Next chapter, the final task.
Jiraya hadn't wanted to go to the last task of the chunin exam. He wasn't violently opposed to it but his old apartment in Konoha was comfortable if old and he never claimed to be anything but a hedonist, who indulged his whims more often than not. Then again, it wasn't just out of pure laziness that he had wanted to avoid the arena. He just knew that witnessing the fights would leave him in an unpleasant mood. For most in the audience the task was an enjoyable and exciting spectacle, a way to judge future shinobis. For the shinobi it was an important ritual, a kind of rite of passage in a village so deeply centered on its military might that the shinobi institution was nothing short of a religion and the chunin exam was another kind of baptism, a step further on the sacred path.
But then again Jiraya was more than fifty (and trying valiantly to forget how close to sixty he was getting) and he had walked that road for a long, long time. More important maybe, he had led several students on it, seen his students lead other on it and all of them, those he had taught and those his students had taught, those, in short, who carried his legacy had all been crushed by this barbaric religion of shinobi.
That's why he felt old, especially when he looked at the youngest generation. He believed strongly, that they would one day change the broken system they were living in but too much exposure to these children forced him to see that already at this age some were crumbling under the weight, that some would die, and most would suffer. He refused to believe it was for naught but sometimes the doubts crept up.
Orochimaru had been convinced that a sensei's only task was to make one's students strong and keep an eye out to make sure they did not become strong enough to put a knife into their teacher's back. Jiraya still believed in morality, in the superiority of a shinobi with the will to protect compared to a shinobi who fought only for himself. His old teacher had always said he was an idealist. Probably the Sandaime was getting tired too from seeing all those young people give their life for the village. The death of the fourth had been a hard blow for them all. At least it was when Jiraya had decided that he didn't need to return to the village more than a few times a year. It was making him tired seeing the village and remembering who he had lost.
At the end of the day the thing about the chunin exam was that it was the point where most things went to shit. If he were writing a coming-of-age novel the chunin exam would be the symbol of the beginning of adulthood, the loss of innocence and the beginning of more dangerous adventures. With a novel he could guarantee a happy end. Real life couldn't.
Once you were a chunin there was no more babying, the still childish and amusing genin missions were things of the past. In the best cases, the team remained together, often enough everyone would be sent on their own missions, accomplish their own task and the new chunin had to face loneliness and loss on top of their new responsibilities.
The genin were the happy ones, Jiraya thought. He himself would have quite enjoyed a life as genin, working leisurely at a desk job, surrounded by mild-mannered and young women, some shinobi, some civilian, laughing together, doing things outside of work, at hot springs, or in summary fields of flowers. Enjoying the simple pleasures in life...
He was getting off track.
What he meant was that it was a lot easier to meet the eyes of the genin who failed at the exam, as sad and disappointed as they may be, than the ones who succeeded and achieved the rank of chunin. Those one he preferred not to look to closely at. Especially if they were young.
The three of them had graduated as chunin pretty late for modern standards. That had more to do with how early the age of graduation from the academy had become than anything else. Already at that time they were considered prodigies. They had finished the academy the same year, Jiraya had been thirteen, Tzunade twelve and Orochimaru eleven. Two years later they had attempted the chunin exam and succeeded, the three of them. Only two years, that was considered exceptional at that time. These days some rookies attempted the exam after only six months. The Hokage allowed it, encouraged it even. Another point on which they didn't agree.
He almost let the pull of memories sweep him away, remember their laughing face, their teacher's proud smile...no, it only served to darken his mood.
He walked towards the arena, smiling at the excited civilian kids that were all walking, often running in the same direction. For them at least it would only be an innocent distraction.
For him it was a necessity. It seemed that they had managed to deter Orochimaru's attempt but he could still attack during the last round even if wasn't the most strategically sound plan with the number of high-level jonin assembled in the audience.
He arrived on time for the first match. He would have preferred to sit somewhere in the back, but his teacher sent him an insistent look the moment he entered the arena. A seat had been reserved for him near the special loge for the Hokage and high dignitaries. As far as he understood the exam would be in two rounds. Any genin who advanced to the second round was eligible to become chunin even if he didn't win his second match. One on one fights in an arena really weren't ideal to determine a shinobi's potential in a real-life fight in which many more factors came into play. As such the rules of the exam always gave a lot of room for the higher-level shinobi's judgment. A panel of seven jonin representing all villages plus the two Hokage would take the final decisions.
He enjoyed the fights more than he thought he would. The first fight in particular was amusing. Shikaku's boy against a fiery blond Suna-girl, the Kazekage's daughter apparently. The girl won but only barely and only because she was able to outlast him. Not a very glorious victory but both were already impressive shinobies, the girl for her sharply honed instinct and flawless use of her chakra affinity, the boy for sheer bloody genius.
He wasn't surprised when the Hokage advanced him any. The shinobi in the arena had supported the boy in a discreetly approving kind of way. The civilian seemed less enthusiastic. Ah, of course, it wasn't flashy enough. Jiraya chuckled and shook his head.
Next a dark-blond Konoha kunoichi entered the arena. She was pitted against a Konoha shinobi whose eyes were covered by glasses and his face by a cloth. His ability was worrying, absorbing chakra was a very rare ability especially in humans. He knew a few summoned animals who could do that and there must be one or two forbidden jutsus who could have similar effects but like that... It wasn't a winning strategy however. The girl was using little chakra preferring taijutzu and quickly understood the other's abilities and applied herself to evade his attacks. She was leaping from one side of the arena to the other, laying thin ninja wire like an especially nimble spider. The other genin was strong enough, probably experienced and the fight was quite interesting. However, the chakra-sucking boy seemed to hold back for some strange reason and it cost him his victory. The girl had him entrapped in her wire, a kunai to his neck.
The next match was short and gruesome. A poisonous looking Ame-nin against a red-headed boy. Jiraya didn't need to be close to the boy to feel a Biju's chakra. Well, he was somewhat of a specialist in these matters and the putrid wisp of chakra that were leaking from the boy left little place for doubts (and made him worry about the state of the seal containing the Biju). The girl managed to avoid the first attacks quite successfully. She was dodging smoothly but seemed to get more and more frustrated. Jiraya felt something like pressure built up all around them: dark oppressive chakra. Sand was swirling around the boy and soon most of the arena was barely visible. The girl moved quicker and quicker and launched an attack. She didn't even pierce the outer layer of sand. Ghostly tentacles were sprouting out of the ground and the girl jumped back panicked. She only barely managed to avoid all attacks. With a roar the boy seemed to concentrate all his energy on her. A deadly force rushed in her direction and Jiraya tensed, the girl was thrown across the arena and impacted against a wall. Slowly, stubbornly she picked herself up. He felt an old feeling of guilt awaken when seeing the Ame-girl. It was easy to see his three students instead of her. Same dark clothes and air of early adulthood, a trait most Ame-children shared. Jiraya realized there must be some happy children in rain, he just never met any.
She persevered and launched the attack he had used on that student of Kakashi, it hadn' t been pretty. At least he hoped he had taught his three charges some compassion and he believed that they wouldn't fight with the cruelty of that girl. For all the good it did them. Jiraya liked to think from time to time that Nagato, Yahiko and Konan may still be somewhere out there, alive and maybe even happy but more realistically they had probably died. He had infiltrated rain a few times in the last few years but every time it grew more perilous. The new leader of rain had installed an effective lock-down on the country and especially on Amegakure it-self. Never had he heard of his three kids again.
The fight was escalating, the girl was bleeding heavily, and her movement were becoming slower. The referee asked to break up the fight, but she discarded his order and with a desperate shout threw herself at her opponent. It happened to quickly. Sand surrounded her, tightened and suddenly there was the muted sound of breaking bones and blood was permeating through the sand and when she was dropped she was barely recognizable. There were shocked gasps on the civilian side of the arena and grim expressions among the shinobi.
Jiraya wanted to look away. There, another Ame-kid had died for his country, died in honor. Had she had any kind of choice? Defeat would have killed her just as surely as the crushing sand.
There was some arguments and disputes. No one dared to approach the jinchuriki.
The Hokage looked severe but resigned and turned to the Kazekage at his left.
"Her death was unnecessary Raza, you know that hereby your son is disqualified."
The Kazekage didn't grace that information with an answer. Instead he fixed the Hokage with a strange kind of leer. Something in the foreign Kage's smile made a sense of familiar unease rise in Jiraya. Well, he had never liked the Yondaime Kazekage.
Despite the accident and the amount of sand and blood littering the arena the Hokage announced the exam would go on. The Suna-boy seemed to exit the arena reluctantly and the demon's chakra was boiling furiously under his skin.
Jiraya was brought out of his dark musings by the appearance in the arena of a bright blond boy. Ah, another remainder of his numerous failings, another stab at his conscience. This day was shaping up to be the kind best ended by enough sake to get even Tzunade drunk.
Three minutes into the fight against the Hyuga boy he realized Naruto was nothing like Minato. No finesse, no elegance, more raw, careless, headstrong energy. Kushina without her talent, but the same grim determination to overthrow all odds. Yahiko with an angrier edge to his headstrong expression. Yea, a little bit like him too, an eternity ago. He won, it was less of a surprise for him than for most. The boy was to much like all of them to not make him bet on him. He'd take dumb stubbornness and loud idealism over talent and skill any day. Maybe he should pay him a visit, at one time, maybe he would finally find the guts to do that.
The next match was the last boy from sound against another Konoha girl. It was a more traditional fight. Jiraya focused on the potential spy. His abilities, sound waves produced by the construct in his arm. seemed quite like something Orochimaru would have created.
The control over sound first seemed to benefit the boy. The girl specialized in water jutzu and those were disturbed by the sound chock waves. However, she seemed to know how to protect her hearing with chakra and her taijutzu was good enough to keep up with him. Finally, the boy from sound was too distracted by defending against her water-ninjutzu and was felled down by an impressive bit of taijutzu. That girl would probably advance to chunin.
In the next match an Aburame boy defeated a Suna-nin. It was an easy enough fight. The boy kept at a distance and attacked with his insects until his adversary was out of chakra. Nothing very impressive but it was efficient enough.
Finally, the Ushiha boy that had survived the massacre was pitted against a tall boy from Suna with markings on his face. Jiraya grimaced, those usually meant a puppeteer. He never did like fighting against them.
The Ushiha was good, excellent even but Jiraya felt somewhat wary. He got the feeling that the Ushiha knew all too well how good he was, he was used to being the best. His attitude seemed to say that he didn't care for his opponent, he was aiming higher.
That was dangerous. The Suna-nin was an experienced fighter. His puppet was dancing at his tune with impressive efficiency and he was quick on his feet as well.
That didn't mean that the younger boy was stupid, no, he pulled a few interesting moves. First after barely avoiding some kind of toxic gas he used katon jutsus every time he seemed to sense his opponent would launch a similar attack at him. With the heat of the attack the Suna-boy seemed to hesitate to use the potentially explosive gas.
At the end the Ushiha went down, nothing out of the ordinary, he had been a second to slow, has stumbled, lost eye contact for a second, gotten a paralytic-loaded senbon in the calf. It had been luck almost, or superior battle experience. It was clear for everyone that he had more potential. Then again that didn't matter as much as some may think, Jiraya had lost count of how many comrades with more potential had died during his lifetime. Potential needed to be fulfilled to be worth anything and to fulfill it you needed to stay alive and not underestimate your opponent because you were an arrogant little shit.
The Ushiha boy was carried out of the arena, then there was some kind of deliberation about who would battle who in the second round. The crowed became louder, civilians and shinobis discussing the battles they had witnessed so far. Jiraya sighed, sat back and squinted against the mid-afternoon sun.
Years later he would still remember how everything fell apart after the end of that match. He would remember that one moment suddenly all the civilian sagged in their seat, felled by a genjutsu. The eerie silence that filled the arena... The cold dread in his gut. Then a flurry of movement when infiltrated shinobis from sand and sound attacked the remaining Konoha-nin. One second of hesitation and then Konoha's soldiers reacted, pushed through their hesitation and fell back onto years of training. One piece at a time Orochimaru's plan clicked into place and Jiraya finally saw it as if someone had wiped condensation off of glass and the picture became suddenly clear. In the next few seconds everything happened quite quickly. A messenger arrived: Suna's army was at their door. The jinchuriki-boy let out a bloodcurdling scream and began to transform before trashing a part of the arena and running towards the battle at Konoha's gate. And then the Kazekage rose from his seat and Orochimaru's disguise slipped away. He appeared, finally, black hair and paper-white skin, almost regal, his familiar silhouette framed by the chaos of the battle.
For a second Jiraya almost admired the boldness of his plan, then Orochimaru turned his golden gaze toward him and the Hokage.
"So, we are reunited once again", Jiraya thought.
It felt like fate, it felt like destiny, something he would write in his books. The long-awaited climax of their tragic storyline. If he had written it, it would have ended in blood and death.
Surprisingly it didn't.
A few comments about the changing age of academy graduation. I liked
to imagine that there was an evolution towards a lowering of the age of becoming a genin. Konoha was created as a safe-place to avoid shinobi-children being roped into their parent's war so I imagined that at the beginning the village would have put a higher age limit to leave the academy.
For me at the time of the Sanin's youth the normal age was around 13 or 14 which was also the age where civilian children would begin apprenticeships or would actively work for their parent's businesses.
The same goes for the chunin exams. The usual age of graduation as chunin would have been around 16-17 basically when the shinobi was more or less considered an adult.
As such the Sannin who became chunin around the age of 14-15 were considered very precocious.
The lowering of the age was the result of the times of "shinobi shortage" Konoha suffered from during the wars ( 2nd shinobi war and especially the 3rd shinobi war).
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