76 The Chunin Exams - 2

Sasuke did his best to block out the general noise of those around him. It was hard, really hard.

Sakura and Naruto were usually hard enough to tune out, but he'd gotten used to them. But of course he couldn't be so lucky to be only dealing with them when he was busy thinking.

No, he also had the loud bragging of Inuzuka to deal with, and Yamanaka harping on and arguing with Sakura about whatever nonsense they made up about him.

So far, these Chunin Exams weren't going well for him. Especially since he'd already been knocked flat on his ass before even reaching the first testing room.

'Rock Lee huh?' Sasuke frowned, doing his best to tune out his peers as they talked to the older bespectacled guy who was warning them not to make a ruckus and get the eyes of the other mass amount of genin in the room.

Apparently some of them were mad or whatever about 'rookies' like himself and his peers getting in on the exam.

No, his mind was entirely on just a few stand outs, 'That guy, he's as fast as Daiki.' he thought. He wasn't too fussed about having lost really, the guy was a complete weirdo, but he was the real deal, Sakura as usual hadn't noticed at all, but he had, as had Naruto surprisingly.

But then, Naruto had some depth to him that most didn't even realise, simply too spoiled in Sakura's case or ignorant in others to realise the blonde wasn't as weak as his old grades would imply.

The brutal scarring over his hands that showed just how hard Rock Lee trained himself, and just how much harder Sasuke would have to train himself.

'Naruto, Rock Lee, Gara…Daiki…' Sasuke's thoughts trailed off as a smirk appeared on his face, ducking slightly so nobody caught sight of it.

….These exams were going to be exciting, a perfect place to grow stronger and test himself.

And if he had his way, he'd see Daiki in the finals.

A thought occurred to the Uchiha, as Kabuto explained about his ninja info cards, showing off a graph of how many people were taking the exams and from what villages and countries, over one hundred and fifty.

"Hey," Sasuke spoke up, eyeing the older grey haired teen, "Do you have information on specific individuals?" he asked.

"Oh?" Kabuto gave him an interested look, "Have some people you're worried about?"

The apparent information specialist pushed up his glasses, "Well, of course my information isn't completely perfect, but I do have it, I even have quite a bit of information on you rookies."

Sasuke grunted in understanding, ignoring the looks the rest of his graduation batch were giving him, "What have you got for Gaara of the Sand, Rock Lee and Daiki Yurei?" he asked.

"You know their names already, well, easy enough, wish you'd make it a challenge though so I can show off a bit." Kabuto pouted at him, shuffling his cards.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, always a show and dance with these people, "Just show me."

"Alright, alright here we go," Kabuto waved him off with a smile, and looked down at his cards, "First we have Rock Lee, He's a year or so older than you guys, graduated with the batch before you, he's completed twenty D-rank missions and twelve C-rank missions. His sensei is Gai. His taijutsu has improved greatly over the past year, but nothing else of note. This is his first chunin exams and his teammates are Neji Hyuuga the Rookie of the Year of the last batch and Tenten, the Kunoichi of the Year for the same batch."

'Barely anything of note.' Sasuke mused, the most interesting being his teammates really. The busty Hyuga girl, Hibaba or whatever stilled at the mention of the other Hyuga, but said nothing, keeping a placid smile on her face.

'Whatever.' he rolled his eyes and focused on Kabuto again, "Next is Gaara, he's a real newcomer, I have very little on him I'm afraid, he's completed eight C-rank missions and wow…a B-rank as well! Pretty impressive for a genin. Interestingly, it seems he's come back from each mission without a scratch."

That, Sasuke could believe, something about that guy wigged him out. And his stealth ability was on par with Kakashi's the guy had been in the same tree as the Uchiha without him ever noticing.

"Finally, we have Daiki Yurei…" Kabuto began, before trailing off and blinking, "Oh…oh wow."

"What?" Sasuke arched an eyebrow at him. That was quite the reaction.

"Just…this guy is really impressive," Kabuto gave him a shaky smile, and his eyes told Sasuke the older teen couldn't believe what he's saying, "Alright, Daiki Yurei, graduated in the same batch as you, ranked overall sixth in class. Cited as being the most talented of your class by far according to an Iruka-sensei, only ranked as low as he is because of lacking a specific focus for the shinobi arts and instead pursued every single one, there's a mention that should he have had a specific focus on even just two of the shinobi arts, he'd have been far stronger than even you Sasuke-kun when you all graduated."

'Seems about right.' Sasuke agreed. Daiki was an utter monster when it came to training, the fact he ranked so high while pursuing every option showed how talented and hard working he was.

"What, Daiki?" Yamanaka scoffed, "The cute muscle guy? He was alright, but no way he's better than Sasuke-kun! He's the best."

She showed once again how much of an ignorant bimbo she was. Thankfully, Sakura didn't join her this time, though, he noticed how she tensed as if wanting to jump to his defence.

Annoying. He wasn't so pathetic he needed someone to lie to him or about him. Daiki was stronger than him, far stronger than him now most likely since he became one of those 'Jinchuuriki' he told him about. After all, if it was a power that Itachi wanted, it was no doubt great and fearsome, especially considering according to Daiki, this specific Bijuu that he sealed inside himself drove Itachi off before, making his brother flee for his life, albeit at great cost, but still, the fact Itachi had backup and still ran, was a testament to the might of the three tailed Bijuu, the Sanbi as Daiki called it.

"Hey, I'm just reading what's been put down, take your complaints up with this Iruka-sensei," Kabuto shrugged off Yamanaka's complaints, but he had everyones attention now, especially since he was talking of one of their classmates, "Right anyway, moving on, Daiki has completed…wow, holy wow…he's completed sixty-nine D-rank missions, three C-rank missions, one B-rank mission and to top it off an honest to god S-rank mission. This guys stats are off the chart, ninjutsu of possibly every element, powerful genjutsu, taijutsu that even Jonin would fear to face and rumour has it, he's killed multiple Jonin, one even said to be a member of the Seven Swordsmen Of The Mist. And to top it all off, this guy is taking this exam as well, and without a team at that. Looks like he's our ringer this year."

Sasuke resisted the urge to click his tongue. Again, information that wasn't very helpful at all. He already knew all that, even the fact Daiki didn't have a team with him for the exams, he was pretty forthcoming about it.

"….Holy crap." Inuzuka gaped though at the revealed information and he saw Nara visibly swallow.

Seemed they were at least smart enough to catch on that the information was accurate. Though again, nothing he didn't already know, in fact he already knew far more.

Annoying, but he could deal with it.

"Wait, what's a ringer?" Sakura piped in.

"Just that, a ringer in the corner," Kabuto shrugged, "Most big villages when it comes to exams, tend to send in at least one team that can show off and make their village look especially powerful and draw in more clients. Daiki-san seems to be our ringer this year, and considering he's being given the chance to take an exam as dangerous as this alone, it says a lot about how much faith the higher ups have in his abilities."

Some of the others seemed to be quite awed to hear about Daiki's apparent skill.

Good, Sasuke was glad.

It would make things ever more so satisfying when he beat Daiki himself and showed his power.

If he could overcome Daiki after all, he would be one massive step forward towards his goal of avenging his clan!

"Well, don't get too wound up, Daiki-san is impressive for sure, but Leaf, Sand, Stone, Cloud, Mist, Rain, Grass, Sound and more have all sent exceptionally talented genin here for the chance to show off their skills and get promoted," Kabuto laughed lightly before pausing, "…well maybe not the Hidden Sound, they're quite a new and very small village after all, but the rest of the Hidden Villages are filled to the brim with bright and amazing young talents like yourself, you shouldn't underestimate any of them it could get you killed."

"…Hearing that could make you lose confidence." Hibaba noted quietly. Good, Daiki had apparently done wonders for her confidence since she could even speak now in public, but she was thankfully still quiet.

As a woman should be really, the complete opposite of Sakura and Yamanaka in that respect.

"Yeah…" Sakura grimaced in agreement with the Hyuga girl, "So basically, everyone here is-"

Kabuto nodded, "Just like Rock Lee, Gaara and Daiki, everyone here is a top tier elite from their village." he confirmed.

'Hmph, I doubt it.' Sasuke crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. Sure, there were going to be outliers, but most of them probably weren't even close to the likes of Lee, Gaara and Daiki.

"…Hey Naruto, don't get so-"

At Sakura's voice, Sasuke looked over in interest to see her with her hand on Naruto's shoulder, the blondes head dipped down.

For all intents and purposes, he looked dejected.

He wasn't though. Sasuke knew the blonde idiot well enough to know what was about to-

"Ha!" Naruto threw his head back and laughed, a wild grin appearing on his face, sharp canines glinting under the ceiling lights, "You all better listen here, the name is Naruto Uzumaki and don't you forget it. I won't lose to any of you bastards, not even you Daiki wherever the hell you're hiding!"

'Heh.' Sasuke huffed in amusement as over a hundred pairs of eyes shot towards his blonde teammate, glaring bloody daggers at his boasting.

"W-what the hell is that idiot doing Sakura?!" Yamanaka spluttered, pointing at Naruto, and the rest of the batch made comments of their own.

Sasuke ignored them, instead, his eyes drifting around the room. He found Rock Lee sitting with his teammates halfway into the class, and Gaara with his own teammates leaning against the wall at the window.

…But where was-

'There he is.' Sasuke's gaze landed on his target.

Daiki wasn't paying attention to anything or anyone, or so he made it seem. The boy was sitting at the end of one of the long desks, arms crossed behind his head, eyes closed and his feet atop the table, looking for all intents and purposes to be completely relaxed.

Interestingly, Daiki's attire had changed. It showed just how serious he was taking this. Before, he tended to wear slacks and simple t-shirts, but now, he was adorned in full on shinobi gear, his ankles bandaged to keep the standard blue shinobi pants he was wearing from catching on anything, while atop his torso, he wore a shiny ebony black chest plate trimmed with dark blue, the weird turtle pauldron that he knew absorbed chakra from training with him, clear in view.

As if sensing his gaze, one of Daiki's newly crimson red eyes opened and met Sasuke's own, before smirking his way challengingly.

On instinct, his sharingan flared to life, two tomoe now in each eye and he smirked right back.

This was going to be fun.