Chapter no.85

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Chunin Exam Arena - One Month Later

Konoha had been bristling with business over the past month. Many people from outside of Konoha had come from outside the village walls to watch the chunin exam tournament. Business was booming because of the influx of visitors, more visitors meant more profit which would benefit the village in the end. The chunin exams were always a main attraction and would bring not only visitors, but more clients as well.

The stadium was packed full of people. There were almost no seats available and it was filled to the brim with shinobi and civilians alike. Many of which were running about trying o make their last minute bets, hoping to win some extra cash based on who they thought was sure to win it all. Many of the civilians had placed their bets on the Hokage's children, knowing that their Hokage wouldn't let them participate without training them to the full extent of his ability.

The streets had been bustling with activity hours ago, but now they were quiet as a mouse. Many of the shops had even closed early so they could watch the tournament as well. Everyone and anyone was now in the stadium waiting for the exams to start.

Many of the most prominent people in Hi no Kuni were at the event. Even VIPs who were from other countries had travelled all this way to attend. Konoha was one of the strongest of the great nations alongside Kumo and Iwa.

If someone were to look at the Kage Box then they would see several prominent figures of the shinobi world. The first one that would be noticed was the Yondaime Hakage, Namikaze Minato who was wearing the traditional Hokage robes that had been passed down since the reign of the Shodaime Hokage. To his left was a much shorter man that had the appearance of a child. This was the Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura, who wore a mesh shirt with a green scarf wrapped around his neck. He also had on a green sash around his waist and adorned the Mizukage's traditional hat. To Minato's right was the Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa. He too adorned his traditional Kage robes.

Behind the three Kage were several notable figures. To those from Konoha, they would easily be able to recognize Jiraiya of the sannin and Uchiha Obito. Next to them were a beautiful redhead, Terumi Mei, and a man with an eyepatch covering his right eye, Ao. The Suna bodyguards wore large cloaks so they were unrecognizable.

It was rare to see more than two Kages to come to an event like this, as many of the leaders of the great nations did not get along with one another.

All of the chunin hopefuls stood in the middle of the coliseum floor where the entire stadium could see them. They were the main reason for all of the commotion that had been happening the past few weeks. Everyone had come to see the prowess of the new generation. Most of those in the audience had come to see the Hokage's three children or one of the few remaining Uchiha in particular. Most people had bet on one of them. Whatever the case, they were all there to represent their village and show off its strength.

They had trained to their limits and beyond over the past month. Each and every one of them could say that they had greatly improved themselves in preparation for these matches. All of them stood before Genma just as he was about to announce the rules and start the first match. However, most of the genin representing Konoha were focused on one person, Portgas D. Naruto.

Naruto stood in the middle of the line that the genin were made to stand in. He maintained his usual impassive expression while his hands remained in his pockets as he waited for Genma to start the proceedings. Naruto had changed greatly over the past month. One change that had surprised everyone who was familiar with him was that he actually decided to wear clothes. He hadn't worn a shirt in months!

Naruto's appearance had changed a great deal. He now wore a short-sleeved gray trench-coat that reaches just below his knees with the Uchiha clan crest on the back. Underneath is a skin-tight, black, form-fitting shirt. He has also opted to wear pants instead of his usual shorts. His pants are black in color and reach down to his black combat boots, as opposed to normal shinobi pants which only reach down to the calves. His hitai-ate can still be seen being used as a belt buckle. A black chokuto can be seen strapped to his back, however only the handle is visible because he has chosen to wear in under his trench-coat. The majority of his right arm is wrapped up in bandages and black gloves are worn on each of his hands. He's opted to not wear his usual orange cowboy hat, revealing his new short hairstyle that is somewhat reminiscent of Obito's

Naruto was done hiding behind someone else's appearance. This was who he was. During his time training and all of the meditation needed to become one with nature, Naruto had realized that he had been emulating Ace. Though their beliefs were similar, they were not the same person. Due to the time spent living Ace's life their personalities and identities had merged in Naruto's mind and it became hard to distinguish who he really was, that was the one thing that was holding him back. After realizing this, he spent countless hours separating the two personalities and he finally succeeded. This was who Naruto truly was.

Large blushes could be seen on the faces of the Kunoichi on the arena floor, even Hana and Temari. For some reason now that he was fully clothed, there was a feel of mystery and charm to him. Something that woman seemed to be drawn to.

It was now that Genma decided to make his announcements. Seals had been previously placed all over the stadium floor and walls so that the audience could hear everything that was said by the proctor and the contestants competing.

"Welcome to the chunin exam finals! My name is Shiranui Genma and I will be the proctor for these exams."