Chapter Three: Battles of the not-so Chunnin.
"So Squad Seven, who's up first?" Tsunade asked with a smile.
Sasuke and Naruto smirked before looking at Sakura, "Ladies first." They said in unison.
Sakura smiled, "Like always, you two are too chicken to do anything without me lookin after ya." She said with a laugh before leaping high into the air.
From the other side of the arena, a green blur mirrored her movement and together they landed opposite each other in the arena. They turned and smiled to each other.
Gai gave 'nice guy' pose, "Hello Sakura! I see your Flames of Youth has let your grow into a full kunoichi! I hope our battle will be a Youth-filled one!" he said before standing in his Strong Fist Taijutsu stance.
Sakura laughed, "Yeah, I certainly have flames. But I'm not sure youth is the right word to describe them." she said with a smile.
Shizune chose this moment to yell out, "BEGIN!"
Gai stood confidently while Sakura mirrored his stance except with her back arm dangling loosely instead of behind her back.
The two stood in silence for a moment before Gai raised his arm in a block.
*DOOF*
Sakura's afterimage faded as her straight punch collided with Gai's forearm, the green beast grinned, "My Sakura! You are as fast as Lee is!" he said happily before kicking out at her.
Sakura lifted her arm and caught Gai's ankle, "Really? You think he's as fast as me?" she asked with a giggle before using his leg and throwing him away.
Gai rolled with the throw and landed on his feet, "At the moment you are Sakura! But when he uses the eight gates he's as fast as the speed of sound! And as fast as I am!" he said giving a thumbs up.
Sakura smiled and channelled chakra to her feet in her skating technique, causing Gai to gasp as he barely raised his arms in time to block her next punch, "What's wrong Gai-sensei? Getting slow in your old age?" she asked before grabbing his arms and using them as a pivot point, skated in a circle around Gai and landed a kick to his back.
Being the Taijutsu master he was, Gai used the momentum of the kick to start him in a forward roll. He came up into a handstand and kicked back at Sakura, who ducked under the split kick and skated away with a smile.
Gai flipped onto his feet and looked at Sakura in a new light, 'She's extremely fast. I can tell from the way she's moving she is used to fighting at even higher speeds. The question is, how fast is her limit?' he thought before smiling widely.
"Well Sakura, we both now that speed is the forte of our opponent, so why don't we kick it up a notch hmm?" he asked as he took off his cement weights and a chakra weight from each wrist.
Sakura grinned and took off a seal from under her shirt, she pulled her chakra from it and placed it in her pouch. At Gai's raised brow she explained, "There are no weights that are enough to slow me down at full speed. So I use a chakra seal, when it's active I am under ten times earth gravity and this is the second time I've deactivated it since my second year of training." She explained before settling back in her stance and facing off the fastest man alive other than the Raikage himself.
Gai grinned, "This will be a blast!" he said before disappearing in a blur of speed as did Sakura.
The arena was quiet since no one could see anything other than a movement of dust here or there for over thirty seconds.
Sasuke, who had his three tomoe Sharingan active, squinted in concentration as he followed their movements. Barely seeing them as it was, 'Gai sensei has already opened the first gate, and Sakura-chan is using her skating ability near constantly now.'
**BOOM**
Nearly ten seconds later, the ground exploded with a huge uprising of rock surrounding a crater. Sakura appeared in a blur breathing heavily in front of the crater that Gai's body had made.
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The whole room was shaking from the clash of the two Taijutsu users. And from a high shelf fell a container of pens.
One pen fell onto the new electric board inside a room in the arena, turning on the hyper cameras of the arena and sending the signal out to all the new ultra screens set up around the village.
#####
Gai pushed himself onto his feet with a grin, "Sakura, you have grown." He said seriously before crossing his arms in front of him as Sakura took a lower stance that reminded some of the Fourth Hokage.
"SECOND GATE OPEN! THIRD GATE OPEN!"
"FLASH STEP: KAIOKEN!"
As Gai's skin became red and his eyes lost their pupils, Sakura began glowing slightly red and an aura grew around her.
Once again the two disappeared, but now at least twice a second, sonic booms sounded around the arena as each of the two clashed, matching punch for punch and kick for kick.
Naruto whistled, "At this speed even you and I can barely keep up with her." Naruto said to Sasuke.
Sasuke just nodded as his Sharingan span faster, 'This is amazing…I wonder if I can learn to open the eight gates…' he thought.
In a split second, one sonic boom was suddenly much louder and Gai slammed right into the crater once again.
The green beast just smiled, "FOURTH GATE! FIFTH GATE! OPEEEN!" he shouted.
Sakura appeared once again, panting heavily as her Kaioken deactivated, 'Geez, that's much harder to hold after a long time. Now I know why Yondaime-sama only used it for single strikes.' She thought before taking a deep breath as Gai's chakra resonated around the arena.
Gai leapt into the air and kicked forward at Sakura, "DYNAMIC ENTRY!" he yelled.
In the one thirteenth of a second Gai moved forward, Sakura's legs glowed rainbow.
Gai watched in awe as for the first time, someone dodged his kick while having more than a single gate open.
Sakura leant back and let Gai fly past her face as she clapped above her.
As Gai passed her, she clapped her hands under his arms and using her magnificent chakra control, adhered herself to the ground so she fully caught all of Gai's momentum. Bringing him to a stop in midair.
Gai gasped as he was flipped overhead and thrown back where he had originally started, he flipped over expecting to get a moment before he attacked her again, only for Sakura to have taken charge.
He dropped to the ground as Sakura's kick whipped at his chest, he then was using all the speed given to him by the five gates just to stay ahead of Sakura and Radical Good Speed.
Sakura was smiling as she finally got to go hard with her boots, never having to actually try once they were activated, Sakura was thrilled for the challenge.
After nearly twenty seconds, and over eight hundred attempted strikes, Sakura had comfortably engrained Gai to reacting to her kicks since she had only been using her legs to attack. Which is why he was caught so off guard as Sakura reached out and punched him square in the face.
Gai flew back and barely flipped around in time to land on his feet against the arena wall, he quickly folded his arms as he unleashed his restrictions, "SIXTH GATE! OPEEEEN!" he yelled before jumping forward at Sakura once more.
Sakura was getting pushed back as she dodged every single punch and blocked every single kick, all with a smile on her face as she truly had to fight for speed.
Gai suddenly feinted a punch which turned into a handstand so he could kick at Sakura, who blocked the kick with her arms. He used her block as a springboard and flipped back before lifting his arms into the air and punching forward.
"MORNING PEACOCK!" Gai yelled as he threw hundreds of flaming punches at Sakura.
All of the spectators watched in awe as Gai's flaming fists made a colourful array of a peacock tail as his punches were about to connect with Sakura.
"PHOENIX STRIKE: MULTIKICK!" Sakura yelled as her legs were set ablaze and she leapt at Gai.
Two clashed in a display of fire and power, causing massive explosions and sending surges of chakra throughout the arena that shook the audience and the cameras.
#####
More than eighty percent of the village stared at some of the giant screens in awe as the young pink kunoichi stood up to the green beast of Konoha in an amazing display of power. A hunter nin in training gasped at Sakura's yell and flicked through his bingo book.
"Burning Speed the phoenix user is Sakura Haruno?"
#####
***BOOOOOOM***
Sakura and Gai were launched apart from the explosion and in unison, Sakura used her flash step to push off of the air while Gai did the same with the pure force of his chakra.
He swung a final flaming punch as Sakura threw her fiery kick.
Once again they were pushed apart and this time they landed opposite each other in the arena, Gai crossed his arms once more as Sakura's entire lower body up to her stomach and her upper back disappeared in a rainbow glow.
"SEVENTH GATE! OPEN!" Gai yelled before leaping up to the arena wall.
Sakura leapt into the air, dispelling the rainbow cloud as she rose above the arena, taking flight with her wings.
Gai and Sakura paused for a moment, knowing this was the last attack to decide the match. They nodded to each other before channelling their respective powers.
Gai formed an odd hand sign as he leapt up, "AFTERNOOOOON TIGEEEEEERRRR!"
Sakura's feet set ablaze with blue fire before she dove bombed at Gai, flipping over feet first as she yelled her strongest initial bullet kick.
"EXTERMINATING BLAST BULLEEEEEEET!"
The white tiger met with the blue cone of flames and caused a sonic boom that echoed throughout the village, cracking a lot of glass and in some cases shattering some.
As the smoke cloud disappeared, Tsunade looked on worriedly, 'Even I could've been killed by either of those strikes… are they even alive?' she thought worriedly.
The smoke cleared to show Sakura standing over an unconscious Gai in the center of a large crater. People looked on in awe as the fiery pinkette made six hand seals and tears fell from her eyes.
"Phoenix Art: Healing Tears." She said quietly.
The tears on her face rose into the air before dropping into Gai's mouth, mere seconds later, he began coughing before he sat up, looking completely reenergised.
Gai looked around before looking up at Sakura, "What happened?" he asked.
Sakura smirked, "I won." She said before falling to a knee.
The arena broke out into cheers, as did most of the outside village, causing Sakura to smile as Gai pulled her to her feet.
Gai smiled brightly, "SAKURA! YOUR YOUTH IS OVERFLOWING SO BRIGHTLY! I FEEL SO YOUTHFUUUULL!" Gai cheered as he hugged her and leapt up to Tsunade so that she could be healed.
Sakura laughed as Gai dropped into a seat, letting her fall into the one between him and the Hokage, "Tsunade-sama! Please let Sakura go in the Jonin exams! Her Youth is easily at Jonin level! And her flames GLOW SO BRIGHTLAAAAAYYYYY!" he cheered in excitement.
Suddenly, his mouth was taped shut, courtesy of the masked ninja standing behind him, "Quiet time Gai. Tsunade-sama, could you please heal Sakura for me? I don't want my fastest student to be too worn out to watch me fight." He said with an eye smile as he ruffled Sakura's hair.
Sakura smiled up at him, "Your late sensei." She said with a chuckle.
Tsunade smiled, "Looks like it's your turn Kakashi. Your Uchiha is waiting it seems." She said while placing green hands on Sakura's shoulders to let healing chakra through her system.
Kakashi looked up to see Sasuke on the other side of the group smirking at him. In the same second the two leaped through the air and landed in the arena facing each other.
Kakashi eye-smiled, "Well, Sasuke it's been a while. How did your training go?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke smirked as he blinked on his Sharingan, "Pretty good sensei. I may not be as fast as Sakura-chan, but I have my own specialities." He said.
Kakashi nodded, "Let's get to it then."
Shizune, who was shaking nervously at the last show, waved her slightly singed hand through the air, "B-Begin!" she said before using the shushin to appear behind the Hokage.
Kakashi lifted his headband, revealing his Sharingan before he took a low stance which Sasuke mirrored.
The two locked Sharingans as they formed hand seals.
"CHIDORI!"
"RAIKIRI!"
The two held their lightning jutsu for a second before charging each other, Kakashi smirked, 'My Raikiri is ten times more powerful than the Chidori. I'll knock him back before starting a Taijutsu bout.' Kakashi thought as he pulled his fist back.
Sasuke smirked as he slammed his hand into the ground, "CHIDORI CURRENT!" he yelled.
Kakashi hesitated in confusion before the electricity shot from the ground up to his electric charged hand, the two electrical charges collided and formed a spark that shot through Kakashi's system, causing him to lose control of the Raikiri and giving Sasuke the opportunity to kick his sensei in the chest.
Kakashi was pushed back, but he skid to a stop and looked at Sasuke with wide eyes, "You remade my jutsu?" Kakashi asked in shock.
Sasuke smirked and threw his arms out, letting his cloak fly in the breeze as his kusarigama came from his sleeve, "More than that sensei." He said as he grasped the kusarigama, which suddenly solidified into a scythe's shape.
Kakashi looked on in worry, "Well…I guess it's time then." He said before unzipping his Jonin flack jacket.
######
"Hey, that's Sasuke Uchiha!" a Chunnin said pointing to the large screen.
One of the Jonin stared in awe as Sasuke stood, the breeze blowing his cloak as he held his scythe to the side, "But that's the Reaping Hunter! How is a Chunnin the A-ranked reaper?!" he yelled in shock.
The people around the Jonin murmured in shock and amazement as a tokubetsu Jonin landed amongst them, "Boo Yeah! 'Kashi-kun's unleashing the chakra armour!" Anko yelled with a cheer, causing everyone to look back at the screens.
######
Sasuke looked on with wide eyes as Kakashi revealed chakra armour, the masked man eye smiled as he reached behind his back, "And last but not least." He muttered.
He whipped out a small sword that glowed white, "White Light Sabre!" Kakashi said before charging at Sasuke.
Sasuke's eyes span to keep up with Kakashi's movement as he and the Jonin clashed. Sasuke's scythe whipping through the air and Kakashi parrying the strikes and trying to get in close.
Sasuke frowned before stepping up his level, causing Kakashi to be pushed off, 'How is that blade still around? I thought Kakashi destroyed it in the Third war.' Sasuke thought before moving his chakra into his blade.
Kakashi was taken off guard as Sasuke's scythe went limp into it's kusarigama form, Sasuke caught the blade under his foot with chakra then sweep kicked at Kakashi, forcing the copy ninja to leap back. As Sasuke used the momentum of his kick to spin, he launched the blade at the retreating Kakashi.
Kakashi parried the skilled strike, barely saving himself from having the kusa stabbed into his chest. People watched in awe as Sasuke and Kakashi clashed in such an amazingly display of skill.
Sparks flew as their weapons clashed, until Sasuke changed tactics and pulled the blade close, launching out the weight in a wide sweep.
Kakashi didn't have time to move far, so he stepped forward and began ducking. The weight passed behind him but he wasn't fast enough to let the chain move over him, he ended up getting hit in the head and being pushed to the side.
Kakashi rolled with the momentum as he stabbed down at the chain, lodging his sword between the chain links and stabbing it into the ground. He rolled to his feet and ran at Sasuke, using the chance to get in close.
Sasuke frowned as his kusarigama was made near useless, he threw the weight at his sensei to stall for time, forcing Kakashi to leap over it.
In the split second Kakashi was in the air, Sasuke reached down to his belt line that had multiple sealing capsules on it.
Kakashi threw a handful of shuriken to stop Sasuke, but his shuriken were stopped by a large cloud of smoke.
Kakashi landed in front of Sasuke and the smoke before charging forward as his Sharingan span, hoping to see as much as he could see once the cloud dissipated.
Kakashi's eyes widened before he leapt back and whipped out two kunai, using them to defend against the sudden storm.
"NINJA ART: NEEDLE RAIN!"
Sasuke's umbrella that he held overhead began spinning, and from the portion facing Kakashi one hundred needles shot out at high speed.
Kakashi managed to parry of dodge most of the needles, but ended up resorting to the armour. A flash of chakra and there was a bubble around him deflecting every senbon easily.
Sasuke frowned as his eyes analysed the armour, 'Damn, Naruto's design completely eradicated the weakness of the other armour. The only fault I can see would be overpowering its with my own through a jutsu. But there seems to be a manual backup of some sort.' He thought as he sat his umbrella on his shoulder.
Kakashi leapt back, "So Sasuke, how has your Ninjutsu come along? I hope your time with weapons training didn't hinder it." he said as he began forming hand signs and a symbol on his armour glowed, showing the jutsu to be amplified.
Sasuke smirked and subtly channelled the necessary chakra into his umbrella as Kakashi threw his hands forward.
"WATER STYLE: WATER DRAGON JUTSU!"
"WIND STYLE: WIND DRAGON JUTSU!"
Sasuke thrust his umbrella forward as Kakashi took the moisture from the water collection underground. Two opposing dragons formed that clashed in the air, Kakashi's may have been bigger and more powerful, but Sasuke's as sharper and faster. It flew into the mouth of the water dragon and expanded, blasting the water out of shape and causing it to fall around the arena.
Kakashi formed more seals as Sasuke once again showed off his mastery of seals by forming a jutsu with the umbrella.
"FIRE STYLE: FIRE BALL JUTSU!"
"WIND STYLE: AIR FISSURE!"
With a simple gesture of holding forward his umbrella, the fireball cut in two around him before Sasuke pulled his umbrella back and threw it up into the air while forming seals.
"WIND STYLE: UPGRADE BLADE: ONE THOUSAND NEEDLE RAIN!" Sasuke yelled as his umbrella began glowing green and shooting needles all around the arena.
Kakashi channelled chakra into his armour, forming the protective bubble of chakra that deflected all of the needles, Kakashi frowned as he watched Sasuke. Who leapt up and grabbed the handle of his umbrella before attaching it to a clasp on his back with a simple movement.
Kakashi deactivated the shield and frowned, 'He already knew that that wouldn't work, even with that power boost. All that the extra boost succeeded in was covering the field in his needles.' Kakashi thought as Sasuke formed hand seals and began falling to the ground.
"UCHIHA FIRE SEALING STYLE: ULTIMATE FLAME FIELD TECHNIQUE!"
Tiny unnoticeable seals glowed from every single senbon and lines of fire connected the points of each one, causing the arena to look like a web of fire.
Kakashi had to leap and land carefully between a cluster of the flames lines to be safe, he looked up to see how Sasuke was faring only to see the Uchiha standing on his board about two meters above the field.
Sasuke smirked as he pulled out a seal that Kakashi couldn't recognise, "My new technique! Thanks to me finding my own personal blood seal! SEALING ART: FISSION TECHNIQUE: BODY SPLIT!" he yelled as he channelled chakra through the seal and slammed it onto the chest of his cloak.
Kakashi's eyes widened as Sasuke literally split into four Sasukes, 'What?! Those aren't clones! What's going on?' Kakashi thought in fear as the three new Sasukes landed in a gap on the field while the original floated above the field.
The original Sasuke swung his hands past three of the sealing capsules on his belt and threw the unsealed items towards the other three.
Kakashi starred with a frown as the three Sasukes on the ground caught the weapons and took battle positions, 'This can't possibly mean well for me.' Kakashi thought as he got ready to use substitution/shunshin/run like hell or use his armour.
The left most Sasuke swung around his naginata that Kakashi noticed had many seals on it while the Sasuke on the right held a spiked club. The one standing in the middle held a battle fan in a ready position by his side.
The Sasuke on the board smirked and began forming hand seals, "Let's make sensei run, alright Uchihas!" Sasuke yelled.
The other Sasukes smirked, "Yes!" they said before whipping around their weapons.
Naginata wielding Sasuke swung his weapon to his side, pulling on the water around the arena and some from seals on his weapon, "WATER STYLE: GIANT VORTEX JUTSU!"
The one with the fan swung it forward, "WIND STYLE: VACUUM SPHERE JUTSU!"
The one with the club slammed it into the ground, "EARTH STYLE: MUD BOMB JUTSU!"
The Sasuke up in the air finished his hand seals, "FIRE STYLE: DRAGON FLAME JUTSU!"
Kakashi stared at the awesome display of elements, he was cornered as the vacuum sphere sucked in the fire which set ablaze the mud ball, forming a blue flamed mud ball that was burning towards Kakashi. Behind the flaming ball, he could see the water vortex boring down on him aswell, 'Well, only one choice. I doubt even my armour could hold this off.' He said as he closed his Sharingan eye and held a hand seal.
Sasuke smirked, 'Nothing can stop this. It even managed to damage Otouto's half turtle shell.' He thought in victory.
"KAMUI!"
Sasuke stared in shock and disbelief as his unstoppable combination was sucked into a tiny black hole along with all of his senbon. The black hole collapsed on itself to show Kakashi kneeling with his Mangekyou Sharingan watching Sasuke.
All of the Sasukes stared in shock, until the original ripped the seal off of his chest. Within seconds, the other Sasukes seemed to be sucked towards the original before they melded together while Sasuke caught each of the weapons in his hands and mouth respectively.
In a puff of smoke, all of Sasuke's weapons had been sealed away and he stood on his board while crossing his arms, "You have unlocked the Mangekyou Sharingan." Sasuke stated.
Kakashi eye smiled, "So you've noticed." He said before forming hand seals, "I don't have much chakra left Sasuke, so this is how I'll finish it." Kakashi said as his body was enveloped in the white chakra of the Hatake family.
Sasuke's brow furrowed, unsure of what Kakashi was up to, "Guess I'll take this seriously." Sasuke muttered as the tattoo of his stage one curse seal spread over the left half of his body.
Kakashi held his hand out and formed a jutsu that many were shocked to find that he knew, "RASENGAN!" Kakashi exclaimed as his white chakra formed a glowing white sphere.
Sasuke was about to form his jutsu when Kakashi rose his other hand over the rasengan in a way that reminded Sasuke of Naruto's second stage rasengans.
"WHITE RAI-SENGAN!" Kakashi yelled as his electrical chakra merged with the ball and formed a purpley white disc around the white rasengan that cracked with lightning.
Sasuke stared at the evolved rasengan, 'White Rai-sengan…well shit.' Sasuke thought before forming hand seals and holding out his arm which had another seal on the palm.
"DRAGON FIST!" Sasuke exclaimed as his arm was enveloped in dragonic gold flames.
Sasuke leant forward on his board and shot down at Kakashi as Kakashi leapt up at Sasuke.
""HAAAA!""
The two attacks caused an explosion of white lightening and gold fire in the shape of a dragon to form, pushing against each other in a struggle of power until the dragon's mouth opened and from it, one final energy push.
**BOOOOOOOOM**
The explosion launched the two apart, destroying the main walls of the inner arena as opposed to the ground like Sakura's battle did. As the smoke finally cleared, both Kakashi and Sasuke were seen lying on their backs on the ground.
Kakashi looked over at Sasuke, "W-wow. Y-you sure are s-strong Sasuke." Kakashi said with a weak eye smile.
Sasuke scoffed, "Y-yeah. Unfortunately though…" he said as he reached under his sleeve.
"This is only half of my strength."
Kakashi glanced passed the Sasuke that was nearly unconscious next to him to see that another Sasuke now stood on his board and came to a stop between the two combatants.
Kakashi stared at the perfectly clean and capable Sasuke reach down and grasp hands with his Fission Clone. The two morphed back together as the weakened Sasuke pulled off the seal from under his sleeve.
Kakashi chuckled, "So…you're more than double the strength of a Jonin…I think you'll do fine in these exams Sasuke." He said before taking a deep breath and relaxing.
Sasuke placed his hand on Kakashi's chest and Kakashi finally felt Sasuke's new shunshin, 'It's a combination of Genjutsu and Ninjutsu.' He thought as the two melted from existence and appeared in front of Tsunade.
Tsunade crouched and began healing Kakashi, "Congratulations Sasuke, you are definitely ready for the exams." She said as she gave Kakashi enough strength to be able to walk.
Sasuke nodded, "Thankyou Baa-chan." He said with a bow before helping Kakashi into a chair.
Naruto leaped into the arena and glanced around, 'Wow, with this much destruction I wonder how this place is still standing.' He thought with a smirk.
"Are you ready to fight me Naruto?"
Naruto turned and stared in confusion as Hiruzen Sarutobi walked into the arena, looking surprisingly stronger than he did just three years prior, "How…?" Naruto asked in awe and happiness.
Hiruzen smirked in his battle armour that was completely covered in chakra armour, "Prosthetic from my knee down. And I finally learned a certain gift from my monkey summons. I'll be kicking for a while longer." Hiruzen explained before doing an oddly limber cartwheel to show off his healthy body before leaping away with a back flip.
"You ready Naruto?" he yelled as he landed.
Naruto smirked and leapt back as well, "Okay Jiji! Let's go!"
Hiruzen smirked as he formed hand seals, "FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!"
Naruto laughed, "A B-rank? So easy!" Naruto said while pushing his arm forward, "DECAPITATING AIRWAVES!"
The center of the fireball was blown into oblivion and Naruto hopped into the air and through the gap in the jutsu, letting the fireball pass around him. As he fell back to the ground, his eyes widened as an even higher fire jutsu flew at him.
"DRAGON FLAMES BOMBS!"
Naruto channelled Orochimaru's fire chakra and flowed it through the tubes in his arms, "FLAMESTREAMS!"
Naruto swept his arms across his chest, cutting off the dragon flames and causing them to explode as they collided with Naruto's plumes of fire.
Naruto smirked as Hiruzen launched another jutsu, "EARTH STYLE: MUD FLOW RIVER!"
A river of mud spewed from Hiruzen's and launched at Naruto, who formed two hand signs before channelling his earth chakra through his feet, "EARTH STYLE: DEEP PIT!"
A deep pit appeared in front of Naruto which all of Hiruzen's attack flowed into, Naruto then smirked as a shadow grew in front of him.
Naruto whipped Kubikiri Bocho out in his now standard reverse grip and used it's flat edge to block the sandaime's bojutsu strike.
Hiruzen used the momentum to flip before swinging at Naruto from the side, Naruto held his sword out on and angle so that the attack bounced over him as he pushed his hand forward.
"UNIVERSE!"
Hiruzen bent backwards and let Naruto's punch fly over him as he let go of his staff and yelled, "Enma!"
The staff suddenly grew arms that grabbed Naruto from behind, he used his loose grip on kubikiri to swing at Hiruzen, and push the older man away.
Naruto then stomped with his wood chakra, "WOOD STYLE: FOREST CALL!"
A large tree grew from under him, giving him the opportunity to throw off the staff. He then knelt and placed his hands on the small tree as it's branches bent to face Sarutobi.
"WOOD STYLE: BULLET NUTS!"
Sarutobi channelled chakra into his armour and created a shell that deflected all of the nuts as he formed hand seals, "WIND STYLE: GREAT BREAKTHROUGH!"
Naruto leapt behind his tree as all of the iron hard nuts and seeds shot back at him with the wind boost, he waited a moment before glancing to his right to see his sword only just out of reaching distance.
The second the seeds stopped, he leaped towards the sword, only to have to stop as a huge ass ape grabbed it.
Naruto frowned as the ape threw kubikiri across the arena, stabbing it into the opposite side of the arena.
Naruto smirked as the ape became a staff once again and was grasped by Hiruzen, "Well played Jiji."
Hiruzen swung the pole, "Extend!" he ordered.
The pole grew so that it could hit Naruto, who decided to show off his strength. Naruto lifted his arm and grabbed the fat end of the weapon under his arm as he trapped it against his ribs. Naruto then span, ripping the pole from Hiruzen's grasp, then completing the spin, he easily knocked his tree over and picked it up with the pole before swinging both at the aged kage.
Hiruzen leapt up and over the tree before taking the water in it for his jutsu which he launched while in midair, "WATER STYLE: WATER DRAGON JUTSU!"
Naruto let go of the pole and span in place, "KAITEN!" he yelled, completely destroying the dragon upon contact and surrounding him in a ring of water.
Hiruzen landed and formed more seals, "WATER WHIRLPOOL!" he said as he ran at Naruto forming more hand seals.
As Naruto's spin came to a stop, the water rose around him and closed in. Just as Hiruzen pushed his hand at the whirlpool, "LIGHTNING STYLE: THUNDERSHOCK!"
The weak electrical attack surged through the whole water attack, and would've rendered anyone inside unconscious.
"SAMEHADAAAA!"
With a swing of his bandaged sword, the whirlpool was cut completely in half and the electrical chakra was absorbed into the blade. Naruto flipped before holding a single seal.
"WATER STYLE: WATER SHARK BOMB JUTSU!"
The airborne water became three sharks that fell towards Hiruzen, who used a high speed shunshin to appear far away.
Hiruzen panted as Naruto landed amongst his splattered sharks, "Well Jiji, getting tired yet?" Naruto asked.
Hiruzen smirked while subtly pulling out a kunai, "KUNAI SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" he yelled as he pitched the ninja tool at Naruto.
Naruto quickly let Samehada rest on his back before throwing forward one of his large battle shuriken, "SHURIKEN SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"
The two ninja tools clashed, Naruto's breaking through but the kunai being enough to knock them all off coarse enough to miss Hiruzen completely and some of the kunai fit between the shuriken completely, forcing Naruto to leap out of the way or be stabbed.
Hiruzen and Naruto had a small stare off before Naruto smirked, "Y'know I've won this don't you jiji?" he asked.
Hiruzen nodded, "You have. But I am determined to make you fight for it!" he yelled as Enma landed next to him once again in staff form.
As Enma turned back into an ape, Sarutobi formed hand seals, "NINJA ART: SUMMON SYNCHRONISATION!" he yelled as he and his ape began glowing.
Naruto covered his eyes for a moment before lowering his arm, staring in shock as Hiruzen now stood just under five meters tall and was fully ripped with muscle. His feet now resembled a second pair of hands and he had a tail.
Naruto smirked, "So, is that your clan's equivalent to sage mode?" Naruto asked.
Hiruzen-Monkey nodded, "Yes it is Naruto! I am also infused with Enma's abilities!" Hiruzen said before swinging a punch.
His forearm and bicep extended like Enma could and Naruto leapt over the punch, he then flew high into the air while Hiruzen-Monkey formed hand seals.
"EARTH STYLE: FLYING EARTH KNIVES!"
Naruto stood in the air as the small blades of earth tore towards him, he smirked as all the secret flaps on his outfit opened and bones grew out.
"LARCH DANCE!"
Naruto span and flipped through the air, using his extended bones to knock away every single earth blade. After nearly a minute of doing so, he came to a stop to show that not a single one had gotten past him.
Hiruzen-Monkey brought his hands up, "MONKEY STYLE: MACH PUNCHES!" he yelled before punching his arms through the air in a blur.
The punches were hard enough to punch a block of air at Naruto each time, causing Naruto to channel his wind chakra as a defence while spinning.
"WIND STYLE: TSUUGA!"
The resulting green tornado was battered by the punches, but it tore its way down towards the monkey, who crossed its adamantine covered arms over its head. They clashed in a contest of power before Naruto stopped spinning and slammed his palms onto the monkey's arm guards.
The resulting shockwave from his slap separated the two and gave Naruto a clear shot at Hiruzen-Monkey's stomach, which he took as he thrust his hands forward in the completely evolved form of his Flame Rasengan.
"RASENOVA!" he yelled as the red ball of flame impacted his opponent's stomach.
The red ball expanded like a sun would when it becomes a red giant, then the side facing Hiruzen exploded into a firestorm that pushed his back and through the arena wall, completely destroying it.
Naruto pulled his hands back and channelled healing chakra through his arms, 'Damn that hurts! Burning every muscle in my arms is a bitch!' he thought before wondering about Hiruzen, "I hope I didn't hurt you too much Jiji."
"I'd say not."
Naruto turned to see that Hiruzen-Monkey was mid kick, it launched Naruto out of the arena through the hole 'Hiruzen-Monkey' had made. Naruto landed to see that it was in fact a shadow clone that poofed out of existence as he slammed into it.
Naruto growled in frustration before flying up into the air, "That's it! I'm using my new combination!" Naruto yelled as he held his palms up towards the sky.
Hiruzen-Monkey frowned, 'With him at that height I can't hit him with any of my jutsu, especially since I don't have the chakra left for anything major.' He thought as his Synchro jutsu began to waver.
"WATER STYLE: CONDENSATION!"
Hiruzen-Monkey stared in confusion as Naruto used the most basic water style jutsu to form a little water, before his eyes widened at what he saw.
Naruto wasn't making water, he was making dark storm clouds appear over the village. Within a minute it was raining and lightning was cracking across the sky.
Hiruzen, his jutsu collapsed and Enma kneeling by his side, stared in awe, 'Naruto, he's even able to change the weather with such a simple technique!' he thought as suddenly it got cold.
Naruto was shivering as he formed hand seals for his self developed jutsu, "ICE STYLE: FROST BITE!" he yelled.
After a few seconds, it began to snow.
#####
"Mommy! It's snowing!" a little child said with a cheer.
Everyone in the village was either looking up at the clouds or at the screens in shock. Ebisu stood next to Genma and proclaimed, "That kid Chunnin is changing the weather itself! He's making it snow in the middle of summer!" he shouted.
Genma nodded, "That kid is amazing. He's literally managed the impossible." He agreed in awe as he stared at the dot in the sky that was Naruto.
#####
Naruto smiled as he finished thirty eight hand seals and thrust his fists towards the arena, "It's over Jiji! ICE STYLE: BLACK DRAGON APOCOLYPSE!" Naruto yelled as he sent his chakra through the clouds and yelled in exertion.
Hiruzen stared up in amazement as exactly one hundred giant black dragons the thickness of a house dove at the arena, 'I-Impossible! This is impossible!' Hiruzen thought, thinking that he and everyone else in the arena was about to die.
Hiruzen's life flashed before his eyes as the menacing dragons shot at him, only for a small glint to enter his vision.
Hiruzen looked at the glint and gasped as a single tri-pronged kunai flew past him and stabbed into the ground behind him.
*FLASH*
Everyone in the village stared in shock as in a yellow flash of chakra, Naruto appeared with the kunai in hand, making them realise he was the 'Final Flash' that had recently become infamous. He smirked as he placed a hand on Hiruzen's shoulder and looked up, "So I win aye jiji?" he asked with a chuckle.
Hiruzen just stared as Naruto took a step forward and leaned back, aiming his chest up at the oncoming storm.
Naruto chuckled as his body shook as he ripped his shirt apart, showing his grey coloured chest, "Better stop that then. NARUTO NINJA ART: VIOLENT TENDRIL STORM!" he yelled.
From Naruto's chest shot exactly one hundred grey tendrils that sprouted bones while becoming enveloped in a spiral of wind chakra, each tendril stabbed through the heads of each dragon, causing them to burst into simple snow mere meters from destroying the arena itself.
Naruto screamed as the tendrils drew back into his body and the fire from them hit him and spread across the ground in front of him. He fell to his knees and began buttoning up his shirt before falling onto his back.
Hiruzen took a shaky few steps and fell down next to Naruto, who he couldn't even hear breathing, "N-Naruto? That was…" he started before glancing at Naruto's face.
Naruto was holding his mouth, before he burst into laughter, "HAHAHAHAHAAA! JIJI! You looked so freaked out! HAHAA!" Naruto said while rolling around happily.
Hiruzen took a deep breath before laughing himself, "You brat." He said before sitting down next to the still laughing Naruto.
######
Shizune turned to Tsunade, "Tsunade-sama, I think it's safe to say Naruto is more than Jonin level. I don't think we should send him to Kumogakure for the exams though, he could kill everyone." She said worriedly.
Tsunade smiled widely, "Sorry Shizune, but all I can say is fuck that idea right off. The Lightning village decline my offer for a treaty? They can sit in fear as my squad of super Chunnin fuck their shit sideways!" she said before standing, "Naruto get up here now! That was insaaaane!"
Everyone in the arena laughed at her behaviour while they all let off some nervousness about the fact that they almost just got killed by giant dragons made of ice from the sky…
#########################################
Later that day
########################################
"Two things. Firstly, you three are ridiculously powerful. I mean seriously, how the hell did you get so strong in just three years?" Tsunade asked with an awestruck voice.
The Chunnin of squad seven glanced at each other before smirking and answering in unison, "Training."
Tsunade barked a laugh, "HA! No shit! It wouldn't surprise me if the pervert put you guys on steroids or something." She said before calming herself, "The second thing, I am sure you guys are more than ready for the Jonin exams. You can enter the one in winter in five months, it will be taking place in Kumogakure. And seriously, do NOT hold back." She said with a slightly evil smirk.
The three nodded and bowed, "Hai Baa-chan!" they chanted in unison.
Tsunade laughed, "Get going you three, and welcome back officially, life is gonna be interesting with you three here." She said with a smile.
Sasuke and Sakura nodded and moved to leave through the door, they hesitated as Naruto didn't move. He smiled at the couple, "I gotta ask Baa-chan some stuff, you guys go ahead without me." He said.
Sasuke nodded while Sakura waved good bye, "Cya Nii-san." she said as they left the door, closing it as they went.
Naruto turned to Tsunade and smiled, "So, how's everything been Baa-chan?" he asked as he flopped into a chair, resting either of his blades on either side of his seat.
Tsunade raised a brow, "Really? That's what you wanted to ask me?" she asked.
Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, and chuckled, "Hehe, umm, not exactly." He said.
Tsunade smiled, "What do you need Naruto?"
Naruto leaned forward, "Well you see, thanks to Kisame's memories and Zabuza's memories coming together in my mind, I have put together a piece of vital information concerning the seven swords…
######
Zabuza's memory…
Zabuza bowed, "Thanks Sensei." He said before standing straight, showing him to be wearing a Chunnin vest and the standard camo clothed he always wore.
"I told you not to call me that." Mangetsu Hozuki said with a sigh, "And there's no need to thank me. It's just a book that I think you should read."
Zabuza nodded and adjusted kubikiri across his back so it wasn't touching the ground, "You've taught me more about the seven swords than anyone else has. Even if you're younger than me." Zabuza justified before lifting the book, "I'll read it between missions."
….
Zabuza sat reading the book as he read the end of the last page, '…when the swords come together, they can form something greater. This has no recorded history, but it is said the swords can fuse when they…' "What the hell?!"
Zabuza turned the page, expecting it to be double sided, but the sentence just cut off there. Zabuza threw the book to the ground in frustration, 'Dammit! How the hell do the swords join together?' he thought angrily.
######
Kisame's memory
" I don't get it, why do you practise your chakra control so much if Samehada just gives you the chakra it's taken from others?" Kisame asked with a frown.
Fuguki Suikazan stood and turned to Kisame, "Because when I can take the other swords for myself, I will have to join them together to use them as they were meant to be used. And this is why you will be practising with me. It takes two people with incredible chakra control to regulate the fusion correctly. But once it is done once, it is a very simple matter to do so again." He explained before waving to Kisame.
Kisame sighed and took a seat on the water next to Fuguki, letting the waterfall pour over him, 'Stupid fatass with his stupid plans… the swords can't fuse, so what the hell is this geezer talking about?' he thought in annoyance.
#######
"….I've been talking to Samehada about it, and she told me what to do. I was hoping you would help me? You have the best control in the village after all." Naruto said with a hopeful smile.
Tsunade blinked widely before nodding, "I will do my best Naruto, so what do I need to do exactly?" she asked as she stood.
"Copy me." Naruto said as he rose to his feet and placed the two swords across her table, resting them so that the handles faced him. He patted Samehada once, "Now remember, you wanted this so that you could be my main blade. So don't hurt Baa-chan okay?" Naruto asked.
Samehada vibrated a little, "Gigi."
Naruto smiled and looked up at Tsunade, "She's safe now." Naruto said with an encouraging nod.
Tsunade nodded and placed a hand on each of the blades, "Alright, next step?" she asked.
Naruto placed his hands on the handles, "Okay, so we want to keep the form of kubikiri bocho but gain the attributes of Samehada. So I will pass my chakra up through Samehada and you just have to divert my chakra through your system and into Kubikiri Bocho. I'll receive the chakra and the cycle will start again. Understand?" he asked.
Tsunade nodded, "Just like healing, sharing and moving chakra." She said resolutely.
Naruto smiled, "Okay then, ready?" he asked excitedly as he began forming the chakra in his hand.
Tsunade nodded, and the chakra flowed.
At the start, nothing appeared to be happening, until Tsunade began to feel the chakra start to flow needing less and less of her guidance. After nearly a minute of this, the two swords began glowing a dull silver.
Tsunade gasped, "Keep in control baa-chan." Naruto reminded while he concentrated on the task at hand.
Tsunade looked at Naruto, 'Wow, this technique takes a lot of control. I can do it with little difficulty but for someone with Naruto's reserves this must be a strenuous task.' She thought before feeling movement under one of her hands.
She looked down to see Samehada was becoming thinner under it's bandages while kubikiri bocho was glowing brighter and brighter. Nearly a minute later and Tsunade had to close her eyes due to the brightness of the glowing. Suddenly, the glowing was gone.
She looked down to see that Samehada was nothing but bandages and that kubikiri bocho looked completely different.
It still maintained it's shape, but instead of the sleek metal it used to be made of, it had Samehada's teeth. The only other noticeable change was that the handle now ended with a skull like Samehada once did.
Naruto smiled as he lifted the blade, admiring it's quality, "Wow, your beautiful." He said.
The new sword vibrated, "Gigi gi." It said happily.
Tsunade looked down and noticed that the flat side of the blade was now covered by a giant mouth that sat in a grin, with teeth and everything.
Naruto grinned, "So, what do I call you now?" he asked.
The mouth opened and closed, "Giiiii gigigi." It said before the mouth stayed closed and the sword compacted on itself, making all the teeth close inwards so that it resembled kubikiri bocho but with a dark blue metal instead of a silver steel.
Naruto smiled, "So, Samehada Bocho. The Shark Skin Carving Knife, I can live with that." He said before resting the blade on his back, letting it grab on by attaching to his chakra.
Tsunade smiled, "So, mission accomplished?" she asked.
Naruto smiled and nodded, "Perfectly Baa-chan! Though I'll have to get this sheath edited for her." He said while placing his sheath on the desk.
Tsunade smiled, "I'm shocked Naruto, you really are grown up." She said happily.
Naruto grinned and was about to reply when the door burst open and in ran a dishevelled Shizune, "Tsunade-sama! Gaara was kidnapped by the Akatsuki!"
Naruto stared at Shizune in horror before turning to Tsunade, "How did this happen?" Tsunade asked Shizune.
The brunette spluttered as she talked, "He was on a Diplomatic mission to the Sand village, apparently he and the two Chunnin with him were attacked. One of the Akatsuki took away Gaara while the other one attacked the two Chunnin. One stayed behind to stall for time while the other rushed back here to tell us about Gaara-san." she explained in a rush.
Tsunade asked with a frown, "And the Chunnin that stayed behind?"
Shizune looked down sadly, "We haven't heard from Dendei at all." She informed.
Tsunade nodded sadly before talking to Naruto, "Find a team as fast as you can then get going. You're in charge Naruto." She said.
Naruto nodded, "I will save him Tsunade-sama." He promised seriously before turning to Shizune, "Does the sand village know?" he asked.
Shizune nodded, "Apparently Temari-san already chased after them, but she was poisoned and then left for dead."
Naruto nodded, "Alright. I'll be gone in ten minutes." He said seriously.
*FLASH*
######
*FLASH*
"Anyone here?!" Naruto yelled.
He received no answer from inside the house, "Dammit, where next…." Naruto thought with a frown before his eyes lit up, "Those two!" he yelled before flying out the back door and up to the Uchiha flats.
He stopped at the window and smiled as he saw the back of a grey haired male teen, "Kimimaro!" Naruto yelled as he hit the window.
Kimimaro turned in alarm before quickly moving over to and opening the window, "Naruto-san, welcome back. What can I do for you?" he asked politely.
Naruto took a deep breath, "Mission, now! Gaara's been kidnapped!" Naruto explained.
Kimimaro frowned as he nodded, "Where are we leaving from?" he asked.
Naruto thought quickly, "Main village gate in five minutes. I need to find more help, be ready for full combat situations." Naruto said before flying out into the village.
Kimimaro nodded and ran to his room, grabbing his tokubetsu Jonin emblem and grabbing his gear before running towards the gate.
Naruto skidded to a halt in front of the girls' house, "Why the hell didn't I come here first?!" he yelled to himself before knocking on the door loudly, "Is anyone home?!" he yelled.
The door opened to show Tayuya, looking ready for a mission, "Oh, hey Naru-kun. Hina-chan and I were about to step out for an early dinner. You wanna come with?" she asked happily.
Naruto reached forward and grabbed her hand, "I need you two for a mission, it's really important. I'll go get her now. Can you meet us at the main gate in four minutes? Be ready for full battle situations." He said.
Tayuya nodded, "Of course, I'll be there." She said.
Naruto nodded with a smile before kissing her on the lips, "Thanks Tayu-chan, where's she waiting? I'll go get her and then head to the gate." He explained as he stepped back out the door.
Tayuya hummed, "Umm, she's coming from her mansion." She said with a nod.
Naruto nodded, "Okay, cya soon." He said before leaping into the air and flying along the path needed to get to the Hyuuga mansion.
He sent chakra to his eye seal and his face glowed under his hood, he looked for a moment until he saw her, "Hinata-chaaaan!" he yelled as he flew down at her.
Hinata looked up and smiled, she channelled chakra to her feet and leapt straight up into the air, letting him catch her before he turned towards the gate, "Hinata-chan! I need you for a mission." He said over his shoulder.
Hinata nodded and reached into her ninja pouch, "I'm ready Naruto-kun!" she said before pulling out a sealing scroll.
After a minute of flight, Naruto landed just as Tayuya landed next to Kimimaro, "Alright, first you'll head north towards the furthest connection between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, try to look for any signs of the Akatsuki. I will go to the sand village to get some info on where they're going, before retrieving you guys. Then we'll track them down together and save Gaara, okay?" Naruto asked.
Hinata had unsealed her ninja equipment and a survival pack and put them on, "Hai Naruto-kun."
Tayuya tightened her headband around her cap and nodded, "Got it."
Kimimaro nodded, "We're ready Taicho." He said in affirmation.
Naruto nodded and gave each of them a tri-pronged kunai, "Hold onto these and if you need me just channel chakra into them. Now, let's go!" he said before jumping into the air and shooting off with his wind funnels propelling him forward, hoping to do the twenty one hour journey in less than a day.
The girls let Kimimaro take lead and then followed after him through the trees, intent on making it to the border as soon as possible.
######
Chapter end.
Hey everyone! Thanks once again for reading :D hope you enjoyed the little demonstration of team seven's hidden power.
Just wanted to point out that Sakura's strike said 'Exterminating Blast Bullet'. I couldn't really find a way to make it clear without just saying it so I'm saying it now: Sakura has pushed past her limit of the three bullet techniques. They run on her chakra now before it reverts back to the three kicks. Obviously, this was her strongest initial kick.
Anyways, please continue to Read & Review! I need them to live! :D