The Conqueror of The Shinobi World Chapter 65 (Preliminary Rounds Ends) (Patreon)

"No one can know the Future, whatever you were right or wrong is up to you to decide. The only thing all of us can do is make the choice we will regret the least." - Levi Ackerman

Round 13

Ino Yamanaka vs Kankuro

"Oh, hell yeah! I may not get Yugito, but at least I got another cat-theme ninja as my opponent!" Ino yelled out loudly and enthusiastically, causing Naruto to chuckle at his girlfriend's antics while Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

But apparently, her loud declaration did not go unheard by the 'war-paint' wearing Suna ninja, as his left eye twitched uncontrollably while his sister chuckled at her brother's embarrassment.

"I HAVE YOU KNOW, THIS IS A TRADITIONAL SUNA SHINOBI ATTIRE, BASED ON MY SPECIALTY!" Kankuro declared loudly from the opposite balcony, carefully choosing his words to avoid slipping out his secret puppeteer technique to his opponent.

"What specialty is that? Entertainment for children's parties?" Ino quipped with a smirk, causing several people, including Temari, to laugh loudly at her joke while Kankuro was growling with a tick mark on his head.

"I'm gonna kill this bitch." Kankuro said under his breath as he made his way to the arena floor while he ignored his sister's hysterical laughter and his little brother's look unamused look.

Before she made her way to the arena floor as well, Ino then turned her attention to her boyfriend.

"Be careful, Ino. My studies on foreign shinobi culture are a little rusty, but I have a feeling that this guy is one of Suna's infamous Puppet Masters. I can't tell you much about them since most information about other shinobi villages are restricted, but try not to get too much distance from him. I heard close-quarter combat is one of their greatest weakness. Also, I can sense chakra coming from that thing on his back, which is odd since I can't sense any chakra from Kankuro himself." Naruto whispered into her ear.

"So what are you thinking? That the real Kankuro is hiding inside that thing on his back, while the Kankuro we see and currently walking down to the arena floor is an imposter? Or maybe the puppet itself?" Ino whispered back.

"Maybe. Only one way to find out. Good luck, Ino. Try not to ruff him up too much." Naruto whispered with a smirk as he pulled away from her ear.

"No kiss to seal the luck?" Ino asked cutely with a pout.

"You'll get a kiss......if you win." Naruto declared with a wink, making the Yamanaka blush her cheeks.

"Oh, IF I win, huh? You tease." Ino said with a playful pout, making Naruto chuckle as she made her way to the arena floor.

"Sigh.....even if you guys don't kiss in front of me, you both still make me wanna barf," Shikamaru said to Naruto while suppressing a yawn.

Ino ignored her lazy friend and made her way over to the Arena.

Ino was now face-to-face with Kankuro as they waited for Hayate to start the match.

"Are both fighters ready?" Hayate asked the two in front of him.

"Hell yeah, I'm ready," Ino said confidently as she cracked her knuckles.

"Mmph, this match is gonna be a piece of cake." Kankuro said mockingly as he unstrapped the supposed 'puppet' from his back while Ino scowled at his comment.

"Then let the Twelfth Match of the preliminary.........begin!"

When Hayate commenced the fight, Ino immediately got in her stance.

"I Will make you eat your own words, you will see just how wrong you were by mocking me." Kankuro commented as he took the bandaged-up object off of his back. "No need to rush. I'll finish you up quickly anyway."

Asuma observed the scene below before he began to talk to Naruto. "Tell me, Naruto, do you think Ino will win?" He asked, holding the cigarette between his index and middle finger.

"I have never seen Kankuro fight before, but if Ino uses her brains, she will win," Naruto replied, his eyes on the duel. Shikamaru nodded along as Asuma looked at Ino with a little concern.

"Ino, win this battle for me, don't forget about all the money I have betted on you guys," Asuma shouted, making everyone look at him weirdly, especially The Third Hokage, who could do nothing but sigh. His son was still a gambler.

"Asuma-kun, you shouldn't bet on your own students!" Kurenai shouted angrily at him, she knew he liked to gamble, but this was ridiculous, completely forgetting that she called him 'Kun' instead of 'San,' something a few noticed right away.

"Now, now, Kurenai, this is not a bet. This is an investment for the future." Asuma said with a puff, as if proud of himself.

Kurenai glared while a few thought that Asuma had a few screws loose. Ino let out a long sigh. "Thank you for the encouragement, sensei," she said dryly, not really meaning any of her words.

"Whenever you want. I'm always at your service." Asuma boasted, with Shika and Naruto rolling their eyes so hard, almost to the back of their heads.

What a role model, they both thought.

Back to the fight

Ino looked at her opponent, quietly observing both him and the bandaged object at his side.

"Before we can start fighting, can I fight the real one. I'm not interested on fighting a doll," Ino commented, with a glare towards the Suna Shinobi.

Kankuro felt a little uneasy when he heard that, but he didn't let it show. "Oh? Is t-that r-right, you little bitch?" He replied, mocking her to get in her head.

"Yes. You might fool everyone else, but unlike the others. I can see right through you. I know where you are hiding. Come out now coward."

Almost all of the spectators, including the Jonin sensei, were slightly confused when she said that. Come out? Of where? What was she talking about?

Yugito smirked upon hearing that. It seemed Ino wasn't as weak as she believed.

However, Team Suna seemed slightly unnerved at her comment. It looked like this would be a tough match for Kankuro.

Temari whispered to her sensei's ears. "Baki-sensei, how did she know his plan? Nobody else caught on, not even the Chunin and Jonin!"

Baki just gritted his teeth before he quietly muttered back to Temari. "She's probably a sensor. Of all the people he had to face, he got the worst matchup possible for him." He didn't know that Naruto could feel and see that Kankuro was hidden. His Sharingan was active only for a second, his moon symbol shining on his palm.

Kankuro was sweating bullets under his outfit. How did she catch on to his trick? Was she a sensor or something?

The bandages around the object began to slide off as Kankuro emerged from them.

"Tch. I guess there's no point hiding here if you already know."

"What the heck? He carried a clone of himself on his back??" Fuu wondered out loud.

"No. That's the real him. What we thought was him this whole time is actually his puppet." Shikamaru explained as he pieced the puzzle together quickly.

"A puppet?" Fuu asked.

"Suna is famous for their puppet brigade. But to think a Genin like him was able to hide himself and control a puppet in such a way... he must be a prodigy in puppeteering..." Kakashi added.

Kankuro jumped back and let his puppet shed its disguise and reveal its true self as a three-eyed puppet he called Karasu.

Kankuro tried to surprise Ino by having Karasu launch a volley of poisoned senbon from hidden openings throughout its body. Still, Ino had already seen all of the hidden mechanisms and weapons within the puppet and easily dodged the projectiles utilizing the training she got from her sensei.

"What the heck? She moved like she actually knew I had senbon ready to launch!" Kankuro wondered out in surprise. Most people didn't know anything about puppets, much less assume that they would be hiding so many weapons underneath.

"I'm not that easy to fool. Naruto told me many things about your puppets when we were discussing Chunin Exams yesterday." Ino said, making many looks at Naruto with confusion. Especially the Suna Team.

"Why would he be interested in us?" The Jonin thought, sweating bullets. Baki didn't know why, but he felt as if the Blonde was the most dangerous person in the whole room.

Kankuro was shaken. His game plan revolved around trickery and surprise attacks, but this girl could somehow see everything! He'd have to be more aggressive, then.

"Fuck it! If you can already see my surprises, I'll just cut you down straight up!"

He launched Karasu towards Ino with the numerous hidden blades on it now revealed.

Suna Jonin closed his eyes, shaking his head, a bit disappointed. "He should know this already... close combat is the weakest point of a puppet master..." He whispered.

Temari heard this and looked at the fight with concern. Was there a chance that Kankuro actually didn't make it to the next round?

Karasu began using the hidden blades, trying to cut Ino. One small cut was all Kankuro needed to win the match and kill the bitch, but Ino kept dodging all of his pitiful attacks, one after the other, holding a kunai in her right hand. Kankuro growled, losing his patience, this was supposed to be an easy fight, and he was losing against a girl like her, and he felt himself getting tired. He needed to finish this quickly.

However, what he didn't know was the fact that Ino was using her Kunai to sever the chakra strings he was controlling the puppet with, one at a time.

With the puppet slowing down significantly, Ino decided to go on the offensive and quickly targeted the remaining chakra strings.

When all the connections were severed, the puppet fell to the ground in a heap.

"What's happening. What did you do??" Kankuro shouted in shock as he completely lost control of his puppet.

"The Chakra strings connected to your puppet. It was clear that's how you control them, so I severed them."

A smirk grew on Asuma's face as he saw how his student completely outmatched her opponent. She was smart enough to keep her strategy a secret until it was too late for Kankuro to make any adjustments.

Kankuro clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in anger as he considered what to do next. It wouldn't be too hard to reattach his puppets, but there was nothing that would prevent her from doing the same thing again, and she was able to see somehow everything it seemed.

Hold on. This makes no sense! How is she able to see the strings??!! Kankuro thought in alarm, it shouldn't be possible, yet this girl could see them somehow. His eyes slowly went to the damn blonde who was smirking like a devil towards him, almost mocking him.

Turning his attention back to the fight, Kankuro knew only one option was left. Otherwise, he would need to reveal all his abilities, something he needed to keep a secret once the true battle began.

So, when Ino tried to attack again, this time to truly defeat him, Kankuro did what he thought was the best move he could make.

"Proctor, I forfeit!"

"He's as useless as ever." Gaara spat out hatefully.

However, their sensei wasn't as displeased. Kankuro had other tricks up his sleeves, but he wasn't so caught up in his pride that he would reveal them in a losing battle to try to scratch and claw his way into the next round. He would need those secrets for the next phase of the plan, which didn't require him to be in the next round, and it was a tactically sound move.

"Congratulations, Ino." Most Konoha Genins cheered for the platinum-haired girl, who jumped into Naruto's arms.

"Thank you, Naruto," Ino said, kissing his cheek; Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Wow, it is almost like we are not even her friends," Shikamaru commented dryly, with both Fuu and Asuma nodding along.

Suna Team

"You did good, Kankuro." Their Jonin said the moment his student walked up to them with a downcast look.

"Thank you, sensei," Kankuro said, feeling a little better, looking at Temari, who smiled softly.

"Don't worry, brother. It doesn't really change anything." She said, hoping to encourage him, but when both of them turned to look at Gaara, whose whole attention was on Naruto Uzumaki.

"Gaara!" Kankuro called him, thinking he would have said something by now, but it seemed his little brother was so deep in thought that he didn't even acknowledge his presence. Did he even know that Kankuro was there?

"Ohh, Gaara," Kankuro called him again, this time shaking him. This made Gaara escape his thoughts before looking at Kankuro, his gaze turning from confusion to one of anger.

"What do you want?" He demanded with an icy tone, Kankuro gulped at the way he spoke, but despite that, he stood his ground.

"Gaara, where were you? You seemed distracted?" Kankuro prompted, for the first time, Gaara looked at him confused, as if not understanding what he was talking about.

With only seven more genins left to fight, the following fight was between Gaara and one from Kurotsuchi's team. The cocky Iwa Shinobi was slaughtered without mercy, much to the shock of almost everyone.

It took at least ten minutes for the blood to be cleaned from the arena by a group of Shinobis.

The next match was between Omoi and the other Iwa Shinobi, which ended with Omio winning easily.

The next one was Lee against one from the Taki team. Fuu barely reacted when her teammate was defeated. She simply decided to stay with Naruto, not as it mattered. Once the Chunin Exams ended, the World would change.

With Choji left as the only one without someone to fight, it was decided for him to pass the Preliminary Rounds immediately.

"Now, everyone, come here. All of you will pick a number from this box." Hayate announced with a cough, holding a cardboard box full of small balls made of metal with numbers written on top of them.

One by one, all of them chose a number; Kurenai chose one instead of Hinata since she was in the Hospital. Hayate wrote who would fight who on a blackboard for everyone to see.

Interesting! who would have thought they would fight each other in the first round, Kakashi thought, slightly concerned, knowing the outcome before it even happened.

Guy grinned once he saw who Lee's opponent was. Lee, you have trained for so long for this fight. This is your chance, Guy thought with a smile.

Kurenai's face paled when she saw Hinata's and Shino's opponents. This is bad, especially for Hinata, she thought, knowing her student could get easily killed.

Asuma found the situation ironic, two best friends against each other, two rivals, and Naruto. He will probably win without breaking a sweat, Asuma thought, inhaling his cigarette before exhaling a puff of smoke.

Darui was a little relieved that none of his students would fight either the One Tail Maniac or The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

1: Rock Lee Vs Neji

They looked at each other, one with an impassive look, one with determination.

2: Shikamaru Vs Choji

Huh! It seems we will fight each other, Choji, Shikamaru thought, looking at his friend.

3: Yugito Vs Ino

The blondes looked at each other with determination. Despite knowing that Yugito was a Jinchuuriki, Ino showed no Fear.

4: Mabui Vs Omoi

Omoi exhaled, wondering if his sword would defeat her Bloodline.

5: Shino Vs Dosu

Despite the glare, Shino showed no fear. He simply readjusted his glasses.

6: Temari Vs Hinata

7: Naruto Vs Sasuke

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a smirk. The blonde instead looked at Gaara. It seemed things were going better than he had hoped.

8: Gaara Vs Fuu

9: Samui Vs The winner of the eighth match

Gaara glared at the silly girl, while Fuu smiled cutely at him before waving at him.

The Hokage walked up to the center of the Genins who were left in the Exams. He cleared his throat before addressing everyone.

"All of you have a month to train and learn new techniques. I wish you all good luck." Hiruzen announced, his hard eyes lingering on Naruto's palms, a symbol of the Moon and Sun on his palms. What is this? He thought, feeling as if something terrible would happen soon.

Naruto, on the other, smirked. He knew his Konoha buddies would be hurt, but in the end, he would create a new world. A better one. He knew many would oppose him. But as long as this System existed, the world would never change. The Cycle of Hatred will never cease to Exist. The Shinobi System was built in a way that profited from Wars. It was like its Heart; without it, it would fall apart like a building without a base. That's why certain Wars started without reason. Like the Second Shinobi War, and the Third to a Degree, the blonde thought with fury.

I will soon create a new world order.