Chapter 136: Another Ora Ora Ora!
After Gaara collapsed, the proctor, Shiranui Genma, announced the result of the match:
"Konoha's Uzumaki Naruto is the winner!"
For Rasa, this outcome was the hardest to accept.
The whole reason Sunagakure had participated in the first place was to let its ninja show their capabilities during the Chunin Exams, hoping to win more opportunities for the village's development.
Originally, Gaara and his siblings should have been able to display Suna's underlying strength in this exam. But with the Five Great Shinobi Villages and numerous smaller villages all getting involved this time, Temari and Kankuro failing to enter the top sixteen was bad enough—now Gaara, too, had been sniped by Konoha's jinchuriki and eliminated in the round of sixteen.
The Fourth Raikage began fanning the flames.
"In our Kumogakure, both of our jinchuriki have been jounin for ages. If one of them had been the one to face Konoha's jinchuriki, there wouldn't have been such a huge gap."
Onoki, too, laughed boisterously. "I never realized there could be this big a difference between jinchuriki. Konoha's one clearly wasn't even going all out, yet Suna's jinchuriki still lost."
Confronted by the ridicule of the Fourth Raikage and Onoki, Rasa inwardly seethed, but in the end he kept silent. It was their bad luck that Gaara had drawn Naruto. Ordinarily, it wouldn't have been such a disgrace for Suna's jinchuriki to lose to Konoha's, but it was troubling that Konoha's methods of training ninja were turning out to be so formidable. Clearly, Konoha's jinchuriki was a full tier stronger than Gaara.
Elsewhere in the stands, Might Guy, seeing that Gaara had lost to Naruto, accepted defeat in his bet and laughed at Kakashi. "Kakashi, you truly are my lifelong rival. I've lost to you yet again. After a bit, I'm going to take Lee and do 5,000 handstand laps around the village—care to join us in this youth-burning workout?"
Before Kakashi could reply, Lee spoke up eagerly. "Guy-sensei, I can't wait to start this youth-burning training!"
Guy, delighted by Lee's enthusiasm, hugged him.
"Lee, I'm so proud. Your youth has never stopped blazing!"
His words thrilled Lee; once again, he'd gained Guy-sensei's approval!
However, Kakashi shook his head at Guy's invitation. "Guy, times have changed. The old-fashioned training method doesn't cut it anymore," he said.
"You and Lee have both been using taijutsu-focused training, and that only leads to slow improvements. It can't keep pace with the new era's demands. Naruto, Sasuke, and those six elite ninja from Amegakure have been using a 'madly doing missions' approach to rapidly boost their strengths."
Might Guy: (ΩДΩ)!!!
Rock Lee: (ΩДΩ)!!!
The mentor and student pair were both shocked by Kakashi's words. Guy understood Kakashi very well—if Kakashi hadn't thoroughly investigated, he wouldn't say something like that. After his initial surprise, Guy suddenly realized this might indeed be a genius way of training:
On missions, ninja inevitably face various troubles, and dealing with each one thoroughly honed their skills.
Between missions, there's enough downtime to slip in physical training.
By training this way, not only do ninja cultivate a broad range of abilities, they also earn good mission fees—which they can then use to buy nutritious food. A perfect two-for-one idea!
Guy at once gave Kakashi a thumbs-up. "Kakashi, this training method is fantastic! I've decided I'll try it with my student!"
Lee's eyes shone with anticipation. If he could train the same way Naruto and Sasuke did, he was sure that, with his constant hard work, he could prove that even an "ordinary ninja" like himself could surpass geniuses through enough effort!
As Kakashi and Guy were speaking, the Chunin Exam went on.
Unquestionably, any genin who'd made the last sixteen was an elite, but even among elites there could still be gaps in strength. In comparison, Naruto's match with Gaara had actually been fairly close.
In the second match of the last sixteen, Yakushi Kabuto quickly wiped out his opponent. Then it was Ame's turn for a showy run: Uzumaki Musen, Uzumaki Lanwu, Uzumaki Lanyu, Raimon Yukika, and Raimon Hayate all steamrolled their opponents in overwhelming fashion.
The spectators could only sigh with amazement, and with the coming quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final "strongest genin" bout, everyone's anticipation was stirred even higher.
After a string of similarly lopsided battles, another intriguing matchup arrived: Uchiha Sasuke from Konoha versus Fū of Takigakure. Both of them had performed excellently in prior matches, so the crowd awaited their fight with eagerness.
Not far from Hiruzen Sarutobi, Onoki eyed the two contestants and shook his head. "Sasuke is pretty strong, but from what we've seen, Fū from Takigakure likely holds the advantage. No matter how potent Sasuke's Lightning Taijutsu might be, he can't fly, whereas Fū's aerial advantage is huge."
While Onoki's words sounded reasonable, in truth he was favoring Fū. He had little choice: since Iwa's two geniuses, Jutosutchi and Omoi, were both out, all he could do was hope a small village could help out.
The Fourth Raikage chimed in as well: "Sasuke is the famous genius of Konoha's Uchiha clan. If he can't handle a ninja from a mere small village, that'll be a joke."
Although Kumogakure wasn't entirely eliminated yet, the Raikage was still doing his best to undercut Konoha—and not just Konoha, but the other three major villages as well. The surprising part was how calmly Konoha's upper brass reacted. And they had a reason: Konoha's leaders all knew, thanks to Hiruzen Sarutobi, the true strengths of Naruto and Sasuke. So they had complete confidence in them, even though Sasuke's opponent now was Takigakure's jinchuriki.
Hiruzen's old, clouded eyes shone with a little smile as he said to Onoki and the Fourth Raikage, "Why don't you both wait and see? I'm quite confident in Sasuke."
Since Hiruzen understood the real power of Naruto and Sasuke, the audience, who didn't, was largely skeptical of Sasuke's chances. After all, Fū had repeatedly shown Tailed Beast powers. People now knew she was Takigakure's jinchuriki, so they had their doubts about Sasuke.
"Sasuke doesn't seem like Naruto—he doesn't have strong long-range moves."
"Right. Once Fū just flies up, Sasuke might have nothing against her."
"In that case, maybe Sasuke's going to be stuck in the round of sixteen."
While people were busy chatting, the fight in the arena started.
Whoosh!
Lightning chakra flared over Sasuke's body, and he charged at Fū at extreme speed. Fū, aware that he was a powerful Lightning Release user, had no intention of engaging him in close-range taijutsu. She instantly sprouted transparent wings on her back, swiftly soaring upward. Sasuke wasn't bothered. He knew she could fly, but his Lightning Ball and other ninjutsu could attack her anyway, and the height of the arena ceiling wasn't enough to put her out of range.
Many spectators, seeing Fū take to the skies, believed she was now unbeatable. Kakashi was intently watching. By his side, Might Guy wasn't trying to bet with him this time, but standing not far away was Hyūga Hiashi, who remarked, "Kakashi, from my close observation, I think your student's about to lose. Fū can fly for a long time, whereas Sasuke doesn't have any strong ranged jutsu. If she stays up there, he won't be able to do anything."
Hiashi's view matched a good chunk of the audience. Surprisingly, Kakashi replied calmly, "Lord Hiashi, yes, it looks unfavorable for Sasuke, but he'll still win."
"Oh?" Hiashi said, skeptical. But before he could dwell on his doubts, the situation in the arena changed again.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!"
At some remove from Fū, Sasuke rapidly wove hand seals and activated his jutsu. One golden lightning orb after another appeared around him, and under his control, they shot at Fū in the air at high speed. If the orbs had been few, they wouldn't have amounted to much of a threat. Unfortunately, Sasuke was generating plenty of them.
Beset by a continuous barrage of Lightning Balls, Fū was forced to dodge frantically midair. Though she flew fast and could shift direction on a dime, the trouble was that flying "safely" up high actually turned her into an easy target—Sasuke could stand anywhere on the ground and bombard her from below. She was stuck avoiding his relentless attacks, with barely any chance to fight back. This left onlookers stunned. They saw that, though Fū gave it her all, Sasuke's lighting power was so overwhelming that all she could do was block and evade.
"How can Sasuke's Lightning Release be this strong?"
"Right? Except for Kumo, it seems like everyone's lightning jutsu in this exam is crazy powerful."
"Hahaha—go say that near the Raikage, see if he kills you on the spot."
"I wouldn't dare, but it's the truth."
The spectators around him burst out laughing in good humor. Meanwhile, Fū finally found a chance to respond:
"Hiding in Scale Powder Technique!"
Fū spat out a cloud of scale powder that began to rain down everywhere. At once, Sasuke's Sharingan spun into a three-tomoe form, giving him terrifying dynamic vision.
As the powder fell, he deftly evaded while continuing his Lightning Ball bombardment into the covered zone. Although his attacks remained heavy, the scale powder cloak eased the pressure on Fū somewhat. She didn't get much time to relax, though.
Sasuke soon used Lightning Release Taijutsu to dash straight through the powder-shrouded area. Crossing that zone several times, he more or less pinned down Fū's location.
"Heavy Style Outburst!"
Charging into the powder one more time, Sasuke delivered a blind strike based on prediction. He didn't actually hit Fū, but it startled her enough to flap her wings and flee out of the powder zone. Immediately, Sasuke locked onto her again and launched another attack.
"Wing Slash!"
Seeing Sasuke tear toward her, Fū frantically flapped her wings, unleashing the slicing wind.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Five consecutive air blades slashed toward Sasuke. He sidestepped to dodge the first, then used Heavy Style Outburst to smash the other four to pieces. Sasuke's strength clearly exceeded Fū's expectations. While she could produce up to seven Wing Slashes at once, it had become obvious that continuing that move would be futile. Faced with an opponent like Sasuke, she had to go all in.
In the next moment, Fū flapped back into the powdered area and used "Ninja Art: Cocoon." Instantly, she was shrouded in a large cocoon. Sasuke gave chase as soon as he saw her move.
"Huh?"
Within the zone of powder, he found something blocking him—a large cocoon, though he couldn't see it very clearly. Without pausing, Sasuke struck: "Heavy Style Outburst!" and followed immediately with a second blow.
Inside the cocoon, Fū completed her partial Tailed Beast transformation. She still didn't show herself, waiting for Sasuke to break the cocoon so she could launch a surprise attack.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After five or six straight punches, Sasuke did indeed smash the Cocoon. Just as planned, Fū made her move. Dark-red chakra enveloped her body, giving her a form entirely composed of Tailed Beast power. A horn sprouted from her forehead, with seven tails trailing behind.
At the very instant Sasuke broke Cocoon, Fū attacked with all seven of her tails. Yet Sasuke neither panicked nor wavered; he fended it off with composure.
Crackle! Crackle!
Lightning coiled around his entire form as he unleashed a flurry of lightning punches. Charging forward, he roared, "Ora! Ora! Ora!"
Even though Fū had seven Tailed Beast tails, she couldn't hold off such fierce attacks. Under Sasuke's stormlike barrage, she could only backpedal, scrambling desperately to defend herself—and still couldn't manage it. Before long, Sasuke landed a clean punch that sent her flying.
Boom—!
She shot through the air at high speed, exiting the powder zone. Reverting from her partial Tailed Beast form, she returned to normal. Fighting Sasuke had burned through a tremendous amount of chakra; at that moment, she couldn't summon her wings fast enough to break her fall. She didn't smash against the ground, however, because a certain ninja caught her.
Looking up, Fū saw a pair of familiar green eyes. She apologized, "Kakuzu-sama, I've let you down."
Kakuzu shook his head. "Not at all. None of that matters now. Your match is over. Put your focus into running missions with me."
These days, Kakuzu had practically been living in the Land of Fire's black markets, doing tasks nonstop. The Land of Fire, as one of the Five Great Nations, had unbelievably many black-market missions available. He wouldn't have bothered leaving if Fū hadn't had a match to attend. Now that her fight was finished, she could join him and do as many missions as they wanted.
Fū had felt down about losing, but hearing Kakuzu's words, she quickly brightened up and nodded. "Kakuzu-sama, I'll do my best to assist you on missions. I'll become your very best assistant!"
As she spoke, she glanced toward where Senshi and Karin were seated, like she was challenging Karin. Karin promptly clasped Senshi's arm, her face solemn. "I'll keep helping Senshi finish every single mission too! I'm the real best assistant!"
Senshi, a little taken aback, patted her head. "That's right. Karin, you're my top assistant."
Karin: (〃'▽'〃)
Her mood soared at Senshi's words. She held out the cookbook she'd been reading. "Senshi, what if I cook you this recipe? It looks delicious!"
Senshi's face stiffened. He quickly closed the cookbook and whispered nervously, "Karin, focus on the match. Don't bring up such frightening things."
Naturally, Karin was unconvinced. "Senshi, don't underestimate my bond with cooking! I've been practicing really diligently lately, and the chibi Bijuu all say my food is great!"
Watching her tilt her chin up in defiance, Senshi could only sigh inwardly.
…
Meanwhile, in the stands where Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha's upper echelon sat, Hiruzen smiled as he turned to Onoki and the Fourth Raikage: "So, how about it? Was I wrong? I've always had faith in Konoha's kids—these youngsters work very hard. They won't disappoint me or the village."
"Hmph!" Onoki snorted, feeling a stab of envy. Why didn't Iwagakure have new talent on par with Naruto and Sasuke? Among the younger generation, Deidara had potential, but the kid was fixated on clay "art," had caused all sorts of trouble, and then vanished—impossible to depend on.
The Fourth Raikage, too, was feeling sour. With Hyūga Neji, Rock Lee, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Yakushi Kabuto, Konoha's up-and-coming ninja all seemed outstanding. Though Kumo did have strong ninja, in both quantity and quality, they couldn't quite measure up to Konoha. Still, Kumo was better off than the other three major villages, whose genin had all been wiped out. Kumo still had one genius lightning user in the running with a decent shot at the top eight.
Even after Fū and Sasuke's match ended, discussions continued. Many felt Fū's loss was unfortunate—had her opponent been anyone else, she might well have made the quarterfinals.
"That Takigakure ninja's a pity. This fight with Sasuke was barely a loss."
"She used that jutsu to obscure visibility, so we can't be sure what happened with the scale powder. But from the look of it, she could've made top eight."
"At the root of it, this Chunin Exam is just insanely competitive."
While the crowd formed a new impression of Sasuke's strength, Hyūga Hiashi formed a new impression of Kakashi's teaching ability. As the head of the Hyūga clan's main branch, he possessed an incredibly powerful Byakugan. In watching Sasuke's battle with Fū just now, he'd seen things others missed. His initial impression of Fū—that she had great combat experience and considerable skill with her jutsu—wasn't wrong. But Fū, Takigakure's jinchuriki, ran up against an even more formidable opponent in Sasuke. Even going all out, Fū had been crushed by Sasuke's raw power.
Glancing toward Kakashi, Hiashi felt a surge of emotion. Kakashi truly was the son of Konoha's White Fang—astonishingly capable in every respect.
"No wonder he's famous as Konoha's 'technician.' The students he's produced are exceptional."
Kakashi hadn't expected such praise. "Lord Hiashi, I honestly haven't taught Naruto and Sasuke much," he said sincerely. Yet to Hiashi, that only sounded like modesty. Given Naruto and Sasuke's brilliance, Kakashi's instruction obviously had to be top-level.
Other people nearby overheard Kakashi's conversation with Hiashi and began murmuring among themselves.
"Kakashi is so modest, saying he hasn't taught them anything. Without him, they'd never be this strong."
"Haha—maybe he's just being humble. If he'd taught them seriously, they'd be even stronger."
"Could be. But from what I know, Kakashi's not one to show off."
Kakashi couldn't help feeling both amused and helpless. He'd already tried explaining to multiple people that Naruto and Sasuke hadn't exactly learned from him, but nobody believed him. Worse, some in the stands were now chatting about how to send their kids or clan elites to him for training. Kakashi could only sigh—he might be capable of training ninja, but it wasn't like he could turn any random genin into someone on Naruto or Sasuke's level.
Time rolled on, and before long, the sixteenth match of the finals commenced. This last match promised to be just as interesting: Uzumaki Lanyu from Amegakure versus Omoi, the gifted lightning user from Kumo.
Up in the stands, Onoki went on taunting the Raikage: "Raikage, it'd be embarrassing if your Kumo lightning prodigy lost again to a small village's lightning ninja."
The Fourth Raikage huffed, giving Onoki a chilly look. "At least Kumogakure isn't wiped out yet—I'm not sure what you're gloating about. Besides, there's no way we'll stumble on the same stone twice. Just watch!"
To him, Amegakure was just a small hidden village with few ninja. They'd already shown Raimon Yukika and Raimon Hayate, so there couldn't be a third top-level lightning prodigy. He was aware of Lanyu's fights: that Lanyu also had Storm Release, like Darui. His style was measured and methodical. In previous matches, Lanyu rarely won by a total steamroll and often took victory only after a hard battle. So the Fourth Raikage felt sure Omoi could beat Uzumaki Lanyu.
In the seating area, the spectators watched Lanyu and Omoi with interest.
"Cloud's lightning prodigy probably has the upper hand here."
"Right. Unless Lanyu's been hiding something, Omoi should be stronger."
"Haha, if Omoi loses too, the quarterfinals won't have any of the Four Great Villages present."
Amidst their chatter, Hyūga Hiashi asked Kakashi, out of curiosity, "Kakashi, I heard you recently spent some time around these Ame genin. What do you think? Who's going to win?"
"If his opponent is Omoi, there's no chance Lanyu will lose," Kakashi replied dryly. He'd long grown numb from seeing those eight kids farm missions day in and day out.
…
Omoi was dark-skinned with white hair, arrogant in nature, and violently aggressive in combat. When Shiranui Genma declared the match open, Omoi cloaked himself in Lightning Armor and dashed at Lanyu like a bullet, planning to smash him in a direct assault and secure a quarterfinal spot.
Boom!
He reached Lanyu in no time, slamming forward with a fierce punch. Exactly as he had anticipated, Lanyu used his usual straightforward "counterattack approach." Lanyu's own Lightning Armor flared up, and as Omoi's punch came in, Lanyu sidestepped while delivering a punch of his own.
Bam!
Both being Lightning Release users employing taijutsu, Lanyu's speed was clearly faster. Omoi's punch missed, while Lanyu's hit home. However, thanks to his Lightning Armor, Omoi wasn't injured. But as the saying goes, "a single clash reveals who holds the upper hand"—and from that initial skirmish, Omoi realized he shouldn't underestimate Lanyu.
He quickly grasped that the reason Lanyu sometimes needed a lengthy tussle to beat opponents wasn't that he was weak; it was that he was so confident, he used his opponents as sparring partners. Lanyu was very strong, or else he wouldn't dare do such a thing.
The stands erupted with gasps of surprise. What Omoi saw, many others also noticed, and they were stunned to discover Lanyu's true depth. Numerous spectators found their gazes drifting toward Senshi. While Konoha's Hatake Kakashi had taught two outstanding genin, the Rain's Uzumaki Senshi seemed even more remarkable, having nurtured six top-tier genin!
As the crowd marveled at Senshi's teaching abilities, the match below reached its climax. Realizing how strong Lanyu was, Omoi abandoned any thought of holding back, charging full-force amid crackling arcs of electricity. Lanyu did not retreat—he chose to meet force with force.
"Heavy Style Outburst!"
"Heavy Style Outburst!"
At the moment they clashed, both used the same Lightning Release taijutsu. Their fists collided. Lanyu stood unmoving, sturdy as a mountain, while Omoi staggered back a step from the recoil.
Members of Kumo's leadership jumped to their feet in alarm. Another formidable foe!? They'd assumed Raimon Yukika was Ame'd strongest lightning user, yet Lanyu, at this point, seemed no weaker.
After that exchange, Omoi and Lanyu went at it again.
"Lightning Oppression Horizontal!" Omoi swung a lightning-charged chop at Lanyu's neck.
"Lightning Oppression Horizontal!" Lanyu responded with the same move.
Boom!
Their hands struck, and once more Omoi was on the losing side in a head-on clash. Rather than accept defeat, he threw caution to the wind.
"Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"
He swept his arms in a storm of blows, trying to crush Lanyu with rapidfire attacks.
"Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"
Lanyu fought back with the exact same taijutsu technique.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Their exchange was as swift as a raging tempest. In a flash, they'd dealt dozens of lightning-charged hand strikes at each other. But Omoi truly couldn't match Lanyu, and was forced back before being sent flying by a blow. Dropping to the ground, Omoi prepared to charge once more—only this time, Lanyu took the initiative.
With a roar, Lanyu shouted, "Lariat!" And in a flash of blue lightning, he hurtled straight into Omoi.
Omoi, equally unyielding, roared back: "Lariat!" He, too, transformed into a blur of blue lightning, smashing right at Lanyu.
Boom!
Rumble…!
The collision made a colossal crash, the sheer force sending both men bouncing away. Lanyu remained mostly fine, while Omoi was worse off. Seeing it was no use continuing in pure Lightning Taijutsu, Omoi decided to employ his best Kumo sword style.
Aware that Omoi's sword skills were dangerous—he'd seen them before—Lanyu chose to end the fight immediately. Spotting Omoi streaking toward him like a bolt, Lanyu raised his right hand and roared: "Storm Release: Laser Circus!"
In an instant, arcs of lightning shot from his palm like fluid streams, weaving and curling midair. As Omoi closed in, those shifting beams of Storm Release rained attacks from every direction—front, back, left, right, above, below. Omoi could not withstand it, soon knocked flying.
Witnessing this, the Fourth Raikage's expression grew terribly complicated. Another defeat… yet again! The last of Kumogakure's lightning prodigies had lost to a Ame lightning ninja.
Onoki, who hadn't expected Lanyu to win, found himself pleasantly surprised. Since Lanyu had proven so impressive, Onoki saw no need for restraint—he sidled up to the Fourth Raikage and taunted him gleefully: "Tsk, tsk. It seems Kumogakure has really gone downhill. Your carefully-raised pair of lightning prodigies were both beaten by a small village's lightning ninja. How humiliating!"
The Fourth Raikage flew into a rage. "Onoki, are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Seeing the Raikage on the verge of exploding, Darui and the others rushed over to calm him. A clash between the Raikage and the Tsuchikage here was impossible. As they worked to restrain the Raikage, Darui himself glanced at Lanyu in the arena, feeling an immense sense of regret. If only Raimon Yukika, Raimon Hayate, and Uzumaki Lanyu all belonged to Kumogakure—if even one of them did!
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— You can Read the Fanfic until Completion! This Fanfic is Completed in Patreon!