__________ POV Narration __________
Morita sighed as he walked into the dark tunnel leading out of the arena, in a sense, he was now in a similar position to Ume, who he had quite literally just helped comfort a while back.
But there was no gathering of siblings to comfort him for his loss. And he didn't take it quite as hard as Ume did.
In a sense, he and Tatsukio had already fought numerous times. He only really won 1 out of 10 times. It was not pleasant, but the Number 2 young assassin had to admit that he was somewhat outmatched.
'I still have so much room for improvement...' He clenched his fists, his nails slightly digging into his plans as he continued to walk.
"I wouldn't recommend doing that~ It's not like you have our father's regenerative abilities." A voice sounded out from behind him, making him turn his head slightly with a sigh.
"Come to gloat a bit, Tatsukio?"
The one that had come after him was none other than the very source of his current inner turmoil.
Tatsukio simply hopped over to him, shaking his head slightly and sighing. He didn't respond instantly, instead, he used his speed to immediately reach Morita, and put his hand around his shoulder, somewhat supporting his legless side on him.
"Now now, let's not get things twisted here. There is no such thing as gloating and jeering among siblings.
We may compete a lot, as it is in both of our natures, but you are my brother at the end of the day. And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Morita blinked a few times when hearing that. His mouth opened for a bit, but he couldn't qutie muster a proper response, so his lips just trembled a bit underneath his mask.
"Now now, let's not get too sappy! Father said we're old enough to drink! Let's go to the bar! He said he'd 'see' us there...
I still can't get behind his jokes much, but I guess that's just because I have some trouble getting around in general, hehe..."
Morita felt a vein bulge on his forehead. For some reason, he felt as if his night was going to be filled with jokes of that nature.
"... I hate you both."
Despite saying that, he supported Tatsukio and walked alongside him towards the bar with a smile on his face.
"You know, I just realized, but aren't we older than father?" Morita blinked a few times as he came to that realization.
"Well, yes. But are you going to say that to his face?" Tatsukio laughed a bit, also finding it somewhat amusing that their younger father deemed them 'old enough to drink'.
"No. I doubt anyone would dare to say that to his face..." The Number 2 assassin just shrugged his shoulders and let the matter go.
It wasn't like age meant anything to the children of the brotherhood at that point. After all, they were struggling to get used to the brotherhood in their earlier years.
Ken was out there in the world making a living for them and gaining allies, all the while being younger than the children he was taking care of.
It was hard to fathom, what type of past someone could have to reach such a stage so early in life. But that was a common consensus all over the world, not just their Brotherhood.
Everyone who knew of Ken held him in high regard, both due to fear and sheer respect. His presence simply demanded either one of them.
So, when they reached the tavern, and the usually rambunctious people inside were all in silence, their heads dropped to the ground and leaning towards the walls of the room, they weren't shocked.
Instinctively, they were doing their best to stay away from their still-masked father, who was sitting on a stool with a round of drinks ready for them, they weren't surprised.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Good job today, both of you! This night's on me!" Ken took his mask off and smiled at the two of them, raising his cold cup of sake to them.
Tatsukio and Morita looked at each other for a moment, before they both broke into a smile.
And the vibe lasted through the night. The tavern owner was more than happy to serve them, with the jovial mood even bleeding into the rest of the tavern as all of its usual suspects eventually calmed down.
But the night wasn't that long, and eventually Tatsukio had to go and rest, as he was still up for his last battle the following day.
Morita followed him as well, taking his leave, quite tipsy as he had gone a bit overboard with the drinks. Ken hadn't stopped him, despite being the responsible adult there.
'A hangover is also a life lesson...' The legendary assassin nodded to himself before slowly standing up, shaking the tavern owner's hand and leaving a decent tip along with his bill.
'Tomorrow is certainly going to be interesting... But Tatsukio should be able to win. I trust his skill and judgment. Of course, Yorihikko would say the same about his pupil.
I guess I'll just have to 'see' it myself...'
Thankfully, the night passed quickly enough. And the Arena had filled up much faster than the days prior this time. Everyone was rather excited to see the end of the Chunin Exams after all.
"Final Battle of the Chunin Exams! Number 1 of the Dark Brotherhood will be facing off against Uzumaki Takehiko, a prodigy of the land of whirlpools!"
The words of the announcer rang around the walls of the arena, and the contestants were already there, staring one another down.
Well, at least Takehiko assumed that it was a staredown, he couldn't see his opponent's eyes behind his mask.
The bell didn't ring yet, however, and the Hokage slowly stood up and walked forward.
'That's odd... I thought he'd give a speech after a winner is decided.'
"As we are faced with the final battle in this grandiose event, I just wish to take a moment to appreciate all of the contestants that have competed up to this point, both within this grand arena and the preliminaries before this."
The investors in the stands all nodded at the Hokage's words.
Regardless of who won, it was clear that all of the Hidden Villages in the Three Corners Alliance were bound to flourish in the future.
The power of their youth was a factor certainly, but the abundance of talents alone was already impressive, especially from the Dark Brotherhood.
But the Leaf, the Cloud and the Uzumaki were all impressive nonetheless. The only thing that was missing was the samurai, but it was easy to assume that their strongest recruits had likely gotten bad match-ups.
The strength of the Land of Iron was not something any of the people in the crowd could begin to doubt. It was steadfast and strong throughout history, unshaken even during the time of the Warring States.
They didn't need to prove anything, especially not when compared to the Hidden Villages that had been formed much sooner in comparison.
It was hard to comprehend how there hadn't even been a full 60 years since the Warring States Period had ended and the era of the Hidden Villages had begun. But that was just due to how much their lands had developed.
'At this rate... I believe it is fair to assume that the next few decades will be filled with only prosperity for the Three Corners Alliance.'
Every noble and investor in the crowd came to that same conclusion in one way or another. And that only solidified one thing in their mind.
'Not doing business with the Alliance will only lead to a net loss, even in the long term.'
"As a show of good faith, and to show our younger generations what the top of the world looks like. We, the leaders of the alliance, have decided to put on an exhibition match.
The fight shall be between two old friends... The Red Dot of the Dark Brotherhood, and the Third Raikage."
That revelation made many of the people within the arena stare at the Hokage in stunned silence. That was before the excitement crept in, and they all started clapping.
It was a rare opportunity, getting to see just how powerful the top of the world was.
It wasn't just a display for the investors either, as it was going to help ground the powerful young generation, to show them that there was more to the world than just what they had seen up to that point.
The Hokage didn't bother mentioning that they had initially wanted to make a small tournament to determine the strongest among the 5 Leaders of the Alliance. They had essentially planned out to have several exhibition matches at first, with all of them fighting.
But they figured that publically displaying such a thing would not be fruitful, and one fight was enough to get the point across.
So, the two that were eager to fight were left to display the true strength of their alliance. And, in the Hokage's eyes, none were better than them.
His powers would've been too destructive to use within Konoha properly, Yorihikko was a seal master, and his fighting style was more unassuming. And Mifune was a pure swordsman and respectable samurai, but still slightly inferior to Ken.
The Raikage was the fastest among them, and arguably just as resilient as Ken, minus the regeneration. His Lighting Chakra Mode was specifically made for tough battles, and the Raikage had mastered it perfectly.
And Ken was... Well... He was already shaping up to be someone on the level of Hashirama. His skills really needed no introduction to anyone in their world... Unless they lived under a heavy rock.
With that short announcement, the Hokage nodded when sensing the reaction of the crowd before looking back down at Tatsukio and Takehiko.
"For now, let the battle begin, and let us see who the winner of this Chunin Exam will be!"
With a smile on his face, the Hokage tipped his hat and raised his hand... Before bringing it down as a sign. At that same moment, the bell was heard, and Hiruzen's voice rang out as well.
"Battle Start!"