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.
"Thoughts / Telepathic Speech"
"Speech"
Letters / Jutsu notes
Chapter 22 – Chunin Exams Part I
Many prospective Chunin hopefuls were entering the Academy to take their exams. Amongst them were a all Kunoichi Team from Uzu and an all Shinobi Team from Konoha. The six met at the entrance of the Academy and greeted each other with nods.
"Sasuke, you and Konohamaru are the only ones who know the Academy, so lead the way and we will follow." Karin said causing Sasuke to nod and walk in with his team and the all Kunoichi following behind him. They handed over their forms to the Chunin Instructors sitting at a table beside the doors and were directed to head to Class Room 303.
They went up a pair of stairs and saw a large group of Genin crowding around a door with the sign 303. The door was being guarded by two Genin, but Karin sensed that something wasn't right. Focusing her Kagura Shigan, she whispered to her teammates and Team Kakashi before heading towards the stairs to the next floor. As they were walking up the stairs, they heard a girl whine, "Come on, let us through. We need to take the exam!"
"Tenten is laying it on thick, isn't she?" Konohamaru commented with a grin causing the rest of his team and the Uzu Kunoichi to nod in agreement.
"I wonder when they will come up. The exam is going to start soon."
"I am sure that they will be here soon Haku. After all, do you see the uptight Hyūga teme missing such an opportunity?" Karin said with a scowl. Let it be known that Uzumaki Karin hated Hyūga Neji with a passion, especially since he insulted her by calling her a loser for studying the Fūinjutsu arts.
"You just wish to be the one to face him so that you can show him up Karin. You really need to keep your temper under control. You really don't want to get the moniker of Red Hot-Blooded Habanero like Kushina-sama, do you?" Suiren said with a teasing grin.
Karin pouted as they reached the door to the exam room only to be met by Zabuza and Kakashi leaning on the wall beside the door discussing something. Kakashi with the first to respond, "Ah, there you six are. Go in and make sure to keep alert. There may be some teams with ulterior motives."
"Hatake is right you lot, and keep an eye out for suspicious genin. Other than that, have fun and make sure that everyone learns that Uzu is the best!"
"Ha… my students will show that Konoha is the best, Eiba!"
"We will see Hatake, girls make sure that you reach the finals. We Jōnin have a bet and I believe that you lot are the only ones who have a chance to reach the finals with the whole team intact!" With that said, Zabuza vanished in a shunshin, leaving behind a thin mist.
"Boys, I expect you all to make it to the finals. I have quite a lot of Ryō banking on you! Good luck!" As with Zabuza, Kakashi also vanished in a shunshin, though his was a crackle of lighting sparks.
The six genin blinked in shock before shrugging and entering the room. As soon as they entered, they were accosted by the collective killing intent of the participants. While impressive, none of them even felt uncomfortable as they were used to being subjected to Elite Jōnin level killing intents.
"Hey guys! You lot got entered as well?" Ino asked approaching the six genin.
"Wahoo, it seems that everyone is here!" Kiba called out entering the room with his team and Team Gai.
"Troublesome, why did you monsters have to be entered? Now I don't have any chance to succeed. My mom is going to be so insufferable." Shikamaru groaned causing Hinata to smile and say, "Just try your best Shikamaru-kun. I am sure that your mother will be pleased with your performance, granted, you have to put in your all."
Shikamaru nodded and was about to comment when a grey haired elder Konoha Genin walked up to them and said, "You lot should keep it down. Everyone here is quite anxious and the wrong behavior could trigger someone. You lot are rookies, right? If I am not mistaken, you lot were taught personally by Naruto-sama in the art of Ninshu."
"That's right, but who are you?" Kiba asked with narrowed eyes. The boy smelled like snakes and the only person he knows that smells like that was Mitarashi Anko, and that's because she was a snake summoner. There shouldn't be any more snake summoners in Konoha.
"Please forgive me. The name is Yakushi Kabuto. I am a genin who specializes in Iryōjutsu and have taken these exams seven times. Each time I failed due to one reason or another. They are quite difficult. Though I have gained quite the amount of intelligence on participants." Everyone in the group nodded but some were a bit suspicious. No one is that bad to fail the exams seven times.
Sasuke spoke up. "Yakushi-san, you say you have intelligence on the participants, care to share some with comrades?"
Kabuto looked startled at the query but nodded with a smile as he took out a pack of cards. "Sure. I believe that as your senior, it is the least I can do. These are nin-info cards. I have burned the information into them with my chakra so that no one but I can access them. Do you have any one in particular you wish to learn of?"
Sasuke though for a moment before speaking, "Nii Samui of Kumo, Sabaku no Gaara of Suna, Kamizuri Kurotsuchi of Iwa and Uzumaki Karin of Uzu."
Samui heard from across the room causing her team to approach Sasuke and his group. At the same time, Gaara moved towards them with his siblings, clearly interested in what information Kabuto had on him. Kurotsuchi didn't approach but moved closer with her teammates.
"Why are you asking about me? You and Shikamaru already know all about my record?" Samui asked with confusion.
"To learn how accurate his intel is. Go ahead Yakushi-san?" Sasuke said with his sharingan active, no one realized that Sasuke had subtly casted a genjutsu on Samui and Karin with his sharingan before dispelling them. Both girls shared a look before frowning.
"Alright, first is Nii Samui. She is the niece of the Yondaime Raikage and the cousin of Nibi Jinchūriki. Her Jōnin Sensei is Kirabi, the Hachibi Jinchūriki. Her teammates are Karui and Omoi, neither have last names and are probably orphans. She has quite high kenjutsu stats along with moderately high ninjutsu and genjutsu stats, all well above Genin level, nearly Tokubetsu Jōnin level. Her elemental affinity is lighting, a common affinity in Kumo. Her mission statistics are one B-rank, thirty-seven C-ranks and one hundred and thirty-four D-ranks. She has been a Kunoichi for a little more than a year and a half. She is known for her cold demeanor and is said to have singlehandedly eliminated a band of rapist bandits with only kenjutsu."
Samui nodded and said, "Quite accurate information Yakushi-san. I am impressed with your information gathering skills."
Kabuto nodded before taking out another card. "Next is Sabaku no Gaara. He is the third and youngest child of the Yondaime Kazekage. His sensei is Baki of the Wind Blade. His teammates are his siblings, Temari and Kankuro. He has Jōnin level ninjutsu stats. genjutsu and taijutus is unknown, though I would hazard that he is already Jōnin level. He is the jinchūriki of the Ichibi and is known for his bloodthirsty nature and sand jutsu. His mission statistics are quite impressive with five B-ranks, twelve C-ranks and an unknown number of D-ranks. He has been a shinobi for roughly the same time as you and is known for his bloodthirsty demeanor and returning from all of his missions without a single scratch."
"Same thing Naruto told me, just more detailed. Next one please Yakushi-san."
Kabuto narrowed his eyes before taking out the next card. "Kamizuri Kurotsuchi. She is the granddaughter of the Sandaime Tsuchikage much like Konohamaru-san is the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage." Kabuto said nodding in Konohamaru's direction. "Her sensei is the Yonbi Jinchūriki Roshi. And her teammates are her cousin, Suzumebachi and Akatsuchi. Her stats put her well into the Tokubetsu Jōnin rank. Her mission stats, I am sorry to say are inconsistent, but they are one B-rank, twelve C-ranks and thirty D-ranks. She is known for her Yōton Kekkai Genkai and is said to have a quick temper and is said to be a prodigy in ninjutsu."
Kurotsuchi narrowed her eyes at the amount of accuracy Kabuto's intel contained. The only thing that was wrong was that her single S-rank was not included, though to be fair, that S-rank was one she wasn't supposed to be in, so it was probably not accessible by anyone not on the Tsuchikage and those he approved.
"Finally there is Uzumaki Karin, the current Heiress of the Uzumaki Clan. She is the only other member of the Royal branch of the fabled Uzumaki Clan. She is a former Kusa Kunoichi, but Kusa gave up all rights on her when they transferred her back to the control of Uzu. Her sensei is Eiba Zabuza, formerly known as Momochi Zabuza, the present head of the Noble Eiba Clan of the reforming Uzugakure. Her teammates are Yūki Haku, the present head of the Noble Yūki Clan of the reforming Uzugakure and Makesshō Suiren, the present head of the Noble Makesshō Clan of the reforming Uzugakure. It is said that she is trained by her cousin Senju Tsunade-sama in Taijutsu. She only knows the basic Academy Jutsu, but is said to have been trained in Ninshu by Uzumaki Naruto-sama and Iryōjutsu by Senju Tsunade-sama. Her element or elements are unknown. Her genjutsu is low Chunin level. Her Fūinjutsu skills far surpass most Jōnin, though it is to be expected as her clan is known for prodigious skills in the art. For Mission Statistics, she has done one A-rank, seven B-ranks, twelve C-ranks and thirty-nine D-ranks, including her mission statistics from Kusa. It is said that she has a powerful sensory ability that easily rivals or even surpasses the Hyūga Byakugan. It is also said that her chakra is special and has the ability to revitalize anyone injected with to the point of being completely healed from mortal wounds. And that's all that I have. I must say, those are some incredible credentials."
Karin narrowed her eyes at the information, some of it should have been out of Kabuto's reach, though he may have had his own sensei get access to it, but her Ninshu and Iryōjutsu training were completely secret and unavailable to anyone outside Uzu and those Naruto authorized. Sasuke was right to be cautious. Karin turned to Samui and motioned towards Kabuto with her eyes. Something Haku and Suiren caught and were immediately put on alert.
"What about Karin's teammates, do you have any information on them?" Kiba asked with a curious expression. Kabuto looked surprised at the query before stating, "Sorry, but I only have the basic information. Their names, their teammates and Sensei and most of all that they are the heads of their respective clans. Other than that, their skills, their mission statistics and personal information is unavailable. Uzushiogakure no Sato is probably the most secretive village in existence, if you don't count Otogakure. I didn't even know they were a thing until they showed up for the exams." Kabuto said with a scoff causing Sasuke, Haku, and the members of Team Gai to chuckle.
"Care to share the joke?" Kabuto asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sasuke stopped chuckling and said, "Oh we knew about Oto for some time now, especially since the S-rank we took to Kiri." Sasuke said pointing to himself, Sai, Haku, Tenten, Lee and Neji in turn causing nearly every foreign ninja to raise an eyebrow in shock. Genin partaking in S-rank missions. What kind of monsters do Konoha and Uzu produce? First Uzumaki Naruto, then Haruno Sakura and now these Genin. Did they even stand a chance against monsters like them?
"Care to elaborate?" Kabuto asked with a pained smile.
"Otogakure was founded by the traitorous snake, Orochimaru no Densetsu no Sannin. Quite sad, that he thought that he could win against Naruto. I still remember the beat down Naruto gave to the bastard. Then the landscape changing spar he had with the Hakuja Sennin. I was quite pleased to learn that Orochimaru is now persona non-grata with the Snake Summons. I do believe that he is the present Otokage." Sasuke said causing the Otonin to stiffen in shock.
"They are quite pathetic, serving a traitorous Shinobi. Fate has decreed that they all shall remain losers for the rest of their existence." Neji said with an arrogant smirk causing the Oto team to fume in anger, but decided that it was better not to retaliate against them, not with the warnings Orochimaru-sama gave them.
Neji was going to continue with the degradation of the Otonin, but the sudden explosion of smoke at the front of the room followed by rough male voice stopped him. "Alright Maggots! It's time to start this sorry exam. I am Morino Ibiki and my colleague is Haruno Sakura. We shall be the ones administering your exams."
Many of the genin gulped at the glares Ibiki and Sakura were giving the group, not to mention the massive killing intent wafting off the duo. Sakura continued, "Come up here, and take a number. That shall be your seat assignment. Try to trick us, and the consequences will be dire."
The cold tone with the equally cold smile Sakura sported caused some of the genin to shiver in fright. Sakura may be young, but everyone has already heard tales of her prowess. Silently, each and every one of the Genin participants walked up to the head table and took their assigned seat number. After everyone had taken their seats, the Chunin aids moved about handing the exam sheets to the candidates.
"The exam will last exactly one hour." Sakura started with a blast of killing intent. "Any who try to be smart, will find themselves and their teammates failing and being banned from taking this exam for life. Is that clear?"
All the Genin, even the Konoha Genin nodded in fear, causing Sakura to click her tongue and say, "I said, IS THAT CLEAR MAGGOTS?"
"CRYSTAL!" The collection of Genin shouted back.
Sakura nodded in satisfaction and said, "There will be certain rules. Make sure to memorize them as we won't be repeating ourselves! Morino-san, if you would?"
Ibiki nodded to Sakura and said, "You all with start with ten points. Each wrong answer will cause one-point deduction. If you get caught cheating, you will lose three points. If anyone gets a zero, they and their teammates fail the exam. To pass, the minimum collective total of your team must be three points. There are nine questions on the paper with a blank space of the tenth. The Tenth question will be given at the forty-fifth minute mark. IS THAT CLEAR?"
"CRYSTAL CLEAR SIR!"
Ibiki nodded in amusement as Sakura started the exam. For next forty-five minutes; Ibiki, Sakura and the Chunin aides kept vigil and by the fifteenth minute mark, teams started dropping off like flies. By the fortieth minute, only thirty-two teams were left. In the last five minutes, only two more teams were eliminated, before Ibiki called out, "Alright, it's time for the final question. Now there is an additional rule to this question. You can choose to take it or not."
Normally, Genin would complain, but the potent killing intent that was wafting off Sakura kept them quite. Seeing that there weren't any smartasses, Ibiki continued, "If you don't take it, you and your team will immediately fail. If you do take it and get it wrong, you will be banned from taking the exams for life!"
This time, the killing intent wasn't enough to deter some of the more vocal Genin from commenting. "But what about the repeaters? Why do they have chance, and not us? There must be some here who have got the final question wrong!"
"That's good question Genin at Desk 55. To answer it, I am the rules. My exam, my rules. It is your bad luck that you got me and Haruno as your examiners. Now, Desks 55, 22 and 76, collect your things and leave. You are disqualified for talking in the examination hall!"
"That's not fair man!" The Genin at Desk 22 complained only for a kunai to fly past his cheek, leaving behind a very thin bleeding laceration. Turning his head to the source, he saw Sakura with another kunai in hand, buffing her nails. The sweet smile she was directing his way causing him to involuntarily shiver and pale in fright. He didn't even realize when Sakura had taken out a kunai and threw it at him. Ibiki didn't need to ask again, as the Genin ran out of the room without a second thought, his teammates following at a more sedate pace. They didn't want to face off against an angry Sakura. Not with her monikers of Kyōdaina On'na and Shinku Megami.
"I didn't think Sakura's presence would in fact enhance Ibiki's mind games like that. Normally, Ibiki need to speak to unnerve the Genin. I feel bad for this crop." Kakashi commented causing Kurenai to frown.
"What do you mean Kakashi? Why do you feel bad for the Genin? What is so terrifying about Ibiki?"
"Oh right, you are a rookie, so you wouldn't know!" Asuma commented causing Gai to nod in agreement.
"Ibiki is known as the ultimate sadist. He is the head of T&I and a specialist in psychological torture. If I am not mistaken, Sakura has been subtly manipulating the atmosphere of the room through her killing intent and a minor genjutsu."
"Not quite Gai. Sakura-chan is also bending the water vapor into making the atmosphere in the room much more oppressive for the candidates, not to mention playing around with the blood flow of the candidates with blood bending." Naruto said as he put away the fūinjutsu scroll he was reading.
"Are you leaving already Naruto? There is still seven minutes left in the exam." Kakashi asked with surprise.
Naruto chuckled and said, "I need to make an entrance with Anko. If that irritates Ibiki and Sakura, all the better!"
Before anyone could comment, Naruto faded away into the ether. After a few moments, Kakashi finally spoke up, "I think we are about to witness Naruto and Anko fly across the village."
"Why does he have to annoy Sakura like that?" Kurenai asked with bewilderment.
"I think he just does that to keep their relationship casual, instead of the formal that protocol demands. You know how much Naruto hates protocols. He mustn't want to lose his oldest friend due to protocols, besides he was a prankster much longer than he was a Daimyō, so I don't think it strange that he would pull pranks from time to time."
"Not to mention, any dramatic entry Naruto-sama does will be over the top, especially with Anko joining in." Gai stated before horror over took everyone's faces at the possibilities those two could cook up. Truly, no one wanted Anko and Naruto plotting together.
"No one else?" Sakura asked with a lazy tone as she kept buffing her nails as she and Ibiki waited for any more Genin to pull out. Surprisingly, twenty-five teams were still there and none seemed interested in leaving.
Ibiki nodded at Sakura as they both stood up and said, "Congratulations! You all pass!"
Before anyone could comment, Sakura let out a blast of concentrated killing intent as she started to speak. "I am sure that many of you are confused with my associates words. To dumb it down, you all pass. The final question was a test of daring. If you wish to be Chunin, you must understand that retreat isn't an option. As a Chunin, you are expected to lead teams and take harder missions. Failure isn't an option. The purpose of this exam was to test Information Gathering skills. Those of you who remain showcased acceptable levels of skill. You were meant to cheat as the questions were far above standard Chunin level. Information is a very important factor on missions. You must not only gain it, but you must be certain that what you have gained is correct. False intel usually leads to death or capture. I would personally prefer death to capture. If you wouldn't mind Ibiki-san."
Ibiki nodded as he removed his bandana revealing gruesome scarring on his scalp. Screw holes, burns, carvings. The list went on, causing some of the Genin to feel queasy.
"Not nice, is it. Ibiki-san survived such torture and was able to keep the information secret until he was able to escape. I hope you all understand the importance of intel to both the mission and the village at large. With that said, congratulations for proving that you have what it takes to gather low to mid priority intel. Your next proctors will be here soon to lead you to the…"
Sakura didn't get to finish as two massive plumes of smoke filled the room before a gust of wind blew them away revealing Anko standing on the head of a large coiled brown cobra. Beside them were Naruto standing on the head of an ice blue toad with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu on his shoulders waving streamers around. A large banner was floating in the air, held taunt by invisible hands of wind.
The banner read:
The incredibly sexy and fortunately single Anko Mitarashi and the incredibly handsome and unfortunately taken Uzumaki Naruto!
With arrows pointing down from their respective names.
Before Anko or Naruto could speak, they felt a shiver run down their spines. Turning to Ibiki, Anko asked, "We interrupted her before she could finish her speech, didn't we?"
Ibiki grinned and nodded as he stated, "You both are early!"
"ANKO! NARUTO!" Sakura screamed out finally reaching her boiling point before an enraged pinkett drew water for the air and launched spinning disks of thin ice at the two.
The Summons quickly vacated the premises in puffs of smoke as Naruto and Anko used judicious blasts of fire to vaporize the deadly disks and jump back. While they fought against an enraged Sakura, both noticed the number of candidates left.
"Wow! You must be losing you touch Ibiki. I was sure that Sakura's presence would help cut down the number of candidates to about thirty." Naruto commented as he conjured a wall of vacuum that crushed the icicles Sakura aimed at him.
"I agree with Naruto-sama here Ibiki. Yikes!" Anko screamed as she ducked under a lava shuriken. "Where in hell did you get lava in a wooden classroom?"
"Seals. I always carry ten tons of rocks with me!" Sakura said with a malicious smirk as she unsealed a large boulder and manipulated it into lava before causing spikes of lava to fly at the Snake Mistress.
Anko was at her wits end. Ice, water, winds, rocks, lightning, fire… throw them at her and she will find a way to counter them. Lava, on the other hand was a completely different ball game! Anko gulped as she started generating lighting, hoping that a concentrated blast would be enough to blow away the super-heated rock, only for Naruto to appear in front of her and raise his hand. From his hand, a glowing seal formed in the air before a net of chakra flew out and engulfed the spikes and the ball of lava before contracting.
Everyone watched in awe as the net caused the lava to instantly solidify and then be absorbed by the seal which shrunk down and solidified into a small stone tablet. Sakura was about to continue when Naruto spoke up with a tone filled with authority, "That's enough Sakura. We both had our fun. Let's get back to the reason we are here!"
"Don't interrupt me during my speeches! Anyway, your next proctors are here to lead you to the site of your next exam. I am sure they need no introduction, now hop it!" Sakura said with an annoyed tone before she took deep breaths to calm down.
Naruto created a Kage Bunshin and told the remaining candidates to follow his clone causing all the Genin to rush after the clone, eager to leave the enraged pink haired medic's presence, even the Konoha Twelve didn't waste time. They knew how dangerous an enraged Sakura could become.
After all the Genin had left, Sakura, Anko, Ibiki and Naruto chuckled before Ibiki said, "That was funny. I didn't think that the impromptu spar would elicit such fear amongst the Genin. Only a few Genin remained calm."
"The Kusa Kunoichi, Gaara no Sabaku and Yakushi Kabuto, right?" Naruto asked getting a nod from Ibiki.
"The Kusa Kunoichi is Orochimaru. Anko, assign Gate 23 to the snake's team and Gate 34 to Kabuto's team. I will see how talented these idiots truly are."
"If I am not mistaken, you and Natsumi added those experimental seal based golems there right?" Sakura asked with a grin.
"Oh there are some scattered around the forest, but the ones there are the latest and strongest prototypes. I want to see how powerful they truly are."
"Can I hunt Orochimaru down after the Golem Test?" Anko whined causing the other three to chuckle as Naruto nodded giving his permission.
The Chunin Candidates were standing around in front of a walled off forest. Ominous sounds and the screeches of animals in pain could be heard emanating from beyond the walls, causing all of the gathered Chunin hopefuls to become nervous.
One Genin in particular was exceptionally nervous as she looked around with sweat dripping down her face. The Genin was none other than Uzumaki Karin and with her immense sensory ability, she could feel the monstrous beings hidden in the forest. Her nerves started unnerving her teammates as well. Suiren was playing around with a small pink cyan crystal ball with Haku fingering her senbon.
Naruto and Anko faded into existence on top of the wall with grins on their faces. Anko was the first to greet the Genin. "Welcome maggots to the second phase of the Chunin Exams. This phase is much easier than the last one. You all can use whatever you have in your arsenal to survive for five days in the Forest of Death."
Naruto picked up the speech, "The forest is filled with deadly creatures, traps and most of all, poisonous and man-eating flora."
"Be careful not to sit on the wrong tree, because that will be the last thing you do." Anko said with a cheerful grin. All the Genin became more unnerved at what the two were saying. Even those who knew Naruto were becoming a bit unnerved.
"Not the objective isn't only to survive for five days, that is a hundred and twenty hours. Each team will be given a map containing the location of either a heaven or earth scroll. You will have to travel to the location and gain access to at least a single copy of each scroll." Naruto stated as he held up a blue and a green scroll.
Anko's cheerful tone suddenly became foreboding, "Beware, for the scrolls have powerful guardians. You have to gain a pair of scrolls by whatever means possible, which includes stealing from a Team that already has it, tricking the guardian, defeating the guardian, or even convincing the guardian to give the scroll up."
"Killing is allowed, but frowned upon. After you have at least a single pair of scrolls, you will need to head to the tower in the center of the forest to pass. You will fail if you take a peek at the scrolls, you lose a teammate or you fail to reach the tower in time or without both scrolls." Naruto stated with a tone of authority.
"As Naruto-sama has explained, you must get both scrolls, get to the tower before five days are up and must have reached the tower without either peeking at the scrolls or losing a teammate. Now sign these consent forms so that Konoha is absolved from the responsibility of any death that occurring during the exams. Without a signed form, you will be disqualified. After you turn in your three forms, you will be assigned a gate number and given the aforementioned map. Enjoy the stint in my home away from home, and make sure to bleed a lot. Some of my dear plants need a lot of blood to grow!" Anko said with a psychotic glint in her eyes.
"Are you sure that we should head to this one?" A Genin asked his teammates. The boy had every distinguishing feature hidden by his battle clothes. Only his hitai-ate was visible which showed that he was from Kiri. Beside him, his two Kunoichi teammates nodded.
One was a beautiful teenager with long flowing black hair and deep brown eyes. Her hitai-ate was wrapped around her left bicep and a katana was strapped to her waist. The girl was wearing a navy shihakusho and hakama. Her teammate was much older, nearing eighteen, and was wearing a modified Kiri Anbu uniform with a cloth face mask hiding her face and her hitai-ate adjusted on her forehead so that only her pale green eyes could be seen.
"Stop complaining Toji. This one is the closest. We quickly gain our scrolls and hightail it to the tower. Isn't that right Tsuki?"
The girl in the modified Anbu uniform nodded in agreement as she said, "We can't waste time Toji. I am with Hitomi on this one."
Toji sighed and nodded as the team rushed to the location of their first scroll. As they reached the clearing, they saw a large stone lion with the scroll held in its mouth. Intricate seals were carved into the body of the lion. The three Kiri Genin approached the scroll with caution. They were looking around for the guardian, but until now, they could neither sense nor see anything.
As the three reached the lion statue, Toji nudged Hitomi and said, "You are the most experienced, you take it. We will keep watch!"
Hitomi grumbled and reached out with her right hand. No sooner than she touched the scroll, she jumped back in fear of activating a trap. After waiting for a few moments, when she saw that no traps were triggered and no guardian appeared, the girl got bolder and pulled the scroll free. The girl turned around with the scroll in her hand when her instincts screamed at her roll forwards.
Toji and Tsuki watched in horror as Hitomi was unable to completely dodge the blow from the assailant. They were awed and horrified to see the seals on the statue glowing with an eldritch red light as it came to life. They rushed forward and picked up their teammate and jumped back only for the lion to jump over them to land behind.
All three turned to the animated statue with horror and saw it breath out a massive wave of red flames. All three tried to jump back but they suddenly felt some kind of seal restraining their movement. As the flames washed over them, the last thing they saw was a pair of maliciously glowing red eyes.
As the flames died down, all three Kiri Genin were found unconscious with severe third degree burns. Surprisingly, the scroll was completely unharmed. The lion prowled forward and gently took the scroll in its mouth before returning to the center of the clearing and settling down into the form of a simple statue.
After a couple of minutes, a clone of Naruto appeared in the clearing, right beside the statue with a grin. Waling forward, Naruto placed his hands on the ground causing a sealing array to form around the trio of incapacitated Kiri Genin. A translucent dome formed around the Kiri Genin before they vanished from sight. Right afterwards, the Naruto clone popped out of existence.
Team 10 looked around in surprise. The scroll was sitting on a large pedestal in the middle of the clearing. Chōji was about to rush forward when Shikamaru stopped him.
"What's wrong Shika?" Chōji asked as he munched on his chips.
"Doesn't this feel too easy to you?"
Chōji looked surprised but nodded after a few moments. "You are right. Ino, do you think you can take the scroll from here?"
"I will certainly try." Ino stated as she focused on the scroll after a few moments the scroll slowly lifted up but Ino had to drop it when the screeching of a bird broke her concentration.
All three looked up to see a massive wooden bird diving towards them, its long pointed beak being covered in a thin film of sharpened air. All over the bird's body were an intricate network of seals, glowing with an azure hue. Shikamaru complained, "I knew this was too easy! Dumb troublesome blonde!"
Ino, Chōji and Shikamaru tried to move deeper into the forest when they hit a barrier. The barrier threw them back causing them to look shocked before jumping to the side as the bird easily pierced through the tree they were resting on.
"What the hell?" Ino screamed in shock
The bird pulled out its beak and opened it as Naruto's voice erupted from its mouth. "You have activated the challenge, defeat the guardian or be defeated. That is the only way!"
"Damned troublesome blonde! Ino, you are the only one who can fly. Handle the bird. We will see about giving you support, though don't expect much from me other than strategies and warning!" Shikamaru stated as he threw a kunai wrapped with an Uzumaki grade demolition tag at the bird. At the same time, Chōji started launching disks and spikes of rock at the bird in hopes of damaging it. Ino took to the air with her barely acceptable flight skills.
The kunai hit the bird in the face and exploded but to Team 10 shock and horror, a barrier formed around the explosion before it imploded into a tiny ball. The ball was then absorbed by the bird. The bird turned in flight towards Ino and opened its beak wide. From within its cavernous maw, a bright yellow pinpoint of light formed before a massive beam of destructive energy as it blasted towards the shocked Yamanaka Heiress.
Diving, Ino was barely able to dodge the beam of destructive energy. Turning towards the direction of the beams path, Ino saw that the beam had craved a path of destruction, igniting the tops of the trees for nearly fifty yards. Ino gulped before she unsealed a set of fifteen knives and manipulated them with hey psychokinesis ability.
As the Ino and the bird battled in the air, knives crashing into the bird or parrying spikes of wooden feathers the bird launched at Ino; Shikamaru and Chōji were caught in a predicament of their own. On the ground, many of the small wooden feathers had sprouted into hideous plants with writhing vines dripping in toxins.
"What the hell are those two doing to the Genin?" Kurenai asked in shock.
"I agree. These tests should be for Anbu Entrance Exams!" Kakashi exclaimed with his lone visible eye wide open in shock.
"Anbu Entrance Exams? Are you crazy Hatake. Potential Anbu would easily rip through these constructs. I helped test the prototypes after all." Zabuza said as he watched the screens with amusement.
"As expected from the former Kirigakure no Kijin." Gai commented but was interrupted by Dōmon.
"To be fair, they haven't realized that they don't really need to defeat the Guardian to get the scroll. Naruto-sama has put up multiple failsafe's."
"What do you mean Konjiki?" Asuma asked with confusion as Kakashi's eye widened further in realization as he chuckled. "What's so funny Kakashi?"
"Simple Asuma, I just found out the easiest way to defeat the guardian!"
After a few moments, when the rest of the Konoha Jōnin realized that Kakashi wasn't about to say anything, Kurenai asked, "Care to elaborate for us?"
"Just watch and you will see that Naruto hasn't lost his talent for pranks." Kakashi's eye was glowing with amusement.
"There must be an easier way!" Shikamaru said as he killed another killer plant when the pedestal caught his eye. Looking up, he saw that Ino was down to three knives as the rest had shattered for the repeated impact with stronger than steel wood. Ino was dodging swipes from the bird's razor sharp, wind enhanced talons. Looking toward Chōji, Shikamaru saw that his big boned friend was having quite the time destroying the plants. Small shard of rock floating around him as the sharp edges shredded the vines and plants like confetti. Then Shikamaru saw the barrier was glowing with a faint translucence.
"It can't be that simple, could it? Bah! This is Naruto we are talking about. He would leave a simple solution that no one would even think about."
"Shika!" Ino screamed as she crashed into the distracted Nara Heir, deep gashes on her right forearm.
Shikamaru and Ino quickly untangled their limbs from the sudden crash and looked up to see that the bird had launched a massive wave of feathers at them. Shikamaru's eyes widened in shock. There was no way either of them would be able to dodge that massive wave. The only way to survive would be to either block or redirect them. Unfortunately for them, none of them had any technique to do that. Only Chōji had the slightest chance, but as the feathers tended to transform into man-eating, toxic sludge spewing, tentacle monstrosities, even that was a pipe dream. There was too much of a chance that the feathers would sprout around the dome and slowly choke them to death while they struggled helplessly like a fly caught in a spider's web.
Chōji had just finished the last of the deadly plants and turned to see that Shikamaru and Ino was about to get impaled by the literal rain of death. He saw Shikamaru close his eyes in resignation. He saw Ino glare up at the wooded bird with defiance as the gashes on her right forearm gushed the crimson live giving fluid, staining the girl's clothes with dark splotches. Without a second thought, Chōji jumped in front of his friends as they were about to be impaled.
Ino saw Chōji take a defensive position in front of her and Shika, causing the girl to gasp in realization. Time seemed to slowdown as the wooden feathers came closer to end the life of her friend. The very thought of losing a friend broke something within the Yamanaka Heiress. Something that was holding back her true power. Before anyone knew what happened, Ino let out a massive, defiant scream as she seemed to teleport directly in front of the wave of wooden feather.
Ino raised her hands and pointed the palms to the approaching wave, all the while screaming. The screaming caused Shikamaru to open his eyes and watch in shock, along with Chōji, as a translucent ripple of power erupted from Ino and flew towards the wooden feathers. As the feathers struck the advancing ripple of power, they seemed to completely shatter into harmless dust. The bird was diving behind the wave of feathers, so was unable to dodge the ripple Ino had generated.
A barrier formed around the bird that fought the ripple for a moment before it shattered. Shikamaru and Chōji thought that the bird was done for, when the ripple suddenly disappeared. At the same time, Ino stopped screaming, her eyes rolling up into her head, as she collapsed from the strain for generating the ripple of telekinetic force.
Shikamaru nodded towards Chōji causing the Akimichi Heir to rush forward and picked up Ino before rushing towards the edge of the clearing. Shikamaru looked up and saw that the bird was heavily damaged and was thrown back from the destructive force. Taking the opportunity, he rushed towards the pedestal and picked up the scroll before running towards where Chōji was tending to Ino wounds.
An angry screech causing Shikamaru to roll forward as the bird's talons swiped through the place his head previously occupied. Without even thinking, Shikamaru tried and took control of the water in the wooden bird before bending it, causing the bird to crash into the ground. Not wasting time, the Nara Heir ran towards Chōji, who was carrying Ino in his arms. Without even speaking, Shikamaru ran towards the barrier with a confused Chōji behind him.
"Shika, what about the bird? We can't leave until we have defeated it, remember?" Chōji asked with confusion as they reached the barrier.
Shikamaru didn't answer as he raised the scroll and placed it on the barrier causing it to flash before fading from existence. Chōji make a great impersonation of a fish at the event before turning to the bird to see it fly up and merge with a large tree.
Seeing Chōji's dumfounded expression, Shikamaru explained, "We misunderstood. Defeat doesn't necessarily mean beaten. The bird was the Guardian of the Scroll. If we are able to take it out of the barrier, then we have defeated it, buy making it fail its purpose. It was so simple, yet I didn't see it until it was too late and Ino had to suffer the consequences."
Chōji nodded in understanding as he placed Ino on the ground and took out an antiseptic ointment and bandages from his tools pouch and proceeded to attend the gashes on Ino right forearm. As he bandaged Ino's arm, Chōji said, "Don't beat yourself up Shika. At least we made it out alive."
Shikamaru didn't answer, but nodded just the same as he then focused his attention to the grass at his feet. Thinking back to what happed with the bird, Shikamaru frowned before he tried to bend the water in the grass. To his surprise, he saw the blades move in the direction he directed them. Getting bolder, Shikamaru tried to draw the water out of the plants and to his surprise, the grass quickly dried up, getting brown before crumbling away as water was extracted from them. Above the suddenly bare patch of earth, a ball of pure water floated causing Shikamaru to smirk in satisfaction before he let the water splash onto the bare earth.
"Shouldn't we be searching for Uchiha Sasuke?"
"Kukuku… soon Taji-kun. We just need to get a couple of scrolls. I plan on using that to tempt Team 7." The woman said with a creepy smile causing her teammate to nod in understanding, but if one concentrated, they would see that the man was afraid.
"Mam, the scroll is being guarded by a snake summons!" Her other teammate said as they reached the clearing holding the scroll. The scroll was blue in color, placed atop a marble pedestal. The pedestal was carved with glowing seals. From the design, the woman concluded that it was made by Uzumaki Seal Masters. She wasn't looking forward to breaking them. Finally, the pedestal was being guarded by a large black snake with yellow stripes.
"Come out Orochimaru. I know you are there!" The snake hissed out as it raised its head to look at the trio of shinobi.
"Arata-kun. How are you doing?" The woman greeted with a smile as she and her teammates jumped down into the clearing.
"Sssilence traitor! By decree of Hakujā-sssama, you are to be executed!" Orochimaru was easily able to dodge the quick as lightning strike from Arata, but his two teammates weren't as lucky. One of them was swallowed alive by Arata while the other was scratched by one of the venomous fangs.
Orochimaru clicked his tongue in annoyance as he saw his other teammate succumb to the neuro toxin Arata was famous for. Even with the amount of bodily modifications he had done and his high resistance to poisons and toxins of all kinds, Orochimaru knew that Arata's venom would probably not kill him, but put him out of commission, leaving him vulnerable.
"Where issss your courage traitor? Or are you preparing to run with your tail tucked between your legssss like the cur you are?" Arata hissed out with an amused glint in his yellow eyes.
Orochimaru glared at the snake before he regurgitated an ornate sword. Taking a kendo stance, Orochimaru was preparing to attack when he felt vibrations below his feet. Without conscious thought, the snake of a man rolled to the side just as a mud beast erupted from the dirt. It looked like a large snake like creature. Its whole body was carved with glowing seals, while a large glowing red crystal was embedded on its forehead.
Arata chuckled and hissed out, "Have fun with the mud golem Naruto-ssssama and hissss clanssssmen created. You are ssssome of the firsssst to ssssee the first line of defenssssse for Uzu againsssst invaders!"
Orochimaru didn't have time to comment as he had to dodge a strike from mud golem, but not before carving a large mass of mud out of the beast's neck. Orochimaru looked up to see the creature easily regenerate the damage by absorbing more earth from the ground.
The golem opened its mouth and from the gaping maw, Naruto's voice emanated. "Hey Orochi-teme! How is the Class III Adaptoid Golem performing? I hope to your dissatisfaction. Have fun, and make sure to keep an eye out. Don't know what can happen. It is a prototype after all. Prototypes tend to go awry after all!"
Sweat started forming on Orochimaru's forehead. This situation had become more dangerous than he realized. Not only was Arata here, now he had the attention of Uzumaki Naruto as well. He needed to get out of here as soon as he could, or his death would be imminent. Orochimaru made some hand seals and placed his hands in front of his mouth as he breathed out a massive plume of fire that took the form of a dragon.
The Golem didn't even flinch as the intense flames washed over its semi liquid body, hardening the dark mud to reddish brown burnt clay. Orochimaru smirked at finally causing damage to the Golem, and from the sound of shattering burnt clay and the cracks all over the body of the creature, it seemed that he had found a way to finally combat the creature.
Orochimaru started channeling chakra into his sword when his instincts told him of an approaching attack from the back. Without hesitation, Orochimaru rolled to the right, while twisting and slashing at the attacker. To his surprise, it was a smaller mud golem in the shape and size of a large wolf. On its forehead was a shard of glowing red crystal.
Orochimaru watched in shock and awe as the wolf was bisected in half, but quickly regenerated itself by absorbing more mud from the ground. Orochimaru cursed at the predicament as he dodged a pounce from the Wolf only to be sent into a tree from a tail strike from Arata.
Coughing up blood, Orochimaru glared up at the snake only to use a kawarimi to dodge an attack from the main golem. As soon as Orochimaru reappeared on the tree top, he decided that retreat was a better part of valour and turned to leave.
Right before he left, he looked over his shoulder to see a very strange sight. The snake golem dropped multiple globs of mud onto the ground while itself transformed into a massive wolf. The globs of mud bubbled for a few moments before they transformed into smaller wolves. The strange thing was that each and every one of them had glowing red crystal shards embedded into its head.
"Run all you want Traitor, but the Golem and itsss pack will hunt you down like the ssssniveling rat you are!" Arata hissed as he settled back down to guard the scroll.
Japanese Translations
Kyōdaina On'na = Woman of Giant Strength
Shinku Megami = Crimson Goddess
Kirigakure no Kijin = Demon of the Hidden Mist
Japanese Jutsu, Style and Weapon Name Translations
N/A
A/N: I hope you all liked this chapter. I am sure that most thought that I would have only focused on Naruto's side, but as you can see, you will be seeing the development of the other characters. I am sure that many would agree with the Konoha Jonin about the golems, but as I have shown, there are other ways to defeat them other than sheer brute strength. As for Orochimaru and his escape, do you really think the Golem Pack will be the only obstacle the snake will have to face?
SSG.
