>>6401257
You can’t really argue with his reasoning. Fighting here serves no purpose beyond getting yourselves into the public phase of the exams, so there’s no reason to risk making that process harder than it has to be. As for the question of fairness… there’s no such thing for a shinobi, at least not in battle. But right now Hiroshi-kun’s idea of fairness is what’s fair to his teammates, as opposed to other shinobi. On the one hand it could be seen as naive, but that way of thinking – of devaluing honor, loyalty, and camaraderie – is the sort of thinking that eventually gets you people like Hidan. And given the choice, you’d rather have more people like your teammates in the world than more bastards like Hidan.

“You sound certain of this,” the Hokage muses, the look on his old face almost something like approval. “Very well. I would ask that you also step out. You will be escorted out along with Yakushi-kun.”

As Hiroshi-kun turns to leave, he flashes you a thumbs-up. You answer with a little nod.

“If anyone else would like to leave, now would be the time to say so,” the Hokage declares calmly.

No one else speaks up.

“Then I will pass this on to the proctor.”

The Hokage steps away, allowing for the man who looks like he never sleeps to step up. He also coughs into his fist the same way the Hokage did, although instead of just being an old man this proctor seems to be chronically ill.

“I am Gekkō Hayate, proctor for the third stage,” the man introduces himself, gesturing to a black screen high on the wall behind him. “This screen will display two of your names randomly. Those candidates whose names are displayed will fight either until one candidate gives up or I decide that one can no longer continue. This will happen eleven times.”

“While full force is authorized, any attacks obviously intended to kill an opponent who cannot defend themselves are prohibited, and will be dealt with harshly.”

>1d11 please
>taking the first two

Rolled 5 (1d11)

>>6401269
Smart thinking Hiroshi-kun.

Rolled 3 (1d11)

>>6401269

>>6401269
The display flickers to life, then begins to flash through the characters of twenty-two names in blinding succession. Eventually it snaps to a stop on two:

“The first match,” Hayate-san declares, “will be Uzumaki Naruto against Akimichi Chōji. All other candidates and their senseis will withdraw to the observation level.”

Naruto-kun seems to be fired up for his fight, while Chōji-kun – the large one out of the three from the yakiniku place – pulls out a small bag of what you think are potato chips for a snack while everyone else is getting out of the way. Interesting priorities. Maybe there’s a reason behind it, maybe that reason is just gluttony. No way for you to know just yet.

“Hey, so we don’t have anyone from our village here,” Akiji-kun observes. “What do you wanna do?”

>We’ll find a spot and observe by ourselves.
>May as well say hi to Sasuke-kun, Sakura-kun, and Kakashi-san.
>Whatever we do, let’s leave the Sand team alone for now.
>Other?

>>6401318
>Whatever we do, let’s leave the Sand team alone for now.

>>6401318
>>Whatever we do, let’s leave the Sand team alone for now.
they give us the creeps

>>6401318
>Let's go talk to the Sand team. Gaara's actually a pretty chill dude.

>>6401318
>May as well say hi to Sasuke-kun, Sakura-kun, and Kakashi-san.

>>6401318
>We’ll find a spot and observe by ourselves.

>>6401318
>We’ll find a spot and observe by ourselves.

Just caught up on the last thread, but I gotta say, good stuff, QM! You've got excellent prose, and I'm always a sucker for a good Naruto quest.

The first thread will be on the board for a (long) while, but don't forget to archive it before then!

>>6401318
>We’ll find a spot and observe by ourselves.
If someone wants to come talk to us, that's fine too. I mostly want to see how Akiji's feeling.

>>6401318
“Let’s just avoid the Sand team for now, whatever we do,” you decide.

“Agreed,” Akiji-kun nods. “That Gaara guy gives me the creeps.”

You laugh a little to yourself. “Gaara-kun’s not that bad, but Kankuro’s a jerk.”

“I… think your warped standards are showing themselves again.”

…

Your team eventually takes up a position between two of the Konoha teams – Kakashi-san’s team, and the team Chōji-kun is on with the burly jōnin-sensei. Eventually, only the two candidates and the proctor remain on the floor.

“Alright,” the proctor declares. “The first match – Uzumaki Naruto versus Akimichi Chōji.”

He raises his hand, then lowers it and takes a leap backwards. “Begin!”

Neither opponent starts off instantly. Instead, there’s a little verbal back-and-forth between the former classmates.

“I got lucky,” Chōji-kun muses, tossing aside his now-empty bag of chips and clapping his hands together. “Thank you for the meal!”

“Keep thinking that,” Naruto-kun shoots back. “Underestimating me’ll just make this go quicker, ya know!”

Naruto-kun produces his weapon – a long-chained kusarigama – and sets the weighted chain end spinning while Chōji-kun forms his hand seals. “Konoha-ryū taijutsu: Nikudan Sensha!”

Chōji-kun suddenly expands vastly in size, forming a massive ball of humanity before pulling his head and legs inside his clothes – making his own sound effects as he does so. Then he starts to spin… faster and faster until the tiles below him start to crack.

Naruto-kun’s chain slowly stops spinning. “Oh crap, that’s not gonna work!”

Instead of attacking with the kusarigama Naruto-kun dodges as Chōji-kun rolls at him aggressively – but slowly. The energy on Naruto-kun’s end is actually comedic, but effective in keeping him away from several successive attempts by the now boulder-sized genin to run him down.

“Um… what am I watching?” Akiji-kun wonders aloud.

“To be fair that’d probably hurt if it hit,” you admit. “He’s just so… slow. And loud. It hurts to watch.”

It takes a while for Naruto-kun to come up with something like a plan, but eventually he does start to fight back by forming an unusual hand seal. “Kagebunshin-no-jutsu!”
>1/2

>>6401577
He creates a small number of clones, who try to slow Chōji-kun’s roll without success – despite the fact that they’re physically real and don’t require any nature transformation, they’re also apparently pretty fragile. The amount of weight behind Chōji-kun’s attacks means that even despite his slow speed there’s a lot of force involved, and the shadow clones just can’t withstand it for long enough to really matter.

“So he’s not going to get it done in one strong attack,” you muse. “What now?”

The answer Naruto-kun comes up with is actually pretty good – he probably has no makibishi in his pouches, and at that size the little iron spikes wouldn’t do Chōji-kun much harm anyway. But hira-shuriken thrown at the ground hard enough can stick with their points facing outward, and so Naruto-kun leaves some behind as he dodges another rolling charge.

“Still didn’t do much,” Akiji-kun muses. That having been admitted, Chōji-kun dodges the next time Naruto-kun tries the same trick. Then as his opponent makes a wide turn, Naruto-kun makes a… decision.

“Come on!” he shouts. “Bring it on, fatso!”

… you can actually SEE the moment Chōji-kun realizes that he’s been insulted. In fact, you can saw with confidence that he starts spinning even faster, ripping up floor as he goes.

“I’m not fat!” he shouts back. “I’m strong, and the strong EAT!”

Eat the wall, maybe.

Naruto-kun barely dodges that last attack, and it’s clear on his face that he knows it. But he also quickly realizes that his plan worked, and Chōji-kun has trapped himself by slamming too hard into the wall. So Naruto-kun takes immediate and merciless advantage, sprinting past his opponent and up the wall. He creates a shadow clone when he nears the ceiling, and in one smooth movement turns as he uses the transformation technique to become some kind of weapon.

Then his clone pushes off the ceiling into a dead sprint, before hurling the giant folding shuriken with all his might.

“Don’t you ever…” the clone begins even as the shuriken transforms back.

“… underestimate me!”

This time the blow strikes Chōji-kun dead on, unable to deflect it using his rotational speed. And on the contrary, Naruto-kun’s body retains the speed of a thrown shuriken to add to the force of his punch.

There’s a burst of smoke from that side of the sparring floor.
>2/3

>>6401588
When the smoke clears, it’s obvious who has won. But the proctor still makes it official.

“Akimichi-kun is unable to continue,” Hayate-san declares after examining Chōji-kun, who’s lying on the floor exhausted at the center of a ring of cracks. “The winner is Uzumaki Naruto-kun.”

Naruto-kun also seems to have lost his wind, and his right fist is bleeding enough to be visible from here. While his teammates seem enthusiastic but not surprised, the same can’t be said for the other Konoha genin who are all floored – you overhear words like ‘loser’ and ‘screwball’ being used.

>1d10, taking first two

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>6401596

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>6401596

>>6401603
>>6401606
Seriously, a joint 1% probability and you get THIS result. Cursed. You'll see in a few minutes.

>>6401596
Naruto-kun stops as he walks past Chōji-kun on the way to the stairs back up to the observation level, and kneels for a moment. He says something inaudible, and pats Chōji-kun on the shoulder. Then he continues towards the stairs.

By the time he’s rejoined his team, the names are already flashing across the screen again in rapid succession. You notice something, a disturbance on the sparring floor. Just as the names on the board stop, one of the two candidates named appears below in a swirl of sand.

“The second match,” Hayate-san announces, “Will be Gaara versus Rock Lee.”

The bowl-cut guy you noticed with his team a few days ago, one of the early finishers, is immediately fired up to the point of cheering out loud – the exact same as his similarly dressed and coiffed sensei.

>Continue watching together with Akiji-kun?
>Go and ask what Naruto-kun said to Chōji-kun?
>Maybe go talk to the Sand team about Gaara-kun?
>Other?

Welp so much for our best match up for best gainz against Lee. Damn shame. There is no one else we can fight that will benefit us like that.

>Maybe go talk to the Sand team about Gaara-kun?

>>6401855
It seems Rock Lee vs Gaara is a universal constant which you can match your heartbeat to and know you are on the canonical path. So says the Kwisatz Haderach, praise be his hallowed name!

>Maybe go talk to the Sand team about Gaara-kun?

Gaara's a good guy, right Ryōko? Surely nothing will go wrong.

>>6401855
>>Maybe go talk to the Sand team about Gaara-kun?

>>6401855
>Maybe go talk to the Sand team about Gaara-kun?

>>6401855
>Maybe go talk to the Sand team about Gaara-kun?
Too late :(

>>6401855
>Maybe go talk to the Sand team about Gaara-kun?

>>6401855
Since the team from Sunagakure looks at least ‘mildly concerned’, you decide to give talking to them a try while their teammate is down on the floor fighting. You approach them at something like a normal speed even while Lee and his sensei are hyping each other up.

“You seem jumpy,” you muse aloud. “Gaara-kun seems too strong to worry about him.”

“Who says we’re worried?” Kankuro-kun shoots back.

“You do,” you observe. “Through your body language.”

The two genin have to silently admit that you have a point. Even their jōnin-sensei seems to be a bit uncomfortable at the moment. That’s unusual.

“Gaara can be… a lot to deal with,” Temari-kun, if you’ve heard her name correctly, admits. “Just… just watch. You’ll understand.”

You glance over at the jōnin-sensei, trying to weigh his reaction to Temari-kun’s words. The expression you see there is still the same, discomfort – it’s probably not unreasonable to assume that he’s seen exactly what Temari-kun means, and that he doesn’t disagree.

Lee-kun finally drops down into the arena, and joins Gaara-kun and Hayate-san at the center. Hayate-san coughs into his hand before starting the match.

“Gaara-kun vs Lee-kun… begin!”

The proctor has barely had time to leap backwards when Lee-kun opens with a strong taijutsu assault. “Konoha Senpū!”

His spinning kick comes fast and strong, but not nearly fast or strong enough. Sand has already burst from the vessel on Gaara-kun’s back to intercept the blow before launching a counterattack which forces Lee-kun to evade with a series of somersaults back through the air. Not dissuaded, Lee-kun takes a stance before swiftly closing and renewing his taijutsu assault. His style is varied enough, if a bit stiff, and his speed is comparable to your own.

And it does hardly anything against the sand which moves even faster to defend Gaara-kun’s body, from all angles.

“I dunno what that bowl-cut is planning,” Kankuro-kun grumbles, “but it’s not gonna work.”

“So he uses sand to attack and defend,” you muse. “Not bad… but is it really okay for him to just be standing there?”

“Don’t get it mixed up,” Kankuro-kun counters. “That sand moves on its own. It’s like a living thing. Gaara’s not even taking this seriously yet... it's the only reason that guy's still alive.”
>1/2

>>6402245
As he withdraws, Lee-kun slips on sand spread out under his feet. He almost takes a crushing blow for that misstep, but manages to somersault high through the air until he lands in a crouch atop the fingertips of the massive statue.

For a few moments, it becomes a standoff.

Then Lee-kun’s sensei holds out his fist and sticks his thumb up. “Alright Lee, take ‘em off!”

“But sensei!” Lee-kun protests. “You said that was only as a last resort!”

“I’m making an exception!” his sensei replies. “Go for it!”

Lee-kun excitedly complies, removing what look like bands of weights from around his ankles. “That is much better!” He exclaims. “Now I will be able to move freely!”

“Heh,” Kankuro-kun chuckles as Lee-kun releases the weights. “If he thinks dropping a few measly little weights is going to make a difference, he’s even dumber than he…”

The weights hit the ground on either side of the statue and immediately rock the whole arena, sending dust clouds drifting around the room. Even most of the jōnin senseis seem taken aback for a moment.

Then Lee-kun disappears.

Rather, for a moment his speed throws you off. His body becomes a blur of motion, striking Gaara-kun’s defensive sand from multiple angles in quick succession. You can hear him taunting as Gaara-kun’s eyes also struggle to keep up with this newfound speed, far in excess of your own. Eventually Lee-kun rises up with a short hop, spins in the air, and lands a heavy axe kick that hits Gaara-kun in the forehead.

“Gaara… got hit?” Temari-kun wonders in shock.

After a momentary reset, Lee-kun returns to the offensive. After a few more probing blows a powerful punch slips past Gaara-kun’s defenses and knocks him to the floor several meters away.

It takes a few moments before Gaara-kun gets up… and you don’t like the look in his eyes. Even less than the cracking layer of sand sitting atop his skin like armor.

“Uh-oh,” Kankuro-kun grumbles. “It’s been a while… since I saw that look in his eyes.”

Sand armor… a powerful defensive ability, assuming he can also harden it like armor. Unlike your own defenses this one seems more prone to cracking, but it also sits outside the skin rather than internally. So even if it might be less durable – which you can’t be sure it is – that would simply make it a sacrificial layer, where the Shikotsumyaku tends to only stop crippling injuries so that your rapid healing can handle the damage to your soft tissues.

As impressive a defense as it is, you also have to note that regular taijutsu is a poor measure of its durability. The bones in a fist compress quite a bit when used to strike, meaning the force of Lee-kun's punches will be dispersed more than your strikes would ever allow. If he were smart he might try using his elbows instead.
>2/3

>>6402289
“Are you… sizing them up?” Temari-kun observes. You spare her a glance, noting that she seems stunned at your own lack of obvious shock at any of what you’re seeing.

Honestly you’re just as surprised as any of the other genin here. The main difference is you know that it wouldn’t do you any good to waste time acknowledging that sensation when you could skip straight to digesting what you’re seeing so you can devise a counter. After all, either one could plausibly be your competition in the public stage of the exams.

Lee-kun has settled on an approach, slipping past Gaara-kun’s sand defenses to land an upward kick on his jaw. Gaara-kun is lifted off the ground by the force of the impact, but Lee-kun is hardly finished. Instead he lands another kick, and another, and another. The force of successive kicks carries Gaara-kun high into the air in a mad display of taijutsu taken far past its logical extremes…

>1d10, best of three

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>6402296

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>6402296
let's see it

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>6402296

>>6402296
As Lee-kun’s kicks take both opponents higher you feel something else rising just as quickly – annoyance at something irritating your eyes. For just a moment you give into the urge and wipe away the grit, just for a single moment. Lee-kun seems to slow his progress at about the same time before wrapping Gaara-kun in bandage bindings, then taking them both into a headfirst spiral.

The descent precedes a devastating impact that rocks the whole arena yet again, and the dust soon starts to settle. Lee-kun looks like he’s just about exhausted himself, and Gaara-kun is laying on his back in the middle of a crater of shattered stone.

“No way…” Kankuro-kun gasps. “There’s just no way.”

As you watch carefully, you note a crack across Gaara-kun’s face. Then another appears. The color starts to fade from his skin and hair, and pieces of his ‘face’ begin to fall inward – revealing an open void, like the inside of a cast statue or a clay pot.

“Substitution,” you realize. “Damn it…”

It must have been in the brief moment when you were wiping your eyes. That suggests to you that Gaara-kun’s jutsu timing is exceptional, but it doesn’t tell you as much as you’d prefer. Not having noticed what happened is very different from not having observed the situation at all, since even if you didn’t catch what Gaara-kun did when he did it the context would still tell you things. But as it stands you don’t know what opening Gaara-kun seized upon to use a substitution or how fast it actually was, and because of that you don’t know whether it was something that could work against you under other circumstances.

You can’t help but curse quietly to yourself. Getting exactly no information out of that exchange is the worst feeling.

Gaara-kun reappears from the dust and sand that’s settled around the impact area, behind Lee-kun who seems stunned that his opponent managed to pull one over on him. And if the look on Gaara-kun’s face was intense before, now it strikes you as positively deranged.

“No…” Temari-kun shudders. “Don’t tell me… it’s starting to awaken?”

If Gaara-kun has taken any notice of his opponent’s condition he takes no notice. It’s all Lee-kun can do to keep dodging and blocking as the sand hammers away relentlessly, and he can barely do that. Even raising his arms prompts a grunt of exertion and pain.

>1d10, best of three

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>6402647
RIP Lee you were the only one I was looking forward to fighting.

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>6402647

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>6402647
Hm... I was under the impression that Ryoko was one of the strongest competitors here, but thinking about it, she doesn't have many answers to an awakened Gaara, huh?

>>6402647
It’s obvious even from here that Lee-kun’s torn multiple muscles and burst tendons throughout his body, just based on how his range of motion and the obvious pain even the slightest movement results in. While it may not be physically incapacitating, the mental fortitude to endure that much pain with a grin is truly impressive.

Lee-kun manages to get a little bit of distance, and takes a deep breath.

Crossing his arms and settling into a stable stance, he begins to build up chakra. Not just a little bit of chakra, like what you’d use as part of a ninjutsu technique, but a massive amount that starts to cause the air to shimmer and writhe. With a growing roar the chakra even becomes faintly visible in blue around his body as his already-ruined muscles bulge. His hair stands on end, forced upwards on a rising current of raw power.

Then his veins bulge, and his skin takes on a red tone.

“What the hell is even happening anymore!?” Kankuro-kun protests loudly.

“Brute force activation?” you realize. “The chakra must be temporarily splinting his muscles and bones… he’s even forcibly increasing his blood oxygenation levels…”

It’s not healing, not even close. The sheer amount of chakra flowing through his body has reached the point where it’s basically forcing his tortured muscles and cracked bones into their proper positions for one last offensive, whatever the repercussions might turn out to be.

The results are more like an explosion, Lee-kun’s speed exceeding your ability to track by far. You can figure out what’s happening as Gaara-kun’s body is blown straight up out of the rubble and dust caused just by Lee charging forwards, probably because of another rising kick like before. Only this time the force of the impact and the violence of Lee’s assault leaves Gaara no space to respond.

Cracks appear as a green blur hits the ceiling above you as well as the walls, using the confines of the building to change directions. Catastrophic blows shatter pieces of Gaara-kun’s sand armor away before the sand he had been using to fight can even catch up with him. The genin’s little more than a ragdoll, being played with by a force you can barely see as a blur of motion.

And then Lee-kun moves to end it, launching a series of linear attacks straight downwards at a practically-immobilized Gaara. You can only assume there’s a ‘final’ blow, because as Lee-kun forces even more raw power out through his body his speed exceeds the point where you can even tell he moved except by seeing the results of his attack on his opponent.

The arena explodes yet again.
>1/2

>>6402738
Of course, you saw this developing. It happened a fraction of a second before impact.

“Gaara!” Temari-kun shouts in alarm.

“No way!” Kankuro exclaims. “Is it even possible… could Gaara actually… lose?”

“… it’s over,” you muse, grim with the realization. “It was a spectacular effort, it just wasn’t enough.”

Kankuro-kun stares at you. “What? What do you mean?”

When the dust begins to settle, it becomes obvious. You point it out. “Look.”

Gaara-kun barely managed to cushion his fall by turning the sandy jar on his back into sand, which is probably the only reason he’s conscious right now. And as hurt as he is, you can tell it’s only a matter of time before he shakes it off.

Lee-kun, on the other hand, is done. His chakra has crashed, and with it the only thing keeping him from the full effects of the backlash. He can barely raise his head now, the muscle tears and cracked bones having gotten even worse after that last burst of effort. If a professional could see to him starting today… it might take six months before he could move normally again. And that’s assuming there’s been no significant trauma to his spinal cord.

“What’s the proctor doing?” you question aloud as the sand starts to creep towards Lee-kun, who barely has the strength to try crawling away. If nobody does anything, Lee-kun will be lucky to survive – and there’s no time to debate, either.

>As a medical ninja, you can’t allow a pointless crippling injury. Step in.
>As a candidate, it isn’t your place to get involved in someone else’s fight.
>Other?

>>6402742
>As a medical ninja, you can’t allow a pointless crippling injury. Step in.

>>6402742
>As a medical ninja, you can’t allow a pointless crippling injury. Step in.
We're a student of Tsunade, and while we can't exactly treat an injury of this level, we should at least try to avoid further damage. Rule-breaking aside, I'm sure this will also look good for inter-village relations.

>>6402742
>As a medical ninja, you can’t allow a pointless crippling injury. Step in.

>>6402742
>As a medical ninja, you can’t allow a pointless crippling injury. Step in.
These kids really want to pass this exam.

>>6402742
>As a medical ninja, you can’t allow a pointless crippling injury. Step in.

>>6402742
1d10 please, best of three

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>6402894

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>6402894

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>6402894

>>6402894
In an instant your body moves, your mind having decided on the action without any need to deliberate. You know you need speed, and your body answers. You know you need strength, and your body answers. The blow not only disperses the sand, it also shatters the already-fractured tiles where it strikes.

Anyone who noticed your movement – and not everyone in the room seems to have – either chose not to interfere or saw no opportunity to do so.

“This match is over,” you declare, rising from your knee to face Gaara-kun down. “Hayate-san, please call it for Gaara-kun.”

“On what grounds do you claim to be able to stop the match?” Hayate-san asks you as he approaches from near the side wall, from which he’s been watching. To his credit, his voice betrays neither protest nor accusation, and so you answer in the same spirit.

“I am a medical ninja,” you answer, still watching Gaara-kun warily as he staggers to his feet. “Lee-kun was obviously suffering from hairline fractures and partial-thickness ruptures of bones and muscles throughout his body – and that was before this last push.”

“That is not disqualifying,” Hayate-san observes.

“Maybe not,” you answer, “but with his chakra weakening, the only thing keeping his ruined body going is gone. Not only is he now defenseless, but if another attack hits him in this state the trauma may be impossible to heal.”

“… why?” Gaara-kun demands, his voice strained as his breathing has yet to normalize after his own injuries. “Why interfere? He’s not worth your time.”

>You lost loved ones to a senseless act of violence, so you’re stopping this senseless act now.
>Why is he so eager to finish off an opponent? This isn’t even the public phase of the exams.
>Shinobi may die on missions, but this isn’t a mission so a medic shouldn’t accept that outcome here.
>Other?

>>6403016
>You lost loved ones to a senseless act of violence, so you’re stopping this senseless act now.
Violence requires reason. Our clan never cared for the reason for its violence. If you seek violence, always has a good reason for it. We learned to control our violent tendency rather than let it control us, unlike the rest of our clan. We saw firsthand what happens when you don't do that. Don't make that same mistake, dear Gaara.

>>6403016
>>You lost loved ones to a senseless act of violence, so you’re stopping this senseless act now.
Kaguya moment

>>6403016
>Maybe you're overestimating the value of my time.

>>6403016
>>You lost loved ones to a senseless act of violence, so you’re stopping this senseless act now.
"Why try to kill him then? If he's not worth MY time, he isn't worth yours either. Take the win.

>>6403016
>You lost loved ones to a senseless act of violence, so you’re stopping this senseless act now.

>>6403016
>You lost loved ones to a senseless act of violence, so you’re stopping this senseless act now.

>>6403016
>You lost loved ones to a senseless act of violence, so you’re stopping this senseless act now.
Hm, I wonder if Ryoko can take Naruto's place when it comes to convincing Gaara. We've already had like, two conversations, coming up on a third.

>>6403016
“… I lost people I cared for to an act of senseless violence,” you reply coolly. “So you may not think it’s ‘worth my time’, but that’s not for you to decide… not what my time is ‘worth’, not the ‘worth’ of your opponent.”

The sand around your feet starts to move, but your focus is on Gaara-kun instead. Your eye contact never wavers. After a moment, the sand slowly starts to recede and reform into that gourd-like container he carries it around as. The sand even begins to cover his skin again, as well as any outward signs of his injuries.

“I’m tired,” he declares, beginning to turn to leave.

Then he stops, as movement behind you catches your own attention – it’s Lee-kun, back onto his feet with one trembling arm raised. But only just, and there’s no saying for how long. The development brings his sensei down from the observation level, and he places a hand on Lee-kun’s shoulder.

“It’s alright, Lee,” he assures his student. “You’ve already done…”

… oh.

“… not even conscious,” the sensei realizes with a trembling voice, “and still desperate to show the world what he can do. Lee, you’ve already…”

You glance at Hayate-san, and gesture for him to call it.

He clears his throat. “As Rock Lee-kun is unable to continue, the winner is Gaara-kun.”

Gaara-kun goes back to what he was doing before and leaves the arena, while medical ninja swoop in to see to Lee-kun. After conferring briefly, they step away to speak to Lee-kun’s sensei. “Guy-sensei, this student is yours?”

“He is.”

“Well, you should know that Lee-kun’s injuries are much more serious than they look,” the medic-nin says. “There’s hardly a bone in his body that isn’t fractured, and his muscles are a mess… recovery is going to take six months at the very least, and if he’d taken any more trauma on top of this, who knows what could have happened.”

Satisfied that things are being handled, you begin to walk away even as the medic-nin continues speaking. “Whoever called the fight just by looking at him has good instincts… who was it?”

You don’t turn back. That, most certainly, is ‘not worth your time’.

>1d9, taking the first two

Rolled 6 (1d9)

>>6403508

Canon battle was cool and so was this.

Rolled 7 (1d9)

>>6403508

>>6403508
You head up the stairs, walking first past the remainder of Chōji-kun’s team. As you approach Team Kakashi, you hear an announcement from the floor. “The next round will be Abume Zaku-kun versus Inuzuka Kiba-kun.”

>Stop here and watch with Team Kakashi for a little while.
>Walk on, stop with Team Guy for a few minutes.
>Rejoin your own teammate for this matchup.
>Other?

>>6403723
>Stop here and watch with Team Kakashi for a little while.

>>6403723
>Stop here and watch with Team Kakashi for a little while.

>>6403723
>Rejoin your own teammate for this matchup.
FUCK canon characters

>>6403723
>Stop here and watch with Team Kakashi for a little while.
Let's see how the rest of Team 7 is doing. Maybe Ryoko will inspire Sakura to go above and beyond in her services as a medical nin.

>>6403723
“So,” you muse, stopping near Team Kakashi to watch this match, “I guess we get to see Otogakure in action.”

“We’ve already met once,” Sasuke-kun answers with a frown. “In the Forest of Death.”

“Well, I’m lookin’ forward to this, ya know,” Naruto-kun adds. “I was still out cold for that part.”

You look Abume Zaku over more carefully, particularly at his right arm. Both are stuck in the same sling wrapped behind his neck, but only the right seems like it’s still bleeding a little. “So one of you did that?”

“I… might’ve stabbed him through the wrist with my tantō,” Sakura-kun admits. “Their team tried to ambush us in the forest, after…”

She hesitates in the middle of the story.

“It’s okay,” Kakashi-san muses, as though putting to rest an unspoken doubt. “I hear Ryōko-kun’s team also encountered Orochimaru during the second stage.”

You feel your eyes narrow slightly. “So you also ran into that menace? Anko-san mentioned I was ‘another one’, but not who the ‘first’ one was.”

“You look… remarkably fine,” Sasuke-kun observes carefully, almost suspiciously. “You were here well before us too, which is strange after having met that freak of nature.”

“I guess he found me hard to swallow,” you shrug, before turning your attention back to the match that’s about to start.

“Third match – Abume Zaku versus Inuzuka Kiba,” Hayate-san declares, hand raised, “begin!”

Maybe even a little before Hayate-san leaps back Zaku and Kiba are in motion, Zaku moving back and Kiba moving up together with that little dog he was wearing in the first stage like a fleabitten hat. The former smirks as he draws his left arm out from the sling and extends it at his onrushing opponents.

“Ninpō: Zankūha!”

Zaku’s palm releases a rapid series of air waves, enough to damage even more of the arena floor. You have no idea how badly Kiba would have been hurt if it had hit, because both he and the dog dodge and flank Zaku – Kiba on the left and the dog on the right. You realize that he’s forcing Zaku to choose which side to leave himself open to, and that he deliberately chose to have his partner approach from Zaku’s ‘weak’ right side.
>1/2

>>6404151
To your surprise, and probably to Kiba-kun’s as well, Zaku manages to force his right arm to move. You can tell when both he and the dog realize that their tactic won’t work out as well as they’d probably hoped, but by this point it’s probably too late.

“Ninpō: Zankūkyokuha!”

The results are nothing short of spectacular, with reverberating blasts of crushing sound and slicing wind carving out furrows along the arena floor.
>1d10, best of three

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>6404162

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>6404162

>>6404162
Okay well you definitely pass there, the real question is if you hit a crit.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>6404162

>>6404162
You can practically see it as if it were happening in slow-motion, with stunning clarity.

The only reason that the little dog survives is because of the wound Sakura-kun inflicted on Zaku in the Forest of Death. While part of the blast is directed the way the Oto-nin intended, the force clearly exceeds what the wounded area in his wrist can withstand. Both radius and ulna break in an instant, leaving the hand attached only by some of the soft tissues and revealing the inner workings of Zaku’s arm – a channel has been surgically inserted that runs the length of his arm, through which chakra is expelled and converted into his attacks.

Because the force was partially dispersed outward through the wrist, the amount of force that hits the dog is lessened. Just not enough that the blast doesn’t knock the poor creature out and send him sliding across what’s left of the floor right up to the base of the wall.

Kiba-kun manages to perform a sort of ‘tatami flip’ at the last possible second, using an upturned slab of stone flooring to take some of the blast for him. Quick thinking, but only partially effective at absorbing the attack. He still goes tumbling across the floor and doesn’t get up right away.

Zaku-kun howls in pain, ruined right arm hanging useless in front of him as the blood starts to flow in earnest. Panting, he grabs some of the bandaging around his neck and shoulders to tie off around the messy fragments of his wrist.

Sakura-kun and Naruto-kun’s reactions are delayed slightly, but Sakura-kun’s is particularly drastic. “What… what happened!?”

“His arm was already wounded,” you observe. “He used that technique knowing this could happen.”

“That’s crazy!” Naruto-kun exclaims. “Who the heck would take it that far for some dumb test!?”

“It’s not crazy,” Sasuke-kun counters, his tone sober. “Not if he has something he wants to prove badly enough.”

“Shinobi have to be ready to make tough choices,” Kakashi-san adds. “What risks they’re willing to accept, what objectives are too important to give up on even in the face of long odds. Sometimes abandoning the mission isn’t even possible.”

Kiba-kun stirs, and manages to roll onto one knee. “Akamaru… hey, Akamaru!”

The dog doesn’t even have the strength to whimper back in response.

“… dumbass,” Zaku-kun grumbles, having finished his emergency first aid. “Bringing a stupid puppy into a fight, the hell’d you think was gonna happen?”

Kiba-kun reaches into his hip pouch and produces a single large medical pill of some kind. “… big words. Good thing you’ve got a big mouth to match, cause I’m about to shove those words back down your damn throat!”
>1/2

>>6404309
“That Kiba…” Sasuke-kun mutters, holding his left shoulder. You’ve noticed he’s been doing that for a while now. “What did he just do?”

“It was a chakra pill,” you answer, prompting an amused chuckle from Kakashi-san.

“Well now, I guess that big talk about being a medic-nin wasn’t for nothing,” he muses. “Did you recognize the pill itself, or its effects?”

“Both.”

Things go downhill for Zaku from there, after Kiba-kun takes on a low stance. His form becomes more animalistic as he begins to tap into his chakra, physically enhancing his own body and taijutsu to mimic the fighting style of a wild animal right down to the claws.

It seems that the blast that nearly took Zaku-kun’s arm off also drained much of his stamina, because after a sustained assault he goes down and stays down.

Hayate-san kneels for a few moments to assess Zaku-kun’s vitals, quickly reaching a conclusion. “This one… has had it. The winner is Inuzuka Kiba-kun.”

Kiba-kun immediately goes to see to Akamaru, his dog, while medical ninjas rush in yet again to deal with Zaku-kun’s maimed arm.

The mood is decidedly sober with Team Kakashi as Zaku-kun is eventually carted off on a stretcher. Sakura-kun finally voices her thoughts. “I know he was our enemy, and he would’ve killed us if he could, but still…”

You can sort of see her point – the last two matches have been brutal. You can only hope things will get to be a little more like actual matches from here on, with fewer lost limbs and near-death outcomes.

>1d8, taking the first two

Rolled 1 (1d8)

>>6404840

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>6404840

>>6404840
The names flash once more across the screen before stopping in the next two contestants:

Kaguya Ryōko vs Haruno Sakura

>Make a somewhat flashy entrance
>Take the chance to intimidate her
>Just keep it quiet for the time being
>Other?

>>6404961
>Just keep it quiet for the time being

>>6404961
>Just keep it quiet for the time being
We'll need flash for the next round and Sakura ought to be plenty afraid of Ryoko already

>>6404961
>>Just keep it quiet for the time being

No need to make it flashy, this is just business and then we will curbstomp her so hard that she can't even land a hit.

>>6404961
>Just keep it quiet for the time being
Oof, rough matchup for Sakura. But hey, I suppose we'll be teaching her a lesson, rather than the other way around. Though between Naruto sporting a kusari-gama and Sakura wielding a tanto, it seems weapon arts are more prevalent in this quest, which might mean she can put up a little more of a fight.

Whatever the case, be polite. We're already sitting there with her. Let's have a good, clean match.

>>6404961
>Just keep it quiet for the time being

Hmm, maybe she'll be a tougher fight than we imagine. Deviance from canon and all that, she was supposedly a 'genjutsu type', which is, or was, our weakness. Even if that whole genjutsu type stuff was never expanded upon with her character in the series.

>>6404961
>>Just keep it quiet for the time being
We're all friends here, right?
>Ominous silence

>>6404961
You decide not to make this too flashy, the way you might consider doing were this a public event. Nor do you see much point in showing off to try and threaten Sakura-kun… either she’s strong enough that she won’t be intimidated so easily, or she’s weak enough that it wouldn’t be worth the effort. No. Instead you walk calmly and quietly around the viewing level, fist-bumping Akiji-kun as you pass, and continue down the stairs.

Sakura-kun does the same, heading in the opposite direction. But you get the sense that few people aside from her own team are even watching her… almost every set of eyes falls firmly on you, the mystery girl with the imposing name from the village many have written off.

The two of you meet face-to-face, and Hayate-san approaches to begin the match. You incline your head ever so slightly, a gesture of respect that’s not quite empty given the circumstances.

“Sakura-kun,” you greet your opponent.

She watches you for a moment, then returns the polite gesture. “Ryōko-kun. I hope you don’t take this personally.”

“Take what personally?” you ask.

“I’m going to give this everything I have,” Sakura-kun insists. “Against you I don’t think I can afford not to.”

“Ah,” you reply. “You may be right. In any event, giving it your best is the best way to respect your opponent, don’t you think?”

>Open with temporary paralysis, create a temporary opening to weave hand signs and disappear.
>She uses tantō-jutsu. Better to keep your distance at first and open with wind release ninjutsu.
>You doubt she can weave one-handed signs. Close in and keep her from using ninjutsu or genjutsu.
>Other?

>>6405213
>You doubt she can weave one-handed signs. Close in and keep her from using ninjutsu or genjutsu.
The less cards we reveal to the audience the better.

>>6405213
>You doubt she can weave one-handed signs. Close in and keep her from using ninjutsu or genjutsu.

>>6405213
>You doubt she can weave one-handed signs. Close in and keep her from using ninjutsu or genjutsu.

I concur. Whatever skill she may possess with a tanto, I'm confident we can overcome her regardless, close quarters is our element. We ought to hide our more esoteric abilities from the onlookers and feign being a mere bruiser. Besides, if there is a path to losing this match, it'll be through a canon-deviant Sakura that knows genjutsu or learned some fitting techniques from Kakashi. Stopping her from using such a technique should net us the win.

>>6405213
>You doubt she can weave one-handed signs. Close in and keep her from using ninjutsu or genjutsu.

>>6405213
>You doubt she can weave one-handed signs. Close in and keep her from using ninjutsu or genjutsu.
I need to kill!

>>6405213
>>You doubt she can weave one-handed signs. Close in and keep her from using ninjutsu or genjutsu.
Kill em all

>>6405213
>>You doubt she can weave one-handed signs. Close in and keep her from using ninjutsu or genjutsu

That being said, don't hold back. If she won't hold back neither should we. Give her that respect of not playing with her.

>>6405213
>1d10, best of three

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>6405385
I'd win

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>6405385

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>6405385
Nah.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>6405385

>>6405385
As soon as the word “begin” leaves Hayate-san’s lips you dart forward to close the distance – you’re not sure how Sakura-kun typically fights, but you doubt she knows how to use ninjutsu or genjutsu with one hand. And in any event you’re absolutely confident in your taijutsu, to the point that you deem that for Sakura-kun to try fending you off with one hand would basically be conceding the match to you.

She tries to weave some hand seals, and barely gets to the second before having to spread her hands and lean back to avoid an uppercut. Then she ducks under as you follow that uppercut with a downward chop, blocking an immediate low kick with her arms and getting rolled backwards by the force. To her credit Sakura-kun manages to draw her tantō at some point despite having been knocked back, and even manages to sling the saya at you as you chase her down. You simply let it bounce off you rather than doing anything that would create an opening for her, but it wasn’t a bad try on her part.

From a purely technical perspective Sakura-kun proves to be a fair fighter, with precise control and a reasonable ‘vocabulary’ when it comes to taijutsu. The problem is that her movements are slow and her attacks have no weight to them. It’s easy to use a turn of your waist here and a carefully-positioned hand to her wrist there to completely negate any attack she tries against you, even without having to rely on shikotsumyaku.

That is, until she disengages with a handful of shuriken and an unusual burst of speed – using chakra to enhance her leg speed, perhaps? In any event your momentary evasion combined with her disengagement gives her the opportunity to grasp her tantō in her teeth and weave a few quick hand seals.

Sakura-kun appears to separate into three ‘bodies’ – a classic use of the basic clone technique, which she tries to use to misdirect you as she charges in with her tantō at the ready. For such a basic technique, her chakra control and jutsu timing both seem to be excellent. It just isn’t enough against an opponent like you, who can at least vaguely sense the hostile intent of her true body.

>Catch her blade in one hand and weave hand seals for a counterattack with the other.
>Use the shikotsumyaku to break her tantō. See what she does under that circumstance.
>End this with a well-timed temporary paralysis jutsu.
>Other?

>>6405809
>>Catch her blade in one hand and weave hand seals for a counterattack with the other.

No mucking around.

>>6405809
>End this with a well-timed temporary paralysis jutsu.
The REAL no mucking around option.

>>6405809
>Catch her blade in one hand and weave hand seals for a counterattack with the other.

Hmm, an early application of the strength enhancement she later learns from Tsunade, applied to speed perhaps? Or a shunshin? She thought we used it against Kankuro, before we corrected her. Maybe she thought it was a good thing to learn, to keep up.

Anyways, it doesn't seem like she has any particularly dire tricks up her sleeve, despite the technical excellence. Lets end this.

>>6405809
>Catch her blade in one hand and weave hand seals for a counterattack with the other.
I'm sensing that it won't be THAT easy to finish her off, but if we can keep some cards close to the chest I would prefer it.

>>6405809
>Catch her blade in one hand and weave hand seals for a counterattack with the other.

>>6405809
>Catch her blade in one hand and weave hand seals for a counterattack with the other.
This commits the least to the fight, but it either sets us up for next round or ends the fight.

>>6405809
>1d10 best of three

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>6406205
here we go

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>6406205
Let's see if I still remember how to do this.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>6406205

>>6406233
Kaguya SWEEP

>>6406205
You dodge the first, then slip around the second with a turn of your waist, only to find the ‘real’ Sakura-kun bearing down on you in what must to her seem perfect positioning. The slash is aimed at the base of your neck on the right side, and in this position it would normally be impossible for you to counterattack properly. Without a weapon in your hand, you normally wouldn’t even be able to parry.

Which is why Sakura-kun is stunned for a moment, as her sword stops against the side of your palm with a resounding metallic ring.

Even after she recovers her wits and realizes you’ve got her blade trapped in a vice-grip, it’s far too late. You’ve moved on to the next step in your plan without her. That was her entire turn.

Tiger. Ox. Dog. Rabbit. Snake.

Your breath technique, ‘Daitoppa’, hits her squarely at close range and blasts her backwards, carrying her halfway to the wall behind her before it starts to lose strength and simply drops her there – battered and bruised, and disarmed of her tantō. She stares at you wide-eyed, like a housecat whose hunt has been interrupted quite unexpectedly by a tiger.

“Not bad,” you muse, flipping the tantō into the air so that the hilt finds the palm of your right hand. “But now I have a sword.”
>1/2

>>6406286
Sakura-kun draws a regular kunai from her hip pouch, still refusing to concede defeat despite the fact that cutting you with her tantō – which you took from her – accomplished nothing. Then she dashes forward with a burst of speed, throwing a second kunai ahead of herself which is aimed straight at your face. You simply lean to dodge the flying blade, and follow through with that motion as she closes the last little distance. With a turn of your hips and a slight angling of your shoulders you’re able to reverse the tantō in your hand and bring its spine down on Sakura-kun’s hand to audibly break her thumb.

You can’t quite dramatically press the tantō’s edge against her neck to force a concession, Sakura-kun still has too much spirit for that. She still doesn’t want to lose, and backs off accordingly once it’s clear this most recent attack has failed. Even now you can tell she’s considering what else she can do to make some progress against you.

>Use the temporary paralysis technique, MAKE her quit before you’re forced to really hurt her.
>Let her hit you. If she has nothing that can break your kekkei genkai, then she should back down.
>Show off your kekkei genkai. Poison her if you have to, which should force the referee to act.
>Other?

>>6406411
>>>Use the temporary paralysis technique, MAKE her quit before you’re forced to really hurt her.

If she can't take the hint...

>>6406411
>Use the temporary paralysis technique, MAKE her quit before you’re forced to really hurt her.

>>6406411
>Use the temporary paralysis technique, MAKE her quit before you’re forced to really hurt her.

>>6406411
>Use the temporary paralysis technique, MAKE her quit before you’re forced to really hurt her.
Should have started with this.

>>6406411
>Use the temporary paralysis technique, MAKE her quit before you’re forced to really hurt her.

>>6406411
>1d10 best of three

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>6406572

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>6406572

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>6406572
I roll

>>6406581
Kaguya SWEEP 2.0

>>6406572
Sakura-kun goes for another attack with shuriken, but never gets the chance. Instead you raise two fingers of your left hand in front of you and lock eyes with her, focusing your own chakra. This time, you feel… something different from when you usually use the temporary paralysis jutsu. It’s as if something buried deep within momentarily stirs, a sensation creeping unbidden from the back of your mind towards the edge of conscious thought.

“Kanashibari-no-jutsu.”

Having met your gaze, Sakura-kun freezes mid-movement. Her jaw quivers, her right hand shakes and drops the shuriken she was trying to throw just a moment before. Her eyes widen as she realizes that she can’t move.

Banishing the strange sensation in your own mind, you step closer to place the edge of her tantō against her neck. She makes no move to oppose you, though the look in her eyes grows frantic.

“Proctor,” you announce, never once taking your eyes off Sakura-kun or lowering your guard in any way. “Please call the match.”

Hayate-san coughs once, then approaches to examine Sakura-kun’s condition. He lightly taps her on the right wrist, then positions himself to look at her face to face, holding one fingertip out and moving it around in front of her.

Then he steps back.

“Since her opponent has been incapacitated, I’ll be declaring Kaguya Ryōko the winner.”

Before turning to leave you rest the tantō across the top of your hands, hilt to your left, and bow slightly towards your opponent. Then you take a step closer and lay the blade down on the ground in front of her.

Once again, you feel eyes following you as you leave the sparring floor. Medical ninja swoop in to remove Sakura-kun and look her over elsewhere before clearing her medically – they can’t be sure that all you used was the basic temporary paralysis technique, after all. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to suspect a more serious condition.

>1d7, taking the first two

Rolled 7 (1d7)

>>6406636

Rolled 7 (1d7)

>>6406636

>>6406233
I'm this ID, posting from another location. I'd normally wait until my internet is back, but...

>>6406636
Damn, we really gave Sakura PTSD on the spot, huh? The difference in strength between these two is simply too much-- I kinda wish she had just given up when she was disarmed, but props to her for trying. Truly one of the most hydrogen bomb vs coughing baby matches out there.

She's going to be seeing us in her nightmares, and when (if?) she becomes a pupil of Tsunade as well... She'll probably see Ryoko as a mountain she'll have to climb to be secure in her own abilities.

Still, I suppose it wasn't all too bad. I bet Ryoko can copy the chakra enhancement Sakura was using to move faster. I'm not sure how much her Jutsu timing and chakra control stacks up to Sakura's, but it's something to think about, for sure. Maybe we should think about using the Chakra Scalpel offensively?

Tsk, missed the vote. I wish we could have made sakura to back down on her own. If i remember correctly chunin exams still let you pass despite defeat if you give a good showing but this was over far too quickly to be called such.

>>6406970
Like in canon Sakura isn't nearly strong enough yet to be a chunin

>>6406970
Pretty much what >>6407004 said. Sakura's technically competent, but she's one of the weaker fighters in her batch (if not one of the weakest, bring a 'regular' ninja with no special bloodline or clan technique). An admirable showing from a rookie from a rookie team, but she is currently not chunin material.

In fact, in canon, despite all of the A-List roster of heavy hitters, the only one who makes it to chunin during the exams is Shikamaru-- granted, after the Konoha Crush, the championship match never happened. Maybe they would've gotten an extra chunin otherwise.

It does make me wonder if Ryoko will qualify, though. She's keeping a lot of cards close to her chest and is actually more well-rounded than she initially appears, so I figure she's a shoe-in for chunin, but I suppose we'll have to see once the event is interrupted.

Rolled 6 (1d7)

>>6406636

>>6407702
Shikamaru passed because he was a genius who proved he wasn't just a heavyweight bruiser, unlike literally everyone else in that batch. Something Ryoko has already proven is that she has a brain too. She also tipped her hand on being a medic nin, which will earn big bonus points given how rare and in demand they are.

In terms of Sakura as a normie ninja in Naruto, you have 1 of 2 options. 1 Taijustsu or 2 if you have enough brains, develop your own ninjutsus. Sakura had the chops to do both, but ended up giving up on herself.

Ryoko is holding back, but her biggest concern is her secret connections to Tsunade and her top secret research projects she is working on, which is something nobody is gonna think to ask the right questions about around here. Revealing her combat ability, on the other hand, while a concern isn't her biggest worry, given how her Clan is so infamous that their methods aren't a huge secret except to a dumbass like Naruto. She just needs to put on a good show as a heavyweight to not make her village look bad. Unlike everyone else, she unironically doesn't take the exams seriously at all. So ironically, she'll probably end up passing along with Shikamaru despite also having 0 fucks to give about it.

The only thing that happened that specifically screwed Ryoko over was running into snake boy, who instantly saw through part of Tsunade's plans but backed off...for now.

>>6406636
You hear the next match announced as you’re walking past the Konoha teams – “Yamanaka Ino versus Tsurugi Misumi”. Yamanaka Ino turns out to be the blonde girl with the long hair, who you pass by going the opposite way. It’s not until you reach team Kakashi when you are, perhaps predictably, stopped for a moment.

“What kinda cheap trick was that!?” Naruto-kun demands, having stepped out to make it harder to walk around him to get back to Akiji-kun. “I saw Sakura-chan hit you with her tantō and you didn’t even budge!”

“Stop,” Kakashi-san orders him tersely, placing one hand firmly on his shoulder. “Let her pass.”

“But you saw it too, Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto-kun starts to protest, only for Kakashi-san to tighten his grip.

“I said ‘stop’, Naruto,” Kakashi-san reiterates, raising his voice at first before taking a moment to collect himself. Sasuke-kun merely watches in silence. “Sakura-kun lost a fair fight to a strong opponent. There’s no shame in that, only an opportunity to learn… for you as much as for her.”

“Sakura-kun will be fine in a few minutes,” you insist, “so would you mind stepping aside?”

After a few moments, Naruto-kun steps back to allow you to pass. As you do, you spare a glance over your shoulder. “Good luck on your match, Sasuke-kun.”

“… thanks,” he grumbles reluctantly.

…

By the time you return to Akiji-kun, the next match is just starting.

“Welcome back,” he greets you with a fistbump. “How did it go?”

“Hard to say,” you admit. “The jōnin probably already suspected.”

“First strike, sure victory!” Tsurugi Misumi shouts confidently, closing the short distance and striking at Yamanaka-kun with his fist.

Yamanaka-kun blocks, but finds herself trapped as her opponent’s limbs begin to bend in unnatural directions. Tsurugi wraps his own limbs around Yamanaka-kun’s and slips behind her back, pinning her arms and getting one of his own arms around her neck.

And then he begins to constrict… like a snake.

“You should give up,” he insists with an audible sneer from behind his cloth mask. “I’d rather not have to break your neck, but I will.”

Yamanaka-kun continues to struggle, unable to say anything back due to the pressure around her neck.

“Oh? Still struggling?” Tsurugi muses. “Am I being underestimated?”
>1/2

>>6407882
There’s an audible pop and a strangled cry from Yamanaka-kun as Tsurugi dislocates her shoulder. “Even the wise man only gives three chances.”

There’s another loud pop as Tsurugi repeats the process with the other shoulder. “And this is your third chance. Use it wisely now.”

“That’s enough,” Hayate-san declares, choosing this moment to step in. “With both arms severely dislocated, Yamanaka-kun has no ability to continue. Therefore, I’m declaring Tsurugi Misumi the winner.”

Tsurugi doesn’t release his victim, at least not as quickly as Hayate-san seems to want. It almost seems to you, for a moment, like he fully intends to kill Yamanaka-kun even after the match has been called.

“… I said knock it off,” Hayate-san repeats, suddenly pressing a blade drawn from behind his back against Tsurugi’s neck.

After a moment, Tsurugi finally releases his hold on Yamanaka-kun. The girl falls to her knees, doubled over, flooding her lungs in ragged gasps that trigger a violent coughing fit.

“… the hell’s wrong with that guy?” Akiji-kun wonders aloud as Tsurugi withdraws and several medic-nin return to the floor.

“Could be a lot of things,” you reply grimly. “You think you could take him?”

“Probably, now that I know his trick,” Akiji-kun decides. “I think it’d be harder for you to not kill him.”

“… you’re not wrong.”
>1d6, taking the first two

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>6407891

Roll random!

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6407891
Man, I haven't thought about knockoff Mr. Fantastic since middle school. Props for capturing the feel of the show QM, I could practically hear dub Naruto in this update

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>6407891
RNGesus take the wheel!

>>6407891
"The next match will be Kinuta Dosu versus Tenten."
>writing in progress

>>6407922
“Well, here are two I have no idea about,” Akiji-kun admits as the next two opponents take their positions down on the arena floor. “You have any feelings either way?”

You shake your head. “The way they both carry themselves tells me they know some taijutsu. I guess the Oto-nin probably uses sound waves with that big gauntlet he wears.”

The match begins the same as all the others so far, and what happens next also resembles many of the previous matches. Dosu charges in while Tenten falls back, the latter drawing and throwing kunai with practiced precision. It’s a distinctly smoother movement than it was with Sakura-kun, but even despite that the kunai fail to hit their target. Instead Dosu raises his right arm, which is sheathed in a heavy-looking metal gauntlet, and blocks the kunai with it like a shield.

“It’s remarkably solid,” Akiji-kun muses.
>1d10, best of three

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>6408571

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>6408571

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>6408571

>>6407855
That sounds about right. This quest inspired me to start rereading the manga, and it's certainly making me wonder how things will play out in this new canon.

>>6407891
So it's no surprise that Ryoko would kick the ass of any grappler thanks to the Shikotsumyaku, but it does make me wonder... since tendons and ligaments aren't bones, would dislocating her limbs be an effective way of taking her down? Easier said than done, of course, and she does regenerate fast, but it's certainly interesting to think about.

Granted, cartilage can be produced from osteoblasts, so that might be a way to go? I know one of the Dances lets you make flexible whip and spine-like weapons, so that might be something to explore.

>>6408571
“And he’s probably going to win because of it,” you muse as Dosu closes the distance with Tenten.

Even before Akiji-kun can ask, you can see the effects in action. No mere armor should reverberate that way when struck, like a gong producing a single clear tone. And that of course is the entire point – the gauntlet produces a reverberating sound wave, which Dosu can then manipulate using his chakra.

Tenten seems to realize that something is wrong, and so she chooses to reverse directions and strike with her fists. The first blow does manage to delay the effect by striking the reverberating gauntlet a second time and changing the tone, but that just resets the problem. She uses that opportunity to draw a kunai and swing it down towards Dosu’s shoulder, which he blocks with his left arm. Then when Dosu aims for a counterattack with his gauntleted right arm Tenten flips up into the air to avoid it as well as to position herself for a kick.

Dosu manages to block the kick again with his raised left arm, but Tenten manages to connect with the kunai from her previous attack with her toe. That sends it whizzing at Dosu’s face, which he manages to block by tilting his forehead protector into the way.

The exchange seems to have chipped away at Dosu slightly, but the fact that Tenten wavers on her feet means she’s also feeling the effects of Dosu’s technique. In your estimation you could probably counteract Dosu’s soundwaves by concentrating medical ninjutsu chakra in your inner ears to stabilize them, although that would take up some of your focus. The more elegant solution is one you don’t know how to achieve just yet, which would be to use the kotarō produced in your own poison glands as an antiemetic, counteracting the vertigo and nausea he induces using those soundwaves.
>1/2

>>6408778
“Their taijutsu isn’t bad at all,” Akiji-kun muses. “Not like yours of course.”

They’re slower too, even without considering how liberally you’re able to use shunshin. In fact the only one so far who’s been up to your standards was Lee-kun, and he managed to lose his match for the same reason Sakura-kun lost hers and Tenten is about to do the same – an inability to adjust. Facing Gaara-kun’s sand, Dosu’s sound, and your kekkei genkai with nothing but taijutsu seems like the equivalent of playing rock-paper-scissors by insistently choosing paper every single time.

Tenten tries to change things up by pulling out a scroll, presumably to unseal a weapon, moving on her feet the whole time. Dosu’s countermove is to stay close, waiting for a misstep that would let him close in and strike to interrupt her unsealing. What Tenten eventually chooses is…

“A jō?” you realize.

Akiji-kun seems pleasantly surprised. “That’s not a bad choice.”

The jō, when used properly, is an incredibly adaptable weapon. It can be swung like a sword, used to thrust like a short spear, or maneuvered nimbly like a staff, meaning that the technique used can always leverage its strongest aspects against the weakest aspects of its opponent. In this case Tenten uses her jō to attack and, when Dosu blocks with his gauntlet, she shifts the weapon in her hands to immediately launch a follow-up strike.

“Not enough,” you decide.

The staff nearly catches Dosu in the teeth with a thrust, and after Dosu tries to smack it away Tenten twists and lashes out at Dosu’s ribs on his left side. And now, Dosu demonstrates exactly what kind of shinobi he is as he catches the jō in his left hand.

He pulls Tenten closer with a sharp jerk before striking the jō with his palm to crack it in half, then swings his gauntlet back-handed. While Tenten manages to regain her balance and backpedal in what looks like just the nick of time, the near-miss does the same thing to her that it did to Kabuto-kun in the scuffle before the first stage.

Akiji-kun sighs wearily. “I guess you were right.”

The momentary disorientation and nausea causes Tenten to suddenly be sick, creating a massive opening that Dosu exploits. If he has any feelings of remorse about this ploy he does nothing to reveal them, his attacks brutal and direct. While Tenten raises her hands in a vain effort to defend herself, that doesn’t do much as Dosu simply throws hooks that slip around her guard to strike her in the head.

The last blow which strikes Tenten in the stomach is completely undefended, and leaves her on her knees.

“Stop,” Hayate-san orders, finally stepping in. “I’m calling that a technical knockout. Since Tenten-kun is no longer able to defend herself, Kinuta Dosu will progress to the next stage.”
>1d5, taking the first two

Rolled 3 (1d5)

>>6409282
Rollan for Sauce v Neji

Rolled 3 (1d5)

>>6409282
>

>>6409285
... the next match will be Hyuga Neji vs Uchiha Sasuke.

I shit you not, both of them have ended up at #3 in their pools with who all has gone already.

>>6409301
Cinema, but RIP Sasuke's hopes of showing out in the tournament.

>>6409301
Jeez, what a match.

>>6409301

Neji at this point can basically beat everyone in the tournament, who could even realistically beat him right now? Nardo has not done his training yet so not him.

>>6409301
Once the arena is ready for the next match, the electronic signboard flashes back into life. Eventually, it snaps to two names: Hyūga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke.

There’s a bit of a buzz among the observers, and you can understand why – both Hyūga and Uchiha are well-known names, even in Yugakure. You might normally consider this matchup to be one of the most exciting possible, the winner of which would go on the shortlist of contenders to go “all the way” along with you and Gaara-kun.

“So who do you think has this one?” Akiji-kun wonders aloud.

You shake your head. “I don’t think this is likely to be close.”

“I see, I see,” Akiji-kun nods thoughtfully, taking a moment to process your declaration. “Hey wait, why?”

“I think Sasuke-kun was hurt when his team ran into Orochimaru in the forest,” you explain. “Watch him carefully. He’ll reach for his shoulder at some point… always the left. Like something right at the base of his neck is causing him pain.”

Kakashi-san briefly stops Sasuke-kun and says something to him… you can’t tell what exactly. Too far to hear, and his mouth is of course hidden behind his mask. And there Sasuke-kun goes, reaching again for the same spot on his shoulder. This time however it doesn’t seem to be an acute pain or spasm of some kind, but rather a result of Kakashi-san having brought it up. The look on Sasuke-kun’s face is grim as he heads down to face off against Hyūga Neji.

“I hadn’t anticipated facing you this early,” Neji-kun admits as the two square off. “It’s too bad, the public stage would have been a better venue.”

“If it’s gonna happen it may as well be now,” Sasuke-kun counters.

Hayate-san glances back and forth between the two contestants. “Hyūga Neji versus Uchiha Sasuke. Ready… begin!”

Hayate-san leaps back to give the duo space, and both immediately default to taijutsu. Neji-kun uses a relentless series of palm strikes while Sasuke-kun favors a harder form, switching between fists to strike and open-palm ‘chops’ to redirect Neji-kun’s palms. While it’s clear that their speeds are matched, and their physical strength nearly so with Neji-kun perhaps having the advantage, the real difference is in technical prowess where Sasuke-kun just can’t keep up.

For a few moments Neji-kun seems to switch to something that seems more aggressive – pinpoint attacks with his fingertips that strike at specific spots on Sasuke-kun’s arms.
>1d10 best of three

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>6409696

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>6409696

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>6409696

>>6409399
Right now? Only Gaara and Ryoko but they already passed. Ryoko can only be beaten by Garaa and Lee but Garaa has already beaten Lee. So right now, nobody is left who can stop Neiji.

>>6408676
Ryoko is very hard to disable due to being able to forcefully shift her body and engineer antibodies when drugged or poisoned. As her 'immortal' techniques further develop, this will only become more true over time. They hinge upon extremely aggressive regeneration and body transfiguration. With her being a medicnin she can be even more aggressive about it and patch herself back together with minimal side effects.

Of course, that fact is something she would very much prefer keeping a secret, so she would rather surrender than give that away. The dances are one thing but they are a known Clan technique and wont draw any attention. That her budding advanced secret techniques are another.

>>6409696
Precise fingertip strikes have a few uses, generally speaking. They can be used to target joints, or certain specific nerves that are more exposed than the others. At worst, one can strike in the gaps between muscle groups and inflict deep tearing wounds. But that doesn’t seem to be what Hyūga Neji is up to based on the injuries those strikes are leaving.

“This… doesn’t seem like an even fight,” Akiji-kun observes.

“… it isn’t,” you realize. “Neji-kun is striking at Sasuke-kun’s tenketsu.”

“Wait… the tenketsu?” Akiji-kun repeats, surprised. “Like his chakra network?”

“Yes,” you confirm. “The Hyūga possess a kekkei genkai in the eyes. He must be using that ability.”

“Weren’t the Uchiha also known for that kinda power?”

“They were,” you nod. “But it seems like Sasuke-kun’s not using it.”

“… you think this has something to do with whatever Orochimaru did to him?” Akiji-kun wonders as Sasuke-kun scrambles to open the distance back up again, throwing a series of kunai that his opponent handles effortlessly.

“If we run into him again you can ask him,” you reply, tiring somewhat of the questions.

“What are you doing?” Hyūga Neji demands. “Do you think so little of me that you plan to go on fighting without activating your sharingan?”

“That’s right,” Sasuke-kun pants, mostly under his breath. “This guy is one of Lee’s teammates…”

Sasuke-kun continues to clutch his shoulder, now obviously in pain.

Hyūga Neji notices it as well. “That shoulder of yours… something happened in the Forest of Death, didn’t it? Is that why you can’t use your sharingan, or any ninjutsu?”

Sasuke-kun winces. And you thought Shizune-san’s ‘poker face’ was lousy.

Neji-kun actually crosses his arms, glancing at the proctor and assembled observers. “I don’t make it a habit of beating up on opponents who can’t fight back.”

“Now who’s mocking who!?” Sasuke-kun shouts back, before being immediately wracked by pain so severe he falls to one knee.
>1/2

>>6410588
Hatake Kakashi-san forms a hand seal and disappears from where he’s been observing in a puff of smoke, reappearing over near where Hayate-san has been proctoring the match from. Kakashi-san raises one hand and makes a comment to Hayate-san, who nods in understanding before walking out in-between the contestants. He clears his throat.

“We will have a brief pause for a discussion on how to proceed,” Hayate-san announces, before using a shunshin of his own to go and speak to the Hokage in something approaching private.

“What’s going on?” Akiji-kun asks. “Why pause here?”

“They’re discussing whether to end the match,” you guess. “Or something along those lines.”

“… can they do that?”

“Maybe not,” you muse with a frown. “They have to be aware that Orochimaru has involved himself. I guess what they do may end up depending on what they think Orochimaru is up to.”

After a few moments Hayate-san returns to the center of the arena and clears his throat again. “Due to outside interference in the previous stage of the examinations, it has been proposed that the match between Hyūga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke be delayed until the day of the public stage. Their match would be the last preliminary, but would be treated as the first of the public matches.”

“This is only possible if all jōnin-senseis present agree to it.”

The Sunagakure sensei is the first to step forward. “I accept these terms… this match is probably the one many of the daimyō will be looking forward to, so it should drive up attendance.”

Chōji-kun and Ino-kun’s sensei sighs wearily. “Doesn’t really change the brackets for anyone else too much, so what the hell. Could be a good show.”

The female jōnin, whose team Kiba-kun is on, nods in agreement. “I have no reason to disagree at this point.”

Guy-sensei just nods quietly. “If that suits Neji-kun, then it’s fine with me.”

“I have to admit,” the Otogakure jōnin smirks, “I would also feel some disappointment if I could not see two rare dōjutsu clash at their best. Otogakure will agree to this delay.”

“Then with that,” Hayate-san begins, only to stop as you seat yourself on the railing looking down on them.

“Aren’t we forgetting something?” you ask, raising your voice.
>2/3

>>6410593
“Kaguya-san,” Hayate-san replies calmly, “please understand that as you are not a jōnin-sensei, your opinion does not carry the same weight at this time.”

“Opinion?” you repeat, the word bitter on your tongue. “My teammate disqualifying himself over the same circumstances as you mentioned is a fact. My ‘opinion’ is that a Hyūga throwing a tantrum and an Uchiha with a handicap shouldn’t get special treatment.”

“… what did you say?” Neji-kun growls, turning his attention to you.

“You heard me.”

>One or the other of them can withdraw. That is my position as the strongest representative of my village present.
>I can eliminate them both right here, right now if you like. Neji-kun should have no problem with that, right?
>The final brackets are unbalanced. If only Konoha shinobi end up fighting extra matches, I’ll consider it fair to my teammate who withdrew.
>Other?

>>6410597
>I can eliminate them both right here, right now if you like. Neji-kun should have no problem with that, right?
I know that option 3 is the most reasonable, but I simply can't ignore the opportunity to aurafarm when we have such a good match up against Neji

>>6410597
>I can eliminate them both right here, right now if you like. Neji-kun should have no problem with that, right?

>>6410597
>I can eliminate them both right here, right now if you like. Neji-kun should have no problem with that, right?
Hell yeah.

>>6410597
>I can eliminate them both right here, right now if you like. Neji-kun should have no problem with that, right?

Let’s be a little cocky, I’m not sure if gentlefist can crack our defenses or not but it’ll be fun to see if it can.

>>6410597
>I can eliminate them both right here, right now if you like. Neji-kun should have no problem with that, right?

What an interesting twist.

We were tasked with showing off, so lets show off, it is our mission. We've already passed our preliminary match. While the other options are fairer, and we'd get to see an interesting match once if we let things continue as is, we're not here for our entertainment. Besides, a 2v1 between us is about as interesting.

>>6410597
>>The final brackets are unbalanced. If only Konoha shinobi end up fighting extra matches, I’ll consider it fair to my teammate who withdrew.
Anons, the mission was to show off in the exhibition matches and then get a ton of job offers for our village, not to do it in some closed space, get crippled and leave Kaiju alone with the Konoha freaks by himself, are you fucking dumb?

Plus, if we fight and then you all decide to use every trump card we have, not only they'll know our strategy for the next round, but also, they could say "well you wanted to fight and eliminate them, and that's the objective of these fights, so technically we'll have to disqualify you because you lost. You issued the complain and challenge them both so it counts"

>>6410597
>The final brackets are unbalanced. If only Konoha shinobi end up fighting extra matches, I’ll consider it fair to my teammate who withdrew.
To this point, Ryoko hasn't really been the aurafarming type. She's been acting like an... actual ninja, keeping cards close to her chest, and using subterfuge and secrecy to her advantage. Getting blown the fuck out because of arrogance and bloodlust *is* a Kaguya thing, but it is specifically {b} NOT {/b} a Ryoko thing.

>>6410597
>The final brackets are unbalanced. If only Konoha shinobi end up fighting extra matches, I’ll consider it fair to my teammate who withdrew.

Anons here >>6410727 and >>6410731 are right. We are not of aurafarming type and we have kept our tricks hidden. Revealing them now when no one is seeing them is just foolish and not advisable. Instead of showing our brawn, lets show our smarts and argue our case with our head.

>>6410597
>>The final brackets are unbalanced. If only Konoha shinobi end up fighting extra matches, I’ll consider it fair to my teammate who withdrew.

>>6410597
>The final brackets are unbalanced. If only Konoha shinobi end up fighting extra matches, I’ll consider it fair to my teammate who withdrew.

>>6410597
>The final brackets are unbalanced. If only Konoha shinobi end up fighting extra matches, I’ll consider it fair to my teammate who withdrew.
It's important to note that our objective is to make it to the finals of the public rounds. As these are the prelims, we don't need to go too far. That being said? There might be some merit in playing the heel, eliminating two of the fan favorites in the preliminary rounds, and basically being the big showstopper that denies the show people wanted to see in favor of... an upstart kunoichi from a fallen clan and declining village.

I don't mind either way, I suppose. Option 2 is bolder, but Option 3 is smarter.

>>6410746
Option 3 is actually the worst option. More matches mean more chances for Konoha Shinobi to show off. So even if they're facing each other they still get the same amount of matches.

I'd rather a one for one trade but that doesn't have support.

>>6410597
>I can eliminate them both right here, right now if you like. Neji-kun should have no problem with that, right?

>>6410795
More matches also means they will be in worse shape when Ryoku has to fight them, which means we can dunk on them more easily and get more prestige if we win against either Neji or Sasuke when we met on the arena

I'm also willing to switch on one for one trade desu

>>6410795
That's true, but I've a feeling that it will be expected for the Konoha Shinobi to show off-- it's their village, after all, and majority of the teams are from Konoha in the first place.

More importantly, if I'm reading this right, we don't need to diminish Konoha's renown, just make sure that Yugakure gets to the finals and gives everyone a good showing, no? Granted, you could argue that it's a zero-sum game and we need to eliminate as much of the competition as possible to help us shine, which might be a decent way to go, if that's how we want to play it.

I will also agree that Option 1 is the best for facilitating that approach, though 1) I don't know if they'd accept our words when everyone else is cool with it, making a compromise a better option and 2) our inter-village reputation may take a hit if we come off as too demanding? Option 2 is extremely cocky, but we might be able to back our words with our actions. Option 3 seems the most reasonable, but falls into the previously-stated (dis)advantages.

>>6410836
That doesn't matter much since winning isn't the goal it's to show off. If the crowd has an excuse like they're tired it doesn't do much.

>>6410841
The whole reason why the Mc is speaking up is because she thinks this is unfair. Her teammate left because he took injuries from an outside source (Oro). If we're going either the option that allows Konoha to keep the two people anyway then all it does is place the ball in their favor anyway. At that point she might as well have no spoken up. Konoha gets what they want.

As for your last point anything that isn't number one which is in their advantage will be a negative to konoha. If the problem is inter village relations, then the Mc might as well have not opened her mouth in the first place, in the case of fairness in the first place.

Fighting might show our tricks now but it possibly eliminates two threats, who would be stronger during the prelims and require us to do so anyway at a worse time.

It also occurs to me more matches mean nothing to Neji and Sasuke. All konoha has to do is foist the extra matches on genin who don't matter or have alot of Stamina like Naruto.

The point about agreeing with our words, doesn't matter. For a few reasons. The first option if they accept it is to their benefit, which makes the Mc look dumb. So we may as well had said nothing or something they'd reject would be the better options.

>>6410597
“… I agree with her,” an unexpected voice speaks up.

The Sunagakure team – as well as their jōnin-sensei – stare at Gaara-kun in surprise.

“Strength you either can’t or won’t use is the same as no strength at all,” he clarifies. “Why should we accommodate weaklings?”

“That isn’t quite what I was going for,” you admit, before turning your attention back to the matter at hand. “While I would love to knock these two out myself, right here and now, that would be a violation of my orders.”

“As things stand, the first and last two brackets will be fighting to advance to the quarterfinals, right?” you continue, illustrating the point with your fingertips. “I propose that the winner between Hyūga and Uchiha should be placed as the twelfth seed. They’ll have the most matches to get through by one, but the longest down time between them to recover.”
>1d10, best of three

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>6411072

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>6411072

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>6411072

>>6411072
Man, I love that insane weirdo Gaara

>>6410874
>>6410921
You've got a lot of good points, but I personally disagree on a few points. MC is speaking up because she feels it's unfair, but the options available all have some merit. We haven't run into any 'trap options' thus far, and Ryoko's a smart girl-- if she didn't think it was a good idea to say any of these things, she wouldn't have piped up in the first place.

You're free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like you're assuming that Konoha will rig matches against foreign genin, or at least give favorable matchups for their favorites, which... isn't the case? I know Sasuke and Neji are being given a lot of leeway here, largely because the Third is being pressured by his sponsors (and Oro, indirectly) to make sure they make it to the audience-facing rounds (in addition to the exenuating circumstances involving a certain snekman).

We're calling them out now in good faith that they will acknowledge that they're giving their guys too much leeway, yeah? I'm sure they'll at least listen to the feelings of a competitor and foreign representative.

...not that it matters much anyway, now that the vote's been called. Good to discuss it regardless, I suppose.

>>6411290
Truly. We've got a surprising number of scenes and chemistry with him thus far, in a way that's different from his interactions with someone like Naruto. Like recognizes like, I suppose? Even if he does serve as Ryoko's hard counter. Strongest contender for the Ryokobowl thus far.

We'll probably need to come up with something to counter Gaara's sand during the one-month training period. As it is, seeing as he beats Kimimaro in canon, I don't really see a way to victory if we're matched against him. Poison, maybe?

>>6411362
Keep in mind Kimimaru was on death's door the entire time. He needed the curse mark to just perform at a fraction of the potential that was his norm. Had he not been nine toes in the grave already the fight might have turned out differently.

>>6411290
Gaara is having a tough time this time around. He ran into someone, a girl no less, who instantly identified the fact that he is putting up a front and gods forbid is completely immune to his bullshit. Someone who doesn't fear him whatsoever and actually treats him like a normal human being. An infamous Kaguya no less who took refuge in some no name loser village that stood up to his people.

Kaguya Ryoko for her part whenever people would point out how monstrous and 'psychotic' Garaa her reaction is LMAO because she grew up in a Clan FULL of actual psychos and could instantly tell Garaa was pretending, so she instead found his 'act' endearing and just thought he was a cool guy. Much to the utter horror of everyone else that she could think that of...Garaa of all people. Which she simply shrugged off because hey she knew she had an extremely fucked up childhood and skewed spectrums.

No surprise that he chose to back Ryoko. The poor guy is probably still wondering if he is hallucinating it all from a lack of sleep after having met a cute girl who is cool and was willing to hang out with him. Hopefully he doesn't get the bright idea to later ask Naruto of all people for advice about girls...

>>6411362
Our only counter to Garaa in a fight is armour pierce+Poison and if it doesn't work, we are screwed. Very much a one trick pony against Garaa and once Garaa realizes it he can optimize his defenses to counter it.

>>6411383
Yeah, we never actually got to see how strong Kimimaru truly was. He had to resort to the curse mark just to fight at all. He only what a few days to live at all before the fight? So the entire fight premise was that Kimimaru was a crippled dying man resorting to the curse mark just to barely revive himself enough to fight again temporarily. So it was never shown just how strong Kimimaru actually was at his peak or normally much less enhanced.

>>6411072
Hayate-san looks to the Hokage for guidance, and receives a subtle nod in reply.

“Very well,” Hayate-san declares. “By request of Yugakure, the last preliminary battle between Hyūga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke will be held on the day of the public finals. The winner will be placed in the twelfth seed.”

Neji-kun is quick to leave the arena, only sparing Sasuke-kun a pointed glare before returning to the overlook to watch the next match. Sasuke-kun in the mean time is led out of the room by Kakashi-san. Some of the interest in the room seems to leave with them, including the Otogakure jōnin going so far as to step out before the next match is even announced. He could very well have his own reasons of course, though it doesn’t seem that Dosu-kun is thrilled by the move.

You also note that your own stunt has cost you the increased attention of several others in the room… the jōnin still remaining in the room, the Hokage from his own vantage point, the proctors of the previous stages. And of course, Gaara-kun.

“Is that guy just… staring… at you?” Akiji-kun realizes.

“Pay it no mind,” you grumble.
>1d4, taking the first two

Rolled 1 (1d4)

>>6411809

Can the love bloom in the Chunin Exams...

Rolled 2 (1d4)

>>6411809

Rolled 1 (1d4)

>>6411809

>>6411809
Kankuro vs Aburame Shino

>>6411815
Kino match up

>>6411812
Of course! Mister Sandman and the Bone Bitch belong together

>>6411818
>>6411812
Gotta to give Gaara credit for his early attempts to come out of his shell and his flailing attempts at a gesture of goodwill. Despite his terrible current mental state he is trying...albeit in his current creepy edgy self. Oh boy does he have one hell of a challenging romance ahead of him for Ryoko, though...like damn. Garaa at least deep down wants to face his issues, unlike Ryoko and all her immense baggage. Also talk about hardcore tastes for bony badass bitch of an ice queen. Explains why he was single in canon. He needed that Kaguya extreme to scratch that itch lol.

Pretty sure he misunderstands Ryoko as a more typical Kaguya, though. Hence her 'immunity' to him also being a fellow 'psycho' and his attempts at being a 'fellow strong'. A mistaken feeling of kinship and understanding. Ryoko won't show off that side of her until the tournament due to the Village's request and desperate need to show off a heavyweight publicly. A Kaguya showcase will certainly accomplish that with flying colors.

>>6411456
That's cute. Though I think at this point, Gaara is less 'pretending' to be psycho and more... so misguided in his beliefs that he believes that killing people who are strong will give him a reason to live and assert his existence.

Of course, at his core, he's not actually past the brink-- he's just desperately searching for love in the only way he can think of: extreme violence. Once Ryoko learns about it, she could probably sympathize in her own way. And of course, after the Konoha Crush, once he's beaten down, he may need to search for a new reason to live...

So I guess in that regard, Ryoko may end up giving him his reason to live, though perhaps not in the way he initially expected, and in a way that's different from when Naruto did in canon.

I will say that it's quite entertaining to watch their interactions, too. Gaara doing Gaara things and expecting people to be intimidated, and Ryoko not even flinching and continuing to treat him normally... I suppose if she was able to stand up to Orochimaru's killing intent with some difficulty, she can manage Gaara's killing intent just fine. Also, Gaara picking black coffee in the last thread might inform his sensibilities, but if recontextualized... he might have done it to try and look cool in front of a girl he liked, which would be pretty funny, especially since Ryoko seems to clock it, too.

>>6411951
>He needed that Kaguya extreme to scratch that itch lol
If Ryoko follows the path of her teacher, and of course if Gaara can cinch it, he will be the envy of his generation. Ryoko could be one hell of a looker (if one doesn't mind the Kaguya crazy)

>>6411812
>Can the love bloom in the Chunin Exams...
I believe!

>>6411957
Gaara is still lashing out and sleepy. He just stumbled upon a girl who is immune to his BS. On top of that she is a Kaguya notorious for being a bunch of 'fellow' bloodthirsty, powerful psychos. Which caused him to trip up. Puberty REALLY isn't helping him out right now either. Gaara is clearly misunderstanding something there but isn't quite catching onto what or why.

Ryoko doesn't fear Gaara whatsoever or find him intimidating. Not that she doesn't see him as dangerous. After all, she knows what 'real' psychos are truly like and knows Gaara is just acting. She doesn't know 'why' he's acting that way but given how fucked up ninjas are with using child soldiers...well, she isn't about to judge him for it. That is despite hearing about his reputation and the warnings about him. She just brushed it off and just treated him normally which floored and deeply confused Gaara. Something that Gaara has never actually experienced before, much less from a 'peer' from the opposite sex.

He never even had to fight her, or resort to violence and intimidation never happened as she is completely immune and simply brushed it off completely. Treating him normally...like how he always wanted to be treated. So everything Gaara previously knew or thought he understood isn't working. Even his approach to properly 'support' a fellow 'psycho' Kaguya isn't working like he thought it would, which is confusing him.

He did so in a very public fashion, side with another 'weak' village albeit with a 'strong' Kaguya...that he never seen truly go all out yet. He is just assuming she is strong. Something that is complete heresy for someone like Gaara. To be fair to Gaara though, he is assuming Kaguya Ryoko MUST be so strong because how else is she so completely immune to his killing intent and intimidation? Let's just ignore her absolutely nightmarish straight up hellish childhood growing up and abused by psychos as her 'family' Clan. There is a reason she compensated by being a ruthless ice queen that even made a Sannin have a serious double-take as a little girl. Which isn't a wrong assumption to make really just not the real reason why she is immune, because if jonin are fucking terrorified of Gaara. Only a creepy ass mofo of a Sannin like Orochimaru managed to get a rise out of Ryoko, her sense of fear scale is so extremely distorted.

That I think is why Ryoko is able to score the reaction out of Gaara, despite Naruto not working his Talk No Jutsu during Konoha Crush yet. Ryoko isn't having a heart to heart with him of talking bullshit but rather reaches him on a level that only someone of...well a certain extreme trauma can understand. Naruto was an outcast but he had Jinchuriki and Talk No Jutsu. With Ryoko and Gaara its more on the level of unquestioning acceptance, lack of judgement, and embracing being a living weapon while still being treated normally. Ryoko never held it against Gaara or judged him for it.

>>6412077
Despite all warnings to the contrary. For Gaara...this is unprecedented and not actually limited to just him. Ryoko even treats Naruto like this. A complete dumbass. As Gaara he likely thinks it's because Ryoko is a Kaguya who is strong and psychotic. Ryoko for her part...well given how she experiments on herself and her own self treatment. That level of viciousness and ruthlessness shows a certain distorted acceptance of herself as a living weapon too and as a child soldier. She doesn't actually see the jinchuriki as 'special' in that regard whatsoever. Dangerous certainly but not scary. She fears her own psychotic deceased brethren or someone like snakeboy more than she does them.

As for how Gaara will react in the coming month or after the Konoha crush...well, who knows. There is always Naruto with his talk no Jutsu. Gaara is reacting out of character way ahead of schedule. Seems keenly interested in Ryoko who accepts his antics with remarkable grace.

>>6412058
Gaara clearly craves that challenge of the amazonian snu snu of an ice queen to get past his fear of pain turned pleasure. The route Ryoko is taking she is gonna grow up to be a very big boned literally LMAO woman with great assets thanks to her research direction. Given how bulky the physique clan members were...yeah the women would swing hard towards Amazonian physique, especially with that skeletal structure. Especially as she keeps tinkering around with those techniques...she gonna grow up to be a big girl with big bones and lots of muscles...good lord. Gaara clearly is a man of culture with refined tastes in assets and the required craziness required to support said assets. Not his fault the other women were so...lacking and weak. He loves the challenge and death by snu snu.

>>6411815
“The next match will be Kankurō versus Aburame Shino,” Hayate-san declares once the names finish flashing across the board. You also note that Sakura-kun has finally been cleared to return and finish watching the matches together with Naruto-kun, though the two don’t seem to be talking at all.

You go over the remaining list of competitors in your head – it’s down to the last half-dozen including Akiji-kun, and there’s a variety of potential matchups he could end up facing. The third member of Gaara-kun’s team may be rough for him if Gaara-kun himself is much of a standard to go by, while the pale-eyed girl who’s on Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba’s team seems too meek to really be capable of putting up a good fight.

>Keep watching with Akiji-kun, see what that punk Kankurō is capable of.
>Go over and say hi to Sakura-kun. They must both be worried about their teammate.
>Maybe go rattle the Otogakure genins’ cages a bit now that their sensei has left.
>Other?

>>6412131
>Keep watching with Akiji-kun, see what that punk Kankurō is capable of.

>>6412131
>Maybe go rattle the Otogakure genins’ cages a bit now that their sensei has left.
Hehehe

>>6412131
>>Maybe go rattle the Otogakure genins’ cages a bit now that their sensei has left.
Trouble making

>>6412131
>Maybe go rattle the Otogakure genins’ cages a bit now that their sensei has left.

>>6412131
>Maybe go rattle the Otogakure genins’ cages a bit now that their sensei has left.

>>6412131
>Maybe go rattle the Otogakure genins’ cages a bit now that their sensei has left.

>>6412131
>Maybe go rattle the Otogakure genins’ cages a bit now that their sensei has left.

lol I can't help it.

>>6412131
>Maybe go rattle the Otogakure genins’ cages a bit now that their sensei has left.
We actually don't get a lot of info about this team of jobbers until they die. I wonder how much of that will diverge from canon...

>>6412077
>>6412083
Good assessment all-around, though I'm not sure about the bit about Ryoko's physique. I know that last thread, Tsunade mentioned Ryoko's short stature-- whether that'll stick once she's grown a bit, I'm not certain.

That does make me wonder though... since users of the Shikotsumyaku can modify their bone structure... could Ryoko just... choose to modify for a smaller or larger frame? Could she change her appearance in this way? I know that it's control over her bones, but her skin parts to let bones enter and exit-- does that mean she can control those well? A sort of... plastic surgery jutsu, hah. Granted, not all that useful since the Transformation Jutsu exists, but the possibilities are endless...