The day of the exam finals had arrived. Naruto stood opposite Neji in the circular arena. It was about one hundred meters in diameter, with a small pond in one quadrant, a few patches of trees and boulders scattered throughout, and rows of spectators looking down from all directions. The audience included classmates, casual viewers and elite-level foreign shinobi. Naruto didn't look up at them—he was focused solely on his opponent. Though one nagging thought threatened to distract him. Sasuke hasn't shown up yet, and he's fighting next…
Naruto, Neji, Gaara, Shino, Kankuro, Temari and Shikamaru had arrived early to the arena. Dosu was a known forfeit, owing to his mysterious death outside the village. Sasuke was yet to appear, with no advanced message from him or Kakashi.
Genma Shiranui stood between Naruto and Neji, officiating the match. He thought back to the days when he competed in the Chunin Exam, sixteen years ago. He had fought in a similar tournament-style melee, barely winning his first match and getting knocked out in the second. These kids look more composed than I was. They've never had a fight on a stage like this before. It was the first match of the day. The sun had not yet reached its zenith.
"The rules are pretty simple," said Genma. "You can use any shinobi tools at your disposal, don't leave the arena, and if I deem one of you totally unable to continue, then the fighting stops. You can forfeit whenever you want, just give me the signal."
There were no questions. Genma signaled for the match to begin.
Neji shifted into his gentle fist stance, and his eyes gave off a faint glow as he activated the Byakugan, perceiving and analyzing the details of Naruto's muscles and bones, estimating points of weakness and physical limitations. Naruto's chakra was more controlled than Neji had expected. Naruto produced four shadow clones with a poof of smoke.
"Predictable," said Neji. "You're quiet today. I thought you always had something to say, or are you too afraid?" Neji read the micromomentary expressions on Naruto's face, the flit of anger. No fear. He could see the body temperature rising. A psychological advantage was perhaps unnecessary, but if Naruto started acting reckless then Neji could reserve that much more energy for his next bout.
"Afraid of you?" said the central Naruto. "No way."
"Do you really think that you can beat me?" said Neji.
Naruto's clones charged in, and Neji darted forward to intercept them. His movements were precise, weaving between attacks and landing devastating counterstrikes. One clone dissolved when Neji landed a chop to his neck, and another was taken out with a quick burst of jabs. The last two clones were defeated with a spinning kick. Neji decimated the clones in a matter of seconds.
Naruto concentrated on the flow of his chakra. The purpose of this initial wave of clones was primarily reconnaissance—it was a chance to sniff out a potential weakness, or at least wear him down a little. His taijutsu is good… really good.
Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, elite Konoha shinobi, watched from the stands near the Hokage's viewing box. Kotetsu leaned in, engaged in the brief exchange of blows below, while Izumo sat back.
"Kage Bunshin? At his age?" said Kotetsu. "No wonder he's made it this far, that's a tricky technique."
"Leave it to the jinchuriki-kid to have a few tricks up his sleeve," said Izumo. "Still, I doubt it will be enough to contend with the Hyuga Clan's best and brightest."
"I just hope it's enough to keep things interesting," said Kotetsu.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, watched from above them. His skin was grooved with deep wrinkles and faded scars, his hair was white and gray, and there was a sense of wisdom and strong will in his eyes. Even in his old age with waning stamina, he was considered by many to be the most skilled of the era. Hiruzen was seated beside Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, an honored guest to Konoha. Rasa was decked in thick gold and beige robes, and the wide-brimmed, ceremonial hat of the Kazekage. The young trio of sand-nin, each of whom had advanced to the finals of the exam, were Rasa's children—it was an impressive bloodline, and a showcase of Sunagakure's potential future strength. He had already expressed his delight that Gaara would be competing directly against the surviving Uchiha prodigy.
Neji rushed in close to Naruto. Naruto conjured a clone to defend him, the three of them trading blows for a moment before Neji delivered a double-palm strike. The attack poofed the clone into smoke, and knocked the real Naruto back, lighting up his gut with a jolt of pain. He clambered back to his feet, and focused on his chakra flow. Tw0 clones appeared around him.
"You're wasting your chakra," said Neji. "One trick, that's all you have. You can just resign, you know."
"Like I would resign against you!" said Naruto. "I'm going to be Hokage one day, I could never give up so easily."
"It's pretty embarrassing that you're always going on about becoming the Hokage," said Neji. "Ridiculous. Those that become Hokage were born into that destiny. No amount of effort can change that. You have no concept of the gap between average shinobi and the truly talented. There are some barriers that cannot be overcome."
"I don't give a damn about any of that!" said Naruto.
The sharp spike in chakra was visible to Neji. Naruto was swelling with chakra as he executed Kage Bunshin, conjuring twenty kunai-wielding clones. The platoon of Narutos charged in, rushing Neji from all sides. Neji engaged the clones, holding his ground against the barrage, but the overwhelming advantage in numbers was hindering his efforts. This many? As Neji beat them down, more clones were added to the fray. Their movements were growing more synchronized, landing a few blows on Neji before he knocked them away with an acrobatic series of strikes. How long can Naruto keep this up? Their attack patterns are getting more difficult to anticipate. Neji's Byakugan picked out the real Naruto, the one that had performed hand signs from a distance to add more shadow clone reinforcements. Neji couldn't distinguish the genuine Naruto by his appearance or chakra signature, but he stood out due to his defensive behavior, staying back in the shade of a large boulder.
Neji slipped through the wave of clones, knocking them away as he made his way toward the real Naruto. He broke through a barrier of defensive clones, and landed a strike to Naruto's neck. To Neji's surprise, the Naruto that he struck vaporized into a cloud of white smoke. He intentionally misdirected me?! Neji found himself cornered by the boulder that he had been lured to. He was pinned by the wave of clones, and they forced him back against the jagged rock.
"Naruto has him on the ropes!" said Choji. He was sitting among several other Konoha genin.
"I can hardly believe it, but he really landed a couple glancing blows," said Kiba. "Neji is starting to look tired."
"Yeah, but how long can Naruto keep this jutsu going?" said Ino. "He used this move in the preliminaries against you."
"This is way more than he used against me," said Kiba.
"This is more than I've ever seen him conjure," said Sakura. She was well aware of how taxing Naruto's technique could be when used recklessly. She thought of the rare moments of brilliance she had witnessed of Naruto, when he gained unexplainable power. Have you learned to control all that power, Naruto?
The battlefield was smokey from bursting shadow clones, but the assault continued. Neji had not expected to sweat in this match, let alone take damage from Naruto. He was struck from the side, knocking him off balance, before two clones leapt forward to grapple with his arms. Three more charged in with sizzling paper bombs in their hands.
"This one's called, Naruto Uzumaki: Exploding Kamikaze!" said Naruto.
Neji glowed with chakra. He deftly distributed it across his body, and released it in a rotational burst, temporarily shielding himself with chakra. Hakkesho Kaiten: Palm Rotation! The clones nearest to Neji were blasted away by the rotation technique, and those carrying the paper bombs burst into smoke upon hitting the spinning chakra field. The bombs detonated, but Neji was protected from their blasts within his sphere of chakra. When the dust had settled, and the palm rotation technique had ceased, Neji stood breathing heavily at the center of a small crater, relatively unharmed by the explosion.
Naruto's small army of clones had been wiped out, and he was feeling the exhausting effects of chakra overuse. He was stunned. Just when I thought I landed a decent hit… What was that ninjutsu?