Chuunin Finale

Komon stood alone in the middle of the hall, he had completed all of his missions and now he was going to meet the raikage, it was the final step in becoming a full fledged chuunin of the hidden cloud. After what he had done for the rank he felt that it was only a matter of time but couldn’t help but feel nervous, the raikage was not a particularly kind man, he had faced him once in an early stage of the chuunin exams in a taijutsu only match. He had dislocated both of Komon’s shoulders before telling him he had passed, and although Komon had landed a kick on him he suspected the man had let him land it, to say the least the raikage was out of his league in power.

Nervous at what was to come and tired due to a lack of sleep from the horrid images of his previous exam Komon watched the door closely as he waited to be called upon.

WC: 168

Bumpidy

The raikage had paid special attention to this particular Genin"s journey and it was finally time for a big milestone. The door to the office would creak open, seemingly unassisted, into a darkened roon, daring Komon to enter.

Should the Genin do so, he would find only a single chair in the center. A raspy voice that originated from nowhere and everywhere at once would speak up.

"Sit"

Komon watched diligently as the door he had been staring at slid open ever so slowly and creaking as it did so, almost like something out of a horror movie. Slowly he began to walk forwards, putting his left hand on his right shoulder in remembrance of the injury the man had given him ever so effortlessly. He was mere inches from the door now, peering into the room he saw nothing but darkness, he knew he could probably pierce the darkness with his byakugan, but using dojutsu while in the raikage’s presence didn’t seem like such a good idea to him, especially when he took into consideration that the darkness might be purposeful.

As he made his way into the room the silhouette of a chair made itself known and almost as soon as he recognized the shape, a raspy voice came from seemingly all corners of the room would bellow. “Sit” Komon rather hurriedly obliged. And lowered his body into the cold metal chair. He would then look forwards, not knowing if the raikage was in front of him but feeling he had to look somewhere. And remained silent as he waited for the raikages next question or order.

WC: 369

Once the Genin was seated, the disembodied voice would continue.

" You have come far in your journey, and yet this is further to go still. You seek the rank of chunin and I ask you, why should you be given it? From all that you have learned of yourself through these missions, why do you feel you deserve to be hailed as a chunin of Kumogakure no Sato?"

It was a good question.

Komon knew his answer almost immediately. “Lord Raikage, you saw in my first exam why I want to become a shinobi, you dove into my mind and saw everything. My parents were killed at an early age, both before your time as raikage and they were both shinobi. When my father died in a combat mission when I was only six years old, I was of course angry I blamed his job as a shinobi as the reason for his death. However when our mother was killed in our own home, I quickly realized that death can happen at anytime combat or not, and to avoid it you need to become strong.” Komon would pause before he continued.

“I have a twin brother, he’s a gennin as well. I’ve made it my life goal to ensure that I keep my last remaining relative alive. And in the process I have become a capable shinobi, You can refer to the recently promoted chuunin Senshi Kobayashi for proof of that, as for why I feel I deserve it, I have interacted with and gained the respect of many of my fellow Kumogakure shinobi, I wish to lead a team upon promotion, and to protect the people of Kumogakure.”

Komon felt like he should add more, but his words were truthful and he felt overextending may irritate the raikage.

WC: 600

The young man"s monologue was nothing new, a list of things that were all about him and his ability to lead. Had the voice been capable of emotion, it would still remain unmoved.

"Well then, with all your newfound enlightenment and connections to other ninja of your rank, name one who should never sit this chair. Wanting to protect Kumogaure means weeding out weakness and liabilities. In all your ventures, name a ninja you encountered whom you feel will never make a good chunin for our village."

It was time to see how this boy handled condemning other shinobi at the cost of his own progress. The Genin's promotion would very much rely and how he answered these series of questions.

Komon blinked in response to the question, it seemed rather odd. In his time he had met several low level gennin but he had never looked at one and thought “You will never succeed” Every single one of them had shown at least some potential. But then he began to think over the other qualities that were required of a chuunin and began to cross analyze them with the shinobi he had met in the past. His brother was impatient, and often to quick to action. But his other qualities made up for it, he had mastered two elements and was a capable combatant.

Then he thought to the other gennin he had recently met, hitori. The boy was next to hopeless in combat, which he couldn’t really be blamed for because he was a medic. In their latest encounter however he had almost costed Komon’s team the mission when he reacted poorly to being attacked. His uzumaki chakra chains rashly piercing a young temple robbers lungs, and causing him massive internal damage.

Luckily Hitori had been proficient enough in medical ninjutsu to correct his mistake before the man drowned in his own blood.

“I believe Hitori Uzumaki has the least potential to make chuunin of anyone I’ve met lord raikage. That being said, If I make chuunin I’d like to take him on my team and make him a more proficient shinobi, I believe even he could make it eventually.”

WC: 848

"Did I ask for potential?" The voice growldd slightly. "If we allow weakness to fester, it takes us all. Would it not simply benefit us all if this Hitori Uzumaki was never promoted in the first place? Or would you weaken our defences by seeing a sub par shinobi ranked?"

The voice grew quiet, coating the room in an eerie silence.

“No sir, that’s not what I’m implying. While Hitori is less than gifted in combat he is a truly exceptional medic, I think with the proper training and guidance I can make him a powerful asset for the village. Medical is an extremely rare skill in our village, and a hard one to master at that. Fighting, punching, ninjutsu, that can all be drilled into him. And if he can master that, the village will have one more powerful shinobi in our midst. And if I can’t train the boy, we have the chuunin exams for a reason, you’ll be able to properly judge him ”

Komon would say vouching for the gennin he had met before continuing.

“And if you one day judge him and deem him unworthy it will be a reflection of my ability to teach, so put him on my team, and if you find yourself unimpressed, deal with me accordingly.”

WC: 963