Third-Person POV

Hisao made his way up the flight of stairs to the VIP room where the Kage would be seated.

Today was the beginning of the Single-Elimination Rounds which would start the final test in the Chunin Selection Exams. Today, in particular, the Preliminary Rounds was to be held in order to determine who among the passers of the Forest of Death test would get to go on to the Quarterfinals.

Everyone from the four corners of the ninja world would be tuning in to watch, that included the three Kage's, their advisors and their cohorts. As soon as Hisao walked into the VIP room he beheld for himself who those people were.

The one sat closest to him was the Cloud Village's Raikage A, his advisor Darui and Darui's partner-in-action C. Sitting beside the Raikage was the Kazekage of the Sand Village Gaara with his brother Kankuro standing at his side.

At the end was none other than Kakashi, the Sixth Hokage. On his right was his advisor Shizune and on his left was, surprisingly to Hisao, the previous Fifth Hokage Tsunade. There was another figure further at the back of the room but Hisao could not identify them yet.

When Kakashi noticed Hisao he waved him over and the two greeted each other.

"Kakashi, who is he?" A demanded with a mean tone.

"A friend of mine," the Sixth answered. "He's the leader of a squad participating in the Prelims today."

Hisao bowed low. "It is an honour to meet you, Lord Raikage and Lord Kazekage."

"Please, there's no need," said Gaara. "Any friend of Kakashi's is a friend of mine."

A had said nothing else and returned his gaze to the stadium.

"The leader of a squad participating today, huh?" Tsunade wondered. "Which one?"

"Team 12," said Hisao, "that is Iroko Nakata, Yuura Kairi and Asami Senju."

Tsunade gasped. "A.. sami?"

Hisao crossed an eyebrow in confusion.

"Something wrong, Lady Tsunade?" Kakashi inquired.

She stirred as if awakening from a daze. "Huh? No, of course not!" she snapped. "It's an interesting name, is all!"

"Indeed...," Kakashi mused.

However, Hisao was no longer paying attention to that. He was wondering where a certain ninja was. They did not appear to be in the room at the moment, nor anywhere close by, so he used his scanning system to scope out the entire stadium and then he had located him on the other side of the stadium opposite to where he was.

He was standing in the furthest back row amongst the jeering crowds, watching in silence.

"I see you found him," Kakashi noted.

"Why does he not stand among us?" Gaara asked. "He is the Jonin Commander, surely he has a right."

Kakashi lowered his eyelids. "It's not that he doesn't have a right, he just doesn't want to."

"The arrogant fool," Tsunade commented. "How long will he keep up that attitude?"

Perhaps it may have something to do with his son participating? thought Hisao.

"Anyway, what did you need, Hisao?" asked Kakashi.

"I wanted to know if you had heard from the Konoha Barrier Team."

"Yeah, there's been no intrusions so far. Why?"

Hisao's expression slightly grimaced. "Shino Aburame had found something strange yesterday. As he was closing up the Forest of Death, his insects had relayed a message to him: There was an animal in the Forest that had not been apart of the Forest before yesterday, a pheasant."

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe it flew into the Leaf the other day and settled down into the Forest. Pardon me, but I don't see the big deal here."

"Lord Sixth, it was spawned from thin air."

?!

Tsunade caught on. "Wait, are you suggesting--?"

"A Summoning? Yes," Hisao confirmed. "What's more, it was seen by the snake that had attacked several genin and was eventually killed by another genin participating."

"What for?" Kakashi asked.

"Shino's flies could not get close enough in time before the pheasant flew off. They were trailing it but at some point, it was released."

"What does that mean?"Gaara joined.

"I spoke to the Research Team and according to their files and data there is no shinobi or resident of the Leaf with a recorded Summoning of a pheasant."

Shizune had started walking away briskly. "I'll contact the Barrier Team."

"Hold on, let's not raise any alarms just yet," Kakashi said. "If we spread panic and worry the final test will be cancelled. I take it this intruder hasn't done harm to anyone so far, right? If we can discreetly find them before things get worse that would be better."

"Nevertheless," Tsunade persisted, "Shizune should contact the Barrier Team to look for any clues or signs of the intruder."

"My lady, Lord Sixth," she bowed then turned to leave the room.

"It seems we're living in strange times once again," Gaara commented.

The Raikage grunted.

"Putting that aside for now," Kakashi diverged, "looks like it's about to begin."

The crowd of people in the seats had now erupted into a roar when Might Guy appeared at the centre of the stadium with a mic in his head. He was still in a wheelchair but he had lost none of his youth.

"GOOOOOOOD MORNING, KONOHAAAAA!!!" he bellowed. 'WHOOOOOO'S READY TO RUUUUUUMMMMMBLE?!!"

"If that's all, you can go now, Hisao," said Kakashi, "we can talk more after the Prelims."

"Of course, Lord Sixth," he turned and bowed to Tsunade, "Lady Hokage."

"Thank you for your diligence," the princess expressed.

The android-ninja bowed to Gaara and A once more then took his leave.

He walked back to the jonin section and sat beside Kosetsu.

"You told them?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes, the Barrier Team is being notified and they will search for the intruder."

"In that case," she reclined in her chair, "all we can do now is sit back, wait and enjoy the tournament. Who do you think will go on to the quarters?"

Hisao smiled. "Who indeed."

Meanwhile, in the waiting room, a yawn had managed to escape from Iroko's mouth.

"Tired?" said Yuura. "Did you not get enough sleep last night?"

"Not really," the blue-streaked boy replied, "I was so excited I found it hard to sleep."

"Well, let's hope you'll be able to perform at your best."

Iroko's eyes shone with purpose. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'll be just fine."

"All right, go time, people!" a jonin called out to the genin. "You're up in three! Get moving!"

They nodded in assent and moved out of the waiting room and into a tunnel. While running, Iroko was able to clearly see who was there. There was Kazue and his team, that was a given. Daito, Fumino and Yohei were also there, that was good. Baku and Itsuki, along with their teams, were there as well. The final team that was there, Iroko did not recognize them but the symbol on their forehead protectors said they were from the Cloud Village.

"Yo, Yuura, Iroko!!" Daito called out to them. "Good luck out there! Whatever happens, I hope we can all still play Brawl Buds afterwards!"

"You got it!" said Iroko. Yuura gave a thumbs-up.

Right after, Iroko felt someone roughly bump into him. A moment later Kazue was running ahead of him. He looked back at Iroko and said: "You better not lose a single match."

He smirked at him. "Right back at ya."

"Tch. So freaking annoying.."

Asami looked at Iroko and then up at Kazue with wonder.

"WELCOME TO THE PRELIMINARY ROUNDS!!!" announced Guy. "Today marks the beginning of the final test of the Chunin Exams-a!! Now, I know what you all want, so without wasting any time, here are theeee participants!!"

All teams ran out from the tunnel and into the centre of the stadium. Iroko let out a breath of astonishment as he beheld the cries of excitement and anticipation from the hundreds of watchers all around him.

Here I am! he thought.

"Those who stand before you are the passers of the last exam: the Forest of Death," said Guy, "and they're here to duke it out to see who'll go on to the Quarterfinals!! It's gonna be a series of battles that'll put these youthful ninjas and kunoichi's wits, skills and strengths to the test against each other!! But before we begin the first match we have a special word from our very own Hoookage!! Give it up for Kak-- I mean, LOOOOORD SIXTH!!!"

Kakashi walked out from the VIP room and onto a balcony with the Kaze and Raikage standing beside him. As soon as they saw him the crowd went wild with applause. He raised his hand for silence and then spoke via a microphone.

"Thank you. This year's Chunin Exams would not have been possible if it weren't for the combined effort of all hidden villages in the pursuit of peace. Praise should be given to the Kazekage and Raikage beside me, as well as the Tsuchikage and Mizukage. These Exams symbolise our bond and trust in each other as we forge along to an era of understanding and cooperation between each other. Let's all have a successful Single-Elimination and wish the competitors good luck."

Lord Sixth really is the coolest! Iroko smiled.

"Thank you, Lord Sixth!!" Guy returned. "Just before the matches begin I have to announce that in order to maintain a smooth bracket system, participants Yohei Namaki and Yui Takaya will not be involved in this Single-Elimination!"

Yohei and one of the Cloud genin, a freckled girl with long dark pink hair, waved so as to be identified.

"Don't worry though! This does not affect their performances in the Chunin Exams overall! And now the moment you've all been waiting for! Let's announce the competitors of the first match!!"

He directed everyone's eyes to a large screen built into the forefront of the stadium. It veered to life and started cycling through a pair of names with 'VS' in between them.

It's randomized, Iroko realized. Come on, who'll it be?

It then finally stopped on two names.

中田 色子 VS 大太刀 大斗

IROKO NAKATA VS DAITO ODACHI

Iroko became bewildered. "Wait.. what?"

He glanced at Daito who was looking at him with a grin on his face. Iroko felt a bead of sweat run down his face as he returned the smile.

Me against Daito, huh?

"Aaaaall right!! We have our competitors for the first match!! Every other participant can head onto the reserved seating area!!"

Beside Iroko, Yuura looked unsure of what to say to him. Iroko then understood why.

"Don't worry about it," he said assuringly.

Yuura nodded suite and followed after the other genin as they made their way to the reserved seating area. He wanted to say something to Asami but then realized she was not beside him as she previously was. He looked back and saw still standing and looking at the VIP room.

"Asami?" Yuura called her.

She flinched and looked back at him. "Right..."

Now it was just Iroko and Daito in the centre of the arena.

"Remember what I said earlier?" Daito asked.

"Yeah," said Iroko, "no hard feelings okay?"

Daito drew out his giant sword and assumed a battle stance. Iroko did the same but with no visible weaponry.

Alright, dude, know who you're up against it, he thought to himself. Daito's probably a pro swordsman so close combat isn't an option. He'd be expecting that, which means...

Iroko looked up at the VIP room, past Kakashi and into the dark corner of the room. Are you watching, Sasuke-sensei?

Gaara's elder sister, Temari, came into the ring and stood in between Iroko and Daito.

"The match goes on until one of you either gets knocked out or surrenders," she coached, "do I make myself clear?"

They nodded in assent. Temari backed away.

"START!!" she shouted.

They burst into a run and dashed straight for each other.

"He didn't start with his Flash?" Yuura exclaimed.

Indeed Iroko was only running normally at first but just before the moment of contact, Iroko then activated his Flash, zoomed right past Daito (right as he was swinging his sword) and flung shuriken at him in his blind spot.

The swordsman boy reacted accordingly and swerved around, swinging his blade at the same time and deflected the shuriken.

It's no use, Yuura tensed. Daito would've seen it coming. We learned a lot from Suigetsu-sensei...

The moment the tactic failed Iroko tried to double back but Daito was on him faster than he could even take a step. Iroko had no choice but to block the incoming sword attack with a kunai in each hand. The following flurry of attacks had Iroko needing to read Daito's movements and block at the exact right moment.

This is just like back then with Ryuun Kitto!

The second Daito produced an opening in his flurry of attacks, Iroko jumped onto the blade of his sword and leapt away from Daito. Whilst in midair he spawned five Shadow Clones. The crowd gasped in awe, not being privy to witness such a scarcely-used jutsu.

"Interesting," said Gaara. He looked at Kakashi. "Did you or Naruto teach him how to use it?"

"I certainly didn't," said the Sixth.

"No, he taught himself," came a cold and dark voice.

Kakashi and Gaara's expression lit up in surprise. The Sixth Hokage's eyes narrowed. "Is that so..?"

"Shadow Clones, huh?" Daito expressed. "Keh, I gotta give it to you, Iroko, you're full of surprises!"

The Shadow Clones landed onto the ground and rushed at him, but Daito was already weaving hand signs then slammed his hand onto the ground, shouting: "Earth Style: Tremoring Rock!!"

Just then, the entire stadium started to shake and vibrate uncontrollably. The crowds of people would be safe by means of a ninjutsu barrier but Iroko and his Shadow Clones were not.

Ahh, oh no, my Shadow Clones can't take much more-- They burst into smoke. The crowd became dissatisfied at having only seen the Shadow Clones for a moment. Iroko himself had become disorientated. His vision shook and he was unable to move properly in time to stop Daito.

"He's going in for a shot!!" Ken pointed out.

"ARF!!" went Akira.

Fumino fumbled her hands restlessly.

Dammit, do something!! Iroko cried.

Daito's blade came just an inch away from Iroko's head before the blue-streaked boy raised a kunai filled with lightning chakra to stop it in its tracks.

Yuura let out a breath of relief.

Immediately after though, Daito swayed the sword around him and struck Iroko from the other side before he could stop it once more with his kunai.

As he slid on the ground from the hit, Daito was running up to him, preparing to finish it again -- then a Shadow Clone appeared right in front of him held him back with all its might.

Iroko rolled back to his feet again, revealing he had formed the Shadow Clone seal while sliding on the ground. Daito's strike to the head was not enough to not knock him out and instead brought him back to his senses.

The crowd cheered once again. It seemed they were on Iroko's side. In a separate section of the stadium, there were jonin that could be seen writing on click boards.

One more time! Iroko insisted. Again he formed the Shadow Clone seal and spawned two more clones. They Flashed to either side of Daito and held down his arms. Daito had surprisingly muscular arms and was able to move even with the weight of all three Iroko's on him but he was not strong enough to throw them off.

"Agh, dammit!! Let go!" he yelped. The Shadow Clone on his right arm tried to remove the giant sword in his hand but Daito's grip was monstrous.

"That's fine!" said Iroko, now in the air with a chakra-filled punch at the ready. "We just need to knock you out!" His right hand glowed that golden colour while being enshrouded with teal-coloured chakra. He reared it back, getting ready to swing with all his might.

Yuura's breath hitched once again.

Daito smirked. "Guess there's no choice." Daito's sword started glowing a light green colour and then he changed.

Suddenly, Daito had enough strength to wrest Iroko's clone away from his right arm allowing him to intervene and block Iroko's punch. With his left arm, he grabbed the other Iroko clone and flung it at him. The last that had held him down by the torse he knocked out with the pommel of his sword. Iroko stared on with disbelief.

"What just happened to Daito?" Fumino asked to no one in particular.

Yuura answered. "It's a new technique he learned from our training. It's called--"

"--Kendo Style!" Daito finished.

The crowd was now cheering for Daito. The counter-attack was well-received among them, and the jonin could be seen writing down on the click boards once again.

"It's where Daito unlocks his sword's latent potential," Yuura explained. "The sword has the ability to automatically store up chakra and, on command, Daito can release that chakra and it'll course all throughout his body in a rush, drastically increasing his strength and his prowess with his sword. It's only for a minute or two though."

"I see," said Fumino, "that would explain why he was suddenly able to carry Iroko."

Yuura remained restless.

I know that at the end of the day one of them is bound to win, he thought, but I just can't bear to see one of them lose either!

Then he remembered Iroko's eyes that shone with purpose and the words he said: "Oh, don't worry about me. I'll be just fine."

What did he mean by that? he wondered.

"He's going to win," Asami then spoke out of the blue.

It caught Yuura off guard and he stared at her with confusion. "Asami...?"

Iroko had spawned more Shadow Clones and together they Flashed towards Daito, fully intent on bringing him down. Daito then moved forth and one by one brought the clones down. Even with just one swing of his blade, he took out three clones at the same time.

Yeeesh!! Iroko grinned. That is one scary ability!!

He made an attempt to step away from Daito.

I've only got a few seconds left with this technique! thought Daito. I've gotta make it count. I ain't letting my team down!!

He grabbed a clone by the collar of the jacket and flung it at Iroko with frightening speed.

Are you serious?! It hit him dead-on. The clone vanished in thin and Iroko was sent tumbling to the ground.

In his attempt to get back up, Daito loomed over him, raising his blade up high. Iroko made a bolt to get out of there but Daito had predicted his movement and struck him in the head as he was trying to evade.

Yuura gasped. Oh no..!

Iroko lay on the ground, still as a rock. Daito exhaled sharply. And that's the last of it, but it got the job done. Real sorry, Iroko, but I couldn't afford to let them down.. He looked directly at Fumino.

Not her.

He turned around and started walking away. The crowd was now completely cheering him on. How could they have switched sides so quickly, he wondered. And then it occurred him that unlike him it didn't matter so much who won or lost and that the fight was what truly mattered.

However, as Daito was walking away he noticed that Temari had not officially declared him the winner.

"Um.. I won?" he said to her.

She deadpanned at him and pointed back in the direction of Iroko. The crowd had let out a gasp. Daito turned around and saw the blue-streaked boy struggling to his feet.

"No way," Daito voiced out loud. "You should be sleeping! How are you...?!"

...if I give up...

...then I'll miss the moment...

"It's time," the cold and dark voice spoke once more.

Kakashi heard it. "Sasuke? What are you talking about?"

The Shadow Hero of the Leaf emerged from the shadows. "Just watch."

Daito reared his blade and charged at Iroko. "Fine then! Guess I'll have to make sure I do you in properly!!"

FLASH!! Iroko ignited the Flash jutsu once again and with even faster speed than before he ran backwards to the edge of the ring and scaled up the wall of the arena with the Surface Walk jutsu.

Yuura blinked in sheer surprise that his friend was able to move at all. Iroko, what are you...

Hisao's smile had now turned into a full-on grin. "Looks as though he's learned something new, hasn't he?"

"Hey, no fair!!" Daito shouted. "You know I can't use the Surface Walk jutsu! Get down here and face me mano-a-mano!!"

Iroko did not respond. He was too busy forming hand seals.

I should've known, Iroko thought, even right from the beginning, that in order to beat him it would have to be IN AN INSTANT.

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*"When you run with it, you cannot move in any direction but a linear one. When that happens, your vision is focused solely on what's in front of you, which is your target. With this in mind, your enemy could easily dart out of your way and attack you from the side in your blindspot. Having the Sharingan would make up for this..."

"But because I don't have the Sharingan..."

"...The only other alternative is to strike them before they have a chance to even move, and you'll need an overwhelming amount of speed to do that."

"Which is why I've been running those laps!! To increase my stamina!! But what about the push-ups and sit-ups? And the sparring sessions?"

"To increase your strength and dexterity so as to cope with the second drawback of the Chidori: its offensive power and damaging to the hand, respectively."

"However none of these things matter if you can't land that hit. Iroko, your speed is key, or rather your Flash jutsu is. To reach the level you need you have to break yourself."

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He could hear it, the chirping of birds.

He could see it, the spasming electrical current.

Kazue was able to recognize it. "Son of a-- that's that jutsu he was gonna use!!"

Gaara and A were dumbfounded.

Kakashi sent a glare at Sasuke. "You didn't."

"I did," he replied.

"Why? He doesn't have the Sharingan."

"We were able to bypass that."

"Even so, why would you..."

Sasuke came this close to smiling. "You want to know why I taught him? That's simple--"

Iroko cracked the surface as he moved.

The top of the wall he stood on to the ground level of the arena was 50 metres long. The distance from there to Daito was another 50.

Iroko had covered that distance in less than 2 seconds.

"CHIDORI."

Daito nearly broke the sound barrier as he was shot into the wall on the other side of the arena. His lungs were sucked dry of air and his body deprived of the will to stay conscious. He slumped to the ground against the wall while Iroko slowly got back up from the fastest run he had ever made.

Temari went over to Daito's body and checked to see if he was still awake. She raised a flag. The crowd exploded in cheer.

Sasuke finished his sentence. "--it's because he's like me."

"MATCH POINT!!!" Guy roared. "IROKO NAKATA MOVES ON TO THE QUARTERFINALS!!!!"