IV

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Arc IV Chapter 1

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“And this is my little sister. Look, Asami, how cute she is. A little angel”, Hisaaki rambled on and on for untold hours, presenting her proudly another picture of his sister.

 

Asami facepalmed. They were indeed the first team to pass the second part of the exam, but now they were stuck here in the tower for five whole days, condemned to doing nothing but waiting ... How dreadful.

 

Before Hisaaki could start another eulogy on his cute little sister, Hatsu entered the room, saving her from such a tragic fate. Asami had enough of the siscon Hisaaki and his incredible older brother Tatsuya. She had enough of his entire family.

 

“...” Hatsu approached them, glaring at her specifically with a hint of annoyance. She had probably heard what she had done and disapproved of her methods.

 

Asami, however, couldn't care less. Her methods produced results. “Hatsu-sensei, can we finally leave this tower? I can’t take it any more here.”

 

Hatsu crossed her arms, shaking her head. “No yet ... I was informed that you need to come with me. They have apparently prepared for you and the rest of the participants.”

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Asami and her team entered a wide, open hall that resembled an arena. In fact, it was an arena. They were the last ones and placed themselves among the rows of standing genin, which didn’t go unnoticed. A few genin glared at them with an expected degree of animosity. Especially, the Suna trio cherished her.

 

“...” Asami deployed her best smile and waved back.

 

Hiruzen appeared before them, armed with a pipe and clad in full regalia. He cleared his throat, starting one of his typical lengthy sermons. He was talking about the final portion of the chunin exam. About the true reason behind the chunin exams. About promoting friendship among the villages. About how the chunin exams, however, were also a matter of prestige and influence. About how the chunin exams served to demonstrate and compare the strength of the village. None of it came as a surprise as long as you possessed a modicum of political acumen. 

 

Another ninja appeared. His name was Hayate. He introduced them to the concept of preliminaries. Apparently, more teams had passed the second exam than predicted. They needed to cut down the numbers.

 

Hayate was met by a sea of blank, disbelieving stares. Some of the genin just couldn’t shut up and didn’t stop complaining. This wasn’t right ... This wasn’t fair ... Sakura didn't stop whining. Sasuke here, Sasuke there, curse mark dangerous, you can’t participate. Terribly annoying.

 

“...” Asami rolled her eyes. She was annoyed. And an annoyed Asami was an exceedingly dangerous Asami. She was bored. Everything was so bothersome and time consuming. Now she even had to participate in a preliminary tournament.

 

Hayate continued. “Ough. Ough. Does anybody else want to follow his example and withdraw? Nobody? Ough. Ough. Then we have a little problem. Ough. Ough. We planned for 12 matches. But with 23 candidates, we have now an uneven number of participants. That means that one of you won't need to participate. Ough. Anyway, we will begin now the preliminaries. Ough. Ough. The preliminaries consist of individual fights. The winners will advance to the next round and the final portion of the chunin exam. Otherwise, there are no rules at all.”

 

“...” Asami raised an eyebrow. Hayate suddenly gained her undivided attention. No rules at all? That was interesting, very interesting ...

 

Hayate clarified further, “Ough. Ough. You will fight until someone dies, collapses, or admits defeat. And please give up right away. We don't want to see any unnecessary corpses ... Do you have any questions ...”

 

“...” Asami raised her hand, armed with an innocent smile.

 

Hayate turned his head, addressing her. “Yes?”

 

“I have a question, does that mean that we are allowed to kill our opponents?” Asami was curious.

 

Hayate nodded. “From a technical point, yes, you are indeed allowed to kill, although I still retain the right to intervene when I judge that unnecessary force is applied. But otherwise, it is up to your abilities.”

 

“I see ...” Asami understood.

 

Hayate looked around. “Any further questions? No? Then the preliminaries begin.” Following his command, Anko stepped forwards to announce the first arranged match.

 

“...” Asami yawned, once again nearly falling asleep out of boredom. The entire procedure bored her, but her agony unexpectedly ended.

 

Anko gripped her clipboard. “The first match will be between Rock Lee and Minami Asami. The candidates shall step forwards.”

 

“This ... is .... unexpected”, Asami mumbled. Hisaaki overheard her.

 

“Don’t worry, Asami, we are sure that you will make it. We believe in you.” Hisaaki clenched his fists. How sweet of him.

 

Asami responded with a smile. “Thank you, Hisaaki, for your encouragement. Your encouragement is not needed, but still.”

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