Red Riot - Chapter 34 - Red Conflict (Patreon)

Matsu Uzumaki:- person of high interest to other Shinobi Villages. Recently promoted Jonin. Medical/Taijutsu/Ninjutsu/Sensory specialty (Not that other villages know about two of these!) MC of the story!

Gengetsu Hozuki:- The second Mizukage and trickster Lord of Kirigakure. Master of Illusions and torment 

Sayuki:- Second in command of the Civilian Nin when Matsu isn’t around. Takes it seriously.

Kitoma Kaguya:- a Genin that was in Matsu’s graduating class. Matsu fought him for the ability to order the other around once with a brawl before the final grduaiton. Still seeks Matsu out to spar with him.

Idate Hozuki - student of Matsu. Hozuki clansman. Genin. 

Kuroiwa Karatachi - student of Matsu. Karatachi clanswoman. Genin. Capitalist!

Midori Terumi - student of Matsu. Terumi clanswoman. Genin. Straightforward thinking lass with good intentions for most people!

Han:- orphan student of Matsu that is raised by his uncle. Civilian-born shinobi. Genin

Kenta Nogawa/Sharkbait:- Genin that trained with Matsu, skilled combatant, expert bait for sharks. Trains with Kaguya and has become seriously dedicated about growing stronger. 

Minato Namikaze:- Genin of Konoha, applicant at the Hot Springs Chunin Exams.

Jiraiya:- the Toad Sannin. Known as a super pervert. Jonin of Konoha. Sensei to Minato and two others. 

Tsume Inuzuka:- Genin of Konoha, applicant at the Hot Springs Chunin Exams.

Akuma Sarutobi:-  Son of the Hokage. Genin hopeful of Konoha. Seen as the most likely to be the next Hokage according to some rumours.

Kori Yuki - The Clan head of the Yuki Clan. Former Bodyguard to the first Mizukage. Future Third Mizukage?

                                                               __________________


To get into the backroom where various discussions of actual importance occur, you have to have some skin in the game. 

I’d heard the phrase mentioned quite a bit in my previous life but the chances of using it were vanishingly small. 

I’d come to appreciate quite a bit more since becoming a shinobi.

It probably helped that I could find ways to get myself included in discussions, even if it was just an observer. Being able to track the plots made for a world of difference, and sometimes offering up a compromise or ‘idea’ could tip the scales in your favour.

It was all about patience and presentation. 

Something that some representatives didn’t appear to have. 

“We should expel the Kiri shinobi! They were cheating! That is abundantly clear!” barked the Konoha representative. 

Interestingly, it wasn’t Jiraiya but a pair of men with rigid faces and expressions that seemed locked into default as dour with a hint of disdain. 

One was obviously a Hyuga shinobi, while the other wore a half mask in the style of Kakashi but it certainly wasn’t a Hatake. It was only an idle comment from Ei from Kumo that I registered that they were an elderly Sarutobi clansman.

Both of them had streaks of white in their hair, which made everyone step a little more warily around them due to their age. 

Old nin only get to be old by being very good after all.

I watched the Hyuga as he growled and made demands like any good ‘Karen’ would at your average Starbucks. 

Playing the role of hapless clerk who wondered where he’d gone wrong in his life choices, the Yugakage could only smile and nod like a bobblehead doll. 

Sadly for the Yugakage, he couldn’t scurry off and pass the buck to a manager as he was the highest-ranked official in the Village Hidden in the Steam. 

So he had to sit there and grit his teeth while others watched on.

I noted that while the Hyuga ahd adopted the role of Karen in this sad comedy act, the elderly Sarutobi was filling the role of apologetic husband with how he made consoling gestures. 

I was almost waiting for the other man to step in and offer an apology that was worthless while extending a compromise that ‘made most of the issues go away’. In this case, the issues mainly being ‘Karen’ aka the Hyuga elder.

“It seems that the Hidden in the Mist shinobi have been given favours beyond that of other villages! You’ve made yourselves laughingstocks!” growled the Hyuga. 

Around the room, the other representatives in our tentative alliance watched on. 

Mostly in amusement. 

Ei from Kumo seemed to enjoy watching the Konoha reps wailing about the results. I suspected it was because we’d upstaged Konoha with our display of teamwork.

The Kiri Jonin who had been assigned to run point on discussions with the Yugakage lounged on a chair that she had claimed upon our entrance. 

I’d only met her a day before the exams began, but she’d made a point of seeking me out for this meeting.

Suzume Hozuki was a rather sly woman was my takeaway from the brief conversation we’d had. 

When I made it clear I had no desire to get in her way with negotiations, she’d looked me up and down and ‘invited’ me along. 

Apparently, she wanted to keep me close so I couldn’t cause too much extra drama. Success with ones students seemed to have consequences like getting dragged into meetings. 

Who’d have thought?

If I happened to strengthen that impression with how I’d healed up a certain Exam proctor after observing his beating and then had most of the civilian shinobi gang up to pass the second exam, well I could only nod and agree with her instincts that drama did seem to cling to me.

She’d merely grown more amused with me and told me to attend her for the upcoming meeting. I got the impression she was trying to imitate Gengetsu.

Sadly, she wasn’t in the same league as Gengetsu when it came to having a subtle dread radiating off you. She obviously had skills if she’d reached the rank of Jonin, but she was a poor imitation of the true shadow of Kirigakure.

Suzume twirled a kunai idly as she watched the Konoha rep with mirth in her eyes. 

Ei grunted, not quite in agreement but also not in denial of the facts. 

Thanks to the civilian shinobi, Kiri now had seventy-two shinobi through to the finals, with almost no teams dropping out in the second round. 

Of the teams that failed to make it through, two ran into a Uchiha team, and another charged into a five-way brawl that broke out between Konoha, Kumo, Key, Rain, and Iwa. 

The only victors of that fight had been Iwa who’d escaped with the other scrolls but I knew after the Chunin exams there was going to be a bounty on a few of those Genin’s heads due to how they’d slain two Konoha nin, two Kumo nin along with a Key and a Kiri shinobi. 

There were going to be a lot of people looking to claim their bounties going forward.

It was probably worse for the Iwa nin because they’d killed an Aburame, which I suspected resulted in the release of specific scent markers. 

The Aburame in attendance would be paying special interest in those shinobi. 

Then again they might just let it go. 

Somehow, I doubted that especially considering how the Iwa nin were practically crowing it from the rooftops in the waiting area for those who’d already passed the second exam. 

“Are you done?” declared the Suzumi with an amused drawl. “I’m tired of hearing about how pathetically your own shinobi did.”

“That is not what was said at all!” growled the Hyuga.

“Ho? Well, I’m surprised. You should be. Anyone with ears to listen or eyes to see would know that we did better. That’s what you’re complaining about after all. So the issue is one of skill. Our shinobi did better and you wish to punish them,” Suzume summarised eloquently.

I noticed the specific dig about eyes and apparently so did the Hyuga as he tensed up slightly before forcing himself to relax. 

The Yugakage, if anything tried to draw himself back into his chair so that he was out of the firing line should anyone start actually fighting.

I doubted anything like that would happen. Too many witnesses and too many dubious alliances were at stake. 

When I hadn’t been speaking with various nobility, I’d been sitting in my room meditating over the last few days.

Or at least that’s what it might have looked like to others observing my movements.

In truth, I’d been pushing my Mind’s Eye of the Kaguya as far as I could, tracking various chakra signatures with as much accuracy as I could manage. 

It was rather interesting seeing who was talking with whom or leaving dead-drop information for each other. While it wasn’t immediately obvious I was able to walk past several dead drop sites to work out what was going on with the various parties interacting with each other.

I had no idea what they were saying in their messages but I knew which parties were trading information.

So while I couldn’t follow all the plays, I had a good idea.

Plots within plots were underway and too many people wanted the chunin exams to continue. 

Which meant that no one could fight, not yet anyway.

Those in the know were all holding their breath and setting the stage for the real show that was sure to occur. 

Amusingly, all this juicy intel was merely a side quest for me. 

I had come into the Chunin exams with another objective beyond advancing my students as far as I could.

With so many shinobi around, there would be a good chance that someone would use the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

That Jutsu, in the right hands, was seriously broken and it was the one jutsu that I desired the most. 

With that jutsu, doors would open on a level I couldn’t even fathom.

I wouldn’t be able to spam out shadow clones like Naruto did with there being hundreds of him running around, but I wasn’t going to say no to halving or cutting training time for various jutsu or elemental affinities down to percentages of what it should take me.

It would also allow me to have access to Naruto’s workaround for abilities like the Rasenshuriken, The Big Rasengan, or even Sage Mode where he deliberately stored Natural energy within a clone.

The Shadow Clone jutsu was easily the best fruit to pluck as it would accelerate many of my capabilities while also offering me potential safety nets. 

So, I ended up sitting in my room and watching the various parties play around, keeping most of my focus on the Konoha shinobi for any that might suddenly appear twice.

I doubted many would be able to do it, though, but the possibility of picking it up now was too good to let slip through my fingers.

After the forty civilian-born shinobi had passed, I had been allowed access to my team to debrief them. In truth, I sat down with everyone and listened as they regaled me with stories of them flattening entire groups of shinobi while the smart ones all fled. 

Thankfully, I didn’t have to send out a signal about any potential Gaara-like situations being detected in the first exam with a young Jinchuriki or someone truly dangerous to the group, so the method was viable.

If someone like Gaara had been running around… well, we’d discussed other plans for progressing through the second exam; it was just that none of them were as stylish.

And while it was typically a bad idea to go for style over substance, with the nobles watching on, substantial interest in Kiri and what we were doing had been generated thanks to the massive number of shinobi that had been announced as passing the second round. 

I could see how things were going to play out with us needing to restrict our numbers for the sake of keeping things balanced. 

That would be what they said but to the discerning noble the kernel of knowledge about our shinobi being on average better had already been sown in their minds. 

You could limit the damage by not letting as many make it through to the third round and in a roam Chunin exams where other richer nobles didn’t arrive until the last matches that might work.

 But with the way these exams were set up, there was already gossip spreading around about a ‘tidal generation’ that had risen higher than any previous generations of shinobi.

It was a very good look and I was getting nods of appreciation from my fellow Kiri shinobi as much as I was recieving wary looks of concerned calculation. 

“—the answer is simple. We perform a preliminary round,” Suzume declared with a dismissive wave of her hand. 

“We’d need assurance,” said the Sarutobi representative firmly. 

“So we assign the matches in advance.” Suzume sniffed derisively. “It’s not like the nobles will want to watch too much of the same thing in the third exam, after all. Let the sharks feast and the strong survive,” she said.

Ei leaned forward and laced his fingers together, finally ready to weigh in on the conversation. “There would need to be more than a single round of matches,” he gave the Yugakage a pointed look. “You can only allow at most sixty-four shinobi through.” 

“That’s still thirty-two matches in the third round! The nobles will tire and get bored,” the Hyuga shot back with a derisive snort. 

I held back my smirk as Suzume had an idea. “Oh! But not if we were to run it as a multiple best-of-four battle now would it? Have the first round as a show of skill. No shinobi from the same village. Four enter, only one advances,” she said with a pleased smirk. “That would cause all the bets to be much tighter and the nobles would be more… entertained,” she said.

The Konoha nin bristled and Suzume grinned. “Or perhaps we add the spice earlier? Hmmm? Four shinobi enter and only one leaves for the preliminaries?” she said. 

Ei snorted loudly. “You’d have the advantage with the potential for your shinobi to gang up on others.”

Hmmm, so this was one of the things that had been discussed in the lead-up to today’s talk. I’d seen three shinobi slipping back and forth between Kiri and Kumo. This must have been one of the topics of conversation.

Suzume gave him a sly smile. “What’s the matter? Don’t think your genin could handle a fight that’s not in your favour?” she teased. 

Suzume let her head loll around. “What about you hmmm? A Hyuga can’t beat the odds?” she baited. 

I had to give it to her. If I hadn’t suspected a deal had already been made, I wouldn’t have caught her gambit for what it was. She’d presented her true goal first, only to then use an obscene request to make it seem more palatable to those not interested in it.

The Hyuga man bristled only for the Sarutobi elder to hold his hand out and shake his head with a bemused smile.

Suzume glanced at the Yugakage and winked like she’d done something clever, which she had it was just that only a few people were read into the full play.

I considered the new state of affairs.

With this, there should only be sixteen shinobi at most from each Village advancing to the next round to make it “fair”. 

Fairness in events like this was an illusion, however, and would no doubt be… well, not pre-determined as upsets could still occur, but they would certainly be influenced by backroom deals such as this. 

I had my eyes on a few notable shinobi, but watching the preliminaries would undoubtedly reveal more that I would need to be aware of.

The Yugakage wrote something down on a scroll and frowned at it. “By that metric, we will need to run at least three to four rounds of preliminaries to shorten the field to our needs. Are there any that we should… give special consideration to?” 

His tongue darted out in a show of nerves. “We could extend advancement to the third exams to them alone,” he asked.

Everyone in the room began assessing those around them. 

The unspoken question of ‘was there someone special in their genin’ was deeply pondered over by all.

On paper there wasn’t but if someone suggested one shinobi to be ‘waved through’ then it would draw a lot of scrutiny from the other parties. 

Suzume shook her head. “No, we’re happy to prove who our strongest are,” she simpered while giving the Hyuga pointed looks through her eyelashes. 

In another setting, you could mistake them for bedroom eyes, but on a kunoichi, it was more likely she was daring him to speak up.

The Sarutobi nin instead shook his head, followed by Ei, who paused for a lengthy time like he was thinking it over.

The Yugakage’s expression flickered for barely a moment, but it was long enough for me to spot. 

Ah, he hadn’t been gifting us advancement, he’d been hoping to advance one of his Village’s Genin to the finals. With this setup and only two teams, he would have to limit only one or two shinobie at most making it through. 

I toyed with the idea of approaching him and guaranteeing certain matchups if he made them up, but I decided against it. The Yugakage had guards around him and lots of watchers from all the Villages to make sure he didn’t do anything foolish.

It was a shame he hadn’t introduced a secretary or a second who could act as an intermediary for him. The importance of having even a secretary that people would overlook in a meeting such as this was becoming abundantly clear to me.

Match ups began to be discussed and I had to sit back and observe as various genin that had trained with me were judged and pitched against other stronger opponents to help the odds. 

I watched on silently committing everything that was said and not said to memory. 

The fact that there were two more Aburame within the chunin exams who were pointedly being set well away from the Iwa nin that had killed their fellow clansmen stood out to me as one point of significance. 

Everyone in the room gave each other pointed looks as the somewhat flimsy march through the preliminaries was set up for the Iwa nin.

One of the Iwa nin only had to fight their way through a Star genin, and then what would most likely be a Waterfall shinobi, before beating a Kiri nin who was guaranteed to be one of the civilians. 

Depending on how other matches played out, pressure might be applied to that shinobi to let the Iwa nin through.   

There were many people who wanted to get Gengetsu and Mu in the same room to watch the fireworks. 

Minato, interestingly enough from the subtext that I could pick up from the set up of the exams, did not have the prestige of being the ‘top seed’ from Konoha. He got slated two easy matches before being tapped to fight what I expected to be a Kaguya. Who specifically would depend on a few factors but one name did cause me to linger on the match up. 

The honour of Konoha’s ‘top seed’ went instead to a young Akuma Sarutobi whose name caused the Kumo nin and Suzume to pause and give the elder Sarutobi a pointed look. 

Ei spoke up first. “The eldest son of the God of Shinobi eh?” he rumbled. 

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Let him cut the chaff from your Konoha squads and feed him some fish at the end,” Ei said dismissively. 

Suzume bristled at this and had put up some arguments only to jockey it so that, once again, it would be a civilian shinobi. I marked it down of note because Sharkbait was the one I felt most likely to emerge from that group to face him. 

Minato was almost an afterthought with his main point of consideration being a brief. “Student of one of the Sannin, eh?” Suzume had teased. 

Through this and more, I held my tongue and watched, as a question that had occurred to me earlier in the day began to grow heavier in my mind. 

I couldn’t ask it now. It wasn’t the time or place.

When the breakdown of the matchups was determined, each group rose and moved out of the room with brief nods of acknowledgement to the other. I fell into position behind Suzume, ignoring the looks of interest I got along with the hostile glare I received from the Hyuga Elder.

I’d noted that he hadn’t worn a band over his forehead, which meant he was Main branch. I memorised his chakra signature along with the others as I held in the urge to flip him off. 

Suzume might have appreciated it, but I wanted to be seen as a professional, so I stayed my hand.

Suzume pointedly didn’t dismiss me as we wandered back to the district we’d claimed for ourselves and that of the nobles from the Land of Water.

When we reached the border, Suzume deigned to glance back at me. “Suppose you’re wondering why I called for you to escort me when there are others that would have made more sense?”

“It occurred to me,” I replied blandly, inwardly noting a chakra signature that was growing familiar to me, sneaking up to the border before vanishing which caused me to frown. Another ANBU from another nation slipping in? As we got closer to the inn I sent a signal about the potential infiltrator to the masked ANBU only for them to seemingly not respond.

“If it occurred to you, why not speak up?” Suzume prodded.

“I wasn’t expecting an answer from you if I asked,” I replied, most of my attention seeking out the chakra signature that had vanished. I still suspected it was mostly due to the Civilian groups success but now I had a niggling doubt. I was being given a lot of information from attending that meeting. 

What else was going on? I was missing something.

Suzume hummed. “Well you’re not as much fun as I thought you’d be but then again,” her eyes flickered down towards my Jonin vest and she inclined her head with a twinge of respect. “There’s someone else who is looking to talk to you before you link up with your… class of students,” she said with a smirk.

I held in a grimace. 

“So, you had me there to what? Sit through the talks about who’d get to face off against some of my friends?” I asked locking eyes with her.

“Oh, don’t be hurt about it. Would you rather not know what’s coming your way?” she cooed at me.

I narrowed my eyes slightly. “Hmmm,” I said, breaking the deadlock. “I suppose I should be thanking you instead. Is that it?”

Suzume’s lips did a funny spasm, and it was only through the many, many games I’d played in the Okiya with the Ladies that I realised she was conflicted over something.

Eventually, she sighed and waved me towards a room with a single chakra signature within. “I wasn’t the one who wanted you to attend that meeting,” she declared right before she slid the door open.

Within the room, a man lazily sat on a chair that overlooked—

I pulsed my chakra hard and the landscape of flowers and long stretching gardens vanished. The flickering form of the Madam who once ran the Okiya I lived in vanished with it. 

It was instantly replaced by the inn's internal structure and a view of the street that Suzume and I had just walked down.

I stilled my chakra, forcing it to a harsh halt, which caused the world to shift and my head to swim for a moment.

Then the world resolved itself and Gengetsu Hozuki was revealed to me, smiling like a proud parent. 

He offered a slow, mocking clap. 

“A good showing Matsu. It could have been faster, however,” he said magnanimously. 

I nodded and dropped into a kneeling position, only to spot that Suzume had vanished. I began snapping my chakra from side to side in more and more unnatural positions to force things into a semblance of rightness, only for Suzume not to reappear. 

“Was she an illusion?” I asked. The thought that he’d been able to cast such on me without my notice was terrifying but perhaps only because I’d assumed myself safe for at least a few more days in the Village hiding in the Steam.

Gengetsu had certainly disproven that.

Gengetsu smiled at me. 

“Hmmm, was Suzume an illusion?” Gengetsu’s fingers tap at the table before him in a light staccato. 

“Now that’s a telling question, Matsu. Are you feeling alright? Is your sense of what’s real and what’s not slipping?” he asked with the same proud smile as something glinted within his eyes. 

I swallowed and replayed the situation in my mind. Annoyance was at the forefront. 

I shouldn’t have admitted uncertainty in front of Gengetsu. He loved to toy with people. I forced it from my mind and instead focused. 

The entire day’s series of events stretched out in my thoughts, and I frowned. 

Suzume had approached me during one of my scouting sessions where I’d secluded myself.

Gengetsu couldn’t have that good an idea of what I was doing. But he wanted me to attend the meeting. So that ruled out earlier in the day. I suspected he’d waited until after. 

So, when had he struck? 

I toyed around with what I’d been feeling and thought of the inconsistencies. The most telling moment of somehting shifting had been… 

“You did it while we were walking back down the street,” I announced. That had been what the chakra signature suddenly dropping off had been about. Gengetsu hadn’t known to include it. 

I was suddenly much more thankful for whoever that nosey little ninja was. 

If they came back tomorrow I might even intercept them and offer them a meal!

Gengetsu gave me a long searching look before applauding. “Excellent, excellent! It’s wonderful to see you’ve grown so wonderfully.” Gengetsu took a long moment to simply stare at me. 

“Matsu, I want you to know that I consider the mission I assigned you with your students to now be complete. You have achieved all the results I desired and more.” He laid out his hand on his chin and nodded thoughtfully. 

“The other nations have had to use significant pressure to even have anything approaching fairness,” Gengetsu said whimsically. 

Then he chuckled. 

It wasn’t a pleasant chuckle.

“They’ve overplayed their hand. The Nobles are aware of the successes of Kirigakure and while no one will tell the truth the wise and rich among them will take note. They understand the way this game is played,” Gengetsu said. 

He gestured at me with his whole hand. “You have done well Jonin Matsu.” 

The feeling of something wet flicking across my body, reminiscent of when I’d beheaded those Terumi men flashed through me, but a flutter of my coils caused the sensation to vanish. 

I bowed my head in acknowledgement and swallowed. “If you will allow it, I would like to do more. I believe that we—”

Gengetsu raised his hand, and I fell silent. “Matsu, I am about to offer you a reward, and you want to run off and help your little friends? Is that what you’re saying?”

“No,” I said firmly, knowing that he was toying with me but deciding to stride forward regardless. “I want to achieve more. Make Konoha and Kumo’s efforts to weaken us in the eyes of the Nobility fail like fire in front of a water jutsu.”

Gengetsu’s smile grew before he threw his head back and laughed. “Ahahahaha! Ah! This. This is why I like you, Matsu. You’re greedy and want more!” he said with a slightly crazed look.

He nodded. “Very well. I shall allow you to depart. But if you don’t achieve more, your reward will be like that fireball.” He gave me an oily smile. “Understand?”

I could only bob my head in response. “Of course, Lord Mizukage. It wouldn’t be suitable,” I said feeling a small twinge. He dismissively flicked his fingers and I turned, knowing that he had to have something else to say.

After all, he always had to have the last word or the last act. It was who he was.

“Matsu? Just so you know. If you’re too successful, there are going to be a lot of disappointed people. Make sure the Iwa nin are let through,” he reminded me. 

I nodded once more and departed. Everyone I knew was hell-bent on that fight occurring. I wasn’t going to stand in the way of it. That would be like a minnow trying to outswim a shark.

Doomed from the start.

I made my way back to the holding area where they had assembled for the various Genin about to fight each other. I couldn’t go too quickly as that would invite scrutiny, but a nice unhurried leap from rooftop to rooftop in the neutral area was more than acceptable, accompanied by the occasional Shunshin.

When I arrived a trio of Chunin inspected me. “Here to confer with your students?” they asked lazily. 

I grunted in response and was waved through but not before hearing the mutterings of one of the men. “The Big Villages sure like promoting them young don’t they?”

“It’s all a game to them. Kid is probably not even that strong but they have to create hype around themselves,” responded another.

I held back a smile. In a sense, they weren’t wrong, but it was rather humorous to hear such from shinobi such as them. I suspected any of my friends or students could have torn through them in a heartbeat.

The warehouse that had been created for this showing was much like that within the confines of the village.

Large, open, and with more than enough space to move. 

Unlike the warehouse in the village there was not just one level of walkways and railings but a staggered approach with small benches that would allow the nobles to take the high ground as others sat and watched their fellows fight it out. 

I suspected this site would be refurbished by the time the true finals came around but otherwise, it would serve for now.

The Kiri contingent was a sizeable throng with more than a few kids strutting aorund with their heads held high due to the obvious discrepancy between their own group and everyone else.

Kiri had close to two-fifths of the Genin that had passed the second round. 

I strode forward and into the mass of Genin, parting them like a shark through a school of fish. Some of them nodded at me. Others lowered their gazes. 

A few shot me narrow-eyed glares where they thought I wouldn’t notice them. I made sure to slip a delayed genjutsu into their coils. 

In a few minutes they’d start hearing whispers about their performance from voices they couldn’t quite place.

A familiar Kaguya kunoichi stepped into my path. 

I locked eyes with Himeko and walked right into her, wrapping my arm around her, forcing her to walk with me. She tensed, her fist curling to sock me in the gut. 

“You’ve got a tough road out of the coming fights. You’re going to have to play it smart. Pretend at weakness and then devour the fourth person you face off against,” I informed her quietly even as she tried to punch through my iron-body jutsu. 

She stilled and shot me a surprised glance but I let her go and continued on my way. She’d need all of her strength if she was going to beat the Hyuga she was slated against.

That was of course if she made it through the other shinobi she was being used to ‘trim’.

I continued on my way, evaluating the various shinobi around me. I paused on one kid who was limping badly. 

“Sit, and let me heal that. Otherwise, you’re no good for Kiri,” I commanded, and before the kid could question it he was on the ground with my hand around his knee. 

“You tore a ligament,” I commented as I patched him up. “It’ll be a little tender and still twinge but you might be able to put up a fight. If you come up against another Kiri nin I’d suggest you work it out without fighting though.”

Without another word I stood and continued until I reached the civilian shinobi.

I jerked my head to the side when I caught sight of Sayuki. I looked her over and nodded at her. “Good work. Plan A is still there with a three parter cooming everyones’s way. Scenario C,” I said to her cryptically.

She fell in silently, returning my nod as she considered what I’d revealed. This was situtaiotn was still within the boundaries of what I’d presented to them so a quick announcement was all I really needed to get her read in. 

I paused in my walk when I stood before my students. 

“Sensei!” they chorused, their chests puffed out as they smiled at me.

I flicked my eyes up and down them slower than I had with others, documenting how they looked. None of them were injured and none appeared to be shaken up. Excellent. 

I crouched down, taking a knee before them. “Excellent work passing the first two exams. You’ve all done so well they’re having to invent new obstacles,” I said with a smirk.

The kids all chuckled at that before growing serious when I finished. 

“What sort of obstacles?” Midori asked quietly. 

I began sketching in the ground a tournament style format. “Consider what you know about the standard layout of the exams with the stated purpose and the actual purpose,” I stated. Taking the chance to lecture them and teach them to be better. I could have just fed them the information like I did Sayuki but I wanted them to work a little for it. 

In truth, I’d already given all of my genin the answers with the scrolls I’d handed out well in advance of the Chunin exams. They knew that a preliminary round of fighting was likely to occur.

Murmurs arose when people spotted that I wasn’t just drawing one or two brackets but instead drawing three to four. I cleared the dirt in an instant, knowing that more than likely the Hyuga watching on would have picked up on it if they cared to watch.

“If you end up being assigned to fight each other you’re going to need a method of advancing that sets you up in the most advantages possible. Fighting each round is not going to be advised,” I stated. 

Midori, Idate, and Kuroiwa all nodded along at the wisdom I was sharing.

Han’s lips twitched downwards, and I shot him a pointed look. “This is not the traditional method of advancing but you need to be thinking outside the box. Straight-up fights are not going to do you any favours.” I locked eyes with him hard. “This is not a sprint but an endurance race.”

That got him to relax and start thinking allowing me to settle back. 

I glanced around and spotted Sharkbait hovering nearby. “Sharbait, careful with your last round. You might be facing the strongest Genin in the competition,” I declared causing a stir to sweep through the kids. 

I had enough time to perform another sweep of the civilian kids and heal up any minor wounds. Amusingly Kuroiwa had already had a few runs at people to heal bruises she’d noticed but she demanded payment from them.   

“Hehehe,” I chuckled as I fixed up the injuries she couldn’t yet handle. “That’s my student.”

A few of the others shot me annoyed looks. “Can’t she give it to us for free?” asked one of the kids.

I shrugged. “Nah, this way you understand the value of it. She probably gave you a friend's discount as it was,” I said to help smooth feathers. “She would have charged three times as much to the others.”

That little lie was enough to get people to settle down just in time for a loud bell to toll. 

The ring sounded out over the area and caused everyone to fall silent. 

When everything fell silent, the Proctor stepped forward. “All right! Congratulations on passing the second exam!” he declared from atop a pillar of rock. 

Around the area, Jonin started causing large slopes to rise out of the ground. More than a few Genin stumbled and fell on their faces, while others held their nerve as the ground was reshaped under foot into a vaguely stadium shape. 

The central flat area served to draw everyone’s attention. 

Overhead Nobles began to trickle in with a murmur of voices as they observed who had and hadn’t made it through the last round. 

I could see several nobles looked rather smug. They’d been the ones who I’d convinced to bet big on my team to make it through this round. 

“Listen up Genin! The second round has been such a success that we’re going to have to perform an early preliminary! It has been determined that only sixty-four of you can advance and the field needs to be cut back!”

That caused a stir in the crowds of genin. My own team just nodded along. Everything was going as expected right now.

“Jonin sensei,” the proctor swept his gaze around, pausing at the typically taller figures in the crowd. “We ask that you return to the upper deck to observe. Any interference in the match will result in the forfeit of your student.”

I gave everyone a nod and clapped Idate on the shoulder with a wink due to his being the closest before shunshining upwards where I reappeared a moment later crouched over like some giant grey crow. I hopped down to the walkway and set myself up to watch the coming matches.

This time around, instead of me seeking out nobles, a few sought me out for advice on who to bet on. 

I held back a smile as the first ‘randomised’ match-up was created. 

I sighed and settled back as two Hyuga shinobi were paired up straight away. Around the room, various Konoha shinobi stiffened, which was an interesting reaction.

The Proctor didn’t bat an eye. Summoning up one Joshiro Hyuga to fight against Sumire Hyuga.

The nobles around me hummed. “I suppose you wouldn’t know which to bet on with them being—”

“Joshiro,” I replied blandly, barely giving the match-up a moment’s notice as I started tracking the other clusters of nobles that had formed up. I was drawing some attention due to how the nobles had come to me. That only seemed to be the case with a few other shinobi. 

Most notably, Jiraiya had an entire crowd around him, while Ei had drawn in a few of his own. The only others who had people vying for their attention were typically beautiful kunoichi. 

I doubted the Nobles wanted their advice on the matches as much as they did the kunoichi themselves.  

There were still some holdouts among the nobles who held their own courts, so to speak, but each of them was resplendent and couldn’t be seen approaching others. Instead, they had others do their bidding for them.

I nodded down at the match-up as the two Hyuga marched out. Joshiro had an arrogant sneer while Sumire looked half defeated already. 

The noble who’d started to ask the question earlier coughed delicately. “Well, I can see why you believe Joshiro might advance. He’s certainly more confident, isn’t he? The girl looks half-defeated already!”

“She’s subordinate to him. The Hyuga have two families, main and branch.” I tapped the headband around my forehead. “Main branch like showing off their status by not wearing their hitae-ate around their heads while the branch clan hide theirs,” I replied. 

I wasn’t about to reveal my knowledge of the caged bird seal as I didn’t want to draw more attention or give the impression that I was looking into it in any way. I did sharpen my chakra sensitivity though.

If Joshiro tried for it, I hoped I’d be able to refine my understanding of the punishment jutsu they used. 

You never knew when you were going to face a branch Hyuga after all and being able to drop them with a handseal was certainly something worth keeping in your back pocket. If I’d been more confident in it I could have used it a few months ago after all.

I got as comfortable as I could against the railing. 

It was sort of strange, but I was almost relieved to watch others engage in child abuse with this Chunin exam.

It sort of made me feel less shitty about everything I’d done in the past.

I snorted to myself. 

Welcome to the shinobi world, where everyone is horrible in their own way, and where everything has a fifty percent chance of blowing up on a good day.

Perhaps it was the morbidity of my thoughts that caused what came next.

Sumire Hyuga glanced up, and for a momen,t our eyes locked.

I could have blanked on her. She would have seen nothing but a mask of cold disinterest. I could have conjured up the image of a sneer or leer or something horrible.

But the thought stuck with me.

This girl was a child, and here we were watching on. 

I offered her a sad little smile and a nod. Then I clenched a fist in a tiny show of support.

And for just a moment, a flame grew within her stuttering, timid frame with a flicker of somehting more in her eyes.

She lifted her gaze and met Joshiro’s imperious gaze before shifting into a fighting pose with her palms facing him.

His nostrils flared as his eyes bulged. “You dare?!” he snarled.

I chuckled, spoken like a true young master… I paused and played that thought over again and again. Huh, there really was a lot of similarities between the Naruto world and Xianxia wasn’t there.

Some instinct in my mind itched, and I knew there was something worth investigating, but I put it on hold as Joshiro adopted a slightly different stance that looked like a more advanced.

The instant the Proctor swiped his hand down and shouted, “Begin!” Joshiro charged forward with his palm pulled back in anticipation of striking the girl down.

Sumire hesitated for half a moment, then stepped in and shot her own hand to intercept Joshiro’s.

Both exchanged blows with great sweeping arcs. Their limbs twisting and bent only to sweep around and strike once more.

Waves of chakra and wind poured off of them, and I watched on with a critical eye. The way their chakra moved was rather interesting.

Joshiro began to speed up rather than attempt anything more advanced than basic forms, and Sumire, to give her credit, tried to match him.

But she wasn’t as skilled, nor as strong or fast. 

She probably had him in balance and flexibility, but in this match that didn’t matter, as the first crack resulted in Sumire miss-timing a blow.

Joshiro batted Sumire’s arm wide, cracking her defence open only to slam twin hammer blows into her chest. A loud crack sounded out, and Sumire was launched across the arena only to land and slide to a stop.

She curled in on herself and coughed up a gout of blood. 

Then, she tried to stand only to falter. 

She slumped on the ground but twitched and tried to stand again. Her head turned, and her eyes seemed to wander about until once more, they found my own. 

A desperate need radiated out from this girl, and I had to wonder.

What was with this girl? 

Was she so devoid of support she looked for it anywhere and from anyone?

I made a small gesture for her to stay down. 

She smiled at me and coughed, only for that to apparently cause her more pain as she twitch and curled upwards. 

To another, it might have looked like she was trying to get up again.

Joshiro turned and sniffed, his hand flashing into a hand seal. “I’m done with her,” he announced as a pulse of chakra shot out and hammered into Sumire, causing her to clench her teeth and scream in pain before slumping to the ground when the chakra pulse vanished. 

The Proctor looked at Sumire blankly before raising a hand towards Joshiro. “Winner! Joshiro! Konoha! Get your Genin out of the ring so the next match can proceed!” 

I watched as a nondescript kunoichi dropped down, collected Sumire and vanished without a word. I sighed and pushed the strange, sad little Hyuga from my mind. 

If I had cared to look, I’d probably find ten stories like hers here today. 

I straightened up and set my stance just in time for a noble to pat me on the back. “Ha! Great prediction with that one! I won my bet! Let’s see if we can double it with the next!” he declared.

I shot him a pleased look. “I’ll try my best!” I said with a chipper tone. 

“Kuroiwa Karatachi of Kirigakure versus Shouta Metora of Kirigakure! Front and centre!” 

I made a show of grimacing. Of course, one of my students, along with one of the civilians, was going to come out to bat for Kiri first.

Kuroiwa marched out with Shouta following a moment later.

Kuroiwa grinned at him. “Hey you! Pay me ten thousand ryo, and I’ll forfeit for you!” she announced.

The entire stadium went silent at this, and I blinked before chuckling. Around me, the Nobles tittered. “Oh that one is funny!” said one noble.

I nodded. “Yeah, only the funny thing is she’s serious,” I said. Shouta denied her, and he settled into a fighting stance.

Kuroiwa shrugged. “Eh, I gave you a chance,” she declared before putting her hands into a snake seal. 

I hummed and smirked. “Bet on her, but quickly, she’s about to win this in three moves.” 

A noble sprinted off to do just that and my prediction turned into fact the moment the Proctor’s hand began to swing down.

Kuroiwa flexed her charka, and from in front of the Proctor a voice, much like his barked out. “And that’s match! Winner Kuroiwa!” declared the voice.

Shouta stiffened and spun to face the Proctor. “Eh? What gives I haven’t…” he trailed off as realisation struck and he twisted back around only for Kuroiwa to reappear from a full-speed shunshin with her leg raised like she was going to stomp a bug. 

Instead of stomping down, she transferred all of her forward momentum straight into Shouta’s face and sent him flying into a wall.

Shouta hit the wall with a heavy whap where he slid down to the ground. He twitched once before slumping as consciousness fled.

This time, the real Proctor spoke. “Winner! Kuroiwa Karatachi!” He shot her a glare. “Do not use my voice again to trick your opponents, young kunoichi, or I will fail you!” 

He glared around. “That goes for the rest of you as well!”

I snorted, knowing Kuroiwa had just gotten away with a great trick. 

I was still a bit depressed that I was going to have to watch child soldiers fight each other, but I had to admit, it was damn nice watching my students take the situation and absolutely abuse the hell out of it.

I was so proud of them. They’d become little rules bending gremlins. 

I settled in, knowing that not all matches would be over that quickly. 

[hr]/hr]

Han rolled his shoulders in preparation of the coming match only to stiffen when his opponent shot his hand into the air. “I forfeit!” declared the other civilian shinobi.

Han blinked. “What are you doing?” he hissed a moment later. 

The other kid shrugged. “You have better odds as Matsu’s direct student. I know I could make you work for it, but with how this preliminary is designed you need as much energy as you can manage. Also?” the kid looked up at where Matsu was standing. “Might not be such a bad thing to have the big boss looking favourably my way.”

And with a wink the kid sauntered out of the examination area without a backwards glance.

Han stomped back to the other Kiri shinobi a bit miffed that he’d missed out on a fight. Idate and even Kuroiwa had been given a fight!

It didn’t matter if they’d torn through their opponents, they’d at least gotten to show their stuff. Getting gifted it just felt wrong.

Idate shot him a flat look as Han drew close. “Are you really that annoyed that you didn’t get to fight? I think all the times you’ve fought with those Kaguya when sensei was watching over you has rubbed off on you.”

 “Just wanted to be taken seriously,” Han replied sullenly.

“You were being taken seriously.” Midori cut in. “It’s just that your reputation preceded you,” she said. 

Han eyed her for a moment. Midori had changed with the month of focussed training Sensei had put them through. They’d all been run through leadership scenarios and training exercises but step by step Midori had been the one to pull ahead of them in those lessons. 

She just seemed more intune with what needed to be done.

It wasn’t that she always had the best answer either, she just reacted faster which could be the biggest difference in an ambush or a fight.

“Midori Termui versus Nezu Mizune! Both of Kirig—” The Proctor started to announced. 

“I forfeit!” declared a girl from the side. 

Han huffed as Midori twitched. “Seems your reputation preceded you,” he teased.

Midori nodded, not saying anything else as she watched the next match get announced. The other kunoichi who’d forfeited nodded as she walked out and Midori gave her a little salute.

Han sighed as he watched another pair of Kiri shinobi be called to face each other. This time it was two Kaguya who gladly strode out to fight. One of them was Himeko Kaguya who often spared with Sensei or them when they were in the Village.

 “It’s a shame they’ve set us up as foils against each other in this round. We’re negating all the progress we made in the last exam,” muttered Han quietly.

“It’s obvious enough to some people up there,” Midori replied, nodding her head upwards where the nobles and the various Jonin were mingling.

Sensei had a small following of about five nobles that came and went occasionally. 

“Think it will mean anything?” Idate said. “They seem pretty determined to make us face only ourselves or those that they’re confident will beat us. I noticed the Uchiha have yet to be called up for example,” he said inclinging his head towards some dark haired genin in the Konoha group.

“They’re saving them. The Uchiha name is too well known,” Midori said watching the Kaguya fight. “This match is to whet the Nobles appetite. The Uchiha are more technical showy fighters unless they’re genjutsu specialists. Acccording to Sensei their pride will mean they fight each other regardless of if it is a good idea or not.”

She gave another pointed look at the platforms above.

Han grunted in annoyance. All this so a few nobles could spend more money, bet poorly, and images of strength could be preserved between nations. 

Han watched as Midori’s prediction played out with the Uchiha being used to whittle each other down. Due to the length of the match more and more money exchanged hands at the end even though the clear favourite never seemed to actually be under pressure. 

The matches continued and Han documented as much as he could about the various fighters, knowing that he might evnetually face the victors if he won through.

Han knew they’d reached the second round of the matches when Kuroiwa was called out once more. “—Karatachi of Kirigakure versus Nobunaga of Kumogakure!” 

Kuroiwa sniffed pointedly and strode out only to raise her hand at the shinobi across from her. “Pay me fifty thousand ryo and I will forfeit for you!” she declared. 

Han faceplamed. “I hate that I know that she’s actually serious about that.” 

Midori bobbed her head from side to side. “It’s not a terrible strategy depending on the situation. It’s good that she upped the amount she was asking for. She’s now asking for at least C rank Mission payout for her to take a dive. She lowers people’s perceptions of her skills as well which if they don’t pay might bite them.”

“Won’t people back home hate what she’s doing?” Han asked.

“They will until she reveals how skilled she is as a medic. If she keeps up like she’s been doing she’s going to be worth a lot more and won’t have to undertake any more Chunin exams. At the same time she is not wasting her time here by demanding money,” Midori replied.  

Idate scoffed. “That only matters if people know what she was doing and value it. Remember what Sensei said, some people are going to be stuck in their thought patterns and against her no matter what she does!” 

Han gave Idate an amused look. With the Karatachi being aligned with the Terumi clan it was kind of funny for Idate as a Hozuki clan member to be worrying over her. Idate sniffed and ignored Han’s look. 

“Change that look Han you don’t look smart you look like you’re constipated!” Idate snapped causing Han’s bemused to ignite into anger. Han grabbed Idate by the shirt. 

“What you say?” he growled. 

Idate grinned in response flashing his teeth only for Midori to sigh. “You’re missing the fight,” she reminded.

Han looked back only to find that the fight was pretty much over. 

Somehow Kuroiwa had dislocated Nobunaga’s arms and she ws sitting on his chest using them to slap him.

Before his face could swell up to much he shouted out that he would forfeit. Kuroiwa stepepd off him and made a show of rubbing her fingers at the rest of the thinning crowd. 

Kuroiwa then flounced back to their group and smiled winningly at them all. Han shifted. “Sooo, I might have missed what you did,” he said leadingly.

Kuroiwa huffed. “One hundred ryo for me to tell you what happened,” she declared earning a giggle from Midori. 

Han sighed and handed her a coin. If this was how she was now, Han really didn’t like to consider what would happen when she became an actual good medic. 

He was going to have to earn a lot of money if he ever planned on relying on her to patch him up.  

Kuroiwa gave Idate a pointed look and his teammate grumbled and matched Han’s payment to find out wha thad happened while they’d been distracted.

It turned out Kuroiwa had used a clone illusion to show herself simply standing there while she’d actually stepped back and shunshined into the air only to drop down on him while he was laughing at her. From there she’s used some medical ninjutsu to pop his arms out and beat him into the ground.

“That’s terrifying,” Han said once she was done. “You do understand that right?”

“Yup!” Kuroiwa replied. “I’m asking for four hundred thousand next round,” she said with a smirk.

Han raised a finger. “And who is going to have that sort of money?” 

Kuroiwa shrugged. “I’m playing the odds. Also it might be important for the third exam,” she said with a smirk “Imagine if I can get a million ryo,” she said dreamily. 

Midori snorted. “Well you’re certainly going to cause a stir at least and have a lot of people talking about you.” Midori gave Kuroiwa a one armed hug. “Good job.”

Han tilted his head and was about to question it before shaking his head and turned to watch the ongoing fights. Girls were confusing. 

Hopefully he’d get to beat some people up soon, that was at least pretty straightforward. 

                                                               __________________

Minato lamented the easy start he’d had to the elimination round as people were starting to call this preliminary. 

Things had started rather easily with his match-ups being against a much weaker Kumo shinobi and another from the Land of Keys. Tha twas the first warning sign. As his sensei’s teammate would have said, he should have expected his luck to turn. 

“Minato Namikaze of Konohagakure versus Kitoma Kaguya of Kirigakure!” announced the proctor. 

Minato grimaced. 

A Kaguya. 

One of the clans Jiraiya had gone out of his way to warn Minato about. They had a reputation as being challenging to fight because they wanted to fight so much.

He marched out quickly, only for the mass of bodies across from Konoha to shift and ripple as a broad-shouldered genin marched forward. 

Kitoma had brown hair on one side while on the opposite side a patch of red stood out. Blood had matted into the hair and created a gory declaration. 

It was from another Kiri applicant that had been too slow to forfeit the match during the first round. 

During the second round the Kiri kunoichi matched against him hadn’t even bothered stepping out merely calling out her desire to forfeit from the mass of Genin as she left.

Minato had to conclude that it had been a smart move on her part.

Kitoma was brutally fast and fast to be brutal. 

Minato drew in a breath and prepared himself, cycling hsi chakra in readiness for the fight to come. He had to emerge victorious here. 

“Begin!” shouted the Proctor, and Kitmo went on the offensive as Minato had expected he would. 

Bone spikes shot forward from Kitoma’s extended fingers, causing a wave of bone bullets that Minato hurled himself away from while flicking kunai and shuriken back at Kitoma. 

Kitmo didn’t even deign to dodge, merely growing a patch of bone over the areas where the projectiles would have struck.

Minato instantly adjusted and threw kunai with explosive tags wrapped around them, only for Kitmoa to weave around them and sprint forward to close for taijutsu.

Minato backpedalled and wove an illusion into Kitmoa to leave him swinging at shadows. 

Kitoma once again revealed an uncanny ability to adjust, but then again with Kirigakure being well known for their genjutsu users, it didn’t surprise Minato that even a brute like Kitoma had training in countering illusions. 

Kitoma dug a spike of bone into the ground and changed directions almost seamlessly. 

Minato had anticipated that, however, and a brace of explosions rocked into Kitoma and sent him back.

Minato kept up the pressure, flicking kunai after kunai into Kitoma with more and more explosions rocking the field.

He kept his senses peeled for any evasions or tricks, only to find none. 

After a solid twenty seconds of unleashing a wave of explosions at the Kaguya, Minato relaxedand  glanced at the Proctor, who was scowling into the smoke.

Minato shifted. Had he used too much force? Was he going to find himself looking at nothing but a smeared corpse?

He licked his lips and repressed any feelings that might emerge to ready himself for what might come next. 

Kitoma was revealed. Alive and breathing with a hate-filled glare locked onto Minato. 

All across his body huge discs of armour were raised up like a shield with enough of a gap for Kitoma to peer through.

Another two long hollow bone tubes extended out of Kitoma’s back, and Minato didn’t question the need to react as he raced through a series of handseals. 

Tiger, Horse, Boar, Ram, Rat, Snake! he thought as his hands blurred and the mane of blond hair he cared for grew furiously and wrapped itself around him, creating a blond shield of his own.

The idea to raise a shield proved to be a good one as a soft crack in the air was the only warning he had before an instant later a wave of bony senbons struck the arena around him puncturing the ground and leaving sharp points everywhere aorund him.

Minato, for his part, felt a few needles sink into him, and he grunted in pain as he adjusted the Needle Jizo that sensei had taught him to block the next wave of Bone Senbon Kitoma unleashed. 

Kitoma rose, large plates of bone falling off him while the two protrusions that launched the Senbon remained, meaning Minato couldn’t dodge what was coming.

Minato sighed. 

He really hadn’t wanted to reveal this trick so soon. 

He rubbed some blood from his back and raced through another set of handseals as Kitoma charged again, ignoring the bones in his path as they bent to allow him safe passage. 

Minato grimaced as Kitoma reached him, bone weapons drawn back to strike him down right as he finished his jutsu and slammed his palm into the ground.

Chakra smoke exploded from the ground as a large form emerged, and a hard clack sounded out over the battlefield. 

When the chakra smoke vanished Kitoma was revealed with his bones locked against another weapon. 

Instead of Minato wielding the weapon however it was revealed to be toad carrying a sasumata and shield. 

“Ah, Minato, I apolgise… I was almost late!” declared the large toad known as Gamaken.

“Ha! But you’re not actually late!” Minato said to his first major summon.” He patted the larger toad on the shoulder. “Think you can help me wrap this fight up?”

Gamaken’s gaze swivelled down to the growling Kitoma. “Apologies…,” he said before twisting his sasumata deftly and flicking it so Kitoma went slamming into a far wall. “... I used too much force,” Gamaken said as he finished his apology. 

Minato waited for the dust to settle before saying anything else. Thankfully, this time, Kitoma was revealed to be unconscious. 

“Thanks Gamaken, you pulled me out of the fire with that,” he said. 

“There is no need to apologise to this one… Also, I must apologise… I must depart!” he said as he puffed away. 

The Proctor snorted and raised a hand towards Minato. “Victor! Minato Namikaze!” he declared. 

The Konoha group all hooted and hollered at this while the Kiri contingent grumbled. Minato thought he had heard a few of them muttering about how Summons shouldn’t be allowed, only for others to scoff.

Minato returned to his side of the field, glad that he’d faced Kitoma last. If he’d fought Kitoma first and then anyone else? He didn’t think he’d have won through. 

He hoped that there wasn’t going to be a fourth round.

As Minato reached the Konoha lines a few of his fellow Genin made to clap him on the shoulders only to spot the senbon still sticking out of him. They instead nudged him towards were Tsume was sitting, wrapping bandages around those who approached her. 

Then again, Tsuame snarled at everyone. “Oh Minato? Thought it was a good idea to stand under a barrage of senbon did you?” 

Minato offered her a polite smile. “I’m surprised you’re doing this,” he said blandly as Tsume pulled out a set of tweezers and bandages for him. 

She grunted in response. “I need to keep supplies like this on hand for when my ninken gets injured. Some idiot in the first round knew that and approached me. Since then I’ve been stuck handling you numbnuts that get injured when I’m not fighting!” 

“We’re fortunate to have you,” Minato replied.

“Fuck off!” Tsume growled as she pulled the senbon out of him quickly. Minato held back a smile. While she was all bark she was actually rather careful with him.

Minato rolled his shoulders when she was done, testing his range of motion only to hiss.  

Tsume gave him a flat look. “Thought you were smart?” she said, only to wave a hand in disinterest as he made to explain himself. One of the remaining Nara Genin marched up to her with a nasty cut over his arm. 

“Fucking Kumo nin and their swords!” growled the shadow user.

A deep laugh had Minato looking over to find Akuma Sarutobi sitting nearby with a bo staff across his lap. “You just need to get better at handling them Shitaro! Pick up a weapon to handle them at close range or keep yourself at long range!” he said easily.

Minato coughed. “It’s usually a bit trickier than just that,” he told the boy that many were slating as the next Hokage.

It certainly helped that the kid was the firstborn of the current Hokage, but Minato wasn’t going to just let another take his dream.

He wasn’t sure what it was about Akuma, but he always struck Minato as… too polished. He suspected it was due to all the resources poured into him. Akuma was supposed to have had a perfect track record at the academy when it came to taijutsu sessions and an almost perfect score for every written exam. 

“Hmmm, like I said. Skill issue,” Akuma said with a grunt. In his lap a beautiful bo staff rested made of dark hashirama wood that would be devastating to anyone it struck. Etched along the surface were pictures of monkeys and the Sarutobi emblem. 

Behind Minato, another explosion rocked the field. 

“—winner Sakamoto from Kumogakure!” the Proctor announced with a hint of fatigue.

“Kuroiwa Karatachi of Kirigakure versus Junko Utatane of Konohagakure!” the Proctor announced. 

Akuma perked up. “Ah, my father’s advisor’s daughter,” he said with a certain tone that made Minato think he meant soemthing else. Like Junko was subordinate to him due to their relations positions. 

The young kunoichi both walked out, and the Karatachi girl, as she was becoming famous for opened her mouth to make a deal, only for Junko to pull out a thick stack of ryo. “I have one hundred thousand ryo here. Take it or leave it, final offer!” 

Everyone stared. 

Akuma laughed as the Kiri kunoichi considered the money before shrugging. “Deal! Jokes on you cause I was going to demand only ten thousand!” she said. “It’s not like I wanted to advance further!” she declared as she zipped over to snatch up the money before the match could even be called. 

She then bowed to the proctor and marched out the exit with a spring in her step, leaving behind a confused crowd.

“That… is a very strange kunoichi,” Tsume said having finished patching up the Nara. 

“Useful, you mean. If we encounter her in the field, we’ll be able to pay her off,” Akuma mused. 

Minato looked at the other boy with suspicion. He didn’t think it would be that easy, did he? 

“And now!” The Proctor perked up causing a wave of interest fro mthe watchers. “We will finish with a final match! Akuma Sarutobi from Konohagakure versus Kenta Nogawa from Kirigakure!” 

Akuma rose and winked. “Wish me luck,” he said as if this match was preordained to end only one way. 

Akuma strode out with all of the remaining Konoha Genin parting for him. Minato sighed and moved to the front to watch the last match.

Across from Akuma, ‘Kenta’ stepped forward with a dented metal pipe that looked like something someone had picked up from a junkyard. Parts of the pole were rusted and worn. 

The boy himself wasn’t much better with with a cheap outfit underneath his genin vest with an assortment of pouches located on his hips, back, and even upon his shin. 

“Huh, Akuma got the packrat,” muttered the Nara boy.

“Packrat?” Minato asked. 

“Kid uses a lot of explosive seals,” Tsume gruffed as she drew out a strip of beef jerky and tore off a chunk with her teeth. “That’s what used to be in his pouches along with a bunch of kunai. He kept everyone at a distance and bombed them out of the match. Don’t think that will work against Akuma though. The staff is also a poor decision.”

Minato could only nod. 

If there was a discipline that Akuma excelled at, it was bojutsu, but again, that was to be expected as the son of the Hokage. He would have been drip-fed such skills from birth.

Akuma and Kenta exchanged words, with Kenta jutting his chin. Akuma raised his staff at Kenta. “You even know how to use that… thing?”

For his part, Kenta took a moment to look Akuma over. “Funny, I was about to ask if you ever used yours or just twirled it around to look pretty.” 

Akuma just smirked. “Those are fighting words,” he said as he settled into a one-handed stance with the staff behind his neck with one hand forming a hand seal.

Minato narrowed his eyes. Single hand handseals? Why wasn’t he surprised? 

For his part Kenta merely sniffed and settled into a much less impressive stance with his staff tucked into his side while his other hand reached into a pouch. 

“Begin!” ordered the proctor for the last time. 

Akuma inhaled and disgorged a Giant Fireball as Kenta flicked explosive tags forward only to have to leap to the side when the fireball devoured the tags and rushed onwards.

Kenta twisted, flicking up his staff into a defensive position just before Akuma reappeared from a shunshin, slamming his staff down with a single arm. At the same time, he used the other to flick through single-handed seals once more.

A torrent of flame was unleashed only for Kenta to lay his pipe in his elbows as he tore through a series of handseals of his own.

The torrent of flame closed and for a moment Minato thought Kenta was about to be consumed when he surprised everyone by finishing his series of handseals. 

“Water Dragon Jutsu!” he roared as he spat a raging dragon of water straight into the on coming stream of fire.

The dragon roared as it consudmed the flame and for the first time in his life Minato watched as Akuma blanched and flashed through the replacement jutsu to use a piece of rubble to escape.

The water dragon slammed into a wall and exploded into a huge puddle of water that washed over the field. 

Akuma landed and paused to observe Kenta, reevaluating the threat before him.

For his part Kenta leaned heavily on his metal pole, sucking in lungfuls of air as he glared across at Akuma. 

Akuma vanished into yet another shunshin only for a pulse of chakra to explode off Kenta as he shook his head. 

Akuma had used genjutsu just then? Minato thought. 

He twisted, barely being able to get his pole into place only for Akuma to flick his wrist and send his bo staff slamming into Kenta’s ribs, driving the other genin back. 

Kenta hit the ground and coughed but rose up to his knees in time to block another strike. 

This time Akuma was already in motion however and his off hand blurred through handseals.

A moment later, small orbs of fire were blown almost gently out of Akuma’s mouth towards Kenta. 

Kenta used his position against akuma to push off and skate over the swatery surface to evade them. Akuma merely continued to exhale small fiery orbs that drifted towards Kenta.

Finding himself being closed in on Kenta grimaced and tested the orbs by flicking a kunai at them.

The orb exploded, sending a wave of fire at Kenta which he swatted at, coating his bo staff with water only for most of it to evaporate in the wave of fire.

Next to Minato, Tsume whistled. “Akuma’s getting serious if he’s using the firefly jutsu,” she murmured flicking her eyes to the side where the sole Uchiha was standing with his sharingan activated. 

Minato grimaced. This fight was proving to be a boon for the young Uchiha with the numerous jutsu used thus far. 

Kenta snarled but kept his hand clamped on the staff desptie steam wafting off it, indicating how hot it was to hold. Water once more surged up the pole to coat it.

Kenta had enough time swing his pole and send a slow moving water bullet towards Akuma.

Akuma dodged it almost contemptuously.

 Akuma closed the gap between them again but this time he did so with both hands around his staff.

This time each hit the two Genin exchanged with their staffs resulted in a notable bend developing in Kenta’s weapon.

“Lot of people assume metal is better than wood for staffs,” Akuma said with a smug smile. 

“Wood flexes allowing for less chance of it breaking,” Akuma lectured as he struck again, this time tearing through Kenta’s pole with a small shriek of metal.

The wooden staff continued on and hammered into Kenta’s shoulder, causing a crunch of bone that drew a wince of sympathy from Minato. 

And that, Minato concluded was—

“I can still fight!” snarled Kenta as he staggered backwards, one portion of the destroyed pole clattering to the ground. 

Kenta didn’t take his eyes off Akuma. “Don’t call it!” he snapped towards the Proctor.

The Proctor observed him cooly before inclining his head. “The fight continues!” he announced.

Overhead, more than a few nobles who’d been just about ready to leave paused and looked down, surprised by this delay. A few grumbled, but some leaned closer, watching more carefully. 

Kenta huffed and puffed and raised his left arm, the half-shorn piece of metal raising unevenly. “Fuck your wood fetish leaf boy. Metal’s the way to go!” he said through clenched teeth.

Akuma huffed and shook his head. “Should have stayed down kid,” he said as he launched forward and into an overhead strike. 

Rather than attempt to divert it or evade. Kenta shifted his staff so that it was position over his shoulder, anchored by his weaker hand. Rather than lean into the attack however Kenta faded back by kneeling, absorbing some of the attack.

It was a weak position and terrible for counter-attacking. 

Akuma gave him an amused look and moved to chop Kenta in the throat. 

Before he could do that Kenta’s arm shot out and grabbed the wooden staff in front of him. 

Akuma sneered. “Trying to disarm me that won’t wo—” 

A flicker of something blue flashed in Kenta’s grasp right where the staff was. 

It was only there for a moment, but Minato could swear he saw... something. Both the Hyuga and the Uchiha genin twitched in surprise. 

Then, with a bang, the hasirama wood exploded into shrapnel causing Akuma to take a face full while Kenta, in his kneeling position, merely had small cuts knick his body. 

Akuma staggered back, clutching at his face. “Argh!” he bellowed in pain. 

Kenta struck then, kicking Akuma’s legs out from under him before leaping atop him to smash a punch into Akuma’s throat. 

“Wood breaks worse than metal!” snapped Kenta as he went to deliver another punch, only for two people to appear on the field.

Akuma’s sensei, Chobisu, appeared in a shunshin moving to kick Kenta off his charge only to be intercepted by another.

The smaller figure held the other Jonin by the foot. “Don’t try it!” growled Matsu Uzumaki.

“The fight is over. Your blasted genin won this round brat!” snapped the Chobisu. 

Matsu shoved Chobisu back. “That’s not your call to make,” he responded.

For a moment, Minato wondered if a fight between two Jonins was about to break out. He glanced around, taking in the various positions of other shinobi, only to notice their relaxed poses. They didn’t appear like they were about to fight…

The Proctor coughed to refocus everyone’s attention. “Seeing as the Konoha Jonin was first to interfere in this match, the victory goes to Kenta Nogawa of Kirigakure!”

A few murmurs from the nobility trickled down. “Not like it would have ended any other way.”

“A shock to be sure! Akuma had him dead to rights!” 

“Dead to rights ain’t dead! Pay up!” snapped another noble. 

A small tussle broke out between a few nobles at the upset, and Minato pursed his lips. He glanced up and noticed that none of the shinobi seemed to be paying the nobles much attention. 

No, their focus was flitting between the various groups. 

Minato glanced around, and he began counting those who’d made it through.

Konoha should have had fifteen, but due to Akuma’s shock loss, only fourteen would pass through to the next stage. 

Kumo had fifteen. Iwa had eight. Steam and Suna had two. Key, Beast, and Rain had one each. 

Kirigakure had twenty Genin that had made it through to the final round of sixty-four. 

That… was a rather worrying number…Minato barely listened to the Proctor, detailing how the final stage of the exams would start with four combatants entering the field, only for one to emerge triumphant to advance to further whittle the field and offer somehting different. 

Minato stiffend when the match-ups were announced, and realised this was deliberate. 

They had a week to spend in a foreign nation, where they couldn’t train up more skills. They could refine some but that would run the risk of having the skills documented down.

The only thing they could do was gain information on each other and potentially develop small agreements.

Only one could emerge from the first round of the third stage of the exams, but lots of people were looking at Kiri with envy due to their successes.

Minato almost pitied them. Everyone would be out for Kiri now. Any deals they attempted woul be rejected and in most match ups Minato had no doubt that Kiri would be targeted first. 

As they left, Jiraiya fell in with him. “Shame about the others,” Minato said carefully, referring to his other teammates who hadn’t made it through the first matches of the preliminaries.

Jiraiya grunted, his eyes turned behind him. Minato glanced back and found Matsu Uzumaki supporting Kenta back to the Kiri genin.

As they approached a chant rose into the air. 

“Sharkbait! Sharkbait! Sharkbait!”

Matsu was saying something to Kenta that made the boy smile widely.

“Akuma shouldn’t have lost that match,” Minato said as he watched Kenta being led away.

Jiraiya snorted. “Treat that as a lesson Minato. Sometimes, it’s not about having the skills, strength, or mind. It’s also about having the guts. Akuma is lucky this happened at a Chunin Exam and not in the field. He’ll come back stronger from this rather than dying from his mistake.”

Minato frowned. “I don’t follow? He lost because he lacked guts?”

Jiraiya jerked his head towards the chanting crowd. “That Kenta kid? Simplest explanation? He wanted it more,” he said cryptically. 

Minato wasn’t sure what to make of that, so he gave the crowd one more look.

“Why are they chanting Sharkbait?” he asked.

“Probably a nickname. Makes sense with how fucked up Kiri are that they’d call a kid that,” Jiraiya said with a shake of his head. 

Minato nodded along before another thought occured to him. “What jutsu did he use to break Akuma’s staff? It looked… strong.”

Jiraiya shrugged. “I have no idea.”

Minato could only nod, a niggle in his mind about it. It had barely been there for a moment, but for that singular moment it had stood out to Minato. It felt like something worth investigating.

“Must be a staff destroying jutsu by explosive means!” Minato concluded. 

Jiraiya snorted. “Stop trying to name things kid!” he laughed, leading Minato back to the Konoha area of the Village Hidden in the Steam. 

Minato smiled feeling rather happy with how he’d done. He had a week to forge some alliances along with potentially trip up some rivals. 

And if there was one thing he excelled at, it was cultivating alliances.

                                               ________________________

I patted Sharkbait on the shoulder with a smile. “You did great bud,” I murmured as sleep started to claim him.

He grinned deliriously up at me. “Their best genin huh? And I beat him? Heh, I like the sound of…” he muttered before starting to snore. 

"I'll give you some more rubber balls to work on the Rasengan while you rest." I chuckled and moved away from him, leaving him to his rest. Sayuki nodded, sitting nearby to serve as his guard so no one messed with him. 

I marched past the three other civilians shinobi that had beaten the odds before linking up with my actual students. Han, Idate and Midori had all advanced which was amazing. 

Kuroiwa… I was a touch conflicted about but in the end she’d stayed true to herself more than anything else which I thought was important. She’d probably have to give up most of that money but the fact she got a B rank mission from Konoha was worth noting. 

I gave her a pat on the head and signaled that I would debrief with them later.

They shot me confused looks which I ignored as I marched back to the room that no one had approached since we’d returned. 

I stepepd up to it and knocked politely. “Enter,” called a soft voice and every shinobi close enough to overhear the command stiffened as they realised who was in the room. 

Some of them looked around in fright before cursing to themselves as their gazes swept past the door. Huh, interesting he was hiding the doorway but still toying with them?

That was so inline with Gengetsu I didn’t even question it.

Gengetsu greeted me with a smile and a lazy wave to sit.  “Twenty genin throughto the third round three of whom are your direct students. And five genin from your year?  Hmmm good work Matsu,” he said. 

“And better yet, Iwa only got eight and that was with everyone pandering to them!” he grinned savagely. “I cant’ wait to rub that in Mu’s face!”

I nodded politely, observing how he almost became delightfully enraged with the thought, even with it being our victory. 

Gengetsu turned his head. “Matsu I’ve been watching you. You’re an impressive young man and it seems a lot of other people have started to recognise that fact. Some of them have approached you to make certain deals, no?”

I hadn’t expected the conversation to go this way but I couldn’t say I was surprised. “They have,” I confirmed. 

Gengetsu smiled. “Oh, they’re just so predictable. I gave Kori Yuki that eyeball and he suddenly thinks he has a chance. But… he can’t face me himself.” 

Gengetsu tsked. “No. He wants others to do his dirty work.” Gengetsu smiled and leaned towards me like he was sharing a secret. “Kori’s been rather annoyed you see as lots of people thought he’d become the second Mizukage.” He winked. “He still wants it I know.”

Gengetsu smiled and raised a glass to take a long sip. “Ah!” he announced when he was done.

 “So refreshing,” he said before setting he glass down with a soft click. 

“He doesn’t understand it but he’s done me a favour you know? Gathering all the little disedents and forming an alliance. He’s shored things up in case I falter but… he wouldn’t make a very good Mizukage. No, I don’t like the idea of him becoming the next Mizukage. He doesn’t understand why he’s not good enough.”

Gengetsu shook his head back and forth with a click of his tongue. “He’s not strong enough to inspire dread.” 

He tilted his head and stared at me. “You understand the importance of fear don’t you Matsu?”

I looked right into Gengetsu’s eyes and nodded, “Of course,” I replied. Fear could control your own Village but it also helped to keep other Villages mindful of your actions.

Gengetsu clapped his hands twice in a mocking show of applause. “You’re a fish in a pond that knows about the bigger ponds and the bigger fish. I like that about you Matsu.”

He waved a hand up and down at me. “I’ve pushed you to become a Jonin and you have achieved it.” He raised a single finger. “But, you could be better.”

Gengetsu held his stare with me. “If you’re going to be one of the big fish inspiring actual dread Matsu you need more. If you want your… dream,”  he said the word dripping with amusement. “You’ll need more. You, a potential future Mizukage? You’re going to have to be stronger.”

He smiled then and I felt chills running down my spine. “Good thing we have a week to train you,” he said.

And with that the floor fell out from underneath me only for me to be swept along in a wave. 

I tumbled along with it spotting schools of fish, whales, and sharks that began to circle. 

Gengetsu appeared across from me in the waves, completely unbothered. “Time to teach you how to swim in waters deep and dark Matsu,” he declared.

I attempted to break the illusion only to find nothing to have changed. Wonderful, my reward for my success was a week of torment in the name of training under Gengetsu.

It said a lot about me that I was actually looking forward to it.

I think I was starting to become a glutton for punishment.

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A.N. Thanks go to my patreon supporters for all the love you give me! I know people want more Red Riot so I always try and make each chapter a banger in its own way.