Chapter 8.3- One Thousand Hands

I unsealed my bow. Uzume looked at me like she couldn’t believe it. I just smiled at her. This was the moment. The time to prove everyone wrong. To show them exactly what I knew. I bent my back and aimed my arrow to the heavens. Breathe in. Breathe Out….I loosed the arrow with the breath. It sailed in the air a few metres before sharply banking downwards. One thing I’d learned early on in life was that I did not have the wood release. Of course I knew it .The clan checked. I had the right affinity, but I could just not grasp the formula for forming wood release. Whenever I tried, I’d just end up forming mud. Dirty mud. Useless mud. Whatever notes my Grandfather had left on the matter had been unclear and only two steps away from useless. I was sure the only reason why Tobirama had never gotten on his arse to make better notes was the fact that they all thought he had at least a century in him when he’d died.

The only reason the notes were just two steps from useless and not entirely so was because of what they meant for my arrows. The wood in each arrow was made from Hashirama trees. I held the largest private collection in trust for the Senju clan at this point (buying shit with clan funds did tend to have that effect- even if I was buying the land from my own Granduncle). His notes had ‘taught’ me how to interact with the chakra he’d left behind in each of his creations. I couldn’t do anything too impressive with them, but controlling the flow of an arrow telekinetically within certain limits was easy. And so the arrow defied physics and dropped down on my enemies like a meteor.

The second benefit of learning to interact with my Grandfather’s chakra appeared then. With the right set of seals, and the right amount of chakra control, I could cast jutsu through the arrows at distance. I snapped my fingers and one arrow became dozens. The Kumo and Iwa nin, previously on the edge of fighting again, scattered to avoid the attack. The Tsuchikage’s grandson slammed his palms on the ground and formed a dome of earth to protect both himself and the flag from my attack.

Game. Set. Match. I thought to myself as I snapped my fingers once more. The arrows, already airborne, glowed with blue chakra as I activated rudimentary wind natured chakra flow on a ‘few’ of them. The few set to hit his dome. Perhaps it was the shouted warning from his teammate, or maybe it was something in his own senses, but I felt Kitsuchi hurriedly use a substitution jutsu to escape the death trap he’d made for himself. My arrows tore through the dome and much of the surrounding landscape.

In the face of awestruck opponents, I substituted with one of my arrows- eating the chakra feedback with nothing but a grimace, and grabbed a hold of the flag. The Horn blared one final time at the exact same time as I lifted the flag for all to see. The flag, red as the armour I wore. The reaction was instant. If there was one thing that could get civilians fired up, It was ninja magic that happened too quickly for them to truly understand but slowly enough for them to tell themselves that they did. They chanted my name. Not my first name- that would have been a tall ask, but my last name. “Senju, Senju, Senju” Their voices screamed to the heavens. Not just the Konoha civilians, even. I could see some who had accused me of cheating after that prank at the end of the first stage joining others in screaming my name. It was a heady feeling, I could not deny. And I stood there, enjoying it.

There was someone by my side. I turned to see Uzume looking at me with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t let it get to your head, silly boy. They scream your name now but they’ll scream even louder to see you lose your head later” She said. I nodded at her. We turned as one and began to make our way back to Toshiro.

Jiraiya was saying something. I couldn’t pick out the words, but I could see the display on the board.

Team Shorirama- 389 points

Team Kitsuchi- 218 points

Team B- 210 points

Team Uraume- 200 points

Team Izuku- 174 points

Izuku’s team only had a few points above Shikahime’s. Clearly a result of her points only beginning to count after she showed herself on the hill while Izuku’s team had been there much longer. It was also interesting to note that Uraume had won the battle royale for the flag on the field. It was something I had never actually seen coming. I knew she was strong. Her entire team was respectably strong for a team of Genin, but I wouldn’t have thought open combat to be a specialty of theirs.

Toshiro notice where my attention was when he joined Uzume and I. I smiled as he handed my scroll to me and began to speak. “Uraume’s team was a massive surprise in that they managed to keep hold of the flag for so long. They did lose it to Choni and Inoken for a bit. And then Kizuru and Izuku stole it from those two. Izuku had the time of his life fighting off all comers while Kizuru kept it hidden with genjutsu. They actually looked to be about to win the whole thing and then Uraume was able to lead her teammates through Kizuru’s genjutsu while Izuku was occupied with fighting everyone else. Three-against-one, he never stood a chance. The buzzer rang immediately after that, and Uraume just began to twirl and created this dome of chakra barrier around herself and the flag. No one could get close until the event was over.

I nodded at his explanation. “I’ve never seen you use your arrows like that” He said to me. “Of course I have a few tricks up my sleeves.” I said in reply.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, an urgent statement from the Kage Box” Jiraiya’s voice rang out louder than before, and sent a hush through the crowd.

I could spot my Granduncle’s hat but little else with how far away I was. He walked forward, to the edge of the box. I applauded the fact that he was bold enough to have his back to four of the strongest shinobi in the entire world. But if I was being honest with myself, I knew as surely as I knew anything that there was no way my Granduncle would have the real him in that kill box. It was probably a shadow clone. The real him would be close, but not in that kind of position.

“Genin of the Elemental Nations. You have been more than examplery today. Phenomenal. Amazing. Spectacular. Superb. There are a million and one appellations I could bestow upon you all and each of them would be equally fitting. Needless to say, you have all done your countries proud. Raise your shoulders high for that fact alone. You have all done me proud, as well. From my Grandson and Heir to Jodi Siwa of Kusagakure- each of you has shown me that the faith my brother held in the next generations was not misplaced. I underestimated you all in my planning. I expected this to be an event that could be crammed into a single day. Credit to you all for proving an old man like me wrong. I was wrong. The day already goes late, and after the passionate exhibition we’ve seen, I dare say most of you would be more than exhausted” He paused at that, and I would have sworn his attention was on me for that second. He was right though. Between the barrier and the stunt with the arrows, I was mostly tapped out.

“Because of that, I proposed an idea to my fellow Kage. One they were more than willing to accept. The event will be paused for today, and resumed in the morning tomorrow with the third and final stage- a tournament. To make it up to you for taking even more of your time, my fellow Kage have agreed to my other proposal. Whosoever emerges as the Victor from tomorrow’s tournament will have begun the day as a genin but ended it as a Chunin. Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the Chunin Exams. Genin, may the odds be ever in your favour” he said. The excitement was tangible. I would struggle to cut it with a kunai if I tried- it was so thick. He returned to his seat to rapturous applause, and all around me were whispers and murmured conversations.

I turned to my teammates, about to say something.

“Save it. See you tomorrow, Silly Boy” Uzume disappeared in a shunshin. I smiled fondly, and followed her lead.

Granduncle had been right. It was getting late. Already early evening, I was eager to get home and find myself something to eat.