Chapter 55: New style

-Hours before the chunin final exam begins.

Deep in the darkness of that place, four shadows of different sizes appeared and looked at their master.

"Let's get this started."

Putting on the Kazekage's hat, the man smirked. After a second, he put on a white veil that covered his mouth and nose. Right now, this man was determined to complete the destruction of his home village, the destruction of Konoha.

Everyone already knew what he had to do, the plan was ready to be carried out, it only remained to wait in the darkness.

"Fufufu... let's see if you can handle this, you damned old geezer."

Leaving the place, the man made himself laugh as he walked. His henchmen looked at each other, then disappeared into the darkness of the place.

-Present-

In front of the crowd of spectators that were present in the Konoha stadium, the stars of this show appeared, those who qualified for the real and final exam of the chunin qualification exams looked at the spectators.

At the same time, the Hokage was sitting waiting for all the participants to be present.

"Don't we have any information about Uchiha Sasuke and Asahi Toru?"

Asking the ninja beside him, Hiruzen sighed waiting for an answer.

"Asahi Toru right now is heading to this place, on the other hand, Uchiha Sasuke has been missing for a month now."

A month of absence was worrisome to Hiruzen, after all he knew Orochimaru was after Sasuke, but somehow he hadn't gone after Toru, not yet. It was as if Orochimaru was waiting for something, as if he was planning something for that boy in the future.

(Hm... this is worrying, for the time being I'll have to stay calm until it's all over. I have to find Orochimaru... and kill him.)

Clenching his fist tightly, Hiruzen wasn't sure if he could kill Orochimaru with his own hands, he at one time was his student, he was like a son just like Jiraiya and Tsunade, so killing him was a difficult decision, but he had to do it, for the sake of the village and its people.

"How have you been, Hokage-sama."

Walking over and taking a seat beside the Hokage, the Kazekage smiled beneath his mask. This caused Hiruzen to snap out of his thoughts and respond with a slight sigh.

"So far, so good."

"Really? I thought a trip to my village would end with you?"

"Hahaha, you say that like I'm old, I can still endure another five years."

"That's a good thing."

The two men smiled at the same time, like two old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time. That made Hiruzen feel at ease for a few moments, for the time being he was going to let the chunin exams go normally.

At the same time, the stadium was filled with excitement and most of the participants were already present, the only ones missing were Sasuke and Toru. Naruto had barely made it, after all he had just been chased by a herd of bulls, luckily he was able to get in before these animals stuck their horns in his butt.

"Hey, aren't Toru and Sasuke coming yet?"

Looking around, Naruto didn't find either of those two boys. Apparently Ino was also a bit worried since they didn't show up, this generated some doubts in Naruto, who didn't hesitate to approach her to ask.

Ino saw him approaching, so she tilted her head in confusion.

"Looks like Toru still hasn't arrived, same goes for Sasuke."

As if she could read minds, Ino spoke the instant Naruto approached. She seemed to be a bit angry and worried about her teammate's absence.

Meanwhile, in the audience, stood Hinata and Hanabi next to Hiashi. The man had his arms crossed and his eyes closed, he was saving his excitement for when the bouts started.

"Toru-kun is not here?"

Looking at the participants standing in the center of the stadium, Hinata found it odd that Toru was late, after all he always arrives a few minutes before everything starts, but this didn't seem to be the case. Toru was still not arriving, just like Sasuke, that was a fact that could not be denied, but still the show had to start.

Hanabi on the other hand, had a smile on her face, she was confident that her older brother would arrive sooner or later.

"Hm...looks like it's about to start already."

Near where the Hyuga's were, stood Rock Lee next to Tenten, the two looked at the man who appeared in front of the participants.

"Listen up everyone, pay attention."

They looked at the participants and realizing that two were missing, the man sighed tiredly.

"My name is Shiranui Genma and, due to certain inconveniences, Hayate Gekko will not be able to be the judge for this last exam, so I have been tasked to guide you until the one-on-one bouts begin."

Taking out a sheet of paper from his pocket, Genma showed a drawing with the names of the participants, there were lines connecting the names of the participants to each other, showing who will be the opponents to beat.

"These will be the one on one duels."

Seeing the sheet of paper, Naruto and Ino opened their eyes in disbelief, after all they did not expect this lineup of participants.

-Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuga Neji.

-Asahi Toru vs Gaara- (The winner will fight against Uchiha Sasuke)

Yamanaka Ino vs Onikuma Enko- -Yamanaka Ino vs Onikuma Enko- (Winner will fight Uchiha Sasuke)

-Kankuro vs Aburame Shino- (The winner will fight against Uchiha Sasuke)

Nara Shikamaru vs. Temari- -Nara Shikamaru vs.

Squinting his eyes, Gaara looked at the name of his opponent. To fight Sasuke, he'll have to fight Toru first, no, he'll have to kill him, that's what he thought, that's what he would do.

(I need blood...)

Looking at the giant gourd boy, Naruto and Ino swallowed saliva, he was nervous as they thought Toru would have a hard time against an enemy of that caliber.

"That idiot, they already showed the leaderboard and he still doesn't show up."

Looking down at the ground, Ino was nervous. On one hand she will have to fight Enko, but she already knew her due to the fact that they were classmates when they were still in the ninja academy, so she wasn't so worried about being killed. But with Toru it was a different story, as he was going to face Gaara, who tried to assassinate Rock Lee during the preliminaries of the chunin exams.

Naruto thought the same thing, he will have to face against Neji, which in itself was already too much, but he empathized with Toru, after all facing a monster can be difficult.

"Ino-chan, it looks like we'll be rivals, give it your best shot!"

With a thumbs up, Enko gave encouragement to her opponent. She knew she was going to win, but it wouldn't be easy, she still wanted Ino to give her best effort, as she wasn't going to hold back either.

"Same here."

Nodding her head, Ino now had confidence in herself, after all her two friends were watching her, so she wasn't going to lose so easily mind you.

"This is a bummer, I'll have to fight a woman. Dude, I don't hit women..."

Touching his head tiredly, Shikamaru was pessimistic as usual. Although he knew better than to underestimate the enemy, this was going to get annoying for him.

"Well, that's it, now only the first ones to fight will stay in..."

Noticing something strange at the entrance of the stadium, Genma pulled a kunai from his clothes as he watched a mysterious figure enter the place. The expression on his face became serious, this is something that the participants and the audience could see, so they also looked in the same direction as Genma, of course, the Hokage and the Kazekage were no exception, after all human beings are curious by nature.

"Are you serious?"

Dropping her arms over her shoulders, Ino recognized the person who had just entered the stadium. At the same time, Naruto smiled with excitement to see him arrive at the worst time.

But Gaara's reaction was different, for upon seeing him he frowned and clenched his fist tightly as he tried to control the demon hiding inside him, after all the demon was jumping with excitement at the sight of fresh meat in front of him, the excitement of seeing Asahi Toru.

Although there was something different, that is something everyone saw immediately. Although the audience was unaware of this boy who had just entered the stadium.

A boy with long black hair that covered his face a little, silver eyes like shining pearls and a cute childish face, except that this face showed no emotion whatsoever. The boy had a black cloak that covered him from the neck down, around his neck could be seen a large red scarf with torn ends and a large scroll tied behind his back with a strap.

Under the cloak, Toru was wearing long pants that reached a little above his ankles, his legs were covered by black bandages and like any good ninja, he was wearing the typical blue sandals of Konoha. He was also wearing a black T-shirt with short sleeves that reached a little above his elbows, his arms were also covered by bandages, only these were of a white color, but in addition to all this, there were strange rectangular machines tied to his wrists, but no one could see them since the coat covered this.

(Hm... so he already arrived, now only Sasuke was missing...)

Looking intently at Toru, the Hokage smiled, he was eager to see the true potential of that boy, after all Asahi Toru is the last survivor of the clan that has the blood of the Uchiha running through his veins.

"Nii-san is already here!"

Taking her sister's hands, Hanabi liked Toru's new outfit, even though he looked like a professional killer, something a bit scary, but Hinata reacted in a different way, as she was worried about him, after all she didn't know who her teammate will fight.

Sakura, who was next to Hinata, also had a strange reaction, as she folded her arms.

"I thought it was Sasuke..."

"Wow, looks like all you think about is Sasuke, well that explains the size of your forehead."

Appearing behind Sakura, Kiba took a seat as he placed Akamaru inside his coat with his head out so he could watch the fight.

Hearing what the dog boy said, Sakura reacted in a very normal way, hitting Kiba.

"You're late..."

Showing the sheet of paper to Toru, Genma thought that this boy was a bit mysterious, well, he is a survivor of the crimson night, being a bit traumatized was within the predictions, so it wasn't something rare, after all many ninjas have fallen into madness or loneliness due to past traumas, though it seemed that Toru could control his emotions very well.

Looking at the sheet of paper with the names of the participants, Toru narrowed his eyes and looked at Gaara. One of the two will have to fight Sasuke depending on the outcome of the fight.

(There is someone missing in this list of names, if I remember correctly, his name was Kinuta Dosu. Also, the judge is different, he's no longer the guy who looked sick. Something is going on...)

Having some suspicions, Toru knew something was going on, he could see it in the air, the color of death.

"Now that another one of the participants appeared, it's time to kick off, but first, you should know that the rules haven't changed since the preliminaries. The fight ends when one of the participants dies or I said the fight is over."

Closing his eyes, Genma knew that at some point he would have to intervene, after all, children do not know how to control themselves and can end up killing the opponent, something he will not allow.

"Then, only those who are going to fight can stay, the others will have to go to the waiting room or they can watch the fights from the stands".

Ignoring Genma's words, Toru put his hands in his pockets and went up to the stands with Ino.

"You're late..."

Without looking away from the front, Ino was a little angry, though even she didn't know the reason for that.

"Yeah... I had things to prepare."

Taking a seat, Toru closed his eyes and remembered the preparations he had to make before coming.

-A few minutes ago at Toru's house...

Sitting on his bed, making sure his secret weapon was working properly, Toru was almost ready for the final exams, but there was something that bothered him, and that was that he was naked, only a small towel covered him, after all he had bought more comfortable clothes for the fight.

(The bandages... even though I managed to remove most of the scars from my arms, I still have to use these bandages so that the remaining ones don't show).

Tying the bandages around his arms, Toru felt nostalgic, after all the scars he had on his body were caused by his own scientific research, and also by his father's beatings.

Continuing with the bandaging, Toru covered his legs with black bandages, after that, he put on the pants and the sweatshirt, both were black, this to make it easier to work at night, making him able to camouflage himself in the dark. Finally, the sandals and the forehead protector with the emblem of Konoha carved on the plate, which he tied to his left arm.

"Ready..."

Everything was ready, now Toru would only have to carry the scroll where he kept something special to be able to use it during the fight, but something made him stare at the closet... that closet full of objects that reminded him of some things from the past.

"The only thing I took out of this place were my mother's daggers..."

Opening the closet, Toru found a large trunk where he kept the few things he was able to salvage from his old home before moving. As he had said before, from that trunk he took the daggers he now uses as weaponry.

Toru didn't know what his mother did for a living, after all she didn't talk much about her past, no, she never talked about her past, that's why there were some things that Toru found strange.

"Hm..."

Squinting, Toru opened the trunk and saw something he forgot was there. It was an old cloak made of black cloth, even though it was a bit worn it looked good, plus it didn't have any damage, so he could wear it whenever he wanted.

(I'll use it...)

Taking the cloak from the trunk, Toru put on the cloak, besides that, he took the opportunity to put on the scarf as well, which was a bit torn at the ends due to his fight against Okamitsuki.

"Well, it's time to go, I'm running late."

Putting something strange on his wrists and putting on the claw-shaped earring, Toru held the scroll with a strap tying it to his back. After that, he locked the door to the house and made his way to Konoha Stadium.

-In the present-

"Preparing things? Don't you have a better excuse to justify being late?"

"You're not one to criticize people's unpunctuality, besides, are you that worried about what I do?"

Looking at Ino with expressionlessness on his face, Toru chose the right words.

"I..."

Remembering for a few seconds that day Toru arrived in a critical state in the fangs of a giant wolf, Ino felt something inside her chest tighten....

(That's right... Why am I so worried about what Toru is doing?)

Placing a hand on her left breast, she felt her heartbeat. She felt as if her heart was going to burst out of her chest because of how fast it was beating. If she had told Toru, he surely would have said she was going to have a cardiac arrest or something.

"Anyway, stop worrying about me and worry about yourself."

"What, who said I worry about you!"

With her face as red as a tomato, Ino held Toru by the cape, but when she realized that their faces were too close, she let go and sat back down.

"You fool!" After saying that, Ino looked away and started walking at full speed, she quickly sat down next to Hinata, leaving Toru standing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for taking the time to be present for these chunin exams."

The Hokage's voice was heard, causing Toru to look to the center of the stadium, where Naruto and Neji stood face to face. At the same time, the people in the place including the experienced chunin began to murmur.

-That kid just got lucky, what's even worse, he'll have to fight Hyuga Neji.

-Yeah, there's no way he can beat him.

-I say he should give up, he doesn't stand a chance.

Similar comments could be heard throughout the stadium, but who would have thought that all those people who made pessimistic comments about Naruto would end up swallowing their own words.

__________

Author's note: Someone became a pat reon of my pat reon, and now I'm motivated. I think I'll try to post up to three chapters a day on pat reon....