While Naruto ran to the hospital, she made her way back to the village. Iada and Aishi were going to be kept under observation in the hospital for a couple days, but for the most part they had been treated at the central tower. As she returned to the village she was strategizing and planning how she would train so that she could win her matches in a way that would show the judges that she had the right traits and qualifications to be promoted to the rank of Chunin.
That was the main issue right there, as the semi finals in her bracket would result in a three man match where she would face two other opponents, possibly even making it a two vs one scenario if both of the non jinchuriki Sand siblings advanced to the semi finals. Even if she won that match, she could potentially be put against the Sand's jinchuriki. Even her great chakra reserves as an Uzumaki and having their kekkei genkai be the greatest of any living member of the clan would surely be taxed if she ended up in the worst case scenario. The sand shield itself not using Gaara's chakra and being automatic would be a problem if she couldn't connect her chains to his physical body. Her water style might be a good counter to his sand, but that remains to be seen. Her best bet if she faced Gaara was for her to use water style to weigh down his sand and weaken his control over it, then suppress his chakra with her chains.
Even if a relatively basic strategy could be quickly formed against Gaara due to his vulnerabilities born from his status as the host of the One tail, that still left her with other opponents that she needed to counter. She knew Naruto's fighting style as well as her own as they had spared against each other constantly growing up. Her chains would make it an almost easy win for her as her power directly counters him. Sasuke would be different as the only hint that she has of his abilities was that he was an Uchiha and had some kind of curse mark that flowed with dark and evil chakra which luckily for her was susceptible to her chains. Uchiha were renowned for their skill in fire style, which her water style would be directly able to counter provided it wasn't enhanced with wind style. Simply put she didn't know enough about him to effectively plan to fight him. Though perhaps Naruto would be willing to tell her more over ramen.
The Aburame and Nara heirs had already planned how to face them during the preliminaries, but the rest of the Sand siblings were a different story. While she had seen quite a few of the puppet's abilities, she doubted that it had been the sum total of its abilities. Then of course there was Termari. She might be able to completely neutralize her if she could damage the fan itself as her wind style and fighting style as a whole seemed to revolve around it. But a simple plan like that would be unwise as it was likely that Temari had other skills that she kept hidden, especially as she was the eldest and thus had trained the longest of anyone within the finals.
She was brought out of her thoughts by the cry of an eagle announcing its arrival in front of her. It was one of Hayate's summoning eagles.
The Eagle said, "Hayate says to meet him at the Clan's training ground atop the Eastern Mountain in two hours. Also pick up some ramen from Ichiraku's. Tell Teuchi to put it on his tab".
Karin sighed, "Sure thing. let me guess, large Shoyu chicken ramen with extra chili oil"?
The eagle replied, "Yep, and get a Miso as well as Honoka will be there".
Even when he was trying to hide from Anko, the classic Uzumaki love of ramen came before everything else. At least he was taking some precautions and not making her pay for the ramen.
When it was finally time for her to meet her elder cousins at the training ground, she could tell that something was amiss, but they just brushed her off and said she needed to focus on her upcoming chunin exams.
She finally arrived at the training grounds and she began talking to Hayate sensei and Honoka about her training and strategy for the matches as they ate.
Hayate sensei said, "What about using beeswax to plug your ears to protect against attacks directed at your inner ear. Then using smoke bombs to limit visibility and use small bomblets to disrupt any audio cues that might indicate your position and what jutsu you might use. Given that all his teammates use sound based techniques and what you have told me, I think it would be prudent to assume he can use chakra to enhance his hearing".
Karin asked, "How did you come to that conclusion"?
Hayate answered, "Simple, chakra is used to enhance physical abilities all the time and even the enhancement of specific senses or organs isn't unheard of . Both the Sharingan and Byakugan both send chakra to eyes which combined with the genetic mutation within their DNA, creates those kekkei genkai, then of course you have clans like the Inuzuka who can use their chakra to enhance their sense of smell. There have been rumors that like the Hidden Cloud, the Hidden Sound has leaned heavily into military research and development. We saw some of that with that other Sound genin who had those tubes implanted into his arms so he can condense air for his jutsu. Then of course you told me that according to Kakashi and Guy's team, this Dosu has a metal brace that can amplify sound and turn vibrations into sound for his jutsu. Beeswax is obvious for protecting anything other than direct strike to your body, then the rest is giving yourself the tactical advantage which will look good to the judges. The officials and nobles observing won't be able to tell but, a quick and decisive victory will show them how good you are".
Karin replied, "I see. Especially with a quick use of my chains to bind his movements and suppress his chakra".
Honka said with an evil smile, "Perhaps you might want to consider severing that arm carrying the metal brace he is so fond. We can't allow him to have planned to kill one of our own clansmen without some form of retribution afterall".
Hayate sensei and Karin gave her a terrified look.
Hayate sensei said, "This is why she is considered the more terrifying of us two".
Karin gulped before she said, "Yep, everytime I think my mom can get scary when mad, Honoka always reminds me why she is called "The Shinigami's Daughter".".
Honoka, now back to her normal self, pouted and said, "I hate that epithet, you know! Do you know how long it took Aoba to ask me out once I got that epithet! And don't even get me started on Iruka, he was so terrified that he never even dared to ask me out"!
Hayate sensei rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well that's because you nearly beat Aoba to death before you dumped him. Iruka was going to ask you out when he heard you were single but then he heard what you did to Aoba".
Honoka continued to pout, "I only did that because he had the stupidity to call Naruto a monstrous pest in my presence. Iruka would never have done that".
Karin asked, "So that is why you guys broke up? Why did you take him back afterwards"?
Honoka shrugged and replied, "Yes, and because he did make a sincere apology. Even without our kekkei genkai being able to detect the fluctuations of chakra when someone lies, how many people do you think would have done all the things he did for over a year?" ... "Plus, Iruka was too scared and Kakashi won't give up his dirty books. I don't like to share a man's attention".
Hayate sensei said, "Alright time to change the subject before I lose my lunch".
Honoka said, "You're just mad that you're going to end up single by the end of the month once Hanna hears about Naruto spilling the beans about you two".
Hayate sensei replied, "A little, but as fond as I am of beautiful women I rather not hear about my twin's romantic liaisons. That reminds me, I need to beat the crap out of Naruto for that. Thanks to the Fox, at least he will be healed in time for the finals".
Honoka said, "You know Karin or someone else probably explained to Naruto why you were so mad".
Hayate sensei sighed as he said, "Damn, you're right."
He turned to Karin and said, "Alright so we're going to focus on the strategy I told you, work on your water breathing bladework, your adamantine sealing chains, and your ability to deal with wind-based attacks. Now let's get work. We only have a month to get this done and we have a lot of work to do".
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. I was on vacation and then I started a new job.
Comments are always appreciated, even critiques. Afterall one cannot get better if they don't know where they need to improve.
