Chapter 109: Tough Love!

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Rasa's POV (Kage Box of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)

"Well, my son seems well in control," Rasa said. Yet there was no hiding the smug tone of voice he chose. He knew it to be petty and something he should be above. But the Sand rarely dominated the exams as they did today. Even rarer than the Kazekage lineage had done so directly. When Rasa participated, he was outshined by the litany of powerful fighters of the wartorn ages. Rasa had managed to grow since then, but his son would likely surpass him. Furthermore and rather amusingly, it would establish the Sand as an equal to their competitors. Rasa was more than happy today. "Not to shame the Uzumaki, he has performed admirably and seems more than ready for the Chunin post. But it would take more than a mere Chunin to stand up to my son."

"Seems early to me," A responded gruffly. Rasa had seen him keenly paying attention to the match. And it seemed both the Leaf and Sand holding more promising shinobi in the near future had made him unhappy. It was admirable he attempted to hide such. "We have a couple of jinchuriki ourselves. Their battles tend to be destructive and drawn out. We likely have just begun."

"It is rather impressive from both parties. We do not use chakra the same way as you lot, and as such, we rarely run out of it. Our method of combat is more… efficient." Mifune chimed in. "I thought using such powerful and large-scale techniques in the sequence was supposed to be draining?"

"I forgot it has been years since you fought us shinobi." Onoki remarked with a reminiscent smile. "Even when you did, I don't think we were foolish enough to risk a jinchuriki against you."

Mifune sighed at this. "My land considers the idea of living sacrifices shameful. Both for the parties creating such and the souls damned from such. This means that meetings between samurai and jinchuriki are rare and violent. Even for these exams, there was nearly an incident. My people feel intense hatred for them sadly."

"You consider us shameful?" Yagura replied with a raised brow. "I suppose we somewhat are, myself excluded, of course. Allow me to fill you in, Jinchuriki has several traits that make them unique from humans like yourselves. First, their chakra levels are often high and, in some cases, absurdly boosted by tailed beast chakra. Secondly, their physicality in every way is boosted to absurd degrees. Strength, speed, durability, and stamina all boosted to levels much higher than the host could achieve themselves. Thirdly, they are known for their regenerative properties. If ever a jinchuriki is attempted to be killed, it is a drawn-out and difficult process regardless of the strength of the host. Finally and most troublesome, they often have a unique ability based on their beast."

"What is the point of such power being placed into mere humans?" Mifune asked with a raised brow. "Surely the risk outscales any potential award."

"It was used as a deterrent by my forefather." Hiruzen intercepted. "He hoped that if each village was gifted, it would limit conflict. They are quite destructive, and he figured they would deter war."

"But it was shortsighted." Onoki snidely commented. "It merely gave us new and powerful weapons to use. Fool should've known they would be used, an unused weapon is often considered a waste."

"Idiot didn't consider it fully." A agreed.

Hiruzen sighed at such.

Rasa chuckled. "It matters little. This fight will only continue as long as my son entertains such a thing. He prefers to play with his food. Torturing them mentally and physically before finishing them off. Often with ease that betrays his own age. I have made him into a incredible weapon."

There was a tense silence in the room at those words. Yagura and A seemed intrigued. While Onoki, Hiruzen, and Mifune seemed alarmed.

"Oh, you all seem confused. It's no misunderstanding nor metaphor." Rasa assured the group calmly. "I am entrusted with leading my men, protecting my village and ensuring its legacy. It became clear to me eventually that even with my own efficient leadership, the unique resources we have access to, and even with the unending spirit of my men, that one day my home may need something or someone to protect us and crush our enemies. They needed someone monstrously strong, someone without fear or mercy, someone who could be utterly controlled. I decided to use my final child for such, the only way to ensure they'd be competent."

"I'm dreading hearing anymore," Hiruzen said with the agreeing nod of Mifune. "A father is meant to protect their child, not risk them."

"Let him finish," Onoki countered. "If he wishes to give us information for free, let him."

"My interest has peaked as well." A agreed. "Let him continue, it seems like has some sort of plan."

Rasa chuckled as he continued.

"I decided with my third child to ensure he had the necessary power. I would raise him loyal and useful, to ensure he would be worth my effort, I gave him what I thought was a gift. For years, we had kept the One-Tailed Beast unsealed, with my power, such was viable. But it was time to use it as intended. I had it sealed into my son before he was born. My scientist thought such would lead to a stronger jinchuriki, more naturally attuned with their beast, having adapted to it since birth. This didn't work, in hindsight, it was obviously foolish, but the consequences were much more dire than I had thought. It cost me my wife, and for years, Gaara was sickly. His young body cannot deal with the strain of being a jinchuriki. I resent him, which motivated me to do what was needed… I hired various assassins from within my forces and even criminally, all tasked with killing my son. I expected they may just succeed but hoped my son may prove to have some unseen strength. As I had hoped, my son had something of a mental breakdown. The stress of which allowed him to use his powers. This allowed my son to kill them all and began to distrust those around him. My next step was to ensure his siblings were somewhat distant. It worked, Gaara became powerful and violent, and his hatred of others and my power ensured he did what was necessary for me and, by proxy, Suna as a whole."

"The birth of a hero?" Yagura mused to himself. "Heroes can only be made in tragedy."

"How utterly decisive of you, Rasa!" A roared in surprise and approval. "I forgot how cutthroat you are!"

"Cutthroat and decisive certainly, though I would've chosen inhumane or unnecessarily cruel." Hiruzen chastised. "It is your own blood, have you no shame?"

"Morality is not some simple line to be crossed, old friend. By being "cruel" and "inhumane," I have assured the safety of my people. I claim no objective correctness, merely to have fulfilled a need for my home. Besides, we all routinely sign off on the deaths of hundreds. Let's not pretend our careers are morally right, merely scarcely legal."

"Perhaps, though I feel as powerful, knowledgeable, and influential leaders, we must… limit the damages as it were. Besides, as a father myself, I find it reprehensible to subject your spawn to this." Hiruzen reasoned somewhat angrily.

"While I have no care towards Hiruzen's more sentimental concerns, I have my own," Onoki interjected. "In creating such a son, did you ever consider the future? He will only get stronger and stronger as time goes on. When you finally weaken, won't you fear your death and shortly after overthrowing? My daughter is a fool, but even I know to treat her somewhat kindly. Your children are your legacy."

"A fair point," Rasa admitted with a shrug. "But it matters little. I have dedicated my life to ensuring my homeland will prosper during and after my death. If my spawn becomes worthy enough to replace me, my death will be a small price. For Naruto Uzumaki, despite his skill, there is no true chance against my son. I know his type: proud, brave, and foolish. He will gain some notoriety before meeting a grim death."

This led to a momentarily silence in the room as the tension slightly increased. Rasa paid attention to Hiruzen and his group. Allies, they might be, Rasa enjoyed taking them down a peg.

Rasa saw as Hiruzen felt Tsunade suddenly tense, he even felt her killing intent and observed a microscopic shift as if to physically interject. But as expected of her, she seemed to hold her temper in, Jiraiya seemed unbothered, even keeping a hand on Tsunade's shoulder in case she lost her temper. But Rasa recognized the stiffness in the usually relaxed man's stature. Knowing his men well, Hiruzen seemed to sigh and interjected less they do so less gracefully.

"Naruto Uzumaki has shown to be an adaptive and impressive young man today. Doubtless that this will be an intense fight. I still would find it foolish to count him out of it. After all, he is a jinchuriki as well." Hiruzen pointed out, his two guards relaxing with him and contesting Rasa's jab.

"This will be interesting, despite being one myself, it's been years since I've heard of two jinchuriki fighting. It is a rarity even in war. I expect an inspiring battle." Yagura said with a smile.

"That I can guarantee." Rasa said with a giant smirk.

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 Gaara's / Naruto's POV (Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)

Gaara could not remember the last time he'd been so excited. He had been fearful that Naruto would have been overwhelmed. It would not be the first time someone had been determined to fight Gaara, only to lose once they realized his superiority. When Naruto had begun without his little wind technique, Gaara feared Naruto was either too scared to try his most brutal or too arrogant to feel such was necessary.

But Gaara cared little, even if it was some plot, it would matter little. Naruto was impressive and one of his own. But no mere Genin could hope to resist Gaara, and soon enough, not anyone…

"So you think I truly stand no chance against you?" Naruto asked with a raised brow. He had shifted into the stance he had shown whenever he got serious, lowering his center of balance and crossing his arms with his tanto pointing toward Gaara.

"Is that truly even a question?" Gaara asked, he had intended to be polite with his brother. But his delight got the best of him, and a small chuckle escaped. "You are not as pathetic as these humans, and you seem more capable than our ditsy sister. You still have a long way to go, you are not a true jinchuriki."

"I never really cared what people called me, ya know?" Naruto said casually. "I know what I am and what I'm not. So even when it hurts, I don't let it keep me down. But it is annoying, everyone assumes I'm not good enough, stupid, or naive. They love to call me weak. I realized that I can't tolerate such a thing to achieve my goals and earn respect for others. I have to prove them wrong. So let me show you, Gaara, just what a human can do! Personal Atmosphere! Dance of the Nine!" The wind howled as it twirled around the blonde. The howl increased to absurd levels as nine clones poofed into existence. Each of them ready and glaring at Gaara intently.

Gaara could not help but cackle from his platform of floating sand. Even as he did so, the sand started to break off into clumps, which slowly became two-foot-long spikes of condensed sand. "Finally, you're going to make this interesting! Show your elder brother what you can do!"

Naruto's POV

Naruto frowned as he heard Gaara's cry. 'I was gonna kick your ass anyway… but now I'm gonna enjoy it… older brother, my ass.' His clones and he took off with a boom of air, all the clones shooting off from the ground. The force of which cracked the ground beneath them.

Each clone zoomed through the air at high speeds. Each posed with a chakra-flooded Riptide prepared to unleash powerful strikes once they came close. Gaara peered down at them, smiling feral as they drew close.

"Racing towards death?" Gaara mocked. "Let me meet you halfway! Piercing Sand Avalanche!" The spikes of sand set off booms as they raced toward the clone. Easily dozens of them sailing forward with the single intent to kill Naruto.

The group of Blondes did not even hesitate as they met the rain of death. Each pointed Riptide forward as if to ward off the sand. The giant spikes of sand mere inches from the first clone suddenly flattened out and dispersed around the clones like they had hit a curved and invisible wall. Naruto smirked when he saw Gaara's shock. "Personal Atmosphere: Directional Surge!"

With a raising of one hand, half of his platform suddenly spread out and filled the sky, blocking all pathways to Gaara and moving to subdue him with the massive amount of sand. It slowly became a gigantic net of sand that began to wrap around the clones. The net of sand was huge, with the gaps between strands closing as smaller strands worked to leave no gaps. "Impressive, but you're caught! Sand Net!"

Naruto felt a shit-eating smile fill his face as his clones and he sliced through the sand with ease. Each turns to face Gaara from above. "Now that was pathetic! Try this out for size! Uzumaki Style: Slicing Wave!" They called in synch as each cloned slash Riptide sent several curved chakra lines converging toward Gaara.

Gaara's smile became so broad it threatened to split his face. With a snap, most of the remaining platform beneath him converged around him, forming a dome. The chakra slices cut into such with an explosion of power. Yet once again, Gaara was unharmed as his dome collapsed, much of it melting from the onslaught of chakra. "No, that was pathetic."

"No!" Naruto countered as he and all his clones pointed their Riptides at Gaara, and they called out again. "Personal Atmosphere: Directional Surge!"

Naruto watched as Gaara flinched and sent a boulder-size glob of sand flying so suddenly. With such speed, it missed Naruto but hit three of the clones. Flying through the air above them, its momentum carried it past them. However, it did nothing for Gaara as the sudden and powerful burst of wind sent Gaara careening through his own sand. Sending Gaara careening to the ground and smashing into it with a bone-crushing thud. Naruto flinched but lowered himself slowly with the remainder of his clones. Before he gasped, he realized there was no injured Gaara but merely a pile of sand. Suddenly, it shot off, managing to destroy another clone. The others and Naruto himself were utterly caught off guard as the massive pile of sand from earlier slammed into them and indented them from the force.

"A sand clone," Gaara informed the downed Naruto, who crawled from the sand and slowly receded back to Gaara. "I could've ended this there, but I wanted to clarify. I guess I won't crush you yet."

Naruto crawled to his feet, somewhat bruised and dazed from the sand landing on him. "You should've done this while you had the chance. Now, I finally have the chance to finish this. Personal Atmosphere: Directional Surge!"

Gaara's sand wrapped around him to protect him but was unsuccessful. The ground burst open, revealing the remaining six clones still active beneath Gaara. The force of the gust shot Gaara through his sand and high into the air. Naruto smiled happily at this before he nodded to his clones. Each aimed their hands at Naruto. "Naruto Sniper!" they called as the real Naruto shot off after Gaara.

Naruto shot forward head first. The wind whipped at his face, and the speed made his spine feel as if it was bending, but he smiled all the same. For a mere instant later, his skull smashed into the ribs of the airborne and stunned Gaara. The redhead cried out in pain as the impact carried them further into the sky. "I figured out your weakness!" he taunted as he grabbed Gaara's top.

"You think so!" Gaara countered. "My sand never leaves me!" Naruto glanced back to see a massive amount of sand a short distance away and gaining.

"I do because you can't defend yourself without your sand! And it's much too slow!" Naruto laughed. "Personal Atmosphere: Jetstream!" Suddenly, the two shot off at absurd speeds, racing even higher into the air. The clouds in the sky were now closer, and the air was becoming thinner and colder. The arena looked smaller in the distance, and the sand was much too far to be of help.