Chapter 121
The container of the eight tails looked at me, China gulped from my
side, Zumo raised his staff protectively. And then he smiled, "you alright
Yami, I'm Killer Bee!" He extended his fist, I walked up to him and
bumped it.
I reached into the box and took out a chit, I looked it over, "eight," I
showed it to him. B tossed me a head band with the number eight on it.
I removed my Konoha headband, with some regret, and tied the new
one on and stepped away.
China got number 2, Zumo got 5, Neji for 4, Tenten got 6 and Lee got
9. And then it was the Suna temas turned. One got 1, the other got 7
and 4. Then came the Iwa team, the big gorilla guy got 3 while the
sword dude got 6, putting him on the same team as Tenten.
And Kurotsuchi got 8, meaning she was with me. She took off her
headband and put our team bands on, standing next to me, giving me
a side along smile, "I heard you saved all their asses."
"Yup," I popped out the last syllable.
"How old are you? Ten?"
"Twelve actually. You? Fourteen?"
"Yup," she nodded.
"So what can you do?" I asked her as Samui drew number five, putting
her and Zumo on the same time. Sarutobi sent me a perverse smile,
bastard.
"Fire and Earth jutsu," she explained, "you?"
"Fire and Wind. And I'm quit adaptive with seals. How about we settled
the important issue first, leadership. I suggest we each take charge
when dealing with someone we know that way we are assured victory.
Any problem?"
She smirked, "not at all."
Omoi got into team 1 while Kauri got into team three with the brutish
Iwa ninja. Then came the sound team, one of which ended up in our
team.
He was a thin boy who wore grey clothes and black and white checked
pants. His face was covered with bandages covering his hair and
mouth, only his eyes were shown. On his hip was a shamisen, I'm
guessing he used genjutsu through sound.
Sidaru, Sound genin
Lv- 32
REP- -20
We welcomed him into team and explained the plan. He fully agreed. I
was right, he was a genjutsu specialist, he admitted that freely. And the
moment the last kumo ninja got sorted away, B pulled out a pouch with
a number on it.
Ping!
Quest Alert!
Win the second round of the chunin exams!
Rewards:
5,000 EXP
Move onto the final round!
Failure:
All active quests related to the chunin exams get an automatic
failure
Do you accept?
Y/N?
I didn't have much of a choice, so I pressed yes.
We were given the number eight one which Kurotsuchi held onto. B
then told us the second task would begin at sundown, meaning we
weren't allowed to start fighting until then.
Immediately my team and I went into the forest, I was so not looking
forward to fighting Lee or Neji in a straight on fight, so we needed to be
sneaky, and I'm perfectly fine with that.
Chapter 122: The Next Stage!
"We need to hit someone, now," Kurotsuchi said looking up at the dark
night sky.
I huffed, "do you have a dojutsu to see in the dark?"
She grumbled, "would you rather we wait here like sitting ducks and for
them to kill us?"
"Or we go out and fall into one of their traps and then they kill us," I
argued back.
She huffed and turned to the sound genin on our team, Sidra, "what do
you think Sidra? Should we move out or stay here?"
The sound genin looked up from the small camp site he made, "I think
the tree huggers right. Going out in the dark will leave us at a
disadvantage, especially if we don't know how the others are going to
attack."
Kurotsuchi threw her hands up in frustration, "I'm surrounded by
cowards!"
"Cowards live, and more importantly, patient cowards win," I told her as
we all sat around the samm camp fire.
The Iwa kunoichi sighed, "fine, then what's the plan oh fearless
leader?"
"First thing's first, Sidra, the treasure item please," I asked. The sound
nin tossed the bag we were given by B and I quickly took out the item
inside. It was a wooden statue of a falcon, nothing too special.
"What are you going to do with it?" Kurotsuchi asked.
"I'm going to hide it," I opened the inventory and moved it behind me. I
then slipped the statue into it and reveled my now empty hands, "tada!"
Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes, "it's obviously behind you," I turned around,
hands still up, "what the...how?"
I turned to her and winked, "Konoha secret."
She blushed, "you...you didn't put it up…." he pointed upwards with her
finger.
"What?! No! Why would I do that to myself!" I cried out.
Sidra laughed, "oh this is priceless! I knew you tree huggers loved
wood, but this is too much!"
I grumbled, face planning myself as my two new teammates laughed at
my expense. "If you must know I put it into a storage seal somewhere
on my person. The only way anyone can access it now is if I give it to
them. So even if we get beaten and are knocked unconscious, they
won't get the statue."
Kurotsuchi nodded, "not a bad idea. Good job tree hugger."
"I hate that nickname," I sighed as I took out the map I had made of the
valley before and rolled it out. I then took out a piece of paper which
had all the new teams marked on it. "This is where we are," I said
pointing on the map, "and these are the teams we have to face."
Kurotsuchi groaned, "that map you have is different from the one on
the academy walls," she said taking out her own map.
"Same here," Sidra nodded taking out his own copy.
I smirked, "that's because I switched the maps. Before everyone
realised they should copy down the maps I made a fake and then
replaced that with the original. You all copied down the fake I made,
this map here is the real one."
Kurotschi hissed, "fucking tree hugger. I should have known you would
have tried something."
"That's...impressive," Sidra nodded, "I'm impressed, I didn't think you
tree huggers had it in you to be this sneaky."
I shrugged, "you shouldn't make assumptions on stereotypes Sidra,
they could get you killed. A konoha ninja can be ruthless, a Suna ninja
can smile a Kumo ninja can have a normal personality and an Iwa ninja
can actually have brains."
"Hey!" Kurotsuchi huffed. She rolled up her map and threw it into the
fire, "anyway, this is useless. But I'm glad, at least we now have an
advantage over everyone else. Who else knows you made the switch?"
"Everyone from Konoha," I replied.
"Hm, and they all have copies?" Sidra asked.
I shook my head, "no. I only made one copy and that' with Neji. Here,
he's in team 4 with a sand genin and a kumo genin. I suggest we avoid
him, he's a Hyuga, he'll see us coming a mile away, plus he has the
real map."
Kurotsuchi nodded, "agreed. I also suggest we avoid team 3, Gozu is
on that team, my large team mate with the small beard."
I nodded, "sounds good. I also suggest we avoid team 9, that's the one
with Rock Lee in it, and believe me, he's someone you don't want to
fuck around with. He does 10,000 push ups for training everyday and
runs around the village a hundred times for stamina training. If he and
Neji had a sapr I honestly can't tell you who would win."
Sidra's eyes winded, "woah...okay then, teams 9, 4 and 4 are off
limits."
"What about your teams?" Kurotsuchi asked, "anyone to look out for?"
Sirdar sighed, "to be honest? No. They all aren't that dangerous."
I groaned, "no, they are. They are all at least a strong as you, one is
even stronger."
Sidra snapped to me, "and how do you know that leaf boy?"
Oh, anger, I struck a nerve, "I'm a sensor, I can sense other people's
chakra levels and to a certain degree their strength."
Kurotsuchi raised an impressed eyebrow, "really? Then tell me, who's
the strongest out of us three?"
I turned to her, "you are."
Kurotsuchi smirked, "well, maybe you are a sensor after all."
"Wait, this chick is stronger than me?!" Sidra asked looking shocked.
I nodded, "yes, a lot stronger. But then again, she is the granddaughter
of the third Tsuchikage and the great great granddaughter of the first
Tsuchikage. So it would be stupid if she was weak."
Kurotsuchi's eyes narrowed as a kunai came by her side, "how did you
know that?"
I looked at her, "you do realise if you kill me you get kicked out of the
exams right?"
She moved, grabbing my neck and slamming me into a tree with her
kunai pressed into my throat, "how! Did! You! Know?!"
Chapter 123
I sighed, time to lie, "your eyes. Their a very rare colour. We know that
the Tsuchikage belongs to a clan with something to do with bees. And
one of their main traits is pink eyes...plus I overheard your goons
talking about how they need to protect you. Wasn't that hard a leap."
Lie successfull!
Kurotsuchi clicked her teeth, "those damn morons."
"Now, are you going to keep threatening my life princess?"
Kurotsuchi huffed, moving away and sheathing her kunai, "don't tell
anyone what you know," she told Sidra and me, "if you do I'll melt your
fucking face off!"
I sighed, "why are the hot ones always so crazy?"
Kurotsuchi looked at me with a growl, "what did you say?"
"I called you hot," I shrugged, "oh, and crazy."
The Iwa kunoichi growled and walked away, "I'm going to bed, you two
better not come anywhere near me or else I'll slit your throat!"
"You can't go to bed," Sidra called out, "we need to establish a night
watch! Weren't you the one complaining about getting killed in your
sleep?!"
Kurotsuchi stopped and turned around, "fine. You, tree hugger, you
take first watch. Then comes bandages and then me. There, we
established night watch, happy?"
"You can't sleep away from the team," I told her, "we stick together,
even if you want to slit my throat. It would be kind of pathetic if you got
kicked off the exam because you threw a hissy fit and ran away."
Kurotsuchi growled, "fine!" she kicked dirt into the fire killing it, "get to
rest."
"Not yet," I told her taking out an empty scroll and began to write down
a seal, "if someone is coming for us then they'll track the smoke the fire
gives off. According to the map there's a small enclave right over that
ridge," I pointed over my shoulder, "we'll sleep in there tonight."
"Fine," Kurotsuchi sighed, "anything else oh fearless leader?"
"Yes, get up, both of you," I motioned for them. Luckily the both obeyed
without much resistance. I moved them away from the camp fire while I
placed several seals in and around the fire, "there, perfect."
"What are they?" Sidra asked.
"Proximity sensors," I told him before covering the seals up with dried
leaves, "anyone comes here will trigger it and alert me immediately.
The sensor will then explode like a mine covering the targets in
paralytic poison. So, while we rest, if someone is foolish enough to try
and track us through the fire, they'll be sorry in the morning."
Kurotsuchi shrugged while Sidra looked intrigued by the seals. We all
quickly went to the enclave, it was a small ditch underneath the tree
that we could all fit into. Sidra went first, followed by Kurotsuchi and the
myself.
Slowly the other two fell asleep, with ample warning from Kurotsuchi to
Sidra and myself not to try anything while she slept. I waited and kept
watch, and it was around 3 in the morning when I felt my proximity
alarm go off.
Immediately I shook Kurotsuchi and Sidra awake. "W-what?"
Kurotsuchi asked rubbing her eyes.
"We have movement, someone's come into our trap," I hissed at her as
Sidra slowly came too as well.
"Right, let's get them," Kurotsuchi said as we sneaked out of the
enclave and climbed up into the trees.
They followed my lead as we came upon our old campsite and found a
sand nin, a kumo nin and a sound nin all gathered around the fire pit,
pushing embers aside while the sand nin followed the tracks we left
behind.
"Do it now," Kurotsuchi hissed into my ear.
"Right," I made the ram seal and the three enemy nins snapped
upwards and spotted us.
"There!" the sound nin cried out, but before they could even move the
seals I had placed exploded outwards, causing them all to be covered
with yellow powder I had gained from my pokemon dungeon battles.
"W-what's happening?!" the sand nin cried out, "I can't move!"
"Someone help!" the kumo nin cried out.
I sighed and jumped down, followed closely by my teammates, "you
guys are seriously lame. Did you really just fall for that? I mean come
on! Did' you even think before you stepped into an enemy camp?
Morons!"
"Yup," Kurotsuchi smirked, "but who cares. Their mistakes are our
gains. Now," she cracked her knuckles, "who's face do I have to break
to get the treasure from?"
"B-bite me bitch!" the sound nin cried out.
"Oh, so it's you," Kurotsuchi chuckled evilly as she approached him,
but before she touched him I stopped her, "hey, what's gives?"
"Don't touch with your bare hands," I pointed at her naked palms, "they
are covered with poison powder."
"Oh, right," she chuckled, "didn't see it there," she took out a pair of
gloves and then grabbed the sound nin and dragged him behind a tree.
And….
"ARGH! NO! Please no! NO! Don't hurt me! Please!" the man's
screams were loud, oh so very loud.
Kurotsuchi came back smiling and in her hands was a wooden tiger
statue, "we only need one more to go!"
"Right, now, to deal with the rest of you," I took our another seal and
put it on them both, instantly they fell down like a bag of potatoes.
"You really are just full of surprises aren't you?" Sidra whistled.
"Kind of yes," I nodded, "now, we need to get a move on, I hope you
guys got enough rest because that's the only sleep you'll get for
sometime. Let's move," we ninja hopped onto tree branches and began
moving around, running away from the campsite and the downed team.
Chapter 124
"You know, we could ask you the same thing," Kurotsuchi said, "you
were the one keeping watch, you're probably more tired than the both
of us."
I sighed, "nope. Insomniac. I don't need to sleep for three days in a row
before I lose focus and start getting drowsy. I'll be fine."
"That's good to hear, but if you're going to slow us down that's
unacceptable," Sidra said in a warning tone.
I chuckled, "don't worry bandage boy, I won't slow us down. Now come
on, one more statue and we can get of the forest and into a bed."
"Right," they agreed as we all ran around the forest, checking out
clearing and other areas where we know people would set up camp.
Night slowly turned into day and around noon time we found them,
team number 3. Gozu, the big Iwa dude, Kauri, the red haired kumo
kunoichi and another kumo nin whose level was 25, so not worth
remembering.
Kauir was crying out, "that's not what Kumo is about rock head!"
"Bite me cloud bitch," Gozu grolwed.
"H-hey' that's not very nice," number 25 said out stammering.
"Oh? You want to do something about that pip squeak?" Gozu asked.
"Shit," Kurotsuchi hissed as we observed them from far away, "we can't
attack this team."
I sighed, "we have been searching all day. Are you sure?"
"Yes. Gozu is a member of the explosion corps, he's not someone to
mess with. Plus if he sees it's me who's attacking….he would not even
try."
"So what's the problem?" Sidra huffed, "if he wants to behave like a
love sick puppy and roll over and die, who cares? All we want is the
statue. I say we go down there, you order the gorilla to attack his team
mates while we take care of the kumo nin. Then after we're done, order
him to give you the statue, done and done."
"I will not abuse my grandfather's legacy just to pass a stupid test!"
Kurotsuchi hissed, "I'm better than that, I don't deserve to be treated
like a useless woman who can't even cut her nails without a big strong
man helping her!"
"Sesh," Sidra rolled his eyes, "you have issues Kurotsuchi."
The Iwa kunoichi growled, "yeah, I know."
"Fine," I sighed, "no attacking...but let's just observe them. The way
they are yelling someone else is bound to track them down as well.
Let's move back, around 300 feet, that's the maximum range of my
sensory abilities, that way I can keep an eye on them and they won't
know we are even here."
Kurotsuchi and Sidra nodded, "good idea," Kurotsuchi said as well all
moved back, following them from afar.
It was around sundown when things began to pick up again. I had
pretended to 'sleep', upon Sidra's insistence that I needed to be wide
awake for the task ahead, when I felt three chakra signatures approach
team 3.
I immediately got up, startling Kurotsuchi and Sidra. "What's wrong?"
Kurotsuchi asked.
"Someone else is attacking our prey," I told her as immediately we all
ran, and the closer we came to them, the more I realised I recognized
one of those chakra signatures. "Shit!"
We came upon team 3 being attacked by team 4, or rather, Neji's team.
We hide in the shadows and watched as Gozu and Neji fought, the Iwa
ninja ill prepared for the Hyuga's quick strikes that close his chakra
points.
"So? What do we do now?" Sidra asked.
"We wait and see who wins and then attack the winner," Kurotsuchi
suggested.
I nodded, "sounds like a plan. And since Neji will be weakened, we can
take him," we all agreed and so we stood back and watched the two
teams fight.
Neji took on Gozu, the Hyuga's fighting style going up against the
larger boy's almost clumsy fighting style. Neji didn't give him a
moment's rest, he just kept going and goin, striking hard and fast.
Kauri and the kumo ninja on her team were double downing on the
sand and kumo ninja on Neji's team, but it seemed they weren't quite
upto the mark as Karui's flawless swordsmanship and the teamwork
put the attackers on the defence, forcing them back.
"Sidra," I turned to the silent sound shinobi. He nodded, listening, "start
playing your shamisen, slowly mix your chakra into their system
without them noticing, the moment one side wins, activate a genjutsu
and trap them."
Sidra nodded as he took his three string guitar and began to strike it
slowly, releasing a slow tune that seemed to mix in well with the noise
of battle.
"Something's wrong!" Neji suddenly cried out as he disengaged from
Gozu, he turned to us and narrowed his eyes, "Yami!"
"Shit!" I hissed, "I forgot about his eyes!"
Kurotsuchi hissed, "fucking moron! Fine, we attack! Shidra and I will
take care of the weak ones, you take care of the Hyuga and Gozu!"
"Right," I leaped out of the trees along with my team mates. I saw
Kurotsuchi and Sindra strike the unobservant members of Neji's team,
taking them out of the battle immediately before engaging Karui and
her kumo team mate.
"Great, two tree huggers!" Gozu hissed as I landed in their battle field.
We faced each other with equal spacing in between, all three eyeing
each other.
Neji and I moved as one, an unspoken agreement formed between
each other. Gozu would be the first one to go down.
I threw a dagger at Gozu, he ducked, but just then Neji slipped into his
defences and began hitting his gut several times over before suddenly
Gozu vanished in a puff of smoke, releasing himself with a rock.
Chapter 125
I used my chakra sensors and turned around to see Goz moving
through hand seals for a jutsu. I quickly moved through hand seals of
my own, we both finished with the tiger seals.
"Explosion style: Straight shot!" The ground began to explode in a
straight line, coming right at me. I leaped to the side, avoiding the line
of destruction before exhaling several fireballs from my mouth.
"You're gonna have to do better than that tree hugger!" Gozu laughed
as he jumped away, but I had a plan. I used the fireballs special ability
which allowed me to control them to a certain degree, allowing the
balls to curve and hit Gozu in the back.
"Argh!" he cried out falling forward, before hitting the ground Neji
slipped into his defence.
"I have you in my sights," Neji whispered as he began to spin like a top,
using his palms to strike Gozu ten times over and throw the Iwa ninja
over his head and away from us.
We then looked at each other, Gozu was down, we could see that. That
just left the two of us. Neji slipped into his taijutsu stance and me into
mine.
"I guess we can have that fight after all huh Neji?" I asked smirking.
The Hyuga nodded, "it will be...enjoyable."
I smirked underneath my mask, "only one problem. We aren't academy
student's any more, and I'm not in the mood to show off, so" I charged
chakra into my fist, Neji's eyes winded as he slipped into his defence
position. He thought I was going to hit him, how wrong he was.
"Collapse!" I cried out, slamming my fist into the ground.
-100 CP!
The ground collapsed down as the entire field began to crack open.
Boulders of broken stone flew into the air, and with them, Neji.
"Only problem with taijutsu," I said leaping into the air and launching a
kick into Neji's gut, the force throwing him back into a tree. I landed and
immediately took out a containment seal and slapped it on his
forehead, "it's only as good as the ground you fight on."
I began to search through Neji's things someone as arrogant as him
would dare give a mission item to anyone else. And a minute later I
was proved right, finding a snake statue stitched inside his belt.
I put it away in my inventory and took off the status seal. He moaned
but didn't wake up, one of the side effects of the seal. He'll be awake in
an hours time, more than enough time for us to leave.
I turned to check Zumo's body, I'm sure he had another treasure on im,
but when I turned, he was gone. I cursed, whatever, I ran to my
teammates side to see how they were doing.
I came upon them standing over four unconscious ninjas, Kurotsuchi
smirking in victory while Sidra tied up their unconscious foes.
They noticed me arrive, Kurotsuchi asked, "well? Did you win or what?"
"Neji's down and I got his statue giving us three, enough to pass," I told
them the good news first.
Kurotsuchi raised an eyebrow, "and Gozu?"
I sighed, "he got away."
"Damn it," she hissed, "if we got his statue that would have meant only
two teams would qualify instead of three! Can you sense him?"
I shock my head, "he must have used that traveling in the Earth jutsu
you guys know."
"Damn!" Kurotsuchi growled.
"It's fine," Sidra spoke out, "we have three, we qualify, so let's get our
asses to the tower on the double."
"Agreed," Kurotsuchi nodded as she got off her human stoll and winced
in pain, holding her side.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Just a scratch," she hissed. I looked down and saw a trickle of blood
moving down her hands, I could see a long gash on her side.
"That looks like more than just a scratch," I sighed.
"Can you move?" Sidra asked.
"Of course I can! I've been injured, I'm not a cripple!" Kurotsuchi yelled
back.
"Here, let me see it," I said gently removing her hand from the wound.
Kurotsuchi looked worried, but did remove her hand, "hm, not too
deep, I can heal it."
"You know medical ninjutsu?" Kurotsuchi asked sounding surprised.
I nodded, "yup," I moved through the hand seals for the medical jutsu
and activated the green healing palm, pressing it over her wounds
gently, allowing my chakra to heal the cut and stop the blood lose.
When it was done I moved the hand away and sighed, "you should be
fine now."
"T-thanks," Kurotsuchi stuttered looking at her now healed side.
"Here," I took out some bandages, "in case you reopen the wound." I
saw her REP score go from -20 to 0. Progress I guess.
"Right," Kurotsuchi nodded as she took them and put it away, "we
should get going," she said as she cut the tied up ninja loose.
"Why did you do that?" Sidra asked, "I just finished tying them up!"
Kurotsuchi shrugged, "they could wake up and have the idea of still
qualifying by stealing some other team's treasure. Either way it's less
people to worry about for us."
I hummed, "she's right...alright, that's enough chit chat, let's move,"
and with that we took off, heading towards the lake in the middle of the
valley and the tower in the middle of the lake.
By night time we came upon the lake and jumped onto the lake,
landing on the water and running forward. Luckily we all knew how to
walk on water, or else boy would that have been an awkward piggy
back ride.
Chapter 126
Soon we arrived at the shore of the island the tower was on when I
sensed something off…"hey Kurotsuchi!"
"What?" she asked we stepped onto dry land.
"You remember what I said about going out on a date after this?" I
motioned with my hands, my teammates both noticed my signals,
'three ninja's, ambush.'
Kurotsuchi smirked, "dude, you can't handle me! You're too young!"
'How strong?'
"Hey! I'll have you know I've been told I'm a fantastic kisser!" 'mid
genin.'
"So you two get to go on a date, but what about me?" Sidra sighed, 'we
can take them'.
"Well….I'm not into guys if that's what you mean," I snorted, 'I'm ready.'
"And I don't like dating people whose faces I have never seen,"
Kurotsuchi chuckled, 'let's do this'. We walked upto the steps of the
tower, I noticed people moving from one corner.
"Okay, so what I'm hearing is you'll go out with me me if I show you my
face right?"
"Yup!" Kurotsuchi nodded, her left hand drawing a kunai.
"Hm, okay then, I'll do that. Where would you like to go first? Me?
Personally, I like-," I dashed away to the side, the highest level, 31,
came forward to block the strike, allowing his team mates to jump
away.
I grinned, "hey Omoi, how's it hanging?"
"Shit," the white haired genin from Kumo growled as he disengaged
and jumped back. He quickly began to go through hand seals before
creating a sphere of lightning chakra in his left hand, sending it flying at
me.
"Nice," I leaped away, I saw from the corner of my eye the lighting bolt
turn and come at my back. I instantly used the substitution jutsu and
switched with a stone, moving five feet away.
I can't engage with him directly, that sword of his makes him deadly in
close combat and the lighting jutsu makes him a great mid-range
fighter. But, I had just the thing to level the playing field.
I moved through hand seals, Omoi blinked, "what are you doing?"
I smirked, "hidden mist jutsu!" I cried out as my charka went out into
the lake next to the shore we fought on and pulled out a heavy mist
covering both Omoi and I. The others luckily we're far enough that they
knew not to come into the mist, leaving just me and Omoi inside.
"I can't see," he hissed out as he swung his sword around, trying to
push the mist back, but ultimately it was useless.
"Yeah, neither can I. But you see, there's a little trick I have up my
sleeve," I closed my eyes and let my chakra sensory skill take over,
allowing me to gauge his position. I smirked, he kept moving around,
trying to find the exit. I pulled out ninja wire and prepared for a scorch
style jutsu.
I snuck up closer to him, Omoi randomly swinging his blade to try and
catch me. I ducked under a particular swing and tied the ninja wire to
its sheath, channeling chakra to it to make sure the blade's sharp edge
doesn't cut the wire.
I moved a few feet behind him now, sucked in a deep breath and
ended the hand seal pattern a with half tiger and half bird seal,
spewing out flames from my mouth, 'scorch release: Dragon's breath!'
"Shit!" Omoi leaped away, avoiding the flames narrowly from taking his
legs.
The heat from the flames were so much it evaporated the mist around
us in moments, revealing each other. Omoi landed away and smirked,
"I have you now!" he charged, sword pulled back to strike.
"Not quite," I threw a kunai away from us into the lake, Omoi stopped in
surprise, but because of that moment's hesitation, his sword slipped
out of his hands and onto the ground. The ninja wire I tied around his
sword and the handle of the kunai I just threw helped generate enough
of a pull to do that.
Omoi moved to grab his weapon but I didn't give him the chance. I
moved on him like a hound, a dagger on each hand, slipping into my
Disturbance style.
A knee came for his face, which he blocked. I swung a dagger, he
ducked under sending a kick. I leaped over him entirely, swinging the
dagger at his shoulder, cutting him. He winced and moved back, but I
didn't let him rest.
I attacked with everything I got and for a while he seemed to be able to
keep up. It almost felt like he knew what I was going to do, that my
style required the use of all my body parts, not just my fists and feet.
Even he looked a little surprise, he caught my fist with one hand and
tried to move in with an elbow strike. I blocked it with ease, placing my
left hand dagger under his throat, "don't move, or I'll slit your throat."
"This style, how did you learn it?" he asked.
I raised an eyebrow, "why do you want to know?"
"It resembles a style I'm familiar with," he explained.
I waited a moment before speaking, "I invented it. I created it from
scratch because I needed a unique fighting style all of my own. What's
the style you're familiar with called?"
"The Disturbance style," he answered.
I blinked, "woah...that's what I call my style as well. Ain't that
something," I nicked his neck before jumping away.
"You bastard!" he hissed touching his throat.
"It's only a scratch," I replied sheathing my blades, "but then again my
daggers are coated with a super acting paralytic powder which will
immobilize you so..." he tried to jump for his blade and but half way he
found himself unable to move, "so you won't be able to move for
sometime. Sorry about that Omoi!"
Chapter 127
I approached him and quickly searched his person for his team's
treasure, finding it under vambracers. This time it was a bull, "sweet.
Thank's for this," Omoi looked heartbroken, I sighed and patted his
shoulder, "better luck next year man. Hey, if I remember correctly the
next chunin exams will be in Konoha! You should come! I'll show you
around and treat you to a nice meal! Anyway, I should be going now, oh
Omoi, could you do me a favour and talk to Samui for me? I really like
her...personality, I would love to see her again. Anyway, I have to be
leaving, bye!"
And with that I left, but not before Omoi shot me an amused look. I
found my teammates finishing up their own battles.
Sidra took care of a fellow sound ninja, one who seemed to be much
weaker when it came to genjutsu as Sidra currently had him tie himself
up with rope before hitting himself really hard on a rock.
Kurotsuchi on the other hand used the sand ninja she drafted as a
stool and looked at Sidra humiliate his team mate with soft amusement
on her face.
"Yo," I called about, alerting them to my princess.
"Hey, did he give you any trouble?" Kurotsuchi asked.
I shock my head, "no. No trouble. And you guys?"
Kurotsuchi snorted, "the sand are becoming a joke if this is the best
they got," she kicked the genin's head, "honestly, I don't get why you
tree huggers like them so much. Do they make you feel better about
themselves?"
I snorted, "believe me Kuro, I know a few sand genin who
are...monsters to say the least."
"Oh? That good?" she asked surprised.
I shuddered, "one of them is a literal monster. Here's a bit of free
advice for you, if you ever encounter a kid named Gaara, red hair with
a sand gourd on his back, run. Don't try to fight him, don't even think
about it, just run. It'll probably save your life."
She rolled her eyes, "I'll take that under advisement."
Sidra finally approached, finally finished playing with his teammate,
"shall we continue?"
Kurotsuchi and I nodded as we walked up the stairs leading to the
tower and arrived at the door. Before us were three holes around the
size of the animal treasures we got.
Without a word I removed the first three treasures we got and slid them
into the slot causing the door to click and open up, revealing a dark
room on the other side.
"Well, this isn't dark and ominous at all," I sighed, channeling fire
chakra into the tip of my finger to create a small light to guide us as we
walked inside.
The door closed behind us and suddenly the lights came on revealing
the room to be a hotel lobby of sorts. Honestly it looked very nice and
posh, had a few paintings up and even a nice couch off in the side.
"What? Who's there?" came a familiar voice as B came out from
behind a door on the other side of the reception desk. He wore a set of
white PJ's with octopi on them and yawned scratching his behind.
He looked at us and stopped, "oh, it's you, the disrespectful dude and
his crew. It's been just a day, did you three really gain the three animals
to pass through?"
I shrugged, "we're here aren't we B? What's wrong? Did your eyes get
too old to see? We got a bird, tiger and a snake, plus a bull to boot. So
what's say you tell us what to do?"
B grinned, "boy your rhymes are fly! Okay, since you finished early you
get a treat! Pick any room in this place and go to sleep! Breakfast is at
nine tomorrow, so get up early and get your piece! Peace out mofos!"
And his disappeared in a puff of smoke. I grinned, "that guy is so cool!"
Kurotsuchi snorted, "only you can think a rapping ninja is cool."
"Rapping and ninja, two incredibly amazing things combined into one!
Why isn't everyone doing this?!" I cried out as we approached the desk
and found ten room keys. I grabbed the one labeled '7', Kurotsuchi
took 2 and Sidra took 5.
Ping!
Quest Completed!
Win the second round of the chunin exams!
Rewards:
5,000 EXP
Move onto the final round!
We wished each other a good night and went to bed. Since the second
task was over, the small team we made was finished as well. It's sad
really, I kind of liked those guys, professional and not lame. The
kunoichi wasn't a fan girl and the other guy wasn't arrogant, true Zumo
has changed a lot from before, but he still has a bo staff up his butt.
Chapter 128
The next day:
I woke up bright and early the next day. Yes, I did actually sleep,
spending two nights in the woods makes you long for a proper bed,
plus the room was too nice not to sleep in. It was like a five star hotel
room, soft beds, a TV, a tub and even hot water. God this is amazing!
I took a long soak in the tub, letting my sore body rest in the amazing
waters. Then I got changed and went downstairs to the lobby where
the dining hall was located. I walked in and found Kurotsuchi and Sidra
already there and sitting on opposite ends of the same table. B
however was nowhere to be found.
"Morning," I called out as I moved to the buffe. I didn't get a morning
wish back. I quickly stacked on some pancakes, bacon, eggs and a
donut. I then sat down on the same table in front of Kurotsuchi, "can't
help but notice you didn't morning back."
She put the book she wa reading down and looked at me with a raised
eyebrow, "we aren't a team anymore tree hugger, I don't have to talk to
you."
"You know, if you're planning on taking your grandfather's job you
better learn people skills. 90% of a kage's job is done with a pen and
talking rather than fighting."
"And you know this how?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Back in Konoha I have a nickname, 'the Little Professor'," I chuckled,
"it's an homage to the Third's title, the Professor. Anyway, basically it
means I'm smart. Plus I read a lot so...kind of fitting."
Kurotsuchi snorted, "right," she brought eh book back up and continued
to read. I looked at the cover and raised an eyebrow, you have got to
be kidding me. 'Justice League'.
"So, you a Stan Lee fan?" I asked as I lowered my hood and face
mask, scoping a piece of egg and biting in. Hm, chewey.
"I really don't want to make small talk leaf boy, so just shut-" she
stopped halfway. I looked up from my plate and saw her staring at me
with wide eyes.
"What? Something on my face?" I asked wiping my cheek.
"Your face," she said as a tinge of red came on her cheeks, "it's the
first time I'm seeing it."
I smiled, "well I can't eat through my face mask now can I? And believe
me I tried."
"Right," Kurotsuchi nodded, looking me over, memorising my face
before returning to her book. "You shouldn't wear the mask, you look
much better without."
"Awe, is that your way of saying you think I look hot?" I chuckled
turning to Sidra, "hey Sidra! You think I look cute?"
The sound nin flipped me off, not bothering to even look up from the
medical textbook he was reading. Oh, trying to be a medic are we?
Well he is great at genjutsu and does have the chakra control for it.
I returned to my meal, eating in silence for some time before
Kurotsuchi spoke up, "so...you like Stan Lee as well?"
I chuckled, "something like that, yeah. You liked the new book?"
She nodded, "it was...decent. Can't say I like the new heroes he
created though."
"Ah, I guessed so. I suppose a blonde with superhuman speed that
shot lightning out of their ass and are call the Flash are kind of Iwa's
sore spot."
Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes, "please, unlike the rest of Iwa I honestly
don't give a damn about the Fourth Hokage, it was war, he did what he
had to do. The people I blame are the diplomats who allowed the war
to continue for as long as it did. And no, it's not because of the Flash,
it's just….it's so hopeful you know? The real world doesn't work like
this."
I shrugged, "maybe that's the point. The world doesn't work like that,
unless we try and make it."
Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes, "I never picked you for an idealist."
"I am," I nodded, "as long as people give a crap, as long as they care
enough to try, maybe, just maybe we can make the world a better
place."
"Preachy," Kurotsuchi snorted.
I smiled, "tell me Kuro, why does Iwa hate Konoha so much?"
The girl raised an eyebrow, "what do you mean?"
"Why does Iwa hate Konoha? Yes, I understand you guys lost the third
war and all that, but if that's the case you should also hate Suna and
Kumo. So why just us? Did the Fourth really have such an impact?"
Kurotsuchi frowned, "well...that's part of the case yes. I also think...it's
just you morons are so unbelievably nice. Everyone has this image of
Konoha being the perfect ninja, kind, compassionate, but Iwa saw the
real side of you, the side where a man will kill a hundred people and
you'll name his Hokage. The side which produced monsters like
Orochimaru," Sidra flinched at that.
I nodded, "so you don't like that people don't talk about our bad side,
only our good."
Kurotsuchi nodded, "exactly."
I smiled, "well….I guess I can't really do anything about that now can
I?"
She nodded as she returned to her book and I returned to my food.
Three days later:
I yawned, yesterday night was the last night of the second task. I
should have been awake to see it finish through, but that bed was
seriously too soft for it's own good.
I woke up and came down that morning in my casual clothes, walking
into the dining room to see team five present, that is Samui, Zumo and
a random kumo ninja named E, level 29. They were still dressed in
their ninja uniform and looked exhausted, I quietly grabbed food from
the duffe before walking behind Zumo.
"Morning Zumo!" I called out bringing everyone's attention to me.
Zumo turned and blinked, "you're here already?! Damn it! I hoped I was
the only one!"
I chuckled, "sorry monkey butt, but I got here way before you did. In
fact my team and I have been here for about three days," I pointed at
Kurotsuchi and Sidra sitting across the room quietly doing their own
thing.
I sat down next to Zumo, "so how as it?"
Zumo groaned, smashing his head on the table, "it was hell! Everyone
was after us! And Samui here refused to let us fight!" he pointed at cool
blonde who looked unconcerned about Zumo's outburst, "we had to
wait in a cave until the fourth day before she allowed us to go out and
do anything!"
Chapter 129
"And because of that we were able to defeat our weaker opponent and
gain two treasures easily," Samui defended herself.
"Yeah but it took so long!" Zumo cried out.
"It good you played it smart," I nodded, "people were growing
desperate, you would have been bulldozed over with people like Neji
and Lee out there. Who did you steal from anyway?"
"Oh, you remember that big Iwa dude?"
I nodded, "yeah, I fought him a few days ago and nearly one, fucker
got away."
"Oh, that makes sense. We found him beaten and just trying to run
away, we easily grabbed his statue, thanks for that by the way!" Izumo
chuckled, "then we fought China's team and won, though that one was
a lot tougher, she kep throwing sharp things at Samui for some
reason."
"Jealousy is an ugly thing," I sighed with a shrug.
"Who are you?" Samui asked suddenly.
I blinked and turned to her, "what do you mean?"
"I haven't seen you before during the exams," Samui narrowed her
eyes, "you're...oh...hood boy."
I smirked, "yup. So have you given any thought about that date? I
promise you won't regret it!"
Samui rolled her eyes and got up, walking away. But just then B burst
through the door, "yo yo yo what's happening fools! Gather round, I'm
about to take you to school!"
Samui sighed, "he's going to give us instructions. Please listen."
Kurotsuchi and Sidra walked over and stood by my side while B stood
at the head of the table, "alright fools as of last night the time for the
task was through! So you six are the finalist for the exams, congrats all
of you!"
I smiled at Zumo and he smiled back. B then continued, "now listen up,
this is how it'll go down! Right here are your positions for the third
round starting a month from now! Select your number and then get
split! Your other teams mates and teachers and waiting for you, you
dig?"
I smiled, good this guy is so cool!
"Alright Samui! You go first!" B handed her a white box, similar to the
one used at the start of the second task. Samui nodded and stepped
forward, and took out number four. Zumo got 1 and E got 6.
Then it was my team's turn. Sidra got 2, Kuro got 5 and I got 4, putting
me up against Samui in the first round.
"Okay yo listen up, this is how it's going to be! You fight with number
you're paired up with, the winner of five and six get's to skip into the
finals! There aren't any other rules, because that would be anal! Now
get out yo! I hope you all put up a good show next month!"
And he suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.
I turned to Samui and smiled, "hey, how about a wager?"
She raised an eyebrow, "the stakes?"
"If I win our match you go on a date with me."
She raised a cool eyebrow, "and if I win?"
"I'll give you a pound of chakra ore," I winked.
Immediately her eyes light up, "you're on."
Ping!
Quest Alert!
Defeat Samui in your match!
Rewards:
A date!
+20 REP to Samui
Failure:
-20 REP to Samui
-1 pound chakra ore
Do you accept?
Y/N?
I clicked yes and smiled, "tell me, are you allergic to anything?
Peanuts? Shellfish?"
She said nothing, choosing instead to walk out, slowly followed by E
who waved goodbye at Zumo.
"You really are one weird tree hugger," Kuro snorted as she walked
past me, "I hope to see you in the final round."
"What makes you think you won't fight me in the final round?!" Zumo
asked loudly.
She stopped, turned around and took one look at Zumo before
snorting, "please," and then left, quickly followed by Sidra who didn't
even bother to wave goodbye.
Zumo snorted, "she's such a bitch."
I nodded, "yup….but she's so hot though. Come on, let's go, I'm sure
our friends are waiting for us." Zumo nodded and in tem minutes we
were off. We sprinted out of the tower and towards the entrance of the
valley. And there waiting for us were our fellow Konoha ninja.
"Took you long enough," Asuma snorted taking a drag of a cigar, "had
fun?"
I shrugged, "it was nice," I turned to Neji, "I'm sorry the fight wasn't as
amazing as you had hoped."
The Hyuga said nothing, turning around and walking away. Zumo
snorted, "what's his problem."
"He doesn't like losing," Tenten said as we all walked through the
tunnel built into the mountain.
"Yosh! So how was the exams Lee! Did you learn something?!" Gai
asked.
"Yes Gai sensei! I learnt to never take anything for granted! To always
be alert and to get along with people!" Lee nodded enthusiastically.
"That's good to know Lee! You're flames of Youth burns brighter now!
YOUTH!"
"YOUTH!"
I just ignored them and turned to Asuma, narrowing my eyes at his
cigars, "you're going to die young."
He snorted, "yeah, I am a ninja after all."
"I'm glad I'm not Kurenai, I wouldn't want to kiss that ash tasting lips
and bear fur like beard."
"H-hey! Don't say that!" Asuma cried out.
"Sorry I hurt you China," Zumo apologized rubbing his neck nervously.
China shrugged, "it's fine, the best ninja won in the end. I'm just glad
you and Yami managed to get in. And hey, out of all the other ninjas,
Konoha got two of the six slots! Isn't that something!"
Zumo nodded, "yeah! I'm going to be fighting that sound ninja in the
first round, and if Yami wins against Samui, I'll be fighting him next!"
Chapter 130
"Wait...Yami is going to fight that blonde cow?" China asked in a low
tone before grabbing my by the collar and pulled me closer, "you better
kick her ass you hear me?!"
I chuckled, "don't worry, I fully intend too. Samui promised to go out on
a date with me if I win!"
"What?!" China yelled in horror.
"Bye!" I slipped out of her grip and ran.
"YAMI! GET BACK HERE!" China cried out as she chased me. I knew
she would eventually catch me and hit him over the head, but this was
too fun! Heh, I was actually having fun, how about that.
A few days later:
Hiruzen took a drag from his pipe and puffed out the smoke from his
nostrils looking at both teams before him. "So Yami and Zumo
managed to get in. Good, I'm glad to see that Konoha is being
represented so well in a foreign land. How was everyone's
performance during the first and second task?"
"The teams were superb," Asuma said beginning his report, "the first
task had them locked underground with the room filling up with water.
Yami had Neji look around with his eyes to locate an escape route.
Zumo then used a fireball to blast the water away just long enough for
Yami to climb inside and use his own fire techniques and make his way
to the top, destroying the water pump."
"Then came the second task yosh!" Gai continued, "our genin were
divided into new teams and set to task fighting one another to steal a
treasure each team had been set to gaurd! They could only pass with
three treasures! Truly a youthful test! Sadly Tenten was the first to be
kicked out!"
"Stupid sand ninja," Tenten grumbled under her breath.
"Then came Neji who was defeated by Yami in a quick and decisive
match! Lee then fought the same team that fought Tenten and lost, but
they failed to find a third treasure in time for the last day! Zumo then
defeated China's team and were the only other team to qualify, other
than Yami's!"
Hiruzen, "nine teams but only two qualified? What happened?"
"Hehe, that's kinda my fault," I chuckled, "I defeated three teams and
took an extra statue, thereby there couldn't be three teams who would
pass."
"Yami! That's totally not fair!" China cried out.
I shrugged, "I'm a ninja, I don't do fair. Plus, it was fewer enemies for
me to fight, so why would I want for more people to qualify?"
The Hokage smirked, "well argued Yami. Keep this as a lesson
children, if you have an advantage press it, and in certain cases,
search for it. Remember, your enemy will most definitely do the same."
"Yes lord Hokage," we said as one, China with a little more hesitation in
her voice.
"Right then," the Hokage put the folder with our report down, "Yami,
Zumo, congratulations on qualifying to the final round. You both have a
month off from missions and ninja duties, use this time to learn more
and prepare for the final round, I expect a good show to display our
strength, is that understood?"
"Yes sir," Zumo and I nodded.
"Good. Dismissed. Oh, and Yami, stay back for a moment," he said
waving the rest of them away.
When Gai and Asuma left, closing the door behind them, the Hokage
spoke, "you do remember the other mission I gave you yes?"
I nodded, "make it to the finals and show off...basically."
He smiled, "correct. Have you made some effort into this round?"
I sighed, "I didn't really want to give away too much. I actually did
however manage to catch some attention. I acted out of character for a
while, more laid back and goofy, people bought it, I think. I'm actually
liking the more fre personality. Anyway, I did display a few skills, like my
scorch release, which while it impressed people, hasn't really made
them curious. I'm thinking for the final round I'll go all out."
The Hokage nodded, "sounds like a decent enough plan. Good job.
And here," he took out a scroll and tossed it to me.
I looked at it's title, 'Chakra, Hand seals and their relations by Hiruzen
Sarutobi'. I blinked, "I didn't know you wrote a book."
He nodded, "I have written many, most are under a pen name though
as I don't wish for my fame to get in the way of an objective reader,
most would think that if the Professor of ninjutsu wrote something it
must be true, but sadly my studies are questions without answers at
worst or interesting propositions at best. But, that doesn't matter. Since
your….unique charak control allows you to combine elements you'll
have to create your own arsenal of jtus, meaning it's best if you read up
on your theory as best as you can."
I bowed, "thank you sir, this will help a lot I'm sure."
The man nodded, "I'm sure. Now, before you go...there is...another
matter which I have to talk to you about. Naruto...recently went through
his genin exams and...there was an incident."
I blinked, "what happened? Did he fail?"
"No, well, at first yes, but then..." he sighed and began to story.
The whole thing went down exactly like canon, though while Naruto did
score a lot higher this time, making him not the dead last but
somewhere around the middle. But since he couldn't perform the clone
jutsu, he still ended up failing.
Then Mizuki came, charmed Naruto into a plan to steal the forbidden
scroll, apparently Mizuki played upon his good friendship with me to
coax Naruto's helpd. The bastard. Anyway, things went the same,
Naruto kicked his ass with the shadow clone jutsu, Iruka gave him his
headband and everything ended well.