After the first round of the third task had finished, everyone was given 30 minutes to take a rest and gather their bearings before they moved onto the second round and onto their next fights.
Mikoto, Tsunade, Hiruzen and Shizune had come down from their spots in the crowds and wanted to see how the trio were doing and to make sure they had no major injuries despite already knowing they were all perfectly fine.
The adults praised each one of them, especially Naruto since his sword technique had apparently been the talk of the crowd since he used it. Watching him take down two shinobi's and a big rock golem in a single move was something to be impressed with.
"That was a great first round Naruto-kun. You are doing very well and you won it with revealing little of your strengths." Hiruzen said, greatly impressed with is surrogate grandson and students performance.
"Well deception is a ninja's main skill. Though I get the feeling the next fight with Kurotsuchi is going to a lot tougher. I'm going to have to bring out a few of my tougher cards and put them into play."
"Well just know you have our full support. You will show that Iwa Kunoichi who is the boss around here." Tsunade said pumping her fist in the air making Naruto grin.
Up in the Kage box Minato wanted to go down and speak with Naruto since what he saw amazed him. He did not realize Naruto was so far along in his shinobi training. In fact he made that match almost look too easy. 'Why am I only beginning to notice it now? What have I been doing not to notice how accomplished Naruto is becoming as a shinobi?'
He knew Mikoto would be a good fit for him as a sensei since Mikoto was a well rounded shinobi that was a sort of jack of trades in each of the three main shinobi fields. He did ask Kakashi since Kakashi had become quite the famous shinobi and could be a good influence and good sensei but Kakashi turned it down saying he did not have the time to play sensei.
'Once the chunin exams are over maybe I should test Naruto myself; maybe he took more after me in terms of being a shinobi.'
Back in Konoha though, Kushina was thinking the same thing.
She was a Kenjutsu master and what she saw from Naruto with that attack was very impressive. What looked like a single strike was actually multiple strikes that had been struck at such a fast speed you had to watch carefully to even see it.
She was currently standing outside of the Konoha stadium bathrooms as she waited for the twins to finish making their business so they could go back and not miss any of the matches. Mina was huddled next to her holding on to her skirt looking around the room since it was a new place.
'I wonder who taught him and why did he not come to me for training in Kenjutsu? Or did he ask me? Did he ask me and did I just brush him off?' She thought since she was wondering to what sort of shinobi training she had actually provided her son.
Once Naruto got back she too knew that she would have to talk with Naruto about where he got his skill set from.
Back in the Suna stadium the waiting bell signaled making everyone know that it was time for the second round to begin.
Naruto, Itachi and Anko went back to the box where they already found Kurotsuchi waiting for them. She looked over at them when they came in as well and looked Naruto over before turning away.
"Why does she keep doing that?" Anko asked since Kurotsuchi had kept glancing at Naruto and turning away quite a number of times.
"No idea. Maybe she is trying to figure me out. Strengths, weaknesses, what makes me tick; you know that sort of thing."
"That could be it. She does strike me as more intelligent than her teammates and the others in the competition. You will have to watch her closely. She could be a wild card." Itachi muttered as Naruto nodded, thinking the same thing.
As they entered the box, Pakura reappeared on the fields.
"The second round to the third part of the Chunin exams will begin now! Would Anko Mitsarashi and Itachi Uchiha of the leaf village please come down onto the field?"
The crowd cheered as the two genin names were announce and they all knew that for the earlier performances that this match was going to be a good one.
"Alright guys you are up. Don't disappoint." Naruto said as Anko and Itachi walked onto the field side by side. Once they were in the center of the field Itachi kept walking a small distance before he stopped and turned around to face Anko.
In the stands, Mikoto took a deep breath. Though she knew deep down that Itachi would likely win between the two, she knew Anko was not going to give up easily and was going to give him a run for his money.
On the field, the two teammates and friends looked at each other. "Good luck Anko-san." Itachi said as he smiled at her.
Anko returned it. "You too Itachi."
"The next match is about to begin. Are you both ready?" Pakura asked as both Itachi and Anko nodded and both readied in their respective stances. Pakura looked between them before swinging her arm down.
"HAJIME!"
When the word was said Itachi and Anko pushed back a little, both with their hands in their pouches and as quick as lightning began storming one another with shurikens.
None made it past the collision center as the shurikens all found themselves getting rebounded of the others shurikaes and were littering the ground as well as the wall. A few of the shinobi's even had to duck their heads to avoid getting a shuriken stuck in their heads.
On the field after a minute of throwing shuriken at one another they eventually stopped but not before Anko put her hands on the ground with blood on the edges of her fingertips.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" she said as a puff of smoke appeared and a long snake appeared out of it.
The snake saw Itachi and quickly slithered over to him and began to strike at him with quick and precise strike with its mouth as its fangs were bearing out as well as its tongue.
Each time it struck Itachi efficiently dodged its strikes and managed to land a few strikes onto the snake before he pushed himself away and jumped on the wall.
The snake quickly followed after him and did its best to catch up to him but Itachi had showed that he too had trained in his speed as he easily out manoeuvred the big snake. He then jumped in the air away from the wall and where the snake was and made hand signs.
"Katon:Hai Kui no Jutsu!" he said as black ash and fire poured out of his mouth and engulfed the snake making it hiss in pain.
"That's going to hurt." Naruto muttered as many in the crowd thought the same thing. They would not want to be that snake right now.
When the ash cloud disappeared the snake was still there but its skin was burnt in multiple places. "I am going to be sssssssshedding for weekssssss…" The snake hissed out before it disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
When Itachi landed on the ground, Anko came up behind him and pulled a kunai over his neck.
"You should remember to watch your back!" She said as Itachi smiled at her.
"I could tell you the same thing."
Anko eyes winded when Itachi suddenly disappeared in a murder of crows and could hear something soaring through the air and coming towards her. She turned around in time to see kunai heading towards her.
Her eyes counted how many there were and in retaliation threw the same amount of shuriken. Her shuriken collided with Itachi's and cancelled them out.
As she did Itachi appeared in front of her, jump over her shoulder but as he was in the air grabbed her shoulder. He then landed and using his strength threw her across the field with a lot of force.
Anko couldn't dodge in time as she slammed into the walls of the stadium, wincing a little as she rubbed her lower back.
'I think I felt something crack.' She thought as she shakily stood up though her lower back felt like it was on fire. 'I have to tough this out now.'
"She's hurt." Naruto whispered to himself as Tsunade and Shizune made the same decision.
Anko made a few hand signs and Itachi who had his Sharingan active copied the movements.
"Katon: Endan no Jutsu!" they both said as two giant fireballs blew out of their mouth and collided with one another making a shockwave of heat hit the closer audience members.
Fugaku meanwhile turned to his wife. "That is an Uchiha clan jutsu. Why does someone who is not an Uchiha know it?" He asked as Mikoto shrugged at her husband's question.
"Itachi must have shown her it. She does have a fire affinity so it would be a helpful jutsu to know." Fugaku obviously was not satisfied with the answer but had to accept it since Mikoto had now turned back to the match at hand.
"Katon:Hi no Jutsu Shi Ame!" Anko said as she shot fire into the air and everyone watched as the fire looked as if it began to break apart into multiple little pieces and rain down on the field.
Itachi responded by calling out "Doton:Doheki no jutsu!" as a wall of earth suddenly erected up in front of him and blocked the rain.
"Doton? Since when do you know Doton?" Anko asked.
"I asked Naruto to show me a Doton that would be handy for defense; though in return I had to promise him that I would show him a Katon jutsu at some point in the future."
"No fair!" She whined, pouting before she went into her pack and grabbed a few senbons. Itachi recognized them as the senbons she used in her previous match that had some kind of venom on them.
'Can't get hit by those.' He thought as Anko made her way towards him with three senbons gripped in each of her hands.
She got closer towards him and swung at him but Itachi easily maneuvered out of the way. When she did though Itachi swept her feet and went to hit her in the gut but noticed his legs went through her.
'An illusion.' He thought to himself as he turned around to see a senbon implanted in his shoulder.
"Sometimes you have to go back to basics right?" Anko said as Itachi chuckled.
"Very true and it seems your poison managed to get me. I am guessing my arm will be out of commission for a little while?" He asked as she nodded. "Then I guess I better get rid of it before it spread too far." He said.
As he said that he grabbed a kunai with his other hand and drove it into the wound where the senbon went in; effectively getting the poison out of his system.
Many in the audience were surprised to see him do such an act, but the shinobi saw it as dedication since not many would willingly injure themselves in order to get rid of the poison.
"That should be enough…" He said before he quickly hit Anko in her stomach as she looked at him in surprise at what he had just done.
Anko hit the ground but quickly got up. "Sen'eijashu" She said as two snakes shot out of her sleeve and headed straight towards Itachi. To her surprise they hit but a moment later a poof was heard and a log was now in his place.
"You're not the only one who can go back to basics." He said as Anko turned around to try and stop him but instead felt a thud hit the back of neck. Her eyes went dreary and her vision went black before she collapsed to the ground knocked out.
Itachi looked towards Pakura who nodded. "The winner of the match is Itachi Uchiha of Konoha!"
The crowd cheered and clapped at the two genin who gave them another good performance as Itachi's siblings once again cheered loudly for their big brother.
Itachi looked down at Anko and quickly picked her and carried her over to the medic pay where they would take a quickly look over her and check her vitals were all fine.
"You did good Anko-san. You pushed me quite a bit. I look forward to any future battles we should have!" He said as he patted his friend's shoulders before he made his way back the contestant's box.
In the stands, Mikoto gave both her son and her female student a loud round of applause knowing that they both deserved it and that she was very proud of both of them.
"Good fight. Anko put you through the ringer." He said as Itachi winced a little from the cut on his shoulder.
"Yes well as tough as that was it is now your turn to fight against some feminine fury." He said as they looked over to see Kurotsuchi move on to the field.
"Looks like it is my turn again." Naruto said as he cracked his shoulders and followed after.
When they both walked onto the field the Konoha and the Iwa side all erupted into cheers no doubt having been waiting to see this match happen for some time. It was essentially the family of Iwa vs. the family of Konoha. And it was time to see which one was better.
Naruto and Kurotsuchi stood apart from one another as the two looked across from one another.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at her calm demeanor and noticed she was not listening to the shouting of the crowds. "You're different from the rest." He said as Kurotsuchi raised an eyebrow.
"Different how?"
"For starters you are not insulting me because of who I'm related to. I know my dad can be an ass at times, but you don't need to take it out on me." He said as many in the crowd snickered at his words.
In the Hokage box Minato coughed and looked a little uncomfortable as the other kages laughed in their seats, no doubt finding it funny that the man's son called him what they all thought he was.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I don't hold that petty grudge that others in Iwa carry. While I don't really like you all the same, I don't hold a grudge over what happened in the third war. It was war and casualties and deaths were bound to happen. Even though I agree, your dad can be an ass."
Now Minato just wanted to crawl away as the kages laughed even harder as did Tsunade, Shizune and others in their section.
"What about those times where you just looked at me? Like you hated me?"
"Just observing you; wanting to see what your strengths were, any weak points, what made you tick?"
"And did you get any answers?" He asked as Kurotsuchi smirked at him.
"Well I guess you will just have to find out." She said making Naruto back in return.
"Okay love birds if you two are done flirting with each other." Pakura said as Naruto and Kurotsuchi blushed a little and looked the other way drawing a few laughs from everyone. " Then we can begin this match."
They both nodded and got in their respective stances
"HAJIME!"
"Doton: Daichi no Supaiku!" Kurotsuchi called as a massive spike of earth shot out of the ground towards Naruto. Naruto jumped back ten meters and missed the spike as he unsheathed the Shusui.
Kurotsuchi went forward with a kunai in each hand and began swiping at Naruto who easily defended with the Shusui.
Sparks flew from the kunai and blade when they connected with one another. Kurotsuchi used her slim body and used her flexibility to perform a couple of very well agile and well-balanced moves as she tried to hit him in some of his vital spots.
One of her Kunai's went for the jugular showing Naruto just how serious she was being. He moved his head back and just felt the graze of the tip of the kunai hit his throat. In response he swept her legs with a vicious kick but Kurotsuchi quickly jumped in the air before she unleashed a kick of her own.
He caught the kick and threw her over his shoulder but she easily rolled with the throw.
"Doton:Doro no Gazō!" She said as glomps on mud shot out of her mouth and rocketing towards Naruto.
"Futon:Daitoppa!" he said as he took a deep breath and forced a large swirl of wind out of his mouth. The wind rushed forward and knocked into the mud shots, sweeping them away or destroying the others.
'Futon, Doton and Suiton jutsu?' Kushina thought as she watched the screen of her son fighting the Iwa kunoichi. 'How does he have three elements? He should have taken after either myself or Minato yet he has inherited both along with another.'
Back on the field Naruto defended from a few quick strikes from Kurotsuchi though he was too fast and managed to block each strike and counter with his own though she would block and do the same.
Eventually her kunai and Naruto sword locked onto each other and began fighting for dominance. When they entered a stalemate Naruto used his superior physical strength and pushed her back and sent her flying back a couple of meters.
'So he is not all show. He has physical strength too.' She thought.
Kurotsuchi easily back flipped and landed on her feet. "Kage Bushin No Jutsu!" Naruto called as three shadow clones shot forward and began attacking Kurotsuchi as Naruto placed a hand on his blades hilt.
"He's going for it again." Hiruzen said as Tsuande nodded.
"It's early for him to be going for it again."
When he watched the clones get her in the right spot charged. "Ittoryu: Shishi Sonson!" He said as he suddenly shot forward and went to slash Kurotsuchi again.
However when Kurotsuchi saw what he was doing and noticed him ready to charge, she already knew the general dynamics of the attack. She ran forward towards one of the Naruto clones and jumped onto its shoulder before pushing herself into the air.
In the air she successfully dodged the attack as Naruto went passed, having missed his target. Up in the Kage box Onoki grinned at his granddaughters display.
"She dodged it." Naruto said surprised before he saw Kurotsuchi performing hand seals again.
"That trick won't work with me. You need the opponent to be staying in a spot to let it hit. It's a direct hit move so if their moving then you won't be able to hit them." She said as Naruto grinned.
"You are not like the rest. You're a real kunoichi, give me the best you got!" Naruto said Kurotsuchi smirked in response. "The only real competition I get back home that is in our age range is against Anko and Itachi."
"Well I should impress since I have a reputation to uphold. I have Iwa blood running through me and I aim to make my family proud. Is that not what you are doing?"
"Something like that though mine is only to certain members of my family. There are a few that I am showing them what they missed out on, what they did not help." He said bitterly as he glanced up at his father who sat there watching the battle with calculating eyes.
They stared towards each before they both began to make a set of hand seals, both at similar speeds and similar actions and motions.
"Katon:Hi Baretto no Jutsu!"
Naruto reciprocated with his own "Suiton:Mizu Baretto no Jutsu!"
Water and fire balls rushed towards their targets at great speed but collided with one another creating a small veil of steam to begin to appear and engulf the lower field making it a little difficult for some to see what was happening.
Neither stopped their attack as fire and water rained down through the field, trying to bypass the other but neither having any success.
'She really is pretty good.' Naruto thought.
'It's to be expected that the son of the Yellow Flash would be this skilled.' Kurotsuchi thought in return.
Deciding to take it up a notch Kurotsuchi smiled to herself before she jumped onto the high walls looking down at Naruto who stared up at her as did the others in the crowds and who was watching.
She made a few had seals before shout "Yoton:Yōgan no Ame!" she called out as she took a deep breath and shot out large glomps of lava from her mouth high into the air and watched as it began to separate from large glomps and into small and smaller pieces until it was just like bits of hail.
One bit fell onto Naruto's shirt sleeve and quickly burnt a hole into it. Naruto quickly ripped the sleeve off and threw it aside, not wanting to get those kind of burns touch his skin.
"She knows Yoton? I did not even know Iwa had any shinobi who could use that bloodline." Shizune asked as Tsuande and Hiruzen narrowed her eyes as did Mikoto from her seat.
"There was a clan that specialized and could use the Yoton bloodline long ago, but they got spit and separated throughout the year and got spread throughout the years similar to that of the Uzumaki. My guess is that someone from that girls family carried the Yoton bloodline and it was passed down to her."
On the field Naruto looked at her surprise. 'Yoton huh? This takes things to a new level. I have to be more careful around her and I can't let that lava touch me of it will be lights out for me.' He thought.
"You look a little out of it. I hope that little treat I just gave you did not burn you too badly." She said as she grinned at him as he looked up at her.
"Not at all though I was a little surprised; this does not change the fact I will still kick your ass!" He said making her glare down at him.
"We will see who will be the one to get their ass kicked!" She said as she went through another lot of hand seals. "Yoton:Yōgan Kyūryū no Jutsu!"This time a large stream of lava shot out from her mouth and rushed towards him.
Naruto quickly saw the danger and immediately jumped as far away as he could from harms way. However he noticed that when the lava hit the ground, it began to spread across the floor and slowly begin to cover the ground.
'Lava is basically molten rock that had been super heated up and had taken a kind of middle ground between liquid and solid. Kept hot it stays as a liquid but when super cooled it will harden and become rock.' He thought before a thought came to his mind.
"Which means water should be effective against it." He muttered to himself as he went through hand seals and channeled his chakra.
"Suiton:Mizurappa!" He said as a strong jet of water shot forward and covered over the lava and quickly showed to have already stopped it from moving forward. The jet of water was station just a bit into the air so the water could evenly spread over the lava and harden it.
After a few moments the jet of water stopped as steam was emitted from the lava and showed the lava had rapidly cooled down to formed a layer of rock on top of the surface of the field.
"Doton:Daichi no Supaiku Seki!" Kurotsuchi called as Naruto saw that the earth layer that had been created from the lava getting cooled down suddenly shot up.
"The great thing about lava is once it has cooled down it just turns to earth, enabling me to use my arsenal of earth jutsu's." Kurotsuchi called as Naruto dodged each of the spikes though at the end the last one managed to leave a slash across his left shoulder making him wince a little and making those watching from Iwa cheer.
Naruto jumped back away from the earth as much as he could before he gripped his right fists tightly. He looked up towards Tsunade who looked back at him before she gave him a nod.
"Now the tables are about to be turned." Naruto said as Kurotsuchi listened to his words and narrowed her eyes.
"Since you seem to like the flat earth so much, let's rumble it around a little." He before he threw his hand up and struck a similar pose to Tsunade's chakra pumped into his fist.
When those from Konoha saw that stance many paled while Minato and Kushina's eyes went as wide as saucers.
'She didn't teach him that move surely!' Jiraiya thought as he watched what Naruto was about to do.
In the stadium everyone waited with baited breaths before Naruto swung his chakra enhanced fist down onto the ground.
"HUUUAHHHH!" He cried out as his fist impacted the ground. As soon as it hit the earth beneath him shook uncontrollably and giant cracks began to form all over the field.
Kurotsuchi looked around in a panic as she saw the cracks were forming around where she was standing. She began to wobble on her spot as the ground suddenly began bursting all around her and huge pieces of earth began shooting out of the ground as the field began tearing itself apart.
'This is not good!' She thought as she jumped back and tried to stick to one of the walls but when she did she saw Naruto appeared in front of her in a great burst of speed.
'I'm ending this!' Naruto thought to himself before he used a chakra enhanced kick to her stomach making her lose her breath and get the wind knocked out of her and sent her into the air.
He then appeared above her in great speed again and threw her to the ground before appearing on the ground just as she was about to meet the ground.
He then raised his right leg as high as he could and just as she went past him towards the ground he swung his right leg into her back and smashed her into the ground making a small crater form from underneath her.
"Tsuuten Kyaku!" he said as he did the move before it was over.
He looked down towards Kurotsuchi and saw that she was still conscious but was pretty battered and would not be getting up any time soon. He sighed and swept a hand through his hair and dropped down next to her on his butt. Though his control with the super strength was good, it was still not quite enough to not leave him a little fatigued.
"You beat me." She said sadly as she tried to raise her head but couldn't.
"I guess I did; though if it helps you gave me one hell of a fight. You did not make it easy." He said as she nodded.
"I guess that's okay then." She said as Naruto looked over towards Pakura who nodded and gave the signal. "The winner of the match is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze!"
Once she did many in the audience cheered while the audience members from Iwa groaned a little and looked away, not happy their shinobi lost to him.
His siblings in Konoha cheered loudly again as little Mina stood up on her mother lap and cheered with her arms in the air smiling and giggling happily. Kushina clapped but was out of words to say from her eldest son's performance.
Kurotsuchi lay on the ground. She knew her grandfather would no doubt give her a telling off for losing which made her groan. 'How was I suppose to know how good he was.' She thought before she felt a relaxing feeling spread through her back that felt nice and cool. She looked over to see Naruto with his hand on her back with his hands glowing green.
"What are you doing?" She asked furrowing her brow at him.
"What does it look like I am doing? I'm healing you of course." He said surprising her.
"Why?"
"Why not?" He said shrugging. "It won't tire me out if that is what you were thinking. I have a lot of chakra. More than both my parents put together when they were my age."
Kurotsuchi did not say anything but after few minutes felt the pain lessen before the medics took over and put her on a gurney. As they took her back she looked over to see Naruto walking back to the fighter box. When she did their two eyes met and for just a moment they both thought about how pretty the others eyes were.
Naruto walked back to the box to find Itachi standing there looking towards him.
"I guess it's just us left now. Are you going to give me your best Naruto?" Itachi asked as he leaned against the wall.
Naruto grinned. "As long as you give me your best then I will give you mine."
Then we are in agreement as the two stood there catching their breath and letting themselves get small rests before they go out onto the field.
Kage Box
"So it's another Konoha filled finals. There is a surprise." A said as he leaned back and put his head in his hand as he lounged lazily.
"Yes though my granddaughter put up a good fight it, I guess it just was not enough. We will have to up her training." He said to the big man next to him who nodded silently as he looked down towards the field.
The Kazekage turned to Minato. "I did not know Tsunade had taken on an apprentice let alone taught someone the secret to her super strength. You looked just as surprised as everyone else did. I take it you did not know?"
Inwardly Minato was more surprised at what his son had managed to do and knew that once they were back in Konoha he needed to speak with Naruto and Tsunade, outwardly though he was playing it cool.
"I guess my son has the art of deception down since he surprised all of us." He said as the Kazekage nodded while Minato looked back at Kakashi who was no doubt surprised as well.
Konoha
"Kushina you never told us Naruto was so…developed in his shinobi skills. By his performance I would say he should have been made chunin long ago." Yoshino said as her son Shikamaru slept just in the seat beside her.
The other mothers had all said the same thing; none had known that Naruto was at his current level. He even surprised them when he healed Kurotsuchi since everyone else would have just walked and left here there.
"I…" Kushina stared but never continued. She did not know what to say as he eyes were just fixed on the screen where her son was. Her children were all sitting by her feet now with Mina sitting on Mito as the sisters played together while Eiji was with little Kiba Inuzuka.
"Naru-chan…" She whispered as her bottom lip trembled.
Stadium
Mikoto waited with baited breath as she waited for her son and her student to walk out on the field, not entirely sure who she wanted to win. She did not want to play favorites yet her mother side of her wanted her boy to win it even though she did not mind which of the two won in the end.
Fugaku meanwhile sat with a stoic expression along with many of the others members of the Uchiha clan. She did not need to guess who he wanted to win. He had told Itachi before they left for Suna that he was to win at all costs; so that he could show everyone why the Uchiha Clan was to be respected and feared. Itachi had said nothing and had just nodded.
Tsunade, Hiruzen and Shizune meanwhile sat little nervously knowing this would be the fight Naruto would have most trouble with. Fighting against a Sharingan was difficult on many levels and one had to try and not look them in the eye. If they did then it was all over.
They had taught him all he knew and now it was time for him to put it to the real test.
Everyone chatted silently as Pakura looked up to the Kage box and saw the nod from the Kazekage indicating the ten minute break was over.
"The Final match of the Chunin Exams are about to begin! Would Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze and Itachi Uchiha come on to the field?" she said as cheers immediately began to sound out through the stadium.
Both boys walked on to the field and stood in the center before they turned to face one another.
Naruto and Itachi looked at one another from across the field both with serious and focused looks plastered on their faces.
"Good luck Uchiha." Naruto said grinning at him as Itachi did the same.
"And to you Uzumaki."
Pakura stood beside the two boys and saw they were both ready and just waiting for her signal. She took a deep breath, put her right arm in the air and then swung down.
"HAJIME!" Pakura called out as the match began though many were surprised when neither of the boys moved an inch.
"Mama why they not moving?" Ria asked from Mikoto's lap as she pouted that nothing was happening in front of her.
"Neither one are moving. There waiting for the others to make one tiny slip up so they can take advantage of it." Shizune said as Tsuande and Hiruzen nodded with a similar thought.
All the kages sat in the box waiting for one of them to make a move, being very patient and knowing what they were doing. The bodyguards were all doing the same.
Then after a few minutes they finally moved. Both boys had a finger flinch at the same time and the other now tried to use that as an invite to attack.
Both Naruto and Itachi threw a kunai at one another which only met in the middle and made a loud clang sound out through the arena. The two boys pushed off from the ground and went forward and met each other in the middle as they began a taijutsu battle.
Itachi went for an upper cut which Naruto managed to dodge by stepping back before Itachi then tried to sweep the legs. Naruto jumped it and then shot his right leg towards Itachi's head which Itachi managed to block with his left elbow.
He then went forward and grabbed Naruto's shoulder and like earlier with Anko, flipped over him in an attempt to throw him.
Naruto however when he was thrown somersaulted through the air and made a kage bushin behind him which threw him back forward and shoulder barge Itachi which made the Uchiha take a few steps back.
Itachi narrowed his eyes and his Sharingan appeared. When they did Naruto immediately averted his eyes and began looking anywhere else but his eyes.
"Your Sharingan doesn't to scare me Itachi. As long as I don't look you in the eye then you can't put a genjutsu on me." Naruto said.
"But you will have to look up eventually Naruto. It's only a matter of time." Itachi said as Naruto took the handle of the Shusui out.
"Ittoryu: Sanjuroku Pound Ho!" Naruto said as he struck the air with great force and a massive swipe of dense wind shot forward at great speed towards Itachi.
Itachi however saw it coming and with his Sharingan activated managed to dodge out of the way in time as he watched the attack go past him and strike the wall from behind him. When it struck the giant wall split in half with a very deep slash now imbedding in the concrete.
Itachi did not let Naruto have another chance to attack him. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" He called as fire shot forward and towards Naruto.
In retaliation Naruto gripped Shusui and swung it with great force as he sent another great slash like he had just used towards the fireball. When they met a small explosion went off which got a plume of smoke to from.
Naruto looked around the field as the smoke from the blast obscured his view. Though he did not have to search long as he then looked up to see Itachi in the air with kunai's with paper bombs attached to them in each hand and then threw them towards him.
Seeing the kunai's coming towards him Naruto made hand signs. "Suiton:Mizu Baretto no Jutsu!" He said as glomps of water shot out of his mouth and began taking out the kunai.
He hit nine of the ten kunai's but one that was hiding behind the shadow of another kunai managed to get past and landed beside Naruto. He saw it and saw the paper bomb light up before it suddenly exploded beside him.
"Naru-chan!" Shizune and Tsunade called out while some of the Uchiha's along with Fugaku grinned at the event.
Itachi landed on the ground just a few feet from where Naruto was standing ad looked at the post where his friend and rival had previously been standing.
'Where did you go Naruto?' He thought as he saw empty spot where he had been standing. 'Front, left, right, up, behind. That only leaves…' He started as he looked down to the ground beneath him.
Just as he did the ground began to crack and shake making Itachi eyes widen slightly and jumped back as quickly as he could.
A tanned chakra enforced fist shot out of the ground and missed Itachi by an inch and sailed past him. Though it even though that missed Naruto brought up his left leg and kicked Itachi in the stomach making the boy keel over slightly and before getting pushed back and skid along the ground though managing to still stand.
Itachi though in slightly pain did not allow any more time to be lost. "Katon:Suisei no Hi!" He said as thick glomps of fire shout into the air, covering a small portion of the arena as small comet shaped fireballs began raining down towards Naruto.
"An interesting move; I don't think I have seen that one before." Hiruzen said as he examined the jutsu. Some of the other fire user in the arena watching were thinking the same thing.
On the field Naruto saw the small fire comets coming towards him "Suiton:Suijinheki!" He called as shot water out of his mouth and built up a wall in front of him that went about ten meters high into the air.
The fire comets went through the water wall and immediate called off and either disappeared into nothing or began little steam balls that Naruto easily swipe away with Shusui.
Naruto then pushed himself off the ground and towards Itachi and swung Shusui at him. Itachi though saw the move coming and whipped out a kunai in each hand and blocked the blade and the two then began trading swipes of metal.
Sparks flew all around them quickly and bright as the two traded blows. Naruto swung his Shusui at Itachi trying to hit parts of the body that were vital in order to bring him down quicker and try to end the match sooner.
However Itachi's Sharingan was preventing it as it kept locked on him and his movements and managed to read what move he would do next and either dodged or blocked the strikes.
In the crowd many were cheering as they watched the display between Naruto and Itachi and most were of the civilians were on the edge of their seats.
"It won't last much longer. The blonde Namikaze brat does not stand a chance against the Sharingan. His attempts are futile." Fugaku said as some of the Uchiha agreed with him while Mikoto scowled at her husband's words.
"This match is very close. Both boys are fighting on even grounds." Hiruzen added.
"Yes but if Naruto actually used that skill set he knows then it would have been over a lot quicker." Tsunade said quietly motioning about Naruto's Mokuton as Hiruzen nodded; however they both knew why Naruto wouldn't use that skill set till he was much older.
On the field Naruto was internally getting a little frustrated that he was not landing many of his strikes on Itachi as the Uchiha kept blocking them.
'He has increased his speed a lot. I need to find some way to slow him down.' Naruto thought before an idea popped into his head that made him internally smile.
Itachi watched as Naruto swung his blade again towards him and his Sharingan easily followed the movements. His Sharingan was so focused on the sword that it did not catch Naruto put his hand into one of his pouches and bring out a brush.
When Itachi blocked the strike with his kunai, Naruto smirked and put his brush forward and swiped it across Itachi's hand, quickly and skillfully drawing a seal on the back of his hand.
Itachi felt the brush touch his skin and his eye widened a little when he saw the black seal on his hand.
He jumped back a little and saw the seal on his hand and with his knowledge of seals to a degree; he recognized it was a weight seal.
"Should have kept your eye on the other hand Itachi." Naruto said as he made a hand movement. "Fuin!"
Minato and Kushina's eyes widened in surprise as they both thought the same thing. 'I didn't think that he would be THAT skilled in Fūinjutsu. We need to figure out how he got so strong. I can't even remember teaching him any of what he is using.'
As soon as he did that Itachi's left hand dropped to the ground like a heavy weight and went down to one knee. He tried to stand up but there was just too much weight pressing down on his hand. He sighed and look towards Naruto.
"That was a good move Naruto but you forgot one thing."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"You looked in my eyes." He said as everything around Naruto suddenly began to distort and the sky became a light purple and he saw everyone in the stands disappear. Itachi who was in front of him was now gone.
'When did I look in his eyes?' He thought as he went over what happened and realized it must have been when he added the seal to Itachi's hand. 'His eyes must have caught mine when I was adding the seal.'
'I have to get out of this and quick as I can.' He thought as he began cutting off his chakra through his body. 'I need to release a large burst of chakra in order to release the genjutsu.'
So that is what he did as he began storing up chakra from his body and to be ready to release a large burst of it and be released. He had plenty of chakra left but after the long day he could feel his body and his muscles aching as the day began to take its toll on him.
"You're a failure." A voice suddenly said from next to him as he turned beside him to see his dad standing their scowling at him.
"You're a failure of a shinobi. We didn't bother teaching you because I know you were not worth the effort. You could never be the child I always wanted to raise."
Naruto widened his eyes a little at that, but he looked forward. "This is not real. It's just an illusion." He said as he suddenly felt some kind of strike hit his face.
He looked forward to see Kushina now standing in front of him with her palm outstretched.
"I pushed you away because I did not want you anymore. Why would want you when I have three perfect little children that I can love and spoil? I never wanted you to begin with." She said as she glared at him.
"This is not real…" He continued to say to himself as he stored up more chakra to release.
From behind him he then felt a strikes hit him and saw senbons sticking out of him. It was Shizune, Tsuande and Hiruzen all standing there with Shizune's hand stretched showing she had thrown the senbons.
"Why did we train you? You're just a waste of our time." They said together.
Then from all around him other people began to appear; Mikoto, Anko, Mina, Mito, Eiji, Kakashi, and Jiraiya all stood their glaring towards him all circling around him all saying the same thing.
"This is not real, THIS IS NOT REAL!" He kept saying to himself not noticing that while he focused on what they were saying, he was storing more chakra then necessary.
The people around him got closer and got louder as all he could hear were their words and he shook his head furiously.
"SHUT UP!" He shouted as he unleashed the chakra he had stored up and that shot out from all around him.
The illusion around him flickered before it faded away and the crowds' and Itachi came back into view. His chakra continued to burst around and caused large cracks to form in the ground as well as rubble to get swept away from how powerful it was. Many in the audience were left speechless, his father included at how much chakra he had and how powerful it was.
"What did he do?" Tsunade asked scowling a little and looked at Naruto in worry as she watched him drop to one knee and panted; no doubt the large amount of chakra he unleashed sapped him of his energy and chakra.
'Naruto has that much chakra!' Minato thought leaning forward in is seat. 'That almost double the amount Kushina had when she was that age. Just how much chakra does Naruto have?'
Naruto panted and looked at Itachi who had finally broke the weight seal on his hand, but looked as ragged and exhausted as he did. The days have been long and hard on both of them.
"I'm kicking your ass big time for that genjutsu." He said as Itachi looked at him a little sorry.
"I don't have much chakra left and by the looks of thing neither do you. So how about we finish this with one last move. Winner take all?" Itachi offered.
"One move?" Naruto Asked raising an eyebrow as his mouth flickered in a tin grin. "I'm game. Perfect way to get you back for that illusion." He said as they took a few steps further away from one another
Everyone in the stadium watched as Itachi did a few hand signs and then stuck hand in front of him. His chakra appeared in his left hand before the chakra suddenly set on fire. He then put it to the side and the fire then spread around his hand and up just past his wrist. The shape of the fire went to a spear shape.
Many again looked at it in fascination, Uchiha's included. Not even Mikoto had seen her son use that move before and he had not used that move before in one of their sparring and training sessions.
Kakashi who was behind Minato, looked at it in surprise. "It's like my Raikiri only instead of lightning, its fire."
"He is recognized as a genius. It should not be that surprising that he made his own version." Minato said as Kakashi nodded while the other kage all looked in fascination.
"Wow that's pretty cool!" Naruto said as Itachi readied to shoot forward. "But now it's time for my move. One I am sure many will recognize."
Naruto then stood up and put is right hand out with his palm facing upwards. It was then that Konoha shinobi heard the familiar swirling sound that made Minato, Tsunade, Kakashi, Shizune, Hiruzen and others widen their eyes to epic proportions when they realized what he was doing.
In Naruto's hand chakra began to swirl around in his hand before it began to form and take the shape of a sphere. It made a swirling sound and it pulsed in his hands. Itachi looked a little surprise before he went back to have an emotionless look on his face.
"How? How does Naruto know the rasengan?" Minato asked standing up from his seat.
"I'm not sure. But it I had to guess, it seems Naruto has been going through your things, it the best explanation to him knowing that jutsu." Kakashi added.
Back in Konoha Kushina and the other mothers had looks that resembled gaping fish not really believing that what they were seeing was real.
"Kushina, Minato taught him the rasengan. Was that really that wise?" Tsume said as Hana stared to her friend in awe.
"H-He didn't. I know Minato didn't. We have spoken about not teaching anyone the rasengan until we felt it was time. We did not even want to teach the twins the rasengan until they were at least twelve, maybe thirteen." She said as they all looked at her, then Kushina realized something. 'We had never even intended to teach it to Naruto. We weren't going to teach him his birth right! Is this what Tsunade meant that day we told her to teach the twins Medical ninjutsu?"
"Well I guess Naruto did not get that memo." Hitomi Hyuuga said as by her feet, Mina, Eiji and Mito watched their big brother in fascination and the blue orb in his hands.
Back on the field Naruto and Itachi positioned themselves readily and eyed each other. Itachi had his Sharingan activated while Naruto eyes seemed to glow with power radiating from it.
Then they both pushed forward and ran towards each other at great speed.
Itachi had his let brought back behind him as did Naruto with the rasengan. Those in the audience were completely silence as the two moved opposed each other and suddenly got thrown forward and towards one another. The only sound through the arena was the sound of the attacks.
"KAJIIN!"
"RASENGAN!"
Both attacks met head on and the sound of the clash resonated through the arena as they collided. The wind around the two boys picked up before a strong shockwave erupted from around the two boys as the two attacks fought for dominance; the ground beneath the cracked away along with the area around them.
The entire arena was hit by a strong shockwave and wind that many put their hands in front of their faces.
"This is insane. Who knew kids like this could have this kind of power!" A Kumo shinobi said as he tried to stop the wind lashing at his face.
The two attacks continued to fight for dominance as neither Naruto nor Itachi let up before they both let out a loud shout and the attacks and the area around them completely exploded and went up in smoke. The explosion knocked many of their seats and others had to use chakra to stay in their seat.
"NARUTO!"
"ITACHI!"
Back in Konoha Kushina was on her feet as she held her hand to her mouth after seeing her eldest get enveloped by the smoke and dust. Mito, Eiji and Mina look a little confused but had sad looks on their faces and Mina looked ready to cry.
Mikoto was in a similar situation as she wanted to jump into the stadium and check her son and student were still alive. Sasuke looked down worriedly as did Ria who like Mina looked ready to cry. Fugaku though looked as stoic as ever.
Tsunade and Shizune looked ready to jump down but Hiruzen planted is hand on their shoulder muttering that Naruto was okay.
In the box all the kage looked a little wide eyed at the final attack and Minato looked concerned towards his son who he still could not see.
Slowly though the cloud of smoke disappeared; revealing that the entire arena was completely and utterly wrecked and the walls looked like they were barely standing.
Eventually the figure of Naruto and Itachi appeared and showed them both standing shoulder to shoulder while both were looking and facing opposite directions. Both looked ready to drop and their clothes were in tatters. They had cuts all over their bodies and bruises forming. Naruto's left hand looked very burnt while Itachi looked a little mangled indicating some broken bones.
Everyone sat on the edge of their seats as they waited for the two boys to move or to even speak.
Itachi and Naruto turned their heads towards each other and both gave off a small smile before Itachi spoke.
"I guess you got me…" He said as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and fell to his knees and went unconscious. Many gasped at that while Naruto looked at Pakura who reappeared on the field and looked a little shocked from the fight she had seen.
She lifted her arm in the air. "The Winner of the match and winner of the Chunin Exams is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze!"
As soon as she did most in the stadium got on their feet and clapped wildly at the amazing battle they had just seen. Most clapped while some for Kumo and Iwa scowled a little and just looked away.
Naruto smiled at the crowd and saw his father look at him in disbelief, no doubt not believing his son just won the exams. With the match over Naruto breathed out a heavy breath before he fell backwards, the exhaustion of the day now taking its toll on him. Uzumaki or not, he had his limits.
When he did Tsunade, Shizune, Hiruzen and Mikoto left their seats and jumped into the stadium. Mikoto went straight to her son with Shizune coming up behind her to check him over while Tsunade and Hiruzen checked on Naruto.
"Let's get them both to the med bay; they will need some serious resting after today." Tsunade said as she picked up Naruto up gently on her back with Mikoto doing the same for Itachi before they quickly left the stadium.
Shizune hurried with them while Hiruzen picked up Naruto's blade in his hands and followed after them.