Chapter 12

The third Exam - Round of Sixteen

"Will all competitors please make their way to the fighting stage please," the call went out from a young man, Naruto couldn't place his age higher than sixteen. His name was C and he was the proctor of the third stage of the Chūnin Exams. He had short blonde hair and dark eyes. His outfit was very similar to that of their second test proctor Darui with only a few trims of additional colour separating them.

The arena was similar to Konoha's, only it was larger. The stands were crammed with spectators, a group of VIP boxes houses the present Kage's and Daimyos. The aligned spectators, predominantly the ones wearing headbands had their own places to watch from. It was decided it would be best to keep Shinobi from different villages apart so civilians were placed between them to keep them separate.

Minato took his seat with Jiraiya and Kakashi flanking him over his shoulders. He was one of four Kage present, the Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa; Yondaime Raikage, A and the Sandaime Tsuchikage, Ōnoki were also in attendance.

A had Darui and Yugito with him, Rasa had two Suna ANBU and Ōnoki settled for just his son Kitsuchi.

The Konoha section of the stands in addition to the Konoha shinobi who'd made the journey had the collective families of their three competitors, Kushina, Rezano and Minusha while both Itachi's parents and his younger brother were in attendance. They were joined by Tsunade, Shizune, Hiruzen, Gai and finally their sensei Genma, wearing a grin with his trademark senbon held between his teeth.

The sixteen Genin lined up in front of C. The final 16 from the 363 that started in classroom 18. A gave a signal down to C who quickly bowed before turning to face both the crowd and the fighters. "Competitors, travellers, Shinobi, Kage and honoured Daimyos. Welcome to Kumogakure and welcome to the third round of this year's Chūnin Exams. Before me stand the final sixteen Genin who will now compete in one on one bouts until a sole victor stands above the rest."

Turning his gaze on the Genin, "Do any of you wish to take this last opportunity to withdraw?" His question was followed by absolutely nothing, no words, no movement. "Very well, rules are anything goes. The match will continue until your opponent is unconscious, dead or I say so. Ok, let us begin the first bout. All but Uchiha Itachi and Sajin return to the contestant's enclosure." Most of the remaining fourteen simply walked there but a few shunshined.

Hiruzen chuckled, "The mind games have started," he said to those around him. "Yet Tri and Naruto don't play," Shizune noted. Tsunade grinned, "Not quite, they're playing their own mind games. Underestimating an opponent invites defeat and that's exactly what they are doing."
"Despite breaking records in the first and second tests Tsunade-sama? Why would anyone still underestimate them?"
"Because Genin are almost always head-strong Shizune-san," Hiruzen answered.

First match

"Uchiha Itachi, ready?" C asked, he got a nod in reply. "Sajin, ready?" Again another nod. "Competitors ready, Hajime!" C shouted.

Remembering his plan of action Itachi shot forward as the crowd roared as the combat got underway. The distance between the two quickly shrank to nothing, Itachi starting things off with a high kick which Sajin blocked. He couldn't block the second kick in time, however, as the bottom of Itachi's foot was driven into Sajin's chest forcing him to stumble back.

Itachi used the momentum he gained from the kick to backflip, bringing a hand to his pouch he fished out a pair of shuriken and let fly. Again Sajin was able to deal with the first as he leant to his left to dodge but again the second caught him, leaving him with a cut on his right forearm. Itachi landed on his feet, his backflip complete, he whipped his head up and quickly rolled to his right. A kunai flew by a fraction of a second later. Itachi stood in time to block a left hook with a hand of his own then his knee blocked one of Sajin's. To open the space up between them Itachi lunged his head forward, his forehead striking Sajin's nose. Again the Suna Genin stumbled back, it wasn't enough to break his nose but it was enough to make his eyes water for just a moment.

That moment was long enough as a foot slammed into the side of his head sending him to the ground several feet away. Taking advantage of the time he had Itachi wove hand signs, "Katon: Endan," (Fire Release: Flame Bullet). A small ball of fire shot out of Itachi's mouth, again Sajin had to desperately scramble to dodge. The fireball struck the ground near him and exploded launching him into the air.

It looked as if Sajin was about to land head-first. But another kick to the side of the head from Itachi meant he hit the ground back first. The kick had also rendered Sajin unconscious before he'd even made contact with the ground. Itachi jumped away as C shunshined next to the downed Suna Genin, 'Yep he's out cold'. Standing he held an arm in Itachi's direction. "Winner by knock out, Uchiha Itachi, Konoha," he loudly declared as the Konoha supporters cheered.

The Suna supporters in Kumo and back in Suna watching on screens in their own Chūnin arena groaned. Rasa sighed, "It was always going to be a tough ask to defeat an Uchiha. Especially one seemingly as talented as this." His comments brought a general nodding of agreement from those within earshot.

Itachi gave a small wave to his family as he made his way to the contestant enclosure, walking across the arena floor before shunshining up to the enclosure itself. "Well done, Itachi," Naruto complimented while Tri gave him a thumbs up as Itachi sat down next to them.

The fifteen of them that now remained were spread across the enclosure. The Kumo Genin were all in a group at the back, the Iwa trio were sat about halfway up on the left. Naruto was at the very bottom right in the chair closest to the wall that he had chosen to lean up against instead of the chair. Tri wasn't even in a chair, he was sat on the ground right by the edge letting his legs dangle over the edge while he leaned on the railing. The Taki trio were a few rows behind Naruto.

"Will Deidara and Yōrō make their way to the arena floor please," C shouted. "Good luck Yōrō," Fū enthusiastically said to her teammate who gave her a smile in return. Deidara descending the stairs making sure he was just loud enough for everyone to hear him, "Time to introduce you all to my art, Un." The leaf trio looked at one another and they just shrugged. The next two competitors moved to their starting positions just as the medics finished removing Sajin.

The next two combatants stood facing one another. Deidara had long bright blonde hair with a bang covering half of his face. He wore a blue and grey kimono jacket with what looked like a fishnet shirt underneath with grey-brown khaki pants and matching sandals. Around his waist was a belt with a sizeable pouch around his hip.

Across from him, Yōrō had short spiky black hair and black eyes. He wore a dark violet vest with a light violet turtleneck underneath and dark green pants. On the front of the vest, he had two scrolls attached.

"So, what do you suppose is in the pouch?" Naruto asked, "the pouch is larger than most carry so it's probably not kunai, shuriken and the like," Tri muttered, his tone of voice made him sound utterly disinterested.

Second Match

"Deidara, ready?"
"Un," was all he got in reply. Shaking his head, "Yōrō, ready?"
"Hai."
"Competitors ready, Hajime."

Within a split second Yōrō had multiple shuriken in his hand which he threw at Deidara. The three shuriken suddenly multiplied into nine forcing Deidara to dodge left rather than duck. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin, no hand seals either," Hiruzen said to himself. While he was dodging, Deidara had a hand in his pouch. From within he withdrew a small clump of clay that his hand began to eat….

"That's… different," Itachi mentioned as he noticed the tongue sticking out of Deidara's palm. Where a clump of clay had gone in, a small clay bird came out.

"Iwagakure's Kinjutsu, Sensei?" Tsunade asked Hiruzen, "Yes, I think you may be right," he mused, in all his years he had never seen anything like it. "What's the Iwagakure Kinjutsu, I've never heard of such a thing?" Shizune asked out loud. "It's a Kinjutsu technique passed down in Iwa for generations, it allows users to knead their chakra into materials, as to the produced effects I have no idea." Just as Hiruzen finished speaking Deidara let loose the first clay bird. It seemed to be able to fly of its own accord, it massively expanded mid-flight.

Yōrō didn't know what to make of it. He jumped out of the way as the bird hit the ground where he'd just been standing. It exploded. Everyone not wearing an Iwa Hitai-ate was not expecting an explosion with several civilians jumping in their seats. Yōrō found himself launched across the arena crashing hard nearly twenty feet away. Because of the seeming lack of threat, the Taki Genin hadn't jumped far from the bird and thus was caught in the blast.

"Do you understand yet? Un" Deidara asked from across the arena, "Understand what?" Yōrō groggily asked, his ears were ringing to the point he could barely hear Deidara talking, he could smell singed hair and his clothes smouldered.

"Understand that art is an explosion!" the blonde cheered as he launched another bird at Yōrō. This time he threw shuriken at the clay figure causing to detonate early. Any thoughts of a few seconds respite were immediately quashed as two more birds shot through the smoke cloud. Yōrō started jumping back trying to keep his distance and pick off the birds. 'I need to force him on the defensive, I need to get him moving.' He thought as a well-thrown pair of kunai cleaved the wing of one bird, it exploded as it hit the ground.

Seeing an opportunity he let loose another flurry of shuriken, "Shuriken Kage Bunshin." Deidara couldn't see the shuriken coming until late, they were obscured by the dust and smoke. Deidara went wide-eyed as the swarm of moving metal appeared in front of him, he was forced to roll right to dodge them as they lodged in the wall just behind him.

Meanwhile, Yōrō hadn't been able to get properly clear of the other bird as it detonated. This time he was thrown into the arena side wall.

"Yōrō!" Fū worryingly exclaimed jumping up out of her seat.

All the smoke cleared and Deidara found his quarry struggling to stand, the blood was pouring out of his hand thanks to a missing finger. Yōrō's entire body screamed in pain, his hand especially, his vision was swimming but he just managed to focus it long enough to see Deidara preparing another bird, knowing that he could no longer dodge the next one and that it would probably kill him.

"Proctor, I give up," he managed to say before collapsing, his voice hadn't been very loud. Luckily for him, it had been loud enough.

"Winner by concession, Deidara, Iwagakure," C stated to the audience. With the match over the medic-nin rushed onto the field to tend to Yōrō, although one of them searched instead for his missing finger.

"That was interesting, I never expected him to mould some kind of explosive chakra into the clay," Jiraiya mused. All but one of the Kage were weirded out by Deidara having mouths in his hands while Ōnoki was sporting a giant grin. "You have high hopes for him I imagine, Ōnoki?" Rasa asked him. "Of course, anyone who's my student I rate very high indeed." Rasa was taken aback by his comment, "Is that right, I've never known you to teach anyone outside of your family Ōnoki," the Kazekage rhetorically stated.

Deidara had just re-entered the enclosure, he ascended the steps as the green haired Taki girl was giving him evils. He came to a halt as he heard a voice. "Deidara."
"Un?" he grunted, turning towards the voice to find the black and red haired Konoha Genin stood at the bottom of the stairs staring back at him. "Interesting way of expressing art," Tri said to him. "Well what is this," he smirked, "Have I found someone who appreciates my art?"
"I wouldn't say an appreciation, more an acceptance. Art is whatever you want it to be. It isn't this or that, art is this and that. It is all a matter of perspective."

Deidara found himself slightly surprised by his words, the boy looked a little younger than him, yet he was able to articulate his opinion so easily. Deidara actually nodded ever so slightly out of respect, he didn't know he was actually capable of that. "Perhaps I'll be able to properly introduce you to my art later on," he said through his ever-present smirk. Tri just shrugged, "Maybe, but you gotta get past him first," he said pointing at Itachi. As he did, he heard the proctor speak out, "Next match. Uzumaki Tri vs Kanui." With that Tri disappeared with a traceless Shunshin.

There was a reason the Raikage had chosen C to proctor the finals, C was what is known as a sensor and he had superb analytical skills. In this tournament he was as much a spy as a Proctor. Firstly he could provide detailed feedback on the performance of the Kumo Genin competing and secondly he could gather intelligence on the promising Genin from other villages.

Tri reappeared in the arena without a sound. Naruto and Itachi were known quantities, one the son of the Yondaime, the other an Uchiha, Tri on the other hand. "Where did you find this one, Minato-san? He embarrassed the shinobi I had design the seal arrays behind the first test," A asked Minato. "We sort of stumbled across him several years ago, since then he's become part of the family," Minato replied, half answering the question, half skirting round it.

Tsunade squinted slightly looking at Tri, "Sensei, is that.."
"Yes it is, the mind games continue," Hiruzen laughed. Shizune looked at them both in confusion, 'What are they talking about?'

Many of the Shinobi present viewed Tri with intrigue, the senior nin might have known of his existence but even they knew almost nothing about him. The sense of fascination wasn't confined to just those present, it was present in stadiums across the elemental nations that watched on giant screens. In Sunagakure, a figure was leant up against a support column, "All right Gaki, let's see what you've got," they said under their breath.

Naruto and Itachi watched as Kanui stalked his way down to the railing, before he vaulted over it he turned his gaze towards the two of them. "I hope you're ready to see your teammate get put in the hospital," he snarled. However, he didn't get the reaction he wanted, the Uchiha utterly ignored him while the Yondaime's son snorted. His scowl returned as he jumped down to the arena floor below.

Kanui's face was distorted with anger, his eyes trying to bore a hole in Tri's skull, his teeth grinding against one another. Kanui attempted to bring his emotions under control, his sensei had been rather blunt when it came to educating him on the mixing of emotions and combat. He was able to bring his facial expression down to a hateful glare.

Third Match

"Kanui, ready?" C got the smallest of nods in reply. 'Well he looks determined' he noted in his fellow Kumo nin's demeanour. 'He's going to be in for an unpleasant surprise though'. C, just like Tsunade and Hiruzen had noticed Tri's trick.

"Uzumaki Tri, ready?" Kanui spat at the mention of his name which got… nothing, Tri didn't react in the slightest as he replied, "Hai." Nodding at their readiness he raised a hand, "Competitors ready, Hajime!"

Kanui shot forward the moment C's hand began to drop, drawing his katana from the scabbard around his waist. With the blade levelled at Tri's chest he lunged forward aiming to drive the weapon between his ribs, all the while Tri did nothing, standing stock still.

Only when the blade was a foot away did he move, a side step to his left. The katana only pierced his cloak missing his body entirely, much to the collective relief of the assembled Konoha support in the crowd. Tri undid the cloak's fastening around his neck and with a burst of speed he wrapped it around Kanui's head and torso. His opponent blinded, Tri kicked him in the back of the ankle, sending him to the floor in a heap.

Kushina let out the breath she'd been holding as she watched Kanui fight his way out of the cloak, his anger returning. Within a couple seconds, he had cut his way out of the cloak and looked around for his Konoha opposition. He found him leant against the arena sidewall with his arms folded. 'Arrogant little…' Kanui mentally screamed as he formed hand-seals. "Let's see how you deal with this, Raiton: Sanda," (Lightning Release: Thunder). From Kanui's hands came a wave of sparks swarming towards Tri.

Tri observed the wave of electrical sparks heading his way, they cut off many of his avenues of movement and Kanui knew it too, he was already moving to block him in. Pushing himself off the wall, going through a few seals of his own before slamming his palms together out in front of him, "Fūton: Reppūshō," (Wind Release: Gale Palm) the gust of wind from his hands scattered the sparks to his right and centre while Kanui closed in on his left.

Minato's eyes widened slightly at his son's use of a Fūton Ninjutsu, the Yondaime Hokage had also noted Tri's ease of movement, he could also discern that Tri was quick and that he wasn't trying very hard.

Seeing his sparks dispelled didn't deter Kanui as he raised his sword and quickly brought it down, aiming for his blade to bite into Tri's shoulder and neck. It bit into neither, instead, his blade found a wooden log as Tri Kawarimied away, Kanui didn't have time to allow his frustration to boil over as a tag on the log lit up. He went wide-eyed as he recognised the tag, he didn't have time to pull his Katana from the log so he had to abandon it and rush to get clear.

The resulting explosion threw Kanui to the ground. But he'd suffered no injuries he was able to pick himself up and his eyes quickly locked back on Tri but not before he spotted the hilt of his katana some thirty feet away, the blade missing. "You destroyed my sword," Kanui hatefully declared. Tri just shrugged, "It happens." 'He's quick enough to Kawarimi and rig the log with an explosive tag' Minato mentally noted, becoming more and more impressed with every action his son made.

A stand-off ensued, neither budging an inch. Their brief stand-off ended as Tri blinked. In a flash, Kanui fished out several kunai at threw them one after the other. Tri plucked the first straight out of the air, looping his finger through the ring on the end of the handle. With a kunai now in hand, he used it to block all the others before he threw it back. The moment it left his hand he repeated his earlier hand seals, "Fūton: Reppūshō," the gust of air sped the kunai up as it flashed by Kanui.

The Kumo nin hadn't moved, he hadn't had time. He felt a stinging sensation on his left cheek, bringing his hand up he rubbed it against his cheek. Drawing his hand back he found some blood smeared across the back of his hand. Kanui looked back at Tri, his eyes narrowing, he'd never vocally admit it but 'He could have killed me right there'. His anger and bravado, however, quickly returned, "I'll make you pay for that Leaf scum!" This time his actions actually got a reaction as Tri rolled his eyes before speaking, "Well, get on with it then."

That proved the final straw for Kanui as he saw red and blindly rushed forward. "Game over," Naruto mutely said as Kanui pulled back his left fist attempting to punch Tri in the face. He simply side-stepped the punch to his right and ducked under the follow-up elbow. With Kanui wide open Tri punched him in the ribs, Kanui was forced into a misstep as the pain from his ribs reached his brain, Tri followed up with a punch to his now undefended jaw.

The punch would have floored Kanui if Tri hadn't grabbed his arm, pulled him back facing him and delivered a knee to the stomach knocking the air out of him. Kanui was now bent over, but not for long as Tri kneed him in the face which snapped him back up straight. The Kumo Genin was wobbling on his feet, his vision as unsteady as the rest of his body. Tri finished with a palm strike to the nose, the hit jerked Kanui's head back violently as his nose broke.

Seeing he was about to collapse Tri jumped back ten feet to allow the proctor to call the match as Kanui fell backwards, landing on the ground with a thud.

A few seconds passed, the only noises coming from the crowd. In the Kage box the Raikage lowly growled in annoyance, he'd been hoping his villages Genin would best the Hokage's two sons but the first was about to go through, 'Too much to hope for I guess', he could also tell this Tri had barely gotten going as well. Minato remained silent, impressed by his son's brief but violent display.

"Do you wish to call this proctor-san?" Tri asked C who watched Kanui's still form for a few seconds, he was about to call the match when Kanui moved. "I was about to, but seems this one still has some fight in them," C replied as they both watched Kanui groggily get back to his feet, the blood from the cut on his cheek was joined by blood running freely from his nose. Most could tell that Kanui was struggling to stand and that he wouldn't be able to continue fighting in any meaningful manner.

Not wanting it to drag on any longer Tri began channelling chakra into his lungs as he wove hand seals, "Fūton: Daitoppa," (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough). Tri's chest rapidly expanded before he released a powerful blast of wind that easily picked Kanui up and slammed him hard into the wall opposite. The wind held him up, pinned against the wall. As it died down he simply collapsed and this time he didn't get back up.

"How about now?" Tri again asked the Proctor who nodded his head in agreement, "Winner by Knock out, Uzumaki Tri, Konoha," he proclaimed to the audience. Again the Konoha section cheered and this time the Kumo section groaned.

Kushina was having mixed emotions, on one hand, she was happy to see that her son was indeed strong, like many others she'd noticed that Tri was holding back, a lot. But she was also saddened to have missed out on watching him progress for so long, she just knew this feeling would only worsen when Naruto's match took place.

"Not bad kid," C complimented as Kanui received medical attention. "Thank you, Proctor-san."
"Tell me though, you can't be feeling as easy as you made that look, right?" Despite looking absolutely fine, C was certain he'd expended a substantial amount of chakra using his Fūton Ninjutsu. "Well, Proctor-san. Let me put it to you like this," he replied pointing up towards the competitor's enclosure. C followed his arm and quickly noticed a cloak-clad boy with black and red hair hanging his legs over the edge.

"What? How long have you been there?" asked a bewildered C. "Wait, you're a shadow clone?" he asked of the Tri stood next to him. "Yes," the clone replied before dispelling.

Minato went wide-eyed along with many members of the audience as he witnessed what he thought was his son disappear in a puff of smoke. "A shadow clone? The entire time my Genin was fighting a clone?" A asked with a sigh before leaning his head on his fist. Kushina's jaw almost hit Minusha sat in her lap on the head as she watched the clone dispel. She heard Tsunade and Hiruzen laugh, "So that's what you were talking about," Shizune muttered as Rezano tugged on Kushina's sleeve.

"Kaa-chan, where did Nii-chan go?" her youngest son asked. She smiled at him, quickly regaining her composure as she pointed to Tri in the enclosure. "He's there Reza-chan, he actually never moved. He used a Kage Bunshin to fight instead," she explained. Rezano didn't really understand what a shadow clone was but he'd seen his Tou-san use them before, nonetheless his eyes widened in delight, "That's so cool!" he exclaimed making Kushina and a few others around them laugh.

In the enclosure, Kurotsuchi was quietly analysing what she'd just learnt from the previous match. Mean Minato was asking himself questions. 'He fought using nothing but a shadow clone and Fūton Ninjutsu, how much chakra does he have?' 'Is this what Genma was referring to?'
"Impressive," Kakashi added not looking up from his book, Jiraiya only grunted.

With Tri gone and Kanui being stretchered off C called out the next two competitors. "Fū and Omōi to the arena floor."
"Keep a heads up in your match Naruto, I have a feeling your opponent will want blood for what I've just done." Naruto shrugged, "His problem, not mine," he replied as Fū and Omōi made their way to the arena.

Fourth Match

Soon both were facing one another across the arena and what followed was totally one-sided. Omōi tried everything: Kenjutsu, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu. All were utterly ineffective against Fū.

Naruto was shocked by what he'd just witnessed, "Well that was near effortless."
"Yep, not to mention that green chakra surrounding her was impenetrable. She doesn't have a scratch on her."
"She's got Tsunade-Sensei levels of strength as well if the craters are anything to go by. Then there's that green chakra as you mentioned, it radiates out from her." As Naruto and Itachi continued their discussion, Tri just looked on. He gave off the attitude that he wasn't paying attention, the reality, however, was very different as his mind played back what it had just witnessed.

- Moments earlier-

Omōi was breathing a little heavily, his Kenjutsu assault had been utterly ineffective. 'Guess I'll have to try Ninjutsu, my Kenjutsu was useless but.. my Taijutsu was useless too so what if my Ninjutsu doesn't work?' He took a deep breath to calm himself. 'No, now's not the time to overthink things'. With his emotions balanced once more he wove his hand seals, "Raiton: Sandāboruto," (Lightning Release: Thunderbolt).

Omōi rushed forward, his hands to his side. In each palm, a ball of blue-white light appeared and began to grow. As he approached Fū did nothing, she only raised her hands in an X in front of her. The orbs of light began giving off arcs of static electricity as he drew closer. He skidded to a halt several feet away from his green haired opponent, as he did he thrust his arms out in front of him. The electrical discharges arced towards Fū, striking her and the ground around her. The dust cloud it kicked up shrouded her from all those watching.

Thinking he was successful in besting her Omōi grinned and it lasted about a second before a fist connected with his chest, launching him into the far wall. Omōi, however, wouldn't know that he'd hit the wall, the pain from Fū's punch rendered him unconscious in an instant. The speed Fū had moved at completely dispelled the dust hiding her from the audience. Many gasped as they saw the green shroud of chakra surrounding the girl.

Many of the gasps and whispers went from surprise to animosity especially those of veteran shinobi from across the hidden villages. "Demon/ Monster," many said under their breath, not quietly enough, however, as Fū could pick them up with her enhanced hearing. Her anger manifesting as she heard more and more comments, "SHUT UP!" she shouted, stamping her foot, cracking the ground underneath her as a wave of killing intent rolled off her startling many of the present shinobi and leaving some of the civilians cowering in fear.

"Winner by knock-out, Fū, Takigakure," C announced in the hope of avoiding an incident. He breathed a sigh of relief as the green chakra surrounding Fū dissipated and she seemed to calm down. She kept her eyes facing the ground in front of her as she began returning to the enclosure. She didn't look up at the audience that had been so quick to judge and verbally abuse her. She only looked up again as she arrived back in the enclosure to find the black and red haired boy she knew would be her next opponent looking at her.

Her eyes met his and she was surprised that he didn't shy away in fear nor did he look at her with disgust or hatred. Fū didn't even notice she'd come to a halt, eventually, Tri inclined his head ever so slightly to her before turning to face the arena floor again as C's voice called out again.

Fifth Match

"Match 5: Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto vs Shurki. Competitors to the arena floor."

"Don't take too long Naruto, it was tedious enough watching Tri toy with the other Kumo Genin," Itachi asked in a bored voice. Naruto laughed, "Not like you to show impatience Itachi." Truth be told, Itachi was slightly frustrated that he'd learnt nothing from Tri's first-round bout. He'd used shadow clones and Fūton Ninjutsu that Itachi had already known Tri had in his arsenal.

With one last chuckle at Itachi Naruto shunshined to the arena floor, Shurki following close behind, the hatred blazing in his eyes. 'Wonderful' Naruto thought. "Hope you enjoy pain, Dog."
"Didn't your teammate say something similar?" Naruto rebutted earning him a snarl. "You call me a dog, yet you're the one who seems on the brink of frothing at the mouth," Naruto verbally prodded, 'Another little push and he'll lose his calm and with it his self-control'. His jab seemed to have the desired effect as Shurki went red in the face, 'Is he shaking? One more push is all he needs' Naruto laughed in his head.

"Hey Proctor-san, can we begin already? We don't want Shurki here to be late for evening walkies." His comments were met with laughs from amongst the audience. "SILENCE!" Shurki half shouted half screamed, his voice broke halfway through. "For that Namikaze, I'm going to kill you!" A maniacal grin spreading across his face. "Shurki, ready?" "HAI, DAMN IT," Shurki shouted, tightened his grip on his katana's handle. "Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto, ready?"
"Hai," Naruto calmly replied, a tantō in hand. C raised his hand, quickly bringing it down again as he spoke, "Hajime!"

Both immediately charged towards the other. 'His Katana is longer than my tantō so I can't let him dictate combat range since his blades reach is longer than mine but it means I'll be faster.' The two blades clashed with a metallic ring, Naruto attempted to kick out at Shurki's standing leg forcing him to jump back. The Kumo Genin didn't wait around as he rushed back in with a horizontal swing aimed at decapitating Naruto. The blonde ducked underneath the blow 'He's overextended' he thought before replying with a horizontal slash of his own leaving a shallow cut across Shurki's stomach.

"One," Naruto said loudly enough for his opponent to hear as he rolled away. He was up again in time to deflect an overhead strike to his side with the tantō held in his right hand. With Shurki open again Naruto moved his blade to his left hand and reversed his hold before leaving a second long cut on Shurki. "Two." Shurki spun on the spot, trying desperately to bring his blade to bear on Naruto who kept close and kept moving with Shurki so he wasn't facing him. Seeing another opening he slashed again, a third, vertical cut appearing along Shurki's right calf muscle. "Three."

Shurki fell to one knee as the pain in his right leg meant he couldn't stand on it, his reward was a hard punch in the face from Naruto, the blonde quickly jumping back, "Four."
"What are you doing Leaf trash?" Shurki growled. "I'm counting."
"I know that you moron! Counting what?" Naruto smirked, "Openings, I'm counting openings. Four times I could have killed you during that engagement."

Shurki gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet by leaning on his sword as if it were a walking stick. "You'll regret that. I only need one opening and I will kill you with it Leaf trash." Naruto assumed a defensive stance as Shurki came towards him again, 'Good call on going after the leg, he's far slower now'.

Naruto let him draw closer, 'A little closer… now'. In a flash, Naruto reached behind him and drew his second tantō and threw it.

Nobody, nobody expected him to throw it, especially Shurki who had to turn his attention towards blocking it. He took a wild swing to strike it away but before he could turn his gaze back towards Naruto he screamed in agony as he felt a searing pain in his left knee.

Naruto having taken advantage of his successful distraction had shunshined behind Shurki and slashed across the back of his knee, his target was the hamstring tendons, lateral and medial. He knew he'd found his mark as Shurki's knee gave out immediately leaving him in a heap on the floor.

"Game over," Itachi, Tsunade and Kakashi all said simultaneously. "Proctor-san, do you wish to call this?" Naruto inquired of C. The Kumo Jonin looked on for a few seconds, 'I can't see how Shurki can continue'.

"Proctor, don't you dare call this match. I will not be beaten by this Leaf trash. Especially not you, the son of that man," Shurki spat in the direction of the Kage box. "I will not be beaten by the trash offspring of the Yondaime and a whore."

"….." Silence.

A along with the two other Kage present winced. Hiruzen and Tsunade went stone-faced along with the Konoha contingent while Shizune lost control of her lower jaw, Rezano and Minusha were too young to understand. Minato was not happy at all, Jiraiya watched on and Kakashi almost dropped his book. Itachi facepalmed, "Of all the things he could have said, this only ends one way now" he muttered. Tri was livid but Naruto managed to remain calm, Kushina herself was decidedly unimpressed. The other competitors watched on in stunned silence.

Tri pulls his legs back up and stood, "Naruto," he shouted down to his brother, Naruto turned just his eyes up to Tri. "You do it, or I will," was all he said, Naruto gave the briefest of nods before turning his eyes back to Shurki. "You can insult my country, you can insult my village, insult my friends, insult my father, insult me and I might have shown restraint. But one thing I will not abide." As Naruto spoke he leaked more and more killing intent.

"Is insulting my Kaa-chan." Naruto disappeared and before Shurki could ever hope to react Naruto drove his tantō through Shurki's back and out through his chest. As quickly as he'd stabbed him he withdrew it and shunshined in front of Shurki. The blade had punctured a lung, the Kumo Genin quickly began choking on his own blood.

The audience watched on uncomfortably, a growing anger in the Kumo contingent. Kushina shielded Rezano's and Minusha's eyes while Mikoto and others did the same with their children. Naruto just watched Shurki's retching and coughing up of his own blood grow weaker, after a short time Naruto slashed horizontally one last time. Shurki's eyes grew even wider and what colour that remained quickly drained from his face as the tantō cut open his throat. Shurki collapsed and thrashed around for a few seconds before finally falling still in a large pool of blood.

"Winner, Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto, Konohagakure."

'He showed concern and compassion over my injuries during the second test. But would kill over an insult... admittedly he was left with little choice. Interesting, hardly the softy persona that others seem to label the Leaf with.' Kurotsuchi thought, each new development seemed to deepen her intrigue into the blonde as if he were a complex jigsaw puzzle or an unsolved riddle. 'And his brother too, "If you don't do it, I will"… So I guess he would have killed him as well.'

Kushina watched on as Shurki's body was withdrawn from the arena, she'd had many conversations with Genma on their way to Kumogakure, he'd described to her his Genin's strengths and achievements, their conversations had also covered her young sons experiences with death.

-A few days earlier-

The convoy was nearing the north-easternmost sectors of Hi no Kuni, it had been an uneventful journey, 'boring' as Rezano had called it. Minato had so far spent the journey in discussion with Jiraiya, Tsunade and Hiruzen. Naruto and Tri were with Itachi and were part of the convoys right flank guard. So Rezano was left with few people to talk to during the day apart from his Kaa-chan, little sister and his Nii-chan's Sensei.

"Genma-san, there was one final thing I wanted to ask you about," Kushina said to the bandana-clad Jōnin. "What would that be Kushina-sama?"
"How experienced are they with killing? How did they act? How did they deal with it?"

"Far better than I expected Kushina-sama. Naruto was rather sombre for a day or two after taking his first life but he came to terms with it, Itachi was much the same. Tri, however, was absolutely fine, he had no issues with taking his first life whatsoever and he had no phase where he was downcast either. He even had the frame of mind to suggest a change in formation that would better allow Itachi and Naruto to come to terms."

Kushina could gather from his voice that Genma was proud of the three young Genin he'd spent the last year or so training. "So they won't freeze up or hesitate in life or death situations?" Genma shook his head, "No, if they find themselves in a situation where killing became necessary they will not hesitate, they are totally desensitised to it," Genma declared in a voice brimming with conviction.

Killing was the greatest threat to rookie Genin, there was no amount of training that would properly prepare them for taking another's life and many made the mistakes of looking into the eyes as the light faded from them. Many suffered nightmares for some time afterwards so to hear her sons were fine with being so intimate with death reassured her, it also unnerved her slightly, her own experiences of coming to terms with killing for the first time weren't quite so 'pleasant'.

-Back in the Stadium-

Kushina was brought out of her thoughts by C's voice announcing the sixth match. Shurki's body had been removed but the pool of blood remained and her blonde son had already returned to the enclosure.

The sixth match between Kumo's Karui and Iwa's Yama would prove to be a closely fought affair but Karui came through as the winner, forcing Yama to concede the fight.

The seventh match was an all Kumo affair as Atsui and Senba contested an even but somewhat dull affair and was the longest match by far, over twenty minutes of on/ off combat finally ended with a proctor decision giving the victory to Atsui.

"Match 8: Kurotsuchi vs Kegon," C announced. Kegon wasted no time in making his way to the arena floor. "Good luck!" a once again cheery Fū shouted after him.

Kurotsuchi took her time, slowly descending the stairs with a confident smirk on her face. "Good luck Kurotsuchi-san," Naruto teased. She stopped and turned her head enough to make eye contact, "You're eager for me to beat you later, aren't you?" she replied. "Well, truth be told I reckon only you and my teammates are capable of beating me and you're far prettier than they are. So if I'm not to be the overall victor then I'd rather lose to the pretty one," Naruto laughed as he continued teasing.

If he'd been playing closer attention, Naruto might have noticed the brief blush on her face that she quickly fought down. "Well, in that case, you'd better pay attention."
"Don't worry I will be." With that, she jumped down to the arena floor and took her place opposite Kegon. "So this is your granddaughter, Tsuchikage?" The Kazekage asked. Ōnoki only grinned as he watched Kurotsuchi assume an offensive stance. "I take it you rate her highly?" Minato asked. Ōnoki looked at him as if he'd said something incredibly stupid. "Of course I do, she's my granddaughter after all."

Eighth Match

"Kegon, ready?"
"Hai,"
"Kurotsuchi, ready?" Her grin grew, "Hai." Raising his hand for the final time in the first round, "Competitors ready, Hajime!"

Both Genin rushed towards one another, Kegon brought his hands together "Suiton: Mizu Shuriken," (Water Release: Water Shuriken). Flicking one hand over the other produced shuriken made of water, he kept creating more as Kurotsuchi skidded to a halt while flying through a few quick hand-seals before planting them on the ground, "Doton: Doryūheki," (Earth Release: Mud Wall). In front of her, a wall of mud rose from the ground protecting her as all the water shuriken embedded themselves but never penetrated through.

"Doton against Suiton is only going to end one way," Naruto noted, Tri had turned his head to face his brother as he'd started talking, out of the corner of his eye he saw Itachi's three tome spinning, 'Hmm, what are you up to Itachi?'

"If Suiton is all you can do, then you're in trouble," Kurotsuchi shouted from behind her wall. Hidden behind her wall she formed the bird seal as she whispered her next Jutsu, "Doton: Doryūsō," (Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears) Immediately Kegon was forced on the defensive as a phalanx of earthen spikes erupted from the ground and spread out in a wide arc. 'Damn it, I had to get a Doton user didn't I' Kegon griped.

Eventually, the earth spikes came to a halt leaving a section of the arena unnavigable. Kurotsuchi emerged from behind her wall, her hands already going through seals, bringing a hand to her face, "Suiton: Mizurappa," (Water Release: Water Trumpet). "Oh come on," Kegon complained as a large jet of water rocketed from her mouth towards him. Kegon didn't know any Doton Jutsu with which he could counter as he barely dodged the water jet.

"Suiton: Mizurappa," Kurotsuchi called out again as she fired another jet of water towards Kegon not giving him a moment's respite. All he could do was cast the occasional water shuriken at her but any that were thrown on target would miss as Kurotsuchi would move behind her mud wall until it was safe again.

He managed to successfully dodge for a minute but eventually one finally struck him in the side driving him into the wall, "Arghh," he couldn't hold the pain in. "I'll admit, I'm impressed you managed to dodge for as long as you did." Kegon growled at her jibe, the pain in his ribs was near constant, it hurt to breathe, it hurt even more to move, 'Her water trumpet is strong, I think she broke some ribs. And she looks unfazed by the chakra use'.

"Time to end this," she declared jumping atop her mud wall surveying the arena floor now covered in a layer of water several inches deep. "Katon: Endan," (Fire Release: Flame Bullet) she shouted firing a fireball towards Kegon. 'Wait that's not aimed at me, it's aimed at the water? What is she doing?' Kegon wondered as he braced himself. As he was expecting the ball of fire struck the water in front of him, instantly a cloud of steam surrounded him. To everyone else, Kegon had disappeared inside the cloud.

Kurotsuchi formed the snake seal and whispered: "Suiton: Shigure," (Water Release: Drizzle). Kegon was still blinded as the top of the steam cloud began condensing into an actual cloud above him. Suddenly something struck Kegon on the wrist, "Ahh!, the hell was that?" he said aloud, the pain in his wrist was severe but then he was struck again, this time on the shoulder. Within seconds he was being hit constantly, "What is this, rain? Why does it hurt so much?"

'I can't stay here!', his mind made up he rushed to the right, he couldn't go left lest he impale himself on the forest of spikes. He was struck a final time just below the back of his neck as he cleared the steam cloud. Now he could see his opponent and the audience again and they could see him. And he didn't look great, his clothing was tattered and torn, he was bleeding from numerous cuts, he sported many bruises and his breathing was heavy and ragged. "How's your wrist?" Kurotsuchi shouted over to him having noticed he was holding it in his other hand. "I think you fractured it," he bitterly replied.

He didn't have high hopes of besting her to begin with but he was resigned to being defeated now, the injury to his wrist meant he couldn't create his water shuriken; 'My own fault for being a one trick pony I guess' Kegon laughed in his head. 'That's not to stay I'm just going to roll over mind, no, she'll have to work for it'.

'What's he smiling at? I wouldn't have thought he'd have anything to smile about. Anyway, no need to use more chakra from here on out. He doesn't seem able to create more water shuriken with that wrist of his' she deduced before launching herself off her mud wall towards Kegon, Taijutsu would settle the fight.

"This exchange won't take long," Naruto noted to his two teammates as Kegon ducked under a kick aimed at his head, he had lost most of his speed, however. So he couldn't dodge being struck on the shoulder by the second leg as Kurotsuchi changed her angle of attack in mid-air, her second kick coming more vertically than horizontally.

Kegon winced in pain, it was the same shoulder the strange rain had hit moments earlier. Kurotsuchi landed on her hands and spun around on them so she faced Kegon before touching down with her feet. She wasted no time in bombarding Kegon with punches and kicks and with his body hurting all over and with his speed gone and one arm of little use he could barely block much less dodge.

He was struck all over, ankles, knees, hip, ribs, kidneys, elbows, shoulders, neck and head. The fight ended with a chop from Kurotsuchi to Kegon's already injured wrist, crack!. The scream of pain from Kegon was cut off abruptly as he passed out, his pain receptors overloaded.

C quickly appeared next to them both and checked Kegon, with an affirmative nod of the head he stood again, "Winner by knock out, Kurotsuchi, Iwagakure." The Iwa supporting section of the crowd cheered with delight while the Tsuchikage was sporting a wide grin following his granddaughter's display. 'Well done Kurotsuchi, you displayed enough to make the remaining competition take notice but you didn't have to reveal your true ability'.

"That was impressive, not many our age can use more than one Ninjutsu nature, even fewer have the presence of mind to use two in tandem like that," Naruto said to his teammates. "I agree, although it only means the second round will be more interesting than the first," Tri added just as C began to speak.

"Ladies and Gentleman, with that the first round is complete. We'll now take a thirty-minute recess so we can modify the arena floor so it better resembles a battleground. But before you go, the second round matches are as follows. Uchiha Itachi vs Deidara, Uzumaki Tri vs Fū, U. Namikaze Naruto vs Karui and Atsui vs Kurotsuchi." With that C vanished in a Shunshin as the medics finished withdrawing Kegon en-route to the hospital. A team of Kumo nin quickly set to work on changing the arena as the crowd began dispersing to the concourses.

End Chapter