The stadium, once meant to host the third and final stage of the in Exams, now y in ruins. Dust clouds rose into the sky as the sound of debris settling echoed through Kumogakure. At the ter of the wreckage stood two imposing figures: Raikage A and his younger brother, Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. Their ret sparring session had gone beyond what the structure could handle.

  "Brother, that was a bit much, don't ya think?" B said, wiping sweat off his brow as the remnants of lightning chakra flickered around him from the attacks he tanked.

  Raikage A grunted in response, his chest heaving. "Yetting rusty, B. You should have been able to perform better after all this time."

  B hough he didn’t fully agree. But there was one more doubt in his mind. "Brother, there was another reason for this fight. No way you'd cause all this destru, am I right? In our own vilge, too much damage, no doubt. You wouldn’t do all this just to throw your weight about."

  The Raikage cracked his neck, his muscles flexing. "The Konoha team is way strohan expected. There’s a very high ce they’ll win this in exam. That’s why I needed some time to make sure we don’t lose in our own vilge."

  B nodded in uanding. While they were discussing, a message was sent to every notable figure attending the in Exam, stating that due to the destru of the stadium caused by a fight between A and B, the exam ostponed by a week.

  ---

  (After 12 hours)

  All the partits, viewers, and nobles were discussing why this sudden postpo happened. Acc to the official report, the spar between the Raikage and B was important to keep the Eight-Tails under trol.

  For normal people, tailed beasts were ultimate monsters, whieeded to be sealed for eternity to maintain peace. But those who khe truth suspected something else was going on, with the tailed beast as a cover. Many decided to visit the stadium to check for themselves. While this was happening, Darui was summoo the training area by the Raikage, after receiving some medical treatment.

  …

  Darui stood iraining grounds, waiting for his Raikage. Lightning crackled around his fiips as he focused on eling his chakra. He knew what was ing: two weeks of interaining that would push him to his limits. The whole exam had been postponed for this, so there was no way his training was going to be easy.

  After some time, Raikage A arrived, his gaze as intense as ever. "How was the exam, Darui?" was the first thing he spoke.

  "Greetings, Raikage-sama. We were not able to perform as per your expectations. I’m sorry for that," Darui bowed and said.

  "It was not your fault. Those two stages were perfect for a Sharingahat’s why you didn’t e first. But the round will be a true test of strength. I want you to win that round at any cost. For that, I will help you polish your skills myself," A said.

  "Thank you very much, Raikage-sama," Darui bowed.

  "We don’t have time for formalities. We’re going to start now. Attack me with your Kekkei Genkai."

  Darui nodded and made one hand sign after another.

  *Gale Style: Laser Circus Jutsu*

  Darui released a dozen beams toward the Raikage. The Raikage moved with blinding speed, zigzagging across the field. Darui's eyes narrowed, fog his chakra into the white beams that shot from his fiips. Then the beams ged trajectory, following A closely.

  "Too slow!" A said as he appeared behind Darui and tapped him on the neck. If this had been a real fight, Darui would have died without nding a single scratch. Such was the pap between a high Kage-level ninja and ae Jonin.

  "I'll give you one more ce. Try again," A said, appearing back at his starting position.

  Darui adjusted, once again made hand signs, and fired multiple ser beams toward A, but the result was the same.

  "Hmm, this needs more work. Now, let’s see your max attack power. Attack me with your best jutsu," A said.

  Darui, not foolish enough to worry about the safety of a man who could fight a tailed beast on his own, began building up an immense amount of chakra.

  *Lightning Release: Bck Panther!*

  A fierce-looking bck panther luoward A with speed difficult to follow with the naked eye. Suddenly, A was covered in blue lightning chakra all over his body. Though he could have dodged the jutsu easily, that wasn’t his goal.

  *Boom!*

  With an explosion and debris flying everywhere, A’s voice echoed from within the dust cloud. "With this speed and power, most ninja ye don’t stand a ce against you. But you’re up against a Sharingahey have amazing reflexes and perception. We o work on both. So let’s start now," A said as the dust settled. His full figure came into view, pletely unharmed. His clothes weren’t even scratched.

  ---

  *Konoha’s Team Lodgings:*

  After surveying the stadium, Jiraiya returo the lodging, where Kaida, the team, and Shisui were waiting for him.

  "Good evening, Sensei. You’re doing even more sightseeing than us, and we came to this vilge for the first time," Kaida said mischievously.

  "I wasn’t gone fhtseeing, brat. Sigh… Looks like things aren’t going to be as easy as I thought. There will be some ued twists during the st stage," Jiraiya said, sitting on the chair with a thud.

  "What happened, Sensei?" Itachi asked.

  "They’re iionally postponing the exam. There was no need for the Raikage and B to fight iadium," Jiraiya said.

  "But acc to the report, it was to trol the Eight-Tails or something," Kabuto said.

  'B is almost a perfect Jinchuriki; there was no need for them to fight to trol the Eight-Tails at all,' Jiraiya said.

  "You guys performed a little too well during the exam. They may have gotten anxious about you winning. As much as I know about Raikage, he won’t accept someone ing to his vilge aing his ninjas. He must be training Darui, and that’s why he he time. Though it’s just my specution, and there may be other reasons as well. If it were someone like Onoki, I might worry about some scheme behind our backs. But Raikage won’t cheat in a petition," Jiraiya said.

  "Is two weeks enough to make that big of a difference?" Kabuto asked.

  "Darui is already at the same level as you guys. In two weeks, though he may not learn something new, he might polish his current skills. With his Kekkei Genkai, it’ll be very difficult for you guys," Jiraiya said.

  "It’s not like we’re going to sit here and wait for our oppoo power up, right? We also use these two weeks to train, right?" Kaida asked.

  "Yes, but we’ve already polished your skills. What you guys need is the opposite. I want you guys to learn some ters against oppos. Kaida and Itachi, you will focus osu. Since we have Shisui here, he will be responsible for you. I’ll teach Kabuto something else," Jiraiya said.

  "As you wish, Jiraiya-sama. But learning new Genjutsu that will be of use ich, and that too in two weeks, is kind of tough," Shisui said.

  "They both know the Shadow e Jutsu. Use that, and with the help of the Sharingan, it should be manageable. Even if they don’t learn anything new, it’s still fi’s not like they ’t win without it," Jiraiya said. Shisui nodded.

  "Make sure you give it your all during training," Jiraiya said.

  "Yes, Sensei," both replied.