Chapter 12: ch 12
The streets of Konoha were bustling with activity as merchants set up stalls and betting booths were opened for the biggest event of the year, the bi-annual Chūnin exams.
Currently poised in the centre of Konoha's arena was a contingency of ten Chūnin hopefuls, each ready to fight for the chance of promotion, to prove themselves or (in the case of two) just to kill.
Up in the stands, Seras was sitting next to Isaribi, Kin, Dosu and Fū, with Victoria nowhere in sight.
"I hope that incomplete Cromwell works properly… I'm no seal master so I don't know if his alterations to it will actually work," the oldest in the arena muttered under her breath.
"I'll admit I want to know that as well… but I'm more concerned about Vicky-chan," the bandaged girl stated as she continued to search for the redhead.
"Relax, she's here… she just isn't in the stands like everyone else," the ancient vampire told them calmly.
"If you say so Seras-san."
Up in the Kage booth, a certain ceremony was being prepared, as Sarutobi, Tsunade, the Yondaime Kazekage, Yondaime Raikage and the newly appointed Godaime Mizukage stood casually, though each was prepared for action should anything happen.
"Raikage-sama, are you sure we should be here? I doubt we can take on four Kage level nin and their guard on our own," a young blonde whispered to the Raikage.
"I know… but I can't let them think we're weak, simply being here shows them that we aren't afraid," Ē said quietly.
"If you say so Raikage-sama."
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the bi-annual Chūnin exams!" the proctor called out earning a thunderous applause from the crowd, "now I know everyone wants to watch the matches, however there is one very important matter that will be attended now."
"Now I am aware that many of you do not wish to waste too much time today, however I am taking this time to inform you that from today onwards, I am once again stepping down from my position as Hokage," the aged leader shouted from the Kage booth, shocking nearly everyone gathered, "now, it is my honour to introduce you to my replacement, the newly appointed Godaime Mizukage, Tsunade of the sannin," Sarutobi called, before stepping aside to reveal the busty blond wearing the standard Hokage robes.
"People of Konoha! I don't really have anything to say to you except this, I will do my best to keep the village running smoothly, but if I was you, I wouldn't get my hopes up about me doing a good job," Tsunade told the village, "anyway, since I don't have anything else to say, it is my honour to declare that the Chūnin exams have begun!"
The crowd erupted into cheers as the Godaime took her seat and proceeded to watch the arena floor.
"Well it looks like it's just you and me dobe," Sasuke stated with an arrogant smirk as he looked at his blond opponent, before closing his eyes only to snap them open revealing a pair of three tomoe sharingan, "and today you will learn the true power of the Uchiha clan! The power that allows me to do anything you can… only better."
"Really? Well then proctor-san, do you possibly think you could start the match already, I want to prove that the 'legendary' Uchiha clan were nothing more than a group of worthless monkeys that couldn't do anything on their own," the black clad blond stated calmly.
"Hajime!" the senbon chewing ninja shouted before jumping away.
Immediately Naruto began to flow through handseals at a surprisingly slow pace, while the dark haired 'avenger' proceeded to copy him.
Ending the sequence on the snake seal, Naruto proceeded to state the name of his technique "Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan!"
The crowd was shocked when the ground suddenly erupted into a dense jungle of trees and foliage, while Sasuke was shocked that he couldn't copy the technique.
"What's wrong Uchiha? I thought you said you could do anything I could? So why don't you?" the fedora wearing genin asked mockingly, as the red eyed genin snarled at him.
Beginning to go through another set of handseals, Naruto was completely unsurprised when his opponent started mimicking him again.
"Hyōton: hyouga no jutsu," and with that call, the once dense jungle was suddenly frozen over, creating a forest of ice and trapping the Uchiha's feet, "oh come on Uchiha, aren't you even going to actually use a single jutsu against me? Or are you not even capable of monkey see, monkey do?"
"Shut up dobe! I'm an Uchiha! An elite! Someone like you is just a bug to be stepped on!"
"Well then, would you care to explain something to me? If the Uchiha clan were so 'elite' then how were they all slaughtered by a single thirteen year old child?"
"SHUT UP!" rapidly forming handseals, the raven haired child proceeded to inhale a large amount of air, before calling out the name of his technique "Katon: Karyū Endan!" suddenly a large fireball shot from his mouth, before taking the form of a large dragon and colliding with the blond.
The stadium erupted into cheers over the 'demons' death. However those that actually cared about the blond simply sat calmly knowing full well that something as simple as that couldn't even come close to killing him.
"(Yawn) is that all you have Uchiha? That was so weak it was embarrassing to get hit by it," Naruto said as the smoke from the explosion dispersed revealing him completely unscathed from the attack.
Jumping onto a tree and clasping his hands together, Naruto proceeded to merge some Doton and Katon chakra, before spitting up a massive quantity of lava and letting it flood the arena, slowly melting the chakra infused ice, before burning through the wood that was left behind, causing the forest to slowly collapse into the melting pool.
"So then Uchiha, can you escape before the lava consumes you?" the vampiric genin asked as his former teammate looked on in terror as he struggled to escape the grasp of the slowly melting ice.
Just seconds before the trunk was completely engulfed, the ice finally gave way, allowing the raven haired avenger to jump to the relative safety of the arena walls.
"Is that all you can do Sasuke?" the mocking tone of the blond vampire asked from behind the sweating genin.
Quickly drawing a kunai, the 'last' Uchiha proceeded to turn around and amputate the blonds head, letting it fall into the vicious liquid below, the body following soon after.
Once again the crowd erupted into cheers, which were ceased as soon as something emerged from the field of lava... and it WASN'T Naruto.
Sasuke felt more fear than he had ever done before, currently standing right in front of him, staring him straight in the eye was one of the Bijū, the giant, Yonbi no Saru.
"So do you like my pet Uchiha?" came the call from upon the beasts head, "I have to admit that it was really very easy to get my hands on it… then again getting my hands on the Gobi wasn't that hard even with Iwa trying to kill me for stealing it."
"WHAT! Konoha's stolen bijū!" Ē shouted in outrage.
"Actually it was purely Naruto… however you have to realise that Naruto was strong enough to obliterate Iwa with a single attack, we don't actually have any way of keeping him under control," Sarutobi stated from his position behind the new Hokage.
"So you're saying that your own genin will act on their own will!"
"Raikage-dono, did you not see the Uchiha decapitate him? I've done the same myself, however he is both immortal and has inhuman regenerative capabilities," Tsunade informed him.
"You've done the same to him?"
"He pissed me off… I punched his head off and he laughed at me."
"You don't look too surprised by these revelations Mizukage-dono," the red haired Kazekage stated as he looked at the blue clad woman.
"Let me put it to you this way, he came to Kiri, started throwing the Sanbi around like a rag doll before ripping it out of the Yondaime and sealing it within himself, to put it simply, I'm not in the slightest bit surprised by what is being said today."
"So you're telling us that he stole the Sanbi as well!"
"And the Rokubi."
"That is it, Sandaime Hokage, how many bijū does that boy possess?!"
"(sigh) the only bijū he doesn't possess are the Ichibi, Nibi and Hachibi," the twice retired hokage told them, causing both the Raikage and Kazekage to pale at the implications.
Sasuke was sweating as he stared at the psychotic blond that sat atop the bijū. He simply couldn't comprehend it, the deadlast idiot had a 'pet' bijū at his disposal when he, an elite Uchiha didn't.
"Dobe! Give me that bijū!"
"Huh? Give you one of my bijū? Now why would I do that?" the unscathed blond asked.
"Because I'm an Uchiha! I deserve it more than you!"
"(sigh) I thought we had already gone over this… I don't care about your name, you are still just a minor annoyance to me," the blond said before forming a single handseal and launching a massive cube of mineral at the red eyed brat.
Easily dodging the devastating attack, Sasuke caught completely off guard as a fist slammed into the back of his head and sent him flying through some of the still frozen branches before bouncing off the dead trunk of a tree that had stopped sinking.
Landing on what felt like solid ground Sasuke proceeded to look around, quickly realising that the melted ice had cooled and hardened small sections of the lava, creating islands of rock amongst the sea of red.
"So do you like the battlefield Uchiha? It's certainly more interesting than the plain old clearing we started with now isn't it?" Naruto asked as he landed on the tree trunk, the Yonbi disappearing into his shoulder.
"Shut… up…. Dobe," the mentally unstable clan head growled out as he rubbed the back of his head and looked at the blond with murder in his eyes.
"What's wrong? Can't even take a little tap? You really are nothing more than a spoilt brat aren't you?"
"What do you know?! You don't know what it's like to watch as your family is murdered in front of you!"
"Let me tell you a little something Uchiha, when I drink a person's blood, I gain their memories, skills and raw strength. Now let me tell you something else, the first person I drank the blood of was forced to watch as her father murdered her mother in cold blood, before turning on her… she was forced to murder her own father to live, so to put it simply, I might not have experienced it myself, but I do remember what it feels like to experience it," the psychotic youth stated calmly.
"FUCK YOU! YOU KNOW NOTHING!" the deranged Uchiha shouted before charging the blond.
"Pftt, how pathetic," Naruto muttered as he swatted his opponent away like the insignificant insect he was, causing him to land just inches away from the liquid rock, "how about I tell you something Uchiha, this," he stated, holding up his gloved hand, revealing the ancient seal known as the Cromwell initiative, "is currently holding back approximately 99.9% of my power," he continued shocking everyone in the stadium bar Seras, Fū, Isaribi, Kin and Dosu, "do you really think you can defeat me if I release that seal?"
"Damn… that seal must be powerful to hold back that much of his power if what he displayed in the preliminaries is anything to go by," Asuma stated in amazement.
"Yeah the Cromwell is," a voice seated not far away called out.
Turning to face the voice, several of the remaining rookies noticed the older vampire sitting next to a couple of strangers and the surviving members of the Oto team.
"Uh… who the hell are you?" Ino asked the massive chested blonde.
"Names Seras Victoria, the one who taught that seal to Naruto… though he only used half of it," the currently blue eyed vampire muttered the last part.
"Huh? Why is he only using half of it?" Kurenai asked the significantly older woman.
"It's simple really, the original Cromwell consisted of two parts, restriction and servitude, to put it simply, one half restricted power while the other enslaved the wearer to a single family."
"What! That's horrible!" Kiba shouted in disgust at the idea of enslaving another.
"When the only thing that wears the Cromwell is the same sort of thing, with the same sort of power as Naruto, then they really do need to be kept under control, otherwise bad things happen," Seras informed them.
"Hold on, are you saying that there are more monsters like Naruto out there?!" the red eyed Jōnin shouted in shock.
"Not anymore… there was only one and he stop existing about eight hundred and twenty five years ago," the former policewoman told them.
"And exactly how do you know that?" the chain smoker asked.
"He was my master."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WAS YOUR MASTER?!" all the remaining rookies and their sensei's shouted at the ancient being.
"What I mean was that he… was… my… master," Seras repeated slowly.
"And how the hell was he your master?" Ino asked in confusion.
"Because he was the one that turned me into a Nosferatu in the first place."
"Nosferatu?"
"Vampire."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"VAMPIRE!"
"Yes, as in the practically immortal, blood sucking monsters in myth," Seras stated before they could ask her about them.
"Wait… but that would mean that you're…" Kiba stated, turning deathly pale at the thought.
"About eight hundred and fifty years old."
"…"
"…"
"Wow… you must be very knowledgeable."
"Compared to most things, yes."
Sasuke was scared. Despite his bravado he knew that his opponent was too much for him to handle, but he couldn't give up, if he could beat the dobe then he could beat his brother, that much he knew now.
Unfortunately for him, the blond knew what he was thinking and being the malicious creature he was, was already planning the best way to shatter the raven haired avengers mind.
Sasuke didn't have time to react to the blonds' punch when he disappeared from sight. Before the 'last Uchiha' even hit the ground, he felt a grip appear on his neck, before being slammed though one of the burnt out trunks and into the hardened rock below.
"Is that all the prestigious Uchiha clan can do? Get thrown around like rag dolls before an enemy they can't copy?" Naruto mocked, "pathetic."
Sasuke didn't know what was happening when he suddenly felt immeasurable pain coursing through his shoulders, and then his knees. However that pain paled in comparison to what he felt next.
Even through the pain he was experiencing before, he suddenly felt like his body had been set on fire and his skin was being melted… it didn't take long for his brain to shut down.
Pulling his defeated opponent from the pool he had just dunked him in, Naruto proceeded to look at his handy work.
There in his hand was the last of the 'loyal' Uchiha, both his arms ripped off at the shoulder, with one of his legs severed at the knee, while the other was simply shattered in the same place. However it was the melted flesh that covered the raven haired boys body that he was happy with… especially how it cauterised his wounds.
Now all he had to do was make sure the little bastard didn't die from shock.
"Hey, proctor, call the match already," the psychotic vampire shouted at the man that had decided to hide in the spectator stands.
"Uh… Uh… Shousha, Namikaze Naruto," the Jōnin stated nervously before the contingency of medics arrived to take the last Uchiha for emergency medical treatment as the civilians all stared in horror at what the blond had done to the 'prince of Konoha'.
"Dammit… if that child is that brutal with another Konoha ninja then what the hell will happen if he comes across a genin from another village?" Ē asked hoping none of his genin fought the beast.
"Actually Raikage-dono, Naruto-kun had a personal vendetta against Sasuke so I think he might be kinder to genin from another village," Sarutobi informed him.
"And what if he fights another Jinchūriki?" the Yondaime Kazekage asked, concerned about the well being of his son… sure he admitted that he placed his village over his children, but that was the role of the Kage, to put the village first no matter what his personal feelings on the matter were.
"(sigh) he will use a powerful Fūinjutsu to seal the bijū within himself, before using a Tensei ninjutsu to resurrect him."
"He knows Tensei ninjutsu?"
"To be perfectly honest with you, I don't think that there is anything he doesn't know."
Kirabe was concerned. One of his genin would fight the inhuman blond if he won his current fight and he KNEW that the blond would kill him.
Before he could continue his musings however, a hand covered his mouth before pain exploded in his stomach as his strength left him in just mere moments.
Just as his world went black he heard a voice.
"Sorry… it's nothing personal, I just need the Hachibi."
Going through a familiar set of handseals, Naruto proceeded to use the same Tensei jutsu he had used on Fū on the tall Kumo nin. He was lucky that the man had proceeded to take a position with no-one near him… probably due to paranoia.
Feeling the former jinchūriki's pulse start again, Naruto proceeded to prepare himself to take the last two when the time came.
"The first match of the second round will now begin! Namikaze Naruto vs Omoi of Kumo! Hajime!"
"I forfeit."
"By way of forfeit, Shousha Namikaze Naruto!" the proctor shouted out as the contestants proceeded to leave the now fully hardened arena.
"So why did you forfeit?" Naruto asked the Kumo genin as they walked up to the spectator box.
"Are you serious? After what you just did to your own teammate do you really think I'm going to fight you?"
"What I did to the teme was due to a personal vendetta we had against each other, you would've gotten away without any real injuries."
"Even so, I still wouldn't have even come close to beating you, so why even try?"
"Heh, good point."
After watching a couple of matches that revolved around Shino forfeiting and Neji getting crushed to death, it was finally the final round.
Standing facing each other, Naruto could hear the Ichibi's cries for Gaara to forfeit… then the one thing he didn't want to happen did, Gaara agreed to do so once the match had started.
"The final round, between Namikaze Naruto and Sabaku no Gaara… hajime!"
Before Gaara could even open his mouth, he found himself flying away from the blond with a broken jaw, before the blond went through a series of handseals, before saying the name of the technique, "Shiki Fūjin."
Gaara was unable to comprehend it as his vision went black and the sound of his 'mother' vanished from his mind.
There was silence. The crowd was shocked beyond measure as they watched the blond defeat the second strongest in the competition with practically no effort.
However the next move the blond made confused them, as he went through a series of handseals, before a dark green glow surrounded his hands and he placed them over the redheads heart.
"Heh… eight down, one to go," Naruto said loud enough for the entire stadium to hear, before vanishing, only to reappear in front of one of the Raikage's bodyguards, "Shiki Fūjin."
The stadium was filled with the screams of terror as they witnessed all nine bijū erupt from the blonds' back, before they began to split, their forms shrinking, until all that was left was nine women and an enormous beast. The beast took the form of a large black furred wolf with a single eye that possessed sharingan like tomoe resting on concentric circles that radiated from the centre, and ten tails.
"HOLD ON! ISN'T THAT VICTORIA?!" Ino shouted when she took in the form the Kyūbi had taken after shrinking.
"Yep… like I told Isaribi, she was here… just not visible," Seras stated as she looked at the beast she hadn't seen for several hundred years.
"You don't exactly seem too concerned about this?!" Asuma shouted as he readied himself to fight the oversized wolf.
"I'm not… they're all under Naruto's control. If they try anything out of line he can simply call them back."
"Simply call them back?"
"Yep… there's nothing to worry about, well except for Naruto himself but that doesn't count."
"Well then, I believe I can safely be declared the winner don't you proctor-san?" Naruto said as the bijū proceeded to recede back into him as he landed in the middle of the arena after resurrecting the blond Kumo nin and scaring the Raikage enough to get him to consider an alliance with Konoha.
"Uh, Shousha, Namikaze Naruto…" Genma said still ghostly pale from the fear he had felt when the blond had exploded into the bijū.
"Heh, heh, to think the power of all the bijū flows in me now, it's really quite intoxicating now isn't it?"
After calming down everyone in the arena, the results were declared by the newly appointed Hokage.
"The participants in the exam have all been graded by a group of independent adjudicators, however we have the results right here and now," Tsunade shouted towards the full stadium, "those that have been observed as having the qualities needed to reach Chūnin status are as follow, Nara Shikamaru, Aburame Shino, Omoi of Kumo and Namikaze Naruto… please report to my office tomorrow at noon."
"Why have you called another meeting Zetsu?" the single eyed leader asked the human plant.
"I hate to say this, but the Kyūbi jinchūriki has well… Collected all the other bijū and recreated the Jūbi," Akatsuki's spy told them extremely nervously.
"WHAT?!"
Before the enraged vampire could do anymore shouting, Zetsu proceeded to use his replay jutsu to show them all the events that transpired during the Chūnin exams.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"This is truly devastating to our plans," Madara claimed as he wondered where everything had gone wrong.
Ever since attempting to steal his blood, Nagato had proceeded to desert Akatsuki, leaving the immortal without his strongest minion or the Rinnegan. Then of course there was the fact that Konan had left with him and the organisation had suffered a major blow for nothing. Sure it wouldn't have mattered if Madara could FIND them, however Nagato's skills at hiding his presence had proven too great for the Jikūkan master to track.
And now he had just discovered that the Kyūbi jinchūriki now possessed the strength of the Jūbi and the powers of several powerful kekkei genkai, things were just going from bad to worse.
Walking along a road with a book in hand was cloaked figure headed for a small village in the hope of spreading it's message to all that would listen, then perhaps she might be capable of saving him if skilled warriors took up arms with her against the beast that had devoured her love.
She would do everything she could to save her Naruto-kun from that monster. She had everything she needed to achieve her goal except for one. Power. She would need power to save him and the quickest way she could think of gaining power was through recruitment.
Sure she had nurtured her power with the help of the serum, but she was simply too weak and unskilled to face the monster as she was.
However, there were others that could help her. They could teach her how to fight a monstrosity like that, or fight it themselves. Should they fight it themselves, she had enough serum for ten more people, then she had the holy weapons made just to kill its kind.
And if worst came to worst, she always had the 'lost relic'.
She would save her Naruto-kun's soul.
Even if she had to damn herself for eternity.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone