I do not own Naruto
Three weeks later, streets of Konoha
Training for the Funyu Fuin was a lot more than what they expected. Sure, it began as usual with the general theory on how the seal operates, followed by memorizing and practicing the hand seal sequences that would allow them to verify the seal's stability and degradation rate, with the Funyu Fuin adding a few additional sequences to evaluate the disperse rate of the sealed chakra, the effectiveness of the seal, how to verify whether it was safe to be used again and a few additional maintenance sequences than normal. They should have known what the additional sequences meant regarding the complexity of the seal.
Containing a jutsu was not like containing chakra. It was nothing like the simple, elegant matrix of the storage scroll, it was nothing like the more complex elemental chakra containment barrier used in Kibaku Fuda or even the more complex Yin chakra containment barrier used in Fuin Fuda. Since the Funyu Fuin was supposed to absorb any jutsu, regardless whether they were elemental jutsu or not, the seal needed multiple layers of interlocking barriers for standard chakra as well as all five basic element chakra nature.
Risu-sensei had shown his own Funyu Fuin, which contained additional containment barriers capable of containing mixed elements combination jutsus and even some Kekkei Genkai. He told them that Jiraiya-sama's had even more containment barriers for something the toad sage called senjutsu chakra, whose complexity baffled even Risu-sensei.
Then, of course, there was the chakra pathway. Any battle-ready seal needed an overlay of chakra pathway in order to prevent disruption by a simple chakra pulse. Normally, those chakra pathway were drawn in a circular pattern, keeping the hostile chakra away from the delicate matrix, but the chakra pattern for the Funyu Fuin needed to draw the hostile chakra into the seal, bypassing the matrix without interacting with it, and thus needed to be drawn in the pattern of what sensei called the curve of a tangent function. Simply explaining what that was and what it looked like took an entire day.
By the third week, they had finished their Funyu scroll and were ready to practice sealing away their first jutsu, which Risu-sensei insisted on being the Dama no jutsu. According to sensei, the jutsu's near instant disappearance was perfect for training them on the correct timing to use the Funyu Fuin, but it also posed no danger if they failed to time the sealing correctly. Even if that meant they could only practice the Funyu Fuin once a day, it turned out to be a very prudent suggestion since all three had failed to properly use the seal for the past four days.
Despite the difficulty, team 7 was progressing smoothly. They would meet in the morning after their daily physical exercises, work on the Funyu Fuin until lunch, perform their daily D-rank mission and go back to work on the Funyu Fuin. In the evening they would train on their own, Sakura reviewing the medical scrolls she got from the hospital to perfect the use of her Shosen Jutsu while Sasuke getting to know the various members of the Raptor contract and practicing how to combine his Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu with his summon's wind style jutsus. Naruto had asked Garuda for a simple Futon to practice and the falcon had taught the boy Futon: Kiryu Ranbu no jutsu, his simplest wind technique, which created a controllable dust cloud. Naruto was ecstatic at the idea of having a jutsu which gave him the time he needed to prepare multiple fuinjutsu arrays and jumped at the chance to learn it.
Sasuke's Shunshin counter progress has stalled, so Risu-sensei told him to practice any time a member of team 7 used a Shunshin, handing him a squeaky hammer to use in place of the sword.
Their morning exercise completed, the trio of genin had met up before heading to the Hokage tower together in order to discuss their most recent findings: an unusual amount of foreign ninjas from the villages of Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki and even some from the new village of Oto. Naruto could have sworn he saw a Yukigakure hitai-ate, but after 50 clones sent to investigate returned with nothing, he was sufficiently convinced to have simply imagined it. To make weird things even weirder, all these foreigners seemed to be either genins or accompanying genins.
"That's weird, don't you think? I've never seen so many foreigners at the same time… Are we hosting a peace negotiation?" asked Sakura.
"Unlikely. Why would there be so many genin for something this important?" replied Sasuke.
"Maybe some kind of genin-exclusive event? Like… international training between allies?" proposed Naruto.
"We're not allies with Ame, Naruto. Don't you study politics with Risu-sensei?" commented Sakura.
Naruto huffed. "Sensei said we'll start politics after I learn about the economy of every nation, which will come after clan history. But I'm doing really well with learning about the clans. Like, did you know that before the bloodline purge in Kiri there was a clan that could remove their skin and use it as a puppet?"
"Gross. Couldn't you use any other example?" complained Sakura.
"While this is all interesting and all, how do you propose we find out about all these foreigners?" asked Sasuke.
"Maybe let's ask the Hokage if he has a mission regarding it?" suggested Naruto.
"Not a bad idea, Naruto, we'll definitely take a mission regarding them. It hasn't been officially announced yet, but I know what's happening."
The trio turned their head, meeting Risu's smile.
"Well, sensei…Why are there so many foreigners?" asked Sasuke.
Risu sighed.
"I guess you're close enough to the truth to deserve a bit of help. Every six months the various nations send their best and most promising genin to a publicity stunt to show off their village prowess. Chunin exam, they call it. Showing off to the Daimyos, I say." he said in an uncharacteristically bitter tone.
"You don't approve of these exams, sensei? Why does it feel like a personal grudge?" asked Sasuke.
"In the past five years only 12 genin received their promotion, while 96 lost their lives. Although I have a personal distaste against these exams, it doesn't affect my evaluation nor the hard numbers I just provided you three with." said Risu in a huff.
"That's insane! Why do the Kage let something like this slide!?" demanded Naruto.
Risu shrugged. "Politics, mostly. Showing off their village prowess as a war deterrent. 'If my genin can beat yours, my jonins will demolish you', or at least that's the message they want to send."
"How come we've never heard of these Chunin exams before?" asked Sasuke.
"Last time they were held in Konoha was nine years ago. The Daimyo pick the location and usually avoid the main villages because participation is smaller. You won't see any Kumo or Iwas shinobi if the exams are in Konoha, Konoha won't send any team to Iwa, Suna will not participate if the exams are in Kiri and so on. Plus, the Daimyos treat the exams as an excuse to take a vacation, so they tend to pick more… let's call them tourist destinations and let's leave it at that. Yugakure is the most popular one, even if Yugakure hasn't sent a single genin in the exams in almost a decade by now."
"If all major nations participate and the Daimyos will be watching… Isn't it a great opportunity to make a name for ourselves?" asked Naruto.
Risu frowned. "Naruto, I know what you're thinking. Yes, a good showing will give you fame, but a bad one will cover you in ridicule. It's not worth the risk. I'm your sensei. I am the one who is supposed to sign you three up for this exam and I'm not doing it. Not this time, the next time or any other time. This is final."
Without any further comment, Risu turned around and walked into the Hokage tower. Team 7 picked up a simple D rank mission to escort the Suna delegation, showing them around Konoha, and went on to spend the morning training.
Team 7 was rather surprised to see Shikamaru approaching their training grounds, a bored expression, to invite them to the Akimichi barbecue. Asuma-sensei had apparently invited all rookie teams for lunch. After commenting how Asuma wasn't as slick as he thought by disguising a date with Kurenai with a team lunch and dumping the kids on him, Risu accepted the invitation.
As team 7 arrived, a blonde figure jumped Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun! you're late! I haven't seen you in a while, I was waiting in excitement."
"Get away from Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!" shouted Sakura, pointing at her in accusation.
"Why, if it isn't Sakura… Big ugly forehead as always." commented Ino.
"What did you say!?" screamed Sakura as Sasuke pushed Ino off of him.
"You know Sasuke, you should have been able to dodge her rather easily… she wasn't even hiding." whispered Naruto while the two girls started bickering.
"I know. Your point?" asked Sasuke.
Naruto 's eyes bulged. Did Sasuke… actually enjoy the attention? "Nothing. Just making sure." he leaned closer towards the Uchiha "We'll talk about this later"
Sasuke scoffed, turned away from Naruto. "No we won't"
"Yahoo! I found you!" shouted Kiba, leading the rest of the rookies toward the group
"So, are you ready for the chunin exams? We're going to crush the competition!"
"No, you won't!" exclaimed Risu, almost shouting and shocking the geinins. "Team 7 is not going to enter a competition where the chances of dying are eight times higher than those of succeeding just so they can entertain the Daimyos. Your senseis should know better." He glared at the two jonins.
"Aren't you being too strict, Risu-san? No Konoha shinobi has died in the past three exams, plus with the exams here they'll have a great advantage over foreign teams. Even if they don't make it, it'll be a great learning experience for them and a chance to see where they stand compared with other ninja villages." pointed out Kurenai.
"A year and a half without Konoha ninja dying in a pointless exhibition isn't as good of an accomplishment as you make it out to be. I know that you two have very fond memories of your chunin exams, but you shouldn't let your own experience cloud your judgment." replied Risu.
"Isn't that a bit hypocritical, Risu-san? Aren't you letting the death of a friend 'cloud your judgment', as you said?" retorted Asuma.
"96 deaths in five years, Asuma. Even if I allowed personal opinion to cloud my judgment, the numbers are hard to dispute."
"We are ninjas, Risu. Risking our life is part of the job description." said Asuma, crossing his arms.
"When necessary and with adequate preparation. There is no need for rookie genins to enter the competition. If you truly have to enter them, wait another year like Gai did."
"This time the exams are in Konoha. While they might be a bit green, they'll have a better chance here now than in Yugakure after an entire year of training. And if the exams are in Yuki or Kusa they might not even be ready after two years of training." commented Kurenai.
"Or, instead of doing that, they could just… you know… get a field promotion? Like every Konoha jonin has done except you two?"
The three jonin stared at each other for a second, before Asuma sighed. "So, you're not entering them?"
"Absolutely not."
"Pops won't be happy to hear that at this evening meeting"
"Not attending. Hokage-sama is well aware of my stance on the subject and I doubt he'll appreciate me ranting again."
"Risu-san, the meeting is mandatory" pointed out Asuma.
"Fine! I'll send a shadow clone. Happy now?"
"Seven o'clock in the Hokage's office. Better remember." said Kurenai with a smile.
The lunch started off a bit awkward, Kiba's enthusiasm for the exams being squashed by Risu's bitter comments on it, but as Sakura and Ino started to fight for the right to sit next to Sasuke, the mood quickly shifted back into excitement. Kiba boasted about learning new powerful moves, with Naruto rising to the challenge by claiming his own techniques to be stronger. The boys kept rebuffing one another in a playful banter that ended up with Naruto claiming to be able to merge Mokuton and Yonton to create trees of living magma. Kiba didn't have a counter to that and conceded the victory to the blonde. Risu smiled while noticing Hinata's starry eyes firmly aimed at Naruto. He did raise an eyebrow in surprise at Sasuke's very subtle contentment when the two girls, one at each side, were fighting over him. That was unexpected… was puberty finally hitting the Uchiha? Perhaps it was time to gather the boys for some man-on-man talk. The two were orphans and, despite not enjoying the prospect, he knew someone would have to explain certain things to them.
He paid his share of the meal, then he led the team to the Leaf hotel, where they were supposed to meet their client.
The Leaf hotel was brimming with activity, housing the entire Suna delegation with its 30 participants and relative senseis.
"Good day, everyone. My name is Risu Hyuuga and this is team 7. We have been tasked with showing you around the village to make sure you learn where all the amenities are, but more importantly where are the areas in which you are not allowed to enter. I know some of your jonins have already visited our village, but I must insist that everyone here follow us around to make sure their knowledge of the village is up to date. We wouldn't want you to forfeit your chances at the chunin exam and cause an international incident because you accidentally trespassed into a clan compound, can we?" Risu waited for the Sand shinobi to gather around. With a quick head count, he noticed a jonin missing. Their jonin commander Baki, to be precise. He quickly activated his Byakugan, then frowned and looked at his team. "One of their sensei isn't here. Search the village, find him and link up as soon as you find him. You remember the planned itinerary, right?"
The three nodded, swiftly reaching the rooftop via Shunshin. Both boys flashed through hand signs.
Taiju Kage Bunshin no jutsu
Kuchiyose no jutsu
The roofs were flooded with Naruto clones and ravens, who were swiftly told to search for the missing Sand shinobi and scattered all over the village. They sat down, waiting for someone to report back.
Notes
Surprise surprise, Risu has a personal vendetta against the chunin exam and doesn't want his little ones to partecipate. What's going to happen now?
Talking about the chunin exam...the logistics of it never truly made sense from an in-world POV. In the manga exam, we have 153 partecipants from 5 nations, with 6 on-screen death (possibly 10, the fate of 4 of them is left unclear), with another 2 implied deaths, only to produce a single chunin. And that's assuming we saw every single death in the forest of death, which we most likely didn't. That's INSANE. If the goal is to make chunin, the exam is as efficient as extinguishing a fire by dumping gasoline on it. So... I kinda twisted things around to make so that the the primary reason for the exams ISN'T to make chunin, the primary reason is a show of strength in front of other nation dignitaries with the promotion just being a bonus for those who distinguish themselves.
Answering PM/Reviews
I'm glad to see you found something that could explain where I imagined the Funyu Fuin, it means something like that is at the very least plausible within canon. Aggressively pats himself on the back
I also appreciate your feedback when it comes to Kushina and Danzo's scenes, expect a bit of extra presence from the old war Hawk
We're entering my favourite OG Naruto arc, so I'm very excited to show you what I have in store, because trust me, I have quite a lot. You might have noticed the first change, so... stay tuned for more
