Disclaimer: - I, SSG-Goku3397, do not own Naruto and any related matter. It all belongs to Kishimoto, the original brain behind the character Naruto. The only thing that I do own is the plot of this story and any original jutsu, seals, concepts and OC's that are present within the story.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews everyone! I really appreciate them!:)
"Thoughts / Telepathic Speech"
"Speech"
Letters / Jutsu notes
Chapter 5 – The Test
All the Ninja, who did not have any major prior assignments, were trickling into the Konoha Chunin Exams Stadium, many prominent Daimyō of the neighboring countries were here as well, sitting with their most trusted advisers and bodyguards, the Fire Daimyō being most prominent with his elaborate headdress with the red fire patterns and pristine white robes. The Wind Daimyō sitting near the Fire Daimyō with in his violet robes and headdress, around the Stadium, many ninja from small foreign countries that was either allied or neutral with Konoha were sitting with Teams of ANBU keeping an eye on them. Around them, the seats were filled with civilians.
The Hokage was sitting at the Kage Box with two other people. He was wearing the traditional Kage Robe with the diamond shaped hat. Beside him was another man wearing similar robes with the kanji for wind on his green diamond shaped hat, his face hidden by veil. The final occupant was a large man with dark skin and pale blonde hair. He was also wearing the traditional Kage Robes with a yellow hat carrying the kanji for lightning. These three were Sandaime Hokage, Yondaime Kazekage, and the Yondaime Raikage, their names, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Kazekage Rasa, and Ē, three of the most powerful men in the world.
"May I ask why you invited here Hokage-dono?" Ē asked with confusion as Rasa nodded in agreement.
"Yes, why have you invited up to attend a testing of one of you Shinobi? If I am not mistaken, a Genin as well. Why would a Genin require a team of Jonin and ANBU to test him?' Rasa asked with thinly veiled irritation.
"That is because he isn't an ordinary Genin. He embodies what it truly means to be a Shinobi. Even I did not have an inkling to the depth of his abilities until he defeated a Chunin traitor with his friend. From what I have gathered by interviewing them, both of them have been hiding their skill. I thought you two would be interested in him due to his heritage and status. So I decided to invite you." Hiruzen said though he knew that both his fellow Kage did not really believe him, not that he would believe himself. The excuse was a bit weak.
"What heritage would that be Hokage-dono?" Ē asked with curiosity.
"I believe that you would easily be able to connect the dots when he arrives in Arena. He does look like a carbon copy of his father with his mother's mannerism." Hiruzen said with a secretive smile that aroused Ē's curiosity even more.
"And his status, does it pertain to his heritage?" Rasa asked, equally intrigued. Hiruzen shook his head.
"Not really, though it is an indirect result to his heritage." Seeing the questioning looks of his fellow Kage, Hiruzen decided to throw them a bone. "He is the Kyūbi Jinchūriki. Somehow, he was able to become a perfect Jinchūriki and befriend the beast within him."
With wide eyes Ē asked, "How is that possible? How old is he?"
"The better question is how did he do it without rampaging or alerting the whole of Konoha?" Rasa asked looking shaken by the revelation. Here, his son has failed even with help and someone else did what he wanted his son to achieve without help. That seemed preposterous, but he doubted that the Hokage was pulling his leg.
"He and his friend used to sneak in and out of Konoha without the ANBU catching them. I am not surprised. Naruto-kun is known to be able sneak into ANBU HQ, prank the whole corps, and get out unharmed. His stealth is phenomenal. That should have been the first signs but he acted like an idiot. That mask has kept unwanted attention away from him until he was ready to reveal himself."
"He seems to be a fine shinobi. A true demon of the shadows, something all of us have forgotten how to be." Rasa said with a stoic face, inwardly he was cringing. He was afraid that the Wind Daimyō would now redirect more missions to Konoha and the Otokage's offer seemed like a suicide now. That is if the child was as powerful as he suspected. Rasa realized that this was a power play. Hiruzen was making a statement and was using them and the Daimyō to attest his claims.
A loud cheer from the Konoha ninja filling the stadium drew the three Kage's attention. Staring down into the arena, they saw the Genjutsu Mistress, Yūhi Kurenai appear along with Sharingan no Kakashi, Maito Gai, Sarutobi Asuma and two ANBU with a cat masks, one a woman and the other a man. Finally, Konoha's Snake Mistress, Mitarashi Anko appeared eating a stick of dango.
Seeing that the testers had already arrived and knowing that Naruto would be making a grand entrance, Hiruzen stood up. Activating a small seal, Hiruzen started to speak, "Thank you all for coming to this evaluation of Uzumaki Naruto's abilities. Now many of you would be wondering why I am making such a big event out of such a common test. To answer that, I must reveal something that I have kept secret for twelve years. I know that the travelling merchants are spreading around many rumors for the last week. Those of you who were not here when I made the announcement, I will now confirm or disapprove of those rumors."
Hiruzen stopped and looked around to see that he had everyone's complete attention. Nodding to himself, the aged Hokage took a deep breath and started speaking again, "Everyone knows that the Kyūbi no Yōkō attacked Konoha on the 10th of October, twelve years ago. Officially, my successor, Namikaze Minato, had sacrificed his life to kill the great beast. That was a cover-up. No mortal can kill a Bijū permanently. They will reform a certain number of years later. The only way to defeat a Bijū completely is to seal it into a person. Depending on the seal used, it may require a newborn baby or even adults. I see that realization is dawning on you all. That is right; Minato sealed the beast into a child, his own newborn son in fact."
Hiruzen stopped talking and smirked at seeing the shocked expression on Ē's face. Seeing the questioning look the dark skinned man was giving him, Hiruzen nodded before he addressed the crowd again, "Uzumaki Naruto is that child. The Sandaime Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi after his own mother, the Nidaime Jinchūriki Uzumaki Kushina and the Shodaime Jinchūriki, Senjū Mito, the wife of the Shodai Hokage and Naruto's great aunt. Now I would like to tell you that we are not testing him for his heritage or status as a Jinchūriki! No, we are testing him for his own prowess he achieved without help or even alerting any one. On his own, he has become a perfect Jinchūriki with a great bond with the beast sealed within him to the point they can work together without conflict. I know what all of you are thinking, how can a dumb beast hell bent on causing destruction, and mayhem can work with its jailor? The truth is that the Bijū are sentient beings capable of feeling emotions and making rational decisions, or so Naruto-kun tells me."
Hiruzen waited quietly for that information to seep in before continuing, "However, that is not his greatest achievement yet. It is he becoming a Master Sage, that makes me test him. Normally, to become a Sage, one needs the guidance of a Master Sage from one of the Animal Summoning Clans. Naruto-kun recreated the Toad-Style Senjutsu by watching a small toad summon fighting against a snake summon somewhere in Training Ground 44. As of now, the Great Toad Sage of Myōbokuzan has taken him on as an apprentice. An honor that has not been bestowed on any human since Gamamaru-sama trained the Rikudō Sennin, as he had admitted. Normally the Great Sage remains in a trance watching the world but not interfering. My own Summons respects the Great Toad Sage, advising me to listen to any advice he gives. Now I have bored all of you long enough. Please welcome Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Yondaime Hokage and the Akai Chishio no Habanero!"
Everyone was stunned when he abruptly announced that. Looking around they did not see anyone. Only a small column of swirling dust to form in the center of the Arena before it grew into a large and powerful tornado. Everyone watched in awe as the tornado remained in place, blowing dust and winds before imploding upon itself before dissipating revealing Naruto kneeling on the ground with a fist supporting him. As he slowly stood up, everyone saw that he was wearing the ANBU style uniform that Jiraiya gave him with the burnt orange flak jacket having the zip undone revealing the mesh undershirt. His red haori with the yellow lightning embroidery was fluttering about in an unseen wind. His Konoha Hitai-ate was wrapped around his waist while the new Hitai-ate with the kanji for Bijū and Sennin engravings was proudly tied around his forehead. Everyone saw that he had attached multiple equipment pouches on his legs and a sealing kit on his hip. His messy blonde hair was also fluttering about in the unseen wind.
Everyone stared in shock at the boy's sudden appearance. No one had ever seen a jutsu like the one Naruto used when he arrived. Rasa was the first to snap out of his shock, "What was that jutsu? I didn't even know that fūton could be used in such a way!"
Hiruzen chuckled, but before he could answer Ē asked, "He used Ninshu, didn't he?"
Hiruzen looked at the Raikage in shock, "How did you learn of Ninshu? I only heard of it when Gamamaru-sama told us while testing Naruto-kun a couple of days back."
"Isn't it obvious? Kumo has great interest in my former student. They must have come across some of the scrolls he left behind. While Hagoromo would not have written down anything on how to perform Ninshu, he would be certain to refer to it. Though I must say, this boy keeps surprising me. It has been less than a week and already he has nearly mastered wind based Ninshu or as Hamura jokingly called it, Air Bending. I wonder if he has recreated the katas Hagoromo created to use 'Air Bending' to its full potential?" The three Kage turned to the source only to see a very old brown toad, the size of a human, wearing a green haori and holding a large wooden staff sitting at the top of the box. The guards accompanying the Raikage and Kazekage stiffened but relaxed when Hiruzen bowed to the old toad.
"Greetings Gamamaru-sama, are you here to evaluate him again?" Hiruzen asked causing the eyes of the other two Kage to widen in shock. Both of them could feel the suppressed power flowing through the old toad. C, one of the Raikage's bodyguard tried to sense the depth of the toad's chakra only to shiver when he realized that even Kirabi in Bijū Mōdō did not release that much power.
"Not really Sarutobi-kun. I just came to see how much he has progressed since a week ago. He has potential to surpass Hagoromo-kun. I want to see all of his skills to be able to bring it out. Now, why don't you start the match?"
Hiruzen nodded before he addressed the crowd, "The test will be broken into two parts. The first part will be the specialists in each of the four common shinobi fields, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Būkijutsu, and Ninjutsu, testing Naruto-kun separately. Second part will be an all-out spar, Naruto-kun vs. the Team of Hatake Kakashi, Yūhi Kurenai, Might Gai, Sarutobi Asuma, Mitarashi Anko, and the two ANBU, Cat and Tora."
"Isn't this a bit too much for a fresh Genin?" Ē asked with concern with Rasa nodding in agreement. Neither Kage could believe that a recently graduated Genin would need such an illustrious team to test. All five of the Jōnin were legendary in their own right, adding two ANBU into the mix was overkill.
Hiruzen just chuckled, "Not really. I am more worried for my Jōnin and ANBU. I hope they do not underestimate him. I really don't want them being hospitalized." The two Kage just stared at the older Kage with uncertainty. "Now start the evaluation!"
"So, who is it going to be?" Naruto said with a cocky grin causing Kurenai to frown.
The red-eyed black haired woman walked forward weaving hand seals, "I will be first! Now break the following Genjutsu I will put on you, Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu!"
The group of Jōnin and ANBU waited for a few moments for a reaction from Naruto before Kakashi's lone eye widened in realization. "Low ranking Genjutsu don't work on you, do they?"
Naruto chuckled before replying with a nod. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, "You are just like Kushina-sama. You were waiting for one of us to realize that."
"That's right. Thanks to Kurama and my Sennin Mōdō, any Genjutsu below B-Rank just flows over me without affecting me. Care to try again Kurenai-sensei?" Kurenai's frown deepened before casting a higher ranked Genjutsu.
"KAI!" Naruto said as he pulsed his chakra without even making a hand seal. "Good try, but try again. Three layer Genjutsu was good but with my senjutsu, it is useless. You can't fool my senses that easily."
"What do you mean; you aren't in Sennin Mōdō, are you?" Kurenai asked with confusion getting a chuckle from the blonde Jinchūriki.
"Not at the moment, but I can enter and leave Sennin Mōdō two times in a second."
"He is going to surpass every expectations I have for him. I did not think he would have progressed this far in just a week. Even Hagoromo-kun didn't reach this stage at the pace Naruto-kun did." Gamamaru said just as an old silver monkey appeared beside the old toad. The monkey was wearing a faded yellow haori with a gnarled staff in his hands.
"He is truly deserving of your attention Gamamaru-sensei. I didn't expect him to be this prodigious." Gamamaru nodded in agreement.
"True Ōzaru Sennin-dono, I didn't expect to meet another prodigy like him in my life time. Prodigies like him come once in multiple millennia." The Kage's all widened their eyes in shock. One could easily explain the presence of Gamamaru, the presence of the Ōzaru Sennin was not.
"Alright, I can tell that any Genjutsu under an S-Ranked one is useless against you and since most S-Ranked Genjutsu are also Dōjutsu based, I will have to pass you for Genjutsu detection and release. Now I heard rumors that you have an A-Ranked Genjutsu under your belt, like to show me?" Kurenai asked with interest. It is not every day a Genin can boast of mastering such high-level techniques, specifically genjutsu.
"Not at this moment, but I can assure you that you will face it during the spar." Naruto said causing Kurenai to nod in approval.
"Alright then I will say that your Genjutsu skills will fall under low A-Rank. You can take him now Gai!" Kurenai said as she walked away. Gai nodded and rushed towards Naruto with a massive grin on his face.
"Let's hold back for the moment, shall we Naruto-kun? We do not need to overextend ourselves before the spar." Naruto nodded, "Alright Gai-sensei!"
Gai nodded before he pulled out a pouch and started pouring chalk dust to form a circle, twenty foot in diameter. After finishing the preparations Gai nodded to himself and addressed Naruto, "In this evaluation, we will only use taijutsu. Since your style is heavily dependent on senjutsu, you may use it. It is up to you. You will need to stay in the circle for ten minutes or push me out."
"I won't be using senjutsu. Granted my taijutsu style requires senjutsu to use it to its full potential, but you aren't going to use the Hachimon Tonkō, so it would be unfair to you." Gai nodded in appreciation.
"Then the time limit is five minutes. Kakashi, will you be the moderator?" Kakashi nodded as he walked to the edge of the circle.
"On the count of three, start. THREE…" Naruto and Gai got into their starting stances.
"TWO…" Both stared at each other with indescribable expressions.
"ONE…" Both of their muscles tensed in preparation.
"HAJIME!"
As Kakashi began the match, both Ninja rushed towards each other at great speeds before their fists collided beginning a sequence of kicks, punches, and leg sweeps at each other, blocking some, dodging others, and parrying the rest.
For the next three minutes both used the basics of their styles to try and get an upper hand on their opponent, throwing in a couple of more advanced techniques into the mix, hoping to take their opponent by surprise.
"This is unreal! How can a Genin hold his own against a Jōnin of Gai's stature? Gai is borderline S-Rank himself." A Jōnin whispered in shock when a chuckling caught her attention. She looked about trying to find the source only to come up blank. Shaking her head, the woman returned her attention back to the match to see Naruto jumping up into the air like a frog before bringing his extended leg down on Gai's head.
In retaliation, Gai jumped back before rushing in with a roundhouse kick, calling out, "Konoha Gōriki Senpū!"
"Oh kami, Gai-sensei isn't holding back as I thought he would!" Tenten said with anxiety, her teammates, Lee and Neji both nodded in agreement, though Neji's face held a pained expression.
"What do you mean?" Tenten turned to see a blonde haired girl with light blue eyes was the source of the question.
"I thought that Gai-sensei would only keep to the basics and not include any of the more advanced technique related to the Gōken Taijutsu Style. Who are you anyway?"
"Oh sorry, I am Yamanaka Ino, nice to meet you Sempai. Anyway, Naruto is my classmate. Until now, we all believed that he was a dobe, a fool. Now we aren't too sure."
Tenten nodded, "The Academy Ranks are useless in the real world. I was the Top Kunoichi of last year, Neji was the Rookie of the Year, and Lee was the dobe. I used to believe that if Lee, as he is now, went against someone from your class; he would come out on top. That was before I learned that Lee had a trump card that could easily allow him to take down most Chunin. In fact, I am sure that he could easily defeat Neji now, even though Neji is considered a prodigy."
"I see what you mean. Even though he was the dobe in class, real life experience and training has made him far better than anyone expected." Ino said getting a nod from Tenten.
"That was before we faced Team 7 yesterday. Their Sensei asked our team to help administer the Genin Test on them. Gai-sensei accepted. At first, we believed that we would win and that too quite easily. That was far from the truth. Uchiha Sasuke-san was easily able to keep up with Neji until Neji pulled out one of his trump cards, taking Sasuke by surprise. At the same time, Haruno Sakura-san was a monster, shattering the ground with a single punch, pulverizing rocks into dust with a kick. What Genin can face off against such power? Her power was astounding. Her strength was reminiscent of Tsunade-sama's. Then there was Uzumaki Naruto-sama. He did the least, the leader of their team. Simple planning, overwhelming power, and unpredictable behavior, he easily set us up for Sakura-san to finish the match with her monstrous strength."
"Yosh, you forgot that Naruto-kun had shared the Kyūbi's chakra with his teammates, which empowered, healed, and protected them. The Kyūbi's chakra was so potent that even some of my strongest techniques did not faze Naruto-kun or Sakura-chan." Lee said with a grin causing Team 8 and Team 10 to look at Naruto in shock.
"I didn't know that Bijū Chakra could be shared? Didn't we learn that Bijū chakra was corrosive?" Shikamaru asked with a shiver running down his spine.
"What do you mean? Chakra can't be shared?" Everyone glared at the shaggy haired boy who said that.
"Ano Kiba, you do know that Iryōnin tend to transfer their chakra to some patients who have suffered from chakra exhaustion, right?" Choji asked before he said, "Tsunade-sama created that technique, though most Iryōnin don't have the capability to do that. I know that the present Head Doctor and a couple of his staff can. They buy the special food pills my Clan makes just for that."
"How did the dobe learn that?" Kiba asked causing everyone around him to shake their heads in exasperation, even the normally kind Hinata. "I mean he isn't an Iryōnin!"
"Sakura probably taught him, or at least told him the theory. She is the youngest fully certified Iryōnin with specialization in surgery and battlefield qualification." Ino said offhandedly causing everyone to look at the pink haired girl in awe.
"That's beside the point! How did the troublesome blonde transfer Bijū chakra?" Shikamaru asked with irritation.
"Naruto actively purifies the corrosive Bijū chakra by mixing it with his own before transferring it. Chakra carries the feel of one's soul. Naruto's goodness purifies the dark taint of the Kyūbi. Now the five minutes are nearly up. You had all better turn your attention back to the battlefield.
As the five-minute mark was passed, Kakashi walked forward and called out, "Five minutes are up. This is a tie!"
Gai and Naruto disengaged and bowed to each other before straightening up. "You have proved yourself in the intense art of taijutsu. My evaluation of your hampered skills gives me the impression of you being a mid A-Ranked skill. With your senjutsu, I would dare to say that you are easily S-Ranked."
"Thank you for your compliment Gai-sensei." Naruto said with a bow before he asked, "If you don't mind, may I and my team train with you from time to time, particularly weight training? I saw the chakra weights you are wearing and felt the chakra within them."
"Yosh, what youthful proposition, if your sensei doesn't have any problem with it, I will be happy to oblige!" Gai said with a smile.
"As long as that if after I have released the team, what they do is up to them, if they want to better themselves, who am I to stop them!" Kakashi said as Asuma walked forward and whispered into the silver haired Jōnin's ear. After a few moments of quiet debating, both nodded before Kakashi turned to the Kage Box. "Hokage-sama, Asuma and I have concluded that to test Naruto in Ninjutsu and Būkijutsu, it is better to do it in the spar, so may we proceed?"
"Are you going to allow it Hokage-dono?" Rasa asked with curiosity as Hiruzen hummed to himself.
"I think it wise to allow the individual evaluation to end. Būkijutsu and Ninjutsu cannot be tested like that." Ē said causing Hiruzen to nod.
"You are right Ē-dono. Proceed with the spar. Jiraiya will be your proctor." Hiruzen surprising everyone present.
"Jiraiya-sama, when did he return?" Kurenai asked getting shrugs from her fellow Jōnin and the ANBU.
"Alright everyone Naruto take the south side, Team take the north side!" Jiriaya said as he phased into existence beside Naruto. From Naruto's expression, Kakashi concluded that either Naruto knew beforehand that Jiraiya was going to be present or he had sensed Jiraiya when the rest of his colleagues failed. Then again, Kakashi was not surprised. One cannot become a spymaster without the skills to fool ANBU.
After everyone was in place, Jiraiya started to announce the rules. "Since everyone is in place, let me announce the rules. First, I have final say. When I declare a participant unable to fight, or are to retire, I expect that Shinobi or Kunoichi to promptly obey. Disobey my command, you find yourself suspended. Second, if your opponent concedes, you promptly get back from them. Third, no techniques that guarantee a kill are to be used. Fourth, have fun! HAJIME!"
The Team of seven experienced shinobi and kunoichi could not even react before a crushing pressure fell on their shoulders forcing them onto their knees. Kakashi, Gai, and Tora forced their heads up and looked at Naruto with apprehension and shock. An aura of blue flame like chakra was visible around Naruto, chakra visible to the naked eye. All three realized that Naruto's chakra was so dense that channeling all of that was causing it to become visible. They noted that there were cracks on the ground originating from Naruto.
"I am so happy that Naruto didn't really focus his chakra that much during the test!" Iruka said as he took a bite from the stick of dango in his hand. Beside him, Izumo looked confused. Seeing his comrade's confusion, Iruka decided to explain himself, "I asked Naruto to channel as much chakra he could. The effects were similar to what you see Izumo just that this time Naruto has focused the chakra pressure on his opponents."
"I didn't know that chakra had pressure!" Kotetsu asked with shock as he watched Kurenai shiver as she tried to stand up. Beside her, her team was barely standing, with Kakashi, Gai, and Tora being the only ones not shivering. The fearless Anko was seen looking at the boy in horror, while Asuma and Cat were cautiously watching the boy for sudden movements.
"Chakra does have pressure, the only reason we don't feel it is because our own usually nullifies the pressure we are feeling. The only time we would feel the pressure is when we face off against someone with reserves that are massive in comparison to your own. Therefore, you can see why Naruto is able to release such a monstrous pressure. What's shocking is that this is the pressure exhibited by his own chakra, I don't even want to think what pressure we would feel if Naruto had tapped into the Kyūbi's reserves as well."
Izumo and Kotetsu at the revelation, they remembered how deadly Naruto was when pranking, having been targeted before. Now, seeing a portion to the young Jinchūriki's true power, they made a mental note not to draw his ire ever again, especially since the kid could easily bring most Rookie Jōnin to their knees by just flexing his chakra.
"This is interesting. I did not think I would see a child other than Gaara being able to do this, that too without his Bijū's chakra." Rasa said causing the other Kage's to nod in understanding. Even Hiruzen was shocked at the power his surrogate grandson was exhibiting.
"I am having second thoughts now. I am not even down there and yet I can feel the slight pressure from right here. It reminds me of being in Hashirama-sensei's presence." Hiruzen said getting surprised looks from Ē and Rasa.
"I don't know much about Hashirama-sama, but his presence reminds me of my brother in Bijū Mōdō. I must say, if he is half as good as his father, I would like to spar with him to see how far I have come." Ē said with grin.
"What is happening?" Kurenai gritted out as she finally stood up, her hands and feet still shaking.
"If I didn't know any better, I would say I was facing off against Orochimaru, just without the killing intent!" Anko said with a blank look in her eyes. Everyone looked at the woman in shock.
"If you all can't stand in the very presence of my own chakra, without any augmentation through senjutsu or Bijū chakra, how can you expect to fight me, let alone evaluate me?" Naruto taunted before his blue eyes became red in color. At the same time, an incomprehensible killing intent filled the stadium. The worst of it centered on the seven ninja in front of Naruto.
All around the stadium, many civilians fainted, Genin and Chunin started vomiting, the Jōnin were shaking, and the Kage sweating profusely. All of them realized that Naruto was channeling Kyūbi's killing intent and hatred. The presence did not last long, barely a couple of seconds before it vanished, but the damage was already done.
Kurenai had fainted, foaming at the mouth. Anko, Asuma, and Cat were kneeling on the ground panting. Kakashi, Gai, and Tora were barely standing, with Gai's face covered in sweat. One could conclude that Kakashi and Tora also had sweaty faces.
"Kurenai is retired! Medic, take Kurenai out of the field. It seems that she needs immediate medical attention!" A team of medics ran onto the field and quickly carted off the unconscious Kurenai. Jiraiya turned and said, "Naruto kill the use of the killing intent. This is a spar to evaluate your skills. Using Kyūbi's killing intent to knock out opponent's showcases nothing!"
"I used that to judge the level of my opponents. If any of them fainted, as Kurenai did, then it was safe to assume that they would not be able to survive the spar. She could have lost her life. It would be a tragic accident but Konoha would have lost a fine Jōnin. That was too much a risk for me to take. Killing intent is after all a common tool among high-level shinobi." Jiraiya nodded before he turned to the Team of Jōnin and ANBU.
"You six feeling alright, do any of you want to retire?" Jiraiya asked getting glare from Anko.
"Don't coddle me pervert! I am not a snot nosed Genin!" Jiraiya nodded to Anko after seeing the others agreeing with the Snake Mistress. Nodding, Jiraiya jumped back calling out, "HAJIME!"
Before Naruto could even react, Gai, Cat, and Asuma charged forward, Cat drawing her sword and Asuma channeling chakra through his butterfly knives. At the same time, Kakashi revealed his Sharingan and started weaving hand seals for a jutsu. Anko thrust forth her palms releasing multiple snakes ready to bite the blonde haired Jinchūriki. Finally, Tora had weaved through a couple of hand seals before blowing out a strong jet of water.
"Sen'ei Jashu!" Anko had called out from behind Asuma causing the Jōnin to jump to the side as the snakes flew by. At the same time, a stream of pressurized water flew by Cat's head with Tora calling out, "Suiton: Mizurappa!"
As the two jutsu flew towards Naruto, the blonde Jinchūriki just grinned before he went through a sequence of taijutsu katas. The katas mesmerized everyone; each kata was some kind of circular motion reminiscent to the Hyūga Jūken, but still fundamentally different. The most mesmerizing thing about the katas was the motion of the winds. As Naruto went through one kata to another, the air around him flowed, following the motion of his arms.
A single upward punch caused a wave of wind to intercept the snakes and throw them out of course. With a palm thrust, a stream of compressed of air collided with the stream of water and nullified it. With a leg sweep, a blade of wind flew at the three approaching ninja causing them to jump back in order to dodge.
"That child is a truly a diamond in the rough. He has already mastered the basics of Wind Ninshu. He even recreated the Ba Gua Zhang Taijutsu style to help in manipulating the winds and he is not even in Sennin Mōdō. I didn't expect him to become this proficient already." Gamamaru commented with surprise getting shocked looks for the Monkey Sage and the Kage's.
The group kept their attention to what Naruto would do next. They saw Kakashi breath out a massive ball of fire at Naruto. At the same time, Asuma released a wave of strong winds to power the flames up, causing the ball to increase in size.
"They are going a bit far, aren't they?" Rasa asked with surprise at the collaboration ninjutsu, just before his jaws dropped at the unexpected event that occurred.
As the flames flew towards Naruto, the young sage took a deep breath before he clapped his hands together before thrusting them forward in a spear like motion. To everyone's shock, the flames split from the point of contact and flew past Naruto before quickly dying out.
Gamamaru chuckled, "It seems that he has an instinctive connection to the elements. A stronger one than even Hagoromo had. Even with Kage Bunshin, it would be impossible for him to master Fire Ninshu already, yet he used a high-ranking Fire Ninshu technique to redirect and suppress the fire, all the while executing a perfect Dancing Dragon Kata, truly an amazing feat!"
"I am so happy I decided to accept his help. Hey Sakura, did you know that he was this powerful without the fox?" Sasuke asked with trepidation. He really did not want to hear the answer, but he still needed to.
"Until the spar with Gamamaru-sama a week ago, he didn't have any knowledge on the use of Ninshu. He must have been using the Kage Bunshin to practice and master it. The shocking thing is that he had not even planned to start Fire Ninshu until he mastered Wind, Water, and Earth. Then again, he is driven by instinct during a fight. I have seen him instinctively create and master a technique during a fight." Sakura said causing Sasuke to nod in realization. At the same time, the rest of the Genin around them were gaping at Sakura's statement. They could not believe there was someone able to create and master techniques in the heat of battle.
"That's good; then we still have a chance to catch up with him, I hope!" Sasuke said with a grin Sakura giggled at that before commenting, "I don't think there is anyone in existence at this moment who will be able to challenge him. Catching up to him, we will have to see."
"You think he would teach us how to bend the elements to our will?" Sasuke asked with a curious expression marring his usually stoic face.
"As he is doing, I don't know if we would even be able to do it. The amount of chakra needed to bend an element to our will would be astronomical. I do not think anyone but a Kage or another Jinchūriki would be able to do that. Then again we may need to master senjutsu before we can even think of learning to bend the elements." Sakura said causing Sasuke to look down in disappointment. "But we can ask him and see if we can learn as well."
"I have to say Naruto; you are holding back and still giving us problems. I think it is time we took it up a notch!" Kakashi said as he nodded to Cat who was behind Naruto. Cat nodded back before quickly weaving hand seals before launching a beam of blue-white lightning at Naruto's back.
The hair on the back of Naruto's neck stood up causing the boy to react instinctively. Raising a hand, his index and middle finger up, he pointed it at the approaching lightning, all around the stadium, everyone was clutching the edges of their seats and watched in horror as the lightning struck the tips of Naruto's fingers.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed out in panic only to stop screaming in shock of what she saw.
The lightning was absorbed into Naruto's fingers; small sparks flowing down his arms, through his belly and then up the other arm; at the same time, Naruto spurn around and pointed the index and middle finger of the other hand at Tora, before launching out a larger quantity of lightning at the shocked ANBU.
Reacting on instinct, Tora quickly weaved hand seals before slamming his hands onto the ground. To everyone other than Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Cat, Jiraiya and Hiruzen's surprise, a dome of interlocking wooden pillars formed around the ANBU just as lightning struck the dome. A massive explosion occurred obscuring the dome in smoke.
"He… he… he…" Cat kept repeating in shock with Anko nodded in understanding. It was not every day an opponent turned their own jutsu against themselves or their comrades. Kakashi and Gai looked at Naruto with shock and awe.
"This is interesting. Being able to redirect lightning is not something I have ever seen. Especially since lightning generation is a very advanced Fire Ninshu technique." Gamamaru said getting confused looks from the Kage.
"Ano Gamamaru-sama, I don't mean to be rude but isn't Lightning a completely separate element?" Ē asked with trepidation. Gamamaru stared at the muscular Kage with a scrutinizing look before sighing.
"It seems that many have forgotten than Fire and Lightning are two sides of the same coin. Both are connected to heat. Fire thrives on heat while a lightning strike generates heat. Both Fire and Lightning are elements based on pure energy. Therefore, when I mean Fire Ninshu, I mean Ninshu that directly or indirectly manipulates heat. I mean no offence to you Raiton users, but Ninshu and Ninjutsu are fundamentally different. What Naruto is doing is still much more different from the Ninshu I know. If I was a betting toad, I would bet all of my experience and wisdom that he has taken Ninshu to never before been seen heights. To clarify, he should not be able to manipulate the winds to this degree without senjutsu. At first, I thought he was tapping into senjutsu and releasing it after the technique was done; now I am not too sure."
Everyone in the Kage box looked at the wizened old toad in shock. Someone with that much experience and wisdom not being able to tell what Naruto was doing was truly a shocking revelation.
"I think it is time that we end this before someone gets hurt!" Naruto said as the orange pigmentation appeared around his eyes before a golden cloak of chakra formed around him. Before the shocked Ninja could react, Naruto had appeared above the wooden dome with a swirling ball of chakra in his hand. The five ninja watched as a swirling blade of wind chakra formed around the orb releasing a high-pitched whistling sound.
Kakashi's eyes widened in shock; that is the completed version of his Sensei's Rasengan. Knowing the destructive abilities of the original, Kakashi screamed out, "Tenzo get out of there!"
"Senpō: Rasenshuriken!" Naruto called out as the chakra arm extended and collided with the dome. Everyone watched in shock as the small orb exploded and encompassed the wooden dome within a dome of swirling winds. When the jutsu faded, the wooden dome had vanished. Not even sawdust remained.
"Tenzo!" Cat called out in shock and fell to her knees. Cat's mask fell revealing the face of a beautiful woman with tears flowing down her face originating from her black eyes. Anko crouched down beside the distraught woman and placed a hand on her shoulder while glaring at Naruto.
"How could you? Why would you use a technique that was guaranteed to kill? Jiraiya-sama, why didn't you stop him?" Anko gritted out just before another Naruto appeared beside Jiraiya and placed the unconscious Tora on the ground before dissipating in a puff of smoke.
"All of you are Elite Shinobi of Konoha. A supposed death of your comrade has reduced you to such a pathetic state, despicable. If you had any trust in your teammate, you would have known that he would have escaped. You even let your guard down right at this moment!" Naruto said before he vanished from sight, reappeared beside the two women, and knocked them out before they could even widen their eyes in shock.
"What the hell? I did not expect him to be this fast! It took me years to reach my top speed and he surpassed it in under a quarter of that time!" Ē said with wide eyes before turning to Hiruzen, "What do you feed these Genin Hokage-dono?"
Hiruzen chuckled, "I think that I have to make Ramen a staple diet for all my Shinobi. I can't believe that Naruto-kun is this strong by only surviving on Ramen!" Rasa and Ē looked at the old Kage with cautious looks, not sure, if they should believe him or not.
"Kakashi, can you get me a moment. I wish I did not have to use this, but Naruto-kun is too youthful to dishonor him by holding back anymore." Seeing that Gai was serious, Kakashi nodded before charging at Naruto with his Sharingan spinning.
Before he even covered half the distanced, Kakashi saw that Naruto's chakra coils pulsed right before Naruto smacked his foot into the ground causing a large boulder to shoot up into the air right in front of the blonde Jinchūriki before he threw a punch in Kakashi's direction.
The Sharnigan wielding Jōnin's eyes widened in shock as the boulder flew at him with great speed. Looking around, he saw that there was not anything to substitute with, so Kakashi sighed as his lone Sharingan morphed into a three-pronged pinwheel.
"Kamui!"
Everyone stared at the boulder in shock. They saw it start twisting in on itself before suddenly vanishing into nonexistence. At the same time, Kakashi clutched his Sharingan and fell on his knees. Not wasting any time, Naruto appeared beside the downed Jōnin in an impressive burst of speed and held a Kunai to the man's throat. "Yield Kakashi-sensei, I can sense that you are about to fall over due to extreme chakra exhaustion."
Kakashi nodded before calling out in a raspy voice, "I concede!"
"Kakashi concedes defeat. Medics take the man away!" Jiraiya called out just as Naruto placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder causing a cloak of red bubbling chakra to envelope the man.
"That right there is what we told you about! Naruto-sama is sharing Kyūbi's chakra with Kakashi-sensei!" Tenten said as she excitedly pointed towards Kakashi. The other Genin watched as the chakra changed from red to yellow before being absorbed into Kakashi.
"What did he do?" Ino asked in shock when Sakura replied with an uncertain tone, "I think he changed the composition of the Chakra from balanced yin-yang to higher yang concentration."
"Why would he do that?" Shikamaru asked with curiosity.
"Yang Chakra is the physical aspect of chakra. The reason Bijū chakra has such regenerative abilities without weakening the life force of the patient is due to the strong life force the Bijū possesses. So disbalancing the chakra into yang should increase the potency of the healing abilities of the chakra. I think that Naruto is trying to heal Kakashi-sensei's chakra exhaustion."
"That's interesting." Sakura nodded to Shikamaru before turning back to the evaluation only to look surprised at what Gai did.
Massive booms had sounded around the Arena as soon as Kakashi rushed towards Naruto. While Naruto was distracted, he used the moment to unlock his inner gates.
"KAIMON KAI!"
"KYŪMON KAI!"
"SEIMON KAI!"
"SHŌMON KAI!"
"TOMON KAI!"
"KEIMON KAI!"
Gai's hair was flowing up due to the intense chakra pressure around him. His skin had become dark red, while his eyes had become pure white. The most amazing thing about him was the green aura surrounding him. He waited until Kakashi left using a Shunshin before drawing Naruto's attention to himself.
"I must say Naruto-kun, you are the most youthful ninja I have ever seen. Since you defeated all of my comrades without even trying, it would be a slight to you not to fight at my best, so prepare to face the power of the Green Beast!" Gai said before he vanished from view and reappeared behind Naruto, the Jinchūriki still clad in Kyūbi chakra mōdō augmented with senjutsu, and kicked him into the air before continuing to kick the young blonde jinchūriki higher into the air before performing a flip and crashing an extended fist and foot into Naruto's stomach.
"Ura Renge!" Gai called out as Naruto flew towards the ground.
Everyone cried out in shock at the beating Gai gave the young blonde boy, but sighed in relief when Naruto performed a midair pirouette causing a massive gust of wind to catch him before he kissed the unforgiving ground. Everyone watched in shock as both landed on their feet and stared at each other with inscrutable expressions.
After what seemed like hours, Gai finally spoke up. "Just as I expected, your senjutsu enhanced Kyūbi chakra cloak is too strong to pierce using such weak techniques. Let's see how it stands up to my next move!"
Naruto grinned before he and Gai vanished and reappeared clashing in the middle of the field. Every punch Gai threw caught alight in flames while Naruto used minor circular motions to cause gusts to wind to blow away the flames while the motions themselves easily redirected the punches. Jumping back, Naruto did a circular leg sweep at Gai causing a wave of wind to fly towards the spandex clad Jōnin. With a show of strength, Gai easily withstood the gale force wind before he grinned.
"It seems that nothing less than the red beast would be able to fight against some one of you caliber, but since releasing the red beast would kill me, let us be satisfied with the blue beast! KYŌMON KAI!"
"DON'T GAI-SENSEI! YOU WILL BE HOSPITALIZED!" Lee shouted out in fear causing the others to look at the boy in shock.
"What do you mean Gai-sensei will be hospitalized?" Tenten asked with a shaky voice causing Lee to look at the others with a serious expression.
"The Hachimon Tonkō no Jin is a Kinjutsu, the pinnacle of Taijutsu. Opening the inner gates grants great strength but rips the body apart from the inside. The greater the number of gates opened, the greater the effect on the body. One has to prepare the body to survive the opening of the gates. That is one of the reasons Gai-sensei and I train so hard. If we slack off, our own techniques will kill us. Releasing the Blue Beast is synonymous to opening seven of the eight gates. The blue vapors you see surrounding Gai-sensei are the result of his own sweat vaporizing mixing with the chakra being released by Gai-sensei. Opening the eighth gate would give Gai-sensei power to rival all three Kage at the same time, but in the end, he would die from the strain. No amount of training would allow someone's body to survive the strain." After Lee finished his explanation, the rest of the Genin excluding Sakura stared Gai in horror.
"I can sense the strain your body is being put through. Are you sure you don't want to concede?" Naruto asked with concern. Gai just shook his head before he placed a hand, palm facing towards Naruto, in front of his face and tapped it with his other hand. A massive air pressure formed around Gai as he formed a unique tiger shaped hand seal. The air pressure solidified into a massive roaring tiger head with Gai in the center of the mouth.
As Gai was preparing his technique, Naruto seemed to have been dancing. Streams of wind congregated above the boy with every sweeping circular motions, leaps, and twists. As both shinobi finished their preparations, both thrust their fists towards their opponents.
From Gai's side, the tiger head flew forward, ripping the ground to pieces. At the same time, the swirling orb of wind floating above Naruto's head compressed into a tiny ball before exploding out into a massive eastern dragon and flew towards the approaching tiger head.
The two techniques collided filling the whole arena with dust and winds. All the spectators expectantly waited for the next bout only to be surprised when a massive sphere of swirling wind was conjured in the middle of the field. They saw Naruto's silhouette floating in the middle of the sphere glowing with golden chakra. Near him, Gai's silhouette could be seen crouching on the ground, the blue vapors flying about wildly.
"I think we have had enough fun, don't you Gai-sensei?" Naruto called out right before the sphere contracted into a small ball in Naruto's hand. Thrusting his arms forward, the small sphere of dense winds flew towards the immobile Gai with the speed of a flying arrow.
Gai watched the small ball approach, but resigned himself to be hit by it. He knew that he would not recover in time to dodge. Just as the ball reached him, he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable pain to come. After a while, when the expected pain failed to register, Gai opened his eyes to look at a wall of swirling wind. Before he could even stand up, the walls contracted around him as portions dissipated while other solidified into five orbs, one on each limb and the final on his head.
Gai tried to free himself through brute force before he felt himself become woozy. His vision started to swim and his breath became short. Gai increased his struggles resulting in his breath becoming shorter. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late.
"What did Naruto-kun do?" Lee asked with concern.
"I don't know, but it looks like some kind of sealing technique, only made out of pure wind." Tenten said with an awed expression.
"Tenten is right. The spheres are carved with Fūinjutsu shiki by a different concentration of fūton chakra. Have you seen him do such things before?" Neji asked Sakura only for the pinkette to shake her head.
"If it contains fūinjutsu, he must have created in recently. Until a week ago, he did not know much about fūinjutsu. Then again, his clan specialty was fūinjutsu, so I am not surprised that he is already this proficient." Neji nodded in understanding. There were prodigies born to clans who had a great understanding of their clan techniques, he was one himself. It seemed that Naruto was one as well.
"That's fine but how is he doing that? Don't we need ink and tags to apply seals?" Shikamaru asked with curiosity.
"Don't ask me, Tenten is the fūinjutsu expert here. The only other one is the one using that technique!" Sakura huffed in annoyance.
"The Uzumaki Clan was always able to project seals using their own chakra. You can call it a pseudo-bloodline. They have done it for so long that the unique chakra signature of the clan had changed in its properties to allow such a thing. I know that it can be taught, but not to the level young Naruto-kun is doing. Jiraiya-sama can carve seals with chakra alone. Nidaime-sama and Yondaime-sama could apply a seal with just a touch."
The group turned to see an old woman was the speaker. Seeing the inquiring looks from the youngsters, the woman chuckled and said, "The names Hanako. I was a Jōnin that served under Nidaime-sama during the start second war and under Sandaime-sama under the third. I was fortunate enough to see both Nidaime-sama and Yondaime-sama in combat personally. I was also had the honor to see the Uzumaki Clan in action. Some of the Sealing Masters could take down rampaging Bijū by manifesting chains out of their own chakra and using it as a medium to use their Fūinjutsu. However, Naruto-kun has taken it to a completely different level. How he is doing it without keeping a constant connection to the chakra, I do not know."
"So such levels of Fūinjutsu were common among the Uzumaki Clan?' Sasuke asked with interest. He had read that the Uzumaki was considered a Clan at the same level as his own, the Uchiha, now he was realizing why.
Hanako nodded, "That's right, though they also have a strong life force, allowing members of the clan and their descendants to live for much longer than average while having huge reserves of chakra and a strong healing factor."
"Maito Gai has fainted and with that, the evaluation spar is over. Shōsha, Uzumaki Naruto!" Jiraiya's voice filled the stadium drawing everyone's attention back to the field.
Sakura did not wait any longer and jumped over the barrier and onto the field, Team 9 following in her wake. As they reached downed Gai, they could see small amount of blood seeping from the man's nose and mouth. Sakura crouched down beside the downed man, her palms glowing with green iryō chakra. Before she could even place her hand on the unconscious man, Naruto placed his palm on Gai's chest, causing the bubbling chakra cloak to form around him. The cloak glowed golden for a few moments before being absorbed into Gai right before the man coughed and sat up.
"Lie back down Gai-sensei, I need to check you!" Sakura ordered as Lee and Tenten forced the man back down. Sakura scanned Gai with her jutsu for a few moments before sighing in relief. "You are good to go Gai-sensei. When Lee said that you would end up hospitalized, I was quite worried, but it seems that Naruto has decided that I wasn't a good enough medic, so he created a powerful healing technique." Sakura said with a smile.
"Of course I don't think that you are a worthless medic. I just wanted Gai-sensei back on his feet as soon as possible, so I channeled yang chakra into him to speed up the process, just as Kurama does when I am injured!' Naruto exclaimed.
"I was joking Naruto, I already realized what you were doing, besides I doubt anyone other than you or a fellow Jinchūriki could do that, though I doubt that anyone else other than you would be able to purify Bijū chakra enough to make it effective." Naruto nodded in appreciation. "You can get up Gai-sensei but make sure to rest for a couple of days."
"Yosh, your spring time of youth is blooming with beautiful flowers, being willing enough to heal your opponent when it is not your job is truly youthful! May than heart of yours never be tainted with un-youthfulness Naruto-kun," Gai said with a smile as he stood up. "And Sakura-chan, I will take your recommendation with humble acceptance!"
Sakura nodded with satisfaction before turning to Naruto only to see a horse masked ANBU talking with her teammate.
"Naruto-sama, Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you and your Team, right after Kakashi-sempai is given the clean bill of health." Naruto nodded to the ANBU causing the man to bow before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"You heard him, right?"
Sakura sighed before nodding, "Yeah I heard. What do you think this is about; calling you, I would understand, but the whole team?"
"I don't know, but we will find out soon anyway." Naruto said as he pointed towards the approaching Kakashi and Sasuke.
A/N:
Japanese Translations
Shodai = First
Nidaime = Second
Sandaime = Third
Myōbokuzan = Mount Myōboku
Rikudō Sennin = Six Paths Sage
Akai Chishio no Habanero = Red Hot-Blooded Habanero
Būkijutsu = Weapon Techniques
Ōzaru Sennin = Great Monkey Sage
Dōjutsu = Eye Techniques
Fūinjutsu Shiki = Sealing Arts Formula
A/N:
Japanese Jutsu, Style and Weapon Name Translations
Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu = Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique
Hachimon Tonkō = Eight Inner Gates
Konoha Gōriki Senpū = Leaf Strong Whirlwind
Sen'ei Jashu = Hidden Shadow Snake Hands
Suiton: Mizurappa = Water Release: Water Trumpet
Senpō: Rasenshuriken = Sage Art: Spiralling Shuriken
Kamui = Authority of the Gods
Kaimon Kai = Gate of Opening Open
Kyūmon Kai = Gate of Healing Open
Seimon Kai = Gate of Life Open
Shōmon Kai = Gate of Pain Open
Tomon Kai = Gate of Limit Open
Keimon Kai = Gate of View Open
Shunshin = Body Flicker
Kyōmon Kai = Gate of Wonder Open
Hachimon Tonkō no Jin = Eight Inner Gates Formation
A/N: Hey Everyone! I hope you like this new chapter. Please remember to leave Reviews. The more Reviews I get, the faster I will publish another chapter, though I will try and keep it on a monthly schedule.
SSG.
