Chapter 32

"Winner, Hyuuga Neji," announced the exam proctor. Kumogakure's stadium was larger than Konoha's. All the stands were along a cliff face with a plateau below them. It was rocky terrain with a small stream. Opposite the stands was a ten meter wall that stood as a barrier to another cliff that dropped thousands of meters straight down. The proctor had a small booth on the barrier wall where he stayed for the entirety of the fights.

Neji smirked at winning his second match of the finals. Only two more rounds and he would claim absolute victory over Kumo's pathetic wannabe shinobi. In the next round he'd either face Lee or a powerful taijutsu user from Iwa. On the other end of the bracket was the only remaining Kumo shinobi and another from Iwa. He actually hoped the Kumo shinobi would win so he could humiliate him once and for all.

Neji received friendly greetings from his teammates as he arrived back in the waiting area. Sakura had lost to Lee in the second round but had put up an excellent fight. He knew she would most likely be promoted regardless as would he and Lee, such was the quality of their performance thus far in both the exams and in fulfilling the obligations of their mission.

"Well done Neji-kun!" shouted Gai, far too close to Neji to be yelling like that.

"Thank you, Gai-sensei," said Neji, calmly and not very loudly.

"Let me patch you up," said Sakura, her hands already glowing green with healing chakra.

"I'm fine," said Neji.

"Mostly yes, but you've got a couple of gashes on your lower left back that are bleeding pretty well," ordered Sakura.

Neji was surprised to hear that. "I am not in any pain."

"Numbing poison," said Sakura as she continued working on it. "Just a little deeper and they may have cut a major artery and you would have bled out in seconds without even knowing you were cut in the first place."

"Thank you," said Neji, swallowing his pride. "I didn't think he got me even once with those claws."

"He did," said Sakura, slightly distracted. "There you go, good as new."

"Having you here has been most beneficial to this youthful exam!" shouted Gai.

"No problem, Gai-sensei," said Sakura. "Oh look, there's Lee."

Gai was instantly distracted from her and to watching Lee fight.

Down in the arena Lee faced off with a genin from Iwa.

"Good luck, my youthful opponent," said Lee sincerely.

"Your death will be painful and prolonged," said the Iwa shinobi.

"Rock Lee of Konoha versus Don Dee of Iwa," announced the proctor. "Hajime!"

Lee dropped a smoke bomb and vanished. The smoke bomb continued spewing smoke until it simply lingered obscuring almost the entire arena floor.

"Your tricks won't work," said Dee, loudly and clearly. "You can't hurt me no matter what you do."

A loud collision sounded seconds later.

"I told you, you can't hurt me," said Dee, chuckling ominously. "Not with taijutsu alone you won't. I'm made of metal, through and through. You should already know that if you were watching my earlier fights. Or maybe you tree huggers are all just that stupid."

Several more collision sounds filled the arena.

"Just give up already," said Dee. "I'll let you go this one time since I'm bored with you already. Otherwise, this smoke will dissipate soon and when it does I will kill you."

Again, several more collision sounds filled the arena.

Dee sighed. "This is boring. Proctor, just call it already. He can't beat me."

"You have already lost," said Lee calmly, no longer needing to move.

"Oh really? Doesn't feel like I lost," said Dee, the smoke finally starting to dissipate.

Lee remained still as he waited for his smoke screen to fade.

"I take it you want to die?" asked Dee. Even still, he looked confused by Lee seeming to have just given up.

Lee stood holding a small slip of paper that flared blue for a moment with chakra.

Dee suddenly collapsed, forced into the ground as several seals activated, glowing blue all over his body.

"How?" Dee asked, barely able to draw breath let alone speak.

"I placed several seals on you while in the smoke screen that were tied to this one," said Lee, holding up a small slip of paper. "You are carrying close to one hundred tons of weight. Even with your metal body, it will crush you in about ten seconds unless you surrender now."

"I... surr... end... er," wheezed Dee, barely able to form the words.

Lee channeled chakra into the small slip of paper causing the seals on Dee to fade and evaporate as if they had never been there.

"Winner, Rock Lee of Konoha," announced the proctor.

Lee, like both Neji and Sakura, was met by equal parts booing and cheering from the crowd.

Lee returned to the booth to share his standard victory man celebration with Gai, much to the horror of those watching.

"Good job Lee-kun," said Sakura with a small smile for the exuberant boy.

"Thank you Sakura-chan!" shouted Lee, giving the girl a thumbs up and a large smile behind his orange mask.

"He didn't even touch you did he?" asked Sakura, looking him over really quickly.

"No, he underestimated me," said Lee. "But I won't be able to use those seals again. My opponents will be even more wary."

"I still can't believe how good you've gotten at using seals," said Sakura. "Have you gotten any better at actually making your own seals yet?"

"No," pouted Lee, suddenly very downtrodden.

"Well, just keep working at it. For now I'm sure Tenten doesn't mind providing them to you," said Sakura, patting him on the back.

"She has been most generous," said Lee. "Still, I never thought I would find a way to use anything but taijutsu."

"You still use taijutsu, you just found a way to amplify it," said Sakura, a small smile on her face.

Lee nodded once happily.

"You and Neji should be watching this fight, one of you will be fighting the winner," said Sakura, pointing toward the arena where the next round was about to begin.

BREAK

"Damn you, Dee!" shouted Onoki, more than a little annoyed.

"Heh, I like that kid," said A. "I've heard of Maito Gai's taijutsu prowess but you really see his efforts in his pupil."

"Yeah, eccentricities and all," said Jiraiya with a small chuckle. "Still, his use of seals was nothing short of brilliant there."

"Fucking tree huggers and your fucking sealing," grumbled Onoki.

"Yep," said Jiraiya, laughing fully at Onoki's irritation.

"I hate to admit this but all three of the genin you sent more than deserve chuunin at this point," said A.

"We wanted to make a good showing so you got the best we had to offer," said Jiraiya.

"And that chuunin apprentice of yours, is he the best you have to offer?" asked Onoki.

"Yes," said Jiraiya, the confidence in his statement shook Onoki visibly.

"Speaking of that boy, where is he?" asked A.

"He's finishing some training," said Kakashi from just behind Jiraiya. "We'll get him here for his fight. Don't worry."

"Training before a big match? How foolish," said Onoki. "Tiring himself out will only cause him to lose that much faster."

"He'll be fine," said Jiraiya. "The next fight is about to start."

Onoki grumbled again but focused on the fight below.

BREAK

In Mizu no Kuni another chuunin exam finals was nearing completion as well.

"I forfeit," said Fuu, calm as could be as she stood across from Karin.

"What?" asked Karin loudly.

"I have shown what I wished in these exams," explained Fuu. "It is not required for me to proceed further."

Karin pouted a little but nodded anyway. She understood. Fuu was basically a jounin that had never had the chance to take these exams. Her domination of the first two rounds of the chuunin exam finals showed more than enough to earn a promotion. For that matter, so had Karin.

Fuu smiled at Karin before using a shunshin to return to the competitors box.

Karin accepted the win and used a shunshin as well.

"You didn't just forfeit to make your girlfriend happy did you?" asked Kiba obnoxiously.

"May Fuu kill him?" she asked, looking to Kurenai.

"Maybe when we get home," said Kurenai.

"Can we at least beat on him for a bit?" asked Karin. "He's already out of the finals."

"It wouldn't be appropriate to do while we are still in Kiri. You have to remember, you are also diplomats while you're here," explained Kurenai, though she too would like to have Kiba smacked around some.

Just as Kurenai finished her explanation a loud slap rang through the booth causing all the chuunin hopefuls to look sharply to the source.

A young woman from Kirigakure had just slapped Kiba and judging from the purplish bruising already forming on his face it was not a gentle slap.

"Does he know that?" asked Karin.

Kurenai just sighed.

Fuu froze suddenly. "Something is wrong." Suddenly the stadium shook violently causing the masonry and stone work to crack. Large pieces started falling from the ceiling and support beams.

"What the hell was that?" asked Ino looking around rapidly.

All around the stadium several cries went out. "Death to the oppressors! Death to the kage!" Shinobi began popping out of the crowd. Some of them just started killing those around them while several other charged toward the kage's viewing box.

"Rebellion?" asked Chouji, the shock in his voice undisguised.

"So it would seem," said Asuma, blowing out a breath of smoke then extinguishing his cigarette. "Okay, so here are your orders. You're to work through the stands to your other teammates. Once you've gathered together you will be providing support to the citizens. Shikamaru is in charge once you find him. Until then Fuu is in charge. Now get moving!"

"I shouldn't need to say this but Kiba, you had better obey orders or I will personally bring you up on charges when we get back to Konoha," said Kurenai.

"Where will you be Kurenai-sensei?" asked Hinata nervously.

"We have to get to the hokage," said Asuma, vanishing a moment later.

"Stay safe, all of you," said Kurenai, vanishing also.

Another major tremor shook the stadium.

"What the hell is causing that?" asked Kiba, dodging a large chunk of the ceiling that fell from above him.

Fuu paused. "Get to Shikamaru. Tell him to evacuate everyone you can from the stadium and the city." Six wings of chakra and a tail suddenly sprouted from her back and she shot into the air.

"What was that about?"

"Follow orders," said Karin, the panic in her voice and eyes was clear. "We don't have much time before it gets here."

"Before what gets here?" asked Ino.

Hinata suddenly whimpered. "It's a bijuu. The sanbi I think."

Chouji actually dropped his bad of chips. "Let's move then, we don't have a lot of time."

The five remaining Konoha shinobi leaped into the stands and began fighting their way to the rest of their village's contingent.

BREAK

"Hyuuga Neji versus Rock Lee!" shouted the proctor. "Begin!"

Lee and Neji both settled back into their fighting stances.

"I have been waiting a long time for this, Neji-kun," said Lee. "Today, I won't hold back at all."

"I would be disappointed if you did," said Neji. "Go ahead and remove your weights. I want you at your best when I crush you once and for all. I want you to understand the difference between a genius and a hard worker."

Lee nodded and knelt down. Sliding down the leg warmers revealed a large black ring of weights with glowing blue seals shining.

Neji quirked an eyebrow at seeing the seals on the weights.

"Curious about these seals?" asked Lee as he worked to undo the latches that kept them on his legs. "They are strange seals. They do not add weight or create resistance if that is what you're thinking. They are binding seals," explained Lee.

Neji's eyes widened slightly when Lee deactivated the seals and black ropes with a white glow of chakra appeared that were wrapped tightly around his body which then snapped and evaporated into nothingness.

Lee rolled his shoulders several times and twisted left and right. "Now, I believe I'm ready."

Neji wordlessly activate his byakugan and stared down Lee.

Lee smirked and vanished in a burst of unrestrained speed.

Neji easily tracked Lee's movement with his byakugan. So it was as Lee appeared inside Neji's guard, he easily dodged Lee's first punch. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite fast enough to completely dodge the second punch which caught him in the shoulder and sent him spinning through the air.

Lee watched momentarily as Neji managed to land on his feet. The hit to the shoulder may have left a small bruise but no real damage was done. Meanwhile, Lee was flexing his hand and wrist which Neji managed to tap once leaving it slightly numbed.

Neji rolled his shoulder once to make sure there was no major damage. Feeling nothing more than a slight tenderness he chose to attack this time. "Hakke kusho," he said softly as he thrust his fist forward but Lee was already moving. "Hakke kusho," he repeated several times alternating hands as he attacked Lee at range.

Lee had to move fast to avoid Neji's attacks. Sudden stops and changing direction were necessary and beginning to hurt his knees as he wasn't used to moving at that speed Knowing he'd have to end this sooner rather than later, Lee increased his speed.

Neji saw Lee increase his speed making hitting him with a vacuum palm all but impossible. Especially when Lee appeared under him.

"Kage buyo," mumbled Lee as his foot shot straight up towards Neji's chin.

Neji managed to meet Lee's foot with two forearms but it still launched him into the air.

Lee followed Neji in the air behind him and tried to wrap him up in his bandages.

"Kaiten," said Neji starting an airborne rotation. The rapid spin and chakra wall shredded the bandages Lee tried to wrap around him and bounced Lee into the ground rather harshly.

Lee rolled a couple of times but managed to bounce back up to his feet.

Neji's kaiten hit the ground and ricocheted him into a wall which ricocheted him again into the air where his technique finally faded.

Lee saw his opportunity when Neji's technique rebounded with the ground and wall. He quickly opened the first three gates as he didn't have much time.

Neji frowned as he fell back to earth and saw Lee's skin take on a reddish hue.

Lee vanish again in a new burst of speed. "Konoha senpuu!" he shouted as his foot impacted with Neji's jaw.

Neji saw a brief flash of light as he felt Lee's foot impact with his face very painfully. He rolled and bounced several times before finally rolling up to his feet only to have to block and dodge a series of bone crushing kicks.

"Kaiten," Neji finally said trying to force Lee away long enough for him to formulate a plan.

Lee jumped back from the kaiten barrier and used the moment in time to open another two gates.

Neji let his kaiten fade again. He knew he'd have to go on the offensive if he wanted to win this fight. Unfortunately he saw the chakra just radiating off of Lee's body that told him things were about to get a lot more difficult.

Lee attacked again only to be met by an equally fierce attack from Neji each attack was met by another attack, open palm to closed fist, knee to foot, and elbow to elbow.

Neji just didn't have the power or speed that Lee did. A punch from Lee managed to slip through and hit him in the ribs causing a cracking sound that Neji knew meant a lot of pain and discomfort. Neji let the momentum of the punch carry him away from Lee to try to catch his breath, something infinitely more difficult due to now having several broken ribs on his right side.

"Surrender," said Lee, his voice strained and barely masking the pain that opening the gates had caused him.

Neji slowly climbed back up to a knee. "I suppose I have no choice," he wheezed painfully.

Lee relaxed for a moment until he saw Neji roll up one leg of his pants to show a set of weights secured just above the knee which he then removed. Then repeated with the other leg and finally with his upper arms as well. "You were holding out?"

"I was, it was my mistake," said Neji as he stood fully erect. A few quick hand seals caused one hand to glow green which he held to his broken ribs. "You've pushed me farther than I thought you were capable of pushing me."

"Healing chakra too?" asked Lee.

"Just enough to bind my ribs back together so I can breath properly again," said Neji. "Now, let's go again."

Lee nodded and recommenced his attack.

BREAK

Tsunade frowned as she turned another of the rebels heads into paste with a single punch. "This is pathetic."

"It saddens me," said Mei as she melted four shinobi with a wave of lava. "I didn't think there was still this much resistance left."

"There isn't," said Kurenai as she land next to the hokage accompanied by Asuma. "These people are all under a genjutsu of some kind. Whatever it is, I can't break it."

Tsunade frowned. "This is a setup? By who?"

"Akatsuki," said Mei.

A loud roar radiated through the stadium breaking glass and shaking the foundation.

The shinobi all turned to look in the distance to see the sanbi marching on the village.

"I thought the sanbi was supposed to be in hiding," said Mei.

"It was," growled Tsunade. "The one that can control them must be doing this."

"Utakata!" shouted Mei, pointing in the direction of the sanbi.

Utakata finished his opponent quickly and looked to Mei before following her finger in the direction from which the sanbi was approaching. "I'm on it!"

Mei nodded to Utakata. "Ao, call in the sealing team. We cannot allow the sanbi to destroy the village we worked so hard to rebuild. I will go collect my niece."

"But Mizukage-sama-" protested Ao.

"I am the mizukage. This is my responsibility," said Mei, vanishing a moment later.

Tsunade turned and followed Utakata with her guards and Kurenai and Asuma. "We're going to slow the sanbi down. Do not get dead!"

The group moved rapidly toward the sanbi which seemed to have slowed down significantly already.

Tsunade was pleased to see Fuu fighting the sanbi when she arrived.

The sanbi spun suddenly sending out several waves of water flooding the area and one of its tails to smack Fuu out of the air.

Tsunade moved quickly and caught Fuu from the air. She landed with the now unconscious girl and began healing her immediately.

Utakata charged ahead allowing Saiken's chakra to surround him, causing the water under his feet to bubble up and envelop him then turn gray-green in color, then taking on the consistency of mucous.

Springing forward suddenly Utakata slammed a mucous covered fist into the sanbi's face. The mucous exploded off his hand enveloping the left side of the sanbi's face then hardening.

The sanbi quickly swatted Utakata away with one of his legs only for the mucous to surround the leg and harden.

Utakata skipped across the water like a flat stone eventually sinking into the water. He quickly swam back to the surface and stood upon it, once again gathering up Saiken's chakra and covering himself in mucous.

Tsunade finished healing Fuu and not so gently woke the girl up.

Fuu finally shot up straight searching her surroundings. "Tsunade-sama? Did you save me?"

"Of course," said Tsunade. "You are one of my shinobi, your life is as much my responsibility as it your own. Now, can you get back out there and help Utakata? There is a sealing team on their way now."

"Isobu is being controlled," said Fuu. "The man in the orange mask was here. He told me this was a message to Naruto-sama for messing with his plans. He said he would personally destroy his entire world for treading where he should not."

"Is he still here?" asked Tsunade.

"I don't know. I tried to fight him but it was like fighting the air. Nothing I did could hit him, even when he stood completely still, it was like I just passed right through him. He toyed with me before telling Isobu to kill me and then to kill everyone else in the village. It's so strong. Chomei is really worried about her being controlled like that," explained Fuu. "I think it scares her."

Tsunade frowned. "We'll get her sealed soon. For now, focus on delaying her."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," said Fuu, the chakra cloak from Chomei reforming almost instantly. She took flight again and began harassing Isobu from the air with several lighting techniques that spawned directly from her wings.

Isobu thrashed and attacked anyone that came near which was mostly Utakata and Fuu as their cloaks prevented the chakra poisoning that others would have gotten.

Asuma tried several wind and fire techniques from as far from the beast as he could but it did little more than annoy it and force him to retreat to a safer distance before attacking again.

Kurenai too tried several genjutsu but none of them worked or whatever genjutsu the sanbi was currently trapped in overpowered anything she might have used. As a result she resort to pelting the bijuu at range with kunai wrapped in explosive tags.

Tsunade focused on healing the injured, including the two jinchuuriki that were getting beaten on frequently by Isobu.

Finally Mei arrived with a little girl of about four years old, both of their faces were tear stained. With them came a sealing team.

"It's under a contract seal," said one of the sealing team. "We need to break the contract first then we can seal it."

"Then get moving," ordered Mei firmly. Her tears had stopped but her eyes still red.

The sealing team spread out all around Isobu. Each of them had a very large scroll strapped to their backs. Once they had formed a six pointed star around the demon they pulled the scrolls off their backs and as one they opened the scrolls in unison. Each of them took hold of one end of the scroll and threw the still rolled end to the person to their left, unrolling as it traveled through the air. The receivers then threw the roll up over the sanbi to the seal team member directly opposite them. The scrolls all connected and began to glow brightly.

"Contract is broken, begin sealing," ordered the team captain.

"Isobu has calmed but is very angry about being controlled like that," said Fuu landing next to Mei and Tsunade.

"She says she'll agree to be sealed but that her container had better be pissed off too and ready to work," added Utakata.

And as they said that Isobu stopped her thrashing and allowed the sealing to proceed.

"I am angry," said an angry little voice. "It's not fair."

"It's not little one," said Utakata, kneeling down to look the little girl in the face. "What's your name?"

"Meiko," she answered with a sniffle.

"Meiko, the big girl behind me pouting is Isobu. She's going to be your partner from now on. She doesn't like it and she knows you don't like it. But, she's willing to give it a chance if you are?"

"Fine, but she better be nice to me," said Meiko, her face all scrunched up in anger.

Utakata laughed slightly while Fuu giggled.

"What? What's so funny?" demanded Meiko.

"Saiken and Chomei are Isobu's brother and sister. They said something not nice about Isobu and she said something even less nice. You have to understand, they are demons. They are not very nice but... if you get to know them and make them your friend then they can be very nice. But you'll have to work at it."

Meiko growled in her little child voice. "Fine, but if she misbehaves I'll tell aunt Mei and she'll spank her for being bad."

That got quite the laugh from everyone.

"We are ready for the girl, Mizukage-sama," said the captain of the sealing team.

"Oh, and what's this?" asked a voice from the trees above them.

Those assembled all looked sharply up at the man now occupying the previously empty space in the tree above them. He had black spiky hair, an orange mask with a swirl pattern and a black cloak with red clouds.

"You," hissed Mei. "How dare you show yourself here?"

"Hmm, who do you think you're talking to?" demanded the man, anger very evident in his voice.

"A dead man," said Tsunade, cracking her knuckles.

"Please, you're a pathetic excuse for a kage, let alone a Senju. Hashirama would never have let me get so close unnoticed," laughed the man briefly.

"You speak as if you knew him." asked Mei, equally angry as Tsunade.

"I should. He once called me his best friend. And then he betrayed me all for that village. My clan betrayed me for him too. So now, I will destroy all that he created and no one, not even you pathetic excuses for kage can stop me," said the man coldly.

"Uchiha Madara," said Tsunade venomously.

"So she's not as dumb as those fake balloon on her chest make her look," said the man now identified as Madara.

Tsunade was restrained from charging in to attack by Mei's hand on her shoulder. "Leave here or die."

"And who is going to kill me? You? I am immortal, I am beyond life and death."

"Roku hoshi no fuuin!" shouted the sealing captain, the man had continued his work while the kage level shinobi continued chatting.

Meiko screamed in pain briefly then fell unconscious.

"Smart," said Madara. "Continuing to work like that despite the fact that you and your team are all now dead."

In the blink of an eye the seven man sealing team all had their heads separated from their shoulders. The heads gone into a black void and the bodies left behind to fall into the slowly dispersing water.

Mei unleashed a rush of lava at the unmoving man.

Madara snorted as the lava passed through him, incinerating the tree he stood on but not affecting him in the slightest. "You still don't get it do you."

Suddenly Madara was sent skating across the landscape by a man made of lava bearing four molten tails.

Madara stood angrily glaring at the source of the attack.

The water below him suddenly boiled violently and exploding in a scalding steam super heating the entire area.

Madara jumped clear of the steam and landed on another tree. The orange paint on his mask was peeling and the mask itself was sagging as some it seemed to drip away, melting into his skin. The rest of his exposed skin that was visible was angry red and blistered. His cloak was dull gray now and the clouds almost white in color.

As the steam settle a man in dark red armor stood, the steam wrapped tightly around him forming five tails behind him.

The eye beneath Madara's mask narrowed. "Now you've really upset me." Instantly he vanished in a vortex.

The lava man suddenly snapped his arm up and back. The burning molten fist impacting harshly with Madara's mask causing an explosion of fire at the point of impact as the man started coming out of another vortex only to disappear again.

Madara reappeared some distance away. His mask was destroyed, fragments of it melted into his face as well as various other burns. "I'll be back for the child and to kill the rest of you." He was sucked into another vortex but did not reappear.

"He's gone," said the lava man, his voice gravelly. The lava surrounding him slid of his body and sucked into the ground.

"Roshi?" asked Tsunade, very surprised to see him there.