The chamber at the base of the tower was rge, but Tobio supposed it would have to be to suffice for the preliminaries. With two walkways on either side of the room, a stage where Hiruzen, the Jōnin-sensei, and the various proctors were posted up, and a massive statue with two hands in a hand seal. It was suitably impressive, as Anko's words washed over the group.

  "Congratutions to you all for passing the second exam!" She spoke, casting her gaze over the assorted group of teenagers. "Now Lord Hokage himself will expin about the third exam. Listen up, and take every word he says to heart!"

  All of the children, Tobio included, straightened up their posture when Hiruzen came to the fore. It was hard not to, when you were face-to-face with a living legend. Tobio didn't much care for a lot of the policies that Hiruzen had executed over his tenure, but he'd be lying if he said the old man didn't daunt him still.

  When it came to the Five Poisons Sense, it was hard to get a read on what he was going to do next. Even his Energy Sense saw him as a little muted, as if he was actively restraining his chakra signature…which, probably was actively the answer, when Tobio focused in on him. For all that he'd left his best years behind him, Hiruzen's power and potential still bzed intently deep down.

  "The third examination is about to commence…but before I go into the specifics of how it will be conducted, let me make one thing clear. It pertains to the underlying purpose of the exam."

  Ami and Hibachi stiffened by Tobio's sides, as the two of them focused in on the old man, a little confused. Whereas this was more or less something he could remember the rough strokes of, according to canon.

  "Why do you suppose an examination of this nature is being jointly conducted by all of the nations in our mutual alliance?" It was a question posed to the children, though from his tone, it wasn't one he was waiting for an opinion on. Instead, something to make them think, before he continued.

  Tipping his hat lowly, it shaded Hiruzen's eyes before he proceeded with his speech. "To promote friendship among allied nations and raise the level and standards in the art of the shinobi… Be very clear about what those fine-sounding phrases actually mean! This series of so-called examinations is, in fact, a war in miniature between all of our allied nds."

  And to call them allies, in truth, felt like something of a misnomer from Tobio's perspective. Sure, they nominally were joined together with Sunagakure, yet it was also something where Suna sort of resented Konoha for pilfering contracts from them. The Vilge Hidden in the Sound was supposedly a 'minor' Hidden Vilge, though not an enemy, even if no one understood the depths of their duplicity yet.

  "Wh-What do you mean…?" Tenten spoke, voice just barely loud enough to be heard.

  Hiruzen, the Professor at heart, was happy to answer. "If you were to study our recent history and consult a map, it would swiftly become apparent that our alliance is, in fact, a temporary and mutually beneficial agreement between a group of geographically contiguous nds."

  In the beginning, Hiruzen definitely held the attention of a lot of the crowd, but Tobio didn't think a lot of the kids were entirely following. Which wasn't their fault, the civilian-born children especially seemed a little lost by the entire affair. Tobio might have, if it wasn't for how absolutely boosted his brain was these days.

  "Our previous existence was one of continual strife, constantly jockeying against one another openly and in secret," he spoke, as if that wasn't still the status quo across the Elemental Nations. "For power and the control of resources that were perpetually depleted almost down to exhaustion in the struggle."

  Resources such as money and the patronage of powerful clients, for example. Kekkai Genkai, a war that Konoha handily won, with the second-pce position being maybe Kiri before the purges. Extent and periphery targets, like nd, food, and the works.

  "A better way was devised. The way of the Chūnin Selection Exams."

  Of course, with typical shonen protagonist bravado, Naruto chose that exact moment to blurt something out. "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard! I thought the point was select Chūnin!"

  To be fair to Naruto, Tobio thought the name was stupid as well, when the exam was really just one gigantic way to flex on the rivals of your Hidden Vilge. Doing well in the finals in front of nobles and other possible clients was a great way to get your Hidden Vilge on the road to acquiring no small number of clients.

  Whether he was actually answering Naruto's outburst, or smoothly gliding past it, Hiruzen continued to speak. "Make no mistake. When this exam is done, it will have had the side effect of winnowing out any applicants unfit to ascend to the level of Chūnin. But even more importantly, it serves as an area wherein for the honor of their respective homends…young shinobi may fight to the death, if need be."

  How much of that was true, and how much of that was bullshit, was hard to say. Tobio believed that there were certainly measures for an objective level of combat capability that you were supposed to be able to wield. Although the Hokage likely expected anyone who was truly capable of becoming a Chūnin to recognize the underlying themes of the other qualities the examiners were looking for.

  Being able to destroy a town or a vilge was easy enough for shinobi. As Tobio had learned from Tekuno-sensei, with enough explosive tags any dream was theoretically possible. The real challenge was all the other ephemeral qualities, such as leadership skills and being able to judge a situation, among other things.

  He didn't think the Chūnin Exams in their current state tested all that well for those qualities. Maybe in the future, when graduation ages were raised, or the process of becoming a shinobi was more polished, the path to the higher ranks wouldn't be so scattershot.

  Food for thought for ter.

  Ino chimed in at this point as well. "The honor of their nds?!"

  "This third examination will be conducted under the watchful eyes of a number of distinguished guests. Including the rulers and nobility of the various nds you all aspire to serve. And among their number will be those who rule over each country's own hidden vilges. They will be watching you."

  That managed to make everyone quiet and still, as he tipped his hat down, pausing to take a drag from his still smoking pipe. Letting out a long exhale, the Hokage marched on. "If any one nation's applicants demonstrate outstanding skill and superiority, the noblemen from every nd will be quick to commission work from those trained in that superior nation."

  Which was sensible, really. Tobio agreed with the concept in principle, even if it did make him feel like a bit of a prize horse being shown off. But he was a professional, and that meant having to do dirty jobs that he might not have always cared for. Provided Konoha didn't pass that threshold into asking him to commit acts too heinous, they'd continue to have his loyalty.

  If he did have to become a nukenin…

  Well, Tobio had never really entertained it for too long. It'd be a very different kind of life, that was for sure.

  "Conversely, if a particur country's applicants are shown to be incompetent or feeble, commissions to agents of that country will decline."

  In fairness, that was just business. The reality of the situation meant that people with painful skills tended to get a bit prickly about that situation when it happened, though. When you could command the elements or kill hundreds of normal people, violent expressions of your displeasure began to get outsized.

  Dramatically so.

  "And when one nd is strong in battle, and the vilge coffers overflow with the fruits of many outside commissions this begets, then that vilge may say to its neighbors, 'Beware, for we possess the prowess and riches and influence of political power'."

  Whatever Kiba had been sitting on up to this point bubbled to the surface, as he barked out another question. "So?! Why is it necessary to stake our lives and fight in a tournament like this?"

  Hiruzen could only fix the boy a firm stare, amidst all of his other shinobi. "The strength of a country is derived from the strength of its Hidden Vilge, and the Vilge draws upon the power of the Shinobi who live there. And that might can only emerge in the midst of a desperate life-and-death battle!"

  …Tobio would like to say that Hiruzen was talking shit, but in actuality, it was pretty accurate advice for Tobio's situation precisely. He unironically did get stronger when thrown into life and death situations, as a result of Revival of X. Though the genin wasn't keen for that fact to get spread around. The st thing he wanted was to have his team foisted into dangerous scenarios to fuel his growth.

  Risking Tobio's own life was one thing. He'd do that without a shadow of hesitation, because throwing yourself into life-or-death situations for supernatural rewards was kind of fun. Risking the lives of Tekuno-sensei, Ami, or Hibachi on his madcap endeavors was a very different proposition. No matter how strong they were getting from Sworn Brotherhood, he wasn't keen to see if that was enough when pushed against some of the real monsters of this world. All of their opponents so far in truth had been jobbers, let alone anyone who was well and truly worth the title of S-Css.

  Not yet, anyway.

  Then, Hiruzen said the quiet part out loud. "These exams provide a public arena for each country to show off and boast of the strength of its warriors, and hence the power of the country itself. As you struggle for the sake of your very lives and your people, you help to fulfill the dream that was envisioned by our ancestors."

  Maybe the tact of this speech was primarily because so many Konohagakure shinobi had made it to this stage of the exams. Tobio didn't know for sure, but he suspected that the Hokage would have adjusted things accordingly if the numbers had been different.

  "But," Tenten started. "You've always emphasized the concept of friendship…why?"

  "Though my meaning is subtle, I chose my words with care. To preserve the bance of power at the risk of lives is the essence of friendship in the world of shinobi."

  Gaara, however, had evidently reached the critical mass of how much of this he could take. "Whatever. Could you wrap up the philosophical talk and get down to the life and death stuff any time soon?"

  "Hmph! So, you insist that I expin the third exam?"

  Though with that, there was a bit of an intervention as a figure of a shinobi appeared in the tell-tale puff of shunshin smoke. "Forgive my interruption, Lord Hokage, if you don't mind handing over the rest of the proceedings to me, Gekko Hayate, proctor of the third exam."

  Something about this caught on Tobio's paranoid side, and he suspected at least some of this was coordinated beforehand. Or, otherwise set up in advance for Hayate to come in at this moment. The Hokage paused, before nodding. "Go ahead."

  Standing up, it was Tobio's first real gnce at Gekko Hayate, a retively minor character in Naruto as far as the lore went. He looked a bit sickly, all things considered, with bags under his eyes and a rasp in his voice, but Tobio wasn't entirely fooled. Pretending to look weak, and then striking in that interim, was the oldest Shinobi trick in the book.

  Though he did remember that there was some kind of medical condition that the man had. Someone that could be likely helped by the Elixir, if he hadn't been so focused on hiding it. Food for thought, but not useful for the moment.

  "Good to meet you, everyone. I'm Hayate. Before we start the exam, though, I must ask you all to do something for me," the man specified, as Tobio already had a pretty good idea of what was coming. "There are some preliminaries to the exam proper, and whether you proceed to the main exam is contingent on how well you manage those."

  "Preliminaries?" Sakura spoke, confusion writ rge on her features.

  Shikamaru's reaction was a little more dramatic. Tobio guessed he didn't see this coming. "Preliminaries…? Like what?"

  "Why can't all of the remaining applicants just proceed directly to the next exam?" Sakura questioned.

  "Well, I don't want to say that the first two exams weren't demanding enough in their own ways. But the truth is that we still have too many applicants. Under the traditional rules of the exam, we have to run a preliminary test to reduce the number of applicants who'll proceed to the third exam."

  "B-But…"

  "Sakura, they can make whatever rules they want," Ami huffed. "We're the ones who just have to live with them."

  "As Lord Hokage mentioned, a number of honored guests will be observing you during the third stage," Hayate expined. "So we must make the exam intense, tight, and fast-moving. Civilians tend to prefer it that way."

  Making official Hidden Vilge policy catered to nobility wasn't just smart, it was the best way to handle things if you wanted to make money at the end of the day. Not that Tobio agreed all the way, but that was how things shook out sometimes.

  "Hmm. So, anyway, now that you know something of what it's really all about, anyone who doesn't feel up to the challenge, either physically or mentally, can walk away and just take one step forward. Because the preliminaries start…right now!"

  If Team Eleven hadn't gotten to the tower with those extra days to spare, or Team Seven, it would have been a more daunting proposition. But a day or so to rest, recover their chakra levels, and get psyched up for whatever the next stage was had done wonders. Ami and Hibachi weren't quite as good as Tobio at bouncing back or endurance, yet he didn't think they'd be incapable of giving a good showing now.

  "Now?!" Kiba yelled.

  "Stop yelling! Talk at normal volume!" Tobio yelled back. "Everyone can hear you fine!"

  "Now you're yelling!" He yelled back.

  Which, goddamnit, was objectively true. Scowling, he opened his mouth to say something else, but Kabuto beat him to it. "Well, I'm outta here."

  "What?" Naruto barked, looking surprised. "K-Kabuto…?"

  Pulling out a clipboard, while everyone else was stunned into surprise, Hayate looked at the bespectacled 'Genin'. "Aren't you Yakushi Kabuto of Konoha…? Okay, you can go."

  Gncing around at the confused expressions of the genin, Hayate rapped his knuckles against his clipboard. "In case I forgot to mention it, from here on in, you all fight as individuals. Not as team members. So you can make the decision that's right for you without worrying about anyone else."

  "So…anyone else want out? Show of hands?"

  "Hey! Kabuto, what's up with you quitting?" Naruto asked, looking genuinely aggrieved at the proposition.

  Looking about as pitiful as he could, which Tobio implicitly understood was a lie, Kabuto could only give the boy a small, rueful smile. Honestly, if Tobio didn't know that he was a traitor by this point, he might have even been convinced. "I'm sorry, but I took a lot more injuries in the forest than I'd been pnning on. Now they're saying this could be a fight to the death…and I just don't think I'm up to that!"

  The words did manage to get everyone else silenced, as they thought of his words. Tobio gnced over at Ami and Hibachi, but he needn't have been worried. Instead of concern, there was only resolution on their faces. Ami did notice him watching, and cracked a grin. "What, did you think we were going to drop out here?"

  "A little."

  "I thought about it," Hibachi sighed. "But Ami would be insufferable about it if I did. And I wanna be one step closer to that cushy desk job by getting promoted."

  Respectable, even if it wasn't the most noble shinobi goal. Tobio had been coming around to smaller dreams in recent months, even if he still wanted to become the summit of power in the Elemental Nations. It just wasn't the only thing he wanted anymore.

  Funny how getting to know people and making bonds in the Hidden Vilge could alter a guy's priorities.

  Kabuto was already walking off, though Hayate still looked around the crowd to see if anyone else was going follow suit. When it became clear that Kabuto was the exception to the norm, he shrugged. "Looks like no one else is bailing out."

  Though out of the corner of his eye, Tobio could spot Sasuke trying to hold it together. Sakura was having a hushed, if rapid conversation with him, likely about the cursed mark. Whatever the resolution was, it didn't seem as if the st loyal Uchiha was going to be stepping out of the battle this time around.

  Once he was sure that no body else was stepping away, Hayate gave a short, perfunctory nod. "Well then. We'll now begin the preliminaries, which will consist of individual combat matches, as though this were part of a tournament. As there are a total of twenty combatants, we will hold ten bouts. And the victors of those bouts will advance to the third stage in truth."

  His eyes bored into them, looking each genin in the eyes. "Make no mistake, this is no-holds-barred combat. Each pair of combatants will fight until one of them dead, unconscious, or actively admits defeat. As soon as you sense that your opponent is overpowering you, I recommend immediately conceding if you value your life."

  "Though, since we don't want a total bloodbath on our hands there may be cases where we ascertain there is an undisputed winner and step in to end the match early. Don't count on that."

  Behind him, a slot began to open, revealing what appeared to be an electronic screen. Hayate gestured to it with a jerked thumb. "At the start of every round, we will dispy the names of the two combatants competing in that match. Not to hurry you all to the sughter, but let's begin. We'll announce the first two names now."

  There was a dreadful anticipation in the air as everyone's eyes turned toward the screen itself. All of them wondering if it was going to be their names embzoned there very shortly. Given that Tobio was almost positive that these were somewhat rigged matches, though, he didn't think they'd change up that much. And his guess was right, as two familiar names appeared.

  Uchiha Sasuke vs Akado Yoroi.

  "Will the individuals whose names are listed on the board come forward now?" Hayate asked, with Sasuke and the scarfed, bespectacled traitor following suit. "Akado Yoroi, Uchiha Sasuke, you two have been selected to compete in the first bout. Any objections?"

  "I'm good," Sasuke authoritatively stated, nodding sharply. He wasn't, but Tobio didn't think he'd lose. Not with the extra time to rest and adjust to the cursed mark.

  "None here," Yoroi agreed.

  "Alright then," their proctor nodded. "Everyone other than the two combatants should move to the upper gallery now."

  Everyone began to move, Tekuno-sensei joining the rest of his students on the upper walkway with all the other genin and their sensei. "Nervous?" He asked, shooting them a small grin.

  "A little," Tobio admitted. "But as long as I don't accidentally get paired with one or two certain people, it'll be hard to imagine myself losing."

  "Oh ho! A little cocky, ain't it?"

  Ami scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "If he could survive that fall, there's no way he could lose to anyone here."

  Which was a level of faith that really did touch Tobio's heart. But there were a scant few people present that he'd be genuinely struggling with. Neji was almost certainly a better taijutsu combatant and could pinpoint strike his tenketsu. Rock Lee was, well, Rock Lee, and would beat his ass like a rented drum. And in the case of Gaara…

  King crash out himself was the kind of threat who would go for the kill from the outset. Tobio was good, but he didn't know if he was good enough to contend with everything that the bijuu container could bring to the fore.

  The resulting match wasn't anything that Tobio was surprised about, though. Sasuke pulled out Lee's stolen moves and took the day, if with a little more physical grace than he had before. But the next match was, by the deaths of the Sound Team, more of a surprise for Tobio. After all, someone had to fill the spots that their absence had created.

  Mishima Hibachi vs Aburame Shino.

  Hibachi swallowed thickly, looking over at the words, and then back over at Shino with a grimace. "...Welp. I'm up."

  "What's with that attitude?" Tobio asked, squinting over at Hibachi. "Get whatever defeatist crap you've got in your head out of there. You're gonna win this match, or give Aburame a fight he'll never forget. Understood?"

  At those words, Hibachi blinked, and a little of his nervousness began to fade away. It wasn't enough to put him entirely at ease, but that familiar determination Tobio had glimpsed in the forest returned. "I mean, with a glowing command like that, how can I refuse?"

  "And if things get too dodgy…" Tekuno trailed off, shooting Hibachi a meaningful look. "There's no harm in pulling back or conceding. Being amazing in a fight isn't the only path to promotion."

  "Maybe," Hibachi conceded. "But this is for me. I wanna see how far I've come since the Academy, and I don't think Shino's going to kill me if I don't surrender."

  "Which means you better not be afraid to get crazy," Ami badgered him, gring at the boy. "Go after him with your teeth if you gotta!"

  "...Perhaps not that far," Tekuno worriedly added, after the questioning looks some of the other Jonin sent him.

  Tobio didn't know why. Biting was a perfectly valid strategy in a fight. Perhaps he was a little biased, though, since Mixed Blood had given him a set of canines pretty good for biting. Could he work that into his fighting style somehow…?

  Hibachi left them, heading down the steps to the main fighting stage, projecting a kind of forward confidence Tobio didn't know if he truly felt. Shino followed suit, as the two of them approached each other, and the proctor, at the center.

  "Alright, so begins the second of the preliminaries," Hayate commented, with a fairly untheatric lilt to his voice. "On the count of three, we'll begin."

  Both of them nodded, before the Jonin coughed softly and began to speak once more. "One…two…three."

  Disappearing in a fsh of hand seals, Hayate shunshin'd out of the ring, leaving the two genin to their devices. Though they didn't dive straight into action, seeing as Shino decided to speak first.

  "If you go through with this, you'll get hurt so badly you'll never be the same." They were simple words, spoken in the most matter of fact way possible. Yet something about Shino's monotone was threatening, even all the way where Tobio was standing. "Walk away…while you still can."

  To which Hibachi could only grin, even as sweat beaded on his face. "Big words, Aburame! Let's see if you can back them up."

  Hibachi didn't waste any time trying to rush him, pulling out a kunai from his back belt pouch to immediately go for the stab. Considering the threat that had been leveled his way, though, Tobio wasn't going to begrudge him for that level of bloodthirstiness. Though he didn't expect Hibachi's eyes to widen as he halted his movement, jumping to the side with alertness.

  "Oh? You noticed?" Shino spoke, still standing where he was originally pced. "Most people usually are too focused on me to pay attention to their surroundings."

  "If there's one thing I recognize, it's a trap, and being baited in…" Hibachi grunted, gncing around with concern. "...Where the hell are all these bugs coming from?"

  True enough, there was a steady swarm of beetles crawling across the floor toward him, having come from behind. Gleaming, tiny bodies that stood out with their dark carapaces against the floor of the arena.

  "Do you like my little friends? They're called kikaichu-parasitic destruction beetles. They attack in swarms and devour the chakra of their prey," Shino expined, holding up a finger, where one of the tiny beetles rested. "Of course, there's no way you'll survive an onsught of this magnitude…so if you value your life, you'd best surrender."

  For a few seconds, Hibachi looked like he was considering it. And then, he smirked. "...Nah."

  In a blistering fsh of hand seals, the stone floor beneath him shimmered in a fine sand, and then Hibachi was sinking into the earth right before the bugs reached his position. Whatever their capabilities were, diving into the dirt fast enough wasn't one of them. And then Hibachi was out of sight, and out of mind, as Shino looked around the arena cautiously.

  "Where did he go?" Ino asked, looking around.

  "He's using an Earth Release jutsu," Shikamaru guessed. "But not one of the heavier ones, with a big chakra requirement."

  "So it's a trick? He's hiding?"

  Asuma gave a slow nod from where he was standing. "Don't look down on a ninja using some mid-fight stealth. You rarely get the opportunity to do so, but if it's worth the expenditure of chakra…it could be worth it."

  "It'll be worth it," Tekuno-sensei grinned. "I recognize exactly the trick that he's going for…"

  And so did Tobio. "...Oh! Yeah, that'd do it."

  The earth beneath Shino exploded, as two hands came up and grasped at his ankles. It wasn't to be, though, as Shino leapt away as Hibachi erupted out of the ground. From the outside looking in, it would have looked as if Hibachi's ambush had failed. But if there was anything that Tobio had learned from Tekuno-sensei, a trap with only one yer was born to fail when ninja were involved.

  So naturally, a proper trapper had to account for multiple yers of deceit. That was the only way you'd ever manage to properly handle the squirrely minds of your average shinobi. Out of all of Team Eleven, if Tekuno-sensei had an heir to his ambush-happy heart, it was Hibachi.

  Here and now, the beanie-cd boy proved that.

  Coming out of the ground, no small amount of bugs were coming his way. Some probably even tched onto Hibachi, though Tobio had a hard time telling just from sight alone, nor did Energy Sense have an easy time distinguishing between individual insects. But that didn't matter, when Shino leapt away, nding on an innocent spot on the floor.

  Right for Hibachi to smirk. "Gotcha." Throwing his hand into a seal, Shino had the briefest moment to look confused, as his bugs almost reached Hibachi. Right before one of the explosive seals that was left in the ground exploded.

  It was rock and hot shrapnel that made Shino get blown back, righting in the air and skidding across the arena floor. Right into the next one, as Hibach performed another hand seal. "You didn't think I was just hiding, did you?"

  "The thought occurred to me!" Shino barked back, exertion like Tobio had never seen before cing his voice. All the while, Hibachi was doing his best to jump and outspeed the bugs, getting ever closer to his position.

  A few had even managed to tch onto him, judging by the gradual g in his movements. "Might as well surrender," he snarked. "You've got no idea how many I've pnted in the ground."

  "Predicated on my kikaichu not eating you alive first. Nothing but hope that your pn will succeed."

  "I'm an optimist at heart," Hibachi grimaced, smiling all the while, as he hastily tried to beat at his arms. "But I see you've chosen the hard way."

  Landing again, Shino breathed hard, reaching up to adjust his slightly cracked gsses. "Likewise."

  The ensuing fight wasn't the most delicate, or clever. Both of them had gambits that were id pinly on the table. Could Shino outst, or maneuver, around the various explosive tags that had been hidden in the ground? Or would Hibachi suffer from the onsught of insects, and have his chakra drained out of him.

  Much to Tobio's chagrin, it seemed as if for as evenly matched as they seemed at the outset, Shino had the slightest advantage. Especially when he seemed to start dodging into disparate directions for no reason, making split-second leaps out of the range of Hibachi's bombs.

  "Are you kidding me?!"

  "Once I had my bugs start searching for the chakra signatures, it was easier than not," Shino admitted.

  There was a despondent look on Hibachi's face at those words, before he huffed, and raised his arms. "...Then I concede. If you can see around my entire strategy, I'm just going to get eaten alive for no reason." Then Hibachi paused, frowning. "Also, these bugs really hurt. Please call them back."

  "With pleasure," Shino nodded, as the tide of insects, reduced but still sizable, began to creep back toward him. "Admittedly, if my insects couldn't sense those disturbances, I would have likely lost this round."

  "Yeah, well, second pce doesn't count for much among ninja," Hibachi huffed.

  Hayate appeared in the arena, gesturing to Shino. "The round goes to Aburame Shino."

  Both of the Genin began to make their way off the field, likely to be seen by medics, with Ami's eyes following the defeated Hibachi. "...I don't think I could have done any better. So he should take pride in pushing Shino so far."

  "Tell him after you win your own match," Tobio shrugged.

  She blinked, gncing his way. "You think I'm going to win?"

  "Against most of the people here, save a few outliers? I think you've got very good odds to eke out a win." Unlike Tobio, who could devour jutsu(fire release, especially), everyone on his team had a decent set for their current time spent as Genin that they'd learned. Beyond that, her own skills weren't half-bad in a direct fight.

  Provided she didn't fight a few of the truly physical monsters, Ami had good odds to win. Tekuno-sensei agreed, nodding along. "You've come a long way with your Water Release, Ami. It might be costly, but that's what I'd focus on to win."

  If nothing else, those words seemed to have bolstered her mood, as she beamed at the two of them. "Ehehe… If you guys think I can do it, what choice do I have?"

  The next round was the same as canon as well. Tsurugi Misumu vs Kankuro, which was taken fairly handily by the Hidden Sand ninja. But it seemed as if they were keen to get through the matches quickly, which was why the next one came as a mild surprise.

  Yamanaka Ino vs Kato Ami.

  Hmm. This was an interesting match-up, and definitely one Ami had been looking forward to. "Oh yeah. It's all coming together."

  "Don't get cocky," Tobio warned her. "Ino's not the complete pushover you think she is."

  "I'm not," she lied, like a liar. "It'll be fiiiine."

  "As long as you try your best, I'll be happy no matter what happens," Tekuno reassured her. "Failing to advance to the finals is hardly a mark of shame."

  "Maybe, but I want you to be able to brag about us," Ami bluntly stated. "That more of your students made it to the finals than others."

  "I think no matter what happens, the three of you have already made me plenty proud." To that, Tobio and Ami could only duck their heads at the earnest, effusive praise their sensei had for them.

  Stomping off down to the arena, she and Ino stood across from one another as the two girls stared back at each other.

  "Shouldn't you just surrender?" Ino asked, smirking softly.

  "Feels like that should be my line, Yamanaka. I wouldn't want to break a nail, beating you into the ground."

  "Big words with your what, three jutsu? And beating me up, like a goril?"

  "If it works, it works. So, you're resigning yourself to getting trounced in front of everyone we know?"

  The blonde scoffed. "Maybe I should be saying the same to you."

  At that point, Hayate came to the fore to try and interrupt this bickering. "We'll begin the match now. In three…two…one!"

  With his own darting out of the field, neither of the two girls hesitated to get moving into action. Ami darted to the side, reaching into her pouch and pulling out a kunai with streamer attached. What, from a distance, certainly looked like an explosive tag, and that Ino treated like one Ami threw it.

  But, as someone who had been on the recipient of this exceptionally dirty trick, Tobio knew that it was just a fake. Most people who weren't familiar with sealing would see fuin written on a kunai and react accordingly, doubly so in the heat of battle. But it was ultimately a fake-out, and one that opponent up an avenue for Ami.

  Throwing her hand together into a Tiger seal, Ami concentrated Ino's way. "Water Release: Gunshot!"

  …Why was it called a gunshot, when guns didn't exist here? Whatever, there was probably a good reason for it. Maybe Tobio could just bme Kishimoto for bad writing again.

  Moving his attention back to the fight, the sudden bsts of water that were being manifested forth and shot toward Ino were powerful. Not enough to be lethal, but certainly enough to bruise or break bone. The only reason Tobio tanked them, was because he was fundamentally a lot harder to damage in their sparring sessions.

  The trade-off being the fact that he knew Ami would be going through her chakra reserves quickly. It was in her better interests to try and finish the fight quickly, and she didn't have Hibachi's same proclivity for traps above all other tactics. It was, in many respects, the best that she could manage.

  But not enough.

  "Guess nothing's changed since the Academy, huh?" Ino barked out, as the deluge came to a stop. "All you've got are tricks! All fsh, no substance."

  "...What did you just say?" There was a coldness in Ami's voice, as she squinted over at Ino.

  A smirk came over the blonde's face. "Didn't you hear me? You're just the same as you were at the Academy. Probably still gging behind your teammates, trying to show off for Sasuke-kun."

  "I'm definitely not into Sasuke anymore," Ami bluntly stated. "A little too much baggage for my liking."

  "Oh? So you're showing off for someone else instead?"

  "Ino, I'm not trying to show off for anyone. I'm fighting to prove I've got it for myself."

  "And yet you're still fighting at a distance…"

  Clicking her tongue, Ami's own anger spiked, and that was the moment Tobio understood that she had lost. "I'll show you fighting at a distance, idiot!"

  Pulling out her kunai, she moved to close the distance between the two girls. Right into the Mind Body Switch Technique that she couldn't have known about beforehand. Hell, the only reason Tobio hadn't informed everyone on his team about the capabilities of everyone else, was because he didn't want to have to answer awkward questions by Cns looking to guard their secrets.

  But this was the unfortunate consequence, as Ami was hit, and immediately had a foreign smirk on her face as she lifted up her kunai to her neck. Even her voice was different, when she spoke. "Proctor? You can call it."

  Hayate appeared, gncing at the limp body of Ino, before looking back at Ami, and sighing softly. "The winner is Yamanaka Ino."

  It was a bit of a graceless victory, especially as Ino came back to her body, and Ami looked more shocked and confused than anything else. Though the immediate, crestfallen expression on her face wasn't that surprising, as she hastily walked back up to the upper floors. She was quiet, and Tobio could tell that she was pushing whatever negative emotions back, if barely.

  The wetness in her eyes made that much clear. No matter how much they'd advanced so far, in such a short amount of time…Ami and Hibachi were still very much children. With all of the foibles and fws that entailed.

  Sometimes you could recognize all of that, though, and implicitly understand that it wasn't what someone needed. So, Tobio did what he did best, which was be thoughtlessly kind and caring. He walked over to Ami, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugging the girl softly. It was enough get her to break out of her reverie.

  "Eh?"

  "You tried. There's no harm in getting caught up in a trick. Just don't let it happen again, and that's a step moving forward."

  Her mood wasn't entirely improved, but it was lighter, as the next round came by.

  Tenten vs Temari, though it was a fight he already knew the conclusion to. Gncing over at the Sungakure genin, Tobio did his best not to freeze when he saw her sitting position.

  Legs.

  Tobio did his best to not focus on the pretty, older foreign genin whenever she noticed her name being up on the board. Temari was, admittedly, a lot safer for him to check out than all of the literal girls around him, seeing as she was a teenager proper. Though it was a little undercut by the moment he'd just had with Ami, but-

  Legs.

  ...Yeah, Tobio wasn't looking forward to going through puberty again if it meant that he was going to be distracted by these urges. It was already bad enough the first time, but he was pretty sure that Mixed Blood puberty would be categorically worse by an order of magnitude. Looking up from her seat, the girl hopped down and Tenten followed suit, both of them looking raring to go. Though only Temari would end up the victor, in a terrifying dispy of jutsu-shiki via her fan. Nothing he couldn't properly tank, if given the opportunity, but still frightening by itself for the sheer range of her capabilities.

  Nara Shikamaru vs Haruno Sakura.

  …This fight was weird.

  By all known metrics, Sakura wasn't one of the people who Tobio would call physically intimidating. Neither was Shikamaru, though, and in fact, the two of them were fairly evenly matched in terms of intelligence. The only real benefit that Shikamaru had, as Tobio saw it, was the fact that he had cn jutsu at his disposal.

  The fight between the two of them ended in Shikamaru's win, but it wasn't an easy one. He fought primarily at range, while Sakura used tricks, wiles, and did her best to try and maintain a definitive gap between herself and the shadow. Altogether, it was the type of scrap that made her seem ten times more determined than her weaponized mental illness when she originally fought Ino.

  Ultimately, though, it saw her losing, and the next match proceeded apace.

  Inuzuka Kiba vs Uzumaki Naruto.

  Same verse, same as the first. Naruto won by a hair, or more specifically, a fart, which made Tobio highly suspect there was some degree of actual fuckery with fate going on here. It was extremely unlikely for events to transpire to such eerie accuracy, even if there were some substantive changes in the exam. Given that he'd been outright rewarded for taking things off of the rails, perhaps there was a force at work that he couldn't sense. Prophecy was a real and verified thing in this world, after all.

  The hard fight to watch was yet to come, however.

  Hyuga Neji vs Hyuga Hinata.

  It had been a good, long time since he'd seen someone be so thoroughly dismantled by another human being. Raw, pure, taijutsu prowess was on dispy, and a gap in skill that not even Hinata's firmed resolve from Naruto's shouting could cross. A sheer gap of peerless, martial skill.

  Tobio was happy that he didn't end up fighting Neji. Having his internal organs exploded would have been annoying, but not entirely a fight ending blow. Just kind of painful to walk around with. Internal bleeding sucked, as he could attest to from experience.

  He might have continued to think over that fight, if it wasn't for the fact that he was up next.

  Rock Lee vs Nakamura Tobio.

  And that was enough to make his blood run cold.

  "...Shit."

  "You okay, kiddo?" Tekuno asked, looking at the way Tobio had paled.

  "I'm good," Tobio shakily replied, trying to calm his nerves. "...I'm good."

  "If you say so," Tekuno nodded, even if he didn't entirely agree. Why would he? None of the sensei present understood the kind of martial arts monster that Might Guy had created. They wouldn't, until Tobio pressed him to his limits.

  And then they'd all see what the Green Beast of Konoha had wrought.

  In the annals of Naruto's anime and manga history, it was pretty universally agreed upon that Rock Lee was the character who had the most squandered potential.

  He didn't have any bloodline, any real supertive talent outside of taijutsu, and a distinct ck of ninjutsu, or genjutsu. By that metric, he should have been relegated to a background character, limited to throwing hands and direct chakra manipution. Yet somehow, that wasn't the case.

  Instead, he was given a pce of prominence by his own incredible prowess and feats as a genin. He was able to push a jinchūkiri in his age range to genuinely trying hard, capable of fighting well on the same level as various kekkai genkai wielders, and overall represented the overall themes of Naruto better than the main character himself. The concept that hard work and effort could overcome whatever obstacles were in your way.

  Tobio didn't know if he could win.

  For the first time, ever since Taki, Tobio just didn't know if this was a fight that he could win. Yet on the flipside, it was already stirring some excitement inside of him. It was a fight that didn't have life or death stakes, there was no honor or prestige on the line, and he didn't think Lee was going to pull any outright lethal chicanery on him.

  Without any frills, or complexity, this was a fight where he could enjoy it for what it was. A purely martial contest, with nothing but his own warrior's pride on the line. That simple fact provided no small amount of joy to him, and overwhelmed whatever tension Tobio might have been holding over the ensuing beatdown to come.

  Walking down to the arena, he observed Rock Lee patiently. In many respects, nobody would have taken him seriously with his goofy green jumpsuit, bowl-cut hairstyle, and bushy eyebrows. All of it was a facade for the terrifying fighter underneath.

  "Let us have a good fight, Tobio-san," Lee spoke, giving Tobio a polite bow. "Though I'd recommend that you should surrender. For the sake of my dreams…I won't be holding back."

  It was all Tobio could do not to vibrate in anticipation, as a feral grin ripped across his features. "Are you sure I shouldn't be saying the same to you, Rock-san? No offense, but I'm a good deal tougher than I look."

  More importantly, was the fact that for the first time in a long time, Tobio got the feeling that he was looking at a kindred spirit. Someone who wanted to fight for the sake of fighting, and wasn't afraid of putting it all on the line for their pride. For once, Tobio wanted a bout to go on for as long as possible.

  Who knew the next time he'd get a ninja with the same amount of mental dysfunction as him?

  "If that's all said and done…" Hayate murmured. "Let the fight commence in three…two…one!"

  The Jonin hurried out of the way as fast as humanly possible, which was for the best. As soon as the way was clear between the two of them, Tobio and Rock Lee blurred into motion. Tobio could barely concentrate on the cheers of encouragement coming from his team, or the feeling of foreign eyes on him as other shinobi took his measure.

  All of the world came down to a pinprick of him, his opponent, and the battle ahead.