Exams

(AN: Chapter is unedited)

"Sabaku Gaara advances to the third phase."

Ah, well that was quick. If I had done this from the beginning, maybe it wouldn't have taken so long.

Shrugging, I retrieved my sand and headed back upstairs.

"Well, done Gaara! You really thrashed that bug guy!"

"Yeah, Shira is right. That was really awesome, Gaara-san."

"What did you two expect..."

Looking at my teammates with an apathetic expression, I shrugged and headed back to my corner, leaning back on the wall once again.

So far so good. I don't know what's going to happen with Orochimaru's plans, but the exams should proceed smoothly with the preparations I made.

Becoming a Chunin is merely a step on the way to reach Kage status, which in turn is also but a mere stepping stone to become the strongest. I still have ways to go.

Although I don't know how I'll be able to compete with Naruto and Sasuke come the fourth great ninja war... I can only rely on my knowledge and ability.

That said, there's another reason for which I came to Konoha... The thirty days spent in this village won't be squandered; I have some plans.

Smiling, I just meditated through the rest of the fights. Sadly nothing interesting happened, with most fights being one-sided.

The only thing worth noting was that Naruto somehow managed to pass, even with his chakra partially sealed by Orochimaru.

Yoroi tried to wear him down by absorbing his chakra, but he severely underestimated Naruto's reserves...

These were the results:

Naruto vs Yoroi -- Naruto wins

Temari vs Misumi -- Temari wins

Choji vs Tenten -- Choji wins

Lee vs Kiba -- Lee wins

Shikamaru vs Kin -- Shikamaru wins

Kankuro vs Dosu -- Kankuro wins

Neji vs Ino -- Neji wins

Shira vs Hinata -- Shira wins

These would be the official participants in the third stage, including Sasuke, Kiyo and me. Only ninja from Konohagakure and Sunagakure were left.

Now that the weak ones are eliminated, every fight should be interesting... I can hardly wait.

Since the fights were over, it was time for Hayate to conclude the event.

"Well, with this, the preliminary round for the third test... Has been completed!"

"To all of you who passed, although one is missing, congratulations!"

After congratulating us, Hayate made way for the Hokage, who thoroughly explained the reason why the third phase would be held a month from now.

In his words, this time-period should allow us to rest our bodies in order to have a fair fight, and also analyze all of the information we gathered on our opponents during the preliminaries.

Before we could leave though, Sarutobi had Anko retrieve a similar box to the one we used in order to determine our seats in the first round. Inside were randomly numbered pieces of paper.

After we all had one and read our number out loud, Sarutobi smirked.

"I'll now reveal the final tournament's pairings!"

Catching everybody's attention, Sarutobi signaled for Ibiki to showcase his sheet of paper. On it, all of our names were written, along with our opponents:

'Akimichi Choji vs Gaara'

'Hyuuga Neji vs Kankuro'

'Rock Lee vs Shira'

'Uchiha Sasuke vs Temari'

'Nara Shikamaru vs Kiyo'

'Naruto'

Silence filled the room. Most people were starting to look at their opponent wearily, while others seemed to rejoice.

"Why the hell do I not have an opponent!? This is wrong, old man!"

Naruto had a look of shock on his face, clearly not understanding the bracket system. Sighing, Sarutobi started to explain.

"The third round will consist of a single-elimination tournament. Since there are eleven contestants, the ones placed in the middle and right blocks will fight an extra match."

"Basically, five contestants, Gaara, Choji, Kankuro, Neji and Naruto have a chance to fight only three matches instead of four. The other six will have to fight the full four matches in order to win."

"This may be unfair, but don't blame anyone for your luck. Anyways, you're now free to start strategizing as you like. Any final questions?"

Raising his hand, Shikamaru looked skeptical.

"Since it's a tournament... This means that there will only be one winner, right? Which would, in turn, mean that only one person gets to become Chunin, doesn't it?"

Hearing this, Sarutobi gently stroked his beard.

"No, that's not quite it, young Shikamaru. There will be judges, including myself. the Kazekage and leaders of various countries that employ us ninja. Throughout the tournament, these judges will be evaluating your abilities, ultimately deciding if you can become Chunin or not."

"Those judged to possess the required abilities will become Chunin even if they lose their first match."

"Does that mean that everyone here could become Chunin?"

In response to Temari's question, Sarutobi just nodded his head.

"But that also means that there's a possibility that no one becomes Chunin! Advancing in the tournament will give you more chances to appeal to the judges."

"This means that fighting fewer matches could be a blessing as well as a curse."

Finishing his explanation, Sarutobi dismissed us, and we all left the facility.

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Inside my hotel room, I sat on the bed, meditating away. In my head, I was thinking about Shira's strange behavior.

After he witnessed Lee and Kiba's fight, Shira started acting in a strange manner... I hadn't seen him since.

He must've felt threatened.

Well, not that I care. Back to the main objective...

Ever since I realized that I had become Gaara, my mind harbored a certain thought. It never went away.

The Uzumaki were known for their ability to use seals, but there was one more obscure thing they were really good at... And that was being able to freely use foreign Dōjutsu or other Kekkei Genkai for that matter.

Although the fact that they were descendants of the Otsutsuki clan probably had something to dod with it, I always liked to think that it was mainly because of their ridiculous chakra reserves.

What led me to believe this was that reanimations were perfectly able to use the Sharingan and Rinnegan, all because they had a limitless supply of chakra.

Now, with that said... I don't believe that I, being a Jinchuriki, shouldn't be capable of such a feat. Although it would be hard, If Kakashi was able to master the Sharingan, I should also be capable.

And if I really wanted, I could also experiment with Hashirama cells in order to increase my proficiency, similarly to Danzo's arm.

I thought about it for years and the idea of having a Sharingan was just too great

to ignore. Even if it was just one.

The question is, how do I get my hands on one of these legendary eyes?

That's the main reason I came to Konoha, where the Uchiha massacre took place... I know for a fact that Danzo got a bunch of eyes out of it, and that Obito and Orochimaru probably have some stashed away.

I refuse to believe that at least one pair wasn't leaked into the market... When big people are involved, profits tend to get in the way.

if I can somehow manage to get my hands on those eyes, I'm sure that my power will increase exponentially.

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AN: Ok big twist here. Gaara is going to try and acquire the Sharingan, since he has so much money.

Tell me your thoughts on this in the comments,

Until the next chapter... Thanks for reading!