Four Minutes Later, the Front Gates
"You're all early!" Orochimaru smiles happily at his useful bodyguards. "Good. We're going to Kusa."
Without further ado, Orochimaru sprints out of his base and takes off towards Kusa with the three Sound Four members right behind him.
"Hey, Orochimaru-sama? You sure this is a good idea?" Kidomaru gently says from directly behind his speeding Kage. "Isn't the Hokage supposed to be there? And you two aren't on good terms."
"That's irrelevant." Orochimaru hurriedly spits out. He has more important things to worry about than the feelings of his underlings.
"Gotcha." Kidomaru hesitantly says. "But..."
"Remain quiet and run." Orochimaru orders with fury laced in his tone. They should know better than to question him!
...
Three Hours Later
"Stop." Orochimaru calls out and the Sound Three eagerly obey.
They're standing in a clearing that's clearly the aftermath of a large scale battle. There's left over jutsu marks and a lot of blood everywhere. There's even the charred remains of around 9 bodies, a giant mound of earth that looks suspiciously like cooled lava, and a pile of reddish brown paste.
Someone was brutal, completely uncaring of his opponents suffering. In fact, if Orochimaru had to guess, he's say that the victor enjoyed this fight.
"How... interesting. I wonder who did this?" He spares the pile of corpses a glance. "And who they were. Maybe Alvarcus saw that fight? I'll have to ask him."
He turns to the indifferent Sound Three, they've already seen much worse than this. Hell, they've done much worse than this to their own targets, but never of this scale. That's the only thing that is remotely impressing them. Taking down at least 9 shinobi is no easy feat!
"We're moving." Orochimaru sprints off again.
"Does he seem off to anyone else?" Jirobo asks as they rocket after their Kage.
"Yes." Sakon replies. "Best not to mention it."
...
The Gates of Kusagakure, Three and a half Hours Later
"O-O-O-Orochimaru?" One of the two incredibly nervous gate guards asks.
The Sound Three bristle at the incompetence of the gate guard.
"-sama?" Said guard smartly tacks on. "W-we didn't know you were coming?"
"Yes." Orochimaru simply replies. He's getting a sick sense of satisfaction out of watching the guard squirm under pressure. "It was recently brought to my attention that all the best Kage watch their gennin compete, regardless of the location of the Exams. How could I pass up this opportunity to watch my promising shinobi in action? My mere presence here will push them to strive for new heights, it could be the deciding factor in their fight. No one wants to disappoint me." He pointedly says while sadistically staring down the quivering guard.
"O-of course!" The terrified guard says as he points to the second one. "Fumio here will take you to a hotel that's suitable for someone of your prestige!"
"WHAT?" Fumio whirls on the first gate guard. "You do it! He's used to you!"
"Come Fumia." Orochimaru boldly strolls into the village, completely disregarding the bickering guards. "Show me to my... hotel."
"It's... Fumio."
"Yes, Fumia. Now take me there. I wish to rest after my long journey."
"It's... it doesn't matter. Just... follow me?"
...
The Next Day, One Hour Before the Final Tournament
"You go get him!"
"Oh hell no! I did it last time! It's your turn!"
"He likes you! He gave you a nickname!"
"Fumia is not a nickname! He just didn't bother to learn my real name!"
Slowly the door that the two shinobi are bickering in front of creaks open.
"Fumia, you will suffice." Orochimaru orders as he confidently walks out of the room.
"O-of course!" Fumio quickly scampers forwards. "We're here to take you to the stands where the Tournament is being held. If you'll please follow me?"
...
A Few Minutes Later, At the Kage's Gazebo
Orochimaru is idly sitting by himself in a ridiculously plush chair. They certainly didn't spare any expense with it, even on such short notice. Even the beverages and food are of a ridiculously high quality.
Although the staff leaves much to be desired. If Orochimaru ever did something like this, he would have trained professionals who know not to look at him in fear constantly. Sure, it's amusing for the first ten minutes, but anything longer than that gets tedious and no one wants to approach him to fill his damn glass!
"Orochimaru." Tsunade's voice quiets all others. "You must be insane to think coming here was a good idea. Well, more insane."
"Tsunade darling!" Orochimaru sarcastically greets her with happiness. "It hasn't been long enough."
"No it hasn't." She stomps right up to her fellow Sannin. "Now tell me, what's stopping me from beating you to a bloody pulp?" She smacks a fist into her hand. "You better have a damn good reason because I'm feeling twitchy. I might accidentally lash out, and well, with my strength imagine what could happen."
"There will be no fighting while you both are in Kusagakure." The Kusakage himself intervenes. "Or do both of you wish to turn my country against your own for the next generation?"
"No, I suppose not." Orochimaru idly says as he sips on his nearly empty drink. "Us minor villages should ally against the Big Five, don't you think Tsunade dearest?"
"I think you should be careful with how you talk to me. I can easily wait until you're out of Kusagakure's borders to attack you."
"How-" Orochimaru starts to speak but abruptly stops. He's staring across the field towards the contestant gazebo, his child just arrived. "-unfortunate. I always liked you better than Jiraya."
Orochimaru tunes out the now talking Tsunade and Kusakage in favor of observing Alvarcus.
He's already gathering people around himself. A shinobi from Iwa and then Taki have joined him. Just like a true Kage, capable of rallying others to your cause.
Soon the rest of the contestants arrive, and a Kusa jonin goes over to them. If the information the Kages were provided about the Exams is still accurate, his name is Eito. He's most likely there to explain the roster and how the tournament will work.
Then he gathers up the gennin and brings them out to the center of the field.
"Kusagakure, I give you the twelve finalists!" Eito shouts to the filled stands. It looks like most of the village came out to see this. "We will now determine our first match of the day!" With a grand flourish he unseals a small decorative purple box. Without further ado, he reaches in and pulls out a name.
"Lee Rock of Konohagakure!" He calls to the crowd as Lee steps forwards. There's clapping and a few cheers, he must have made an impression in the previous part of the exams if the people here remember him.
"His opponent will be..." He reaches in again and pulls out another name. "Green of Otogakure!"
"One of yours?" Tsunade asks from off to the side.
"Yes, he's mine." Orochimaru distractedly replies as he eagerly watches as his child steps forward in resignation. He's... unmotivated. He doesn't want to fight this opponent. Orochimaru will have to change that.
"Remember Green, I expect a show." Orochimaru loudly calls out.
Alvarcus whirls at his voice and goes ramrod straight. He didn't expect Orochimaru to actually be here, you can tell from the subtle twitches of his head as it bounces between his current Kage and his previous Kage.
"This will certainly be a memorable fight now." Orochimaru says to himself.
A quiet groan of wood under extreme pressure makes him take his gaze off his prized pupil.
"Alright there Tsunade darling?" He eyes the armrests of her chair. "Perhaps you should have brought a sturdier chair."
She grits her teeth in anger from being called out. "My gennin will win. He's one of the best I have." Interestingly enough, if she made a bet right now she'd be guaranteed to win. After all, they're both her gennin. It's just that most of the world doesn't know that.
"We shall see." Orochimaru turns back to the two gennin facing off. "I am confident mine will be victorious."
"Begin!" Eito calls out as he shunshins away from the two fighters.
Instantly Lee rockets forward and punches Alvarcus.
Tsunade snorts in amusement. "Did yours just hit himself in the face?"
Orochimaru doesn't reply, the only reaction he had was the slight twitching of his eyebrow.
Lee rears back for another blow as Alvarcus forms a defensive X with his arms.
"He's going to try to block again?" The Kusagakure comments. "That's a bad choice."
THUD
"My gennin knows what he's capable of." Orochimaru calmly assures the other two Kage. "He has yet to truly show even a fraction of his talents and strength."
Tsunade glances at Orochimaru out of the corner of her eyes. "You've taken quite an interest in this one, haven't you?"
"Yes. I am very interested in this one." Orochimaru grins. "He shows such promise."
THUD
This time it's Lee who is forced back by Alvarcus's powerful blow.
"Well, you're not wrong there." Tsunade quips. "He can hit, that's for sure. It's not easy to move Lee at all."
CRASH CRASH
Lee blurs and slams a kick into Alvarcus's head and forces him to the ground.
"Mine is faster." Tsunade brags as Alvarcus gets back up.
"Is he now?" Orochimaru retorts as Lee and Alvarcus exchange a flurry of blows that have the crowd roaring in approval. "Because mine is keeping up rather nicely. He has this terrible habit of constantly holding back, his sensei is trying to break him out of it."
"Just wait." Tsunade eagerly says while riveted to the fight.
"Gate of Opening: Release!" Lee shouts out.
"Oh that's right!" Orochimaru gleefully says. "This is the one who uses the Eight Gates."
Tsunade turn to Orochimaru. "Scared for your gennin yet? Lee only gets stronger with each Gate, and last I checked he can open five."
A kick from Lee launches Alvarcus into the air, Lee is soon to follow after him and completes a Front Lotus.
CRASH
"Is he okay?" One of the spectators say.
Lee struggles to rise and pulls himself out of the new hole in the ground.
"Where's the other one?"
"That was crazy! How do you even learn how to do that?"
"Did... did he kill him?"
"Is your gennin alright?" A tinge of concern bleeds through Tsunade's tone.
"Ow." Alvarcus's voice cuts through the whispers coming from the stands.
"Of course." Orochimaru gleefully quips out. "He's taken much worse than that."
Suddenly, for some absurd reason, Lee looks skyward. Then Alvarcus explodes out of the crater and it's his turn to launch Lee into the air, performing a technique that's eerily similar to the one he was just subjected to.
...
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