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 24 – Chunin Exams Part II

"I still think you are taking too much of a chance letting him run about like that Naruto-kun." Hiruzen stated as he took a long puff on his pipe.

"Don't worry too much Jiji. I can easily teleport to him when needed. Besides, Anko called dibs on him. Don't you think that Master and Apprentice deserves a long awaited reunion without third party interference?" Naruto stated with a chuckle.

Naruto, Hiruzen and Hideyoshi were sitting in the council chambers with the rest of the Konoha Shinobi Council and Elders. Along with them were the surprising addition of Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki along with Roshi and Han. In the centre of the room was the crystal ball that was the focus of Hiruzen's Tōmegane no Jutsu. Underneath the ball was a sealing array that was generating an illusion in the centre of room. An illusion that displayed the images shown in the crystal ball.

"I agree with the old monkey brat. Orochimaru shouldn't be underestimated!" Ōnoki said as he watched the treacherous Sannin dodge another swipe from the main mud golem only for a smaller wolf to crunch down on his arm.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, one of my clones is keeping a very close eye on the idiot. How about we view someone else. Any preference?"

"Turn to my granddaughter. I want to see what that hot-headed girl is doing. With the amount of deception, you have hidden in how to get the scrolls, I fear that she will bite off more than she can chew."

"As you wish Tsuchikage-dono."


Kurotsuchi, Suzumebachi and Akastuchi were carefully moving about in the trees surrounding the clearing. In the clearing was their objective. Good news, both scrolls were present. Bad news, they were guarded by Uzumaki Naruto himself. Kurotsuchi shivered in fright as she remembered how powerful Naruto truly was, even a single clone was dangerous.

"I think we should retreat and try our luck someplace else Kurotsuchi." Suzumebachi said with a nervous tilt in her voice.

"I agree with Suzumebachi. We shouldn't tangle with him."

"I would agree but with you two, but he already knows that we are here. While he may allow us to retreat, I doubt that it will make a good impression on him, especially with my grandfather trying to arrange a marriage with him. I doubt a coward will be accepted."

"It isn't cowardice to retreat and regroup when you know that you are outmatched." All three stumbled and nearly fell off their perches. As one, the three Iwa Ninja turned and to their horror saw Naruto standing there with a smile on his face.

"Good to see you again Kurotsuchi. I hope you have fun in the exams. I expect great thing from you, just like I expect great things from Konohamaru."

"Uzumaki-sama!" Kurotsuchi stated with a nervous jitter. "Are you sure that you should move away from the scrolls?"

Suzumebachi and Akatsuchi looked alarmed Kurotsuchi's question. They were very afraid that she had offended Naruto and they would now suffer the consequences. To their shock, instead of being offended, Naruto chuckled as he said, "Who says that the scrolls aren't protected? Do you really think that a simple clone would be the only defence?"

"I didn't mean to offend you, but may we leave. We have decided not to try our hands in getting these scrolls."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow in interest as he asked, "Why would I do that? As soon as you passed the perimeter barrier, the challenge had started. Luckily for you, the challenge isn't a physical one."

"What do you mean Uzumaki-sama?" Suzumebachi asked with fear. If the challenge wasn't a fight, then what could it be?

"Simple, there are traps surrounding pedestal. Seal based traps that are out of a common Jōnin's capabilities to undo. I will give you a puzzle. The answer to the puzzle will be the method to deactivate the seals or bypass them. There will be five puzzles of increasing difficulty. Do you understand?"

The three Iwa ninja gave apprehensive nods causing Naruto to smile and say, "That's the spirit. Sometimes, it is impossible to retreat. You will have limited resources and most of all, be exhausted. This challenge is to see if you have the cleverness to survive in such situations. The first puzzle…"


"That's not something I expected Naruto. Why puzzles?"

"Simple Jiji, very few would be able to go toe-to-toe with a clone containing only five percent of my skills. So to be fair, I decided to test their minds. After all, those who can survive impossible odds with minimum resources deserve to be Chunin."

Hiruzen chuckled and said, "Your expectations for Chunin ninja remind me of the stories my father told of the Warring Clan Period. I fear that the vaunted S-Rank Shinobi will become a common fixture in the future, especially with your expectations."

Naruto nodded while the rest kept their eyes focused on the illusion showing the Iwa Team.


"The first puzzle… To touch the earth, one must beware of the waters. While the waters and earth coexist, both still try and subjugate each other. Find the balance between the two and the path will open."

"That makes no sense!" Suzumebachi complained with Kurotsuchi nodding in agreement. Akatsuchi remained stoic as he though through the puzzle.

"I make complete sense. I have even given you the hint as to what the seal does. How to deactivate or bypass it is also in the puzzle. Think and the answer will come." Naruto stated as he walked towards the pedestal.

The Iwa team watched as he passed through translucent barriers. Kurotsuchi and Suzumebachi were annoyed at the ease Naruto had passing though the barriers, but Akatsuchi noticed something interesting. As Naruto walked through the first barrier, the ground started trembling as it got wet.

After pondering for a few moments Akastuchi grinned as he moved to the edge of the barrier with a confident grin.

"I have solved the puzzle. The balance is in the yin and yang components in our chakra. We need to mix four-part yin and one-part yang and then apply the water walking concept to pass!" Akatsuchi stated as he made the ram seal and focused his chakra. After focusing, he passed the barrier and walked over the ground without triggering whatever trap Naruto had set up.

"Impressive, Akatsuchi was it?" Akatsuchi nodded as Naruto smile and said, "I didn't expect you to pick it up so fast. So ladies, are you going to just stand there or join your comrade for the next puzzle?"

Kurotsuchi and Suzumebachi shared a look before cautiously approaching the barrier. Focusing their chakra, they balanced the yin and yang components to the ratio Akatsuchi stated before walking over the trembling ground.

"Now that you lot have passed the first puzzle, let me show you what would have happened if you didn't bypass it." Naruto stated with a grin as he created a Kage Bunshin and had it walk out to the first trap. At first nothing happened but then, before they could even blink, the ground gave away as a large serpent made of water rose and tore the clone to pieces, dispelling it.

"What the hell was that?" Suzumebachi exclaimed in horror as the serpent merged back with the ground as the hole was filled in with new dirt.

"One of the six guardians. The golems are created with the use of fūinjutsu and senjutsu. That's all you need to know. Now the next puzzle…"


The three kunoichi from Uzu were cautiously watching the pair of metallic human statues for any signs of movement. Of all the things they could have faced, they were just unlucky to face the twin golems, as Zabuza called them. Their bodies were crafted from a metallic alloy and infused with seals to animate them. The seals even gave them limited sentience to the point of imitating humans. The twins were named Agni and Rudra. The two names were taken from mythology from before the Rikudō Sennin introduced ninshu. They were the names of gods that jointly governed over fire and lightning. One holding the more peaceful domains while the other holding the destructive side of the fire and lightning.

"This isn't good. Why the hell are those two here?" Karin asked with wide eyes.

"This is Naruto-sama we are talking about. I doubt we need to defeat them, especially since both are immune to fire and lightning. Face it, we have no chance of defeating them." Suiren stated with a frown. "My crystals will harmlessly shatter on their metallic bodies, same with Haku's ice. Maybe, Karin and I could hold them down for a short time so that Haku can take the scroll, but I doubt it would be that simple."

"Maybe, maybe not. I think I can use the Kongō Fūsa to hold them back with some help from you Suiren. Haku, you will need to use your limited knowledge on seals to get the scrolls. From the shiki, I will hazard a guess that it is some kind of blood seal. You will need to smear blood in the right sequence on the points to disable the barrier. Then you can take the scroll." Karin said as she carefully observed the seals carved into the pedestal with a pair of binoculars that Suiren created with her Shōton.

"Can you guess the pattern Karin?"

"Not from here. I can't read all the symbols from here. You will have to figure it out. We will keep the twin guardians distracted."

Suiren nodded before grinning as she created a simple hexagonal crystal. Using her control over the crystal, she carved an Uzumaki grade demolitions seal onto the surface of the crystal before letting a drop of blood fall in the centre of the solid shuriken like construct. "Let's get the party started, what do you say?"

"Suiren, WAIT!" Haku screamed only for the blue haired girl to grin and throw the seal bearing crystal shuriken towards Agni and Rudra.

The sound of the shuriken cutting through the air drew both metallic golems attention. Seeing the crystal flying towards them, glowing with an ever brightening inner light, they jumped away just as the shuriken struck the ground and exploded.

Both guardians looked about trying to get a glimpse of their attacker when they sensed and attack from below. Jumping back, they saw two golden chains of chakra erupt from the ground. Growling, both started channelling the nature chakra flowing through their artificial bodies as fire and lightning erupted around their respective blades.

"Come out and face us you cowards! Defeat us and we shall allow you access to the scroll we guard!" Rudra exclaimed with a metallic screech.

"As if," Karin said with a chuckle as her voice floated around the clearing. "We aren't going to fall for that. There is no way to physically defeating you to for a team of mere Genin."

"Hmm… it seems that we have intelligent opponents brother. They are wise enough to know their limits. They pass our test, do they not?" Agni said as he extinguished his sword and sheathed it at his waist. Rudra followed his example, as the sword in his hands stopped sparking with lightning before the metallic golem slid the sword into its holster in the back.

"That they do!" Rudra stated before calling out, "Genin, you have passed our challenge. You may attempt to break the protection seal on the pedestal, but be warned, only one chance per team. Only one member may approach the pedestal. If you fail, we will forcefully remove you from the exams."

"Who shall be your candidate? You may choose not to take the final challenge and retreat. Doing so will keep you in the exams but will make you ineligible for a second attempt at these scrolls."

Suiren, Haku and Karin cautiously approached the twin golems before sharing a look. After a few moments, Karin walked forward with a confident gait as she said, "I shall take a crack at the seal!"

"Very well. You will have one minute. If you aren't able to disable the seal within that time limit, you will fail!" Agni stated causing Karin, Haku and Suiren to pale in response. This just kept getting better and better. One minute was too little time, even for Karin.

"Ah… can we still back out?" Karin asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Unfortunately no. If you try, we shall forcefully retire you from the exams!" Rudra said with a suddenly menacing tone. Karin gulped as she nodded to herself and approached the pedestal.


"Interesting challenge Naruto-sama. Do you believe that Karin-san will be able to break the seal within a minute?" Hiashi asked with interest. He was quite intrigued by the amount of intricate sealing done to prepare for this year's exam.

"Let us see. I have great expectations of her, but Karin is still not up to Uzumaki standards for her age, though I didn't expect the twins to impose a time limit of only a minute. They must have done that since they could sense that Karin is an Uzumaki. For others, the time limit is supposed to be five minutes."

"So a bit out of plan?" Shikaku asked with concern. Sentient golems who are able to override commands given to them is a bit unsettling of the man.

"A bit, but I did allow them a bit of leeway in their orders. Quite clever to use the small loop hole I accidentally left." Naruto mused with a grin.

"What were the orders you gave Naruto-kun?" Hideyoshi asked with interest.

"They were to test the bravery and wisdom of the teams. If the team in question passed the initial test, they would allow a single member, a single chance to break the seal with a limited time of up to five minutes, at the golems discretion. The time limit was to be set by the performance of said team. Team Uzu's performance was flawless in the first test, so they should have been given five minutes, but as I said the loop hole is quite simple…"

"Up to five minutes at their discretion. I can see how they manipulated the loop hole. You should be much more careful when ordering these two golems in the future Naruto-sama. Make sure to plug in all loop holes they could utilize." Shikaku stated causing Naruto to nod as he watched with interest as Karin bit thumb and started rubbing blood on the points in a sequence.

After she finished rubbing blood on the final point, she brought her hands into the ram seal and focused her chakra, causing the blood smears to glow. Everyone anxiously waited for the outcome. After a few moments, everyone believed that the girl had failed, when a small dome appeared atop the pedestal before shattering into motes of green chakra.


"Interesting, I didn't expect you to be able to break the seal so easily. You truly are a credit to your clan Karin-sama. It would be our pleasure to protect you and the rest of Uzu in the future. Please, take the scrolls and leave. Head north from here, you will come to a small river. Follow the river upstream and you will reach the tower. I would advise that you make haste. There will be others prowling for easy scrolls, not to mention the time bases sealing traps." Agni stated with an ominous tone before he and Rudra glowed, showing seals all over their bodies. After a few moments, they vanished in flashes of light, leaving behind two metallic and crystal cores with seals carved into them, the size of large grapefruits.

"I was really nervous there in the end Karin. I though you wouldn't make it in time." Suiren said with wide eyes as a cold sweat dripped down her and her teammates faces.

"For a moment, so did I Suiren. Let's head to the tower now. I don't want to waste time and get ambushed by who knows what!"

"I agree with Karin, and Karin, good job. Alright girls, let's move out!" Haku said as the three turned north and disappeared, leaving behind a blurring trail of their hair colours.


"Something isn't right with this situation!" Sasuke commented as he and his two teammates looked down from a tall tree. They were in an area of the Forest of Death which was sparsely populated with the huge trees. By no means was it a clearing, just the concentration of trees was much lower than expected. The area was giving off a serene presence but that presence was what alerted Sasuke to the strangeness of the situation.

Team 7 had just arrived here after gaining their first scroll, a heaven scroll, by completely destroying the wooden golem guardian with Konohamaru's Combustion Bending and Sasuke's Fire Bending while Sai conjured up a monkey made of ink to fetch the scroll. Quite easy for the trio, if they may say so themselves, but now, all three were on alert. Something just didn't feel right.

The scroll was placed on a wooden platform that jutted out halfway up one of the large trees. That itself caused them to freeze. All three knew of the famed Mokuton and that there were only two users present in Konoha at the moment. If the scroll had either of them as a guardian, then the whole exam got far more interesting… not to mention harder. The second thing that alerted them to the unnaturalness of the situation was that the sound of creatures was completely absent. That was a big indicator of something unnatural. Finally, there were the glowing seals strategically placed all around the tree with the scroll, spreading out to nearly half a kilometre. If this didn't spell trap, nothing did.

After a few minutes of silent contemplation, Sasuke turned to Sai and said, "Send a few ink mice towards the tree. Try to trigger as many of the seal based tarps as possible Sai. We need to remove as many of them as we can before we approach."

"I don't think the mice will activate the traps, but I will do as you request Uchiha. Something about this situation has me… all of us on edge, so be ready to retreat at a moment's notice." The pale boy said as he used his water bending skills to manipulate some of the ink stored in his gourd into the form of multiple mice before using ninjutsu to bring them to life.

The mice climbed down form the tree branch the members of Team 7 were perched on and quickly scurried towards the scroll. The first few seals didn't even register them pass. Sai mentally commanded the mice to try and forcefully activate the seals only to fail. Seeing that the mice were unharmed, Sai had them creep forwards until they were nearly at the base of the scroll tree when one of the traps activated. Before the tree Genin could even blink, a pin point sized rotating black ball came to existence for less than a second before disappearing.

The Genin gaped at the amount of damage the seal trap did. Those precious few milliseconds were all the trap needed to shred the mice and most of the surrounding area into dust. From what the three could deduce, the ball attracted anything and everything in range while tearing anything caught within close proximity to shreds. If that was a human, the only thing anyone would find would be shredded slices of flesh.

"Why don't we just retreat and try at another place? I don't know about you, but I would love to keep my limbs attached." Konohamaru stated with a nervous tilt to his voice. Sasuke and Sai silently nodded in agreement and turned to leave when a massive wave of wind caught them off guard, blowing them into the closest tree before roughly falling onto the ground.

Groaning in pain, the three Genin stood up to see a Kusa Kunoichi standing where they previously occupied, looking down at them with a baleful glare. "Sasuke-kun, it is so nice to meet you at last. I am sorry to say, that I don't have much time to play with you as I had wished, so please accept my gift and be done with it!"

With that said, the woman unleashed a massive quantity of killing intent that should have immobilized what she considered mere Genin as her neck extended towards Sasuke, with her mouth wide open, fang like teeth ready to bite down.

Before the head and neck extend more than a couple of feet, spikes of wood flew out of the branch in an attempt to skewer the Kusa Kunoichi. The Kunoichi jumped back to dodge the spikes only to be kicked in the back by a burning leg, throwing her away for the Genin and crashing into the ground triggering one of the seals embedded in the soil. Before the woman could even realize what happened, a blast of intense lightning erupted around her feet causing her to scream in pain.

"Gaki's take the scroll and get out of here. Head to the Tower, don't wait around. Tora and I will handle the snake."

"We can help!" Konohamaru exclaimed only for Sasuke to smack the boy behind the head and comment with a sneer, "Don't even think about it Konohamaru. If Anbu and Jōnin are handling this one, we have no need to become a burden to them. Besides we have an exam to finish. Sai, you got the scroll?"

"Let's go, the quicker we get away for here, the better!"

Clapping sound filled the area drawing everyone's attention, though Anko and Tora kept an eye on the Kusa Kunoichi, still on the ground suffering from muscle spasms. The Kusa Kunoichi looked up with great difficulty and glared at the source.

"Shisho?" Konohamaru asked with confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"I am just a Blood Clone Konohamaru. Now get going. Orochimaru's main target is Sasuke and his Sharingan, so it is better that he reaches a heavily protected area before too long. As of you Orochimaru, you must be the greatest fool in known history. Did you forget that no one can fool my sensory perception? Sneaking into Konoha is the last mistake you will ever do!" Naruto said with a sneer before nodding to Anko as Team 7 quickly vacated the area, just as Orochimaru stood up, muscles still twitching from the intense electrical shock.

Anko gained a malicious smirk as she cooed out, "You know sensei, I think this look fits you. I believe that it is fitting that you die a worthless woman, like you claimed I was. Now scream bitch!"

Orochimaru tried to activate the cursed seal on Anko only to be shocked when it didn't respond. Her eyes widened even further when lightning erupted from Anko's fingertips and struck the place she previously occupied. It was a good thing she was able to jump back or form the scorch marks she witnessed the lightning left, she would be nothing more than a screaming pile of flesh.

"It seems that Naruto has taught you how to use this vaunted Ninshu as well, has he Anko? It won't do you any good. I will win in the end. After all, you never learned everything you could under me. You shouldn't have gone against me Anko, you could have been great!"

"Cut the small talk teme! I will rip out you heart and drink the blood dripping out of the shrivelled up piece of flesh!" Anko screamed in anger as she charged forward swinging her fists releasing blast of concentrated fire at the Snake Sannin.

To Orochimaru's credit, she was still able to dodge most of the blast with the agility of a snake as she returned fire with shuriken and kunai. Anko didn't even blink as she brushed the projectile weapons away with swipes of her palms, as she manipulated the very air to do her bidding.

Jumping, Anko used a burst of concentrated flames to launch higher into the air before crashing down on top of Orochimaru with her heels enshrouded in crimson flames. An explosion occurred throwing the master and apprentice duo back. Anko easily corrected her flight and landed on the balls of her feet, but Orochimaru was thrown back into another tree which activated another seal causing Orochimaru to be caught in a hexagonal barrier.

"Oh… looks like the mouse trap caught a snake instead. I really love that one." Naruto said with a grin prompting Tora to ask, "What does it do Naruto-sama?"

Naruto didn't answer Tora, instead he shouted out, "Oi Anko, do you know that I can have the box change size?"

"No, but what does that matter. With enough force, sensei should be able to break the barrier."

"Not quite. Touching the barrier will electrocute the snake, so you get my drift?"

Anko gained a sick grin as she nodded before saying, "Still for the benefit of our guest, you should explain Naruto-sama."

"Quite right. Listen well Orochimaru, the barrier absorbs any excess chakra it comes in contact with and then channels it back into the captive as an intense jolt of electricity. Besides it would need a chakra force of a high A-Rank jutsu for cracks to form. Can you guess what will happen if you do try to escape?"

Orochimaru glared at Naruto as he cursed the blonde haired Daimyō in his head right before he paled. Surrounding his position were the mud wolves with the crystal fragments on their foreheads and on his left was the larger wold with the glowing crystal orb on its forehead.

"Any last words Sensei? I will be sure to not remember them." Anko teased with a dark grin before the barrier collapsed upon itself. The last thing Orochimaru remembered before falling unconscious was an intense white light as insurmountable pain overcame all her physical senses.


Snake like amber eyes opened to a sight they were intimately familiar with. The woman was surprised to see that he was inside one of the cells that she once used to hold her failed experiments for observation. From what she could deduce, it was the very same base that her former sensei had raided with Anbu and drove her from her home and research.

A red light shined for a moment as she heard the sound of someone puffing on a smoking pipe. The darkness beyond the cell hid everything from even her enhanced sight, but the little red light drew her attention. Focusing, she managed to make out the form of an old man sitting on a chair with a careless presence. The woman smirked as she greeted the mysterious figure, "Sensei, so nice to see you again. I didn't expect to meet you for another month!"

"And I had hoped that you would have wizened up and stopped with your futile quest Orochimaru. Whose body are you inhabiting?"

"A Kunoichi who used to serve me. I saved her from some lecherous Nukenin. For that, she decided to serve me in any capacity she could. She even offered me her body in gratitude. Unfortunately, she didn't realize that I saw the offer a little differently from her. Though I must say, she wasn't too displeased when she learned that I would be taking over her body. You may say, she was even overjoyed to be of service."

"A young life extinguished due to your quest for immortality. She must have been very competent for you to speak so fondly of her."

"That she was Sensei, though I doubt that you came here to ask how I have been?" Orochimaru said with a smirk as Hiruzen stood up and approached the bars of the cell, putting his face into sharp relief from the shadowy light. The stern countenance cause Orochimaru to flinch. She hadn't seen such disappointment in her former sensei's face since he was a Genin.

"It pains me to say this Orochimaru, but you are going to be executed in a month, during the finals of the Chunin Exams. You will be used to set an example for all Shinobi and Kunoichi of Konoha. They shall know what will happen should they turn on us."

"Kukuku… So tyrannical of you, sensei. I didn't expect that of you, especially since you never liked using excessive force. What changed?"

"Oh, it wasn't I who ordered your execution. It was Naruto. After all, I am only keeping the seat warm until the Chunin exams end. After that, Naruto will be officially taking over as the Godaime Hokage. It is quite interesting isn't it that the son would succeed the father. I find it quite poetic. Good bye Orochimaru, don't expect Tsunade ore Jiraiya to come meet you. Even I didn't wish to see you, but I decided that it was my duty as your sensei to give you a final lesson. Actions always have consequences my wayward student, now you must reap what you have sown for so long. Good bye, for I doubt you will be able to escape. After all it may have once been your base, but Naruto has turned it into a fortress designed for a singular purpose… and that is to hold you."

Orochimaru watched as Hiruzen moved back and vanished into the gloomy darkness that engulfed the area beyond the cell block. As Hiruzen left, Orochimaru grinned as he saw that Hiruzen and Naruto were overconfident. The seals added to the door would be quite easy to break, now she just had to wait until the right time to escape.


The ten teams that made it through the Second Phase of the Chunin Exams were arrayed in the centre of an arena built in the tower. The arena was surrounded by a high cat walk with the Hokage and his guests sitting in a box carved into the very structure of the tower. The teams that managed to pass the phase were none other than the illustrious Teams 7, 8, 9 and 10 from Konoha joined by Team Kabuto. The full Kunoichi team from Uzu were also a contender. Gaara and his siblings were the team from Suna, while Team Kirabi represented Kumo. Kurotsuchi and her teammates also made the cut with a surprising presence of the Oto Team.

The Tsuchikage and surprisingly the Mizukage were sitting on either side of the Hokage. Teams 7 and 9 were surprised at the presence of Terumi Mei, the Godaime Mizukage. Naruto was leaning on the statue of the two hands making the ram seal eating from an instant ramen cup.

Hiruzen stood up and started speaking, "The Chunin Exams are a sacred ritual. It was instated to promote international cooperation and deter war between the nations. To be exact, the Chunin Exams are the substitute for war."

Some of the gathered Genin were about to protest when a heavy presence fell on fell on their shoulders sending shivers down their backs. Casting a wary glance at Naruto, they kept their peace and allowed Hiruzen to continue. "Luckily, that is the obsolete definition. As of this iteration, the Chunin Exams are an institution to promote understanding and eventual friendship between the participating nations, or to strengthening the existing friendship between allied nations. That doesn't mean that you lot are free to be lazy. You are here to both foster understanding and friendship, but also represent the relative strength of your countries."

"Ahem…" Naruto interrupted causing Hiruzen to nod and say, "Now I will turn over the explanation to Naruto-kun. Naruto-kun, if you will!"

"Thank you Hiruzen-dono and I welcome you to the Konoha Ōnoki-dono, Mei-dono. Please enjoy your stay. Now Genin, pay attention, there are too many of you at present. Normally only eight Genin are allowed into the finals. This time, upto sixteen will be allowed. The finals are normally hosted as a single day event, but this one will be a three-day event. The first day will be used to select the quarter finalists. The second day is for the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. The finals will be hosted on the final day with a preceding exhibition match between me and the legendary Kumo duo of the Raikage Ē and his brother, the Hachibi Jinchūriki, Kirabi."

Mei and Ōnoki looked startled at the news, but decided to not comment as Naruto continued, "I am sure that you have all deduced that the third and final phase will be a tournament style elimination battle. Now I am sure that a single question is running through your heads. The answer to it is no. Your performance in the fights will be separately evaluated by a team of impartial judges before recommendations will be sent to your respective Kage. None of you may be recommended or all of you may, there is no fixed number of recommendations. The final say lies with your respective Kage."

Seeing the confused look on Kiba's face, Naruto sighed before stating, "Simply, the longer you stay in the tournament, the more time you will get to impress the judges and the greater chance you will have to be promoted. Also, we shall be holding a preliminary to cut your numbers in half. With thirty Genin here, only fifteen will be allowed, so get ready for your matches. Each match type and contestants will be randomly selected. Your match type and your names will be displayed in the large screen. I shall be the proctor for the finals and the preliminaries. Rules are simple. To win, you must defeat your opponent, or opponent, or when I declare someone the winner. Wilful killing, while allowed, is highly frowned upon and will be a black mark against your promotion. My decision is final. Contest it, and I will make sure that your ninja license is revoked and chakra system sealed away with an Uzumaki Prisoner Seal!"

"WHAT? TSUCHIKAGE-SAMA WILL NEVER AGREE WITH THAT!" The sudden presence focused on her caused the girl to gulp in fear before the killing intent hit her. Turning to the source, she saw that Ōnoki was glaring at her.

"Suzumebachi! I will agree with Uzumaki-sama's decision as I know him to be fair. His honour is impeccable. Do not bring into question the decisions of your superiors!"

"Kamizuru, that is a mark against you. If you get into the finals, be sure that you will have to work twice as hard to impress the judges as none of them will be pleased with your outburst. After all, none of them reached their positions due to favour from their Kage!" Naruto said with a chuckle causing the Jōnin and the Kage to chuckle with Naruto.

"Huh?" Suzumebachi asked with confusion before her eyes widened in realization as she looked up at the Kage getting a nod for Ōnoki, a smile from Hiruzen and a wink from Mei.

"Anyways… Anko activate the selection process. Let us see who shall become our first participants and they type of match they will be in." Naruto said before motioning for the Genin to head to the catwalk. As the Genin walked up to the catwalk, Kurotsuchi jabbed Suzumebachi in the ribs and hissed out, "Are you crazy? Are you trying to get Uzumaki-sama mad at Iwa? Don't you remember what I said of his prowess? Do you really want to make my life hell?"

"Sorry, but I got caught in the moment. I promise to apologize to him as soon as I can!"

"Just hope that you haven't already destroyed any possibility of me having a good marriage with him. Now let's keep the temper under control shall we. If I can, so can you, cousin!" Suzumebachi nodded as she leaned on the railing with Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi while their Sensei, Roshi, standing behind them.

All around the catwalks teams and their sensei were arrayed waiting for the start of the matches with some of the teams intermingling with each other.

"Will Kamizuru Suzumebachi and Aburame Shino please come down!"

Suzumebachi was surprised but jumped down from the catwalk with Shino appearing in a standard shunshin. Naruto walked up to the middle of the two and started declaring the extra rules for their match. "There are two extra rules due to match type. The first is that Kawarimi is forbidden. The second is that the match must be a close quarter to mid-range one. No long range technique may be used! To be exact, it is a match to simulate an enclosed area with no substitutable material. BEGIN!"


"I expected both of them to charge in a soon as the battle began."

"I know what you mean Kakashi. It is quite surprising to see an Aburame and a Kamizuru specializing in their jibachi jutsu to not but head at the first chance." Gai said with a grin.

"Either way, the battle will be interesting. Personally, I believe that the Aburame has the advantage. After all he is a ninshu adept. That will give him a bit of an advantage." Zabuza said as they watched Shino and Suzumebachi circle each other with caution. Without any indication, Suzumebachi cupped her hands together before throwing it forwards calling out the name of her jutsu.

"Ninpō: Jibachidama!" A ball of writhing hornets was launched towards Shino who calmly got into a taijutsu stance. When the ball of hornets was in range, Shino raised his right leg in a quick vertical sweep causing a wave of fire to form from the arc and consume the ball of hornets.

Suzumebachi, who was preparing another jibachi jutsu, jumped back from the advancing flames with a growl. Sneering, Susumebachi asked, "This is quite low of you Aburame. Have you forsaken your clan's traditions and decided to learn Ninjutsu?"

Shino didn't respond at first causing the girl to clench her teeth for a moment before taking out a pair of shuriken and throwing them at Shino, causing the Aburame Heir to smirk behind the high collar of his coat as jumped. Twisting in the air, he performed a spin kick releasing a wave of blistering flames that blew away the shuriken and flew towards Suzumebachi.

The girl cursed as she jumped to the side only to be hit in the face by a ball of kikaichu. The girl was thrown back by the impact as the kikaichu started crawling all over the girl. Luckily, the girls own jibachi started killing off the kikaichu before they could drain too much of the girl's chakra. Panting harshly from the sudden drop of chakra, Suzumebachi gritted her teeth before going through some hand seals and crashing her palms onto the ground beneath her calling out, "Dōton: Tajū Hiyari!"

Spikes of rock jutted out and flew towards Shino who calmly spurn around on his heel with his right extended parallel to the ground causing an arc of flames to erupt for the bottom of his heels and fly towards the flying rock spears. Suzumebachi watched with a gaping mouth as the flames knocked the spears off course and flew towards her again. This time, the wave was too large for her to dodge, so without thinking, Suzumebachi closed her eyes and used Kawarimi to save herself.

The wave of flames burned the wooden log to ashes when Naruto reappeared behind Shino and caught the kick Suzumebachi had directed towards the Aburame Heir's head. "Kamizuru Suzumebachi is disqualified for the use of Kawarimi when it was explicitly forbidden. The winner is Aburame Shino!"

Suzumebachi growled in frustration as she trudged up to the catwalk while Shino appeared beside his team in a shunshin. After both were out of the arena, Naruto called up the next contestants while declaring the type of match.

"Will Abumi Zaku of Oto, Misumi Tsurugi of Konoha, Gaara of Suna and Rock Lee of Konoha please come down to the arena! This battle will be a two on two team battle with the teams formed at random between the selected contestant!" Naruto stated as the contestants walked down to the Arena. When all four were situated around Naruto, the blonde Daimyō declared the teams. "The teams shall be Gaara of Suna with Rock Lee of Konoha and Abumi Zaku of Oto with Misumi Tsurugi of Konoha, begin!"

Naruto vanished from between the four eager Genin while the four looked at each other, trying to size each other up.


"I have a very bad feeling about this!" Temari worried as Gaara gained a malicious glint in his eyes while Lee charged forward towards Zaku.

"Do not worry Temari. After the sealing, Gaara has been very tame. I am sure that he will not lose control, though I doubt his opponents will come out unscathed." Baki said with a serious face.

"You are mistaken Baki-san. I am sure that Lee will be the one to cause the most harm. Misumi Tsurugi and his teammates are actually traitors to Konoha. We don't have actual proof but we know it to be true. All Konoha Genin has been ordered to eliminate them if given the chance. Lee hates traitors with a passion, so I am actually quite afraid what my youthful student will do before he ends the traitor's life." Gai said with a sombre expression. It was only then, did Baki sense the barrier surrounding them. Baki nodded in understanding that he was told that for a reason.

"I see. A very unique way to deal with traitors that can't be proved who they are." Gai nodded to the statement as Temari and Kankuro gaped at the conversation.


"Rock Lee, you press the attack. I will support you with my ninjutsu!" Gaara stated as he released a wave of suna shuriken at Zaku causing the boy to prematurely use his jutsu to counteract Gaara's giving Lee a chance to move in and kick Zaku in the gut all the while calling out, "Dynamic Entry!"

Tsurugi took the chance to try and attack Lee only for Lee to spin around and thrust his palms out causing a burst of wind to blow Tsurugi away before jumping over Zaku as Gaara's sand struck like a snake at the Oto Genin.

Luckily for Zaku, he was able to get out of Gaara's sand with a quick Kawarimi and appear behind the red headed boy. Raising his hands, Zaku grinned as he screamed out, "Zankūkyokūha!"

Gaara smirked as he made the ram seal causing sand to coalesce into the form of Shukaku as the future Godaime Kazekage called out, "Shukaku no Tate!" The powerful futon jutsu collided with the statue of Shukaku and exploded causing dust and sand to be thrown up before being blown away to show that the statue was barely chipped. Zaku looked on in horror as his strongest jutsu was easily nullified by Gaara. Seeing that Zaku was preoccupied with being stunned and Lee had Tsurugi on the ropes with his Air Bending and Gōken Taijutsu, Gaara focused his attention to silence Zaku.

Gaara closed his eyes for a moment before sand started gathering around him. Normally it took some time, but it seems that being in sync with Shukaku had drastically reduced the time it takes for him to draw out enough of Shukaku's chakra to form the chakra cloak. In fact, the cloak seemed different as when he finally finished forming it, the sand fell away to reveal a bubbling red chakra cloak like the one he remembered Naruto spreading around the Alliance.

"Oh ho! It seems that you have decided to get serious my youthful Jinchūriki friend. Let me not hold you back!" Lee said as he dropped his weights causing most of the Konoha Genin trained by Naruto to wince as they were reminded of Lee's speed without his weights. "Let me show you the true power of wind!"


"Oh great. Now we will be watching a ping pong match again!" Ino complained as Lee vanished in a burst of wind and reappeared behind Tsurugi. Before the elder Konoha Genin could even react, he was sent flying by the kick towards Gaara who didn't even blink as he kicked the boy towards Zaku.

Zaku was only able to scream in pain as he was suddenly sent flying towards the approaching Tsurugi form a powerful kick to his spine. As the two Genin collided with each other, they were forcefully separated by strategically placed kicks from Lee and Gaara. For the next few minutes, the only was anyone could describe the match was a skilful play of Ping-Pong with two humans as the balls.

The cries of pain and the sharp noise of shattering bones along with the sound of heavy impacts on flesh was the only sound heard in the arena as everyone quietly watched the impromptu and macabre table tennis match Gaara and Lee decided to have with their two opponents.


"Gaara, my youthful friend! What would you say to ending this useless match? I feel unyouthful continuing this mockery of a match." Lee asked as he kicked Zaku into the air.

"My thoughts exactly!" Gaara said with a malicious grin as he punched Tsurugi in the stomach and launched towards the place Zaku was falling.

Right before Zaku and Tsurugi, now both nearly catatonic from the abuse they suffered, collided, Lee and Gaara appeared and landed brutal stomps to their ribs. The loud cracking sound was clearly heard throughout the room right before Zaku and Tsurugi screamed in delirious pain and coughed up blood.

Falling on the ground, the two promptly lost consciousness as the bubbling cloak of chakra receded into Gaara while Lee picked up his weights and reattached them to his legs. After letting them take a couple of breaths, Naruto appeared and checked their pulses.

"Winners Gaara and Lee! Medics!"

Japanese Translations

Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki = Ōnoki of Both Scales

Jibachi = Hornets

Kikaichu = Destruction Beetles


Japanese Jutsu, Style and Weapon Name Translations

Tōmegane no Jutsu = Telescope Technique

Kage Bunshin = Shadow Clone

Kongō Fūsa = Adamantine Sealing Chains

Kawarimi = Substitution

Jibachi jutsu = Hornet Jutsu

Ninpō: Jibachidama = Ninja Art: Hornet Ball

Dōton: Tajū Hiyari = Earth Release: Multiple Flying Spears

Suna Shuriken = Sand Shuriken

Zankūkyokūha = Extreme Decapitating Air Wave

Shukaku no Tate = Shield of Shukaku

Gōken = Strong Fist


A/N: I hope you all liked this chapter. Do not fear, Orochimaru will make an escape.

SSG.