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Chapter 646: The Matchups for Finals!

Fujin answered, "If you knew the technique he was using, you\'d have done the same, Guy. The jutsu Gaara used to encase Lee\'s arm and leg is called Sand Coffin. The jutsu he was about to use is called Sand Burial. He uses the first jutsu to encase his opponents in sand and the second jutsu to crush them to death."

Naruto and Sakura\'s eyes widened in horror. Of course, the one who was the most stunned was Guy. Fujin continued, "If I hadn\'t acted when I did, Lee would have lost his left arm and leg. No medical ninja currently in Konoha would have been able to heal them. I don\'t think that even someone like Lady Tsunade could fix wounds of that level. 

Such an injury would end any ninja\'s career, let alone someone like Lee who knows nothing but Taijutsu. Even though my words would hurt his pride and confidence, it is far better than the cost he would have to pay otherwise." 

Guy became silent for a while. Naruto exclaimed in disbelief, "No way! That Sand guy has such a deadly jutsu?" 

Fujin didn\'t say anything but his serious expression gave Naruto the answer he needed. Both he and Sakura wondered, \'How can we even defend from that?\'

Finally, Guy said, "I was mistaken. I apologize, Fujin. Thank you for looking out for Lee." 

Fujin smiled and replied, "Don\'t worry about it, Guy. I\'m sure you\'d have done the same for me." 

Guy smiled and nodded, "Of course." 

Renjiro smiled on seeing his reaction and said, "You don\'t need to worry about Lee\'s confidence taking a hit. If a single loss were to demotivate him, then he would never amount to much. 

However, hearing his past and his struggle, I don\'t think that this loss will keep him down. Instead, it is an opportunity for him to become even stronger, not just in terms of fighting capabilities but also mentally." 

Guy nodded and said with a thumbs-up, "Of course! Such a loss will never keep Lee down." 

None of them paid any attention to Dosu defeating Choji. With all the preliminary battles done, all the winners were called down. 

Before going down to join the winners, Sakura enquired with Kakashi about Sasuke. Kakashi reassured her that he\'d be fine and asked her to pay attention to the instructions before flickering away. 

Fujin looked at the place where Kakashi was standing and thought, \'I forgot that he leaves before the matchups are decided…\' 

A frown appeared on his face. Renjiro noticed it and asked, "Is something the matter?" 

Fujin replied, "Just getting an odd feeling." 

Renjiro frowned. Fujin\'s instincts had generally proved right. Fujin said, "I\'ll leave as well. I\'ll keep a Shadow Clone behind to inform you if I need any assistance." 

Renjiro and Hoka nodded. After creating a Shadow Clone, Fujin left the tower as well. He activated his Space Time Sensing Technique and chased after Kakashi while leaving enough distance between them for Kakashi to not realize that someone was trailing him. 

In the tower, Hiruzen explained the rules and details of the Final round to the Genins. In the end, Anko stepped forward with a box while Hiruzen said, "There are slips of paper in the box Anko is holding. Each one of you, take one." 

Anko said, "I\'ll come around, so line up, okay?" 

Everyone took one paper slip each and opened it to see it. Naruto was the first one to see and thought, \'Huh, 1?\' 

Hiruzen said, "Alright, does everybody have one? Then, starting at the left, each one of you read the number written on your slip." 

Fujin\'s clone paid close attention. He thought, \'This is it. The numbers will decide on what I should do!\' 

The Genins looked at the paper slips and began telling their numbers. 

Dosu said, "10"

Naruto said, "1"

Sakura said, "4"

Temari said, "8"

Kankuro said, "7"

Gaara said, "5"

Shikamaru said, "9"

Neji said, "2"

Shino said, "6"

As they spoke, Ibiki wrote down their names and said, "So, Sasuke would be number 3." 

Hiruzen replied, "Good, now I will reveal the match order for the tournament-style finals!" 

The Genins were shocked to learn that they were deciding the order for the finals. Meanwhile, Fujin\'s clone thought, \'Weird… Their number seems to be different due to Sakura. However, they are still close to their original opponents. It\'ll depend on how Ibiki decides the matchups would be.\' 

With Hiruzen\'s command, Ibiki showed the Genins their matchups. Of course, the one who was watching the most intensely was Fujin\'s clone. As soon as his eyes lay on the paper, he thought, \'Shiiii… Wait! This is still salvageable…\' 

Since the number of participants wasn\'t a power of 2, a couple of extra matches were needed to reduce the number of participants to 8. Hence, the first two matchups were, No. 4 Haruno Sakura Vs No. 5 Gaara and No. 9 Dosu Kinuta Vs No. 10 Nara Shikamaru! The winners of those matches would fight Uchiha Sasuke and Temari respectively in the next round. 

Following those two matches, the remaining would stay the same. That is, Naruto would first fight against Neji. The next match would be between Sasuke and the winner of Gaara Vs Sakura followed by Kankuro Vs Shino and lastly Temari Vs the winner of Shikamaru Vs Dosu matches. 

Fujin\'s clone analyzed, \'So the only additional fight is Sakura Vs. Gaara. Honestly, it doesn\'t make much difference whether she fights him or not. That match will be over promptly and Gaara will still end up fighting Sasuke, who may still end up coming late. Still, this is kind of weird…\' 

Fujin looked at the matchups with a strange look as he thought, \'Even though only one person was added, it should have ended up changing the matchups completely. However, Sakura barely has had any effect on the matchups… 

I just talked about fate… Don\'t tell me that shit really exists…\' 

He sighed internally while concluding, \'Oh well, screw it. This just might be a coincidence. Even if it does exist, I just have to follow my own words. 

Besides, considering that it allowed me to transmigrate to such a faraway and distinct place, a place that might not even be in the same universe or timeline, I doubt my fate would be bad. 

Perhaps it might just allow Ten Tails to fall in my lap and make me the strongest in this world and later in this universe...\'

Of course, he didn\'t ever plan on counting on things happening so easily considering how much he had to train and struggle to reach up to this time, but there was no harm in just thinking that for a few seconds. 

Elsewhere, Kakashi reached the place where Sasuke was kept under observation. Fujin reached there as well but a frown appeared on his face as he wondered, \'Why does it feel like someone is looking here?\' 

He focused on his Space Time Sensing technique and tried to locate everyone who could spy on that place. He immediately located one disturbance and looked in that direction. His eyes immediately widened as he thought, \'Orochimaru? Why the fuck is he here?\'

Thoughts clashed in his brain at the speed of light as he recalled, \'Wait, I remember. He was afraid that Kabuto would try to kill Sasuke or something along those lines. He won\'t make a move, or at least shouldn\'t unless he has decided to eliminate Kakashi to reduce obstacles for the invasion. 

Irrespective of whether he makes a move or not, I can\'t have him observe like this. Else, I wouldn\'t be able to do what I want…\' 

Orochimaru didn\'t sense Fujin\'s arrival or the fact that he had already been sensed. He continued looking with amusement and thought, \'So Kakashi is finally here. This should be interesting to watch… Huh?\' 

Orochimaru immediately looked behind and heard Fujin speaking, "I didn\'t expect that you\'d return so quickly. Were you so impatient to accept my offer and follow me instead of slaving for Akatsuki?" 

[A/N: Next Chapter: Fujin Vs Orochimaru - Round 2!]

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