Hiruzen then finally looked towards Orochimaru.
("I have been patient with Orochimaru all this time…")
("He still wishes to test my patience by attacking that boy")
("Next will probably be the last…. Even the Buddha loses patience when insulted or hit in the face three times.") Hiruzen thought.
…
"The Final Round is where each one of you will show off your battle skills in front of everyone."
"I want you to satisfactorily demonstrate and show off your ability as representative of your respective lands."
"Accordingly, the Final Round will commence one month from now."
"This is so that there's a suitable period of preparation."
"That is to say…"
"Along with the announcement of the conclusion of the preliminary match to each country's feudal lords and ninja leaders,"
"readying the summons for the Final Round requires preparation time…"
"not to mention the time it takes for you examinees to prepare."
("This old man always has such a roundabout way of saying things.") Kankuro thought as he interrupted Hiruzen.
"I don't quite get what you're trying to say."
"What do you mean?" Kankuro asked.
"In other words, in order to know your adversary, in order to prepare yourself, time is necessary."
"Time to analyze what you learned about the adversaries in the preliminaries… time to take stock of your successes."
"The battles until now were like actual battles it simulated situations in which you can't know your adversary,"
"However this is not the case in the Final Round."
"Some of you might have already revealed everything in front of your rivals…"
"So in the spirit of fairness and equality, you will have a month to train yourself to further your skills."
"Now that that's done…"
"I'd like to let you take your leave…"
"However there is one more important matter to take care of."
("This geezer!") Kankuro felt impatient.
At this moment, Anko approached in front of the Genins.
"I want you all to calmly take one slip of paper from the box that Anko is holding."
Hiruzen concluded.
…
"I'm going to go around in order…take only one" Anko said after which she walked towards all the ten contestants one by one.
Soon she had finished distributing the numbers.
"Good, everyone has taken a number."
"Then, from left to right, tell me the number on your slip of paper," Ibiki asked.
"I'm Eight!" Dosu said.
"I'm One!" Naruto said.
"I'm Four!" Sasuke said.
"I'm Ten!" Sakura said.
"I'm Seven!" Temari said.
"I'm Five!" Kankuro said.
"I'm Three!" Gaara said.
"I'm Nine!" Shikamaru said.
"I'm Two!" Neji said.
"I'm Six!" Shino said.
…
"Very Well, I will tell you about how the Final Round Tournament will work!" Hiruzen said after which he turned towards Ibiki.
"Ibiki, bring forth the pairings."
Ibiki walked to the front and displayed the pairings.
1st match - Naruto vs. Neji.
2nd match - Sasuke vs. Gaara.
3rd match - Kankuro vs. Shino.
4th match - Temari vs. Dosu.
5th match - Shikamaru vs. Sakura.
"The pairings indicate a chance of five Contenders surviving, in the case they survive, the remaining five will be made to draw lots again in which, the unlucky player would be made to fight another extra match."
("This is going to be troublesome, I have to fight a kunoichi; moreover, it is Sakura, and I thought Ino was a headache enough. It is such a drag…") Shikamaru thought.
("Good! I will use this one month to stand up to Naruto again!") Neji thought.
("Perfect! Gaara will be the perfect benchmark for my new training. I will make it to the top and face Naruto.") Sasuke thought.
("I'm so relieved to know that won't be in the same section as Gaara.") Kankuro thought.
"Could I ask a question?" Shikamaru raised his hand.
"Go ahead," Hiruzen said.
"Does this mean that there will only be one winner of the tournament?"
"That only one of us will be able to become a chuunin?" Shikamaru asked..
"The judges of the Final Round of which I am one will be made of the Kazekage, the Daimyo from various countries who will assign you your missions, and the Ninja Leaders."
"These judges will be able to make a thorough evaluation, and come to a decision as to whether each one of you possesses the qualities incumbent of a Chuunin."
"Even if someone loses the first round, they can still become a Chuunin," Hiruzen said.
"So there's a chance that all of us will become Chuunin?" Temari asked.
"Correct, but conversely there's also a chance that none of you will," Hiruzen replied.
"To 'advance' in the tournament, means maximizing chances to appeal yourselves to the judges."
"Hope, you've all understood the concept behind the final stage," Hiruzen asked as he looked towards all the Genin below.
Seeing no doubts across their faces, Hiruzen smiled.
"Thank You for your patience."
"We will adjourn until next month," Hiruzen concluded as he left the stage.
…
Naruto had no calms regarding the upcoming battle. His only worry was the invasion that was going to take place.
Sasuke ran towards Kakashi.
"I want you to train me over the next month, no matter what." Sasuke insisted as he looked towards Kakashi.
"Hmm…"
"Truthfully, I already had a plan regarding your training," Kakashi said.
"Then we have no time to lose!" Sasuke concluded and started running towards the Exit.
("Seems like the battles in the second stage has pushed him to this, though more than half of it is done by Naruto…") Kakashi thought as he looked towards Naruto.
"Naruto!"
"The Third passed a message saying that you are to wait in front of his office in another two hours."
"Yes! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto saluted.
("Sometimes, I really do wonder if you are a kid or a grown-up boy.") Kakashi thought as he left the Tower.
"Karin!"
"Aren't you supposed to find your other two teammates?" Naruto asked as he turned towards Karin.
Karin hesitated as she looked towards Naruto. Sakura who stood by the side of both of them read the situation.
"Naruto! I will wait for you two outside the Tower" Sakura said as she began to run towards the exit.
"Sakura-chan…" Naruto tried to stop her, but she had already left.
…
"What is it?" Naruto asked.
"The thing is…" Karin thought for a bit before she explained her situation.
….
"What? the grass village will give up on you if you failed the exam?" Naruto asked as he looked towards Karin with wide eyes.
"Yeah…" Karin said in a weak voice.
("Looks like she was taken in by Orochimaru under the excuse of providing a home to all the rejected ninjas under his wing in the sound village. I am not sure if it is right to save her since she did not exactly complain about being under him, though Sasuke's existence might have comforted her in the first place…")
Naruto thought for a minute.
Meanwhile, Karin admired his expression of being a bit thoughtful of her even though he liked someone else.
("Maybe I should convince the Third to make her stay in Konoha…") Naruto thought as he looked towards Karin.
"All right!"
"Follow me to the Hokage's office," Naruto said.
"Hokage's office?" Karin looked surprised.
….
About an hour and a half later.
Sakura had split off from Naruto and Karin as she wanted to go back home.
The duo continued till they had reached the spot.
"Wow!" Karin stared at the Hokage building.
"This is it!" Naruto said.
"This building is one of a kind…" Karin stared at the arcs on top of the building.
"Follow me inside!" Naruto said as he led Karin in.
…
After coming near the Top floor of the building…
Naruto froze as tears flowed down his face.
….
"How many years has it been since you returned to the village?" Hiruzen asked.
"Enough about that, I want to know more about Orochimaru's actions here in the village."
"…"
"I've been observing Orochimaru ever since he left the village…"
"It was obvious that he would return to this village sooner or later."
"All told, at first I was concerned only about him, but…"
"What is it?" Hiruzen asked.
"He joined an organization."
("If it is the same as Itachi, then it has to be that one.") Hiruzen thought.
"…"
"It's a small organization known as Akatsuki made up of nine ninjas."
"Until recently, they weren't making any dramatic moves except some cloak and dagger activities."
"But, the biggest concern is the members of the organization."
"Almost all of them are listed on the Bingo Book."
"All S-Rank deviant criminals. That Itachi is also among them…"
Hiruzen gesture with his hand for the man to continue.
"But recently, Orochimaru pulled out of the organization."
"And at that time, other members of the organization went in action in different areas, in pairs gathering jutsus and things."
"You're saying that Minato's child is on their list of fancy…"
"Yes!" The man concluded.
….
Meanwhile, outside the office.
"Why are you crying Naruto?" Karin asked with concern.
Naruto wiped his tears away and gave a radiant smile as he looked towards the Hokage's room door.
("IT'S PERVY-SAGE!")
Chapter 1/2 today.
One more in a few hours.
Got a message for you all in form of a chapter which will be uploaded later today.
As usual
Comments, reviews, likes, and power stones, please.
Peace ✌️
"It's possible," Jiraiya replied.
"Because it's one of the spirits who possess the strongest Chakra…"
"Hmm….." Hiruzen thought for a minute.
"What has got you thinking?" Jiraiya asked.
"You said you wanted to know Orochimaru's movements here in the village right?" Hiruzen asked.
"Yes!"
Hiruzen inhaled from the smoke pipe and let out a small cloud before he continued.
"You remember the team led by Minato?" Hiruzen asked.
"Mm," Jiraiya nodded.
"I put the boy, Kakashi in charge of a new team of genins who are a lot like the old team."
"…"
"Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura."
"They were exactly like Minato's old team of Kakashi, Rin, and Obito."
"Naruto took after Obito, Sasuke took after Kakashi and Sakura…"
("Sakura is not like Rin") Hiruzen thought.
"This was decided before the academy until…."
"Until?" Jiraiya asked.
"Until the boy, Naruto changed…"
"Its like he evolved."
"The boy is the same old, but at the same time, he has become a splendid ninja" Hiruzen smiled.
"Say it old geezer."
("Geezer?")
"…"
"There was a name I mentioned now amongst those three, Uchiha Sasuke."
"I have heard the rumors. The boy survived the massacre."
"Precisely,"
"Orochimaru is now after the boy."
"Hmm…" Jiraiya thought.
"What is it?" HIruzen asked.
"There's just a nasty feeling regarding that particular part…"
"Why?" Hiruzen asked
"Orochimaru did not leave the organization on a pleasant note."
"He had gone after Uchiha Itachi and was later forced to leave abruptly, which they considered as a betrayal." Jiraiya frowned.
("Why is he going after the last two Uchiha brothers?") Hiruzen thought.
"So what happened to the boy now…" Jiraiya asked.
"?"
"The Uchiha brat."
"The funniest thing was that Naruto stopped Orochimaru from making any advances on him."
Jiraiya was shocked.
"WHAT?"
Hiruzen indicated for him to calm down.
"One of my subordinates Anko confronted him the same evening the incident took place."
…
Flash Back Chapter 26
"I've heard of some excellent ninjas in this village, so I thought I'd put dibs on it."
"But who knew a progeny of the fourth would stand in my way…."
"It's kind of an unexpected twist you would come across in a story though….." Orochimaru sulked.
"But fighting with the kid, He is a pure genius, too sad the kid was not an Uchiha…."
"That boy is the son of the Fourth Hokage? You fought with him?" Anko thought back to Naruto's words and still found it hard to believe.
"Yes, and not only that, the brat is in full control of the nine tails. He is also capable of using all the fourth's techniques; the flying thunder god, the Rasengan….." Orochimaru praised Naruto.
…
Jiraiya was getting surprised by the moment. His life for the past decade went in chasing after Orochimaru, though he still took his time to write books and search for his supposed fated student.
"Jiraiya!"
"What is it?" Jiraiya asked slowly still being shocked from what he had heard earlier.
"My guess is Naruto must have met Minato and Kushina when training to get control over Nine-Tails."
"Indeed!" Jiraiya agreed.
"Jiraiya!" Hiruzen interrupted.
"Even if Naruto is capable to a certain extent, it does not mean he will be able to take care of himself."
"I had appointed Kakashi in hopes of looking after him, but the boy has surpassed him."
"Though it remains that he was able to go toe to toe with Orochimaru. It does not mean that the boy can live watching his own back."
"Mm," Jiraiya nodded.
"Sooner or later, Naruto will have to deal with things alone, but it remains that he is young and I want you to take care of him for a while…" Hiruzen said.
…..
Meanwhile outside the door.
Naruto had finally managed to calm himself down.
"Naruto is everything okay?"
"Who is Pervy-sage?"
"Ah! It's nothing really" Naruto tried to avoid the subject while Karin started to wonder, who the mysterious figure behind the door was.
….
"All right!"
"I will take care of the boy."
"But there is one more thing I want to tell…"
"What is it?" Hiruzen asked.
"It's about Akatsuki's latest movements."
"They are trying to recruit one of those S-Rank criminals from the Hidden Stone…"
"From what I have intercepted, their target seems to be a man named Deidara," Jiraiya concluded.
"Hmm…"
"All right! I will send some people to investigate the matter."
(Knock!)
(Knock!)
(Knock!)
"Come in!" Hiruzen said.
Naruto entered the room. He had already calmed himself down since he knew in advance that Jiraiya would be here while Karin waited outside.
("Pervy-sage, I am glad to meet you again…") Naruto thought silently pinching himself with the hand hidden behind his back to completely resist the urge of running towards Jiraiya and hugging him.
"Naruto!"
"I want you to meet my student, Jiraiya of the legendary sanin." Hiruzen introduced Jiraiya to Naruto.
Naruto turned towards Jiraiya and nodded with a smile, while a teardrop slid down his cheek.
("So this is Naruto…") Jiraiya stared at Naruto.
…
…
….
(Boom!) An explosion took place in the forest
The smoke cleared revealing a man pointed the Kunai to another who has on his knees.
"Give it up" The man holding the Kunai said.
.
"Can I say one thing?" The man who was kneeling asked as he tried to stand up.
"I don't care to listen" The man interrupted as he pushed the other towards the bark of the tree.
"Die Already!" The man said as he pierced the Kunai against the other who tried to stand up.
"Give up…"
(poof) the one who was cornered was a shadow clone.
"On making me give up!" He said as the man sent a chop to the nape of the man holding the Kunai who then lost consciousness and fell.
"As long as we are cursed to live in this ninja world, there will be no peace." The man lying on the ground said.
"Then…I'll break that curse!"
"If there is such a thing as peace, I'll seize it!"
.
.
.
.
A man with yellow hair kept treading the book on Tales of a gutsy ninja with keen interest.
(Slap!)
Jiraiya slapped the yellow-haired man as he commented…
"Oh!….you were reading my 'Tales of Gutsy Ninja' ?"
"But it's my first published work."
"The sentences are childish, and I didn't do a good job," Jiraiya said as he scratched his head while turning a bit embarrassed.
The yellow-haired man was naturally Namikaze Minato.
"No, I don't think so. This tale is wonderful!" Minato complimented Jiraiya.
"Oh..?" Jiraiya's interest got piqued as he wanted to hear a review.
"The main character of this book…"
"I thought his determination to never give up was really cool."
"He's a lot like you sensei!"
"Which is why I'd like your permission to name my son after him," Minato said as he smiled at Jiraiya who was shocked from hearing an unexpected comment.
"I really hope my unborn child can become a ninja just like this character," Minato said.
Jiraiya was too happy, but he was also feeling a bit worried…
"H-Hey!"
"Are you sure?"
"It is a name I randomly came up with while eating ramen," Jiraiya asked.
"Naruto!…" a sweet voice intervened.
A woman in red hair appeared near the kitchen.
"It's a wonderful name," Kushina said as she bowed lightly to show her gratitude for fulfilling a small wish of Minato's.
"Kushina…" Jiraiya was shocked as he saw her gently rub her hand around her pregnant belly.
"Are you really sure about this?"
"If I name him, that makes me his godfather, huh?" Jiraiya asked in an unconfident voice.
"You are my sensei!"
"And you are a great ninja who possesses a true talent of a ninja!"
"There is no other like you" Minato reassured.
….
It was almost a decade and four years after which Jiraiya saw Naruto.
"Young man, Why do you have tears coming out of your eyes?" Jiraiya asked Naruto.
"Oh, this?" Naruto asked as he cleared his tears away…
"I am finally able to meet the man who was the teacher of the fourth Hokage…" Naruto said.
("He seems to be emotional.") Jiraiya thought as he saw Naruto turn towards the Third Hokage.
"Old man!"
"I need a favor," Naruto said while looking earnest.
"You have done a meritorious deed today Naruto."
"Go ahead" Hiruzen gestured.
Naruto turned towards the door and called…
"Karin!"
…
The door opened, and Karin walked towards the desk and stood by Naruto while appearing a bit shy.
"My name is Uzumaki Karin. I'm pleased to meet the Third Hokage…" She said as she bowed down towards Hiruzen.
Jiraiya and Hiruzen were stunned as they looked at Naruto and Karin who were standing side by side.
("That Yellow hair and Red hair combo...")
("They both look like Minato and Kushina in their teens")
Hiruzen and Jiraiya turned towards each other as they smiled.
("Like father like son…")
Chapter 2/2.
I will be uploading a personal message later in the form of a chapter.
Comments, likes, power stones, and reviews, please.
Peace ✌️
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