Chapter 13

Special thanks to the folks on pa-atreon for making this possible. Now without further ado let's get into it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Isagi replied as he walked past Noel, further into the booth, but the teenager from Cloud would not be satisfied with that.

"Those insects of yours. They were already in the arena before you even got there. You were preparing the stage before you even set off for your battle," he said, and Akatsuchi looked ready to explode. Well, wasn't this interesting? I doubted it would lead to anything worthwhile. All I noted was that Isagi was crafty and seemed ready to do whatever it took to win. A true shinobi.

"What I did wasn't against any rules. I followed the rules as they were relayed to us, to the letter," he said in his defense before taking his seat and ignoring the other two. Noel appeared disappointed, as if he somehow had not been expecting shinobi to cheat at a shinobi exam. Akatsuchi looked furious. It was the barest of luck that we were called down for our battle when we were, because I am unsure if the boy wouldn't have exploded at Isagi if forced to spend even more time in the same enclosure as him. As I took the long route down the stairs and towards the field, I contemplated my strategy for the battle in front of me.

Each of the previous battles had shown something. Noel and the Kumo wankers had shown that the goal here was to put up a show. Kurotsuchi had taught me the value of not underestimating one's opponent. As my gourd floated right behind me, I considered the merits of the two possible approaches before settling on one. Akatsuchi was no threat. He would never be a threat to me; that was a fact.

So that meant I could use this battle to show off as much as possible. Not taijutsu though, as I had no guarantee he wasn't better than me, and that was not as likely to wow the crowd as good old ninjutsu.

When I arrived at the field and bowed to Rasa, he stood up and acknowledged me. That sent whispers flowing around the crowd. It was well-known that I was his son, but none of the other Kage had stood for a genin before. Even Ohnoki had only nodded at his hair. Well, if there was one way to guarantee all eyes would be on my fights, then this was it. As I turned to Akatsuchi, I saw him clenching his fist, and I could sympathize with it. The Tsuchikage had not moved since Kurotsuchi's defeat, and it was clear to Akatsuchi that he bore Iwa's hopes on his shoulders. If he lost, they would have a double washout in the first round of the finals. Not if, when.

When the proctor began the battle, I said some final words to the boy before beginning, "You've done well to come this far. Feel free to surrender when it seems you can't keep up." I did my best to project my voice, and the trash talking had the crowd even more invested in the outcome of this battle.

He only chuckled before exploding right at me, fists covered in stone (when did that happen?). I weaved out of the way of the first few punches with ease before jumping backwards and weaving through my own hand seals. I was deliberately slower than usual to give him the right amount of time to come up with a defense.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" I shouted as I ended with the tiger seal. My chest expanded as I felt the heat fill my core before I let it out in a single breath that quickly ignited and turned into a massive fireball, comparable to what Itachi could do in the anime.

My version probably cost at least thrice as much chakra and moved much slower, but with civilians, all they cared for was the spectacle. As Akatsuchi finished his own seals and used his Earth Release: Mud Wall Jutsu, the crowd sounded feverish when both jutsu collided, and the wall exploded, tossing the older boy backwards and dazing him for a bit. I stood and waited for him to collect himself. Not needing to worry about promotion meant I could focus solely on creating as much spectacle as possible.

When he got back to it, it was to see me weaving seals again. This time, they were just a bit faster, but only because I knew he'd be familiar with the jutsu I was about to execute. I ended on the bird seal and slammed my hand against the ground while clearly intoning, "Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears." The ground around us rumbled as it ached to fulfill my desires. I pumped it full of chakra and watched as it obeyed. Out of the ground rose massive spikes, pointing to the sky.

It was all Akatsuchi could do to outrun the jutsu. As he tried jumping from spike to spike to get to me in a display of acrobatics, I weaved hand seals once more, but this time at my true speed so they appeared instant to an onlooker. I ended on and held the snake seal as I intoned, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough." The breath I exhaled turned into an actual storm of wind as it crashed against my target and sent him flying back to where he came from. He crashed into and broke two of the earth spears on his way back, and when he landed on the ground, he was already on his last legs.

I guess that's enough of a show already. I waited for him to surrender, or for the proctor to end the battle, and as neither option happened, I knew something was wrong. It was only instincts trained from months of fighting against Baki that allowed me to dodge his uppercut as he shot right out of the ground like a bullet. Shocked at seeing his surprise attack fail, he was in no position to oppose my taijutsu. Dismantling him at close range was shamefully easy. A dodge here, a punch here, a kick there, and he was well and truly battered. At the end of it, it was no difficulty for me to send him flying with another Wind Release jutsu. This time, as he lay on the ground, I was sure it was the real him.

"Surrender?" I asked him, and he only grunted in reply, clearly considering the merits of attempting to stand and continue the battle. I couldn't let that happen. People loved an underdog, and I would not be giving them one to root for. The sand rushed out from my gourd like a tsunami, and I reveled in the shocked gasps of the audience as it reared up before rushing towards the Iwa boy as if it were to crash upon him. He screamed out his surrender with visible fear in his eyes, and the sand stopped right above him. I wouldn't have gone through with the threat of killing him if he hadn't. I'd have been in quite a bind if he hadn't, actually. With my battle over, it was time for me to return to the booth. Before I did, I gave Rasa another bow, and then bowed to the crowd, enjoying their excitement.

The proctor announced a thirty-minute intermission to allow the participants to rest, but as the ads on the stadium flashed the odds on each participant every other minute, I was willing to bet that it was mostly to allow the audience to place even more bets. No matter who one bet on, the house always won.

XXXXXX- THE FOURTH KAZEKAGE

"Your son is something else, Kazekage-dono," Ay said, in a voice that didn't give much away. The man had clearly grown from the impetuous boy I'd clashed against a few times in the last war.

"Indeed. He is talented," I concurred, only for a snort from Ohnoki to interrupt me. I turned to the Tsuchikage, and he saved me from having to ask as he began speaking.

"Talented? Bah. You have a prodigy on your hands. Taijutsu like that, and ninjutsu like that? He's good. Such a shame he's your Jinchuriki, eh? If not, he'd be the one to take your hat. Of that, I am certain." I just nodded at his assessment, swallowing the shame and guilt that built up in me as I remembered the promise I'd made to him. Gaara could never be Kazekage. Kiri had shown what happened when you gave his kind such power, and even beyond that. Suna's Jinchuriki was her spear and shield. Combining such a position with that of the Kage would be extraordinarily foolish. Neither the civilians nor the ninja would even stand for it. I lied to Karura's son, and I regretted that I would be forced to continue in that vein. The boy needed motivation. He needed something to care about, and I gave that to him.

"Yes. Gaara-chan shows the makings of something special. Why, I don't think even I was that skilled with so many elements at that age." The compliment from the Shinobi no Kami himself made me take a deep breath. Hiruzen was said to have mastered over a thousand jutsu from every element. It was an obvious exaggeration, but the spirit of it still held weight. Elemental mastery was his thing.

"Enough of the boy. There's another I wish to speak of. The Aburame. He cheated," Ohnoki said tersely, and there was a sudden spike in temperature in the room that we could all feel. It was almost like the Tsuchikage had not wanted to broach the topic, but hearing Hiruzen's voice was guaranteed to set him off.

"Nothing he did was against the rules, Ohnoki."

"Spare me that bullshit, Monkey," the Tsuchikage replied instantly, placing emphasis on the offensive term.

"He set up the field to gain an unfair advantage against my Genin and prevailed only by the most unconscionable of means."

"You seem to have forgotten what we are, Ohnoki. Shinobi. We cheat for a living. I seem to remember quite a few traps and surprises laid out for me on these very plains all those years ago. Turnabout is fair play."

"And if you would believe the gossip, they'd tell you Konoha and their precious Will of Fire are above that. If only everyone knew you were just as deep in the mud as the rest of us."

"Only pigs roll in the mud and forget to wash themselves, Ohnoki. Don't blame me for being better at washing than you."

There was something in their dialogue. They spoke in metaphors and with a context I could not relate to. From his body language, I could tell the Raikage was in a similar state of confusion. I almost tsked at how easy the man was to read. I guess that's what happened when all of one's negotiations were engaged in with fists and not words.

"The next round will begin shortly," the Proctor's voice echoed through the arena. I checked the clock and saw it had only been twenty-one minutes. A look at the stationary Head Jounin of Kusa told me all that I needed to know. I could sympathize with his situation. No one wanted two Kage fighting within their village, and if one wasn't accustomed to interactions between these two, they'd assume a fight was destined to break out.

The Proctor wasted little time in calling out the next fighters to the field, and Hiruzen and Ohnoki paused their constant sniping at each other to focus on the next fight. Noel Yatsuki and Kira of Kumo stood facing each other in the arena. After the customary bow to their Kage, who remained still, barely acknowledging them, they began the fight.

Like the first fight between two Kumo nin, this one was more for show. Although, this time the goal was to display taijutsu and not kenjutsu. A ninjutsu battle would have been a more exciting display for the crowd, but none of them had the required chakra reserves to pull off something like that and have enough in the tank to face Gaara in the next round.

As a show fight, the outcome was never in doubt. Noel Yatsuki was a taijutsu powerhouse. I saw it in the way he held back to allow his countryman to shine. I saw it in the way no hit ever even came close to touching him. He was strong. I had predicted that he and the Iwa girl would be Gaara's greatest opponents in these exams, but Iwa, like always, was fated to disappoint.

When Noel Yatsuki finally disabled his opponent, the crowd was ecstatic to have witnessed such a great show. However, their reaction was nothing compared to their response to Gaara's ninjutsu. Fire, Wind, and Earth releases in quick succession, combined with his massive chakra reserves and chakra control to execute them with such speed. Gaara's promotion had never been in doubt, never.

I turned to the field as he took the stage once more. When he bowed, I stood and bowed to him again. It was a display of humility not traditionally expected from any of the Kage, but multiple consultations had confirmed it was the right course of action. Gaara was my son, and very few would find it odd for me to acknowledge him in such a manner. Besides, if they assumed it was an acknowledgement of Gaara as my heir, then all the better. The hat would belong to Temari one day, but until then, Gaara would serve as an excellent red herring.

As the Aburame boy faced him, I noticed Gaara's eyes narrow, and the gourd floating behind him twitched. It was impressive that he had gotten this far barely even using his greatest weapon. He was well on track to becoming Suna's most powerful Jinchuriki in history. None of the previous Jinchuriki had been well-rounded shinobi. Gaara would break the mold comprehensively.

The moment the battle started, Gaara's hands were off. The fireball he breathed out flashed right through the space where his opponent had been before the Konoha genin dived away. Something in Gaara's eyes must have given away his intention to attack. The boy was nowhere to be seen. He had dived right into the ground the moment Gaara's attack passed over him, using the distraction of the flames to execute his disappearing act. Gaara searched the arena with his eyes before bending to one knee and placing his palm on the ground. The Aburame boy would learn a valuable lesson today. Only fools used subterranean voyage when in battle with superior users of the earth release. Of course, there was a method to the madness. Several of the Kikaichu insects, the Aburame's pride, swarmed Gaara in the blink of an eye. However, the Gaara they swarmed collapsed into sand, and I tracked my son to a tree in the mini-forest within the arena. He weaved handseals at great speed, and I tracked them: Ram → Horse → Snake → Dragon → Rat → Ox → Tiger. The buildup of chakra was so palpable that I could sense it from here without even trying. It was evident that a powerful jutsu was being prepared. My lack of knowledge on fire release would need to be remedied sooner or later.

I watched as he took a deep breath while holding the fire seal, and three blasts of fire shot out of his mouth in quick succession. I traced their path through the field as they curved in different directions. One went straight into the swarm and exploded, destroying most of the insects. Another blast hit the area of the ground where the Aburame boy had jumped into, and another hit him just as he dove out from a different area. It blasted straight through him, destroying the bug clone and leaving little hint of where the boy had gone.

No fight had gotten the crowd as excited as this one. Gaara's fight against the Iwa boy had been a one-sided beating from start to finish. This? Yes, Gaara wasn't in any real danger, but he had yet to land a single real hit on his opponent. The gourd in the center of the arena twitched before a veritable tsunami of sand shot out of it, scouring the arena in search of its target.

When Gaara found him, it was obvious from the way his head twitched. He turned right behind him, and this time I recognized the jutsu from the very first seal and the feeling of his chakra. The Great Breakthrough tore apart the entire forest behind him, and this time, it was clear that Isagi Aburame had taken a direct hit.

He lay still amidst the destroyed foliage, but no one allowed that to deceive them. The boy was tricky. Instead of approaching, Gaara sent out a tendril of sand that wrapped around the boy's wrist and lifted him off the ground. The flashbang that had been clutched in the other hand was quickly set off but did nothing to distract Gaara. His control over his sand was absolute. Even without sight, he was able to direct more and more sand to encase the boy until only his head was visible. Now, Gaara spoke, "Surrender. You've put up a good show, but this is over." His high-pitched voice echoed around the arena, serving as a reminder to all involved that he was just six years old, one-third the age of the average chunin exam participant, and well on his way to winning the entire event.

"I surrender. You win," Isagi Aburame said to the applause of the audience. When Gaara guided him down to the ground with his sand and offered a handshake to the boy, the crowd erupted in applause. The display of sportsmanship had them captivated. One thing was certain: both Konoha and Suna were going to experience a significant boost in business after this. I just had to ensure that we were the ones who gained the most from these exams.

The matchup for the finals was announced: Noel Yatsuki vs. Gaara of the Desert.