"Bijuken Sentai Retsuranger"
"Tailed Beast-Fist Squadron Strike Rangers"
Chapter 2: "Enter the Crimson Dragon"
Disclaimer: Naruto, Power Rangers, and Super Sentai belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Viz, Disney, and Toei, not me. Furthermore, I receive no material compensation from writing this story, just satisfaction that you've read (and maybe enjoyed) this.
Author's note: The second chapter of Slayer Rangers is kicking into high drive. Here, you will see the other forces behind the Rangers' deliverance to Daijugakure, and you will get your questions as to the identity of Dai Shi's host confirmed. If you're wondering about Haku being a girl, well . . . his gender is rather ambiguous, anyway, but as long as I'm going with him being apparently female . . . you'll get a bit of a surprise there. Now, let's get on with the story.
As the two teams of prospective Daijugakure chunin left the village, Master Mao was in conference with two armored men. One wore black armor with silver accents and a strange ruby in the center of his chest, while the other wore robe-like golden armor and possessed glowing green eyes. They were the Phantom Ranger, guardian of the planet Eltar, and the Sentinel Knight, guardian of the Corona Aurora. Both had fought alongside Ranger teams in the past, and now both of them would watch over this newest set of Rangers.
"The Beast-Fist Strike Rangers have learned much under your guidance, Master Mao," the Phantom Ranger stated in his soft, almost whispery tones.
"But will that be enough for them to stand against Dai Shi?" the Sentinel Knight added in his deeper, more commanding tones.
"That is also a concern of mine," Master Mao acknowledged. "Another concern of mine is Karasu. He is resentful of not being given Ranger status alongside his teammates."
The Phantom Ranger held out a golden pendant resembling a three-pointed claw with an amethyst in the center. "This is a Spirit Amplifier. It serves much the same function as a morpher, only it directly harnesses the power of the user's spirit instead of merely using the spirit to forge a connection to the Morphing Grid. Using this, Karasu will be able to fight alongside his comrades, even if he cannot be called a Ranger."
"How will you get it to him?" Master Mao asked.
"Leave that to me," the Sentinel Knight answered, as the Phantom Ranger gave him the Spirit Amplifier.
"Would the Spirit Amplifier have any relation to your particular transformation method?" Master Mao inquired of the Phantom Ranger.
"Yes," the Phantom Ranger admitted. "It is based on the ruby that empowers me."
With a nod to the Phantom Ranger, the Sentinel Knight teleported away, carrying the Spirit Amplifier. The Phantom Ranger turned to Master Mao and asked, "Do you think your students will fare well against the other candidates for chunin?"
"I'm more concerned about them not revealing themselves as Rangers in the process," Master Mao admitted. "That aside, I am confident that their skills as ninja will see them through. Despite that, I do worry for Naruto . . . these exams are taking place in the village of his birth, which was not the kindest to him in his formative years."
"He will do fine, Master Mao," the Phantom Ranger assured the Zyukage.
Master Mao simply nodded. "You may go now, Phantom Ranger."
The Phantom Ranger nodded, before seemingly vanishing from sight. In reality, he had turned invisible and slipped out of Master Mao's office, leaving the old master to ponder this latest turn of events. He did not doubt that if Dai Shi was not stopped soon, it would mean the end for humanity.
About midway through the Strike Rangers' trip to the Hidden Leaf Village, Karasu was confronted by the golden figure of Sentinel Knight. "I have something for you," the ancient warrior said, extending the hand holding the Spirit Amplifier.
"Is this a morpher?" Karasu asked.
"Somewhat similar in principle, but it taps your own strength, rather than borrowing power from another source," the Sentinel Knight replied. "It's called a Spirit Amplifier. Channel your raven spirit into it, and you will gain incredible might and fighting prowess."
Karasu took the pendant and hung it around his neck, slipping it into the collar of his outfit for concealment. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," the Sentinel Knight said, and vanished again.
Elsewhere on the ship that transported the Strike Rangers, Naruto stared curiously at the morpher on his wrist. So absorbed he was in examining the morpher that he failed to notice Haku coming his way until she was practically on top of him. "Still can't believe it, can you?" she remarked.
Naruto looked up sharply, but relaxed when he saw it was Haku. "Sorry. You startled me, Haku."
"I should apologize," Haku stated. "I did not mean to startle you."
"What do you think about this whole Ranger thing?" Naruto asked.
"Anything that enables me to defend those who are precious to me is a good thing," Haku replied.
Naruto smiled. "I agree with you, Haku."
"Yo, yo, isn't that some romantic stuff right here? Let's hope Naruto isn't queer," Kirabi rapped, utterly ruining the moment.
"Do you mind?" Naruto asked.
"Nope, don't mind at all. Looking forward to the throw-down, y'all?" Kirabi rapped.
Gaara glared at Kirabi. "You might wish to stop."
"Why's that?" Kirabi asked. "You got a problem, eat my hat."
Gaara's glare hardened. "A simple warning among comrades."
"Sure, sure, whatever," Kirabi answered. "Hope you're not under the weather."
As soon as Kirabi and Gaara had left, Haku turned to Naruto. "Are you going to be all right?" she asked.
"You mean returning to that damned village?" Naruto deduced. "I'll live."
"Will you live well, though?" Haku wondered.
Unbeknownst to the two, Yugito was watching them. "Jealous?" Renge asked her.
"No," Yugito replied.
"I know a jealous woman when I see one," Renge insisted. "And you are jealous."
"Don't you have a fish to catch?" Yugito sneered.
Renge smirked. "Maybe green will be your color. You certainly are envious enough for it."
Yugito bit back an angry growl as she watched Renge saunter away. She told herself she was not jealous of Haku's closeness to Naruto Uzumaki. She told herself she did not desire to be in the Hyoton user's place at this particular moment. She told herself her eyes were not focusing on Renge's sashaying hips. Wait, where in the hell had that last one come from?
"Yo, yo, Yugito!" Kirabi greeted. "What's the deal, yo?"
"Kirabi-sensei, do you mind?" Yugito asked, irritated.
"No, no, no, Yugito!" Kirabi replied. "Just wondering if you're aching for some Naruto!"
Yugito glared. "Kirabi-sensei, do you mind if I kick your ass right now?"
"Hey, wait, calm down a bit, shortie," Kirabi admonished. "Let's not get all warty!"
Yugito growled. "Like I told Renge, I am not jealous and I do not desire Naruto Uzumaki."
"Keep telling yourself that, honey," Kirabi remarked sardonically. "Maybe you can get rid of that little snow bunny."
"Why am I not kicking your ass right now?"
"Because you love me. I'm your shinobi sugar daddy!"
"Will you just go?"
"Sure, sure, Yugito! Just remember, you gotta speak up if you want Naruto!"
Yugito groaned in something resembling agony. Of course, spending as much time with the constantly rhyming Kirabi as Yugito did could be considered a form of torture or abuse. Fortunately for her, Kirabi had left, leaving Yugito alone in her "secret to everyone but Renge and Kirabi" observation of Naruto and Haku. She shook her head softly, thinking to herself that she was acting like a foolish little schoolgirl instead of the hardened kunoichi that she really was.
When they reached the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village, they were confronted by the ninja guarding those gates. "State your names, village of origin, and purpose for coming."
"I'm Robert James, jonin of Hidden Beast Village," R.J. introduced himself. "I've brought my genin here for the Chunin Exams taking place in this village."
"Representing Hidden Beast, this is Kirabi," Kirabi rapped. "Got my genin here for the exams, and we'll sting like the bee."
"Naruto Uzumaki, genin of Daijugakure," Naruto introduced himself. "Here for the Chunin Exams."
"Haku Hyoren, genin of Daijugakure," Haku introduced herself. "Here for the Chunin Exams."
"Gaara Sabakumo, genin of Daijugakure," Gaara introduced himself. "Here for the Chunin Exams."
"Yugito Nii, genin of Daijugakure," Yugito introduced herself. "Here for the Chunin Exams."
"Renge Nitokawa, genin of Daijugakure," Renge introduced herself. "Here for the Chunin Exams."
"Karasu Kuronin, genin of Daijugakure," Karasu introduced himself. "Here for the Chunin Exams."
"Show your passports," the ninja instructed.
The eight Hidden Beast ninja obeyed the gate guardian's instruction, showing him their passports. The guardian waved them through, allowing them to pass upon verifying for his own eyes that the passports were not counterfeits. Once inside, R.J. turned to Naruto and asked, "How do you feel about being back here?"
"I just wonder if anybody's gonna recognize me," Naruto answered.
"They probably won't," Gaara said. "Human memory is funny like that."
"We should probably go to where the other genin are meeting," Karasu whispered.
"Good point," Kirabi said. "R.J. and I will get to the Hokage's joint."
"Speaking of the Hokage, I wonder if the old man's still in the position," Naruto mused.
"He might be, he might not be," R.J. responded airily.
As the two teams of Hidden Beast genin and their jonin supervisors moved through the village, Naruto was surprised at the frankly appreciative looks the girls and young women of the village were giving him. He wasn't the only one getting those looks; Gaara, Karasu, and R.J. were also getting appreciative and not-quite-furtive stares from the females of the village. However, Naruto did miss the glowers Haku and Yugito aimed at those girls who were eyeing him, Haku's cold like ice and Yugito's like the fires of hell.
R.J. didn't miss those glowers, though, and allowed himself a smirk. Beside him, Kirabi rapped, "I was right, for Uzumaki she's tight."
"Yeah," R.J. agreed slowly. He turned to the genin. "You know where to go, right?"
"Yeah," Gaara replied.
"Then Kirabi and I will go to Hokage Tower," R.J. said. "You'll go to the meeting place for the genin taking the Chunin Exams . . . and not dilly-dally too long."
"Yes, R.J.-sensei," Haku answered.
With R.J. and Kirabi on their way to see the Hokage, Team Arashi and Team Raiden went their separate ways. As Naruto, Gaara, and Haku walked down the pathway, they spotted five people, two of whom appeared to be in dire straits. Three of the five wore metal bands that marked them as ninja of Sunagakure, Gaara's birthplace and former home, and two of those three were female and appeared to be Haku's age. One of the girls was a teal-eyed blonde with her hair in four spiky ponytails and a large iron fan on her back, and the other was a dark-eyed brunette in a dark brown short dress with fingerless gloves and thigh-high black boots. The boy was dressed in what appeared to be a black suit with a cat-eared hood and his face was adorned with purple tribal makeup.
The cat-suited boy currently had a much younger, much smaller boy by the scruff of his neck, the boy having dark hair tied in a high and spiky ponytail and dressed in a yellow shirt and blue scarf. There was a pink-haired teenager, wearing a band that marked her as a Hidden Leaf shinobi and dressed in a mandarin-collared red shirt and pink skirt over black short shorts; she was demanding that the cat-suited Sand ninja let go of the smaller boy.
Naruto clenched his fists, angered at the disrespectful treatment of the child and the girl. He silently walked over to the distressing tableau, radiating menace as he did so. "It'd be a good idea to listen to the lady," he murmured.
"And who's gonna make me?" the cat-suited boy taunted. "You?"
Naruto smiled, but it was not a beneficent smile. No, this smile was full of promises of broken bones and scalded flesh. "Yes."
"Still the bully, huh, Kankuro?" Gaara's voice spoke from the tree above them. In fact, when they turned to look at him, he was balanced perfectly on the underside of the lowest tree branch, doing a headstand while using his chakra to seal his feet to the branch.
The cat-suited boy, now identified, looked up at Gaara. "Who the . . . Gaara? Where the hell have you been? Everybody in Suna thought you were dead!"
"Is that what Father told you?" Gaara asked sardonically.
"Gaara, where did you disappear to?" the blonde asked.
"Somewhere I could learn to control the beast within me," Gaara replied. He let a small smile form on his face. "How have you been, Temari?"
"We missed you, Gaara," the blonde, now identified, answered.
"I'm sure you did. Frankly . . . I missed you, too."
"Anyway, you mind letting the kid go?" Naruto asked Kankuro. "I don't feel like beating the crap out of you so soon. Need to save my strength for the real tough guys."
Kankuro immediately released the young boy, turning on Naruto, only to be cowed by a small release of murderous intent from Naruto. "I catch you . . . doing anything like that again . . ." the red-clad blond boy threatened. ". . . and I'll shred you like the paper tiger you really are."
Trying not to let on just how unnerved he was by Naruto's threat, Kankuro just said, "Whatever. Come on, Temari, Matsuri. We gotta get to the meeting spot."
As soon as the Sand Trio was gone, the pink-haired girl turned to Naruto. "Thank you . . ."
"It wasn't any problem," Naruto answered with a shrug. "I just can't stand bullies."
The girl looked at the metal band covering Naruto's forehead, specifically eyeing the three-pointed claw symbol engraved in the center. "What village do you come from?"
"Hidden Beast," Naruto replied. "My friends Gaara and Haku are from there, too."
"I'm Sakura," the girl introduced herself.
"I'm Naruto," the red-clad blond offered. "Where's your team?"
"I'm meeting up with them at the place where they told all of us genin who were taking the Chunin Exams to meet," Sakura replied.
"Mind if I walk with you?"
Sakura smiled. "That wouldn't be a problem. Thank you, Naruto."
As Sakura, Naruto, Gaara, and Haku walked to the building where the prospective chunin were supposed to meet, Gaara noticed Haku shooting glares at Sakura. Whispering in Haku's ear, "You can't glare at everyone who shows Naruto some interest. It's very, I must say . . . unbecoming."
Haku turned a dark stare upon Gaara. "I don't like her."
"Dislike her all you want, she hasn't done a thing to hurt you or Naruto so far," Gaara murmured.
Not much more was said between Gaara and Haku after that exchange, but Sakura and Naruto were getting on quite well, much to Haku's consternation. The good times seemed to stop, though, when Sakura asked, "Why did you become a ninja?"
"To defend those who are important to me," Naruto answered somberly. His blue eyes locked upon her green eyes. "What is your purpose for becoming a ninja?"
Sakura looked away, her face flushed but with what emotion was uncertain. "I . . . I did it . . . to be near someone who is important to me."
"How important is this person that you would become a ninja for them?" Naruto inquired. "Would you risk death for them? Would you fight for and alongside them? Would you kill for them?"
Sakura's answer came in a soft whisper. "Yes . . ."
Naruto smiled gently. "Then you'll be ok. As long as you remember who you're doing it for."
No sooner had the four genin had stepped inside the building where the first part of the Chunin Exams would take place than when Sakura called out, "Sasuke! Sai!"
The two boys turned to her, and while both were dark-haired and black-clad, they had significantly different styles. The one that answered to the name Sasuke wore a wide-collared black T-shirt and black pants with black open-toed ninja boots and black leather bindings around his forearms. His hair was styled in such a fashion that the back of it resembled a duck's tail and his dark-eyed stare was full of restrained menace. The one that answered to the name Sai had black hair that limply framed his face and wore a mesh shirt that displayed the lean musculature and pale skin of his frame. His legs were covered by black long shorts with gauze bindings around his calves and he wore black open-toed ninja boots.
"You've brought some interesting people here," Sasuke remarked.
"Ugly, too," Sai added. "Not a looker in the bunch. But then, billboard brow can't have anyone prettier than her around. It'd just show how hideous she is."
"You do realize that's your teammate you're talking crap about, right?" Naruto asked sharply, immediately not liking the pale boy.
"Dickless standing up for ugly," Sai answered sardonically. "It's almost poetic."
"I don't like your attitude," Gaara snarled.
"Screw you, too, raccoon face," Sai retorted tonelessly.
Gaara let out a low growl, as Haku raised her hand to still Gaara's anger. "He's goading you," she warned him.
"And therein, the only one of you that has a dick, and it's a girl," Sai jabbed.
Haku flushed, although it was indeterminable whether the redness on her cheeks came from anger or embarrassment. Naruto's eyes flashed a baleful crimson. "That's it," the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki hissed. "He's going down in flames."
"Naruto . . . don't . . ." Haku warned, but Naruto wouldn't hear it, as he was busy charging toward Sai for the purpose of beating him senseless. He was halted by Sasuke, who had darted between him and Sai.
Naruto looked into Sasuke's eyes and saw that they had turned crimson with three tomoe surrounding each pupil. "Sharingan," he murmured.
"You want a fight, I'll give you one," Sasuke challenged.
"You're not the one I wanna hit, but if you're offering . . ." Naruto answered.
Sasuke's retort to that was a brutal punch that threw Naruto back against the nearest wall. Before Naruto could properly reorient himself, Sasuke was in his face throwing multiple punches, finishing with a brutal uppercut that Naruto could have sworn was tinged with hellish golden flames. Watching the seemingly one-sided slaughter were Gaara, Haku, Sakura, and Sai, three of the four looking with horror and one with disinterest.
The downed Naruto slowly rose to his feet, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Not bad. Not bad at all. You wanna see my moves now?"
Before Sasuke could answer, Naruto swept his leg out in a low kick meant to trip Sasuke, who jumped over Naruto's leg. In response, Naruto continued his spinning sweep and redirected it into a rising roundhouse kick that caught Sasuke in the stomach. Naruto pushed off with his other foot and half-climbed, half-jumped into a flipping kick that crashed against Sasuke's head. This time, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's ankle and threw him, Naruto twisting in midair to land on his feet and primary hand in a crouch.
By that time, of course, Sasuke had darted behind him and aimed a stomping kick for his head. Naruto simply blocked his foot with his forearm and twisted while on the ground into a kick that Sasuke blocked with his hand. The two opponents glared at each other, blue-turning-demon red meeting crimson.
"I have to admit, Dickless is good," Sai remarked.
"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "And I doubt he doesn't have a dick."
"Do you feel that power?" Gaara whispered to Haku.
"Yes . . . it's too maleficent, too thick, and altogether too strong to belong to a human," Haku whispered back.
"Dai Shi," Gaara concluded. "Sasuke's his host."
"Then we'd better find some way to stop this fight before Sasuke, or Dai Shi, decides to stop holding back," Haku suggested.
As it turned out, Gaara and Haku didn't have to intervene, as another Leaf genin team, comprised of two boys and one girl, stepped in. One of the boys was dressed in an obscenely tight green suit with orange arm-warmers and leg-warmers and had a black bowl cut and thick eyebrows. The other boy was long-haired and obscenely pretty, pale purple, almost white, eyes distinguishing him along with bandages around his left side. The girl had brown hair tied up in twin buns and wore a pink mandarin shirt and green pants.
"As entertaining as it would be to see you two fight, save it for the ring," the pale-eyed boy coldly interjected.
Reluctantly, Naruto and Sasuke separated, sending each other heated glares that reminded them that this would not be the end of their conflict. Both rejoined their respective genin teams and, along with the third genin team, went upstairs to the meeting hall where all the prospective chunin were. Of course, they had to get past a genjutsu designed to weed out unworthy competitors first, and that they managed to accomplish with the help of the pale-eyed boy, whose bloodline limit dojutsu allowed him to see past the illusion.
Of course, Naruto just had to introduce himself to all the prospective chunin inside. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. As of this moment, all your asses belong to me . . . and I'll only return them when I'm done tanning them!"
While this merited a great number of glares aimed at Naruto, Renge just giggled. "Well, you're certainly confident. I like that in a man."
Just then, a girl with pale blonde hair styled in a ponytail and dressed in purple with her identifying band wrapped around her waist sidled up to Naruto. "Would you like to at least know the name of the lady whose ass you'll be giving back freshly tanned?" she asked, batting her lashes coquettishly.
"Yeah, I'd like that," Naruto answered nonchalantly. "Besides, it never hurts to know the name of a beautiful girl."
The blonde blushed. "I'm Ino Yamanaka. What's your name, Mr. Tough Guy?"
"Uzumaki," Naruto replied. "Naruto Uzumaki."
While Naruto and Ino flirted with each other, Haku and Yugito stared holes in Ino; or rather, if they were capable of literally burning holes in someone with their eyes, there might have been nothing left of Ino. Sakura also stared at Ino with something resembling jealousy in her eyes.
"You could do better," Sai remarked to Naruto. "But as dickless as you are, I'm not surprised you'd go for a dog-face like her."
"Sai. Try not to be such a prick. You'll get more people to like you that way," Naruto answered coolly.
Unbeknownst to Naruto, a girl with long indigo hair and purplish-white eyes, dressed in a heavy khaki jacket and loose dark purple pants that didn't quite hide her "assets," was watching him with a question in her eyes. Naruto? Is that you?
Beside her, a boy in a hooded gray coat with fang-like red markings on his cheeks and a white-furred puppy inside that coat just rolled his eyes. "Showoff."
"He must either be very brave, very foolish, or very strong to come in with that sort of declaration," another boy beside the indigo-haired girl, this one wearing sunglasses and a trench coat with the collar turned up to obscure his face, remarked.
"He doesn't look that tough," the boy with the markings muttered.
"Kiba, in the world of ninja, nothing and no one is as it seems," the sunglasses-wearing boy cautioned.
Kiba shrugged. "Whatever. I still say he isn't so tough."
Meanwhile, Sasuke cut into Naruto and Ino's flirtation with a cold glance. "You," he spat at Naruto.
"What, bastard?" Naruto retorted.
"Do you really think you're that strong?" This was asked in a cold challenge.
"I know. And I'm not scared of you."
Sasuke chuckled and released a small bit of murderous intent. "Perhaps you should be."
Surprisingly, even that small release of deadly aura caused several genin to nearly fall to their knees and even the stronger genin were somewhat rattled. Naruto just stood his ground and let his blue eyes flash crimson with slit pupils. "You're going to have to try harder than that," the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox holder taunted.
As Sasuke and Naruto had their faceoff, Gaara, Haku, and Yugito looked at each other with trepidation. "Dai Shi . . ." Haku murmured.
"Are you sure?" Yugito whispered.
"Yes," Haku replied. "His aura is too evil, too cruel, and too strong to be anything but Dai Shi. And I can tell . . . this isn't even the peak of his strength."
"We'll have to be careful," Gaara whispered. "If we have to fight him, we fight him as Rangers. He'll be too strong for us to stand a chance otherwise. Lucky for Naruto, he was interrupted before Dai Shi could unleash his greater powers."
Just then, a tall, bespectacled young man with silver hair styled in a ponytail moved closer to Naruto and asked, "Would you mind not making such a scene?"
"And who are you?" Naruto asked.
"Kabuto," the young man replied. He pulled out a deck of cards and riffled through them for a while before stopping at a specific one. "Ah. Sasuke Uchiha. Genin of the Hidden Leaf Village. Teammates are Sakura Haruno and Sai Tenma. Highly skilled in the Uchiha Clan taijutsu, highly skilled in ninjutsu, particularly fire techniques, and somewhat middling in genjutsu. Has taken 23 D-rank missions, 12 C-rank missions, 4 B-rank missions, and no A- or S-rank missions."
"Four B-rank missions?" Naruto asked. "And how did you know I wanted information on Sasuke?"
"I have a sixth sense for these things," Kabuto replied. "You and your team come from the Hidden Beast Village, right?"
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Nothing, really. From what I've been able to ascertain, Daijugakure turns out some very skilled taijutsu practitioners, although it is a very unique style that's said to be hard to learn unless you have some sort of bond with an animal spirit."
"Yeah. We basically channel the spirits of animals into our fighting techniques," Naruto said.
"And you even have a special form of summoning which allows you to physically manifest your animal spirit as a projectile attack that acts very much like the animal your style is patterned after," Kabuto added.
"How do you know all of that, anyway?" Renge asked. "Are you some kind of spy?"
"No, just well-read," Kabuto replied calmly.
Naruto looked out at the crowd of prospective chunin, seeing several with identifying bands that had musical notes as their symbol. He gave a small smirk to a bandaged, almost mummy-like ninja whose eye narrowed with anger, while his smaller, spikier-haired teammate's eyes widened in fear before also narrowing in anger. The dark-haired girl accompanying them both, dressed in an urban camouflage scarf and pants with a gray shirt, looked away from Naruto's intense stare.
"Say, who are those guys?"
"They're from the Hidden Sound Village," Kabuto replied. "Relatively new on the scene, so I don't know how up to snuff they are compared to our shinobi."
That caused the bandaged ninja to stalk over to them and take a swing at Kabuto. While his punch seemed to miss, Kabuto's glasses suddenly cracked and he vomited. "What the hell?" Naruto asked. "How did you –?" The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki cut himself off when he noticed the large object on his arm, a cross between a bracer and a shield with strategically placed holes, like a flute but larger. "That thing on your arm . . . it concentrates and amplifies sonic vibrations, disrupting the inner ear should those vibrations hit their target."
"You're very astute," the bandaged ninja remarked grimly. "Let's hope those smarts make you last a little bit before I kick your ass."
Just as Yugito was about to step in to defend Naruto, a gruff voice announced, "All right, you little bastards, it's time for the first part of your exams!"
Everyone present turned to face a tall, muscular Leaf jonin dressed in a black trench coat over black-and-dark gray clothes. He wore his identifying band on a bandana that concealed his head, and eyes filled with restrained menace stared out of a scarred face. He looked out at the genin who were present and his eyes lit upon Naruto Uzumaki, a darkly gleeful smile forming.
"Hey, kid. You look familiar."
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
"Yeah. Mr. 'I'm Gonna Make Everyone My Bitch.' I like that kind of spirit. You'll get yourself killed soon enough acting like that, but I like it." He addressed all of the genin. "For the record, attacking another genin before the survival and combat portions of the exam start will not be tolerated and will merit automatic failure if done enough times! Now that you understand that, everyone come with me for the first exam!"
Obediently yet nervously, they followed the darkly clad jonin to what appeared to be a classroom, where they all took seats. Haku had managed to get a seat next to Naruto, as had the indigo-haired girl in the somewhat unflattering clothes. Gaara was sandwiched between Sakura and Yugito, while Temari sat above him and Renge and Karasu sat below him.
"So who are you, anyway?" Naruto asked.
"Ibiki Morino," the gruff jonin replied. "The purpose of this part of the exam is to test your actual knowledge of the ins and outs of being a ninja. You start with ten points and nine questions, with the tenth question being a verbal exam in itself. You will lose one point for each question you get wrong. If you are caught cheating, you will lose two points each time you are caught. Those of you who manage to lose all ten points will automatically fail and be forced to wait till the next exam to try again, not to mention that your entire team will fail with you. Am I understood?"
The classroom's occupants stared at Ibiki in shellshock.
"I'll take that as a yes," Ibiki remarked.
End Notes: There you go, the second chapter of Slayer Rangers. You have seen the face of Dai Shi's host and probably gotten your guesses as to his identity confirmed. That isn't going to be the end of it, though; once they get past the written part of the exam, the survival part's going to be full of all kinds of nasty fights. As you can probably tell, things will not play out quite like they did in the original Naruto, specifically meaning Sasuke's interaction with Orochimaru. And with the Ten-Headed Infernal Dragon inside him, Sasuke's defection from the Hidden Leaf may very well happen in this arc. As for other twists, like maybe if Sai didn't know more than he thought he did or if Naruto's gonna end up with a harem . . . you'll just have to read the next chapters. In the meantime, thanks very much for reading and hope you enjoyed.