Quarter-Finalists

Yoroi Akado, the hollow-eyed Orochimaru's underling, his eyes narrowed as the two stood apart.

'Where's the curse mark!?'

He panicked, if the curse mark wasn't planted, Sasuke would be in tip-top shape, thoughts of giving up echoed through his mind but... He felt a cold gaze behind him, sweat running down his forehead knowing it was Orochimaru himself!

The pedo snake had hidden himself as one of the Chunins guarding the Third Hokage. He was puzzled as to why Sasuke was not... Sick or fatigued.

'I'm sure I planted the curse mark... What is happening?!'

"Uhhhh... It's time for the first round to commence... All right?"

Hayate Geko spoke, Sasuke and the other participant also nodded.

"Everyone other than the two combatants should move to the upper gallery now"

Hayate announced as he pointed his hand toward the gallery, the spectators nodded and went up.

From the far left side, Orochimaru internally smirked as he observed Sasuke.

'The mark is still in him, I can still feel its chakra, although faint, it's enough to ensure. Now, what a pity that Yoroi's talents are the very worst you could face, Sasuke!'

Everyone waited in anticipation, was the enemy strong? Could Sasuke win? Different thoughts thundered inside their minds, blood pumping in anticipation.

"All right... Please Begin!"

Yoroi immersed performed a tiger sign, all doubts in his mind vanishing.

"Shall I start"

"Give it your all"

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, Yoroi's hand lit up in ruby-colored Chakra, the Uchiha's eyes glimmered witnessing the phenomenon.

'Woah, that acts as a suction cup... Using that, he can probably drain Chakra from his opponent. Thanks, dude.

With a single-hand sign, the red Chakra equivalent to Yoroi's formed in Sasuke's left hand.

"What!?"

Yoroi was puzzled, how was he able to replicate that!?

'Oh man, this Jutsu is perfect to the absolute minute details'

Sasuke examined the Jutsu in his hand, this was perfect! Now he didn't need to worry about his reserves as much as he did in the past!

"Hahaha! Nice trick you got up your sleeve, thanks mate"

Sasuke gave a salute toward Yoroi, the latter's face grew red from embarrassment, anger flowing within him.

"You!!"

The hollowed-eyed Genin gave up to his emotions, he rushed forward to strike Sasuke, the Uchiha sidestepped and avoided the blow.

*Tap*

Sasuke patted the guy's shoulder with a mocking smirk.

"You gotta do better, boy"

"Fuck you!!"

Yoroi sent a right hook kick toward Sasuke, he grabbed the incoming leg and tossed Yoroi away.

Naruto just sighed, he expected too much from the opponent, didn't he? The same could be said for the others.

"Bastard"

Yoroi got up and rushed again, he sent a straight punch toward Sasuke's face, the former's eyes widened as the Uchiha blurred in front of him.

*Crack*

His hand made contact with the ground, cracking it in the process, Yoroi felt something heavy on his back.

He gazed rearwards only to see Sasuke sitting on his back. This was perfect! He can finally trap him with his Jutsu!

Yoroi's left palm lit up in crimson Chakra and went straight to grab Sasuke, the Uchiha just slapped away his advance.

"I'm not into guys, sorry"

Yoroi grew more angry, his eyes twitching.

"Son of a bitc-"

The hollowed-eyed Genin couldn't even complete his sentence, Sasuke grabbed his face and slammed it on the ground.

"Don't ever... speak ill of my mother"

He pulled Yoroi's head back and slammed it on the ground at full force, crushing his skull and everything inside.

"!!"

"!?"

The minority of the people present inside the arena felt to puke, especially the Genins. Though a few were undisturbed.

'Sasuke won!'

Ino cheered in her subconscious, unbothered by the gruesome act her boyfriend just displayed... She was... A bit like Sasuke himself.

The Chunin in disguise clenched his fists, why didn't the curse mark activate!? He still had it, it was perfectly senseble!

Meanwhile, Lee was engrossed in his own thoughts.

"Sasuke isn't someone to underestimate! He'll only get stronger as time goes on... I feel... A little afraid'

Gai, who was standing beside Lee, knew exactly what he was thinking, and it was not good in the least! But, he couldn't help Lee right now, the youth will have to overcome it by himself.

'As expected'

Kakashi clapped, snatching the attention of others... He sweatdropped and halted his actions.

'Amazing, the curse mark didn't even activate... Does this child hold such willpower that it can't even take shape?'

Anko asked herself, he succeeded where she failed, and to be blunt, it really did hurt her pride.

"Now, Next match. Shino Aburame vs Tsurugi Misumi!"

Geko announced, the participants entered the ring, Shino kept quiet, the other person tii didn't speak much.

"You may begin"

Geko lazily announced.

"Even though you're just a little brat... I'm not letting my guard down like Yoroi did, in fact, let me make one thing perfectly clear... You'd be better off forfeiting the match before you get hurt. This won't take long"

Shino pushed up his glasses at his statement.

Suddenly, Tsuguri felt his body becoming weaker, his heart aching from unbearable pain.

"Argh!... W-What did you do!? B-Bastard"

He clutched his chest, what in the hell was happening!?

"I agree, this match won't last much... After all, you just gave me enough time to execute my plan... Bye"

Misumi fell to the ground with one last groan, a beetle-like creature flew toward Shino from the fell body.

The winner walked away, leaving all the others stunned... Did he just end the match as soon as it began?

"Wh-What the...? How did... Neji!?"

Lee was beyond stupified, Neji quickly activated his Byakugan to access the situation.

"!!"

"Whoa... I thought he'd used a summoning Jutsu to use that beetle, but... His whole body's infested with them!"

"Wh-What!?"

Gai narrowed his eyes as something clicked in his mind.

"There's a legend in Konoha of a clan of beetle masters..."

Neji nodded.

"Yes... Now that you mention it... I've heard the birthplace of anyone born into the clan, is that from the moment they enter the world, their bodies are given over to the crawling vermin to use as nests"

The aburame walked back toward the gallery, His Sensei, Kurenai Yūhi, sighed.

'Ugh... That guy freaks me out'

His team congratulated him on his victory.

"So... Uhhh... We're moving to the next match. Temari of the sand vs Ten-Ten of the leaf"

The participants entered the arena. As the battle commenced, Ten-Ten advanced with her weapon scroll, attacking with a barrage of kunais and shurikens, along with other weapons like swords, reapers...etc.

Temari swiftly blocked all her attacks with her oversized fan, Temari sent her flying and knocked her out on top of her fan.

"Match over, winner. Temari"

'Nice, quick, and clean'

Sasuke internally smirked, this exam was a little interesting. Hayate announced the next match-up. Hinata vs Neji.

It ended as everyone expected, the battle was a little gruesome, and a little imposter had his Sharingan activated the whole time.

'[8 trigrams 64 palms] in the bag'

Sasuke laughed in his mind, this was the best! So many Jutsus to copy, a pile of treasure indeed.

The next was Sakura vs Ino, which the latter won. Sakura had completely neglected her physical training because of her medical field, thus, Ino took the win.

"Next match. Rock Lee vs Shikamaru Nara"

The atmosphere tense, both the participants entered the ring, Geko blew the whistle and immediately Lee went on the guard.

"I. Give. Up"

"Eh?"

Lee was confused, what was happening?

"See ya man, I can't win against you even if I tried, why waste energy on something you can't do"

Shikamaru walked back to the gallery leaving a frustrated Lee, he clenched his fists, he finally got to fight and his opponent just gave up!?

"Wait!!"

"Sorry dude, I wanna live another day"

Shikamaru waves his hand in the air without even glancing back, Hayate announced the winner and Lee flickered back to his previous position.

"Choji Akimichi vs Gaara"

[Skeleton Emoji]

Asuma saw the look in Choji's eyes, the Sensei elbowed his student.

"If you win, you can choose whatever you want to eat today"

The young Akimichi's eyes sparkled, completely forgetting about the rumors of Gaara.

"Really?"

"Really Really"

"Alright, Let's gooo!!! Rwaaa!!!"

Choji roared before jumping into the arena, Gaara just stood there, hands folded and eyes closed.

"Let the match, begin"

The lazy Proctor announced.

"[Partial Expansion Jutsu]!!"

Choji's whole body expanded, he rolled toward the Gaara at high speed, but was forcefully stopped as a wall of sand rose, blocking his advance!

"Roll Roll Roll Roll!!!"

Choji kept spinning and spinning, the wall of sand slowly enveloped his whole body, Kiba's eyes widened remembering what Gaara had done using that Jutsu.

"Oh no! Choji, get out!! He's gonna kill you!!"

Asuma's cigar dropped, his pupils shrinking, alas it was too late. Gaara raised his right and clenched his fist.

"[Sand Coffin]"

Blood splattered across the stadium, not a squeak was heard, Asuma's body moved on its own accord, his blades out, he was going to kill this bastard!

*Thud*

Unfortunately for him and fortunately for his team, he was knocked out cold by Kakashi... The room was silent, and one person was on his knees.

"Cho...Ji"

Shikamaru knelt on the ground, Ino had her pupils shrunk... Her/his teammate was gone... Forever?

"No... No... No!!... No!!!"

The young Nara punched the ground, again and again, paying no mind to the blood leaking from his knuckles.

The third Hokage, Hiruzen, sighed... How tragic. Sasuke and Naruto closed their eyes in respect, a battle well fought.

The Uchiha swept his eyes toward her teal eyes... She was... Sad, and there wasn't anything he could do... or maybe, there is.

Lee darted his head to the side, a lead Genin, lost forever.

"What a disgrace of a Shinobi, death was fated for him, he just made it a little sooner"

Neji mumbled, for his good health, it went unheard by everyone. Gaara's sand swirled around him, and the next instant, he was beside Temari.

"Good job"

"Shut up"

Pieces of Choji fell on the ground, dying the floor red... Shikamaru took slow steps... He ran his hand across his friends... Blood.

His lifeless eyes shifted toward the redhead.

'Why... Why did I give up... I want... I want to avenge him, and for that... I nee- no... I will kill him'

Sasuke took a peek and smiled again, those eyes of the Nara spoke everything... an ally in the bag.

Kurenai brought him back to console him, meanwhile, Hayate again announced the next and last match-up.

"Kiba Izunuka vs Naruto Uzumaki"

"Hehe!! Haahahahaha!! Good! We got this in the bag Akamaru!"

An enthusiastic Kiba and an unbothered Naruto took their respective places, Hayate announced the match...

... The match ended the instant it began as Naruto knocked him out clean, well, that was anti-climactic.

"Uhh... Naruto Uzumaki wins... Next, Kankuro vs... Oh, it's an odd number... Hokage-Sama, what should we do?"

Hiruzen stroked his beard, this had happened a good amount of times in the past, they used the same method every time.

"Let him choose. A free advance or give up"

Hayate nodded and waited for Kankuro's reply, the participant was naturally going to take the free advance but...

"Kankuro... Come here"

His sensei whispered something in his ear, the puppeteer frowned, really? Give up?

"Sigh... Fine. I give up!"

"Alright. Now, the quarter-finalists are. Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto Uzumaki. Rock Lee. Neji Hyuga. Ino Yamanaka. Shino Aburame. Gaara, and Temari"

The Genins who were called formed a line following Geko's orders.

"To those of you who won your bouts and qualified for the quarter-finals of the third phase of the Chunin exams... Although one of you isn't here, Congratulations!"

"Uh... Well, Lord Hokage, they're all yours"

"Yes... Well then, starting now, I shall begin explaining the Quarter-Finals'

***

Far away from the arena and Academy itself, two individuals stood at both ends of a wall, them being Orochimaru, one of the three legendary Sanins, and his right-hand man, Kabuto.

"The preliminaries have 'safely' concluded, they will now proceed to the quarter-finals"

"...."

Kabuto spoke, Orochimaru, unveiled from his disguise, kept a straight face as Kabuto reported his records.

The birds chirped and the wind bruised against the pale-faced man's skin.

"How tranquil... or rather, how naively peaceful this nation has become, while all the other countries are busy with military expansion..."

Kabuto quickly got a grasp of where his words were heading off too.

"So if we strike now..?"

"Well, yes... Although I doubt it would be any fun to kill that feeble old geezer.."

Kabuto smirked at the remark.

"Are you so sure of yourself?"

Orochimaru glanced at him, gesturing to continue further.

"To me, it still seems like you're faltering"

"..."

"Soon, the powers of each hidden village will collide and enter a fierce, lengthy conflict... The hidden sound village will be one of those involved... And you're planning to be the trigger of that"

Orochimaru frowned. Kabuto adjusted his glasses.

"And to that end, that boy... He's a bullet, right? Uchiha Sasuke, wasn't it?"

The pedo snake grinned wickedly.

"Heh... Your insights are disgustingly accurate"

"Well, obviously not... Because I didn't know about Dosu, Zaku and Kin"

Orochimaru didn't like this, he knew Kabuto's trust was fading away...

"When I was assigned to gather intelligence on Sasuke, I wanted to understand the power of those three sound ninjas. I made a foolish tactical error... They... Got exterminated by him"

"It seems... You still don't put your full trust in me, isn't that right? Those three are so inconsequential, is it really necessary for me to tell you of such trivialities? You're my right-hand man, that itself is an evidence of my trust"

"..."

"That's why... I think of entrusting Sasuke to you... The curse mark I put on him... It seems that his willpower is too strong for it to take shape, not that it is much of a hindrance, but before the darkness in his soul is extinguished... I want you to kidnap him right away"

Kabuto's smirk faded away, a serious face taking its place.

"How unlike you... You're worried!?"

Orochimaru frowned, it was a really concerning fact.

"There is something causing me a bit of concern..."

"It's about the curse mark, right? The fact that it isn't even visible... I too am a bit worried"

"We'll find about that sooner or later"

Kabuto started to walk away, Orochimaru chuckled.

"Kabuto... You..."

The four eyes halted in his steps, sweat running down his forehead as he felt the bloodlust of his master.

"If you want to stop me... Your only chance is to kill Sasuke now"

"!!"

Kabuto glanced back, a shiver running down his spine.

"There's no way you could kill me, eh? Even if you're strong... You're no stronger than Kakashi, so..."

Kabuto gulped, was this the end?

"Heh, I'm joking. Now... You may go! I'm putting my trust in you"

Kabuto made no reply and quickly left the area, Orochimaru's eyes glimmered, his gaze frenzied more than ever.

'Heh... That face... I wonder what he's thinking...'

[Ram Sign]