dangerous, and slightly crazy, rogue ninja.
Even the Kazekage, Rasa, who was the second most experienced Kage present, could dig out information and shroud his own like the sandstorms his home was known for. But his reluctance in sharing information, even false or useless information, often left him giving up more concrete data than most others. One may not be able to see the weapon itself, but you can certainly see its outline. Not to mention his cold demeanor made conversing with him like talking to a brick wall.
But none of them had truly reigned long enough, and done this nearly enough, to truly work with the wheels within wheels that he and his rock counterpart could.
Although, if Onoki actually was here he would have probably been attempting to kill Hiruzen with his vaunted dust release. So that point was probably moot.
—-
"I have to admit Kakashi, your student scares me. Even if only a bit." Asuma slowly dragged out between puffs of his cigarette. "I would certainly never have the balls to let a Hyuuga hit me like that, even a greenhorn like Neji." Gai would probably look more offended on behalf of his student, but he was far too busy screaming about the flames of youth.
"Mah, he's simply too cool to let something as pitiful as a few little jabs slow him down." The pride was evident in the masked ninja's voice, even if his words were full of shit.
Kurenai's face fell at Kakashi's statement, having expected a better answer, even if she should have known better by now than to expect a serious answer from the man who reads porn in public.
Jiraiya simply let a single laugh escape his mouth, sounding more like a bark than the expression of amusement that it was. "Ha! Even I don't have the giant steel balls to let a Hyuuga hit me like that. Little shit really is something, isn't he?" He finished by slapping Kakashi on the back, just hard enough to jostle him a bit.
Now that statement even had Gai paying attention, the assembled Jonin turned to the legendary ninja. Gai spoke up first, asking the question they were all thinking sans Kakashi. "Wait, Jiraiya-Sama, I had assumed you taught him whatever technique or ability that was that allowed young Naruto-Kun to defeat Neji so handily?"
Jiraiya simply shook his head in the negative. "Actually, I had no idea he could even do that. Although, I have certainly spent enough time with him to have a pretty good idea of what it is and how it works."
This caused the other three ninjas to sweatdrop. Collectively thinking to themselves, 'Kami, just what in the hell is this kid?'
—-
Meanwhile, in the competitor's seating, a shout could be heard.
"What in the actual Fuck was that?!" The weapon mistress exclaimed, loud enough to cause those around her to shy away. She had been on a team with Neji for a little over a year and had been in a class with him before that since she was six, and she had never seen anyone beat Neji like that. Naruto just tanked every hit like it was a light punch, and not a rightly feared and deadly taijutsu style perfected over generations. And then he just whips out some awesome weapon and cuts right through a technique that should have been nearly impenetrable?
"It was a fight, Tenten-san. Are you having problems with your vision?" Asked Shino, the genuine concern for his fellow leaf ninja not quite evident in his tone, but you never can tell with an Aburame.
"What? My eyes are fine, how in the hell did your teammate just cut through Neji's technique like that? I've never even heard of a weapon that could do something like that, it must have cost a fortune." She paused for a moment, before adding on "Or two fortunes."
Shino, now the subject of the unwanted attention of both peers and competitors alike, merely offered a shrug. "Simply put Tenten-san, I have no idea. Why? Because in the interests of my own mental health I have stopped attempting to question or reason out Naruto's actions and abilities. He is simply Naruto-san, and Naruto-san will do things that objectively make no sense."
The bug user's reply only caused those in attendance to sweatdrop. All of them were curious about the mysterious abilities of the blonde ninja, and most of them had hoped to gather information on a potential future competitor. Could this just be his way of not giving away information on his teammate, or could it be that even his own teammates have no idea?
"Yosh! His flames of youth must certainly burn bright to allow him to best my eternal rival! Tenten-chan, I swear that I will grow even faster so as to-" The green-clad shinobi's sudden outburst had been cut short by his own teammate's slap to the back of his head.
"Not now Lee, I can already feel a migraine coming on just trying to think about this, and I won't lose my match because you needed to prove your youth with some silly competition or self-made bet." Even Lee had the wherewithal to at least look apologetic, drawing in on himself and whispering his new promise to himself, somehow just as intensely as before. Something about climbing every tree in Konoha without his hands or whatnot.
At this moment they suddenly noticed Naruto's return to their seating area. And suddenly everyone quieted down, many of them not forgetting what he had done to his opponent in the preliminary matches and were unwilling to earn his ire if it was at all possible. With a nod to Shino, which the bug user reciprocated, Naruto plopped down in his seat and looked down to watch his other teammates match.
Shikamaru was in the middle of what appeared to be him trying and failing to corral the fan wielder into a corner with his kunai, or at least to his opponent this is what it must have looked like. When in reality it was a ploy by the shadow user to cover the field in kunai, thereby giving him plenty of shadows to bounce his own off of.
Temari wasn't one to take it lying down though. Peppering the lazy ninja with plenty of sharp objects of her own, often buffeting them with wind chakra to make them faster and far more dangerous. However, she was thinking too far ahead. Trying to save her energy and chakra for later matches, most likely believing the pineapple-haired ninja was trying to back her off and tire her out, not set her up for a check-mate via shadow ninjutsu.
By the time she had figured it out, it was far too late, she opened her fan to not only hit Shikamaru with a heavy wind blast but knock most of the kunai dotting the field into the surrounding forest. But she paused, fan raised and ready to swing, it took most spectators a moment to notice the shadow that had molded into her own. After that, she was forced to forfeit via her own kunai at her throat.
At some point during the match, Naruto noticed Tenten slowly making her way toward him. Moving over seats until eventually, she was sat directly next to the blonde weapon smith. He was content with allowing her to sit there, glancing at him, obviously searching his body for where he stashed the weapons he had utilized during his match.
It was shortly after Shikamaru's return and her own teammate's departure that she worked up the courage to actually speak to him. "Sooo…" She started off, sounding timider than Naruto had ever heard her in the academy. "How does that cool weapon you used work anyway?"
Naruto simply glanced at her, mostly surprised that she was willing to even attempt and ask him something like that while they were active competitors. True, they didn't know as of yet if they would be fighting each other, the drawing for the second round wouldn't be done until this round was over. But still, it was a ballsy play. Naruto decided he liked her straightforward approach, also figuring it wouldn't do her much good even if she knew how his naginata worked anyway, she didn't seem like much of a ninjutsu specialist.
"Well, the short answer is it can cut through chakra-based techniques. Although, to actually explain all of the science behind it I would need a few more hours and a chalkboard." He was surprised to see her face fall at his answer, wasn't that what she wanted?
"No, I mean how does it work?" She stressed the how in her question. "I've heard of my fair share of legendary weapons. But something that can cut through chakra is a complete mystery. Like, does it absorb the chakra? Or maybe negate its flow?"
Naruto hmm'd at this question. Even Jiraiya, who was the only other person so far to see the weapon, hadn't really gotten into the actual specifics of 'how' the blade worked. So Naruto wasn't certain how to answer the question. "Well, I guess you could say it's a bit like how an axe cuts through a tree?" He surmised.
"That makes even less sense." Was the weapon mistress's reply, although she certainly looked interested by now. Her attention fully turned away from her own teammate's fight.
"It can be a bit hard to describe because it works a lot through 'feel'. It would be like asking an Inuzaka how they can distinguish between smells." He thought for a few more moments, "Going back to the axe analogy, it's not that it actually technically 'cuts' through chakra, it is more like it splits it, or even re-directs it."
"So is that why it's a naginata then? So when it splits it gives you distance from the chakra?" Another good question from the bun-haired girl that Naruto had few good answers to.
"That is another hard one because the answer is sort of the same." Naruto was actually beginning to look interested in the conversation, which was impressive as Tenten hadn't seen him look interested in just about anything at the academy. "It just felt right when I was making it."
This caused her eyes to widen significantly. "Wait, wait, you mean you made that weapon?"
"Of course." The blonde replied quickly, looking just a little offended. "I don't use anything I don't make. Not even my kunai and shuriken." Now that answer certainly sent her for a loop.
"Well, what about that blade from the preliminaries?" Her quick verbal riposte surprised him momentarily.
'Already trying to poke holes', Naruto thought to himself. "Well ok, I didn't craft the Kubikiribōchō, obviously. But that one is more of a sentimentality piece than anything else. It's far too big for me to really wield it properly in most circumstances." His tone lowered a bit, but he did an admirable job of hiding that from Tenten.
Tenten continued asking him questions, about his weapons and how he made most of them. She was definitely interested in his throwing knives, something about the different weights and balances being a smart idea that is similar to something she does.
By the time their conversation had tapered off, they had both noticed Lee's disappearance from the battlefield, and an oddly Lee-shaped hole in the wall. Shino informed her he was thankfully mostly uninjured, at least by Lee's standards, and had been taken to the infirmary after Gaara subdued him rather violently and Gai had rescued him from Gaara's malevolent sand.
Tenten was soon called down after another fight between the puppet-wielding sand ninja and a mist ninja that was on the same team as the familiar-looking mist ninja that Naruto swore looked more and more familiar. She managed to defeat her opponent, a ninja from Otogakure that had been glaring daggers at Naruto since he returned from his fight.
Next Naruto witnessed Shino lose to the mist, Kunoichi? Naruto couldn't quite tell, but he was certain he knew them now. That was one of the companions that had accompanied Zabuza and fled after he completed the mission to wave. How had she– he? Had they… gone back and rejoined the hidden mist?
It was hard to be completely certain that she, Naruto had to just make a guess at their gender at this point for the sake of simplicity, and the masked ninja that accompanied Zabuza were the same person. But that bloodline Shino forced her to utilize was far too similar to just be a coincidence, and Naruto wasn't one to believe in coincidence.
Naruto was too lost in his own thoughts thinking about the ninja from the hidden mist to notice much of the next two rounds as they went by. Sasuke Uchiha beat a sound kunoichi that swore like a sailor and was unfortunately a very skilled genjutsu user. If she hadn't of been so unlucky as to get matched up against an Uchiha with an active Sharingan, she probably would have done much better. Although, she definitely put on quite the show.
The last fight was between Hinata and Kiba, both new genin that Naruto had relatively little information on except for general clan information. Which proved to be pretty accurate for both of them. Hinata won due to her superior taijutsu style in the gentle fist, although even from distracted glances Naruto could tell she barely held a candle to her cousin in actual technique or ferocity. This was definitely one of the more boring and straightforward matches.
—-
"Hokage-Dono, you're shinobi have certainly done well for themselves." The Mizukage let out after the final match of the first round had finished. "Taking five out of the eight slots for the second round. Your village certainly deserves the reputation you have garnered for yourselves." The coy smile let Hiruzen know everything he needed to from her statement. She certainly wasn't happy about the outcome, but Hiruzen was certain her remaining shinobi would not be ones to be underestimated.
"Ah yes, Mizukage-Sama, I assure you my ninja have worked quite tirelessly to achieve what they have today." In double-speak, Of course, you think your remaining ninja is a showstopper. "But I assure you, the fruits of the great tree have yet to truly sprout." But we certainly have some dangerous ninja of our own.
"I love these word games as much as the next Hiruzen, as I am sure you know." Rasa interrupted, "But we should get back to the task at hand, at least while they are drawing and preparing for the next round." Always a stickler for work, thought the three other legendary ninja seated in the booth.
"Personally, I believe Tayuya-chan showed more than enough skill and foresight to qualify for chunin. Even if she was so unlucky as to have been matched against her perfect counter." Orochimaru, as always, quick and to the point about anything that held little interest to her.
"Maybe, but a ninja can not often control their opponents, and for one such as her to falter simply because of her opponent's superiority in genjutsu. A ninja must be prepared, not only to fight a battle in which they have the advantage but to fight a battle in which they are disadvantaged." Finished the Mizukage, although her vote was still unclear.
"Personally, I don't believe she showcased enough to warrant a promotion." The Kazekage answered, "she may not have floundered when she learned she was outmatched in her chosen specialty, but neither did she make the necessary moves to increase her odds at winning. Allowing the Uchiha to dictate most of the battle."
"Hai, Kazekage-Dono. Sasuke-Kun certainly was able to dictate much of the battles flow. But I doubt anyone here could find a more perfect counter to Tayuya's current skillset, and she certainly knew that. His ability to negate her genjutsu was quickly ferreted out, and she certainly already knew of his ninjutsu prowess. Possibly if the field wasn't so limited, and the Uchiha wasn't so well equipped to handle slow-moving targets, she would have been able to negate that as well." Hiruzen replied, "She has my vote."
The Mizukage let out a hmm at this, she could either tie the vote or allow the young kunoichi to pass. This was as much an indication of her appreciation of both Kage's respective views on the battle as it was an 'impartial' vote, the Uchiha had already been passed over for promotion, at least so far as he may have won but he showed very little in any area other than physical needed for the promotion. But Tayuya on the other hand. "Well, I suppose she did manage to nearly draw him to a standstill in the forest, I suppose she has my vote as well."
The conversation in the boxes continued like this for some time. The four village heads debating and discussing their respective shinobi's talents and mental acuity, before eventually the second round of matches had been announced by the proctor and he called down the first match in a booming chakra-enhanced voice.
"Uzumaki Naruto and Tenten please report to the arena floor."
Tenten looked at her blonde opponent from her vantage point in the trees on the arena floor. Angry at herself, and angrier at her opponent. This little shit wasn't even taking her seriously, was he? Similar to his previous match against Neji, she had been unable to move Naruto more than a few feet from his starting position no matter what she had done.
She began by moving in close to ascertain his skill with a sword, already knowing him to be at least adept at it. But she was only frustrated with her findings, as the blonde refused to bring out any of his bigger weapons, simply using two long throwing knives to block and redirect all of her probing strikes. She had spent a few minutes trying to push him or move him at all before eventually losing her temper and demanding he draws one of his 'cool swords' and fight her kami damn it!
Eventually, she realized this strategy would only help him, as she was using up far more energy in her attacks than he had used defending himself. So she backed off and began peppering him with throwing weapons, kunai, shuriken, smaller throwing knives, senbon, even letting a sword or two loose to try and surprise him.
But nothing worked, she only succeeded in making him draw out his first sword from his fight with Neji, but he didn't allow a single weapon to even get close to him. Sending them all askew with only a tap of his blade, even managing to hit more than a couple of her own projectiles back at her.
This had certainly surprised her the first time, allowing two shuriken and a kunai to hit her. Both shuriken embedded themselves in her upper arm, and the kunai came dangerously close to hitting her neck. After that she rushed him again, figuring she could work something out to distract him while they fought, possibly pushing his guard enough that she could at least hit him.
Only for the blonde to switch his grip and foot position, holding the sword higher up towards his left shoulder, blade pointed down towards her stomach. She had guessed from the stance that it would be more about jabs and parries than anything else, but she was once again completely wrong about the spiky-haired bladesmith.
He just allowed her to swing, stab, jab, and slice at him as much as she wanted. Only moving the barest amount using the least force possible, but every time he redirected her strikes. Blows that had even previously caused Neji and Lee to at least stumble or need to dodge, Naruto simply slapped away. She let out a roar of anger, which only caused Naruto to finally shift the look on his face from a passive one to a broad grin.
She hacked and slashed as hard as she could, as hard as she had ever done so before in her entire career as a kunoichi. Naruto simply took a half step back, which she took as a very thankful sign of her actually progressing. She stepped into his guard intending to take full advantage of his 'mistake' in giving up ground only for him to slap her sword out of her hand and high into the air.
After that he made quick work of her, she managed to summon a wakizashi quickly enough, taking the first few strikes Naruto sent her way in stride. Before she realized that had been his intention, he knocked her sword low and hard. Caused it to nearly touch the ground before he cut both of her hands. She released the blade and went for a kunai, anything to stop this maniac from spearing her through, but she was far too slow.
His sword pierced the binding on her stomach, entering her gut. Not deep enough to actually kill her or cause her to bleed horribly, she was an ally after all, but enough to shock her. He then released his sword in her gut, causing her even more surprise, what kind of swordsman just let go of a weapon like that? Before she felt the reason, a roundhouse kick to the right side of her head sent her sprawled out onto the ground. If she hadn't thought quickly enough to release a handful of smoke pellets as she hit the ground the fight would have been over.
Now, she sat in her tree, having bandaged her stomach, and holding Naruto's sword that he released. It was certainly a fine weapon, sharper and far denser than anything she had ever owned. No wonder it took him so little energy to bat her projectiles and strikes aside, this thing was heavy as fuck.
Not one to give up easily though, Tenten was formulating a plan. Without his sword, he would be more hard-pressed to block her projectiles as easily, at least enough that she could actually do some damage and possibly even out the fight a bit. Maybe he wouldn't be prepared to defend against his own sword as well, she could possibly utilize it in a closeup fight. And his Naginata certainly wouldn't be a very effective weapon for properly blocking the variety and amount of projectiles she planned to use.
With this plan set in her mind, and Naruto's sword hanging from her hip in an impromptu swordsman's knot, she was ready.
"Uzumaki!" She yelled, exiting the forest. "You may have bested me in the first exchange, but I still walked away with something!" Another yell, holding up Naruto's sword. Figuring she may as well get a rise out of the guy who stabbed her in the gut.
For his part, Naruto didn't appear to let anything affect him. The grin only grew on his face, and his hands flexed empty at his sides. 'Good' she thought to herself 'let the little punk worry about losing his sword', she incorrectly guessed at the reasoning behind his hands twitching.
"I hope the medics are ready because I'm going to turn you into a pincushion!" A scroll appeared in her hands out of seemingly nowhere, causing him to open an eye, although not in surprise. "Twin Rising Dragons!" She bellowed, hopping into the air and unfurling the scrolls. Assured in Naruto's lack of an adequate weapon to use against her.
Before a small amount of mirth entered Naruto's own eyes, and suddenly his sword, the one that had been hanging at Tenten's hip only a moment ago, appeared back in his hands. 'No matter' she thought to herself, 'even with it he won't be able to stop so many projectiles at once'. And with her worries assuaged by her 'logic', she let loose.
Tenten, a self-proclaimed weapon mistress of Konoha, released what must have been at least one of every weapon with a sharp edge known to man, and some without sharp edges. Hundreds of kunai and shuriken, swords, senbon, Fuma shuriken, spears, naginata, Naruto swore he even saw a giant axe and a claymore in there somewhere.
Naruto simply allowed himself to continue his bright smile, a glint of steel entering his gaze, before channeling a small, for him at least, amount of chakra in himself and throughout his blade. And watched as every single weapon, every kunai, every katana, every shuriken, every weapon Tenten threw at him stopped about four feet in front of him. Most of them stayed put in the air, magnetically levitating, a few of the smaller weapons bounced off or fell out of the air, but not a single one got through the 'barrier' in front of the blonde.
After a few moments of absolute shock, both throughout the arena and on his opponent's face, Naruto said one thing, "Jinshaku: Release." And with a flair of his chakra, thick and vibrant from years of chakra forging and intense training, he sent his collection of Tenten's weapons right back toward her.
Most of them were thrown back harder than she had even sent them, although maybe not as accurately. They were still more than enough to slice, stab, and pierce Tenten's body. She did her absolute best to stop or dodge most of them, but far too many made it through her already weakened guard.
The technique finished, and Naruto stayed put in his spot. Still trying to limit what he shows, as well as maybe put a little fear into his future competitors. Although the grin never left his face, this was certainly a fun match. He didn't get to spend too much time fighting other weapon specialists, at least not without it turning into an emotionally charged death match.
—-
"Kukuku, Naruto-Kun has certainly managed to show off quite a lot. Wouldn't you agree, Hiruzen?" The proper 'Dono' left out of his name, she always loved to push the envelope. "Two matches against otherwise dangerous opponents, and he never left his starting position? If I didn't know any better, I would say he is showing off."
"Naruto-Kun has always been a secretive one, it is more likely he is just playing it as close to the chest as possible. Eh? Orochimaru-chan?" His response the perfect parry to Orochimaru's little play. Although, this verbal sparring was as much for Orochimaru's own boredom as it was for the not-so-secret shadows that were unmistakable in the room.
'These certainly are not my own Anbu. Danzo, I hadn't wanted to believe my student's reports, but they appear true. To make moves like this, with foreign ninja of this level around, you have truly sunk low.' His thoughts about his former friend and rival grew darker before he was interrupted by one of the other Kage speaking their mind.
"Well of course he was able to perform so admirably. Someone who had bested a former member of the seven swordsmen would certainly have to be prodigious with the blade. It was truly just unfortunate that this Tenten-san was so poorly matched." Mei spoke up, both managing to acknowledge Naruto's abilities, as well as use them to position her village's own loss in a better light.
"Tell me, Hiruzen-dono. Do you believe this young Naruto would be willing to part with the blade, Hmm?" Her question was one that he had been expecting from her since he was informed she would be attending a week previously.
"I believe that is a question you would have to ask him yourself, Mei-Dono. Although he seems a least partially fond of the weapon, I can not speak as to how far that fondness may extend." So a non-answer, the Mizukage thought to herself, she should have known the old man wouldn't have given her much to go on, but she had to at least make an attempt.
"Kukuku, perhaps if you made an appeal towards his sense of history, Mizukage-Dono? I believe him to be one well researched and more than interested in his historical readings…" Orochimaru spoke up, although Hiruzen could not see as to what ends she would be doing so. They both knew Naruto wouldn't give up that blade for anything less than a Daimyo's ransom.
"Ahh, maybe I will make such an appeal to the boy. Especially if you believe it would work Orochimaru-chan?" Hiruzen thought he saw the path Orochimaru drew, and he knew it would only serve to annoy the Mizukage, at best, and at worst possibly enrage her.
The aged Hokage was quick to butt in, cutting off what he was sure was about to be a witty, if ill-advised jab, at the Mizukage calling her some form of prostitute. "Of course, as any of us know how difficult it can be to give up our spoils. I suppose now would be a good time to shift the topic of our conversation toward the fights?"
Ever the excellent politician, Hiruzen had managed to skillfully and subtly shift their conversation back towards the combatants. A subtle annoyed glance was the only thing he spared for his 'wayward' student and her childish antics.
—-
Naruto sat in his seat, contemplating his sanity. He had just witnessed an absolute beatdown in the match between Shikamaru and Gaara. While not surprised at the outcome, his brief encounter with the sand-wielding psycho in the forest of death revealed enough about him to scare even Naruto, even if he would never admit it out loud.
He had originally planned on forfeiting after the third round, after finding out his opponent would indeed not be Gaara but Haku. Because there was no need for him to fight such a monster. Although he had certainly made plans for it, he had hoped he wouldn't have to see him until the third or final round of the exams, and those hopes came true. But then Shikamaru had to go and get his ass beaten to a bloody pulp across the arena in such a short match he wasn't even sure it should count.
He had quickly tried to grab the redhead in his shadows, and succeeded, but as it turns out his sand didn't much care for that. And proceeded to grab the shadow user and nearly crush him before tossing him into the opposing wall of the arena. It had only been Hayate's relatively quick actions that saved him from Gaara's follow-up attack.
Now the blonde was out for blood, he wanted to see Gaara's head roll. But he also knew there would be no point in it. He had certainly already secured his promotion, and his match against the now-revealed Haku would just cement the ruling, even if he didn't come out the victor.
Whatever, the crazy fuck still had to fight the Uchiha, maybe he would do well enough to get revenge for him?
—-
Naruto's second to final match in the Chunin exams started off quietly. Both opponents seemed unwilling to be the first to move, Naruto had already drawn the Jinshaku, having seen Haku's quick and efficient movements from his fight with Shino, or was it 'her' fight with Shino? Either way, Naruto was unwilling to be caught off guard.
After what felt like a minute of nothing happening, Naruto's excess energy decided to make itself known. "So… anyway, are you a boy or a girl?" Short, sweet, and brutally to the point. Certainly a man of zero tact, and blunt force trauma.
His opponent's face fell, if only a bit, at the question. "Kami, I'm a woman. Alright?" Judging from her reaction, the blonde haired ninja had obviously struck a sensitive spot. Then, the now identified she, mumbled something to herself. And before Naruto could tell her that no, she most certainly could not shove that up there, even if it somehow could fit, she moved.
All but vanishing from her position in front of him, he felt her behind him. Releasing a large brace of senbon thrown with deadly accuracy. Naruto, having already used his magnet trick earlier figured 'why not again?' and simply channeled his chakra. Only to be surprised, and a little hurt, when the senbon sailed right through his magnetic defense. The surprise of his defense failing so quickly meant that he couldn't dodge all of them, three of which he managed to catch in his forearm.
Quickly pulling them out he suddenly realized why they had sailed through his defenses. "Motherfucking ice?" He whispered to himself. Of course, they were ice, how had he not noticed that? The way they reflected light as they flew through the air was all wrong, and she had an ice-based kekkei genkai.
After her next volley, Naruto was ready, blocking them easily with the blade. Not willing to risk using his sword's abilities to actually block them. Not that it was very difficult, she threw them accurately but Naruto had practice against heavier and faster projectiles against Tenten, even if his sword worked against those ones.
He decided now was not the time to dilly-dally or try and conceal too much, this opponent was clearly fast and dangerous. Possibly faster than Neji.
Naruto broke into a break-neck dash, straight toward his ice-wielding opponent. Sword suddenly re-holstered to allow for a powerful samurai-esque slash at his opponent. Haku managed to look surprised for a second, not expecting him to break his seeming 'habit' of standing still so early into their fight.
She was still able to toss out a few projectiles as he got closer, forcing him to slash his sword out to deflect them off to the side. She drew a kunai, a metal one, Naruto noted to himself, although he wasn't willing to bet on it. And the dance began. She was mostly on the defensive, blocking and re-directing Naruto's attacks while looking for openings to either cut him or stick a few senbon in. She wouldn't get any.
Naruto kept his momentum, striking her in combinations of threes and fours, using lots of quick jabs at her midsection to draw her own weapon out and away from her sides. But she was just as fast as him, and surprisingly seemed to handle his heavier blows very well. She must have noticed his surprise at this and spoke up, "My old sensei used a much heavier weapon than yours, I'm used to needing to block far heavier swings than this." Her smile was discrete but noticeable, seemingly an admonition of his lack of strength.
"Your old sensei, eh?" Naruto questioned. Landing one more strike on her kunai, this time lacing his blade with his chakra, allowing it to sharpen itself to its true form. Her eyes widened, before Naruto's blade shattered the kunai in her hand.
Many in the arena thought this would be the blonde's chance, much like in his previous two matches, to quickly best his opponent. So they were all surprised to see the blonde immediately jump back, distancing himself from his opponent.
"Well, you certainly must have learned a lot from him. To know enough about swordsman to plan such a dangerous trap, using your own weapon nonetheless." At Naruto's statement, many then noticed the remains of the ice kunoichi's kunai. More specifically, the ice kunai she had made to appear like a normal steel one, and the shards of very sharp ice that were now embedded in the ground where Naruto would have been, had he not retreated.
"I'm impressed, I didn't believe anyone would be able to guess it was a fake, let alone reason out its purpose…" For her part, Haku did genuinely seem impressed, if only begrudgingly.
"Well, I did use a similar trick to kill your old master. Did I not?" Naruto made a venturing guess, believing now that she was definitely who he thought she was.
Naruto was not surprised when he saw the look on her face. Anger? Sympathy? Sadness? Some of it made sense to him, but she didn't appear to be angry at him. Which was what really threw him off.
"So that is how you did it? A cheap trick?" She asked this time more subdued than she had been during her earlier explanation. Naruto would have probably been angrier with her if she hadn't been so correct. But then she let out a short bark of a laugh, "Ha, he would have liked that. He would have liked you."
Now Naruto really was confused. "What?"
"Zabuza-Sama always talked about the true dangers of a ninja, any ninja. He was certainly one for competitions of strength and fights involving power, but he always truly loved the art of killing someone stronger than yourself." She spoke to him as if she was telling a story to a good friend.
"He often taught me that no matter how good you are, the second you got cocky, or even made a mistake, your life was as easy to end as any civilians. I think I think he liked that idea. Maybe it was what gave him hope against a man like Yagura." She finished, her eyes going back and forth between Naruto and his blade. Before she dashed back in, approaching Naruto far faster than he had moved earlier.
He was so surprised by her monologue and subsequent attack that he hadn't had time to set his defenses. She got two good hits in, weaving around his sword through practiced muscle memory before he regained his bearing.
A heavy utilization of chakra allowed Naruto to pause Haku, she was obviously expecting some grand technique to fire up. But instead of some large-scale technique, a gentle force just surrounded the Uzumaki as his Jinshaku was sheathed on his right hip, and his Naginata from earlier appeared in his hands.
Using the distance his chakra flaring had given him, he made quick use of the Naginata. Cutting through anything she created and tried to use to block him. Her kunai shattered, but he was far too quick and ready to allow her to use those shards against him again. He broke three kunai and got four good slashes on her arms and ribs before the kunoichi eventually flared her own chakra.
This time creating a dome of mirrors, from which she appeared to be in all of them. "Hmm, this is certainly going to be a pain in the ass." Was all the blonde could let out before the ice ninja began to pepper him with senbon. His Naginata stuck in the ground near him and Jinshaku once again drawn, Naruto had to use all of his training and reflexes just to have a prayer of keeping the senbon away from him.
He was still certainly quite fast, and she could only actually lead her fire from one location at a time. But she appeared to be able to transfer her location either instantly or so fast that Naruto was unable to keep track. Even with his time training under Jiraiya Naruto was unable to keep up with her senbon. He could block most of them but enough were getting through and hitting him, and enough of those were hitting important spots like joints. If he let this keep up, the fight would soon be over.
Naruto entertained the idea of letting her win, letting her deal with the psychotic sand-ninja. But that simply wasn't an option. Not now, not ever. With a grunt of effort he flung his blade at the mirror he believe she was either in or moving to, he wasn't sure, it was as much a guess of his senses as an actual strategy. But it appeared to at least cause her pause, which was more than enough time for what Naruto had planned.
With a flourish speaking to the hundreds of hours of training, he summoned the Naginata back to his hands and started swinging. Hard. Using as much chakra as he could safely push through the blade Naruto both sharpened it and used it like a battering ram against the mirrors.
The first blow glanced off, but a divot from his swing was visible. 'Harder', he thought to himself, senbon still flying at him as he tried to dodge and use the swinging motion of his weapon to deflect them. His second blow left a long and wide gouge across the mirror in front of him. 'More momentum', was his only thought.
With a long swing and intense focus on his chakra control both inside the weapon and inside his body, Naruto brought the Naginata down on another mirror. This one shattered like a glass vase that had been thrown at the ground. Naruto only grinned.
His swings became wider and faster, the momentum and intense training carrying him through even as Haku was attempting to pepper him with more and more senbon. Mirror after mirror was smashed and subsequently replaced, but they were being replaced slower and slower, and the senbon were hitting him slower and slower. Haku's energy reserves were obviously dwindling, while his own swings were only speeding up and growing in strength.
Finally, as he broke another mirror it wasn't replaced. Naruto's grin threatened to split his face now, the only thing left to do was break his opponent's will to fight. He continued his motions, arms carrying the naginata in long and fast spins, his pivoting-like steps were wide and balanced with the blade, total interdependence.
Mirror after mirror broke, covering the field in their shattered icy remains. As all but one mirror was broken, he witnessed Haku jump out, straight toward him. Her momentum carried her right in front of his Naginata, she probably believed she was faster than its long arcs, but she was wrong.
Naruto had the mercy to dull his blade, if only slightly, with the use of his chakra before hitting her. That being said, mercy was a relative term. True, he could have cut her in half, but instead, he hit her with all of his accumulated force and momentum. Causing her to go flying to the side, crashing through not one but two trees before the thick reinforced walls of the arena brought her momentum to an abrupt halt.
"That one's gonna hurt in the morning." Was all the blonde could get out, chest still heaving from his injuries and expended energy during the fight.
"Jiraiya-Sama, surely you can let us in on at least some of how Naruto is managing to do these things?" Kurenai asked, admittedly she had gotten a little excited when Naruto had run into trouble against the Yuki. But his later abilities to smash through those ice mirrors, and tank all of those senbon had gotten her to quickly quiet down.
Now, like every other Jonin assembled here, and possibly every ninja that witnessed the blonde's fights. They were all curious. Kakashi had obviously been no help, preferring to remain mysterious and 'cool', but they figured that Jiraiya may at least give them something.
The man simply let out a sigh, they had been like this since Naruto's first match against Neji. All of them having realized that Kakashi had most likely swindled them out of their money, and in one case their dignity. The sage held up one finger, "Fine, first off Naruto's abilities are almost entirely his own. His swords, techniques, everything is something that he made himself with only a few small exceptions. And even those the brat has made it a point to all but refuse to use anything until he puts his own spin on it." The sage gave with an eye wiggle, proud of his short-time apprentice.
Then, Jiraiya held up a second finger, "And secondly…" The sage got quieter, moving in closer causing all gathered to do the same. "It's a secret," He said with a wry grin. The collective outcry from the supposedly seasoned professional killers was more than enough reward. That should teach the nosy shits, he thought to himself.
—-
Finally, finally, the Mizukage looked dismayed. Not that he necessarily wanted her to be disappointed, but she had certainly been getting on even his own nearly endless supply of patience and politeness with her constant assurances that Haku would show Konoha up. Besides, what kind of ninja brags about a secret weapon like that anyway?
The Kazekage was certainly keeping his mouth shut about the Jinchurikki he brought. Speaking of, this fight with the Uchiha was starting now. Maybe it will go better for Sasuke than it did for poor Shikamaru?
—-
It was safe to say, Naruto was not really surprised by the outcome of the second-to-last fight. Sasuke certainly put up a better fight than most, Lee may have managed to land a hit on the redhead, but his injuries had certainly not made that move worth it. At least not in Naruto's mind.
But Sasuke got a single hit in, even if it had only been a kunai wrapped with an explosive note, and he probably sustained less damage than Lee. Although he wouldn't call two broken ribs 'no damage', for anyone other than himself it was probably quite debilitating.
Thankfully, Hayate had been more than ready this time and with the help of Kurenai, they had quickly removed the last Uchiha from the arena and towards the medical bay. Although, Sasuke certainly seemed quite annoyed by this outcome. Struggling against his sensei the entire time.
That was when Hayate called him for the next, and final, match. Naruto was still more than unsure about his odds in the fight, and it was only his look towards the Hokage that caused him to make a decision. A simple nod, from a Kage to his ninja, was all it took to convince Naruto he could win this fight.
It actually annoyed Naruto a bit how much Hiruzen still affected him. No matter the distance he tried to put between himself and the aged Kage, he still seemed to believe in him. Or at least he did now. And Naruto supposed, that would have to be enough.
'This crazy motherfucker had to be a jinchurikki!' These were the only thoughts racing through Naruto's mind. 'I've never felt chakra like this from anyone else.' And he was losing control right inside the stadium, in the heart of the village. "Fuck" was the only thing the blonde could let out before another giant tendril of sand swiped by him. Hitting his chest as Naruto went with the momentum, allowing it to flip him over and land on a tree branch. He was immediately on the move, trying to get out of this monster's range and out of sight.
It had started off relatively well, his Naginata and a rather ingenious trick with shadow clones had allowed him to actually get a few quick hits on Gaara. Drawing two deep slashes across his body, right through his outer sand wall, and then revealed sand armor. The 'chakra cutting' qualities of the blade worked surprisingly well against him.
That only caused him to go well, a little crazy, to put it mildly. Pulling up mountains of sand from kami only knows where, and using it to try and crush the Uzumaki like a bug. Naruto managed to get another slash on him after that, using an elongated wind blade and that sealed the deal. The arena had been flooded with a heavy, angry chakra. And Naruto was hit with a tendril of sand hard enough to kill a less resilient person.
As he jumped through the trees, tendrils of sand swung wildly around, uprooting some, and breaking others in half. The debris alone was almost enough to make Naruto double back, but he knew more sand would follow.
Naruto had figured out that when he cut the sand with his naginata, it seemed to sever the flow of chakra within it. And he figured if he could just get close enough to the crazy bastard he might be able to actually knock some sense into him.
From in-between leaves and branches as he jumped around the forest he could see Gaara, high atop the giant mound of sand as it grew larger and larger. His sand starting to take some form but he couldn't tell what it was. Wait a minute… was the fucker asleep? Really, he was definitely asleep.
With the beginnings of a plan that was sure to have both of his sensei berating him for his stupidity, Naruto suddenly stopped on a branch. A small tendril of sand weaved through the forest near him, appearing to be searching for him, or at least searching to randomly hit him and let Gaara know his location.
Naruto allowed it to get close before striking out, his Naginata slicing through it and causing most of the sand to fall limply to the ground. Only for the displacement of air to tell him something, that an even bigger one now knew his location and had made a b-line for him.
This time, instead of running away from it, Naruto jumped toward it, landing on it and beginning to run up the tendril toward his target. What he hadn't planned on happening was for the tendril itself to start trying to latch onto his feet, holding him in place. Stagnation is death, he heard his short-time sensei's voice in his head.
Using the Naginata he sliced through the sand, releasing his feet and allowing him to continue his run up the tendril. He continued his cutting as he ran up, cutting just enough to both allow him to run up yet not allowing the sand to grab him and hold him still.
As he reached the top he made a chakra-enhanced leap towards Gaara, or what was left of him in the giant body of sand, only his face showing through. Naginata poised to strike out at the head before another tendril whipped out, intent on stopping him before he would be within cutting distance of his target. So Naruto made a decision, throwing the Naginata in a spinning motion at the tendril, cutting through the extending portion causing it to fall back onto the body.
Now, his momentum carried him the last short distance toward his target and without a blade, Naruto used the only thing that came to mind that might deliver enough force to wake this redheaded idiot. Burning down and reforging almost every kunai and shuriken he had he quickly reformed them around his right wrist and hand, forming a fist. The burns from the process done improperly would certainly make themselves known later, but right now he was too preoccupied to notice.
Finally, he was within range and brought his hand down as hard as he could. The last of the jinchurikki's face having just been covered with sand. And he felt the impact, hell most of the remaining people in the arena felt the impact. A cry was soon heard out, from the redheaded genin and he reawoke and felt the pain of the blow.
His sand monstrosity soon began to fall away, allowing both him and Naruto to fall and hit the ground, pretty hard. Laying a few yards from each other. Gaara's energy and sand had all but abandoned him. But all Naruto saw was an enemy who was still breathing, an enemy that was still awake and partially armed. The steel around his fist sharpened and formed into a blade extending from his hand.
A crude weapon to be sure, but it would get the job done. As he was closing the last few feet, he slowed down to a stop in front of his downed opponent. He looked absolutely terrified. Blade only inches from the now vulnerable Jinchurikki's throat. Wide-eyed and scared, completely different from who Naruto had seen and interacted with before. As if he had never been in any situation even remotely like this before. Had he? Naruto saw his previous fights, he was supremely confident at all times, and never really even bothered to move. Not even when Lee broke through with his intense speed, or Sasuke did with his tricks and explosives.
Naruto could almost feel Jiraiya's gaze on him. He knew what the man would say about this, as he spoke often about his philosophies with him. Both of them were rather strong-willed individuals, but Swordsmith and Toad Sage were both ones to develop strong philosophies that they naturally stuck by. The man would most likely say that he had already won, and his opponent couldn't do anything, preferring the less violent and final routes.
He lowered his blade in unison with his own deep exhale. Breathing out the rage, the adrenaline, his ferocity and drive to not only win now, but forever and always. To snuff out an opponents chance to possibly win in the future.
He overcame it all when the breath left his body, picturing himself in his workshop with a hammer in his hand, a nearly finished blade lay out in front of himself on an anvil. Quite long and straight, most of its shape already hammered out, it was ready for a clay substance to be applied before quenching, in part giving it the curve it was known for. A few final clangs rang out, and suddenly Naruto was back in front of Gaara.
A grin spread out over his face as Hayate's voice rang out, announcing him as the winner. But the uproar of applause wouldn't be heard, as the Kage's booth exploded into flames.
—-
Jiraiya's grin was almost splitting his face. The kid did it, and he did it in style too. He almost allowed himself to celebrate when Hayate called the match, but an explosion rang out and he saw the booth seating the visiting Kage and his sensei explode in flames.
"Fuck" Jiraiya allowed himself.
—-
I reserve the right to make some edits and changes to this chapter. I've only been able to look over it recently while exhausted from work. Sorry for taking so long. Have fun with it and thanks for reading.
