The two days passed in an oddly slow way. Akari and the others had technically been the first to pass with Yin and the others finishing not two minutes behind them.
And as Konohamaru had suggested they spent their time resting.
They spent their time relaxing, and recovering. Akari and Azuko needing more bed rest than anything else. The Exam proctors were there but otherwise stayed out of their way for the most part as they were still in the middle of the exam.
But eventually the final day came and Akari, Azuko and Taki were taken to a hall within the tower.
All in all six teams had passed the second exam.
One from Kumo,
One from Kiri,
One from Suna,
One from Iwa,
One from Yoru,
And one from Konoha.
Akari and the others had to admit, it was quite the turn out.
Not only were the other proctors from the first exam present but each team's Jonin sensei as well as the Hokage herself.
She was dressed formally for this occasion in the official Hokage vestments. There was a moment of silence as the eighteen Genin stood awaiting the Hokage's verdict.
Naruto looked at his team. The two days' rest had done them good, but they still looked worse for wear.
And for some reason Akari was wearing a Yorugakure coat.
He leaned to his left slightly towards Ikino.
"Has to be an interesting story behind that," He joked.
Surprisingly enough the usually stoic Ikino actually cracked a smile. "I'll bet."
"First, allow me to congratulate the eighteen of you that successfully passed the second exam." Tsunade said suddenly, gaining everyone's attention.
"Of the thirty teams that entered this exam only six passed. Eight died and the rest simply failed in their objective. Congratulations."
There was an uneasy silence in the room as the information was digested. Ninety entered, eighteen passed and twenty-four died.
To some of the Genin present it was a bit of a shock, to others the information became mere numbers and statistics that were filed away for later use.
"However before we can move onto the third exam we must…thin the numbers." Tsunade continued.
"What do you mean, thin the numbers?" Yin asked.
Tsunade looked at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the assembled Genin as a whole. "Too answer that, I'll have to show my age and give you the long boring version." Tsunade said almost wirily as she took off her Hokage hat.
"The third Exam is a straight up tournament style fight. You will be pitted against each other in one on one style fights until on falls, dead or unconscious or the Exam proctor decides that the fight is too one sided. The reason for this is so that the Lords of your lands will be able to show how strong and accomplished their Ninja are. As such, Lords and Ladies from all over the world will be viewing this event as well as the Kage themselves. Because so many important individuals will be attending this event, there can only be so many combatants and fights. For, as much as many of them would like nothing more than to relax a few days and see a good show they do not have the luxury. As such the mandate for the third and final stage of the Chunin exams is that No more than 12 participants may proceed to the third exam."
"So how do we thin the numbers?" The Kirigakure kunoichi asked.
"I'll let the third Exam proctor discuss this. So unless any of you have any more questions we'll proceed with the preliminary rounds.
"I have one," Akari said as Tsunade stepped back.
"And that is?" Tsunade asked.
"Why do we have to do it this way?"
Tsunade smiled slightly at the young blonds' question. It was simple and to the point, and yet Tsunade found herself stumped for an answer. The young blond standing before here, reminded the elderly Hokage of when the blond behind her had been the one asking questions. And in that thought came her answer. Something so simple it made her smile.
"Politics." She replied with a smile as she stepped back to allow the third proctor to speak.
A young man, around Naruto's age. His hair was pulled back into a pony tail that reminded the remaining Genin of a pineapple.
He lit a cigarette and took a long drag before he spoke. "Hello there. My name is Nara Shikamaru and I will be the proctor for the third exam. I'll keep this short. To thin the numbers we're going to have a miniature tournament right here and now. Each of you will be randomly parred with another Genin in this room, the two of you will fight until one of you admits defeat, is knocked out, or I decide that there is a clear winner. As such I'll ask this once and once only. Are there any of you that believe that you are a unable to compete or would rather not compete at this time? If so I ask you to step forward now."
After a moment's hesitation two Ninja stepped forwards.
A Kiri Nin who had one arm in a sling and a Suna Nin who was using a branch as a crutch, Shikamaru took their names and the two wounded Shinobi walked out of the room.
It was clear that no one else intended to give up after coming so far and so Shikamaru nodded. One of the boards behind him opened to reveal a large TV screen. After a moment of jumbled letters two names appeared on it.
"Mashibi Taki and Yoguji Seruga. You two will be fighting the first match. Everyone else, please take your place up on the balconies above.
Akari and Azuko turned to Taki. She smiled and hugged both of them. "Don't worry I'll be fine. You two head up to the balconies. I'll be with you before you know it."
The two of them smiled and her and nodded.
"Good luck." They said in unison.
They looked at the Ninja who she was fighting. The Suna Nin with the large thing on his back. "Just be careful." Akari said.
Taki smiled at her again. "Oh come on. I'm supposed to be the worry wart here. Now get moving." She instructed.
The two of them nodded and began walking past before Naruto came up. "Take care of yourself Taki." He said in a serious tone. "Remember this is a real fight not a sparring match. Don't go easy on him."
Taki nodded at him. "Sure thing Sensei."
As Naruto and the others walked onto the balcony, Taki and Seruga stepped closer to each other. Shikamaru stood between them and looked at each of them. They were both ready for a fight. Both ready to prove their worth as Shinobi.
"Ready?" He asked them.
"Ready." Both Genin replied.
Shikamaru nodded, "Alright then, begin." As Shikamaru jumped back, so did Taki. She was a mid to long ranged fighter, so she needed to put some distance between them for her strategies to work best.
Seruga reached for the contraption on his back and pulled it in front of him just in time. There was several heavy 'thock's' of metal on wood as Taki sent out her signature jutsu.
The bandages fell away revealing a human shaped puppet with four arms.
"What is that thing?" Akari asked from above as the three of them watched the fight.
"It's a puppet." Naruto explained. "Suna is well known for their use of puppets on the battle field, Taki's opponent is clearly a practitioner of the puppet master jutsu."
"You've seen it?" Azuko asked.
Naruto nodded. "Yea, I've fought with and against many puppet masters. It's going to be an interesting fight to say the least." He said.
"Why's that?" Akari asked.
"The puppet master jutsu is an all ranged jutsu, the users are usually sub par at Taijutsu, meanwhile Taki excels at mid to long range combat."
"What does that mean?" Azuko asked as he lent on the hand railing.
"It means he has the upper hand in this fight." Naruto told them. "While the puppet master jutsu is designed to keep opponents away from the user. It's effectively a distanced close combat technique. And by the looks of that puppet it's made for close combat."
"So what can she do?" Akari asked.
"She's got to think like a Shinobi." Naruto told her. "She's been forced into combat and the opponent has the advantage. She's got to be quick and smart or else she's done for."
Puppet master jutsu eh? Well this will be fun. Taki though to herself as she stared down her opponent. The puppet stood in-between the two of them. Close enough to protect him and far enough away to keep him safe if she tried to fight it in close combat.
So how do I deal with you? She asked herself.
"Gonna stand there all day or are we going to fight?" Seruga mocked.
Taki shrugged. "You're not doing anything yourself mascara boy, so think about your own actions before you criticise someone else's."
Seruga grunted in anger and frustration at the insult she had thrown his way. "Fine, you want some then you can have some!"
He flexed his wrists and the puppet in front of him sprang to life, floating through the air on invisible Chakra strings.
Taki dived to the side and threw a hand full of shuriken at it.
Aside from the constant 'thock' of metal hitting wood little damage was done to the puppet. Seruga smiled at her as he flicked his fingers. Almost instantly the puppet reacted to its master's command. It made a sharp turn, coming after Taki.
At another casual flick of the fingers the puppets upper right hand retracted and a blade popped out. It lunged at Taki with incredible speed; it was nothing short of miraculous that Taki was able to bend under the blade before being skewered.
Still she had little time to dwell on that though. The puppet had made it into close quarters. She swore to herself and kicked the puppet away as hard as she could. Pushing herself in the opposite direction at the same time. She came to her feet and pulled out one of the scrolls that Kurenai had given her.
"Okay then. Let's see how well this works." She made a hand seal but before she could do anything else the puppet was attacking her once again. She rolled forward diving under the puppets blade and coming up behind it. Nimbly she pulled out a set of kunai and slammed them into the puppets shoulder joints.
She then gathered her Chakra into her foot and sent a heavy kick into the contraptions stomach.
There was the distinctive 'crack' as the wooden body of the puppet was damaged a little. As she pulled back from the puppet Seruga's fingers twitched, forcing another hand to switch with a blade.
Taki grunted in pain as she pulled back quicker. Her leg had been cut. Nothing serious, just a light cut along her calf. She'd survive.
As Seruga pulled the puppet towards himself Taki made her attack.
"Ninpo: Shuriken arashi!"
The wave of shuriken rushed at him but Seruga only chuckled. With another, simple flex of his fingers the two blades retraced, replaced by hands. Just as quickly from another simple prompted by its master the puppet held out its hands. The plating on each arm sprang up, standing 90⁰ from the puppets arms. He forced more of his chakra into the strings to activate the mechanisms propyl and a moment before the wave of shuriken hit there was a brilliant flash of blue as the puppets chakra shield was activated, scattering the shuriken in every direction.
"What the hell was that?" Akari all but shouted as the puppet activated its shield.
"It's a chakra shield." Azuko told her. "And a powerful one at that, it's a mechanism within the puppet that allows the user to shield both themselves and their puppet from wide spread attacks like that."
The shuriken bounced off the shield scattering like leaves in a strong wind. Taki smiled. Before anyone could act, she cast the jutsu again, and again, and again. Sending out dozens if not hundreds of shuriken at him. Then she just started throwing them blindly, the constant 'clang'.
"Have you lost it already?" Seruga mocked. "Throwing shuriken won't get you anywhere…" his voice trailed off as he noticed something.
A pattern. 'clang, clang… clang, clang, clang… clang, clang…' even with all of the shuriken falling and bouncing around him, somehow that sequence was constantly repeated. Before he could realise what it was Taki already activated her jutsu.
"Genjutsu: Hagane kōkyōgaku."
As the constant 'clang' of the shuriken colliding intensified the world around him warped. He stumbled to the side and lost his puppets strings causing the puppet to crash harmlessly to the ground.
"A Genjutsu? How?"
Taki smiled, her voice coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. "With the Shuriken," She told him. "A Genjutsu operated off your senses. Which one and the effects it causes are up the caster and the jutsu's design. However of the five senses a Genjutsu works off, sound it the most dangerous. It doesn't even have to be audible to the human ear but it can still trap you."
"I could hear it clear as day!" Seruga spat. "The ringing of shuriken is all around us."
"Ringing?" Taki's voice asked. "No, you have it wrong. The sound the Genjutsu used was the faint whisper of the shuriken moving. The constant changes in their direction created the desired effect , the ringing was just a bi-product."
The next thing Seruga knew the world twisted and bent worse than usual, and then just like that it was over.
"What the hell was that!?" Akari shouted in shock. "What the hell just happened?"
Behind her Naruto sighed. "She wasn't quick enough."
Seruga looked about himself in confusion before he noticed her. Taki was only a few feet from him on her hands and knees, kunai in hand, and vomit on the floor.
It took him a moment to realise what happened. "So the poisons finally kicked in then, 'bout damn time, nearly lost the match."
To the side Shikamaru cracked a faint smile as he took another drag of his cigarette. He had been about to call the match before Taki threw up and lost control of her jutsu.
As Seruga made his way over to the girl she forced herself back to her feet. She was pale and her eyes were dilated and unfocused. Making everything she saw fuzzy and unclear.
She wobbled on her feet, but attacked all the same. If she could land a decisive blow she could still win.
The strike was clumsy and predictable. Seruga side stepped it easily, sending a kick into Taki's stomach.
The girl gasped in pain as the blow connected. She dropped her kunai and staggered back losing her footing. Seruga only laughed as he picked up the fallen knife.
Determined as ever Taki was back on her feet quickly, a second knife at the ready. She lunged again but with the same result. She kept herself on her feet and attacked again.
It was then that Seruga began his own attack.
It wasn't so much of a fight as it was a beating. Taki's co-ordination and reflexes were gone. She could barely stand; it was all she could do to throw another punch.
Seruga just laughed at her feeble attempts to fight. "Oh my god this is pathetic!" He jeered as he continued his attack. "Is this really all a Konoha shinobi can do? You're pathetic! That poison wasn't even anything special. Just a low dose tranquilizer designed to impede motor skills. Jesus you must have no stamina if it got you this bad."
He sent a heavy fist against her jaw and Taki blacked out.
"I'm calling the match." Shikamaru called out. "The winner is Yoguji Seruga."
But Seruga was in his own little world. In an instant he brought the knife down on the unconscious girl's chest. Both Naruto and Shikamaru saw the action and made to intercept the blow but then Taki's body simply vanished.
As hand Akari.
The two of them were at the far end of the assembly hall next to the door. Naruto gawked.
How the hell did she do that? He asked himself.
Before anything else could be said or done Taki started to convulse.
"Medic!" Akari shouted in panic as she set her friend down. The medical corps was there in seconds. And within moments Taki's convulsions had stopped.
As Naruto and Azuko came up to join them the head medic stepped away from her.
"So you're her squad?" He asked.
The three of them nodded.
"She'll be fine." The Medic assured them. "She has however had a severe allergic reaction to the poison. It's nothing we can't handle but she'll need a few days of bed rest before she'd back on her feet.
The three of them nodded and turned to go. They might have even let the situation be had Seruga decided to keep his mouth shut.
"Pathetic, how could such a weak shinobi even be considered for Chūnin. Akari's ears twitched and she sent the young Suna Nin a particularly scathing look. Naruto went to say something but before he could say anything Akari vanished again.
There was a stunned silence throughout the room as the girl reappeared behind Seruga, leaning against his back casually twiddling a kunai in her fingers.
"Shizune, could you follow that?" Tsunade asked.
Shizune shook her head. "No, Lady Hokage."
Tsunade allowed herself to smile. "I think we've found a shinobi of some skill with her."
"You know I can't really say anything about the use of poisons in a fight," Akari began in a surprisingly causal tone. "After all, its standard tactic that most Shinobi employ, as is assassination, You know, sneaking in at night and slitting their throat, leaving before they even know they've been killed. It's how a shinobi should operate, quiet and quick. Not loud and stupid. So for the record, I don't give a damn how you fight your fights, in our world results take a back seat to honour. However," She said in a more serious tone. "That doesn't mean I'll put up with some ass hole like you bad mouthing my friend because he got lucky. So I hear one more word from you that is in anyway demeaning or insulting of my friend, then I'll show you just how a Shinobi should operate."
"Who the hell do you think you-." Seruga began angrily.
"Look down." Akari interrupted.
A look of confusion passed over Seruga's face before he did what she had told him to do. When he did his heart leapt into his throat.
There imbedded in the floor around him was a ring of Kunai knives, edge to edge in a perfect circle around him. Each one hand been meticulously and carefully placed. And he hadn't even noticed it until just now.
Taking the silence as a queue that her message had been received Akari stepped away from him. "Just because you beat your opponent doesn't mean you can look down on them." She told him before appearing on the balcony where she had been earlier. Seruga's mouth was dry as he made his way back to his squad. His heart hammering in his ears every step of the way.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP FRIENDLIES!
Sorry I've been gone so long. Been busy with stuff, of a semi professional nature, which I shall spam shamelessly once it's worth spaning. short version, working on a series with a friend. Its gonna be awesome.
So, sorry for such a long absence and hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Until nest time I wish you all the best.Yours truly.
Nicolai Grey.