The third round ended up being another match between Konoha members, with Shino going up against Ino. With this matchup, Shino immediately summoned his insects and surrounded himself completely so the Yamanaka clan jutsu won't work.
Using the insects on the outside, he saw through them and got a full view of the stage.
"Sorry Ino, but I won't...let...uh...ah haha" Shino was about to ask Ino to surrender since her clan jutsu simply cannot work with his insects surrounding him, but before he could finish, a towering shadow covered him entirely, along with his insects.
"Hahaha, I was about to say, I won't let you...uh, waste your time on me" He coughed, standing right before him is a giant puppet!
It wasn't just any puppet, it was a f**king giant! Standing at almost four meters tall, and just a single step made him feel the tremors.
Thought what Shino said was just out of momentary shock, he quickly got a hold of himself and sent out a swarm. It isn't his first time facing puppet users, so he has experince in dealing with them.
'But when did the Yamanaka clan use puppets? How did Ino keep this hidden for so long?' He wondered
Not just him, everyone in the stadium, except for a few friends, were all shocked to see that massive puppet appear out of thin air.
He made a hand sign, causing the swarming insects to split into smaller groups
"Aw, you say you won't waste my time, but your actions say otherwise~" Ino stuck out her tongue as she jumped onto the puppet's shoulder.
The puppet was large, but against swarms of insects, it wasn't practical, so there is only one thing she has to focus on.
"Hope your insects can block" The puppet charged at Shino, swinging its fist down on where the insects surrounded him.
The puppet closed the distance incredibly fast, and when the fist came down, the insects all scattered suddenly, and revealed empty ground where Shino initially stood.
*Bang*
The puppet punctured the ground with ease, before pulling its fist out. But instead of looking around, Ino controlled the puppet to strike the ground once more, confusing many.
Shino was gone, but she kept attacking the empty ground?
But as this thought came to them, a figure shot out of the ground before the second strike came down.
"Shino, did you forget who you're up against? Hahaha, I am a Yamanaka, you can't hide from my senses" Ino grinned
Shino's eyes didn't leave her
"Yes, but your focus on me is too narrow" Shino replied as he clasped his hands together
Insects surrounded Ino when she had initially punched at where Shino was earlier, now, they swarmed at her all at once.
Ino looked up, her vision completely obscured, as well as the audience. No one could see what happened to Ino the moment Shino surrounded her, so all that is left is to wait for the result.
Beneath the swarm, Ino grinned
"Na-kun taught me this trick~" She made a hand sign, and with a *puff*, she vanished, replaced with a log.
But the strange thing about this log was, it was covered in talismans! Shino saw through the insect's visions, and realised what it was, but too late.
*Boom*
The talismans lit up, causing an explosion to go off, decimating the insects that surrounded her, reducing the quantity by a good percentage.
Shino shuddered, he didn't expect Ino to use explosive talismans with the substitution jutsu, and through the explosion, the puppet charged through.
'Dammit, just where is the chakra string' He cried in his heart
During this period, he has spent the entire time trying to find the chakra string Ino is using to control the puppet using his insects, but until now, he has yet to find it!
"Can't find it, right? I made it so thin even dad and Hinata has trouble finding it" Ino giggled as she appeared behind him, holding a peace sign with one hand at his back.
Shino turned around, but Ino already voiced out
"Bang" She grinned
Shino instantly felt as if his consciousness was blasted out of his body, and Ino fell to the ground at the same time.
After that, it was obvious, Shino raised his hand, wearing an uncanny grin
"I surrender" He said
"Ino Yamanaka wins" Naruto said
After the win, he gave Ino an odd look
'When did she change the hand sign to a peace sign for that jutsu?' He thought, perplexed
But it was cute when she did it, so he glossed over it quickly.
As for Shino, his consciousness was returned soon after the surrender, and Ino woke up as well.
"Hehe, good match, Shino" She walked over and held out one hand
Shino nodded and shook her hand
"When did your clan start using puppets?" He asked
"Since the moment we started using them" She grinned
Shino almost choked
"The way you speak is almost like Naruto's" He sighed
"Guess he rubbed off on me" Ino laughed
'Don't go blaming an innocent man, she's always been that cheeky' Naruto denied in his heart
Normally, the third exam would span across the entire day, possibly even over multiple days, but with how the first three matches went, Naruto could tell that the first round would be over today.
'Shiki would be happy, he gets to finish his job soon' He chuckled in his heart
'Can't say the same about sis though hahaha'
With that, the next match began, with Kiba facing a Suna shinobi. This was one that lasted a while longer than the rest, though Kiba was gradually able to overwhelm the opponent with Akamaru by his side.
The two coordinated their attacks perfectly, weaving through the opponent's defenses, and closed the gap quickly.
"Kiba wins" Naruto said
"Whoo! Hahaha, good work Akamaru" He then gave Naruto a look, as if waiting for a praise, which he simply ignored.
'I've got a fun idea later' He chuckled in his heart when he saw the look of respect in Kiba's eyes.
Naruto then continued to oversee the next few fights, which were both Suna shinobi going against one another, ending after a little under an hour.
With the first round complete, everyone was allowed to rest in the provided rooms in the stadium.
"Ino~ I saw your match~" Naruto opened his arms up and greeted Ino as himself
Ino's eyes lit up as she ran over
"Aw, how did you think I did?" She asked as she hugged him
"Hahaha, it was sh*t" He smiled
???????
Not just her, Sakura, Choji, Hinata, Kiba and Shino, who were all behind, were stupefied! He outright just said she did sh*t!?
"Haha, I didn't quite hear that...mind repeating it?" Ino asked
"Of course~, you did terribly, first of all, you had the element of surprise with the puppet, so why did you summon it while you were so far? Shino would have stayed in his hiding space, and you could have closed the gap, summon it on top of him, and he'd have no time to escape, ending it in one go" Naruto said
"...Na-kun, can't I have some complements" Ino puffed her cheeks up and asked
"Hah, fine~, except for what I just said, your instincts were good, you found him instantly and didn't delay your actions, at the very least, you are no longer letting your guard down, and you made good use of the explosive log I taught you" Naruto said
"Hehehe"
She then grabbed his ear
"that's for saying I did sh*t" She stuck out her tongue and pulled herself off him
"I had that coming, but I'm just an honest man, saying honest things" Naruto said with a smile
"Ptui" Sakura turned to the side and spat
She then raised the middle finger at him with a look of disgust
"You? Honest? Then I'm a saint" She said
"How vulgar, ptui" Naruto spat to the side and walked up to her
'Hypocrite' Everyone thought
"Dare to fight me in pure taijutsu" Sakura rolled up her sleeves and said with a smirk
"Hah, even if I don't use my jutsus, you can't beat me" Naruto said confidently
"Girls, girls, girls, chill, come on, we're all friends here" A hand wrapped around both their waists, as Ino pulled them both in, she wore a sleazy smile as she held them...
Sakura was stunned, as well as the others, but Naruto...
He revealed a vibrant blush as he covered his mouth
"Aiya, don't hold me like this in public, I'm so shy~, bad Ino, bad playboy~" He said, as if he was a maiden in love
"..."
Truly, these two are made for each other...
Sakura was the first to react and pull herself away, staring at the two act out.
She couldn't help but feel her veins bulge as she spat to the side
"Couples, go explode and die" She said as she flipped them off again.
Ino quickly released Naruto, who was acting beyond her expectations.
"Na-kun, you truly have no bottom line" Ino said with a sense of dread
"Hahaha, of course I do, my bottom line is whatever you're willing to do to me" He winked
"Go explode!" Sakura shouted before running off
"Playboy" The others also cussed at him as well
Naruto laughed, then glanced at Ino, who was turning red from what he said earlier.
"Don't go teasing me if you can't take it" He flicked her forehead and laughed
"Hmm, you're just too abnormal" Ino sighed
Naruto laughed happily, then waved at Kiba
"Yo Kiba, call me big bro and I'll give you a gift" He grinned
"Bah, why should I? Buzz off" Kiba snapped back
He didn't know why Naruto asked that, nor did anyone else. These two don't interact often, but when they do, they're usually arguing. So most assumed it was Naruto taunting Kiba.
Naruto placed a hand on the side of his cheek as he took out a whiteboard with something written on it
"I have Menma-san's signature, pity, I was going to give it to you if you agreed" He sighed
"...for real!?" Kiba suddenly lunged at him and stared at the whiteboard.
On it was a very sharp word, [Menma].
"You're not joking, right? This is legit? Not something you wrote yourself?" Kiba asked as he stared at it intensely
Naruto grinned slyly
"Of course it's real, you can even go bring it to him to confirm, I helped him with a matter, and he gave this to me" He said as he waved it in front of Kiba
!!!!
Kiba grabbed Naruto's hands
"Big bro! Bro! I can even call you dad if you want me to!" He shouted
Shino covered his face, turning away as he pretended not to know this boy...
Naruto shook him off
"Buzz off! Who wants you to call them dad!" He gasped, even he underestimated Kiba's shamelessness! He didn't even hesitate!
His dad would skin him alive if he heard Kiba say this!
Naruto then burst into laughter, it seems Kiba genuinely respects Menma to an unimaginable degree. He placed the board in Kiba's hand, who was so excited he was shaking.
"Big bro! you're my greatest, most handsome big bro!" He shouted as he held the signature
Naruto rubbed his nose and laughed
"Praise me more!" He laughed
"Bro's awesome! Greatest there is!"
The two laughed, while everyone else left in silence. These two fools, one is shameless, the other is narcissistic!
'Naruto? Kiba? Who are they? We don't know them!'
After the two went on for a bit longer, they parted ways with big smiles on their faces. One would think they've been friends since childhood with how close they seemed.
-Next day-
With a day passed, the second round begun, and with only six contestants left, the round is bound to end earlier than yesterday.
Those who remained were two Suna shinobis, Hinata, Ino, Sakura, and Kiba. Naruto stood in the middle of the field like usual, and drew lots to see who would go against one another.
Hinata was against Kiba on the first round, Ino against a Suna Shinobi, and Sakura taking the last one. Even compared to yesterday, today's battle seems to be...the most anticlimatic battles ever.
At least yesterday, there were some battles on equal ground more or less, but today...a hard stomp more appropriate to say.
the only battle that was relatively drawn out was Hinata's battle against Kiba, who constantly rushed her with Akamaru before retreating.
"Akamaru, now, fang over fang!" The two charged once more at Hinata
"Byakugan" Hinata's expression became serious as she swiftly stepped to the side, avoiding Kiba's attack, before jumping up to avoid a strike from behind from Akamaru.
The two were relentless in their attacks, knowing one another perfectly, so they coordinated when to attack.
"Tsk, rotation" Hinata dispersed a massive amount of chakra that spun around her
Naruto narrowed his eyes, and noticed that her rotation was a little different to the typical rotation that other Hyuga clan members would use. Unlike their perfect dispersion of chakra, resulting in a complete barrier thats pins around them, Hinata's one has gaps.
But those gaps were strange, seemingly large, long strips that went around at high speed. Soon, he knew what it was...
'Saws, those gaps are left intentionally, and spun at high speed, so the chakra would act like saws that cut through objects or even enemies that come into contact with it, reducing defense, but boosting offense' He thought
Kiba and Akamaru charged into the rotation, clashing against the blade like barrier around Hinata, causing it to break down. But they weren't left unscathed from it, sustaining quite a bit of injuries in the process.
"Keep going!" Kiba roared as he kept charging after breaking her rotation
*Arf*
Akamaru barked in agreement as it charged at Hinata from behind once more. With the two doing this, Hinata suddenly smiled.
"Lightning style: Twin rotation" In her two palms, she condensed a rotation orb, and threw it down in frnt of Kiba and Akamaru.
The two orbs expanded into the size of a normal one, and lightning crackled within. With it thrown right in front of them, Kiba and Akamaru were both caught within, and the streaks of lightning caused their rapid spinning to halt as well.
Their bodies stiffened from the lightning, with Akamaru transforming back into a dog, while Kiba screaming in pain as he spun within the expanded rotation.
Hinata waved her hand, and the forces stopped, vanishing entirely
"Hinata wins" Naruto said, knowing Kiba and Akamaru were unable to battle now
This jutsu caused waves of whispers from the crowd as shock filled their eyes, especiallythe pale eyed man, who stood up as he stared at Hinata's jutsu.
'I-Is that still the same rotation I know? Hinata...when did she...' His brows gradually eased
'She's growing well'
On the stage, medic nins came in and carried Kiba and Akamaru away, while Hinata seemed to look indifferent to their injuries. Why? Because during training, this happens very often...
Kiba knew he couldn't win either, but he wanted togive his all.
With that being the only extended battle, the round ended quite early. Naruto wondered if he should just commence with the final round at this point, after all, it's only three people left, and none of them expended much chakra.
Even Hinata was hardly fatigued, in fact, she is almost in perfect condition except for the bit of chakra she used.
In the end, he directly asked the three of them in person.
"You three" He pointed them out
"Yes?"
"How do you feel about just getting the exam done with today" He asked
"Today? I mean, if we can, yeah, that'd be great" Sakura said with an excited grin
The other two nodded
"Good, saves me the time and effort" Naruto said with a straight face before returning to the stadium.
He announced the continuation of the exam, where the crowd cheered. Those battles earlier were honestly plain, except for Kiba's battle. At least he put up a good fight against Hinata before going down.
"The battle will proceed as such, first battle is Sakura Haruno, against Ino Yamanaka, with Hinata Hyuga sitting out, after the first battle, the winner will face Hinata, a skilled medic nin will be by the side for the winner of the first round, so they may face Hinata at full strength, a three hour break will be placed between these battles" Naruto said
"Any objections from the contestants" He asked
"None" The three all nodded
"Then get on the stage before I throw you on" Naruto pointed behind himself and said
Ino and Sakura, under his glaring red eyes, scrambled onto the stage, and got ready.
"Phew, ready bestie?" Ino asked
"When you are" Sakura grinned
"Hmph, I'm the one who decides when it starts, brats" Naruto scoffed, making the mood drop significantly
'I'm not annoyed that Ino doesn't recognise me, not at all' Naruto tapped his arm in frustration as he raised a hand up.
"Begin"
*Bang*
Sakura shot out at Ino, but not in a straight line. Her movements were swift, shifting from one area to another, whilst maintaining the initial momentum.
She was wary of Ino's clan jutsu, which posed the most threat to her. The puppets can fight well, but if she can approach Ino, it wouldn't mean anything, but the clan jutsu, once she gets hit, it would be over.
Ino, of course, knew Sakura's plan, and immediately summoned the giant puppet from the earlier round against Shino. The puppet landed between the two, but Sakura seemed to have expected this, and pushed forth with everything she had at the leg of the puppet.
"Grah!" She let out a deafening roar as the impact rang out
*Boom*
The impact shook the puppet, toppling it down in a single strike.
!!!!!!
Everyone watched in awe as Sakura easily overpowered a puppet that was easily over ten times heavier than her own weight, even Ino.
"Bestie, did you give up your humanity!?" Ino gasped as she quickly widened the distance between them.
Sakura lifted a brow
"Hey now, that's rude to the current Hokage, she's more inhuman than me" She chuckled as she stomped down on the puppet leg, causing cracks to surface.
'Scary! Ah, when did bestie get this scary, Na-kun, you bad influence!' Ino cried in her heart
A series of gasp rang out across the stadium, with everyone staring at the crack that seeped through the puppet.
*Bang*
The puppet lifted its arm, smashing it towards Sakura, but even Ino knew that it wouldn't be enough to stop Sakura, so she used the moment when Sakura dodged this very strike to throw something to the centre of the field.
When the strike came, Sakura leapt up, just enough to dodge the sweep, and punched down hard, puncturing the puppet's arm.
*Whoosh*
A strong explosion suddenly occured not far from her, with a strange mist rushing at her at high speed. She quickly pulled her arm out, but Ino controlled the puppet to grab onto Sakura.
"Tsk"
What Ino saw last was Sakura's glaring eyes before the mist covered her entirely. She stared intensely at the mist, not letting a single movement out of her eyes as she used her chakra to scan the stadium.
'Let's hope that can slow her down' She thought as she took out six needles, three clamped in each hand.
'Phew, there she is' She locked in on the chakra signature she felt through the mist, and threw the needles at it.
*Clank*
But what she heard was not anything normal, it was the sound of metal on metal...
*Bang*
*Whoosh*
A massive force blew past her, causing all the mist to get blown away.
!!!!!
Standing on the puppet with a dismantled arm, Sakura smirked. On her hanads were a pair of sleek metal gauntlet, with a blossom symbol on the top of each.
*Clang*
Sakura clenched her fists up and stared back at Ino calmly
"Bestie~, are you having fun? Because I am" Sakura's wide grin sent a shiver down Ino's spine
She took a deep gulp, as she slowl raised one hand in a peace sign at Sakura
She seemed to be in a deep thought, but after a bit, she decided to just raise her arm up
"I give up" She said
Can she keep going? Of course she can, but she knew that it would become a drawn out battle between the two. She can keep throwing puppets at Sakura, while Sakura can keep destroying them.
She will wear her down slowly, but Sakura's endurance is insane, so it would be up to whether she had enough puppets and weaponry to throw at her. If it came down to it, she may win, but it will cost too much.
They're not competing under dire circumstances, so she felt it was better to just show both their strengths and surrender.
Perhaps she can create a chance to get Sakura with the mind swap jutsu, but to create such a chance, quite a few puppets will be destroyed in the process.
"Hehehe" Sakura rubbed her nose whilst wearing a cheeky grin
"Thanks for the win" She laughed
Ino rolled her eyes
"You and your monstrous strength, who wants to fight that? Hmph" She huffed
She then turned to the steel gauntlets on Sakura's hands. It covered up to her elbow, but seemed to allow a great deal of mobility.
"You curious?" Sakura asked
"Mn"
"I asked Naruto if he can help me make a weapon I can use, so he made these for me" She replied
She pressed the blossom symbol on the top of the gauntlet, and in a *puff*, it vanished, leaving behind the same symbol on the back of her hand.
"They're stored inside the seal, and when activated, it's immediately equiped, pretty nifty, huh?" Sakura said
"Wow, I want a full suit like that" Ino gulped
"Hahaha, I asked for the same thing, and his reply was...get lost!" She made a dark face as she mimicked Naruto as she spoke
"Hahaha" Ino burst into laughter
"Apparently the materials are really rare, and the seal is complicated, so he could only do it for the hands at most" Sakura added
"Wow, I gotta ask Na-kun to make me something like that"
The two laughed as she slowly got off stage
'....a full set for Ino, huh? Maybe' If Sakura heard Naruto's thoughts, she'd want to strangle him alive.
He rejected her so quickly, but when it came to Ino, there is no hesitation either, except, it's the opposite result!
With the two of them finished, there was a three hour period between, which allowed for Sakura to recover from the previous fight, though there really wasn't much to recover from. Or at least, that's what Sakura thought at first.
"Say, Sakura, do you not feel anything?" Ino asked as she was walking with Sakura
"Feel what?" She asked back
Ino gave Sakura a rather perplexed look
"I mean, I assume you inhaled the mist, right?"
"Uh...yeah, why? I didn't feel anything, so I thought it's just for obscuring vision" Sakura replied
"Hm..."
As she was about to ask another question, Naruto walked over with a small vial in his hand. Without waiting, he placed it in Sakura's hand.
"What's this?" Sakura asked
"Antidote" He responded
"E-Eh? For what?"
"The mist you inhaled isn't just any random substance, or did you actually think I'd give Ino such a pointless thing?" Naruto lifted a brow and asked
"Wh-What does it do?" Sakura gulped
Naruto stared at her, then raised five fingers
"Four, three, two, one..." He said
"Eh..."
*Thud*
Sakura suddenly dropped to the ground, twitching as her entire body stiffened.
"Ah!?"
"Right, Ino, I came to tell you that this thing is quite potent, had you just stalled for a few more minutes, you'd have won, then again, I don't think using this to win would have gotten you any points from me, so it doesn't change much I guess" Naruto said as he picked up the vial in Sakura's hand, and poured the antidote into her mouth.
"..."
*Gasp*
Sakura shot up, coughing heavily as she stared at Naruto in shock and fear.
"Th-The hell is that thing" She exclaimed
"Poison, it targets muscles, the more they are used, the faster it spreads, stiffens the body, and causes suffocation through respitory failure" He replied
"...."
She turned to Ino in stupor
"Y-You used that thing...o-on me?" She stuttered
Ino stuck out her tongue
"Na-kun only said that this thing is very good for creating openings, I didn't think that's what he meant, so I used it without thinking" She laughed as she scratched the back of her head, mentally noting down that the mist could take down a gorilla in the shape of a human.
"..."
Naruto knocked on her head
"I also told you that the instructions to use it were in the scroll, given to you along with other types of poison" He said
"Urgh, that thing had like twenty pages, there was so much to memorise" Ino groaned
Sakura's lips twitched, so if Naruto hadn't been here, she might have actually died!? Ino used a poison she didn't even know about!
Naruto patted Ino's shoulder
"It's fine, a death or two is fine, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make" He said with a warm smile
"Like hell it is!" Sakura snapped
Naruto stared back at her
"Right~, I was going to ask you this before, but you all left, how about becoming my experimental guinea pig?" He asked with a genuine smile
"...." Sakura lifted a fist up in front of his face
"The f**k you say?"
Naruto laughed
"I mean it, I'm developing various types of poison, most of which are finalised, in reality, it's to build up your immunity towards poison" He said
Sakura paused
"My immunity to poison?"
"Right, you are a medic, and the jutsu you learn can cure most injuries, and some poison, but the potent ones will actually spread even faster under the healing effect, so you need to counteract such a thing" Naruto explained
Sakura's fist slowly lowered as she listened
"The incident just now is the best example, if you were to face off against an expert in poison, you might not even know how you died" He added
After a short while, she sighed and grabbed his hand
"Fine, I accept, I better not die from this crap" She said
"Don't worry, the chances of death isn't high" He replied
"So there is a chance of death" Sakura glared
Naruto didn't reply, he simply smiled
"...hah, what have I gotten myself into" Sakura grumbled