"You've gotta be shitting me..."

Maybe she really should've just killed Zabuza and called it a day, because she had just managed to piss off one of the famed Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and was now going to fight him on what was basically his own turf. 18 Genins, one giant underground colosseum, 6 spots for the final stage. It was basically a battle royale to be last man standing so to speak, except the arena was a multistory deep tower underneath a lake and every ten minutes a random window will open to flood water into it, forcing the contestants to slowly climb up or drown. There were 7 stories, and it would take 3 hours before the tower was completely filled with water.

It was too late for regrets, but Goddamn if she didn't hate whichever asshole came up with this stupid Exam. They all started somewhere on at the bottom scattered across the maze-like ground level. Julia unsealed her nunchaku and took off her arm and leg weights. It was too dangerous to dick around here.

Her safest bet was to keep walking in one direction until she reached the wall of the tower which would significantly reduce her exposure and let her deal with attacks coming from the front instead of being stabbed from behind again. She even slipped her sandals off and went barefoot to reduce any noise she was making as she slowly treaded. This place was frigging huge, so with any luck, she could just hide it out for a while as the others tire each other out.

"Water Dragon Jutsu!"

"Oh come the fuck on, you guys aren't even going to pretend to be fair anymore?!"

3 Kiri Genin had found her, apparently, they thought it would be a brilliant idea to team up and eliminate the outsiders to ensure only their village's shinobi passed. Stupid cheaters with their stupid water spam. It had been an hour and she was currently running for her life on the 4th floor. The three idiots weren't especially strong, however with all the water everywhere, they had ample ammo to shoot Ninjutsu at her from any angle.

So, she had decided to run instead of engaging in an unfair 1v3 match up. This was the 5th time she had ran into them, they were a persistent bunch, she'd give them that.

"Shut up, you damn Tree Hugger!"

"Coward, stop running away you little bitch."

"Really? That's the best insults you've got for me, seaweed head? You three cock suckers got water in your brain or were you just born retarded?"

They didn't appreciate the banter it seems, as a pressurized sphere of water the size of a fucking van was sent flying towards her head. Thankfully their aim was shit and there was an advantage to being so short, she barely needed to duck and could keep running full speed. One Shadow clone and transformation Jutsu later, and the trio never realized the moss growing in the cracks in the wall was their true target.

"I don't know who the hell is proctoring this, but if you can hear me I just want you to know, you're full of shit."

She flipped the bird and spun around in a full circle slowly just in case there was someone hiding or maybe a weird camera like recording Jutsu was around. She was drenched from head to toe and the chill was seeping into her bones. There was a constant stream of water pouring down no matter which direction she went. She had half a mind to just start blowing shit up and hoping for the best because this was just plain ridiculous. At this rate, she'll die from hypothermia long before any shinobi's kunai.

"Oh come the fuck on! You limp dick bastards are really going to gang up on one little girl? So much for the famed prowess of Kiri's shinobis. Might as well just kill yourselves, because this is fucking embarrassing."

Sabako couldn't hold in her frustration at the three assholes chasing Julia. This was the Chunin Exams for God's sake, a place to test your mettle and show your worth to your village and the world, yet Kiri not only clearly rigged the entire thing, but they also weren't even being subtle about it! She didn't know what the hell the Mizukage was thinking to put on this sorry excuse for a show. Didn't he care about the fact that important guests from all around the Elemental countries were watching? Heck, even other Kiri-Nin agreed with her judging by the fact she wasn't getting shit for her outburst.

She really hoped Julia makes it out alright and kick enough ass for the both of them.

A large explosion and a sudden blast of heat caught her attention.

Julia carefully steadied her breath and she peeked around the corner to check out the commotion. Screw saving her energy and waiting it out, everyone was teaming up and if she kept waiting she'd be outnumbered and hunted down. She'd just have to cause a ruckus.

"Katon: Fireball Jutsu!"

An impressive orb of fire came out of an older boy's mouth, his chest seemed to expand three times its size for a moment as he forced out the flames. A large plume of steam enveloped the area and even from her distance, she could feel and sauna-like gust. However, it didn't matter because his opponent merely had to cut off their flow of Chakra to their feet and sink beneath the waves to getaway.

From behind his back a tendril of water wrapped around his legs and slammed him against the back wall before pulling him underneath. He pulled out a kunai and tried to cut it in vain, this knife simply passed through and the tentacle would reform behind its edge. It wasn't long before the boy passed out, but it was obvious his opponent had no intention of letting him go.

At least not until a metal pole was launched into his gut with all the force of a missile. A shadow clone went to retrieve the other boy as she carried them both above the surface so a proctor could come and retrieve them.

That was the plan anyways, but Zabuza and his cronies didn't take the hint apparently.

"Hidden Mist Jutsu? Again? Really now, don't you have anything new? I'm not falling for it again this time."

Connecting her two Nunchaku to form a staff, she twirled it at high speed to blow away the mist. The smirk on her face died all too soon however when the artificial rain that had been falling above her suddenly turned into needles. She jumped back to dodge but the coverage area was simply too high.

"Not so cocky now are ya, brat?"

Zabuza's reach was frankly ridiculous. Not only was his limbs naturally longer than hers since she was only 6 and he was in his teens, but his sword itself was bigger than most men, being over 6 feet in length. It was not an exaggeration to say that entering within 5-8 feet of Zabuza was within his optimal attacking sphere of influence.

Julia's was half that at best even with the extra length her staff provided. She may be stronger than him, but she was having difficulty finding the leverage to apply that power, and his teammates kept fucking with her. They weren't sending water bullets or other shit at her like the previous team she had encountered, no, because that'd be far too easy.

They were having fun messing with her footing by churning the water, poking at her occasionally with the hidden water needles or kunais, and being incredibly annoying.

"Oh? I didn't realize we were having a party! You guys have been having fun carving up this Konoha brat without me? Why didn't you invite me, Zabuza~?"

"You've gotta be shitting me, another Seven Swordsman wannabe? Don't you have better things to do than harass me? Like going to the dentist and getting your fucked up teeth checked?"

"A funny one, eh? I just love those. Don't worry about me kid, we'll see how pretty you are after I pull out all your teeth."

A shark-like grin was on the other girl's face, and Julia wished that was merely an expression. Every single tooth in the swordswoman's mouth were like little triangles, and she had to make a mental note to avoid getting bitten. Oh, and the lightning, can't forget to dodge the lightning coming off her twin swords. Every slash of her sword sent a bright stream of crackling electricity towards Julia. It was like she was tossing lightning Jutsus left and right like free candy, and Julia could only dodge. Not a clean "by an inch" cool dodge like in the movies, but more of a "Hit the ground!" and rolling on the floor kind of dodge. She couldn't block it since her weapons were made of metal that would conduct it, and there was water literally pouring everywhere making the patterns of the attack unpredictable.

"I'd still be prettier than your ugly mug. Hell, I'm willing to bet good money that Zabuza is pretty than you underneath his mask, you stupid lightning chucking bitch."

Left, right, below, jump. She went through the motions endlessly even as more and more shinobis came running towards the commotions. It truly became a free for all, but Zabuza and the new girl using the Kiba blades was on her ass like white on rice.

"Nice shot, retard. Who's dick did you need to suck to get a hold of those swords? Because you sure as hell aren't good enough to be wielding them."

She swiftly dived down as one of the twin swords was sent flying past her head, spinning at a rapid pace as if a buzzsaw. She cursed as it came back around for another attempt at decapitation. What the hell was with Kiri Shinobi and chucking their swords all over the place?! Thankfully the brief reprieve being underwater gave her plenty of time to power up.

"Ok, you know what? Fuck you. I don't care if you're a kid, I'm whooping your ass in place of your whore mom right now! Release!"

It wasn't just the Gravity Seals, but also to unlock the first of the eight gates, the Gate of Opening. She had to make this fast because simply being in this heightened state was causing great damage to her still young and underdeveloped form. Her vision was dyed red as small blood vessels in her eyes were bursting from the force of her heart beating. She used Zabuza's shock to charge at him hoping to end it as fast as possible. The Demon of the Mist managed to get a hold of himself even in the split second it took her to close the distance and raised his sword to use as a shield. It was futile as her foot smashed through it, shattering the blade and likely his ribs as well. He was sent flying into another ninja behind him.

The other girl didn't take kindly to her teammate being used as a human projectile and sent both of her blades flying towards Julia coated in dense lightning. The younger girl soon showed why it was an idiotic move to throw your swords at someone when she used her enhanced speed to snatch the blades out of the air by their handle and tossed them back at twice their original speed at their owner like javelins. She missed her target, but it didn't matter as hitting the other girl wasn't her true aim. The swords were deeply embedded into the stone wall up to heir handles, it'd be impossible to pull them out without monstrous strength or demolishing to the wall, which means she just denied her opponent of their main weapons.

"Too bad about your fancy toy, huh, bitch? "The sword is only as powerful as its master", too bad the legendary Kiba was in the hands of an idiot like you."

She won't lie and say she wasn't feeling vindictive after being toyed with by all the assholes she's been facing. It felt good not to be burdened by her weights or stressing out about the future. All she had to care about now was beating the shit out of people and making them eat dirt. She had a lot of pent up anger to work out on everyone here.

"Holy shit, what the fuck is that?!"

How the hell was such a little brat beating their Genin around like a stray dog? Every punch and kick was like a mini-explosion, even the famed Kubikiribōchō of all things snapped in half at her kick. It was completely unbelievable that a child could possess such physical might. Judging by the others' reactions he wasn't the only one dumbfounded.

"No, no fucking way. Is that... It can't be. There's no way Konoha had someone else able to use that damned Jutsu."

"It is... The Eight Gates."

The move that Might Duy used to defeat the previous Seven Swordsmen, with only four of them managing to escape with their lives. The biggest disgrace of Kirigakure, and now someone else was using that God damned Jutsu. Using it and beating their newest generation of swordsmen and mocking them, mocking Kiri itself! It was a blatant slap in the face and provocation from Konoha.

This humiliation won't stand.

It seems the Bloody Mist was being underestimated, and that just won't do now would it? He'll make sure that brat paid dearly.

Coughing up blood, and possibly having bloody stools for the next few days was a small price to paid in Julia's opinion, the look on the stuck up bitch's face when she punted her across the field like a football was hilarious, although she might have overdone it with running straight through those last couple of Fire and Wind Jutsu the other Genins tossed at her after deciding she was the biggest threat.

Nothing using her Iryojutsu wouldn't fix in a few moments, but just because the wound was gone didn't mean it didn't hurt.

And boy, did everything sure hurt right about now. She probably used it for 10 minutes max, and her entire body felt like one giant bruise as if she had spent the entire day training and non-stop sparing with Gai on a sugar rush. Still, she had a large grin on her face because she had made sure to hit Zabuza and the other girl extra hard, there was no way they'd be in commission in time for the next stage. She just hoped that it'd be easier than this one. If not she might just drop out, because this was getting way too intense and she was sure she showed off enough power to be Chunin, or at least accomplish her objective of catching the Hokage's eyes once news of her exploits spread.

Taking out two of the Seven Swordsmen, even if they were still in training, by yourself was no small feat. Doing it at the same time while outnumbered? She better gets a fucking promotion!

A goofy smile was on her face as she fantasized about coming back in triumph and all the snacks she'd be able to eat with her increased wages with Anko and Itachi. Maybe she'd be nice and treat Shisui too, although he was probably richer than her to be honest. Maybe she'd buy Sasuke snacks too? What ages were babies allowed to eat solid food again? Her head pounded too hard to recall, but maybe Shinobi babies could start eating sooner? Mikoto could use some more time outside of the house after all and dragging the lady to eat with her sounded like a great way to bond.

Time was hard to tell inside the tower, there was no sunlight, after all, but eventually, Julia noticed something strange. Why the hell was nobody here? It's been so long so shouldn't the trial end already? Were there still others hiding somewhere in this tower? No, the water level has been rising so much there shouldn't be much room to hide beside the center where she currently was.

Unless they were using some Jutsu to breathe underwater? Maybe make an air pocket space? But to maintain that was pretty Chakra intensive, and he was currently dead tired so it'd be better to just attack her now instead of waiting it out wouldn't it?

Just as Julia got up and decided to check out the area, a Kunai bit deeply into her right shoulder.