Pre-Chapter A/N: Here we go with another chapter. Here on time! Next four chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio. Also started a new story (SI into Bill Weasley in the HP Universe) so go check that out. As we do when we have new stories, there's a cheeky little discount for the week. Code: THEFIRSTSON
Seconds later, the water was exploding upwards and outwards as Orochimaru rose at the head of a giant snake. How fortuitous that I had spent part of last month getting my students their own summons. But Minato did not instantly rise to the bait and summon his own giant creature. There must have been something he worried about. Perhaps the chakra cost. Minato was still a teenager coming into his own. Gamabunta could take about two thirds of his capacity in one swoop. If he made the summon, he had to be damn sure it was necessary.
Orochimaru, to my eyes, had expended a significant amount of chakra in his own summoning, but not so much that his ability to fight was much hindered. The snake lifted him out of the water and began to slither onto the ground.
It had lifted its top bit to the level where it could make eye contact with Minato on top of the earth pillar that Orochimaru had raised a few seconds ago. This was the longest lull we'd had all fight, and it wasn't like it was giving the audience much of a chance to compute the earlier action. Even slowed down for them as it had been, there had just been so much happening. And now their attention was turned to a snake that was slithering out of the water. It was coming, and then coming, and coming still.
Manda was massive, yes, but knowing it logically and seeing it in real time were two different things. If I had to eyeball it, considering a good portion of his length was still in the water, I would say he was over quadruple the length of an American football field. Long enough to wrap himself around this stadium at least once. His body just coiled and coiled, and coiled onto itself on the ground as Orochimaru revelled in the reaction.
"Shall I accept your surrender now, Minato-chan?" Orochimaru taunted before laughing at what was surely not a funny joke. Not even he could have found any comedy in that one.
"Hm. I was just letting you have your show. Give the people something to talk about other than your defeat, no?" My student, a loyal disciple in the ancient and hallowed art of trashtalk, responded.
Orochimaru's smile died and he jumped up. Seconds later, Manda was smashing its head down onto the pillar. It was fast. Too fast for its size by far. Minato had of course managed to jump off the platform in time, but he had done so barely. Orochimaru met him in mid-air, a sword in the man's hand now. It was not Kusanagi, but it was still a straight blade just brimming with chakra.
Something of the same ilk from the Sarutobi armoury perhaps? They had spent a good portion of the warring clans period gathering treasures after all. Granduncle Tobirama had persuaded some donations out of them, but his journal said he felt they had kept the best stuff for themselves.
Minato shifted to the side, kunai rising and meeting the sword mid-thrust. Both men hung in the air for a second while rocks crashed around them, dust rose in the sky, and the field seemed to fall apart. But it was only a second of stillness in the storm that was combat between two S-class shinobi. Orochimaru pushed, and the sword began to stab into Minato's kunai. Steel parting steel without any visible chakra application from Orochimaru's end. Of course, the blade itself shined with chakra like a beacon, but there was nothing my eyes could see that made it clear what it was doing.
Minato's chakra lurched within him, and then seconds later, Orochimaru's blade had split his kunai in two and continued on to bury itself in his chest. A puff of smoke revealed the substitution as he was replaced with a bit of falling debris. The real Minato pushed off a falling boulder, coming out from behind another such boulder and shoved a whirling rasengan in Orochimaru's direction.
He smirked, already stretching his hand out. The same countermeasure was already prepared. To be able to do it so quickly spoke of hours of practice against my signature jutsu. How flattering.
Right when Orochimaru's hand was about to make contact, the rasengan disappeared. Minato snaked his arm around Orochimaru's and grabbed the man by the wrist. They were only a few feet from the ground now.
Using the contact between them, Minato dragged Orochimaru upwards and towards him, before shoving another rasengan straight into his stomach. This one, with the element of surprise and no arm in its way, made direct contact. Both men hit the ground with an explosion of dust and stone. The physical debris preventing most from getting a clear view as Minato ground the rasengan in deeper and Orochimaru opened his mouth in a silent scream.
Scratch that, actually. Said open mouth began to expand as his jaw dislocated itself. A hand came first, and then that arm began to pull itself out to allow Orochimaru to pull a new body out of the skin of the old one. It was an interesting substitution technique, looking at it with these eyes. And a very expensive one as well. It had cost him a quarter of his remaining reserves, and Orochimaru was not a slouch when it came to chakra capacity.
Minato took a step back, betraying his inexperience there. It took him far too long to realise the right thing to do there had been to pounce. By the time he did so, Manda was slamming his tail down where they were standing. He jumped backwards, avoiding the attack, and the tail's momentum killed itself at the last second before it curled and wrapped itself around Orochimaru.
With a flicking motion, the snake sannin was tossed back to the head of his boss summon. A summon that was now slithering towards Minato at immense speed. I could see the realisation in Minato's eyes as he realised that this was not a fight he could win 2 v 1. He had to even the odds.
A bite to his thumb came first. Sending a massive amount of chakra to his right hand was next.
"Stop him, Manda," Orochimaru crowed. The snake shot forwards like a bullet from a gun, covering vast amounts of ground in no time. But even his speed was no match for how quickly Minato could weave seals.
Boar, dog, bird, monkey, and ram came in quick succession, and then his right hand was slammed into the ground. Manda had not even managed to cover two thirds of the distance before kanji began to spread on the floor around him.
With a puff of smoke so massive half the arena was covered in it, the stadium became host to the second boss summon of this tournament. Gamabunta looked markedly different from how he had in the anime. He was still massive, of course, though having laid eyes on Manda first made his own size much less impressive to the watchers. His skin (did toads have skin?) was a lighter hue than it had in the anime though. The scar across his left eye was still there, and his blue vest was also present, but his pipe was missing. Perhaps he was yet to pick up the habit.
"Manda? Good idea to summon me, Minato. I need a new snakeskin purse," the giant toad rumbled, voice deep and throaty.
"Kukuku. Come and get it, little 'Bunta. I was going to force my summoner for a fitting sacrifice after this, but you will be a good enough meal," the Snake responded in a voice much lighter and higher pitched.
"Let's go. Formation G," Minato said, already weaving seals.
"You know it," the Toad responded, forming only a single seal before spewing out a large amount of oil from his lips. It shot forwards, heading for Orochimaru and Manda. Before it crossed the halfway point, Minato sent a great fireball racing after it.
Despite being sent later, the fireball hit the oil a dozen or so meters before it would reach Orochimaru and his own summons. The Snake Sannin had already been weaving seals of his own. The water from the pond behind him—all of it—rose, flowing around both he and Manda before transforming into a dragon and hitting the burning oil.
A miscalculation on his part. The flaming oil continued past the water dragon, the jutsu having little effect in terms of killing the flames. Manda shot underground, submerging himself in the earth before the oil could hit.
"Gamabunta," Minato yelled.
"I see it," the Toad said, weaving seals.
The water dragon had continued past the oil, not having achieved its goal, but not much diminished for the failure, and now was about to make contact with Minato and his own summon. Was that just luck, or had Orochimaru planned it? With shinobi at this level, the latter was more likely.
Gamabunta finished weaving his seals and Minato finished his a second later.
"Toad-Man combination jutsu: royal earth wall," both of them yelled in unison, and the ground visibly shook before a massive section of it rose in a wall to stop the dragon.
The wall was several feet thick and rose so high that it covered both the massive toad summon and the teenager that stood atop its head. Minato's chakra had gone into the toad, joining with his. It was Minato's jutsu, but mostly powered by Gamabunta's more potent chakra reserves with Minato only contributing a token amount. How interesting. I would have to see with the whales if we could do something similar. The toads were not yet ready to trust Minato with the secrets to sage mode, but it was clear that the hours he spent at Myoboku daily were having results.
The water dragon hit the wall and failed to penetrate. It tore massive gouges from it but failed to pass even the halfway line. Minato only got to enjoy that victory for a second or so before the ground around him exploded, a reptilian form shooting from it.
"Now, Gamabunta," Minato crowed, and they had clearly anticipated this as the toad shot into action, blade sliding out and slicing through the snake that came from the hole. As the dust cleared, it revealed itself to be the shed skin of Manda. Gamabunta and Minato were not able to react now as the ground beneath them just disappeared. Orochimaru had planned this well, luring Minato and his summon to already prepped ground, and executing with no hesitation.
Manda had taken advantage of his species' cranial kinesis to create the appearance of a dislocated jaw, opening his mouth wider than should have been possible. He got most of Gamabunta's lower body in one go, and only the toad spreading his arms out wide and catching hold of the inside of the halves of the snake's mouth stalled it from turning into a full swallowing.
But even with that, the fight had still swung firmly in Manda's favour. Noxious purple gas began to leak from his mouth, turning Gamabunta's red skin a nasty shade of blue with alarming speed.
Orochimaru had not wasted the opportunity, jumping right for Minato and engaging him again. Minato blocked the sword with one of his chakra metal kunai, lightning release chakra running through it to give it an enhanced cutting edge and vibration. Orochimaru's blade was not even challenged by it, meeting him swing for swing. Minato was forced off Gamabunta's head with a kick that he was forced to block with crossed arms.
Orochimaru jumped after him. A single seal was all Minato needed to spit out a fireball that consumed the chasing Orochimaru in mid-air. The real one jumped after, landing on the ground right behind Minato because of how much force he had put into the jump. Both men were back to back and spun to reach each other almost as one. The sound of grinding echoed through the stadium as blade met blade.
It was only interrupted by the explosion of sound and smoke that marked Gamabunta's return to the summon realm. Manda now began pulling his full body back out of the ground.
Minato was right back where he had started. Except that now he had invested a massive amount of chakra in a summoning that had not panned out as he had hoped. Gamabunta was either weaker now because he was younger or Manda was somehow stronger. Well, it was not like it was Manda that was stronger. That sequence just now. Manda had just been the final bit. The rest of it was Orochimaru. This was not the man I sparred against. It was like night and day. And now I could see it clearly.
Minato was going to lose here. He did not have the chakra to deal with both Orochimaru and Manda. He did not have any trump cards that he could be comfortably deploying here. Not against another Leaf Shinobi at least. Both he and Orochimaru remained locked in their contest, pushing against each other with all their strength. Even for now, but the approaching Manda would make the difference.
His eyes panned over to me very slowly. I flared my chakra in a simple message. It was a code developed over years together as teacher and student. One simple word. No. He nodded to himself and then jumped backwards. Orochimaru moved to chase, but his hand was already up.
"I yield," he said, much to the disappointment of the waiting audience. I started the applause, and it took a precious few seconds for the daimyo to join me, and then from there the rest of the audience followed our lead.
Minato offered Orochimaru the seal of reconciliation. The Snake Sannin displayed little of the smug joy I would have expected from him at having beaten my star student. Instead he looked almost angry. What was up with that? He returned the seal though, probably cognizant of the watching audience. And then he left the field. Manda disappeared in a puff of smoke, after preening at all the positive attention.
--
It took half an hour for the field to be cleaned up for the ceremony. Reversing the damage done in the earlier rounds and the erection of a platform where those who had contested would stand atop had taken some time, and then the fighters had been brought out to line up. All ten of them stood there under my watchful gaze.
I stepped forward, standing at the edge of the box the Daimyo and I had been sitting in before I rose into the air. I floated over to the middle of the arena to the awed gasps and cheers of the watching audience until I was standing in front of but above the waiting line of shinobi.
The cheers I received outstripped all others. I was the Hokage, after all. And if anyone felt any genjutsu pulling at their impulses and making them more likely to cheer, then no one said anything. Having the anbu at your disposal was a useful tool. And the illusion of support often created support in the long run.
"Thank you, thank you. People of Konoha, visiting nobles, merchants, ladies and gentlemen, Shinobi. Thank you for coming, thank you for watching. And to those who performed today, I thank you for the show you gave us," I said. The applause died down as I began to speak more.
"Today you have put your blood, sweat, and tears on full display. Years of work, stress, and pain leading up to this singular moment. And not a single one of you failed to deliver. I sat in my seat and felt my blood be stirred up as you fought and showed the passion that makes this the strongest of the Hidden Villages. A Konoha shinobi is not merely more powerful than any other. We hit harder, run faster, fight longer, keep going when others give up because we have the Will of Fire. My Grandfather's will that saw a mountain and a forest below it and decided it could be a village. Could be something greater than the sum of its parts. And each one of you has lived up to that. If he were here now, I know what he would feel. It is the same thing I feel now. Pride. Pride in you. Pride in this village. Pride in the Will of Fire," I began, taking a breath.
"However, while you all burn strongly, there are certain flames that must be elevated. Lights that the village will be able to look to in times of uncertainty. I did not make the decision to create a new rank thoughtlessly. As Special Jounin, you will be the greatest protectors of the Will of Fire. You will be our bastions. The Generals of the Hidden Leaf. That is a massive weight to bear, but today you have shown us all the strength of your backs. The Daimyo and I have watched your presentations, and I have come to a decision he fully supports. Some of you will be promoted now. Others will be watched and given the opportunity to advance at a later date," I said, trying to stave off some of the inevitable disappointment that this decision would be met with.
"Uchiha Mikoto," I called first. My student stepped forward, her black hair tied back in a neat ponytail that displayed her beauty for all the world to see. The crowd kept the noise rising. She had done well in her match. Fugaku hadn't even stood a chance.
"Hyuga Uraume." My cousin was next. She also had completed her match with little challenge. Isagi Akimichi had shown great tactical acumen, but he had been outplayed in the end.
"Uzumaki Kushina." For my cousin who was more like a sister, I allowed myself to smile. Toshiro had done well, but there was no bridging the power gap between them. Of those being promoted, I'd back Kushina against everyone except the next person on this list.
"Uchiha Uzume," I said next. We would be wedded soon. The ceremony had been delayed enough, I decided here and now.
"Orochimaru," I called right after. His expression was perfectly neutral now, but the dissatisfaction in his gaze was there for those who knew what to look for.
"Namikaze Minato." He and Orochimaru had given the most even show of the match.
"I, Senju Shorirama, Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, protector of the Will of Fire, do name each of you as Special Jounin. Do us proud. Do your duty. Never fail," I said.
A/N: Any surprises there? As for those who didn't earn promotions, worry not. They will serve their own roles in the times to come. Next four chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early. Don't forget to check out the new story or redeem the discount.