The final month passed with Konoha's surface as still as a millpond.
Every finalist for the third round was pushing through their last stretch of training. Except for Shikamaru, who couldn't muster an ounce of enthusiasm, everyone wanted to make a name for themselves in this last bout.
Ran Mouri had begun training in the Eight Inner Gates, following Rock Lee's template.
She practiced until her body was mottled with bruises each day, only to drag herself up the next morning and start again.
Naive she might have been, but stupid she was not. Getting stronger could only help.
Utaha Kasumigaoka was still grinding away at the Rasengan, stuck on the second stage with no sign of a breakthrough. Not surprising. Not everyone could be Naruto Uzumaki.
In all the years since Minato Namikaze's death, only Naruto had ever managed to learn the technique.
As for Megumi Kato, she was practically invisible the entire month.
Off receiving Makoto Nishikado's "private tutoring."
...
A month vanished in a blink.
Konoha buzzed like a festival. The central arena had filled early, packed with locals and visitors from neighboring nations, whole families in tow, all here for the Chunin Exams finals.
Fireworks cracked across the noon sky, signaling the start.
Competitors filed out through the contestant tunnel, lining up at the center of the arena.
In the stands, the eliminated Konoha rookies had claimed a section of seats. Nearby sat Yui Yuigahama, Ichinose Chizuru, and the other players.
Higher up, the player parents had gathered too: Mrs. Yukinoshita, Eri Kisaki, Sayuri Sawamura. The full roster.
"It's been a while, Makoto!"
Sayuri spotted him approaching, her daughter in tow, and waved with the giddy enthusiasm of a schoolgirl.
He nodded. Before he could respond, Mrs. Yukinoshita was already heading over with her husband and younger daughter. "Makoto."
"It has been a while, Mrs. Yukinoshita."
From her seat on the other side, Eri Kisaki watched the scene unfold with an odd pang of something she couldn't quite name. Both mothers had gone straight to greet him. Should she do the same...?
"Hey, Makoto!"
Sonoko Suzuki shot to her feet, waving with gusto.
He blinked.
The Suzuki family's second daughter, greeting him on her own initiative? She wasn't afraid of him?
Still, she'd put on a friendly face, and it would have been rude to ignore it.
He raised a hand in return, his gaze lingering on her for a beat. "You'd look better with your hair down."
Back when he used to watch Detective Conan as a kid, Makoto had always liked Sonoko well enough. Not romantically. More the "she'd make a great friend" feeling.
She was ride-or-die loyal, but struck him as the exact same type as Sakura: objectively attractive, but with zero sexual appeal.
Then he'd gotten older, learned to appreciate what a family background was worth, and seen what she looked like with her hair down...
Perfect girlfriend material.
A faint blush crept across Sonoko's cheeks, her eyes brightening. "Really? Maybe I'll try that."
Eri Kisaki stared.
Good grief. Casting a wide net, yet scoring direct hits, is he?
It was almost time to begin.
Hayate Gekko, who should have been presiding over the third exam, was nowhere to be seen. In his place stood one of the Fourth Hokage's former guards: Genma Shiranui.
Genma rolled a senbon between his teeth and swept his gaze across the contestants. "Hayate's indisposed. I'll be proctoring this round. It's time... but Sasuke Uchiha hasn't shown up. After deliberation, his match has been moved to the end of the first round."
Naruto and Sakura, up in the stands, exhaled in unison.
"All right." The senbon shifted. "First match: Megumi Kato versus Haruno Yukinoshita. Everyone else, head up to the waiting area."
The other contestants scattered, leaving two slender young women standing alone at the center of the arena.
That was when Makoto noticed movement on the Kage viewing platform at the top of the stands. Two men in wide-brimmed hats approached the Third Hokage's side.
One hat bore the character for "Wind." The other, "Water."
The Fourth Kazekage.
The Fourth Mizukage.
His eyes narrowed.
Well now. Livelier than the original story by far.
Without turning his head, he slid his gaze toward the opposite side of the arena, toward a man wearing a Hidden Mist headband with a mask covering his face.
What are you planning, Tobi?
The corner of his mouth curled upward.
If I can't get Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan... yours will do nicely as a substitute.
"First match, begin!"
Genma raised his hand.
Haruno Yukinoshita's fingers blurred through hand signs.
To ordinary spectators, nothing happened.
But in Megumi's field of vision, Haruno's body began to split apart. One copy, two, three... countless versions closing in from every direction.
Genjutsu.
Megumi murmured to herself.
Up in the stands, Makoto let out a quiet laugh. "Specializing in genjutsu? Fitting for someone who's spent her whole life behind a mask."
The Mr. Yukinoshita's eyes flickered with displeasure, but he smothered it instantly.
He didn't have the nerve to talk back to Makoto Nishikado.
Yukino Yukinoshita sat in silence.
She hated to admit it, but that observation cut straight to the bone.
"That hand sign sequence is..." Asuma blinked.
"Genjutsu: Kasumi." Kurenai picked up where he trailed off.
A technique she used often, custom-built for demolishing novices. Once the phantom clones made contact with a target, they would "explode."
The explosions were illusions, of course, but that was the beauty of genjutsu: if the brain believed the blast was real, the body would take real damage.
"Although," Kurenai continued, her tone shifting, "she is that genius's student. Breaking a genjutsu of this caliber should be effortless..."
She didn't finish.
"Um, sorry. I forfeit."
The words came an instant before the phantom clones reached Megumi.
She raised her hand in surrender.
Kurenai's jaw dropped.
No... that's not... What is she doing?
The arena went dead silent.
Thousands of spectators stared at the girl with her hand in the air, utterly baffled.
Megumi's right hand trembled as she held it up. "I'm sorry... I can't think of any way to counter that technique. I forfeit."
The senbon nearly fell out of Genma's mouth.
He refused to believe that Makoto Nishikado's student couldn't dispel a basic genjutsu.
Had he played favorites because she wasn't as pretty as the other two? Taught her less, the way Kakashi never bothered with Sakura?
But the contestant herself had spoken. All he could do was announce: "Winner... Haruno Yukinoshita."
Haruno stood frozen in place, disbelief written across her face.
I won?
Seriously?
Every player in the stands collectively turned to stone.
Haruno Yukinoshita was talented, no question. But Megumi Kato was Makoto Nishikado's student. Even if she was the least conspicuous of the three, there was no way she'd fold to a single move... right?
Yukino stole a glance at Makoto, standing on the steps above.
The faintest smile played at the corners of his mouth. A Light Yagami smile.
Dread washed over her.
He's planning something. He is absolutely planning something.
At the entrance to the contestant tunnel, Ran Mouri and Utaha Kasumigaoka helped Megumi walk inside. Her head was bowed, shoulders still trembling, as though she'd suffered genuine psychological damage.
Makoto watched them disappear down the tunnel, and his smile widened a fraction more.
Well played, Megumi.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
That technique burns through enormous amounts of Chakra. No sense wasting it on something as trivial as the Chunin Exams.
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EVERY 60 POWERSTONES = 1 BONUS CHAPTER