Naruto: Uchiha no Densetsu

Chapter 27: A new threat emerges

Unknown Location

Running at the top of his speed for the past three days, Shisui kept glancing back to check if he was being followed. By the worrisome look etched on his face, it was clear that he was in dire need to get the intel gathered back to Konoha as soon as possible. He had several cuts all over the body, with a large gash across his chest, which was bleeding quite profusely. To top it all off, he had spent a large amount of chakra in his fight against the cloaked man.

Over the past few years, Shisui was tasked with keeping tabs on immediate dangerous towards Konohagakure no Sato. While most of his assignments kept him revolving between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, he had also been helping Jiraiya gather intel on the inner workings of the Akatsuki. From what he gathered, the group consisted of missing ninja from the various great villages, as well as some of the minor villages. While he wasn't overly worried about most of the members, Jiraiya and him had failed to gather any information about the Akatsuki's leader. The only piece of information which they had found out was that the so-called leader of Akatsuki was revered as a god within the group. Even the black-market bounty offices within the Land of Fire refused to give up any information regarding the group.

Based on his observations, he had noticed that the Akatsuki normally worked in pairs, wherever they went. Hence, it had piqued his curiosity when he had deduced a strange pattern. Rumors of an Akatsuki member by the name of Zetsu who travelled to the far west reaches of the Elemental Nations every month, had reached his ears through Jiraiya's spy network. It was just about two weeks ago, when Shisui had finally managed to get on that member's trail. The first time when he had laid eyes on Zetsu, he certainly found his appearance to be extremely strange. The member had two large Venus flytrap-like extensions that enveloped his head and his upper body, giving him a plant like appearance.

Upon following the Akatsuki member for a few weeks, he had finally come upon a lone house at the top of the hill. It was more or less an abandoned area, with no other living creature living in the area. Using Jiraiya's camouflage jutsu, Shisui had managed to hide his presence from Zetsu and the cloaked man, he was meeting with. When Shisui heard the conversation the two were having, he couldn't believe his ears momentarily. His mind had literally gone into a frenzy based on the information he had heard the two discuss. It was at that point; he deduced these two were a threat much larger than the Akatsuki.

However, it was also his misfortune that the cloaked man was able to sense his presence somehow. While, he had managed to get out with his life intact, he wasn't able to avoid a direct confrontation with the cloaked man. And the chakra he had sensed from that man was simply unnatural. He truly believed even several Kages together may not be able to win against that man. It wasn't even a fight in his opinion. If the man so wished, he could have killed him anytime. He did wonder why his life was spared. But it wasn't important to him at this point. He somehow needed to get back to Konoha and inform the Yondaime, Jiraiya and Naruto about this matter.

'If word of this gets out to other nations beforehand, it could have untold consequences upon the shinobi world. Then again, it's possible he let me go because he wanted Konoha to know about his presence. Although, I don't understand how he managed to remain hidden for so long.' Shisui thought fearfully. There were very few things that actually scared the seasoned Anbu. But, witnessing that man's power had literally left him speechless. Without turning back, he kept on running, unwilling to look back anymore.

Back at the house, on top of the hill sat the cloaked man on a chair, while sipping on his sake cup. His face portrayed a look of deep thought but as a few seconds passed, a small smirk formed on his face. A young boy, roughly the age of fourteen soon entered the room and quietly sat beside the man.

"How goes your training, boy?" the man asked, calmly.

"Very well, father. I'm getting used to the power of my new eyes. Given a few years, I should be ready to accomplish the task." The boy replied, not willing to meet his father's gaze. Even though the boy seemed calm, there was a slight trepidation in his voice.

"Remember, this is the will of the Otsutsuki Clan. Once in a while, every world needs a cleansing. This seedbed has suffered enough and will soon be replenished. I already have plans set in motion for the coming years. Soon enough, we both shall have our wishes granted." The man proclaimed as he chugged the remaining sake in his cup.

The boy simply nodded, looking towards the man for a few seconds, he had come to call father. Even to this day, he didn't know the full extent of his father's true wishes. But he knew this man had the power to correct his past and allow him to live a life he desired when he was just a kid. And for his father to do so, he needed to capture a shinobi by the name of Naruto Namikaze.

Forest of Death, Konoha

By the time Naruto had come back to the arena, to his surprise quite a few matches had already been decided. Eyeing the two participants on the arena, he was a bit intrigued about the current match up. Even though, Tenten was an extremely proficient weapons specialist, he felt it would be Temari who would scoop the victory. He was also curious about the prior results, hence, when he glanced towards his father, he wasn't surprised when Minato had sensed his question.

"Go, it's fine. You don't have to stand beside me all the time." Minato said with a small smile. Naruto simply nodded, and once again shunshined. This time, he appeared right behind Hinata, surprising the Hyuga heiress slightly. Naruto's proficiency in shunshin allowed him to simply phase out of an area and appear in another location in a blink of an eye. Although, the blond knew his father's Hiraishin no jutsu was much more versatile compared to the shunshin no jutsu.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata stated, surprised to see him when she felt his arms sneak around her hips. She quickly batted his arms away, earning a pout from the blonde. She tried to glare at him for his public devotion but couldn't help but chuckle at his facial expression. Even Sakura had to stifle a giggle upon seeing Naruto's face.

"You don't have to be so mean, Hinata-chan…" Naruto mumbled, mock glaring at his girl. Hinata simply shook her head at Naruto's childish behavior, but smiled, nonetheless. She couldn't deny the fact that she liked being close to him.

"What would people say, if they saw huh?" Hinata questioned, nudging him on the shoulder lightly when he moved to stand beside her.

"Well, I could care less about what people have to say." Was all Naruto said before casting his attention towards the ongoing match. As he had guessed, Tenten was pulling out all of her tricks. By now, a good portion of the arena was scattered with several kunais, shurikens and senbons. Meanwhile, Temari utilized her large fan to use futon ninjutsu to scatter the projectiles away with ease. In his opinion, this match should get over in the next few minutes.

"Your match isn't over, is it?" Naruto asked, finally giving up and standing beside her.

"No, it's not. Although, you did miss Shino, Neji and Choji's match. Shino won his match, quite easily to my surprise. He fought against one of the Kumogakure genins… Omoi, I think his name was." Hinata stated and looked towards Sakura for conformation. Upon seeing, the pink haired girl nod, she turned back towards Naruto and continued, "And, Choji fought against Fu. He fought well, but ultimately, he lost. It was just a bad match up, I suppose. While Choji is a close-range fighter, Fu is more versatile when it comes to long range and she took advantage of that fact in her fight against him. And for Kiba, it was just a bad match up to fight against Neji nii-san. Although, Kiba did put up a somewhat good fight…" Hinata said.

Naruto nodded, hearing Hinata's point of view. Apart from Shikamaru, he trusted team seven's judgement more than anyone else among the genins. Maybe it was because he knew them since childhood, but he did have a more intimate connection with them. Even so, he wasn't surprised on hearing the results.

"Hmpff… you don't have to sugarcoat it, Hinata! Next time I face him, it'll definitely end in my victory. Just wait and watch! Right, Akamaru?" Kiba said, glancing towards his ninken partner. The ninja dog barked loudly on seeing his partner's enthusiasm. But, to everyone else it sounded more like a whine. Neji gave no outward reaction to Kiba's statement. He was quite confident in his abilities. He was certain he would never have to see a day when he would lose to someone like Kiba. It was his fate to win, after all.

"Aren't you confident now, Kiba?" Naruto chuckled, on seeing Kiba's carefree attitude. He enjoyed these small moments with his friends.

"You don't have to rub it in man… Just let it go will ya?" Kiba said with a twitching eyebrow.

"Hai, Hai!" Naruto said, finally as he put his hands up in defeat.

"What about Shikamaru? He won, right?" Naruto asked. And immediately, he was met with chuckles from most of the Konoha genins. Looking around, he was slightly confused about the reaction.

"The idiot won, alright. It was just funny, the way he won. He knocked her out by using his Kagemane no jutsu on her to make Karui walk all the way back towards the wall. The match got over in less than ten minutes." It was Ino, who had answered the question. Standing beside her, stood the Nara heir, who couldn't help but sigh at her explanation. However, it was much too troublesome to say anything further.

"Yeah, it's just as she said…" Shikamaru said with a shake of his head. Naruto couldn't help but smirk at the great laziness of the Nara Clan. During his time in Anbu, he had worked with quite a few members of the Nara Clan. So, he knew firsthand how troublesome things could be for Nara.

Everyone's attention soon towards the arena when Hayate called out the winner of the match. Several of the Konoha genins let out of a gasp on seeing Tenten lying unconscious on top of Temari's fan.

"Heh, this was child's play. I do hope, the other Konoha kunoichis can perform better than this." Temari stated smugly, looking at the stand in front of her. She smirked when she saw one of her opponent's teammate grip the railing tightly.

Rock lee had a look of mild anger on his face upon seeing the humiliation her teammate had to go through. He knew Tenten was not a weak kunoichi in any way, rather it was just unfortunate for her to be matched up against someone like Temari. Still, he couldn't help but feel sad for her. Might Guy placed a comforting hand on his student's shoulder in an effort to calm him down. Even Minato frowned slightly upon hearing the kunoichi's words.

"Getting upset will do you no good, Lee. You just have to let loose your flames of youth in your next match. Do not worry, my student. This is the life of a shinobi." Guy exclaimed as he gave him a thumbs up. Lee nodded his head vigorously as he registered his sensei's words.

"Yosh, sensei. My match will be one to watch!" Lee yelled dramatically, for everyone in the arena to hear him.

Once Tenten was taken to the infirmary and Temari had joined back her teammates, Hayate once again took the center of the arena and looked towards the large screen behind the pedestal where the Hokage stood.

"Will Hinata Hyuga and Kankuro, please come down for the seventh match?" Hayate called out. Once the names had been called out, Naruto couldn't help but smirk inwardly. He knew his hime would win the match without any doubt.

"Good luck, Hinata. I know you'll do great. It should be an easy win for you." Naruto whispered in her ears. She blushed a little at such trust he had in her, but nodded, anyway,

"Shannaro! Beat him to a pulp, Hinata! Show that Suna kunoichi that Konoha kunoichi are no weaklings!" Sakura cheered, with a sort of evil aura around her.

"Of course, Sakura!" Hinata replied with a sigh and walked down towards the arena. As Hinata walked down, Naruto's gaze momentarily shifted towards Gaara. He quirked an eyebrow when he noticed that Gaara's eyes were fixated on him. Looking into his eyes, the blond could feel the bloodlust that was just brimming to burst out. He had already assumed that the seal containing Shukaku must not have been a good one, to have such a violent effect on Gaara. The moment he narrowed his eyes towards the redhead, Gaara clutched his head in pain and began mumbling things to himself.

Once Hinata had reached the arena floor, Kankuro too appeared in front of her. She wasn't surprised to see a cocky smirk on his face. She wondered if arrogance was a trait among the Suna genins.

"Get ready to lose, girl." Kankuro stated with a smirk, taking his fighting stance. Accordingly, Hinata adopted her taijutsu style too, in the form of her clan's gentle fist. And her face showed the utmost of concentration.

Upon seeing the two participants ready, Hayate called out, "Begin." And jumped back out of their range.

"Byakugan!" Hinata called out, and the veins around her eyes became promptly visible. As her vision became even clearer than before, she smirked when she realized Kankuro's game plan.

On the other hand, Kankuro rushed towards Hinata with several between his fingers, on both his hands. Once he was about ten feet close to her, he jumped high up in the air launched all the kunais straight towards her. However, to everyone's surprise, the puppet on Kankuro's back, suddenly opened up and launched several senbons soon after. The special aspect about the senbons were the fact that, these projectiles were laced with poison. A single hit from these senbon would be enough to render an enemy unconscious for a whole day.

Upon seeing the incoming projectiles, Hinata began a spinning motion on her spot as chakra began to surround her. "Kaiten!" She stated out loud. As she began leaking chakra from all of her tenketsu at once, a protective dome of chakra was thereby created all around her due to her rapid spinning motion. As soon as the kunai came in contact with the Hyuga heiress, all of them repelled in different direction with the same force with which they were thrown. A frown formed on Kankuro's face as he saw the same result with his poison-laced senbon.

He clicked his tongue in irritation as his initial plan failed quite miserably. He had hoped to finish this match quite quickly and show these Konoha shinobi their place in the dirt.

"Is that all you got?" Hinata taunted, as her spinning motion came to a halt and her eyes landed straight on Kankuro. Even in the midst of this battle, she couldn't help but think that Naruto's overconfidence was somehow rubbing off on her.

"You bitch, wait. I'll show you not to underestimate me." Kankuro replied with narrowed eyes. He hated being underestimated. During all of his missions for Sunagakure, his performance had always been compared to that of Gaara and Temari. While he knew he wasn't as strong as his siblings, he still could not bare listening to people make comparisons. Hinata simply kept a neutral face as she stared at him and motioned him to make the first move. She was quite confident in her ability to see through his moves.

"You're going to regret this, Hyuga. Maybe you should just go running behind that Namikaze." Kankuro taunted as he detached his puppet from the back. "Now, you'll know the terror of Karasu…" He added.

"Hinata, this match is boring me. Finish it already, will you?" Naruto called out from the stands. Several of the Konoha shinobi chuckled on seeing the lazy expression on the blonde's face. While, Kankuro could only scowl at the blonde's behavior.

Back on the stands, Kakashi had just returned from dropping Sasuke at the infirmary. The moment he appeared beside team seven, Sakura immediately bombarded him with questions regarding the Uchiha.

"Kakashi-sensei, is he going to be okay?" She questioned. The jounin sensei smiled underneath his mask, as he noticed the worrisome look on her face. She certainly reminded him of a bit of Rin. As both of them had the tendency to always look out for the other's welfare.

"There's no need to worry, Sakura. He'll be fine with some rest. Moreover, congratulations on your match. Even though you lost, I heard you put up quite a good match. I'm proud of you. I'm sure in the next chunin exams, you'll surely make it through." Kakashi replied. She blushed a little under his praise but nodded, nonetheless.

"Thanks, sensei. I will try harder in the next exams for sure!" Sakura exclaimed. Still, one could see the slight bit of disappointment on her face.

"Don't worry too much about it, Sakura. It was just unfortunate that you were paired up against someone with the Ranton kekkei genkai. It's a very rare one, even in Kumogakure. Even I have never fought against someone with that kekkei genkai. You're a strong kunoichi, anyhow. Don't let one loss get you so upset." Naruto said, upon hearing the two conversing.

The next second, all of theirs attention turned towards the arena, when they heard Kankuro scream quite dramatically. When the Suna genin had brought out his puppet named Karasu to fight Hinata, he had already doomed himself for this fight. With her superior speed and a complete three-sixty-degree view of the arena, she was easily able to maneuver herself around the puppet's several arms. And once she was able to bypass the puppet's defenses, with the help of few well-placed strikes, Hinata had managed to dismantle Karasu into numerous segments. Following that, Hinata seemed to dance around in the arena as her hands flowed through the air, seemingly cutting through empty space.

However, those with intimate knowledge of the art of puppetry and those with doujutsu were able to see that Hinata was cutting the chakra strings that were still attached between Kankuro and Karasu.

"What the hell!?" Kankuro blurted out in surprise. No one had ever managed to outclass him in such a manner. Then again, he had also never faced someone with a doujutsu. Seeing the Suna genin's momentary lapse of concentration, Hinata dashed towards him and struck several tenketsu on his upper chest that rendered Kankuro unconscious.

Once Kankuro fell onto the ground, Temari could only watch in utter surprise as his younger brother defeated with such ease. Her eyes then darted towards the Hyuga heiress. She didn't think of her to be so capable. Since, in her opinion, she looked quite fragile. It was indeed an eye opener for her, to not underestimate these Konoha shinobi.

Among the Kumogakure shinobi, Samui kept a close eye on the Hyuga heiress. She had heard rumors within the village that Naruto Namikaze and Hinata Hyuga were very close to each other. Based on those, she had assumed that Hinata may have also trained with the famous Kuro Shi. And to be quite frank, she was not surprised with the skill displayed by Hinata, or the lack of it, for that matter. Even in Kumogakure, they were taught to avoid a taijutsu fight with a member of the Hyuga. A small smile graced her lips at the prospect of fighting her.

'She'd be a good opponent to test my limits.' Thought the blonde Kumo kunoichi.

"You're in an awfully good mood, Samui." Karui stated, glancing towards her blonde teammate. In all of her time, she hardly ever saw Samui portray any sort of emotion. So, it was quite surprising for her.

"Team seven… we'll have to watch out for them in the future." Was all Samui stated. Both Karui and Omoi could only sigh at her cryptic words. Omoi was about to open his mouth to say something, when a glare from the redhead shut up him immediately.

"Winner of this match, Hinata Hyuga!" Hayate called out, once he had checked Kankuro's pulse to make sure he was alive. While it was allowed to kill your opponent in the chunin exams, it was still frowned upon. Hinata gave a small bow to her opponent and walked upstairs towards her teammates. It was a tradition in the Hyuga Clan to bow to their opponent after a match as a sign of respect for the fight.

"This is troublesome. Team seven is just way too good…" Shikamaru mumbled under his breath. Asuma smacked him lightly on the back upon hearing the statement.

"Don't worry about it. You'll be trained properly after the preliminaries, to face your opponent in the finals on an even ground. Plus, don't sell your intellect so short. I'm sure you've already thought of ways to counter their abilities based on what you've seen." Asuma said with a chuckle.

"But, sensei, they really are so far ahead of us. I didn't think Sakura would be this strong. But, look at her. She could probably beat all of us. And I imagine Sasuke and Hinata to be even more hard to deal with." Ino replied. She was certainly proud that her friends were winning their matches. But, seeing their skills and improvement firsthand really put things into perspective for her. Choji just decided to remain quiet, unsure if he should add anything. However, he also knew that he needed to improve his skills to better support his teammates in the field.

"That was a smart tactic to disable the puppet first and then going for the puppet master, Hinata. You've grown well." Kakashi commented, once she joined her teammates on the stands.

"That was great, Hinata! Now, two genins in our team seven have qualified for the finals. I'm sure both Sasuke-kun and you will be promoted to genins." Sakura stated with a large smile on her face. Even though, she was mildly disappointed at her loss, she was more than happy about her teammates' wins.

"Well, there was no doubt, was there? I knew she would win from the start." Naruto exclaimed and hugged her tightly. Her face turned a bit red upon being hugged. She just patted him on the back a few times and Naruto instantly let her go. He rubbed the back of his head and chuckled awkwardly when he realized many people were gawking at them.

"Well, let them stare if they want. It's not like we were doing anything…" Naruto said with a huff. The blonde's attention immediately turned to his sensei when he heard some perverted giggles coming from him.

"I hope you're not getting any wrong ideas, sensei…" Naruto whispered, with a sweet smile. Kakashi immediately stopped his giggling and shuddered at the sight before him. He could probably deal with Naruto when it came to this situation, but seeing an evil aura appear around Hinata did indeed scare him to death. He wondered if this was how Jiraiya felt every time he got caught peeking on women.

Even Minato chuckled seeing the scene with team seven. 'She certainly reminds me of Kushina a bit, seeing her get flustered and angry all of a sudden…' he thought solemnly. Anyhow, he was also impressed by most of the matches he had seen so far. He would certainly remember to congratulate all of the Konoha genins personally after the preliminaries would be over. Most of them had shown impressive growth since their academy days. 'The future ought to remain bright, no matter what… Isn't that right, Sarutobi-sama?' Minato thought gazing at the young faces of Konoha genins.

"The next match will be between Gaara of Sunagakure and Rock Lee of Konohagakure. Please make your way to the arena." Hayate called out. He coughed a few times, as he saw Gaara appear below in a Suna shunshin, while Rock Lee jumped from the stands and landed acrobatically on the fighting arena.

Kakashi walked to stand beside Gai, as he was slightly worried about this fixture. He knew that Gaara was the Suna jinchuriki and as such, it might spell trouble for Lee, if Gaara ended up using Shukaku's chakra. And based on the bloodlust he frequently felt from the kid, Kakashi was certain it might become a possibility.

"Gai, you should consider pulling Lee off this match. That Gaara kid is a jinchuriki. And I'm sure even you've noticed how unstable he may be." Kakashi said in a low voice. Gai glanced towards Kakashi from the corner of his eyes but did not say a word for a few seconds.

"I'm glad you're worried about my student, Kakashi. But Lee wishes to prove something to himself. And as his master, I cannot deny him that. Of course, if he's in serious trouble, I'll jump right in. It'll be fine, Kakashi." Gai replied, in an uncharacteristically serious manner.

"I hope, you're right…" Kakashi whispered, as he decided to just stand beside his long-time friend.

Back on the arena, Hayate had already called for the start of the match. While Lee was in his taijutsu stance for the goken style, Gaara merely stood with his hands folded over his chest. As a few more seconds passed, a look of confusion appeared on Lee's face.

"Do you not wish to fight, Gaara-kun?" Lee asked, upon dropping his stance.

As Gaara, lifted his head up to gaze at the green-clad genin, everyone could see the look of boredom on the Suna genin's face. Through the preliminaries, most of the genins had heard bits and pieces about Gaara's impeccable defense. Hence, everyone wanted to see what the kid was actually capable of.

"You do not interest me. Your blood is not going to satisfy mother." Gaara replied after a few moments and yet again closed his eyes. Lee clenched his fists upon being looked down. It was his deep desire to prove that through hard work, even a loser will be able to defeat a genius. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed himself and once again got into the goken stance.

Up in the stands, Temari smirked upon seeing Lee. She was not in the slightest bit worried about her brother. She was sure, Gaara would come out of this match unscathed, as he always did. Although, her eyes widened when she saw Lee suddenly disappear from his position.

The next moment Lee appeared behind Gaara, with a kick aimed to his head. To everyone it looked as if, Gaara would be flung away any second. However, before Lee's foot could even come close to hitting him, large amounts of sands came spiraling out of the gourd on Gaara's back and blocked the kick promptly. For a split-second Lee's eye's widened, but soon enough a new spark of determination lit up in them.

As Lee continued his barrage of fast series of kicks and punches from all directions, Gaara's sand instinctively kept protecting from all dangers around him. Even through all the commotion going around him, he kept his eyes closed and arms folded over his chest. "This bores me…" Gaara whispered under his breath. And just then, the speed of his sand doubled, taking Lee and everyone else by surprise. The sand encased over Lee's left foot and threw him harshly against the walls of the arena.

Majority of the people gasped upon hearing the loud thud that resounded as Lee's body slid down the walls and hit the floor. Yet again to everyone's surprise, Lee simply sprung back into action and dusted himself off as if nothing had ever happened.

"The kid has some serious tenacity… But I don't see him lasting against an opponent like that for much longer…" Karui stated with interest. She'd be lying if she said that she didn't have much expectation from the competition this year in chunin exams. Although her believes were thoroughly crushed when the Nara heir had beat her, quite embarrassingly too. But, seeing the bowl cut genin's taijutsu had really surprised her. She was certain, most genins in her village could not go up against the speed displayed by Lee. And she was furthermore surprised by Gaara's innate ability to use sand.

"Man, we really should have done some more research against our competition before coming here… This is just a pain. I can frankly say there's several people here who could beat me." Omoi said while sucking on his lollipop. His eyes, although, were firmly glued to the match going on below.

As Lee kept on dodging the sand, he was unable to find any sort of opening, to land a hit on Gaara. Many people in the arena were intrigued when all they saw was a smile form on the green clad genin's face. Lee ran all the way to the back and jumped up on top of the large statue, to get a few seconds of breathing space.

By now, even Gaara had loosened his stance and stared at Lee with a sort of interest. No one had managed to survive his sand barrage for this long. A look of mild interest glazed over the Suna genin's eyes as he kept staring towards Lee.

"Bring it on, already. Let me feed your blood to mother…" Gaara said with a sadistic smile.

For a few seconds no one said a word in the arena as their eyes kept glancing between Lee and Gaara. Temari looked a little worried about the look on Gaara's face. He would often get that look when he found something of interest. She had to commend Lee for surviving this long against her brother. But she still didn't think that Konoha genin would be able to defeat her brother.

"Why doesn't he use in ninjutsu?" Fu asked, a questioned which was revolving in majority of the people's mind. Those who knew Might Guy personally had already guessed the reason for that. Guy kept his eyes on his student as Lee appeared to be in deep thought for a few seconds.

"That's because, he is unable to use ninjutsu. His chakra coils are not formed properly which hinders him to utilize his chakra completely." Guy stated. Several of the genins now looked at Lee in wonder. Especially those from Kumogakure and the Konoha genins of team eight and ten. He wasn't surprised when he saw his student turn towards him. The jounin knew exactly what Lee was thinking and this was the perfect stage to allow him to use the full extent of his power.

"I give you permission Lee. Do it!" Gai yelled loudly, while giving a thumbs up to his student. At this point, even Neji was intrigued to see how Lee would fight at his best. He had always dismissed his teammate's battle prowess, thinking that no one would be able to measure up to a Hyuga in terms of taijutsu.

Lee smirked when he got the go ahead from his master. He bent down and seemed to remove weights from his legs. Yet again, quite a few people were surprised at this revelation. However, nothing could compare to their shock when Lee dropped the weights on the ground and two large craters were formed on either sides.

"What the hell!?" Temari blurted out in surprise. This indeed was the same line of thought coursing everyone's mind. Even Naruto was surprised to see that. He had never gone around wearing weights himself, rather he used the resistance and gravity seals made by his father to improve his speed and movement. But, to see this genin go through such hard work and persistence, put a smile on his face.

"Yosh, I can move freely now!" Lee declared. Before most could even realize what had happened, Lee instantly vanished from his spot and the next second, he was in front of Gaara. And this time, his punch by passed the speed of the sand and connected with Gaara's sand. However, instead of being thrown back, Gaara was merely pushed a few meters back. However, this time people could see cracks on Gaara's face which were spreading with every passing moment. Before Gaara could retaliate or think of anything else, Lee once again disappeared from his spot and kicked the Suna genin in his chin, flinging him high into the air.

Just as Lee appeared above Gaara to perform a drop kick, the sand protecting him moved at even faster speed and wrapped around Lee's right half of the body and threw him towards the ground. A large crater formed on the ground as Lee hit the surface with incredible speed. The green clad genin groaned in pain, as his body began to ache from the pain. However, he got no time to rest as his eyes noticed the sand once again moving towards him.

He stood up, albeit a bit shakily and put his arms up in a cross formation. The sand hit him square in the arms as Lee was once again pushed back. Gaara smiled in satisfaction as he witnessed his opponent groan in discomfort. This is what he lived for. To see his enemies squirm in agony, to see them bleed to death.

The genins and jounin sensei standing above could only watch as the Suna genin kept barraging Lee with waves and waves of sand. While the Kumogakure and Sunagakure shinobi were impressed with Lee's tenacity, those from Konoha could only watch in horror at the ease with which their comrade was being pushed around.

"Lee, you don't have to do this anymore!" Sakura yelled from above. Even though, it had only been a brief time since she had come to know him, Sakura had come to respect him as a shinobi. Even during the second part of the chunin exams, he was the first one to come to their aid when her team was attacked by the Sound genins. "You may end up dying if this continues…" Sakura added.

"Sakura, stop. There's no point in reaching out to him at this point. I can understand why Lee wants to push himself this hard. Look at his face. Even though, he appears to be struggling, he has a smile on his face. And he's trying to adjust his body to the speed of the sand with every hit." Naruto commented. The blonde certainly had to give credit to the taijutsu specialist for such tenacity.

"He's right, Sakura. Lee seems to be adjusting with every hit. Even though his moves may appear to be sluggish, but his reaction time for defending is improving with every second. It's amazing." Kakashi stated, as he analyzed the fight with his sharingan.

"Guy sensei, please forgive me. But I'm going to have to use this. I have to prove my own way of the ninja! I shall not be the one to lose here!" Lee yelled. Suddenly chakra began leaking out of his entire body and a green aura appeared around him. Several of the veins on his face and neck bulged out, due to the pressure he was exerting on his body.

"What's happening?" Ino asked out in wonder. She couldn't believe that Lee could be this strong. This was simply unnatural in her eyes. Even Asuma and Kurenai were at a loss of words. To be able to open one of the Eight Inner Gates at his age should practically be impossible.

"Shomon: Kai (Gate of Pain: Open)" Lee yelled. Gaara could only stare at his opponent in irritation. He simply wished to feed his opponent's blood to his sand and this genin was only delaying the inevitable. However, before he could think of doing anything further, he was kicked to the side of his face. He was once again kicked to his torso, but this time from the other side that flung him in the opposite direction. By now, Gaara was being relentlessly kicked around in the air. The sand armor that protected Gaara from most attacks, had already begun to peel off and the people could finally see the Gaara's skin, which appeared to be extremely wounded due to the ferocity of the attacks.

"Such power. This is not just talent. He must have pushed himself past exhaustion every single day in training to achieve this feat." Kakashi said awe at the display. He himself could only open the first of the inner gates. Even Minato was highly impressed by the taijutsu displayed by Lee.

"This is just too fast. I can't even see Lee anymore…" Shikamaru stated as he gripped the railing on the stand tightly. His eyes darted in all direction to keep track of the Konoha genin but was unable to do so.

Finally, Lee kicked the Suna genin, in the chin yet again, that pushed him high into the air. Lee appeared above Gaara, with both his arms cocked back, ready to punch his opponent. He could feel the pain coursing through his body. And it was killing him with every movement of the body. But this what he had trained for through out his life. To prove to people that even without ninjutsu or genjutsu, he could become a splendid ninja.

'No, not yet. I will finish this with one last move… Tomon: Kai (Gate of Limit: Open)' Lee thought. In a split second, Lee once again disappeared from above Gaara, and this time, Gaara felt an incredible jolt of pain run through his stomach, as his eyes landed on Lee's fist punching him straight in the gut. Gaara went straight down and hit the floor, making dust flow all around the place he contacted.

As Lee landed on the ground, he released the technique as the aura around him disappeared. And the people around could finally see how worn out the green clad genin was. Lee was heaving as he rested on the ground. There were several wounds on his body and the stiff movement of his body was an indicator of the great stress placed on body.

As the dust settled around Gaara, it was plainly visible that Gaara was in no shape to get up himself. He was bleeding from his arms, as well as there was a large cut on his forehead, along with numerous small cuts all over his arms. However, everyone was shocked to see that the gourd on Gaara's back had turned into sand that had saved him from a fatal impact and possibly death.

"What the…?" Lee breathed out as he noticed that Gaara was still conscious. He willed himself to stand up but eventually fell on one knee. He cursed himself and then his eyes darted towards his opponent, who seemed to be looking at him with a maniacal expression.

"This is the end…" Gaara whispered through clenched jaws. He was annoyed that he had taken such a beating. Never in his life had he taken so much damage in his life. Yet, this no one had managed to not only break through his sand armor, but also make him bleed. The youngest son of the Yondaime Kazekage, pushed himself off the ground and stood up shakily.

"This is the end of the line for you… Now, mother shall feast on your blood!" Gaara said as the sand began covering his body. In a matter of few seconds, Gaara's entire right side was covered in sand in a thick and disfigured way. However, the most prominent change was his right eye, which now had black sclera and yellow irises. Gaara began to laugh maniacally as he eyed his prey. His opponent had certainly given him more entertainment than he had figured. He would have to reward this genin for the ultimate fight he had been in, till now. He moved his hand towards Lee, and in an instant the sand rushed out from his body and moved towards Lee at incredible speeds.

Temari could only stare in horror, as she saw what had become of Gaara. She couldn't believe that a mere genin had pushed her brother so much to actually partially transform. Even Baki, Suna genin's jounin sensei was sweating slightly at the scene before him. He had specifically instructed Gaara not to use Shukaku's power. He could only hope that the situation did not get too out of hand at the moment.

'What is this!? He can still move and use his sand after the reverse lotus?' Lee thought, flabbergasted. Though, he could see Gaara's partial transformation, he did not think much of it. He just assumed it be another of Gaara's ninjutsu to make his defense stronger. With sheer willpower, he pushed himself to stand on his two legs and prepared to move out of the way. At this point, everyone could see how frail Lee's body had gotten as his arms and legs were shaking quite a lot.

'Oh shit, I can't move anymore!' Lee thought, frantically. Gaara smile widened even more as he noticed the predicament Lee was in. However, just as the sand was about to hit Lee, Gai appeared in front of his student and pushed the sand out with just his hands. Lee's eyes widened upon seeing his master and he breathed a sigh of relief.

On the other side, Gaara gritted his teeth in frustration at being denied his kill. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Lee being saved by his sensei. Memories of the past came flushing into his mind as he clutched his head in pain. He could not understand why his opponent was saved. All heads in the arena immediately turned towards Gaara, when a chakra spike could be felt. Most of the Konoha jounin promptly turned on guard when the felt the rise in bijuu chakra. While it wasn't against to use bijuu chakra in chunin exams per say, Konoha would indeed take matters into their hands if Gaara ended up losing control. Hence, the reason why Minato discreetly ordered all the jounin in the area to stand down for the time being. Making a single hand seal, Gaara amassed large amount of sand around himself and transformed them into spikes.

However, before he could make another move, he was suddenly pushed back due to an invisible force and hit the wall behind him, making several cracks appear on the wall. Glancing in front him, his eyes widened when he noticed Naruto Namikaze standing before him with an unreadable expression on his face.

"When did he move?" Temari wondered out loud as she glanced to her right, where the blonde stood mere seconds ago. Even if her brother was under the influence of the Ichibi, she felt it was her duty to stand up for Gaara. They were family after all. She was about to jump down when Baki stopped her.

"Don't. You'll simply get into more trouble. The match was over the moment Lee's sensei stepped in, to protect him. Don't ruin the plans which are already in motion." Baki whispered into her ears. Temari clenched her fists as she could do nothing but stare as the Namikaze walked towards her brother.

"Why!? Why did you stop me from killing them?" Gaara demanded, staring into Naruto's eyes. The blonde sighed at seeing the anger and resentment in the redhead's eyes. It saddened him to think of the pain Gaara must have gone through his childhood to turn him into this. But this was not the moment for him to have a talk with Shukaku. He did wish to have a talk with Gaara, but with the redhead being in an enraged state, he knew it wouldn't simply be possible.

"Go to sleep Gaara. We shall have a talk later." Naruto stated as he casted a genjutsu on him with his sharingan. The very next second, Gaara eyes seemed to become dazed as he soon fell into a deep slumber. Glancing back, he noticed that Lee was indeed in a very bad shape. With the amount of stress that the fifth gate put on his body, Naruto was even surprised that Lee was able to stay conscious. While he was extremely impressed by Lee's aptitude in taijutsu, he certainly needed to learn when to restrain himself. Temari and Baki soon jumped below and picked Gaara up, without giving him a single glance.

"Thank god, it's over…" Hinata commented under her breath. Sakura could only nod in response. She had never seen two genins have such an intense battle. Moreover, she felt a cold shudder run through her body upon seeing Gaara's transformation. She didn't know if she could survive a fight against someone like him. As the genins and jounin sensei came out of their surprised state upon seeing Gaara go for the kill, Hayate moved into the center of the fighting arena to address the participants.

"Since, there's only one contestant left, Ino Yamanka will be getting a free pass to the chunin exam finals. Thereby, the second round of the chunin exam comes to an end. The finalists please come below, while Hokage-sama will address you regarding the Chunin exam finals." Hayate stated. Even as he announced the details, his eyes kept glancing towards Lee and Guy. In his opinion, it was reckless what the kid did, but he could also understand Lee's desire to prove that one could be an amazing shinobi with taijutsu alone. He himself specialized in kenjutsu and even integrated his katana into his taijutsu moves to have an edge.

After the commotion was over, the finalists which included Samui, Shikamaru, Hinata, Neji, Temari, Shino, Fu, Ino, Sasuke and Gaara were now gathered in the fighting arena with Minato standing before them. Although Gaara was asleep due to Naruto's genjutsu, whereas Sasuke was still resting in the infirmary due to chakra exhaustion and the aftereffects of the curse marks. The finalists' respective jounin sensei stood behind their students as Minato began addressing the genins.

"Congratulations to all of you for progressing to the final stage of the Chunin Exams. I'm sure you all have learned much about your possible opponent's abilities during this preliminary round. The finals will be held one month from now. This one month period is to give you time to prepare yourself in any way you wish. The finals will be attended by various merchants, feudal lords and top officials from various villages, major and minor both. So, it's important that all of you put a good performance. Your opponents will be made known to you on the day of the finals." Minato stated and turned towards Shikamaru who seemed to have a raised his hand. He nodded as he allowed the Nara heir to ask away.

"Hokage-sama, how will the chunin promotion work? Will only one of us be promoted or is there a possibility that a few us can be?" Shikamaru questioned. Minato smirked upon hearing the question. 'Leave it to Shikaku's son to think of the practicalities of a situation.' He thought.

"You're right in a way. There's a possibility that all of you may get promoted and there's also a chance that none of you will. As I said, the finals will be spectated by various village top officials, which will also include the kage of competing villages. So, if you do put up a good performance, you'll have a shot to be a chunin. Even if you get knocked out early in the finals." Minato clarified. Shikamaru nodded, as he already began formulating a plan.

Minato then went on to answer a few more questions by several other genins regarding the month break from the chunin exams. Following that, he asked Guy to stay back as he wished to discuss Lee's condition with the jounin.

"Well, let's get out of here, shall we? We better go check up on Sasuke." Naruto asked, standing beside Hinata and Sakura. The two girls were quite worried about their third teammate, since they hadn't seen him since his match. The three walked out of the arena and towards the infirmary then.

Three Days later

Since the end of the chunin exams, majority of the finalists had already taken to sculpting their battle strategies for the finals. While the Kumogakure genins had decided to go back to their village for the month, the Suna genins had decided to stay within Konohagakure. Since the Chunin Exam Finals are considered among the most prestigious events for a shinobi village, it also entailed the village to have more security for the duration. There Anbu placed on each and every dignitary hotels, hot springs, restaurants, hospitals and all the exists within the village. Those shinobi which were outside the village were being re-stationed either back to the village or close to it for border patrol.

The genins that were admitted to the infirmary during the preliminaries were thereafter shifted to the Konoha hospital for further treatment. We currently find, Naruto sitting on a chair beside Sasuke who was still in hospital clothes.

"When the hell can I get out of this place?" Sasuke grumbled. For the past three days, he had been stuck in this place. Nurses would come and go out of his room while taking periodically checking his vitals. He had been the most annoyed when Tsunade had bopped him on the head to make him sit still.

"Just relax, will you? Tsunade baa-chan did say that you'd be out by today evening. We need to make sure that the mark on your neck doesn't have too adverse of an effect on your chakra network. And there's no one better than her when it comes to medical ninjutsu." Naruto answered. He chuckled lightly on seeing the annoyed look on his face. He himself did not like the feeling of being in an all-white room too. So, he could relate with his brethren to some extent.

"Well, you're not the one stuck here, yeah? So, don't lecture me!" Sasuke replied, quite grumpily. The Uchiha was quite annoyed when all he heard in reply was quiet laughter from his sensei and Naruto. He just huffed and turned the other way.

"Sasuke, anyway, we are here to discuss about your training for the next one month. Your opponent will be announced on the day of the finals. So, you'll have to be prepared for anything and anyone. There are quite a few people you'll have to be wary about." Kakashi commented, leaving all the jokes aside. The statement immediately got Sasuke's attention as he promptly whipped his head to Kakashi's direction.

"Oh? What kind of training will we be doing?" Sasuke asked with interest. Even though his strength had steadily increased over the years, he still wasn't close to Itachi's level. Thinking about his brother, Orochimaru's words suddenly reverberated in his mind. The truth about the Uchiha Clan massacre… A secret that the Hokage, his mother and even his brother had been hiding from him. His mood suddenly flipped as he thought about it more.

Both Naruto and Kakashi saw the change in Sasuke's demeanor. And the blonde was the first one to figure out what Sasuke may have been thinking about. "This is not the time Sasuke. Trust me, I'll tell you about the truth, myself. But you have to trust me now. I have never lied to you intentionally. So, just be patient and before the one month is over, your eyes won't be clouded anymore." Naruto stated with a serious expression. The Namikaze was aware how important this must be for Sasuke. But, the truth of the matter is, he didn't really know how to break it out to Sasuke. Though, he didn't play a direct part in the Uchiha massacre, he was one of the people who had been aware of the truth from the beginning. Kakashi glanced towards his student as he understood the meaning behind those words. Even if he was surprised as to how Sasuke managed to learn about any discrepancies about that matter, he didn't show it.

Before the three could talk about anything further, an Anbu suddenly materialized in the room, beside Naruto. "Washi-taicho, Inu-taicho, Hokage-sama has requested you two to meet him in ward P12, immediately. It's an urgent matter regarding Tora-taicho." The Anbu stated. Both Naruto and Kakashi became alert on hearing the information. The 'P' section ward in the hospital was mainly for Anbu operatives and it was generally used in the worst-case scenarios.

"You go ahead, we'll be there momentarily." Kakashi replied. He could see the fear on Naruto's face. Shisui was someone very close to Naruto. And to hear that he may be on the verge on death would indeed put him through shock. Through all this, Sasuke had decided to keep his silence as he realized these were matters not meant for his ears. Although, he was curious as to what had gotten Kakashi and Naruto so worried all of a sudden.

"Sasuke, return home once you're discharged. We'll see you in the Namikaze Compound." Kakashi said, keeping it brief. Placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder, the copy ninja brought him out of his thoughts. "There's no use thinking too much right now. We'll know the situation once he we go see him." He added. Soon enough, both Naruto and Kakashi shunshined out of the room, leaving Sasuke alone with his thoughts.

Author Notes: I'm kinda hyped to have finally updated this story! With this chapter, quite a few new avenues have opened up for the story. As, I was pointed out, Naruto had indeed become overly strong. But, I was not too worried about that per say. As I had originally planned, this story would involve quite a few Otsutsuki Clan members. Not an in depth Otsutsuki related story unlike one of my other story, but still. With the involvement of the cloaked man and the new kid, Konoha will have to be on a greater alert now. Since, Naruto has already come into contact with two of the Otsutsuki members, I'm also planning to have Minato allocate a separate team just for gathering intel about the Otsutsuki and the Akatsuki and deal with them accordingly.

Now, the preliminaries have also come to an end. I did not want to showcase all of the fights. I'm sure everyone over here have read a ton of fights during the chunin exams arc from various stories. I didn't want to spend too many chapters devoted to that. Of course, the finals will be a different matter. Most likely one big chapter or two at most. Once, the chunin exams get over, Minato can discuss the threat of the Akatsuki and Otsutsuki with the other kages too. The first meeting between Naruto, Nagato or the cloaked man will not take place for another few chapters. Also, the kid's identity with the cloaked man will soon be revealed too.

Anyhow, this chapter was mainly to introduce two new characters into the story. The next few chapters will still be heavily centered around the one month break, the chunin exam finals and the imminent attack on Konoha; while also having certain information about the Akataski and the Otsutsuki.

Please follow, favorite and review the story! Really glad to see that people are still reading this story! I'll be updating this story a bit more frequently now.

Until next time!