-One day ter-
Pov: Kanata
...
"Is that Kenzo?" I point out and spot a ragged bandaged man approaching the tower.
"I think it is... doesn't seem to be a trap" Katsuko studies the area.
"Send a message out" Katsuko hands me a piece of paper and I write down a code.
I form a few hand signs and bst the paper with a gentle wind that carries it down to Kenzo's catching hands... I notice as he reaches for the paper he holds his ribs.
"Injuries are more severe than I thought..." I mutter as he reads the note and spins three times, indicating that he read the code and understood its contents.
"Three means its safe, lets meet with him" I say and flicker down with Katsuko to walk Kenzo up to the tower.
"Hey guys... this area safe?" He asks.
"No enemies, we were preparing to intercept some of the other teams trying to ambush luckier teams... they should be arriving tomorrow if they are trying to ambush some of the better teams" Katsuko tells him and I nod along.
"What happened when we left?" I ask.
"Fought Oorochimaru... he let me live and take the grass ninjas scroll- his goal was probably marking Sasuke Uchiha... I was irrelevant to whatever happened when you left" He admits and frowns.
"You look terrible... can't shift?" I ask.
"No, I was poisoned and I can barely hold my original shape which means no chakra or yang energy use- I relied on my genjutsu to weave around a team that was tracking me and it took almost two hours to get them afraid enough to be on guard..." He shakes his head as if in disappointment of himself.
...
If only he knew how much it hurt to hear that, he could 'only' hold off an entire other team and make them scared of him... what would me or Katsuko have done?
I grip my fist tighter as I help pull him up the stairs and into the main hall- unfortunately I have to prove myself to be of the levels that Kenzo thinks I am at.
And if I do that than Katsuko can get out of her own self dug hole that she puts herself in.
---
-Final day of the Second exam-
Pov: Kenzo
*Knock* *Knock*
"Kenzo get up- we are being called into the main hall, its time to finish the second exam" Kanata tells me through the door.
I get up and stretch as little... I grab my badly stitched together clothes and put them on before leaving the small room- genin are given spare rooms to wait in while the exam continues but nothing else is given.
Including an antidote to whatever is pguing my yang energy, my wounds are still in need of healing but that should be fine for now... I am capable of waiting until the exam is over so I can wait for the third one.
I walk down to the main hall and wait behind my teammates who already beat me here, I nod at them and turn my gaze to the rest of the room.
The sand trio.
Team seven? Good.
Team eight.
Team ten.
Team Gai.
And another team from the leaf.
And our team makes seven total teams in the room... much less than what could have passed- a few teams must have failed to acquire each others scrolls.
"Kenzo is still in-" I hear Ino cp from the other line.
"How injured can one person get?" The sand dy mutters in my direction.
A few other comments are made around me as the teams gather in lines.
"Congratutions for passing the second exam!" The Hokage steps forward and the teams quiet down from their chatter.
As the Hokage begins to describe the 'Truth' of the chunin exams being a repcement for war I make sure there is no holes or such in my jacket and clothes... should have chucked them away before transforming but it seems that I was too panicked to think straight.
*Cough*
I turn my head to pay attention to the new speaker.
"If I may take over from here Hokage-sama" A Jonin interrupts and stands in front of us.
"My name is Hayate Gekkou... nice to meet you all... *Cough* we will be doing a preliminary tournament to decide who gets to go to the st exam... there are far too many teams to continue..." He expins and my eyes widen.
I never had to do preliminary tournaments in the other scrolls... can I beat the people here without shifting or chakra?
"And so before our randomized matches begin does anyone wish to forfeit now? Anyone too injured or such?" Gekkou asks us and only one leaves...
There is a bit of commotion with team seven... I watch as Sasuke refuses to quit and Naruto looks shocked at the Konoha genin who left...
"Now I know this is sudden but... can we all please head to the railings... except for the two on the screen" He says and points to a screen that rolls out two names.
[SHIKAMARU NARA VS MISUMI TSURUGU]
Shikamaru... and one of the other Konoha ninja, I walk with my team up to the railings and lean on them watching the fight occur below.
Misumi seems to have some sort of special twisting and stretching ability... as he tries to grab at Shikamaru who gives no room to allow such a thing happening.
Shikamaru keeps pcing and throwing wires that cast shadows and forces the opposing ninja to be backed into a corner... its about five minutes ter when Misumi is captured as a shadow crawls from behind shikamaru and follows the edge of the arena before keeping Misumi still by using the railings shadow.
Simple but effective use of his Jutsu- Shikamaru wins and goes to the final test.
[KENZO VS SASUKE UCHIHA]
Ah- so I am getting my match over with quickly... I turn my gaze to Sasuke and he turns to me... we both jump into the centre and I walk to the opposite side, Sasuke talks with Kakashi for a moment before facing me.
I hear Naruto squirming as if not knowing who to cheer for... but my eye's are steeled on the Uchiha who can't use jutsu or chakra.
Kakashi warned him about stopping the match if he used the curse mark... that thing on his neck is causing him some grief.
Oorochimaru's dirty work.
"That's him? I thought the 'monster' would be another guy" the older sand brother whispers to his sister.
"Shut it- pay attention" She replies.
I wonder why they are keeping an eye on me? I should inquire about it ter- for now I wait until the match starts.
"When you are ready" Hayate calls.
"I don't want to embarrass Naruto's brother... you should surrender" He smirks at me.
"Why? What reason do you believe yourself able to beat me in your state? Spare your sensei some worry and go get that mark sealed" I warn, making the tone of this match much more serious.
"And you? I had heard about your poisoning- what qualifies you to win over me?" He asks in retaliation.
"My poison will not kill me- your mark will" I reply quickly shutting him down.
...
"I need to win this" He enters into a taijutsu stance.
"Why? You can win next year no?" I try and get him to forfeit one st time.
"I need to prove myself" He says sternly.
"For?" I ask.
"Strength, power- proof" He says.
"Those are usually won with loss you know- I would be helping you if you lost today" I say.
...
He seems to think on it a moment... my hearing barely catching a compliment from Anko about psychological warfare or something along those lines.
"No" He looks at me and stands his ground.
"Can't say I didn't try..." I lower my body into my taijutsu pose, a more feral and primal stance.
...
*Rush!* *WOOSH!*
He sprints at me full force and I put all my strength to jumping straight at him- he is caught of guard at my speed and I drop kick into his stomach sending flying into the wall behind him- I nd with a bit of a stumble as the dust rises.
Three Kunai unch out and I deflect them all- one aiming at my torso and the other two combining to aim at my spine- I swiftly turn around and smack the kunai away before turning around and seeing Sasuke beneath my feet.
*SLAM!*
With shocking speed and intensity he kicks my chin and jumps after me... we both fly high above the ground.
*Groan*
He makes a groan of pain as his shoulder twitches and with my speed boost and reaction time I am able to spin around him and grab the back of his neck- *CRASH!* Driving his face into the ground.
...
The dust settles as I retract my hand and stare down at the buried head in the concrete... I can hear him and his mark- he isn't down yet.
"Sasuke!" Sakura calls out from the railings and I stretch my jaw to help mend the pain.
*Fwoosh!* *Boom!*
He suddenly speeds up even faster than before and kicks my wrist- which I raise to block him- *SLIDE!* I am pushed back and my heels slide as he flickers away to a more favourable position.
... he is stronger than me? No- a combination of both speed and strength... which makes his hits do more.
His eyes bze red and mine stare back- unfortunately for me this child has been through Itachi's massacre and Oorochimaru's recent killing intent... my stare isn't going to make him back down- but it will throw him off.
He flickers towards me and releases a barrage of attacks in my direction- I block hit after hit as he releases multiple punches and kicks at me with an intense speed that I can barely match.
Uchiha eyes and that curse mark can stand up to me so easily? I can't even form any genjutsu good enough to fool his eyes with how fast he is attacking me...
I harden my gaze and he flinches- *Swish!* my arm races for his shoulder and pushes it back enough for me to get down low and kick his shins.
*Flip!*
He flips over the attack and performs some hand signs- *Fwhoooooooo!* my sight is covered in bright light as my clothes burn and I am hit directly with a ball of fire- barely shielding myself with my jacket I throw it away and jump out.
Smoke rolls off my body and the burns travel around it quickly... I grit my teeth as I - *BAM!* A dropkick to my stomach sends me flying into the wall and a flurry of punches follow.
The world feels silent as I watch my arms fly forward and my chest dent inwards... five- ten- twenty- forty punches in under ten seconds.
*SLAM!*
One st huge sm into stomach and I stumble out and kneel on the ground... I cough up a lot of blood and watch it drip to the floor...
"Give up- now" He commands as my vision blurs... all that effort and hard work lost just like that... one mark and some fancy eyes caught up to all that I had done.
Haaaaaaaa-
I heave up some more blood and look up at Sasuke Uchiha who threatens to hit me more.
I- *SLAM!* He kicks my head into the ground and I sit there for a moment to think on what just happened...
...
*WOOSH!*
I jump up and punch him in the jaw making him take a few steps back- he grabs my arm and swings me upwards before flickering behind me and I elbow him in the gut.
He grunts as he holds his side and grabs my arm before chucking me over his body and into the ground- *Crash!* I nd in the cement and- *Smack!* smack away his dropkick with a simple deflect before grabbing his legs and hurling him across the room... he scatters across the ground and nds right before the Hokage before charging at me again.
I deflect two of his blows and take a hit to my shins as he kicks them and then throws me off my bance- I grab his wrist and twirl my body over him dodging his punch but he doesn't relent and grabs at me.
*RIP!*
My shirt tears off as he keeps lunging at me and pushing me back- me and him trade and deflect blows for another few seconds.
*Gasp!* "What makes those kinds of scars...?" "What the hell?" "What happened...?" Unnecessary comments about my unshifted apparaence occur and I focus down on deflecting punches.
*Smack!* *Sm!*
I deflect his test punch and retaliate with a hefty hit to the gut which sends him up a few feet- I grab his leg and swing him back into the ground- *CRASH!*
*SLAM!* *SLAM!*
Heavy and diligent punches into his body as the ground dents more and more and the dust rises with each attack.
*SLAAAAAAM!*
One st attack.
One heavy and true.
One destructive and terrible blow.
Blood flies and a jaw crunches.
The dust settles and everyone gasps as my eyes widen.
I bck out after he hits me square in the chin.
---
Pov: Kakashi
...
He copied the deflection technique and waited until the st moment to use it and get one st punch in- truly genius of Sasuke... unfortunately for Kenzo that means he won.
I look at Naruto who is shocked, unsure whether to cheer or to boo... he struggles to find any moment to move and just watches as Kenzo is taken away on a stretcher.
...
I forgot how bad those scars were...
Sasuke himself looks terrible but was awake enough to be chosen as the winner, I flicker downwards and pick him up- I have to seal this and get him into medical treatment.
---
Pov: Hiruzen
...
Kenzo is easy to read- shouldn't be anywhere near a poker table, those eyes he has trained tell everything... after he was beaten until he coughed up blood his eyes screamed a desire to win.
Unfortunately he could only use taijutsu against young Sasuke... genjutsu was terrible to use against his eyes with Kenzo's current casting speed... he needs to train that more.
Ninjutsu is out of the picture and he may have outsted Sasuke if he had transformations but that was not the case.
...
Would 'Ryū' have done better?
Of course Sasuke would have lost to that set of skills... but what about just Ryū's taijutsu skills? The same situation but with Ryū's taijutsu only...
Fast- powerful and probably wouldn't of been hit, but then again does Kenzo even have a taijutsu skill? He never told me about such things... only having learnt from the standard style and including his adaptions from wildlife.
But then again we would never know the outcome in that situation, I just hope Kenzo is fine with that ending to his exams...
With what he told me about his preparations for this I know I would be mad in his shoes.
---
Pov: Kenzo
------
Quest: Complete Chunin Exams!
Reward: B rank scroll (Test 1), Three statistic scrolls (Test 2), D-rank Summon Scroll (Preliminary Test 3).
------
...
------
Quest: Impress Oorochimaru!
Reward: Two Statistic scrolls.
------
...
I look down and realise that I am blinded once more and in a hospital, my injuries still pgue me it seems... and no more poison atleast.
I crack my knuckles and wiggle my torso to get a feel for the injured ribs and such- I touch my chin and frown... right.
Sasuke Uchiha packs quite a punch... or that Curse mark does at least- I should have built my foundations a bit more... without my shapeshifting and against an Uchiha all I have is taijutsu.
Maybe if I had- No, no excuses... I lost fair and square with strength above that of Sasuke... I am nothing but a loser currently.
I have five scrolls... and with that I can max out my strength boost.
Or improve upon my other stats... which feel like they haven't done a dent into my strength or power... maybe its because I fought curse mark Sasuke and Oorochimaru, I need some standard enemies.
I also have a B-rank scroll to use on something... I have a few skills to level so that can go anywhere really.
I should probably be using my statistic scrolls while I am at the hospital... its always a good idea to have people on standby when I need them for something.
I look outside and see it is around midnight... probably a few hours after mine and Sasuke's fight- and I pull out the five scrolls.
Strength? Why not- nothing to lose figuring out what happens when a vague statistic is maxed out.
Better to know now rather than ter.
I pick up a scroll and think on 'Strength'
...
My muscles tighten and my limbs ache as I take deep breaths and pick up the next scroll.
Same feeling but worse- my muscles and skin, my organs and flesh tighten and warp in the most horrific of ways.
Next scroll.
*Crack!*
My bones ache and then suddenly snap... my limbs first... then my ribs and spine... soon every bone in my body snaps in multiple pces... I take boured breaths as my body mushes against the hospital bed.
I use the next scroll.
*SIZZLE!*
My body warms up and I feel my form shift into something I haven't before... a pile of liquid.
Hot- boiling flesh, bone and etcetera- my body is nothing but glowing steaming goop.
The st scroll.
If I could scream.
If only I could scream.
....
...
..
.
*Gasp!*
I jolt upwards on the floor and look around me... my clothes are melted and so is my bed- fortunately I only burnt the floor and my body didn't drip on the floor below.
I flex my muscles and feel the power ripple through me... am I... denser? I feel a weight that wasn't their before... does that affect my jump and all that?
I get up and with surprising ease... like a tight rubber band unching as its let go- oh I am heavier... but to myself I probably weigh around the same- not because I am but because my strength straight out ignores the added weight.
If I jumped... I could have doubled the speed and distance- maybe even more.
I stretch my body and look in the mirror... am I taller too? I could pass for an actual adult right now- and man my body is amazing!
Like an ancient Greek sculpture amazing... if you ignore my head I look entirely different- I don't need shapeshifting to convince anyone else that I am different.
Haaaa- I should probably shrink down to my normal self shouldn't I? Everyone would think that I am shifting myself to look bigger.
My scars fade and my body shrinks down- looks like I am completely healed as well... I then look at the bed and frown.
...
I should also leave some money for them- A loud scratch interrupts my thoughts...
------
Strength has reached max level!
Choose skill to make lesser blessing!
Two compatible choices!
Jump!
Or
Kenzo Deflection Jutsu!
------
...?
I get a choice...? This is certainly different from the st lesser blessing I got- maybe its because the st two only worked with each other? A mystery for another time.
Jump or deflection?
And strength merges with it to make a lesser blessing like my genjutsu skills..?
This doesn't erase my strength- and due to shapeshifting I will always have access to it in many forms like my genjutsu affinity- so I should only worry about what I can get rather than what negatives come from this.
...
What should I chose?
Thanks for reading :)
Sorry about this chapter and the next one, had terrible headache so if stuff doesn't make sense let me know so I can fix it!
