"Sand Coffin!" The boy with dirty-red hair said. The screams of the remaining two shinobi from the Rain team fell silent in an instant with the crunch of bones and the characteristic sound of blood-soaked, crushed internals falling into sand.
That sound and the sensation of their chakra suddenly vanishing—the final pulse before it faded—she would remember until the end of her days.
Thanks to the Byakugan, their faces were imprinted in her mind: the two who had accompanied that boy with the massive gourd on his back.
They didn't even flinch, and the blonde girl merely closed her eyes and smirked. It seemed they had seen things like this not just once or twice, but for her, unaccustomed to such horrors, she'd never shake off those terrifying sensations.
It felt like the blood-soaked sand wasn't falling to the ground or onto that redhead's umbrella, but right onto her, trickling down her hair and down her back.
The horrific sensation made her want to jump to her feet and shake it all off with a scream, and when she couldn't take it anymore, that's exactly what she did—but in that instant, she realized she'd jolted upright from an old iron bed with a thin mattress, knocking the thin blanket to the floor.
"Awake?" Came the voice of her teammate sitting in the corner of the dark room, cradling a hefty bundle of fur in his arms. "I was about to wake you. You were moaning in your sleep."
"Sorry..." She murmured softly.
"No big deal..." He replied. "At least you got some sleep, unlike Akamaru and me. He still can't sleep; he's been whining and shaking."
"Still?" She asked in surprise, her eyes widening. A bit of light filtered into their room from the corridor through the quarter-open door. It reflected in her eyes, making them look like two tiny beads.
She'd heard that phrase from her teacher, Kurenai. That one sentence had given her more confidence than any training success. For years, her peers—girls her age and older, even boys—had eyed her sideways and whispered about how scary her eyes seemed. None of them knew she could see nearly 360 degrees.
No matter how quietly they whispered, she could clearly see their lips and had been able to lip-read effortlessly since early childhood.
On top of that was her status as princess of a great clan. Though her father had disowned his eldest daughter and openly declared her younger sister the heir, she was still a Hyuga. A pure-blooded Hyuga, daughter of the main branch head, and no less gifted than the others. Because of this, the clan had to protect her until she could protect herself. She was always picked up from the academy by at least two shinobi along with her mother, father, or some distant relative. She wasn't allowed to play with other children, and in her quarter, there were hardly any kids—those that were there were branch family children who had to show her respect at the sight of her. Friendship was impossible in such an atmosphere.
The only two boys who didn't fear her eyes and didn't bully her were Sasuke and Naruto.
But the first was always too distant, forever unattainable and proud. Everyone in her class chased after him, but she felt too awkward, and relations between their clans weren't the best. Far from enmity, but the rivalry for strongest clan had raged for years. Sasuke himself seemed to look down on all the girls from a great height. Either he deemed them unworthy of attention, or he had too much on his plate to bother with them.
Naruto was a different story... For some reason, most adults and nearly all the kids openly avoided him. Her mom had even told her once to stay away from that boy, which only piqued her interest more. Naruto seemed indifferent to any family's authority. Maybe because he was an orphan, but how was she to know how people like him felt? Over several years in class with him, she sensed he treated everyone equally, as if all were the same, and he never put himself above others. If he greeted the girls—which was rare—he didn't skip anyone. He always used names. He never bowed mechanically to any kid. That's why he didn't pretend not to notice her like so many others who were supposed to bow and greet her by status. If he bumped her shoulder in the hall while running somewhere, he'd toss a quick "sorry, Hinata" on the run, instead of stopping, bowing, and embarrassing her with apologies like the clanless ones, drawing everyone's eyes. She liked that attitude. When she turned eight and decided she could walk through the village alone since she knew the way to her quarter well enough, he wasn't afraid to stand up to the older bullies, showing strength worthy of great clan kids.
His decisiveness and insistence on escorting her home made her feel safe. She thought then that a real man should be like that, and she felt as if she had her father's back watching over her.
Yet even he, throughout all their academy years, never looked her in the eyes. His gaze went to her feet, hands, above her head, below—but never the eyes. It scared her. Did he fear her eyes too, or find them ugly? If the one boy she liked also felt fear or disgust toward her eyes, then...
She didn't want to think about it now. "Naruto's definitely not like the others." She repeated to herself over and over.
Kiba nodded and opened the door a bit wider. Shino entered the sleeping quarters. She knew little about him; even at the academy, he showed up rarely, mostly for exams, and when he did attend, he didn't talk to anyone. She figured his clan had special plans for him, as he—like her—was the son of the head. Such graduates often went straight to ANBU or trained on the border before ANBU. He might never leave clan subordination, like so many Aburame shinobi. The Hyuga clan had some like that too, but far fewer.
She'd least expected to be teamed with him, and only during their first joint training—insisted on by Teacher Kurenai—did she see his clan's secret technique. Insect control.
One word came to mind: creepy!
"You're up early." He said without a "good morning," which was typical. "And you still haven't slept? Akamaru still shaking?" He approached Kiba, squatted beside him, and asked. Kiba nodded.
Despite his seemingly cold demeanor and outward apathy, Shino turned out to be a very kind and attentive guy. He extended a hand to the white puppy, who calmly let himself be petted—though he usually allowed no one but Kiba to touch him. The ninja dog's training was already showing full force even under a year old.
"What time is it?" Hinata asked, getting to her feet and folding the bedding they'd been given back into the transparent packet.
"Five a.m." Shino replied. "Lights out in an hour, but they turned the corridor lights on at four."
"Did you get any sleep yourself?" Kiba asked, already knowing the answer.
"I sleep three times a day for two hours each." Shino said calmly. "Sometimes one and a half hours a day suffices, and if needed, I can go three to five days without sleep entirely."
"Well, we're not in battle or on a mission; you could relax." Kiba said, and with those words, Shino—who was already dressed in his coat, brown field pants, and high sandals—stood and rummaged silently in his backpack.
Suddenly Akamaru whined again and burrowed under Kiba's jacket. Voices of those three Sand shinobi they'd seen "in action" echoed from the corridor.
"I don't get why they can't just let us into the village?" The one with the painted face complained, judging by his voice.
"Looks like we're waiting for other exam participants..." The girl drawled. "I don't think they'll tell you anything new; we're wasting time going to them now. They don't make exceptions even for their own, and you're dragging Gaara along to complain."
"Still, we're not just guests—our dad's the Kazekage. Worth a shot at least, Temari. Don't you want to get out into the village? Gaara, what about you?" The painted one said.
They were passing their door at that moment.
"Whatever." The kid trailing behind said curtly. "Just go already."
"Mm..." Kiba summed up. "Don't think me a coward, but if we have to deal with that redhead on the third stage, I'll forfeit right away. Screw getting in trouble with the folks; they won't kill me at least..." Hinata recalled what they'd seen in the forest, a chill hit her, and she gulped noisily before sitting back on the bed and pulling on her athletic jacket.
***
While Kabuto handled the blood transfusion, rain started. First a light drizzle, annoying, then a real downpour. In this weather, nobody'd be up for fighting. Except maybe Rain shinobi in their element.
Kabuto had tipped me off to collect rainwater in bottles. I smacked my forehead, left Sasuke holding the blood bag, and rushed to set out bottles for water. This world was ecologically pristine. There were factories, but from what I'd learned, only 5-6 like the one in Oren per country—so they couldn't pollute the air much, especially in a forest-filled land. No internal combustion engines guzzling gas and spewing exhaust helped too. Drinking rainwater here was normal. Same for river or lake water—not just for irrigation. Wells were great, but when they're not the only source and water rarely needs extra purifying—perfect.
Despite the surrounding shitshow of violence, I increasingly concluded I liked this world overall. Yeah, it was unfamiliar to me, illogical in spots, but after living here, most downsides felt like the "natural order." Still, that didn't mean I ranked it above my home world.
The remaining downsides were too big to ignore.
Feudal society was a real problem, no matter what anyone thought. Remnants of tribal society from just 60 years ago everywhere—that was a problem. I had no issue with discipline or obeying superiors or even the Lord, but I couldn't become a landowner. No common citizen could. Grandpa was right: Clan Uzumaki was just history books, and at best, with a family, I'd claim ancestral land; only with servants could I claim clan land. Even top shinobi couldn't afford that. And why the hell should I keep servants? I didn't need them or anything like it—not even a maid or driver; here, a stablehand or carter was luxury.
Plenty of other societal setup issues struck me as barbaric. Fine, show respect to Lords like the Hokage or respected clan heads—but why their kids or relatives? Early on, I got plenty of punishments for not "showing respect," got used to it eventually, but I won't fully accept it.
Heh... I was too accustomed to a world where people had rights regardless of status. Or at least formal pretense in bad cases...
Here, they straight-up told you your place, and for locals, it was natural. Could it be otherwise in a world where gods aren't myth? Where self-proclaimed aristocrats are society's best—not talentless parasites? Do people here need equality, rights, freedoms? Dunno... Or if it's worth imposing.
On the flip side, society here hit the same pitfalls as ours under monarchy. Fine while worthy rulers lead. Problems start when they die and "heirs" take over. What to do if a psycho like the current Kazekage—who ordered his youngest killed—rules? Or a maniac like Orochimaru, who doesn't give a damn about anything but his twisted thirst for knowledge and power? A coward and scumbag like Danzou, ready to hurl lives into hell for his "good of Konoha," though the old man's rational and smart in many ways...
Honestly, Hiruzen with his all-forgiving irresponsibility wasn't a worthy ruler. Best of his era's options, sure, but after the Fourth, they should've picked a Fifth and kept the old man off the post. I can't forgive him the Uchiha massacre. He could've found options up to direct talks and meeting political demands to avoid war. With the Hyuga and Hinata's kidnapping, nothing stopped him bending to Cloud's demands and paying with a village shinobi's life to avert war.
The Third Hokage embodied "best doesn't mean good."
Sakura's treatment went as expected, per Kabuto: "Been worse." Neither my blood, his, nor Sasuke's matched for transfusion, so he used a valuable item-summoning scroll—which I promised to replace. He only had that blood type because Yoroi from his team matched.
With the summoning technique, he called a small vacuum-sealed blood container onto the unrolled scroll. Post-transfusion, Kabuto worked some chakra with dim green glow over her heart and less over her forehead, one-handed.
Finishing around 8 a.m., her fever dropped sharply soon after; she woke near noon.
He strictly forbade movement, set an IV, and fed her pills from his kit. Gave Sasuke pills and a shot; spent an hour on my hands, then cooked oil in a pot, oiled them, bandaged thoroughly, and said remove by morning. Kabuto looked badass with his knowledge and techniques. Can't imagine the time on theory alone, let alone practice...
We stayed in the cave. Kabuto and I sensed observation a couple times, but it faded quick. Three male shinobi—one notably older—weren't promising easy wins.
I sent shadow clones patrolling while eating rations. No difference between standard and large rations menu-wise. Just double quantity.
The large ration was literally double the standard. I doubted vendors at first, thought there'd be bonuses—nope. Double cookies, two spice ramen packs, two extra purified water bottles, two small chocolate bars, still ONE match pack.
Cheapskates...
Sakura wanted answers, but Kabuto banned talking! "Body needs full focus on recovery." We three briefed her briefly. Evening pre-bed, another shot, and he allowed slow movement in her sleeping bag and talking.
Last she remembered: Orochimaru's minions blocking her from both sides as she neared the forest exit path. She fought back—shuriken and kunai first, fleeing under smoke and substitution cover—but a mid-air elbow drop floored her. She struggled up, tried explosive kunai, but foes mixed substitution and Body Flicker, dodging. Escape attempts crushed. They toyed until desperation: she lunged from a thick tree trunk kunai-first at one, feinting with phantom and shadow clones. He underestimated another "ghost," took an arm wound. The second got serious; after the first kicked her back a dozen meters chest-first, he appeared behind and head-struck—likely fist in brass knuckles, unsure. Vision swam; blackout.
No memory after...
Just fragments: sword from chest, crimson chakra, pain, thirst, forest carry, snippets of me and Sasuke talking.
Kabuto told her of the severe wound but left details to us; I said nothing of Orochimaru, he didn't ask.
I just apologized for sending her alone, no clone escort. Really ashamed—I hadn't thought Orochimaru wouldn't cover a runaway girl.
Surprisingly, Sasuke didn't mind omitting details. We told her of chest sword and severe injury, but I had Kabuto claim he fully healed it. Proof: Kurama left a small scar under her right breast. I wanted to tell the Fox about girls hating scars in intimate spots, but imagined his look...
Screw that; no explaining. Special Olympics waiting. No matter how I spin it, I'd look the idiot.
Near night, Kabuto sedated her. Prediction: walking by morning, combat-ready pose by evening if she ate well daytime.
It panned out.
Sasuke worried if Kabuto wasted time with us and could get scrolls; he smiled, showed two scrolls, explained his team were "special" exam participants—gathering intel on foreign shinobi for Leaf interests. They'd caught, interrogated, killed one foreign team for village info and a scroll. Whether true, his face and tone rang honest. Kabuto ~17-18 now. Capable of worse... They'd observe genin clashes all five days, then exit exam. His ticket to Konoha ANBU, though more training to "bring him up" awaited.
Convincing—damn convincing. If I didn't know better, I'd buy it. Pro actor wasted... Sasuke bought it; if he—whose brother was ANBU—didn't suspect, hats off to Kabuto.
A blabbermouth's a spy's gold; a liar's spy school material.
***
That evening, we skipped heading to the tower.
Patrolling, one clone met Lee—solo—another met Shikamaru and team. They were beat up bad. Even Ino had a bloody nose, hand over face. Choji took worst—thinned a bit, total gloom over exam. One arm bandaged; he'd fought. Shikamaru seemed intact but drew weapon and kicked the fat one—who scooped Ino and retreated—at my slightest noise.
Short talk: I bragged two scrolls; he flipped me off but showed two and grinned.
"You're not the only badass here, Naruto." He tossed after me. Glad for their team; knew they'd manage.
Lee said they still hunted foes, ignoring Leaf shinobi. Fight "own" only if challenged or attacked first. Guy's principled stance—he'd leaked all stages' formats ahead, so few surprises.
Fucking wanted to swear.
Kakashi, damn it...
That evening, Sasuke—the only "experienced" one—hunted. Total noob here, could only help with traps, so didn't interfere. I gathered wood, built fire, mushrooms, all remaining "dosirak" from rations—raiding Kabuto's too—for big pot stew. Helped Sakura fish nearby river.
Hunters dragged a young boar cub. Local beasts huge; "young" still Sasuke-sized. Too much meat; plan: cook what we could, pack extra morning. Most unanimously to Kabuto—for help and his teammates.
Team picnic, Kabuto as "senpai."
No heavy topics; enjoyed calm—not same cave, new spot. Four semi-combat-ready? Kamikaze odds not minimal—negative.
I relaxed, dozed little night before, crashed first post-meal.
Idle chat...
Sakura's girlish laughter at Kabuto's jokes...
Forest, fresh air...
Tasty roast meat...
Bliss!
Felt back in my body, classmates at a friend's for shashlik.
Dream: riding that minibus again, time frozen, half cabin lost in blinding white light.
"Your path isn't over..." Male voice behind; hand on shoulder. "Get up..."
"Get up, Naruto." Sasuke woke me, light shoulder pat. ~3 a.m. My watch turn. Six hours sleep—generous, crashed mid-gathering. They'd propped my head on backpack, covered me, left fire smoldering.
Knew how beat I was...
Slept great; yielded to Sasuke, stretched ahead of camp.
No more sleep fate.
~6 a.m., nearly done cleaning site, packed most gear, full workout to avoid freezing night in white tank—all woke.
Stretched, checked gear; fourth morning, headed tower. Slow, trap-wary—smart. Found pitfall, stretchers with explosive seals and bisected shuriken pouches, bear traps—camouflaged on tree "roads," not for beasts.
Kabuto showed transparent fishing line tree-to-tree. Invisible mid-jump; nasty tumble.
Expected Rain shinobi attack; either no daytime, or recalling full-purse beatdown, ditched idea.
Morning thaw; comfy in tank. Sakura kept my tee—no questions, though caught surprised glances. Noticed spare undies on her, bloody originals buried in her pack.
Two options: Kabuto or me/Sasuke. No outrage/dumb questions? Assumed Kabuto, saw him doctor—asexual. Though young guy too... Dread her thoughts.
Realizing I dwelled more than her, noticed main tower road; smooth rest.
Finished meeting Lee's team.
He beamed joy. Passed stage, barely strained—forest 4 days tired 'em, clothes ragged, one Lee knuckle bandage unwound, likely lost in scroll fight.
Entered tower together. Kabuto stayed at entrance, waiting teammates.
11:30 a.m. day four...
Unrolled scrolls, summoned Iruka.
Mentally crossed self: Lee, Neji, Tenten to adjacent room; us in tower hall. Couldn't handle Guy appearing.
Month's fill from Sakura undressing; Guy pre-that too...
Bitch...
Thinking it, recalled prelim fights—forgotten. Too relaxed.
Guy'd watch all with us.
God, why?! Law-abiding in my world. Liar yeah, but no thief/traitor. Respected few, insulted many—no serious harm... No kills, no robberies...
Adultery? Sure... But unmarried, no commitments—counts?
God, why'd Kishimoto draw Guy with that youth bullshit? Better cross-dressed Orochimaru nearby, swear...
"Yo..." Iruka raised hand greeting.
"You?" Sasuke said surprised.
"Teacher Iruka?!" Sakura no less shocked.
"Huh? Uh..." I faked surprise, barely wiping "Fucking Guy and his youth crap!" off face. "Oh! Teacher Iruka, you drew announcing duty."
"Uh-huh..." He nodded, beaming. Flattered his recent grads aced second Chunin exam stage. "Naruto, what about your sword?" Eyed soot-covered, melted, cracked hilt from my sheath.
"This... Banged it up in fight, sorry idiot."
"Just a bit, huh... Where the hell's your shinobi headband? Broke sword, lost band?"
"Nah..." I drawled, pulling from pouch, showing diagonal slash across protector. "Saved my life, but now... Buy new later. Wearing now... Feels like rogue, honest..."
"Wear it like that for now—not forehead, then arm." Iruka strict. "Gear damage in battle—no pride, but no reason hide Leaf symbol. Questions? Truth better than none." Shrugged, retied forehead.
Iruka explained exam essence, First Hokage quote—more pomp than proverb to me.
"Strong body—train mind. Strong mind—train body." Japanese-style via fancy metaphors.
Iruka congratulated us on completing the second stage, and two more Chunin—seemingly Izumi and Kotetsu—escorted us down a long corridor to one of the rooms with three iron beds, one table, a coat rack, and a couple of mirrors. At the end of the corridor was a toilet. We could already hear noise from the neighboring rooms. Several teams, just like us, had already passed to the second stage. After they explained that we'd have to sit here for another day and wait, we received bedding and started settling into the room. Naturally, within an hour we had walked the entire corridor, peeking into every room.
In my excitement, I didn't hesitate to peek into the Sand shinobi's room. Turns out, Gaara knows how to sleep. Or rather, not quite. He was more like meditating in The Witcher style. I was only glad. After teasing Kankuro a bit, exchanging greetings, and showing off in front of Temari, I deemed it appropriate to invite them to the hall where we had already decided to set up a forest clearing and finish off the remaining boar meat that we had dragged along.
Kiba and Hinata were there too. Shino had gotten lost somewhere. They paled considerably when I, almost kicking the door open, entered the Sand shinobi's room. But they breathed a sigh of relief when they refused.
"Well, why?" I heard Temari's voice.
"You like that blond kid so much that you're ready to eat and drink with our enemies now?!" Kankuro raised his voice slightly.
"Shut up." Another voice came from behind the door.
Izumi and Kotetsu were already not against joining our picnic, but Ibiki, passing by, made them change their minds with a single glance.
Plus the sad faces...
Meanwhile, Iruka returned, to whom I handed the key to the house and plaintively asked to bring my stuff here, namely, the sports jacket from the suit.
By noon the next day, we were already standing in formation.
All participants in front of all their jonin instructors, examiners, and in the presence of the old geezer...
Pfft!
I mean... Ahem...
The Great Lord-Hokage, of course.
He also played his record with congratulations and clarified the essence of the exam from his side. Some even managed to ask the old man questions. They got answers roughly like the questions. One better than the other...
The special jonin who stepped forward and introduced himself as Gekko Hayate announced a temporary suspension of the exam for the purpose of conducting a preliminary round.
Too many genin had passed the first two stages, and he now announced that only half should remain.
They supposedly couldn't show the esteemed lords unworthy genin who just got lucky and were dragged through the first two stages by their teammates.
They couldn't afford to waste the esteemed guests' time on the third stage, which consisted of fights for those guests' entertainment.
Inhale-exhale...
Keep it all inside.
Explaining all this, as well as the fight rules, Hayate kept coughing and pausing, and those circles under his eyes and pale appearance... Looking at him, it was hard to believe he was even a special jonin. He barely pulled off Chunin, and even that only due to age. Someone older than Kabuto and in a vest, definitely Chunin, though often that's not the case.
However, appearances can be deceiving, and as far as I know, despite looking weaker than even Iruka, he's strong enough to be called a jonin. He could probably beat Kurenai, though that wouldn't be much to brag about...
The fights ahead would be at full strength.
Hayate asked if anyone wanted to withdraw now, noting that it wouldn't affect the team anymore. After Kabuto stepped out, he asked...
"Anyone else?"
Sasuke and I, without colluding, looked at Sakura, and she looked at us in surprise.
"Sakura, are you sure you want to go further?" I ventured, interrupting Sasuke who had already opened his mouth. Who knows what nonsense he'd say...
"Heh..." She exhaled. "I've come too far already. I..." She looked at the floor for a second, then looked at me with a much more confident gaze. "Naruto, thanks for worrying, but if I want to get stronger, I have to walk this path to the end. That's my ninja way." Sasuke, closing his eyes, smiled and turned away.
"Well, alright... Then just good luck." I said, and she smiled back at me too.
"Looks like everyone's staying, right? *Cough-cough*... Sorry." Hayate said. "That makes twenty people. So... *Cough*... *Ahem*... Excuse me... That means ten pairs. Pairs will be chosen randomly. Eyes on the screen!" He gestured, and the partition in one of the indentations in the wall in front of us, where there was also a statue of hands formed into a sealing mark, began to rise.
Some jonin, like the disguised Orochimaru, Baki from Sand, Gai, and Kurenai, had already climbed to the balconies on either side of the central passage or great hall.
Kakashi, seeing my bored face, didn't hesitate to approach us.
"Congratulations on passing." He tossed out, following Sakura with his gaze. "Sasuke, Naruto, I know what happened in the forest... And about Orochimaru." Almost whispering as the genin began to disperse, Kakashi said. Sasuke sharply turned and looked at him in surprise.
*Beeeep*
"Yoroi Akado VS Sasuke Uchiha" – the board displayed.
Sasuke and his opponent noticed and snorted simultaneously.
"So that's how it is, you're first..." Kakashi said, shaking his head. "Alright, then, Naruto, come with me."
"Huh?"
"I need to ask you a couple of questions."
"Okay, just later, sensei."
"Naruto, you don't get it, this can't wait!"
"It can wait, sensei!" I insisted, forcing myself to get a little angry, for which I had to recall all of Kakashi's screw-ups. Focusing on the fox's chakra, I reached for it slightly, touching it and feeling it flow through the chakra circulation system channels, expanding my field of vision, and sharply turned my head to Kakashi.
The sight was something.
With a forehead protector crossed diagonally, I stared straight into his eye with two blood-red Kurama eyes.
"It can wait, at least until the end of Sasuke's fight. Then we'll both go with you. I have things to tell you too." I said. Good thing Sakura decided to head to the balcony first under Kakashi's gaze. He clearly didn't want to start talking about Orochimaru in her presence.
"I see..." He said. At that moment, I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I suppressed the fox's chakra and returned my blue eyes. "Fine. Then let's go to the balcony. They won't start the fight until we're here."
Sasuke and his opponent took their places. We had also gone to the balcony.
Kakashi didn't even look my way, and the fox's gaze didn't particularly surprise him. He couldn't have not felt that chakra, which I had spread all around on the bridge during the fight with Haku.
"Attention!" Hayate said.
"Ready to lose, pup?" Yoroi asked.
"Are you?" Sasuke smirked back.
"Hm... Let's see what the Uchiha chick can do."
"Fight!"
They closed in at maximum speed, drawing kunai and starting a knife fight, jumping back and closing again. Sparks flew from their kunai clashes. From Yoroi's sharp lunge, a lock of Sasuke's hair fell to the ground. Sasuke's sweep attempt failed, and now they clashed trying to overpower each other, where the older Yoroi, by several years, had the advantage.
Sasuke held his own admirably and yielded only slightly in brute strength, but he did yield.
The opponent's kunai tip approached Sasuke's throat, and seeing the moment, he struck with a kick to the chest and pushed off Yoroi.
Yoroi's body replacement at max speed. He barely seemed to feel the chest hit.
Definitely fighting on something... Though, here, that's apparently not forbidden.
Sasuke, without looking, rolled forward long to dodge the downward kunai strike to the back and, spinning, launched three shuriken at the opponent, which Yoroi masterfully deflected with a kunai. This pause was enough for Sasuke to form bird, tiger, and dragon seals while holding a kunai between his palms and unleash a modified version of my technique, but applied to the kunai.
"Fire Style: Flame Stream Arrow!" Launching kunai in streams of flame from both hands was impressive. Like a fiery projectile, greatly accelerated, the fiery flash pierced the body straight through, but it turned out to be a substitution technique. Like an explosive kunai, the projectile in the flame stream flew to the wall, exploding in a bright fiery flash at the end.
"That's a whole other level..." Kakashi commented.
Yoroi was above, with two explosive kunai in each hand, each with two explosive seals on a string.
Four kunai flew straight at Sasuke, followed by two paired explosions.
"This?!" Sakura was surprised.
"Second stage after all." Kakashi muttered under his breath again. "Now I get it." He finally looked at me, but I pretended not to notice.
The smoke from the explosions cleared quickly, and Sasuke, kneeling on one knee, shielded himself with a fire shield that no longer looked like a mere wall chunk but a real triangular flame shield, through which the opponent was partially visible. About two and a half by two meters. The shield dispersed after three seconds, taking a good amount of chakra. Sasuke said it consumed about one and a half full-power fireballs. And releasing that much chakra overall was already beyond genin level, let alone through the hands.
"*Cough*... I'll admit, you surprised me." Yoroi said and charged at Sasuke with a knife again.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Petals!" Sasuke unleashed six shuriken cloaked in flames.
Yoroi used the Shadow Clone Technique on the run, shielding himself with two clones that literally jumped into the shuriken. He himself accelerated and attacked with a kunai again.
The knife fight resumed, and Sasuke hadn't even used Sharingan yet, conserving chakra as per my advice.
The Chunin-level speed knife fight wasn't easy for Sasuke. He was just a bit short, but against a more experienced opponent, that could be fatal. A knife swing sliced his shirt. Buttons rolled across the floor. Another swing, and another lock of jet-black hair flew to the ground. Sasuke's thrust was too readable with Yoroi's experience, and he sharply jumped back, throwing another explosive kunai. This time, Sasuke had no time to create a shield. He jumped up as high as he could and ended up above hands formed into a seal. The opponent spat three poisoned needles right through his mask, forcing Sasuke to use Sharingan to deflect such small targets with a kunai in mid-air. Doing a triple backflip, he landed neatly on his fingertips.
Seems like he'll switch to offense now.
With Sharingan, I had advised exactly that, to end the fight quickly. Remembering what prolonged use led to, he agreed and, using Body Flicker Technique, jumped and threw four kunai. Two on either side of the opponent, limiting his maneuver space. At arrow speed, he was in front of him and struck with a fist in flight. Yoroi didn't expect Sasuke to accelerate so sharply. With Sharingan, he didn't need to fear lacking reactions for max-speed fights.
The fist strike was blocked by Yoroi's two hands. He was decent at Taijutsu and held up well in close combat against Uchiha-style katas performed by Sasuke. But he couldn't counterattack or grin like Orochimaru, and he didn't block everything. Using the painkiller advantage, he endured hits to the stomach and chest. Sasuke finally broke through his defense and, sweeping him down, mounted him and pressed a kunai to his throat, but Yoroi just laughed. With his free hand, he grabbed Sasuke's wrist holding the kunai and began absorbing his chakra. The hand quickly went limp and released the weapon. Switching to grappling, Yoroi gained the advantage and, touching Sasuke's body, absorbed his chakra.
"You... You..." Sasuke tried to say something, seeing his strength drain from his body. Now Yoroi sat on top, strangling him with both hands, while Sasuke desperately tried to free his legs by wedging them between the opponent's. "Bastard..." Nothing worked.
"Heh-heh-heh... Who's tough now, huh?!"
Sasuke's hands, trying to loosen the throat grip, finally went limp and fell to the floor.
"Damn... No way... I... I..." Flashed through Sasuke's mind as the last of his strength left him.
"I WON'T LOSE HERE!" He shouted, reactivating Sharingan, which had deactivated due to a glitch in the chakra circulation system. "Fire Style: Flame Stream Technique!" Sasuke raised his hands and aimed at the opponent's face. The technique barely worked, the stream just over two meters nothing compared to twenty-five, but it was enough for Yoroi. The fiery jet to the face was no joke, and then Sasuke finally freed his legs from under the opponent and attacked with them.
Breaking distance, Sasuke used phantom clones. Yoroi took the same hit as Dosu, and Lee, watching from the balcony, was genuinely surprised.
Then Sasuke's body replacement. But he wasn't under the flying body—he was right above it, palms forward, accelerating Yoroi's fall with his fire stream, and landed on his body with a spectacular somersault, a flaming leg trail, and a powerful strike to the middle of the chest, causing the opponent to spew blood and esophageal contents, possibly stomach too, like a fountain.
Examining the unconscious Yoroi, Hayate announced the winner.
"Winner of the first preliminary match – Sasuke Uchiha!"
Ino and Sakura began congratulating Sasuke on his victory with shouts from the balconies, while medics were called to the arena, carrying his opponent on a stretcher. He was covered in burns of varying degrees and seemed to have multiple fractures.
"Let's go, Naruto..." Kakashi said curtly. Sakura looked at us suspiciously, and Kakashi instantly teleported to Sasuke, and we followed him as the medics carried out the body.
Kakashi led us to the first underground level, where there was a small hall with a closed door. When it opened, my old ANBU acquaintance greeted us.
"Boar!" I exclaimed, smiling. "Long time no see..."
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: patreon.com/Granulan