Chapter 35

Kenshiro's POV;

"How?" Questioned Jiraiya weakly. I walked up to him, the proctor has already declared me as the winner.

"I tapped you before we went down, I placed a Chakra thread on your back. I kept it long during the fight but tightened it in the last second. That stopped your swing and allowed me to hit you. Or do you want to know how I evaded your flames?" I explained and asked while helping him up.

Medics were rushing at us, but Jiraiya was waving them away. He knew himself that he didn't need real medical help. Only a good rest and some mild healing from Tsunade were needed.

"Flames," he clarified, too weak to speak in full sentences. I slung my arm over his shoulder and helped him up to the balustrade. He looked at me in surprise, maybe he did not expect me to help him?

"When you threw your Shuriken and Kunai. I hid under the earth with a Hidden Mole Jutsu and sneaked behind you. The one your summons fought was only a clone. Once you finished your Jutsu I only had to jump out and give you the rest.

You should be more careful, the Jutsu was strong, easily having the strength of a high B-Rank, low A-Rank Jutsu, but it also takes a huge amount of Chakra. I can give you a few Chakra Manipulation tips for improving your fire affinity if you want."

He started to chuckle weakly and then coughed. Chakra exhaustion feels like a massive flue and can cause coughing fits. "Why are you so friendly?" He asked in a baffled tone.

For a moment I was surprised why he would ask that, weren't we both Konoha Genin and somewhat acquainted through Tsunade? I also like his antics, if they are not targeted at Tsu-chan or Ariha-chan.

"You are the teammate of my sister. Of course, I would have an interest in you becoming strong, who else can protect her when I am not present?" I answered, knowing that he would take my words seriously.

He said nothing for a long moment and we had almost reached our two teams when he spoke again. "Did I at least do good enough for the Jutsu?"

This time it was me who chuckled. "Hmm, yeah you did. Find me once we have time off and are alone, I will show you." I will teach him the Sexy no Jutsu, I have recreated it at some point while experimenting with the Henge and am sure he would appreciate the Jutsu.

"Stupid idiot, you could have killed Ken-kun," shouted Tsunade the moment we were close enough. Jiraiya noticeably winced from her tone.

I didn't glare at her, but my look told her what I thought about her harsh words. "It's okay Tsu-chan. More importantly, shouldn't you congratulate him for becoming this strong? Would you have thought that Jiraiya could summon? And then cooperate with his summons so well? The fire-oil Jutsu he used with his summons was strong, had I not prepared myself beforehand I might have taken serious damage from that Jutsu."

She looked startled but slowly nodded. "Well, yes, you did good, Idiot," she then said after a pause. I felt how Jiraiya stiffened when he heard the kinda praise from my sister.

He then pushed himself away from me and tried to look strong. "Of course I did, I am the gallant Jiraiya." His words had only just finished when exhaustion overcame him. His eyes rolled back and he fell forward. Sarutobi quickly caught him and leaned his body gently against the wall.

"Idiot," mumbled Tsunade, she then hugged me and started a diagnostic Jutsu on me. "You aren't hurt and your Chakra is almost full. Why did you want me to praise the Idiot when it was so easy for you to beat him?"

"I will tell you after the exam, fetch Orochimaru, he needs to hear this as well," I answered. For once I tried to convey in my tone that I was disappointed in her. And it seems as if my tone was understood, she visibly flinched but nodded slowly.

"Now take a look at your teammate, I hit his face pretty hard and his summoning must have taken a lot of Chakra," I then said and turned away from her. I don't like to act like this towards her, but her and Orochimaru's behaviour towards Jiraiya need to change.

She silently walked over to Jiraiya and started her diagnostic Jutsu, while I went to my teammates.

"What's this about?" Asked Kagami-sensei, Ariha and Sakumo were also looking interested.

I glanced back at Tsunade and Jiraiya. Orochimaru and Sarutobi were also standing close to the sleeping Jiraiya and were waiting for Tsunade's diagnostic Jutsu to finish.

"Someone was seemingly ignoring the blatant bullying of one of his Genin. And I hate to have to kill him if it results in the death of my sister," I said, loud enough for Sarutobi to hear, but not loud enough for Orochimaru and Tsunade.

All of us were looking now at the other team and saw how Sarutobi was looking shaken. Did he seriously not notice the abuse of one of his Genin?

I knew that Ariha and Sakumo were on my side in this matter, but Kagami-sensei had to ask. "Would you give him the fault if your sister were to come to harm during a mission?"

I looked at him and suppressed the first thing I wanted to say and instead said the Konoha friendly version. "If it was our Sensei's fault for the death of one of my teammates or that of Tsu-chan's I would be damn sure to try and bring him in front of a martial court." What I didn't say was that this Sensei would no longer have arms, legs, eyes or any other important, but not vital, body parts.

A torso and head can get sentenced to prison as well as a full body.

He studied me for a moment, but it looked as if he was not pressing the matter further. "Be sure to make sure that it was his fault and only the Hokage is allowed to order executions," he merely said, before turning back to the arena.

The last fight will start in a moment and the Jinchuriki, as well as the Hyuuga, were already on their way to the middle.

They bowed to each other and then the fight started. The Hyuuga didn't wait a single second before he activated his Byakugan and then rushed at the seemingly defenceless Kaguya.

He was fast enough to be considered low Chunin, I'll give him that, but it was plainly obvious that the Kiri girl could track him easily. He reached her and jabbed out with his left arm to give her a Chakra enhanced tap.

Only that his taps can be deadly or used to seal off every Tenketsu Point within your body. Normal Ninja have a hard time defending themselves against a Hyuuga. They almost sorely focus on speed and are hard to counter once they are in close and personal.

She in return was trying and seemingly badly failing at evading his attacks. Soon the sound of displaced air and small Chakra explosions filled the room. And yet most who were somewhat skilled in close combat, i.e. everyone present, could see that she wasn't getting any damage.

Rune Kaguya seems to be one of the few that can call themselves the natural counter to a Hyuuga. It was hard to track, but those with good enough eyes and a good focus could see movement and change under her clothes.

Normally this could mean anything, and it still can. However, I think it's safe to say that a Kaguya with those movements under her/his clothes is in the middle of activating her bloodline.

And sure enough, she was getting close to no damage from his onslaught, and yet she was acting as if he was doing serious harm. When in reality her bones were already absorbing the damage he was trying to deal to her Tenketsu Points.

Soon he had gone through his whole set of kata and the Kaguya was pretending to be on her last leg. And really, it was a set of kata. Had the Hyuuga stopped and thought for a single moment he would have seen that his attacks weren't doing anything.

He was so focused on his next attack, the next step in his set, that he completely missed how ineffective they were. The little damage he did was quickly healed by her Bijuu. Maybe his eyes are not yet good enough to see the difference, or maybe he was just that blind.

Whatever it was, it also made him show his Hyuuga arrogance. "Hmpf, as I expected, nothing strong comes from other villages. My All-Seeing Eyes could keep up with your sloppy evasion with ease. You couldn't even defend against a single attack, what a weak excuse of a Kunoichi you are." Had he stopped there I am not sure what would have happened differently, maybe it would have been a lot less painful, but he didn't and it wasn't.

To proof his point he crouched down next to her and pulled her up on her hair. Trying to show her the faces of the watching people. Practically demanding and degrading her in one of the worst possible ways.

I facepalmed, that idiot!

I would judge the female Jinchuriki as a silent, yet temperamental girl. She has had almost skewered me in the brief moment I hugged her. There is no way that someone would get away with that and survive if she has any say in the matter.

The next second the Hyuuga was screaming like a bleeding pig. He was clutching his face with one hand and wildly swinging with his free hand after the Kaguya.

She has already jumped back and was smirking at her opponent. "It was brief, but I could see how two sharp bones grew out of her face and pierced into the Hyuuga," informed Ariha-chan the rest of us.

I narrowed my eyes and could indeed see blood flowing in between the fingers of the boy. If he's extremely unlucky he got stabbed in the eyes.

"Aaaaa! MY EYES!" Ariha-chan and Kagami-sensei were both wincing from the sight. Where once have been two pale white pupils, swollen with veins, were now two bleeding, destroyed, and irreparable holes.

"Definitely blind," I muttered. Everyone present around me stiffened. They instantly became angered and Kagami-sensei had to warn both Ariha-chan and Sakumo-kun to lower their bloodlust.

Every Konoha Ninja saw this as excessive and not necessary. With the exception of me. I don't care about him, the Hyuuga are slavers, arrogant, and conceited. I am also not brainwashed to be undying loyal to Konoha and every one part of it.

While it was true that killing was not forbidden, it was heavily frowned upon. She must know that, which means that the following will be deliberate.

"Awe, why are you crying? Did someone poke you into the eye?" Laughed the girl in the same mocking tone he used before. She fired two bones out of her opened palm. They shot out of her hand and through the knees of the Hyuuga.

He fell to the ground and tried to stand up again. From the corner of my eyes, I could see how his Sensei has had to be held back by both Sakumo and Sarutobi. We are in Kiri, interfering with one of the fights, especially against one of their Genin, would be seen as more than helping a student. Guy could only help Lee because they had the home advantage.

It was a sign of weakness for our village and would be seen as cheating. We would also give the organizing village, AGAIN Kiri, the middle finger for not preventing an unneeded death.

Everyone knew that we would have allowed the same, but as long as we were not in their position we could pretend to be the nice guys.

It came as it had to. She knew that she had not much time before even the judge had to deem the battle finished, so she fired off the last bone through her palm. It pierced through the head of the Hyuuga and he fell forward.

The kid is dead. His clan shouldn't have pushed him into this. The fight finished with her as the winner. And his corpse got carried out. I don't feel anything about his death, but I'm not sure how I should feel about her. She didn't come over as someone who would kill whenever she has the chance. She is more calculating, there must have been a higher reason.

"Not good," muttered Tsunade from next to me. I nodded in agreement. Orochimaru and Sakumo weren't as quick to see what Tsunade meant. Ariha saw it as well.

"What do you mean Tsunade-hime?" Asked Orochimaru after a moment of thinking and not coming up with the reason for her words.

"She killed the Hyuuga," explained Ariha, however, that wasn't enough for him, so Tsunade continued with the explanation.

"He was the direct heir to the line. The Hyuuga will demand blood for this, however, it was during the exams. So legally speaking she was in her right to kill him. Naturally, Kirigakure won't hand her out, this will lead to tensions between our villages and clashes between Hyuuga and Kiri Ninja on missions will increase."

As the pessimist of our group, I had to add something. "That and potentially lead to war. It's not sure to say that it was intentional, but she very well might have done the first hit in a coming war." Now Sakumo and Orochimaru both saw what Tsunade meant. Maybe that was her goal? But why would Kiri want to start a war with us?

"Ma, I'm sure it won't come down to war," interrupted Kagami-sensei, but his eyes showed worry. He was at least partially agreeing with us. Still, the war was coming to us one way or the other. Heck, maybe this was the canon reason for the Second Shinobi World War.

"Would the Genin who have won please come down," request/ordered the proctor the moment the Hyuuga was out of the ring. We all walked down to the middle of the arena, where the Mizukage and the proctor with an attendant were waiting.

"The fights were all promising and quite a good few Genin have managed to archive victory. Those of you who have won will be allowed to stay within Kirigakure for the next month and train for the finals. A tournament showcased to the Daimyo and rich.

We will now decide who you will face in your first round." The Mizukage then stepped back again. There was no sign of him being pleased or angered by the actions of his Jinchuriki. Not that it was likely, he is a Kage, they must have a good grasp over their emotions.

An attendant to walk forward. He had a box in his hands with a hole inside. Our numbers were inside. One after the other we were called up and each had to pull a number. In the end, the results looked something like that;

Sakumo vs Uzushiogakure-Genin

Ariha vs Tsunade

Kumo-Genin vs Rune Kaguya

Suna-Genin vs Kiri-Genin

Kiri-Genin vs Kumo-Genin

And lastly Orochimaru vs Me.

Seriously, why are there so many no-name Genin? Okay, sure, they do have a name, but I sure as hell won't remember them. Luckily, they are written over their head for me to read.

Still, Ariha vs Tsunade, I hope that one will turn out well. Both are somewhat cat fighting each other for months now. Hopefully, they will still be able to see that they are allies.

"With that, the preliminary rounds are over. You can go back to your hotel and rest, you have earned it," spoke the Mizukage now again. We all saw the dismiss as what it was and bowed slightly, before turning around and walking back to our Sensei.

"You've done well, all of you. Let's go out and eat something, my treat," praised Kagami-sensei all three of us. Each of us three had a matching grin and nodded eagerly.

"You'll go out to eat? Can we come as well?" Asked Tsunade, she must have heard us.

"Eh well." Kagami-sensei was looking less enthused now. He knows that paying for his team, but not for the other Genin is rude, but he can't exactly decline Tsunade.

Luckily for him, Sarutobi jumped in and helped him out. The knowing grin on his lips told me that he too has seen his friends discomfort. "Haha, yeah let's eat something together. After all us Sensei have to reward our Genin for a job well done."

Kagami-sensei smiled thankfully and together we left the facility. Turned out that we were on the building that stood in the middle of the lake. It was only a two-minute sprint to get back on land and inside Kiri. The guard needed more time to inspect us than the whole trip back.

In the end, we ate at a fairly good fish restaurant. At some point, even Jiraiya woke up. His Chakra depletion left him with a massive appetite and I think Sarutobi regretted it in the end to invite his students.

We ate for some time and spoke about the exam, how Tsunade's team almost got taken out by a trap laid from us. One of the traps we placed at the entrances to the last lake. They asked us how we got around the traps, to which we just shrugged. I pointed out that Ariha has very good eyes, which appeased them, thankfully.