"If you go up against Shinobi like that Gaara boy, or the Hokage's daughters, well you will be in for a tough fight."
"True." Asuma said with a nod of his head, knowing that not a single member of his team would win if they were to face off against one of the three Jinchuuriki.
"Speaking of the Hokage's daughters, I heard what you did in the Forest of Death."
...
Naruto cocked an eyebrow at that, interested in just what they had heard.
"Yes to willingly take on Orochimaru, all to protect a Shinobi team not even from your own Village. Truly I have misjudged you Pain." Guy said, nodding his head as he did so.
"It appears you are a much worthier man than I first believed. Certainly a worthy rival! When next we meet, we both should give it our all!"
Naruto blinked at that, not sure how to take Gai's statement. Was it a compliment, or a threat or… well Naruto didn't know how to respond. Luckily though he didn't have to, as Asuma spoke up again.
"Yeah you did a good job there, I don't think Kushina would have survived losing another child." Asuma added, giving Naruto a nod and clapping him on the shoulder as he did so.
"Another child?" Naruto questioned, knowing they were talking about him, but still curious to hear what people thought of his disappearance.
"Yeah the Hokage's son, a sweet little kid called Naruto. The boy was always a sickly and frail child, so much so that many people thought he wouldn't make it out of childhood.
But anyway, the kid went missing a few years back, some say he was kidnapped, some say he ran away. Can't say I know for sure. Either way the kid disappeared and well his loss almost destroyed Kushina." Asuma said a frown on his face.
"She only really recovered when little Naruko was born, and even then she still gets upset if anyone mentions Naruto. So… well we don't really mention him."
"Asuma, what happened to the boy is in the past, there is no point bringing up old wounds." Kurenai spoke up, her red eyes narrowed as she gave Asuma a reprimanding glare.
"Do you reckon the kid is still alive out there?" Naruto decided to ask, knowing he might be pushing his luck, but still curious over the answer.
Asuma ignored Kurenai's glare as he turned to look at Naruto, a strange look on his face as he scratched his bearded chin.
"Nah, the kid was always so frail and weak, I doubt he would have survived for more than a day outside the safety of the Village. Officially he is deceased and most people reckon he is dead, but even so, I reckon Kushina and her daughters still think there is a chance he is still somehow alive out there."
"What about the Hokage?" Naruto asked, pushing back the guilt he felt at the amount of pain he probably caused his mother and sisters.
"Well Minato was always a pragmatist. He was the one who declared his son dead after a year and stopped sending out search parties or wasting resources on a lost cause.
I know the loss of his son hurt him, but as always he put the good of the Village above everything else." Asuma replied, before he coughed into his hands and changed the subject. "But anyway, it looks like the Hokage is about to speak."
That drew the attention of the others as they all turned to look at the Hokage as he took a few steps forward.
Naruto however frowned internally, he knew he didn't really have a right to feel angry, but despite that he was irritated that his father had decided to cut his losses and declare Naruto dead.
No doubt the reason came down to wasting resources looking for a sickly kid who was likely dead. But still, it was a bit of a dick move of Minato's part.
Before Naruto could speak again, the Hokage cleared his throat and began to speak, drawing the attention of the entire room. Including the assembled genin on the arena floor and the Jounin Sensei in the surrounding stands.
Clearing his throat loudly silencing those assembled, Minato smiled slightly before he began to speak.
"Before we continue there are a few things that I wish to explain to you, it concerns the true meaning of this Chunin selection exam. Why do we have all of the allied countries taking the exam at the same time, even some neutral countries?" Minato asked as he looked from the Konoha Shinobi, to the Suna Shinobi to the Oto Shinobi and finally to the Kiri Shinobi. His blue eyes twinkling and a slight smile playing around his lips.
"'To promote friendship across countries' and 'To raise the quality of our shinobi'." Minato continued after a slight pause, listing off the general reasons most gave, before after another pause he continued.
"I don't want you to misunderstand the meaning, however... the true purpose the exam is... to serve as a replacement for war amongst our allies" Minato said, his pause accentuating his declaration, the tension in the arena increasing as some genin shifted uncomfortably as they heard that.
Naruto meanwhile only rolled his eyes as he heard this, the Chunin Exam were basically a watered down, war game, who could have guessed that?
"Not that long ago Village was fighting Village and Shinobi was killing Shinobi, the wars that followed were a terrible and wasteful thing and led to the death of many Shinobi from all nations. This exam is an alternate to the wars of old, one that allows us countries to avoid such wasteful fighting.
For the third test, Lords and Ladies from all over the Elemental Nations as well as the leaders of your countries will all be watching your fights. You will fight, with your life on the line, to protect not your home's land, but its prestige.
If your country is seen as weak, you will lose clients, the livelihood of a Shinobi, if you are strong, you will gain clients, bolstering your home. If your country is shown as a strong country it will also send a political message to other countries." The Hokage said his voice strong and authoritative.
"Then why must we risk our lives? There has to be a better way to fight for this prestige." A genin from below shouted.
Looking down at the assembled genin, Naruto noticed it was the Inuzuka heir. The boy was an idiot, challenging his Kage's words publically like this.
The Hokage fixed the genin with a flinty stare, his voice turning hard and stern, it was the voice of a Kage.
"The strength of the Country is the strength of the Village, the strength of the Village is the strength of the Shinobi, and a Shinobi's true strength... is only born in in a life and death battle." the Hokage said, his voice strong and powerful, making the genin below all stand a bit straighter.
"This Exam only has meaning because when you fight, you fight to become Chunin but for your very lives and for the prestige of your Villages."
Pausing for a few seconds to let that sink in, Minato then looked to the side of the arena, his gaze finding a bandana wearing Shinobi who was casually leaning against the wall.
"Hayate Gekko, a Shinobi of Konoha will be your proctor for the next stage of the exam. If you would please explain what will happen next Hayate?"
As Minato said that the unfamiliar Konoha Shinobi appeared in a flurry of wind and leaves just in front of the assembled genin. "As you say Lord Hokage." Hayate said with a short bow to Minato before he turned to the rest of the arena and the assembled genin.
"My name is Hayate Gekko and there is something we must do before the third exam." Hayate said as he turned to address the genin, before he burst into a coughing fit, his hand clasped tightly against his mouth.
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he saw that, the man looked sick. He had very pale skin, and dark circles under his eyes and shaky hands. Naruto was surprised they would even let a guy like that be a Shinobi. In Kiri a Shinobi like this would be put on sabbatical until he recovered, or would be forced into a desk job/ administration positon if he did not.
Ignorant of Naruto's thoughts Hayate continued. "Currently there are too many participants... the previous stages may have been too easy. According to the rules, we'll have to hold a preliminary in this kind of situation." Hayate said surprising the genin.
"As Lord Hokage explained earlier, there will be many important spectators who will come to see the final stage of the exam a month from now. As you can imagine, many of them may be pressed for time. We therefore have a limited timeframe to hold the finals, and there's no telling how long the battles will last so we have to make certain only the best make it that far..."
He trailed off, coughing into his hand before adding, "Anyway, anyone who isn't feeling well or who was intimidated by what we discussed here has this opportunity to back out. Please step forward if you aren't feeling confident."
The arena was silent for a minute as the assembled genin looked amongst each other, wondering whether anyone would be giving up. Around the side of the arena, Naruto let out a sigh, as if anyone would give up after getting this far, if they were still able to stand then they should be willing to fight.
Even if the chances of victory is low, in a controlled setting like this they should be willing to push themselves beyond the limits. After all Minato said this was life and death, but honestly unless you were stupid or very unlucky it was unlikely that you would die.
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