Chương 9: Chunin Exams - The Kidnapping
-3211 words-
[Year 50, Kumogakure]
"Congratulations on passing the first exam! The next round of the Chunin Exams will begin tomorrow. But keep in mind that it won't be as simple as this."
Jay, the exam proctor, said with a menacing grin on his face. Around him, the remaining participants gulped at his expression.
"Originally, there were supposed to be 20 teams that qualified for the next part of the exams. However, from the 50 that originally participated, only 10 managed to retrieve their flags and make it to the finish line."
The teams immediately glanced towards the Suna Team who were responsible in cutting the competition in half.
"Hehehehe." Souei just laughed quietly at getting all their attention. Rasa rolled his eyes at his teammates' supposed tendencies while Rukia just chuckled.
The proctor ignored them while continuing. "On a real mission, unexpected factors like this happen all the time. If you want to be Chunin, you have to be able to adapt, no matter the situation you find yourself in. So freshen up and rest well, for tomorrow's events will be much harder and tougher for you."
With that, the proctor nodded towards everyone present before he, along with the other Kumo Shinobi, flickered out of existence with a high speed movement.
Souei just stood there while tilting his head at the last bit of the proctor's words. 'To be able to adapt, huh? Could be a clue…'
He continued to think before shrugging. Whatever it was, they'll deal with it when the time comes.
Ishito Sensei then ushered them as they were ready to get back to their quarters. It's best to rest up and save their energy as best as they can for the exams tomorrow.
"Come on Kids! Let's celebrate you passing the first exam by getting some barbeque!"
He heard Jiraiya say to his team. He was the Jonin that Ishito sensei introduced before. Despite being from different villages, he was shocked when Ishito sensei said they were on relatively good terms with each other.
'Don't get me wrong, we'll still fight each other to the death if a situation calls for it. That's the reality we live in after all. The village always comes first.'
He remembered the words his teacher said. It sounded depressing to be honest, friends being forced to kill one another all for the sake of their homes. Souei wonders if he was ever in that position, would he be able to do the same thing? To kill a person he calls a friend for a cause he's not even 100% committed to? Whatever the case, it's something he dearly hopes he wouldn't have to go through for a long time.
Years from now, Souei's gonna remember this particular moment and slap himself for tempting fate.
— Marionette of Suna —
[Raikage Office]
Ay, the current reigning Third Raikage, was sitting behind his desk when his assistant, a dark skinned woman with violet coloured hair, came in and brought a report regarding the Chunin Exams.
"How's my son doing?"
He asked the assistant as he started to read the report.
"His team is among the ones qualified for the next exam. Along with two other teams from Kumo, a team from Suna, two teams from Konoha, one from Ame, two from Kiri, and another from Iwa."
The Raikage just grunted in response as a particular sentence from the report caught his eye. "So the Suna team is being led by 'The Centipede'?"
"Yes sir, the man himself is currently here in the village."
"I see, keep an eye on them. That man is known for being crafty and I don't want to see any funny moves coming from him. War is right around the corner and we can't risk any emergencies."
"Of course sir, it will be done." The assistant bowed before taking her leave.
The Raikage folded his arms and put on a thinking pose. 'So my son didn't get first place. Those brats from the Sand must be pretty good if they managed it somehow.'
He frowned in thought. Aside from his son, there aren't many other shinobi from the next generation that show much potential. He isn't too worried about the coming war however, as among the 5 villages, The Hidden Cloud possesses the best deterrent and trump cards in the form of their Jinchuuriki and Sage's treasures.
The Sage's treasures themselves originally went missing after the Kinkaku brothers rebelled and killed the Second Hokage and his predecessor. But a quick investigation towards the corpses of the two brothers revealed all the tools were sealed within their bodies. It took a while, but the sealing experts of Kumo managed to recover all 5 tools without issue.
The only problem however, is that despite already being years in their possession, not one person has shown to be capable of using them. The 5 tools are infamous for their fatal repercussions when used, and he himself is only capable of wielding the Amber Purifying Pot. Hell, he used it just a year ago when Blue Bee, the previous Eight Tails Jinchuriki, went crazy. He used the pot to seal the Hachibi on a young boy barely 5 years of age.
The other 4 are no less dangerous, and the mission to find worthy users has been among the highest priority list for years.
That was when a sudden idea struck him. The reason why the Sage's treasured tools are dangerous is because of their extensive chakra use. With the two brothers being the only ones with chakra potent enough to wield them without issues.
However, there is one clan that is famous for their powerful life force and incredibly potent chakra. No other clan in existence could boast to have stronger vitality than the Uzumaki.
Yes, with the war efforts, simply appointing a force for the mission on subjugating them wouldn't be too much of an issue. The only problem lies in the fact that the Uzumaki are much too powerful for him to tackle alone, especially considering half their forces would be occupied with the upcoming war.
As the beginnings of a plan started to form in the Raikage's mind, he looked out the window of his office as he thought of the coming future.
'These next few years are going to be tough times…'
— Marionette of Suna —
"Ugh, what the hell happened?" Souei groaned aloud from his prone position against the hard rock ground. The bright morning light shined directly onto his eyes, forcing him awake and to put his hand up to cover them.
He didn't know where he was, only that he, along with Rasa and Rukia, who he could see still sleeping or unconscious next to him, were in an unknown location for who knows how long.
"Huh, this is new."
He commented as he got up and took a good look around him. He was in some sort of cave, deep enough to provide shelter from the weather. They were near the entrance where the sun could still hit them, which was probably what woke him in the first place.
Souei racked his brain in his attempt to jog his memory. The last thing he remembered was sleeping on the bed in preparation for the exams. Ishito Sensei and them decided that conserving their energy was the best solution to tackle the unknown test they should be in.
He fell asleep, and next thing he knew, he woke up in a random cave. 'Is this part of the test?' Souei wondered.
That was when his teammates decided to wake as they stirred in their sleep, showing signs of waking up.
"Hey wake up, we have a problem." Souei said as he shook them both awake.
"Hmm, 5 more minutes…" Rukia slurred as she shifted in her sleep to find a more comfortable position.
Souei just deadpanned before knife chopping her in the head. She immediately sat up cradling her head in her hands in pain. "Ow! What the hell!"
Rasa himself had already awoke, blinking his eyes to fight off the post sleep clarity.
"What's your problem, Souei?" Rukia asked as she pouted cutely while still holding the top of her head with her hands.
"Look around you." Souei just rolled his eyes and told his two teammates the current situation.
That was when the two noticed where they were. At first, they both tried to see if they were in a Genjutsu and tried to dispel it, only realizing that they really were in a cave and not their rooms back in Kumo.
"Where are we?" Rukia asked, taking in the interior of the cave.
"Somewhere in the mountains by the looks of things." Rasa mentioned as he looked outside of the cave. "This has to be part of the exams. I doubt we were kidnapped or sabotaged with Ishito Sensei with us."
"Agreed. Remember what the proctor said yesterday? 'Chunin have to be adaptable' or something along those lines. This is probably what he meant."
For the next minute, they all checked themselves over for their equipment. Luckily, their belongings are all fully intact. Quickly taking inventory of their rations, they surmise they have enough food and water for three days.
"Guys, there's a note." Rukia said as she saw a piece of paper stuck to the walls of the cave with a kunai.
She approached it carefully, and after determining it wasn't a trap, delicately took it off the wall and read out what it said.
'Your team has been stranded somewhere in the Land of Lightning. The objective of your exam is to survive and find your way back towards the village. You have 5 days to return. If you fail to do so in the allocated time, your team will fail and be disqualified.'
"So we're stranded in the middle of nowhere, with barely enough food to survive the whole 5 days and have to find our way back to a hidden village." Souei chuckled. "This sounds like it's gonna be a heap of fun." Souei said with a grin.
"It's a survival test. But I have a feeling this is somehow rigged. Won't the teams from Kumo have an advantage? This is their home after all." Rasa commented.
"That was probably their goal in the first place. A way to make sure Kumo dominated the finals." Rukia said somewhat bitterly.
"In any case, like Souei said, we have to figure out our food issue first." Rasa continued. "And then figure out a way to navigate through the mountains and find the village."
"Rukia," Souei called, getting the brunette's attention. "Your sensory ability, what's your maximum range?"
"Pretty far all things considered, but now that we're on a mountain where the winds are strong, I should be able to sense a few miles at least."
Souei nodded. "Then try to find the nearest sign of life. We'll head in that direction and figure things out from there."
"But won't we risk coming in contact with another team that way?"
"It's a risk we're going to have to take." Rasa said. "Besides, we have an advantage over other teams in our mobility and flight capabilities. Souei and I will take turns to scout from the air and see if we can spot anything."
"I'll do the scouting this time. My way of flight is much more subtle, you'll just put yourself as a target and notify people of our position with your Gold Dust if you get up that high."
Rasa conceded with a nod at that point. His sand is indeed rather eye-catching in the barren and rocky lands of the Land of Lightning. "Then it looks like we have a plan."
Souei and Rukia nodded as they moved out of o the cave. Souei himself immediately took to the air as he summoned strings that impacted towards the trees, cliffs, or mountains. He stood still in the air, standing on thin threads holding him up as if defying gravity. He looked out towards the expanse around him, mountain ranges that span miles wide. Clouds of fog cover the area around them, creating an impressive view.
Below him, Rasa and Rukia kept moving as the latter led them with her superior senses. Souei did his best to follow them from the air as he kept his eyes peeled towards their surroundings, mapping their location while looking for landmarks at the same time.
After what seemed like an hour, Rukia stopped and held her hand up in a fist. Rasa and Souei immediately recognized the signal as they stopped and looked at her.
"I can sense three people up ahead. It looks like they're preparing camp for the day." She said quietly.
Souei nodded along with Rasa before he grinned. "Hey, I'll handle this. This is perfect to test out a new move"
Rasa just raised an eyebrow, before shrugging. "Suit yourself."
Rukia just tilted her head, curious to see what he would do.
Souei quietly made his way forwards before jumping up to higher ground, below he could see the three genin, apparently from Kumo, setting up camp. Just like what Rukia said.
Souei then raised a hand with his palm facing. Slowly, a ball created entirely out of string started to form. He threw it up and down a few times before chucking it towards the Kumo Genin's camp.
"Huh, what's that?"
One of them asked as a white ball bounced a bunch of times before landing in the center of them. He approached the strange object, intent on picking it up and studying it before the ball detonated, sending fragments and shrapnel of sharp string flying.
Souei stared down at their remains. All three genin were cut into several pieces, with fresh organs, guts, and blood now coloring the ground red. Even the surroundings weren't spared, as trees were all cut down and the ground sported long but thin cuts.
"Yikes, that was messier than I thought. My bad" He grimaced. Honestly, what did he expect from creating combustible string grenades? Definitely not this.
"You think?" Rukia commented as she looked into the result of Souei's new technique. "Only you, Souei."
Rasa said nothing as he jumped down and investigated their remains. Rukia and Rasa were right behind him as they secured all the things that were salvageable. After all, quite a lot of the things around them got butchered along by Souei.
"Okay, so the technique needs work. Fuck off."
He said in annoyance when both Rasa and Rukia stared at him blankly.
Rukia just shook her head in amusement before securing a few extra ration bars she stole from their dead enemies towards her pack. 'Is it stealing if they're already dead?' She wonders.
"Hey, take a look at what I found." Rasa said, getting the other two's attention. In his hands was a map that was covered by a bit of blood. "I found this in one of their pockets."
Souei and Rukia looked at the piece of leg Rasa undoubtedly took the map from. It was literally just a foot going all the way to its thigh with nothing else connecting to it. They decided to not say anything and just focused on what he had to say.
"Looks like it's a map of the Land of Lightning." Rasa continued as he turned the map around to show them.
"Huh, so we were right. They really did make this exam to give the Kumo Ninja the advantage." Rukia said as she took the map from Rasa and began studying it. "But I guess we should be thankful since this benefits us in the end. It shouldn't be too hard to reach Kumo now that we have this." She added after noticing that the Hidden Village is indeed situated right there on the map. Quickly finding a mark on the map that she assumes to be their position, she surmised it would take only a few days to reach the village.
"We're just lucky that someone's technique didn't completely butcher the map before we could use it." Rasa blurted, earning an indignant reply from Souei.
"All good techniques need a test run and experimentation." He said as he crossed his arms and turned his head. "I'll never apologize for my journey of self improvement."
"Well in any case," Rukia said after a fit of giggles before continuing. "We should probably get going soon. It's getting late and I'd rather we gain as much ground as we can before nightfall."
The other two quickly agreed, as after they finished packing up their supplies, they continued on the move with Souei taking back to the air.
.
.
.
After hours of trekking through the rigorous mountains of the Land of Lightning, the group stopped on a small rock formation that provided some cover that they could use for shelter.
They decided earlier on that traveling through the night would be dangerous as their limited vision along with unfamiliarity to their surroundings would only increase unnecessary risks.
They set up camp and fished out a few rations they could have for dinner. Then, Rukia and Souei took out their sleeping bags before they laid them next to each other. Rasa stood as he was the one who got the first shift.
"Wake me up when it's my turn." Souei told his rival before shutting his eyes and getting some sleep.
Rukia followed in his footsteps as she too fell asleep.
Rasa watched them both for a while, before he summoned his sand from his gourd and spread individual grains towards their surroundings, covering their camp in an invisible dome.
'Sensory Dome.'
It was an ability he created after noticing how useful sensory techniques were from his missions with Rukia. Just how many times they avoided death or capture all because she managed to sense her surroundings.
By spreading his sand over a large area, he can feel everything in his vicinity by tracking the movement of each individual grain of sand. They would stick towards hard surfaces and he would get a mental picture of his surroundings through them. However, doing this requires masterful control and absolute focus. Therefore he's only capable of doing it while standing still.
His technique pales in comparison to his teammate's, but it's something at least.
With this, he should be able to pick up anyone or anything that enters the area. After all, it's his duty to make sure his teammates' rest goes interrupted. And he takes that duty very seriously.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Hey folks!
Originally this chapter covered the entirety of the second exams but I overdid it and it became super long (Just this first part is already over 3000 words jeez). So I decided to split it into two and here we are.
I was pretty excited for this part of the exams since this is where they'll really show the results of their training.
For advanced chapters, Head on to my pat_reon page! Depending on the tier, you could get between 4 or 10 chapters ahead along with a few other benefits.
P_atr_eon.com/TeemVizzle
(Remove the spaces)
Anyways, that's all for today.
Cheers!
Trivia: If you had a choice, which of the natural elements would you rather wield? Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Light, Darkness?
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