Naruto the Sharingan Wielder
Chapter XXIV: The Finals Begins
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and the characters
Konoha Hospital
Naruto arrived in the hospital since he never really did like this place because of a near death experience he had in his younger years. As he entered through the main doors, he calmly made his way towards the woman standing behind the desk.
"Good afternoon, do you know which room Rock lee is in?" asked Naruto politely.
The woman raised her head towards the blonde looking at her and locked it together with him. She had that digusted look on her face. "I'm afraid demons like you are not allowed to visit him. You must leave immediately." Sneered the woman.
Naruto was getting tired of the harsh treatments he received, the glares and the names he can simply discard, but this wasn't going to blow over any time soon. He then unleashed some of the kyuubi's chakra in order to change his eyes and his voice.
'You want to try that again?" asked Naruto in his deep tone. The woman winced at his way of talking and watched as she tried to take her eyes off the boy.
"I, I am so s-sorry a-about that sir. Rock lee is in room 203." Said the nurse as she tried to get him to leave.
Naruto quickly made his way towards room 203 to visit Lee since this was a fight in the tournament that caused his opponent to suffer so much damage and pain. As he entered, he can see Lee sitting in a chair with Tenten next to him.
"Hey lee," said naruto as he walked through the door with both teammates smiling at him.
"YOSH! MY ETERNAL RIVAL HAS FINALLY CAME TO PAY ME A VISIT. I PROMISE THAT I WON"T LOSE NEXT TIME!" yelled Lee. Tenten immediately covered her ears and had to bonk at her teammate for screaming so much inside a quiet building.
"I take it that you are feeling a lot better, that's good." Replied naruto
"He sure is. Before I came here, I found him on the ground doing nothing but pushups with his good arm." Sighed Tenten while naruto laughed at his enthusiasm.
"you really should rest, lee. Otherwise, you are going to miss watching me kicking Neji's ass in the finals." Grinned Naruto.
"I WILL DO MY BEST TO RECOVER IN ORDER TO SEE YOUR MATCH. IF I CAN"T, I SHALL DO 1500 LAPS AROUND KONOHA!" yelled lee.
"Why can't I have anyone normal on my team." Sighed Tenten. "I love your new look, naruto, it suits you."
"Thanks, I love it as well." Naruto replied as he rubbed the back of his head. "Glad to know that you are recovering now, I will see you at the finals." He then left the room and continued his training before the finals begins.
Since Naruto had learned how to summon toads, he is now on his way to check out what Team 8 was doing because he couldn't wait any longer. Furthermore, naruto wanted to know how strong they have gotten and if their speed would be enough to help him take on Gaara's sand. Luckily, the seals that he has in his hand might help suppress gaara's jinchuuriki in case if he goes out of hand. Although Naruto himself didn't have any other techniques on hand over the course of his month long training, he has been improving his stamina because if he can avoid the sand for a long time, it would be tiring his body out. As he arrived at the training field, he saw Kiba and Akamaru training.
"Hey naruto, it's been a while. How have you been?" asked Kiba while Naruto petted akamaru on the head.
"Hey Kiba, I am fine. And training with that perverted hermit is fine I guess. How about you?" asked Naruto.
"Whoa! When you said perverted hermit, you don't mean on of the legendary sannin Jiraiya right? You got a lot of guts saying that to a teacher like him. Anyway, Akamaru and I have been training like crazy, but its going well as it can be." Said Kiba as he started to reflect back on his two week regiment.
"I see, but still if you haven't heard, my new teacher writes the smut that kakashi reads. Believe me, he peeps on women in the bathhouses just to expand his crappy research project that he is doing. But aside from that, he taught me how to summon toads during my month off. So I can assume this is the first step in the right direction." Continued Naruto.
"Damn! You really don't have any respect for your elders, do you? How much stronger are you really getting? Because next time when we meet each other in combat, Akamaru and I will not take it easy on you." Replied Kiba as he pointed at his rival.
"Yes, I am sure you will get better and better by the time the finals roll in. Still kind of sucks that you are not able to compete though since Killer Bee took over your spot for the second round of the finals." Said naruto.
"Don't worry about it, Naruto. Besides, I can easily show Killer bee just what I am made of. Besides, he isn't much of a threat anyway due to the fact that his main goal is singing for the fans of his village. N hard feelings, right Kiba?" said Shino as he snuck up behind both Naruto and Kiba, startling both of them.
"Shino! What the hell? Don't sneak up on us like that! When did you get here?" exclaimed Kiba as he held his hand over his heart. Naruto noticed it as well since he had been surprised by the arrival of the bug boy.
"A shinobi should never let his guard down no matter who is behind them. Why? Because that is what being a ninja means. Besides, you don't need to have fear when someone is behind you." Said Shino/
Naruto winced at that response and shrugged it off. "have any of you seen hinata? I wonder how her training is coming along so far?"
"I haven't seen her yet, But Kurenai-sensei tells me that she has been doing great in her training so far. Lucky for her, Hinata made a lot of great friends lately even though she is still a bit shy."
"Look over there, you will have the answer you are looking for." Said Kiba as he pointed towards the entrance of the training field. Naruto looked over and saw Hinata talking and laughing with Ino and Sakura since they were having a great time together. All of them are getting along really well together since both girls are starting to become very serious of their training regiments. Furthermore, naruto was happy for the three of them.
"Hey you three, you seem to be having a good time." Said Naruto.
"How have you been, naruto-kun? How is your training? I bet you are becoming much stronger already." Said Hinata. She already knew that Naruto always performed the best he could when he was being pressured.
"Training is going well so far, But this is only the beginning of what I will be going through when I take on gaara later on before the invasion starts. How about you Hinata? Are you ready to take on Fuu?" said naruto. He knows that Hinata was slightly worried about the blonde getting injured in the first fight against her cousin.
"I am sure you will do just fine, Naruto-kun. According to Kurenai-sensei, my speed has gotten up a little bit, but it still needs a bit more work. I can easily show fuu just how much I have improved since then." Said Hinata confidently.
"We all know you are strong, Hinata. Just show Fuu and your father what you are made of. And I promise you, Naruto will make sure that Neji will recognize you more instead of despising you." Said Kiba. He was certain that naruto will give Neji a run for his money,
"Sure thing, you can count on me to win this match since I got Sakura and Ino to cheer me on. You guys don't mind, do you?" said Hinata.
"yes, of course we will cheer for you. Besides, Sakura and Ino will be more than happy to join us since we invited everyone here. Besides, we should meet again next week." Said Naruto enthusiastically. He always wanted friends to hang out with him since the days in the academy because with his fellow shinobi around, everyone can build up trust and friendship together.
"N-Naruto, I wanted to apologize to you for everything bad that I ever did to you in the past." Said Sakura.
"Stop, please. You have nothing to be sorry for. Let's let bygones be bygones. Besides, I am not worried about it at all since you guys were the first few to recognize me for who I am." Said Naruto.
"But still, I need to…" began Sakura.
"Look, if you want to apologize, just be the best kunoichi that you can become. That will be your way of apologizing, okay?" finished Naruto.
Both Sakura and Ino nodded and decided to talk amongst each other about the past year and their teammates, including the missions that they did in the land of the waves and how they fought Zabuza and Haku. At the end of the story, team 8's jaws dropped to the ground after hearing how dangerous the mission was. No wonder Kakashi's team had grown up so much together.
"We just took on some bandits and thugs, but the shinobis were low level enemy units since kakashi took care of everything from there." Said Sakura.
"Yeah, I took on Gato on my own without letting him kill Zabuza since he was needed back in Konoha to assist me on taking care of Orochimaru. Unfortunately for Sasuke, he refused to acknowledge me as the better fighter and jumped in to tackle the demon without thinking what sort of power he has. He didn't want to rest because he still had enough strength to fight. But kakashi told him to take it easy and even then, he still didn't listen and nearly attacked me. Therefore, I had to knock sasuke out of action and let Itachi handle Gato's thugs while I dealt with the businessman myself." Said Naruto.
"Yeah, we've never seen Sasuke act like this before, he was yelling at us for being losers and weaklings, especially going around accusing the blonde here of stealing his sharingan while saying that we are holding him back from achieving his goal and killing his brother. He warned us that if we didn't stay out of his way, we will feel his wrath. Geez, Sasuke is becoming more arrogant than before. It's like he is a whole different person. He has been threatening me and Naruto in the forest and that's why we had to keep our distance from him." Finished Sakura.
"Forehead, you do not need to take that sort of shit from Sasuke. You are not weak and you are no loser. But can you tell me more about Sasuke's past? Because from what I have heard from Itachi, it seems that he has been trying to stop his brother from going on a rampage and yet he hasn't succeeded." Said Ino.
When they told him that no one knows about Sasuke's past except for him trying to restore his clan after Itachi wiped them out, leaving his brother as the only survivor several years ago. The fact that Itachi had told him to be strong so that he can have revenge must have messed up his head and he became the man that he is today. Naruto chose his words carefully since Ino and Sakura both have a crush on the avenger. He continued to told them about the death of his family and how they adored him for his bloodline had made Sasuke becoming more blood-thirsty for power.
"Now, we got a curse seal that orochimaru gave him in the forest. It is unlike any seal that we have seen since it grants a user a strong power, but at a terrible cost." Finished naruto.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Ino.
"The seal is addictive and if you keep using it, it will take away your soul and try to influence you to doing things that you don't want to do." Finished Naruto sadly. "However, I have at least sealed Sasuke's curse seal and prevented it from going out of control because I do not want him to cause so much damage to the stadium."
"So, if Sasuke doesn't use that seal, he will become normal again?" asked Sakura.
"Think about it for a second, Sakura. When he activated the seal in the forest, he felt its power, he cannot ignore it because he wants to be stronger that way." Said Naruto softly.
"Naruto is right, Sakura. We can only give him the support he needs and with the sannin and kakashi here to keep an eye on the avenger, the seal will depend on Sasuke's will power." Said Anko. "I also have to thank Naruto for suppressing the seal on my neck in the forest as well because like Sasuke, I didn't want to rely on the seal to get power since I have my own ways of using it."
"Anko is right. I mean with that cursed seal running around, the village will be in more danger than before." Replied Kurenai. They also decided to join in on the discussion while Sakura and Ino listened to the explanation that Anko gave before becoming sad that someone like Sasuke had to go through all this pain because of his brother. Anko also told them that Itachi also had an influence on Sasuke since he was responsible for his own life and he could have been a lot more friendlier instead of being a loner.
"We cannot give up on sasuke because of the cursed seal." Said Sakura with tears in her eyes.
"Who said that we are giving up on him? We have to take care of our own and Sasuke will always be one of us no matter how much of a jerk he really is." Said naruto as he tried to calm Sakura down.
"The only thing we can do is to warn you about him so that you guys can be prepared for anything that goes on." Added Kurenai
"Besides, do you guys still think of Sasuke as a friend or an enemy? He is still a fellow shinobi but he isn't a friend anyway." Said kiba.
"I agree with Kiba, sakura. Remember how you told me that Sasuke never helped any of us nor acting as a good friend. We are trying to help you from getting hurt." Said Hinata softly.
"We will not try to say who you can or cannot like but we want you to think about why you like that person and if he is worth all this trouble and heartache," said Naruto.
Ino and Sakura both nodded saying that they understood what everyone was trying to say and will do some thinking on the subject since many of them were shocked at how Sasuke had reacted in the forest and during the prelims since this would require a lot of soul searching because both girls were infatuated with the Uchiha for years now. Furthermore, this will be able to get rid of their unwanted feelings.
Once the six genin had finished the whole afternoon talking and discussing about training and the finals, they decided to move onto their dreams and hopes for the future. Suddenly, Ino had to excuse herself because she needed to go to the hospital to see Chouji after he overstuffed himself with food while the rest of them laughed at how typical this must be for that food obsessed freak since he always eats a lot. When Ino mentioned the hospital, she remembered how badly lee had been injured by naruto during the prelims and felt bad for him after they used such brutal strength. She really hoped that Naruto didn't have to take it that far and hoping that they are going to be all right.
As the gang returned to the hospital, they met up with Shikamaru whom also planned to visit Choji since they were best friends for life. Now that the large group are reunited, this will be their first visit with Chouji since Lee already has someone keeping an eye on him. Furthermore, Lee wasn't to be disturbed since he still hasn't gotten his full strength back yet. Furthermore, they also found Gaara ahead of them and decided to investigate. As they approached him, naruto waved for everyone to stand up as this guy is pretty dangerous since he has sand that can crush anything that stands in his way. As the gang prepared their attack, they could see gaara holding onto Shino and Kiba with his sand attack while Naruto punched gaara right in the face.
"What the hell are you doing? Let my friends go!" said naruto as he tried to calm himself down since he cannot engage the sand shinobi here since there are too many innocent patients that could get hurt. As gaara stumbled back from the sheer force of the punch, Shikamaru had the psychopath trapped in his shadow.
"I am simply trying to prove my existence." Said Gaara unnervingly as he faced the four genin in front of him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" yelled Kiba. He was really nervous about this guy since naruto told him about how felt of that guy. Furthermore, if that blonde wasn't afraid of anything wary about this guy, he needs to be careful since Gaara is pretty strong.
"By killing people, I can let them acknowledge my existence." Replied Gaara.
"Why? Revenge won't solve anything since you won battles before. So what is your reason for trying to kill a shinobi of the leaf? You guys are so troublesome." Said Shikamaru.
"Revenge? Who said anything about revenge? I don't care. I just want to kill someone here that's all." Said Gaara.
"That's all? Do you really know what you are talking about here?" asked naruto as his anger continued to build up.
"If you think you can stop me from killing people here, then I will not hesitate to kill you as well." Said gaara.
"What sort of monster are you?" asked Kiba as he sees the killing intent hitting him.
"Monster? Yes you are right, I was born as monster since I took the life of the woman that was supposed to be my mother. Besides, I was a mistake from the past that people from Suna wanted to get rid of. Ever since my sixth birthday, my father had sent assassin after assassin to try and get rid of me." Said Gaara as he tried to move out of Shikamaru's shadow bind.
"Why would your father do something so horrible to you?" asked Ino.
"Like you Uzumaki Naruto, I also carry a monster inside of me since they tried to make me their weapon, but once they saw what I was on the outside, they tried to get rid of me." Continued Gaara
Naruto was shocked when he heard Gaara's words about him carrying a monster inside of him. Was he also a jinchuuriki? If so then what sort of a life gaara had that made him so psychotic and twisted? Naruto couldn't even believe that his father, the fourth kazekage made a jinchuuriki out of his own son for power since he had no other choice in order to save Suna. What kind of a father would do something so crazy to sacrifice his own son?
"You know, you and I are a lot alike, more than you'll ever know. And like you, I am also hated and feared in this village, but they never tried to kill me. I know it must have been hard for you. The loneliness, the feeling that no one wants you around, and the pain of being rejected so much no matter what you are trying to do. I know that pain very well because it really hurt just to think about it. You are wrong gaara, killing people here only proves them right." Said Naruto as he walked up to the sand shinobi.
Gaara;s eyes went wide when he heard about what Naruto had gone through as he looked at him in the eyes as he saw the same pain he went through via the mirror. If this boy was telling the truth that he was carrying a demon inside of him as well, how is it possible that he seemed so normal? The demon didn't seem to be influencing him whatsoever and he must know what the boy's secret is.
"How do you resist it? How do you ignore the stares and the hate?" gaara demanded.
"It's simple, I resist it thanks to the friends and the precious people that are here. I fight to protect them and that makes me stronger. Now then, I need to set up a seal here since I need to suppress the monster inside of you. I know this will hurt, but you need to relax. If you continue to fight it, the situation will become even worse." Said naruto as he activated his sharingan.
"W-what are you doing? Don't come any closer!" shouted gaara as he tried to launch the sand directly at Naruto, but the blonde easily moved out of the way and made a few hand signs as the seals were locked in place and a barrier appeared in front of gaara.
"What sort of trickery is this? Let me out so I can kill you!" shouted gaara.
"This is not a trick. Hold still!" shouted Naruto "Sound Barrier Seal!" And within an instant, the monster that was inside gaara dissipated in an instant, allowing Gaara to relieve himself of the headaches he had, so that he could calm himself down without unleashing holy hell in the hospital/
"Holy shit! How did you do that, Naruto?" asked Kiba.
As the grandson of the Senju clan and the son of the Yondaime hoakge, I am a seal master just like ero-sennin since I just grabbed several scrolls that had information about sealing and how to prevent the forces of evil from coming back." Said naruto.
"Troublesome, you have the Kyuubi inside of you and you've said nothing all this time?" groaned Shikamaru.
Naruto told shikamaru about how the Kyuubi was sealed inside of him by his parents and about Madara Uchiha since he can easily trust his friends to not tell anyone about his secret without persmission. He also reminded pineapple head that this was an S-class secret and if this was spread all over the place, then there will be dire consequences.
"This is so troublesome. But relax, your secret is safe with us. And we still see you as uzumaki naruto, a friend and a fellow shinobi of the Leaf." Said Shikamaru as he held his hand out.
Naruto was surprised before he smiled back and wiped a bit of tears from his eyes and shook Shika's hand since he has friends that finally accepted him for what he was and that made him really happy. Everyone else smiled at him and thanked shikamaru for being a good friend. A few minutes later, the girls had finished visiting chouji and noticed sand on the floor of the hospital hallway and decided to rsh in to find out what had happened. Naruto immediately told them about gaara and what he was planning, including preventing them from telling anyone about the demons inside of the sand shinobi and Naruto's secrets. The girls were shocked at what transpired here since they made a wise move in visiting chouji or else they would not be able to stop Gaara from trying to damage lee's body even further.
Just then, Jiraiya arrived in an instant and saw the seal placed inside the hospital room. "What happened here, Gaki?"
"I will explain later, but right now, I need you to help me keep Gaara under control." Said Naruto.
"So, this is Gaara of the sand eh? It seems that he is also one of the Jinchuuriki that the Akatsuki are searching for." Thought jiraiya. "All right gaki, I will help you here, but you need to tell the others to move back as this could be dangerous."
"Right." Said Naruto as he ushered his friends out of the room before he headed back inside. "Gaara, I need you to sit in the middle of the scroll please." Said Naruto. "Although I might not be able to remove the seal when it is on you, but I can place a restriction and block seal that will permanently lock away the Ichibi. Basically, you need to force chakra onto the seal in order to activate it and you will not feel any pain."
Gaara immediately took a seat in the scroll and suppressed the sand back into his gourd..
"All right then, I trust you on this. But if this doesn't work, then I won't hesitate on killing you." Said Gaara.
"This may hurt a little bit as the seal is applied onto you."
"I have been used to pain many times, but this won't be an issue." Said Gaara.
"Okay then." Naruto walked up to gaara and placed his hand on the boy's head and a few seconds later, kanji came out from his hands and started spreading across gaara's forehead and the scroll.
"Are you ready?" asked naruto.
Gaara nodded.
"Fujia Hoin (Evil sealing method" – naruto said and in an instant all the kanji began rushing towards his hand from gaara's head. Although gaara winced in pain, he could handle it. After a few minutes, a ring formed around gaara's head as if it is trying to prevent the Shukaku from coming out again.
Naruto removed his hand and Gaara relaxed himself. "all done. How do you feel?"
"The headache is gone now and I can feel my body is back to normal. But we still have a match at the stadium. When we meet in combat, we will show the people of the village who we really are and then, we will make sure that they will not call us the demons anymore." Said gaara.
"Wonderful! I look forward to seeing you in the finals." Smiled Naruto as he shunshined away in an instant as the barrier disappeared.
As Jiraiya watched from the hospital room, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You should probably rest now, gaara. You don't want to get insomnia after what just happened here."
"I understand, master Jiraiya, please take me to the Hokage as soon as possible because we need my siblings and Baki there as well." Finished gaara.
"Of course. I have to remind myself to meet with Naruto later for a journey out of the village." Thought Jiraiya as he and gaara walked out of the hospital.
After everyone finished visiting their friends in the hospital, everyone made a promise to meet once a week so that they can hang out and have some fun. No one had known yet but those meetings are a foundation of a friendship that will become legendary throughout the lands because later, they will rename it, "The Konoha 11" because these are the heroes of the leaf village and thus, everyone will recognize them as the strongest shinobi of this place. Eventyally, they will be role models to kids forever.
Finally, the day of the finals has arrived as the Sandaime Hokage stood on top of the Hokage monument while the guards were busy getting into position in case the invasion was scheduled to begin. Furthermore, Sarutobi had been the Hokage for many years and the feeling in his gut tells him that this will be the last sunrise he will ever seen so he has to make sure he enjoys it to the maximum. The preparations for an eventual attack had been taken but no matter what happens, everything is going according to plan and an evacuation shelter has been set up for the civvies while several chunins were standing by for orders.
Furthemore low level jounins were also stationed all around town hiding and waiting for any signs of Orochimaru's forces while getting the signal that the innocents were cleared out, they will start the counterattack.
The Sandaime closed his eyes about the upcoming fight since this was the worst part of being Hokage because he was worried that this sort of situation will get people killed, but he had no choice since he knows that sacrifices have to be made in order to protect their loved ones and the village. He chuckled as he started to think back to the day that Naruto barged into his office asking if they could have ramen with him or shouting that he will take the mantle as Hokage. The Sandaime was hoping to see Naruto becoming the Hokage in order to bring him joy and happiness.
Speaking of the Godaime, he wanted to appoint a successor but had no such luck since he wanted to consider one of his old students since Jiraiya would never want to give up his sannin status while setting down in the village. He thought about Tsunade since she is not going to take the position after leaving Konoha for a long time. He then turned around to a sound of a familiar voice.
"Hello there, jiji, what are you doing here." Asked Naruto,
"Just enjoying the sunrise and the beauty of our village. What about you?" asked the Sandaime.
"Just trying to calm my nerves for a little bit after what happened in the hospital last night. Luckily, I had placed a suppression seal on gaara to prevent him from unleashing the Shukaku." Said Naruto.
"I see, looks like you stopped another shinobi from trying to kill one of our own. Speaking of which, I had a talk with Baki last night as he told me that the Kazekage of Suna died even before the finals started. Do you know anything about this?" said Sarutobi.
"I relayed a message to gaara telling him to meet you at the office last night since I wanted him to fight normally since he is not acting normal. He is just like me." Said Naruto softly.
"Like you? Oh god, you mean he is also a jinchuuriki?" said the sandaime.
"yup, Gaara told me about it last night and how he wanted revenge for those that despised him. But I told him that killing people won't resolve anything since we had a conversation last night because the Kazekage sealed that monster inside his own son just for the sake of power. But its sad that he died. However, you already know that Orochimaru will attack us and they have manipulated suna into dong their bidding, right?" continued Naruto.
"Yes, I am well aware of that. Suna has been peaceful with us for a long time ever since I arranged a treaty for them. But there is no doubt in my mind that you will be able to show gaara what a true shuinobi really is right? Just give it your all out there and perhaps you will be a chunin for sure." Smiled the Sandaimen as he rested his hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"I will see you at the stadium ji-chan, I need to get Anko here immediately or else she will be sleeping through the whole match." Said Naruto as he disappeared from the Hokage monument.
Several hours later, the stadium was packed with people and Naruto looked around to see the amount of people watching the match that will be going on today since everyone else was excited to see who will prevail in this final round. Also becoming chunin was a small step into achieving the dream of being Hokage since Naruto was feeling nervous about this.
Once all the genins have been assembled here, Bee started his usual rapping while many of the others are polishing their weapons since Dosu was killed during the month before the finals, leaving Zaku and Kin inside the Interrogation room to watch the match unfolding. Furthermore there will be only five matches.
"People of Konoha and esteemed guests, I welcome you to the finals of the chunin exams. Today we will witness how strong our respective shinobi are form their fights and we will determine who will be promoted to chunin. I wish you all good luck as the battle commences. You contestants have made your village proud by advancing this far since no matter what happens, you must remember that a shinobi's strength isn't about how many jutsus that they can do, it is about how to use them in combat. So with that being said, good luck on your matches" said the Hokage.
All the other genins were instructed to leave while naruto and Neji were left to prep for the first match with a new proctor overseeing the match itself. He has a senbon needle in his mouth and a bandana around his head since hayate wasn't able to make it here due to his health issues. Before the match began, Neji pointed at Naruto and said, "Please give up this fight since you are not going to defeat me," he said arrogantly.
"yeah right, like I will really give up that easily. Besides, how do you know that I will lose?" said naruto while starring at him in the eyes
"It is fate that will decide me as the winner from the moment that we will start our battle. You cannot change fate or destiny." Continued Neji
"Fate? Destiny? We shall see about that won't we?" said Naruto.
"you are weak just like Hinata because nothing will change that. I will show you the difference between us and the display of foolishness you've shown against fate itself." Finished Neji as he charged towards Naruto with his byakugan while Naruto dodged as he activated his sharingan. The proctor started the match as the two exchanged blows with each other.
Author's notes: The reason why I didn't want to kill Hayate was because Yuugao wanted him alive so that they can be together since he is too important to her. Furthermore, I've decided to let the Suna shinobi take on the Sound since they were being used by Orochimaru in order to stage the invasion on Konoha. Therefore, instead of killing the Hokage, it will be the sound nin's downfall after the final match is over. Anyway, I decided to stop here since I will continue the match in the next chapter after the Christmas break. Who will be standing in the end and can gaara and naruto combine their attacks against the Sound Shinobi?
Next time: chapter 25: Sharingan vs Byakugan: A Battle of Fate against Destiny! will be released January 2nd, 2016. See you guys then!