The Hope of the Senju Clan

Chapter 26: Hyuga vs Senju

-Konoha-

On the day of the Chunin finals, all of Konoha was busy with activity, important lords, Daimyo's, business men and shinobi heads from other villages had come from all around to watch the Chunin finalists compete with one another. Among these important lords were the Daimyo's of Mizu no Kuni (Water Country), Kaze no Kuni (Wind Country), Kaminari no Kuni (Lightning Country), Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) and the Kages of their respected Shinobi villages.

Up in the Kage box seats, the Sandaime Hokage was seated in his chair, below him Civilians, Shinobi, Noblemen and women were filling up the stands bellow. Standing next to him was one of the members of the Hokage's Guard, Namiashi Raidō, who the Hokage was currently speaking to.

"Have there been any reports regarding the whereabouts of Uchiha Sasuke?" the Sandaime asked with some concern, as there had been no sign of the young Uchiha heir since the preliminaries.

"Unfortunately no Hokage-sama, several teams of ANBU are searching for him and Kakashi, but they are nowhere to be found" Raidō replied in a low voice. "I'm afraid there is a good chance that Uchiha Sasuke may have already fallen into Orochimaru's hands."

"If that is the case, it will be impossible for us to find him" Sarutobi thought with concern.

"Also Hokage-sama..." Raidō added "...it seems that Senju Naruto has yet to arrive in the stadium with the other finalist. It is likely that he may have been seized by Orochimaru as well."

"No I don't believe so" the old Hokage responded. "I just saw Naruto myself yesterday and I highly doubt Tsunade or Jiraiya would let Naruto go far without them knowing."

"But if that is true then where are they?"

"I do not know, but I'm certain, Naruto-kun is safe" the Sandaime replied, where his guard just nodded in understanding.

After a few minutes, the Sandaime was joined by his counterpart from Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) the Godaime Mizukage, Terumī Mei and her guard Ao.

When Mei first arrived, the Sandaime was both surprised and curious to see the new Mizukage a day before the Chunin finals. The reason why she had come early was because she wanted to speak to the old Hokage about forming an alliance with Konoha. Given how the recent coup in Kiri had weakened her village's military strength and their economy and she feared that the other villages, like Iwa or Kumo, would attack or take advantage of their weaken state.

Naturally the Sandaime welcomed the idea of forming an alliance with Kiri and proposed to begin talks for a new treaty after the Chunin exam.

When the Mizukage arrived at the box, the Sandaime stood up and greeted the female Kage where he then invited her to take the seat that was to his right, which she took.

Soon after, the Yondaime Kazekage and the Yondaime Raikage arrived with their respected Bodyguards.

The Yondaime Kazekage was a tall middle age man who wore the traditional robes and hat of a Kage and a mask to cover his face, allowing only his eyes to be seen.

The Yondaime Kazekage was a well-respected Shinobi, who possessed the Jiton (Magnet Release) Bloodline and used it in a similar manner to his predecessor the Sandaime Kazekaze. Although unlike the Sandaime, who used Iron Sand, the Yondaime used Gold Dust.

Accompany the Yondaime Kazekage were his two bodyguards, two tall men wearing light brown robes.

The Yondaime Raikage was a tall dark-skinned man with a large muscular build. He had blond hair that was combed back and a small moustache and beard. His face was very distinguished with pronounced cheekbones and tear troughs under his eyes, and a prominent crease across his forehead. Like the Yondaime Kazekage, the Raikage wore the traditional robes and hat of a Kage, but without a shirt underneath, which further displayed his hulking physique. He had gold bangle bracelets on each wrist and wore a gold belt around his waist with a boar's face engraved in the centre.