Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
June 29, x788.
As the seats in the Chunin Exam arena filled up, two men wearing similar robes stepped into the VIP area that was meant for the highest-profile viewers.
The first man was an elderly man with a goatee and liver spots on his face wearing a red and white robe and a wide brimmed red hat with the kanji for fire on its front. This was the current Hokage of the village Hidden in the Leaves, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Walking beside Hiruzen was a man wearing a robe in the same style as Hiruzen's. Though, his was blue. On top of that, he wore a mask that covered the bottom half of his face. This man was Raza, the fourth Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Sand.
Or, it should have been Raza. However, the real Raza was killed near the end of last year, the last act of Junko Enoshima and her cohort. Though, no one was aware until now. Instead, the one dawning the guise of the Kazekage as Orochimaru, a traitor of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, as well as Hiruzen's most talented disciple.
"Lord Kazekage, I'm really looking forward to seeing just how much these young shinobi will show us." Hiruzen said as he walked alongside the disguised Orochimaru. Then, as they both took their seats at the center of the viewing platform, he continued. "Our villages' futures will be in the hands of these youngsters, after all."
"Indeed." Orochimaru replied in Raza's voice. "Talents like these should be treasured."
'This old fool is talking about the future, yet he doesn't know that his village will cease to exist after today.' Orochimaru said while sneering internally. A moment later, he frowned under his mask as his thoughts continued. 'I haven't heard from Kabuto lately, though. I suppose he ran into some trouble before today. No matter. With his skill, there should be nothing to worry about.'
'I have to stay vigilant.' Hiruzen thought to himself as he scanned the crowd. 'Kabuto was captured only two days ago. And he almost killed Hayate. Luckily Wendy was there to save him. Otherwise, we would not have been able to find out that Orochimaru was planning to attack the village during the finals. Unfortunately, Hayate was discovered before he could hear all the concrete plans. We don't even know where Orochimaru is right now. And Kabuto's mental defenses were too strong for us to get any results before the finals began.'
If Hiruzen had known that the man he was most wary against was sitting less than five feet away from him, he would be mortified.
"It's starting." Hiruzen said quietly as he looked at the center of the ring.
Naturally, when Orochimaru heard that, he also turned his attention to the center of the arena.
At that moment, Hayate Gekko appeared in the middle of the arena. Then, he raised his right hand in front of his face and coughed a few times. A moment later, he circulated his magic power and projected his voice throughout the arena.
"*Cough* Ladies and Gentlemen, the Chunin Exam Finals *Cough* are about to begin." Hayate announced. "Now, I ask that all the participants *Cough* come to the ring."
Shortly after Hayate's words fell, seven young shinobi appeared in the ring, standing in a line in front of Hayate. However, it did not take long for the crowd to start murmuring amongst themselves when they noticed that one of the participants was missing.
Alfonzo's group was no exception to those talking about the missing contestant.
"*Sigh* Sasuke was training with Kakashi this month, right?" Alfonzo asked as he turned to look at Sakura.
"Yes." Sakura replied with a nod. "Naruto wasn't happy about that. But I heard he got a pretty good teacher, too. So, he stopped complaining after a day, or so."
"Thought so." Alfonzo said, replying to Sakura's answer to his question. "I hope he's not gonna end up always being late like Kakashi after spending all that time alone with him."
"Sasuke would never do that." Sakura said in Sasuke's defense. Though, if one judged by her tone, she was not completely confident in that statement.
Meanwhile, Hayate swept his gaze over the seven Genin standing in front of him.
"It would seem that Sasuke Uchiha isn't *Cough* here yet." Hayate said. "Well, as long as he is here in time for his match, he won't be disqualified."
After saying that, Hayate raised his head and swept the crowd with his gaze.
"Now, I'll *cough* announce the match order. *Cough*" Hayate continued. "The first match will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga. The second match: Sasuke *Cough* Uchiha Vs. Gaara of the Sand. Match three: Temari Vs. Shikamaru Nara. And the fourth match will be *Cough* between Shino Aburame and Kankuro. Now all those other than the two fighting *Cough* in the first match may leave the ring."
Immediately, Shikamaru, Shino, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro left the arena. At the same time, Naruto and Neji took their distance from each other. Then, Hayate backed up, raised his right hand above his head, then swung it down.
"Begin!" Hayate ordered.
The match between Naruto and Neji was a one-sided affair, which everyone expected. However, the fan favorite, Neji, was on the losing end of the match from beginning to end. Unlike in the canon material, Naruto already had a relationship with Kurama. And because of that, he was able to use his magic power to cloak himself. As a result, the Hyuga Clan's [Gentle Fist Art] was completely ineffective. On top of that, Naruto's increased speed made it impossible for Neji to keep up, despite using the Byakugan, as well.
On a side note, the Hyuga Clan's fighting style, the [Gentle Fist Art], takes advantage of the Byakugan's X-ray ability. In doing so, with their palms and fingers as a medium, they inject their magic power into their opponents, completely disrupting their magic power flow.
In the second match… Nothing happened. Or rather, it had to be postponed… Because Sasuke was late. However, because Orochimaru was acting as the Kazekage, and wanted to see his future vessel in action, he was the one who made the request to have the match postponed. So, Sasuke got lucky in this regard because of the Pedo-Snake's interest in him.
The third match was between Shikamaru and Temari. And this was perhaps the most impressive match between Shinobi thus far. Although it was not particularly showy or flashy, both fighters put their wit and strategic thinking on full display. However, Shikamaru came out victorious in the end. And unlike in the source material, he did not forfeit after cornering Tamari.
But the fact that he was almost crying when he was announced the victor was quite funny to the crowd. It was clear to anyone watching that he would have rather given up after showing his capabilities so he could be lazy for the rest of the day. But now, he would have to fight in another round.
The reason for Shikamaru not giving up on his own was simple, just as he raised his hand to do so, he felt a dense killing intent fall on him from the crowd. And that killing intent was so controlled that no one else in the arena could even detect it.
When Shikamaru eventually found the source of the killing intent, he saw Alfonzo, Laki, Ikaruga, and Rika, the four people responsible for training him outside of his family and the academy, glaring at him with promises of the most intense training sessions he had ever taken part in if he gave up.
Seeing those glares, Shikamaru weighed his options, muttered "What a drag…", and accepted his victory forlornly.
After that, nothing happened in the third match, either. Because Kankuro forfeited before even entering the ring.
And that brought things back to the second match, which had been postponed. Gaara had entered the ring once again. However, Sasuke was still nowhere in sight. And just as Hayate was about to disqualify Sasuke, he appeared in the ring with Kakashi.
"We're not late, are we?" Kakashi asked quietly in a sheepish tone.
"Yes, you are." Hayate replied bluntly. "and quite so."
"Oh… Oops." Kakashi replied before bursting into a cloud of smoke.
When the smoke cleared, Kakashi was no longer in the ring. Instead, he had appeared in an empty seat next to Laki. With that, the first round of the tournament could finally start its last match.
"Kakashi, welcome." Laki said happily once Kakashi was sitting next to her. Though, her smile gave off quite a bit of pressure. "So, why were you so late?"
"*Sigh* I pushed Sasuke a little two hard in training this month." Kakashi replied. "And because he was only able to learn the [Chidori] to an acceptable degree last night, when he ended up passing out, I couldn't wake him up on time."
Instead of replying, Laki only continued to smile at Kakashi, putting him under immense pressure. It was clear she could see through Kakashi's half-truth. But she was giving him the chance to tell her the whole truth on his own.
"*Sigh* Fine…" Kakashi said in a dejected tone. "Because I couldn't wake him up this morning, I decided I would go visit the Memorial Stone. But I lost track of time. On top of that, Sasuke had no idea how to get back to the village from where I took him to train. So, he couldn't even come on his own to the beginning of the finals."
The Memorial Stone is a monument in the Leaf Village's cemetery that pays homage to all the shinobi who lost their lives in battle in service to the village. Naturally, every experienced shinobi was close to a few of the names on that monument, and Kakashi was no exception.
In unison, all those who knew him, excluding Laki, who continued to smile, sighed at Kakashi's carelessness.
Meanwhile, the battle in the ring was in full swing. Using the [Soaring Heaven's Sword-Style], Sasuke zipped around the ring at high speed. However, he was unable to get past Gaara's automatic sand defense. Though, Gaara was unable to harm Sasuke with any of his [Sand Jutsu] either.
Eventually, Sasuke took his distance after Gaara got fed up and wrapped himself in a [Sand Cocoon] and watched him with his [Sand Eye Ninjutsu]. All the while, his magic power began to increase to an absurd level while taking on a sinister quality.
Finding this a good opportunity to use his new [Ninjutsu], Sasuke scaled a wall of the arena before going through several hand signs.
A moment later, Sasuke's katana was lit up with arcs of blue lightning. At the same time, a high-pitched squealing sound that sounded like birds chirping echoed over the whole arena.
"That noise is why Kakashi named his signature technique, [Chidori]." Guy said excitedly. "Because [Chidori] in our ancient language means, One Thousand Birds."
After saying that, Guy turned to Kakashi.
"So, that's why he took so long to learn it, huh?" Guy asked. "You taught him how to use it with his weapon. That's probably why he only learned it to an acceptable degree last night, too, isn't it?"
In response, Kakashi shook his head.
"Although it's true that he only perfected the use of [Chidori] with his sword last night…" Kakashi explained. "I didn't teach him that. He devised that all on his own. He actually learned the [Chidori] with his hands as the medium quite quickly. And thanks to his training with Saeko, he was able to handle the speed boost it provided. But he was not satisfied with just that. So, he worked quite hard to incorporate it into his swordplay, as well."
Hearing that, everyone was impressed. And Sakura's eyes were shining with love and admiration while she carefully watched Sasuke's every move.
Then, the moment Sasuke was ready, he dashed down the wall and quickly closed the distance with Gaara. Along the way, he avoided the [Sand Blades] and [Sand Whips] Gaara launched at him. Then, once he was in range, Sasuke swung his sword as he dashed past Gaara.
A moment later, Gaara's [Sand Cocoon] collapsed, revealing Gaara with a gash that stretched from his left shoulder to his right waist. Though, the cut was not particularly deep, it was gushing blood.
Gaara then slowly turned around to glare at Sasuke with a crazed expression on his face.
"Kill! I'll kill you!" Gaara shouted at the top of his lungs. "I'll let mother drink your blood!"
At that moment, what appeared to be white dove feathers started falling from the sky. And when they fell on the civilians and weaker shinobi, they all fell into a [Genjutsu] induced sleep. At the same time, many of the shinobi from the sand village stood up with murderous intent shining in their eyes.
Orochimaru's plan had finally begun.
Thanks for reading, I hope you're enjoying the story so far.
Comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are always appreciated.
If you wanna read 5 chapters ahead or just give me a little support, join my Patr3on at:
https://patr3on.com/SixthSense1029
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
June 29, x788.
While Hiruzen was surprised to see the [Genjutsu] falling form the sky in the form of dove feathers, he was not overly so. After Wendy helped to apprehend Kabuto, Hiruzen was expecting an attack from Orochimaru in the near future. Admittedly, he was not expecting it to come during the Chunin Exam finals, though.
Still, Hiruzen reacted calmly. Turning towards the Kazekage to ask him and his village to leave the attack to the Leaf, as he was confident that his shinobi could handle anything the enemy could throw at them.
However, when he made eye contact with the Kazekage and saw that familiar glint in his eyes, Hiruzen was completely taken aback. Then, before he could react, the Kazekage dropped a smoke bomb that covered the entire viewing area, as well as the part of the arena's roof behind it in smoke.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the stands, Alfonzo, Elicia, and the others looked around at the falling feathers. Though, their gazes were much sharper.
"[Genjutsu]." Kakashi said as he watched the shinobi from the Sand stand up with murderous expressions. "Is the Sand really so confident they can defeat us."
"Maybe not alone." Elicia said as she pointed at another shinobi who stood up. "but what if they have help?"
Hearing that, everyone followed Elicia's pointing finger. When they did, they saw a shinobi with a different symbol on their headband.
"The Village Hidden in the Sound." Guy said solemnly. "But why would they attack us? They're a relatively new village and we've never had any conflict with them."
"Probably because of him." Alfonzo said as he pointed at the Kage's viewing platform.
This time, everyone followed the direction where Alfonzo pointed with their gazes. And what they saw surprised them all greatly.
Around the Kage's viewing platform, the smoke had almost completely dissipated. So, everyone could see two figures standing on the roof behind the platform. While they were expecting Hiruzen's figure, the fact that Orochimaru was standing opposite him was a shock.
"Orochimaru? But how?" Kakashi asked.
"*Sigh* Look at the robes on the ground next to him." Alfonzo said in an exasperated tone. "He was disguised as the Kazekage. He was even able to mask his magic power signature. So, I didn't even notice it was him."
'Yeah, I'm definitely gonna have to kill him for good.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'I don't know how he did it, but he would be able to sneak up on even me with a disguise skill like that. And I don't like that.'
["Good, let's go kill the creepy snake fucker."] Riot said.
["I agree."] Bedlam said. ["The world is better off without him."]
Alfonzo nodded his head to his [Armament Spirits'] words. However, just before he could start issuing orders to the wizards from Fairy Tail…
"Hahahaha! You're strong!" Gaara, who had seemingly lost the last shreds of his rationality, shouted excitedly while attacking Sasuke. "You were actually able to make me bleed. Killing you will prove my existence."
… Gaara's shouting drew their attention to the ring.
In the ring, Sasuke was avoiding [Sand Ninjutsu] while simultaneously fending off Gaara's physical attacks, which should have been an easy feat. However, Gaara had changed by quite a bit in the short time everyone's attention was drawn away from the ring.
Now, one of Gaara's arms had been transformed into that of a monsters by all the sand that had gathered around it. On top of that, his movement speed was much faster than anyone had expected. So fast, in fact, that Sasuke was having trouble dealing with it while avoiding all his sand projectiles.
"What happened to that kid" Cana asked.
"The thing inside of him is influencing his actions." Elicia said solemnly. "He's one of the Jinchuriki."
After saying that, Elicia turned to Laki.
"Laki, you learned how to use [Wood-Style Ninjutsu], right?" Elicia asked.
In response, Laki nodded her head while watching Gaara.
"Then, can you go help Sasuke?" Elicia asked. "You're best suited for stopping that kid. Just restrain him for now. Then, Fonzie can put a proper seal on his Tailed Beast. After that, he shouldn't lose control like this anymore."
Once again, Laki nodded her head. Then, in a burst of speed, she disappeared from the stands.
"I usually forget how good you are as a leader because of the way you usually act, Lici." Cana said while casually taking a swig from her bottle of liquor before putting it into her [Storage Card]. "But moments like this make me remember why you're one of the guild's strongest."
"We can talk about that later." Alfonzo said sternly. "We've got more important things to worry about. Saeko, Rika, go with Wendy and Shizuka to the hospital. Then, I want the two of you to protect the hospital while Wendy and Shizuka treat any injured people that show up there."
"Got it." Rika said a she [Requipped] her Mechashift bladed pistols into her hands.
"Understood." Saeko said as her katana appeared on her left hip.
After that, Rika grabbed Shizuka and Wendy held onto Rock Lee.
"See you later, Fonzie." Shizuka said with a smile while waving a hand. "Everyone, be careful, okay?"
With that, Wendy, Saeko, Shizuka, Rika, and Lee all disappeared in bursts of speed. Then, without delay, Alfonzo continued giving out orders.
"Lici, Cana, Lucy, you three can feel those big magic power signatures on the village's outskirts, right?" Alfonzo asked.
The three ladies nodded their heads in response.
"Deal with them." Alfonzo ordered.
Without even a nod, Elicia, Cana, and Lucy all vanished in bursts of speed, as well.
"Grayfia, Ikaruga, Miyuki, I want the three of you to help as many civilians as you can outside of the arena." Alfonzo said. "But you have to be careful. These are trained killers."
"Don't worry, Master Alfonzo." Grayfia said while bowing elegantly. "I've been through my fair share of battles."
"Did you forget, I'm a trained killer, too." Ikaruga Said with a smile.
The only one who seemed nervous was Miyuki. But that was natural. She was only sixteen, after all. On top of that, even though she was about as strong as any C-Class wizard, she had never actually used any of the skills she trained in live combat.
"I want the two of you to make sure to protect Miyuki, as well." Alfonzo said after glancing at the three maids. "She's not as experienced as the two of you."
Ikaruga and Grayfia bowed in acknowledgement. Then, they led the clearly nervous Miyuki out of the arena.
"Sakura, Tenten, I know I'm not a member of your village, but I have an important task for you two, as well." Alfonzo continued. Though, he did not simply order them to move.
Sakura and Tenten, who were already looking at Alfonzo, focused even harder when they heard his words.
"Go find the rest of the Leaf Genin, form teams, and help evacuate the civilians." Alfonzo said.
"But they're only Genin." Guy said.
"No, they're shinobi." Kakashi said, stopping Guy's protest. "Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. They can handle this."
"Kakashi-Sensei is right." Sakura said. "Plus, I can help treat anyone who got hurt during this attack, too."
"Yeah, we can handle this, Guy-Sensei." Tenten said with determination burning in her eyes.
Seeing the resolve in their students' eyes, Kakashi and Guy nodded. Then, the two young kunoichi left to find the other Genin.
"I'm sure I don't' need to tell you two what to do, right?" Alfonzo asked with a smile.
"Of course not." Kakashi replied in a bored tone.
"Indeed." Guy said while making a nice guy pose. "We'll let our youths explode."
"Right…" Alfonzo said dryly.
"What will you be doing?" Kakashi asked.
"I'll go help the old man." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Orochimaru needs to be dealt with once and for all. And I'm afraid the Hokage's sentimentality won't allow him to finish the job."
Kakashi sighed in response. Despite that, he knew Alfonzo was right. So, he only nodded his head in the end. After that, he also disappeared in a burst of speed before engaging an enemy Jōnin.
"Be careful, my friend." Guy said. "When all this is over, we can compete."
After that, Guy also dashed off to engage the enemy.
"Don't you have any instructions for me, Alfonzo?" Retsu, who had been standing by quietly, asked in a gentle tone.
"Like I could instruct someone of your stature, Master Unohana." Alfonzo replied. "I trust your experience and wisdom. I know you'll make the best decision in any given situation."
In response, Retsu covered her mouth with her right hand and kimono sleeve before she giggled.
"Very well, I suppose I'll help heal people at the hospital." Retsu said.
After that, Retsu used the [Flash Step] to disappear from the stands.
"Alright, now it's time to get to work." Alfonzo said while tilting his head from side to side, causing crisp popping sounds to echo around the area. "But first, I guess I should deal with these pests."
As he spoke his last sentence, about a dozen shinobi from the Sand and the Sound appeared around Alfonzo. However, before they could even move, Alfonzo's image flickered. Then, all twelve shinobi fell to the ground with small holes in their throats oozing blood.
"I guess I should go take care of those shinobi surrounding Master Tsunade, too." Alfonzo said as he looked towards another part of the arena. "If I don't, she might end up collapsing part of the arena in annoyance."
Just as his words fell, a Sound shinobi came flying from the direction where Alfonzo sensed Tsunade's magic power signature. Not before he smashed through a wall, though. On top of that, when he slammed into the seats on the other side of the arena, he burst into flying body parts on impact.
"Yeah, she's definitely capable of bringing down the whole arena if she gets pissed off." Alfonzo said as he started moving in that direction.
A few moments later, Alfonzo arrived in the seating area where Tsunade and Jiraiya had been seated originally. However, Jiraiya was nowhere in sight. Instead, all Alfonzo could see was a few dozen shinobi from the Sand and the Sound surrounding Tsunade.
The weird thing about what Alfonzo was seeing was the fact that all the enemy shinobi appeared to be scared. Scared of stepping forward to attack. And the reason for that was easy to see. Lying at Tsunade's feet were the bodies of several of those enemy shinobi's comrades. And none of them were complete corpses. On top of that, at least one part of their body was thoroughly crushed.
"Well, I guess you don't need my help." Alfonzo said from behind the group of enemy shinobi.
Alfonzo's voice caused everyone to shift their attention to him quickly. And when Tsunade saw him, her clearly annoyed frown eased a little.
"Stop playing around, Kid." Tsunade said. "Just hurry up and take care of these pests. They only know how to run away. And their quite fast, too."
"Hey! Who is this guy?" One of the Sound shinobi asked anxiously.
"It doesn't matter." A Sand shinobi replied. "Just hurry up and kill him. We don't need another distraction while we deal with the Slug Princess."
Immediately upon hearing that, a vein on Tsunade's forehead bulged. Then, she clenched her fists and rotated her magic power around them. In fact, she rotated so much magic power that the air around her fists looked as if it were distorted.
'Oh shit!' Alfonzo exclaimed internally after feeling all the magic power gathering around Tsunade's fists. 'She really might collapse this entire side of the arena if I don't do something.'
In the next instant, Alfonzo flickered. Then he reappeared next to Tsunade, his body arching with violet electricity. He then discharged bolts of electricity in all directions. Despite that, Tsunade, who was standing right next to him, was not even touched.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Spider Lightning]." Alfonzo chanted.
In the next instant, the sound of thunder echoed around the arena while a bright flash temporarily blinded everyone in the vicinity. Then, all those enemy shinobi fell to the floor while smoke rose from their corpses and parts of their body were badly charred.
"Hmph!" Alfonzo snorted disdainfully. "To think he would have the nerve to call Master Tsunade a Slug Princess. He and his friends got what they deserved."
'I just need to calm her down.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'As long as she's calm enough, I won't have to worry about the people lying unconscious thanks to the [Genjutsu] becoming part of the collateral damage when she loses her shit.'
"Master Tsunade, we should go and--- Pfft!" Alfonzo started to say before he had to forcefully stop himself from laughing out loud.
Currently, although she was unharmed, Tsunade was still affected by Alfonzo's electricity. Standing next to Alfonzo with a deep frown on her face, Tsunade's straight, shiny, blonde hair had puffed up as though she had been electrocuted.
As a matter of fact, the electrical charge in the air was the reason for this. And Alfonzo knew it. So, he was rather wary of the princess of the Hidden Leaf at the moment.
"*Cough* Uh... I mean... I'm gonna get going." Alfonzo said hurriedly while trying to hold in his laughter. "The Hokage is facing off against Orochimaru alone. Plus, it looks like four of Orochimaru's flunkies have set up a barrier around them. So, I don't have any time to waste."
As soon as he finished speaking, Alfonzo flashed in violet lightning before disappearing from the spot. Even so, Tsunade's angry roar echoed over the area only a moment later.
"Don't think this is over, you damn brat!" Tsunade roared after Alfonzo could no longer be seen.
Thanks for reading, I hope you're enjoying the story so far.
Comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are always apprciated.
If you wanna read 5 chapters ahead or just give me a little support, join my Patr3on at:
https://patr3on.com/SixthSense1029