Chapter 44: Welcome to the Finals!

High above the village, the morning sun illuminated a large circular structure in the middle of Konoha, surrounded by a small forest that blended seamlessly with the village's leafy theme. A populated dirt path led towards it, and masses of people were crowding towards the structure.

The structure itself was a circular arena with a mixed terrain battlefield at its center. The battleground consisted of an empty dirt field with trees lining the outer edges, right against the walls. This terrain proved disadvantageous for water users, as there was no water source for large-scale water techniques. The only available water sources were the moisture in the ground, plants, and the air, which required an advanced level of water release to manipulate effectively.

Surrounding the fighting area were high walls that led up to a viewing area. Masses of spectators filled the seats, divided into different areas catering to various types of viewers. There was an area for common civilians, excited to witness the familiar jutsus of the shinobi, another for business people and the wealthy who paid for premium seating, and a third area for visiting nobility or the Fire Daimyo themselves, either from within the country or abroad.

The atmosphere in the air was buzzing with excitement as spectators from all corners of the shinobi world gathered for the Chunin Exams. The civilians of Konoha, in particular, were eager to witness the exams this year, as one of their village's current geniuses was participating. Since Itachi's betrayal, they hadn't had a genius to be excited about.

Above them, there was a small seating area for the visiting Kage to observe the fights. Besides the Hokage, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was present as an ally of Konohagakure since he had some of his genin in the finals. Unexpectedly, the Raikage was also present, defying expectations after the Hyuuga incident. No one anticipated the Raikage's visit to Konohagakure for the Chunin Exams.

The Tsuchikage, Onoki, was absent despite having two genin in the finals. He harbored a deep hatred for Konohagakure due to their abundance of geniuses. Tekku was just another one that would further ignite his anger if he witnessed his performance during the exams. To avoid the risk of accidentally turning one of the Konoha geniuses to dust, Onoki chose to abstain from coming. Otherwise, this visit would quickly turn into a suicide mission in the heart of Konohagakure.

Kirigakure's Mizukage was absent since none of their genin made it to the finals, despite sending a team. The team's quality was questionable, given the rumors of a civil war in the Land of Water.

Tekku felt disappointed that the Chunin Exams had almost turned into a Five Kage Summit. He wondered if it would have been enough bait for the Akatsuki to directly attack Konoha. They could have taken out all five Kage at once, especially with someone like Pain, who should have been capable of defeating them with the help of other Akatsuki members, all of whom were at the Kage level.

However, they wouldn't have won for sure, as the five Kage were strong and had their own elite Jonin guards. But the Akatsuki consisted of S-Rank ninjas, powerful enough to challenge them. The question remained whether they were unified enough to do so. Itachi would have betrayed them, Deidara wasn't yet a part of Akatsuki, and Hidan probably neither. So Kakuzu would still have some cannon fodder with him. Whether Orochimaru would help them was another question. He would probably backstab them for the Rinnegan while fighting the five Kage.

While Tekku pondered this purely hypothetical but fascinating scenario, he stood in the center of the Chunin Arena under the warm sun, watching in boredom as the crowd began to find their seats, filling the ranks of observers. Standing beside him were his fellow competitors, the other genin who made it into the finals. Some of them appeared nervous, looking around, while others seemed cool and collected. Deidara was definitely excited to show off his explosive art.

In front of them stood the proctor Jonin from the preliminaries, whose name Tekku had forgotten. Noticing that some of them were goofing around, the man turned towards the loud genin from Kumogakure, whose name Tekku learned from the tournament tree as Yosuke Nochia. "Hey, stop goofing around! Stand still and straight, facing the audience. All of you are the stars of today, so don't embarrass your village."

Tekku was already standing disciplined. Throughout his three different lives, he had experienced some crazy stuff, and he wasn't bothered by a crowd of people watching him. Instead, he found himself more fascinated with the Kage in the booth high above. Were they engaging in polite small talk, or were they discussing vital political matters like the Hyuuga incident or even the Akatsuki? The Hokage knew they existed.

There were even more important questions related to his own existence. Was the Raikage here in the canon, or was this a butterfly effect of his own existence? Did he want to mend the broken relationship with Konoha because Tekku, another genius, existed? So they would they stand on the same side during the next major conflict? Did his existence even have such a major impact yet? Or were there completely different reasons he wasn't aware of yet because of his low Rank in the force?

He wasn't sure, as it was never part of any source material he had read about Naruto. He only knew that it wasn't mentioned during Itachi's Chunin Exams, which Kage were present. He wasn't even sure if the Itachi novels really happened in this universe as depicted. Damn, he wasn't even sure if the movies were a thing, as some of them were really weird. He only knew that there really was a Hiruko, a friend of the Sannin, who left the village.

While trying to solve the questions of his own existence just before the exam started, he was pulled out of his thoughts as the loud voice of the Third Hokage echoed through the arena, drowning out the murmurs of the crowd of spectators. "Ahem, ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests, welcome and heartfelt thanks for gathering here in Konohagakure for the Chunin Advancement Exam."

An excited hum spread through the arena with the Hokage's words before he continued, "We will now begin with the matches between these eight candidates who advanced during the previous rounds. Please sit back and enjoy!" announced the old man with an animated voice, exciting the crowd who burst into applause for the event, as this was one of the few forms of big entertainment events they had.

Tekku couldn't help but find it a bit macabre, considering these exams were meant to determine whether these teens and children were ready to participate in war, but well this was the way this World worked. With the Hokage finished welcoming everyone, the proctoring Jonin turned towards the gathered Genin. "Listen up, all of you. This is the final exam. The arena may be a bit different, but the same rules as the preliminaries apply. Once I determine a clear winner, I will stop the fight. All right? Okay, let's start with the first match!"

- Shinobi - Shinobi - Shinobi - Shinobi -

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