Hyuga Clan.
Hyuga Natsu reported to Hiashi Hyuga the intelligence she had gathered from secretly trailing Hanabi from a distance.
"To apologize?" Hiashi frowned, stroking his chin.
"Yes, Lord Hiashi," Natsu reported, bowing respectfully. "Miss Hanabi approached the Amegakure residence with a self-made medical kit. Although I couldn't hear exactly what was said due to the soundproofing seals, it seemed she went to apologize in person for the 'incident'..."
"Hmph. Alright i understand. You may go."
Hiashi closed his eyes.
After Natsu left, he let out a long, weary sigh.
He knew Hanabi had once admired and looked up to her sister Hinata the most. That was why he had repeatedly warned her: Never take Hinata as a role model.
Kindness is weakness.
He thought his harsh teachings had taken effect.
He thought he had molded her into a weapon.
But it turned out Hanabi had still inherited Hinata's fatal flaw—she actually went to apologize to the enemy.
Under normal circumstances, Hiashi would have summoned Hanabi immediately and reprimanded her for showing weakness.
But not now.
The clan was in crisis, and he needed options.
Everything now depended on whether Hinata could demonstrate a proactive, ninja's attitude in the Chunin Exams.
If she failed... he would have to make a hard choice.
...
The Next Day.
The preliminary one-on-one elimination matches finally began.
[The preminary here is on stage 2 in stadium, unlike in canon where they fight to reduce the participant after forest of death, so some character will fight twice or doesnt fight at all]
The match pairings were randomly drawn on the electronic board—though whether there was any behind-the-scenes manipulation by a certain snake or Hokage remained unknown.
After several matches of varying quality, the screen flickered.
Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba.
Nine-Tails Jinchuriki vs. Akamaru Jinchuriki.
The two hot-blooded idiots stepped into the arena.
"Yahoo! Let's go, Akamaru!" Kiba yelled, tossing a food pill to his dog.
Akamaru barked and his fur turning red.
"Beast Mimicry: Four Legs Technique!"
Kiba formed hand signs, then dropped to all fours. His canines lengthened, his fingernails grew into claws, and he radiated feral chakra.
WHOOSH.
The next moment, Kiba charged at Naruto with blazing speed, knocking him back with a brutal elbow strike to the gut.
Naruto flew back, skidding across the floor.
He wasn't much different from his original counterpart at this stage. The only distinction was that he had met Jiraiya a bit earlier.
But it didn't make much difference yet.
The time was too short.
Even with Jiraiya's earlier acknowledgment, Naruto could only begin the most basic training for the Rasengan or Summoning.
He was still raw.
If Naruto had gained Makoto's approval instead, and Makoto had exchanged a few words with the Nine-Tails, Naruto could have countered Kiba's "Four Legs Technique" with a "Beast Mimicry: Four-Tails Technique" and vaporized the building.
But alas, Makoto didn't like blond protagonists!
Naruto struggled to his feet.
Kiba's elbow strike was incredibly powerful, sending Naruto into a brief flashback sequence about being lonely on a swing.
But as everyone knows, in the world of ninja, when someone starts having flashbacks, there's a 90% chance they're about to unleash a game-changing counterattack.
Amid the gasps from the audience, Naruto stood up.
He wiped blood from his mouth.
"I won't fall until I become Hokage!" he shouted, delivering his signature catchphrase.
The two began their proper exchange.
Kiba continued to suppress Naruto with his superior speed and teamwork with Akamaru.
But Kiba soon noticed something wrong.
'Why the hell is this guy so tanky?'
Kiba kept attacking.
Naruto kept getting injured, bleeding, and flying into walls.
But he just wouldn't stay down.
He was like a zombie in an orange jumpsuit.
Meanwhile, Naruto's mind raced as he desperately searched for a strategy.
He recalled his training with the Pervy Sage. Jiraiya had taught him the first step of the Rasengan: popping a water balloon with chakra rotation.
However, with the exams coming one after another, he simply had no time to practice.
He had only used one of the training balloons...
'Wait! Balloons?'
Naruto suddenly remembered what happened before today's match began.
After passing the Forest of Death yesterday, he was so happy that he went to Ichiraku Ramen and ate five deluxe bowls.
Having eaten too much, when he arrived at the exam venue this morning, his stomach felt... unstable.
He had let out a few silent-but-deadly farts in the waiting area.
At that time, Akamaru, who was passing by, had whined and covered his nose and Kiba had quickly walked away, looking disgusted.
'Also,' Naruto thought, 'back when I ran out of paint while vandalizing the Fourth Hokage's monument and switched to buckets of raw sewage... the ninja dogs found me instantly.'
'Could it be that dogs' noses are more sensitive than humans'?'
Naruto pondered this deep philosophical question.
This knowledge seemed to have been mentioned at the Ninja Academy by Iruka-sensei, but Naruto had been sleeping during that lecture.
'If that's the case... then here goes!'
With a face full of determination and seriousness, Naruto slowly retrieved a yellow balloon from the ninja tool pouch at his waist.
The balloon was originally given by Jiraiya for holding water to practice Rasengan.
Jiraiya had even thoughtfully provided a funnel for easy water filling.
But before the match began, with his stomach bubbling like a cauldron and no time to run to the bathroom... Naruto had to improvise on the spot.
So, he used the funnel to fill the balloon completely with... liquid shit.
He tied a knot and planned to find a trash can later.
He never expected it would become a weapon of mass destruction today!
"Kiba!" Naruto shouted, holding the jiggly yellow balloon aloft like a grenade. "Let me show you the new jutsu I've learned!"
Those in the audience who knew Naruto were very confused.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura asked, squinting. "When did Naruto learn a new jutsu? Is that... a water style jutsu?"
"I don't know either," Kakashi shook his head, a bad feeling creeping up his spine.
"That movement is..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was smoking casually, suddenly stood up in surprise.
He recognized the stance!
Naruto formed the Shadow Clone seal.
Using four clones as a distraction, the real Naruto charged forward. He raised the yellow balloon in his right hand and pressed it toward Kiba's charging face.
"RASENGAN!!"
"Is that really Rasengan?!" Hiruzen gasped. "When did Jiraiya teach him... Wait, how did Naruto learn it this fast?!"
Upon hearing Naruto shout the legendary name, Hiruzen showed an "as expected" expression of pride.
On the other side, Kakashi widened his single visible eye in shock.
'Rasengan? That's Yondaime technique! When did he learn it?'
'But why does it feel strange—why is he squeezing a yellow balloon?'
The next second, Hiruzen and Kakashi's expressions froze.
They watched as the balloon squirmed under the pressure of Naruto's chakra rotation.
POP.
It burst and ..... It exploded with warm, yellow liquid.
A spray of unsettling color and unidentified substances splattered in all directions, coating Kiba and Akamaru point-blank in the face.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"
The moment Kiba and Akamaru caught the smell—amplified thousands of times by their enhanced dog senses—their eyes rolled back in their heads.
"Naruto, you bastard..." Kiba gagged.
He instinctively tried to cover his mouth and nose, but his hands were already coated in the "unknown substance."
The act of covering his face just smeared it directly into his nose and the odor went straight to his brain.
THUD.
Kiba collapsed, foaming at the mouth and Akamaru fainted beside him.
"KEHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Ref! I won, right?"
Naruto clapped his hands (wiping them on his pants), placed them on his hips, and looked proudly at the proctor.
"Ahem, ahem," Hayate coughed, covering his mouth. "What do you think?"
He glanced at the two team leaders, Kakashi and Kurenai, who had jumped into the arena to check on their students.
Kurenai looked like she wanted to vomit.
"Kiba... is unconscious," Kurenai admitted reluctantly, holding her breath. "He lost."
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!" Hayate announced.
"I'll make sure to properly educate Naruto when we get back," Kakashi sighed, punching Naruto on the head.
"And boil him alive if i can."
He apologized profusely to Kurenai and the medics who had to carry Kiba away.
Sitting beside Hiruzen in the VIP box, the "Fourth Kazekage" (Orochimaru) stared at the scene with dead eyes.
'May Konoha just hurry up and collapse already,' Orochimaru muttered sincerely.
"This place is a fucking joke."
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Bonus, enjoy naruto new gen rasengan!