87 Will of fire

Once every fight concluded, the first phase of the chunin exam had officially ended. All the candidates passing the exam were exhausted. Surprisingly, there wasn't too much disappointment in the candidate's faces, everyone knew how hard it was to qualify as a chunin and they tried the exam mostly to gain experience.

Before freeing everyone, The third Hokage quickly announced the match-ups for the finals.

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyūga

Gaara vs. Sasuke Uchiha

Kankurō vs. Shino Aburame

Temari vs. Shikamaru Nara

Kayle Sora vs Dosu Kinuta

Almost everyone was relieved as they heard their opponent with the exception of Dosu Kinuta, he still remembered very clearly the scene he saw a few minutes ago, he remembered how the strong Gaara was sent flying by one kick by his supposed opponent, and he couldn't start to think of a way to defeat such a monster.

Dosu Kinuta: 'Guess i'll die'

After this final announcement, everyone knew they were free to leave, the remaining qualified participant felt lucky to still had one month to recuperate and train and they couldn't help but want to make the best of it.

Kayle that was about to leave was called by the Hokage.

Kayle: "Hokage-sama did you had anything to tell me?"

Sarutobi: "Kayle... I was happily surprised by your performance during this exam, you did extremely well to the point of going beyond everyone's expectations"

Kayle: "Thank you Hokage-sama for the praises, but I don't think I did anything that deserves this much praise, I'm happy that my hard work is paying off"

Sarutobi: "You don't have to belittle yourself Kayle, what you showed us today was something very astonishing, Konoha is known to have a lot of geniuses but even then it's rare to have someone as strong as yourself at your age"

Kayle nodded while smiling accepting the third Hokage praised while feeling a little proud.

Sarutobi: "But I had one question I would like to ask you, can you tell me what you think of Konoha?"

Hearing this Kayle knew what the Hokage was looking for, he knew that the third wanted to know he had the will of fire burning inside him or not, and kayle decided to answer truthfully.

Kayle: "Konoha?...it's my home, it's where my family lives, it's the place that gave me the opportunities to grow into what I'm today, I was lucky to meet warm-hearted people like Gaï sensei who taught me since I was very young, I was lucky to go the Academy and have friends I enjoy spending time with..."

Kayle paused for a few seconds as he started remembering all the good time he spent in this village, he had always tried to be neural, taking opportunities without owning anything to anyone, but spending this much time and growing in Konoha made him feel attached to it, it seemed that he had let his guard down at some point and the will of fire had invaded his soul and burned deep inside him.

Kayle: "I'm currently part of the roaming squad, I'm young and I want to discover the world around me, see new places and new cultures, Konoha is the place where I let my most precious people be safe, I know that as long as my parents stay here I won't have to worry while roaming outside... and I will always be present for this village that gave me so much"

The third Hokage that was worried a few minutes ago started laughing loudly feeling relieved, it seemed that all his worry were for nothing, as he hadn't monitored Kayle he didn't know much about this young man dispositions, but now he knew that he has nothing to worry about.

Sarutobi: "A strong will of fire is burning deep inside your heart Kayle, this old man does not need to worry anymore about this village's future"

After this small talk, Kayle was finally allowed to leave, he sighed as he just found out how much he estimated Konoha, his mind was always thinking about training that he started relying on this village more and more not even thinking much about it.

Kayle: 'Well Konoha is kinda cool... I don't mind protecting it a little'