Chapter 10: Interlude

And we are back for chapter 10. So ah In the middle of writing this chapter I completely forgot about shino which makes me feel so bad that even I the author forgot about him… So aaaah we're going to say he forfeited because his hives were depleted or something like that… I'm so sorry shino...

Naruto continued to pout and cry about how unfair it was he didn't get to fight anyone in the prelims much to Shikamaru and Temari's dismay. Meanwhile kakashi was counting gleefully through a large wad of money causing their gloom to only grow worse.

"Jeez you guys look down." Kiba said to Temari and Shikamaru who for their trouble could only nod as they walked through the tunnel that took them underneath and out of training grounds 44.

"Well of course they have to deal with Naruto over there… is he going to be ok?" Yukomo asked as temari and shikamaru just looked at each other before they shrugged.

"Who knows… He gets in these moods sometimes." Temari said as she wondered if there was any shinobi ever like naruto. Somewhere in the afterlife one Hashirama sneezed before he pouted about being talked about in the afterlife. Once all the teams made it out of the forest they separated and went their own ways. Team 7 simply followed Kakashi who led the team to training grounds 7.

"Alright guys I'm really proud of you all, not only have you managed to make it past the first two poritions of the exam all three of you have managed to make it to the finals. That right there is an accomplishment very few genin teams can say they have on their belts. However for this month of training we must all go our own ways to train as it would be unfair for me to train all three of you." Kakashi said growing serious as all three of the genin looked at each other.

"Well I was thinking about going to suna anyways. I want to learn more about the use of combat fans and more jutsu for them however I can't do that here as there are no masters in the art of fans." Temari explained Kakashi was about to speak before Shikamaru spoke up.

"I was going to learn more of my clan techniques and I can learn ninjutsu from someone who specializes in Doton, if I need any help with raiton I'll get help from you." Shikamaru Kakashi wanted to speak up again.

"We all kinda realized you'd want to train me most kakashi-Nii which I will need help with Ninjutsu but I also have to work on my Kenjutsu and Taijutsu. So I was hoping you would train me alongside Zabuza as well as Kaa-san and Tou-san?" Naruto asked as Kakashi sat in silence radiating pride.

"Wow you guys really have this all figured out huh? Alright if that's what you guy's all wish for." He got a nod from all three signifying this was their wish. "I agree with all your training schedules." He said with an eye smile causing all the genin to smile.

"Alright Kaa-san said she would offer up a celebration dinner for us everyones invited. It will be at 5PM sharp… Please don't be late, we all know how scary my Kaa-san can be." Naruto said with a shudder before everyone laughed before they went their own way.

It didn't take long for Temari and Naruto to get home to an empty house looking at each other. They both were confused as they wandered that house together.

"Weird… I guess the house is ours?" Naruto asked as they finally entered the kitchen causing the lights to flip on.

"Surprise!" Shouted everyone that was part of the namikaze clan from the ceiling hung down saying congratulations as well as a cake sat on the table. Minato and Kushina stood behind the cake with Zabuaza on their left and haku on their right and the twins stood on separate ends of the table.

"Oh Kami thank you guys!" Naruto shouted a large smile on his face as the twins ran and hugged Naruto's knees before running to hug temari as well.

"You guys have come a long way in your careers as shinobi and are close to the next step and we couldn't be prouder." Kushina said with a smile as everyone gave hugs to the two young teens.

"It's almost time for dinner so the cake has to wait." Kushina said with a smile. Before too long Kakashi and Shikamaru arrived with kakashi surprisingly on time.

"-And that's how your father nearly got kicked out of the first chunin exams he competed in." Kushina finished a rather embarrassing story for Minato as everyone including the man in the story laughed. The dinner and conversation was lively as Naruto simply smiled and took a mental picture of the happiness that radiated in the room.

"Hey guys sorry we're late." The voice of one Tsunade and Jiraiya who both took a seat at the table.

"Not to worry we figured you were busy." Kushina said with a smile laying down a plate for both the sannin.

"So the entire team made it through to the final exam ay?" Jyria said with a proud smile mostly directed towards naruto.

"What can we say we had a great teacher who prepared us for the exams." Narutp spoke for the group causing Kakashi to flush and smile under his mask.

"I can't believe Kakashi failed so many teams only to have his first team do this. I wonder what your next team will be like." Tsunade joked, causing everyone to laugh at Kakashi's expense.

"I don't know if the bar has been set pretty high at this point I don't know if I can even accept another team." He said with a small chuckle.

"So you guys have already decided on your training schedules right?" Minato asked, causing all three genin of team 7 to nod.

"Good I already got your travel request Temari, you'll be heading back with Gaara and Kankuro in the morning." Minato said with a smile. "Jirya would also like to teach you on top of Myself, Kushina-Hime, and zabuza if you're ok with that." Minato asked, causing Naruto to just smile and nod.

"Shikamaru someone has requested to help train you as well which is asuma saratobi. He said that he saw the makings of a great tactician in you so he wants to spend an hour or two helping you seeing as his team didn't make it to part three." Minato explained.

"That sounds good Hokage-sama." Shikamaru said with a light smile.

"Please just Minato is fine Shikamaru." Minato said, returning the smile.

"Ah yes Minato-sama." Shikamaru said sheepishly.

"... Please just minato you don't have to be so formal with me." Minato said with a deadpan before everyone laughed.

The night continued on before people started to leave at their own pace Shikamaru left to get some sleep, The twins were put to sleep and the engaged couple wanted to get some shut eye. The adults continued to stay up late and share some sake before they two turned in for the night. They never noticed the pair of snake-like eyes that watched them before slithering away.

Naruto lay motionless before being pulled into his mindscape looking around he spotted Hiruzen and Kurama who were grumbling sitting in front of him.

"Ah hey guys what's up… oh its training time isn't it…" Naruto said tiredly.

"No no not tonight Naruto-kun we just wanted to congratulate you on making it so far in the exams. I will once again begin training you during the time you sleep starting tomorrow but for now get some rest you'll need it." Hiruzen said with a smile causing Naruto to smile and hug Hirzuen.

"Wait we?" Naruto asked, looking at kurama.

"Yes boy you are proving yourself a worthy jailor for now." Kurama said without opening his eyes.

"You really are just a big softie… I'm going to make you my friend and get rid of all that hate inside you." Naruto said with a large smile causing Kurama to frown but say nothing.

"Rest now Naruto-kun." Hiruzen said with a soft smile before sending naruto to the land of dreams.

Morning came quickly for the couple who begrudgingly got up and went to the front gate of konoha.

"Please take good care of her." Naruto said holding temari's hands as Kankuro simply smiled at his soon to be brother in law.

"Don't worry Naruto we got gaara so we'll be fine." He said with a large smile which naruto returned.

"Don't be too long I can't wait to see you again." He said before they gave each other a quick kiss.

"I won't Nauto-kun just be safe ok." Temari said before she turned around following her brothers out of konoha before they took off to the trees leaving Konoha behind for the month. Naruto watched them leave before he turned around and headed to the namikaze training grounds where Zabuza was waiting with his Kubikiribōchō placed with the tip in the dirt.

"Alright Naruto I have you for the next two hours, you're basics are good but I want to master them especially if you're going up against a swordsman from kiri." Zabuza said as he stared down Naruto who nodded as he unsealed his katana.

"Begin!" shouted Zabuza as Naruto moved through each block and swing over and over again. By the end of the two hours Naruto's arms were exhausted and he could barely raise them or his sword as he struggled to keep the blade which trembled his arms up right.

"Alright that's enough zabuza, It's my turn with the kid." Jiraiya spoke up from underneath a tree as he wrote in a book.

"Yes Jiraiya-sama." He bowed to the sanin before looking back to naruto giving him a grin. "Good work today gaki you might just make a good swordsmen yet." He said giving the boy a thumbs up before he shushined away.

"Come take a seat Naruto." Jiraiya said not looking up from his book. Naruto sealed his katana back into a bracer he kept on his right arm.

"Whats up?" Naruto asked, sitting in front of the man.

"Well Naruto how would you like to summon toads like me and your father?" Jiraiya asked, causing a large grin to adorne Naruto's face almost instantly.

"I would love to!" He shouted in joy.

"Good becoming a summoner is simple, actually summoning them is another question." Jiraiya said, pulling out a rather large scroll that he unfurrowed in front of the two.

"Write down in blood your name and then put all 5 of your right hands fingerprints down on the scroll just under your father's name." Jiraiya explained which naruto happily did once he was done Jiraiya quickly closed up the scroll putting it back in its rightful place on his back.

"Alright for the next step you have to summon the chief toad, gamabunta and gain his respect to be able to summon toads fully." Jiraiya explained as he led naruto over to a little puddle of water.

"These are the hand signs and how you summon." Jiraiya explained as he showed naruto the process of summoning before directing him to give it a try.

Naruto grinned expecting to summon the toad boss his first try but he fell flat on his face when all he managed to summon were a bunch of tadpoles.

"Don't tell me this is the toad boss?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya was simply off laughing.

"No no gaki these are just the young summons of the toad world it takes a lot of chakra to summon the toad boss so just be patient and try again." Jiraiya explained as another two hours passed by with just more tadpoles being summoned. By the end of it Naruto was sweating and fuming as he couldn't even summon a small toad.

"Don't worry gaki you're not going to be able to master this in the first try but you'll get there." Jiraiya said with a comforting smile and hand on Naruto's shoulder who simply breathed and nodded.

"Alright Naruto it's time for your ninjutsu lesson. Which element do you want to work on today?" Kakashi asked as Naruto frowned and thought for a moment.

"Well my main focus has always been on Futon and Suiton so I think it's time to begin learning Raiton." Naruto said as kakashi nodded before handing naruto a leaf.

"So for Raiton your objective is to force the lightning through the leaf as straight as you can." Kakashi said as naruto nodded. "Alright get to work." Kakashi said as naruto called upon a small squad of kage bunshin who all got leafs trying to focus the lightning through the leafs. Sometimes the leaves would go up in a ball of lightning, sometimes the lightning would arc out and destroy the clone or a clone next to it. Causing a new kage bunshin or two to be made

This continued on for two hours and by the end of it naruto only got the lightning to focus its way halfway through the leaf. Kakashi watched intently and smiled at his progress.

"For a minor affinity to get that far in just two hours is very impressive Naruto good work today, now your mom wanted to send some lunch your way before she came for the second half of the day." Kakashi said as he unsealed a home cooked meal for the two who happily ate it side by side.

"You've been doing great today Naruto, I know you're quickly becoming a mid chunin level but that doesn't mean you can't work on the basics even your father will practice this stuff day in and day out sometimes." Kakashi explained as he figured Naruto was tired of all the beginner stuff he had done today.

"I get it kaka-nii, I needed a refresher on some of the stuff I've done today anyways.. I'm just a little frustrated about the toads." Naruto said between bites as kakashi flashed an eye smile.

"You'll get it in no time trust me." He said, rubbing the top of naruto's head much to the blondes dismay.

"Alright you two its my turn with Naruto-chan." They heard the voice of Kushina who was in her old shinobi garb.

"So we're working on fuinjutsu?" Naruto asked as Kushina nodded and smiled.

"Yes and no we're going to be mixing your kenjutsu into your taijutsu for the first half and then me and your father will be working on your fuinjutsu." Kushina explained as Naruto once again summoned his katana.

"To start off I know I've trained you with more blades then just katanas so why does it seem to be your go to blade besides kunai?" Kushina asked as naruto pondered for a moment.

"Well it's mainly the reach and it feels like an extension of myself." Naruto explained as Kushina nodded.

"As all trained swordsmen should feel about a katana but you should feel the same for any blade." Kushina explained before summoning two sais. "Swing at me." Kushina said simply dropping her knees with one sai point up and the other pointing down.

Naruto nodded, swinging at his mother however before he could blink his blade was caught between the blades of the sai. She turned the sai so it grabbed the katana and pulled the teen forward planting her elbow in his stomach dropping him so his neck sat before one of the points of the sai which was turned upwards.

Kushina carefully pushed Naruto back up, releasing his blade as the boy regained his breath.

"You see while the katana is a utility blade its not a one size fits all. Tenten took that lesson to heart which is why she uses so many weapons. However you are a swordsman not a weapons master but I want you to try and be both." Kushina explained as naruto nodded.

"Taijutsu and Kenjutsu can go hand in hand pretty easily. Many swordsmen forget this, take zabuza for example, While he is a greatswords man he always likes to mix in punches and kicks while still using his blade." Kushina explained as she taught naruto how to incorporate his taijutsu with the use of kenjutsu before switching gears to fuinjutsu practice which naruto joined them for. After two hours of fuinjutsu Minato took out a shogi board.

"For the last hour of training you will play me in a simple game of shogi." Minato said with a smile as Naruto sat before him as they played, Minato moved to attack Naruto's king however Naruto moved a pawn in the way.

"So why did you sacrifice a pawn like that?" Minato asked as he took the pawn however lost the piece to another of Narutos.

"Well the king is the most important piece on the board right? While you can't do much with the pawn." Naruto said as Minato nodded.

"Yes but if this was real life shinobi would you be so ready to sacrifice a pawn which is say a genin to protect the king?" Minato asked as Naruto frowned before he shook the head.

"Who do you think the King is?" Minato asked another question that made Naruto flash his father a face of confusion.

"Well wouldn't it be the hokage?" Minato for his part simply shook his head.

"While most would assume so I would argue the hokage more like the rook or bishop." Naruto thought that over before he smiled.

"The king is the civilians and those precious to you. Always to be protected." Naruto said as Minato smiled and nodded.

"Exactly however everyone should be protected but there are going to be times as a leader you can't protect everyone… Hell I've lost everyone from my genin team besides kakashi." Minato said with a frown which naruto returned but he understood where it came from.

"You're not going to take me to the memorial stone again?" Naruto asked as he and his father smiled and laughed.

"No no I think you've seen it enough." Once the game was finished with Minato winning the two returned home.

(With Shikamaru)

After a long day of training of his own with his clan Shikamaru joined asuma sarutobi at the Sarutobi clan compound.

"So why did you want to meet with me Asuma-sensei?" Shikamaru asked as Asuma smiled.

"Simply put I just want to play a game of shogi against you I've gone against your father plenty of times and I can't handle getting my ass handed to me again so I figured I'd see how his son is." Asuma said as the two spent the evening playing games of shogi.

(With Temari)

The sand siblings had spent the two days running non-stop to get home and when they finally got there they were greeted by their father.

"Temari welcome back to suna I'm happy to have you here once more how is konoha treating you?" Rasa asked as he gave his daughter a smile happy to see her once more.

"It's treating me well father, Me and Naruto are happy together though he's been placed under CRA." She explained which caused Rasa to frown but nod.

"That must put a damper on things?" Rasa asked, causing temari to nod.

"Enough about that you are home so go ahead and get some sleep. I already have a few fan masters ready to teach you in the morning." He said with a smile before returning to paperwork.

(In Kiri)

"-And that's why I wish to use your navy." The voice of one orochimaru finished.

"It is a bold plan Orochimaru… and your alliance will provide troops to help against the rebels, correct?" Asked Yagura emotionlessly.

"Yes we will spare what we can from the Konoha front and Suna front." Orochimaru said as Yagura nodded.

"Well in that case you have 50 jounin and my navy to transport the troops you need." Yagura said as Orochimaru grinned.

"Good I'm glad we could make this deal." He said before slithering away.

"Hm this does not bode well for konoha… but who am I to stop Orochimaru's plans." Came the voice of one madara uchiha before he teleported away.

(Naruto's mindscape that night)

"Your father touched on it with the shogi game but we are going to be working on your strategy and tactics." Hiruzen explained as he summoned a blackboard which he used to drill Naruto on multiple tactics and scenarios under the watchful eye of kurama.

Before he disappeared to the land of dreams Naruto turned to Kurama.

"Hey ah Kurama." Naruto started.

"Yes… Naruto." Kurama said which caused him to smile.

"Who gave you your name?" He asked curiously which caught Kurama by surprise. Kurama sat in silence for a while before he let out a sigh.

"My father the Rikudō Sennin(sage of six paths) when he created all 9 of us at the end of his life he gave each of us all names… However we became known by our titles and how many tails we had over time." Kurama explained, causing Naruto to nod before sitting down in front of the Biju.

"I'm sorry Kurama I wish you and your brethren weren't treated like tools of war please forgive us." He said before bowing before kurama who like hiruzen had a face of shock. The two stared at each other before they nodded.

"Gaki please don't bow before me we are both tools of war Saratobi and I have discussed it many times and it is something I have come to terms with. You are just as much a tool of war as I am." Kurama said as Naruto rose up and smiled.

"I want to create a world free of Hate and war so you and your brethren can live in peace." Naruto said, causing Kurama's lips to twitch up in an unnoticeable smile. "What are the names of the other tailed beasts?" Naruto asked.

"Before I tell you, gaki know your wish is a lofty one and you must prove with your actions that you wish to create it, not just your world." Kurama explained before continuing. "The Ichibi which you've met is Shikaku. The Nibi is Matatabi. Isubo is the sanbi. Son Gokū is the Yonbi, Kokuō is the gobi Saiken is the rokubi. The last two are the Chōmei and Gyūki who are the Shichibi and Hachibi respectively." Kurama finished as Naruto began to fall asleep exhausted from the day of training.

"He's a special one isn't he Kurama?" Hiruzen asked kurama who simply nodded resting his head on his hands.

"We'll see." Was all that kurama said.

(3 weeks later)

Three weeks had come and gone rather quickly for Naruto and in that time he had worked himself to the bone working on all of his skills and preparing his mind and body for the coming chunin exams. By the end of week three all of his teachers agreed Naruto was at the level of a mid chunin and with more training he might even be high chunin.

"Good work today naruto-kun there's some people I would like you to meet." Minato said before motioning for someone to join him and out walked three people. The leader of the group had dark skin with a large muscular build, blond hair combed back, a small moustache and goatee. His face has pronounced cheekbones and tear troughs under his eyes, and a prominent crease across his lip also has a darker hue than the bottom one. He wore a white haori without a shirt underneath and the Raikage hat as well as large, golden vambraces on his wrists. He also wears a gold belt around his waist with a boar's face engraved in the centre, black pants with torn ends, Kumo-nin shin guards, and shinobi sandals.

To his right was another man who has dark skin and a muscular build, as well as Blond hair and a goatee. On his right shoulder, he has a tattoo of the kanji for "iron" (鉄, tetsu),left cheek, he has a tattoo of a bull's horn His top lip also has a has a slightly darker hue than his bottom one. He wore oval shaped sunglasses and a white-coloured Hiate-ate . He also has his village's standard one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket, and a long, red rope belt tied around his waist, the standard Kumo hand and shin guards, shinobi sandals, and a white scarf around his neck. He originally carried seven swords on his back,

Finally was a girl that stood to the left of the leader of the group who had long, straight, blonde, hair bound with taut bandages, dark eyes and she wore red lipstick. She wore a short-sleeved black and purple blouse and black pants, both of which had a design similar to clouds on them, purple fingerless gloves and a chain of blue beads wound around her left hand. She also wore the standard Kumogakure Hiate-ate, sandals and a kunai holster, which was strapped to her right thigh. She also wore bandages around her arms and legs as well as a red belt around her waist.

"Naruto meet the Yondaime raikage Ay, Kirā Bī and finally Yugito." Minato said as Naruto bowed in respect.

"It's nice to meet you Raikage, Ni and Hachi." Naruto said with a smile as raikage studied Naruto.

"So this is Naruto huh? He's almost the spitting image of you." Ay said with a booming voice.

"Yo yo yo numba nice its nice to me you fo sho the names B don't feel the need to call me Kirā Bī." B rapped out causing Yugito to give an exacerbated sigh as Naruto looked at him weirdly.

"Yes he is always like this." Yugito said before he even had the chance to ask as Ay and Minato moved to talk somewhere else.

"We've been asked by Minato to give you help with the Kyuubi and train you for the last week before the chunin exams to help create a bond between the jinchuriki of the villages and help an alliance." Yugito said before extending the universal sign of friendship among jinchuriki which was a fist bump as did B. The three formed a triangle before being pulled into a shared mindscape.

Naruto was surprised to see unlike himself and Gaara there was no cage behind B and Yugito.

"So this is Gyūki and matatabi huh?" Naruto surprised the Kumo jinchuuriki and Biju.

"The gaki wanted to know the names of all the tailed beasts after he learned mine from shikaku." Kurama explained. "It's good to see you again… brother… sister." Kurama said to his fellow biju.

"What's this? Have you finally been tamed like father predicted?" Matatabi teased her brother.

"It is good to see you again Kurama."Gyūki spoke up with a smile.

"So why is it that there aren't cage walls behind you guys like me?" Naruto asked.

"Well that's why we're here. You see there are multiple forms that a jinchuriki can take when using their bijuus chakra. There's stage one where you're covered in a cloak of bubbly chakra that is usually from tails 1-3 depending on the Biju. Stage two is when red fibers cover your body and bones start to form that's tails 4-7 for you. Finally is when kurama fully takes over your body and is released back into the world." Yugito explained causing Naruto to gulp.

"But there is another way yo. You see we are perfect jinchuuriki in which we have become partners with our tailed beast and can transform at will with our beast." B explained.

"That's what your father wants us to teach you but we need the key to your seal key to unlock the seal and allow yourself to synchronize. However all parties have agreed to wait till your 16 or a jounin whichever comes first as it requires a special training area." Yugito explained as naruto nodded.

"I'll be ready!" Naruto said as the jinchuriki grinned.

"That's what we like to hear but for now we'll teach you how to handle just a couple tails worth of power." B said as they turned to kurama.

"Kurama may I use your power?" Naruto asked as they stared at each other.

"If it makes you stronger… sure." Kurama said as some of his power leaked underneath the gate forming a red cloak around Naruto who's appearance became more feral.

"This is so hard to control… I feel almost feral like." Naruto said in a deep voice.

"It'll be like that till you learn to control the power." B explained as yugito and B trained naruto in the ways of being a jinchuriki.

(In Iwa)

"-Don't you want revenge on konoha?" Orochimaru asked the Tsuchikage Ōnoki who sat or rather floated and thought about the offer before him.

"If you had asked me at the end of the third shinobi war with this offer I would have said yes… But I'm wiser than I was before.I don't feel the need to shed the blood of my own shinobi on your vendetta so no. However I will not interfere in this plot of yours." Ōnoki said, causing orochimaru to frown but he slithered away nonetheless.

(3 Days Before the Chunin exams)

With the chunin exams just three days away konoha was bustling with activity from nobles and daimyo to kage and their escorts. People from far and wide had gathered to watch the final stage of the chunin exams in konoha. Naruto had spent the time training with B and Yugito and had also met Fu.

(Flashback no Jutsu)

Naruto was walking home after his daily training session excitement was coursing through the teen as he prepared for the chunin exams. Walking through the crowd he spotted a mop of mint green hair.

Turning on his heel he quickly walked up to it.

"Hey your Fu right?" Naruto asked, causing the girl to jump but look at Naruto.

"Yeah I am! Your Naruto right?" She asked, causing Naruto to smile and nod.

"Yeah I am nana." Naruto said, causing Fu to frown.

"So you know who I am Kyu." She said under her breath

"Yeah I could sense you at the chunin exams." He explained, still smiling before they entered an ally.

"I hope I get to fight you I want to face a fellow jinchuriki and I hope we can be friends." Naruto said with a smile extending his fist which Fu returned hesitantly.

"Sure. I hope we can be friends as well Naruto." She said with a soft smile before they separated going their own ways.

(Kai)

Naruto and Fu had hung out a couple times after that getting to know each other much to Naruto's delight and she also met Yugito and B who were happy to meet more of their own.

With three days left until the chunin exams, Naruto was excited for what was to come.

(Ame)

"So will you lend us troops and access to your land?" Orochimaru asked the pain who stared at the senin.

"You're bold to assume I wouldn't kill you on the spot after leaving the akatsuki but if this alliance can shake the world to its core and show the world pain perhaps it would be a good Idea. Fine we will lend troops and access through the land of rain for this war but now you walk on eggshells." Pain said his rinnegan flaring as orochimaru smirked as he left.

Everything had more or less fallen into place even if he didn't have the support of Iwa he had more than enough forces between all of the nations he had gathered for his plan.

With only three days left until the chunin exams, Orochimaru was excited for what was about to come.

So fun fact did not expect to finish this chapter this quickly and the next chapter or needs planning so there might be a little wait for the end of the chunin exams.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I'm sure many of you have already figured out what is coming and I hope the teasing and building has people on the edge of their seats. I never did give a final list of the pairings so here it is after much thought and debate it will be

Temari

Fem Haku

Hinata

Ino

Fu

Yugito

Tenten

And Drumroll please dundundundudnun Kurosutchi

How Kurosutchi will fit into all of this will be explained in the coming chapters or two but basically it all ties into the state of the world once we enter the third arc of the story.

Anyways the next chapter will be up soonish It won't be very long, maybe 4,000 words max as I am in the planning stages still for the end of the chunin exams and start of the next arc which will be large chapters in their own right.