Naruto & Gohan: Legends Will Rise

Chapter 30: Kicking Things Off

The Hokage stood on a podium made of earth in the middle of the stadium. The entire place was full of civilians of Konoha. It was eerily quiet.

"Citizens of Konoha, we are gathered here today to witness the best that the new generation of shinobi has to offer. Now please welcome the twelve exceptional genin who have made it this far!" He said.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" The old man shouted with joy. The blond walked out to the stadium floor and the crowd cheered quietly. He hadn't expected any clapping so the entire stadium clapping brought a large smile to his face.

"Neji Hyuga!" Hiruzen yelled. The Hyuga member walked and stood next to Naruto and the arena erupted in applause.

"Temari of the Sand!" The blonde girl from suna received less clapping than Naruto, which brought a slighter larger smile to Naruto's face, but it changed to a frown when he realised that it was only because she was a foreigner.

"Sakura Haruno!" The stadium clapped for the pinkette, though not as much as they had for Neji.

"Shikamaru Nara!" The Nara heir received the same welcome as Sakura, as did the next few contestants, "Arthur Yamikaze, Son Gohan, Son Goten"

"Sasuke Uchiha!" The crowd erupted in applause and hollers as soon as the raven-haired prodigy walked to his spot. It took five minutes for the crowd to quiet down enough for the Hokage to speak again.

"Kai Tokuma!" Kai too received a moderately sized applause.

"Hinata Hyuga!" Hinata got an applause the same size as Neji's, if not a little larger.

"And last but not least, Gaara of the Sand!" Gaara received by far the smallest applause of all. It brought a frown to Naruto's face as he knew that while Gaara was scary, he didn't deserve the treatment he got, he hadn't shown any of his homicidal tendencies to the crowd, they were just afraid of him because of his aura.

"Now, you were all told who you will be facing correct?" The Hokage asked all the contestants.

"Yes Hokage-sama." Was the unanimous response.

"It was a lie." The old man smiled, "Instead you will be called upon randomly."

"CRAP!" Naruto shouted, he had turned down Jyuken training from Hanabi because he thought it would be useless against Neji. Now Naruto had no clue who he was fighting.

"Everyone but Kai Tokuma and Neji Hyuga stay on the arena." Hiruzen said, "Genma!"

The proctor appeared on the mound of earth, slamming his palm onto it, causing it to shrink and merge with the arena floor.

Naruto noticed that the proctor was no longer the sickly jonin, but was now a different man, who had his hitai-ate attached to a bandana and had a senbon in his mouth.

"BEGIN!" He shouted, jumping out of the way.

Kai made a scythe, "This'll be easy." He swung the weapon lazily. Suddenly he disappeared in a flicker, appearing next to the Hyuga prodigy.

Neji blocked the swing with his forearm, wincing in pain as the large metal pole slammed into it. He spun his body into a sweeping kick, taking Kai to the ground and, continuing his spin, got up and prepared to palm strike Kai in the chest.

Kai smirked and merged with his shadow, effectively dodging Neji's strike. He stood up out of Neji's shadow and heel kicked him in the face, sending the Byakugan wielder skidding across the ground.

Neji stood up and the veins around his eyes bulged even more, he sidestepped a downwards slash from Kai but was taken by surprise when Kai's scythe became two sickles, each about two feet long with a ¾ foot curved blade. Kai's second weapon caught Neji off guard and he was nearly gutted by it, sheer instinct saving him. Neji jumped back and palmed the air in front of him, "Air Palm!" He shouted, a burst of air slammed into Kai's chest and he stumbled back. Neji landed and darted forwards, weaving through Kai's sickles and jabbing him in the back twice before throwing a kunai past Kai and substituting with it to give himself room.