Empty

by zzzgnas

There is nothing worse in the world than the feeling of complete and utter helplessness. That empty feeling you get when you've lost everything and you know there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Uzumaki Naruto was four when he experienced this feeling for the first time. And from then on... nothing had gone right... Strong! Naruto. Third Ninja War Timeline.

18. Chapter 18 - Flames to Your Soul

Chapter 18

Flames to Your Soul

"Do you know what he said to me when I finally woke up, pain coursing through my body and tears flowing freely down my eyes?" She almost whispered, a solemn smile on her face. "He asked me: Which one are you?"

Flashback

Hiruzen looked up at one of his six oldest friends. Sadly, only four of them remained, but of them… Homura definitely ranked high. At times like this, it wasn't the blatant realism of Danzo he needed. It wasn't Akira's debate on what is the right action to take… It wasn't Kosuke's overly positive outlook either. It was his best strategist's thoughts. Homura was one of his most important advisors during wartime. Danzo was a hammer intent on banging anything and everything into the wall. Akira was always the advocate for reaction over action. Homura was where he found the balance.

"What have you got for me, Homura?"

The primary advisor to the Hokage sat down with his legs crossed, across from the Sandaime Hokage. "Depends on what you have for me."

… "What do you mean?"

"What I mean, Hiruzen, is that I do not have the required level of understanding of the individual in question to provide you with an accurate analysis. With the loss of Koharu, and no magic seal to run my calculations, I'm afraid what I'm about to give you, is the extent of what is possible for me to give."

…

"This isn't like the other times, I'm afraid." He added upon seeing Hiruzen's gobsmacked expression.

"Fine, what do you need from me?"

"Answers… To the validity of a series of assumptions that I based my entire analysis around. I based them on what is known about the boy's character, which is honestly, not known too well. Hence the reason I need the validation first."

Hiruzen stared at his friend for a few more moments. Then, he nodded his head and sat down. "Ask away."

Homura smiled. He had never seen his friend so desperate. "My first assumption is what this- Naruto-person's preference order would be."

"You mean who he wants to fight and who he doesn't?"

Upon nodding to provide his affirmation, Homura continued seamlessly. "In order of most to least likely, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure, Sunagakure."

"Good! That's exactly what I was thinking."

"It seems I'm not the only one stuck thinking about all the possibilities." Homura smiled. "Next… How many villages can he beat one after the other?"

…

"Two… If he's lucky, three depending on who the first two are. Nex-"

Hiruzen interrupted again. "Interesting. And who shouldn't be on the first two if he needs to fight a third?"

"Kumogakure."

Hiruzen tilted his head. "Why not Kirigakure?"

Homura shook his head. "I heard the details of the fight he had against a bloodline user from Kiri. He is well-matched with them. He outshines them in Kenjutsu and Water Release. The only problem is the jinchuriki but I am fine with hoping for his Sharingan abilities to kick in." Upon Hiruzen's sly smile, he knew he'd have to explain the other side as well. "I do not want to fight Kumo for only one reason… Have you ever known the Raikage not to shoot his mouth about the strength of his village? You told me he was silent throughout the preliminaries."

Hiruzen slowly nodded. "Yes. They're confident. And so are his shinobi. The girl went against the samurai on behalf of a random stranger, unafraid of the consequences."

"Or lack thereof." Homura added. "Alright. Here's what I can give you. One of the best outcomes, one of the worst outcomes, and one unknown that could change everything."

Hiruzen gestured his assent. Homura began. "The worst possible outcome would be to get the first pick or to narrow it down even further, you cannot be in the first fight. You just cannot be in the first fight… Getting the first pick basically enforces that. Based on what you tell me about him, he is likely to go overboard if he fights Iwa. Then assuming he wins, he will be that much less able to counter the other three. So, in my books, the worst possibility is that the match between Iwagakure and Konohagakure happens first."

Hiruzen didn't say anything…

"The best possibility is, of course, that neither Konoha nor Iwa will fight in the first two matches. Kirigakure has to fight Kumogakure. One of our two strongest competitors gets knocked out in the first match. Then, Sunagakure will fight Kumo or Kiri, whoever wins. Two of these three villages will be knocked out."

"Why not involve Iwa in the second match?" Hiruzen interrupted again. "That way, three of our strongest competitors have fought already."

Homura gave a grimace. "This is where the 'unknown' I mentioned, comes into the picture. Sunagakure is the wildcard here. They are the ones with the most to lose. They are the ones in the most disadvantageous position. A Taijutsu specialist with ridiculously little ability in anything else, a one-handed puppeteer, and an unstable jinchuriki created only after the initial Five Kage Summit? Any dog, you put him in the corner, no matter if they're vicious enough or not, they are going to bite back…"

… Hiruzen just stared at his friend. He'd never thought of it like that. "You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have…"

Homura smiled at one of the greatest recorded quotes of Tobirama Senju. "Precisely. Better to have seen them fight at least once before he's actually fighting them."

Hiruzen, for the umpteenth time in his life, was forced to concede the point his friend made. "What about after?"

"After the first two matches?" Homura shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Fighting and not just beating… Crushing Iwagakure is part of the best outcome for the village. For our status in the elemental nations, and our morale."

Hiruzen looked straight into Homura's eyes. Hiruzen's non-verbal question was apparent to them both. And so was Homura's silent reply.

…

…

…

'Can you be sure that your judgment isn't compromised here? Are you capable of putting aside revenge against Iwagakure for what they did to Koharu?'

'Not at all!' Homura replied, his eyes set in determination. 'And that's exactly my point. If I'm not able to, no one is… Konoha needs this… I need this…"

Konohagakure

Kushina closed the door behind her with a sigh. Her brother's apartment was on the sixth floor of the building and she had recently started to simply walk down six flights of stairs, taking the time to contemplate everything happening in her life. She usually just went through a mental list of items reminding herself of what she had to do that day.

Today, however… There was only one thought going through her mind. Today was the day Naruto would leave for the Chunin Exams. And it was also the last day she would get to see him for quite a while. The trips to and from the Iron Country were taking far too long. It took close to 3 weeks to reach the Hidden Leaf after the preliminaries because they couldn't travel at ordinary shinobi speeds owing to the majority of them being injured. It was going to be the same situation this time, given Naruto, Orochimaru and the Hokage would only be able to travel at shinobi speeds till the Fire Capital. After that, they would also be escorting the Fire Daimyo, a very fat, very spoiled civilian (if Mikoto were to be believed) who liked to travel at a leisurely pace.

It was likely going to be at least six weeks before she would see him again. But funnily enough, this wasn't the thing that bothered her. During Naruto's increasingly frequent extended absences in the village, Kushina had been the one taking care of Yugao. Hayate and his mom, and Anko helped out sometimes, but she was the one living with her and taking care of her. And when she tried to convince Yugao to come say goodbye, she was so adamant in her refusal.

Naruto didn't realize what he was doing to the young girl, too stubborn in his ways. Yugao, in turn, didn't seem to realize that just a simple glimpse of her, would make Naruto change his mind. She was, ironically, reminded of that day long ago when she left Uzushio to come to the Hidden Leaf.

What she wouldn't do to go back and change the decision she'd made then…

…

Sigh 'Broody brats, the whole lot of them.'

With Naruto

"Naruto, tell me what you did."

The question was so out of character for someone like her. He couldn't quite reconcile her with the happy-go-lucky tone she usually took with him. He decided to ignore it and proceeded with the greeting that she'd demanded from him once before.

"Ohayo, Rin.", he tried. Having fought numerous battles with many dangerous shinobi, Naruto was seldom discomforted by confrontations… Yet, he couldn't bring himself to meet the eyes of the brown-haired girl blocking his way. The look on her face seemed to indicate that even though she may be delaying him from a departure as important as this one, she simply did not care. Rin Nohara was usually not characterized as a stubborn person. But just from a single look in her eyes, Naruto knew she wouldn't simply let him pass.

The smile fell from his face when he received only a pointed look in reply. He knew what this was about.

"What did you do?"

"Tch." Naruto moved to push past her but her surprisingly strong grip on his arm stopped him.

"How is she conscious? Akira said whatever technique he had up his sleeve would kill him. How is he alive?"

…

…

…

"You're not going to tell me?" Rin finally let go of his arm.

"Why do you assume I had anything to do with it? Akira finally had the balls to save his own daughter and by some miracle, he succeeded without killing himself. What else could've happened?" Naruto started walking away. "You saw her injuries… You know as well as I do that nothing other than sheer dumb luck could've saved her."

"Luck? That's what you want me to believe? Fine. Don't tell me. But I know one thing for sure. I, for one, will not believe that you had nothing to do with it." Naruto paused. "Don't forget that all medics are skilled sensors. While probably not to the level of Biwako-sama or Tsunade-sama, I am skilled enough to have sensed the remnants of your chakra when I came in for her morning tests. I just don't understand why you feel the need to lie about a medical technique that could be revolutionary for the field."

…

"Why do you care, Rin?" Naruto spoke, surprising Rin with his coldness yanking his hand out of her grip. "Believe me, don't believe me. It's all the same. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be."

10 Minutes Later

Kushina stared at all the shinobi that gathered to see off the person who was about to participate in what was probably the greatest battle of their collective lives. Such a battle, with the potential to decide the fate of an entire hidden village, was seldom fought in the elemental nations.

Off to the side, she saw Minato. He leaned against a tree, decidedly not taking his eyes off a kunai he was lazily spinning on his index finger. His two male students were also present. Kakashi and Obito looked proud but uncomfortable. Probably at having to see Naruto off to fight a battle, the result of a trial at which they failed. The civilians who knew of Kakashi Hatake, the son of the White Fang, and Asuma Sarutobi, the prodigal son of the Third Hokage… They were under the assumption that the whole system had been rigged. The two prodigies of the Leaf were somehow matched with the strongest shinobi of the other nations, and the only reason Naruto reached the next stage was because he won against a kunoichi that no one had ever heard of…

But Kakashi, Obito, and even Asuma, never even dared to think that. They had seen the fight against Haku. They had seen her prowess firsthand. And they had seen just how much Naruto had dominated her in that fight. If there was ever a person who deserved to compete at this level, it was Naruto Uzumaki. And so it was for a majority of the people assembled. Homura Mitokado did not particularly like the redheaded genin. It was evident from his face. However, there was also that hint of grudging respect that was seldom shown. The international stage had never been kind to Homura, always undershadowed by his more talented teammates. But this was a boy, a shinobi, who had already achieved things he wouldn't have dreamed about at his age.

Anko and Asuma were deep in conversation. The girl, in Kushina's opinion, looked the happiest she'd ever seen her. Though she was widely known as the tomboyish girl who never let anything get to her, it was obvious to everyone just how much Yuna getting discharged meant to her. Speaking of, the absence of Yuna and Akira, no matter their injuries and troubles, was on everyone's mind but no one chose to comment.

Jiraiya was talking animatedly with Orochimaru. The words exchanged during that conversation were a mystery to her but she was sure the subject of that conversation was definitely Naruto, who chose that moment to show up.

When Naruto came into view, the chatter died out. No one seemed to notice Rin following closely behind him with a troubled look on her face. Obito was the only one who seemed to acknowledge it, judging by the frown on his face.

There were no words of luck, or farewell spoken. As soon as Naruto arrived, the group seemed eager to set off. Orochimaru just started walking, not waiting for any sort of confirmation from his allies. Naruto followed, not sparing Hiruzen a glance.

The Hokage for his part, stared straight through them at the Hokage Monument which was slowly getting covered by the early morning sun's rays. With a final look at the gathered shinobi, he too turned around. Slowly, they became smaller and smaller until they disappeared into the forest.

Not a sound was heard as everyone just stood staring into the distance at the group that had long since disappeared into the trees. Until they turned around at the pitter-patter of tiny footsteps. Kushina caught Yugao before she could sprint past her. Tears filled her eyes and Kushina immediately understood.

"Did he leave?" Sob. "Did he leave me again?"

Kushina hugged her tighter.

With Yuna

She opened her eyes a few minutes after her consciousness had returned. This, in itself, was a new experience for her. She'd never, for as long as she remembered at least, just stayed in bed doing nothing. The rush of a shinobi's life. Always on alert, always ready to move, always sleeping with an eye open.

…

This was a refreshing change of pace. It made her… strangely happy. Don't get her wrong. She would much rather be able to walk again, but this wasn't bad. She would much rather look at the positive side of things than just spend the rest of her life in the dreary darkness, stuck in bed with all her thoughts and regrets. Much better to just face the situation and adjust accordingly.

…

Or, as Naruto would put it, "Deal with it!" That's all there really was to it. It sucked, yes. But not much use whining.

She sat up in bed and wiggled her way to the edge before hopping onto the wheelchair her caretaker always left next to her bed. She wheeled herself into the bathroom, up the ramp that had been installed for her, and proceeded to go about her daily morning ritual. Once she was done, she wheeled herself out of the bathroom and towards her nightstand. She grabbed a bottle of water and downed the entire thing to get rid of the horrible aftertaste the unfamiliar toothpaste left in her mouth.

Finally, after grabbing the glasses that she could now wear without fear of them breaking in a fight, she wheeled herself out of her room to find her caretaker already up and about, a cup of tea in his hand.

"Hello, daughter of mine! How are you today?" Akira's voice boomed around his house.

Yuna sweatdropped. Akira looked completely different from what he looked like, just a month prior. His face now had more wrinkles than bones. His beard had grown from reaching just below his neck to reaching just below his waist. However, it seemed the sudden aging caused by whatever technique he used to heal her, didn't cause any weakness in his vocal cords. "Do you have to be that loud?"

Akira's calm and cheery attitude did a complete 180. "I'm sorry, Yuna-chan. I didn't think I was being too loud. Please forgive me!"

"Hai hai. You're forgiven." Yuna sighed at her… father's eccentric behavior. "What are we doing today? Any fun plans?"

Akira looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you up for leaving the house?"

Yuna's smile slipped. That was a loaded question, and her father was always directly to the point. Yuna was never someone who wanted to spend time outside. But over the years, she'd grown accustomed to being in the limelight due to the family she grew up in. She was used to being looked at with admiration, jealousy, pride, love, sometimes even lust… She was not used to pity. And that was something she thought would take a long time to get accustomed to.

Akira didn't wait for her reply. "On second thoughts, I don't feel much like going out. I'd much rather spend time here at home with my dear daughter."

Yuna looked at him, embarrassed once again. "Must you do that?"

A 180 again. "Oh! Sorry, Yuna-chan. I understand how embarrassed you must be, being treated like a little girl by someone you barely know. Your dad will strive to understand your feelings better from now on. You will always have a -..."

"Hai hai! Thank you, Otou-sama." The title caused Akira to drop whatever nonsensical speech he was about to give. Yuna smiled. "What's for breakfast?"

…

Five minutes later, Yuna was at the dining table with a plate of bread and a delicious-looking jar of honey that Akira supplied her with. "I'm not sure I understand this combination well… I've never had bread and honey before."

Akira appeared beside her and placed a full glass of milk next to her plate. Seeing her expression, he laughed. "Don't knock it till you've tried it." Yuna sighed and took her first bite of bread and honey… After a few seconds, she took her second bite. And then a third.

Akira assumed a look of very unmerited satisfaction considering it was just barely tolerable. But Yuna decided not to knock him down just yet.

DING!

"I wonder who that could be. Yuna dear, could you get the door?"

Yuna just looked at her father. "You're kidding right?"

Akira shrugged.

"Need I remind you that I'm a cripple?"

"I'm old. My bones are brittle. Would you want your father to worsen his health problems?"

"Ugh! You're insufferable!" Yuna yelled half-heartedly. She was really coming to enjoy being treated like a kid once again. Akira smiled at her response and went to the door revealing Anko when he opened it.

"Ohayo, Akira-sama!"

"Ah, Anko-chan. Did you want to have a playdate with my daughter?"

Yuna's killing intent hit him, making him sweat. "I am an adult, you know? According to shinobi law?"

…

A few minutes later, they were all sitting at the dining table, Anko with a plate of her own. "What are you reading, Akira-sama?"

Akira looked up from his book at Anko's question. "A book about fuinjutsu that the brat told me to read. I'm trying to figure out how he keyed himself into my security seal matrix so I can remove him from it."

Anko tilted her head in confusion. "Why would you want to do that? Aren't you guys friends?"

Akira nodded without hesitation. "Of course we are. But I'm not living a bachelor's life anymore. I have commitments. I can't have my friends come and go as they please when my teenage daughter is in the house. Kids these days don't have much respect for tradition."

A tick-mark appeared on Yuna's forehead. "Are you serious?"

"Very much. I'm not taking my task of protecting you lightly. You will always-"

Anko zoned out of their conversation. Their dynamic was so weird to her that she would only end up getting a headache. Instead of that, she simply picked up the book that Akira had kept open and started reading, curious about it.

'... gatherer seals are very useful for situations that demand a self-sustaining seal matrix. It's no secret that Nature's chakra is abundant and omnipresent. It is the perfect chakra-source for self-sustaining seals. This is the use case that the Chakra Gatherer Seal hopes to fill in. Nature's chakra is toxic to the human circulatory system which is unused to the power surge that comes in with even the tiniest bit of Nature chakra. Paper does not have that problem. Now, the only thing needed is a way to gather this Nature chakra. It was a man by the name of Tenji Uzumaki, who came up with the seal you'll find described below. I'm afraid even I do not know the inner workings of how it gathers and filters the Nature chakra. It is a question that is still actively being investigated by the sealing community. If you are not satisfied with that, you will have to get an audience with The Winter Storm himself. And believe me when I say that that is not easy.

However, you don't need to know the inner workings of a seal such as this. What you do need to know is that Tenji Uzumaki's version of the Chakra Gatherer seal is unlike any other chakra seal made in history. Your traditional Chakra Blocker seal that is widely used to seal off chakra for containing prisoners for example, its primary function is to gather and dissipate any chakra it is in contact with. And by contact I mean both physical and chakra contact. The Chakra Gatherer seal gathers chakra passively! By this I mean that the primary function of this seal is unknown as of writing this. The slow accumulation of filtered Nature chakra is nothing but the side effect of this seal. Now, I know you're getting tired of this, but the primary function of this seal is also being investigated actively by the sealing community.

This makes any seal master stop and think. What if you had a gatherer seal that could gather chakra actively? What could you do with it? This is, I believe, the holy grail of Fuinjutsu. A seal such as this, bound to an explosive seal? Bound to a barrier seal? Bound to a village's security seal system? In the order in which I mentioned it, the explosion seal attached to your enemy would first suck him dry, and then explode with all the unimaginable absorbed power. The barrier would absorb all incoming attacks. Anyone who comes in contact would get their entire chakra pool exhausted. This seal bound to something as grand as a village's security seal system could be used to power the seals of the entire village. Of course, it is not without its risks. A passive chakra gatherer gathers unbound chakra. An active gatherer could end up draining friend and foe alike. This is probably why such a thing does not exist yet. You must hate me by now, but here it is anyway… This is also being investigated by the sealing community… Oh, forgot to add it… It's being actively investigated by the sealing community.'

Anko flipped the book to its cover, annoyed at the antics of the author.

'So you don't understand what a couple of symbols on a piece of paper means? Well, big deal! Jiraiya the Gallant presents to you, Fuinjutsu for Dummies! Hopefully, you know how to read. Otherwise, the title of this book is unintentionally ironic indeed!' - by Jiraiya the Gallant.

Anko was now enraged. What kind of title was that? It had the author's name in the title. And who calls himself 'Gallant'?

"I had the same reaction when I read the title for the first time." Akira commented, noticing her expression.

Anko turned towards the older shinobi. "This can't be a good source of information. Surely not!"

Akira shrugged. "Don't know how accurate it is. But your teammate gave it to me, so it must be saying something correct."

"Naruto read this? I thought Jiraiya was a potential enemy…"

Yuna shrugged. "Knowledge is knowledge I guess. Why would he care where it comes from?"

After a few moments of contemplation, Anko conceded the point. "What do you think is gonna happen?" Akira raised an eyebrow. "At the exams I mean…"

Akira shook his head. "I don't have a clue. Based on what the others tell me, the things he did during the preliminaries are all things he's discussed with me in the month prior. He is not one to reuse his techniques. For what he's going to do, I think the best person to ask would be Danzo."

"Will you be going to the broadcast?"

Yuna once again looked away at the question she was already struggling with, internally. Akira met her eyes and upon her assent, he took over the conversation. "He's going to put on a show, that's for sure. I can't wait to see the look on the Tsuchikage's face when he brings it all down ar–"

Yuna looked away, breathing a sigh of relief. Her feelings aside, she would make sure to watch the broadcast live. She owed it to Naruto to witness the revenge he was exacting in her name. She would ask him not to do it, but she knew it wouldn't make a difference.

He was doing it for himself just as much as he was doing it for her. And everyone in the house would be lying if they said they wouldn't relish it.

1 Week Later

Border between the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Frost

Naruto looked behind him, an unreadable expression on his face. The last time he was here, it had not ended well for him. But now that he thought about it, this fight that had been the most damaging in his life hadn't lasted very long. There was always his fight against the red-haired shinobi from Amegakure, but it didn't have the same terrible consequences as his fight with Juugo. As far as he remembered, this was the only time he'd come close to death and it had an impact on him. Some nights, as he slept he remembered the dual voice of the orange-haired force of Nature. Some nights, he simply heard a resounding thump in his ears… The same sound he heard when Juugo punched him into the ground burying him alive. THUMP… THUMP… THUMP…

He found Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes staring at him. It was… uncomfortable… A few weeks ago, perhaps Naruto would've snapped at him… Initiated the fight… Now, Naruto had better things to do…

"... catch some fish for me, will you?"

Like tuning out the annoyingly piercing voice of the Fire Daimyo. It took effort, conscious effort on his part, to not kill the man where he stood. The man exuded power… Yes. But not because of his presence like many shinobi he'd met, but because of his wealth. No matter how strong you are as a ninja, you will still think twice before taking on an entire nation of civilians. And make no mistake, the civilians were very much in support of the daimyo and not the Kage. In every nation. This was what their wealth meant in the real world. People tend to follow the richest among them. Not the one with the most strength.

"Oi… Can't you hear me? OI!"

It all tied back to power. What Hanzo said to him as he lay dying, here on the border between the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Frost, was very true. Power… Power is all there is. Power borne of strength? Power borne of wealth? It didn't make much of a difference in the end. It was power leading to control. Shinobi for the Kage. Civilians for the Daimyo.

"BOY!"

Naruto looked up to see Kage and Daimyo staring at him… along with an exasperated Orochimaru and several of the Daimyo's guards.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"No." Naruto zoned in on the Leader of the Land of Fire. "What do you ask of me?"

"Tch! Ask you? Ask?" For some reason, the Daimyo seemed delirious with rage. "I fucking order you… To go catch me some fish."

A raised eyebrow was his response. Which quickly disappeared when he saw Orochimaru shaking his head. Some fights aren't meant to be fought. They're meant to be ignored. Same way he ignored his Kage earlier by breaking eye contact.

Not counting other shinobi, not many people could order shinobi around. Civilian clients? Only sometimes and only if they're important enough to the village. Daimyo? Always. It was a testament to their power. They had every single human living in their territory at their beck and call.

"I see something in you. In your eyes. Something I remember seeing only in myself when I was a young boy… There is a thing other than power you need to rule over everyone and everything without objection… And I believe you have it. But I am not yet sure you possess the former."

Naruto stood up as he went to do what he was ordered to do. It wasn't just power. There was something else. Hanzo seemed to know what it was… And yet… He still stopped on his road to world domination. Why?

The maps indicated a stream, a couple of miles ahead. Just for his sanity, he decided to go to the one after that. 'Let the old bastard starve a bit.'

As he ran, he noticed the roads slope upwards. He noticed the terrain slowly change from the dense forestry of the Land of Rice Fields to the cold snowy hills of the Land of Frost. He was surprised by how abrupt the change was. It was not unlike humans enclosing their properties with walls and on either side, it would be a completely different home. It was almost as if someone was keeping the forestry or the snow from spreading over to the other Land.

Click.

Naruto's eyes widened. That was it. Hanzo didn't stop because he lacked the power to do it. He stopped because someone or something was preventing him from committing to it. And there was only one being that could prevent Hanzo from doing what he wanted. From accomplishing his dream. His ambition…

Nature.

The salamanders. This was what Hanzo had to sacrifice in exchange for the salamanders' power.

Konohagakure

Obito looked at Minato first. Then at Kakashi, and finally at Rin. Team 7 was meeting for the first time since the disastrous results of the preliminaries. This was something Obito had been looking forward to.

Unfortunately, it wasn't like usual. They were all distracted by something or the other and no one spoke a word.

In contrast to the others, the daily meeting with Team 7 was something Obito could never do without. He was lonely. He didn't have many interactions outside of his team. Kakashi was similar in this regard but the difference was that he was fine with being alone for a couple of weeks. He was fine listening to only his thoughts for days on end. Obito wasn't like that. He needed those little interactions to survive.

Minato was on his way to becoming one of the most important jonin in the village. He had been put in charge of security measures for the influx of civilians and shinobi from all over the Land of Fire that would come to witness the first-ever Chunin exams. It was an indescribable opportunity for Minato who strived to become Hokage one day. A hundred different things to do, a thousand different thoughts running through his head… It was no wonder he was silent.

The only person whose silence could be categorized as… odd, was Rin. Unlike Obito, her interactions were, by no means, limited to Team 7. She had her parents, she had her friends. But whatever the case, her silence was indeed… odd.

And Obito was no fool. He knew exactly who had all three of his teammates so distracted. And funnily enough, just as the thought occurred to him, Kakashi chose to voice his thoughts.

"Minato-sensei… How do you think the tournament is going to go? Does Konoha have a chance?"

Minato's grip increased around one of his trademarked kunai. His jaw tightened. "What do you think, Kakashi? I'd like your thoughts first before I tell you what I think."

Kakashi shrugged. "Normally, if I were to think logically… I'd say there's no chance of Konoha winning a single fight in this tournament. We are outnumbered at least three to one. In a battle such as this, where the enemy has had months to prepare against you, a singular individual, and that too with having the advantage of numbers… The order in which the challenges are extended means nothing to us. If we get the opportunity to choose, the best way we can go is to choose Suna, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but I cannot conclude that there is even the slightest possibility of us winning."

Obito couldn't help but nod along with his rival's analysis. It was not looking good for Konoha.

"And if you were to put logic aside?" Minato questioned.

…

"There's nothing to discuss here." Everyone turned to look at Rin. "There's no analyzing the situation, no logical end result, no political angle to it… There is nothing. Uzumaki Naruto is not going to stop fighting until he exacts his revenge against the team from Iwagakure. He will not fall before taking the pound of flesh he feels he is owed. To answer your question Kakashi, yes… Konoha does have a chance. Konoha will win at least one fight. And depending on the order of the challenges… Konoha can win a lot more. Potentially even all four if our turn to choose is last…"

Obito couldn't quite believe what he heard. Not because of the highly unlikely chances of such a thing happening, but because of who it was that said those words with venom dripping from her voice. Sitting in the samurai's medical chambers, he remembered feeling the explosion of Naruto's chakra following a huge explosion during Yuna's match. He remembered the killing intent that reached him, someone sitting almost half a mile away from the preliminary stadium. And he knew… He knew that what Rin was saying would come to pass. The only question he had was… Why did Rin?

"I'm inclined to agree…" Minato muttered under his breath, looking to the north.

'There is a monster around every corner, Minato-san, waiting to pounce. I will gladly become that monster if it means protecting the ones I love. Yuna was truly the last straw. I've had enough. I won't sit idly by… There will be no hesitation from me… Not anymore.'

"Doesn't really matter now though." He clutched his kunai tighter, remembering his conversation with Naruto. "Whatever ends up happening at the Chunin Exams, I firmly believe that the war will start anew. The second wave will hit us even harder than the first. And it's our job to be prepared for it when it does. Get ready for one of the roughest spars you've ever had with me."

Team 7 looked at their sensei, eyes wide with surprise. "A great war is coming. Give it your all, or you'll all die. There is no room for hesitation anymore…"

Land of Hot Springs

Zabuza let out an immense sigh as he stretched. Solid land… How wonderful…

Unlike the others from Kiri, Zabuza was not a fan of traveling via ships. It didn't make him sick or anything, he just felt it was slow. Too slow. The others might be content with lazing around their cabins, eating fish four meals a day, and not having a single thing to do… But he was a man of action.

It didn't at all help that all the sailors almost superstitiously avoided crossing over the water territory that was once owned by Uzushio, adding an extra week to their journey. Although he had to admit it was probably for the best. He and the others were planning on doing the same thing during the Chunin Exams… And luckily it came from the Mizukage himself.

'If you get the chance to pick your opponent first, make sure not to choose Suna or Konoha… We will not be the ones who win this war by taking on the weaker enemies. Actually, we will take on the strongest. Take Iwa… and crush them.'

Zabuza was fine with that. So were the others. It would perhaps even put them in Naruto's good graces. They would try their best to 'superstitiously avoid' Uzushio. He was just happy it came from the top. He had his orders now. He didn't care about much else.

"... just don't understand the reasoning behind it."

Zabuza looked over at Mei sitting with the Daimyo of the Land of Water. She was becoming someone of real importance to the village. Brutally suppressing the budding jealousy inside him, he chose to pay attention to the conversation instead.

"Frankly, I don't understand what it is you're asking of me, Mei-dono. We have often done this sort of thing in the past. We are not mainlanders and they have always made sure to shun us while making decisions. Sunagakure is especially guilty of this. We are one of the biggest traders of spices to the mainland, our only competitor being Suna with their rich and exotic counterparts… They have always tried to push us out of the way. Why wouldn't we retaliate when an opportunity shows itself?"

"I understand that Daimyo-sama. My question is less why are we taking action against Suna… It's more of why are we taking any action at all…" Mei almost gulped when she suddenly felt the eyes of her Kage on her but she held it back. "Winning in the tournament would mean much, much more to our village in the long term than winning one side hustle against Suna."

The Sandaime Mizukage who had remained silent ever since leaving the village two weeks ago, chose this moment to speak up. "And you are not confident of our victory, are you Mei-san?"

This time, she gulped… It was never a good idea to point out a mistake in a Kage's plan with so many people listening in. Perhaps she should've chosen a different venue for this conversation if she needed to have it. But it was too late now anyway.

"It's not a matter of confidence, Mizukage-sama. I believe it's better to have as many advantages as we can going into this, and this being a bout between villages with only the participants demonstrating their village's respective might, it doesn't make sense to me that we're throwing away one of the greatest advantages we have over our enemies. Our numbers…"

…

"Raiga might come in handy, Mizukage-sama…"

The Mizukage smiled. "Fair enough. My council needs more like you, Mei-san. Not afraid to speak your mind, no matter how wrong you are."

"You're forgetting something, Mei-dono. One islander is worth ten mainlanders." The Daimyo chimed in, his trained voice a bit gentler than his military counterpart. "This is overkill, as it is. Those of us at the top… we should be sporty regarding things like this, you understand? Our lessers must believe they can compete, otherwise, we will start to face what Konoha is dealing with now. The other villages would band together to crush us. We may win that fight as well, but no need to take on more than we need to… Let them fight it out. We'll swoop in once they're done."

The Mizukage nodded at his Daimyo, the same smile on both their lips. Mei looked over at Zabuza. He slowly shook his head. He understood where she was coming from. But he also knew to stop fighting a battle that was already lost. Mei was operating with only Kiri's best interest in mind. And it was indeed in their best interest to have the fifth member of their squad in case they had to fight Naruto.

A Week Later

Land of Lightning

Darui leaned on the railing of the ship, his face in his hands. The past few months were the most hectic times in his life. He trained, and trained, and trained. The Sandaime Raikage was his teacher for as long as he could remember having a teacher. He had been training under him again, but only this time, his Raikage had taken the shackles off.

He agreed with this, for the most part. After what he witnessed in the preliminaries, overwhelming raw power would be a necessity if they wanted to defeat Konoha's warrior. Their preference for issuing challenges had been decided before they even got home. (Not that it took long to get home. The Land of Lightning was the closest to the Iron Country, barely four or five days by ship.)

Their first preference was going to be Konoha. He thought this was a mistake, but it did make sense considering it would be three to one, and one of them was the definition of raw power, a jinchuriki. If not Konoha, it would be Suna. Then Iwa. Then finally Kiri.

Considering all this, there was only one detail in his village's preparations that he didn't agree with… They really shouldn't have been trained separately for this tournament. A lot of it was going to be decided based on teamwork. Cee was fine because he had been part of his two-man team for over three years now. They were friends, as well as colleagues. But Yugito on the other hand, he'd never worked with. Not even a single C-Rank.

He watched the Sandaime Raikage in conversation with his friend and teammate. Then he watched Cee board the ship, his face pale and his eyes down in horror. He knew something was wrong. Cee was one of Kumogakure's best shinobi. A lot of it had to do with his abilities, but his attitude also played an important role. He was the ideal shinobi. For him, only the mission existed. Orders were orders. For the mission, he was willing to do anything. No matter how despicable the action itself was. He knew this for a fact because they had been teammates for the better part of their career as shinobi of the Hidden Cloud. He had witnessed it firsthand many times over.

Cee approached and stood beside him, but he didn't utter a word. Another sign that something was wrong. A few moments later staring into the distance at someone approaching, he opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Darui stood there with wide eyes, struggling to recognize what it was that his friend was trying to express.

Finally, he followed Cee's eyes and found Yugito and Killer Bee reaching the ship, and he heard the audible gulp come from Cee as the Hachibi jinchuriki looked towards them.

'Just what is going on?'

A Week Later

Iron Country

Naruto pulled the cowl of his hooded robe around him tighter as he walked through the town. His head was down but his eyes were darting around rapidly. Security was extra tight this time, but considering the festivities, the chaos, and the energy all around him, not tight enough.

The place was impossibly crowded. One person in a thousand was sure to be a shinobi. And five hundred in a thousand was sure to hate the Land of Fire. It was merely statistics, but it did tell him that there was a high chance of getting attacked. There was an even higher chance of the Daimyo or the Hokage being attacked. Did they honestly expect each village to cross through this riff-raff of annoying civilians clutching their plush toys, won playing some stupid game or other, to reach their destination?

Suddenly, the party from Konoha stopped. The Hokage crashed into the Daimyo, who crashed into Orochimaru, who crashed into Naruto, who had stopped.

"What happened, Naruto? What do you see?" Orochimaru asked as his own eyes started darting around at the alarm on his genin's face.

Naruto remained silent.

"Oi… Gaki! Let's get on with it!" The Daimyo shouted, still sore about the lack of a formal welcome upon his arrival to the Iron Country.

"Naruto… What do you see?" Orochimaru repeated.

"Eight Thousand Ryo!" Naruto finally spoke.

…

"For a plush pony?"

Orochimaru sighed. "Is that really what caused you to stop in this deathtrap, Naruto? For Kami's sake, we have important people traveling with us."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't think you understand the significance of this, sensei… A-rank mission pay barely reaches 10000 Ryo! They're selling ice cream, fucking ice cream in a biscuit cone, for 2000 Ryo! The money they're raising from this event is… unholy!"

"Yes… It is. Why else would they agree to host an event with risks such as this if they didn't have any advantage to gain? People from all over the world were bound to travel to this. The scale of this is not like anything the elemental nations have seen before. I'm told the arena alone seats around fifty thousand people. Fifty thousand rich civilians who've never seen a ninja fight before…"

…

"And that's not counting the remote viewing stations they've set up all over the world. The Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, the Land of Water, the Land of Hot Springs, the Land of Stone, the Land of Grass… For your information, we're paying a quarter of a million Ryo for their equipment in setting up live feeds to the tournament back home. We're buying their equipment to keep, with another half million."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Do we have money to spend on things like this? Do we even have this much after everything that happened in the war?"

"A million ryo? That's not even going to put a dent in our resources, boy. How much do you think we've spent on the war already?" The Daimyo burst out laughing. "But the boy's got a point. The Iron Country has always been one of the richest players in the elemental nations. Their chakra-conductive metal export has given them millions and millions of revenue. I have no idea why they're pouncing on this event to raise money but it's a good idea. We should think about organizing exhibition matches like this once the war is won. It's an incredible source of income. The extra wealth is always helpful. I'm kind of jealous of the scoop the Iron Country is getting here."

…

The Hokage, Orochimaru, and the Daimyo watched in confusion as Naruto just started to walk with his head down once again. He still remembered how Homura Mitokado had cut down his demand for money after the Silent Dispatch. He still remembered how meager the amount he received for that 'A-Rank Mission' was. He was seething internally but he didn't want to let it show.

Orochimaru shrugged and followed his student, spurring the two leaders of the Land of Fire into movement themselves.

Naruto's sharp eyes continued to dart around. He looked past the glamorous parlors, the attractive goods and wares, the exorbitant prices, the cultural decorations and the excited native inhabitants, and saw the sturdy houses made of stone where the people of the Iron Country stayed. They were a bit run down, a bit old. Nothing to complain about…

Naruto's eyes hardened. But also nothing to reflect their status of being one of the 'richest players in the Elemental Nations'.

He expanded his chakra, his Sharingan activating. He could sense the alarm in his sensei following behind him, but he didn't care. He would of course be detected but his position wouldn't be pinpointed, in such a crowded place.

His red eyes extended his vision by a little, but his senses reached far past the rundown houses and found the people who stayed out of sight, away from all the commotion. His eyes widened, shocked. The red slowly died out and his eyes resumed the signature purple color that the Uzumaki were famous for.

Thin, frail and weak. These were the kind of people you normally find in a slum. This was right in the middle of their village, just beneath the show they were putting on for their visitors. Such people existed everywhere, but not this close to the core of the village. 'What was going on? Where was the money going?'

And then he remembered something the Daimyo mentioned. 'I have no idea why they're pouncing on this event to raise money…'

He had something to add to the long list of questions he had about the mystery surrounding the Iron Country… 'Why are they desperate?'

Konohagakure

Akira looked up from his book when the door opened. 'Damn… He was so close to figuring out what the book was trying to say.'

There were only two people he knew who didn't have the decency to knock. Considering one of them was surely all the way in Iron Country by now, this must be his sister.

Kushina walked in with Yugao following her, looking around the place in awe, probably at how much it had changed since the last time she'd been here. Akira followed her action and took a look himself. It had changed… A lot. Mostly due to the additional fittings he'd installed to make the place wheelchair friendly. He hadn't really appreciated how much it changed the whole aesthetic of the house until just then.

"Kushina-chan! Yugao-chan! What can a humble old man do to help you lovely ladies?"

Yugao grinned at the old man who never failed to make her laugh. "Akira-ojiisan! The house looks much more fun now."

Kushina adopted a puzzled look just for a moment. When was the last time her sensei called her a 'lovely lady'? She wasn't keen on writing it away but she realized it was probably in an effort to not have their often foulmouthed banter in front of a five year old.

"Well, I kind of had to make it more fun, didn't I? I have a kid like you in the house now."

"Really? Who?"

"Yuna. You know her right?"

"Yuna-nee is here? Really?"

"Yep. Why don't you go meet her? She must have wheeled herself into the backyard." He turned around and yelled at the top of his voice. "YUNA! We have guests!"

When he turned around, however, Yugao was just an afterimage, disappearing to meet someone she hadn't seen in a while now. "YUNA-NEE! KUSHINA-NEE TAUGHT ME A NEW WAY TO TIE MY HAIR!"

Kushina came and sat next to him. "Wow sensei, never thought I'd see you content to live the suburban life."

"Had no reason to before, Kushina-chan!"

She blinked in surprise at the genuine answer she received. A few moments later, she let a smile of her own appear. "It suits you. I'm happy for you."

"Are you worried about tomorrow?" Akira enquired, wanting to understand what she thought about the position her brother had been forced into.

"Yes. Of course I am." Kushina muttered under her breath. "I didn't want him going to the preliminaries in the first place."

"Why did you let him then?" Akira asked with a smile on his face, already knowing the answer.

"I didn't let him go, Akira-sensei. Once that boy has decided something in his mind, it's not possible to deter him from his goal." Kushina looked down at her lap. "I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing."

They made small talk for a while, but Akira could tell there was something on her mind that she was struggling to express. He did exactly what he was known to do in situations like this. "Speak your mind Kushina. I know when you want something…"

…

He could tell Kushina was still struggling to put her thoughts into words. He had done his part, now it was up to Kushina to ask what she wanted from him. After a few long minutes of silence, his student finally opened her mouth. "Could you look after Yugao for a few days? I don't mean that I'm tired of looking after her, or too busy or anything of the sort. It's just that… It's just that I'm not ready for a responsibility like this, you know? Naruto brought her into my life and I love her, I do. But I'm not ready to be raising a child and neither is he. This time in her life, she needs to be under constant care and supervision and I'm just not…"

Akira gave her a pointed look and she stopped her rant.

"Fine… I… I can't be taking care of her, sensei. I already ruined the life of someone exactly like her who depended on me. I don't know if I'm ready to face such a responsibility again…"

Akira smiled. "It's fine Kushina. I'd be happy to take care of her. Not for a few days, but as a permanent solution. In fact, I was going to suggest it myself."

Kushina gaped at his blunt statement. "Why?"

A shrug was the only response she received. "What can I say, Kushina? I owe him. I owe him my daughter's life. If there's a possibility, even a very slight one, that I'd be easing his mind and shouldering at least some of the responsibilities he is forced to carry, then I won't shy away. I owe him the very best of what I can accomplish."

…

"It's not like it's a huge deal either. She's off to the academy every day, isn't she? You just make sure you can visit whenever you can. After what happened to Mikoto, she doesn't need more people walking out of her life."

…

"It would leave you both free to pursue your careers and contribute to the war effort. Plus, now that I'm not an active shinobi, it'll be awfully boring without someone in our lives to make it exciting. And Yugao can certainly do that for us. I've even talked to Yuna about it already. She's on board."

Kushina continued to stare at him with wide-open eyes filled with surprise.

"Smile, Kushina-chan. It's like I said. I'd be happy to look after her. But I will ask for something in return…"

"What?"

"When she graduates three or four years from now, you'll be her sensei. I know you struggle with the decision you made all those years ago, but it's about time you got over this fear of yours."

Kushina blinked away her tears as her lips spread in a wide smile which then twisted into an evil frown when Akira spoke again.

"After all, in a few short years, you might be having kids of your own!"

Iron Country

Naruto calmly walked up the stairs of the building Konoha had been assigned. It was almost midnight and his legs were almost automatic by now, carrying him to the highest point he could go to. However this time, it wasn't the stars that prompted his journey. He would've loved to go for a walk, but he doubted even something as simple as that would go over well. Although he was pretty sure he could bypass the samurai guards, but he wasn't so sure about the shinobi guards from the other villages. He was pretty sure every single shinobi tasked with protecting the Daimyo was out and about. Orochimaru was.

The others were as well. They were simply harder to detect. He could sense the Lightning Armor shinobi, Ay the Unruly. He could also sense the watchful eye of Mei Terumi whose chakra presence was eerily familiar. Then there was Rasa of the Golden Sand, whose presence he was simply aware of in the background, nothing more, nothing less. And finally Midori's sister and the Tsuchikage's daughter, Iwa's Iron Maiden, Biwa.

He reached the top of the stairs and gently opened the door, aware of each and every single one of these elite ninjas' eyes on him. But he knew this wasn't everyone. After all, it was the entourage that awaited him at the top of the other buildings that led to him walking up the stairs in the first place.

Every single one of the other villages' candidates stood atop their respective buildings waiting for the last person to arrive.

Not that he tried to, but he didn't really understand the purpose of this. He did know it was Kumo who started it. Pissing contest? Knowing what he knew about Darui from their short meeting a few months ago, it was definitely a possibility.

He didn't really care about that, but there was something he did care about… Or someone rather… He scanned the many faces whose names would go down in history books as some of the greatest warriors of their village. They were essentially fighting a fully-fledged war for their nations. Depending on the result of their efforts on the next day, their nations would end up praising them or condemning them.

Mangetsu, Zabuza, Akane and Yagura from Kiri.

Sasori (with both hands now he noticed), Akari, and Shiro from Suna.

Darui, Cee and Yugito from Kumo. His eyes paused on the heavily bandaged body of the Two-Tails jinchuriki and he felt an emotion that was all too familiar.

Han, Akatsuchi and… Deidara… from Iwa.

Naruto's eyes spent a long time on that last individual. He couldn't access his chakra here, but Deidara would be the first to agree that his piercing purple-glinted stare was intimidating enough. When Deidara broke eye contact, Naruto also looked away.

…

Tomorrow was going to be the greatest battle any of them had ever witnessed, let alone taken part in. Carrying an entire nation on their shoulders, each and every person was aware of the responsibility they shouldered. Except in Naruto's case, he didn't really have that responsibility. He only had one goal.

And he suspected everyone here knew it.

…

"What is the purpose of this meeting?" It was Sasori from Suna's voice that came first.

"I'll get straight to the point." Everyone turned towards Kumo, the first ones to arrive on the roof. "We came up here to discuss something important. We came to discuss history." The others simply listened to Darui's booming voice. "We are all shinobi. We are all killers. We are all murderers. We hide in the shadows and kill whoever promises us and our village the most profit. This is our job. This has always been our job. We are some of the best at it and that's exactly why we're here… As a representation of the village's might and an extension of its will. I have nothing but the utmost respect for you all!"

…

"We are horrible human beings, but we are some of the best shinobi in the continent… We all know this. But for all the horrible things we do every day, our image suffers while Konoha remains the all-knowing, pristine lover of peace that it has apparently been since its founding."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. 'So that's his play.'

"Whatever they do, they are always seen as the good guys on the international stage. They destroyed and trampled on the Land of Rice Fields during the 2nd Shinobi War. They obliterated the forces of the Land of Sky, not even offering a chance to surrender. They forced the Land of Grass into an unfavorable alliance knowing they had nowhere else to go. They cut off one of the most prominent trade routes to the Land of Water simply because they thought they were better off without it. They poached missions from the Land of Wind knowing how it would cause their neighboring nation to suffer. For Kami's sake, they abandoned their greatest ally and condemned them to death."

The people who turned to look at Naruto were somewhat disappointed at the lack of reaction at being reminded of the fall of Uzushiogakure.

"They have lied and cheated their way to victory in both of the previous two wars and they still pretend, successfully too, that they hold the moral high ground… No more, people. We are all enemies. I understand. But Konoha is enemy number one. For all of us… What we have obtained here, is a golden opportunity. A chance to finally knock the bastards off their pedestal and compete for our rightful place at the top. Let's join together to get rid of Konoha as soon as possible in this international tournament. Let's show the world their true place at the bottom."

Naruto looked on in barely concealed surprise as Suna and Iwa actually cheered at the declaration. 'Surely, it can't be that easy, can it?'

The cheers slowly died out, with all of them staring at the lone warrior from Konoha. Long moments of silence turned into a minute when finally Darui chose to speak up. "Nothing to say?"

"Not particularly. You're asking for a response from Konoha. I'm not Konoha's spokesperson." Naruto shrugged. "But since you brought it up, I'll offer my own thoughts. You say all this in the name of patriotism, all the while admitting to yourselves that your own village performs the same disgusting, horrible acts. Each and every shinobi village, Konoha included, promises their children a life of power and glory, driving them to become the horrible human beings you know we all are. When these children grow up and finally realize the things they've done, they know it's too late to go back, to abandon this way of life. Because even if you're a horrible human being now, you're not a coward or a traitor just yet. So, you continue. Just another spoke in the fucking wheel."

"Ask yourselves this. Is Konoha really to blame? Or is it all of you? Happy to keep this cycle of violence going just to contribute to this false sense of patriotism that you've all been unknowingly bound to." Naruto glared at the gathered shinobi. "To reiterate, I am not Konoha's spokesperson. I'm not here to bail Konoha out of the mess it's in. I'm not here to protect their ridiculous ideology." They were all staring wide-eyed at him, unable to reconcile a shinobi with someone who didn't care for his village. Even his 'friends' from Kiri were horrified at his criticism of their collective way of life, although he was surprised to find Yugito wearing a content smile. "I am here of my own accord. I am here to fulfill goals of my own. I'm not Konoha's last wisp of fire that continues to burn in the hopes of victory. I am the all-consuming flame. The flame that consumes everything in my path."

Yugito couldn't help but smile at the words coming out of the redheaded shinobi's mouth. With all that she suffered in the past couple of months, just for trying to prevent an act of violence that this world had convinced all of them was normal… She was surprised at how much she agreed with Naruto on a fundamental level.

He turned to Darui. "I don't really understand what it is you expected this to accomplish. Did you think this 'declaration' would serve to intimidate me? I came here fully expecting to go head to head with all four of the other villages. What you just proved to me is that there are only three I need to be concerned about. The false ally in Suna, the warmonger in Kumo and of course, the rival… Iwa."

"And since we're apparently making declarations, I will leave you with this…" There was no chakra coming from him, but everyone could sense his overbearing presence. It wasn't quite killing intent, it was just… intent. Pure will and determination projected outward.

"If anyone decides to challenge Iwa before I have the chance to do it myself… … …" Naruto met every one of their eyes before starting to speak. "I will hunt you down, but I won't kill you. I will rip you apart while still keeping you alive. Then I will hunt down your loved ones, the people whom you consider precious to you. I will do the same to them until they're begging me to kill them, to just end their pain… I won't listen. I will torture them until you, you beg me to end them. You will realize the futility and pointlessness of your pathetic decision to stand in the way of my vengeance."

Naruto started to walk back inside. He didn't need to be under the stars today. He wasn't planning on resting. He was far too pumped up for that. Tomorrow was the day he'd been waiting for, for quite some time. Orochimaru on the other hand, made sure to continue to observe his student's competition as he made his dramatic exit.

The group from Kirigakure was by far the least affected. But even they were a bit unnerved. Sunagakure was deep in conversation amongst themselves. When he looked at Iwagakure, a smile formed on his lips when he saw Deidara gulp heavily… But then his smile disappeared when Akatsuchi said something to Han and Deidara and both of them regained their confident look.

Finally, when he looked at Kumogakure, he saw two horrified individuals and one smiling kunoichi. He understood Yugito's smile, considering what Naruto told him about them bonding a bit during the preliminaries. He understood Darui's horror, considering his little power play had just blown up in his face. The other villages were far more likely to stay away from Konoha and Iwa, increasing the chances of Kumo having to fight. However, he didn't know what Cee was thinking about…

The Next Day

Iron Country

As he walked into the grass-covered stadium floor, Mifune was once again reminded of how Deidara of Iwa had smuggled his creatures under the snow. He and his samurai had taken special steps to ensure that didn't happen again.

Mifune stared at the gathered participants. If someone asked him to put money on any one village winning this godforsaken tournament, most people would put money on Kirigakure. As his eyes wandered over the participants from the said village, he was once again reminded of the shinobi that was missing from the five who qualified. It seemed Raiga's injuries were far too serious for him to recover in time for the tournament's final stage.

He sighed. Or Kirigakure felt this was too good of a chance to pass up. Kiri and Suna had always been at odds with each other. Their conflicting home terrain had somehow instilled a conflict between their people as well. Whatever the case, it didn't look good for a certain kunoichi wielding the Scorch Release.

The genin gathered in the stadium had stoic expressions, uncaring of the spectacular turnout that filled the stands. The gathered audience reminded him of why he agreed to host this event in the first place. Trade in the Iron Country was one of the weakest contributors to the nation's income during a time of war. Having to maintain their neutrality, the Iron Country couldn't be seen favoring any one nation over the other. This had its fair share of pros and cons, the main ones being that the lack of export meant their abundant resources were being used by the native inhabitants but without the channels active for trade, they often suffered during the harsher weather conditions.

That's why this event was a good thing for Iron Country. With merchants and civilians and daimyos and shinobi from all over the elemental nations in attendance, they would profit off their most abundant resource. Iron. The weapons made in the Iron Country were second to none. Muramasa himself, refused to forge blades of inferior steel. This coupled with the income from the large-scale exhibition screens they made in Kiri, Konoha, and Iwa was sure to make them one of the richest powers in the elemental nations. Perhaps even enough to… No… Mifune sighed. 'No, it would never be enough for that.'

As he thought about his country, somehow his eyes settled on the Uzumaki. He clicked his teeth when he realized once again that the Uzumaki was staring at him, showing no signs of looking away. His irritation didn't show on his face as he realized in his mind what this stage meant for the Uzumaki. One person against 13 other genin of this caliber? There was no doubt in his mind that Naruto Uzumaki would be targeted in the competition. None of the villages could afford to lose and their chances of winning were the highest if they ganged up on Konoha. The only question still unanswered was whether he would survive…

Iwagakure

Kurotsuchi sat between her mother and her uncle. There were a lot of people gathered in the marketplace. When the samurai came from the Iron Country, they wanted to set up their screens in the largest open area available. The Third Tsuchikage did not hesitate when pointing them to the central market district in Iwagakure. Now, with the screens in place and seating areas arranged by the merchant civilians who saw this for the opportunity it was, Kurotsuchi had never seen so many people in one place.

In fact, it seemed that everyone looked at it as a day without duties. A day just to relax. This was quite possibly the turning point for their nation. Inhabiting one of the most punishing regions in the elemental nations, the people of Iwagakure had long deserved a victory of this scale. Everyone was bright and enthusiastic. Why wouldn't they be? It was to be expected. After all, it was Deidara, her nii-san who was fighting for the village at the tournament.

And he wasn't alone. There was Han, the five tails jinchuriki, and Akatsuchi, one of the strongest Taijutsu specialists in the village despite being a genin along with Deidara. The seven-year-old could barely contain her excitement. Until she heard a sniff from beside her…

When Kurotsuchi turned to her uncle, she saw a face nonplussed by the excitement of his fellow villagers. A face that made it clear that the sniff earlier was one of utter disdain for the proceedings. Kurotsuchi had asked about this to her mother as well. She told her that it was because he thought that Iwagakure would lose and he was trying to convince the Tsuchikage that they shouldn't challenge Konoha if they get the chance.

But Kurotsuchi knew that was crazy. She had heard her grandfather's counterargument. Why would you pass on a 3v1 when the alternatives are either 3v3 or 3v5 with everyone's skill virtually unknown? At least if they challenged the Konoha genin, they could gang up on him and efficiently, if not easily, defeat him. This was the reason that the Tsuchikage personally trained the three shinobi to fight as a team. They had developed amazing combination techniques that the Konoha genin would be hard-pressed to evade.

Looking at her uncle's face, she knew he wasn't convinced. Her excitement deflated considerably. Her uncle Midori was no fool, and she had never seen him this adamant about anything. If he thought this was about to go badly…

…

As boos erupted all around her, Kurotsuchi's smile disappeared. Her posture straightened as her gaze went back to the screen, now showing the Konoha genin in question. She would pay close attention to him. If Midori was right, she could very well end up facing him at some point, when he was much more famous.

…

And much much stronger…

Amegakure

Nagato looked at his friends with a tumultuous expression on his face. He just couldn't understand what Hanzo was thinking. He could see the legendary shinobi seated in a specially made throne-like chair in the middle of the room. The infrastructure of the Rain Country was always better than the other nations in the continent, but recently their progress was in leaps and bounds, not steps. But real-time transmission of visual imagery was still far outside their reach. Credit where credit is due. This was something that only the greatest seal masters could accomplish. Makes sense that it was people with limited chakra who came up with it. Nagato knew this was often the case but this was a real-life example right here. People who have access to chakra seldom do things that don't require it. Case in point, fuinjutsu.

Nagato had spent a significant portion of his time with Konan trying to get her to explore the art. Imagine how destructive she could become if she could integrate the sealing arts with her paper manipulation. In fact, he had come across some Konoha shinobi who used ink as a medium of chakra and fought with conjured creatures made of ink. He had, unfortunately, brutally murdered him before he could get the specifics of the technique. What if Konan could somehow pick up the fast drawing aspect of it and apply it to fuinjutsu… She would be an unstoppable force of nature.

The sound of a bottle popping brought him back to the real world. Yahiko put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Nagato. Ease up a little, we're celebrating… something."

Nagato sighed. This was the exact problem. Nobody really knew why they were celebrating. The only reason he could come up with was that Hanzo maybe seemed to be in a celebratory mood. So they were celebrating like a bunch of dogs fetching the stick for their master's entertainment.

Yahiko's smile dropped when he realized that his friend didn't seem to appreciate the mood everyone was in. "What's going on, Nagato?"

Nagato was about to speak but he caught Konan's warning gaze. He hesitated, looking around. "Later… We shouldn't talk here." Yahiko followed his gaze and found Konan's eyes. She really hadn't appreciated the stunt Nagato had pulled in the pub last month.

Nagato returned his gaze to Sanshouo no Hanzo. The strongest shinobi in the elemental nations. The ninja who fought and defeated the Kazekage and the Hokage both. The man who should've conquered the world.

This was what bothered him. 'The man who should've conquered the world.' He had swept the entire continent fighting and killing anyone who dared to step into his path, only to stop when faced with the leader of the Iron Country. Were the samurai really that strong? There were rumors about a fight breaking out in the Chunin Exam preliminaries, with many contestants fighting and killing multiple samurai in battle. If Genin were capable of defeating them when the numbers were against them, they couldn't be that strong, could they?

…

And if, in truth, Hanzo had really been defeated by Mifune… Why would he employ the samurai to build all these devices for his entertainment… It just didn't make sense.

Hanzo stared at the screen, unblinking. He felt a smile form on his face when the redhead appeared on the screen. "Let's see… What will you show the world today, Uzumaki?" At his feet, Ibuze stirred. "You're right, Ibuze. Let's enjoy it, whatever it is."

Iron Country

"Welcome, one and all!" Mifune's voice boomed all around the stadium. The gathered genin, who stood directly in front of the man, couldn't help but flinch as their ears were suddenly subjected to the amplified voice of the leader of Iron Country. "Welcome to the first-ever Chunin Exams. A glorious fight between nations to establish the hierarchy once and for all. We have all five of the major villages participating in the tournament. Let's appreciate the best shinobi of each village here in front of you all, representing their village and all its ideologies."

The crowd roared its approval. Naruto's eyes darted around the crowd. They were all civilians and even then, they were wearing chakra suppression seals on their wrists. The samurai had gone out of their way to ensure there wouldn't be any shinobi in attendance.

"From Kirigakure no Sato, we have Momochi Zabuza. Hozuki Mangetsu. Terumi Akane. Karatachi Yagura!"

"From Konohagakure no Sato, we have Uzumaki Naruto. He is unfortunately the only shinobi to reach this tournament from Konoha!"

"From Kumogakure no Sato, we have Darui, Cee and Nii Yugito!"

"From Sunagakure no Sato, Sasori. Akari. And Shiro!"

"From Iwagakure no Sato, we have Deidara, Akatsuchi and Han!"

Naruto continued to look around. They were being announced by a very excited and very unimpressive samurai off to the side. It seemed that the leader thought himself above at least the cheap commentary aimed only at driving the onlookers' excitement up higher.

His eyes found the Kage Box. There weren't any guards. All five of the Kage, sat in their impressive iron chairs equally spaced out in the chamber overlooking the arena. From left to right, it was the Kazekage, the Tsuchikage, the Hokage, the Raikage, and the Mizukage.

Off to the side, in a separate chamber sat each of the Daimyo, with their protector beside them. They followed the same order. Rasa accompanying the Wind Daimyo. Biwa accompanied the Earth Daimyo, Orochimaru with the Fire Daimyo, Ay with the Lightning Daimyo, and Terumi Mei with the Water Daimyo.

All his misgivings about the samurai aside, what they had arranged here for the Chunin Exams was truly extraordinary. They were all aware of the scale at which the tournament was fought. But this made them truly recognize and appreciate that scale.

"As exciting as this is, the Chunin Exams is not just a tournament held for your entertainment. It is a substitute for war. A mechanism to end all wars like the ones we've seen in the past five decades. It is a way to true peace." The crowd roared its approval again and this time, Mifune let a smile form on his lips. "And for this to be a valid substitute for war… the rules of engagement of this tournament have to reflect an actual war. And that is exactly what we, the samurai, have aimed to achieve through the organization of this event."

Mifune paused, now directing his gaze to the genin. "You may already be aware of the rules of engagement, given that all five of the villages were involved in the planning. But allow me to go over them once again."

…

"There will be no outside interference in any of the matches. In light of what happened during the preliminaries, participants from each village will also be in separate waiting areas."

"The matches will be decided in an order randomly chosen by picking lots."

"A village is removed from the competition if they break the rules of engagement or if they no longer have any genin fit for battle."

"We will compare your choices with the choices your Kage makes. This is after all the first time we are organizing such an event. It is, however, the genins' choices that will determine the matchups in the end."

"Each group of genin will be given a chance to choose their opponent in the predetermined order. This is to simulate the real-world situation where any village has the opportunity to war against any other village. As such, after the first battle, the next village is perfectly entitled to swoop in and claim the spoils. This is the way of war. This also serves to eliminate the notable advantage of being able to choose which opponent to fight. The people who fight first will of course pick their preferred opponent, but will also run the risk of being targeted by the latter teams if they are weakened."

"However, unlike the real world, you do not have the option of remaining neutral here. This tournament setting will not work if everyone is waiting for someone else to get weakened before making their move."

"Lastly, in case of a draw, both villages will be out of the tournament leaving only the other villages to compete amongst themselves. The purpose of this tournament is not to win it, but to showcase the competence of the shinobi of your respective village to the entire world."

None of them spoke. The only potential question Naruto had was about remaining neutral, something that big nations did all the time in the real world. But turns out, it's just not allowed.

"Alright, if there are no questions, one genin from each village may step forward and obtain the number that determines the order of challenges. This process will re-occur whenever a previously named team is unavailable."

It was Zabuza from Kiri, Darui from Kumo, Akari from Suna, Naruto from Konoha and Akatsuchi from Iwa. It was a quick affair. No one seemed to want to waste any time in these proceedings. The samurai seemed to understand their impatience.

The large screen placed above the Kage Box came alive listing the order they were all waiting to see.

Kirigakure

Kumogakure

Sunagakure

Konohagakure

Iwagakure

Mifune stepped forward holding an unfamiliar device to Zabuza's face. "Who shall you challenge, Zabuza of the Hidden Mist?"

Zabuza looked behind him at his team. Then he looked at his Kage and remembered who it was that his Kage wished to challenge. The village with the strongest tailed beast in the competition. He then looked behind him, at his Uzumaki friend from Konoha. He then leaned into the device. "Kumogakure!"

Mifune moved on to Darui. "Who will you challenge first?"

Darui was a bit surprised. He had assumed that he would get to see the results of the first fight before making the decision. But he didn't wait for confirmation from anyone. He was still pissed about yesterday. "Konohagakure!"

Akari was also a bit unprepared. But he soon realized it didn't really make much of a difference. Their answer here did not matter much. Their plan remained unaffected regardless of who won the first match. If Konoha didn't make it to the third choice, then they would just choose another village in that round. "Konohagakure!"

And Mifune finally stepped directly in front of the diminutive redhead from Konoha. "Who will Konoha challenge first?"

Naruto's nostrils flared. Why did he have to phrase it like that? "I will challenge…"

Konohagakure

Obito looked sideways at Rin, sitting with a hand covering her mouth, staring at the wide screen, perhaps at only one individual in particular. Obito knew what this meant. It was common knowledge to many people in his life that he had a thing for Rin. Perhaps it was because she was pretty. Perhaps it was because she was always supportive of him even when he knew he was doing badly. Perhaps it was just because she paid any attention to him at all. And perhaps that was all it took.

Being in the academy together and Team 7 after that, Obito knew quite a bit about both Rin and Kakashi. He knew about their mannerisms, their way of talking… He knew enough about Rin to know that she was also smitten. Just not with him. There were certain times in the initial couple of weeks when he'd thought she liked Kakashi that way. But he soon knew that Rin was that way with everyone. But this also meant that he wasn't anything special in her books.

Even though his relationship with her was depressing in this way, it wasn't the reason for his worry. In fact, he was worried because of how Rin had been acting for the past few weeks. He'd never seen her in such low spirits, treating patients like a robot, often forgetting to employ the soothing tone of voice that she was trained to use. She always seemed to be somewhere else mentally. And Obito knew the reason for all this was the person on the screen.

Strange… He didn't feel an ounce of jealousy when he followed her gaze to Naruto's face as he contemplated the choice he was about to make.

Kakashi chose that moment to show up where they'd agreed to meet, a little late but they hadn't been saving the seats for long. He just wasn't alone. He had about a dozen people walking behind him. Obito looked behind him and Rin had finally torn her eyes from the screen to see the entire group, for the first time. Everyone from Konoha who knew Naruto personally.

Anko and Kakashi came first. Then Minato and Jiraiya. Hayate and his mother. Yugao and Kushina. Akira and behind him, Yuna, wheeled around by none other than her older brother Asuma. It was quite a weird sight to see. Behind them, the entire crowd stood silent as they saw firsthand what became of the Princess of Konoha. The little girl they'd watched grow into the beautiful girl who wasn't afraid to smile in public, even though the smile she gave convinced everyone of the fact that she was, in fact, completely terrified of all the attention…

…

…

Now reduced to a cripple, unable to even walk.

The silence seemed to spread across the stadium. From the people who could see the broken brown-haired girl, to the people so far away that they couldn't possibly have known the reason for the sudden silence. Yet they were silent anyway.

Naruto's booming voice, amplified using the samurai's seals, sounded all over the stadium. "Iwagakure!"

The next moment, the crowd erupted in cheers. All civilians and shinobi alike shouting at the top of their lungs, enraged at what had happened, faces flush with anger and desperate to have their voices heard. The sound was deafening. A display of unity that Obito had never seen in his life.

Rin looked through the entourage spending time on each and every face. Quite a few of them looked proud. All except five individuals. Minato and Yugao wore a surprisingly neutral and a surprisingly similar expression on their faces. Jiraiya looked conflicted like she knew he would be…

The other two… looked sad. Why? Rin didn't have a clue. What did Akira and Yuna know that the rest of them didn't? She just couldn't let it go. What did Naruto do?

…

When the cheers finally died down, the entire group was seated together, watching as the shinobi from Iwa, Konoha and Suna, made their way towards the waiting area. The first match was about to begin. Nobody except one, fixated on the fact that none of them had a clue who it was that Iwagakure picked.

Homura continued to look at the screen with a small smile on his face.

Iron Country, Kage Box

"Konohagakure!"

…

When Iwagakure's choice was also named, Hiruzen's lips twisted into a slight smile. The other kage pretended not to notice although they were all quite disturbed by the outward reaction given by the Hokage when three of the four other villages had named his village.

Hiruzen for his part, remembering his discussion with Homura word-for-word, was well aware that this was one of the best initial matchups that could've happened. But one thing was abundantly clear already, Konoha would be part of the second match. If Kiri won, it would be against Suna. If Kumo won, Naruto would just need to finish off whatever Kiri failed to deal with.

Meanwhile, the Mizukage was the only other one who displayed any external reaction although it was much less noticeable. His eyes narrowed, he just kept his gaze on the genin from his village who had gone against his wish of challenging Iwa… He hadn't missed the hesitant look Zabuza had sent his direction. He also hadn't missed the momentary look behind him at the redhead from Konoha. He knew exactly what caused him to change his mind from Iwa to Kumo. The only question yet unanswered was why? Was he that attached to the redhead who had once stayed with them in Four Island? So attached that he would choose to honor his wishes over his Kage's? … Or was he afraid?

Match Stadium

Mifune stood between the contingent from Kiri and Kumo. Half the genin left in the competition were about to clash… And they looked ready. In fact, despite Kirigakure's numbers advantage, the Kumo shinobi was raring to go. He did not know much about the genins' abilities, but he knew just from the way they stood that they meant business.

He could sense the anticipation in the crowd. The feeling was even shared among his samurai. Many of them had spent countless hours organizing the event at the unprecedented scale with which it came about…

"MATCH ONE OF THE CHUNIN EXAMS: KIRIGAKURE CHALLENGES KUMOGAKURE!"

He didn't waste any more time. "HAJIME!"

They didn't waste a moment. All four shinobi from Kirigakure had their hands in a half-Ram seal. They yelled out the name of the technique simultaneously. "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique!"

Yugito looked to her left but found that she already couldn't see either of her teammates who were supposedly still a couple of meters away from her. In a situation like this one, the best play was to stick together so they could cover for attacks from every direction. However, she could feel a massive projectile approaching, tearing through the mist savagely. She was left with no choice. She had to move.

While jumping away, she was able to catch just a glimpse of the terrifying sword that would've split her body in the middle had she not moved. The Kubikiribocho. One of the seven legendary swords made by Muramasa, the great forge master.

The mist was not just a minor inconvenience as she'd assumed previously. It was so thickly laden with all of their opponents' chakra that it was impossible for any sensor, no matter how skilled, to pinpoint their position. She swiftly realized that the only thing she could rely on here was sound. Which the Kiri shinobi were trained not to produce…

Not that she would've heard them if they were loud… Boos filled her ears. Yugito didn't blame the crowd. They'd paid a hefty sum for their place in the stands… This wasn't what was advertised.

About the only thing she had in common with her teammates, was her devastatingly poor ability at manipulating wind chakra… Meaning, the mist was not likely to disappear any time soon.

She waited till the last possible moment, her eyes closed. Then, she bent her body backward, almost in half. When she opened her eyes, she saw a clenched fist equipped with a brass knuckle, with terrifyingly sharp spikes. And in front of her, off balance and almost certainly regretting her decision to get close, Akane grit her teeth.

Yugito's body was in overdrive. Her agility was about the only thing she wanted to have likened to a cat. Fire formed in her palm. She reached out intending to grab the offending appendage before her opponent had the chance to recover.

However, Akane proved too fast. Forming a one-handed tiger seal, steam erupted around her extended arm, forcing Yugito's attack wide. She quickly disappeared into the mist.

They had set the girl in their team, against the girl in hers… Yugito sighed. There was a witty comment to make there somewhere, but she didn't want to spend time on that at that particular moment.

If they thought she was going to be the weakest because she's a girl, there was a good chance that the girl on their team was the weakest… It's just the way humans think. Simple… Easy…

…

The mist made it difficult, but she had her scent. This was going to be the most fun she had in months.

With Zabuza

His sword hadn't caught any of his enemies. It seemed his opponents were competent. What a surprise! His sword usually caught at least one.

Shaking his head out of the sarcastic thoughts, he noiselessly ran to retrieve his sword. He was surprised to find, however, that there was already someone there. Now, this was indeed a surprise, no sarcasm intended.

The Mist had always had it easy in wars. There were a lot of parallels between their way of fighting and how a ninja was (ideally) supposed to fight, and most shinobi found it difficult to counter them. The Hidden Mist Technique was step number one. Stealth and Assassination. This was what they excelled in.

Now, where were they with regards to stealth in this fight?

…

Too soon to tell. As long as the mist existed, they should hold the upper hand.

With respect to assassination, they were losing so far. His first attack missed all three of them. Their usual process was also going to be disturbed, because their enemies didn't seem to have much trouble navigating in the mist considering there was a person sitting on his legendary sword, which was embedded into the wall.

Cee, the Sensor… Surely his abilities had just taken a nasty hit. It would be close to impossible to sense his approach with all this chakra scattered around them.

…

He channeled chakra to his throat, emitting focused killing intent at the man with his back to the wall.

"Eight choices." His sound seemed to emerge from all over, even to himself. "Liver… Lungs… Spine… Jugular Vein… Carotid Artery… Brain… Kidneys… Or heart…" Zabuza ran at his opponent silently, a kunai clutched between his teeth. "Which do you want to die by?"

Just when he was about to plant the kunai into Cee's skull, his closed eyes opened, and gleamed with a frightening intensity.

"Yin Release: Order of Chakra: PARALYSIS!"

Zabuza felt a large amount of his opponent's chakra enter his system… And before he could even attempt to do anything, he came to a complete stop, inches behind his opponent's unprotected head.

Cee casually got up off his sword and turned around. He plucked the kunai out of his mouth… "I'm surprised how easy it was… Demon of the Hidden Mist."

"Coral Palm Technique!"

"Tch. So close!"

Cee yanked the sword from the wall and placed it directly in front of him. By the time the corals spread and consumed the entire sword, Cee was long gone. Yagura landed next to his teammate and snapped him out of the genjutsu.

Unnerved and discombobulated, Zabuza chose not to comment on the frightfully disadvantageous position he'd just found himself in. Instead, he just stared out in front of him.

"Oi! What the fuck have you done to my sword?"

With Darui

Darui ran through hand seals as soon as he was a comfortable distance away from where they started the fight. In a situation such as this, where his visibility was so severely affected, he needed to up his defensive capabilities as soon as possible.

"Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Pulse Field!"

This was a very small, but sharp burst of lightning chakra that he expelled from all over his body. He had used this often while hunting for food. A sudden burst of electricity entering a small animal's body could prove quite fatal. It didn't nearly have the power needed to affect humans similarly, but it would still hurt the first time they were caught in it.

…

He continued to wait, knowing it was only a matter of time for someone to target him. And soon enough, he heard a muffled grunt from somewhere behind him.

Now, it was his turn to send his sword spinning at his enemy. He saw Mangetsu's wide eyes right before his sword, eerily similar to the Kubikiribocho, went straight through his body at the waist. A moment later, the spinning broadsword was caught at the hilt by Darui.

SLASH. SLASH. SLASH. SLASH. SLASH. SLASH.

Such was the speed with which Darui attacked his opponent that he landed six slashes before the Water Clone was able to turn back into water. Darui snarled. He'd been tricked with a clone. He should've waited. The people in this competition weren't the kind to take unnecessary risks. No one would try to ambush anyone without knowing the extent of their defensive capabilities, lest their roles in the ambush get reversed.

In his frustration, he failed to notice the puddle formed from the water clone slowly flowing in a direction that normal water surely wouldn't have.

With Naruto

He was already aware of the Hidden Mist Technique. What he saw now only reinforced the annoyance he felt at the technique. A doujutsu user is not used to being blind. He could 'sense' the movement inside the mist, but he had no idea what was happening.

And with all four of the Kiri-nin's chakra scattered around the rectangular stadium, there was absolutely no way to recognize who was doing what.

Despite not being able to see or know any of the events that were happening below, he knew the first blows had been traded and neither team had really grasped the advantage yet… It made him excited. While Naruto didn't particularly care about the outcome of this match, he still wanted a good show. That was the entire point of an exhibition match. Being able to see the fight.

He was not at all content with waiting till the match reached its conclusion. He extended his senses as much as he could, reaching for anything, absolutely any information he could pick up regarding what was happening in the stadium below him.

…

In his excitement, he failed to notice a slightly different type of chakra entering his system. A type of chakra that extended his senses' reach to much more than he remembered having.

Just then, his thoughts were interrupted. He looked behind as the door to his waiting area opened and a lone samurai stepped inside. He was surprised to realize that he already knew who it was.

"Isabella!"

"I'm surprised you recognize me." She responded. "But then again, I would've been more surprised if you didn't."

"Hmm."

"…"

"Are you here to ensure I don't break the rules this time?"

"Yes… On paper, I'm here as a guardian. To prevent you from doing the things you did the last time you were here… By any means necessary."

A slight frown appeared on his face. "And Mifune believes one of you is enough?"

"No… I was the only one who agreed to the job."

"A leader who can't command his subordinates to agree to a simple gatekeeping job. I find myself losing what little respect I have for him." Naruto frowned. "You aren't afraid of me. Why?"

"…"

Naruto looked directly into her eyes, not pleased with her hesitance. "I know when someone wants something from me. Get on with it."

…

"I find myself doing the same thing. I find myself condemning the leader I chose to follow for the choices he makes." Naruto's eyes widened, surprised about the thought as well as her admission to it. "I believe there is something wrong with my country. I believe you've seen it too."

…

"And I think you are someone who's willing to do something about it."

Naruto turned his eyes back to the mist-covered haze below him. "Tell me more."

"I'll start the only way I can start." Isabella whispered. "What do you know about the most significant battle in recent history?... The battle between the strongest samurai and the strongest shinobi…"

With Yugito

"You're awfully good at dealing with my attacks despite not being able to see them coming." Her opponent's eerie voice sounded all around her. It might've disoriented a lesser opponent, but Yugito was just annoyed at it. "I would very much like to know how you're doing it."

"You reek." Yugito muttered under her breath, her voice small enough to barely avoid reaching her opponent. Which only left Akane feeling more frustrated. She was the most proficient at stealth in their group, second only to Zabuza. The fact that her attacks were being dodged with ease was a big blow to her confidence.

It also made her doubt her team's decision to leave Yugito to her. She could barely sense the others which meant they were far away towards the other end of the rectangular stadium. If Yugito turned out to be too much for her to deal with… Backup wasn't readily available.

As Yugito effortlessly dodged yet another trap she had sprung on her, she couldn't help but grit her teeth. Perhaps it was time to get serious.

"Vapor Release: Boiling Fog Technique!"

…

Yugito weaved in and out of the wave of projectiles her opponent was sending her way. She'd sensed the chakra building up in her opponent, a precursor to the technique she launched. She could've easily attacked her right then, but she decided not to. It wouldn't do to jump in without knowing the damage her attack could cause.

She remembered the preliminaries. Given how her previous opponent had died, she knew Akane's Kekkei Genkai was powerful and not to be taken lightly.

What she didn't expect was how amazingly subtle her attack was.

…

It started out small. A slight burn in her throat. A feeling that she was familiar with, accustomed to even…

It didn't take her long to realize what was happening and Yugito couldn't help but smile. "You're diabolical!"

Mixed in with the Hidden Mist Technique, with no way to clearly tell the difference, her corrosive vapor release was deadly… If unnoticed. Unfortunately for Akane, Yugito did notice.

The cost for spreading out her technique was paid in its potency. And someone like Yugito, whose insides were very accustomed to the Hell Cat's Blue Flames, could handle the tamed down version pretty easily.

"You're not pulling any punches, huh?" Yugito spoke quietly. "Very well."

Fire erupted all around her. Akane took an unconscious step back as the wave of heat passed over her.

"There's one major disadvantage to this matchup… I'm probably the only one among the Kumo ninja who will counter you with such ease."

The heat made the mist dissipate and for the first time since the match started, the two of them were face to face. Akane took another step back at what she saw. Yugito's hair flipped upwards, her braid coming undone from the power she radiated.

"I'm not known for holding back. I'll give you this one chance to give up. You cannot fight me. If you do, you will die…" Yugito held out her hand and a wisp of the signature blue flames appeared in her hand. "Make your choice now, and live with it for the rest of your life however short it may be."

With Zabuza

"Are you having trouble sensing where he is?"

Yagura's question confirmed what he was thinking. Cee lived up to his fame. Completely masking one's chakra signature was not as easy as people usually made it seem. And no matter how skilled you were with it, hiding your killing intent was impossible. In the mist, Kiri ninja used both, or rather, whatever their opponent was less skilled at hiding to detect and silently murder them. Cee had, as far as they could sense, vanished from the stadium floor.

Zabuza's lack of a response was enough of a reply. Yagura was their unit's ninjutsu specialist. And he didn't often employ the Hidden Mist Technique to fight his opponents. He preferred the more direct clash of power and strength. He didn't particularly care for the mist but he knew his teammates were much more effective in its presence. But he did voice the thought.

"Should we think about dissipating the mist? This has never happened bef- LOOK OUT!"

In a karmic reversal of roles, now it was the Kiri shinobi who had to duck under a broadsword sent spinning at head height. They didn't waste a moment. Somehow they'd been found. Alarm bells ringing, they rolled away from each other, splitting up to divide their opponent's focus.

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"

Yagura grit his teeth. "Ninja Art: Towering Coral Shield Technique!"

The coral shards from Zabuza's sword split away from the steel and formed two huge rectangular walls made of corals, shielding both of them effectively.

But to Yagura's surprise, the impact he predicted never came. He looked at where his older teammate was and made a clicking sound in a peculiar pattern.

The mist lifted around them instantly revealing Zabuza holding a half-tiger seal and wearing a wide-eyed look of alarm. Yagura looked behind him and bore witness to something he doubted anyone in Kiri had ever seen before.

Lightning bending around his shield. And it didn't look like normal lightning either. It looked far more… destructive.

"HAH!"

Yagura covered his face trying to shield himself. A water shield formed in front of him at the last moment. Intercepting the menacing lightning beams, the water rose upwards forcefully directing the lightning away from Yagura.

Mangetsu dropped down in between them. "Looks like I was just in time."

Yagura returned an apologetic smile. He had forced his teammate to reveal his position in order to save him. A potential ambush that was now no longer possible.

"How did he find us?" Zabuza muttered softly.

"How did I find you?" Darui cackled, very noticeably unconcerned about fighting three against one. "My teammate is Cee, the sensor… He senses people."

"Tch." All three Kiri shinobi settled into their battle stances.

"And now that I've found you…" Darui ran through hand seals and ended with a fist extended trembling with power, his other hand clutching it to reduce the shaking.

"STORM RELEASE: BLACK LIGHTNING HALBERD!"

"SCATTER!"

A huge axe-like weapon made of powerful black lightning crashed into the Kiri nins' previous position, resulting in a huge explosion. Knowing his attack hadn't hit its mark, he raised his arm activating a summoning seal tattoo on his arm, without any hand seals. His sword appeared in his hand.

'3 o' clock. 20 yards. The Demon of the Hidden Mist.'

Darui grinned before leaping off in the direction his teammate suggested, lightning crackling through his sword.

With Yugito

"Vapor Release: Solid Fog Technique!"

It had no effect. She was right. This was the worst matchup possible. She was indeed at a disadvantage against someone like Yugito. And the reason for that? Convection!

Her flames made it so that her techniques just overheated and flew up. She didn't have enough power behind the techniques to push through the flames.

The mist around them was also long gone. She cursed Zabuza's arrogance once again. She said it once, she'd say it again. All four of them should've attacked this girl. She was just that powerful.

"Two hundred and ninety-two!"

Akane sighed internally. Forget powerful, the girl was a psycho. She just yelled out a random number providing no context whatsoever while fighting a death battle.

"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Wave!"

"Fire Release: Dance of the Divine Flame!"

To her disbelief, her mammoth wave of water was dispelled. Completely vaporized by the tornado of blue flames that spun around her opponent.

Now there were multiple things wrong with what just happened. The first one being, that her A-Rank technique had absolutely no effect. The second one was that it happened despite being against a weaker chakra nature. It was fire that wiped her technique away… And finally, it was just how effortless it all was for her.

"My turn!" Yugito yelled as she channeled a huge amount of chakra. "Do you know what Bijuu I hold within me? Do you understand the significance of the flames I wield?"

Akane took a reflexive step back once again when the fire around her opponent flared menacingly. She remembered what the blue flames had done to the kunoichi from Konoha. Skin burned off in an instant.

"Normal flames do not compare. Orange Flames… Red Flames… Black Flames… White Flames… They just do not compare. My flames are unlike anything you've felt before. I am Kumo's Hellcat… And Hell's flames don't burn the body unless I want it to… They burn your soul."

A little too late, she realized she should've just given up when given the chance. People don't usually mouth off if they can't back it up. The flames were nowhere close to her and she could still feel the searing heat.

…

She had no chance, from the start.

With Zabuza

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"

Zabuza heaved his sword around blocking and canceling out the lightning missiles that headed toward them. The special material used for his blade aided in their defense. But he was getting tired, the sword's weight taking its toll.

"Water Release: Great Water Exploding Wave Technique!"

Mangetsu yelled out the name of the signature technique of Kiri shinobi. A giant wave of water erupted in front of them, heading straight for their opponent. If you asked anyone in Kiri, they would say the technique was exceptionally powerful, but expected given the person casting it. The Hozuki clan's Kekkei Genkai allowed for a rarely seen affinity to water techniques.

Unfortunately for them, the technique also served to hide the smirk that formed on Darui's face. Nor did they notice the clone that formed beside him.

"Water Release: Great Water Wall Technique!"

"Water Release: Quelling Calm!"

…

The brutal wave of water almost stood still for a moment. The power and the rush that made the technique a nightmare to deal with suddenly disappeared. The falling water gently crashed into a towering wall of water that shielded the Kumo shinobi.

Yagura's eyes widened, realizing what was coming.

"Ninja Art: Coral Uprising!"

A sturdy coral dome formed on all sides around them, just in time to prevent the water from Mangetsu's earlier technique from reaching them.

"Storm Release: Black Lightning Pulse!"

…

Mangetsu looked at his teammates in complete alarm. Both of them were similarly affected. The reason for their alarm was abundantly clear. It was the hair standing up on their arms. It was the menacing buzz given off by the black lightning coursing through their insulated shield. It was the knowledge that mere millimeters of the Sanbi's coral technique shielded them from an undoubtedly painful death.

And more than everything else, it was how he had dismissed one of the strongest water techniques they could launch against him. They were a team of three Kirigakure shinobi and he was the better Water Style user.

…

Humiliating.

Mangetsu nodded as the lightning started to die down. "Right then… He is a powerhouse, and at this time, based on what I've seen, I don't think we have a chance in hell of matching him in a ninjutsu fight."

Yagura was the first to agree. "His mastery over Water Style is surprising as well. If we continue to fight like this, we might end up with our own techniques turned against us."

"Why is that though?" Mangetsu wondered aloud. "How can a Kumo shinobi be so powerful with water release?"

"Remember the Second Hokage? He was born in the Land of Fire for fuck's sake." Zabuza quipped. "Nothing's set in stone. If it can happen, it goddamn will happen."

…

"Besides… I think it's clear what we need to do." Zabuza let his sword fall into his extended hand from his back. "If we can't fight him with ninjutsu…"

Outside the dome, the water was long gone. Vaporized by the devastating black lightning that coursed through it. Darui stood a safe distance away, not at all concerned by the steam shielding his view of the coral dome.

'Get ready. They're coming at you with Taijutsu next.'

Darui nodded. He'd have done the same thing if his techniques were dismissed like he'd just done to them. The mist had disappeared for all intents and purposes. It still hid the audience from his view but he could see his surroundings clearly. Well, except right in front of him with the steam still covering his opponents.

'Here they come.'

Darui was surprised at the sword spinning toward him for the second time. It didn't work the first time. It wouldn't work the second.

"Water Release: Rising Water Technique!"

Just below the approaching blade, a wall of water erupted upward knocking it off its trajectory. A cloud of smoke revealed Yagura in its place, now almost directly above him. Darui stared at the gleaming yellow eyes of the Kiri jinchuriki channeling his bijuu's chakra. He was a bit slow to respond.

Rat → Ox → Monkey → Bird → Yang Water → Rat → Boar → Bird

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Ox→Tiger→Hare

"Lightning Release: Thunder Dragon Bullet Technique!"

The almost sentient techniques clashed against each other above Darui, fighting for dominance neither giving away an inch. Sensing a presence approaching, Darui leaped back his sword already in his arm. Lightning coursed through it as it met Kubikiribocho.

Zabuza winced when he felt the powerful vibrations of Darui's lightning chakra traveling through the chakra conductive metal. But he didn't let go. Behind him, the techniques finally reached its end.

BOOOM!

…

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG…

Darui leaped back as soon as he got the opportunity. Zabuza had rapidly surpassed Darui's wildest expectations of a Swordsman of the Mist. He was a proud shinobi but he was well aware of his limits. He could not afford to fight Zabuza in kenjutsu. His movements were just too fast. Coupled with the fact that he wielded a broadsword like his own and the power of his swings, he finally understood why his opponents' grip often crumbled when his own sword thundered into their defense.

Zabuza followed without hesitation. Darui had a solution for that which was to send his sword spinning at the older swordwielder. But unlike before, Zabuza didn't move. With a mighty heave of his sword, he knocked it off course much like Darui had done to the transformed Yagura.

With a smirk on his face, Zabuza advanced at his opponent. Darui let out a smirk himself as he ran through hand seals. However, when he reached midway, water erupted in front of him, giving way to a humanoid shape.

With a start, Darui realized the water clone he'd destroyed earlier at the start of the fight wasn't in fact a 'clone'. Mangetsu clutched both his arms, holding them apart, preventing him from making hand seals. He could also see Zabuza almost upon him.

He still had access to his legs. With an annoyed grunt, he leaped off the ground and placed his chakra-laced feet on Mangetsu's body. He just had to apply the same principle as when he walks on water. He proceeded to use Mangetsu's liquid body as a surface to jump off of, successfully escaping the Kiri shinobi's hold on him.

Seeing this, Zabuza, who was now very close, did the only thing he could do to take advantage of the situation. He unleashed a heavy sideward slash going through his teammate's body, attacking his opponent.

"GAAAGH!"

Blood gushed out of an open wound across Darui's chest. He landed on his ass, unable to deal with the pain to allow for a more graceful landing.

'Behind you!'

The warning came a moment too late.

"Ninja Art: Coral Engulfment!"

In his peripheral vision, he saw Yagura behind him. He idly realized that he probably would've been caught regardless of whether he'd escaped Zabuza or not. Corals started to form around him, threatening to completely enclose him within it.

Seeing Yagura had Darui almost dealt with, Mangetsu turned around to glare at Zabuza. "That was… brilliant… But I don't appreciate you shoving your sword in me without warning."

Zabuza just tilted his head. Mangetsu palmed his face.

"That came out wrong."

With Yugito

"Fire Release: All Consuming Flame!"

A small wisp of blue fire traveled at a startlingly slow pace towards her. The diminutiveness of the technique somehow only served to increase the panic that settled in her heart.

Akane just couldn't help it. She was no stranger to tailed beast chakra. One of her best friends used it at least once a week. It wasn't the potent chakra causing the pounding in her heart. It was once again just the sheer effortlessness of it all.

She was one of the few people Yagura had confided in regarding his interactions with the Tailed Beast inside him. She knew of the deal all young jinchuriki were eventually forced into making.

Somehow sensing what was coming, her hand went to her wrist. Once she activated it, the seal pulsed with the stored up chakra… Somewhere in the dissipating mist, she knew her friends had heard her call. She just needed to hold out till they could reach her.

Pushing all her chakra into her next technique, something she thought could in all seriousness be her last ever technique, she wondered just what kind of sacrifice the Nibi jinchuriki had made in order to command the tailed beast chakra with such freedom.

…

The blue flame was almost upon her when visible steam erupted all around her. Such powerful Boil Release was thought to be wielded by only one individual, the Five Tails Jinchuriki. The force with which the steam was ejected from every pore in her body served to keep the blue flames at bay.

…

But somehow it didn't lessen the flames in the slightest. In fact, it seemed to grow larger, starting to cover her from all sides. She remembered just how quickly her blue flames had spread over the kunoichi from Konoha. Her technique was just preventing it from touching skin. The moment it touched her, it would be over.

Through the effervescence, she stared at her opponent's gleaming smirk. Just to add salt to the wound, Yugito seemed to be showing off.

"I just love violence… Don't you?"

With Naruto

If someone had been paying attention to only the genin from Konoha, they'd know there was something very interesting going on inside the mist in the stadium below them.

In contrast to the others in the stadium, Naruto was actually able to follow some of the fighting occurring down below him. Years later, he would realize that there was indeed a reason he was able to sense their presence despite the mist acting as a chakra-scattering shroud covering the whole stadium. Unknown to both of them, it was also the reason Cee was able to utilize his sensor capabilities despite the mist.

At present though, Naruto did not pay any attention to the extraordinary feat he'd accomplished. He did not pay any attention to the crackling lightning sounding all around the stadium. He didn't pay any attention to the clanging of swords, the rush of water, the scream of agony, the smell of blood…

He didn't even pay attention to the vibrating seal on his hand that Akane Terumi activated. A remnant from his time in Kiri.

He was too invested in the show that was being put on by a certain blonde-haired kunoichi.

He looked right at where he knew the other clashing individuals were… And he couldn't help the smile that slowly formed on his face.

The flames and the heat… It didn't just dissipate the fading mist, so much as completely annihilate it. One moment, it was there. The next, it was gone. And at the center of the searing maze of blue flames stood Yugito, hair flapping upward in the wind.

Naruto had seen power. He had seen Akira Senju threatening the intruders in his house. He had experienced Orochimaru's potent killing intent multiple times. He's fallen prey to Mikoto's devastating skill with the Sharingan. He'd seen Killer Bee transform into the Hachibi at will. Hell, he'd seen Hanzo in all his might, bending Nature to his will.

…

Yugito was nowhere close to any of them… But she was close to what he had seen himself accomplish. And it embedded in him a kinship that he couldn't quite explain right then. That vicious smirk she wore? He couldn't help but admire it.

He could tell that it wasn't personal at all. She didn't want to subject Akane to the torture. But at the same time, she didn't really not want to either. To her, the torture was what mattered. Not the person who suffered.

"I just love violence… Don't you?"

Naruto's smile widened. She was just like him, driven to like the extreme violence she administered. The seemingly kind, quirky girl he met the last time he was here… That was just an act. This was the girl who burned Kurenai to a crisp… Just for the sake of it and not because she used a genjutsu to make her angry…

Konohagakure

"Well… This isn't nearly as entertaining as I thought it would be." Obito voiced the thought that was on everyone's mind. It had been roughly 10 minutes since the match started and from the outset, they weren't privy to a single exchange.

Even the shinobi were starting to get restless watching the whole lot of nothing that was broadcasted through the very expensive equipment that the samurai had set up. Some of the samurai did pick up on the displeasure swarming through the crowd and they wasted little to no time in making themselves scarce.

Just when it seemed like people were going to just up and leave the stadium, the mist started to clear up giving the Konoha audience their first view of the battle.

Darui was revealed first, facing off against not one, not two, but three of his four opponents. Their exchanges were lightning fast and hard to keep up for even the shinobi. But no one in the audience doubted the fact that Darui was actually holding his own.

Then they saw Konoha's champion with a gleaming smile in a completely different direction. Then, deviating from the fairly even match-up, they saw two of the other candidates, and everything stopped. Not a sound was heard. Not a movement was made…

…

Except for a quiet shiver trickling down a certain red-eyed kunoichi's spine.

With Zabuza

"Lightning Release: Lightning Illusion Flash!"

"GAAGH!"

The Kubikiribocho clattered to the floor as Zabuza brought his hands to his eyes. He wasn't able to see the others, but he knew they were similarly affected. This was bad. They hadn't even sensed Cee's approach.

"Lightning Release: Expanding Lightning Pillar Technique!"

…

"Water Release: Great Water Exploding Wave!"

Cee's built-up chakra immediately fell apart, indicating that he'd canceled his technique afraid of electrocuting his ally along with his enemies. "Nice one, Mangetsu!" Zabuza's lips twisted into a smile as his vision slowly returned to him. Only a small pool of blood remained where Darui once was. This was good. Cee coming into the open to rescue Darui was definitely a win in his book.

…

His smile quickly disappeared when the adrenaline slipped and he felt the vibrating seal on his wrist. He turned around to see Yagura and Mangetsu staring to the side with horror in their eyes. Pushing past Mangetsu who blocked his view, he finally saw the result of the other battle.

"AKANE!"

He didn't know if it was the anguish in Yagura's voice or perhaps just the distraction it provided… The blue flame surrounding Akane disappeared. The flames covering Yugito drastically reduced in intensity.

Vapor continued to ooze off Akane for a short while before she realized that the flames were gone now. Drained of all chakra, every tenketsu in her body screaming in pain and physically and mentally exhausted… Akane toppled over.

Yugito shrugged. Her technique failed because she lost focus for just a moment… Oh well… It didn't matter now. She had seen what she wanted to see from her defeated foe. That pleading look she often yearned to see in the face of her greatest enemy… Akane had given her that look quite a few minutes ago.

…

Chakra exploded around her again. "One down… Three to go."

Zabuza's eyes broke away from the approaching kunoichi when a surge of chakra made him look behind him. Darui of Kumogakure was running through hand seals, accumulating a great amount of chakra. Cee was once again missing.

Zabuza responded in kind, quicker, finishing all the hand seals for the complicated water technique in a few quick moments. "Water Release: Giant Vortex Technique!"

Mangetsu turned to his other teammate. "Yagura!" The younger genin simply nodded. He knew what was being requested of him. The fact that the charging Yugito chose that moment to nonchalantly kick the unconscious Akane out of her way, only served to make his transformation easier.

Tailed beast chakra leaked out of him. It was a surprise to many of the gathered individuals, Naruto included. Two jinchuriki, locked in battle. This stadium wasn't likely to survive.

Zabuza's massive water technique failed to reach Darui in time.

"Black Lightning Ninja Art: Black Panther!"

A huge panther made of deadly black lightning formed in front of him. The lightning creature opened its maw and the water vortex technique started to flow into it. Within moments, the entire technique was completely consumed.

Zabuza and Mangetsu both took a step back at the gleaming yellow eyes of the lightning creature the size of a tailed beast.

"ADVANCE!"

"Summoning Technique: Coral Coliseum!"

BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!

With Cee

His senses were running haywire. There was too much chakra in the air for him to utilize his abilities to its full extent. Moreover, it was malevolent chakra that overloaded his acute sensing ability. To him, it felt almost like the chakra was emitting killing intent. Not something he had much experience dealing with.

Sure, Killer Bee had been training him for the past couple of months. But even with the Third Raikage ordering that Bee give him full exposure to the beast residing within him, he knew the Raikage's youngest son Killer Bee had held back most of the Hachibi's wrath. Cee only ever saw enough. Never more.

His orders resonated in his mind. He was not to do it unless absolutely necessary. He looked sideways at Darui, low on chakra, on his knees, with blood pooling around him. Zabuza got him with a good clean strike. He wasn't out of the fight yet, but it wasn't far off. Darui's trump card, his strongest jutsu, had just met its match against a bijuu powered shielding technique.

He stared into the distance where behind the clearing smoke, Yugito continued her approach. She wore a simple playful smirk that conveyed her exact intentions to Cee and that was enough for him to make up his mind. She wasn't taking this seriously.

Akane was down for the count, but the other three were still in action whereas Darui was close to his limit because of his injury and he had no real battle power against shinobi of this caliber.

And… Yugito couldn't be relied on. If she decided not to cover for them, it would potentially become a two-against-one for him… A recipe for disaster. He spared a look toward the kage box. The Raikage was decidedly not meeting his eyes.

He didn't know whether his actions would be condemned or praised. But he needed to do something. It was time to perform the technique he'd been practicing for the past two months!

…

"Secret Ninja Illusion Technique: Tailed Beast Awakening!"

With Yugito

Yugito came to a complete stop, clutching her stomach. The flames she left in her wake suddenly disappeared. Her eyes twitched in disbelief.

"Why?... Why now, of all times?"

She looked around desperately for help. She saw the Kiri shinobi directly in front of her. The swordsmen took a step back, unnerved at the sudden change in her attitude. As for the other jinchuriki… He understood perfectly what was happening.

Contrary to what many people assumed, there was no behind-the-scenes battle of wills occurring between the bijuu and its jinchuriki. There was only the contract… And the breach of that contract…

And Yugito had been arrogant enough to put zero limitations on the transfer of control. Two hundred and ninety-two times… The Nibi could've used her body two hundred and ninety-two times… But she never did… Why? Why now?

Yugito just couldn't wrap her head around it. Not until she saw Cee… His hands twisted in an unknown hand seal…

…

'I see.' She wondered, her mouth twisted into a rictus. 'It's time then… I cannot survive there anymore…'

The last thing she saw as she twisted her head toward the waiting area was Uzumaki Naruto staring straight into her eyes with a look she never really got used to despite spending over 12 years in this world… A look of genuine concern.

'Two hundred and ninety-one.' She whispered under her breath. His eyes widened, the number clicking in his head as one less than the one she'd uttered previously. He was the only one apart from the Kumo ninja who knew what it meant.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"

Kage Box

The Five Kage stared into the stadium from above. There were very few others who remained as still as the Kage given what was happening in the stadium.

The samurai, their orders never accommodating a situation such as this, were running around like headless chickens. The stampede rushing out of the stands caused the very ground to shake. Or perhaps it was the work of the Kumo ninja.

The Sandaime Mizukage turned to face his counterpart from the Land of Lightning. "Did your genin just undo the Nibi jinchuriki's seal?"

The Raikage dismissed the question with a shake of the head. "No… The seal is still in place. No one is in danger here."

…

Now, that was indeed a surprise. Something that even the Professor himself seemed astonished at.

"What did he do then?" The Sandaime Kazekage voiced. The Raikage only gave a grim smile in response. A smile that meant that there was no use in asking that question. Because he would get no answer from him. For now, all they could do was watch in silence.

Even if they did release the Nibi in a controlled competition stadium like this… Technically, it wasn't breaking any of the rules of engagement.

Match Stadium

"Oh, little Yugito… Your turmoil was beautiful. By far, the best host I've ever had…" The silky, smooth voice spread out over the stadium silencing samurai and civilians alike. Anyone running, suddenly came to a stop. "I'm saddened to see those agonizing thoughts of yours cut short."

Many people were surprised to see the same little girl with a bubbling red chakra shroud, standing in the middle of the stadium instead of the fully transformed Nibi whose voice came out of her. Two tails spun lazily behind her.

With blue flames oozing off the tip of her extended nails and her eyes burning with the same fire, she was completely still, eyeing each of her foes… Until she settled on one of them.

"You!"

Cee's hands fell away, the demon's killing intent piercing straight through his mental shields borne of years upon years of stubbornly cultivating them…

"You made a mistake, boy! A lesser being might thank you for the freedom you granted me… I will not. Unlike the others, I have a brain that I do use from time to time.

Cee fell over, clutching his throat, gasping for oxygen. Tears fell freely down his face as he tried to stave off death by suffocation. He had felt quite a few heavy killing intents in his lifetime but none that came close to this. Not even the Hachibi when he was being trained.

"What you just did… It is a vile act. Years… Years leading up to this moment, this moment where she was finally, finally, about to feel it. This moment that would've made years of imprisonment worth it… And you ruined it."

Cee's nose started bleeding, his whole body trembling in inexpressible pain.

"Two Hundred and Ninety-two times I could've taken over. You think I didn't because I was incapable? Do you think even for a second that that puny girl has what it takes to hold my will back?"

…

"What you just did… It's not a boon you granted me. It's not a favor you performed. It is an offense… One that I don't take lightly."

…

"I swear… Only humans can be this arrogant. Only humans… I will respect the promise I made just as my host does. Brother! Save their pitiful lives from my wrath."

With Naruto

…

…

Naruto stared in dumbfounded shock as Yugito… no the Nibi jumped high into the air. She stuck upside down on the reinforced roof of the stadium embedding in everyone's minds the immense control she held over that monstrous chakra. At the same time, Yagura fell over clutching his stomach. Tailed beast chakra exploded out of him, far more than what he'd unleashed earlier.

He looked up at the Nibi, now seemingly floating in the air. But he realized very quickly that the beast wasn't floating, she was actively expelling fire chakra through her limbs, thrusting herself upwards.

Her jaw opened, and suddenly Naruto knew exactly what was going to happen. He'd seen it happen once before but it had been done by a fully transformed bijuu, not a little girl barely reaching his height.

He started running through hand seals of his own. Isabella appeared beside him instantly but he wasn't alarmed. This particular samurai was much smarter than most others he'd met. She drew her own sword, a strange seal on the pommel.

"Water Release: Great Water Wall Technique!"

"Adamantine Shield: Seal Release!"

His water technique formed a sturdy barrier behind the glass separating them from the dangerous battle in the stadium. Isabella kneeled on one knee stabbing her sword into the ground. To his surprise, the sword changed shape, folding in on itself and expanding into a magnificent shield.

She then beckoned him over, telling him to get behind her. Naruto appreciated the thought… Really, he did. But his shield was quite simply better for his purposes. Her shield looked to be much more protective, but it had the disadvantage of blocking his visibility.

…

He wouldn't miss this for the world. He forced his eyes back to the stadium.

The technique was almost near completion. Down below in the stadium, he saw Mangetsu carrying Akane and desperately running toward the edge of the stadium.

He saw the injured Darui pick up an unconscious Cee, limping as fast as he could straight toward the remainder of his enemies, his instinct overriding his control over his body.

Finally, he saw Yagura with his lifeless eyes staring straight up and Zabuza trying to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.

…

…

The possessed Yugito then proceeded to do something Naruto never expected. Instead of swallowing the technique to generate enough power to expel it, Yugito simply launched it down toward the stadium. It looked unstable… Ready to explode at any second. He was surprised it even held together at all…

Even from this distance, Naruto could see that his friend from Kiri was getting desperate. Seemingly at the last possible moment, right as Darui reached them… Right as Mangetsu reached the far end of the stadium wall and stabbed Kubikiribocho in front of him to shield himself and Akane from the blast.

…

…

Yagura's pupils finally snapped back into his eyes and two otherworldly voices sounded all around them.

"TAILED BEAST BOMB!"

"SUMMONING TECHNIQUE: ISOBU'S SHELL!"

…

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"

…

…

…

5 Minutes Later

The entire stadium was up in smoke. Naruto looked at his own body which was covered in scratches from where the shattering glass cut into him. The water wall while saving him from the explosive force did not do much to prevent the glass shards from reaching him.

A half-bird seal collapsed the water wall. Isabella stood up, completely unaffected by the blast. Her head swiveled around, taking stock of the situation.

…

"This won't be good for the Iron Country's reputation."

"Pfft. Of course not." Naruto turned towards her. "There is no way this ends where the Iron Country comes out in a better place."

Isabella had nothing to say to that. Simply because it was completely true. The massive hole in one side of the stadium stands seemed to indicate the same sentiment. That was around 20 to 30 percent of the civilian crowd and an equal proportion of the samurai soldiers on duty… Dead…

Once again, she fought down the urge to say… no, yell out 'I told you so'...

She'd tried to convince him time and time again that this would end badly for their nation. He didn't listen. He never did. This wasn't an exhibition tournament. It was quite literally war. Not the war the samurai fought with sword and shield. A war on a scale that only chakra could bring about in this world.

'There is no stadium that could contain it. There aren't enough reinforcement seals in the world that could protect them against collateral damage. No amount of money could make this wor-'

"Isabella!" She blinked. "Calm yourself. Now is not the place."

She nodded after a moment. He was right. There were much more concerning events all around them.

With Yugito

Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. There was nothing but smoke all around her. She coughed in exertion. Her reserves were completely depleted. Never, not once had she felt this tired.

'What just happened? Did she finally take over?'

"HUUUAAAGGGGGGHHHH!"

Yugito leaped back just in time for a broadsword to come crashing down on her position. Despite escaping unscathed, she was plenty aware of the horrible position she found herself in. With smoke all around her, she had no visibility… No sense of smell… Only her ears to help her…

And once Mangetsu of the Hidden Mist regained enough calm to not shout before attacking, she was as good as dead.

But the attack she expected never came. She didn't know what to do. For everyone else watching on, It was a few tense minutes before the smoke finally cleared. For Yugito, she didn't even feel the time passing.

Through the clearing smoke, she finally saw the state of the world her other half left behind.

Right in front of her stood Hozuki Mangetsu trying desperately to remove the legendary broadsword from where it was wedged into the ground. There was something wrong with his body that made him incapable of doing so. The concussive force of the blast had damaged him a lot. His entire body was now loosely held together with some parts of it turning into water uncontrollably. And this was the exact reason he couldn't bring the sword back up. The moment he tried to apply any sort of force in his grip, his hand would turn into water.

The sword remained wedged in the ground. Yugito looked past him. A huge shell made of material she didn't recognize stood tall in the stadium. She didn't remember exactly what it was defending against but whatever it was, it had left the impressive-looking shield crumbling, bits and pieces of it slowly falling away from the shell. With how drained she felt, she knew that the fact it was still standing was quite impressive in and of itself.

Below the dome lay four prone figures. It didn't take her long to recognize them. Two from Kiri and two from Kumo. None of them were even twitching. The concussive force from the blast had left them all knocked out. She didn't know how injured they were but hopefully the considerably large pool of blood under them was not from just one person.

Finally, she turned to her left to see her original opponent, Akane Terumi, leaned against the wall. Blood traced her path on the wall as she slumped to the floor. Before she had time to dwell any more on it, a slight noise made her turn her eyes back to the only other conscious person in the stadium.

Mangetsu Hozuki wore a murderous look on his face. "You… What have you done?" The sword was finally free from its sheath in the ground. "Your own teammates as well… I won't forgive you!"

Yugito felt the kaleidoscope twist and finally land on a picture that made complete sense to her. There was no doubting it anymore. She would've preferred her image in front of the elemental nations to not have the words 'Demon' and 'Nibi' associated with it, but it was too late now. Anyone watching would assume the same as her raging opponent. That she'd been in control when in fact, she barely remembered it.

Plus side was that if any one of her teammates were dead, the deal with Nibi was null and void. But she knew that wouldn't be the case. The Nibi was far too clever to get rid of such an unrestrictive deal.

"Mangetsu-san… You cannot fight me as you are." Her opponent said nothing which was fine with Yugito. It wasn't a question. It was a declarative statement which didn't prompt a response.

"My friend is a jinchuriki. You cannot fight either so soon after you transformed." Mangetsu voiced, the freed sword held firmly in front of him. "If I don't fight now, I have no right to call them my friends."

After a few minutes of silence, Yugito sighed. "You're right. I'm completely out of chakra… But… I don't really need chakra to evade you when you're barely standing. I don't need chakra to keep evading you till I reach the girl leaning against the wall. I don't need chakra to carve out her insides with my nails. I don't need chakra to steal that sword from your flaccid hand and stab it through your downed teammates. The way you are now, I don't think I'd need any chakra to finish you off…"

…

Yugito's eyes narrowed. "Give up!"

…

…

…

The Kubikiribocho clattered to the floor.

"Proctor-san! I surrender."

Mangetsu's stunned eyes found Yugito's overjoyed ones just as an enraged roar erupted from the Kage box. "What are you-?"

Silence reigned over the stadium. Not a sound was heard from the gathered crowd, whoever remained. Right until Mifune landed next to them, looking equally confused. "By way of verbal surrender, Yugito of Kumo is eliminated. Mangetsu is the last one left standing. Winner of Match One: Kirigakure!"

"Mangetsu-san, you hate me don't you?" Yugito's nails shrunk as she forced her hands into her pant pockets. "Good. Use that hate of yours to get stronger. One day, you and I will fight again. If you do not hate, you will never grow strong. You will never get your revenge…"

…

"My strength… My resolve…" Her eyes went to the Kage box, looking at one individual in particular. She gave her kage a vicious smirk and received an equally venomous look in return. A look that promised her a world of pain, but she didn't look too concerned… "I cannot put into words the depth of my hatred. One day, I will get my own revenge. Pray that you never cross paths with me before then… I will not be as lenient the next time."

15 Minutes Later

With Naruto

Naruto was somewhat surprised to learn that the participants were allowed free rein over the area so long as their assigned samurai guard was with them and in agreement. It didn't really take much to convince Isabella. She was awfully trusting considering they barely knew each other. But it didn't matter. They couldn't really expect the participants to sit still for over an hour while they repaired the huge hole in the stadium wall.

Apparently, the whole had to be replaced to prevent snow from getting in. He didn't really get the point though. Anyone who wanted to smuggle things or creatures into the stadium, could still go the underground route.

Contrary to what Naruto and Isabella assumed, the gathered crowd didn't leave. Maybe they believed the worst of the destruction was behind them and the next matches would have next to no collateral damage… Or maybe they just didn't want to leave because of the money they'd already put into the event for their place in the stands… Such stupidity…

He rounded a corner and finally came to his destination. However, the person he wanted to meet was unexpectedly occupied.

"- telling you Yugito… He is not likely to forgive this."

"What was I supposed to do? As I was, I couldn't have contin-" … "Ohayo, Naruto-san!"

…

Naruto looked at the civilian curiously. "I didn't mean to intrude. I can come back later. Finish up your conversation."

Yugito shook her head. "No. There's nothing to discuss. Ikari-sama, this is Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto-san, this is Ikari-sama, my caretaker."

Ikari turned to look at Naruto. He couldn't quite explain it, but Naruto found himself too surprised to speak. The man in front of him was a civilian. He could sense little to no chakra within him. But the intensity his eyes held was unnerving.

"I will take my leave, Yugito… I hope you know what you're doing."

…

…

…

"So… Were you worried about me? Is that why you decided to visit?" Yugito asked playfully.

Naruto said nothing. He turned to the side and stared expectantly at Isabella. After a few moments, she just sighed and left the room. "You're too demanding, Naruto. I better not sense any chakra coming from this room."

…

The moment the door closed, Naruto held up a hand seal after throwing a seal on the door. Privacy seals, she realized. He took a good look at her.

"To answer your question, no… Not worried. At least not about your current health. Although, I do find myself thinking about what would happen once you return to Kumogakure…"

Yugito's eyes widened. "Oh?"

"You lied to me…" It was once again a statement. One that Yugito didn't feel the need to comment on. "Last time we were here… It wasn't the Nibi who was subjected to Kurenai's technique, was it?"

She looked away.

"And subsequently, it wasn't the Nibi who did that to Kurenai."

"Why does that matter? You said you didn't care about her. Or was all that talk about not giving a damn about the village just that? Was it all just talk?"

"I don't know why you're trying to incite me. But I know that you damn well know… that I'm not 'just talk'. " Naruto sighed. "I'm here to talk. If you're not ready, I can leave. I want to understand your goals… Your story… Otherwise, I can't do anything to help you."

…

"Why in the world do you think I need your help?"

Naruto laughed, making a frown appear on Yugito's face. "My mind is far more developed in its thinking capability due to some… events in my past. As such, I'm able to record and compile a list of related observations that lead me to conclusions that would otherwise escape me. In my mind, it's very clear to me that you're in a bad situation. Your return to Kumogakure will be… painful. And the tail end of the earlier conversation only confirms that for me."

…

"You sought me out during the preliminaries, appearing to me in a very friendly manner. You were the only one to do so despite being from enemy villages and without a shared past. You knew it would make me interested. You demonstrated just enough skill and brutality in your match against Kurenai to keep me intrigued. You made it a point to show me just how regretful you were about the state Kurenai ended up in, perhaps to gain my favor… But when I uttered that I couldn't care less about her, you never broached the topic again. If you'd actually been apologetic, you would've tried again. I didn't know it at the time, but you were in complete control, weren't you? You just wanted me to think you had none."

Yugito scowled at him, not enjoying the way her actions were being picked apart.

"Then, for some reason you joined me in the fight against the samurai, going against the wishes of the senior shinobi on the ground with you, while knowing full well that you'd be reprimanded. Again, the only reason I can think of is to curry favor with me. But what you hope to accomplish with that, I know not."

…

"You realized yesterday that I don't care about anyone with a weak conviction and today, you finally decided to show me yours. And you did. On display in front of the entire world, you showed me just how violent you could be, knowing full well it would pique my interest and make me that much more likely to listen to you…"

Yugito stared at him, tears about to fall from her eyes. "Am I that transparent?"

"No. No, you aren't. But with that statement, my series of assumptions have been proven true. Honestly I never would've put this together in this way if the Nibi hadn't taken over. You should be thankful to Cee for whatever it was that he did."

"Tch."

"Besides, there's nothing wrong with being transparent. There's nothing wrong with what you tried to do. Deceiving and manipulating others is the only way to live in this accursed world. You were just trying to survive and I can appreciate a survivor when I see one. What I will tell you is this… If you hadn't fought with me when I jumped in to save Yuna, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Yugito stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. "Where does that leave us?"

"That's precisely what this will decide. If you're not ready for this, I can leave and this conversation will be the end of it. But if you are ready, then answer my questions."

…

"Your goals… Your story… What you desire from me… Tell me everything!"

Yugito took a few moments to contemplate the decision. "How do I know you'll help me after learning about my past?" she asked, sounding almost scared.

"Short answer, you don't. I can't help you without knowing you… I won't help you if you don't trust me."

…

Yugito took an even longer time to speak this time. But when she did, she did so with a smile… A smile of someone who seemed resigned to her fate. "What did you say earlier? I was just trying to survive? That's a pretty good way to put it. That's all I've been trying to do since I was four years old…"

…

"I'll start from the very top… Draw what conclusions you want."

Naruto folded his hands and sat down next to her. His eyes were completely zeroed in on hers. Yugito realized that not a word was escaping the shinobi in front of him.

Flashback

"It all started with my mother… My mother… My mother was a respected jonin of Kumogakure. She was also the jinchuriki of the Two-Tails before me. Since the time of the First Hokage, ever since he handed two beasts to the Land of Lightning, my mother was the first to ever try to control the entirety of the bijuu chakra contained within her. A lot of the others, including the Raikage, condemned her for it. It went against everything Kumo expected from their jinchuriki at the time. They wanted the jinchuriki to learn how to amplify their own techniques, not command the power of the beast itself.

But my mom didn't care… She went ahead with it anyway realizing how important it could prove to be.

And she succeeded. For the most part… It was a time of war and Kumogakure, same as the present scenario, was suffering for taking on too much. The fight against Iwa had been raging on for years then. My mother, with her two-tailed form, became one of the pillars of that war. She almost single handedly turned the war around. The Raikage publicly issued a distinctive award for her, telling everyone in the village that they needed to learn from her devotion to the village. My mother writes about that time as the happiest in her life. Sadly that was the last entry she ever wrote…

I don't really know what actually happened after that. I only know what others tell me.

The battles died out. Things became less hectic and more peaceful. And my mom met someone… I still don't know who.

Time passed and she was due to give birth. But relying on her control over the bijuu chakra, they severely underestimated just how weakened the seal would become during childbirth.

…

The Nibi escaped… My mother died then but not before giving birth to me… And… my twin sister. The Nibi was and is, destruction incarnate. Physical attacks are impossible against her. The flames would leave you completely burned inside out. One tiny wisp was enough to kill you.

Once it gets a hold of you… well, you've seen what happens. Be that as it may, the Kumo shinobi had ways of fighting against the beast. The Raikage's Black Lightning was especially effective.

Once they'd subjugated the beast, the time came to seal it away once again. But the Third Raikage had a rather ingenious idea at that point. My mother's one-tailed form had been so effective in the war that she'd rarely needed to use more… It didn't make sense to him to have half of the beast's chakra completely unusable.

They split the Nibi's chakra, sealing half of it into me… And half of it into my younger sister.

…

…

…

We were kept away from the outside world. My oldest memories are from that accursed facility where we were housed. We were taught to use chakra when we turned three. We started training with the bijuu chakra when we turned five. Once a month, the Third Raikage would come to visit us and assess our progress. Which basically translated into once a month, we would be beaten up by the full power of Ay, the Troll. However, no matter how hard we tried, we could never achieve an audience with the beast sealed inside.

I don't know what his expectations were. I don't really care, but this is something I never really understood. When he beat us down he often talked of our predecessor Yugito, the true jinchuriki. At the time we had no idea she was our mother. We probably should've guessed it, given I was called Yugito Ichi and my sister was Yugito Nii. At the time, we just assumed we were named that way in honor of our predecessor. But in reality… He didn't even take the time to properly name his experiments.

How he expected two children to fill in for a kunoichi with over twenty-plus years of experience is beyond me.

…

It happened when we were eight… It's been four years now… The scientists and analysts working at the facility suddenly had a breakthrough regarding why our growth wasn't as fast as expected. The bijuu's chakra does not translate linearly with the number of tails. By splitting the Nibi, they had drastically reduced the chakra output possible for the host container. Their action which was supposed to give them two murdering psychopaths instead of one, led to none.

The Raikage couldn't handle this finding of course. It was a decision he made on his own without consulting any of his advisors or other important people in the council. If it got out that he essentially made half of the Nibi unusable, he would be impeached from his position regardless of his strength.

…

Then came the disaster. The Raikage came to us one night and explained the situation. That… horrible situation. He told us why we had been held in the facility for our entire life and… he told us exactly what was going to happen to us if the project failed.

He gave us one final chance… We had one final chance. The only way to come out alive would be to gain total control of the Nibi's chakra sealed within us.

My… My sister was clever, she understood how the world worked. Despite our isolation from the rest of the world, we had access to a great many books. While I preferred to learn more about chakra and expand my own power, she was always more interested in the outside world. She read about the Elemental Nations, the sea, the volcanic mountain ranges of the Land of Earth, the ice desert of the Land of Frost… She read about politics, about the separate roles of Kage and Daimyo… She read about the founding of each village, about the Shodaime Hokage's desire for peace, about how his benevolence had led to our situation in the first place…

…

She understood the situation. She knew that if neither of us showed any ability to control the Bijuu Chakra, the Raikage had no choice. He couldn't get rid of us because that would mean the Nibi would disappear for close to three years. If it came out that Kumo no longer held control of both jinchuriki, it would upset the balance between the elemental nations.

…

But I didn't care for this little detail…

As you said, I'm a survivor… In my naivete, I believed that if I gained control of the bijuu chakra sealed within me, I would be able to kill the Raikage and everyone else in the facility. I believed the strength would be enough to rescue my sister and escape from the village, never to be seen again.

I made a deal. The bijuu that never appeared before, was suddenly right in front of me, almost as if it was waiting for me to get desperate. I was giddy with excitement. I still remember that exhilarating feeling. I thought I was pretty smart even, to impose a restriction on the Nibi. She could never kill any allies whenever she took control. Revenge was right there in front of me… And I reached out and took it.

…

…

…

You can probably guess the rest. I was beaten to within an inch of my life. I remember flashing images my hazy vision managed to commit to memory.

I remember my sister's shell-shocked face when I came into the room screaming for blood, attacking the Raikage.

I remember the look of horror on her face when the Raikage grabbed my bijuu powered claws in his bare hands and snapped it.

I remember the scream she let out when he plunged a lightning-powered spear into my gut and threw me to the ground.

I remember my sister struggling when the Raikage reached her.

I remember the sounds she let out as she choked on her blood after he blew a hole in her chest.

I remember her outstretched hands reaching out to touch my own…

…

The sealing experts ran into the room before she died. But I didn't pay them any attention. I just continued to stare at my sister who was dying because of my arrogance. The transfer was extremely painful… For me, and for her… But I like to imagine she died before the worst of it. I like to think those extremely painful last moments of hers were, at the very least, short."

End Flashback

Naruto stared at the girl in front of her. There was bile in his mouth, he was completely horrified. Whatever he expected to hear from her, this went beyond his wildest imagination.

"Do you know what he said to me when I finally woke up, pain coursing through my body and tears flowing freely down my eyes?" Yugito almost whispered, a solemn smile on her face. "He asked me: Which one are you?"

Naruto's fists clenched. "I keep thinking I've seen the worst of this world… But every time, without fail, someone else comes up that shoots straight to the top of my list."

"I gave him my sister's name. Yugito Nii… I decided at that very moment that I would stay alive to watch this person die. I will survive that monster and laugh at him as he lies on his deathbed. This… I promised in my sister's name."

"Why do you just want to survive him? Why don't you want revenge?"

To his surprise, she laughed. "Because I remember exactly what my sister told me on her last day in this world. He can't kill me. I may have overlooked her advice once, but I'm not about to commit the same mistake twice. To him, and his political campaign, I was a success story. I was the doubly powerful jinchuriki of the Nibi able to wield her chakra at will and without losing control. If he kills me, it's eight years of hard work down the drain. It's effort that would be completely and utterly ruined. Revenge is too little of a payback. I won't be satisfied with it."

Naruto stared at her, completely gobsmacked.

"Revenge is not enough. I have been diligently piling headaches on top of headaches on him for the past four years. Do you know how many genin, his future prospects that I've injured? Do you know how many clients have never returned after what I subjected them to? Do you know just how much of a pain in the ass I've been to him?"

Naruto laughed out loud. "I bet giving up when you were just about to win was the ultimate victory in your books."

Yugito grinned. "Precisely. Although I think I took it a bit too far with this one. Not only did 'I' injure my own teammates, I kicked Kumo out of the tournament. Kumo is the first one out and no matter how you look at it, people will notice that fact. A day, two days down the line, people will say 'It's a shame that kunoichi from Kumo gave up.' A month or two… No one, absolutely no one, will be talking about how close the battle was. They'll all talk about the standings… And I just landed Kumo in last place!"

"You're diabolical."

"Thank you!" Yugito pretended to be deep in thought before smiling. "There's also the added benefit of not facing Uzumaki Naruto, the Destroyer of Worlds!"

"Not a compliment." Naruto rubbed his head, already feeling the headache coming on. "I imagine this is what the other guy was saying as I walked in… 'He's not likely to forgive this…'"

Yugito nodded simply. "I don't really need your pity, Naruto. I need you to-"

"I know. I know what you need me for…" Naruto interrupted. "I already have a plan in place. But it isn't free. You'll have to do something for me first."

"Oh?" Yugito asked. "I'm a big girl, Naruto-san. I know how the world works. I know I'll be… indebted to you for this."

Naruto simply stared at her and finally let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't like how you phrased that."

"Hehe!"

"First Isabella, and now you… Am I really this much of a pushover?" he muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

Naruto scoffed at the twinkle in her eye. "Of course you didn't, you damn cat woman."

…

He sat with her for a few more minutes, going over every detail of the plan. Or at least, every detail that concerned her. After it was done, he slowly got up. As he reached the door, dispelling the privacy seals, Yugito called out to him. "Do you think you can give them a better show than I did?"

Naruto turned around prepared with a scathing reply about how her show was mostly hidden in smoke, but he caught himself. She did put on a good show. It's not every day you see a tailed beast bomb delivered by a jinchuriki without fully transforming.

He let out a big smile. After all, he was about to do things that nobody would've seen before.

…

"Challenge accepted!"

Konohagakure

Yuna, aware of the eyes on her, turned to the side. Rin immediately turned her head, looking at the screen. She sighed. Rin had been the one to treat her for the entire month she was unconscious. She had probably been the closest to her health and recovery. Akira had of course mentioned to her that her current state was not something medically believed to be possible. He'd also said it was the result of a secret technique… One that shouldn't reach others' ears.

She could sense that this situation had much more complexity to it than she had been made aware of. Sighing, she turned to the screen herself. She was about to see Naruto again. It had been over two months since their last actual conversation, the contents of which she still remembered… And held very close to her heart…

She didn't know if it was because of her feelings or not, she couldn't quite place it. But when Naruto came on screen wearing a smile, looking at the kunoichi from Kumo... She didn't really know what it was that she felt. But it was definitely not a nice feeling.

...

The others were similarly glum as they too stared out at the screen. Civilians and shinobi alike were feeling a bit restless. First, there was the smoke, now they needed time to repair the stadium wall? The event wasn't running all that smoothly from a consumer perspective. But they weren't going anywhere.

Even with most of the previous fight being completely covered in smoke, they did bear witness to an event that would go down in history books. Jinchuriki versus jinchuriki. Kiri versus Kumo. Even the twist at the ending…

A hush fell over the gathered crowd as suddenly Mifune walked into the stadium. He was followed closely behind by the team from Sunagakure and their own representative in Uzumaki Naruto. They watched in anticipation as the participants walked slowly out to the middle.

Kushina felt Yugao stand up from her place on her lap. Yugao had never seen this expression on Naruto's face before. Kushina just placed her hands on her tiny shoulders, hoping it would provide at least a little comfort.

The crowd had started to stir, the sheer excitement they felt making itself heard. Amidst the roar of the crowd, three people watched the young redhead with narrowed eyes.

…

Danzo, while happy with the way the match-ups had turned out, was not satisfied with Naruto's choice as a representative of Konoha. He knew his methods hadn't worked because of Hatsunori-sensei's interference and him freeing himself of the seal placed on him… But he still didn't like it one bit. Naruto was his second failure. Kami knew the first one was still giving him headaches…

…

Minato glared at the screen the same way he glared at most things these days. This was going to be brutal… And quick… And dominating. It was in Naruto's nature to be that way. The problem, however, was that he would be all those things on an international stage. He would paint an even larger target on his back. And he knew Naruto was not the type to think of the consequences… At least, this was going to be visible. With Naruto's wind techniques and the obvious advantage he had with his Sharingan, he wasn't about to let smoke cover up the entire stadium.

…

Jiraiya leaned forward in his seat. This would be the first time he saw the kid in action. He was the only person in Konoha who knew what he was like before getting his memory sealed. He wanted to see for himself just how much his mistake had hindered the young Uzumaki's growth. Or alternatively, just how much stronger his mistake had helped make the young Uzumaki.

…

"MATCH TWO OF THE CHUNIN EXAMS: SUNAGAKURE CHALLENGES KONOHAGAKURE!"

Not a sound was heard as the entirety of the gathered crowd leaned forward in anticipation. The tension was palpable even here, two nations away from the actual event.

…

"HAJIME!"

---

Hey Everyone! It's been a while.

Just wanna put this out there. I know you expected a lot more from this update given how long it's been… And you probably wanted a lot more Naruto action in this chapter. But the way it's going, if I wanted to cover the entire chunin exams in this, it would go past the 80 or 90k mark. And let's face it, the past few chapters were already a bit too long.

Anyways, I think smaller chapters (this one's 29.3k which is still quite big imo) will just enhance the experience for everyone. It'll help me obtain more 'targeted' feedback as well. Because I imagine it's difficult for any reviewer to keep in mind every observation, good or bad, made through the course of a 50k word chapter.

Second thing… I know this is coming way too late. But shit just kept getting in the way. Work… Life… and the lack of any sort of balance therein, is a significant part of the delay.

Another reason is that I didn't feel comfortable putting a chunk out without writing up the entire arc. One arc at a time… That's just how I've always done it. I'm only putting this out now, because it has been too long and I'm confident I won't change anything in the above events now.

And also, since I've mapped out the whole thing, it just seems cruel to not update with so many people reaching out asking for timelines. So, here it is… About 20-25% of the chunin exams arc.

I wouldn't say I'm completely satisfied with the chapter but I don't want to spend more time on Kumo vs Kiri than I absolutely have to. As you can imagine, it's way more difficult to write fight scenes of people other than Naruto.

---

Song I've been obsessed with - Winter by Rosie Carney

A good movie I watched recently - The Devil wears Prada. (Although [Spoiler Alert], I cannot believe Anne Hathaway's character didn't tell him she cheated when they finally made up. That completely ruined her character for me.)

Best Movie I've watched during this long ass break - has to be Oppenheimer. What a movie! Christopher Nolan the G.O.A.T!

---

As always, let me know what you guys think. Sorry again for the delay, but more's coming… Soon. Very soon : )