Chapter 23: chapter 23
It has been three months since Naruto and the others graduated. they have been going through the hell known as d-rank mission.
Team 7 have already gone and came back from c ranked mission.it was the same mission of the land of waves but zabuza wasn't there. so, it didn't take much for them to finish it.
it was still morning when they came back. After freshens up Ryu went out to get food where he met Kakashi and Yamato
"Yo guys what you up to!!?"Ryu said as he entered the restaurant
"Oh Ryu, your here" said Kakashi
"we were just talking about the chunni exam" Yamato said
sitting down Ryu replied" oh yeeha, you guys suggesting your teams for it"
"I'm thinking about it "Kakashi said as he reads his book waiting for the food
"are you sure they are ready for it!!?" Ryu says
"I mean why not, you and Kakashi became one at a younger age than them"
"not everyone is us Yamato" Ryu continued "it not that they're not strong, I trained most of them after all. am talking about the others especially Sakura. I heard from sasuke that apart from have good chakra control she doesn't have much to show"
"we just want them to feel what it feels like" Kakashi says
" well it's not like am their team leader, just saying" Ryu says
after that they ate their food while chatting about the other village attending the exam. When they finished Ryu went for a walk around the village.
"hey let go of him" Ryu suddenly hears a familiar voice
moving towards the voice he sees Naruto shouting at a kid who was holding konohamaru.
'is that not kankuro' Ryu thought as he watched from a distance.
Kankuro wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also wears a black hood which covered his head completely, and had cat-like ears and his forehead protector on his forehead.
"I said let go of him"
Naruto attempts to attack the newcomer but is almost tripped by his invisible attack. Just as he was about to hit Konohamaru, Sasuke saves the day by forcing the ninja to drop Konohamaru.
"what do you think you're doing?" sasuke said
Just as the kankuro is about to attack Sasuke, another one, appears telling the latter to stop playing around it was Gaara.
Gaara has fair skin, green eyes, and short auburn hair; for most of his life his hair is spiky. He lacks distinctive pupils or eyebrows. He's had tanuki-like black rings around his eyes due to insomnia. he carved the kanji for "love" on the left side of his forehead,
Gaara scolds Kankuro for his abuse of the kids. Gaara then apologizes to Sasuke for Kakuro's behavior. The three are ninja from Sunagakure and they come here in Konoha for the Chunni Exams.
"what are your names?" Gaara asked looking at both Naruto and Sasuke
'oh, it seems he also sees Naruto as a worthy opponents' Ryu thought
after telling he their names Gaara walked away saying that they will meet again. When the sand siblings left Ryu appears to team 7.
"Ryu nii" Naruto say as he sees him
"do you think you can take him?" Ryu asked Sasuke
"he is strong but I should be able to beat him" he says with determination
Ryu smiled looking at where gaara left and thought
'guess it is starting'
the next day, the genin were told about the exam and were told that if they were going to join, they should come to the academy after a week.
they all went to practice for the exam. Naruto and Sasuke were trying to help Sakura in her training while Karin was with Ryu practice sealing jutsu.
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the week came to an end and the first stage of the exam was going to begin. all the genin went to the academy as they met their team leaders to collect the form for the exam after they filled the form.
team 7 entered but were met with a student wearing a green jump suit
"who are you" Naruto asked
"my name is Rock Lee", said Lee.
"I came to see the skills of the best student of this year"
Lee is not only interested in seeing how his skills match up against a descendant of the Uchiha clan, but he also has a crush on Sakura, much to her dismay.
before Sasuke could answer, Naruto offers to fight in Sasuke's place. Without wasting time, he charges, but he couldn't keep up with Lee's speed as he struggles to avoid been hit. seeing that he couldn't hit him, Naruto stopped attacking.
Lee explains that they cannot beat him because he is the strongest of the Konohagakure genin right now.
Now interested, Sasuke accepts his challenge. Sasuke attacks but is met by Lee's Leaf Whirlwind; blocking it, he moves back and uses his Sharingan to figure out Lee's technique. He again charges Lee, this time he is able to keep up with him due to the training he had with Ryu. they clashed for some time but Sasuke is not able to get an advantage over Lee.
Lee explains" you are good but my moves are neither ninjutsu or Genjutsu, but mere taijutsu, also known as martial arts."
"what? you were only using taijutsu?" Naruto said in a shocked voice
Lee continues "With hand-to-hand fighting Sasuke's Sharingan isn't helpful because even if he can see the techniques, his body cannot move fast enough to react"
Lee uses the Shadow of the Dancing Leaf to kick off his next attack in order to finish off Sasuke, but a large turtle stops his attack before it hits.
The turtle seemingly reprimands Lee for using his forbidden technique, leaving Naruto to think the turtle is Lee's sensei.
Might Guy suddenly appear on the turtle and punches Lee hard in the face as punishment. Guy proceeds to hug Lee, and the two cries.
Team 7 are dumbstruck, and Sasuke can't believe he was almost beaten by what he perceives as a freak. Guy asks the team how his eternal rival, Kakashi, is doing. He's ahead in the match record, which stands at 50 wins and 49 losses. Guy also says that he is much faster and stronger than Kakashi.
When Guy leaves, Lee confesses that he is not the strongest genin - Neji Hyuga, Lee's teammate is. Naruto needles Sasuke, saying that Lee obviously trains harder than them when it comes to taijutsu. In the end, the team focuses their attention on the Chunni Exams.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone