章 43: Preliminaries I

The tower had forty-four entrances, the same as the Forest of Death, forty-four red double doors for each, all with a piece of paper, one of the doors was already open if the torn paper was an indication of it, we stood in front of the one directly next to that one, I put my hand on the handles and pushed the door open, the paper broke in half, and we entered a hall, empty except for some tags on the walls and a board with a poem in it.

"If Heaven doesn't exist, enrich your knowledge, and prepare for the chance. If Earth doesn't exist, run the fields in search of an advantage" I read the first phrase.

"Open the series of Heaven and Earth, and the perilous way shall be redressed" Neji kept reading.

"This is namely the secret of 'the one that guides'" Lee finished, I took both scrolls from the bag, and gave one to each of my teammates, they placed them in the floor and open them, revealing a summoning formation, the scrolls started smoking, and from inside the smoke a humanoid figure came out, our dear Guy-Sensei.

"YOOOOOOUTH!" He shouted while posing like Freddy Mercury with his yellow jacket, one hand high in the air and the other pointing downwards.

"GUY-SENSEI!" Lee started crying in happiness at the sudden appearance of Guy-Sensei.

"Congratulations on passing the second test of the Chunin Exam" Guy-Sensei started crying as well, seeing his pupils safe and sound, meeting his expectations.

After Guy-Sensei explanations and our emotional reunion, we were taken to a second room, with beds and enough food and water for the next three days, we dedicated all of our time to rest and recover from exhaustion, both physical and mental, with some light training in between to not lose our condition, I focused on the Earth Flame and the Gravity Control Skill, Neji and Lee were sparring with each other, settling the fight I interrupted, by the end of the second day here they were in friendly terms once again.

During the third and final day in this room, since the fifth day of the test was today, I took the chance to explain everything to my Team, including Guy-Sensei about the Orochimaru incident, it's not that I wanted to keep it a secret from them, but I totally forgot to tell them earlier, ironic, someone can remember three of his lives, forgets something as simple as a conversation that should have happened as soon as he was safe.

At the three o'clock of the fifth day since the test begin, the hundred and twenty hours had officially concluded, one of the assistants of the test, came to our room telling us to follow him, to the next area where further instruction will be given to us, fifteen other Genins were already on the main hall, The Hokage, Anko, Ibiki and the Senseis of the other teams, along with some other Ninjas were in front of a sculpture of a pair of hands doing a seal, Team seven was the last one to get in formation, everyone in expecting what would be next.

"Now we will have an explanation of the third test, from Lord Hokage, listen Carefully!" Anko instructed us.

The Third Hokage took a step to the front, starting his speech about the true nature of the Chunin Exam, how it was all just a smoke screen to keep the interest of the feudal lord and increase the jobs a Village receives during the following months or years, making strong and prosperous Villages even stronger, while weak Villages remained the same or worst, even in this world I can't escape the harsh truth, the strong remains strong and the weak dies eventually to its own weakness, when the Hokage was ready to tell the rules of the third test, a ninja kneeled in front of him introducing himself as Hayate Gakko.

"Everyone, there is something I would like you to do before we start the third test" Hayate said turning to face us, coughing between sentences "a preliminary before the third test" he said with indifference, some ninjas, Sakura and Shikamaru included, protested to this, but Hayate still with indifference explained why it was necessary, giving the option to quit before the battles begin, with only Kabuto raising his hand, and leaving the premises.

"Now, we will begin the preliminaries, one on one battles, in other words, actual battle format, we will conduct ten battles and the winners will advance to the third test, there are no restrictions, you will fight to the death or until someone collapses or surrender" Hayate said with indifference that even with my restored knowledge of the future made me restless "the thing that holds your destiny is that board over there, that will randomly select two of you" he added turning towards Anko, who gave instructions through her communication device, one of the panels opened with a black screen, that powered up, glowing with a yellow VS in the center, the top and bottom in blank, Hayate raised a hand and multiple names in rapid succession replaced the previous one, finally setting with two names, for the first fight, Yoroi Akado Vs Saske Uchiha.

"Those who are displayed in the board, please take a step forward" Hayate said, neither of the participants hesitated and in a quick but serene pace stood in front of each other, the rest of us were then leaded to the second floor, each one of us standing with our respective Sensei.

"Now then, the first battle of the preliminaries will begin" Hayate said, Yoroi and Saske entered a battle position, both of them with a hand in their bags, reaching for ninja tools, Yoroi launched three shurikens and Saske send them back in a swift movement with his kunai, the Cursed Seal he had reacted and made it fall when he tried to suppress it, the rest of the battle continuing on the ground, when Saske put his opponent in an arm lock, Yoroi absorbed his Chakra and changed the flow of the battle in his favor, Saske managed to push Yoroi away, barely dodging Yoroi's attacks, until he let the Cursed Seal take over him, giving him a slight boost the moment he needed, but suppressed it once he took the advantage, the battle finishing with him as the victor after developing the first version of the Lions Barrage.