Chapter 11: Chunin III

03 may- year 8 AK

"So we won't be going back home before the tournament?" Hana asked, with a great deal of annoyance in her voice.

I could relate, since all the freak was doing was eye-smiling.

Shin unhelpfully snorted. "Imagine that the Kages don't want ninja running back an forth between their domains."

Oh, I didn't think of that. How insightful of you, Shin. "Maa, maa, your families and some friend will likely join Hokage-sama and his entourage when they come here for the tournament," Kakashi said.

"Wait, is it how it usually goes? Kages jumping in other hidden villages oy to see the last stage of the exams?" I was confused. The Kage of a village was the equivalent of the nuclear deterrent, showing him (or her, as soon as a woman got the hat) your home looked like a security issue as big as Guy's youthful enthusiasm.

"The Kages of the Great Five rarely do so, it's mostly seen as courtesy among allies. After all, many want to see the kage of another village." The scarecrow replied.

"So the Kages do their advertisement too?" I almost snorted.

"And maybe they gloat over their genin if they put up a good enough show," Kakashi added, winking. How I could tell it was a wink instead of a blink, since his headband covered his Sharingan, I had no idea of.

"At least they let us play in some of their training grounds." Shin amended, trying to calm down Hana. We all missed the Haimaru brothers, hell I missed even Guy over the silver-haired freak, but the Inuzuka had a strong bond with their ninkens, it was almost symbiotic.

"And they probably have some surveillance on them, so that they can let know to the Iwa contestants, who will come up with something perfectly tailored for each of us." I shot him down.

Shin smiled smugly at me. "They can't, it's written in the Chunin Accords. 'The ninja from other villages will not spy while in the village hosting the exam, they will not be spied upon either.' " he quoted verbatim.

I really should have read the exams' charter before coming here.

"Still, it must be a security nightmare." I pointed out, looking questioningly at Kakashi who had his nose buried deep into his smut. He didn't bother to recognize my existence.

"Well, Shin can help Hana train, I have my own thing to do and don't need people around." I offered, leaving those two some alone time was a sound idea, and from the slight twitch of Kakashi's shoulder, he had caught up on my matchmaker plans. Or he had just found a raunchy joke among the steaming hot sex scenes.

Before they could object, I flickered over to the next group of rocks. Seriously, they need someone to add a tiny bit of variety to their training grounds. Plateaus and rocks. Stones, even pebbles. Everything is organized in the relation of the position of particularly striking pieces of dirt. Hell, in Konoha everyone loves trees, but we do appreciate a tiny bit of variety. Here everything is dug out from the rock. Houses and market stalls, training grounds and Tsuchikage's Tower, which is the tip of the mountain a bit.

I sat down cross-legged on the comfiest looking piece of dirt I could find (it wasn't comfy at all !).

"Well, time to actually come up with some training for the next month." I muttered to myself.

What could I do in a month to gain a somewhat significative power up over my current self?

Beyond keeping polishing my suiton

In a single month, I couldn't really come up with a completely new skill.

So spitting clouds of poison is out, as well as learning how to mess with the enemy nervous system through medical chakra.

"I could try summoning..." But there were three problems: one, I didn't know if I had enough chakra for it, two, I wasn't sure of the hand signs, three, I wasn't Naruto, who could just pump so much chakra in everything to make it work.

I will keep up with chakra control exercises, there is never enough chakra control after all.

It was boring, but something one had to build with years of diligent practice. Or being born with it, cheaters ( fuck you sakura!). The same could be said for taijutsu, arguably my strongest skill, but the gates were some bullshit power-up, basically Kishimoto version of a Super Saiyan.

Wait...

It wasn't like the ability to unlock the Gates automatically gave you the upper hand against anyone who couldn't. I could open the first three gates but Guy sensei could still go toe to toe with me without even touching his Gate of Opening.

They were restrictions placed on the chakra system that contained the kind of strength the body could wield. I wouldn't end up in a hospital only because I had opened the first four gates. If I opened five, I would probably tear some of my muscles, but that was it. If the body was trained enough, it could withstand the aftereffects of opening the Gates without breaking apart.

Lee had learned to open five with a year under Guy sensei's tutelage, I took four, but I knew my limits, and wouldn't land myself into the hospital because I couldn't pace myself once I opened the gates.

Each gate was more like a dam than anything else, opening one made more chakra flow through your coils, stressing them. It enhanced your body beyond what it naturally could handle, and that was why without extremely deep conditioning, it was impossible to do. Somehow, the effects were cumulative, exactly like the Super Saiyan I, Super Saiyan II, Super Saiyan III. With every gate, one's body became more and more enhanced, with chakra turbulently cursing through the coils. It felt like being a glass bottle containing a stormy sea. I went over what I knew about the gates.

The Gate of Opening (開門, Kaimon), located in the brain. This gate removed the restraints of the brain on the muscles so 100% of their strength can be used whereas normally, a person could only use 20% of their muscles' strength to keep them from disintegrating.

The Gate of Healing (休門, Kyūmon), too was located in the brain. Forcibly increased one's physical strength and temporarily re-energized the body, .

The Gate of Life(生門, Seimon), located on the spinal cord. The increased blood flow turned the skin red but also granted more oxygen coursing through the body.

The Gate of Pain(傷門, Shōmon), located on the spinal cord, affected the nervous system, hence its name. The orders the brain issued to the muscles traveled much faster, but also the feedback from your senses. So, pains barely felt before opening it became the equivalent of sharp instantaneous needles. And it was, if not soul-shattering painful, very uncomfortable. The sensory feedback was like touching stuff with a hand that had been kept covered in bandages for months, only much more intense.

The Gate of Limit(杜門, Tomon), located in the abdomen, from what I felt using it, strengthened your core muscles, making them somewhat denser.

The Gate of View(景門, Keimon) located in the stomach, was the following step up, with it, Guy sensei performed the Morning Peacock. Opening of this gate released such enormous amounts of chakra that it could cause nearby water bodies to form a vortex around the user, but that was only stuff I knew from the manga. I suspected the chakra would flow so turbulently through the coils of the user that it made genjutsu ineffective.

The Gate of Wonder(驚門,Kyōmon), located below the stomach. Further increased the user's speed and power. And placed Guy sensei's body in condition of using Daytime Tiger. Opening it caused glowing green sweat from every inch of the body, which immediately evaporated from the sheer overheating the body was going through, creating an aura easily mistakable for chakra coating. Unfortunately, the side effects of opening the gate were that the user's muscle fibers are ripped to shreds, causing intense pain if anything or anyone touches them.

The Gate of Death (死門, Shimon), located at the heart. It basically burned your own life force.

I could keep up the first gate open for fifteen minutes before straining myself, the second one for ten minutes, the third for eight minutes, the fourth for three minutes, and the fifth for a single minute.

I was able to push those limits forward, but not without hurting myself.

Learning to open another gate was just plain stupid, I could not learn to do so reliably in a month, so I should just focus on raising my tolerance? I thought.

But how to do it? Only physical training would not grant me any significant power up with only a month of work.

Work smarter not harder. I tried to remind myself.

Like I often did when I was lost, I ran over my own recent thoughts. Super Saiyan...

"Didn't Goku do some shit before his fight with Cell that allowed him to stay blond without issues? And a normal Super Saiyan had anger issues, while my chakra gets turbulent with the gates opened..." I muttered.

Only one way to know for sure. I thought.

And so I started my new training.

A month later

The Hokage and his entourage arrived with little warning. Literally appearing out of nowhere in front if Iwa's main gate.

My team and I were waiting into the plaza after the giant stone doors when it happened, and the happy chatter of the market and carefree civilians turned into an excited one. Most of the older people paled realizing that a Kage with a group of ninjas hopping out of nowhere at your home's doorstep was a threat, nothing more, nothing less.

Onoki himself had come flying, literally, from his tower, not a second after one of the chunin guards had made known the outsiders' appearance.

The stone doors opened and Kakashi appeared at our side. I raised an eyebrow in his direction, but he simply stared towards the entering entourage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi spearheaded the group in his ceremonial white and red robes, his hat hiding his piercing eyes.

Walking behind the Hokage, on the left Guy sensei was wearing his serious face along with his usual attire, while Tsume Inuzuka was... stalking forward, with a cautious expression on her face. Her one-eyed, four-legged companion gave a deep growl to the Haimaru brothers, who had smelled Hana and were having difficulties in staying put.

There was also a detail of six Anbu guards, but really, after Sarutobi and Guy's sensei presence they felt kind of dim.

I could feel their presence only because they wanted to be seen. It probably would have been rude otherwise, keeping your presence hidden in a visiting hidden village? Bad form.

The Tsuchikage was... short. His hat as large as his shoulders, but he too was letting himself be perceived. And he was so damn heavy, even when floating in the air.

I was too far to overhear what I supposed were customary greetings between Kages, but I was floored nevertheless. Rapping in Japanese should not exist. It's a crime, period.

Strolling through the gates and approaching the two Kages, and accompanied by six of his Anbu, Killer B.

Dark skin and a muscular build, as well as blond hair and a goatee. On his right shoulder, he had a tattoo of the kanji for "iron" (鉄,Tetsu).

Is that the Iron Armour Seal that was used to seal Gyūki into him? I wondered.

Killer B wore oval-shaped sunglasses, his village's standard one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket, and a long, red rope belt tied around his waist, the standard Kumo hand and shin guards, shinobi sandals, and a white scarf around his neck. And he actually carried seven swords on his back.

At that point I had stalked over to greet my Kage, along with my teammates.

"...ut I told him,

I won't overstep the line,

and it will be mighty fine!" he happily rapped on.

I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, and the sheer potential for destruction held within Iwa's walls made me a bit skittish.

Two Kumo jinchuriki, two rival Kages, likely two Iwa jinchuriki around somewhere. It was a bomb ready to go off, and one of the heavy hitters was rapping bullshit.

I couldn't avoid thinking that if Iwa and Kumo had struck a deal, they could cut Konoha's head without hassle, before moving the war to my home country.

I was bowing to Sarutobi when another voice joined the chatter.

"Well, hello! I am not late am I? But how could I, after all, the gallant Jiraya is always in the right place at the right time!"

The situation had just taken an important turn.

If for the better or the worse, I couldn't tell just yet.

After the brief greeting of our own Kage, and more importantly of the Haimaru brothers and Guy sensei, we dodged the rowdy behavior of Tsume and moved to the arena.

A few jonin-sensors from Iwa checked our identities and let us into a balcony that let us watch the matches. The terrain was... rocky, but it had a small stream of water running on one side of it. Stream might have been a bit generous, it was more like a trickle.

I let my gaze fall upon the honor balcony, where the Kages and Killer B sat, along with the Kiri representative. I didn't recognize him, but I knew little of Mizu no Kuni. I knew nothing beyond the sanbi-jinchuriki-kage being under genjutsu and oppressing the people. And that their next Kage would be a total babe.

My eyes roamed over the crowd waiting to assist to the pointless bloodshed and found my sensei talking to Shin, who was slumped back in his seat.

He really is enjoying his sake, the lazy cunt. I pointed it out to Hana, which frowned in disapproval. She was still bitchy because she had too little time to play with the Haimaru brothers.

There were eight of us, Hana and I from Konoha, Yugito from Kumo, one weedy shinobi from Kiri, and three from Iwa. I glanced at the giant display where our names were being swapped around normally, choosing the couples of the matches.

My name flashed along with another that I didn't recognize, but the way the Iwa kid was rolling his shoulders with anticipation identified my first adversary for me.

I would be in the opening match, the Kiri shinobi against the Iwa Kunoichi would follow, Yugito would face the other Iwa shinobi, and lastly Hana would square it off with the last Iwa nin.

I briefly touched the big scroll hanging on my back, and glanced over my attire before walking down into the arena.

I had pulled all the stops and put on the results of the shopping spree I went on once I had returned to Konoha from patrol duty.

I wore a form-fitting black shirt with a deep hood and long sleeves under a traditional armor, very similar to the one Tobirama used to wear, only without the fur. My standard cargo blackish pants were wrapped around my calves by white bandages, and I wore black sandals. I had finally understood why so many shinobis and kunoichis preferred them over boots of every kind.

The feet needed to breathe, I found out during our week-long speed run when I didn't have time to change socks.

I had two kunai pouches strapped around my left tight (one contained kunais with paper bombs wrapped around the handles), spools of ninja wire in a big pocket, senbons in a pouch on my right tight. A belt was strapped around my shoulders, holding in place at the height of my waist a big scary scroll. Forearms and shins guards were in place, while I stopped wearing gloves. My hitai ate was on my forehead, showing to the world my allegiance. But I actually wanted it there. Hell, if I could wear a helmet without impairing my movements I would have.

My weights were in a scroll with my other belongings, tied around Alpha's neck. That dog was awesome.

I reached the middle of the arena and tuned out the proctor and the crowd, taking in my adversary.

Iwa shinobi. 17. 170cm 60kg. No remarkable features, wrappings around wrists suggest heavy punch-based taijutsu, but the shoulders look underdeveloped for it. Likely a trap.

Basically, I knew nothing about him, I briefly regretted not spending some of the last month gathering info on the enemies I would be facing, but I had been too thrilled by my training to care.

My preoccupations and disgust for being paraded in an arena faded into the background of my mind, I was focused, and acutely aware that mistakes of any kind could cost me my life. Every sound that wasn't made by my opponent was erased from my awareness. Even Hana' shouts of faith in my skills.

The referee gave the start and jumped back.

The Iwa shinobi shot forward trying to engage me into a melee, but my hands already blurred through hand seals.

Tiger, Monkey, Dragon, Boar, Ram. I quickly and steadily shaped my yin chakra and slipped into the enemy' coils through his tenketsus. "Genjutsu: Anbaransu" I whispered.

And suddenly the Iwa nin ran into the ground face first. At that moment I knew that I wouldn't be breaking a sweat against him.

The genjutsu I had just used was a curious one. It was usually used by med nins to test the answer of the patient's cerebellum to a sudden shift in balance.

My yin chakra had slipped into the Iwa-nin's brain, affecting the part that handled the answering to the information provided by the internal ear.

Anbaransu meant 'Unbalance'. And it was a fucker.

The shinobi threw his arms around for a couple of seconds before his hands found each other. He formed a ram seal and disrupted his own chakra enough to slip through the genjutsu.

In the meantime I threw a kunai that embedded itself into the ground, less than a centimeter from the shinobi's head and I watched the referee with a bored expression.

He didn't say anything, and the Iwa shinobi was on his feet again and charged at me again with a wordless scream.

I molded my chakra with the ease fruit of years of practice and without hand seals, I kawarimed with the kunai I had embedded on the ground.

Kawarimi was another seriously underrated jutsu. It was most effective when you changed your position with a body most similar to yours. The thing you kawarimed with must not have chakra of its own, but besides that rule and distance related restrictions, there were no limitations. That was why a lot of Konoha nin performed it with logs. Organic matter, roughly similar mass. And it was simply a matter of yanking it from a tree's branch. The similarities between a human body and a piece of still alive wood (of similar mass) were enough to make the chakra cost of it negligible as well. Using a kunai for it was stupid unless you had exceptional reflexes and a chakra control worthy of a med nin.

Why the exceptional reflexes? Because mass mattered, and kawariming with a kunai meant having the rubber band flinging you into position instead of swapping. Kawariming with something a lot bigger than you was a chakra intensive shit nobody reasonably tried to do.

Kawarimi was almost like using a stretched rubber band to tie yourself to something before letting it do its job, effectively swapping your places.

Proving that he was not completely stupid the Iwa nin immediately turned on himself and came at me again, his hands moving through hand seals.

Again, I shaped my chakra, I jumped back performing a swiping high kick and kawarimed once again.

Recognizing my repeated technique the Iwa genin was already coming at me ready to spit something when the sole of my sandal slammed on his face, flattening his nose and hurling him back.

I took a deep breath while he was still flying and started changing my chakra. I shoot another bored look, only not at the referee, who was keeping quiet but at the honor balcony. I couldn't make out their facial expressions, but Sarutobi adjusted his hat. I had no idea if there was some hidden meaning in it.

I inhaled deeply, my hands slowly moving through hand seals: Boar, Horse, Tiger.

The chakra burned hot through the tenketsu at the base of my throat.

When my lungs were full, I whispered "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." and blew toward the Iwa nin, who had performed a handstand and just landed on his feet.

The fireball formed in front of me and shot forward.

I separated my hands and cut off the chakra flow into the technique, it was far from perfect, but it was still the size of a desk. I coughed discreetly. That jutsu always leaves my throat raw. It meant I still had some work to do on it.

I stood still, waiting for the other genin to clumsily dodge the fireball.

His nose was bleeding and he was covered in dirt. He was also snarling. But really, he was low. One could be the next Hashirama, but being slow meant dying. Period. Unless you were Tsunade, but she was the exception, and I wasn't sure she was slow or not.

The Iwa nin repeated his hand seals and slammed his palms on the ground, hissing something under his breath. I couldn't hear him, since I was fifteen meters away. At least someone thaught him that shouting your techniques doesn't make them any stronger.

Still, it was a doton jutsu, so when a spear of rock shot towards me from the ground I leaned on one side and dodged it, before ducking under a second and sidestepping the third.

The Iwa nin watched me with his mouth open. I tilted my head questioningly. Then I realized that he was simply baffled by my speed.

Eh, without weights I feel lighter than air.

His shoulders had slumped down, already accepting defeat, but his expression tightened in one of determination. He wanted to go down swinging.

I sighed, without leaving him out of my sight, I allowed my focus to dim a bit, taking in once again the shouts from the crowd. There was a lot of encouragement going on for my opponent. Good for him. I thought.

Then I ran forward as fast as I could and slammed my knee in his gut, and once he bent forward I hit the base of his neck with my elbow. He slumped on the ground, unconscious.

Before the referee could call the match I threw another kunai at his head, this time grazing his hear.

The referee was immediately at my side, this time with a reproachful look on his face.

"Daiki from Konoha wins the match."

I raised an eyebrow, his disapproval washed over me. I was unimpressed, I humiliated him, but he was very much alive and in working condition.

"Really? Katon?" was Hana's reaction. But she was smiling a second after and congratulated me. She caught on on my wish to keep my suiton secret for later.

We shared a green and watched the following match.

It was the weedy Kiri shinobi facing the rather forgettable Iwa kunoichi who was glaring daggers at me.

Probably the poor sod's teammate. I would have been angry too if someone had tossed around my teammates like a ragdoll.

She hopped down the balcony and reached the Kiri shinobi in the center of the arena.

I watched carefully, I would be facing the winner of this match in the semifinals after all.

When the referee gave the start, the Kiri shinobi feinted toward the Iwa kunoichi before flickering over tho the small water stream and performing a few handseals.

"He's fast," Hana commented.

"Indeed," I replied. And he was fast. Almost as fast as me. But I had no doubts that he was hiding his best tricks, just like I did.

The small stream rose from the ground while the Iwa kunoichi started pelting her adversary with an impressive dance made of shuriken and ninja wire.

"And she is the strongest of her team," Hana observed. The difference between her and the teammate I faced was as vast as it was obvious. Not only in the way she handled her weaponry, but in the way she chooses to test her enemy keeping her distance.

"She's at least less stupid." I snorted. It was a standard procedure.

The mist enveloped the couple, and the civilian part of the audience booed, they could no longer see teens killing each other. I scoffed, earning myself a confused look from Hana.

Then she followed my eyes and sighed. "They're civilians, you can hardly blame them if they want a show." She misunderstood me.

I looked the ninjas in the crowd, mostly watching attentively commenting among themselves about the techniques their enhanced senses could pick up.

I listened to the clashing of metal against metal, the occasional thud and let myself feel the flaring of their two very different chakras colliding. "She is much better than her teammate." I amended my previous statement.

Suddenly, the kunoichi's chakra vanished from my senses and I grimaced.

The mist fell apart and the Kiri shinobi was standing over his opponent's headless body.

I pushed apart my dislike for the situation and I frowned, focusing on what was important. Hana's expression mirrored mine. "How did he decapitate her without anything resembling a blade?" she asked me.

"A strange kind of garrote or the very skillful use of ninja wire." I supplied it immediately. "Maybe she's wind natured. Wind can do some strange shit." I added, recalling Asuma's demonstration in the manga.

The Kiri shinobi returned to our balcony, his face was blank, but he seemed quite... content, of the splattered blood all over him. I looked him over, searching for revealing bulges under his clothes, telling calluses, or hidden weapons. Nothing. He was somewhat... adequate.

The next ones in the arena were Yuguto and the other Iwa shinobi.

I took the few moments before the beginning of the match to gesture to Hana. ~Information gathering. Follow~

She quirked her eyebrow at me, but I was already talking, so she immediately understood that I had just asked her to back me up.

It was time to mess with my next opponent, and squeezing my knowledge of the future for all it was worth I asked: "Ne, don't you find strange that from all the Kiri' ninjas there wasn't a single one with a kekkei genkai?"

I was discretely observing the shinobi from Mizu no Kuni when I said that so I noticed the minute tensing of his stance and, more importantly, the shift in his chakra. He was probably on an assassination team since he could keep his character disguised very well, but there was no mistaking the sudden feel of 'watchful-ness' that exuded from him.

"It is a bit strange." Hana agreed. "They do have some infamous ones after all. Which were them again? The ones with the bones?"

"The Kaguya, yeah. One of the three founder clans of Kiri, if I remember it right." I drawled.

Then the match began and I turned my attention towards the jinchuriki. Naruto had all the subtlety of a sledge hammer, was stupid, and had lousy chakra control, but fighting someone that basically didn't run out of chakra was a problem.

Hana too was carefully watching the match. Yugito had already engaged in a melee, her nails black and twenty centimeters long scraping against the kunais and armguards of her adversary.

"Taijutsu specialist." Hana analyzed, her lips parting to reveal her sharper than normal canines. Then she narrowed her eyes when she took notice of Yugito pattern of attacks.

"The Kumo's girl has no hope, Daisuke is the best in taijutsu." the only remaining Iwa shinobi sniffed.

Then a blaze of blue fire engulfed Yugito's opponent and the sarcastic comment I was preparing died down.

Why killing him? I sighed. There was so much wrong with these people. Then I glared murder to the cheering crowd. Disgusting.

Hana was unaffected by the display, but she was tactful enough to not poke fun at the Iwa shinobi she was about to face.

I watched Yugito with a blank expression, but not hiding my disapproval either.

She locked her eyes with mine and we entered a staring contest, ignoring the beginning of Hana's fight completely.

When the Kumo kunoichi finally arched an eyebrow, it took it as a victory and bluntly asked: "Why kill him? You were clearly superior enough to subdue him without unnecessary bloodshed."

She slowly tilted her head, suddenly reminding me of a cat. Did the Nibi bleed over?

I knew that the bijus were not inherently evil, but sure as hell they didn't fucking care about killing humans. And obviously, whatever shit happened to Yugito in the manga to make her approachable hadn't happened yet.

She offered a predatory smile that confirmed my fear.

At the loud cheering, I turned my attention to the center of the arena, where a ruffled Hana was standing over a slumped form, cradling her left arm like it was broken.

Technically, it would be my turn immediately after they left the arena, but I didn't care, and hopped down to the mednins taking care of her in the corridor that led to the stairs which opened the way to the contestants' balcony.

I rushed over, taking in the bored expression on the Iwa med-nin's face.

She rolled her eyes at my appearing at her side instead of being in the arena. "Just go." she interrupted me.

And my name was being called by the referee, so I just squeezed Hana's not injured hand and went ahead.

She owes me a favor doesn't she? I can use it to have her surrender against Yugito instead of getting herself killed.

I planned, and I soon found myself into the arena, facing the Kiri shinobi.

I was distracted, and had to talk with Hana before her match, so, I wanted to get it done quickly.

In the moment the referee gave the start and jumped back, I let go of the hold I kept on the first gate. "Kaimon, kai." I whispered. It required the same effort of snapping my fingers.

A split second later I was on the Kiri shinobi, who simply hadn't time to react in any way beyond widening his eyes.

My elbow slammed against his temple and he went down. Simply as that.

Without closing the gate, I ran to the contestants' balcony, ignoring the referee calling my victory.

Hana was looking at me with a sly grin on her face. She opened her mouth to comment about my blood thirsty-ness but I cut her off.

"I'm calling in my favor, if things get too hard against your next opponent, don't escalate, surrender." I whispered to her in a conceited tone.

She frowned, offended by my request. "You don't think I can win." She replied, her tone hurt. She took a step back from me but I grabbed her not hurt wrist, preventing her to further the distance between us.

"It's not that." Even if it's true. "Please, just trust me on this." She has an arm in a cast, too.

She moved her hand in a clockwise motion, freeing herself. "Why should I?" and she showed me her teeth in a way that was as far from a smile as it was possible, regressing to the most basic expression of aggressivity her clan was capable of.

"It's clear that you don't trust me!" She hissed, and jumped down the balcony, kicking away my hand that was trying to grab her at the same time.

I grabbed the rail and was about to follow her when I was yanked back.

I spun as fast as I could, my right leg sweeping low and my right arm already jabbing forward to crush the trachea of whoever was so stupid to surprise a shinobi in a stressful moment.

My right wrist was grabbed in a steely hold and my right leg impacted painfully against the shin of the one behind me.

"A spat with your girlfriend is not a reason to lash out to the concerned super pervert!" Jiraya of the Sannin lectured me.

He was a tall and well-built man. He had waist-length, spiky white hair tied back into a ponytail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. There were red lines under his eyes which extended further down his face, going all the way to the bottom. Wrinkles around the corners of his mouth and a wart on the left side of his nose. He was in his usual attire, which consisted of a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armor that was visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore handguards, a black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. He carried a large scroll on his back, he wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "oil" (油, abura).

I knew who he was, I knew what he was capable of. That didn't stop me from trying to toss him out of my way and going to Hana's side. Hana was going to get herself killed. I stopped thinking.

My right leg bent and I tried to kick his knee out of place while I applied the same clockwise motion with my right hand, freeing my wrist.

I shot my hand forward again, a chakra scalpel forming on my fingertips.

He was surprised, I could tell, but with the same ease I had dispatched Kurotsuchi, he had pinned me down an instant later.

I tried to lash out in any way but I could no longer feel my chakra. Fucking seal masters.

Immediately, my mind went in overdrive, I was almost in a frenzy. I couldn't free myself. So, convincing him it was.

"She's going to get herself killed!" I hissed.

The sannin looked at me with an unreadable expression. "And how would you know that?"

In my frenzy, I suddenly found again my calm. I shouldn't know that she's a jinchuriki should I?

"Because she and the rapping guy have a strange as fuck bloodline, she's dangerous, and Hana is for one hit and escape tactics, not face to face battle, and she's injured." I spoke quickly.

The man tilted his head, his spiky white mane following the movement. "And what do you propose I do? Let you jump in and break the chunin charter, throwing us into another war with Iwa? And Kumo too, for what matters."

I heard a scream. Hana.

I tried to break whatever shit he had placed on me but I really had no idea how to go about it, I could move only my head.

But it wasn't true, I was breathing, I was alive, that meant that my heart was working and that my diaphragm was moving. Moving muscles meant that only the muscles I contracted consciously were out of my control. Maybe I could do something...

"I expect you to save a kunoichi from the leaf. Order her to surrender!" I said, desperately looking for something into the eyes of the toad sage.

If understanding or pity, I didn't know.

I couldn't even feel what was happening in the arena since I was cut off from my own chakra.

"You all signed up for this, death was a possible conclusion, but it was her choice." He answered.

"She's been bred and raised to kill and be killed, she doesn't know a choice exists!" I snarled back. "Either let me go or help me!"

The crowd started screaming. And I couldn't see anything, pinned on the ground as I was.

"She's free to surrender at any time." Jiraya pointed out. Then glanced over the rail to see what was happening. "Not that she looks willing to do so."

Before I could answer, he went on: "The best you can do for your teammate is cheering for her, like everyone from Konoha is doing."

I narrowed my eyes: "Will you let me go if I cheer for her?"

The sannin arched an eyebrow and smirked. I'm not stupid. His answer was clear.

I tried to fall into myself, the gates were something one could open only through gruesome training, reaching a level of self-awareness, of proprioception, capable of giving you a feel of the gates. Since they weren't something one was simply aware of. Then it came the more complex part of managing to open them. At first it was like breaking down a door, with time, one grew used to it enough that the breaking door became a dam bursting open. My training had... loosened the dam. For me opening the first gate was more similar to cutting a single string, and closing it required roughly half an hour of meditation.

But all the extra chakra flowing through my body was no longer turbulent, fast, yes, it stretched the capacity of my coils, yes, but it was steady. Once I got really used to the first gate I would replicate the same training with the other gates, until I managed the first five or six, the last two were not something a human body could handle. Since my body was still maturing it should even increase my chakra capacity, since my coils were still developing.

Anyway, opening the gates was not a direct manipulation of your chakra, so it should have bypassed the seals that I couldn't perceive that Jiraya had placed on me.

I tried, like I had planned to do to free myself in the first stage. But it didn't work.

"Let me see her." I growled when the crowd went 'oooh' again.

The sannin rose me from the ground and kept me right holding on the scruff of my neck. I still could move only my head.

Maybe he's doing something through my tenketsus and it's not a seal...

But my ability to analyze the situation left me when Yugito's arm punched through Hana's ribcage, her black, sharp black claws covered in blood and with shards of bone exploding from my team mate's body.

Even then, it wasn't that the detail that burned itself in my mind. No, far from that. I could see Yugito's face over Hana's shoulder.

She was smiling.