Author Note: Hey everyone. I have received a complaint about not elaborating on the deaths of Ino's parents. Don't worry – there is a reason they were killed, and I will reveal it in the right moment.
Also, the same person complained about the ease of using Kage Bunshin. Need I remind you that in canon, Naruto who was said to have approximately four times as much Chakra as Kakashi, could make hundreds of clones while Kakashi could make only a few? It was an ability that wasn't scaled properly, which is why I am writing it based on how I scale it:
Low Genin Chakra levels: 0
Genin Chakra levels: 1
High Genin Chakra levels: 2
Low Chuunin Chakra levels: 4
Chuunin Chakra levels: 6
High Chuunin Chakra levels: 8
Low Jounin Chakra levels: 12
Jounin Chakra levels: 16
High Jounin Chakra levels: 20
Kage/S-Rank Chakra levels: 30
Bijuu Chakra levels: [Too many to count]
Anyways, here is the next chapter. Read and Review! Tell me about any typos you find as well, so that I can correct them.
"Human Speech"
'Human Thoughts'
"Bijuu/Jutsu Speech"
'Bijuu/Jutsu Thoughts'
Chapter 10: Chuunin Exams Part 2 and Invasion
In the Hokage office. "You can't deny it, Hiruzen! Our Jinchuriki is hiding things – he and his friends spend huge amounts of time in Naruto's home, which is a little strange since he doesn't have much living space. They only come out for missions!" Danzo said.
"I think I am starting to believe you, old friend," Hiruzen said softly.
"But –" Danzo started to protest before his eyes widened. "Wait, you agree? I expected you to rant about how difficult his life was until now and how I shouldn't suspect him just because of the Kyuubi."
"He has told me some things that he has kept from me, but there were a lot of suspicious holes in his explanations," Hiruzen said. "However, before you decide to complain about his current disappearance, Jiraiya-kun has informed me where he is and there is nothing illegal or questionable that he is doing. If he truly is committing punishable offences, they will surface when I track down his activities. I will handle the situation then."
"Like you did with your old student?" Danzo asked venomously.
"You are truly vile to take this discussion in that direction, old friend," Hiruzen said with a sad expression on his face. "Besides, don't act as if you haven't had your own dealings with him – I know you have covered your tracks well, but it is basically an open secret in the Council that you have done some immoral and illegal activities for your twisted delusion of what would be good for Konoha," Hiruzen said angrily.
"Innocent until proven guilty, old friend," Danzo said, smirking at Hiruzen. "I will ensure that the Jinchuriki is watched carefully."
With that, Danzo left the office. Hiruzen watched him leave sadly – remembering the days back when they were comrades learning under their sensei, Hashirama and Tobirama Senju.
At Kitsune Kouchi
"No fucking way," Naruto breathed out as he looked at the scroll. It was the scroll for the Rasengan – an A-Rank Ninjutsu that was modelled after a fricking Bijuu-dama.
"Naruto, aren't you going to finish your training?" Zannin asked, as he did his own training.
"Sensei, could I please take some time off our training to learn this jutsu?" Naruto asked. Seeing his student's anticipation, Zannin gave him the ok. He had already been learning the ways of the Fox Clan at an abnormally high rate anyway. Besides, with how excited he was to learn that jutsu, Zannin figured that he would be finished within the week.
With Naruto
Naruto went back to the human world and bought a large number of balloons that he filled with water, as well as several thick rubber balls.
"Alright – so the first step – rotation," Naruto said to himself as he held up a water balloon. Due to his Chakra control exercises, he had already figured out which way his Chakra rotates – counter-clockwise.
As he violently rotated his Chakra in several directions, the ball burst, spraying the place and Naruto with water. However, it did take a few too many seconds.
"Gotta do that faster," Naruto thought as he tried again. He couldn't take too much time to create this jutsu, or his enemy would take advantage.
Naruto was finally satisfied when, a few hours later, he blew up the balloon in a quarter of a second. It wasn't quite instant, but it was enough for now.
Naruto then picked up a rubber ball. "Next step – power," he said to himself. He started violently rotating his Chakra inside the ball, but he was unable to make it pop.
He tried again, increasing the density and speed of his rotating Chakra. However, the ball didn't explode with a bang, but it just deflated with a hiss – much to Naruto's disappointment.
However, Naruto was starting to feel the effects of Chakra exhaustion – with Zannin's training as well as the Rasengan training. He was also feeling impatient, wanting to learn the Rasengan as fast as possible. This caused him to release two of the Chakra-containing seals on his body, filling himself up with twice the Chakra that he usually had in his reserves. This did strain his coils quite a bit, but since it was his own Chakra, it would stretch them out and expand his natural reserves as well.
He continued to practice until he managed to make the rubber ball explode spectacularly in the same time frame as he had managed with the balloon.
"Alright – so now, containment," Naruto muttered, picking up a water balloon. According to the scroll, this was the hardest step and naturally, took the longest to master. However, Naruto had his Kage Bunshin available to help out. Due to the limited number that he could make, he usually only did Kage Bunshin training for the extremely time-consuming parts of his training.
Due to this decision, he managed to complete the Rasengan within two days. He then tested out how many he could make at full Chakra capacity and found that he could make five full-powered Rasengan.
He also realized that since he would have to get up close to his enemy to use it on them, it would be wise to make a Rasengan only when he gets into close quarters with his opponent. It would also be better to be able to rein a Rasengan back in in case the enemy managed to avoid it, as it was so Chakra intensive.
It took Naruto another two days to figure out how to reabsorb the Rasengan. First, he put a small seal on each of his hands to store ambient Chakra whenever he signaled them to. He had to carefully decelerate the spinning of the orb before activating the seals to absorb it back into himself.
Time Skip to the Final Stage of the Chuunin Exams
The Sandaime sat in the Kage Box with the Yondaime Kazekage, who still looked miffed at the fact that Gaara wasn't allowed to complete the Chuunin Exams.
From the stands, Orochimaru was prepared to watch the matches and signal for the invasion when necessary.
'I wish I didn't need that fool of a Kazekage, but the old monkey was putting quite a wrench in my plans,' Orochimaru thought with a scowl. 'Well, at least this way I can see how Sasuke-kun does in all his matches.'
Orochimaru was drawn out of his musings as the proctor announced the start of the final stage of the Chuunin exams.
At the Arena
"Will Ino Yamanaka and Sasuke Uchiha come to the arena please?" a different proctor than the one who was present at the preliminaries said.
As the two made their way onto the arena, Sasuke asked the new proctor, "Who are you? What happened to the previous proctor?"
"My name is Genma Shiranui. Your previous proctor is currently unavailable," Genma said.
Baki, the Suna team's sensei, smirked at that.
'Of course that coughing idiot is unavailable after I dealt with him,' he thought. 'Why would they make a person who coughs so much a ninja anyway?'
Baki then focused his attention back onto the arena.
Ino Yamanaka vs Sasuke Uchiha
As the proctor started the match, Ino and Sasuke burst towards each other, both trying to take the other by surprise. They both knew that it was always important to attack first, as it would force one's opponent to fight reactively. This way, it would be much easier to win as they were the ones controlling the fight.
Ino started with a kick towards Sasuke's shins, which he jumped to avoid, while simultaneously launching a kick at her head. When he made contact, however, Ino disappeared.
Immediately realizing that he was in a Genjutsu, Sasuke activated his Sharingan just in time to block a punch at his head. He then created a Kage Bunshin to pin Ino, but jumped back as far as he could when Ino exploded, which made him realize that she was a clone the whole time.
Sasuke looked behind him to see a massive wave of water approaching him. His hands blurred to create hand seals.
"Raiton: Rairyuudan (Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon)!" he yelled as a massive lightning dragon blitzed toward the waves. What Sasuke forgot, however, was that while his Raiton Ninjutsu would win against the Suiton Ninjutsu, it wouldn't stop the momentum of the wave. Realizing his mistake, Sasuke retreated and stuck his feet onto the arena walls. He looked to see that Ino had done the same.
"Katon: Goryuuka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique)!" Ino yelled, letting out a colossal dragon that encompassed half the arena. Sasuke's eyes widened in panic.
"Katon: Karyuu Endan!" he screamed, letting out the biggest fire Ninjutsu he ever created at the dragon.
'This is bad – both of us also have those seals containing more Chakra to use, as well as the Juinjutsu. If I don't end this it will continue forever!' Sasuke thought, as his jutsu overpowered Ino. However, Ino didn't continue to sit around with her fire dragon.
"Shintenshin No Jutsu (Mind-Body Switch Technique)," Ino muttered as she focused on the stationary Sasuke.
Sasuke suddenly ended his focus on his jutsu, which had just managed to cancel out Ino's.
Inside Sasuke's Mind
"Ino? How did you get in here?!" Sasuke asked in panic. Ino had jabbed his eyes in his mindscape so that he couldn't try anything fancy with his Sharingan. In Sasuke's real body, the Sharingan had disabled.
"I suppose I have spent so much time with other things that you forgot about my main clan technique," Ino said smugly.
"Not quite," Sasuke said with a smirk of his own, much to Ino's surprise. She saw that Sasuke had prepared to attack her prone body with a Kage Bunshin that he had hidden earlier.
"You really think I would have known that I needed to protect my own body?" Ino smirked. A Kage Bunshin of her own began combat with Sasuke's.
"You think it would be so easy to control me?" Sasuke asked, as he began to exert his will and clash it against Ino's. While neither was weaker when it came to will power, Ino's desire to not hurt Sasuke much lost against Sasuke's desire to retain control over his own body, and Ino was kicked out.
Before Sasuke could regain his bearings, however, Ino's clone, who had managed to defeat his attacked him out of nowhere. Sasuke quickly dispelled it, but by that time, Ino had regained her bearings.
"Ah my fucking head!" she groaned. "Do you know how much that hurt?"
"You shouldn't have used that jutsu then," Sasuke smirked as he ran to attack her. She put her hands up in defense, but Sasuke didn't try any Taijutsu. Instead, he activated storage seals around his wrists that stored kunai and shuriken.
Sasuke threw hundreds of weapons at Ino, each converging at her from a different direction.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!" Ino called as she put up a barrier of water around herself.
Sasuke smirked at this, as he started to channel lightning into his weapons. Ino, who wasn't expecting this, got electrocuted by one of Sasuke's shuriken. She then used her elemental manipulation to turn the wall of water into a large dragon that rushed at Sasuke.
Sasuke responded with another Raiton: Rairyuudan, which due to his lower experience using Raiton than Ino's experience using Suiton, only managed to cancel out Ino's jutsu.
Sasuke's Sharingan then suddenly caught movement, as he turned to block Ino's strike. However, Ino's hands were coasted with Chakra, meaning she was using Chakra scalpels, so blocking her was a mistake.
Ino hit his shoulders, knees, and heels, causing him to no longer be able to stand. This caused the gaping proctor to announce her victory.
"I never had a chance, did I?" Sasuke asked with a dejected smile.
"You did almost get me a few times. I just have a year of experience on you, and you don't know Iryo Ninjutsu yet," Ino consoled him as she healed his wounds and led him back to the stands.
In the Kage Box
"Hokage-dono, why is it that your Genin are basically Jounin?" the Kazekage asked.
"None of their talent has anything to do with me, Kazekage-dono," Hiruzen said, before remembering how he asked Gai to train Naruto. "Oh well, maybe a little bit, but they were largely self-motivated and self-taught."
"Incredible – how is it that these two have managed to motivate themselves to such an extent? I am almost glad that Gaara won't be in the finals," the Kazekage said. In reality he didn't give two shits about Gaara, but he had to keep the conversation going in order to keep the Hokage as distracted as possible.
"Your daughter Temari is in the finals though, Kazekage-dono. Are you not concerned for her?" Hiruzen asked.
"I was only being sarcastic earlier, Hokage-dono. I, of course, have faith that my daughter will do well," the Kazekage said, causing Hiruzen to smirk at his defensiveness. Both Kage turned back to the arena as the proctor announced the next match.
In the Stands
Orochimaru was seething. Sasuke – a boy of such talent – lost in the first round? Granted, his opponent was quite powerful, but still – it was strange that even a fully developed Sharingan was able to compensate for the gap in strength. He also saw that the girl – Ino – was using shortened versions of the hand seal sequences so that Sasuke wouldn't be able to copy her Ninjutsu. What a clever trick.
He was seriously considering starting the invasion now, but he wanted to see how strong the other Genin were. If they were too powerful, they could be major thorns in his side later. Orochimaru reverted his attention to the arena to see the next match
Shino Aburame vs Sakura Haruno
As the match started, Shino let out as many of his kikaichu as possible at Sakura, hoping she was still squeamish about them like she was in the academy. He also wanted to create as much distance as possible between himself and Sakura.
"Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth Release: Hiding like a Mole Technique)," Sakura whispered as she sunk underground, before using Dochuu Eigyou no Jutsu to travel towards Shino.
Shino, however, had some other species of bugs residing in him besides the kikaichu. He had a type of bug called the shokaichu that reported to him Sakura's position underground. As Sakura burst out of the ground to attack Shino, he had immediately jumped away.
Sakura, however, began to feel a burning sensation inside her body. "W-What did you do to me," she asked.
"I host a species known as the kouchu, which can inject an untraceable poison into people. Forfeit, or you will die. I don't need the death of a comrade on my conscience," Shino pleaded. "My kikaichu are siphoning your Chakra as we speak."
Sakura smirked. Faster than Shino could blink, she grabbed a syringe and injected it into herself, as she started to feel better.
"Thanks for telling me, Shino. Now, with the antidote running through my veins, your kouchu cannot affect me," Sakura said.
"Even so, you should be out of Chakra by now," Shino said in surprise, though it didn't show on his face. "I would also like to know how you came into possession of the antidote for my poison,"
Sakura grinned before covering her hands with a Chakra scalpel and slicing through all the kikaichu that covered her. She then released one of the seals that stored more Chakra for her to use, before she blitzed towards Shino, who was tired from supporting all of his bugs with Chakra. She held a kunai to his throat, causing him to forfeit.
"You put up a good fight, Shino. I didn't expect such abilities from you. In fact, if you kept your mouth shut about the species of insect that was poisoning me, you could have won," Sakura said.
Shino nodded. "Your advice has been noted, Sakura-san," Shino said.
In the Kage Box
"Both definitely have the abilities of a Chuunin, but Shino showed bad judgement when he revealed to Sakura what was poisoning her. Perhaps the fact that he wouldn't have expected Sakura to possess the antidote and his concern for his teammate caused him to make the wrong decision, but I think Sakura surely deserves the rank. What do you say, Kazekage-dono?" Hiruzen asked.
"While I agree with most of your assessment, I think it is a little harsh on Shino. Those insects are exclusive to his family, so there was no reason for Sakura to have possessed the antidote. I think both deserve the Chuunin rank," the Kazekage said. It would be better for Konoha to have lower standards for promotion so that they could weaken over time.
Hiruzen acknowledged the Kazekage's statement and turned his attention back to the arena.
Naruto Kazama vs Neji Hyuuga
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called. She had done well in her match against Neji but was ultimately outclassed.
"Yes, Hinata," Naruto responded.
"Neji nii-san has not had a very happy past. He will fight very aggressively. Be careful," Hinata said.
Seizing the opportunity to recruit Hinata, Naruto said, "You don't have to worry about me, Hinata. I have something to talk to you about after this though."
"What is it, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.
"That's for later. I have to go for my match," Naruto said, Shunshinning to the arena.
From the stands, Hiashi, the Hyuuga Clan head, turned to his daughter. "Pay close attention to this match, Hanabi. There is much to learn from your cousin – a prodigy among the Hyuuga Clan."
Hanabi nodded and activated her Byakugan.
As the proctor started the match, Neji spoke up smugly. "You better give up while you can – you're obviously fated to lose."
"Why would you say that?" Naruto asked, with a curious expression on his face, as well as a dark glint in his eye.
"It is obvious – I am the Hyuuga Clan prodigy, while you are simply a nobody," Neji said.
"An interesting opinion. You're right, of course – not about the surety with which you say you will win, but about our backgrounds," Naruto said, much to the audience's surprise. They expected more of a reaction from Naruto.
"You are someone who is born into wealth and social standing. You have access to clan techniques that aren't publicly available. Your ancestry tree is laden with powerful Shinobi. I, on the other hand, have nothing of the sort. I do have my own blessings, though," Naruto said. "What will make my victory sweeter, however, is the fact that a clan-less loser who is the pariah of his home village will not just defeat you, but also humiliate you."
Neji was angered by Naruto's comments and charged at him with a Juuken strike. Naruto simply sidestepped him.
"You're very slow," he said. Watching Neji approach him was like watching an old person cross the street at this point, with all the speed training Naruto did.
Neji simply continued with his Juuken strikes as Naruto dodged every single one. However, Neji smirked.
"You're in my field of divination!" Neji yelled, as he started his Hakke Rokujuuyonshou (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)
However, Naruto dodged all of his strikes and his body dissipated out of existence as he was hit by the last one.
"Bunshin?" Neji thought, before he noticed that his Chakra was so disrupted. 'For him to cast Genjutsu so subtly that even my Byakugan couldn't detect it – he is very talented at the art,' Neji internally praised Naruto, albeit grudgingly, before breaking the Genjutsu and making sure his Chakra flow was alright.
He wasn't prepared, however, for Naruto to burst out of the ground making a grab for his ankles. Neji quickly jumped back as Naruto emerged from the ground.
Simultaneously, seven of Naruto's Kage Bunshin surrounded Neji such that there were eight Narutos in total standing in a circle around him. They all jumped up and threw kunai at Neji, who used Juuken to deflect them all.
Naruto's clones kept doing this, changing the numbers of kunai approaching Neji and the direction that they approached from. Neji deflected them all, except a few whose trajectories converged into an area about an inch in diameter on the basee of Neji's neck and approached him from a maximum of five degrees away from the perpendicular to the area.
'So he has a blind spot, and a rather large one at that,' Naruto realized. 'That's kind of funny – the all-seeing Byakugan having a blind spot.'
Naruto then started to engage Neji in Taijutsu, lazily deflecting all his strikes. One of Naruto's clones managed to stay in the field encompassed by Neji's blind spot.
Neji suddenly felt a prick at the base of his neck, which felt like a senbon. He tried to move, but he was paralyzed, which caused him to fall to the ground. Seeing the clone behind him as he fell. However, he found that his mouth could still move.
"You found it," Neji said emotionlessly.
"Your blind spot? I did. Though I imagine yours was particularly large due to your arrogant and conceited attitude," Naruto said.
"How is it that I, a member of Konoha's strongest clan, was defeated by a nobody?" Neji asked weakly.
"You have grown too used to riding on the coattails of your clan name to realize that you fight like old people fuck," Naruto said. "You are so blinded by your so-called 'talent' and Byakugan that you can't see what others have going for them. Your teammate Lee can reach speeds and strengths so great that he can take on Jounin, while you simply think that just because you are called a prodigy, you should inherently be better than everyone else. The word 'prodigy' is thrown around these days to describe anyone with an iota of skill in the academy, although it seems like that skill immediately disappears once you graduate, doesn't it?"
Neji started to say something, but Naruto cut him off.
"No, Neji, I don't give a flying fuck about what made you this way. Everyone has their demons and I suppose you have yours as well, although you let yours make you their bitch. There are several people in the world who have had it worse than you and so many that have had it better than you, and it is up to you to decide who is in control – you or everything that holds you back. You call me a loser – a nobody who is expected to be weak and useless – in other words, cannon fodder. To a certain extent, I am these things," Naruto said.
Naruto then looked at the audience. "I am Naruto Kazama, the vessel who contains the Kyuubi no Yoko," he announced. "Son of Yui Kazama, a whore who worked in a brothel before the Kyuubi incident. This great woman, despite her declining health and low income, was kind enough to keep me and nurture me until I was born, when she died during labor. I was then stolen from the hospital by the Yondaime, who needed a vessel to store the Kyuubi's power in order to maintain the power balance between the hidden villages."
The audience started to murmur among themselves, though they quieted quickly as Naruto continued to speak.
"The Yondaime only kidnapped me, because he had lost his own child that day, and he told the Sandaime to make sure I was treated as if I was his actual son – which he felt I deserved since I was unknowingly sacrificing any chances of having a normal childhood," Naruto said, as several people in the audience grew guilty expressions on their faces. "Well, I see that you all are aware of how that worked out."
"Now, Neji, do you understand? I am not going to pretend that there were no…extraneous factors that made me inherently stronger than others in some aspects, but it was essentially my brains and my motivation to become better than I am that got me to this point. And this is not something that can be done alone, Neji – I was fortunate enough to find good friends who help me achieve my goal. I will not let the sacrifice of Yui Kazama be in vain. If she valued me so much that she gave her life up for me, I must live up to such a standard," Naruto said, as Neji grew quiet and teary during his speech.
"I understand, Naruto. Thank you for opening my eyes," he said. "Proctor, I accept defeat."
Naruto flicked another senbon at Neji, which contained the antidote to his poison, and simply walked out the stage, as Genma announced his victory. Neji was surely going to hear him out on the offer of working for him now. Naruto, of course, could also sweeten the deal by removing the Caged-Bird Seal on Neji's forehead.
Naruto hoped that he could take the elitist Hyuuga Clan down a few pegs with this stunt, now that their weakness could be exploited more.
In the Kage Box
"That is quite the interesting Genin you have there, Hokage-dono," the Kazekage said.
"Yes, I tried to help him as much as I could since he had no one. I am happy that he has managed to meet some people who he considers comrades," Hiruzen said, although he was suspicious about where Naruto managed to learn the information he learned.
From Naruto's speech, Hiruzen was able to grasp that Naruto believed that he was special because he was born and that someone else sacrificed their love for his. Naruto seemed to be willing to go to any extent to become that special person who was worth the life of another.
Hiruzen was proud of Naruto, but the boy was starting to seem suspicious – that look of hunger to learn and desire to prove himself in Naruto's eyes reminded Hiruzen a little too much of Orochimaru.
"It was quite amazing that the boy managed to expose the Hyuuga clan's weakness and defeat the Hyuuga like he was nothing – he really stuck to his promise of humiliating him," the Kazekage said.
"I wish he didn't do that, though. Now the Hyuugas will be weaker since any assailants will know of their blind spots," Hiruzen said sourly.
With the Hyuuga Clan in the Stands
Hiashi grit his teeth. This little brat exposed a clan secret in the battle today.
"Otou-sama, how did the clan-less boy beat Neji nii-san?" Hanabi asked. "And why didn't the Yondaime just kill the Kyuubi instead of making a Jinchuriki?"
"Never mind that, Hanabi. The boy will pay for what he did. Jinchuriki or not, a Hyuuga cannot lose to a civilian," Hiashi said angrily.
Temari vs Chouji Akimichi
Knowing that his opponent was a wind user, Chouji immediately opened with a Chou Baika no Jutsu (Super Expansion Technique). A larger and heavier object was more difficult to move. Chouji then started reaching for Temari, trying to capture her like she was a mouse.
Temari tried blowing him away a few times with her fan, but he was undeterred and continued trying to capture her. Soon, Temari grew tired.
"I was hoping to save my ultimate jutsu for later, but it seems you forced my hand," she said, summoning a weasel.
"Ninpou: Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Sickle Weasel Technique)!" she yelled as the weasel blitzed towards Chouji before he could react and started cutting into him from every direction.
Chouji screamed in pain as blood poured out of several gashes in his body but had the sense to scream that he was forfeiting.
Genma hurriedly announced Temari's victory and made her cancel the jutsu, saving Chouji within an inch of his life. Chouji reverted to his usual size and was carted off to the hospital.
In the stands, Naruto was nearly drooling at the destructive power of that jutsu. "I so wanna learn that jutsu," he murmured, but Ino slapped the back of his head to break him out of his reverie.
In the Kage Booth
"You weren't joking, Kazekage-dono, your daughter is indeed talented," Hiruzen commented.
"Of course she is – the offspring of a Kage can hardly be incompetent, can they? The Kazekage said.
Both Kage turned back to the arena as the proctor announced the next two pairings.
"Alright, the semifinals will be between the winners of the first and fourth match, and the second and the third match," Genma said.
Temari gulped as she noticed Ino smirking at her from the stands. However, she had her own pride, causing her to smirk back challengingly.
Naruto turned to Sakura, who seemed to have already accepted defeat.
"Look, Sakura. I won't feed you lies by telling you that if you try hard enough you can beat me, but I do want you to put up the best fight you can, understand?" Naruto asked. Sakura took a deep breath and nodded.
Meanwhile, Temari was getting ready for her match against Ino. Once the proctor called them to the stage, she collected herself and made her way down. She was sure that she was going to lose, but it was possible for her to win by some stroke of luck.
Temari vs Ino Yamanaka
As the fight started, Ino rapidly approached Temari, who brought up her fan in the nick of time to avoid Ino's kick. While the fan didn't quite break, it did bend.
Temari created some distance between herself and Ino in order to summon the weasel – it's not like she could do much without her fan anyway,
"Ninpou: Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" she yelled, as the weasel blitzed towards Ino, intending to cut everything in its path down.
The weasel was in fact so fast that Ino was relying on pure instinct to dodge its attacks. It was unwise to try to parry, as the Fuuton-enhanced sickle would slice through whatever Ino put up. Temari also couldn't interfere at this point, as she would get in the weasel's way. Ino started to get an idea about the patterns of the weasel's movements as she dodged.
Suddenly, the weasel was caught in Ino's hands, as Ino squeezed its little hand and snapped its wrist, causing it to drop the sickle. Seeing that it was still being aggressive, Ino grew a dark smile and turned to face a shocked Temari. Ino then grabbed a kunai and repeatedly slashed the creature until it was so injured that it disappeared back into the Summoning Realm to heal…or die depending on the severity of its injuries.
Temari was horrified at Ino's actions – how could someone kill a defenseless creature like that? "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" she screamed.
"Bitch please, that filthy garden critter would have been more than content to slice my head off with that sickle and you would sing it praises. I simply replied in kind," Ino said with a malicious smile as she blitzed towards an incredulous Temari and knocked her out.
The proctor announced Ino's victory, although there was no applause as Ino walked back to the stands.
"Um…Ino?" Sasuke asked nervously.
"What is it, Sasuke?"
"You're never going to have one of us at the other end of that kunai, right?" he asked.
"Of course not, Sasuke, why would you think that?" Ino asked with a sweet smile. Sasuke shivered but nodded.
'Crazy bitch,' he thought.
In the Kage Box
"Ho, it seems your Genin has a dark streak, Hokage-dono," the Kazekage commented.
"I didn't expect that behavior from her, but you're one to talk, Kazekage-dono – your son made quick work of several teams during the second stage," Hiruzen said.
"True, but his savagery was what caused you to deep him too unstable, was it not?" the Kazekage said, a hint of venom in his voice. Hiruzen simply turned back to the arena. He didn't know what to make of that display of brutality.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru was gleeful that someone understood the joys of sadism. It almost brought tears of happiness to his eyes – but he was still Orochimaru though, so the tears refused to exit his tear ducts.
Naruto Kazama vs Sakura Haruno
When Naruto and Sakura made it to the arena, they both glared at each other – Naruto's glare was challenging, and Sakura's was one of determination.
When the match started, Sakura rushed at Naruto, hoping to take him by surprise.
Naruto, who was all too used to that approach, anticipated her movements as they began a Taijutsu battle. Suddenly, Naruto saw Chakra scalpels on Sakura's hands and smirked as he activated his own.
Both engaged in a deadly Taijutsu dance – each trying to simultaneously hit and dodge the other. Seeing that she wasn't going to be getting anywhere, Sakura used Doton: Mogurakagure no Jutsu to hide underground and try to surprise Naruto.
Naruto smirked and concentrated a bit, as one ethereal black chain emerged from the small of his back and broke through the ground.
In the Kage Box
"How is it that a non-Uzumaki is able to use those chains, Hokage-dono?" the Kazekage asked in surprise.
"I am not sure about that…perhaps one of his parents had some Uzumaki ancestry? I'd wager that the father did," Hiruzen said, as he wondered about that himself.
"It seems that your Genin continue to impress," the Kazekage said, as Hiruzen smirked.
Back in the Arena
Sakura quickly used Doton: Dochuu Eigyou no Jutsu to escape the chain that tracked her, and re-emerged from the ground.
"Doton: Doryuudan!" Sakura shouted as a dragon made of rock shot solid stone projectiles at Naruto. Sakura used this time to close a little of the distance between them.
"Fuuton: Kazedan!" Naruto shouted, as his wind projectiles and Sakura's stone ones obliterated each other. Suddenly, Naruto heard a voice.
"Doton: Doryuu Taiga (Earth Release: Mud Flow River)!" Sakura shouted, as from the side, a river of mud fissured through the ground, rapidly approaching Naruto.
Naruto smirked. "Fuuton: Atsugai (Wind Release: Pressure Damage)!" he yelled, as a compressed wind projectile exited his mouth at Sakura's feet.
Sakura tried to jump out of the way to avoid it, and she avoided the projectile, but not the tornado of wind that emanated from it that knocked her down.
"Is that all you got?" he provoked, kicking Sakura's prone body. "I know there is more fight left in you!"
Sakura weakly did a Kawarimi to escape Naruto and got to her feet, healing the more painful areas in her body.
Sakura then pulled out a scroll and unsealed several missiles from it, which all homed onto Naruto.
"This is what I was looking for," Naruto said with a grin.
"Doton: Doryuuheki!" Naruto said, as a thick wall of earth rose to block the missiles. It protected Naruto from some of them, until they managed to burst through the wall. However, Naruto had already hidden himself underground, so they were no longer a threat to him.
Once Naruto rose from the ground, he saw Sakura wearing an exoskeleton of sorts. He sensed her channel some Chakra through it, as she blitzed towards him at speeds several times faster than her maximum speed. Naruto quickly used Kawarimi to escape a heel drop-kick, which shattered the ground below him.
'Taijutsu is no longer a viable option here,' he thought. He quickly racked his brain and smirked as an idea came to mind. It was time to bring out the Fox Clan's teachings.
"Ninpou: Kitsune Tsuikyuu (Ninja Art: Fox Pursuit)!" Naruto yelled, sticking his hands on the ground. Large, jagged spikes of rock emerged from the ground and travelled towards Sakura, their bases still connected to the ground.
Sakura sped towards it and destroyed one, only for it to be replaced by two more. She also felt a bit of a drain on her Chakra as she did that.
'Shit! This jutsu can't be beaten directly, it seems. I think I have to attack Naruto directly to escape it. If I destroy a spike, it is replaced by two more that are made from my Chakra,' she thought, as she moved to attack Naruto.
However, the spikes blocked her way. She tried to jump over, but they grew to block her. She decided to destroy a few just to clear the path momentarily and attack Naruto.
Sakura tried to punch through the spikes, but the next one she punched caused three more to emerge. The one after that was replaced by four more spikes. They also steadily grew faster and larger, causing Sakura to activate some of the Chakra-storing seals on herself to replenish her reserves.
Soon, there was not enough space around Sakura for her to even move freely. Sakura tried to go underground multiple times but found that she couldn't. She tried one last punch, her exoskeleton infused with as much Chakra as she could manage, and let out a powerful shockwave at Naruto, who was unable to dodge in time and went flying into the walls.
However, Sakura noticed a strange projection from Naruto's low back, and she felt tugged at her ankle as Naruto went flying, causing her to tumble around as well.
Naruto quickly recovered and healed himself while Sakura was still confused. The chain from his back quickly snaked around Sakura and bound her, while Naruto strengthened it so that she couldn't break out. The blade at the tip of the chain pointed at Sakura's throat, causing her to sigh and admit defeat.
The two left to the stands as the gob smacked proctor declared that the winner was Naruto.
In the Kage Box
"That was quite an unexpected performance," the Kazekage commented.
"Yes, it was rather impressive of Sakura to design equipment that compensated for her shortcomings," Hiruzen said.
"Although she did lose in the end, I would definitely say she is Chuunin material," the Kazekage said. He didn't want Konoha to have powerful high-ranking Shinobi, but the Hokage would clearly see that he was bullshitting if he told him that Sakura didn't deserve a promotion.
"Naruto has also performed admirably. He did have an outburst during the last match, and he prolonged this one, but he had his reasons," Hiruzen said. "He deserves a promotion."
With Orochimaru
Orochimaru was salivating at the thought of having Sakura join him. The smart girl invented something that enhanced her almost as well as his Juinjutsu. The heights he could achieve with her working for him – Orochimaru nearly shivered in anticipation. He would never use her as a vessel – no – she could become his next Kabuto. She even could use Iryo Ninjutsu – her uses had no bounds.
The only problem was that the group of four impressive Genin in the Chuunin exams – Naruto, Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke – were always attached at the hip. Orochimaru would have to break those bonds to have the ones he wanted work for him. Hell, he would even be happy with all four, honestly, but he wasn't sure if he could convince them all.
"Hebi-sama," one of his men who was disguised as a civilian whispered discreetly. "When will you give the signal for the invasion?"
"After this last match," Orochimaru said.
"They are onto us, Hebi-sama. They are searching for the summoning seals as we speak," the underling said.
'Shit!' Orochimaru mentally cursed. He was going to have to start early. "Start the Genjutsu now," he ordered, as the underling used the Nehan Shouja no Jutsu (Temple of Nirvana Technique). Flower petals floated towards the ground, causing the audience to feel drowsy. Many among them fell asleep.
With Team Kasei
"What's going on?" Sakura asked.
"I think this is the start of the invasion," Naruto said.
"BLOOD!" a recognizable voice yelled. "Mother wants all of your blood!" Gaara screamed some distance away from the stands.
"Shit! He's going to release the Ichibi!" Naruto hissed.
"Naruto!" Kakashi called. "I presume you and your friend group know what's going on?" Kakashi half-questioned. Naruto nodded.
"Can you all handle him?" Kakashi asked, referring to Gaara
"Only one way to find out," Naruto smirked.
"Good. You officially have an A-Rank mission to lure the Jinchuriki away and deal with him. Go!" Kakashi ordered. The four members of Kasei left without hesitation.
The four Shunshinned to Gaara's position and saw that the boy was already partially transformed. When Gaara saw them, he was positively enraged.
"YOU! I'll kill you and drink the blood out of your rotting corpse!" Gaara growled gutturally at Naruto.
"Oh boy, this will be a pain in the ass," Naruto commented.
Meanwhile, throughout the village, Snake summons emerged from the summoning seals, opening their wide maws to let thousands of Suna and Oto Shinobi through.
"Ready, Gai?" Kakashi said calmly. Gai nodded seriously – this was one of the rare times when he had a stone-cold expression on his face. The actions of Sunagakure were at the height of unyouthfulness.
In the Kage Box
"Your reflexes have slowed, Hokage-dono," the Kazekage said. He had the Hokage trapped in his gold dust as they Shunshinned to another rooftop.
"Have they?" Hiruzen smirked. He melted into a puddle of mud and the real Hiruzen reappeared in front of the Kazekage.
"I would say they did, dear sensei," Orochimaru cooed, as Hiruzen saw the Kusanagi no Tsurugi sticking out of his chest.
"Are you sure?" Hiruzen challenged, as he pulled the same stunt as before.
"That same stunt won't save you against us both, sensei," Orochimaru taunted. "It's two on one."
"Actually," another voice interrupted. "It's two on two."
Orochimaru and Rasa, the Kazekage, turned to see Jiraiya standing on the roof with them. Orochimaru scowled, as his Sound Four only managed to use Ninpou: Shishienjin (Ninja Art: Four Violet Flame Formation) to block external interference moments after Jiraiya's entrance.
"Please distract them, Kazekage-dono, as I fix our odds a little," Orochimaru smiled, as Rasa started attacking Hiruzen and Jiraiya with his sand.
With Kasei
"You three distract him," Naruto said, as he prepared to have Shukaku sealed back into Gaara.
"No! Mother won't let you!" Gaara screamed.
Sasuke started using Katon Ninjutsu to turn the sand into glass. Ino was using Suiton to turn other parts into mud. Sakura wore her exoskeleton and engaged in a furious Taijutsu match against Gaara, who was getting angrier and angrier. He didn't realize it, but the group was directing him to a forest outside as they fought.
Gaara finally lost it and let the full Shukaku out of the seal. "Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu (Feigning Sleep Technique)!" Gaara exclaimed, as he fell asleep and Shukaku took control.
"Shit!" Naruto yelled. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Inarihime appeared beside Naruto. Seeing what they were fighting, she turned to Naruto. "I hope you remember what I told you about the Fox Clan?" she asked, referring to their lack of brute force abilities.
"I do, Inarihime-sama. Could you just distract Shukaku so that I can prepare a sealing array?" Naruto asked. Inarihime nodded and dashed towards the Bijuu. She started using the Fox Clan techniques to confuse the tanuki.
"No! I won't be imprisoned again! Fuuton: Renkuudan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Projectile)!" the tanuki said, shooting a pressurized ball of wind at Naruto.
Naruto activated his Ten no Juin. "Fuuton: Renkuudan!" he yelled, shooting the same jutsu back at Shukaku. The power boost was more than enough, as Naruto and Ino were able to activate the dormant parts of the Juinjutsu, so it directly went to the second form.
"Everyone! Activate the Juinjutsu!" Naruto yelled. His friends nodded and continued doing their best to distract Shukaku.
"That's not enough for you, pathetic human? Take this! Bijuu-dama!" Shukaku yelled, letting out a massive black sphere of destruction at Naruto.
"I suppose it has to come out at some point. Hiraishin: Dorai (Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder)!" Naruto yelled, putting a lot of Chakra into the technique. He already had flicked one of his prepared kunai at Shukaku in order to land the Bijuu-dama onto him.
"Everyone! Shunshin towards me!" Naruto ordered, which the group did immediately. Naruto also dismissed Inarihime by this point.
Naruto took them all deep underground with Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu. A massive earthquake emanated from the point of contact of the Bijuu-dama. Once the vibrations stopped, Naruto found Gaara lying unconscious in a massive crater.
After searching Gaara for his seal, Naruto's fingers started to glow. "Gogyou Fuin," he said, as he strengthened the seal containing Shukaku with his own seal.
By this point, Temari and Kankurou showed up and saw Naruto sealing their brother in a stasis scroll.
"What are you doing?!" Temari yelled. "That's our brother!"
"Shut the fuck up. You should know the consequences of attacking us. Now surrender and leave with your tails between your legs like the dogs you Suna Shinobi are or join your brother. Naruto and Ino don't treat their test subjects kindly," Sasuke said.
Anger and fear of what would happen to their brother clouded the Sand Siblings' eyes as they attacked the four. However, with Temari's fan damaged and Kankurou's replacement puppet being more mediocre than his first one, they didn't stand much of a chance. They too were sealed into stasis scrolls.
"I'm tired of dealing with idiots today. I hope those two were the last of them," Sasuke said.
"Oh, no, the more idiots that present themselves, the more research we get to do," Ino said gleefully.
"Speaking of idiots," Sakura said, pointing to the third idiot who presented himself – the Sand Siblings' sensei, Baka or whatever his name was. Needless to say, he too quickly became an increment to the sample size of Naruto's and Ino's experiments.
Before any chance presented itself for Konoha Shinobi to appear and question the group about the whereabouts of the Suna Shinobi, Naruto quickly Hiraishined the group to their lab.
"Convenient new jutsu you got there, Naruto," Ino said.
"Don't I know it?" Naruto chuckled. It did take him a while to figure out the Hiraishin during the training break, but due to his proficiency with seals and the guidance from the Nidaime's version of it, there was basically no effort necessary for Naruto to master it. The only challenge was to find an array that most closely described his Chakra signature – which was difficult to quantify.
In the end, when Naruto finally figured out the array, it could be interpreted as the message "Every Jutsu has a Weakness".
In contrast, the message on the Yondaime's kunai was "Gotcha Bitch", and the one on the Nidaime's was "Fuck the Uchihas". The Nidaime's was understandable, as the Hiraishin was invented by him during the Warring States era, but Naruto didn't quite know why the Yondaime's was what it was.
With the Kages and Sannin
"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei (Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation)!" Orochimaru shouted, as out came three caskets from the ground.
"Is that…" Hiruzen started to ask.
"Behold the Shodaime and the Nidaime Hokages!" Orochimaru announced, as the aforementioned Shinobi exited their caskets. Orochimaru put a kunai in each of their skulls, which contained their orders.
"You are truly vile for using this jutsu, Orochimaru!" Hiruzen said in anger.
"Is that a slight against your former sensei, sensei? After all, we all know who invented this jutsu," Orochimaru taunted, as Hiruzen grit his teeth.
"Jiraiya! Deal with the Kazekage and Orochimaru! I'll deal with my former sensei!" Hiruzen ordered, as Jiraiya nodded, knowing that this wasn't the time to argue.
Rasa shot shuriken made of gold dust at Jiraiya, who dodged them and used Doton: Yomi Numa to trap his opponents, who both jumped away to escape.
"Rasengan!" Jiraiya yelled as he attacked the Kazekage, who put up a gold dust barrier. The barrier suddenly grew spikes.
"Ninpou: Hari Jizou (Ninja Art: Underworld Guardian Spikes)!" Jiraiya yelled, as he covered himself in spikes and continued grinding his Rasengan into the sand, which slowly started to crack.
'The power of his jutsu – amazing,' Rasa thought.
Jiraiya's Rasengan exploded against the sand, breaking the barrier, and allowing Jiraiya to get to Rasa. However, he was interrupted by a massive sword in Orochimaru's hands.
Jiraiya created some distance, but Orochimaru didn't let up. "Mandara no Jin (Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes)!" he said, as out of his mouth emerged ten thousand snakes, each carrying a sword in its mouth.
Jiraiya summoned Gamabunta for help. Together, they did a collaboration jutsu. "Katon: Gamayuuendan!" Jiraiya yelled, as Gamabunta released massive amounts of oil, which Jiraiya ignited with his Katon Ninjutsu.
Rasa, not to be outdone, created a massive tsunami of gold dust (some of which Jiraiya greedily pocketed) at Jiraiya and his toad.
"Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi no Shibari!" Jiraiya said, as he put his hands to the ground. The Kazekage and Orochimaru both felt themselves sink into something soft. A wall of gastrointestinal tract rose to block the tsunami of sand and then swallow it completely.
Rasa tried to escape by forcing himself out with his sand, but to no avail.
Orochimaru had seen this technique before and smirked. His Kusanagi no Tsurugi was no ordinary sword. He used it to cut through the stomach lining and escape the technique.
Jiraiya also left, leaving Rasa to rot in the digestive tract of the mountain toad. His dead body would be discovered the next day.
Jiraiya dispelled Gamabunta, as his prolonged presence would prompt Orochimaru to summon Manda, and that fight would wreck way too much property
Orochimaru and Jiraiya then engaged in a fast-paced Taijutsu battle, Orochimaru trying as many cheap tricks and manipulations possible to enrage Jiraiya, who didn't waver. He was too numb to Orochimaru's mannerisms by now.
However, Jiraiya was distracted when his sensei used the Shiki Fuujin. "Sensei! No –"
And that was all the distraction Orochimaru needed. He quickly gashed Jiraiya with a poisoned kunai, causing him to fall unconscious, before moving on to fight his sensei.
Before he could do anything, however, Orochimaru felt like someone was stabbing him, as he looked down to see Hiruzen holding some blue substance that originated from his arms.
'Is that my soul?' Orochimaru thought fearfully. "What kind of jutsu is this?" he demanded.
"I knew I should have put you down all those years ago, Orochimaru! I will correct that mistake today!" Hiruzen said determinedly.
"Are you sure that's what you should be worried about?" Orochimaru asked tauntingly.
"What are you on about?" Hiruzen asked.
"You see, I noticed something peculiar about one of my labs in Konoha. I knew it's general location, but somehow, it was hidden from me," Orochimaru said.
"Enough of this nonsense Orochimaru!" Hiruzen said, as he continued to pull Orochimaru's soul.
"Imagine my surprise when, after poking around a little, I find that the Chakra signatures in that area match those of a certain four Genin of Konoha," Orochimaru said.
"W-What?" Hiruzen asked, questioning everything he knew about the aforementioned four. He knew who Orochimaru was referring to, of course. And Orochimaru had no reason to lie. No one else was listening.
However, that opening let Orochimaru summon the Kusanagi and have it stab into Hiruzen.
"I can't believe I fell for that!" Hiruzen said. "No matter. You may not be dying today, Orochimaru, but you will never do jutsu again!"
Hiruzen, realizing he didn't have enough in him to pull the entire soul out, cut off the amount that he had managed to pull – the arms.
Orochimaru screamed in rage. However, seeing his sensei about to pass away with a smile on his face, he decided that the old monkey should not rest in peace.
"I wasn't lying, sensei," Orochimaru said, malice in his eyes.
That was enough for Hiruzen's peaceful expression to become one of shock as he finally passed away.
(A/N: The fight between Hiruzen, Hashirama, and Tobirama is the same as in canon.)
END of Chapter 11