I finally started to wake up and found myself on the ground, resting with Sasuke and Sakura. We were nowhere to be found. Suddenly, I heard a scream, so I bolted towards the noise and saw Sasuke beating up the Sound Genin who had attacked Kabuto earlier. Sakura quickly diffused the situation by hugging Sasuke. I took the scroll from the knocked-out Sound Ninja, and we continued on our way.
As I looked around at Sasuke, I noticed he was surrounded by a seal that appeared to give him a significant boost in power and speed. However, I had my concerns, primarily about my chakra. It was unstable due to the seal Orochimaru had put on me, and I didn't know how to undo it. I probably needed someone experienced in sealing techniques, but there were few seal masters.
I stopped and looked ahead, finally spotting the tower where we were supposed to go. We made our way inside and waited for the next stage. We examined a board that would randomly generate names to determine who would compete against whom since it had been revealed that we had too many participants, and we needed to weed out the weaker ones.
After a while, I saw my name pop up and realized I was matched up against Kiba, which should be easy enough. Even without complete control over my chakra, I was confident I could beat him with little effort. We settled into the stands, waiting to see who would go first. I saw that Sasuke was matched against one of the Sound shinobi from earlier. Normally, it would be easy for Sasuke to win, but Kakashi had ordered him not to use his chakra due to his seal. I watched as Sasuke struggled until he finally landed a nasty combination of attacks that mirrored the one Rock Lee had used against him.
Next up were Sakura and Ino. The match was lackluster at first, but Sakura began to pick up the pace. She executed a couple of low-level genjutsu and even some water-style jutsu. Ultimately, in their last exchange, Sakura knocked Ino out cold. They charged at one another with fists raised, but Sakura ducked under Ino's punch and delivered an overhand punch straight to Ino's face.
I zoned out for a bit, but then I heard my name announced. I jumped down from the stands and faced Kiba, who wore a smirk on his face, bragging about how easy the fight would be. I simply looked at him with a straight face and got ready for the match. When the ref said to begin, I immediately started to test Kiba, trying to find a weakness. I was at a significant disadvantage, as I had very little control over my chakra due to the seal Orochimaru had placed on me.
I used a kunai to manipulate Kiba's movements and noticed that he primarily relied on Akamaru for his major attacks. A brilliant idea struck me: I would use a transformation technique to turn into Akamaru. I activated a smoke bomb and executed my plan. I saw Kiba preparing for his spinning attack again, but just as he did, I undid my transformation and attacked him while he was off guard. I threw some kunai wrapped with ninja wire, which ensnared him. Quickly, I appeared behind him with a kunai in my hand, and he gave up.
Afterward, I returned to the stands, waiting for the next match. I noticed that Gaara, Neji, and Lee were now cautious of me, recognizing my strength. The next match was between Neji and Hinata, and it was a blowout. Neji was aiming to kill Hinata, which infuriated me. Just before he could land the finishing blow, the ref, Kakashi, and even Might Guy stepped in to stop Neji.
Then, I heard them announce Lee vs. Gaara, and I was certain that it would be a hard-fought battle.