54

Stage one of rebuilding the exam arena was evaluating the current one, the tunnels under it, and the immediate surroundings. That had taken a team of clones two days to do to Naruto's satisfaction. Clearing out everything they possibly cared about from the existing arena had happened during the same time period, all tunnels under the arena had been secured and sealed when they hadn't already collapsed, and then demolition had begun.

Gamabunta had agreed to 'show off' by being summoned over the arena, firing a sizable water technique into the center of it. The strike, coupled with key weakening of things ahead of time, caused the entire arena to collapse into a crater. Timing of things had Gamabunta dismissing his summoning before he even landed, in a feat that Jiraiya heard about and admitted was an incredible show of summoning skill. Rumor had it that he'd been convinced to practice it himself.

Cleaning out the hole had followed, though how many people noticed that it happened overnight was unknown. Most people weren't allowed close enough to the hole to get a good look inside of it anyway. Building things up from where foundations could actually be kept stable, below all of the tunneling, had then begun. There would be several levels of basement for storage of various things and the equipment for running the whole place. In that regard, it was being constructed as though it was a standalone bunker, which it would probably be able to serve as if something happened to make it necessary. Complete with its own hidden hot springs.

Most people were aware of progress being made when, after the better part of a week, the new walls rose high enough out of the hole to be seen. Those were both thicker and rose higher than they'd been in the old structure, but the seating was integrated into the walls around the entire perimeter instead of being obviously added on later like the previous setup used. Only after the walls had reached their full height, windows already in place revealing hallways and other areas if you looked carefully and doors on the outside of the structure in place, did the ground get filled in around the new structure.

People did notice that grass and trees appeared in the area overnight, but weren't sure what to make of it.

Hinata looked over Hanabi's work with the cat puppet, recently partially-rebuilt by Naruto with new materials to make it more durable. "You're doing better than I expected, managing to control it with only one hand."

"It's hard," Hanabi grumbled. "And I can't use the weapons yet."

"But is it improving your ability to control yourself as a doll?"

"Yes. I can make myself walk now."

"Have you considered putting yourself inside of the puppet while you're a doll and controlling the puppet from inside?"

Hanabi shook her head. "I can't make enough threads as a doll."

"Oh. So is that why you're trying to reduce the number you need?"

"...yes?"

"It's also part of why I asked Naruto to make her a humanoid puppet," their mother said as she entered the room. "I want to see if having her use it to do chores and homework will improve her control faster, but also because if she gets good enough she should be able to keep an illusion of her appearance on the puppet while she rides inside of it. At least once she grows into it, anyway, since I asked him to make it slightly 'older' than she currently is."

Hinata nodded. "I knew you'd asked him to make another puppet for her, but hadn't checked what or why. Have any parents expressed interest in puppets for her classmates since she was allowed to bring the puppet to school?"

"There's an Aburame that asked me for help," Hanabi answered. "But she has problems with her bugs."

That would make sense as a reason why the clan hadn't been playing with puppets long before now.

"So you've got three times the seating," Futo said. "Four distinct medical areas, so that there are backups or they can be split out by village. You put in a full barracks and hot springs in the lowest levels for shits and giggles that the Anbu have already claimed as a secure place to relax in the village but can also be used as an emergency bunker. You said something about those grates below the seating on the walls being potential 'waterfall' spots?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, checking over the seal array he was looking to test today. "Depending on the environment chosen."

"And the arena itself is incredibly deep compared to the exit points because you want to be able to swap things out. Fill with water, earth, sand, and so on?"

"Correct. Anko thinks a different environment per round, chosen by the Kages present, would spice things up and show off more of the skills of those participating. Since I had to build up a proper supporting area due to all the tunnel problems anyway I figured that I'd give it a shot, and it has to be deep enough for underground movement techniques and similar to work."

"Not a horrible idea, all things considered, but making it happen is going to be complicated."

"I know. I've embedded a complete string of all elemental beads into the array so that I can tap into all the various elemental combinations to make it work." Several areas of the control array they were standing at were pointed out. "Each of these defines a very complete illusion Hoshi helped me assemble to be projected to hide the work being done to 'make it real' in the background, and getting the balance right for things like suddenly growing trees correctly will be tricky. The illusions are complete enough to be used as the primary input for the seals making things real as well. Then there's the need to dismantle what's there without harming anyone currently present, of course."

"Hopefully you can make it all work in time for the finals."

"Worst case, I just dump in dirt, trees, and water and call it a static environment, then figure out the rest later."

"So what did you decide on for the...looks like nine environments?"

Naruto decided to show things off by activating the illusions, since he hadn't tested any of them yet anyway. He was quite happy that they were obviously working when the first one appeared. "First we've got the default, which is just a plain dirt fill at the level of the entrance doors that I figure will be used for introductions and final declarations for who's getting promoted. Then there's adding in grass and trees to that, which is close to what used to be here. Next essentially carves out a riverbed from that, opens a drain, and turns on one of the waterfall generators to create a split field with flowing water. Then there's a half-land half-water area that's kind of like a lakeside, since the water isn't salty. Not sure where the idea for a pile of pools with bamboo poles to provide points to get altitude without using the arena wall came from, but it feels dangerous and Hoshi had fun with it. A sandy desert seemed obvious, though it's a little bland. The snow-covered field is equally bland in a different way and probably isn't going to stay cold enough in the summer, but coming from the Land of Snow made it feel obvious too. Kumo's training fields are all rocky, hard earth, so I included something like that. And last I made a graveyard, though turning on the zombies will be optional."

Futo was looking out over the graveyard illusion as he processed that. "You're putting in zombie seals?"

"That's the plan, yes. Technically they'll be controlled independently of the environment chosen, but the graveyard feels most appropriate for using them. Asking someone to demonstrate potentially-lethal skills against opponents compared to turning on some zombies for them to target felt like a no-brainer on giving them zombies to target."

"I have to say that the switch from the illusion to the real environment is very smooth. Nearly unnoticeable if you aren't paying full attention."

Naruto blinked. "What switch?"

Futo looked between Naruto and the arena. "The one that happened while we were talking?"

"I haven't even started on the building seals. Besides, if anything like that had happened then the charge monitoring seal would...be...huh. It's down around twenty percent? It shouldn't be any further than two for the illusions, and that's if I've got a lot of leakage."

Carefully dropping down into the arena revealed that the 'illusionary graveyard' was now apparently real. No bodies in the graves, because that would be handled by the zombie seal if you wanted to do that, but everything appeared to be solid and correct for what was supposed to be there. The dirt reacted to earth techniques without any problems as well, you could break the gravestones, and generally there was no way to tell that it wasn't real.

Which should be impossible, as the only thing in place was the illusion projection.

Going back to the control interface, Naruto noted that technically the 'illusion' was still active. So he turned it off so that he could more safely trace the seals. Futo was still down in the arena, and yelled in shock as the entire place cleared out, going back to an empty pit. That he was essentially, and unexpectedly, freefalling in. He recovered before landing on his face, then body-flickered back up to where Naruto was at the controls.

"How did you make solid illusions that don't seem to be illusions?" Futo asked.

"...I don't know yet?" Naruto admitted, pulling out scrolls to examine the various parts of the seals even as clones headed to examine the ones physically in place to see if discrepancies could be spotted. Most of what he'd already put in place was spread around the arena in various ways as a necessity for making things work, with only the control seals under what was going to be the Kage's box immediately in front of him. A linking array would eventually connect the control seals to the box, but this result was honestly a bit weird and entirely unexpected.

A week later they'd figured out that a buffering seal had been accidentally inverted and would gradually charge up with chakra while an illusion was active. It got cleared out when you changed settings, but when filled it 'pulsed' the entire set of stored chakra node beads. They then pulled on the chakra supply and made the illusion real...at least until the 'clearing' pulse through the seal was triggered. Ambient absorption was enough to recoup the chakra needed to maintain the environment while it was active, but you didn't get anything back when dismissing things.

...and for some reason, only most of the environment vanished. Anything that ended up soaked or ground into clothing, swallowed by someone, or stuck in an injury continued to exist when the arena was 'cleared'. Buckets of dirt or water removed before clearing ended up empty though, unless the 'waterfalls' were activated. Those created water differently, and water made by them had to be drained away. Presumably, the non-waterfall water that had already drained away also vanished when things were deactivated.

"I see you got the 'presentations' appearance working," Shisui said as he looked over the arena. Currently it was filled with a scene that wouldn't look out of place in a daimyo's palace. A delicately tiled area surrounded by fancy and obviously well-maintained plants with a small fountain to either side of the line between the Kage box and the competitor's entrance with their waiting room and observation room above it. The two spots for proctors to watch from the walls were directly above the fountains in this configuration.

"It wasn't that hard for Hoshi to put together," Naruto said. "Though without a chakra powerhouse or three around the seals probably take too much chakra to use outside of special occasions."

"...how much do they take?"

"I was able to stop some chakra leakage and improve the storage capacity, but to fill it up from 'empty' you'd need to put in forty normal-jounin paperwork clones worth of chakra a day for an entire year. For ten arena manifestations."

"Huh. I might have to mention that detail. Using that much chakra to power a changing-environment arena would be a flex of its own. But I suppose you should show me how it works, even if I know you submitted a manual as well."

Showing Shisui the simple controls didn't take long. A dial that could be turned to eleven different positions, the top-center one being the 'off' position and each of the others having a picture of the environment it was connected to. While you were turning it the shown environments would remain illusionary, but pushing the dial in would trigger the 'become real' effect. Pulling the dial back out would clear the arena and reinstate the illusion, though ideally a team needed to be ready to grab weapons and other items left behind unless you wanted them sitting at the bottom of the next environment. There was also a 'rotation' dial that would let you spin the environment in ninety-degree increments before making it 'real' but had no effect on an already-'real' environment. Under all of this was a simple charge indicator that filled from right to left with markings for each arena manifestation, and under that were the labeled controls for the doors and zombie seals. The proctor would have had their own door and zombie seal controls in their alcoves as well, so that they didn't have to rely on the Kages to handle that side of things, but couldn't change the environment settings.

"I wonder how we should choose the environments," Shisui mused as Naruto flipped open a cleverly-disguised access point under one of the floor tiles and started pushing chakra into the system to recharge it from the demonstration.

"I'd recommend one environment per round of fighting," Naruto replied. "So that everyone participating in a given round has a single environment to deal with."

"Which would also mean you're not recharging things in the middle of the finals because we're changing them out every fight."

"That's a major benefit, yes. Otherwise, no matter what you do, the other Kage aren't likely to accept that things are real and not staged if you don't let them pick a round each."

"Not a bad point. Four rounds, four village leaders...probably have to go with the Kazekage picking first, since Suna has a single participant. Then whichever of Kiri and Kumo has fewer participants remaining after the first round, the remaining of the two after the second, leaving the final match as the only one I'd need to worry about personally..."

Naruto figured that things were now out of his hands and largely tuned Shisui's muttering out as he went over the options. Not that charging the seal was exciting or anything.

A looked over his 'office space' in the 'mobile house', reasonably satisfied with it. He couldn't bring anything truly sensitive, but everything he might need for promotions and a couple of other items was safe enough. All of it was far better than he'd expected, even if they weren't going to be able to go anywhere near as quickly as Konoha likely could. Needing to be able to see quite a distance at speed practically necessitated dojutsu that nobody else had access to.

"We've got reports on the new chunin exam arena that Konoha built," C said as he approached with a stack of paper. "Impressive that they rebuilt so quickly, but there are...oddities."

"What kind of oddities?" A asked.

"By all accounts, the arena is currently little more than a deep pit. This could just be that they haven't brought in dirt to fill it with after having to excavate a large hole though."

"Unfortunate that they had to break up expectations further with an accident, but I can't see it not being an accident. You don't take a chance of things going wrong with rebuilding like that, at least not on such short notice."

"No, you don't. It's honestly impressive that they managed to rebuild at all, and aside from the pit the rest of the structure looks to be much-improved. More seating with better views, larger and more capable medical areas, less cramped feeling due to added windows in hallways and rooms on the outer walls."

"And since an Uzumaki was involved it's probably got reinforcement seals to keep it in one piece no matter what someone throws at it."

"Very likely, yes."

A took the stack of paper and started flipping through it, stopping to read specific descriptions. He'd known about the demolition phase already, and a good look at how deep things went had followed. Konoha's tunnel network was...extensive. The reconstruction had proceeded at a speed that was insane, the whole project that should have been a six month to couple of years affair being completed in only a few weeks. It would be interesting to see if Konoha needed to rebuild it again afterwards or if this quickly slapped together solution remained for a few years. Reaching pictures, he nodded as he looked through them, finding the pit annoying in what it didn't say about what would be available in the arena. But the obvious places for the participants and Kages to watch from, an alcove or two for a proctor to be out of the way but not too far off, and a warning to stay clear of the primary door to the arena when an alarm sounded were all noted.

Even if this was a temporary solution, they'd ensured that it was done right and wouldn't be losing any face over it. Not having the contestants know for certain what would and wouldn't be in the arena for them to take advantage of was also a good thing in many ways, keeping them on their proverbial toes and forcing them to adapt. Something that had been a bit of a theme the entire exam.

"Well," A finally said, handing the stack of paper back to C. "All this really tells us is that they've got a good team for rebuilding things on short notice. Was there anything else you wanted to bring up? You don't normally bring paperwork to me directly like this."

C shrugged. "It gave me a chance to flip through it on the way over. I personally appreciate the enhanced medical facilities, and that they've made an offer to allow us to set up in one of them for our genin."

"That's definitely a new thing, yes. Not something we're going to be in a position to reciprocate on, but definitely appreciated for keeping our own secrets more secret."

"...as if Konoha doesn't already likely have them all, with how badly they'd obviously infiltrated the village."

That was, unfortunately, a good point. An annoyingly sore one, but a good one anyway.

Yoko shook her head as Odoroki worked on a cleaning technique. "It seems odd that you'd be having so much trouble with that one. Didn't you have that down fine already?"

"Turns out that these bodies are better at spells than using chakra," Odoroki replied, the tone of her voice indicating slight annoyance. "The better we get at a technique, the more 'spell-like' it becomes and the easier it is for us to use. You and Naruto likely have something similar going on as far as converting things to spells, and it could be that getting things down to not needing hand seals is the first step to making it a spell for anyone instead of relying on the net to do a lot of the heavy lifting. We're fairly certain that Lee was doing direct mana manipulation before Naruto fixed his net, for that matter, but it's incredibly rare for anyone to get things down to not needing any hand seals at all."

"Oh. I don't think we'd even considered that."

"Matatabi noticed it first, apparently having access to see how big our 'spell libraries' are in the Tome. Seals...aren't the same thing, so Miho hasn't had much of it happen, but everything Futo and I are working on seems to require 'get it to be a spell so that we can use it normally'. Which isn't made easier on him because he's working on figuring out how to make the translocation elements of summoning into a spell too, aiming to be able to replace the Hiraishin that he doesn't think he's compatible with anymore. And all of this is also why we've kind of focused on you instead of Naruto. We aren't really useful in the field yet, so protecting you is honestly easier."

That had Yoko blinking. "Protecting me?"

"We're Guardian Knights. Guarding is right there in the name, and we noticed fairly quickly that there was a desire to protect the one currently holding the Tome, but it isn't like you or Naruto needs protecting. Hoshi focusing on you instead of Naruto is similar, him recognizing that he just isn't that useful in the field with Naruto's skill set and methods. Well, unless he's being summoned specifically for being able to handle the illusions you two are horrible at."

"Hoshi mostly just wants to spend time with Suzu."

"...there is that, yes."

"And there's enough of a connection to the Tome for it to see your spells without you being reabsorbed?"

"Er, we think that's part of 'if we get killed, we just end up back in the Tome' stuff? Not that we've tried it, mind you, but examination of things after our initial manifestation has revealed that at least half of our power is kept in the Tome at all times. That's why we feel weaker to sensors than we actually are, and the way that our 'cores' are constructed to accomplish that probably limits our total power as well."

"Ah."

"Matatabi thinks that you and Naruto have large spell libraries though, which could be everything either of you has gotten down well enough to not need to think about the chakra flows for. If that's right, then even removing your net wouldn't stop you from using any of those techniques."

...huh. That probably meant that things like the Rasengan, which were all chakra flows, weren't included, but a lot of the rest of their day to day tricks might qualify. "How hard would it be to check that for any given potential spell, and if that theory is right, how difficult would 'spell tokens' be to make for them?"

"Er, there's a way to 'collect' all of the spells from someone, but we aren't sure if it's safe to use on someone with a chakra node net? Or if it's fatal even without one, for that matter. So spells that Futo and I get working are probably the safer option, already being connected to the Tome."

Gaara wasn't sure what to think about going back to Konoha. The last time he'd been there he'd had Shukaku taken from him, though he'd come to realize that mother hadn't left him. She still protected him, if less effectively than before, but not having a tailed beast sealed inside of him left him far less capable of accomplishing much of anything. It was...an unpleasant memory, but at the same time he'd been treated better there as a potential enemy than his own village had treated him most of his life.

That he'd be returning not as a genin, but as the new Kazekage, was another matter entirely. He didn't feel that he was qualified for the position, but the politics of having any other family in charge after the problems that had occurred were difficult. Even then, Kankuro should have ended up with the hat, as the elder brother, if not Temari as the eldest of the three of them, but Gaara still had the ability to control sand. The third and fourth had both held similar abilities, so the fifth had to as well, or so the advisors claimed.

Nothing he'd done warranted the position, at least not in his eyes, but the Daimyo had backed him and started funneling money back to the village now that his father was dead. This implied more of a personal feud, but the increased missions and steadily-expanding oasis locations removed a lot of pressure from the village and had most unwilling to challenge him. As if he had anything to do with any of that to begin with. But things were improving under his rule, even if he wasn't the cause, so his rule would continue.

"You don't have to go for a single genin," Temari noted from his office door.

"The Daimyo specifically asked that I attend," Gaara pointed out. "He wishes to ensure that bridges are mended enough to request a 'mobile house' modified to be able to function on sand."

"...I didn't know that."

"It was, in many ways, a minor footnote in discussions. He did not demand it, but I would likely need a good reason not to attend at this point in order to not offend. Besides, I can admit to some curiosity about Konoha's very suddenly rebuilt exam arena and Kankuro is hoping to prove that he isn't a coward by requesting a demonstration match with the Uzumaki puppeteer."

"The one that was bound to the remnants of the one-tail and has a one-tail puppet of his own?"

"Yes. I feel that it would be good for him to get another attempt."

"Are you letting him make the attempt because you missed him gibbering in fear the last time and nobody got pictures?"

"...maybe."

"You're using the airships for patrolling only?" Mei asked as one of the three took off.

"We're working on figuring out how to make more," Shisui explained as he and Naruto escorted the Mizukage's delegation through the village. "Though the Land of Snow still has the people who made these ones, so you might be able to reach out to them too if you want one. Currently there aren't any other airship stations anywhere for loading and unloading, making it difficult to use them for transport. Rope ladders are an option, but not one most wish to use."

"I suppose that would be a problem. Wouldn't the Land of Snow be a potential destination though?"

"As it happens, no. They had one station themselves, and that was dismantled. They didn't use the airships for non-shinobi purposes either, with most of those involved having limited flight options to board as well. We had to add the rope ladders ourselves."

"Huh. Any plans for stations in more useful places? I'm fairly certain that I could get approval for one on our borders, even if I suspect that normal ships are more efficient for cargo."

"To be honest, the current versions aren't all that comfortable, but a better version is going to require a different form of station for them due to a different profile. Our preference is to wait until we have a 'passenger-grade' version before trying to build more infrastructure."

"Sensible, if disappointing. I imagine that's part of why you didn't bother sending them out to pick up delegations?"

"Well, that and we're still working on getting people capable of operating them ourselves. They're...less than intuitive in several ways."

"I see. Have the other two Kage arrived yet?"

"You're the first, but the Raikage should be arriving in a couple of hours and the Kazekage is a day out."

"Ah."

"Any chance of explaining why you asked for Uzumaki's presence, or are you going to insist on talking to him in private?"

Naruto was honestly curious about that himself, and turned to pay more obvious attention, something that both Kages noticed. Mei sighed, looking at him. "There are a few individuals that have elemental bloodlines that we'd like to not lose, but the holders of which lost their ability to utilize chakra when the village was taken over. I'm hoping that the few we think we can trust can have their ability to use chakra restored to them."

"Ah," Naruto said, shaking his head. "While I have access to a seal array that can restore their ability to use chakra, it wouldn't do what you wish."

"...oh?"

"It creates the ability to wield the five basic elements in an individual, but in effect it destroys elemental bloodlines at the same time. Essentially, it tears apart all of your ability to wield chakra, then rebuilds it, with the seal used in the assault on the village almost certainly being just the 'tear apart' component. Those who lost their ability to use chakra also lost anything directly connected to the structures that are involved with the ability to control chakra, and elemental bloodlines are tied to that. If they didn't have kids already then the kids probably won't manifest anything from them either, for that matter."

It was obvious that Mei didn't like that answer, but admitting that they could recreate the bloodlines was probably not a good idea for a number of reasons. At least right now.

"And here I thought our involvement was basically over after rebuilding the arena," Naruto commented. "Barring potentially playing guard again. But now you want me to do a demonstration match?"

"The Kazekage has asked that Kankuro be given another chance at a puppeteer-on-puppeteer match," Shisui explained. "Instead of a 'puppeteer-on-gibbering-mess' match."

"I suppose that what happened in Kumo wasn't a proper demonstration of his skills."

"In addition, I feel that doing this properly would provide a demonstration of your work. Having you two going at it in the arena, followed by changing the environment to introduce the finalists before things begin, should be a suitable way of 'showing off' that ability of the arena before the matches themselves."

Naruto had to admit that made some sense. "So have us do a pre-finals demonstration, as people are filling the stands?"

"Essentially."

"I suppose that could work."

"Of course, this would also allow us to get the exam's 'theme' into play for the finals without actually including it in the finals."

"...theme?"

"You heavily used zombies in the elimination stage, and helpfully included options for the arena to spawn its own to either provide targets or hinder those within it to varying degrees."

Okay, perhaps he'd have been better off not including that seal array, no matter how useful they'd be for demonstrating more fatal skills.

"I'm still wary of you," Kankuro admitted. "But without the...unexpected shock of a one-tail puppet I shouldn't have problems engaging in a friendly puppeteering spar."

Naruto pulled out a stack of pictures and examined several of them. "I don't know. You were out of it for quite a while."

"...you have pictures? Where did you get pictures?"

"I have my ways."

"Excuse me," Gaara said, causing Kankuro to jump. "I understand that you have pictures of my brother gibbering in fear?"

Naruto looked between the two. "Er, yes. How did you find out about that, and weren't you just across town talking with Mei and Shisui?"

"I was, but embarrassing pictures of my siblings are far more important. I'd have been here sooner, but I had to avoid the crowd at Inuzuka Jerky. I'm impressed that you didn't react to my sudden presence though."

"You're slow, I'm a bit of a sensor, and your attempt to grab control of the sand around me and my inability to grab control of the sand you brought with you were all giveaways."

"Ah, yes. Would you happen to have extra copies of those pictures?"

Naruto produced a tag. "You'll want the larger prints. The little ones just don't show enough detail."

Gaara took the tag and half-bowed. "Thank you. I should get back to the informal meeting. The Raikage was supposed to be joining us shortly."

A moment later Naruto and Kankuro were alone again, and the latter shivered. "He's going to spend months teasing me about that now."

"As if he wasn't already," Naruto commented.

"He had to base his teasing off of Temari's comments, now he'll have pictures. I bet he puts one in his office."

"Well, I guess you have reason to give it your all against me, to get revenge for handing over pictures."

"...you're an asshole."

"I'm fostering good relations with the leader of a nominally-allied village. Now then, would you like to stick to two puppets each, or have you made it to the point where you're comfortable running three at a time?"

Kankuro gave Naruto a glare, but sighed. "I'd probably make a better showing with just two, even if I've gotten to the point of being decent with three. We're going to be in a contained area anyway, so wouldn't be able to spread out properly with a larger number of puppets."

"True, I suppose. We'll be cramped enough that the Shukaku puppet wouldn't be a good choice either. But that leaves the question of which two puppets I should use..."

"Both of my preferred ones are humanoid, so adding in at least one animal-style one might not be a horrible idea?"

"Maybe the fox and humanoid ones I started with, then? I've heavily modified both by now, of course. Figured out better ways to protect joints, made the humanoid one look a bit more realistic, that kind of thing."

That had the other boy interested. "You actually found a better way to protect joints?"

"Yeah, a rubber-like substance made by a lava release variant. Flexible enough to not impede movement, strong enough to protect the joints."

"Oh. That doesn't sound like anything I could get my hands on normally."

"It's only available from a small number of people in Konoha and Kumo, yeah."

"Damn."