Chunin Exams - The Competition

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[A/N: A reminder of the matches, so you wouldn't have to go back and forth between chapters to see them.]

Match 1

Minato Namikaze vs Kumo fodder #1

Match 2

Rukia Hoku vs Asahi Yuki

Match 3

Mikoto Uchiha vs Ay

Match 4

Kiri fodder #1 vs Rasa

Match 5

Souei Matsuri vs Teuchi

Match 6

Kiri fodder #2 vs Tosen Kaname

That's it, enjoy the chapter :D

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[Year 50, Kumogakure]

Souei arrived at the stadium, wearing his standard clothes with the scroll strapped behind him. It was time, the Chunin Exams were starting and he was here to win. Rasa and Rukia stood to his left and right while the Kumo team were standing on their other side, along with the Konoha team. Sporting a grin on his face, Souei thought back towards the month of training he did with his sensei.

Ishito pushed him hard to the point he could barely move a muscle everyday at the end of training. Each day would end with a spar with the older Ninja where he'd try his best to pay back for all the pain and torture his sensei had subjected to him during their morning and afternoon practices. He never won any of those spars, but there were a few times where he came close. His grin grew a little wider at that. The look on his sensei's face when he came close to victory was one he'll remember for years to come. After all, the normally stoic and expressionless Ishito the Centipede showing shock and surprise, people would kill for that mental picture.

He chuckled just thinking about it. Right now, he and the other competitors stood in the center of the Kumo Stadium. Sparing a glance towards the bleachers, he could spot hundreds if not thousands of people filling up the stands. Most of them were Kumo civilians, judging from their clothes. But he could also spot the occasional Kumo Nin here and there.

His eyes kept searching the entire stadium until he found who he was looking for. He smiled at little Sasori who was cheering and smiling as he spotted him from the crowd. He was waving around a flag that had 'Team Souei' written on it. He could also see Ishito Sensei, Aunt Chiyo, and even Sasori's parents, his cousins, standing beside his nephew sporting smiles.

Instead of being embarrassed about it, he just laughed and gave them a thumbs up.

Just beside them was a stern looking bald man with an arrow-shaped tattoo on his head. He wore orange yellow monk robes', along with a black shoulderguard. He's wearing the Suna headband on his right arm. Around him were people who wore similar clothes to him, which made Souei assume they must belong to the same clan.

Now that he thought about it, Rukia did mention her dad would also be coming to watch the exams. That must be him.

Souei then looked up to the kage box, seeing all four respective Kage's of the villages participating. The Raikage was the same imposing man he saw from before, and was currently busy conversing with the Kazekage.

Beside them was the Hokage, who was a man that looked the same age as Aunt Chiyo. He had brown hair and a goatee and like his peers, was wearing the traditional kage robes.

The Mizukage however, looked the youngest of them all. He was a soft-looking man who had straight long hair reaching his shoulders. His eyes were perpetually closed which Souei assumes is just a weird character trait.

With the exception of Iwa, 4 out of 5 of the Great Shinobi Villages were participating in these exams. Due to the high tensions among them, especially considering that war would erupt any day now, every village brought quite a sizable force just in case things went sideways. This resulted in the stadium becoming packed with elite shinobi from all over the Elemental Nations.

However, instead of being nervous, Souei welcomed the challenge. After all, this'll be the perfect place to show the world what he's capable of.

He then looked towards the shinobi that would be his opponent for the first match and Souei couldn't hide his surprise. He didn't notice it before, but his opponent, this Tosen Kaname, was blind. Or at least that's what it looks like judging from the white headband that's covering his eyes.

The man apparently sensed Souei's gaze as he looked back and sent a challenging smirk. Souei could only reply with a grin of his own. 'Looks like this guy's pretty interesting.'

"Good luck guys." He heard Rukia say, and he barely managed to reply when the Raikage stood up from his seat and began to speak as his voice was projected through the arena.

"Welcome to the third part of the Chunin Exams! I welcome all who are from Konoha, Suna, and Kiri. Watch as these 12 young Genin show the world why they are ready to become Chunin of their respective villages. Jay, I leave the rest to you."

The proctor who was responsible for the previous exams immediately stepped forward before looking at the Genin. "All right everyone, the rules are simple. The first to surrender, die, or are otherwise unable to continue will be deemed the loser. However, when I say the match ends, then the match ends. No exceptions. Is that clear?"

Souei just nodded along with the rest of the competitors.

"Good, then we'll be starting immediately. Then will Minato Namikaze and Kumo Fodder #1 please stay in the field, while the rest head back to the stands."

"Oi Rukia, you alright?" Souei asked with slight concern as they waited by the stands. Each competitor returned to their villages' designated locations. So he, Rasa, and Rukia found themselves waiting with Sasori, Chiyo, and the rest.

That was when he saw Rukia gaze into the field with an uncharacteristic serious expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that the winner of this match will be my opponent if I win so.." She shrugged before refocusing.

Souei shrugged back. That makes sense he guesses.

Back in the field, Jay looked at the two competitors before him. He barely held back the frown that came up when looking into the blonde Genin from Konoha. After all, the investigations they've done towards Dee have borne fruit. Large amounts of blood and an unrecognizable paste of what used to be a human body was found in a clearing around a day's worth from the village. The other two Jonin reported that they weren't responsible for that death. Which means that the lump of flesh could only be his missing friend. And one of the surviving teams from another village was responsible.

He clenched his fists and again barely held back the scowl that nearly formed on his face. If it was up to him, he would like nothing more than to lock up all these damned Genin and send T&I on their asses to find out who was responsible.

Sparing a glance towards the Kage box, along with the hundreds of foreign Shinobi right now located in their home, he forced those thoughts back before focusing on his job.

"Are the two competitors ready?"

Seeing the two nod, he raised an arm before he swung it down.

"Begin!"

— Marionette of Suna —

"N-No way…" Rukia said in absolute disbelief. 8 seconds. That was all it took for the Konoha Genin to utterly decimate his opponent.

She could only barely see it coming. The moment the match started, the blonde instantly moved and had the Kumo Genin pinned down to the ground with a kunai to his throat.

The whole stadium shared her shock as they all stood in silence. It didn't take long for the cheers to start and the audience to erupt in a cacophony of noise. She could even hear an 'Attaboy Minato!' somewhere which she assumes came from the childish sensei Ishito introduced them back in the first exams.

The Genin, Minato, just smiled and waved at the bleachers before he made his way back to the Konoha stands.

"That boy is good. Looks like Jiraiya spoke the truth about him." She heard her sensei mutter beside her.

"Will Rukia Hoku and Asahi Yuki enter the field?" She heard the proctor say, which prompted her to refocus on the field.

"Ne, Souei, any words of encouragement?" She turned around to look at her teammate with a cheeky look on her face.

"I will laugh at you forever if you lose."

She just rolled her eyes at that before making her way towards the field.

"Good luck Rukia! I believe in you!" The loud voice of her father was the first thing she heard as she arrived at the square.

Her cheeks took on a red tint as she was slightly embarrassed at the display but she just gave the man a thumbs up.

Honestly, with his rough features and the perpetual scowl, people tend to think her dad was the type that preaches tough love. They couldn't be more wrong.

"That's my baby girl!"

Ignoring her dad's cries for attention, she took the time to study her opponent. Being a Yuki, the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai is to be expected at the least. Her master, Lady Chiyo, told her all about their clan and their supposed bloodline. Aside from that, there was nothing else of note that she could see from him that would indicate any sort of fighting style.

"Are the two of you ready?"

She and her opponent just gave a nod.

"Begin!'

The proctor jumped back just as she dashed towards Asahi. The Yuki immediately went through hand signs as he sent a torrent of water from his mouth. Rukia sidestepped the attack and kicked the air, sending compressed sharp blades of wind that Asahi managed to dodge.

'Tempest Kick!'

However, that was only a distraction as she used this chance to shorten the distance between them. She then dual wielded kunai before applying wind chakra on them, increasing their sharpness and extending their range. She slashed at her opponent, only for her weapons to be blocked by a blade made of ice.

Locked in a struggle of strength, Rukia took the time to think. She could probably end this quickly if she used her full arsenal of techniques. But she'd rather save it for the next matches when she really has to. After all, it doesn't seem like her current opponent would warrant her in using them.

Instead, she just took a deep breath before unleashing it in a powerful burst of wind that sent Asahi flying. She then mentally frowned at the amount of chakra she has left from resulting from that technique.

'Take it slow and steady. Don't waste chakra on big moves and focus on precision.'

Remembering the lesson her master imparted on her, she immediately rushed forward, intending on finishing the match. However, she had to immediately backflip to the air as the ground beneath her suddenly got covered in a layer of frost. Her opponent had already recovered and had his hands on the monkey seal.

Realizing that landing on the frozen ground would be a bad idea. She simply decided to stop falling.

Everyone in the stadium, barring Chiyo who sported a small smile on her face, could only gape in awe as she floated in the air.

This was something she'd rather show much later, but it looks like she didn't have a choice. By using the winds around her to create air currents capable of holding her up in the air, she's able to create a pseudo-flight ability. Now with this, team 11 will be known as the Flying Trio!

The name is still a work in progress though.

Noticing her opponent still gaping at her display, she immediately decided to use it to her advantage. Rukia swooped down to her opponent by unleashing pressurized air from the soles on her feet, akin to jet propulsion. Doing so made her reach him in just under a second, and she slammed him onto the ground as she planted her two legs on his head. The Iced ground underneath them cracking from the strength of her blow.

Rukia then stepped off her opponent. The proctor took that moment to announce the result of the match. "The winner is Rukia Hoku from Konoha!"

Many cheered at her performance as the proctor signaled for a stretcher to pick up the Kiri genin.

She immediately went back to the stands, only to be met with shouts of congratulations by his friends and family.

"Rukia-chan! You did amazing!"

Quickly dodging her dad's attempt at hugging her, she saw her sensei give her a nod which she could now easily translate to 'Well done Rukia, this is why you're my favorite student. I'm so proud of you!'

'...…'

Okay, probably not.

"You've gotten stronger, Rukia." Souei told her as he gave her his signature grin. Rasa also looked at her with a challenging smirk.

Seeing the challenge, she immediately bit back. "Try to beat that, boys." She gave them a wink.

Souei just chuckled before looking back at the stadium.

It seems like the next match is about to start.

— Marionette of Suna —

"You, you're Uchiha right?"

The man on the opposite side of her asked her the moment they both arrived on the field.

Mikoto isn't one to be intimidated, but the shirtless form of her opponent makes quite a terrifying sight. Seriously, those are not muscles that belong to a 14 year old.

"What if I am?"

"Feh not much. Just that I'll be happy to prove that the famed 'Sharingan' of the Uchiha is nothing more than just another pair of fancy eyes."

Mikoto, along with every other Uchiha in the stands that came with the Konoha entourage, immediately frowned. After all, their eyes were their prized possession, an insult to them is an insult to their pride.

Mikoto narrowed her eyes. "Your arrogance will be your downfall. I'll make sure of it."

"It's not arrogance if I can back it up." Ay smirked. "So don't worry. My old man wouldn't like it if I lost on our home turf after all." Ay stated, gaining surprised looks at all the gathered Shinobi.

In the Kage box, the other Kage's looked at the Raikage in surprise, the man just grinning as that info got revealed to the world. After all, this was the first news at all regarding the older Ay having a son.

'He's the Raikage's son?' Mikoto thought before shaking her head. It doesn't matter who he's related to. She'll defeat anyone who mocks the Uchiha name.

"Are both fighters ready?" The proctor asked, to which she nodded.

"Begin!"

Mikoto's sharingan immediately came to life as she jumped back and threw a flurry of shuriken towards her opponent. However, Ay just charged through them without worry. His body being covered by a shroud of lightning chakra, allowing the steel weapons to simply bounce off his body.

Mikoto tried to get into eye contact with Ay, but the Kumo Genin had already averted his gaze and instead focused on her feet. It seems he was briefed about her clan's eyes capabilities prior to the match.

"Your eye tricks won't work on me!" Ay screamed as he appeared right in front of Mikoto in a burst of speed. Mikoto immediately pulled out her tanto and just barely managed to deflect his strikes. Her sharingan's predictive abilities are the only thing allowing her to react to his sudden increase in speed.

"Lightning Style: Paralysis!"

The next attack that she parried with her blade caused a spark of electricity to course through the metal of her sword and hit her nerve system on her arm, temporarily paralyzing her and completely unable to block the fist that found its way to the side of cheek.

Instead of staying still, Ay proved to be relentless as he kept up with his assault. Continuing the same strategy of rushing her with insane speeds and paralyzing her with his jutsu.

Mikoto tried her best to think of a solution, but found herself incapable of doing anything as she could only barely defend herself. Her sharingan not yet matured enough to properly keep up with high speed combat on this level.

Soon enough, she found herself face down with Ay standing over her.

"Hmph, what a letdown."

The Kumo genin then grabbed her by the air, before raising it up. "These eyes are supposed to be special right? Then don't mind me."

Mikoto panicked as his arms reached at her face, no doubt to pluck out her eyes right there at the center of the stadium. She tried her best to fight the urge to cry. She's never been humiliated like this before.

But before he could successfully secure a sharingan for his village, Ay found his wrist grabbed by someone.

"That's enough out of you." Jiraiya said as he grasped the arm of the Kumo Genin. Seeing his words not adhered to, Jiraiya tightened his hold as everyone could hear the creaking of bone as Ay yelped in pain, immediately dropping Mikoto.

"Tch, whatever." Ay said as Jiraiya let go of him. He watched the boy's back as he walked away before Jiraiya crouched down and picked up his student and disappeared in a Shunshin.

— Marionette of Suna —

"What a brute of a boy." Aunt Chiyo commented as we viewed the end of the third match.

"Hehehe, I actually kind of like him." Souei said. "He completely humiliated that Uchiha girl and gave their entire clan the middle finger while doing it. If that doesn't take guts, I don't know what does."

"Of course you would." His aunt sighed. "Just make sure to not underestimate him if or when you meet him. As his son, I'm sure the Raikage taught him a few more tricks. Even if the Lightning Chakra Mode is dangerous in its own right, I doubt that's the only thing he has up his sleeve."

"Yeah yeah, don't worry auntie. I know what I'm doing." He said with a casual wave of his arms.

"Hey Rasa! It's your turn!" Rukia's voice caught their attention as the boy in question made his way down in a sand shunsin.

"Show off." Souei commented loudly with a chuckle.

Rasa ignored his teammate as he focused on the match ahead as he took his signature stance. Arms crossed with legs apart. His opponent took that time to join him on the field. He took the opportunity to study his opponent, and the only thing that stuck out to him was the fact that his opponent was…ordinary.

There was literally nothing that could describe him as special. He wore ordinary clothes, he had no distinct weapons, his hair was an ordinary shade of brown people could find anywhere in the elemental nations.

Now that he thought about it, he doesn't even remember this person's name.

"Ready? Fight!"

His gourd immediately burst open as golden sand came rushing through. Rasa waved an arm in front of him and the Gold Dust immediately rushed in like a wave.

His opponent could do nothing as he got buried in a mountain of golden sand.

Rasa waited for the man to burst through, only for nothing to happen. He blinked and decided to wait again. It's been around 30 seconds and his opponent has yet to make his appearance.

Curious, he parted the mountain of sand before him, only to see the unconscious form of Kiri Fodder #1, head down, ass high in the air. A pretty undignified way to be left after a fight, but Rasa doesn't really care.

Shaking his head at the disappointment of a fight, he turned away intending to get back to the stands as soon as he could.

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Woo what a chapter!

Plenty of action this one, hope you enjoy the fights. I'm still struggling with writing fight scenes but I'm getting better.

Poor Rasa didn't manage to show off his skills. That's what he gets for getting fodder as his opponent.

Chunin Exams SHOULD finish next chapter. It got a little longer than I thought, haha. I originally intended for the exams to take up 3 chapters tops with 1 chapter for each part but I guess I got a little carried away writing them.

Anyways, advanced chapters on my pat_reon page! Depending on the tier, you could get between 4 or 10 chapters ahead along with a few other benefits.

P_atr_eon.com/TeemVizzle

(Remove the spaces)

Anyways, that's all for today.

Cheers!

Trivia: Who'd win in a fight? Fourth War Arc Konoha 12 (minus Naruto and Sasuke) vs Prime 7 Ninja swordsman of the mist