47 Finals Part 1

After enjoying a lengthy talk with the Hokage Kibo left the room and realized that he only had two weeks until the start of the finals.

Taking flight, Kibo headed back to the training cave and continued his practice. Kibo was trying to master the first stance of the Soaring Phoenix Martial Art. It was mostly comprised of kicking techniques and involved many high-speed attacks.

After a full-week, Kibo had barely managed to master the 1st stance, Soaring Phoenix Step.

It used ultra-high-speed movements combined with fire natural energy to move like a rocket. It was much faster than his Wind Lord Step but far less maneuverable. The Soaring Phoenix Step was best for short and straight-forward bursts of speed.

Other than the first Soaring Phoenix art, he also managed to manifest his first colored flame.

It was a blue fire that felt cold as ice, using a target to test its capability Kibo saw as the fire spread over the dummy and froze into a bock of pointed flame-shaped ice.

Kibo barely touched it as it dissolved into ice flakes.

Only a week remained giving him just enough time to reach the first stage of his Soulfire Rebirth Cultivation Technique.

This was the most useful technique he gained from absorbing Suzaku, it used the 7 colored flames to refine the soul over a period of time. The more colored flames he mastered the higher levels he could temper his soul.

For the entire month, Kibo sat in the lotus position, practicing his soul Cultivation.

Suddenly, his body was covered with a light-blue shroud made from his Ice-Fire. Not only that, but his soul was also covered in a thin layer of the same ice as well.

When it suddenly began to quake, the ice chipped off from his soul and seeped through his body's pores, carrying a black and icky substance along with it.

Kibo breathed in, letting a breath of fresh air enter his body. He felt the range of his 3rd eye start to slowly expand as his mind grew clearer.

The final change brought by improving his soul strength was that his Chakra felt almost twice as dense as it was before, letting him use more of his techniques at a lesser cost.

Kibo's eyes shined even brighter than before, it was as if a small galaxy could be seen swirling inside his pupils.

As he stood up, a loud cracking noise came from his body, echoing throughout the training room. His bones, muscles, and tendons all snapped into place before they exuded a hidden strength that was boiling underneath the surface of his skin.

Heading outside, he began spreading his senses throughout the forest, and for the next few hours, Kibo waited.

Once he sensed a disturbance in the fabric of space, Kibo grinned as he flew over towards a certain location near the base of a nearby mountain river.

With a puff of smoke, two people came out of the mist. One was a Naruto, who had his clothing torn to shreds.

If it weren't for the Gravity suit's auto repair function he would practically be naked.

The other was Jiraiya who now had an air of confidence surrounding him. It appeared Naruto wasn't the only one to benefit from going to Mount Kitsunegusa.

Kibo joyfully shouted, "HEY! NARUTO!!!" as he came flying down to greet the two.

"Nii Chan!" Naruto sensed Kibo's presence and shouted back.

When Kibo got to the ground, he looked at his little brother's eyes and discovered that Naruto had mastered his new Sage Mode.

Unlike the toad pupils he had in canon, a single white magatama had merged into the center of his black pupil. With the white yang magatama, it made his pupils look like a Yin-Yang.

"Whoa is this your new Sage Form?" Kibo asked while also noticing the elongated black and white stripes that took the place of his whiskers.

Naruto then chuckled as he held out his hand and forming a Rasengan with ease, no clones helping, just pure skill.

"What do you think, bro!" Naruto said with a pearly white smile.

In response to Naruto's progress, Kibo clapped his hands before saying, "Great! Now, can you add any elements to it yet?"

Naruto and Jiraiya looked at Kibo like he was insane,

"That's not an easy thing to do. Even Minato couldn't pull that off." Naruto nodded his head, agreeing with Jiraiya's statement.

"I still can't believe dad managed to get it this far. He actually managed to imitate the tailed beast bomb with such accuracy," Naruto said as he dispersed his Rasengan.

Suddenly Kibo summoned two clones and held out his hand to make a Rasengan.

Then, Kibo Clones gathered around him before Kibo said, "This is how you can train to fuse your elemental release with the Rasengan. Remember, that this just until you figure out how to do it yourself. The clones are only supposed to be a temporary crutch. They can assist you while you maintain control of the Rasengan. One clone adds in the additional elemental Chakra while the others regulate the speed and output."

Suddenly, the Rasengan turned into a lighting Shuriken shape, then a wind elemental, and fire, before he finally dispersed the technique.

Naruto had his jaw dropped in a similar manner as Jiraiya. The two were both experiencing their own eureka moment and smiled with anticipation.

Actually, Naruto would have eventually learned this for himself it wasn't really necessary to show him now. The reason Kibo was showing this off, was to give Jiraiya more power. He hoped that it would be enough to survive his encounter with Pain.

After discussing the technique for a while, Jiraiya said he had to meet with the Hokage and make a few reports.

In response, Kibo and Naruto thanked before they parted ways.

Jiraiya went off in the direction of the Hokage's office while the boys headed towards their house.

Kibo had entered his house and was greeted by his loving family.

As he watched Naruto receive the same treatment, Kibo smiled thinking back on what the Great Sage Toad prophesized.

Kibo then headed outside and called out to Haku and Zabuza.

The two Guardian Nin appeared in a burst of speed, bowing as they said, "Yes, Master?!"

"Something big is going to happen during the finals. Watch over my family and protect them with everything you have," Kibo ordered before he handed over his two Chakra Armor prototypes to them.

After explaining to them what it does, and what the armors are was capable of, the two showed looks of appreciation.

Zabuza seemed particularly happy because the suit augmented his physique's abilities by almost 3 fold.

Haku liked it because it was all blue and tight-fitting, so he could wear it under his clothing.

Kibo also built-in gravity control seals that he based on the System-bought suit. Now the two could also keep up their training, Kibo also gave them scrolls based on techniques that suited them.

Zabuza obtained a complete scroll containing every skill of the previous Kubikiribōchō's owners. Kibo named the Ken-Jutsu manual, The Complete Art of the Executioner.

Haku was given a collection of Jutsus he copied down from the Yukikage hat piece. There were dozens of A and S Ranked Ice Jutsus for him to learn, along with every other Jutsu the previous Yukikages knew as well. Kibo called this scroll Snow-Ice Jutsu Compilation.

Kibo looked at them with a generous smile and said, "I told you I treat my people well."

Zabuza and Haku thanked him as they received their rewards and went off to train.

Kibo then headed to bed. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought of the battle that was to come and began shaking with excitement.

"I'm going to kill that snake. Even if Naruto could eventually forgive you and help you change your ways. I'm not as nice as him, and your sins are too great for me to forgive. Tomorrow, Danzo will die as well. I won't feel my family is safe unless I kill both of them."

Kibo rolled over and thought of one last thing before falling asleep, "I can't wait to see the look on Naruto's face when he sees them."

The next morning Kibo got out of bed ate breakfast with his family and headed towards the Village's Grand Arena.

The group arrived alongside the other contestants only Sasuke seemed to be missing, Kibo slapped his forehead as he realized Kakashi's nature never changes.

The group was led into the open sky arena, there were a few trees here and there, and the outer section of the ring-shaped field had some grass growing alongside it.

The center was mostly barren dirt. It showed that the land had been worked on, and even replaced often. Kibo figured that the battles that occurred here in the past are partly responsible for the arena's current appearance.

The seats were full of spectators while loud cheers echoed across the stadium. There were many familiar faces in the crowd, the parents and clansmen of the competitors showed their favoritism with flags and paper megaphones.

Hayate walked up to the group and told them of the changes that were happening because of Dosu's disappearance.

Shikamaru sighed and said, "Aw man what a drag, I'm fighting another girl?!"

Kibo stayed calm and patient as he watched as the 'Kazekage' arrive.

When they heard the announcement for the finals to begin, Kibo cracked his knuckles and said, "Let's get this show underway."

"Kibo versus Sai!"

"GO~OO, KIBO!!!" Niwa shouted from the bleachers through an I Heart Kibo Megaphone.

"YOU CAN DO IT SON!" Aka followed up while waving a flag that said, Kibo for 1st Place.

"Can you behave?" Jun begged as he shook his head.

"You not very convincing with that shirt on, Dad, " Niwa countered, pointing at the Best Grandfather t-shirt under his robe.

"Kill me now!" Kibo thought as he walked on to the field with a red face.

The two walked up to each other and shook hands before jumping back into their fighting positions.

The moment they heard "Start!" Sai let loose a group of ink dogs from a scroll that began to charge at Kibo.

Kibo's hand glowed as he leashed the ink beasts in a star chakra construct resembling a dog's collar, and with a quick flip of his hand, he tossed them back at Sai.

A 10-foot ink bird appeared from another scroll as he hopped on it to dodge.

At the same time, the dog ink constructs slammed into the wall, splattering across the stone surface like graffiti.

Kibo spread his wings and flew up to chase after his target.

Sai pulled out another scroll seconds before a hail of ink shuriken came flying after him.

Star Chakra appeared around Kibo's hand as he swiped it outward, blasting away all the Shuriken with ease with a burst of Chakra.

Sai had summoned two other ink birds and began to avoid Kibo's blast attacks by jumping back and forth between them.

Kibo then smiled as he made a giant spherical net and closed his hands together making it shrink around Sai.

Sai knew he'd been caught but he'd felt that he'd shown off his skill set well enough.

He bowed to Kibo and thanked him for going easy on him.

Kibo responded in kind as the crowd cheered wildly.

"That's my baby!" Niwa shouted, making Kibo turn red again.

"That's an interesting mother you have there," Sai said before they parted.

"The Hoshi Clan is indeed impressive. I don't suppose the Hokage would spare a few to Sunagakure by way of arranged marriage, now would you?" The Kazekage asked before laughing under his breath.

"I won't force the Hoshi Clan to do anything. If you can charm him with one of your Kunoichis, then you're more than welcome to try." Sarutobi laughed back after he responded.

"Sakura versus Hinata!"

The two came out onto the field and looked a bit bothered by the fact that they had to fight each other.

Hinata then raised her hands up before saying, "No hard feelings?"

Sakura smiled and settled her question as she said, "No hard feelings!"

The two began as Hinata moved in to close the gap between them. Sakura knew she didn't stand a chance in close quarters combat, so she kept the distance while spewing various B-Rank Jutsus.

"Water bullet! Still Marsh!" The combo combined into a flood of mud aimed at Hinata.

Hinata jumped up and used a Great Fire Ball Jutsu to harden the Jutsu seconds before Sakura started shooting multiple water bullets at the mid-air Hinata.

Hinata spun her body revealing her own version of her Clan's secret art "Gentle Fist Art, Flowing Waves, Revolving Heaven!"

The water bullets slammed into the Chakra water bubble formed in the air and shot off into the ground making small craters appear.

Using a Water Chakra Jutsu and merging it with the Revolving Heaven Jutsu, Hinata had filled in the holes in the original technique that was directly above and below themselves.

The Hyuga clan family that came to watch were all petrified by the changes she made, especially her father and uncle.

Both Negi and Hanabi were watching with excited looks on their face when they turned to their fathers and asked, "Dad! Can you teach us that technique too?"

Hizashi and Hiashi both had a bit of sweat on their faces as they responded, "We don't know this one, your sister/cousin made it up."

Realizing the two spoke at the same time about the same thing, they looked at each other and laughed before Neji pointed out the match was intensifying.

Just as Hinata landed, the spinning motion of her Jutsu continued to rotate faster and faster.

Before she could figure out what Hinata was up to, the rotating water formed into dozens of Ice Senbons that flew out at Sakura at frightening speeds.

In response, our pink-haired Kunoichi used a multi-layered Earth Wall Jutsu to block the Senbon.

Sakura then jumped off of the wall she made and threw a pair of Kunai with wire strings attached to the ends of them.

They hit Hinata's barrier and began wrapping around the dome of spinning Chakra. Taking a note from Sasuke, she added more and more wires before throwing an Electric Bomb Talisman on the line.

As Sakura sent an electrical pulse down the web of wires, a large blinding light shined scattering the water dome, revealing that the one using the Palm Rotation technique was a clone.

Sakura looked around the battlefield but failed to find her opponent.

"Where is she?" Sakura thought moments before Hinata came up through the ground with a burrowing Jutsu.

Panicking, Sakura punched down towards Hinata, only for Hinata to brush off her punch and lept into her chest.

The punch hit the ground sending up cracks and deforming the earth, everyone was shocked at Sakura's strength, but it was too late, Hinata avoided the blow and began her assault, "Sealing Eight Trigrams, Sixty-Four Palms."

Hinata's hands turned into blurs as they tapped and sealed away Sakura's immense physical strength.

Sakura felt her Tenketsu being sealed up as she fell to the ground with a weak body.

Sakura didn't feel bad, only proud of her teammate as smiled at Hinata and said, "Congratulations!"

Hinata removed the seals and Sakura healed their injuries with the mystic palm technique.

The Hokage clapped his hands and smiled at the close bond between the two Leaf Shinobi. Even though they were teammates, they fought to their fullest potential, and they didn't hold any grudges or issues afterward,

"A fine example of the Will of Fire," Sarutobi said as he nodded his head with an elated expression.

"It seems Konoha have many promising buds this year." The Kazekage said with a twitching smile that was under his cloth veil.

"So what is your opinion of their fight?" Sarutobi asked.

"It was good, they both show potential. But the fight I'm especially interested in; is the son of the current Uchiha Clan Leader."