Multiversal Wanderer: Starting in Naruto

The excitement from the first match was still palpable, the crowd's emotions still riding high. Watching the Chuunin Exams live had a unique thrill.

"In the second round, the contestants are Karui from Kumogakure and Akimichi Choji from Konoha. Please step onto the stage."

"You fat pig! Can't you Konoha ninjas even manage your body shape?" Karui sneered, her fiery temper showing no restraint. Host country or not, she wasn't giving anyone face.

The insult echoed through the arena.

Choji's eyes narrowed. "No one... has ever dared say that to me."

Karui shrugged with a smirk. "Well, now someone has. Deal with it."

She clearly intended to provoke him—it was a calculated strategy.

"Black-skinned witch… you're done," Choji growled, popping open a small box and swallowing several of the Akimichi clan's secret military ration pills.

"Partial Multi-Size Technique!"

With a loud boom, Choji's right arm expanded into a massive giant's limb, and he swung it toward Karui with crushing force.

"Tch. You really think you can hit me with that slow move, fatso?" Karui sneered, nimbly evading the blow and keeping up the taunts.

"Lightning Release: Ground Run!"

A jolt of lightning surged through Choji as Karui's jutsu struck. He flinched, momentarily paralyzed by the electricity.

"I've got you now! Cloud Flow: Forward Slash!" Karui lunged in with her blade, slicing diagonally toward his chest. But just as the blade closed in, Choji's massive hand intercepted it, stopping the strike cold.

A second later, his other hand grabbed her tightly. "Let's see you dodge this."

Karui's eyes widened as Choji wrapped his massive arms around her like a living trap.

"Let go, you walking meatball!" she barked, raining punches on him with her free hand. But Choji didn't budge—if anything, he held on tighter.

With her sword caught and brute strength no match for the Akimichi's monstrous grip, Karui was slowly running out of options. The more she struggled, the tighter his embrace became.

Choji's face was bruised and bloodied, barely recognizable, but he didn't let go. Karui's chest was being compressed, her breathing growing shallow.

"Lightning Release: Ground Run!"

Desperate, she discharged electricity again and again, electrocuting both of them in a self-destructive frenzy.

It was a brutal war of attrition. Two ninja, locked in close combat, hurting each other with every passing second.

"This guy... really is going to kill her in his arms?" Su Xiuyu muttered from the stands. "This is like something straight out of Bone King."

"What kind of nonsense is that?" Uzumaki Mito frowned. "Who kills someone by hugging them to death?"

Su Xiuyu smirked. "Exactly that. You crush the enemy in your arms. Tragic, poetic... terrifying."

"I dunno, this feels more like a tragic love story gone wrong than a fight."

"I wouldn't be surprised if these two end up married one day."

"You call that love? That's just... trauma!"

After nearly an hour of intense struggle, the two finally collapsed, unconscious and barely breathing. Shisui was the first to rush forward.

"They're both down—severely injured and unconscious."

Shisui raised his voice to the crowd. "Match result: Draw. Akimichi Choji and Karui are both eliminated from the competition. Medical-nin, please attend to them immediately."

The medics scrambled to the arena, quickly stabilizing the two fighters.

Even the usually fiery Fourth Raikage had no objections. Shisui's ruling was fair.

"Karui was reckless," Raikage muttered. "She should've used her speed to whittle him down. That grip was suicidal."

Fugaku, arms crossed, glanced his way with a rare smirk. "The Akimichi aren't afraid of going down with their opponent. It's a battlefield, not a dance floor."

"You...!" Raikage's temper flared.

"Easy, Lord Raikage. There are still many matches left," Samui said quickly, calming her superior before he did something rash.

The Raikage grunted, reigning himself in. This was Konoha's turf, and diplomacy—however bitter—still mattered.

"I hope, when your people lose to Kumogakure, you'll be just as sportsmanlike," he said, staring at Fugaku.

Fugaku's face remained impassive. "Of course."

---

"Third Match: Kankuro of the Sand vs. Deidara of Iwagakure!"

Kankuro walked out with tense steps. Gaara's final words still echoed in his ears: "Lose, and I won't forgive you."

Across the field, Deidara practically bounced with excitement. "Yes! It's finally my turn! My art! My glorious art!"

Ohnoki, watching from the stands, sighed. This kid… talented but completely unhinged.

"Tsuchikage," Fugaku said, turning to him. "My only concern is the scale of your disciple's jutsu."

Ohnoki nodded. "Understood. Deidara's explosions aren't small."

Fugaku smiled faintly. "Don't worry. The Uzumaki clan has deployed a sealing barrier around the arena. No harm will come to the spectators."

"...Konoha really does have all the good stuff," Ohnoki muttered under his breath, visibly jealous.

With both fighters in the arena, the transparent barrier shimmered into place.

"Attention," Shisui announced. "A sealing barrier has been deployed. You may now fight without holding back."

"Let the match begin!"

Deidara immediately revealed his signature technique—mouths on each palm, chomping on clay.

"Exploding clay! Art is an explosion! KATSU!"

He flung a handful toward Kankuro, creating a blinding smoke and a thunderous boom. Kankuro narrowly evaded.

"What kind of jutsu is that?" murmured civilians in the audience, confused by the unfamiliar technique.

"Looks like the Explosive Style I've heard rumors about," Fugaku noted aloud. "Quite the dangerous student you have, Tsuchikage."

Ohnoki chuckled, clearly pleased. "Well, they may not be Uchiha, but we've got talent too."

As the smoke cleared, Deidara grinned, arms wide open like a performer on stage.

Mouths on his palms gnashed eagerly as more clay creatures formed.

"Prepare yourself, puppet guy! My art's gonna blow you away—literally!"

Kankuro narrowed his eyes behind the shadows of his hood, fingers twitching over chakra threads.

---------------------

"Damn it... he's an offensive type!"

As a puppeteer, Kankuro specialized in positional warfare. He had expected a slow-paced, strategic tug-of-war against someone proficient in Earth Release techniques. What he didn't expect... was this.

"Black Secret Technique: Hand Dagger!"

A poisoned blade launched from his puppet with precision, cutting through the air as it shot toward Deidara.

But Deidara smirked, raising a single hand.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"

A wall of earth burst from the ground, blocking the poisoned attack effortlessly. Then, behind the wall, something strange and small emerged from Deidara's palm—a white clay bird.

As chakra surged into it, the bird swelled rapidly like an inflating balloon.

Then, with a leap, Deidara mounted the now massive clay construct.

"Take off! Giant Bird!"

In a flash, he soared into the sky.

"A flying jutsu!?" someone in the audience gasped.

The roar of the crowd grew louder. Deidara's performance was flashy, almost theatrical—explosions, airborne antics, spectacle. It was exactly the kind of drama that thrilled the audience and made hearts race.

Up in the sky, Deidara reached into his clay pouch and hurled a dozen clay balls down toward the arena.

"Art... is an EXPLOSION! Hahahaha!"

The ground trembled. Thunderous detonations echoed across the arena. Smoke and debris swallowed the battlefield in waves. It was chaos—fiery, beautiful chaos.

From the stands, Fugaku watched calmly. "Tsuchikage," he said with a faint smile, "your disciple has quite the flair for showmanship."

Ohnoki gave an awkward chuckle. "Yeah, and that flair cost me half my treasury. He might have accidentally blown up a third of Iwagakure last time."

Meanwhile, poor Kankuro stood stunned amidst the aftermath, coughing in the dust. His puppets tried to retaliate, flinging projectiles skyward, but Deidara was too high. Kankuro's weapons couldn't reach him.

It was a textbook case of aerial dominance.

And Deidara wasn't done.

"Detonating Clay Birds!"

Two more white birds fluttered from Deidara's hands. Infused with chakra, they danced through the air like real animals—swift, nimble, deadly.

Kankuro managed to shoot one down with great effort. But the other bird dodged, swerved, and homed in.

"Haaah!!"

A fiery explosion rocked the platform at close range.

"I... I surrender!"

The voice was weak but audible.

Wind erupted as Shisui appeared in a flash, using a Wind Release technique to sweep away the flames. As the smoke cleared, Kankuro was revealed—burned, bruised, but still alive, protected by the charred remnants of his puppet "Crow."

Barely alive, but safe.

"It's over already! But I'm not done playing!" Deidara shouted from the sky. "Little Asuka, go!"

He sent another clay bird diving down—this one directly toward the injured Kankuro.

But before it could land—

Zzzzap!

The air crackled.

A streak of lightning pierced the clay bird mid-air—then extended, drilling straight through Deidara's left arm. It was Shisui's Chidori Sharp Spear.

"You attacked after the match ended," Shisui said coldly. "You're disqualified. Kankuro is seriously injured. I declare both of you eliminated."

"Damn it! Let me go!" Deidara struggled, furious—but the lightning paralyzed him.

"You lack respect," Shisui muttered. Then, his Chidori Sharp Spear flared, turning into a thick lightning pillar that surged through Deidara's body, forcing a scream from the blonde bomber.

"Tsuchikage, that's enough, isn't it?" someone asked from the stands.

Ohnoki's brow furrowed. "Hokage, must your man go that far? My disciple has surrendered."

Fugaku remained unmoved. "Deidara showed blatant disrespect to a top-ranking ninja. This is discipline."

Even the Raikage chimed in, arms crossed. "Fugaku's right. No matter how talented your brat is, he needs to learn some manners. Shisui is a name known across the world. If he disrespects a man like that, what'll he do to weaker shinobi?"

"Hmph. I'll handle my own students!" Ohnoki snapped.

The match was over. The outcome—a double elimination. But the audience had no complaints. They'd witnessed a visual spectacle: explosions, aerial ninjutsu, and a thunderous finish from one of the most famed Uchiha.

"That was Shisui of the Body Flicker, right?" murmured one of the daimyos.

"Yes. His talent and strength are truly remarkable," said another.

"Konoha always did produce monsters," said a third, sipping his tea.

The daimyo didn't concern themselves with the match's result. To them, victory or defeat was temporary. What mattered was influence—and potential alliances.

Back in the arena, Deidara lay flat on his back, twitching slightly from the "electrotherapy." He muttered weakly:

"Why... why didn't my clay bird explode?"

Shisui blinked. "Lightning Release suppresses Earth Release. It's basic academy knowledge. Didn't you learn that?"

"What?! That's it? Just that?!"

Deidara's eyes went dull.

"Is... is my art so weak? That fragile?"

Shisui almost felt bad. "Actually, your strength is impressive. Elemental weakness isn't everything. The Raikage doesn't beat the Tsuchikage just because of affinity. In the end, it's the ninja—not the jutsu—that matters most."

But Deidara wasn't listening. He stared blankly at the sky, completely deflated.

"I didn't pay attention in class..." he mumbled.

Off to the side, Su Xiuyu chuckled. "You know, this kid's got fire. How about we take him on a trip next time? Might be good for him to broaden his horizons."

"You want to train him? Someone from Iwagakure?" someone said in disbelief.

Su Xiuyu shrugged. "Well, we're already short-handed in the Marvel Universe. One more maniac wouldn't hurt."

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