40 ~ False King

For the participants that arrived early, they were escorted to their own area before the official beginning of the exam. The only early arrivals at the moment were the genin from Otogakure, 19, Lapis, and Lazuli. The twins sat outside of the bathroom while they listened to the muffled sound of their teammate vomiting into the toilet. Lazuli got up and knocked on the door a few times, "You okay in there 19?" She asked with a hint of actual worry in her voice, 19 was never sick.

"He had too many of those disgusting smoothies," Lapis concluded, and then scratched his chin and smiled. "Or he's scared to fight Son Gok—" The door busted open and both twins jumped away. 19 furrowed his brow and walked out of the resting area, leaving the twins alone while he went up to see the rest of the arena. Lapis couldn't hold back his laugh, "Did I strike a nerve?"

"Most likely," Lazuli chuckled along with her brother and skipped along to follow after 19. "I want to see the arena too, come on."

Lapis shrugged as he followed behind the two genin, stuffing his hands in his pocket as he jogged up the stairs to the main level. The arena was starting to fill up with spectators from all over. Kids were accompanied by their parents as they were going to the highest level to find seats, gamblers were also moving throughout the venue reeking of alcohol and other activities, and the most interesting thing to the boy were the shady looking teenagers shuffling throughout the arena. He could spot a 'criminal' out from a mile away.

19 and his sister went to explore, while he lagged behind and slipped into one of the halls that led to the stairs. When one of the random teenage stragglers was wondering by, he tripped them and dragged the kid by the foot behind the stairwell with him. Lapis dropped down to his knees and placed his hand over his mouth to quiet his screams, simply pinching a nerve and the boy went unconscious.

"Stupid," He smirked as he rummaged through the boy's pockets and found small baggies filled to the brim with green powder. Lapis examined it and raised a curious brow, "What the hell is this?" He asked no one in particular and then followed it up with a shrug before putting the baggies in his pocket. They might come in handy in the future. He did another scan over the boy's body and found a knife, which he also took from him, and then got off of him.

He slid out from behind the stairwell quietly, but stopped as Team Gai entered the hall to head up the stairs. Rock Lee and Ten-Ten were glaring at him as they climbed up the stairs and he only smirked in return, "Take it out on my teammates." He said with a laugh as he advanced up the stairs behind them.

More people were flooding into the arena and it let him know that it was really about to start. Since he wasn't about to fight today he could sit with the rest of the regular spectators and root for his team. He sifted through the rows and finally found a seat. As he sat down, someone sat down next to him, and Lapis turned to see the face of the 'Prince of All Saiyans' staring down at some weird device, before quickly pocketing it once he saw Lapis look at him.

"Vegeta!" Lapis threw his arm around the boy's shoulder and was instantly put into a chokehold. A lot of regular civilians gasped, "Easy brother, I'm just busting your balls." He laughed, not sounding distressed at all despite the fact that Vegeta had an iron grip around his neck.

"Don't talk to me," Vegeta released Lapis and turned his head to the main part of the arena landscape full of grass and trees to simulate an actual battlefield.

More spectators started to fill up their row, and none other than Uchiha Sasuke, as well as Uzumaki Naruto sat down next to Vegeta. They were followed by their sensei Kakashi and Sakura. Vegeta was nearly growling and stood up to look around for another seat, but the place was packed. He even heard some murmurs through the crowd about a Kumogakure genin named 'Son Goku.'

Naruto was handed an event program, reading the names of the participants, "What's a SonGoku?" He asked out loud and Vegeta groaned out loud. "What?"

"Shut up Naruto it's starting," Sakura smacked him with her program.

The contestants for the final part of the exam were all standing on the ground, along with the proctor and the loud conversations throughout the arena were at an all time high. Out of the eight genin, only seven were present. Son Goku was missing out the lineup, and Lapis raised a curious brow.

The murmurs among the crowd were only getting louder, and the proctor remained calmer than ever. He was in direct communication with the Hokage, and when an ANBU member appeared to the side of him he knew a new message was being delivered. Hayate was slipped a note and the ANBU member disappeared. The man opened it and simply nodded his head, slipping the note into his back pocket, "Since Son Goku hasn't arrived yet, we'll skip to the next ma-"

"He'll be here soon," a new voice entered the conversation and Hayate calmly turned to face the stoic K. He held up his index finger for a moment, "One second. The other genin can return to the stands."

"You're not in charge!" Ten-Ten yelled out at the man and he shot her a stern glance that actually made her tense up.

"Go," K continued on, biting his thumb to draw blood and then slapping it onto the ground. A pinkish-yellow spinning vortex opened and the Jounin reached in and pulled out the boy that the entire arena was waiting on. Son Goku was fast asleep, and the sound of the crowd rejoicing to finally see the most talked about genin. K kicked him gently with his foot, "Don't be foolish Goku, your time is now."

19 was the only genin remaining within the arena, standing there quietly as he observed the sleeping form of Goku. The boy cracked his eye open and still didn't realize what was going on. The chubby genin was ready to begin.

Goku outstretched his arms, "Where am I?"

"Final exams, your match starts now," K said as he disappeared in a crackle of electricity, leaving the genin with the proctor.

Hayate didn't know how to explain the occurrence that just took place, and decided to just roll with it. He stepped forward and pulled Goku off of the ground, and then waited for the two boys to assume position. "You two both know the rules," He looked between the two children and nodded. "Winner advances to the next round… Begin!"

Goku's eyes widened once he realized what was going on, being thrown into the match so nonchalantly by his sensei. He immediately assumed his fighting stance and watched warily as 19 did the same, "Ya know, I've been waiting for this! I'm really excited to see what you got!" He beckoned 19 to come forth and grinned when the chubby genin displayed his speed for the entire arena to see. Very few trained eyes could keep up with his movement, which didn't include Goku.

The saiyan protected his upper body by crossing his arms as 19 flew in and tried to kick him in his chest. The boy went sliding backwards, kicking up dirt as he slid, and finally regrouped himself by stopping hard. He braced himself for a follow up and leaned backwards when a chain suddenly sailed over his head; Goku grabbed the chain and yanked hard, pulling 19 across the ground when he did.

Before 19 could attempt to get up, Goku flexed his newfound strength and tightened his grip on the chain, swinging his body around hard and dragging 19 across the entire perimeter of the arena three times in a row. He moved to pull hard on the chain once more and bring 19 back within his range, but he was suddenly yanked forward and flying across the arena himself to where 19 was lying in a heap on the ground. Mid-flight Goku released his grip on the chain but maintained his momentum toward 19. He opened his now free palm and started to gather energy for the new technique Minato taught him, but when he did so he winced.

The adrenaline of swinging 19 around like a rag doll wore off quickly and Goku took notice of the blood dripping freely from his palm and the stinging pain that came with it. While he was distracted, 19 got off of the ground and connected his fist with the boy who was flying towards him jaw. Goku was once again sent flying in the opposite direction, while 19 dusted off his clothing with a heavy frown. As he walked in Goku's direction, a blade slowly slid out of his other palm, and the chain continued to drag across the ground as he approached.

Goku rolled over in pain and closed his bleeding palm into a fist. There was a quiet hiss but he was beginning to move past the pain. The boy could see the shadow of 19 approaching him, so he flipped up to a stand just in the nick of time. 19 accelerated faster than he could react, using his forearm to block being a whipped by his chain. The first time it didn't register, but now Goku felt the small blades protruding from his chain digging constantly into his arm. He tried to power through it but it hurt him more than it did good, brandishing a set of shuriken with his free hand and throwing them directly at 19.

The chubby genin smiled and leapt out of the way of the throwing stars, swinging the chain upward and forcing Goku into the sky before slamming it down and watching Goku smash against the floor of the arena repeatedly. He slowly started to retract it after he saw blood leaking from the boy's face and smirked while Goku was dragged across the ground. The blade protruding from his hand got longer and he began preparing to stab it right into the square of Goku's back to pin him down. As he stabbed downward, Goku rolled over, tugging on the chain wrapped around his arm and ignoring the pain for an instance to pull 19 toward him. He had been gathering chakra the entire time, taking a deep breath before exhaling a large ball of fire right into 19's face. To the crowd, it looked like 19's entire upper body was on fire as he was stumbling away from Goku.

The spiked chain wrapped around Goku's arm slid right off, slicing it up one last time while it slithered across the ground back to 19 who was currently putting out the flames while covering his face. Goku was breathing extremely hard as he did the same in the opposite direction and slowly moved to a stand and grasped at the deep wound in his right arm. The saiyan huffed as he looked across the arena at the injured 19.

The entire crowd joined together in a collective gasp when 19 moved his hand from over his face that had been blasted by Goku's attack. Half of the skin on his face was burnt and hanging off of his face, the other half was bubbling and beginning to blister after being hit at point blank range. The Otogakure native had a maniac half grin on his face as it slowly started to regenerate in front of the whole crowd. His half grin transitioned into a full devilish smirk when his face was done stitching it self together through unknown means.

Goku was in silent awe, his arm irritating him as he prepared to begin fighting again, "I knew it." He said mostly to himself while he looked at 19 as he confirmed a hunch he had from earlier. After dragging him across around the entire arena, 19 bounced right back up like it never happened. Even during the preliminaries, Neji broke 19's back and he shook it off. He had some kind of regeneration factor that was helping him throughout his battles. The Kumo-native groaned as he tried to form a plan to actually stop 19 dead in his tracks. He and 19 both hit each other with attacks that probably would have knocked out a regular genin, and the proctor hadn't even budged once in either of their directions throughout the entire match.

Goku untied his headband and rewrapped it around his arm as a makeshift bandage to stop the bleeding. He wasn't one for making plans, which was usually left up to K, but K wasn't here. No matter what he hit 19 with he stood back up, but those were minor attacks compared to what he was building in his arsenal. In order for the proctor to stop the match, he would have to injure 19 heavily enough that even his regeneration factor wouldn't help. His time for thinking was coming to a close though since he saw 19 charging in his direction.

For the first time in the entire match, Goku saw 19 making hand seals. 19 had strictly been using taijutsu and his mechanisms throughout the fight. Instead of taking the boy head on, Goku leapt out of the way like he was avoiding a bull and backpedaled away. His opponent quickly pivoted on his foot and continued charging in his direction, not losing any momentum when he did. He extended the arm he was circulating chakra through toward Goku and the blade that was within it shot at him like a dart. Goku continued to back pedal, quickly pulling out a kunai and parrying the blade with his own; sparks flying from his defense.

19 leapt off of his right foot and shot at Goku, smirking when the boy suddenly tripped backwards, throwing his other arm out and catching him by the ankle with his spiked chain. He wrapped his other hand around his wrist and used his core strength to twist his body, swinging Goku around in a circle through the air. The saiyan's head was swimming and his eyes filling with tears as he was repeatedly as the wind crashed against his face, and to make matters worse there was a terrible ringing in his ear that was only getting progressively louder. He tried to place his cut up palms over his hears to stop the terrible ringing, grinding his teeth together, but every sound he made, or heard was being augmented to terrible levels.

K looked on from the stands with a furrowed brow trying to see 19's end game with this move. Spinning Goku through the air was going to wear on him eventually. The other Otogakure Genin who was present in the spectator area with him had a smirk on her face, which made him raise a brow. Instead of asking her what was going on, he simply continued watching because he didn't feel like talking at the moment.

19 came to a sudden halt and let Goku go flying into the wall of the arena. He bounced off the wall, hit the ground with an unhealthy thud and didn't get up. The proctor twitched and turned his head to Goku. He let a few seconds go by and he, as well as the whole crowd smirked when he saw Goku coming to a wobbly stand, "These kids are insane." He took a step back and let it continue while Goku tried to regain his bears. The boy looked completely exhausted and could barely walk when he attempted to. Goku's body swayed back and forth but he had to resort to leaning up against the arena wall to keep from falling.

The saiyan grit his teeth as he suppressed the pain. He fell down to one knee and placed a hand on his head. He let out a pained groan when his head started swimming, the sounds around him blending together and forming a nasty screech. Surely this had to be some sort of jutsu, because there was no way this would be happening to him normally. He attempted another step forward but he was beginning to feel dizzy as he walked.

"Son-kun," 19 cooed with a smile as he slowly approached Goku, "This fight is over and you know it." Goku collapsed right at his feet and 19 lifted his foot, pressing it down on his stomach and grinning. "Forfeit while you still can, or it will get terribly worse." He pressed down even harder and chuckled as Goku coughed and struggled to breathe.

To the crowd it looked the fight was coming to a close and 19 would advance to the next round, even the proctor was worried about Goku at this point. The match wouldn't be called until one of them forfeited or was knocked out, so he there was nothing he could do. Even his teammate Mao had a worried expression on her face, looking at Master Roshi for answers, "Is this even allowed, he's torturing Son-kun," she asked with a frown.

"It's meant to simulate a real battle so, yes," Master Roshi said with a frown as well. "Enemies will do whatever they can to get information." Regardless of the rules, he was still concerned about his student. Whatever jutsu 19 was using was seriously affecting the boy.

"He's done," Sasuke said as he watched the match closely, which caught the attention to the saiyan sitting in the same row.

Vegeta shook his head, "You know nothing you impudent human." Any one with decent self-esteem wouldn't take that insult lightly, and Sasuke instantly turned his head to glare at Vegeta, which the saiyan didn't think anything of. He continued to make his point, "Saiyans have something similar to what you simple beings would call a kekkei genkai. When we're put in a near death situation, we unlock a new level of power. He may not be the ideal saiyan like I am, but he's a saiyan nonetheless and Kakarot will have access to more power than any of you will ever have when his back is against the wall."

19 dropped down and pinned Goku to the ground, placing his hand firmly around his throat. Goku's eyes widened once he realized what was going, remembering the story of Hinata and also seeing all those lifeless husks in the forest. 19 had the ability to absorb chakra through his hands and he was currently being gripped by the Otogakure genin. He lifted his hand and wrapped his hand around 19's wrist trying to pry his fingers off, but the boy's grip only got stronger, and his own got weaker. 19 shifted his position and got behind Goku, using his other arm to wrap around the boy's neck and placing that hand on his bicep.

Goku tried his best to break free of the choke hold, but he slowly felt the flow of his blood being stopped. He remembered this hold from training with his Grandfather Gohan and sometimes the Raikage, and he knew how to avoid it, but whatever 19 had done was tampering with his reaction time. To make the hold even more lethal, he could feel the chakra being drained out of his body and being transferred to 19 through his hands. He only had a few seconds before he went unconscious or even worse died, but he was positive 19 would stay within the exam guidelines.

Things were beginning to go black and he was almost certain that he was going to pass out, but as 19 was choking Goku to sleep his head twitched twice and ended up looked at his skin. It felt like something was crawling underneath, and after a few seconds it started bulging before exploding with blood and spraying into his face. He let go of his hold and stumbled backward while Goku was experiencing the sweet joy of oxygen refilling his lungs. 19's skin didn't stop there; an explosion of blood popped out of his other arm and even happened on other parts of his body.

With his chakra reserves almost empty, Goku didn't have much time to play around. He twisted around and put a good distance between he and 19 while his skin was literally exploding, "This is my chance." He needed to generate enough power to knock 19 completely out, and luckily his new sensei Minato had invented a way for him to do so with a smaller scale version of Kaio-ken that thrived off of him mixing his chakra with his natural energy. He shut his eyes and focused his energy, since he also learned that gathering natural energy or simply ki was second nature to him, which amazed Minato. The hard part was mixing it with his chakra reserves.

Since there was so little chakra for him to work with it, it wasn't complicated this time around. 19, growing frustrated with the sudden turn of events sprung off of his foot and launched himself right at Goku. The explosions under his skin halted when he fully broke away from contact with Goku, and he furrowed his brow when he felt a new aura wash over the boy once he regained his breath. He wanted to know what caused his chakra absorption technique to malfunction, letting the chain built into his arm slither out, and pulling his arm back to whip it across Goku's face, but the moment the boy opened his eyes; he disappeared from 19's sight.

The world slowed down to a crawl for Goku when he saw 19 in his face, now using his bolstered reaction time to slip out of the way of the direct charge. Goku reappeared behind 19 and grabbed his chain, able to handle the pain now and pulled back on it. With his free hand he smashed it into 19's face and sent him flying across the arena. He went through a series of hand seals and substituted his ki for his chakra to make the jutsu work, taking a deep breath and exhaling a giant ball of fire that went to follow after 19. However, he wasn't done yet, bringing his hands to his side and gathering more ki for another follow up attack while chanting, "Ka-me-ha-me-ha!" The ki between his two palms began to expand out of control and he let all of the energy go at once.

The fire ball crashed into 19 and the Kamehameha followed quickly after and pinned him to the wall with ease. 19 fell to the ground, his body burnt so bad that he almost looked black compared to his usual snow white skin. There was so much damage all around his body his regeneration factor focused on the vitals first before something he could actually use in a fight. Even after nearly being burned alive he was still able to at least get to his knee. He had one hand supporting him on the ground and the other clutching on his stomach. He lifted his head and saw Goku approaching him, and he finally saw how different the boy looked.

His eyes were a deep color of crimson; it almost looked like a strong flame was burning within his orbs behind his pupils. Goku grinned as he walked up and opened his palm, creating a ball of ki and holding it right in front of 19's face, "You give up?" He asked while tilting his head. There was nothing but silence between them for a moment, but then he suddenly heard a beating noise, and then lowered his hands when he saw something bulge in 19's throat. He didn't want to stick around and see whatever it was and leapt away. It wasn't an attack like he anticipated, instead an entire wave was vomited out of his mouth and Goku nearly got washed up in it.

He flipped backward and stuck to the wall, watching the newly created wave crash against the wall. Goku searched around for any sight of 19, but from what he could see he was still under the water. He wasn't sure if this was apart of some plan or 19 was currently freaking out, but the match still hadn't been called so he had to stay on his toes. His previous injuries were slowly recovering and he could probably take 19 head on now with no problems.

The waves continued to grow and crash against each other, to the point that the proctor, who had now found a safe high ground looked up to his higher ups for some kind of direction. There was no instruction to end the match so he grit his teeth and let it continue. Goku didn't know what to do, since 19 was no where to be found. He flew through a set of a seals for the moment and readied himself for when 19 did turn up, however he lost his footing all of sudden when the entire arena shook and ended up falling into the ever growing pool of water created by 19. When he was underneath he saw 19's body slowly floating to the surface in the center, but before he went back up he saw four roots sticking out of his back and connecting with the ground.

He swam upward and stood on the surface of the constantly crashing water, trying to get a hold of what was going on. From what he saw, 19 wasn't even conscious, so that had to mean the match was over. Goku looked at the proctor for some kind of confirmation and the proctor turned his head to his superiors, receiving a nod from the stands. He leapt from where he was and landed on the water, lifting Goku's arm into the air since it looked like 19 was out of commission, "Winner Son G—" another shake of the arena cut his sentence short and now the entire crowd was on high alert. "Get the medic teams down here righ-" A vine suddenly whipped out from under water and wrapped around the proctor's throat, pulling him under the water and killing him instantly once it constricted.

Goku was next on its list, a vine whipping out just as quick as before, but the boy burned it to a blaze before he suffered the same fate as the proctor. He ran across the water avoiding all the vines that were shooting out at him, and nearly lost his footing when he felt something else rumbling underneath the surface of the water. When he looked up he saw a vine shooting right at him, and even more coming from different directions. He nosedived under the water and made all the vines crash into each other. His eyes widened when he saw Hayate's lifeless body still wrapped up by the vines, and started swimming toward it. Once he got close he saw that the life had literally been sucked out of him as well, not feeling an ounce of chakra left.

The proctor being killed didn't stun him as much as what he saw next.

XxX

Next chapter will be better and longer, just didn't want to keep you waiting.