2.2k words, sorry for the delay, been feeling overwhelmed with the amount of shit I've had to do, can't even do nothing for 2 ours a day anymore...
I dont own Naruto nor JJk idk why I even bother to put this here but ey better safe than sorry
Discord: https://discord.gg/VcZgznu6
Saw some other bum form here plug it, there are actual writers here. This is Jax's server, author of Nah, I'd Adapt, and Zenin Days.
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I quickly left the main cast to their business, as I wanted to regroup with Baki and Karin. On my way back to our camp, I had the fortune of finding a weak team to beat up. I made quick work of that team, and, purely because of how skilled I am, they were carrying a scroll of heaven.
As I closed in one where my teammates had set up our camp, I came across another team. On it, stood out a genin who bore auburn hair, green eyes, and had a mark on his forehead. Gaara. If I could still use Projection, I wouldn't be worried at all, because I could escape at any time, now, however? My escape wasn't guaranteed... So I hid my presence as best as I could, patiently waiting for them to leave the premises. Only for Gaara to suddenly turn towards my spot in the trees.
"Come out. I can tell where you are." He stared at me with his bloodshot eyes, as his siblings backed away from him slightly, putting up their guard. I dropped down from my spot, landing in front of them.
"I was trying to pass by, but you were quite slow." I said with a smirk, while Reinforcing myself preemptively. I acted just as confident as I usually was, bluffing is the best option when dealing with people like Gaara.
Instead of continuing to speak, the Suna genin simply flexed his chakra, sand rushing out of his gourd. I stood in my spot, looking at him, unimpressed. Sand gathered around me, forming a dome around me.
"Death Coffin." Gaara said, while clenching his fist. The sand around me suddenly closed in on me, aiming to crush me. I simply punched a part of the sand, dispersing it, then I jumped out through that opening.
"We will get to fight in the finals, lets not waste each others time, and go back to purging the weaklings." I ended it with a smile, letting some of my own 'blood lust' radiate off of me. Both Deiki and Hotai taught me how to bluff, as if you make it seem more trouble than it is worth to kill you, you can get away.
And it worked. Why? Because another team just burst in the clearing where we were talking. As I saw the that the attention of the three Suna shinobi move from me to them, I promptly disappeared, moving towards the base.
There, I found Karin and Baki skinning a giant bear, taking its meat and cooking it. I sat on a log near them, waiting for them to be finished. After they finished processing the corpse, I helped them set up a shelter with the hide and the bones of the bear. We prepared a campfire to cook the meat on it. Karin started it with a Fire Jutsu.
"At least you are useful now, since you are useless in fights." I said, with a smirk.
"Oh yeah? I defeated this bear all by myself, meanwhile, you came here beat up, and empty handed. Didn't you say you'd get the scroll we needed?" Karin said, a confident smirk on her lips, as she put her hands on her hips, leaning slightly towards me, looking at me with superiority. I scoffed.
"Take a peek here." I said, taking the scroll out of my robe, my smirk growing, as I saw her become dejected. "You really thought I of all people would fail?"
"Good job, now eat, since you'll have the first shift of keeping watch." Baki said, while giving me some of the meat to eat.
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The next day, we had gotten to the centre of the forest with little to no trouble, and got into the next phase, after which, we were provided rooms to rest in. We were some of the first to finish the second exam, so we had quite a bit of time to rest. Deiki ordered us to rest, and to preserve our strength, as there was no point in training now, except for maintenance.
I obliged, while trying to figure out what exactly Orochimaru's 'gift' was doing with my chakra. I tensed and untensed my Reinforcement, with no issues, but as soon as I tried to form something outside of my body, a foreign chakra interfered, disrupting my attempts at using Projection.
But, I refused. I wouldn't let an overgrown garden snake cuck me of my and my clans most prized Jutsu. I tried. And I tried again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.
And once more, until I could feel my own chakra reach its limit, before the same foreign chakra took its place, an irritating warmth spreading from the cursed mark. Clearly, I couldn't form Projections as I did before. But, since I am also the topmost expert in Projection, at this current moment. With a genius such as mine, it won't be long until I find a solution.
I continued to experiment, and, instead of trying to brute force the Projection, I tried to incorporate the foreign chakra into it as well as I could, and, lo and behold, my Projection didn't dissipate instantaneously. I smirked. My body was dripping with sweat, the sun had long since fallen from the sky, despite the fact I started experimenting just before noon. My head throbbed, my whole body burning from the strain of constantly using chakra for almost a whole day.
My room had long since turned pitch black, darkness enshrouding it. I turned my head towards the window, a sliver of light sneaking in through the blinds. As the throbbing in my head became louder and louder, I collapsed, my consciousness leaving me.
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I awoke on the floor, my body incredibly cold. I was undressed, my body covered by nothing. I had undressed in hopes that my Projection would work if the clothes weren't interfering. How would they be interfering? I wasn't sure myself. I got up, my whole body aching and shivering from the strain underwent, and the subpar sleeping condition. I quickly dressed myself, and exited my room. Outside, waiting for me, was Deiki.
I was then guided towards a great hall, where all the other competitors were standing, opposite to their Jonin sensei's and the Hokage. After a quick congratulation, and a boringly long explanation about the obvious from the Hokage about how these exams simulated a miniature war, the next exam was revealed. The proctor of the third exam then took the stage and said that preliminary duels were in order, as too many teams had qualified.
The first fight, was between Sasuke and some random schmuck from Konoha, who was quickly overwhelmed and defeated. The next fight was between the Aburame and Baki. I leaned on the railing of the balcony, watching as Shino and Baki approached each other.
As soon as the match started, Baki shot forward, taking the initiative. He easily outsped the Aburame, hitting him without giving him time to react. I watched as Shino was ruthlessly pounded, only for Baki to suddenly retreat, and prepare a Jutsu. Shino didn't hesitate to pressure Baki with some of his bugs, only for the Kusa genin to ignore them, close the distance between the two of them, and release the Jutsu on both of them, enveloping them both in flames. Baki got out with minimal injuries, while Shino had been completely incapacitated, many of his bugs either dead, or unresponsive from the flames and smoke.
The next duel was one between some unimportants, with Gaara's brother winning over another one of Kabuto's teammates. And so continued the streak of uninteresting fights, the next fight being between the blondie and the pinkie. I tried to throw some tomatoes at them, but Deiki stopped me from doing so. And again, an uninteresting fight that ended quickly, the sand girl against Lee's female teammate.
The next fight however, seemed interesting. It was pineapple head against Karin, someone intelligent against Karin... Shikamaru will definitely win.
Naruto, however, interrupted me from my thoughts, and started shouting once he saw that Karin's last name was Uzumaki. Only for Kakashi to put a hand over his mouth and take him out back. I watched it happen with amusement, before turning to Karin.
"Seems only two of us will be going into the next exam..." I let out a heavy sigh. "Truly heartbreaking..." I said while shaking my head.
Karin wisely chose to ignore me, and went to meet Shikamaru in the arena. But, Shikamaru also shook his head in disappointment.
"This is such a nuisance... And such an embarassment, being expected to fight a girl..." The Nara sighed in resignation.
"I'll show you how embarrasing it is to get beat by a girl." Karin said, a confident smile on her face.
Just as the round started, she started preparing Jutsu's, while dodging Shikamaru's shadow, which was trying to reach her own. After demonstrating some of her acrobatics, Karin unleashed hell upon Shikamaru, Water Bullets bombarding his location. Jutsu after Jutsu flew out, Karin's massive chackra reserves giving her the ability to throw out ninjutsu with ease, cornering Shikamaru, as he couldn't close the distance, nor attack her from a distance as his kunai were either blown away by her jutsu or dodged.
I booed at Karin from the stands, this time not getting stopped by neither Baki nor Deiki. However, Naruto, who had just returned with Kakashi in tow, had a problem with me.
"How could you boo your own teammate? She is trying he-" Before the little orange man could continue shouting and sending spittle at my face. I covered his mouth with one hand, and wagged the pointing finger from my other hand in front of his face. With a smile, I said.
"She fights much better when she is angry, I just want her to give it her all." I lied, but he couldn't tell. "Come and join me, she will fight better if we both do it!" I said with a smile.
Unfortunately, pinkie had come along and grabbed him by the hand, dragging him back to their part of the balcony. I shook my head in disappointment.
A sudden flash of light came from the arena below. When I glanced back at the fight, Karin had been caught by a minuscule shadow tendril, her body restrained by the shadows, forcing her to imitate Shikamaru's movements. He manipulated her to start banging her head against a wall, and that she did. Eventually, Karin passed out from the head trauma. It turned out Shikamaru had a few tricks up his sleeve, though if we weren't told to keep it strictly non-lethal against Konoha shinobi, Karin might have had a chance to win...
The next fight was between Kiba and Naruto, which I chose to pay no mind to, instead taking a short nap, growing bored of this whole shtick. I was taken out of my stupor, however, when Naruto started shouting about some Hinata girl.
I turned over my attention to the arena, where two figures with white eyes stood apart from each other. A wide smile came over my face. I waved to Neji to get his attention, before shouting.
"TEACH THAT WOMAN WHY HER PLACE IS I-" I was stopped by Karin, who had her head bandaged, her face and hair mirroring her unhappiness. I tried to get her hand off my mouth, but Deiki put a hand on my shoulder, and motioned me to behave. I obliged, and as soon as Karin retreated her hand, I shouted again, "IN THE KIT-" I was promptly punched in the throat by Karin, her face now bearing a scowl.
As I was coughing, trying to regain my ability to breathe, the match had started. And boy was Neji a menace, he had analysed his cousins body language and started digging into her, to which, I started clapping.
"You have to teach me that sometime, I could make great use of it..." My smirk ever-present.
"SHE CAN WIN" Naruto shouted, to which I replied. "She can't, er body is weaker, she lacks confidence, and her mastery of the technique's is worse."
Naruto then went on a tirade waffling on and on about believing it and believing in ones self, to which I raised a thumb up, hoping he would stop soon. And stop he did, instead encouraging the Hyuuga girl to continue fighting, even though she was getting the beatdown of a lifetime.
"I was wrong, she has a little confidence in herself, but its too late." I said, shrugging my shoulders.
Karin and Baki both shook their heads, pity in their eyes. Soon, the match was called, and Hinata was taken away for treatment.
I watched as the screen spit out two names. Zenin Naoya against Gaara of the sand. Gaara appeared to the arena, enshrouded by some of his sand, while I Projected there, flashing him a winning smile.
"You, are going to lose." I said, striking a pose, while pointing at him. A wide smile spreading on my face, as both out bloodlusts burst out.