Vol 1 – Chapter 24 – Jay Vs. Ai
It had been five days since the Chunin exam started; for the five days, Garra had been asleep.
Temari asked him a few times what Ai did to Garra, and he did try to explain to her that he was resting, but she and her brother were getting more worried.
Thankfully, Garra woke up on the fifth day. The boy seemed much tamer than before, probably because Ai told the One-Tail to keep quiet.
Finally, the twenty-five of them standing in files, Minato appeared in front of them, while other team leaders were on the first floor.
Anko was standing beside the fourth with other chains and jonins, also jonins from other villages, like the sand and sound.
While Minato enjoyed seeing him in between the crowd of children, Jay was looking towards Sasuke.
The boy was holding his shoulder, so it seemed that Orochimaru placed the curse mark on him.
He curled his lips, looking at the jonin from the sound village. It must be hard for Minato not to attack Orochimaru. He probably wouldn't want the fight to happen when they were close to the children.
He could only sigh just thinking about the shit storm Mikoto would raise when she realized what Orochimaru did.
He moved, appearing behind Sasuke, sealing the mark, and appearing back in his place before anyone other than Ai, Minato, and Orochimaru noticed.
Orochimaru frowned in displeasure, but it wasn't like he could do anything. There were too many monsters in this room; without hostages, it wasn't the best place to fight.
Just when Minato finished with the speech, a sickly man appeared.
"Forgive my interruptions, Lord Hokage. But if you would leave the rest of the proceedings to me."
"Ah...Yeah..."
For the love of God, even Jay could tell how disappointed Minato was.
The man turned towards them, greeting, "Good to meet everyone, Hayate. I need you all to do something for me."
Jay could read what was going on in everyone's mind when they looked at Hayate.
The guy was so sickly.
"You see, before the third exam, there are preliminaries that you need to pass."
"Preliminaries?"
"Preliminaries like what?!"
Sakura glanced through the crowd, "Master Hayate, I don't understand; why can't all the applicants join the exam?"
Hayate narrowed his eyes, "There are too many applicants. Under the traditional rules, we have a preliminary test to reduce applicants."
Before anyone could say anything, he continued, "As Lord Hokage said, there will be honored guests coming to watch the exam. We must make the exam intense, tight, and fast-moving."
He exhaled, "Well, if anyone doesn't feel good mentally or physically, then say it. Because the preliminaries are about to start now."
After he said that, Kabuto was the only one that withdrew. It seems Naruto had become friends with Kabuto. He was probably collecting information on Orochimaru's orders.
The screen moved, and the first match was between Sasuke and Yoroi.
"Oh, no... not Sasuke..." Sakura looked at him with a worried look.
Sasuke touched his neck, "For some reason, it doesn't hurt anymore."
Jay appeared beside them, patting Sasuke's head, "I sealed the mark for you...I'll teach you how to control it later, so fight your heart out."
Sasuke looked up in surprise with a smile, "Thank you."
Leaving Sasuke and Yoroi behind, others walked to the first floor. Getting the opportunity, Karin came and stood beside him. So did Ai; Sai followed them. Naruto and Sakura were standing next to them, looking down towards the fight.
Ai rubbed her chin, acting like her father, "How long do you think the other guy would last."
Naruto laughed, "A second?"
"I bet it'd be over in an instance," Jay said with a smile.
"All right, begin!"
The moment his voice fell, a body shot through, colliding against the wall.
Yoroi was out cold, with Sasuke standing where Yoroi stood with his leg in the air.
Jay narrowed his eyes, "I won..."
Naruto had a smile and sweat on his face, "Did he get stronger?"
Ai glanced towards the curse mark, "Papa...you...what did you do to him?"
"I just made it so that the curse mark supports him rather than holding him back." He dealt with the curse mark because it was on Anko. He knew how to deal with it.
Naruto looked at Jay, "That's not fair! Just helping Sasuke."
"You have nine tails to help you out," Sasuke, who appeared behind Naruto, said.
Naruto growled, thinking about it, "Fine, we are equal now! I'll defeat you!"
Jay watched the next matches with little interest, Shino won his match, and Sakura was against Ino. But it seemed she went a bit easy; they knocked each other out.
Then there was a match between Temari and Tenten, it was a close call, but Temari won it.
Jay had a smile on his face when he thought about what this match would result in.
The next match was won by Shikamaru, though a bit of trickery. And the next won by Naruto, that too easily.
It was the next match that interested him, "Hinata Vs. Neji..."
Ai clapped her hands, "Amazing! The matches are rigged for the two of them to fight!"
Jay smiled, "They are not rigged; it's just good luck."
"I am telling you; it's rigged." Ai was confident in her assessment.
"Hm, I am not telling."
Naruto smiled, looking at Hinata, "Hinata's got this!"
"I won't be sure of that," Lee said, walking over with Tenten.
Shino, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji also walked over.
Sasuke hmphed, "Hinata is going to win this."
Ino raised her eyebrows, "Oh, Sasuke, you are that confident in Hinata? Do you like her?"
Jay chuckled, causing Ino to tense up, "Don't worry, the two grew up fighting Hinata..."
"I didn't know...?" Ino shouted out in surprise while Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, "Oh, how strong is she?"
Ai looked at them, "Papa trained Hinata since she was five..."
Lee shouted, pointing at him, "You! What?!"
Jay looked towards Hinata and Negi, "That's why I said, don't count her out."
"Begin!"
Neji knew not to hold back chakra was wrapped around his fingers as he rushed forth, attacking Hinata.
Hinata had solemn eyes; she moved her palm, touching Neji's wrist. Next, Neji flew in the air with his eyes wide open.
Hinata closed her eyes, apologizing, "Sorry, brother Neji."
She opened her eyes with Byakugan; the next moment, she was in front of Neji, in the air.
"Hinata Style: Revolving Heaven!!"
Neji collided against the ball of rotating chakra that Hinata formed around herself, getting thrown back towards the ground. Dust flew, and the tiles broke apart where he landed; Hinata appeared beside him, squatting, "Brother Neji...you ok?"
Hinata stood in front of Jay with a determined look, "Sensei, I won!"
"Yeah, you won." Jay stroked her head with a smile.
Hinata blushed, taking a deep breath, "So, I won't have to train for a month?!"
Jay chuckled, "Yeah, you don't have to." Hinata didn't like Mikumo; as Hinata grew older, Mikumo's methods got stricter. Once Hinata learned ways to avoid training with Mikumo, she used them to their best.
Hinata smiled cheerfully after hearing that.
"Hinata is avoiding something?" Shikamaru caught it.
Ino shrugged, "If I were that strong, I'd avoid Hinata too."
Hinata shyly rubbed the back of her head, "Brother Neji just got caught off guard."
"True, the boy is stronger than that!" Might Guy appeared out of nowhere, vouching for it.
Kurenai hugged Hinata, "Hinata! Good Job!"
"Hey, Look!!"
"The next match, Jay Vs. Ai."
"Huh!!! Minato!!! This thing is completely rigged!!" Jay shouted, pointing at Minato.
Minato let out a hollow laugh; there was nothing he could do about the machine.
But his shout certainly attracted those from another village. This was the first time they heard someone shout at one of the Kages, and that too a genin.
Ai chuckled, seeing her father agree with her. She appeared at the center of the battlefield, "Father...let me show you how strong I have gotten."
Jay sighed, looking at the beautiful little girl or ten standing in the middle. Her golden hair, scarlet eyes, and wearing a black sundress made her look anything but a ninja.
He appeared to her, "I am interested...how strong you have gotten under your mother's training."
"Go! Go! Go!! Uncle Jay!! Beat the crap out of Ai!!"
Vien's appeared on Ai's head, "Hey! You are on my team!!" She shouted, pointing at Karin.
Hayate cleared his throat, "All right! Start!"
Ai puffed her face, pointing at Karin, "Papa! See her!! How can she do that!!"
Jay smiled, looking over, waving at Karin, but Ai appeared in the air beside him at the exact moment. She kicked through the air, kicking Jay's face with a determined look in her eyes.
Jay raised his left hand, blocking her leg.
Suddenly, there was silence in the room until the walls on Jay's right broke.
"Wait! What just happened?!" Someone on the upper floor shouted. How did that little girl have that much power?
"Nice try," Jay said, raising his other hand and stopping the kick from coming towards his face. There was another blast, and the entrance broke apart.
Ai was in the air, with her legs in Jay's hand. Her eyes turned emerald, and Jay disappeared, appearing behind her, with his hand covering her eyes, "You broke my seal."
A crafty smile appeared over Ai's face, she disappeared, and a bag of explosive papers appeared in Jay's hand.
They were rolled up in a ball; they burned and exploded before he could get rid of them.
Ai appeared in front of the blasted place, "How's that for a little trick!!"
She didn't act like she might have killed her father; a hand appeared from the smoke patting her head, followed by a voice, "That was a good one."
Ai took a few steps back, disappearing and appearing to the other end of the room.
She clicked her tongue when she saw Jay walk out of the smoke without a scratch, "Not even, a scratch...Papa...you are a monster."
No one could walk out after taking that kind of attack head-on. There was a drop of sweat that dripped from Ai's cheek. If only her eyes were unsealed, she could see what her father would do.
The last time she used transformation to fool him into thinking that she broke the seal.
"Fine!!" Ai made a few hand signs after seeing Jay not attack her and pat dust off his clothes. Such disregard, "Fire Style! Fire Hydra!!"
Intense heat radiated in the room before the fire hydra even appeared.
"What kinda heat is that!!" Shikamaru shouted in doubt.
Sasuke protected his face, "I have never heard of that Jutsu!"
Hinata was standing, holding her hands in front of her chest. The heat seemed to avoid her on its own, but it was her excellent and minute control of the chakra and atmosphere around her.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes, 'That's quite a technique.'
'Hinata...' Kurenai whispered, even she didn't know Hinata was this strong.
Garra watched the Jutsu with wide eyes, "That girl..." She beat the crap out of him, and One-Tail was still shivering, but she looked like a kid in front of her father. Konoha indeed was full of monsters.
A snake-like creature appeared with its nine flaming head, trying to bite down on Jay, who kept dodging.
Jay made a few hand signs, stopped, "Water Style! Gaint's Clap!!" The water from the atmosphere drained, to massive hands made of water appeared, covered the hydra made of fire, clapping it in between.
There was a big blast, and steam covered the room.
"Water Style! One Thousand Spears!!"
A voice resounded from the other side of the room. The steam disappeared, turning into water spears, shooting towards Jay.
"Fire Style!! Fire Dragon Wall!"
A fire dragon formed, circling Jay, creating a protective wall.
Jay looked up; Ai appeared, forming the last hand sign, "Fire Style!! Massive Fireball!!!!!"
A massive fireball formed, melting the ground below, covering everything.
Ai kicked the air to not fall in the fireball, standing in the distance, breathing heavily.
"Ai!! What are you doing!! Do you plan to kill uncle!!!" Karin shouted at Ai angrily.
But Ai clicked her tongue, wiping her sweat, "Shut up!!! Like hell, something that tame would kill him!!"
Although she shouted that, others in the room had a different view; the ground had melted, forming a crater, and the heat was intense. There was no way a human could come out of that unharmed.
Even Garra wondered if his sand could block something like that.
Kurenai knit her brows, "As expected of Sensei's daughter."
Might Guy nodded, not smiling once, "This is Youth..."
"Oh, yeah, the two of you trained under him...will he be fine?" Asuma asked.
Kurenai curled her lips, "I'd be surprised...if he's hurt."
As if on cue, a voice resounded, "Frankly, sweety...I am disappointed."
With a wave of harsh wind, the fire disappeared. Jay stood where he was, without scratch or bruises; even his clothes were in one piece.
When they looked at Ai, his eyes looked disappointed, "I didn't realize...training with your mother left you so weak."
Ai shivered; she had never seen her father so disappointed, "Papa..."
"Let it be...you did well." He smiled, but nothing could be more humiliating than that for her.
Suddenly, there was a massive blast of chakra. Everyone could feel the heaviness in the air. Ai's eyes changed; they turned emerald, chains appeared behind her, visible to others. A few of them broke apart, "I am not weak!"
Jay grinned, "That's more like my daughter. But it's too soon for you."
He raised his hand, making everyone gulp, "I give up!"
*Silence...*
"Haaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"