"Hoooo,"
Hiruzen breathed as he focused on the flow of golden flames coursing around his body.
Although he was technically crippled, he was still brimming with vitality due to this jutsu. It was also this reason why Hashirama's Cells seemed incompatible with him.
"—Sigh,"
With a breath, Hiruzen quelled the flames, and the temperature in his vicinity rapidly fell.
After leaving the Anbu's underground laboratories, he moved to Training Ground 4, since the expansive clearing offered ample space for his own experiments. The trees that surrounded him were a suitable audience for what he wanted to achieve.
He closed his eyes, recalling Suguru's notes which he had once learned from before. In a way, he was returning to the basics. In hopes of achieving new heights. Hiruzen focused on his heartbeat, a steady drum against his ribs. He willed the flames to mimic its rhythm.
—Badump! Badump! Badump!
Pulses of heat accompanied his beating heart. An aura of laminar flames slowly spread out, bathing Training Ground 4 in its heat.
The flames quivered in a hesitant response.
"—Haaaaaaaap," Hiruzen then inhaled deeply, expanding his lungs, and the flames swelled, growing brighter and hotter at the same time.
"—Hoooooooh," When he exhaled, they receded, shrinking back towards his skin.
Again.
With every breath—
A blazing flame.
With every heartbeat—
A pulse of heat.
* * *
While Hiruzen found a state of zen relaxation, the Chuunin Exams continued.
Suguru had descended from his tree with grace, his silver hair catching rays of light shining throug the canopy.
—Tap.
Feeling Suguru's presence, the gathered genin turned. Some gazed at him with wariness and others did so with curiosity. Suguru's Sharingan activated momentarily, scanning the room before returning to its normal state, unseen by anyone who gazed upon him.
In a way, it was similar to Hiruzen's deception. Although Suguru hadn't noticed something right away, his subconscious mind had picked up on a few things.
—Cough, cough.
Gekko Hayate coughed softly, stepping beside Suguru and pulling the latter out of his thoughts, "Congratulations on completing the second phase of the exam. However, due to the number of teams passing, we will be conducting preliminary matches to reduce participants before the third and final exam."
Hayate's voice reached all of the genin present, eliciting a few grim nods here and there. Seeing his fellow proctor doing their job, Suguru took his time to observe the faces gazing in his general direction.
For the Jinchuriki Team, Naruto and Gaara stood with an intimidating presence, radiating with a subtle cruelty that could only exist in jinchuriki.
Among Team 7, Sasuke's gaze was calm while Mitsuko's Byakugan pulsed with quiet intensity.
The Hoshigakure team looked particularly interesting, as Suguru could feel that their Star Chakra was giving off a unique resonance.
'I wonder if I can dissect them in the future…' A dangerous thought bubbled up to the surface of his mind.
Only to fizzle out due to Hayate's continued speech.
"We will now conduct a tournament-style elimination," Hayate announced. "Each participant will fight until they can no longer continue or surrender."
A large electronic board flickered to life behind them.
Suguru had personally modified its selection algorithm, hoping to try and achieve a certain something with fate. He wanted to test how strongly the strings of fate still tugged at the lives of the main cast.
—Whir!
Random names began to scroll, creating an atmosphere of tension.
And so, the first matchup appeared: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi.
Suguru's lips curled slightly, amused despite the fact that his modifications were deemed useless. 'Is fate so powerful that these things still occur?'
The match up from the original was going to play out in this timeline as well.
Meanwhile, the other genin shifted nervously as they proceeded to the spectator stands. Suguru joined the different jounin-sensei already milling about their teams.
Several of them glanced at him. Among the familiar glances were Asuma, Ibiki, Kakashi, Guy, Kurenai, and…
'Oh?' Suguru mused, 'Akuta is here as well? Is it Hiruzen's Shadow Clone?'
The real body was nowhere near here, at least from what Suguru had checked.
'As for the others…' Suguru eyes gleamed.
Hoshigakure's jounin-sensei was also present, and Kabuto technically had jounin-level skills. The latter was most likely going to back out again…
'Unless?'
Suguru gave Kabuto an imperceptible nod and a little smirk, and the latter felt a chill.
* * *
The arena fell silent as Sasuke and Yoroi faced each other.
—Swish.
Hayate's hand dropped.
"Begin!"
Yoroi lunged forward, chakra-laden hands reaching for Sasuke. A standard technique designed to drain an opponent's energy through direct contact.
Seeing this, Sasuke recalled those not-so-Gentle Fists which parried and struck with eerie precision. His muscles tensed. His Sharingan activated, tracing the precise chakra pathways Suguru had once mapped out during their training.
Yoroi's hand approached. Inches from contact.
Sasuke twisted in reply. His fist shot straight for an area where a Tenketsu likely was.
—Thud.
Yoroi stumbled. Confusion flickered across his face.
His chakra flow was disrupted, though not as effectively as the original.
"What—?" Yoroi's confusion was vague. He was fully ready to sacrifice that arm.
However, for some reason, his chakra was not sealed.
'Instead, it feels as if my chakra is a lot messier than before….' Yoroi didn't realize the implications that brought.
Until…
—Thud.
—Thud.
—Crack!
Three swift strikes made their way past the confused Yoroi's defences.
Sasuke had pressed the advantage brought by his earlier counter. His fists blasted general vital areas with chakra, rendering his opponent's chakra absorption broken and messy.
The crowd watched, bewildered, as Yoroi's limbs were rag-dolled by Sasuke's strikes.
Kakashi's eye widened.
"This…"
"—Is my technique?"
The audience's gaze fell on the second test's proctor. Suguru had tilted his head in amused, verbalized thought, clearly admiring the show.
Tatsuya, who was nearby, nodded and answered the question on everyone's minds.
"It is your interpretation of the Hyuga's Gentle Fist. Sasuke and I learned it when you sparred with us before."
Hearing this, Suguru chuckled.
"I see… I guess I can't say that I'm surprised."
But… the not-so-Gentle Fist was just a precursor for a different jutsu, if his memory served him right. The chakra release, the fine control, the focus on Tenketsu…
It was his way of figuring out the Nintaijutsu, Blaze Battle Body. And clearly, the two Uchiha had yet to encounter that progression.
'Did Hiruzen… no, Akuta, not teach them?' Suguru thought, before shaking his head to watch with the others as Sasuke continued his assault.
'…Despite that, Sasuke's adapted it well,'
While Suguru had these thoughts, Yoroi attempted to counter one of Sasuke's reckless swings, his chakra-draining palm thrusting toward Sasuke's shoulder.
The move was desperate.
Sasuke's eyes gleamed as he sidestepped, pivoting on his heel to deliver a punishing blow to Yoroi's sternum. It was clear that he was faster.
His fist struck a spot directly over a major Tenketsu cluster.
—Crack!
The sound echoed through the arena and a small burst of wind seemed to be expelled from the small of Yoroi's back.
"Urk…"
Yoroi's body convulsed as his chakra network destabilized further.
His knees buckled and he staggered to the side, swaying like a drunkard.
Sasuke, sensing victory, executed a final combination.
Three rapid strikes to Yoroi's chest, throat, and temple. Each impact left a visible bruise blooming around the targeted Tenketsu.
"Hick—!"
Yoroi's eyes widened behind his dark glasses.
His mouth opened in a silent gasp as his chakra network collapsed under the assault. His body trembled completely before crumpling to the ground like a marionette whose strings were abruptly severed.
Yoroi fell to the ground with a resounding—
—Thud!
"…"
Hayate approached cautiously, checking Yoroi's condition.
The fallen shinobi's body was littered with fist-shaped bruises, each marking an area that had been brutally compromised by the blasts of chakra release.
"Winner: Uchiha Sasuke," Hayate announced, his voice carrying through the suddenly silent arena.
Hearing this, Suguru's eyes gleamed. Another idea was forming in his mind, unbeknownst to those beside him.
His gaze lingered on Sasuke as the Uchiha walked away from his fallen opponent. The cursed seal on Sasuke's neck remained dormant throughout the fight.
'Hmmmm,'
He thus fell into thought.
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