[Chunin Exams Stadium— The Fourth Hokage]
"Satsuki Uchiha, that girl would have died if your daughter had not saved her, Lord Hokage. It was extremely rash for her to engage so many Shinobi when she didn't even have a proper motive for fighting them except for the airdrop. It is certainly no quality for a Chunin."
Onoki, the Tsuchikage commented as he looked at Satsuki and Narumi's fight for the airdrop, noticing that Satsuki was quite stubborn.
"Perhaps she just wanted to give her best since there was no fear of death in the Battle Royale. After all, she has always wanted to become a great Shinobi like her brother Itachi." Minato replied with a chuckle, having known Satsuki since her childhood.
"Then, she really has a long way to go. At her age, her brother was already killing Jounin." Onoki said with a snort.
"That boy Neji is not bad though. He is quite skilled for a Hyuga his age. His teammate Tenten's weapon technique is also quite strong though she is definitely not Chunin material currently."
Mei Terumi, the Mizukage said as she looked at another battle for the airdrop where Neji and his teammate Tenten had achieved victory. They had been fairly lucky for their airdrop battle as they only had to fight three Shinobi for the airdrop.
However, as a result, the treasures they had obtained from the air drop were also underwhelming. Just two Status Restoration Cards along with a B-Rank Jutsu Scroll.
"Hmph! If we are talking about talent, we just need to look at Lord Hokage's son Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze.
The boy fights more like an ANBU then a Genin his age. Where have you been hiding this boy, Lord Hokage? How come you did not let him participate in the Great Chunin Exams while your daughter did?"
A, the Raikage asked accusingly as he pointed at Naruto and Shikamaru who had already finished looting the treasures from the airdrop and were on their way to the centre.
"Blame the Village Council. They didn't want to see the last male heir of the Uzumaki Clan in a Chunin Exams which had all five major Hidden Villages participating. It just looked too risky for them. Especially since Naruto could easily participate in the next Chunin Exams or simply be promoted on the basis of merit." Minato explained the reason.
"It seems that even the legendary Yellow Flash can't escape the cesspool that is politics. Never thought that I would see a day where the almighty Minato Namikaze would be brought down not by a Shinobi but by near paper pinchers." Onoki said mockingly, releasing the fact that Minato couldn't do anything against the Konoha Village Council's decision.
"Hmph! In Iwagakure, no one dares to protest any of my decisions, much less tell me what to do."
"That is simply because you are older than all of them, you old coot." A replied with a snort.
"When it is completely understandable for the village Council to not want the Uzumaki Heir two participate in a Chunin Exams in which the Hidden Villages who destroyed his clan were participating." Rasa, the Kazekage said with a chuckle, reminding the Kages that it was Kiri, Kumo and Iwa who had destroyed the home of the Uzumaki Clan, Uzushiogakure.
For some reason, Rasa's behaviour today was quite different from what Minato remembered. Not to mention that he had still not revealed his face since he had taken a seat.
It is just that Minato had no time to look into this matter because of the system and the ongoing Battle Royale.
"There is no need for Lord Kazekage to tear open old wounds. There is no Kage among us except Lady Mizukage who has not committed atrocities against other Hidden Villages. Despite that, we are all sitting here because we simply want a better future for our villages." Minato said seriously, reminding Rasa why the Great Chunin Exams had been held in the first place.
"Still, this System feels more unfathomable as the Battle Royale continues. The two Jutsu Satsuki Uchiha and Narumi Namikaze found in the airdrop, they were Kumo secret Jutsu. Especially the Shadow Panther Jutsu, that one is a Black Lightning taught only to the Raikage's lineage and can only be used with the help of a specific seal." A said, concerned about the System's might as he recognised the Jutsu Narumi and Satsuki obtained from the airdropped treasure chest.
"Could this System really want to help Shinobi reach their true potential as it proclaims? After all, the treasures it has granted to mere Genin in the Battle Royale are so great that even Jounin would fight over them." Minato said since he couldn't find any other reason why this system would spend so much resources on a Battle Royale between mere Genin.
"If this is what the System desires, then its way of doing it is way too brutal. The airdrops have pitted the participants against each other, resulting in great bloodbaths. Really does any battle for an airdrop ends with more than a single survivor. And even then, the survivorous only end up surviving because of their luck, not because of their skill." Mei Terumi said as she looked at the stadium ground where the defeated participants were appearing one after another, their faces filled with the horror of the brutal battles they had faced.
Among them were some Shinobi who were supposed to fight in today's finals. Shino Aburame and Kankuro of Sand were two finalists who were supposed to fight each other today. There was also Kiba Inuzuka, someone who had reached Chunin Exams Preliminaries before being defeated by Narumi.
The three of them had fought for the same airdrop along with several other Shinobi, the resultant battle being a free for all which left no survivor remaining.
Shino Aburame controlled chakra siphoning bugs while Kankuro fought with puppets outfitted with several sinister ninja tools. Kiba Inuzuka was no slouch either, capable of dealing massive damage with the help of his ninken Akamaru who the System had let participate with Kiba for some reason.
However, their opponents also new how powerful they were and banded together to deal with them. They showered Elemental Jutsu at the three of them, draining every single drop of their chakra.
The result was that Shino, Kiba and Kankuro were forced to forfeit but not before the last of their opponents were poisoned from the poisonous blades of Kankuro's puppets.
"Speaking of the brutality, doesn't this Battle Royale remind you of Kiri's previous Shinobi program. Though it was much more brutal, what with only one Shinobi surviving per nearly hundred prospects.
And inefficient too! After all, why waste hundred potential Shinobi when they could easily be of use to you with the help of a more strenous training regime."
Rasa said, mocking Kiri's brutal training program under Mei Terumi's predecessor Yagura in an attempt to antagonize her.
"I know it all too well, Lord Kazekage. After all, it was because of Third Mizukage's madness that we had to rebel to take Kiri from his hands." Mei Terumi answered in agreement, not willing to antagonize any Hidden Village while Kirigakure was still rebuilding after the Rebellion.
In fact, this was the reason why Kirigakure had not sent many Genin for the Great Chunin Exams. They simply couldn't afford to so soon after the Rebellion.
"It won't be long before the Battle Royale ends. They are not many Shinobi remaining and the circle has also become quite small." Mei reminded the Kages as she pointed at the circle's size. At the rate the circle was shrinking, it would be the size of an average training ground in just an hour.
"It won't be possible for any participant to win the Battle Royale unless Gaara of the Sand is dealt with." Onoki said as he pointed towards Gaara Shinobi which included Konoha Shinobi such as Sakura Haruno and Choji Akimichi.
"Gaara's mental estate has turned for worse since he entered the Battle Royale for some reason. Not to mention that his chakra reserves have increased after he obtained a Chakra Reserve Enhancement Card from an airdrop. As such, he is now near his full strength."
"The Battle Royale will not end unless Gaara is defeated or he defeats every other Shinobi in the Battle Royale." Minato said, realising that there was no other option.
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Author's Note— And so it has been decided that Gaara would be the Final Boss of the Chunin Exams Battle Royale.
Gaara was actually not the final boss in the original draft. It was going to be Kabuto with Jounin level single use Character Cards being used in the Battle. However, I decided to make the story grounded in the end.
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