The chuunin exam IV.

In the anime they had a stand-off for a whole damn episode without moving a muscle, which was fortunately all skipped in reality. They had some lame-ass exchanges, then Ino used her Mind Transfer jutsu, which is her unique skill, but was beaten back by Sakura's split personality. Which, as previously mentioned, will never appear again, and was only made so this one plot point can be explained. Maybe her split personality will stay around this time, who knows. In the end they somehow managed to knock each other out with their fists, which resulted in neither of them winning. Dix couldn't think of anything else but Shikamaru's famous one-liner.

Next Tenten, who is a weapon 'master' had to fight against Temari, the oldest of the Sand Siblings, who had advanced wind techniques on her side that was a direct counter against Tenten. While the last fight between Ino and Sakura dragged on for two whole episodes, this fight was done in a minute as Temari easily swept Tenten aside.

The fight was so one sided that the Hokage managed to blurt out a quiet "The Land of Sand is to be feared..." at which Dix almost walked over and slapped the old man. Also there was a bit of confrontation between Lee and Temari because of Tenten, but it was quickly dissolved after a lengthy staring contest between Lee and Gaara. It was funny without the dramatic effects and music that accompanied the scene in the anime.

Next Shikamaru had to fight with the Hidden Sound girl that Dix let run away in the forest. It was a fight without any fancy jutsus or techniques, it was a battle of the minds. Shikamaru used his 10.000 IQ moves to get many steps ahead of his enemy, and managed to trap her into his shadow jutsu. After that it was easy to get the win. Everyone marveled a bit about his incredible mind games, while the Jonins discussed that, even though he was a low-performer in school, he was an actual hidden genius.

Next it was Dix's turn to fight Kiba, just like in the original. Both parties moved down the stairs from the viewers' elevated platform. On the way everyone Dix walked past asked him to go easy on Kiba, or at least try not to kill him. When he got down to ground level he looked back.

"What the heck guys, am I a bloodthirsty monster in your eyes? I won't kill him... If he doesn't resist, haha!" he said laughing, but the crowd stayed silent. "It was just a joke..." he said to clarify it, at which Kakashi answered:

"Yes, we know Naruto, go now and make sure to properly hold back, okay?"

Everyone looked tense as Dix stepped into the arena, even Kiba was a bit pale as he took his position. He spoke right away as Dix turned towards him.

"Hey man, I know you won't kill me, but I also know it will hurt if I try something. I never wanted to surrender so badly in my life like now..." he said with Akamaru on his head nodding a bit. "But I'm not some weakling to run away with my tail between my legs! I want to at least show the others how much progress I made." he said with a determined look as he assumed his fighting stance and Akamaru dropped on the ground next to him.

"Whoa, I'm really not that heartless. Here, I'll even let you attack as you want in the first 10 seconds. Then I'll finish it without causing much damage. How does that sound?" answered Dix as he felt quite generous at the moment.

"Hahaha, okay, lets go with that. Come Akamaru, this is our time to shine." said Kiba, then reached back to his small stash on his hip and produced two small balls of medicine out of it, ate one and passed the other over to his dog. That ate it, turned red, then soon transformed into Kiba with their combined 'Beast mimicry' jutsu, or something like that.

None of the other spectators know whats going on with Dix, or why he is being begged to let his opponent off easy, because only the 9 rookies and Kakashi knew about his strength. Obviously there were rumors, but who would believe that a fresh graduate handled an elite rouge Jonin alone?

It was obvious Kiba was going all-out from the start, which surprised everyone a bit. It wasn't a normal fight, everyone understood that, but many didn't know why. Was the other kid just arrogant, or was he really that strong?

The two Kibas attacked the same second as the judge opened the fight. They tried to use the most of their speed to fight as fast as possible. They knew it was impossible to defeat Dix, but they at least wanted to get a hit in or scratch his outfit. They attacked at the same time from different directions, which all missed. They weren't even able to force Dix to use his limbs to block the attacks, he just sidestepped every one without breaking a sweat.

Next they tried their 'Man Beast Taijutsu Ultimate Technique', which was a flashy move with good speed and destructive ability. Both Kibas started spinning and they turned into two small directed whirlwinds of claws and fangs. Dix decided to meet their attack head-on, so he got the Beheading Sword out of the seal on his palm and blocked both attacks at once. The Kibas attacked ferociously, tried to break trough Dix's defenses, but the sword stood in their way and there was no chance to break it. Soon they had to stop with the drilling and were force to jump back.

They were in a bad shape by that time, they used everything they could as fast and with as much power as possible. They managed to make Dix use his weapon, but it was a only hollow solace for them.

"Well, it seems you are out, I think its my turn." Dix said and prepared to move.

"Please, its enough to knock me out, let Akamaru go." Kiba pleaded one last time, at which Dix nodded, then disappeared from where he was standing. He reappeared behind the real Kiba and hit him in the head with the Beheading Sword's dull side. It didn't hurt much, as it knocked him out right away. It will only hurt when he wakes up, that will be quite bad though. Akamaru growled a bit, but then he simply went to his owner, transformed back to his original look and sat down, waiting over his friend's unconscious body for him to wake up.

The room went completely silent, everyone were holding back their breath, as no one understood how the fight ended with a single move. There were some curses and audible disbelief coming from the side where the non-Konoha ninjas were watching from, while there were only relieved sighs and small gasps coming from the other side.

The judge was stunned, but after a few seconds he got his bearings together and announced the winner. Kiba was escorted away by medical ninjas, while Dix sealed his sword away, then moved back to where he was watching from before. The fight between Naruto and Kiba in the anime lasted for 2-3 episodes, while this time it was finished in 10 seconds, exactly as much time as Kiba was given in the agreement.

Hinata moved towards Dix to congratulate him, who dismissed it and told her to go and tend to her teammate. Kiba already regained his senses, as he really was let off easily, so they exchanged a few words, then the duels continued.

The next fight was something even Dix was looking forward to. Hinata had to fight against her 'genius' cousin, Neji, who was from the branch house of the Hyuga Clan, and was the strongest Byakugan user in his generation. He also hated the main house for the alleged injustices they did to the branch house. So in the anime Neji destroyed the weak Hinata in their fight, but this time it was a bit different. Dix himself trained Hinata, and was satisfied with the results, thus he wanted to see what differences there will be.

"Lady Hinata. You are a spoiled child of the head family. People never change! You better give up before I kill you." Neji started off, the same way as in the anime. He tried to undermine Hinata's confidence with his words, not because that was his strategy to win, but simply to hurt the person he hates. He kept going on about unchangeable destiny and all that crap. In the anime Hinata lost her fighting spirit hearing all this and she needed Naruto to cheer her on, but this time really was different.

"Brother Neji, I know how you look at me and my family, but I am not the same naive girl you got to know many years before. I got help to overcome my weaknesses. Now I challenge you!" Hinata answered with as much confidence in herself as possible. She wasn't shaken by Neji's monologue even for a second. She looked up and locked eyes with Dix, who simply nodded. That was enough for her to fight to the bitter end. She assumed her fighting stance, that was a bit different from the uniform way that is taught by the Hyugas. She had her own style, refined to the extreme by her training.

"I see. You might feel you have a chance at changing. I'll let you see how futile your resistance against destiny is!" Neji retorted, then assumed his stance too. Both of them activated their Byakugans, then waited for the judge.

The judge announced the fight properly, then after a second of waiting out, he gave the go.