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Third-Person POV

Fumino Warai and Yohei Namaki sat in a seiza position before Issun-boshi outside his house on the engawa. This was Team 9 but without Daito Odachi.

Fumino Warai is the class representative of her class. She was elected so for two reasons, one was her being deemed the prettiest girl in class by both the boys and girls (though she is unaware of this) and the other was her personality. Her disposition is almost always positive and she's seen smiling on a daily basis to the point she was called a sun goddess, drawing people to her. She has light blonde hair that reaches just below her shoulder, faint perpetual blush marks below sky-blue eyes and dresses in clothes varied in black and pink.

Yohei Namaki is somewhat eccentric. Quite tall for his age, he has bushy black hair and almond-shaped golden eyes with two green triangles on the sides of his face. He wears only a black sleeveless jacket over an orange shirt with green trousers and grey slippers. There is no clear way to classify his personality, but he can be seen watching bugs on the grass after school.

Issun-boshi Kobito just sat there in front of them, sipping a cup of tea quietly. They stared at him expectantly, but he only continued to sit there and sip his tea. This went on for six more minutes until Fumino had decided to break the silence.

"Um, sensei?" she began. "So... you called us...?"

Issun stopped drinking his tea. "Ah, yes, that's right, I did call you, didn't I? For a moment, I was wondering why you were just sitting there."

He forgot?!?! Fumino gasped in her head. "So what's going on?"

"For now, just meditate," he replied, "Enjoy the peace and quiet of the moment."

Fumino and Yohei did as he said. They closed their eyes and sat there in silence with him for an extra twenty minutes.

"Ah!" he spoke. "Now wasn't that refreshing?"

Fumino gave a closed-eye smile. Not that we weren't already doing it...

"So what's the reason for me calling you? I would like to know what the two of you are doing to prepare for the Chunin Exams."

"Oh! Well, I'm training with my father. He says he's going to teach me a new technique and my mother says she can introduce me to someone who can show me more Medical Ninjutsu. I'm super excited!!" Fumino turned to the curly-haired boy beside her. "What about you, Yohei?"

He froze up, the pupils of his eyes shrinking into the size of the point of a needle.

"I... I'm training..."

Fumino and Issun-boshi nodded accordingly.

"By the way, where is Daito?" the dwarf asked.

"He said he knew someone who could train him," said Fumino. "That if it all works out, he'll be coming to the Exams as "a badass ninja swordsman" as he put it." She giggled.

Issun-boshi shook his head. "That boy, he's something of an overachiever. Reminds me of myself back in the day."

"What were you like back in the day, sensei?" Fumino inquired.

Issun-boshi laughed. "Patience. That's a story for another day. More importantly, you need to stay on your toes. There are new genin coming into the Leaf. I have seen them. Their chakra levels are high. If you're not careful, they could pose a threat to you in the Exams. Be wary."

"That's alright! You don't need to worry!" Fumino beamed brightly. "Everything's gonna work out in the end. I'll make sure of it!"

Yuura POV

I flopped onto my bed, exhausted. I had spent the early morning finishing up what remained of my homework in Geography then took to training and refining my skills until noon. Now I just laid there in my room, trying to catch my breath.

It had been three days since we were notified about the upcoming Chunin Exams and until now I haven't been able to find anyone to teach me more jutsu! While Hisao-sensei had given me pointers and advice, as well help me brush up my taijutsu, there wasn't really anything in the ninjutsu (and certainly not genjutsu) department he could teach me that was in my range of learning or that I would be able to understand. It made sense why he chose Asami instead. She was already leagues ahead of me and Iroko even before coming into the Ninja Course.

Speaking of Iroko, I hadn't seen him that much since after we had gone to The Edo. Was there something about seeing Sasuke Uchiha that stirred in him? He did seem a little off after that moment. Maybe he had already found a teacher...

Which would leave me the odd one out of the three of us! I had to find someone quickly, or who knows if I'll be ready for the Chunin Exams!!

Suddenly, I heard a thud outside of my room. I went to go see what was up and it was there I found my roommate, Daito Odachi, shoving things into the storage room, with his large sword strapped to his back.

"Oh, hey!" he said, half-embarrassed, "Didn't mean to disturb you or anything."

"Th-that's okay," I assured him.

I've known Daito longer than I've known Iroko. When I first came to the Leaf, he was the one that had invited me to live at his apartment. He was also the one that lead the way to the Academy for me, and it was there I met Iroko, Kazue, Fumino and all the others. I'm grateful to have him as a friend.

"So, um, what are you up to?" I asked him.

"Glad you asked!" He grinned, having finished rearranging the storage room. He stood up and smiled determinedly, revealing his razor sharp teeth. "I'm on my way to get a teacher for the Chunin Exams!"

I was surprised to hear. "Really?"

"Yup! He's a really skilled swordsman whose brother was part of the Demon Swordsman of the Mist. If he's as good in his kenjutsu as I think he is, then I'm gonna get him to teach me!"

"Oh, alright," I smiled, "Good luck, then!"

"Thanks, man!" He proceeded to the door, opened it and was about to leave, until he turned around and said: "Actually, I'm pretty sure he's super adept at Water Style, too! You wanna come?"

So, I went along with him, partly because I was at the end of my ropes and partly because I was curious about this person Daito was talking about. Someone who was skilled at both kenjutsu and Water Style? Seemed almost contrived.

"So, do you know what he's like? This Demon Swordsman?" I asked.

"Nah, not really. But from what I've heard, he sounds like an alright guy. Probably easy to get along with, you know?"

We had been walking through the streets of the Leaf for some time now, and it wasn't until we were approaching one of the exit gates that my suspicion began to rise.

"Hey, um, Daito, are we heading outside of the Leaf?"

"Yup!"

"Why?"

"Cos that's where I saw him. Spotted him at a cave not too far away from the territory line."

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Is he not a resident of the Leaf?" I inquired.

"Don't think he'd be camping out at a cave if he was."

We showed our ID's to the security and we were off into the forest. I followed closely behind Daito becasue he knew where he was going. There was a path deep into the woodland he followed that had been created by felled trees and deep holes in the ground.

I stared in shock. "What could have caused this?"

"I have no idea," he answered, "Maybe a bear? The cave's just up ahead."

The trees then cleared out to reveal a wide field with a massive cave entrance that looked almost carved into the bottom of a large hill.

"This is the place," Daito said.

We walked to the very front of the cave. It seemed to just be a large black abyss that stared back at us. I couldn't see anything, even when I squinted.

"HEEEELLOOOOO!!!" Daito called out.

There came no answer.

"Anyone home?" He tried again.

All that replied was an eery silence.

"Are you sure he's still here?" I asked with skepticism.

Daito didn't seem so certain himself. "I think so. I saw him walk into the cave yesterday. Weird enough, it looked like he was holding ro..."

Daito was stopped short when we heard something literally bolting out of the cave on all fours.

Before we could comprehend anything, an enormous and hulking animal-like thing burst out of the darkness and lunged at Daito, with speed that was beyond humane levels, thrusting them halfway across the field.

"DAITO!!!" I cried out in panic.

The animal landed on top of him, giving him no openings to draw his sword or chances to escape. Daito held back its mouth from chopping his head off with his hands but I knew he wouldn't even hold for a short period of time.

"Agh, dammit!! What the hell is this thing?!" he shouted.

"Water Style: Water Bullets!" I shot at its behind several compact water drops.

The animal was stirred and leapt off of Daito to dodge. He got up on his feet and drew his sword. He was dripping with drool.

"Are you okay?" I asked, running to his side.

"Thanks to you," he smiled. "So what do you suppose that is?"

Now that I was able to get a good look at it I realized it had some humanistic traits to it, such as its long flowing orange hair its face and its body anatomy. Was it human?

"I can't really say," I replied, "but do you think the Demon Swordsman is okay? If he's in there, that is."

"Look out!!"

The beast launched at us again. We leapt out of the way as it created a crater in the ground.

Such strength!! I thought, aghast. There's no way we can face it in close-quarters! Forming the hand seals for the Water Dragon Jutsu would take too long!

"HEY, YA BIG OAF!! OVER HERE!!" Daito called at him.

Daito, no!! What're you doing?!

It turned towards him. Daito assumed a fighting position, deftly wielding his giant sword.

"Come at me! Unless you're scared!!" He grinned, albeit sweating.

No... he's sacrificing himself for me...!

The beast was upon him almost immediately. Daito parried its first swing with his sword and the second one that came after. The beast then delivered a rushing blow to which Daito blocked but it nearly threw him off his feet.

"Keh, nice try, you bastard!" said Daito, regaining his composure.

That sword of his is incredibly tough and the beast's attacks look like it down several trees, I gasped, which would explain the path of devastation we were on!

Daito's sword was roughly near two-thirds the size of his body. It was one-bladed and looked incredibly heavy to carry. With that in mind and the threat before him, it became clear to me that this was not a battle he wanted to draw out. I then soon realized that with every attack the beast swung at Daito, he either parried it or blocked while moving back away from the cave.

That's it!!

He made a sideglance at me. I nodded. He nodded back.

Daito doubled further back away from the cave and the beast followed.

"Alright, I think that's far enough!" Serpent --> Monkey --> Dog "Earth Style: Tremoring Rock!!"

After performing the hand seals, Daito slammed his empty left hand unto the ground, creating a vibration beneath the earth.

Ram --> Rat --> Dog --> Dragon

The immediate ground where the beast was on suddenly exploded, thrusting it far into the air, along with several loose boulders which provided me with stepping stools.

Ox --> Hare --> Bird --> Tiger

I leapt off of one boulder and the other, climbing up and elevating like I was on a disarrayed staircase until I was on the same level as the beast in the air. It roared at my face and I roared back at it with a jutsu.

Daito. You were always the one to approach when I was alone. Always the one to help me when I was in a hard place. So, if this is a chance for me to repay you, I'd rather we beat this thing together!!

"Water Style: Great Gunshot!!!"

I shot a highly compressed and pressurized bullet of water from my mouth which nailed the beast right in the stomach and sent it pummeling straight into the trees.

I landed onto the ground and Daito was waiting to congratulate me.

"Hell yeah, Yuura!! That was sick!!" He grabbed me into a headlock.

"I- I- It was thanks to your signal a-and your previous jutsu that it worked at all!" I struggled to say.

"Uh-huh, whatever you say, buddy," Daito said, not unteasingly, "Now, how's about we go check on the Swordsman?"

All of a sudden I felt a sudden surge of change in the atmosphere. The winds started to blow ferociously and the trees bent forward in the direction of the beast. It felt like the air was being drawn in that direction.

"What's going on?" Daito asked.

Then, almost out of instinct, I felt compelled to protect to the two of us. I swiftly stepped in front of Daito and performed my second newest jutsu.

"Water Style: Aqua Dome!!" A small shpere of water emerged around us, and it did so in record time, for a huge beam of light raged right out of the forest at us, my dome shield deflecting, albeit destroying it.

The part of the forest that was caught in the attack was left in cinders.

The two of us were dumbstruck.

"What the hell was that?!" Daito murmured.

We looked on past the the burnt trees at an alarmingly tall figure approaching us. It was the beast, except now it looked more like a monster, with weird cannon-like appendages sticking out of it. Fear gripped my heart.

Yeah, this was definitely a bad idea!

What surprised me more was that it began to speak.

"Kill, kill, kill, kill," it mumbled, until its voice rose, "KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL!!!!"

Before it could rush us a needle struck it in the neck. It reacted to it faster than we could track, but the damage was already done. It started to get groggy, the its pacing slowed, then it fell onto one knee, then the other.

Then it completely collapsed.

"WHEW, that was a close one!!"

We turned in the direction of the voice. It was a lean-built man with white hair and almond shaped purple eyes, dressed in a lab coat and holding a blowgun. His smile revealed a set of razor-sharp teeth just like Daito. "You kids okay over there?"

Daito and I watched as the Demon Swordsman dragged the now-human beast into a tube filled with a strange green liquid in it. He was an incredibly muscular and tall man with orange hair. Inside the cave was actually a giant labratory, complete with vials, microscopes and weird looking substances. On the ground was very long but completely frayed and torn rope. At the edge of the wall was a ridiculously huge sword, almost half my height from what I could tell. Was he really the Demon Swordsman, after all?

After dealing with the man, he slumped back into a chair.

It seemed like he had forgotten we were there, becasue when he looked up he said: "Oh, right, you guys."

Then a few moments passed.

"Well, this is awkward," he spoke again. "Alright then, to satisfy your curiousity, yes, this is a lab. It's been here for probably a long time now. And the guy you just followed and watched me put into a tube is a friend of mine who I am trying to cure of a certain--" He stopped when I noticed something catch his eye. "Hey, you, what's that sword behind your back?" He was pointing at Daito.

Daito pulled the blade out of its sheath. "Oh, this? It was given to me by someone special. I'm training to be a ninja with it."

"I see...," said the Swordsman. "So what do you guys want? Maybe I can strike a deal with you so you don't tell anyone you ever saw this (if not, I'll probably have to kill you)."

Daito answered. "My name's Daito Odachi and he's Yuura Kairi. You're the Demon Swordsman, right?"

"Demon Swordsman?" He put a hand to his chin, smiling. "Is that what they're calling me these days? Then, yeah, sure. I'm the Demon Swordsman."

"Well, we'd like for you to train us for the upcoming Chunin Exams," Daito continued.

"Train you?" He glanced at me then back at Daito. "You, probably. But blondie over there?"

"U-um, well, Daito said you were really good with Water Style jutsu, so I came here to learn what I could from you in that regard," I said.

"Hmmm, well, you did have some pretty flashy Water Style moves back there," he pondered. "Makes sense if you came to me for that. I'd probably tell you no--"

"But now that we've seen all this," Daito expressed with his hands, "you've got no choice, should we tell the Leaf's officials."

At that, a sinister smile played on the Swordsman's face and, to me at least, he looked incredibly terrifying.

"You know I could just kill you kids, right? Cover up any evidence that you were here."

I started sweating buckets, but Daito flashed a smile of his own. "What about your big fella over there? It's obvious you weren't able to hold him off on your own when he went out of control. Heck, the only reason you were able to grab him was becuase Yuura and I were able to slow him down. What if what happened just now, happens again? What if he comes waltzing into the Leaf and you're discovered anyway? Wouldn't be better to have as many hands on deck?"

The Swordsman was still smiling.

"Plus," Daito lifted his sword, "I could tell you're interested in this sword. I am, too. Something to do with the history of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist, right? C'mon you can't tell me you're not the least bit curious. All of it if you agree to train me and Yuura."

The Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist. That rang a bell about me, Iroko and Asami's first mission but I couldn't figure out where or what. It probably didn't even matter.

The Swordsman then laughed a hearty laugh. "Oh, man! Tricky little brat, ain'tcha? I like you! Alright fine, so long as you keep your mouth shut about this whole thing I'll train ya. I don't care much for you helping me with the big guy. I am interested in your sword, though. For the Chunin Exams, right? What the hell, I've been bored outta mind here anyway. I don't mind roughing up two kids in the meanwhile. Oh, and call me Suigetsu, alright?"

Daito beamed while I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Somehow, and I don't fully understand how, we managed to find ourselves a notable teacher for the Exams. I hoped Iroko and Asami were doing alright. Deep inside me, I could tell things were about to get really crazy.