Chapter 54

Last Time:

He swiped some blood on the door, sealing it off from everyone and everything except him.

Now:

~Chunnin Exam Arena ~

Naruto grinned inside his helmet as he looked around the stadium. Samui and Yugito were at his side while Omoi and Karui had found seats in the audience. 'This arena is going to be hard to cover. The whole roof is exposed, making it the perfect entrance for enemy Shinobi. There are a lot of civilians, giving them even more leverage.' Naruto thought as he looked around. In the kage stands were three imposing figures and four ANBU guards. One was Minato wearing the red Kage robes of Konoha, another was a man wearing green Kage robes, and the last was a huge figure wearing yellow kage robes that seemed to need two chairs just to sit.

'A's finally here.' Naruto thought, but was cut short as the new proctor caught their attention. "Hey, stand firm and pay attention. You guys are the stars of the show." He said, making every Genin present straighten their back. Minato got up and dismissed them to the competitor's box while he gave a quick speech.

~ Competitor's box ~

Naruto looked at his little brother preparing for his fight. He had forgone his usual attire and stood in red samurai-like armor over a simple black body suit. His red medium length hair was in a ponytail as he looked to Neji, eyes trying to kill the Hyuuga with the heated glare. "Are you ready, Vee-kun?" Yugito asked as she tossed him a water bottle. "Not yet." He muttered and set it down."Where's the Uchiha?" Samui asked as she took a sip from hers. "Not here yet. Which means you guys might want to get ready. Our matches might actually come up." Naruto said, but was cut short as Genma's voice rang through the Arena.

"Will Hiruzen Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga please come down to the arena?" HE asked. Neji smirked arrogantly and slowly walked down, while Hiruzen jumped from the balcony to the middle of the Arena. "He's impatient.." Vee said as he got up and went to the railing. "That's good. He might mess up if he tries to pursue." Samui whispered as she walked next to him. "Let's watch." Yugito said and took the opposite side of him at the railing.

~ Neji VS Hiruzen ~

"Are you ready to lose?" Neji asked as he slipped into the Gentle Fist stance. "You should be ready to loose after what you did to Hinata-chan!" Hiruzen yelled back and got into a loose fighting stance. "Ready?" Genma asked Neji, who nodded. "Ready?" He asked Hiruzen, who nodded. "Hajime!"Genma yelled. Hiruzen wasted no time in putting his hands into a familiar cross symbol. "Multi Shadow Clone Technique!" HE yelled and the Arena was filled with dozens of clones. "CHARGE!" Hiruzen yelled, all of his clones charging Neji.

Neji smirked as the first clone arrived. HE quickly ducked under the strike and struck the clone with a gentle fist strike to the stomach. As it dispelled, he turned and ducked under a kick. With a strong palm thrust upwards, he dispelled the clone and got into an advanced stance. "Eighth trigrams, 2 strikes!" He yelled, dispelling two clones. "Four strikes!" HE yelled as he disabled a few more."Eight strikes! Sixteen Strikes! Thirty two strikes!" Neji said as he continued using the advanced taijutsu maneuver to disable as many clones as possible.

While Neji was doing this, Hiruzen bit his thumb and summoned Gamakichi, who climbed onto his shoulder. "Alright Gamakichi, Aerial Rasengan." Hiruzen muttered to the small toad, who nodded as they jumped into a tree in the arena. "Sixty Four palms!" Neji yelled angrily as he sent the remaining clones flying. He was irritated at the sheer amount of clones that were sent at him. "Where are you, you Coward?" Neji yelled as the smoke cleared. "Why did you do that to Hinata?" A voice resounded from all around the Arena, making him look around.

"Do what? Defeat her!?" Neji demanded. "Humiliate her.." Hiruzen responded. "Because she is part of the main branch! They are nothing but spineless cowards who send others to their death in their place!" Neji yelled in a mad tone."She is of the main branch, yet she sees you as a brother. She is stronger than you because she took the high road and decided not to use the one trump card she had." Hiruzen's voice replied, making Neji even angrier. 'Where is he? It shouldn't be possible for him to hide from my Byakugan!' Neji internally ranted as he kept looking.

"She is weak, just like her father was! He sent my father to die in his place because he couldn't stand the thought of dying!" Neji yelled. He turned to see Hiruzen jump from a tree in a circular arc, the tongue of his toad summon holding him and a small ball of condensed chakra in his hand. "Rasengan!" Hiruzen yelled. Neji quickly reacted and activated a main branch only technique, the Kaiten. He made the large spinning dome of chakra around himself as the technique got closer, making both charkas fight for dominance. In the end, the sheer amount of chakra Neji was putting out and the amount of dense chakra in the Rasengan overpowered each other and made a huge explosion sending both Genin flying.

Hiruzen quickly got up and saw Neji charging at him. He quickly ducked under a Jyuuken strike aimed at his head and uppercutted Neji, sending the Hyuuga prodigy back a few steps. Hiruzen took the advantage and went through a series of hand seals before he called out "Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" Hiruzen yelled out. He then opened his mouth and spat out large amounts of water, enough to fill the arena and flood it.

~ In the Stands ~

"What's he doing?" Samui asked as she watched the fight. "He's getting the home field advantage.." Yugito said in an amused tone. "Home field?" Samui asked, still not catching on. "That jutsu is especially strong for those with a powerful affinity to Water chakra, that's why he was able to create so much water.." Naruto told her. "Not only that, but the Hyuuga hasn't used any chakra attacks other than his fighting style. Which means he's either overconfident…" Yugito began. "Or he doesn't know how to." Samui realized. "Exactly. By making him water walk on the surface and keep up his attack, he's making the Hyuuga use large amounts of chakra to stay afloat." Samui realized.

"Exactly. Not much of a problem if you've got Hiruzen's reserves, but definitely a problem if you over rely on your chakra by using it in every aspect of your fighting style." Naruto said as he saw his brother charge in and attack Neji.

~ With Neji and Hiruzen ~

"Why do you care about that failure anyway?! She is weak, and she get's everything handed to her!" Neji demanded as he threw a swipe at Hiruzen's head. "Because she's my friend!" HE yelled and finally managed to break through Neji's defense, only for him to make a Kaiten and deflect Hiruzen. "Tell me, Hiruzen. Do you know what its like? To have someone important ripped from you? To bear a burden that traps you into a fate you never asked for!" Neji demanded and took off his forehead protector, displaying the caged bird seal from the Hyuuga clan. "That is what this mark means!" Neji yelled at Hiruzen

"More than you realize.." Hiruzen said as he took his shirt off and channeled a small amount of chakra to his stomach, revealing the dead demon consuming seal. "You see this seal? This is the fate I cannot escape. This is a remainder of what I lost. Because of this, I'm expected to be the best. It cost my brother the ability to use chakra. It's cost him so much, you'd expect him to be some lowly civilian. But he defied fate. He left his path because he wasn't satisfied with it and forged his own. Last I heard his name; it was in association with the death of Zabuza Momoichi and Iwa's legendary "Golem"." Hiruzen replied and charged a Rasengan into his hand.

"He's living proof that you don't have to accept fate! You can change it! No one is in charge of your life but yourself. Not some fate or some angel in a cloud! It's just you against the world!" Hiruzen yelled defiantly to Neji. "Lets' finish this!" Neji yelled back as he felt his deserves dwindling. Hiruzen smirked and jumped upwards, then as he fell, positioned his Rasengan to plunge into the water beneath them. "Rasen-Uzumaki!" Hiruzen yelled as he went under the water. "What is he doing?" Neji thought, but soon found out as the chakra from the Rasengan leaked and began stirring the water violently.

Within the span of five seconds, the serene water's surface had turned into a violent whirlpool of water with Hiruzen at its center. 'Like a .. Whirlpool!' Neji thought and tried to jump away, but it was too late. The water underneath him was swirling too rapidly, making his probabilities of running to a wall disappear. 'Shit!'He thought as he felt the chakra drain in his feet increasing. 'This is bad! I only have one chance!' Neji thought and charged towards the center of the makeshift whirlpool, having to run in circles with the water to preserve chakra.

As soon as he got close to Hiruzen's location, he made another Kaiten to try and brave the whirlpool. 'No chance, pal!' Hiruzen thought as he pumped more chakra into the water, making large violent waves crash against the dome of chakra. By the time Neji got to the middle, he was almost out of chakra. 'Shit!' Was the last coherent thought Neji had as he cut the Kaiten. As soon as he touched the surface of the water, he was dragged under and battered by the harsh whirlpool until he passed out. Once he did, Hiruzen dispelled the water and the Rasengan, leaving himself standing over Neji's unconscious form. "The winner is Hiruzen Uzumaki-Namikaze!" Genma yelled, making the stage break into cheers.

~ In the Kage Box ~

The Kazekage looked to the Hokage and spoke. "Your son shows much potential, Hokage-dono. Where did he learn that technique?" The Kazekage asked curiously. "I'm not sure, I've never seen it before." Minato admitted as he saw his son walk away. A nodded and watched as the screen showed "Sasuke Uchiha VS Gaara of the Dessert." Genma called for the two contestants. Gaara quickly shunshinned down, but the Uchiha was nowhere to be found. "Where is Sasuke Uchiha, Hokage-dono?" A asked curiously. "Not here, I'm afraid." Minato replied with a frown.

"That is unacceptable behavior of a Chunnin candidate." A remarked, making Minato agree with him. "Hokage-dono, people came to see the Uchiha and your own son fight. They want to see the best a hidden village can offer. The wild card from Kumo has made quite a stir, but it would be prudent to keep the known contestants in play." The Kazekage said. Minato then stood up and addresses the crowd. "The match between Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara of the Dessert has been pushed back due to the fact he is tardy. He will still fight, but will not be advanced to Chunnin Rank!" Minato yelled, making the populace boo. Minato then nodded to Genma to continue.

"The next match is Vee of Kumo VS Temari of Suna. Will both contestants please come down?" Genma asked out loud. Temari quickly jumped to the Arena from the balcony with a smile on her face.

~ With Naruto ~

Naruto smiled as he looked at the arena. "Showtime." He said as he got up and jumped down to the arena. "Wait Vee-kun." Samui said as he approached the railing. "Good luck." She said in a small whisper and kissed his helmet. "Don't die." Yugito whispered to him and kissed his helmet. He nodded and jumped down to the arena.

~ Arena ~

"The match between Temari of Suna and Vee of Kumo will.." Genma began, but was cut off as Vee raised his hand, a familiar scroll being clutched by it. He channeled a small amount of chakra into it and threw it to the floor. With a large poof, the scroll unsealed to reveal the downed form of Tsume and Kuromaru, still injured from their fight a month ago. Gasps and scattered growls were heard from the audience as various ANBU ops came down to the arena, grabbed her, and shunshinned away. "Now that that's settled, I would rather use my real name.." Vee said while channeling small amounts of chakra to the cooling seal in his helmet. He grabbed both ends of the helmet and pulled upwards.

Steam hissed as it was released from the helmet, the dark visage giving way to blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Gasps were heard throughout the stadium and murmurs of the "Yondaime clone" resonated through the stadium. "The name is Naruto Romanov." Naruto said with a smirk.