While Kakashi and Hyuga Hiashi were talking, Sasuke's battle against Lanwu began.
"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"
Right as the match started, Sasuke cloaked himself in Lightning Release armor and charged straight at Lanwu.
After spending some time around Lanwu and the others, Sasuke had a decent grasp of their abilities.
"Ice Release: Ice Shuriken!"
Lanwu likewise knew Sasuke would take advantage of a lightning user's speed, so the moment Sasuke moved, she cast her Ice Shuriken technique.
Countless shuriken made of ice continuously formed in front of her, then shot toward Sasuke like a barrage of bullets.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A flurry of fast-spinning, razor-sharp ice shuriken clashed against Sasuke's Lightning Release armor and all shattered. However, this barrage let Lanwu slip from directly in front of Sasuke and reappear at his flank.
"Ice Release: Ice Shuriken!"
The instant she showed herself, Lanwu didn't hesitate. She attacked Sasuke again.
This time, Sasuke's response surprised many. He simply activated another Lightning Release taijutsu, rushing Lanwu head-on.
"Lariat!"
With a shout, Sasuke turned into a streak of intense, electric-blue light, racing at Lanwu at incredible speed.
No matter how fast Lanwu was, she couldn't outrun the Lightning Release. Faced with Sasuke's sudden strike, she immediately switched to full defense.
"Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome of Magnificent Nothingness!"
An ice-crystal dome instantly appeared around Lanwu, followed by layer upon layer of unbreakable ice armor.
But against Sasuke, that barely helped; as a master of Lightning Release taijutsu, he could unleash massive destructive force.
"Boom!"
"Rumble—!"
When Sasuke slammed his Lariat into the ice-crystal dome, the entire arena shook. Amid the clouds of dust, everyone could plainly see that Sasuke had smashed Lanwu's Ice Rock Dome of Magnificent Nothingness to pieces.
But Lanwu wasn't actually harmed. Instead, Sasuke was the one who had fallen for a trick.
"Ice Release Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
As Lanwu's cool voice reached Sasuke's ears, he found himself enveloped in a peculiar barrier—a space formed by numerous ice mirrors.
Each mirror showed Lanwu's reflection. Even with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke couldn't spot the real one.
That said, Lanwu couldn't ambush him so easily with it, either.
Swish! Swish!
Lanwu, holding a kunai, emerged from one mirror to launch an attack.
Right away, Sasuke responded by going on the offensive himself. Startled, Lanwu had no choice but to retreat backward and merge back into another ice mirror.
She next began darting continuously between the many mirrors, trying to confuse Sasuke and expose a weak point. But Sasuke remained unmoved. If Lanwu didn't actively attack, he simply ignored her.
With no alternative, Lanwu used another jutsu.
"Ice Release Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"
All at once, multiple copies of Lanwu appeared throughout the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, hurling volleys of senbon at Sasuke from all angles.
At that, Sasuke decided he'd had enough. Because they were on the same side, he'd given Lanwu plenty of time to showcase her skills, and now it was time to end it.
"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"
Lightning once again crackled all over Sasuke's body, and he launched a lightning-charged punch at the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
"Ora! Ora! Ora!"
Throwing a flurry of blows like a raging storm, Sasuke smashed mirror after mirror around him.
Lanwu disengaged at once, reappearing some distance away in a slightly disheveled state. She showed no sign of wanting to keep fighting, instead announcing on her own:
"I forfeit!"
Up in the stands, Hiashi couldn't help asking Kakashi, "Kakashi, can you tell me how you usually train Naruto and Sasuke?"
Hiashi's question put Kakashi in an awkward spot.
"Ehem, Lord Hiashi, although I'm their temporary instructor, most of what I do is protect them so they can train safely. Naruto and Sasuke don't do traditional training. They complete huge numbers of missions, and that's how they train. To put it plainly, for them, spamming missions is their training."
Upon hearing that, Hiashi nodded thoughtfully and said approvingly, "Kakashi, you truly live up to your name as one of Konoha's prodigies, coming up with such a unique teaching method. I hope you'll find time to visit the Hyuga clan and share your teaching insights."
Kakashi, for his part, had no idea what to say. Using that same "training by missions" approach himself hadn't helped him much, so how was he supposed to teach it to others? Still, he understood Hiashi's words were partly polite. If Hiashi really insisted on discussing it, Kakashi would just give whatever partial intel he had. So he simply nodded. "Yes, Lord Hiashi."
Thanks to Naruto and Sasuke's outstanding performances, many people began paying attention to Kakashi, the man supposedly guiding them. Whenever anyone asked about Kakashi's role, he answered that he hadn't really taught Naruto or Sasuke anything. Obviously, no one believed him:
"How could he not have taught them anything?" By now, Naruto and Sasuke were among the top picks to reach the final. Clearly there had to be a gag order enforced by Konoha…
…
At the same time, Konoha's "F3" were talking it over as well.
Mitokado Homura said with a smile, "Even if Naruto and Sasuke are prodigies, there's no way they'd have come this far without Kakashi's guidance."
Utatane Koharu nodded. "Yes. On top of being a powerful elite jonin himself, Kakashi has very high-level teaching skills. That's definitely something we have to recognize."
After the two had spoken, Hiruzen Sarutobi also gave voice to his plan: "I intend to have Kakashi provide specialized training for all the squad jonin and the Academy staff."
While Hiruzen and the others were discussing, the matches continued. Next, Uzumaki Musen faced Raimon Yukika. They had a significant gap in strength, so there wasn't much suspense.
From a casual viewpoint, it was just another match, but anyone who knew better saw the details. The moment it began, Orochimaru perked up. Because he had ingested the Yamata no Orochi Fruit, he couldn't give up his current body—thus researching a perfect type of Eternal Chakra Elixir was now a top priority.
Meanwhile, Raimon Yukika and Raimon Hayate possessed a special sort of chakra aura that greatly interested him. He felt that somehow, the two must have gotten something highly valuable for his research.
Uzumaki Musen and Raimon Yukika finished quickly. As expected, Musen—wielding his strong Wood Release—was more powerful than Yukika, defeating her and advancing to the semifinals.
Right after that match ended, the quarter finals' last match began: Uzumaki Lanyu vs. Raimon Hayate. Although Hayate was a promising lightning user, Lanyu was likewise a lightning specialist but with Storm Release, so it was a mismatch. Lanyu won and secured her place in the semifinals.
Seeing Lanyu beat Hayate, Orochimaru, hidden in a corner of the stands, was excited. He felt almost certain that Raimon Yukika and Raimon Hayate had consumed something akin to an Eternal Chakra Elixir.
Such an item would be massively helpful in his quest for a perfect Eternal Chakra Elixir. And they must have gotten it from Senshi!
Learning that Senshi had access to "the really good stuff" made Orochimaru's mood shoot sky-high.
Should he get stuck in his research or if he wanted to expedite a perfect version, he could just buy premium materials from Senshi, refine them further, then sell them off to the "old monkey" Hiruzen in a string of new versions.
Not long ago, Sarutobi Hiruzen was overjoyed to receive Tier-5 Eternal Chakra Elixir—totally unaware that his "good disciple" had already planned out Tier-15, 16, and more.
When the quarterfinal matches concluded, there was still a three-day break. Though Musen and Lanyu were strong, Naruto and Sasuke were heavy favorites for the final matchup. Unless they withdrew, it was basically going to be those two. After the matches ended, Senshi returned to the inn where the Rain group was staying.
That night, an unexpected visitor arrived on the rooftop of their inn. As soon as the visitor appeared, Senshi used the space-time warp of his Kāma to appear across from them. It turned out to be a familiar face: Lord "Pot Kage" Shimura Danzo, who had been "AFK" in Konoha's hospital for a long time.
Seeing Danzo, Senshi frowned. "Danzo, why have you come looking for me?"
Danzo replied calmly, "I heard intel that you and Hiruzen have formed many agreements. Not only did you help him manipulate things behind the scenes in this Chunin Exam, but you even turned his grandson into a Wood Release user."
Senshi wasn't surprised that Danzo knew. This was Konoha, after all. With Root's intelligence network, there weren't many secrets Danzo couldn't uncover. Some intel might be from direct investigation, some from logical deduction, since he knew both Sarutobi Hiruzen and Senshi quite well. Things like Karin dropping out of the exam might puzzle everyone else, but Danzo could guess certain truths.
Once Danzo had spoken, Senshi did not confirm or deny anything; he just asked, "And why are you telling me this?"
Danzo cut to the chase:
"From what I've gathered, that brat Konohamaru never had Wood Release, yet now he's a Wood user. I want to cooperate with you—I want you to grant me Wood Release as well. And I want to buy the technology from you."
Hearing that, Senshi shook his head. "Sarutobi Hiruzen respects Amegakure; he's a friend of ours. There are many things we can negotiate with him."
At that, Danzo became anxious. "I can negotiate, too—I can become a friend of Ame!"
Senshi snorted. "Who are you in the Land of Fire, exactly? He's Konoha's Hokage."
Danzo's expression shifted repeatedly. Finally, he steeled himself and gritted out, "What if I become Hokage? Would that do?"
After a bit of thought, Senshi said, "We can talk once you've got something appealing to offer. You know perfectly well how difficult it is to turn someone into a Wood Release user, let alone produce many of them."
On hearing that, Danzo fell silent. He had already stumbled over Wood Release many times, so he truly understood. Senshi's refusal to say yes right away disappointed him, but he still gained something from this meeting: Senshi gave him two paths. One, become Hokage; or two, provide enough benefits without being Hokage.
Danzo felt that he might keep pursuing the second path, but then he realized Senshi had already vanished from the rooftop, leaving him alone in the chill night breeze.
…
Three days flew by, and at last the Chunin Exam semifinals arrived. After all the previous matches, practically everyone could guess the outcomes. The first semifinal was Uzumaki Naruto vs. Uzumaki Musen; the second was Uchiha Sasuke vs. Uzumaki Lanyu. As expected, Naruto beat Musen by a solid margin, and Sasuke did likewise. Then it was Naruto vs. Sasuke in the final.
That final's result, however, was a bit of a surprise. After clashing head-on at full power, Naruto and Sasuke ended in a draw. Both had come in with plenty of supporters, and no one expected a tie. Even so, it was a good outcome—Konoha benefited no matter what.
With the Exams completed, the examiners started grading all the ninja based on their entire performance, deciding who would be promoted to chūnin. Besides the main proctors, there were many additional watchers who wrote up evaluations and scored each participant. Konoha was quite efficient: half a day after the final, they released the promotion list:
• Konoha's 3: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Yakushi Kabuto
• Sunagakure's 1: Gaara
• Kumogakure's 1: Omoi
• Iwagakure's 1: Jutosutchi
• Kirigakure's 1: Kagura Karatachi
• Amegakure's 5: Uzumaki Musen, Uzumaki Lanyu, Uzumaki Lanwu, Raimon Yukika, Raimon Hayate
(Hello! There's probably problems with names, etc. they don't matter? Probably?)
…
Over three hundred ninja had signed up for these Exams, yet only a dozen or so actually got promoted—around one for every thirty. Once the list was announced, everyone began hotly discussing it. Many who'd watched the entire exam now shared their views:
"This was way more exciting than the usual Chunin Exams. Normally you'd never see so many entrants."
"Right? We definitely made a good call coming here. Konoha and Amegakure were insanely strong! Ame had the most newly promoted chūnin, while Konoha took the final's top spot in a tie!"
"Honestly, if Uzumaki Karin from Ame hadn't dropped out, she'd probably have been first in the final."
"Hard to disagree!"
Most spectators were just there for the spectacle. They didn't put much stock in the final results.
But for the Five Great Shinobi Villages and the other medium/small villages, the outcome mattered greatly. Outstanding genin represents a village's future. If a village can't bring up really top-tier genin, they'll inevitably go downhill.
Back at the Iwagakure inn, Onoki once again called a meeting of his group's higher-ups. Akatsuchi spoke regretfully: "Too bad Iwai didn't make chūnin—he really was close."
Kurotsuchi said, "Actually, that's secondary. The key problem is that Ame and Konoha are just too good at training their new generation." Onoki felt gratified, proud of his granddaughter's insight. He nodded in agreement and added, "We'll have to prioritize intel on these two villages. Akatsuchi, that's your job."
"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage!" Akatsuchi replied firmly.
Over in Kumo's lodging:
"Bang!"
In a rage, the Fourth Raikage slammed the wooden table before him into splinters, snarling, "What were those proctors thinking—Amai didn't make chūnin! Absurd!"
Darui hurriedly interjected, "Lord Raikage, missing out on Amai's promotion is one thing, but the real issue is that the genin raised by Konoha and Ame are too strong! If ours lag far behind, then once these present genin become the backbone in Amegakure, Cloud will be completely outpaced."
At those words, the Raikage quickly calmed down. Darui was right. If that were to happen, maybe the actual decline wouldn't be fully on his watch, but the seeds would be planted during his tenure—he'd go down in history as a traitor to the village. He absolutely couldn't let that happen.
In Kirigakure's case, Mei Terumi was similarly worried. The village she inherited had been a mess. She turned it into a prosperous place but not yet a strong one, so she personally visited Ame's leadership about building an Akatsuki branch in Kiri, using their resources to train Kirigakure's ninja.
That helped but wasn't enough. Mei wasn't alone in her fretting; her subordinate Gonbee looked just as troubled and said hesitantly, "Mizukage-sama, seeing how Konoha and Ame raise their genin… should we strengthen ties with them both?"
Mei shook her head. "Our relationship with Konoha is mediocre and won't improve soon. But we get along well with Amegakure. Let's keep investing in Amegakure and Senshi."
…
Meanwhile, Rasa of Suna spent much of his time frowning. Sunagakure's plan hadn't gone nearly as they hoped. Konoha and Ame both surged in renown, and Suna ended up no different from the other lesser participants.
Most of that was just bad luck: Gaara was knocked out by Konoha's jinchūriki before the semifinals. Otherwise, with Karin gone, Gaara would likely have made the top four. With a sigh, he asked Baki, "How's the job I gave you?"
Baki nodded. "Kazekage-sama, I've arranged rumors stating that Gaara-sama and Uzumaki Karin were the strongest contenders, and that their battle in the Forest of Death was fiercer than anything in the quarterfinals, semifinals, or even final. Also that fight left Karin exhausted enough to withdraw, and Gaara-sama unable to show his best in the later matches."
Rasa was pleased. He didn't like stooping so low, but the only real highlight they had was Gaara's Forest of Death battle with Karin. "You kept it clean?" he asked. Baki replied, "Perfectly. No one will know it was us."
Rasa trusted Baki's competence. He then gave him another mission: "From now on, gather every bit of intel on Konoha and Ame. Investigate everything thoroughly and report to me at once!"
"Yes, Kazegake-sama!" Baki bowed.
By contrast, Konoha was a lot more relaxed. The "Konoha F3" convened in the Hokage's office to address various details.
Mitokado Homura said, "Though Ame's nin were surprisingly strong, Konoha is still the true winner."
Utatane Koharu added, "Naruto and Sasuke tying for first in the final should be publicized. Amegakure might have had more top genin, but their quality doesn't match ours!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "We absolutely should promote that image."
He wasn't about to reveal how he'd privately asked Senshi to make Karin withdraw—otherwise she'd surely have been the champion.
Some folks suspected as much, but so what?
Konoha's goals for the exam were achieved, plus there was the bonus that his grandson Konohamaru was now a Wood Release user.
Under Senshi's guidance, the boy could eventually attain Hashirama-level Wood Release. The thought brought a warm glow to Hiruzen's weathered eyes.
While the five major villages each took the results seriously in their own way, for other small or mid-size villages—except Ame itself—the atmosphere was heavy.
As the final results of the exams spread, many leaders of smaller villages lost sleep in worry, seeing the ever-widening gap between them and the big powers.
Those exam results soon reached the Land of Rivers, where it sparked a stir among the populace:
"Our village's ninjas are hopelessly weak. At this rate, how long can our Land of Rivers survive?"
"Right? None of our ninja even got past the prelims, let alone made chūnin!"
"Konoha is still so strong—their two genin tied for first in the finals!"
"Konoha being strong is a given among the Five Great Nations. But Ame is the real surprise—five ninjas made top eight and were promoted!"
The conversation soon turned to Ame. Plenty of intel had come in from Konoha, and with Suna egging it on, rumors of that terrifying fight between Karin and Gaara in the Forest of Death had spread. Despite being a small village, Ame had raised so many elites that people couldn't ignore them:
"I hear if Uzumaki Karin hadn't withdrawn, she definitely would have won the final. Ame is amazing!"
"They sure are. Kusa and Taki joined an alliance with Ame and grew a lot. Supposedly, our Land of Rivers is thinking about it, too. Lots of bigwigs are talking."
"Really? That'd be great if we joined Ame's alliance!"
Conversations like these played out all over the Land of Rivers. Similarly, the Land of Birds (also bordering Ame) was buzzing with talk of joining Ame's alliance, sending their ninjas to Ame's Academy, and cooperating more closely.
Various powers throughout the shinobi world, large and small, even sent officers to Amegakure for in-depth understanding.
Back in Konoha, Land of Birds Toki and Land of Birds jōnin Chishima met up again.
Toki smiled: "Everyone's saying Konoha's the strongest village—two genin tying for first. But if you ask me, the Rain is no slouch. Konoha's top genin can't match the Rain in numbers, not to mention whatever happened with Uzumaki Karin…"
Chishima dropped his voice: "Right, though Konoha is indeed powerful, Amegakure—" He got no further because Toki cleared her throat. They were in Konoha, after all—it wouldn't be wise to say more openly.
Unaware that even without Karin in the final, it hardly mattered. Naruto and Sasuke were also Senshi's students—so aside from Kabuto, it was basically a scuffle among "fellow students" in the quarterfinals.
Toki quickly said, "I've already written a report to our leader detailing everything. Word is Taki and Kusa didn't send certain promising kids to this exam because they're still too young. They're studying at Ame's Academy, which means they might be even stronger later on, causing the Five Great Nations more grief! Once I'm back in the Land of Birds, I'll try hard to make our leader set up ties with the Rain."
Chishima nodded. "For mid or small villages like ours, joining Ame's alliance has nothing but benefits."
Land of Birds and Land of Rivers, much like Kusa, all bordered Ame. Seeing Kusa grow so quickly made them envious. And after witnessing Ame's training abilities in the Chunin Exams, they wanted it even more.
They weren't the only ones. Other ninjas also planned to lobby their own leadership to join Ame alliance or cooperate with Ame.
Once the Chunin Exams ended, Naruto and the other eight "little hotshots" headed again to the Land of Fire's black market for more missions.
Observing the eight of them develop the same training approach and grow ever closer, Kakashi's hunch kept solidifying.
Naruto and Musen's group could hit it off so well and bond so deeply because there was some invisible link. Musen's six were Senshi's students, while Naruto and Sasuke were using the exact same training method—so chances were Senshi had also taught Naruto and Sasuke. It was just that Senshi was so strong that no one had noticed him secretly guiding them.
With that in mind, Kakashi decided he should talk to Senshi directly. He felt a mix of respect and puzzlement toward him: Senshi's incredible power commanded awe, while Senshi's taking one of Kakashi's Sharingan and replacing it with a pair of fully functional ones left him both thankful and curious.
Thanks to that perfect pair of Sharingan, his chakra wouldn't leak constantly just because the Sharingan couldn't be turned off—otherwise, with the sheer volume of work he handled daily, he might well have dropped dead by now.
Hence he resolved to contact Senshi, hoping to clear up many questions. After returning from the black market that evening, Kakashi simply waited.
Once dusk fell and moonlight rose, he left his home and made his way to the roof of the inn where Senshi was staying. He wondered how to meet him discreetly, but to his surprise, Senshi simply popped up not far away, using his Kāma warp.
When he saw Kakashi, Senshi wore a curious expression. They hadn't had much interaction, but perhaps because Senshi had gifted Kakashi that pair of Sharingan, Kakashi felt enormous gratitude. Their "bond meter" had apparently reached 50, meaning Senshi could formally invite Kakashi into his mercenary group. Considering how Kakashi had been tagging along with Naruto to do black market missions, it made sense. Yet Senshi had no idea why Kakashi had come.
Kakashi stared at Senshi with a respectful, somewhat awed gaze. "Lord Senshi, Naruto and Sasuke… they're your students, aren't they?"
Senshi: (O_O)???
Senshi couldn't see what the big deal was, but he nodded casually. "Yes."
Kakashi, looking like he'd just had a realization, said, "I suspected as much. No one but you could train them to this level in such a short time."
Senshi didn't continue discussing Naruto and Sasuke. Instead, he extended an invitation to Kakashi:
"Kakashi, in truth, the reason Naruto and Sasuke have grown so quickly is that they joined my mercenary group. I provide instruction and essential support to all members who join."
~~~
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