Chapter 24   - Ch24. Test

The test was in front of the Council of the village. Apparently, they have those here but it is really only advisory. Alas, the Mizukage deemed it fit to fulfill their desire to see 'kids with three chakra natures' do the test.

The first, written test was easy as their enhanced minds had a hold on the knowledge after reading the books and they passed.

Then they were tasked to show kawarimi and swapped with each other. Konan swapped with Rei first and then Rei did with Konan to end up in their starting position. The council was quite astonished as it was advanced to be able to swap with other humans.

As for clones, they showed Water and Paper clones respectively which instantly caused murmuring and promises of 'training their clan prodigies more'.

And so, at the tender age of eleven, both Konan and Rei earned their genin rank.

The test was not over though. They relocated to the training ground covered by a thin mist. A spar with a jonin was scheduled as the Council and the Mizukage wanted to gauge Rei's and Konan's strength.

The Mizukage picked one of the seven Swordsmen to gauge Rei and Konan. Rei was inwardly cursing the petty man to hell! Konan only looked at her dark bluish nails while giggling. Since Rei complimented it yesterday, she vowed to never use other colors!

"Come at me whenever." A large man, holding Kubikiribocho smirked at them. It was two versus him and the man didn't feel like losing to two kids.

Rei nudged Konan and nodded in the direction of the large man, Maduro, making her pay attention. She raised her eyes to the swordsman and scowled fiercely. She was almost past the date about to get into bed with Rei in her daydream!

Maduro took the monkey position.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu."

He was a typical wielder of Kubikiribocho. Silent assassin of the Mist.

The 3rd Mizukage watched the relaxed figures of Konan and Rei. What made him frown though was not their careless posture. It was the sealless Kirigakure no Jutsu they both employed, making the mist so dense, seeing even an inch was a problem. It was definitely a complete overkill as normal Kirigakure no Jutsu provides at least some limited visibility. But this? Even Hyuuga would be as blind as mole.

He could see the council members asking those with chakra sensing abilities to tell them what's going on but... the Mizukage knew that out of the sensors present, only him and Himeno Yuki were able to 'see' or rather sense what was going on in such thick, chakra-heavy mist.

His plan for being a matchmaker for Rei and one orphan from one extinct clan was becoming even more important in his mind as he saw the mist.

Hmmm, I wonder. How will they fight the master of silent assassination? They surely won't be able to see even an in-...

His mind froze.

F.u.c.k! These kids must be sensors too! Why the f.u.c.k did I not think 'bout that!? Hiding chakra and sensing on the level where they can perceive things in such a mist? Damn... jackpot! Ha, see that Onoki! My village is still bettah!

The 3rd Mizukage wanted to jump from happiness at the realization!

"Mizukage-sama?" Himeno Yuki, the ever-loving cutie, worriedly glanced at him. He was aware she was miffed with him for having the kids fight with Maduro. Sigh, women...

"Ah, Himeno-chi!" He nodded to his childhood friend and his mind reacted the same as ever, he ducked under her punch.

Wow... busty! Maybe I really should retir-... No. Bad boy! Stop ogling her, dammit! You have two prodigies fighting a skilled killer! Focus!

"Are you fi-" A man asked worriedly.

"YES!" The Mizukage straightened.

The Mizukage suddenly went rigid. He felt... tens, hundreds even, of chakra signatures in the mist.

Clones... neat. That might work on someone with less experience.

He praised mentally. But he was still able to sense which ones were real as they had more chakra. Until...

Shit! Did they just lower their chakra signature to be on the level of their clones? Damn... I wouldn't want to face these two when they gain really lethal techniques...

He sweatdropped. He could not differentiate between clones and the originals anymore. He could only differentiate between the clones of Konan and Rei as Konan's clones packed a slightly more chakra.

What he didn't know was that as Rei and Konan mixed into the swirl of the chakra signatures they did not only lower their signature. They completely covered it with nature energy, making it utterly invisible as they retreated. They were no longer in the mist.

In the mist, Maduro focused his hearing as he could hear hundreds of sounds. He was used to seeing white. A thicker mist... that didn't bother him at all!

Oooh, clever! Making clones... I should praise them later. Now, let's KILL these pests one by one. Sigh. I just hope I won't kill the originals… Mizukage would be pissed!

"Did you really think this would stop me? You are naive!" Maduro's voice resounded through the mist.

He swiftly set on killing the clones, one by one.

The Mizukage felt the biggest chakra signature, Maduro on the move. He sensed him approach the closest clones, one of Rei's.

Well, Maduro is too experienced to freak out from being surrounded by clones. But nice tr-...

As the Mizukage felt Maduro's blade approach the head of the clone, a loud 'BOOM' resounded through the clearing, and Maduro's body was flung backward like a ragdoll due to the explosion. Mizukage's and Himeno's jaw dropped.

"This... are they all..." Himeno asked wide-eyed as she looked at the Mizukage.

He knew Maduro was fine, but his body was uncontrollably flying in the direction of another chakra signature. This time it was one of Konan's. The Mizukage could feel Maduro twist in the air and aim a slash at the girl when...

'BOOM'

An even louder boom reverberated through the clearing, making Mizukage wince. The kids were using Maduro's sense of hearing against him. He could sense Maduro's body being yet again flung away as the explosion impacted him…

"I think… that answers it, Himeno-chan." The Mizukage answered as his eye-brow twitch.

F.u.c.k! Since when was this life and death battle! To bring hundreds of exploding tags. Crazy bastards … He inwardly cursed.

In the mist, Maduro was mad! Only his Doton: Rock Body saved him from injuries! He kicked towards the ground mid-flight, sending his body uncontrollably stumbling across the ground. He rolled to his feet and tried to focus his hearing when he heard loud whistling sounds. His eyes widened and he barely managed to duck...

The Mizukage facepalmed as Himeno cheerfully explained what was happening in the dense mist.

"Maduro is... evading. Uh. Evading tens of futon enhanced things looking like shurikens. Ah... he just bought it into the leg... Auch. His arm... Ooooh, that was close to the crotch! He almost lost a chance at daddyhood! Damn, lucky him for having that Rock Body Technique or he would be a swiss cheese without it! ... Eh, finally! He started to block the projectiles with his blade! Dunce, I tell you!"

The Mizukage almost face-faulted. He could only groan in exasperation. Two eleven-years olds were totally wrecking one of the Seven Swordsmen in his own home-field, using his own senses against him.

Maduro was panting. His leg was useless and one of his hands was injured too. His body... looked like one of his training dummies! F.u.c.k.i.n.g cut up! He gained control over his breathing as he killed another clone by kicking it away as it was about to explode. He quickly shielded with his Kubikiribocho.

But the clone of the boy didn't explode. It changed to water, making him confused. He stopped for a moment and instantly cursed himself for that when through the water the clone dissolved to, suddenly a water jet shot at him at insane speeds from the mist behind it! He barely managed to duck but his sword...

"AH! The Kubikiribocho!" Himeno exclaimed suddenly.

"What, Lady Yuki?" One of the clan heads asked impatiently.

"It kinda... broke?" Himeno tilted her head.

The Mizukage's eyebrow was twitching. A strongly pressurized water jet, gathered from the mist itself cleaved through the Kubikiribocho like a knife through butter while someone focused on strengthening the mist, ensuring it won't lose density. Their teamwork was seamless, Mizukage happily noted. That's when his eyes widened.

He could see all chakra signatures stop and start running in the direction of Maduro's injured body.

Maduro was gaping at his swo-, correction, at the HALF of his sword he held in his hand when suddenly he heard sounds of multiple footsteps closing in on him. He quickly...

As the clones were close to Maduro, the Mizukage and Himeno widened their head and quickly started weaving hand seals.

"Suiton: Water Wall!"

"Hyoton: Freezing!"

rd Mizukage created a Wall of Water and Himeno quickly froze it solid as both could feel all clones explode. Even though the wall, they could still feel the whiplash of the wind as it sailed around its sides, sending their hair flailing from side to side. The shockwaves were hitting the ice wall as it trembled under the pressure while Mizukage and his council had to brace themselves as a small earthquake shook the ground. The mist long ago dispersed due to the wind created by the explosion.

Mad kids...

The Mizukage's mind trailed off as he had to remove a strand of his hair from his face since the wind messed up his hair-do and his face was full of hair that should be on the OTHER side of his head!

He heaved a sigh of relief when he sensed Maduro still alive.

Maduro barely managed to use Doton: Iron Rock Dome. His strongest omnidirectional defensive Jutsu and used Doton: Iron Rock Body to harden his skin to weather the raging concentrated explosions of over a hundred clones.

As the aftereffects ceased, the Mizukage and the council could only see Maduro flop on his knees and slowly fall down face-first into the ground, unconscious.

The gaping audience was interrupted as a bitter-looking Mizukage who didn' know if he should jump from joy or facepalm at one of his strongest jonin being bested by two genins.

"So... did we pass?" Rei's cheerful voice sounded from behind them.

Do you even need to ask, twerp?... The Mizukage thought, completely fed-up.