A Match on His Own

The discharge paperwork was handled quickly.

Takuma signed the last form, handed the pen back to the nurse, and looked up just as the ward door opened.

The Third Hokage stood in the doorway.

The old man wore his formal Hokage robes, his hat sitting neatly on his head, and held a pipe in one hand.

Two Anbu stood behind him.

"You look well." The Third Hokage gave him a once-over. "It seems you've recovered better than expected."

"Thanks to you." Takuma bowed slightly.

The Third Hokage waved a hand and sat down on the chair beside the hospital bed.

"While you were unconscious, the Cursed Seal's effects were severe.

The Medical Corps thought at one point that it might consume you completely.

Orochimaru's Cursed Seal isn't ordinary. Over the years, only a handful of people who received it have survived."

He paused, turning his pipe halfway around between his fingers.

"Mitaraishi Anko was one of them. She was Orochimaru's student and the first person to survive the Cursed Seal. It took her over ten years to learn to coexist with it. You only needed three days."

The Third Hokage's gaze fell on the bite mark on the back of Takuma's neck.

"Your Senju Bloodline and your unusual ability to recover played a crucial role in resisting the Cursed Seal."

Takuma fell silent for a moment.

For the Hokage to take a personal interest in his bloodline was no small matter for any ninja.

"How did Anko manage to suppress the Cursed Seal?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Willpower," the Third Hokage replied curtly. "Anko relied on sheer willpower. You relied on your bloodline talent. Neither path is better than the other, but yours may be more dangerous. Because it came so easily, you might let your guard down."

He stood and took a document from his sleeve, placing it on the bedside table.

Takuma picked it up and opened it.

Namiashi Raidō had already signed his name in the recommender section.

There was another signature, too.

Hatake Kakashi.

Takuma froze.

He'd barely had any dealings with Kakashi.

They'd crossed paths only a few times: once in the Hokage Office hallway, and once when he'd seen him reading Icha Icha Paradise in a tree from far away. Why would that white-haired jonin, who was always carrying around dirty books, recommend him?

"Kakashi brought it up himself," the Third Hokage said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "He said, 'I just want to see how far that kid from the Senju Clan can go.' Those were his exact words."

Takuma closed the document and took a deep breath.

"The Chunin Exams preliminary matches will be held in three days." The Third Hokage headed for the door. He paused as he passed, then said without turning around, "Your opponents are all elites who made it out of the Forest of Death alive. None of the people who make it onto that stage are weak."

"Get stronger as soon as you can."

The door closed. The footsteps in the hallway gradually faded.

Takuma sat on the edge of the bed, gripping the recommendation document.

The Third Hokage had come to the ward in person to inform him. This ticket into the preliminaries carried much more weight than he'd expected.

He put the document in his ninja tool pouch, picked up the backpack from the bedside table, and left the ward.

Takuma headed to the training ground. He needed to find out exactly how much his body had recovered.

During the Chunin Exams, most of the contestants were doing their final intensive training, but it was still early. The sun had just passed its peak, making it the perfect time for lunch and a short break.

He tossed his backpack beside a wooden post, rolled his shoulders, and began warming up.

He went through a basic Taijutsu routine from start to finish.

His body felt light.

Every movement flowed more smoothly than ever before.

Chakra surged through his pathways like water in a river that had been widened, its volume and speed far greater than before.

Once he'd finished warming up, he tried Water Wave.

He formed Hand Seals, gathered water-natured chakra in his throat, then opened his mouth and spat out a stream of water.

The stream struck a target ten meters away, and a crack split the wooden board with a sharp snap.

Takuma stared at the crack and blinked.

Before, Water Wave had barely been able to soak a target. Now it actually had some force behind it.

He tried Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall next.

He slapped his hands against the ground and fed earth-natured chakra into it. A two-meter-high earthen wall surged up, its surface smooth and solid. It was at least thirty percent thicker than before.

His chakra reserves had doubled, and the results were immediate.

Takuma took off the sunglasses hanging from his collar and put them on.

Through the lenses of his Neo Sunglasses, a pale blue chakra glow hung in the air.

He could faintly make out traces of chakra inside the earthen wall.

On the wooden posts in the distance, faint chakra residue remained from the ninja who'd trained there earlier.

He turned to look toward Konoha.

The entire village was veiled in a network of pale blue chakra. It was the trace of a sensory barrier, like a giant spiderweb spread across the sky.

With these sunglasses on, chakra flow became completely visible.

Combined with Spider-Sense's five-meter warning range, his combat awareness was now at least on par with a Chunin's in terms of sensing.

Just as he was about to continue testing, hurried footsteps sounded from the training ground entrance.

"You little brat from the bookstore!!!"

Guy-sensei's voice brimmed with explosive passion, and he charged into the training ground like a green cannonball.

"Guy-sensei." Takuma took off the sunglasses, hung them back on his collar, and bowed slightly.

"I heard you were discharged! And that you're entering the preliminaries on your own!! That's youth for you!!"

Takuma's mouth twitched.

"Guy-sensei, could you keep your voice down..."

"Youth doesn't allow for quiet!" Guy gave him a thumbs-up, his teeth shining brightly enough to use as a mirror. "I suffered serious injuries back in the day, too! I was beaten half to death by my enemies! But I didn't fall! You didn't fall either! You're proof of youth!"

Takuma looked at Lee, silently asking: Is your teacher like this every day?

Lee answered with a look that said, Yes, every day. His eyes held the weary wisdom of someone who'd seen it all before.

Guy didn't notice their silent exchange at all. He pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolded it.

It was a training plan: five hundred handstand laps every day, a thousand kicks against a wooden post, three hundred climbs up a rock wall...

"Guy-sensei." Takuma raised a hand to interrupt him, his expression utterly sincere. "I'm not planning to train in the Eight Inner Gates."

Guy froze. "Why?! The Eight Inner Gates are the pinnacle of Taijutsu!"

"Because I've seen you train with my own eyes," Takuma said, enunciating every word.

The training ground fell silent for two seconds.

Then Guy shouted excitedly, "Don't you think that's the fiery passion of youth?!"

Takuma was at a loss for words.

Lee spoke up beside him. "Takuma, even if you're not training in the Eight Inner Gates, you still need to work on your Taijutsu basics. We could cut back on Guy-sensei's training plan—maybe start with three hundred handstand laps?"

"Lee." Takuma patted him on the shoulder and spoke earnestly. "You're a great guy in every way, but your understanding of the words 'cut back' is a little different from everyone else's."

Guy's expression turned serious again. "What are your plans from here? Your opponents in the preliminaries are no pushovers."

"First, I'll get my body back into peak condition," Takuma said. "The Cursed Seal is suppressed for now, but I can't let my guard down. I need to fully get used to my current chakra reserves and physical strength in the next three days, so I don't lose control during the match."

"Then let Lee train with you!!"

Lee's eyes lit up. "I look forward to training with you, Takuma!"

Takuma looked at Lee's fired-up expression and sighed.

"Fine. But let's get this straight—we're only practicing basic Taijutsu. No handstand laps."

"How about a hundred?"

"Not one."

After an afternoon of sparring, Takuma and Lee slumped beside a wooden post, drenched in sweat.

Lee's Taijutsu was far beyond anyone his age in both speed and strength.

Takuma could barely keep pace with his self-healing ability and doubled chakra reserves.

"Takuma, your Taijutsu has improved a lot," Lee said sincerely. "Especially your ability to take a hit."

"That's because I got beaten enough times in the Forest of Death." Takuma leaned against the post and gazed at the sunset. "When people get beaten often enough, they either die or get stronger. I was just lucky enough not to die."

He remembered Orochimaru's hand closing around his throat in the Forest of Death, the sight of Yakumo and Tetsu falling, and the way the Third Hokage had told him to get stronger as soon as he could.

Lee smiled, curling his bandaged hand into a fist and holding it out.

Takuma made a fist of his own and bumped it against Lee's.

At the training ground entrance, someone leaned against the doorframe, holding two rice balls.

Tenten watched the two of them bump fists beneath the sunset. Her lips curved into a small smile, but she didn't interrupt.

She left the rice balls on the stone block by the entrance and quietly turned to go.

A bundle of brand-new Kunai lay on the stone block, held down by a note.

The note read: "Good luck in the preliminaries. —Tenten Ninja Tool Shop. Credit available. Interest: 0.05% per day."

When Takuma saw the note later, he nearly choked on his rice ball.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

On the day of the Chunin Exams preliminary matches, Takuma stood at the entrance to the preliminary arena attached to the Konoha Arena, watching ninja of all kinds file inside.

Gaara of Sunagakure passed him without a word, the massive gourd on his back giving off an ominous air.

Dosu of Otogakure had bandages wrapped around his face, leaving only a pair of chilling eyes exposed.

Konoha's ninja gathered in small groups, quietly discussing tactics.

The fluorescent lights were painfully bright, and an examiner was already announcing the rules from the arena.

The electronic screen began to scroll, rapidly cycling through the names and portraits of all the contestants.

The audience seats were full.

The electronic screen stopped.

Takuma's portrait and another name appeared side by side in the center of the screen.

Opponent: Tsurugi Misumi—Otogakure.

Takuma pushed up his Neo Sunglasses and walked toward the arena.