Son of the Sannin(Back)

Fight to become a Chunin, Part III

After the first round, people were already eager to see the second. All winners have proved to be exceptionally powerful, so the public was eagerly expecting to see even more epic fights. While the public spent the intermission buying snacks, going to the bathroom, or betting money on which Genin would win which match, the Genin themselves were trying to relax and mentally prepare for the next round.

Despite the fact that most of them were tired and had even more challenging opponents this time around, their mood was much better than before. Winning their matches made them think that it would make them worthy of promotion, forgetting their respective sensei's words about Genin who won their matches (sometimes more than just one) but failed to get promoted, while Genin who lost impressed the examiners enough to recommend a promotion.

...

"So, it seems that we're about to fight now," Karui's voice snapped Sasuke from his thoughts. "I'm glad to see that I'll have the chance to fight a fellow swordsman," she said as she eyed the sheathed katana on his back. "Kumogakure has the best swordsmen in the Elemental Nations, and as an aspiring one, it is important to me to be able to show my skill with the sword in front of Raikage-sama."

"I thought that the best swordsmen came from Kirigakure," Sasuke pointed out.

"Those punks? Please," Karui scoffed. "They might have fancy swords with nifty abilities, but take their swords away, and what do you have?" She slowly unsheathed her own katana. Sasuke could see that, besides being a very well crafted weapon, there was nothing that set it apart from any other sword. "A sword is just as good as the person who wields it."

"While I agree with that, I wouldn't dismiss the Seven Swordsmen so easily," Sasuke replied. "I had the chance of seeing one in action more than once, and his skill isn't an exaggeration."

"If you say so," Karui shrugged. "But if the Seven Swordsmen were so hot, a generation of them wouldn't have gone down so easily against a single Genin."

That caught Sasuke's attention. "Come again? You can't be serious."

"I am. In fact, I'm surprised that you didn't know about such feat, given that it was a Konoha Genin," Karui pointed out. "Seriously, I was expecting to see a statue of the guy or something when I came here."

Sasuke was left utterly baffled. How is that he never heard of that ninja if he did such an impressive feat?

...

As he saw Karui walking alongside his opponent into the arena, the Raikage couldn't help but sport a smirk of superiority.

"Ah, yes, now this is a worthy adversary for Karui," A stated. Despite their dive in reputation, he was aware of how well known the power of the Uchiha was. "When Karui publicly defeats the Uchiha in front of such a large audience, Kumo's might and superiority will be more than proved."

"That girl is talented, everybody can see that," Jiraiya began. "But so is Sasuke. And not just because of his clan, that kid has a lot of talent and drive to prove himself."

"Speaking of which, it surprises me that you still keep the remnant of that rebellious clan still around, Hokage," the Raikage noted as he glanced at Itachi. "If anybody on Kumo, be a single ninja, a clan, or a whole faction, rebelled against the village's legitimate government, I would have crushed them without mercy."

"With all due respect, Raikage-dono, not all the Uchiha are disloyal to Konoha," Itachi interjected, even if he knew he shouldn't speak up. "So I don't think why should those who remained faithful to the village should share the same fate as those who betrayed it."

Darui and C flinched. The Raikage glared at Itachi, as he released no small amount of killing intent. "You better watch your mouth, brat! You might be in a place reserved for the Kage, but it does NOT make you one! Don't even think for a second that it allows you to speak me as if I was your equal!"