Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Condition of Kimimaro degrades further...
Changed last part of the previous chapter
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So far in this exam, the performance of Konoha was rather lacklustre.
Aside from Sasuke's initial victory, they had lost every other match.
One of their two geniuses, Neji lost to Hinata from the Cloud, Shikamaru lost to Haku and Tenten lost pathetically to Temari.
The lost person Konoha would have expected to reel in a victory, was the dead-last, Naruto.
Everyone present was confused, his opponent suddenly started acting as if he was a demon incarnate trying to take her life.
She fainted without even putting up a fight.
Haku's beautiful features were displaying her inability to comprehend what just happened.
"What was that?"
Kimimaro tentatively replied while in thought,
"I've only saw that happen whenever some idiots tried casting genjutsu on sensei."
Kimimaro as a student of a perfect jinchuriki was quite familiar with the 'invulnerability' brought by tailed beasts and by extension their hosts.
Gaara, another jinchuriki heard his 'mother' screaming in his head for Naruto's blood and closely observed him.
He whispered, "Uzumaki Naruto..."
The next two games went pretty much, the way the anime went.
Rock Lee VS Gaara, the sand monster was close to crushing the genius of perseverance and bringing an end to his short life.
It was a pity, hard work had it's limits, unlike the immediate power and talent brought by bloodlines.
In the fourth ninja war, Naruto and Sasuke managed to jump from Super Kage level (Hashirama/Madara) to the Sage of six paths level.
It was unprecedented but only possible due to the identities of their past reincarnations.
As for the following match, Choji VS Dosu, it ended without any major shocks. The Akimichi lacked a variety of jutsu and couldn't keep up with how obscure the opponent's sound techniques were.
And with that, the final competitors were decided.
Hinata, Sasuke, Kimimaro, Haku, Temari, Kankuro, Naruto, Gaara and Dosu.
The old Hokage Hiruzen gave a sigh and tried to think optimistically.
We only have one less official competitor compared to the other two villages. I'll just hope Sasuke can become one of the finalists.
I've learnt my lesson. Next time, assign Neji a weaker opponent... or just some worthless ninja from a small village.
He proceeded to stand up and explain the rules of the final round.
The 'actual' third exam would be taking place a month later in the stadium built around the center of Konoha.
The month wasn't only to give the candidates time to reflect and rest, it was to give the nobles time to arrive and watch the final and most interesting round in the exam.
After, he sat down, Anko Mitarashi revealed herself while holding a box.
She held it up and said,
"This will be used to decide the order and who, everyone battles. Who would like to go first."
Hinata put her hand up and jumped over to her without waiting for her approval.
Anko nodded and held the box in front of her.
Hinata pulled out a folded note.
"It's 1."
She read it out, before returning to her seat.
Hachiro gave her a smile and flattered her.
"Is one, okay? I don't really think it matters because my Hinata is so amazing."
Her cheeks had a cute flush on them, as she nodded.
"Hehe~ If dad says so!"
Following her, the rest went forward one by one to draw their lots.
Due to the absence of Sasuke, he was automatically assigned the last remaining number.
By the end, the matchups were looking something like this.
Round 1: Hinata Raiden VS Sasuke Uchiha
Round 2: Naruto Uzumaki VS Gaara
Round 3: Haku VS Temari
Round 4: Kimimaro VS Kankuro
And Dosu with a free pass.
Gaara looked at Naruto with a mix of excitement, expectancy and bloodthirst.
He was already aware that the Sand was scheduled to be attacking the Leaf after this.
He was going to make it a bloody festival of despair!
Hiruzen gradually made his way back to the Hokage's building to discuss countermeasures with his old friends.
Guy commented with interest,
"So, the first battle is going to be between the Hyuga and Uchiha?"
Kurenai stated her worries,
"I don't think Sasuke will be able to adapt to the treasured techniques from Kumogakure. This is a battle he will probably lose. I'm worried that he will really descend into the darkness created by the massacre of his clan..."
There was an awkward silence...
"Alright!"
Guy punched the air with enthusiasm and comforted her with extra youth.
"Don't you worry. I'm sure Kakashi is making sure that doesn't happen even now, I'm going to go see, Lee. Trust in Kakashi."
Kurenai hit her cheeks, causing them to swell slightly and gave an optimistic smile.
"Huh, guess you're right!"
...
...
Cough!
After returning to the hotel, Kimimaro couldn't hold back the blood that had built up in his throat.
He spat out lumps of blood on the tiles.
Haku looked at him in shock and tried to take some of his weight to support him.
"Kimimaro, are you okay?"
Kimimaro answered slowly without a trace of emotion.
"Yes. I'll be fine in five minutes."
Even though, he tried to hide it, the cries of his body revealed itself as sweat dripped down as heavily as rain.
Hachiro frowned and said,
"You're body won't hold up for long. You can take a backseat later when everything starts."
Kimimaro anxiously tried to object but was interrupted.
"B-But, Hachiro-sama-"
"I thought you wanted to contribute to the village. From experience, corpses don't do the best of jobs with that sort of thing."
"...yes."
Kimimaro slumped slightly due to a lack of enthusiasm
Hachiro thought about the different ways, they could cure him or at least elevate his bodies horrific condition.
"The best plan that doesn't require any time would be to grab Tsunade... Problem is, I'm not certain that would work, she is also a full blown sannin, even if she has hemophobia."
Tsunade Senju, was by far the worlds leading medical ninja. She was probably one of the few that surpassed Kabuto in terms of medical ninjutsu. Although, that might not help as Kimimaro had a completely different body structure.
He could also... use the answer to all plot holes, HASHIRAMA CELLS!
You're body's half crushed? Some Hashirama cells for you.
You're mangekyo sharingan has limited light? Slam some more Hashirama cells in!
...
...
The one month period of resting time, not only gave time for the important people from other countries to arrive in Konoha, it also gave the troops from Sunagakure and Kumogakure to infiltrate the border.
As of right now, they were waiting silently for the order to attack.
Thanks to the guidance of Kakashi and Jiraiya, the two reincarnations from the era of the sage went through rapid growth.
Everything seemed as if it was going to plan.
However-
Hachiro exclaimed,
"Get out of here!"
He, Hinata and Hanabi were taking a walk around the bustling shops of Konoha.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone