People talking, "Hello everyone."
People thinking, 'LET'S GO!'
Demon/beast/other talking, "Back… back again!"
Demon/beast/other thinking, 'Yes, I totally copied the cannon Naruto's chapter title… what of it?'
Jutsu/Unknown names, "Suiton: Mizudeppō no Jutsu."
'Document'
Italics can be used for certain kinds of emphasis or snide comments.
Bold can be used for forceful yelling/shouting/screaming.
Chapter Twenty-Two: Genin Takedown! All Twelve Spirit Nin Terrify
Eyes, pale and without pupils, gazed up towards the sky, tracking a dazzling spectacle that exploded into a burst of vividly colored sparks, illuminating the night sky and the lively revelries that filled the streets below.
Naruto frowned, albeit slightly, as his attention was returned to the revelry happening throughout Konoha. Perhaps it had been mentioned to him, and he had simply forgotten, but he hadn't realized that the day the Kyūbi had attacked Konoha was tonight.
What he did know, however, was that Konoha's survival, and "success" in defeating the terrifyingly powerful Bijū was a cause for yearly celebration. Nothing surprising or disconcerting about that on its surface, until Naruto had begun trying to locate the Kyūbi's host.
His research and efforts had made him aware of a darker secret of this festivity. The yearly demon fox hunt. A game, of sorts, that many civilians and even shinobi had joined in on during years past. Although this facet of the festival hadn't occurred in nearly four years, as the demon fox in question was nowhere to be found.
"Man truly is the cruelest animal," Rōshi mused as he stood with Naruto on the rooftop, both looking out over the city as the night fell. They had intended to take care of Naruto's errands, but found themselves distracted by the festivities that filled the streets below.
"Peace built on lies, is no peace at all," Naruto replied genially as his eyes scoured the village, taking in the rampant celebration and gaiety. To some extent, it disgusted him, but it was also none of his concern.
Konoha would fall soon. Rotted roots collapsing from within. It was neither his responsibility or duty to rectify the crimes the Land of Fire, and its populace had created. He was not the arbiter of this world. In fact, were it not for the fact that his father was this world, Naruto would have long since abandoned it to revel in its debauchery.
"Enough of this, the night passes, and I have much to attend to," Naruto said at last. Rōshi nodded, and together as one they both vanished, slipping silently into the night.
Their destination was a ways off the beaten path. A rather decrepit and ill-attended to dojo tucked away from the common-areas of the village. The location had been found, cleared, and secured by the Spirit Nin Adepts, who had also arranged this meeting for Naruto.
It certainly was convenient to have well-trained subordinates, even if Naruto did have multiple bodies for such things.
—
In the last ten minutes alone, Neji had second guessed his decision over a dozen times. Yesterday, while he had been practicing alone in the training field assigned to his genin group — something that was a rather rare occurrence given the attitude of one of his teammates — Neji had been interrupted.
This alone was startling to him. It had been years since someone had managed to sneak up on him and take him completely unaware that wasn't at least Mid-Jounin, and even then he usually had at least a hint of something being off.
However, when one of the mysterious white-cloaked Spirit Nin had appeared not even a dozen feet away from him in the training field, seemingly out of thin air, it had unsettled him deeply.
He had seen the Spirit Nin around Konoha, if only for brief moments, and they seemed to also be the only thing anyone talked about over the past week. He hadn't been assigned as one of the Genin that had gone to escort them back, and hadn't spoken with anyone who had been.
Tenten had, though, and she had enthused about how "cool," and mysterious the Spirit Nin were. How no one could see beneath their hoods, and how they all seemed to eerily move in perfect sync with one another.
Most distressing to Neji had been learning about the incident between Hinata Hyūga, and one of the Spirit Nin, believed to be Hanabi, the missing chief's younger daughter. Neji was still unsure how he felt about the matter, as it had been several of his close relatives and friends who had been forced into the suicide mission to retrieve the young girl, and had never returned.
He had garnered a mild amount of satisfaction from the knowledge that Hinata Hyūga, someone who had made his life a living hell, had been so disgraced and embarrassed by the Spirit Nin.
Due to that, when the unidentifiable Spirit Nin, who even his Byakugan couldn't see, had explained that their Seikage wished to meet with him, and that what he wished to offer would be beneficial to the branch family, Neji had been torn.
Thankfully, he'd had an entire day to decide. He had kept the matter to himself, not because the Spirit Nin had asked him to, but simply because he wasn't sure anyone would believe him. Furthermore, he was unsure as to why he had been approached, and not a more senior member of the branch family.
When the time came, he had made his decision, albeit with uncertainty and caution. There was very little known about Spirit Nin, Shinreigakure, and the Shiroi Oni who was purported to be the Seikage of the only known Hidden Village that was true to the name in all of the Elemental Nations.
After reaching the meeting place, Neji had silently met up with another Spirit Nin who had been waiting for him. He was certain this one wasn't the same who had met him, but it was nearly impossible to tell. Without saying a word, they had gestured for him to follow.
Together, they had made their way through the busy streets of Konoha, avoiding the celebrations as much as possible and sticking to side alleyways. Neji wondered why they didn't travel across the roof tops, but didn't ask.
And now, they had reached a place Neji hadn't even been aware existed in Konoha, although that wasn't surprising. This area of the village could be considered poor, and the architecture, and quality of everything in sight reflected that.
"The Seikage will arrive shortly," The Spirit Nin said, speaking for the first time, and revealing that they were female. "Please follow me inside."
Neji didn't reply, but instead activated his Byakugan and trained it on the seemingly abandoned dojo in front of him. As he had expected, there was no one inside, but after last time, he realized he couldn't trust his eyes when it came to the Spirit Nin.
"Ah," The Spirit Nin said, sounding rather amused and coming to as stop a few steps ahead of him. "Your caution is prudent, but unnecessary. We do not mean you any harm, Hyūga Neji."
Ignoring the fact that the Spirit Nin was facing the other way, and shouldn't have been able to know that he had activated his Byakugan, Neji released his Dojutsu and followed inside.
As he had already discovered, the inside was in far better condition, although it looked like recent work had been done. Seemingly for the sake of this meeting, although Neji wondered why. Similarly unsurprisingly, was the presence of another Spirit Nin, who was quietly sitting on a floor pillow next to a low table.
Two other pillows were available, and Neji sat down on the one on the furthest side, his legs crossed. His escort had disappeared in the brief moment he had been distracted, and now he was alone with just one of the Spirit Nin.
Before the moment became awkward, the other Shinobi took off their hood, and whatever technique was used to obscure their face in artificial darkness faded away.
"Are you?" Neji started, his eyes widening.
"Yes," The girl sitting across from him replied, her identical pale eyes meeting his own. "My name is Hanabi Otsutsuki, formerly Hyūga, but I do not wish to associate with that name."
"So its true then?" Neji said after a brief moment to recompose himself, "You were taken by the Shiroi Oni?"
Hanabi tilted her head to the side, looking mildly complexed by his question. "Taken? My father rescued me from a terrible fate, and instead of returning me to a similar if mildly less terrible one, he decided to take me as his own."
"Rescued, from what? You are the daughter of the clan chief." Neji retorted, and although he tried to conceal it, he couldn't complete keep the distaste out of his voice.
Hanabi shook her head, "Hiashi Hyūga is no kinder to his own children than he is to the branch family, he is simply less public about how he treats his flesh and blood. To answer your question, my father rescued me from being taken to Kumo, and used to breed more Hyūga's for the Raikage to use."
Neji's eyes widened, his usual mask of calm failing completely. "Wait, you were kidnapped by Kumo?"
"Ah, I suppose that was never shared with the public, or even the branch family." Hanabi replied, "Yes, the day that the 'Shiroi Oni,' my father 'kidnapped' me, I had just been taken from my room by a Kumo Shinobi. My father noticed what was happening, and hearing my cries, rescued me."
"I see," Neji said quietly, his eyes falling to the table in thought. The information was certainly surprising, but it didn't change much for him outside of better understanding just how cruel the Clan Chief was. As if he didn't know already.
When he looked up Neji nearly fell backward onto the floor in shock.
Sitting on the previously unoccupied floor-pillow was what could only be the Seikage, the notorious Shiroi Oni. The only current SS-rank Shinobi in the Elemental Nations, and currently suspected to possess most of the world's Bijū. The tales and rumors about the man who had just abruptly appeared before Neji were awe-inspiring, unbelievable, and terrifying.
"Father," Hanabi greeted, turning in place slightly to bow her head to the Shiroi Oni. Neji continued to stare, stunned.
The Shiroi Oni, or as he was now know, the Seikage, wore clothes reminiscent of the attire of other Kage. However, his were a pristine white, with gold lettering, embroidery, and edging. He wore a large triangular hat, but with cloth hanging down from the sides, obscuring much of his face, what wasn't hidden was instead covered by a white cloth, leaving only his eyes visible. Everything else was veiled in the same artificial impenetrable darkness that the rest of the Spirit Nin were hidden by.
Neji met the Seikage's gaze, surprised despite himself to find a pair of pale pupil-less eyes meeting his own with mild amusement. He knew that the Shiroi Oni had the All Seeing White Eye, but some part of him had always refused to believe it.
"How can you have the Byakugan?" Neji demanded, his mouth moving before his brain had caught up. "You're not a Hyūga."
The Seikage nodded, "That is true, I am not a Hyūga. I am an Otsutsuki, and as to how I have the Byakugan, it is simply because it belongs to me and my family. The Hyūga clan simply inherited it from us."
Neji blinked in disbelief, and at the same time slouched in relief. The Seikage didn't seem to be displeased with his disrespectful outburst.
"Now, onto the matter at hand." Naruto began, and Neji quickly straightened his posture. "There is much to discuss, and while the night is young, I have other matters to attend to as well."
Neji glanced over at Hanabi, wondering what was the purpose for this meeting. He had been promised it would be beneficial to himself, and the branch family, but he was almost to afraid to imagine what that could mean. He was afraid to get his hopes up.
Hanabi smiled at him.
"As I mentioned, the Hyūga are, in some ways, distant cousins of mine. Because of this, I feel responsible to a degree for their behavior, and due to that as well as a promise I made to my daughter, I want to make you and the branch family an offer."
Neji took advantage of the brief lull in the conversation to speak, his curiosity keeping him from remaining silent.
"Why me?"
"Because you lead the branch family, Hyūga Neji." Hanabi replied, her beautiful smile widening.
"What?" Neji replied, evidently in disbelief. "I don't know what you mean? I'm not even a Chūnin!"
"And yet, the branch family looks to you for guidance in critical moments." Naruto interjected, "Willing or not, you have guided the branch family to the best of your abilities ever since the death of Hyūga Hizashi."
"I.." Neji stammered, his eyes widening as memories he had worked desperately to suppressed rushed back all at once. Neither of the Spirit Nin interrupted him as he took a moment to recompose himself. "I see." He said at last.
"Good, then, my offer." Naruto began. "I wish to formally invite the branch family to become a part of the Hidden Spirit. Should they agree, I will handle transportation, and ensuring that there is no retaliation from the head family, or Konoha."
Immediately, all Neji's efforts to compose himself fell to the wayside as he stared in disbelief, his heart pumping loudly in his ears. This was what he had feared to hope for, but yet desperately wanted in the most secret chambers of his own heart.
"T-truly?"
Naruto nodded, "Should an agreement be reached, I will bring all of the branch family out of Konoha and to the Hidden Spirit during the chaos when this village is attacked."
Neji barely heard what the Seikage was saying, "We accept!"
The Seikage chuckled lightly. "Good. Now, let us discuss the details. I do not wish for you or your family to be unaware of what being a part of my village, and family, entails."
Neji nodded a bit distractedly, "Yes… yes that would be good."
—
Elsewhere in Konoha, three figures cloaked in white and gold were perched atop one of the village's most prestigious restaurants. It belonged to the Haruna family. A family that had been exceedingly cruel to one of the three figure's favorite sensei, Mitarashi Anko.
Isaribi looked down at the ongoing celebration below, watching as the people dance and cheered, played games, and bought various candies and food. The festivities were in full swing now, as everyone celebrated their village's victory over the Nine-Tailed Bijū.
The sight disgusted her.
"I'm glad this place is going to be destroyed soon," Isaribi said as she played with a ball of crystalline-clear water in her hands, molding it and shaping it into various objects before letting it return to a natural sphere.
"It's not surprising," Kimimaro commented from his spot on the roof nearby, "Itachi-sensei taught us how the first Hokage's vision was lost shortly after his death. Its why Madara Uchiha refused to become the Hokage, and left. He was disgusted by how his friend's life goal had become perverted."
"We won't have the same problem, right?" Rei inquired, her legs swinging freely above the rambunctious crowd below. "Naruto-sama is immortal, and can keep the Hidden Spirit from having the same problem."
"We won't have the same problems regardless," Kimimaro disagreed, his hands busy stringing up a line of paper smoke bombs as he spoke. "What the first Hokage envisioned for Konoha is completely different from what Seikage-sama has created."
Isaribi looked over, "How so? Both wished for peace, and prosperity. A family of Shinobi and citizens."
Kimimaro shook his head, "Yes, but you're also wrong. Hashirama wanted a village built on the goodness in people, believing, evidently wrongly, that people's kindness would prevail. He trusted his people, and they took advantage of that. He wanted peace for all of the Elemental Nations, an end to the brutality of the Warring States Era.
"Seikage-sama doesn't want peace for all, he wants peace for us, and if he has to destroy an entire village, or country to accomplish that, then he will. Furthermore, our peace is based on power." Kimimaro explained as he handed off another roll of smoke bombs to Rei. "We have had our own fair share of malcontents in Shinreigakure, but they have been dealt with swiftly and severely. Our Kage cares for us all, but he will not tolerate our disrespect or disobedience. If we wish to prosper under his rule, we must fully submit to it, trusting that he will seek to benefit us, and not harm."
Isaribi nodded, releasing her ball of water and letting it drop to hit an unfortunate drunk villager three stories below. When the man looked up, he was unable to spot the Spirit Nin lurking overhead. "That is why we take the Spirit Oath, and we carry these seals on our wrists. We have sworn to follow and obey Naruto-sama, without question."
"It is not a life for everyone," Kimimaro said as he finished with the smoke bombs and stood up. "Now, let's begin."
Rei stretched and hopped to her feet, "I know this place will be destroyed soon, but I'm glad we're doing this anyway."
Isaribi laughed, "I can't wait to tell Anko-sensei once we get back home, she'll be so happy I bet she will make us homemade pocky for a week!"
With that, the two mischievous girls and their handler, as Kimimaro thought of himself, slipped inside the restaurant and began their most devious prank so far.
—
The day had finally come, and Sasuke was full of nervous jitters, even if he didn't have a reason to be. He had gathered over the last two weeks, mostly through observing the Spirit Nin, and even talking with some of them, that there was something going on.
He didn't get any definite answers from the white-cloaked ninja, but they'd made it clear that something was going to happen. If that wasn't enough, he had been visited by one of the Masters. They had given him instructions on a rendezvous point, but hadn't elaborated as to why it was needed beyond that things were going to get chaotic.
So, all that was to say while Sasuke was a bit nervous about the exams, they were close to the last thing on his mind. Besides, he had gotten the impression that the Spirit Nin thought this whole exam was more of a joke than anything to take seriously.
It wasn't a joke for him, though, at least not yet. So, Sasuke had showed up at training ground seven bright and early, even arriving before the usually punctual Sai. The pasty-white artist hadn't given an explanation for his tardiness, and Sasuke hadn't asked. They had simply nodded to one another, and chosen spots to sit down and wait.
As expected, Sakura was next to arrive at the training grounds. On the other hand, she didn't look like he had expected. Despite his discussions with her over his lack of interest in forming a more serious relationship with anyone, she had never stopped putting effort into her appearance. Thankfully she had become less obsessive, but she was certainly still interested in him.
Therefore, when she arrived at the training ground with vibrant rainbow-colored hair, her natural pink all but drowned out, to say he was shocked was an understatement.
"Sakura, what happened to you?" Sasuke asked, bewildered. The girl was evidently distraught, as she repeatedly kept pulling at her hair, glancing at it with a complicated expression.
She looked up at the sound of his voice, seemingly processing for the first time that she wasn't alone in the training ground. She sighed despondently, her shoulders dropping.
"I can't get it out." Sakura bemoaned, "I've tried everything to get it out, but I can't! I look terrible!"
Sasuke blinked, and even Sai's usually emotionless expression had cracked to reveal one of utter confusion. That was how ridiculous Sakura looked.
Realizing that the girl was freaking out, Sasuke walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Sakura, what happened to you?"
"I…" Sakura gulped, clearly fighting down tears. "I was helping my mother with our family restaurant the night of the Kyūbi Festival. We didn't have enough staff to keep up with everything, you know?"
Sasuke nodded slowly. That had been nearly a week ago now, and he had just realized he hadn't seen Sakura since a few days before then. She obviously had been avoiding all human contact.
Sakura took a deep breath. "Well, during the busiest time of the night… I don't know how to explain it… but the entire restaurant, all three floors, even the kitchen, exploded in a bunch of colored smoke. All the villagers panicked, and no one could see anything.
"When we eventually all got out, we realized that… that our hair had been turned into this!" Sakura cried, holding up some of her hair and waving it around in disgust. "And what's worse, that was the only thing effected! Only the hair of my family, none of the customers were effected at all, and once the smoke cleared, the restaurant was completely untouched! How could someone even do that!"
Sakura was clearly distraught, but Sasuke had no comfort to offer her. She did look absolutely ridiculous, and her hair would be impossible to hide. If he didn't know better, he might have thought her hair was glowing. It was that brightly colored.
"My mother demanded that whoever did this is caught and punished, but it has been an entire week, and no one can find anything!" Sakura cried again, more outraged than distraught now.
Sasuke took a step back, deciding to keep the thought he'd just had to himself. The only thing he couldn't figure out was the motivation, but it hardly mattered.
"Are you going to be able to participate in the Chūnin exams?" Sai asked, interrupting Sakura's vitriolic tirade on the bastards that had done this to her.
Sasuke briefly entertained the idea of asking whether or not it was permanent, but wisely remained silent. Sakura looked over at Sai, clearly wanting to snap at him, but restrained herself before sighing despondently.
"Yes…" She said, her rainbow colored hair falling down around her face.
"Good," Sai replied, displaying a clear lack of concern for her situation. "You'll need to cover your hair or cut it off to restore your stealth capabilities. They're completely ruined now."
If Sakura had the ability to shoot beams of fire from her eyes, Sasuke believed Sai would be a charred corpse right then. Of course, she couldn't and furthermore, the emotionless artist didn't care about her anger.
Before Sakura could unleash her righteous fury, Kakashi arrived. Surprisingly, he wasn't horribly late for once. "Hi."
All three of them greeted their sensei in return. No one said anything further for a moment, the awkwardness of Sakura's rainbow hair overpowering everything else. Sasuke wondered if Kakashi was going to comment on it.
"Well, let's get going."
Evidently not.
—
Ibiki Morino shuffled through the stack of papers he was holding as he made his way up the stairs toward the third floor. The genin participating in this years Chūnin exam would be arriving shortly, but he should have a few minutes at least.
Izumo and Kotetsu had been put in charge of attempting to discourage genin from participating through the use of a Genjutsu, and their auras. He didn't expect it to have much success, but anyone they managed to turn away would save him the headache of having to deal with them himself.
Anyhow, it was still a bit before anyone would begin arriving, so he would have time to make some last minute preparations in the auditorium the first test was to be held in. There was an exceptional number of genin participating this year, nearly a threefold increase, not counting the Spirit Nin.
Speaking of which. The Spirit Nin were an enigma, one that bothered Ibiki both personally and professionally. Informational Security was his bread and butter, and ever since the Spirit Nin had come to Konoha two weeks ago, he'd felt more like a child playing with wooden blocks than he ever had in his life.
The Seikage and his Spirit Nin had been a constant pain in his ass. Keeping track of the twelve supposed Genin, and their four sensei was damn near impossible, let alone the Seikage. He hadn't tried all that hard, of course, because of the Hokage's warnings to leave the Seikage alone, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him.
Ibiki would never forget his own personal encounter with the Shiroi Oni, that much was certain. Nothing onerous had come of the encounter, he had simply been warned, rather kindly in fact, that attempting to trail the Seikage wasn't wise.
Aside from that, Ibiki had focused on trying to maintain village security, and make sure the Spirit Nin stayed out of restricted areas. He couldn't say with much confidence that he had succeeded, and he was almost certain the Spirit Nin had been spying on Konoha's Jounin in the various private lounges, but he couldn't prove it.
Sighing quietly, Ibiki tapped the papers against his open palm, and then opened the door to the, for now, vacant auditorium and stepped inside. He moved up to the podium, and placed the stack of test papers and reports about the genin down.
Then he looked up, and froze.
Twelve figures in white hooded cloaks stared at him from the back of the auditorium, their faces all obscured in impenetrable shadow. None of them moved, and he couldn't even hear them breath. His eyes trembled, slightly.
'I didn't sense them at all…' Ibiki realized, 'Would I have noticed them if they had wanted to attack me?'
It was a harrowing thought, one that wasn't made any better by the Spirit Nin eerie stares. He wasn't a bedwetting genin, however, and almost immediately recovered his composure. Refusing to show the slightest bit of vulnerability, he stood tall and met their stares head-on.
"You are aware that the exam doesn't begin for another ten minutes, correct?" Ibiki inquired, his tone mildly patronizing.
The twelve Spirit Nin answered in perfect sync, "Hai, Ibiki-sensei."
Ibiki decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to try to intimidate the Spirit Nin, and turned his attention to the papers on his podium, hoping that he got to at least have some fun with the rest of the genin.
—
Despite Sasuke's fears, the necessary delay to get something to cover Sakura's hair did not make them late. When they arrived, and Kakashi bid them good luck, the first test of the Chūnin exams were a few minutes away from beginning.
There was a large gathering of genin from all across the Elemental Nations outside the large building that was evidently going to be used for the first test. Sasuke had never been here before, but knew it had an auditorium, which is likely where they would be going.
Sasuke took this time as all the genin were milling about to get an assessment of his competition, because that was undoubtably what they were. The details of the Chūnin Exam weren't shared with anyone, as far as he knew, and if Kakashi knew more, he certainly hadn't told them.
He recognized many of the genin — he ignored all the ones from his village — from his own scouting. Some of the more notable foreigners being Satoshimaru from Otogakure, a girl named Pakura from Sunagakure. There was a ridiculous amount of genin present, and more were constantly arriving, but Sasuke's Sharingan easily picked out the rest that were of interest to him.
Of course, he didn't know as much about them as he would like, but he had done his best for being essentially on his own. Despite being a team, they rarely functioned as one. Sakura was hard to work with, and Sai was never available to work without outside of scheduled meetings and missions.
Kawaki Satou was a Sunagakure Genin that had caught Sasuke's interest, at first because of his albino skin despite coming from the Land of Wind, but he was also one of Pakura's teammates. He hadn't been able to learn much about Kawaki's talents aside from the fact that he tunneled as part of his fighting style. Pakura's other teammate was someone named Bijes Oluja, but Sasuke didn't think they were of any concern.
There were a lot of genin from Kumo, nineteen three-man teams, in fact. Only two of them were interesting, however. The first was led by Mizuko Shiroyuki, a kunoichi genin with long blonde hair, and dark skin. The only obvious weapon she carried was a Wakizashi, but Sasuke could tell she was not to be underestimated. Her two teammates gave him similar feelings. A boy named Kenichi, who resembled a grotesque frog more than he did a human. Sasuke had never even seen him stand up straight, usually hopping around on all fours. The last member was Raisei Tetsutetsu. He didn't seem to talk much, and even now was fiddling with an oddly shaped piece of metal.
The other interesting team from Kumo, Sasuke got the same feeling of danger from, if slightly different. However, he didn't know much about this team other than their names, which he had obtained through misusing his Sharingan on fangirls in the shinobi administration.
It was honestly a huge security risk that he could even get away with that, but Sasuke didn't care enough to report it.
The team was lead by Takumi Yamazaki, his most notable feature being his static blue hair that was perpetually unkempt. The next member was named Kadaj, and he was the second person Sasuke had seen participating in this exam with heterochromatic eyes. The first being Yugito, one of the Spirit Nin, who he had briefly met. The last member was Akari Kawa, a kunoichi who was nearly the shortest genin present, and if not for her facial appearance, he would swear she was a child. Her long braided ponytails that danced behind when she moved didn't help her look anymore mature, either.
Sasuke continued to sweep his activated Sharingan across the crowd of Genin, meeting the gaze of anyone who dared to look back at him. He didn't see anyone else with a Dojutsu, which wasn't surprising.
Before he had turned his focus to analyzing the Kirigakure Shinobi, a team from the village approached his own. Sasuke — inadvertently leading the group because Sai wasn't very proactive, and Sakura was trying to curl up into a ball in embarrassment — met the incoming group with a steady gaze.
"Salutations," The leading Kirigakure genin said, giving a slight bow which despite being respectful, he somehow made into an insult. It was honestly impressive. "My name is Toyoto Yoshio. I have heard much about you, Uchiha Sasuke."
"Greetings, and welcome to Konohagakure," Sasuke resounded genially, although his Sharingan began to rotate a bit quicker as he took in the group in front of him.
Yoshio had a sense of danger to him, but it was more laid back than what Sasuke had felt from some of the Kumogakure nins. Additionally, Yoshio was the only genin present that wore a blindfold, although he evidently had some other way of perceiving his surroundings. His hair was silvery, and slicked back with a lone bang hanging over his forehead. His attire was standard for Kirigakure, which was the case for nearly all of the genin from there. It was evident they were trying to present a united front, especially after the recent bloodline wars in the Land of Water.
"Allow me to introduce my teammates," Yoshio said, gesturing to the two genin who had walked up beside him. "This is Kenchikka Akumu, and this is Ryu Chinoike." He gestured to the left and right respectively.
"A pleasure," Sasuke replied, and then introduced his teammates in the same manner. There was a brief lull in the conversation as the two sides observed each other, well, everyone except Sakura, who was clearly focused elsewhere.
"Now that everyone is introduced," Yoshio began leadingly. "I wish to propose an alliance with you, Last Uchiha."
Sasuke frowned, his eyes narrowing at the title. "What sort of alliance," he asked warily.
"One that I believe would be mutually beneficial," Yoshio said with a charming smile, "Both of our villages have suffered at the hand of the Spirit Nin. I say we work together against them in this exam."
"I see…" Sasuke replied slowly, genuinely considering the offer. He wasn't concerned that the Spirit Nin would act against him in any permanent capacity. No, he got the sense that Yoshio had something nefarious planned, and it would be best to know what it was.
"I believe I am willing to make such an alliance," Sasuke replied after a moment, "However, should we be required to battle each other directly in this exam, it does not apply."
Yoshio nodded in agreement, and offered his hand. "Of course."
Sasuke shook the shifty genin's hand.
—
Hanabi raised a delicate eyebrow, and touched the seal on her wrist. 'Things are getting interesting outside amongst the genin.'
'Well, don't tease us! Spit it out, Hanabi-chan.' Rei demanded, her petulant tone was a stark contrast to the rigid, and eerie sight she struck as she sat completely still with the rest of the Spirit Nin.
'A few of the teams were intimidated by the two Konoha Jounin there to get rid of the weaklings. Both were from Konoha.' Hanabi relayed, her Byakugan shifting from genin to genin as she watched everything as carefully as she could. 'However, what is really interesting is that one of the Konoha genin has challenged Sasuke to a duel. He's going on quite loudly about the power of youth?'
Immediately, Kankuro's groan came over the mental connection all twelve of the adepts were currently using. 'His name is Rock Lee, and I'm pretty sure he's got a few screws loose. Spying on him for the detailed report gave me a headache, and I didn't even know that was possible since I got the Jiongu!'
Temari's giggles followed shortly after, 'I am Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast — Rock Lee!' She cried dramatically, clearly imitating the bizarre looking genin downstairs.
'Wait, is he wearing a green jumpsuit, has bushy eyebrows, and looks like someone put a bowl on his head to cut his hair?' Yukimi asked curiously, with a hint of apprehension.
'Yep,' Hanabi replied, enjoying following the completely unnecessary and overly dramatic spar happening between this Rock Lee, and Sasuke. She could see a pair of Jounin following from the shadows, and she expected they would step in soon.
However, she wouldn't be able to see it, as the first Genin had just begun to arrive in the large auditorium. Amusingly, Ibiki had concealed himself before they even entered the building. The first team to enter was from Kiri, and was actually one of the teams they had watched more extensively.
Led by a kunoichi named Shiro Yuki, the team was uniquely made up of entirely females. Haruka Kasumi, and Kyoko Yuki following in behind Shiro.
Shiro Yuki wasn't a new face, actually, unlike many of the genin present. Hanabi hadn't personally met her, but some of the other Spirit Nin had on a mission in the Land of Water. Shiro was of some renown in Kirigakure, possessing the title Yuki no Shiroi Hitsuji (Snow's White Sheep.) She was beautiful, with long snow-white hair, deceivingly delicate pale skin, and angular, ice-blue eyes that contained little warmth. Like the rest of the genin from Kirigakure, she wore standard shinobi attire.
'Wait for it… wait for it!' Isaribi commentated over the mental link, her eyes following the all female team as they strode further into the room with a haughty air. Evidently, they believed themselves the first to arrive.
Which made their reaction upon noticing the twelve Spirit Nin sitting along the back wall all that more amusing. In fact, Kyoko nearly shrieked in shock. 'Priceless!' Isaribi crooned.
While all of them enjoyed the reactions they tended to cause in others, no one seemed to revel in it as much as Isaribi. Hanabi suspected it had something to do with her past as an outcast and a monster.
The all Kunoichi team looked like they wanted to say something, perhaps in an attempt to regain their dignity somewhat, but eventually they simply moved to some of the many available seats and sat down to wait.
The amusing scene repeated itself almost every time a new team of genin walked into the auditorium, with the most notable exceptions being Neji's team, and Sasuke's team. In fact, Sasuke nodded at the them before finding a seat. His spar with Rock Lee had come to an unsatisfying conclusion when it was interrupted by the bowl-cut's sensei, who looked just as ridiculous as Yukimi had described him.
'Look at her!' Isaribi laughed uproariously, mentally gesturing to Sasuke's formally pink-haired teammate. The poor girl was wearing a tan-colored cloth over her head, wrapped and tied tightly to conceal all of her hair. It looked ridiculous, frankly, but Hanabi imagined it was better than looking like the Elemental Nation's most flamboyant peacock.
Over the next few minutes, the rest of the teams arrived at the auditorium. Conversation began to pick up as none of the Jounin hiding around the room revealed themselves. The Spirit Nin were content to wait in silence, and there was a large berth around them where the rest of the Shinobi were unwilling to sit.
—
Ino shifted in her seat nervously, earning yet another annoyed glare from Shikamaru. She couldn't help it though, the tension in the auditorium was intense, and was only continuing to rise.
Unable to stop herself, she glanced over at the twelve, perfectly immobile Spirit Nin. She felt like bugs were crawling over her skin as she stared into the abyss beneath their hoods.
She knew the Chūnin Exams, which hadn't even started yet, would be intense, but she felt like this was far more stressful than it was meant to be at this point. She also wasn't the only one creeped out by the eerie presence of the Spirit Nin, who through listening to conversation amongst the others, had been the first in the room. No one had seen them enter, either.
"Are they even human?" Ino murmured almost inaudibly, her gaze captured by the resplendent yet intimidating sight of the twelve white-cloaked figures.
"Who knows," Shikamaru replied casually, drawing Ino's attention away from the Spirit Nin. She looked at him quizzically, "What do you mean?"
Shikamaru leaned back in his seat, staring up at the roof. "Well, its common knowledge in the Shiroi Oni's bingo book entry that its entirely up in the air whether or not he is human. Sunagakure, his hometown, was never able to study him in detail due to the plants that protected him."
Immediately, Ino wished she had ever actually gone and bought a bingo book, and at least read the Shiroi Oni's entry instead of relying on hearsay and tale tales. She would have to rectify that lapse.
"What can you tell me about… them?" Ino asked, gesturing hesitantly toward the Spirit Nin. However, instead of Shikamaru answering, a Genin from Kirigakure walked up, seemingly having heard her.
"You don't know about the Spirit Nin?" The newcomer asked, making Ino blush with embarrassment. "Ai Ai, are you guys rookies, fresh out of the academy?"
"Yeah, what of it?" Shikamaru replied lazily, clearly unbothered by the Kiri Genin's patronizing tone. The genin shook his head, "I'm Yamazaki Takumi, by the way, nice to meet you."
Takumi ignored Shikamaru entirely, extending his hand to Ino, who took it hesitantly. "I'm Yamanaka Ino,"
"Pleased. Now that we have introduced ourselves, allow me to answer your question. I always enjoy helping the newbies." Takumi said with a tinge of pride.
Chōji thankfully chose that moment to include himself in the conversation, asking the question that had immediately come to mind for Ino, but that she'd been too self-conscious to ask.
"You help newbies often?" Chōji asked as he casually popped another chip in his mouth, crunching loudly. Takumi sneered, but hid it quickly.
"Yes, I do. I've offered advice to the newbies who are struggling to handle the pressure the Chūnin Exams for over a year now."
"So you have been here before?"
Team 10's space was once again intruded upon, but this time by a fellow Konoha Shinobi. Hyūga Hinata, the heiress to the clan, and by far the strongest genin to graduate this year.
Takumi turned to look at her, tearing his eyes away from Ino with clear reluctance, though he didn't seem so disappointed when he realized who was speaking to him. He nodded slowly, a small smile forming on his face. "Yes, this is my third time now."
If he was trying to sound impressive, Ino didn't think Hinata looked all that impressed. The heiress tapped her foot on the floor impatiently, glaring at Takumi as if whatever knowledge she wanted from him could simply be pulled from his skull if she tried hard enough.
"Can you tell me how the Chūnin Exams work? My sensei was less than helpful in that regard." Hinata requested, though it sounded like an order. Takumi smiled wryly.
"That's to be expected, and even then, I can't tell you the specifics. The Chūnin Exams change a bit every time, although I do know Konoha always starts the first test with a paper-based questionnaire, although this will be my first time." Takumi explained, "I imagine the changes this time will be even more even more dramatic due to… well… them."
He gestured toward the Spirit Nin suggestively. Hinata scoffed, and began to turn away to walk back to her team. "Then you don't know anything useful."
Takumi stumbled forward a step, his words losing their refined quality slightly. "Now I wouldn't say that, ma chérie," he said, "Stay a moment longer, and I can show you something that I promise will interest you."
Hinata ignored Takumi.
"You wish to know about the Spirit Nin, no?"
That got the heiress' attention, and Ino watched as Hinata turned back around, her eyes narrowed dangerously. With a cocky smile, Takumi pulled a packet of cards from his pocket, fanning them out dramatically in one hand.
"I have here Nin-info Cards, and I've been collecting quite a treasure trove on our statuesque friends over there." Takumi said, and Ino couldn't help herself from looking over at the Spirit Nin. But if they noticed what was happening, they didn't seem to care.
"Show me," Hinata demanded haughtily, and Takumi acquiesced. Pouring chakra into one of the cards, he twirled it until it was facing Hinata and Ino's team. At the same time, Ino finally realized that their conversation wasn't all that private. Many people were subtly listening in, most definitely trying to gain information on the Spirit Nin.
The card he had revealed was of a map of the Elemental Nations, with all the Shinobi villages, hidden or not marked on its surface. All except the Hidden Spirit Village. "First off, I'll mention for everyone that no one has yet been able to find the home of the Spirit Nin, and therefore its the only truly hidden, hidden village."
Before Hinata could explode, Takumi smoothly continued on. "Now, which of the Spirit Nin would you like to learn about," he asked as he shuffled the cards rapidly.
Hinata grit her teeth, but retained her composure.
"Hanabi… Otsutsuki."
Ino noticed that Hinata seemed to struggle to say the last word, almost as if it pained her. At the same time, she felt a shiver run down her spine, and knew that their conversation had drawn interest.
"Hanabi…" Takumi muttered as he shuffled through the cards, "Hanabi… Ah, here we go, Hanabi Otsutsuki." He said, holding up a card and pouring chakra into it. Text flashed into existence, along with a drawing of a young Hyūga girl with exceptionally long hair, which covered one side of her face. "She is the daughter of Hyūga Hiashi, the Chief of the Hyūga Clan. She was first kidnapped by Kumo several years ago in what was ultimately a failed mission, when the Shiroi Oni interfered and attacked the Shinobi as he escaped."
The fact that Takumi was revealing a rather large secret, he certainly didn't seem to care, and Ino couldn't help but wonder if that was because he was trying to impress Hinata.
"After that, she was spotted traveling with Shiroi Oni throughout the Elemental Nations on numerous occasions. Most notably in the Land of Rice Paddies, and Land of Grass. She is currently nine years old, and is at the rank of Adept amongst the Spirit Nin, which as best I can tell, is their equivalent of genin. Her mission history is as follows: C-rank: 15, B-rank: 7, A-rank… whoa, that is impressive—"
Takumi's monologue was abruptly cut off by the card being snatched from his hand. Everyone froze, their eyes widening and many taking steps back unconsciously.
Standing in the middle of the gathering, and only a mere few feet from Ino, was one of the Spirit Nin. From where she was sitting, Ino could see the back of their cloak, where above the strange eight-pointed star there was the Kanji for "Tailed."
No one spoke as the Spirit Nin examined the card. Many didn't even breath. When the white-cloaked figure finally moved, the tension didn't break, instead only rising as they held out their hand toward Takumi.
Ino finally looked at the blue-haired blowhard, and could tell he was struggling to maintain his composure under whatever sort of pressure he was being subjected to. He tried to speak, but inevitably gave up and handed over his stack of cards.
That was when the sand appeared, and Ino nearly screamed. Thankfully she didn't, as the sand wasn't meant to be used as an attack, but instead as an expedient as the Spirit Nin rapidly sorted through all the cards, injecting chakra into all of them and reading all several hundred in a minute or so.
"Seems like Kumo can't help but stick their nose where it doesn't belong, eagerly trying to uncover any scrap of information, no matter how insignificant or inappropriate it may be." The dead, monotone of the Spirit Nin sent chills up Ino's spine, and she desperately wanted to get away from the cloaked figure.
"I- I don't know what you mean," Takumi stammered, although he did a valiant job of hiding it.
The Tailed Spirit Nin ignored Takumi, and the next moment, over four dozen of the cards dissipated into dust, shredded into countless particles. The pressure roiling out across the room lessened slightly, and the unknown Spirit Nin turned to leave.
Ino breathed out a quiet sigh of relief, only to be interrupted by the arrival of one of Takumi's teammates. The short petite kunoichi completely ignored her teammate's frantic gestures as she marched up to the Tailed Spirit Nin, her voice high-pitched and childlike, but full of indignation. "Who do you think you are?!" she demanded.
Pausing, the cloaked figure turned slightly and peered out of the darkness of their hood at the short girl. Then he turned away and resumed walking to the back of the auditorium.
"Don't you dare ignore me, you punk! Fūton: Reppūshō!"
Ino's eyes widened in shock as the short girl flew through a half dozen hand seals in the blink of an eye, took a firm step forward, and threw her right palm out.
And then several things happened all at once. Ino fully expected to discover that the short kunoichi was dead, but that wasn't the case when the chaos cleared, thankfully.
What had happened was another of the Spirit Nin, this one without a Tailed Kanji, had appeared like a ghost behind the first, their arms raised and extended out toward the sides, as if they were trying to block the attack with their body. However, the Gale Palm Jutsu hadn't reached its target, or the obstacle in its way.
Instead, the still raging technique was suspended harmlessly in mid-air by a swirling cocoon of far more powerful wind. The newly arrived Spirit Nin slowly brought their hands together, compressing the short kunoichi's original technique.
Then she spoke, "You can have this back."
Ino's hair whipped violently about her face as the Gale Palm, compressed beyond its limit, was redirected back toward its caster. The short kunoichi tried to get out of the way, but was far too slow, and was hurled bodily across the auditorium, through the air, and plummeted toward the podium.
Just before she would have landed, there was a large explosion at the base of the auditorium. "What's this?!" Smoke poured out across the room only to rapidly clear and reveal over a dozen Konoha Jounin, and Morino Ibiki. One of the Jounin was holding the clearly dazed girl.
"Quiet down you worthless bastards!"
END CHAPTER - 8k
(Shorter chapter, I know, but couldn't find a better way to end it, and the next scenes will be too long to put in here. Also, cliffhangers, you know?)
Okay! A lot of things to hit in this Author's Note, want to reply to reviews, but first I need to acknowledge some people, because we have got OC's in this chapter! A hell of a lot of them, actually. I will try to credit everyone, but I will admit that I apparently failed to label some of them with creators… 2 years ago, so… If you recognize yours, lemme know I guess?
In order that they appeared:
OC - Creator
Kawaki Satou - doomqwer
Bijes Oluja - (unknown)
Mizuko Shiroyuki - (unknown)
Kenichi - (unknown)
Raisei Tesutetsu - (unknown)
Takumi, Kadaj, Akari (girl that gets thrown) - Antex
Yoshio - Antex
Kenchikka Akumu - GiantPsychoGecko
Ryu Chinoike - Antex
Shiro Yuki - SirKnightChase816
Haruka - Smart Ras
Kyoko Yuki - Criamond
During collecting these names, I realized I failed to include Satoshimaru in this chapter, however, he is an OC, but sadly I don't know who sent him in. (Yes I could dig through a whole bunch of 2 year old data and messages but I am trying to not demotivate myself. So just lemme know if its yours!) Also, all of these characters were sent in to me by readers at my request, which I greatly appreciate!
Obligatory I have a discord which I will definitely clean up sometime soon, and you can join and ask me questions or yell at me with the code yewTGGX
Now, reviews!
Masterchief1229: Thank you, glad you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Apologies if there wasn't as much action, trying to get back into the feel of things, and I promise cool stuff will start happening next chapter. Hope you enjoy the rereading :) (Apologies for how bad the grammar is in those early chapters… I'll fix it one day… probably)
EmpoweredHotcakes: I agree
Glogang214 (Parts 1, 2, & 3): I don't know what to tell you, it's an AU, the warning is there. I don't feel this comment was really directed at me, obviously, but I'm confused as to why you wrote it. Kinda detracted from the nice compliment you slapped on the end. I totally agree about the naming sense for the Kaminoki, but hindsight is 20/20, that all was written 4 nearly 5 years ago now. I'll probably go back and fix it… probably. I mostly keep the names short, I think I just tried that a few times.
AidenJacksonSmithDSBB: Nice long name there, but as to "where are you been?" Life, which really sucks these days + demotivation from realize the extensive… and I mean extensive effort to create blindsight had been wasted as it was… just too far off the beaten trail for fan fiction. I should have put that effort and time in original fiction, but… I was honestly too afraid and didn't have the confidence. Oh well, it was a good learning experience and another 300K words or so to add to my ever growing pile of refuse.
Stephane Az: Toutes mes excuses si je bouche absolument ça, mais j'attends avec impatience ce qui va suivre aussi ! J'espère que tu apprécies!
Ramsesjames05: Thank you for sticking around and still being interested in this story!
DammyD: Uhhh… good question, I don't know, stuff like that was why I wanted to rewrite the story, it was hard to keep track of everything and this was my first real public story to begin with. Apologies.
Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Hello hello my friend! I'm glad to be back and working on this, writing this chapter and the last has been really enjoyable for me because… I'm not trying to reach some high standard of quality, I didn't even proof read this chapter (I will eventually, I swear) but I just want to write the story, and not overly worry about it. I'm not trying to maintain some high standard of story telling, and its so… so relieving. I really did stress myself out trying to make it all… perfect, too soon, I think. I'm glad you enjoyed the bonus! Let me know what you think of this one :)
IgniousLupus: I'm overjoyed that you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm glad things didn't get forgotten, tried to make sure everything stayed generally consistent. I'm going to give this upcoming arc my best shot, but I don't promise that it will be perfect. This arc, and the absolutely ridiculous amount of stuff I wanted to cram into it was a large part of why I wanted to rewrite, because it overwhelmed me. We have the twelve Spirit Nin, Most of the original genin from Konoha, a shit ton of original characters throughout the other villages, characters like Pakura… its just a lot to keep track of and try to at least acknowledge these characters. I'm glad I could make you jump out of your seat :D Thats a first for me haha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, lemme know what you thought?