Chapter 17
Kyoji and Jotaro continued to get pummeled and Sho continued to enjoy himself. As the two ninjas began to lose their vigor, Sho's clones pulled out shuriken, preparing to unleash them on the weakened shinobi. Jotaro grinned and motioned to Kyoji, who slammed his fist into the ground as hard as he could, knocking Sho off balance. The bald ninja grinned and motioned to Kyoji, all his clones following his example. A storm of shuriken struck Kyoji, who simply grinned, revealing his entire top half of his body was encased in metal, making the blades useless.
Sho then destroyed the clones, focusing on his chakra. Performing the sign of the tiger, the light bounced off his shiny dome and struck Jotaro and Kyoji. Raising up his hand, Kyoji reflected the light back into Sho's eyes. He fell back, right into Basho's clutches. As Sho screamed out, Daichi and Taro rushed towards the disturbance. At the sight of Sho's mangled body, the two ninjas grimaced and focused their chakra, unleashing the power of the Art of the Doppelganger as well. But Kyoji and Jotaro were confused at what they saw. There were only two clones, namely, one of each of the ninjas. The clones then performed the symbol of the ox, concentrating chakra. They unleashed the power of a new attack, which they called out as it began to take effect.
"Double Snake assassination!" But the light faded as the hands shot apart. They started again, the same thing happening over and over. Kyoji was confused.
"What's happening, Jotaro?" he then sighed as he saw Jotaro's Taigan glowing.
Elsewhere, Basho grinned, knowing that his plan was nearly half over.
Okay…just as I thought…the Taigan Right distrupts hand seal motions as well. This'll distract them from the real problem. Holding out his hand, Basho unleashed two Mental Chakra bolts, which permeated the real Daichi's head, giving Basho the edge he needed.
Daichi started as he heard a voice in his head.
What's wrong…afraid of a little competition, Daichi?
The longhaired ninja looked at Taro, who grinned at him. Glaring, Daichi rushed over and swung at his friend, who grabbed his wrist, speaking back to a new enemy
"And what was that for?"
"Stop mocking me! I'm not scared of you!"
"What are you talking about, Daichi? …Oh…so it's mind games…" Taro said, looking at Basho, who grinned and thrust his hand forward again, making Daichi unconsciously kick at Taro, who simply produced two more clones to pummel Daichi as he then called back his first clone and spoke to Basho, who then stood behind him, holding Sho's body.
"So…you're just trying to pit us against each other? You did pretty well so far…but you forgot one thing… I still possess the knowledge of the Double Snake Assassination, and I'll kill you now!"
Basho simply stood, his arms crossed as the clones unleashed the attack, which was instead aimed at Kyoji, who held a hand out, the attack tearing through his arm. Screaming out, Kyoji fell to the ground as Taro then thrust out at Jotaro, whose Taigan still glowed. But Jotaro began to falter, as his chakra was running low. Taro grinned at the realization and struck the demon child with his two clones as he created four more clones. Sending two to deal with the wounded Kyoji, he then sent two more at Basho, who fought well, still grinning as the clones began to win. Taro glared and spoke to Basho
"What are you doing, fool? You're losing…"
Basho grinned again and began to laugh uncontrollably, his sides shaking. Even the clones stopped at the sudden burst of insanity. Taro then created two more clones to perform the finishing move, this time without that brat's meddling. He grinned, but gasped at the sight of his clones, which all began to fade. Kyoji stood up, his arm returning to normal. Taro was shocked.
"But…how…what?"
Kyoji motioned to his arm, now coated in metal, as he spoke, "This…oh, my bones are merged with the metal, so I just recreate the skin and muscles as metal and then release it in chakra bursts, creating effective regeneration, once you get over the creepiness of it all."
Taro growled and attempted to perform the clones again, but then tripped as his chakra loss began to take a toll on his body. He looked up at Basho, his vision blurring and blacking out every few seconds.
"What…did you do to me?"
Basho spoke, now sleepy faced again, "we didn't do it…you did it to yourself… With all the chakra you were putting into the clones and the Double Snake Assassinations, you were bound to run out of it all soon enough. And now, you're paying for it with your life… Get it… 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' But, it's a little late to be quoting proverbs…so I'll leave you to pity yourself…" Basho grabbed the scroll as Taro struggled to get up, still collapsing with every attempt. He slowly began to fade away, his systems shutting down with every attempt made to stand and his senses all dissipating with every passing minute. In time, the ninja fell, the Konoha headband falling to the ground beside him.

Neji looked at his watch. Time was nearly up and only 10 kids were here. He needed at least three more to make this balanced. He only hoped some other team had survived. As the clock ticked down the seconds, Basho burst in, calling out,
"Are we too late?"
Neji grinned, replying, "Nope…just in time, " He said as the watch had already passed the time limit. Nobody would care, he thought.
Ryota looked up, still disinterested, still absorbed in his music, returning to his meditation.
Neji looked at the computer results he received from Konohamaru, a bit confused, but ready for anything. He turned to the 13 finalists and spoke
"Very good…you survived the frying pan, but now we're putting you into the fire… Since there are thirteen of you, we have to balance it out. Ryota got here in only half an hour…But now that I think about it, there should he two other teams here at least…"
Ryota looked up and spoke, "There were two other teams trying to steal my scrolls, so I killed them… It's nothing to worry about…just leave me out of the fights and send them fighting…maybe I'll amuse myself somehow…"
Neji glared and then faced the remaining 12 children, "we'll have to narrow the field to at least eight, so we'll have some preliminary battles. They'll be chosen by this computer behind me. You can choose to forfeit, but it's not recommended. First match is…hold on…you guys have to rest a bit. We'll give you the rest of the day off, but be ready tomorrow." Neji waved them off and pointed to the doors over on the other end of the room, "There's your quarters. Find something to eat in the kitchen and ask Konohamaru and the others is you need and directions or help. See ya!"
Ryota stood up and left, leaving only the Konoha rookies and the Zodiac Clan. Basho's team snuck out as Hitomi and Minoru's teams stayed behind, still wary of the mysterious ninjas. Nezumi chuckled as he placed his hands behind his head, speaking.
"This place ain't bad, Ryuu, huh?"
Ryuu simply nodded and looked over to Usagi, who still sat in one of the chairs in the room, taking a short nap. After all, they had been there for two days and Usagi had suffered from insomnia waiting for her new "victims" as she referred to them. He then glared at Kyoji, who still seemed the best match for the brute's intimidating figure. Minoru walked up to Ryuu, looking up to the colossus as he spoke.
"Don't cross me…I don't want to have to kill you in the preliminaries…Understood?"
Ryuu looked down and then back up again as he replied, "Perhaps you're the one who shouldn't cross me. Our previous battle seemed to favor me. If your mommy hadn't burst in, I would've whipped you."
Minoru simply stared, as he continued, "Not quite. You still haven't fought me at full power. I've gained new skills through the Forest of Death and new insight. I hope you have, if you weren't too busy trying to be all tough."
Ryuu chuckled and waved Minoru off, his annoyingly smug face nearly driving Minoru to fury. But the prodigy simply walked towards the quarters, followed by Natsumi and Shige. Hitomi shook Usagi out of her nap, speaking as Usagi yawned.
"I don't need to warn you, as you had the advantage in our battle, but don't bring my friends into our next battle, got it?"
Usagi looked up and smiled, nodding. She spoke in a calm tone, strange as she still had some blood on her nails, "Of course…we need not bring weaklings into our battles from either side…"
Hitomi nodded and left, Kenta, Risa and Akimaru following.
Nezumi turned to the doors, "I'm going to eat a bite, take a dump, and go to bed. This is getting ridiculous. But I can't wait until I fight one of those kids…It's be fun…"
"Focus on the mission, not on the fun…we can worry about fun when we've gotten the gems…" Ryuu replied.
Usagi also stood up, following Nezumi, "I agree with Ryuu. The gems are the goal here. Hanzo's men didn't get them…so we have to try double to get them…Otherwise…the true threat will gain the powers of those ninja artifacts we so desperately want. Have a good evening…"
Usagi concluded as she yawned again, leaving Ryuu to contemplate what to do…
Hmmm…shower…eat…bathroom…train… Oh screw it…I'm just going to bed. Besides, Master Enishi will be here soon. Then everything will be over.

Chapter 18
Kakashi stood overlooking the now empty Forest of Death. He had been waiting for this moment for nearly 20 years. But he was a bit anxious. He seemed to be the only one directly supporting what the others hated. Turning to go back to the preliminaries, he saw one of his closest friends. His hair was cut in a bowl shape and he had large, bushy, rectangular eyebrows.
"Been a while hasn't it, Gai?" Kakashi said, still looking forward.
Gai nodded, standing next to Kakashi, observing the forest as well. Looking strangely serious, he turned and spoke to Kakashi.
"You know… It won't be long before this whole incident blows out of proportion. We have way too many conflicts all happening at once. The war, the gems, Ryota… He may very well become stronger than Itachi… He also reminds me of Gaara…possessed by darkness…"
"However…" Kakashi replied, "Gaara didn't choose to be evil. He was manipulated by everyone around him. Ryota had the chance…and he lost it… He's suffered far worse than Gaara… He has nobody… Nobody to look up to for guidance, no allies, no…family…"
"But he's still dangerous, " Gai replied, "He's so dangerous, he has to be under constant watch by at least four jonins. Even then, he still has the potential to kill us. Do you really want to trust him, even though he'd just as soon kill you?"
"Yes…because choices make all the differences… We chose to put the seal on Ryota… We chose to risk everything on these children… Ryota chose to be evil… And if I choose to trust him…then I won't hesitate to fight you or anybody who doesn't.":
Gai looked up and spoke, "I see…we all do make choices, good or bad. And I'll always make the choice you never thought of."
"Some choices probably shouldn't have been made."
"What do you mean?"
"Choices of expressing feelings, choices of giving up the chance to be a parent…"
"I trust these all concern you…"
"You…you know Hitomi…"
"She…she can't be!?"
"Yes…when I left Konoha, I found someone to call my…love… But…I had to leave, and now Hitomi is the only thing left of her…"
"Well…we just have to make the choices we feel are right…"
"Of course…" Kakashi replied, walking towards the quarters, still maintaining his uncaring look.
Even thought they may hurt the ones we care about the most…

Kyoji was still nervous from the encounter last night with Ryuu and the others. HE had trained diligently since he awoke and felt ready. But he knew little about Ryuu's style. And there was a distinct possibility they wouldn't fight at all. But that was all left up to fate.
He slid on his jacket and walked into the hall, where Jotaro and Basho stood waiting, their arms crossed and unnerving looks on their faces. Kyoji was confused.
"What? What did I do?"
"You're trying to think out things that haven't even happened yet," Jotaro replied, his eyes flaring up, "You may not even fight Ryuu and you're focusing all your strategy on him." Basho was still silent as Jotaro lectured Kyoji with a strange new wisdom, "So just relax and prepare yourself for anything. We trust you…so trust in yourself."
Kyoji nodded and locked fists with Jotaro, following him with Basho wandering behind them, still searching for the others who had seemingly overslept.

Tsunade sat in the room, Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, Asuma and even Jiraiya all waiting with her for their "guests". The doors opened and the entire Rookie Nine shuffled in, all prepared for the meeting. Even Lee, Tenten, and Neji were present, as this meeting was truly the most important discussion they would ever have.
Tsunade sat back in her chair and spoke, "Well…it seems we're all here, so we might as well start. First point for discussion is the war between the Lightning and Earth Countries. Anything new?"
Jiraiya raised his hand, and at Tsunade's approval, stood and delivered his report. "We know that the Tsuchikage and Raikage are nowhere to be seen. Seems that their messengers were in the chunin exams, but the Raikage's scouts failed. Those three kids from the Zodiac Clan are the spies of Earth Country, as far as we know. That's about it. No real incidents or conflicts since that Hanzo battle settled down." Sitting down, Jiraiya nodded to Tsunade.
"The second point for discussion is the progression of the students, including Ryota. Anybody?"
Kiba stood up, beginning the circle of sensei, "My three are progressing well. Minoru's Taigan Left is gaining power exponentially, while Shige and Natsumi, along with Minoru, finally grasp the concept of teamwork. That's all."
Shino followed, pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, "Basho is making good progress as a leader and has already surpassed his father. I believe the Kyubi chakra is manifesting itself in Jotaro, "he said while motioning to Naruto,"and Kyoji is much quicker with his merging, "turning to Asuma and Kurenai, "No complaints."
Choji rounded out the basic student discussion, still chomping on a new snack. "Hitomi's great! Both Taigans are at full power, but she needs to learn some restraint. Risa is becoming a true master of chakra control and Kenta will grow up to be a stealth specialist, I assure you…"
Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma all stood up at once, none wanting to start their uncomfortable discussion.
"Ryota is…"
"He's somewhat…"
"Making every effort to…"
"…try to fit in…but it's not going well…"
Kakashi sighed as he finished, still rubbing his Sharingan, which had been bothering him as of late.
Gai then decided to become more assertive and spoke up, "He's too strong now! At the rate he's progressing, he'll surpass Tsunade's seal. We have to take the initiative. Tell those nine kids to kill Ryota. Maybe…even get some assistance from Enishi and his kids…"
Kakashi looked up as Gai finished, still disinterested, and replied, "Out of the question… This is our problem and we should solve in an intelligent manner, my friend…" Even Asuma and Kurenai were surprised at Kakashi's reaction.
Gai glared and faced Tsunade again, "Kakashi has made a few good points to me and the others…Ryota has become less violent…He has maintained secrecy…He's maturing…but into what? He's so much like Itachi, it's frightening. I'm worried we'll have another clan murder on our hands. Hundreds of clans could be wiped from Konoha. Every country is at risk. And it's our fault for not nipping this in the bud before it got out of hand!"
Tsunade looked up from her contemplation and spoke, "True…but we had no idea Ryota would be this dangerous…being from Sound, he posed a threat, but he was so young… We thought he had potential. He could've been a jonin or ANBU member at 10. He's that frighteningly skilled! The fact is, though, we still couldn't have known that he'd be this powerful. My recommendation is that we wait this out. The true threat is not Ryota, but the Zodiac Clan. Enishi hasn't been seen yet and he may try to attack. Those gems are the cause of all this…"
The room fell silent and suddenly Lee erupted forth, "I have a plan! We need to get assistance from the Sand and Water Countries. They still have loyalty to us and with their armies and leaders, we could crush Enishi and Ryota in one blow!"
"True…but it would take nearly a month to recruit all those armies… We'll have to trust in our own children… That's all we really can do now…trust and hope. Ryota may not be able to unleash his full power, and there's still the tournament to finish and the war to end. Just drop these topics and this conference and Neji, start the preliminaries."
Neji nodded and left, the rookies and jonins following.
Tsunade and Jiraiya sat alone in the empty room, years ahead of their youth. Jiraiya stood up, mysteriously caring as he spoke to Tsunade, "Well… I hope you're ready to guard those gems…"
Tsunade nodded, "Not just me, Jiraiya…everyone needs to be ready…for anything…"