Chapter 214: An Unpredictable Match

 

Shikamaru defeated his opponent with such ease that the foreign candidates began to frown.

Konoha's genin possessed more battle experience than many visitors expected. The next names appeared before they finished revising that judgment.

Uzumaki Naruto versus Inuzuka Kiba.

The Academy rivals entered the arena.

"Kiba, I will defeat you and become the Fifth Hokage."

"You could not beat me at school. You will not do it here."

Akamaru barked from Kiba's hood.

Naruto pointed. "Put Akamaru down. This is one against one. Are you planning to cheat?"

"Ninken count as shinobi tools. It is within the rules. Since when did you learn to trap people with talk about fairness?"

"Two against one is unfair."

Kiba clicked his tongue and set Akamaru at the edge of the arena. "Then watch. I will beat him alone."

Hayate stared at both boys. "Begin before I invalidate both scores."

Shuriken crossed. Smoke bombs burst. Kiba emerged through the haze with Fang Over Fang and drove Naruto backward.

Naruto replaced himself with a block before the first rotation reached his chest, but Kiba followed the scent of the real body through the smoke. A shoulder struck Naruto's jaw. A low kick took his legs, and the next pass scattered the clones he created to cover his recovery.

"Your strength is not enough," Kiba said. "Surrender."

"Everyone will recognize me. I will not surrender."

Kiba stopped holding back.

Naruto took blow after blow. Bruises darkened his face, blood ran from a cut, and still he rose. Losing was unacceptable, especially against the rival who had overshadowed him throughout the Academy.

Kiba asked again whether he yielded. Naruto answered by charging. Kiba avoided the fist, struck his ribs, and stopped the next blow short of the throat. The restraint made the mismatch last longer; Kiba knew exactly where a lethal weapon would finish a classmate and refused to use one.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique."

Naruto filled the arena with bodies.

Kiba grew impatient as the fight dragged on. The gap in taijutsu was enormous. Against an enemy rather than a classmate, he could have ended the match with a kunai to the skull. Here, Naruto's reserves allowed him to replace every fallen clone and persist long after another genin would have collapsed.

Fang Over Fang destroyed several bodies at once, yet each rotation spent chakra Kiba could not replace. Naruto's clones were inferior fighters, but their numbers forced him to repeat the same costly answer. Persistence had not created a path to victory, though it prevented Kiba from ending the contest as quickly as his skill suggested.

The audience watched in disbelief. This no longer resembled a contest between equals, and no one understood what Naruto expected endurance alone to accomplish.

Tonbo understood the problem in a different way.

If Naruto lost now, the future Tonbo knew could diverge sharply. Naruto would not confront Neji in the same manner, and every consequence depending upon that victory might change. Kiba was currently too strong. He had trained harder because of Naruto's rivalry and survived Tonbo's instruction; Akamaru had not even joined the battle.

"I should help Naruto," Tonbo decided. "If the path changes too far, knowing it gives me no advantage."

He apologized silently to both boys.

Then he cast a genjutsu.

"Naruto's Fart Technique."

No one in the arena noticed the activation. Tonbo's illusion deceived Naruto's body rather than his conscious senses, convincing his gut that everything inside demanded immediate release.

Dozens of Narutos closed upon Kiba.

Their expressions changed at once.

Every clone shared the body's distress. Naruto tried to maintain the attack formation while pressure rolled through all of them simultaneously. The result looked, for one confused second, like the preparation for a coordinated technique.

Kiba slowed, confused by the sudden distress on every face.

The first soft sound passed almost unnoticed. Then came another, followed by an entire chain from the surrounding clones. Ten seconds passed. The sound continued.

The smell reached the gallery.

Hiruzen's nose twitched, and his face turned green. Orochimaru had been observing from the Sound position; even his expression tightened. Guy, Kurenai, Asuma, the foreign instructors, and the waiting candidates all understood at nearly the same moment.

Shinobi fled the arena rail. Others formed techniques to isolate themselves from the air.

Guy moved with Lee and Tenten before either student understood why. Kurenai covered her nose and pulled Team Eight back, though the warning came too late for Kiba. Asuma abandoned the best view in the gallery without hesitation. Foreign candidates who had endured blood, fire, and killing intent broke formation before an attack no briefing had taught them to resist.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted as she retreated. "What are you doing?"

Sasuke followed her with a pale face.

Tonbo formed seals to hide his responsibility.

"Wind Release: Severing Pressure."

He divided the airflow around his own position and turned to Kakashi.

"What an excellent disciple you raised."

Kakashi's visible eye looked ready to escape his face.

"What is happening?"

"Naruto used his ultimate move."

Tonbo could barely suppress his laughter. He had apologized to Naruto and Kiba but had neglected everyone else who now suffered the result.

The technique's effectiveness exceeded even his expectation. Fermented gas released under sensory manipulation carried a stronger odor than Naruto's body would normally produce, and every clone repeated it. The arena became a sealed weapon.

Tonbo had manipulated the signals controlling the release without leaving a visible chakra disturbance upon Naruto. To observers, the timing appeared like another absurd accident produced by the boy's body. The smell supplied its own cover; no sensor kept calm long enough to search for a genjutsu.

Hayate stood closest and could not abandon his position as referee. His eyes rolled upward while he struggled to remain conscious.

Kiba's sense of smell made the attack catastrophic. He fell first, foaming at the mouth. Akamaru collapsed at the boundary without ever entering the match.

Dozens of Narutos clutched their stomachs.

"I ate something bad," they said together. "Sorry."

The original wanted the floor to open beneath him. Villagers had insulted and avoided him for years without producing the shame he felt now. Watching Sakura flee from his smell brought him closer to wishing for death than any earlier humiliation.

His clones vanished one after another, each leaving another small cloud behind. Their disappearance reduced the sound and concentrated the realization that every person in the hall now knew exactly what had happened.

Hayate forced out the decision.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto."

Hiruzen immediately used Wind Release to drive the smell toward the exit. The resulting gust tore loose paper across the room.

"The examination may need a new rule," he said. "No passing gas in the arena, especially not in succession."

Kiba and Akamaru were carried to the medical area.

After the first wave of shame, Naruto remembered that he had won. He returned toward the gallery expecting some measure of praise. Candidates from every village moved away as he passed.

Even after Hiruzen cleared the air, everyone imagined the smell returning as Naruto approached.

"Stand farther away," Shikamaru said. "I cannot endure this."

Chōji held his chip bag closed. "I do not even feel like eating."

Naruto scratched his head. "I drank expired milk. It gave me diarrhea."

Only Tonbo praised him.

"As expected of Konoha's most unpredictable shinobi. How did you invent such a powerful technique?"

Naruto stared at him, too embarrassed to answer the teasing.

Then he touched his stomach and frowned.

"Why does it feel completely fine now?"