A/N: Training arcs have always been difficult for me, both to read and write. So I'll be leaving this one as one to write in flashback, if at all. That's also the reason for the short chapter this week. I can expand on the details of training later if readers want, in flashback and not present time.

The arena doors opened. The wire and cold stone rose around the arena.

In the far distance, the sun set, the pink rays of light spraying across the clouds.

The figures dispersed. One by one, the crowds left the arena.

Naruto rushed up to Nōtō, laying his hand on the man's shoulder. "Old man!" he shouted firmly.

Nōtō sighed quietly. "I can pretty much guess what you're going to ask… Training, right?" He adjusted his glasses. "You couldn't use my techniques even if I taught them to you."

Naruto gasped in shock. "What?"

"To clarify my meaning, you couldn't remember all of it… What did you have for breakfast this morning?" Nōtō started, his face firm as he questioned.

Naruto blinked. "Uh. Hm." He tapped his chin. "…Bacon?" he guessed after a moment or two.

"Exactly. Though I must admit that example is a little unfair, it also represents, to my view, an accurate understanding of how it is that you treat remembrance. In all my years, I have learned so few techniques that I can count them on my fingers. The reason for this is their complexity and difficulty—you need to memorize them and understand them. To use them takes a practically encyclopedic knowledge of medicine. Sometimes, every once in a while, you run into a genius who can do it practically instinctively. But that's once every hundred years or so, and there's already been one such genius in the last hundred years."

"Huh." Naruto nodded, rubbing his chin. "So why can't I use them again?" he asked again.

Nōtō sighed quietly. "You just can't. Explaining a second time would be a waste of my time."

The stars glistened overhead. Shining light poured downward, coating the ground in a mellow spray of silver light.

"What about me?" Sasuke questioned, raising her voice.

Nōtō rubbed his temples. He glanced wearily at Sasuke. His glasses' lenses glowed on his nose. "Same problem, less pronounced."

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed. "But, even then...? Surely there's something?"

The stars sparkled. A faint cloud drifted over the moon, hiding the crescent behind an array of silver.

"Yeah. There is someone you're suited to training under…" Nōtō glanced toward Sasuke. "You know who I'm talking about, right?"

"That old white-haired pervert?" Sasuke questioned, her face falling slightly.

"Hey!" Kōju's face scrunched up. She glared at Sasuke. "You leave my dad alone!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. She folded her arms across her chest. "He is a pervert. You cannot deny this simple fact." Guess it runs in the family.

Kōju scowled, her lip trembling. Her eyelids trembled, moisture forming on the edges of the eyes.

"I'll be training Kōju-san. Hopefully she can remember the medical nintaijutsu I practice…" Nōtō walked away, his expression distant.

"Hey! What about me?" Naruto demanded, his fist clenched.

"What about you?" Nōtō questioned, his eyebrow rising.

Naruto's eyes widened. He opened his mouth wide.

"Kidding." Nōtō lifted his finger to his glasses. "I have arranged for someone to train you… though it's up to you to convince him to do it."

Naruto blinked in surprise. "Eh?"

"He's an irascible old coot. But I don't exaggerate when I say there's no doubt he's stronger than both me and Kakashi-san… It's entirely possible for you to learn several other techniques. You might even learn to see through deceptions—but that's pretty unlikely."

Naruto's grin broadened. "Perfect!"

"As I say, it's only a chance… You'll find him outside Hidden Leaf's hot springs. It's a matter of his character and temperament. If things go poorly..."

"Don't worry! I'll be fine! This is me we're talking about, after all." Naruto pressed his thumb into his chest.

"I think that's why he's worried, blockhead," Sasuke muttered under her breath.

Exam

Kōju followed Nōtō into the clearing.

"Start by learning these points. It's no good against someone whose pressure points are moved, but it's a start." Nōtō set down the notes on the tree stump.

Exam

Sasuke climbed to the top of the cliff.

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed as he regarded Sasuke. "Let's not waste any time here. How well can you use the Sanzengan?"

Exam

The three trained in their separate ways…

Days passed, one by one.

Slowly, the day approached.

Sasuke practiced using the lightning around her hand, and called on the strength of the blood binding her, the Sanzengan, without also calling the curse.

Kōju memorized the location of the pressure points on a normal human being, and learned the use of Shrine Maiden Entry.

And Naruto…Well, who could say whether he'd learned any techniques or not? He returned early the morning before the trial, covered in sweat and tears. The stars did not bless the event of his meeting with whatever old man Nōtō spoke of.

At any rate, the day had come…

The sun dawned on the great day, the day on which the fate of the nations changed. Crimson red painted the skies, a deep color suited to the day's fated events, the passage of worlds that would soon follow.

The three went to battle together.

A large labyrinth formed in the village square. Black iron rose around the edges of the labyrinth, walls of black iron blocking the passage inward.

"Huh?" Naruto's eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, this is weird."

"I wonder… what the hell is going on." Sasuke scowled. Her crimson eyes flickered as she studied the walls. "...What kind of exam requires us to be penned up like animals?"

"I'll be pleased to explain." A man bowed deeply, his violet eyes flickering as he looked upward. A long black coat covered his body, blowing back in the wind. A pair of sunglasses covered his eyes, but somehow, the violet flashed behind the glasses.

"Who're you?" Naruto demanded sharply.

"Unmei. At your service."