Chapter 5
The jounin lounge
"How do you think they handled it?" Asuma asked abruptly.
Kakashi shrugged, "I'm sure if the genin can handle running around the village, occasionally being chased around by a robot with a sword and a sludge monster of some kind. Ibiki might just be a medium grade challenge." he explains while reading his book.
"You say that but we haven't exactly given them any training in the past couple of weeks." Kurenai said sounding a bit nervous. "Besides, you are always talking about friendship and bonds. Are you not the least bit concerned?" she asked.
It was a stupid question, Kakashi does care but he's very lazy and doesn't always know how to handle drama. Although Naruto himself did give Kakashi advice. It was a good idea to see where the group's strengths and weaknesses are and try to compromise with that. Kind of as a way of taking babysteps towards teamwork. For each team to basically cover each other's weaknesses.
"I think this was a good time for each one of us to reflect. We can't baby them or expect them all to just know to be shinobi." Kakashi said.
"I know, but isn't it a bit too much for their age?" Kurenai asked.
"We made chunin before their age Kurenai." Asuma spoke up.
"It was a time of war!" Kurenai argued.
"Just drop it Kurenai. They are here now, we wouldn't nominate them if we didn't have any confidence in their abilities." Kakashi said.
Kurenai sighed, "I hate it when you're right." she said.
"Am I not always right?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile.
Training Ground 44 Entrance
Anko Mitarashi stood in front of the genin teams, "Congratulations brats, you handled the baby level stuff that Ibiki gave you. Now you have to survive my playground!" she exclaims.
Arashi sighed, "I don't like the sound of this." he muttered.
"Just pay attention, I doubt this place is any more nice than your brother's training." Sakura said.
"Anything will be more nice." Arashi replied.
Anko then went on to explain the rules. It could not be any more simple, but it was the physical challenge that was filled with greater difficulty. The task was that every team either had a scroll marked with the kanji for Heaven or Earth. From there, they would steal another scroll from another team by any means necessary. Once again, it was a challenge to obtain information.
"Good an easy task, but what's the catch?" Mito asked when she suddenly saw a kunai heading towards her.
"Wall!"
"Aero!"
Mito quickly pulled out a kunai as Sakura created an ethereal wall to block the stray kunai. Meanwhile Arashi sent Anko skidding back as she was surprised by the attack. Meanwhile Sasuke just stood there to do nothing.
"I see one team is a bit frisky." Anko said as she looked around for her kunai.
Only for a Kusa genin to hand it back… while using her tongue, "Here is your kunai." she said.
"Thanks." Anko said not paying attention to the kusa ninja.
"Really teme? You didn't do anything?" Arashi asked with an irate look on her face.
"I was going to, but then realized we were going to stick out even more." Sasuke said as he zipped up his new jacket.
Despite his protest, Mikoto dragged Sasuke to get new clothes and one part of it was a stylish jacket with several compartments. Some of which he used for tools he was training with and almost prepared to use. That didn't mean the rest of his team came underdressed or underprepared.
"Anyways, everyone needs to sign of forms. Once you're inside, we are not responsible for deaths or being crippled for life. That's if you don't starve to death. Unless you learn to hunt that is." Anko said as Choji whined in the background.
"Let's get this over with." Sasuke said as the twins glared while Sakura disabled the barrier.
With Naruto again
While the exams of his siblings were starting to heat up. Naruto found himself continuing to work from his parent's home. In front of him were a few documents he was working on. Nearby, Kunou was playing with her new siblings and was making the two infants seemed to be delighted to be near their sister.
"I know your siblings love you Kunou, but have you finished studying?" Naruto asked.
Kunou blushed, "I'm taking a small break tou-sama." she said.
"Okay, but don't slack off dear. I loathed studying as a child, but I don't think your mother or grandmother will be as sympathizing." Naruto said as Kunou nods.
"I'll go back soon." Kunou said as she kept playing with her siblings.
As the peace continued, Naruto was receiving a message from his mirror. As the transmission started to connect, Naruto saw the image of a mid ranking soldier appear. The soldier gave his emperor a bow and a salute before explaining himself.
"Your majesty, I'm reporting in from Airship A-219. We've detecting multiple dark signatures from a forest surrounded by multiple shinobi." the soldier said.
"It's likely the wildlife. The Forest of Death as they call it is full of abnormal monsters not meant for local areas." Naruto said not sounding too concerned.
"With all due respect your majesty, the signatures are for something worse than giant snakes and spiders." The soldier stated.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Explain." he ordered.
The soldier began to state the entire report on what's been detected. All the while, Kunou's fox ears appeared on her head. Only to droop down as she felt a bit nervous as she heard the conversation sounding more and more serious and tense. When it finished, Naruto put aside the documents and locked them inside of a box.
"I'll be there in person." Naruto said as he disabled the mirror. "Musume, stay here with your mother and grandparents. I'll be out on an important task." he told her.
"Yes tou-sama." Kunou said obediently.
Naruto bent down and kissed her forehead, "Take could care of Ichigo and Kairi okay? You are a big sister now." he said as Kunou nods.
As Naruto made his way out of his parent's home. He looked around and saw that his bodyguards still in their positions before he approached a pair of dragon newts.
"Stand at attention you two." Naruto commands.
"Waxer, ready for duty!"
"Boil, ready for duty!"
"Good, now you two come with me." Naruto continues to command.
"Just two?" Ghislaine asks as he passes her.
"Souei's squadron is also following me." Naruto said as he sensed several others tailing him.
"Good to know, I'll watch over the kits." Ghislaine said as Naruto left in a burst of leaves with his escort team. "I wonder what's got him riled up?" she asked, knowing Naruto's personality by now.
Forest of Death, some time later
After starting the second portion of the exam. The genin teams immediately found themselves running through a forest infested with dangerous animals that are not normally found in the wild. It left many wondering whether or not normal humans were any less dangerous. The naive children have yet to tell the difference if there were any.
"Hey guys, I just thought of something." Arashi spoke up.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked.
"How about we keep a decoy scroll around, just in case?" Arashi asked.
"And what if we mix them up? What then?" Sasuke asked.
"One of us can keep the scroll safe while someone else keeps the decoy handy." Arashi said.
"Haha, a good point." Mito said with a grin.
Sakura sighed, "It does sound like a sound plan." she said.
"I knew you would use that big brain of yours for once." Mito said making Sakura glare at her.
A short while later, Team 7 finished creating the fake Heaven Scroll. Unaware that they have been spotted by a team from Kusa. Ironically, they only arrived just after the scroll was finished and did not see the brief exchange they made.
"Crap, I need the bathroom. Wait here guys." Arashi said as he ran off into a random direction.
Mito sighed, "Now's a bad time Arashi!" she yells angrily.
"Now we're going to take even longer to finish this test." Sasuke said in his usual broody tone.
"We have five days teme and I think there's an even number of teams. One of them is just begging for us to beat them." Mito said arrogantly.
"It doesn't mean we should stand around and…" Sakura was saying before Mito raised her hand.
"What's that sound? I hear a lot of metal clanging." Mito asked.
"Take cover!" Sasuke orders, making all three scramble towards trees and rocks.
Before anything could appear, a Kusa genin could be seen crashing across the dirt. With Arashi walking out from where the genin was sent crashing. From the looks of things, Arashi handled his fight pretty well.
"Hey guys, I found some creep watching me trying pee." Arashi said out loud.
"Arashi be quiet. It means the other two are trying to attack us." Mito whispered just as several trees.
Where out of nowhere, a giant snake appeared. As it bent down to swallow Arashi. The blond boy quickly replaced himself with a log using Kawarimi. Form there, he proceeded to go over his equipment while thinking over ways to beat the snake.
"How the hell are we supposed to deal with that!?" Sakura asked.
"I would be more worried about about your real opponents." said a voice from behind the group.
Everyone jumped away in surprise as they saw a female Kusa ninja appear out of nowhere. It was likely the intense environment and scenarios that made everyone anxious, but they felt like this person was very dangerous. As the female ninja's ever present smile only made things seem more disturbing by the minute. Even more so as she did not seem one bit disturbed by the sight of the giant snake that is still chasing Arashi around.
"Oh my, a bigger group that I expected. Oh well, not really much of an issue." the kusa ninja said while licking her lips with her large tongue.
"Gross." Mito said as she drew out a dagger from her jacket.
"Don't let your guard down." Sasuke said.
"Do I really scare you that much?" the kusa ninja asked. "Of course, I expected more from the one of the Last Uchiha. I suppose I should have prepared for a disappointment." she said taunting Sasuke.
Sasuke shook his head, 'I'm not letting myself get frustrated for every little thing again.' he thought.
During the intense training, Naruto had to break down many weaknesses within everyone. Such as Sakura and Ino being concerned with their health instead of personal looks and grabbing Sasuke's attention. Mito and Arashi in knowing when to take dangerous situations seriously and how to prepare for them. Then there's Sasuke who needed to keep his pride and ego in check. To avoid getting frustrated and letting his anger control his judgement like the enemy ninja is doing now.
"I see that Itachi only spared the ones he deemed unworthy in his eyes." the Kusa ninja continued to mock.
"Say what you want, I'm not my brother and I'm not asking for your approval." Sasuke said surprising his enemy.
"Yeah, we don't care about your opinion." Mito said as prepared for a difficult fight.
"I see, you will all fall braver than most." the Kusa ninja said before forming hand seals. "Earth Style: Mud Dragon Jutsu!" she yells as a giant mass of mud in the shape of a dragon charges at them.
The trio disappeared in a burst of leaves, completely avoiding the dragon. As they returned, Mito unleashed a barrage of shrunken and kunai at the Kusa ninja who avoided them with great speed. Mito then started to form hand seals of her own as the kunoichi moved directly towards her.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!" Mito yells as she fires a large liquid projectile at the woman.
The woman narrowly avoided the attack. Only to find herself avoiding a large trail of fire from Sasuke who tried to hit her from behind. Though it appeared that Sasuke had yet to give up on attacking this fast target.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" he yells out only to miss as kunoichi spins towards him.
Where the Uchiha was knocked off of a branch he was standing on. Sasuke quickly recovered as the Kunoichi dived on after him. Only to be surprised by Mito who tackled her into a tree before falling down onto the ground. There, the Kusa ninja recovered and let out a laughter of excitement.
"You three are quite prepared for this exam. If only I can say the same for the other one." she said before the giant snake exploded.
"Nice try! But no giant snake is stopping me!" Arashi yells as he suddenly appears with a large cleaver like weapon.
"I see my summon is not enough." the kunoichi said sounding slightly disappointed.
"Summon? That was yours?" Arashi asked.
"Yes, but don't worry. I have more playmates for you. Kuchiyose no jutsu!" she yells as she summons a pair of more snakes.
"Crap!" Arashi yells as he backs away.
As the snakes slithered towards Arashi, they never saw several sheets of paper on the ground start glowing. Each one of them started to explode and unleashed a giant wave of sharp weapons that all got stuck around their bodies. Both snakes hissed in pain as some of the weapons were fairly strong and pierced vial areas.
"Thanks Sakura!" Arashi calls out as Sakura was trying to support her teammates from the shadows.
"I see, I only now just realized that the pink haired one is missing." the kunoichi said. "No matter." she said as she threw several kunai in one direction.
All hitting a target and creating a loud thump noise. Which was followed by a loud explosion and a log falling down. This left the Kusa ninja looking disappointed as she was able to find Sakura but did attack quickly enough. Leaving the stranger to take this fight a tad bit more seriously.
"Let's get serious." the kusa ninja said with a creepy smirk.
With Naruto's forces
Naruto placed a hand on a tree and patiently tried to tap into his senjutsu. Where he started to scan a big portion of of the forest with his sensory. Naruto then started to diffierentiate every chakra signature. Making it tricky as he can see many trying to fight each other or against the wild animals.
'My siblings are probably fine, but it's best to check. However, I should keep my own emotions in check.' Naruto thought as he started looking for the dark signature he was told about.
"Hey Boil, what do you think we're looking for?" Waxer asked with a whisper.
"Anything dangerous, just keep your eyes peeled." Boil whispered back.
"I know, but what do you think it is? A wild beast? Maybe a strong mage?" Waxer asked.
"We'll know when it comes." Boil answered.
"By just standing around?" Waxer asked.
"Enough, his majesty is in our presence. We're probably disturbing him with our stupid talk." Boil said not wanting to disturb the Crimson Emperor.
Naruto's eyes widened, "This way, something is here." he said running off into one direction.
"What? What did he find?" Waxer asked.
"We'll know when we see it!" Boil answered as they followed Naruto.
After a couple of minutes of running. Naruto raised an arm and signaled the two lizard men to take cover across from him. As the the three reduced their visibility. Souei and his tracking team were hopping between branches and watching over the area. Looking for whatever it is that their emperor had found. When all of a sudden, a very dark presence started to suffocate the area. It was strong, but not enough to consume the entire team.
As they silently watched, an armored figure came out of the shrubbery. The figure dropped their helmet and revealed their face to be covered in black marks that went down their neck and likely their entire body.
"Hahaha! It's cold but I can feel it rushing through my blood!" the figure said as they laughed like a mad man. "I don't have to listen to that bitch of a princess anymore! I can feel the power! Yes, it's growing stronger! I'll kill those devils and take glory for myself!" he continued to speak like a mad man.
Waxer looked at Boil who shook his head. Where the latter made a signal to stay in cover. Soon enough, the armored figure's body started to turn pale as the black marks became more vibrant.
"I know you're there! Show yourself!" the figure screamed. Naruto casually stood up, "Demon king!" he screamed as he drew a sword and ran Naruto at intense speeds.
Only to be stopped by Souei, "Steel Thread." he said as he caught the armored figure.
The figure was lifted into the air by the threads and struggled to break free. The figure thrashed around and screamed angrily as he tried to cut the threads with his sword. Only for the blade to go dull and chip. Leaving him to pull on the thread with all of his strength as his own hands started to bleed.
"Is this some kind of enhancement magic?" Boil asked.
"It's some kind of enhancement I admit, but that's too dark." Waxer said.
"Demon king! I will slay you!" the figure yelled.
Naruto grabbed the figure by the throat and pulled him out, "Who are you?" he asked.
"I won't give names to a godless creature." the figure sneered.
Naruto applied pressure, "Speak clearly mad man." he commands.
It was sad to say, this crazy man was not willing to communicate. Clearly, another human supremacist if not a racist. Although, Naruto could clearly sense something unnatural about the transformation. Naruto has seen someone bieng possessed by puppetry magic as well as by dark spirits, but this felt unnatural. Almost like a drug or toxin was making the man go insane.
"I think you need to rest." Naruto said before harshly knocking the knight unconscious.
"What was that you majesty?" Waxer asked.
Naruto bent down and looked at the black marks, "I thought it was an enhancement injection of some kind, but that is not the case." He said as he looked for marks.
"Maybe a potion of some kind sir?" Boil suggests.
"Possibly, but this effected the body without transforming it completely." Naruto said before looking over the armor. "This one is definitely from Melromarc. Restrain him and keep a look out for others." he said wondering if this one was one of the imprisoned knights.
Suddenly, all of them heard more bristling in the bushes. As one by one, more armored figures came out. All of them appearing with black marks all over their body and leaking hostile intent.
"Uh sir, is this what we are looking for?" Waxer asked nervously.
"I believe so." Naruto said as he summoned a lance to his side.
"DIE DEMON!" one of the crazed knights yelled as he charged at Naruto.
With the Crimson Emperor quickly swiped his attacker's legs. As they fell, Naruto bashed him with the blunt end of the lance in the stomach. Where he then focused on another berserker who charged at him with a sword. Naruto blocked each quick but rabid strike before knocking the blade out of the knight's hand and slashing at his chest. The knight screamed as he felt before being kicked in the head.
Meanwhile Waxer and Boil were fighting with their spears and shields to knock the knights unconscious. Both did it thinking Naruto would want to keep them alive and avoid any political backlash.
"It doesn't mean these guys are any less annoying!" Waxer yells.
"Just keep pushing them back. We're lucky they're all just running at us like angry cavemen!" Boil yells back as slaps another knight away with his shield.
"Aero!" one yells as he unleashes a powerful gust of wind at the lizard men.
"AHHH!" The two yell as they are sent flying away.
"Hey, even my magic is stronger now." said a mage type among the knights.
"Crap! Ignis Colomna!" Boil yells as he creates a giant barrier of fire.
"Aero!" the same mage yells only for the wind to be blocked.
Before the pair could do anything, Naruto appeared and repeatedly hit the mage in the chest with the blunt end of his lance. Before giving him one last good hit the head head, knocking him unconscious.
"Good work, I think Souei's group finished off the rest." Naruto said as several bodies fell from the trees.
"All clear." Souei's monotone voice said.
"And I was right. Now, start restraining everyone. I will scout ahead." Naruto said as everyone nods.
Back with Orochimaru
Orochimaru, having been disguised as a Kusa Kunoichi, finally revealed himself to the genin. Even with their skills having improved greatly compared to their original selves from before the fight in Wave. Orochimaru still had more skills and experience to put them to shame. Leaving Orochimaru to defeat Sasuke in an all out Taijutsu battle before biting him down on the neck and dropping him.
"You are strong, but seek me out once wish for more power." Orochimaru said just as Mito rushed at him.
"Rasengan!" she yells as she destroys the branch where Orochimaru once stood.
The sannin laughed, "Kukuku, so rash and lacking in discipline. You are like your mother." he said before blocking several kicks and punches. "Good, but nowhere near good enough. Gogyo Fuin!" he yells as he thrusts his fingers into her abdomen.
Mito also fell as she clutched her stomach. Only to be caught by Arashi who just finished off the giant snake. While Sakura caught Sasuke by pinning his clothes to a tree with a kunai. With their teammates secured, the conscious members of Team 7 watched as Orochimaru sank into a tree. Escaping from the genin and leaving them shaken to their core.
"So that's S Rank, he was scary but not as intense as nii-san." Arashi boasted.
"I would argue with you, but your brother is more intense." Sakura said as she managed to grab Sasuke. "We should find shelter, there's no telling who else is out there." she said.
Arashi nods as he lifts up Mito like a princess, "Yeah, hard to believe we survived fighting a sannin that isn't ero-jiji or Tsunade." he said.
Sakura groaned, "I'm glad I accepted that training. I would died twenty minutes ago." she said admitting how weak she is overall. "Seriously look! That creep is supposed to be stronger than Kakashi Sensei and Zabuza." she exclaimed.
Some time later, the pair found a large tree that was hollow. From there, they put down their unconscious teammates and Sakura began to work on pulling out the medical supplies.
"This big brain has to work for something." Sakura muttered to herself as she looked at their wounds.
"I'll keep watch." Arashi said as he stood outside of the tree.
Although he did have to practice caution as he could hear fighting in the distance. Leaving him nervous as to what if a group of ninja were looking around for them. It didn't slip Arashi's mind that a team may run into another team with the same scroll. Though there are some sadists who just love to fight and would enjoy fighting more people than necessary.
"I hope not, at least teme almost gave Orochimaru the fake scroll." Arashi said, as his plan almost worked had the sannin not destroyed the scroll during the transfer.
With Naruto again
Naruto continued to sprint through the forest with one Dragon Newt watching over him from the shadows. When Naruto finally stopped, he saw several lions staring at him. Eyes filled with malice and ready to rip him to shreds with their fangs. Naruto did not have time to play with wild animals and glared at them before leaking a tiny bit of his power towards the group of lions.
"Menace." Naruto muttered as he unleashed a wave of killing intent.
The lions looked surprised and quickly became scared. As they all slowly backed away from Naruto as he quickly revealed to them that he is the alpha of this forest now. However, his attention would soon turn towards a tired looking individual hiding behind a rock. Naruto stabbed the lance into the rock, making Orochimaru reveal himself as he jumped away for safety.
"You generated the dark energy." Naruto said as he pulled his lance out of the rock.
"I beg your pardon?" Orochimaru asked.
"I can sense your negative energy from within those knights in the forest. You did something to turn them into a berserker like maniacs." Naruto said.
Orochimaru laughed, "I suppose a lab rat with little to no free will is bound to lose it's mind. Although I expected them to create more damage." he said. "Now tell me, are you from one of these other realms that I heard so much about?" he asked.
"I already received my answer, you will not receive yours." Naruto said as he threw his lance at Orochimaru's head.
The snake sannin only had a second to block the attack with the sword of the Kusanagi. Where he was then forced to avoid several blasts of fire from Naruto's mouth. Orochimaru rushed at Naruto at full sprints before slashing at him several times and missing each time. Naruto dodged each attack before kicking the hand holding the blade, making Orochimaru recoil as he almost lost his grip. Leaving him open to Naruto kicking him into a rock, hard enough to make it crumble.
Orochimaru then managed to find the strength to move out of the way as Naruto almost impaled him with the lance. Orochimaru quickly formed several hand seals and unleashed several snakes from his sleeves. All of which were burned by Naruto using Fox Fire again. The snake sannin also found himself having to avoid several shuriken that nearly hit him with amazing precision.
"I see we are not alone then." Orochimaru said as he tried looking around for the Dragon Newt.
"Your focus is on me. Sol Linea!" Naruto yells as he casts a large orb to appear and makes it fire a powerful beam of fire.
This was a real workout for Orochimaru and he was lucky that he did not prove to be much of a threat to the Crimson Emperor. As the fire magic was very quick and powerful. Making the fire burn most of the flesh of Orochimaru's torso in the process as he barely avoided it. He also found himself getting hit by a heavy dose of lightning.
"Thunder Breath!" the hidden Dragon Newt yells as they hit their target.
Orochimaru skidded several meters away before recovering, "You are indeed powerful. I dare say you would make Pain feel nervous." He said.
"Who is this pain and what is your plan?" Naruto asked.
"Kukuku, that's for you to find out. Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" Orochimaru yells as he blows as much wind as possible at Naruto.
Naruto stood his ground before running at Orochimaru. Where he impaled the pale skinned man with his lance. Only for him to turn into mud as the real sannin had escaped the field. The Dragon Newt jumped out from their hiding space and kneeled.
"I apologize your majesty. The enemy has escaped." The Dragon Newt said.
"Do not feel ashamed. We know so little, but we can be sure that this foe is very intelligent." Naruto said as he put away his lance. "Let us go Soka, we have much to report in." he said as the woman nods and follows him.
Day of the preliminaries
Mito let out a groan, "I'm so tired." she said.
"You weren't even awake for when that team from Oto attacked." Arashi said with a glare.
"I needed my beauty sleep." Mito said to mess with Arashi.
"Be quiet you two." Sasuke said.
"Shut up teme, you went psycho on us earlier." Arashi said as Sasuke grasped his shoulder.
"Are you sure you feel okay Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.
"Yes, now leave me alone. I still can't believe we dealt with a sannin of all people." Sasuke said angrily.
Luckily no other team heard him, but they did have to report this to Kakashi who passed on the report to Minato. Although the Yondaime knew very well about the incident as Naruto briefly battled Orochimaru before making him retreat. It didn't mean they had to take this incident any more lightly. Especially when Minato had to break the Gogyo Fuin on Mito and placed a suppression seal on Sasuke's curse mark.
"This thing still hurts though." Sasuke said as he gripped his shoulder.
"Maybe old man Greyfarn knows a trick to break that. He's super old for a normal human." Arashi suggested.
"I'm not talking to that crazy geezer." Sasuke said before Minato started his announcements.
"Welcome all of you, I congratulate you all for the effort you put into making it past the second stage. Unfortunately, there are more genin here than we predicted. Therefore, to cut down on the numbers. We are having a preliminary match up." Minato explained.
"Sounds like bullshit." Kiba muttered.
"Kiba don't talk that way about the hokage!" Kurenai said berating her student.
Minato then continued his speech, talking about how the chunin exams were a way to replace war in a way. Mainly by testing ninjas from all over the continent in difficult challenges. It did explain why death and crippling injuries were allowed. It sounded a bit sadistic but a real war would be a worse alternative. As that would only create more destruction while the exams themselves were also a way for a village to obtain more honor.
With that, Hayate Gecko took over as the next proctor. Where he explained that while death is allowed, he will be forced to step in and declare a winner to prevent such an action. Genin are warned to stop when ordered to as well as not interfering in the matches as it will be met with the punishment of disqualification.
"Now, before we begin with the first match. Does anyone wish to forfeit?" Hayate asked.
"I do, I'm sorry but I'm feeling exhausted." Kabuto Yakushi said as he raised his hand.
"Very well, please exit the arena." Hayate said, but not without an ANBU tailing Kabuto.
Up until now, it hasn't caught Minato's attention but he found Kabuto to be suspicious with his drop out record. Seven times in a row was far too convenient and Minato considered himself to be a fair man. Difficult when it comes to being a shinobi, but rewarding when it's earned. The Yondaime only wondered why a genin in their 20s would have never been given a field promotion. There was nothing wrong with him in the reports he had.
Unlike Kosuke who didn't want to be promoted after losing comrades in his youth or Might Duy who became weaker from working on the Eight Gates and had to do D Ranks for most of his career. It didn't sound like Kabuto had any health or mental issues. Thus the investigation began.
"Now, we may begin the first round of the preliminaries." Hayate announced as a large screen board appeared.
Round 1: Sasuke Uchiha vs Yaroi Akado
"Good luck Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered.
"Don't embarrass the team teme." Arashi said as Sasuke walked down to meet his opponent.
Yoroi let out a smirk as he stretched, "Let's see what makes you so special Uchiha." he said before Hayate signaled for them to begin.
With Greyfarn, in T&I
The elderly wizard stroked his long beard as he looked at the crazed berserker patient. With the sudden appearance of knights from Melromarc appearing in the Forest of Death. Security has been more tightened as they were originally in the lock up. This called for an extended investigation as to how they escaped and ended up being marked. With everyone questioning the prisoners who were still in lock up as to how their comrades escaped. Now, Greyfarn was taking a chance to study the curse mark.
Anko Mitarashi was also here as she was left in charge to question the individuals once Greyfarn could calm them down. It feels like security is going to need a major improvement once the Chunin Exams end.
"Now then, first question. What is your name?" Greyfarn asked only to receive a growl. "Second question, how is your day?" another growl. "Oh my, you do have a terrible personality. Regardless, this is good news!" he said.
"What is good news?" Naruto asked.
"It means I get to try extensive surgical treatments as to the removal of these markings." Greyfarn said as he got his latex gloves ready.
A few minutes later
Anko Mitarashi, an unfortunate victim and former student of Orochimaru, watched the experiment with interest. Grayfarn moved his latest test subject to a larger room and prepared a large device with several claws and needles ready. Where he was preparing to experiment on the Merlromarc knight.
"So should we wear safety goggles or something?" Anko asked, sounding more concerned for her eyesight.
"Oh yes, please do." Greyfarn said as he stopped and put on some eye protection. "This should not hurt a bit." he said.
When suddenly, the test subject started screaming very loudly as the machine got to work. Greyfarn said "a bit", but that did not mean that it would not hurt a lot. It's just him being honest but terrible at explanations. Regardless, someone was going to be in pain but it was all for the sake of science and magic.
"So, how long does this take?" Anko asked as she looked over his shoulder.
"Learn patience woman." Greyfarn said as he swats her away.
"But will you be able to remove the mark?" Anko asked as she wanted to have it removed.
"Very likely, but it depends on how deep it is. Meaning how deep I need to cut." Greyfarn said ignoring the screams from the patient. "Hmm, this will take some time. I'm already in my pajamas so." he sat down and took a nap.
Anko sighed, "I'm going for a walk." she said as she walked out.
With Minato, some time later
Minato looked over the reports, "This curse mark is unique, but at the same time very dangerous." he said. "And Orochimaru freed the few that had the marks but lacked any mental strength?"He asked.
Greyfarn started to wake up, "Ah what? Oh right, it appears that your enemy has placed a piece of himself inside of each mark. Granting him the ability to manipulate others and it appears that they end up losing their mind due to the power." he explains. "Just think of it as steroids, or my friend Zoidberg when he's promised tuna fish." he said making the Hokage sweat drop.
"I suppose my children are the same during a ramen withdrawl." Minato said.
"Ramen? That's a stupid theory! What gave you that idea!?" Greyfarn asked in a scornful voice.
Minato sighed, "Anyways, is there a way to remove the marks?" he asked.
"That depends, do you want it to be painful or just suck it out?" Greyfarn asked before the door opened. Where the two were met by a beautiful woman with gills and wearing a bikini like outfit, "Oh good, this is my assistant, Gynecaladriel. She will be helping me with this experiment. By the way, where have you been?" he asked his assistant.
Gynecaladriel adjusted her hair, "Just passing by and meeting a few new friendly faces." she said with an innocent smile.
Greyfarn was fooled by her smile, "Oh okay, I thought you were causing trouble again." he said before going back to his talk. "Anyways, as you can see. A part of the removal requires the exorcism of the…" he was interrupted by screams of pain outside of the office.
"Uh oh." Gynecaladriel said as she hid in back of the office.
"What's going?" Minato asked as he signaled his ANBU to detain the situation.
Only for them to run back in, "Hokage-sama, it is impossible for us to deal with an SSSS-Rank mission." one of them said.
"I did into give you such an impossible ranking mission." Minato replied.
"It's an SSSS-Rank mission to deal with an angry mother." another ANBU said.
"Please don't tell me it's Kushina." Minato pleads as he saw a body hit the wall of his office.
"Sounds concerning, I would go and check in person. Except I'm already in my pajamas." Greyfarn said as he started to sleep while standing up.
Minato sighed as he stood up and looked from outside of his office. Where he found Yamato stuck on his wall and bleeding out of his head. The Yondaime fearfully turned his head to find Koyanskaya lifting Yamato by his throat. The scene was very terrifying to say the least and it called for someone to restore the peace. Sadly, Yasaka is not here and that leaves the Hokage to be the one to stop the madness.
"Can I mediate?" Minato asked.
"No, there is no reason to mediate. The two of them cheated on me with a stupid sea nymph!" Koyanskaya yells as she grits her teeth.
Minato looked at Yamato to explain, "What did you two do?" he asked.
"Hokage-sama, I can't explain it. That sea nymph put a genjutsu or something to manipulate…" Yamato soon found himself being blasted by a ball of fire.
Minato avoided the fire as the pink kitsune looked angrier by the second, "That's not a good excuse to cheat on me, filth!" Koyanskaya sneered.
Minato drew out his tri-pronged kunai, "Koyanskaya, I need you to put down my subordinate. I will take full responsibility so long as you do not destroy my office." he said.
The kitsune growled as her features became more ferocious and animalistic. The Hokage knew this would probably be one of the most dangerous battles in his life. Which is very ironic considering that he already fought a kyuubi before and did not want to see if Koyanskaya can match the bijuu's power. Especially when she's angered by the fact that Kakashi and Yamato cheated on her.
'Wasn't there a law about this? I swear I heard a law about cheating earlier.' Minato thought before avoiding machine gun fire. 'And what are those weapons!?' he wondered as he avoided the hail of bullets from Koyanskaya.
Meanwhile, Gynecaladriel was hiding behind Minato's desk. She knew the men were one thing, but an angry wife was something she wanted to avoid. She prayed to Aphrodite that she would be protected or at least ignored by the angry kitsune. As it sounded like Minato was having a hard time trying to restrain the scorned woman.
Back at the preliminaries
Hayate raised his hand, "The winner is Kiba Inuzuka!" he announces as Kiba drags himself to his team.
"Congratulations Kiba." Kurenai said happily.
"Thanks, that Iwa guy was super tough and I think Akamaru needs to lie down." Kiba said as his ninken looked exhausted after battling an Iwa genin.
"I have some extra cream that Ferris-chan helped me make." Hinata said.
"Thanks Hinata, but you do know Ferris is a guy right?" Kiba asked.
"I know, but he wants everyone to refer to him as a female." Hinata answered.
"Hey when is my match coming up!?" Arashi asked.
"And mine! I wish to battle as well!" Rock Lee exclaimed.
Hayate shook his head, "Please wait your turn on the board." he said as the names started to change.
Arashi Namikaze vs Omoi
Arashi cracked his knuckles, "Finally!" he said before jumping down while Lee anxiously awaited for his own battle.
For some reason, the Kumo genin started muttering to himself. Where he constantly started questioning himself about potential conspiracy theories and potential dangers. Ranging from Omoi thinking that he could accidentally kill Arashi and cause a backlash with the Yondaime to inter-dimensional monsters attacking during the finals. Arashi sweat dropped at how annoying he sounded.
"You are really starting to remind me of an annoying hero." Arashi said confusing Omoi.
"Begin!" Hayate announced.
Omoi jumped away from Arashi and threw a barrage of shuriken at Arashi who dashed away from them. Arashi avoided more projectile weapons as Omoi drew his blade and dashed after Arashi. Who in return, drew his own sword and blocked the attack before being pushed away. Still being an amateur, Arashi shook his hand in pain as he wasn't used to the grip.
'Crap, I'm supposed to use the breathing exorcise while doing this?' Arashi thought before thinking back to his training.
Flashback, a week and a half ago
Rin Okumura was cleaning his sword during his watch. When he was approached by Arashi and Sasuke. Both of whom wanted to learn a lot and hoped to learn some insider trick from Rin who had amazing skill in manipulating fire.
"Sup, you guys need anything?" Rin asked with a friendly smile.
"That fire, how do you control it?" Sasuke asked.
Rin thought over a good answer, "I guess the first part is knowing where you want to move it then trying not to burn other people." he answered.
"We're basically asking that!" Arashi shouts.
"Hey if you don't like my answer! Then don't ask!" Arashi barks at them.
"Then how do you make the fire not burn people and make it move around and stuff?" Arashi asked.
"Wow that sounds lame." Rin said offending Arashi. "Anyways, it's kind of tricky at first. So what I did, was learn Breathing techniques. It's an old sword style that was made to kill demons back in the day." he said while pointing his sword at a weed.
"How is breathing going to help control fire?" Sasuke asked.
Rin smirked, "A crazy man named Jeong Jeong taught me this. I think Emperor Naruto knows a few styles too." he said before taking a stance. "Just watch. First Form: Unknowing Fire!" he yells as he cuts the weed.
As Rin swung his sword, half of the weed floated into the air and burned to a crisp along with the part on the ground. At the same time, the ground was not completely burned and Rin left a small trail of red flames in the wake of his strike.
"Originally, this technique was made by a strong human. Only back then, they had to use a special ore to make special swords to generate the elements within." Rin explained.
"Only now it's more convenient now that we can manipulate the elements." Sasuke said.
"Pretty much, each element is different. Flame breathing is what I did and you learn it by trying to make the fire copy your movement style. At the same time, this style is meant for single yet heavy attacks." Rin explains proudly.
"You sound like you read that off of a script." Arashi said with a blank face.
Then a tick mark appeared on Rin's head, "You ungrateful little punk!" he curses.
"Teach me how to breathe then." Sasuke said.
"Eh?" Rin asked.
"Teach me, fire is my family's style and thinking about it. Fire needs oxygen and that's why it flows. Since it can't move on it's own but needs to be controlled." Sasuke said using his knowledge.
Rin gave a sheepish smile, "Uh yeah… that's the idea! Just call me sensei Rin!" He said.
"Hey teach me too!" Arashi yells.
"I'll teach you when you learn humility!" Rin yells as he points an angry finger at Arashi. "Besides, fire isn't universal. Your brother the emperor knows several styles, including the legendary Sun Breathing itself." He said adding to Arashi's motivation.
End of flashback
Omoi dashed at Arashi again, "Kumo Ryu-Crescent Moon Beheading!" he yells.
Arashi just barely manages to avoid the attack, "Third Form: Flowing Dance!" he yells as he moves around in a pattern while cutting everything.
Omoi barely had any chance to block each attack. Before finding his entire chest area cut up, sending him skidding towards the ground. Omoi quickly recovered and raised up his sword at Arashi who dashed at him.
"First Form: Water Surface Slash!" Arashi yells as he deals a heavy blow to Omoi's sword.
The two proceeded to exchange blows. Eventually leading to the two locking each other into a stalemate with their blades. Every second of it, Arashi struggled to maintain a strong grip on his blade. However, he found himself in a bad position as Omoi let go of the lock and ran back before forming a few hand seals. Surprisingly, as Arashi had mastered a few of the basic Water Breathing styles. He let a lot of water fall onto the floor to the point where he created a few large puddles around the arena.
"Lightning Style: Thunderbolt!" Omoi yells out as he slams his electric covered hands onto the large puddle Arashi stood on.
Arashi found himself being electrocuted by the electricity. Even if the current was small, it still hurt his entire body but the boy found himself trying to keep his breath up. As he remembered a few painful side effects of screwing up his technique. Even more so as Omoi continued to assault him with quick strikes.
"Headbutt!" Arashi yells as he smashes his forehead against Omoi's head.
It hurt a lot, but not as much with Arashi having his headband on as well as Omoi doing the same. Still, it really disoriented the two of them. Luckily, Arashi recovered first as he tried to finish off the Kumo ninja with one final attack.
"Water Surface Slash!" Arashi yells as he leaves a giant mark against Omoi's clothes.
Making the Kumo ninja crash into the ground very hard. Knocking him out cold as Hayate went to inpsect his condition.
"The Winner is Arashi Namikaze!" Hayate announces
Arashi jumped up and down for joy before falling down, "My head still hurts." he said before Kakashi picked him up.
"I guess the idiot can use his head for once. Literally." Sasuke said earning a glare.
"Who's left anyways?" Mito asked.
Sakura thought it over, "Sasuke-Kun beat that Yoroi guy first, a bunch of the foreign ninja fought each other. Then there's me beating Ino just by a margin." she said.
"Because you learned support techniques to protect yourself." Sasuke said making Sakura giggle for joy.
"Anyways, Shikamaru beat that Oto kunoichi and Choji lost to the bandaged Oto ninja, but Shino beat the other ninja on their team." Sakura continued to explain.
"Okay, so who's left in our generation? There can't be that many left with them and everyone else." Arashi asked as he stood up.
"I guess that leaves Mito and Hinata. If you want to count Konoha ninja, there's still that Lee person and his Hyuuga teammate." Sakura said.
"Oh yeah, his female teammate got beaten by that Iwa Kunoichi right?" Mito asked seeing Sakura nod.
Mito Namikaze vs Temari
"Now it's my turn!" Mito said as she jumped down to meet the Suna kunoichi.
"I will wait patiently once again, as it is gentleman like to not rush a lady." Lee said.
"He's weird." Arashi whispered.
"You just figured that out?" Sasuke asked, earning another glare.
At the arena, Mito prepared her sword as she wanted to try out breathing styles in the field too. Unlike Sasuke who said he wasn't ready to show it off or something. Mito doesn't remember the reason, but she didn't care. She wanted to show up the smug looking Suna kunoichi with her new skill.
"Begin!" Hayate announced.
Temari smirked, "Don't think this is going to be easy, Namikaze princess." She said mockingly,
"Shut up sand girl!" Mito barked as she aimed her weapon.
Temari snickered as she drew her fan out, "I have three moons, once I get to the third…"
"First Form: Unknowing Fire!" Mito yells as she slashes at Temari who blocked the attack with her fan.
"Hey! I was in the middle of something!" Temari yells angrily.
"I'm not going to stand around and listen to you talk!" Mito yells as the fire around her sword intensifies.
Temari groaned as she pushed Mito away and tried to send her flying away with her fan. Only to witness the natural speed of the Yellow Flash's daughter. Temari quickly found herself revealing two whole moons on her fan as to catch Mito.
"Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel!" she yells as she generates various wins to flow over her.
Mito found herself being lifted into the air and lost her sense of motion. Only it didn't last too long as Temari lost her advantage as Mito still saw her. Coating her sword in more flames, Mito threw herself using the gravity around her to attack Temari.
"Third Form: Blazing Universe!" Mito yells as she swings down her sword towards Temari.
The wind user found herself surprised by the counterattack and barely blocked in time. Only finding it more difficult as Mito continued to strike at the fan with rapid but quick slashes. The Namikaze girl started to make things very frustrating for Temari as she had to use her fan to push Mito away.
"Wind Style: Dust Wind Jutsu!" Temari yells as she tries pushing Mito back further.
"Unknowing Fire!" Mito yells as she tries to fight back against the wind.
It worked for a moment as the fire was stronger than the wind. However Temari tried to keep blowing Mito away only for the younger girl to come closer. Temari decided to propel herself into the air and strike from a further distance. Yet it wasn't enough as Mito was far from quitting.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Mito yells as four copies of her appear and jump into the air. "Second Form: Scorching Sun!" she yells as she swings upwards.
Temari blocked the strikes, but could not prepare for the clones to assault her at the same time. Where she found her entire body being filled up with cuts. Followed by the real Mito kicking away her iron fan and bashing her upside the head.
"How easy was this fight, dattebane!?" Mito yells as Temari crashes hard onto the ground.
Followed by the younger girl landing on her feet. Well not by touching solid ground, rather landing on Temari's gut.
"Winner, Mito Namikaze." Hayate announced as Mito runs up excitedly.
"See that Arashi? My fight was better!" Mito yells as she runs up to meet her teammates.
Hayate chose to ignore the bickering that soon started with the twins. The screen started to shuffle down to the last few names. It was safe to say that a pair of Konoha genin would have to fight again. After this match of course.
Rock Lee vs Gaara
Gaara immediately appeared in a sand shunsin while Lee jumped down like the previous contestants. The green clad boy bowed his head as a way of showing respect to his opponent. Gaara merely kept a face lacking any emotion as Lee prepared himself.
"Begin!" Hayate yells
Immediately, things turned a surprise turn in Lee's favor. Despite the heavy defensive style of Gaara's sand. Lee managed to go past his base limit and ended up having to drop some weight. Literally, he was given permission by own sensei to drop some training weights that were hidden under Lee's leg warmers. They would not count towards any form of disqualification as they were not weapons and were actually a form of self hinderance.
It was impressive to say the least. As someone was about to mock Lee's way of training. Only to see feel a mini earthquake once Lee dropped the weights. Before bombarding Gaara with faster attacks and even unleashing the power of the Eight Gates despite the risk of injuring his own body. Sadly, this was not enough. Even if Lee was one of the few people to get past Gaara's ultimate defense. For Gaara got excited and saw Lee as a worthy opponent… to kill.
Lee had to power down and ended up being thrashed around very badly. Just barely surviving Gaara's attempts to crush him with the sand. At the last moment, Gaara was about to crush Lee's arm and leg which could potentially cripple him for life.
When the boy was saved by an unlikely figure, "Sola." Said a voice.
Before Gaara realized it, he was suddenly surrounded in a giant cocoon of sand. Where the sand cocoon shattered a mere few seconds later and turned into glass. Before the crazed boy could do anything. He saw the fires spreading around the glass that used to be his sand.
"That's enough boy, you've won." Naruto said flaring his power, forcing Gaara to back off.
For once, the unstable jinchuriki ignored the voice in his head. As the bijuu inside was fearful and yet angry for having it's pride wounded. Meanwhile, Naruto helped up Lee who looked pretty hurt.
"You did good for now. Consider this a learning lesson." Naruto said as the medics took Lee away.
"Due to interference, Gaara is the winner by default." Hayate said while trying to ignore the killing intent.
He was lucky that Naruto's powerful KI was controlled to only aim at Gaara. Which is why everyone else just look slightly sweaty as if it were a bad day to be outside during the summer. The Crimson Emperor jumped back to the position where he was.
His reason for being here and originally hidden was to keep an eye out for Orochimaru or any of his potential allies. As Naruto had been putting theories as to the strange events going on lately. Which included the sudden abduction of Melromarc soldiers. It left him wondering how well Greyfarn's research had gone since Minato left a while ago to hear the news about the crazy old wizard's progress.
"Brrr, nii-san is intense." Arashi whispered.
"Imagine how intense Yasaka-chan is. She probably hides her power behind her looks." Mito whispered back as she knew there was danger behind the female kitsune's beauty.
"And now for the final match." Hayate announces as the final names appeared.
Hinata Hyuga vs Neji Hyuga
Kurenai grimaced as she saw that name. Neji is a strong genin with a year of experience with Might Guy. However the concern was not that Hinata could potentially lose. It was the fact that Neji blames Hinata for being weak when his father died. It sounds weird and stupid, but the story is much more complicated. Even with the story's complexity, Neji has failed to put up a good argument to why Hinata is a disgrace in his eyes.
For a genius, he's too stubborn and proud.
"Hinata, you don't have to…" Kurenai said only for Hinata to move down.
"I guess she's made up her mind sensei." Kiba said also not liking this.
"Perhaps Hinata-san has gained confidence during our brief training. Especially with Momon-sama." Shino said as Kiba shivered.
"I don't want to get slapped again." Kiba said having said something offensive to her the other day.
"What happened?" Kurenai asked.
Ignoring whatever happened to Kiba, Hinata took a few deep breaths as she met Neji at the bottom. Where she was met by Neji's hate filled glare.
"I will give you this one chance Hinata-sama. Back out now, for Fate has already declared me the victor." Neji said arrogantly.
"I will not back down Neji nii-san. I have come too far to back down now." Hinata said.
"I will not go easy Hinata-sama. That was your last warning." Neji said.
"Begin!" Hayate announced.
As per the standard Hyuga clan teaching and style. The two activated their dojutsu and ran at each other with their Gentle Fist styles. Unfortunately, Hinata was physically weaker and slower. Making it difficult for her to keep up with Neji before she found herself sliding across the floor.
"Once a loser is always a loser Hinata-sama." Neji spat.
"You are wrong Neji. I have changed." Hinata said.
Neji scoffed, "People never change. They are the same as when they are born as they are destined by fate." he said.
"If that is the case, was the kind son of oji-san all a lie?" Hinata asked, catching a contradiction.
Neji sneered as he ran straight Hinata. With the intent to stop her heart with his palm. Only to see the girl pull out a cudgel like weapon. When Neji prepared to insult Hinata again for relying on weapons like a commoner. Hinata launched her weapon, causing the round ball to turn into a giant cat paw with a chain extending from the handle.
Neji prepared to strike the weapon only to be sent crashing onto the other side.
"I told you, I did change Neji nii-san. If you wish to see me as an enemy." Hinata said as she pulled back the giant paw. "Then I will see you as Igner." she said.
In the balcony
"Who's Igner?" Kurenai asked.
"This dumb guy that Hinata chased around. I don't know what happened, but Hinata was chasing him around with a spiked ball on a chain." Kiba said.
"She asked Rem-san for advice on how to be abrasive. So Ram-san occasionally mocked Hinata while Rem-san was teaching while at the same time, had to chase Igner who was saying ridicoulus things." Shino explained.
"You sure know a lot Shino." Kiba said.
"You sure pay very little attention Kiba." Shino said making his teammate angry.
"I'm assuming this brought Hinata out of her shell?" Kurenai asked.
"Quite a bit, Hinata learned her limits of being annoyed by a half wit." Shino answered as he remembered the odd training session.
With Igner
The most idiotic of the three brothers smiled, "Incorrect, I am the noodle head and you are not." he said.
"Igner, what exactly are you talking about?" Walt asked.
"I helped train a blind girl to fight." Igner said as he thinks Hinata is winning her fight.
"What does that even mean Igner?" Walt asked with an annoyed expression.
"Don't question it Walt. Nothing good comes from questioning Igner's logic." Larry said.
"You should be questioning him at all!" Momon said before slapping all three of her sons.
Back to the fight
Neji now found his situation troublesome as Hinata used her fluid body movements to fight with the giant paw. As she used it to avoid Neji while making the giant heavy paw crash into Neji. With a few people hearing loud slapping noises from whenever the Hyuga girl hit Neji in the face. It was clear that Momon's abuse of whoever annoyed her had finally taken a toll on her mentality.
"Stop these petty tricks and fight me weakling!" Neji yells.
'No, just imagine Momon. She's super scary but assertive.' Hinata thought.
"Are you quiet because you lack the will…"
"Stop interrupting my thoughts!" Hinata yells as she slaps Neji with the giant chained paw. "And get a haircut! Oji-san didn't raise a lady!" she yells before slapping him into the ground. "And also drop the drama! You are in a fight, not a middle school play!" She adds as she makes Neji crash into a wall.
Everyone snickered at Hinata's attitude change. Despite Neji's verbal abuse and his beatings. The prodigy of the Hyuga clan was being thrown around and punished like a small child. Even Neji looked disoriented as he couldn't block the heavy paw with his taijutsu due to the materials used to make it. If it were a smaller metal or made of wood, then maybe he could shatter it. But he still had speed and used it to run in front of Hinata.
"You are in range of my…"
"Don't interrupt me and brush your teeth! I can smell tuna and it's not coming from sea!" Hinata yells as the paw lands on top of Neji.
Neji struggled to stand up as his body felt like a wrecking ball kept sending him flying around the arena. The older Hyuga glared at Hinata as he spat out some blood. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed that the weakling of the Main family was somehow beating him with a giant piece of metal.
Unfortunately for Hinata, she started to looked fatigued from all of the ranting and swinging. Sure, Momon would be very proud to see all of this damage she caused and the random comments to berate Neji. However it seemed that her time was up as she wasn't going to be able to stand on her own two feet any longer.
'Her weak will is coming back.' Neji thought as he stumbled towards her.
Hinata feel onto a single knee as she caught her breath, "I think I'm almost done." she said as her exhaustion kicked in.
The giant paw took a lot of strength to use and the speed to develop fight at least someone on the level of a high chunin took more effort. Just as Neji came forward ready to take her out with his final move.
"You are indeed determined, I admit that but you are still a weak little girl. Showing her true colors of the main family." Neji sneered.
"I thought you just said people don't change?" Hinata asked.
"You are born as fate had created you." Neji replied.
"You said that earlier, and you think I'm a bad person. I cannot be weak willed and heartless Neji. You the blind person here." Hinata said as Neji got angry.
"8 Trigram: 64…"
*CRASH*
At the last second, Hinata threw the giant paw chain into the air. Where it landed on Neji again. Just as the Hyuga heiress lost consciousness. Hayate was very unsure of what he had witnessed, but could see that Neji's arms and legs were still moving very rapidly like a cockroach. Hinata on the other hand, looked like she was unconscious.
"The winner is Neji Hyuga!" Hayate announces as the Rookie 9 groans in disbelief.
Mito threw an empty tin can at the arena. Just as Neji had escaped the giant paw's grasp just to be hit by the can.
"I thank you all for your effort. Now that the Hokage is currently indisposed, I will now administer the bracket for the final exams in one month's time." Hayate explained.
"Why one month?" Shikamaru asked as everyone came down.
"It will be to give time for everyone to train for the finals. Whether or not the foreign shinobi wish to return to their villages to train or stay here. As well as for the important figures such as the other kage and daimyo wishing to spectate the fights." Hayate explained.
Anko then came up with a box, "Okay brats, take a number. The composite number you hear from someone else is who you will be fighting in the final round." she said.
As the genin all took their numbers and announced them. Naruto left with his guards to deal with some other business that was coming up.
Outside of Konoha
In a luxurious airship hovering through the skies of Hi no Kuni. In this airship, one of the emperors of Makai sat in his chair drinking a small martini while speaking to his comrade on his communication mirror.
"Is this remotely close to a good idea Vali? I think the administration is already sensitive as it is." said someone in the mirror.
"Adrian, you are too paranoid. Besides, at least now we have an opening for Naruto to return home. It might also help with whatever evil plot is going on in the background." Vali replied.
Alucard sighed, "You always find an excuse to do as you wish Vali. Very well, I will have to give Lady Skadi the unfortunate news of the work pile the two of you gave her." He said before signing out.
Vali snorted, "Adrian is always so uptight." he said.
"He has a reason. Now I'm not the type to sound like a downer, but he's just stating the facts kid." said a man with gold colored bangs.
"I know, but technically this is important too Azazel." Vali said as he finished his drink.
"He's right about you making excuses." Azazel said, but kept his smile present on his face.
"If you have a complaint, why not do anything?" Vali asked.
Azazel laughed, "Okay, you have me there. Where is this place anyways? Wasn't it a village or something?" he asked.
"Yeah, it should be around here somewhere. Supposedly, it has the highest population compared to it's counterparts." Vali said as he looked at a hologram coming from a lacrima crystal. "Maybe I can ask for a status check or something." he said just as an officer came in.
"Emperor Lucifer, scanners have picked up a stray Britannian ship." said the officer.
Azazel raised a brow, "Britannia? Out here? It could be a stolen ship." he said.
"By this point, anything is suspicious. Have someone scout it out." Vali ordered as the officer nodded and left. "I'm heading into my quarters. Let me know when we get there." he said.
Azazel nods, "Whatever you say. Still, can't help but have a good reason all of this." he said as he looked out a port side window.
As Vali went inside his room. He was surprised by a pair of seductive arms wrapping around him.
"You didn't wake me." said a sultry voice.
"You looked plenty of happy to be asleep." Vali replied.
The woman placed her lips against his ears, "Come back to bed with me." she said.
"Fine, but only a little while Arachne." Vali said before turning around taking the woman with him into bed.
TO BE CONTINUED…
