Chapter 12: Chunin Exams - Opening Preliminaries!
Iruka lead the genin to a large room. Two groups of Suna genin were already there. One group consisted of Gaara, along with his siblings Temari and Kankuro. Naruto remembered them from Kabuto's data cards. He made eye contact with Gaara, who glared at him. Naruto glared right back.
The other Suna group consisted of a teen with spiky black hair wearing a red long sleeved shirt with black pants along with a golden scarf that had deep red ember designs. Beside him was a girl with long black hair wearing a green one piece suit. The last member was a tall boy with sandy brown hair and bandages across his torso. He wore a pair of pants that matched his hair.
"You'll have to wait here until the exams are over, there are rooms down the hall for anyone who needs to sleep." Iruka said before walking off.
The group didn't do much until the second phase of the exams were over. Sasuke and Ino made full recoveries as did the others, but Naruto still had a majority of his chakra sealed.
ALL PARTICIPANTS PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE STADIUM! an announcement boomed throughout the tower.
The genin gathered in front of Sarutobi and two jonin. One was sickly and pale while the other had a senbon in his mouth and a cocky grin.
"Congratulations are in order. All of you have passed the second exam." Sarutobi started, "However, not all of you will proceed to the final exam. At least half of you will fail here."
What how come?" Naruto shouted, "We all tried our hardest to get here Jiji!"
"The final exam is a one-on-one tournament in front of the entire village. The rules limit the final tournament to at most 20 competitors and with 33 of you here, we have to cut the numbers down by nearly half. Starting now we will randomly generate matches until each of you has fought once. If you would like to withdraw do it now."
Kabuto raised his hand, "I will withdraw."
"Noted." the Hokage said, waiting a few more seconds before nodding to the sickly looking jonin, "Hayate Gekko will be your proctor."
The jonin nodded, stepping forwards, "I'll ask all of you to step out of the battle ground except those who I call." he said. He clapped his hands and a box appeared. He reached a hand in and pulled out two slips of paper. "First match, Neji Hyuga vs Hinata Hyuga!"
Everyone else left the field to stand on a balcony above the battle ground.
"Hinata you got this!" Naruto shouted.
"Ya go Hina!" Ino shouted.
"Ya Hinata!" Choji shouted, holding his free hand up.
Hinata smiled as her friends cheered for her. She looked towards her cousin and readied herself.
"Lady Hinata, you are destined to lose here." Neji said.
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Neji dashed at Hinata, jabbing at her with incredible speed. Hinata smacked away or dodged every blow.
"You've improved." Neji said with distaste as he batted away a jab from Hinata, "BYAKUGAN!" He shouted. Veins popped around his eyes as the color shifted from dull lavender to pure white.
"By.. Byakugan!" Hinata's eyes shifted to the same white as Neji's.
They charged each other again, the speed of their strikes nearly tripled. The sounds of slaps reverberated throughout the arena. Sweat was visible along Hinata's forehead as she blocked or dodged Neji's hits, occasionally retaliating with one of her own.
"HINATA!" Choji screamed, If you win I'll give you an entire bag of chips!"
"And all the cinnamon buns you want!" Naruto chimed in.
Hinata's chest felt warm as her friends called for her to win. She steadied herself and ducked under one of Neji's blows, sweeping his legs from under him. As he was falling she stood up and slammed her palm down... on a log, causing splinters to fly everywhere.
"Impressive lady Hinata. I did not expect that from you." Neji said with a cocky smirk, "Your destiny is already written however. Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!" he shouted, appearing before Hinata so quickly she couldn't see him. "Two Palms!" Neji lashed out twice, "Four Palms!" twice more, "Eight Palms!" four more times, "Sixteen Palms!" eight more times, "Thirty-Two Palms!" Neji slammed sixteen more jabs into Hinata, causing blood to spurt from her mouth as she fell to the ground.
"Pitiful, that's all the main family has to offer." Neji spat as he walked towards the balcony.
"I... I'm not done yet." Hinata stood up, her left side drooping and her right not doing much better, "I don't know why you hate me so much Neji, and I don't know why you believe me to be weak. But I have friends who think that I'm strong, and I'm not going to let them down." Hinata pulled her right arm back, "Eight Trigrams Air Palm!" she shot her hand forwards, creating a wall of air that struck Neji in the stomach, sending him flying back.
"Way to go Hina!" Ino shouted.
"Chaa! That's how we do it Hinata!" Sakura cheered.
"Thank you, my friends." Hinata whispered as she slowly hobbled towards Neji, who was standing up.
"Impressive. Would you like to see mine?" Neji asked, cocking his right arm back, "Eight Trigrams Air Palm!" he shouted, copying Hinata's move from earlier and creating a much denser wall of air that slammed into Hinata, sending her nearly 30 feet back with blood trailing from her mouth.
She hit the ground and didn't move.
Hayate called a medic. A team of five ninja rushed to grab Hinata, put her on a stretcher, and leave.
"I've gotta go make sure she's ok!" Naruto shouted, jumping onto the battlefield only to be restrained by Kakashi.
"Naruto I know she's your friend but please, let the medical squad do their jobs. She'll be fine." Kakashi said.
Naruto stopped struggling and his face went dark, "Fine."
Hayate waited for Naruto to get back to the balcony before reaching into the box again, "Next match, Dosu vs Naruto Namikaze!"
Naruto leapt off the balcony and landed on the far side of the field. Dosu, the bandaged Oto-nin, walked down the stairs.
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Dosu rushed Naruto pulling his right arm back to punch the genin.
'I remember breaking his arm, do they have a medic on their squad?' Sasuke thought.
Naruto tried to dodge the punch but was hit in the chest. He flew back and hit the far wall, while also feeling the incredible pain of bones nearly shattering.
"What the hell!" Naruto screamed, "Why am I so slow?" he questioned. He saw Dosu coming and jumped up, catching himself on the wall he bounced to the middle of the arena, "Guess I'll have to use my new specialty from Ero-sennin." blue chakra swirled around Naruto's body, turning orange as it spun. Once the entire shroud was orange Naruto stretched both arms beside him, "Adamantine Chains: Chakra Sealing Whips!" he shouted. The orange chakra wrapped around Naruto's arms, going down to his hands and extending into thirty foot long whips. Naruto whipped Dosu, wrapping him up and throwing him across the stadium. The whips receded into Naruto, who was bent over panting, "Takes a lot outta me still."
Dosu stood up, orange burn marks all over his body. He ran through hand seals quickly, "Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!" he shouted, but nothing happened. "What happened to my chakra?" he glared daggers at Naruto.
"I kinda maybe sealed it away." the blond scratched his head while grinning, "Let's finish this!" Naruto quickly ran through hand seals, 'This is the most I can manage right now.' "Wind Style: Air Bullets!" Naruto shot six bullets of air from his mouth, each of them hitting Dosu and leaving shallow wounds in his chest. Dosu fell over, unconscious.
Hayate called a medical squad for both Naruto and Dosu.
"Next match, Kuai vs Sasuke!" Yahate announced. Kuai was an Iwa genin who wore a blue and black outfit. His black hair was slicked back and he had a scar on his right eye.
Sasuke grunted at his opponent, this wouldn't be hard.
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Sasuke ran at Kuai, "Lightning Style: Shocking Fists!" Sasuke's hands and feet were covered in electricity as he pummeled Kuai with taijutsu before jumping upwards, "Fire Style: Phoenix Talon!" Sasuke extended his left leg up in the air, it caught fire, which formed a large bird's talon. He raked it across Kuai and sent the teen flying back, bleeding profusely.
"Sasuke Uchiha wins his match!" Hayate said, calling yet another medic squad. They took Kuai as Sasuke was walking back to the balcony. "Next match will be Linkie vs Byatsuchi!"
Linkie was an older Konoha genin, about 16 years old. They belonged to an extinct clan that held a powerful Dojutsu named the Chaosgan. It was powerful dojutsu that allowed the wielder to teleport objects or people around them, though the range was small. With advanced users it even granted the ability to slow time around themselves. Linkie always kept the Chaosgan active, making their eyes pink with small galaxies swirling inside them.
Linkie themself wore a dark pink hoodie with black pants. He had black hair and two swords crossed on his back.
Byatsuchi was a lean teen from Iwa. He too was 16 but radiated the same aura as a veteran shinobi. He had a large spear on his back and wore a skin tight brown t-shirt along with red pants. His black hair was styled in a ponytail.
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Linkie unsheathed both their swords and ran at Byatsuchi. The Iwa genin flashed through hand seals and stomped on the ground, sending a huge boulder flying towards Linkie, who's eyes flashed as the boulder suddenly appeared behind Byatsuchi, who barely managed to dodge it in time. Linkie took advantage of Byatsuchi's disorientation and slashed him with both swords, leaving deep gashes in one of Byatsuchi's arms.
Byatsuchi spun his spear with his free arm, slamming the butt into Linkie's chest before spinnign it again and stabbing them through the left arm. "Earth Style: Stone Spear!" Byatsuchi shouted, the ground beneath Linkie became a large spear which impaled the genin's leg, causing them to cry out in pain.
Byatsuchi followed up by kicking Linkie in the face, which would have sent the genin flying had Byatsuchi removed his spear. As it was Linkie's leg was ripped open even more, causing them to begin tearing up.
"Chaosgan: Time Slow!" Linkie shouted. Time around them seemed to slow as they ripped the spear out of their leg and slashed at Byatsuchi, cutting the Iwa-genin's chest. "This is the end!" Linkie stabbed their swords forward.
"Earth Style: Stone Spear!" Byatsuchi said, twisting his foot. Linkie's Time Slow ended just before he stabbed Byatsuchi and Linkie himself ended up impaled by a spear of stone.
"That's a fantastic ability, if you were better at using it you would've won!" Byatsuchi spun his spear at Linkie's head but the genin managed to dodge.
"You're wrong, I have won!" Linkie shouted as their eyes flashed pink, "Chaosgan: Self Teleportation!" Linkie appeared behind Byatsuchi with both swords ready to stab the larger genin.
"I surrender." Byatsuchi said.
"Linkie Chaos has won!" Hayate announced, calling a medic squad for both genin and they were taken away.
"Next match, Kiba Inuzuka vs Gaara of the Sand." Kiba and Gaara both headed towards the arena, but Gaara stopped beside Sasuke.
"Sasuke Uchiha. You and Naruto will prove my existence in the finals." Gaara whispered before walking down the stairs and facing off against Kiba and Akamaru. "You should send the dog away before I kill it."
"Like you could touch Akamaru!" Kiba taunted, "I'll even let you move first!"
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Gaara raised a hand, causing a claw of sand to form underneath Kiba and squeeze his legs.
"What a foolish move." Gaara said as the sand squeezed down on Kiba's legs, nearly liquifying them, "Now you won't be able to walk anymore."
Naruto was walking back onto the balcony just at this second and glared at Gaara, "GAARA!" he screamed, about to jump down but Ino grabbed him first.
"Naruto..." Ino said, looking him in the eyes. They were filled with rage. "Kiba knew what he was getting in to. I'm sure he'll make a recovery."
Naruto held his head down, "Neji, Gaara, I promise I'll pummel both of you!"
"Me too!" Choji shouted, "Treating our friends like that!"
Shino was literally vibrating from the buzzing of his insects. He glared at Gaara as the Suna-nin as he walked up the stairs. Gaara ignored him and looked to Naruto.
"Namikaze..." the red head said, "I will allow mother to drink your blood as well."
Hayate cleared his throat, "Next match will be Misumi and Kurotsuchi." one of Kabuto's teammates, the one with glasses, walked down to the arena as well as the black haired Iwa-nin that was one of the five candidates for winning the tournament.
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"Corrosion Style: Quicklime Jutsu!" Kurotsuchi shouted, releasing a glob of gray-ish liquid from her mouth in the shape of a ball. Misumi tried to dodge it but wasn't quick enough and it caught his foot. The liquid quickly hardened into an extremely strong cement-like substance.
Misumi just smirked and jumped back as Kurotsuchi charged at him. His leg stretched nearly a meter before he stopped, taking the chance to wrap around Kurotsuchi and draw a kunai to her throat.
"I caught you!" Kurotsuchi shouted from across the arena, where she rose out of the ground, "Dispel!" the Kurotsuchi in Misumi's grasp turned into the same cement-like substance, trapping Misumi. Kurotsuchi walked up and placed an explosive tag on it, "You shouldn't have relied on that skill in the forest if you were gonna try and use it as a trump card in the tournament." she shook her head, "Anyways, give up or I'll blow you to smithereens."
Misumi tapped, "I give up, you win."
"Kurotsuchi has won this round!" Hayate announced, "Next match will be Nyxx vs Choji Akimichi!" Choji closed up his chips and walked down onto the arena floor. Nyxx, a Suna genin wearing a golden scarf and red shirt, also walked down.
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Choji cocked a fist that grew three times larger as Nyxx ran at him. "Partial Expansion Jutsu!" the Akimichi shouted.
Just as Nyxx reached him the Suna-nin jumped upwards, "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Nyxx exhaled twelve small fireballs that peppered Choji, who was left with minor burns. The Akimichi swung his large arm upwards, smashing the airborne Nyxx with enough force to send him into the far wall.
"Expansion Jutsu!" Choji's entire body grew to five times its regular size, "Human Boulder!" he tucked in his arms and legs as chakra poured out like a jet engine, Choji rolled at Nyxx, smashing the genin even deeper into the wall. He bounced away and rolled back for another blow. "This should finish it!"
"Fire Style: Phoenix Talon!" Nyxx shouted, pushing himself off the wall and igniting his left foot, kicking Choji as hard as he could. "Fire Style: Phoenix Wing!" Nyxx's arms caught flames -which were shaped as large wings- and he slashed Choji with them, sending the Akimichi flying. As he hit the ground Choji shrunk to normal size.
"Well fatty I will say you're pretty strong." Nyxx said, "Can you keep going though?"
Choji stood up, rage filling his eyes, "Of course I can." chakra exploded off of the Akimichi heir as he rushed at Nyxx, "AND DON'T CALL ME FAAAAT!" Choji exploded with rage, both his arms exploding in size and covered in stones, "STONE TANK SMASH!" Choji shouted as he slammed into Nyxx with both hands, sending the scarf wearing ninja away.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Fireball Jutsu!" Nyxx shouted as he flew back, expelling flame from his mouth. The flames took the shape of a phoenix and flew at Choji, burning the preteen and leaving him unconscious.
"Nyxx is the winner of this round!" Hayate said hesitantly, he called a medic squad for Choji and they took him away.
"Choji..." Shikamaru glared at Nyxx, "Those Suna-nin are no joke." he said.
"Ya... I can't believe how strong they are. Or how ruthless." Naruto said, red chakra seemed to swirl around him until Ino put her hand on his shoulder. He looked to her and apologized.
"Next match will be Ino Yamanaka against Kimi!" Hayate announced. Ino went down to the arena. Her opponent was one of Linkie's teammates. The girl had short brown hair that went down to her shoulders with brown eyes. She wore a blue short sleeved shirt with mesh underneath along with a pair of brown pants.
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Kimi immediately ran at Ino, scalpels of chakra appearing on her hands.
"Chakra scalpels eh?" Ino asked as she danced through slashes, "Dust Spray Jutsu!" Ino shouted as she jumped away from a particularly wide slash. Ino coughed up a plume of dust.
"Hiding won't do you any good!" Kimi shouted, running right in the direction Ino was moments before, slashing the Yamanaka heiress with her scalpels, but she didn't feel any resistance as she cut the girl in two.
"Astral Clone!" Ino shouted from behind Kimi, kicking the older girl in the back and hopping back into the obscure dust. "A hidden Jutsu -or hijutsu- of my clan. It's only visible to those who I chose, and while it can't touch anyone it's a great distraction and infiltration jutsu." Ino explained, once again kicking Kimi in the back and hopping away.
Kimi closed her eyes and listened to try and figure out where Ino was. She spun around and slashed, cutting another Astral Clone in half, "Dammit come out and fight!" Kimi shouted.
"Nuh-uh!" Ino teased, throwing a kunai at Kimi's feet. As she threw the kunai Ino layered a genjutsu over Kimi, who didn't notice due to the kunai nearly impaling her pinkie toe.
"Stone Pillar Jutsu!" Kimi shouted, creating a tall pillar of stone that overlooked the battlefield. "Can't hide from me now!" she shouted. She looked around and saw Ino running up the pillar, "That won't work! Landslide Jutsu!" Kimi made two quick hand seals and slapped the pillar, causing a chunk of it to fall off on every side. The rubble hit Ino and sent her crashing into the ground, "Ha take that!" Kimi jumped off the pillar and slapped it, "Stone Arrow Jutsu!" the entire pillar shattered and every piece flew at Ino.
"Earth Style: Stone Shell!" Ino slammed her hands down, creating a dome around herself that took the attack.
"I don't like using Fire Style to attack, but I don't see another choice, Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Kimi shouted, unleashing a ball of fire that engulfed Ino's shell, melting it.
"I can also make the Astral Clone able to take a hit or two without dispelling." Ino said, stepping out of the ground, "It really is an amazing ability."
"WHOO! GO INO!" Naruto shouted from the balcony.
Ino smiled at him, "I'll end this with one more move." Ino put her hands into the Yamanaka seal and concentrated, chakra poured off of her. The chakra formed into butterflies and flew around Kimi.
"What's this?" Kimi found herself unable to move as the purple butterflies landed on and around her.
"Release." Ino opened her eyes and the chakra stopped flowing from her. Kimi noticed that the butterflies were gone, replaced with nearly a hundred explosive tags, "Now, give up or I'll detonate them."
Kimi gulped, "I... I give up." she said.
"Ino Yamanaka is the winner of the 8th match!" Hayate announced.
"That was awesome Ino!" Naruto shouted.
"That was a good match Ino." Shikamaru said.
"That was an impressive genjutsu Ino." Sakura said, "Not better than mine though."
"You think I'd bring out my best in the qualifiers?" Ino asked while fake smiling as she and Sakura butted heads.
And that's where I'll leave it for now. Man this chapter was fun to write. Now I have some thank yous due for the OCs so here goes.
For Kuai I'd like to thank u/piuwaihin on reddit, as well as for his two teammates who'll appear next chapter. For Linkie I'd like to thank Linkiepie2214 and for Kimi I'd like to thank my girlfriend, who won't be reading this but thought I'd throw it out there too. Nyxx and his teammates were all made by me. Hope you all liked the chapter! Don't forget about the poll! It'll only be up until the day after I publish the next chapter.
End chapter 12