Chapter 61

"Argh." Kiba remained paralyzed with a contorted expression on his face and hole in his shoulder.

"Move, and I will kill your friend." The burly Ame Genin pricked Kiba's neck while looking at Naruto's face. His glare made Naruto grit his teeth in anger and concern.

Seeing that Kiba wasn't able to defend himself or even move because of his carelessness, Naruto felt deep guilt.

"Wait! Wait!" Naruto pushed his palms forward, signaling the Ame-Genin to stop. Then he dropped the kunai from his hand, throwing it down the tree.

"See, no weapons. I give up. Let him go." Naruto raised his hands, making a "give up" gesture.

Seeing that Naruto had let go of his weapon, the burly Ame-Genin relaxed a bit then removed his kunai from Kiba's neck. "It's good that you have a brain."

"Kagari, Oboro." The burly Ame Genin dragged Kiba a step back then shouted, calling for his teammates.

"Mubi?! It's damn time." The earth user, Oboro, grumbled, signaling Kagari, the one who was fighting Naruto, to look up.

Massaging his head for a while, Kagari finally managed to look upward, to see one of the Konoha-Genins captured by Mubi.

A clone made up of earth appeared beside Naruto, catching him in an embrace. Then they jumped down the tree, reaching to where Oboro and Kagari were.

"Argh." Kiba g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain, the wound in his shoulder agonizing him.

"Kiba!" Naruto struggled to get free but Mubi, who was holding Kiba, turned and nicked Kiba's neck, deterring Naruto.

Kagari, who was hit directly by the explosion, walked and stood in front of Naruto, staring at him venomously.

"Oboro, Kagari, check for the scrolls," Mubi ordered while creating earth clones.

Oboro nodded and quickly looked through Kiba's things. Kagari also went through Naruto's things, finding many interesting things but the scroll.

"Mubi, look at this." Kagari picked up the container with red liquid and showed it to his teammates.

Oboro threw Kiba's things down with a sigh then walked to Kagari's side. "Be careful. It might be poisonous."

"Don't worry." Kagari pulled open the lid and sniffed lightly. Smelling a light fragrance of cherry, Kagari closed the lid then pocketed the container for himself.

Oboro sighed at his teammate's foolishness. Action like these could have serious negative effects later.

Looking at Naruto and Kiba, Oboro had an odd feeling, like a nudge at the back of his head. Thinking back, he remembered that these two walked in the examination hall in separate teams.

"Oi, Mubi, this yellow hair-" Just when Oboro wanted to speak, Mubi who was scouting using his earth clones, suddenly stood up with a signal shout.

"A big one? Shit." Oboro snapped quickly looking at Kiba and Naruto.

"Their teammates." Mubi turned and quickly made a snake hand seal, shackling Kiba too.

They acted quickly dragging Kiba and Naruto to the bushes.

"I see two coming." Mubi sweated looking at Naruto and Kiba then at the other end, where reinforcements were about to come.

"There will be more than that," Oboro commented which gained Mubi's attention.

"What do you mean by that?" Mubi asked Oboro while equipping himself with kunai.

"No time. They are from different teams." Oboro pointed at Naruto and Kiba and answered quickly.

Hearing that Mubi glared at Oboro and gritted his teeth, "You! Why didn't you…"

"I just remembered," Oboro replied to which Mubi's glared just intensified.

"Mubi! Decide fast. If they outnumber us then we will surely lose!" Kagari shouted forcing Mubi to make a decision.

Gritting his teeth, Mubi replied, "Alright, let's go."

"OK." Pushing Naruto and Kiba away, the trio jumped and ran in the opposite direction, towards the tower.

While the Ame-Genin were running away, Kiba noticed a small grin on Naruto's face.

"Naruto?" Kiba wanted to ask but he heard a loud explosion and felt the wind blasting towards him.

BOOM!!

"Argh." The trio g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as they were thrown back, in front of Naruto and Kiba.

"Hup!" With a shout and chakra burst, Naruto broke the shackles binding him¬¬¬.

"Hehe, time for some payback." Cracking his knuckles Naruto walked towards the fallen trio.

"Naruto-kun!" With a loud shout, full of concern, Hinata ran towards Naruto, ignoring the three Ame-Genin on the ground.

"Wait, Hinata!" Naruto shouted with his hands stretched.

"Got you!" Water burst from below, surrounding Hinata.

BAM!

"Eh?" Kagari, who was about to trap Hinata using [Water Prison Jutsu], fell without knowing what just happened.

"Like I said, don't just jump into action when Naruto is involved." Raito sighed appearing some distance away.

"Raito! Hinata!" Naruto gave a big smile looking at the two.

"Naruto-kun, are you fine?" Hinata asked in worry seeing all the bloodstains on Kiba and Naruto.

"Of course I am," Naruto replied, smiling and patting his biceps.

Quickly rest of the team appeared, greeted by the laying Ame-Genins.

"Che… we should have taken our time." Shikamaru looked at the three laying down, bruised all over.

Raito walked in front of Kiba and released the earth shackles binding him. "Kiba, you have to stop getting injured."

"[HEAL]"

Taking out a small red bead from his pouch, Raito gave it to Kiba. "There isn't much damage but you have lost some blood. This pill will help you replenish blood. Take it."

Kiba nodded then swallowed the pill.

"Yuk!" Kiba, with his closed eyes, spat his tongue forward, complained, "Bitter."

"I heard that good medicines are usually bitter." Raito nodded then continued using [Heal].

"Arf!" Akamaru jumped from Shino's head and jumped towards Kiba.

Kiba turned his head sharply which caused him some pain.

"How are you, Akamaru?" Kiba rubbed Akamaru and asked playfully. The two moved so much that they were losing health points.

With anger on his face, Raito looked at the two, "Like I said… stop moving."

"[Earth Cover]" The ground below exploded and covered Kiba and Akamaru just like before.

"What is this!?" There was a slight hint of panic when Kiba found that he couldn't move anymore.

"You two seriously need to stop moving." Raito sighed then left them in an immobile state.

Shino laid Sasuke by Kiba's side then he, himself sat in a meditative posture, trying to recover from his injuries. Quickly his hive covered his whole body leaving just his face. The black bugs covered every inch of his body, making him look like a horrible mess.

"Eww! What's that?" Ino looked with interest and horror at Shino and his black wriggling bugs, covering all of his body except the face.

"That's his hive helping him recover." Raito lightly tapped the back of Ino's head and informed her. "You should read more." And of course, adding a bit of sarcastic tone at the end.

Sasuke was still unconscious but one could still hear him groaning, every now and then. The seal on his neck given by Orochimaru was now nowhere to be seen. Of course, it was due to Raito's and Naruto's combined Fuinjutsu.

Although the seal was not completely removed, Raito was thankful that the seal would not surface anymore. All done to the wishes old man Hokage.

The sealing technique Raito had made was specifically made for Anko's 'Cursed Seal of Heaven'. Guessing the passage of time and keeping in mind that the seal formula can be changed many times over in the years to become more effective and efficient. The increase in difficulty was well reasonable.

"Hey! Everyone, they have two heaven scrolls." Chōji announced waving two heaven scrolls in his hand. Chōji had already looted the Ame-Genin team while Shikamaru had disabled them with his shadow techniques.

"Talk about being unlucky." Shikamaru looked at the scrolls then threw them at Raito.

[Heaven Scroll]

[Heaven Scroll]

The corners of Raito's lips curved upwards seeing the scroll then at the miserable Ame-Genin.

"You got the scrolls. Let us go. We surrender." The thinker of the team, Mubi, shouted quickly focusing on Raito.

"You surrender?" Raito questioned then pushed his hand forward, grabbing the neck of the two nearest.

"Argh, stop!" Mubi resisted, activating the chakra gathered in his hand.

"Raito…" Ino watched Raito choking the two Ame-Genin with slight concern. Whether it was for the Ame Genin or Raito, only she knew.

While looking into Mubi's eyes, Raito threatened, "Move your hands… and I will kill your friend."

Hearing Oboro's choked voice, Mubi immediately stopped and restrained his chakra.

And as soon as Mubi restrained his chakra, a black line with a red dot encircled his neck completely cutting off his chakra. The same happened with Oboro, a seal cutting off his chakra too.

Raito let go the both of them and while Oboro fell down, Mubi stood albeit little wobbly.

After recovering, Mubi glared at Raito and checked on Oboro and Kagari.

"Don't glare at me. If you hadn't attacked my friends, you could still have two heaven scrolls and a chance to enter the tower." Raito shrugged then signaled Hinata.

Hinata nodded slightly, her hand moving swiftly, opening the closed tenketsu of Kagari. Previously, just before Kagari could use his jutsu on Hinata, she had moved faster than him and blocked his tenketsu, stopping his chakra flow and disabling him, in an instant.

As soon as Kagari's tenketsu were opened, he woke up instantly. Not even wasting a second, he jumped, taking out his kunai, ready to attack. But seeing that he was surrounded and his teammates were taken hostage, he gritted his teeth and dropped his kunai, then raised his hands in surrender.

"We have both your scrolls and your teammate's chakra are sealed. Do you want to quit?"

For a moment, the field was in silence as everyone eyed one another, silently sending messages.

Naruto who was being pampered by Hinata's care, walked in between Raito and the Ame-Genins while grabbing a scroll from Raito's hand.

"What are you…?" Raito mumbled softly only allowing Naruto to hear.

Naruto threw the scroll towards Kagari and said, "We don't need that Heaven scroll."

"You are giving back the scroll?" Kagari looked back at his teammates then at Naruto.

"Un… We already have what we need." Naruto smiled and made an easygoing posture.

Raito clicked his tongue and threads made up of chakra attached to Mubi and Oboro. He quickly restructured the seal and released them.

"Hey what did you just do!?" Kagari shouted, pointing at Raito.

"… I shortened the duration of the seal. After two hours, the seals will undo by itself." Raito replied plainly then moved towards Kiba and Akamaru.

Kagari looked at the shinobi around him then walked towards his teammates.

"Oboro, Mubi, we must work hard." With that, Kagari disappeared with his teammates, before Naruto could say anymore, leaving Konoha Genin behind.

Seeing the Ame-Genin gone, angry and questioning glances focused on Naruto.

"…" Raito looked at Naruto for a while before sighing. He didn't question Naruto but focused on healing Kiba and Sasuke, especially Sasuke, who still hadn't woken up.

"What were you thinking, Naruto!?" Ino raged, shaking Naruto intensely.

[Uchiha Sasuke]

[Unconscious] Recovery in 6hrs

Staring at the unconscious Sasuke, Raito sighed then turned his head towards Ino.

"6 hours huh?"

'If he doesn't wake up then let's just make Naruto's clone transform into Sasuke.' Thinking that Raito made a small smile.

Facing Kiba, Raito removed the [Earth Cover] and warned, "Try meditation method that your clan has taught you. It should help."

"… and just, stop moving too much." As long as Kiba stopped moving and harming himself, his clan's healing prowess and Raito's healing skill will make sure that he recovers fully.

"Hmm…" Chōji looked at the distance and made a small noise.

"Chōji?" Shikamaru called Chōji and waited.

"They are in trouble," Chōji replied then gave Shikamaru a questioning glance.

"Great." Shikamaru sighed then looked towards Raito.

When Raito saw Shikamaru's questioning glance, he just turned his head and ignored him.

"It was their decision to go." Raito shrugged then looked towards the tower. "Anyways, we need to reach the tower."

Inside the Hokage tower, Hiruzen sat on his seat and beside him, the Konoha council, Jōnin commander, ANBU head and Jiraiya listened to the report made by Anko who had actual contact with the snake Sannin, Orochimaru.

"Until now three parties are involved; Suna, Kusa, and Oto. No matter what, we have to be prepared for whatever may come."

"If only Suna was not involved…" Homura sighed.

"Suna has been long dissatisfied with how things are. They have financial problems and their military strength is also getting weaker every year. It's surprising that they haven't taken any action yet." Danzo commented.

"They should have dealt with mercenary guilds first." Jiraiya clicked his tongue.

"We don't have confirmation yet."

"Sending an unstable Jinchūriki in another village. That is clearly a problem."

"One-tailed Sand Demon." Jiraiya sighed.

"We shouldn't forget about Sasuke. He is in the center of everything in this Chūnin exams. Getting everyone's attention, even Orochimaru is here for him." Koharu, who had been silent till now, spoke up looking at Hiruzen.

Seeing that nobody had spoken, she continued, "We need to deal with Suna Jinchūriki and Sasuke… he needs…"

Danzo quickly intervened, "Sasuke needs to be on the stadium a month later, in front of the Daimyō of all the villages. Not only that, but he also needs to show his power… his capability to defeat everyone… no, overpower everyone in that group."

Hiruzen sighed, the hat covering his expression, "Danzo, we already know that he is not capable of doing that."

"That's why he should have been under me. I could have trained him to be the strongest, even stronger than his brother, Itachi."

"Danzo." Koharu turned and gave a look to him.

"We all know what your men are like, Danzo."

With Hiruzen's comment, the tension in the room raised a bit.

"I have already assigned Kakashi to look after him for this month," Hiruzen answered breaking the tension.

"Then give me the Jinchūriki. I know that he is a valuable asset of this village and will create some problems but-"

"I'll be taking him. He will be training under me from now on." Cutting off Danzo, Jiraiya stood in front of Anko facing the group and opening the big scroll.

"I have discussed with the toads of Mount Myōboku and they have agreed to sign the contract with Naruto."

Jiraiya had pulled double privilege to get Naruto. First as a Sannin and second as a godfather.

"The fourth's?"

The declaration brought silence to the room. Those who knew said nothing, silently agreeing and those who didn't know also didn't dare ask.

The denial had made Danzo's face turn slightly green. Anger appeared within him but he didn't show in his face.

The only ANBU in the room, beside the Hokage, stood up, replacing Jiraiya's. Falling on to his left knee, he matched eyes with the Hokage's then lowered his head and with his muffled voice, asked, "Hokage-sama, please allow me the dispatch of all the ANBU."

"I allow it." With Hiruzen's confirmation, the ANBU head disappeared from the room.

Next was Shikaku, the Jōnin commander. He remained standing after passing a clipboard and only left after receiving a nod from Hiruzen.

Hiruzen sighed. He let the heads of the department arrange things.

Now attention to the current state of affairs.

"With that decided… Anko, tell us who made it to the tower."

At the clearing, near the tower, in the forest of death, everyone was recovering or training, and the same goes for Raito. Raito stood a little further with a sword in his hand, practicing the sword techniques.

[Sword Drawing Techniques]

In front of Raito, the tree had lots of cuts marks but the interesting thing was that cut lines were all parallel with equal length and depth. The three trees near him all had the same cuts, making Raito happy with this skill.

Rustle. Rustle.

"What? Finally awake." Raito turned back and asked lazily.

Sasuke walked out of bushes with his Sharingan activated. His eyes were locked onto Raito, more specifically his sword.

"Che." Raito clicked his tongue in distaste. Sasuke was still trying to steal his techniques. But should I just let him steal?

Raising his sword high, Raito smiled and activated a skill.

'[Stealth]'

Stealth's third ability was activated.

In Sasuke's eyes, Raito's figure gradually turned hazy and the insides of Raito's body where he could have seen chakra turned pitch black, not letting him see the chakra.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke stopped his Sharingan, which allowed him to see Raito once again. Raito was just standing there swinging his sword wildly.

Coming to a realization, Sasuke's face distorted in anger.

"Yeah, it's for you Dojutsu user." Grinning Raito kept his weapons in the inventory.

Taking a deep breath in, Raito shouted, "Everyone! Get ready. We are moving."

"Ooh!" Came Naruto's energetic shout.

With that said, Raito walked passed Sasuke with a smile.