The Other Jinchūriki - A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 47

"A what?" Sakura asked.

"Preliminary?!" Shikamaru exclaimed. "Just what do you mean by that?!"

"Erm, sensei?" Sōma asked. "This is all due with respect, but why exactly do we have to do preliminaries when we can just go straight to the third exam?"

"Uh..well you see, the first and second exams might have been too easy."

"Easy is an overstatement," Rizaki commented, Naruto nodding rapidly beside her in agreement. Hayate shrugged.

"The fact is that, we didn't expect so many of you to pass," he explained. "According to the rules of the Chunin exams, a preliminary round can be held at any stage in any order to reduce the amount of people remaining."

"But is this fair?" Sakura asked.

"It's just at this stage, we have to speed things up a bit. As Lord Hokage said, a lot of people will be watching. We can't afford to waste their time." The man coughed before speaking again. "They've come only to see the best. So if there are any of you who feel you're not in top physical condition, now's your chance to—" Hayate began coughing again, covering his mouth with his arm.

"Talk about not being in top physical condition," Ino mumbled as she deadpanned.

"Sorry about that," he said as he finally finished. "As I was saying, any of you who don't feel up to this, now's the time for you to bow out. The preliminaries will be starting immediately."

"Wait, right now?!" Kiba yelled.

"We just barely survived the last exam!" Ino added. "Don't we get a break?!"

"Man, what a drag," Shikamaru groaned.

"Ayeeee, when do we eat?" Choji asked.

"Things can't get any worse," Rizaki whined.

"Oh yeah," Hayate began, forgetting something. "Uh, the winners will be determined by a one-on-one combat, sudden death. So like I said, if there's anyone who doesn't feel up to it, now's the time to raise your hand."

"Why did you open your big mouth?" Sasumi scoffed, making Rizaki sweatdrop.

"I didn't know that would happen!" The Uchiha then grunted a bit as she touched her neck.

"Look Sasumi," Sōma said, before giving a quick glance at Rizaki and covering her ears.

"Oi! Wha—?!"

"Sasumi, it's best you leave the exams," he whispered. The girl glared at him.

"And why the hell would I do that? This stupid mark isn't going to stop me. Besides, you said you weren't going to tell anyone."

"You told me just to not tell Rizaki. Besides, you know as well as I do that we are in no condition to continue fighting."

"Sōma."

"You think I'm oblivious or something?!" He hissed. "You're in freaking pain from that mark!"

"I'm not forfeiting this Sōma! We went through hell and back, and now you're trying to throw that all away?! If I didn't want to do this I wouldn't have this damned Curse Mark on me in the first place! I wouldn't even sign up to be in these exams, actually! You don't make that sort of decision, I do." Both glared at each other for a bit, before Sōma sighed.

"Fine. I'll respect your wishes." He let go of Rizaki. "Doesn't mean I like it though."

"Like what?" Rizaki tilted her head. Although she found out her hearing seemed better than most, everything was still muffled so she didn't get a good taste on what she missed out on. "What are you guys talking about?"