Luckily Naruto made it the rest of the way to the amphitheatre without any more distractions. It was a rather marvellous construct, seemingly carved out of the side of a cliff-face with one side entirely dominated by sweeping, semi-circular benches wrought straight from the stone. A single waterfall fell from a specially constructed aqueduct on the side with the cliff and down through an enormous steel grating, likely to swirl away down into the tunnel systems below. The stadium itself was packed to the brim with people, all of them looking anxious and excited for what was to become.
Chuunin exams in the 'minor' villages were always friendlier affairs, none of the bickering and political in-fighting that came with the larger territories. A more diverse range of peoples and nationalities couldn't have been found anywhere else. People from Tsuchi no Kuni and Hi no Kuni brushed shoulders without turning on each other with weapons. A few nobles from Mizu no Kuni could even be seen, their recognisable robes standing out amidst the more common garb of the general folk from the surrounding country-sides.
Naruto couldn't help the broad grin that split his face and lightly stretched his thin whisker marks. This was the peace and brotherhood his father had wanted. No national borders, no village propaganda, no petty grudges only marked by the insignia on one's forehead. This was unadulterated, beautiful humanity at its finest. Of course nothing that perfect could have lasted forever as a moment later the redhead was taped lightly on the shoulder. He turned, still sporting his grin, only to spot a Konoha jounin he vaguely recognised due to him hanging around the Hokage quite a bit.
"Ah, Raido was it?" The redhead inquired, trying not to stare at the rather distinct scarring across the left side of the man's face that almost looked like the branching bolts of a lightning strike; quite fitting considering his name.
"Yes Namikaze-san." Raido replied with a nod, seeming rather dismissive in the way he spoke; at least he didn't call him 'sama'. "The Hokage wishes to speak with you." His message delivered, Raido quickly walked off. None of the foreign shinobi would risk using a shunshin surrounding by this many Taki-nin. Naruto just blinked at the abrupt request, his eyes panning over to the raised platform at the back of the amphitheatre where the Hokage sat amongst a few others. The redhead frowned, having wanted to at least speak to his team before the test began, but unfortunately he couldn't go against a direct request from the Hokage.
A minute later and he was allowed up onto the Kage-seating area after a rather irritating and heated discussion with the young chuunin guarding it. It baffled Naruto why that was even required; they were Kage, they could defend themselves just fine. Even if they couldn't what hope did a single, or eve n a squad of chuunin hope to do against force that overwhelming. Still, Naruto managed to finally convince the young man that had been invited up, walking up the shrot flight of stares to the welcoming smile of the Sandaime.
"Ah Naruto, no trouble getting here I presume?" The older man smirked knowingly, a twinkle in his eye as he greeted the redhead. Naruto simply waved the cheeky Kage off dismissively, the old man knew too much for his own good.
"Of course not Hiruzen." Naruto shot back with just as much cheek; these types of back and forths were rather common lately with Naruto hanging around the Hokage tower as often as he did.
"My my Hokage-sama, I didn't realise you allowed your subordinates to speak with you so familiarly." A smooth, feminine voice suddenly spoke up, drawing Naruto's eye over towards what could only be described as an image of absolute beauty. Her long auburn hair, falling down her back in a messy waterfall and tied up in a short herringbone, was brushed briefly from where it draped over her right eye in order to give Naruto a seductive wink. Likewise she shifted in her sea to better face him, pushing out her ample chest and rustling her rather beautiful blue dress so that it fell down even lower that it's already scandalous neckline. However Naruto had grown used to similarly outright displays of femininity and offered a polite smile in return, seemingly perturbing the woman.
"Naruto Namikaze, Mizukage-sama." The redhead greeted with a short inclination of his head; enough to show respect, not enough to show any deference. The smooth and easy reply seemed to iron over whatever had been upsetting the woman, who was clearly the new leader of Kirigakure given the blue, wide-brimmed hat draped over the back of her chair. She seemed to forgo that traditional robes though, much to the gratitude of many men in the area; the simply white robes were hardly flattering for such an outstanding figure. Naruto didn't voice this of course; he had already done enough to aggravate Anko on this little trip.
"Mmm yes, I can certainly see why you would be able to put up with a bit of disrespect in his case Hokage-dono. Would you mind terribly if I were to… borrow him? Just for the proceedings, of course." The Mizukage added with a sly, sultry smirk, gently patting the spot on the rather comfortable-looking and large chair she was draped across. Naruto's eyes only widened a fraction as he looked across to the Hokage with a subtle, pleading look; the old man's eyes were sparkling with mirth.
"Yes, Naruto-kun is somewhat of a special case Mizukage-dono, what with being my chosen successor." The man piped up, looking quite pleased with himself as he chewed his pipe thoughtfully. "I'm sure he would be more than willing to entertain you for the length of the exams; am I right Naruto?" He turned back to the redhead and missed the brief look of shock on her face side into a more calculating, sly expression. Quick as a flash she slid forward, and hand going to Naruto's shoulder as she sent him a small but noticeable wink.
"Please, call me Mei; being called Mizukage all the time becomes so awfully dry, despite Ao's insistence." Some distance away the man that looked to be guarding the Mizukage, who Naruto recognised to be the very same hunter-nin he and his team met in Nami, twitched. "So you're the Naruto Namikaze I've had the pleasure of hearing all about." Naruto smiled, ignoring the hand on his shoulder for the moment.
"All good things I hope?" He replied with some humour, causing the Mizukage to laugh; a tinkling whimsical sound that was a delight on the ears, even if it did sound just a little forced.
"Quite, quite." She acquiesced, backing off, much to Naruto's internal appreciation, and allowing the Hokage to introduce he man standing to his side. He was a gruff-looking man older than Naruto and Mei but not quite approaching the Sandaime's age. His hair still had colour but was definitely graying on the sides, giving him a distinguished, steeled appearance.
"Naruto, this is Shibaro-dono, the current leader of Takigakure." Hiruzen introduced with a close-eyed smile; the redhead could feel the slight tension between the two older men as he reached forward and shook Shibaro's hand.
"A pleasure." The redhead intoned politely as the older man simply nodded curtly.
"I'm sure." The village leader replied in a gruff tone that perfectly matched his hardened appearance. He didn't have any guards up on the platform, or at least didn't appear to; but then, they were standing in the middle of his village.
"Well then, now that the introductions are over I believe the matches are about to begin." The Hokage quickly interjected and sure enough when they turned the first two teams were making their way out onto the field. Naruto felt a hint of pride swell up in his chest as he saw his team standing down there, determination flaming in their eyes as they faced down the team from Iwagakure.
"So I assume the Tsuchikage will not be joining us?" Mei inquired softly as the Kage and their various guards retired to their seats again. Much to Naruto's chagrin, before he could take up a position behind the Sandaime's chair he was dragged across the small platform and forced to sit next to Mei. He sent looks at the old man but he only returned them with amused smirks he knew would only serve to irritate Naruto.
"Ah no, Oonoki rarely makes the journey from Iwagakure anymore; much too much strain on his hip I assume." Hiruzen responded placidly, a small unspoken sigh escaping his lips. Naruto knew the man always considered the intense rivalry between Iwa and Konoha one of his greatest failings. After all he had watched his entire life as a small flame of a grudge was fueled into a roaring bonfire, culminating in Naruto's own father's actions in the third Shinobi war.
"Well then, perhaps it is time for him to step down." Mei shot back with a smirk, leaning back quite comfortably in her chair, and uncomfortably close to Naruto. "Don't you think Naruto?" He also didn't appreciate the sudden familiarity; especially if he would be working with this woman in the future if he were to take the title.
"I really can't say, nor is it my business to." The redhead replied neutrally, only receiving a pout for his troubles.
"But surely as Hokage-dono's successor, you must have you opinions on the political situation?" Mei inquired innocently, her single visible eye looking up at him, half-lidded; he was sure she must have practised that look quite a bit.
"Well…" Naruto started, glancing across at the Hokage only to see him looking down at the stadium, his lips quirked up ever so slightly; traitor. "The Tsuchikage is definitely not one to be underestimated; my father never faced him personally but his journals only have praise and respect for the man." Naruto was just glad that he had never had to face the man; he was certain the name Namikaze didn't exactly carry much warmth in Tsuchi no Kuni.
"But you don't think he is getting a bit too on in years to successfully manage an entire hidden village?" Mei inquired again, her eyelids fluttering; she pulled off the meek, innocent woman quite well. It was a shame then that Naruto had decided to research a bit into her after hearing her name in Nami; she had quite the decorated history in the Kiri civil war.
"Hiruzen is just as old as the Tsuchikage and Konoha could not ask for a better leader." Naruto replied instantly; it was more of a nee-jerk reaction when surrounded by so many foreigners.
"Oh you flatter me Naruto." Hiruzen piped in mirthfully.
"But the Hokage also stepped down some years ago; he recognised there was somebody better, in your father no less." Mei stated matter-of-factly and Naruto had to wonder why she was being so intense about this.
"Maybe the situation is not the same in Iwa, who's to say?" Naruto finally replied, a little lamely all things considered. Really he just wanted to watch his team fight and maybe spend a bit of time trading banter with the other sensei; it was what he had come here to do. All this politicking was already exhausting him; did being a leader always mean being this fake? Or maybe it was different when you were actually in a position of power and not having to make a good showing of yourself like he was now. He supposed he would only find out if her were to accept Hiruzen's offer.
"Hah!" Mei simply threw her head back and let out a short but still somehow feminine bark of a laugh before nodding in satisfaction. "An answer worthy of a politician; I think you would make a fine Kage Namikaze-san, tales of your abilities only support this." The redhead was surprised by the sudden shift in her personality, feeling as though he had somehow been duped. Mei leaned away from him, settling into a more comfortable position in her chair as all eyes turned down to the stadium.
"This is your team if I am to understand right Namikaze-san?" Mei spoke up again, just as the proctors hand came down and the match started, both trams rushing into action in an instant. Naruto gave a quick nod, eyes locked on his team as Sasuke and Ami rushed in together, Sakura hanging back and cycling quickly through hand seals. "Then I certainly look forward to seeing how they fair; a student speak a lot about their sensei after all, whether they realise it or not." Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the vague statement only to see Mei looking down at the fight again.
It was over rather quickly all things considered; like his own team, the Iwa genin had adopted a two in the front, one in the back strategy. However unlike Sasuke and Ami, their front-liners seemed to be Ninjutsu-types, which was not a good match up in the limited space of the arena. While Sakura confused and disoriented their support team member before they could do whatever it was they were planning, Sasuke and Ami showed great teamwork in getting right up close to the remaining two.
They would switch targets seemingly at random, keeping them occupied to stop them performing hand seals while switching about at random to keep them confused. Then it was all just a matter of who was faster, and that really wasn't a contest when students of a Namikaze were involved. Neither Iwa Genin even managed to get off a single Jutsu to try and turn the tide of the battle. It all ended when Sasuke and Ami managed to tie them up together with a surprisingly effective use of Ninja wire. Then it was a simple matter of ganging up on the last one; just like that it was over and Naruto was sporting a massive grin on his features.
"Well, that was certainly and impressive and… swift showing; rather appropriate I'd say." Mei commented with a smirk, always happy to see Iwagakure defeated in any capacity; there was no love lost between Iwa and Kiri, that was for sure.
"My mentors were rather fond of the idea of the younger generations rising up and surpassing their elders." Hiruzen sighed nostalgically; he always did enjoy seeing the bright lights the youth represented at these exams.
"Well, I'd say there are far shot off right now; but they look promising enough." Mei returned with a closed-eye smile. "I expected nothing less from your team Namikaze-san." She continued, eyeing up Naruto's reaction only to raise an eyebrow as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well, there's only so much I can do with what's already there; each of them are unique in their own way. I can only nurture them and provide a bit of guidance." He muttered quietly; it was still rather strange to be praised for his students' accomplishments. However Mei seemed delighted, patting him on the chest and laughing again.
"Oh and modest too! If you weren't of a foreign village I'd snatch you right up." She joked, although there seemed to be an underlying hint of something more there as she leaned forward to better look at the Hokage. "Hokage-dono?" The old man chuckled fondly, puffing on his pipe.
"I'm afraid the village needs him Mizukage-dono, terribly sorry." He replied, paying no mind as Mei sat back with a playful pout.
"Shame." They settled down again as the next teams arrived, much to Naruto's amusement it was Kurenai's squad up against a trio from Taki, which seemed to draw Shibaro's attention. However that attention turned sour when it was apparent just how outclassed the group from Taki really were. Team eight was surprisingly brutal, with Hinata taking the lead as she broke the other squad's ranks quickly enough. She simply injected herself amongst them, cutting off their Tenketsu and scattering them to prevent further losses.
The Kiba came into play, bouncing around the small amphitheater and making the most of the enclosed space with the Inuzuka's trademark Gatsuuga. Him and his Ninken were twin whirlwinds of destruction, carving through the separated Taki genin before they could regroup. Finally Shino, in typical Aburame fashion, mopped up what was left and made sure they stayed down by draining away the rest of their Chakra. Shibaro seemed rather irked by the poor showing from his team but so far it only showed off Konoha in a good light.
"Well, Konoha certainly seems to have the upper hand in these exams; however I think that is about to change." Mei cut in with a smirk, staring knowingly down at the stadium floor as the next group were led on.
"Oh? And what makes you so certain Mizukage-dono?" The Hokage quipped as he blew out a small ring of smoke, sun-strained eyes peering down at the two new squads. "If my age isn't catching up to me, one of those teams is under the care of my son; the latest generation of the Ino-Shika-Chou." Naruto looked down in interest and sure enough spotted Asuma's team take the floor, having to practically drag on one of their teammates in the typical Nara fashion. However what interested him more was the figure he recognised on the opposing team bearing the insignia of Kirigakure. He began to understand why Mei bore such a confident air.
"Because, Hokage-dono, that is the first genin squad from Kirigakure to ever grace the chuunin exams and naturally, I only chose the best." She shot back with a smirk firmly pasted on her delicately arranged features. Naruto felt a little sorry for Asuma; facing up against a young shinobi like Haku in their first round was not going to end well; especially if the boy had only improved since their last meeting in Nami. His thoughts were only proven correct as the match developed, much to the Mizukage's obvious pleasure.
Admittedly the Konoha trio did put up a good showing; they display foresight, tactics and some good on-the-fly planning on Shikamaru's part. It was to be expected from such well-worn and battle-tested tactics utilising their clan's abilities to their fullest. However it became painfully obvious that such tactics were very much used to capturing single targets, which they did a few times. However the Kirigakure genin showed remarkable aptitude for springing these traps only to dismantle them a moment later.
Haku's speed far surpassed any other Genin's in this exam save perhaps Sasuke's, and that was more on Naruto's pride as a teacher more than anything else. He simply proved to be uncatchable despite Shikamaru's best-placed plans. Naruto at least thought Asuma could take solace in the fact it was teaching the Konoha genin a valuable lesson. Sometimes you could face power that simply surpassed anything you could plan for on such short notice. And maybe if it was just Haku they might have been able to scratch out the victor; they very nearly caught him too with a clever trick involving the faint shadows cast by the waterfall.
However Haku was not their only problem; the Mizukage did not lie when she said Kiri had brought their best. The other male member of the team, by all-rights a rather nervous-looking boy with light blue hair, proved to be just as much of a problem. It was evident why even without him doing anything; the sharpened shark-like teeth and enormous blade he carried gave that much away.
"A swordsman in training?" Naruto inquired, looking around at the auburn-haired woman to his right. He was unsure of how to actually address her; Mizukage-sama would show deference, dono would imply they were equals which could not be rue unless he was a Kage and Mei… he was not calling her Mei.
"Ah yes, Chojuro; a remarkable young boy, one of the most skilled wielders of Hiramekarei Kiri has seen in generations." The woman stated proudly, and it showed. Supposedly one of the harder weapons of the mist to wield due to its unpredictable nature and enormous Chakra drain and Chojuro was swinging it around with only minor strain. The last member of the team, a rather heavily-bundled Kunoichi, was not so obvious with her skill, instead hanging at the rear of her squad, usually behind the protective arc of Chojuro's blade.
She didn't seem to be doing all that much to a casual observer, but based on the confused expressions team ten occasionally donned, as well as the glazed look that sometimes overcame Shikamaru's eye when he was about to bring a meticulous plan together, she was a rather skilled Genjutsu user. She seemed to be the linchpin of whatever subtle tactics the Kiri team used, disorienting the other team at the opportune moments for Chojuro to make an opening for Haku to attack with his blinding speed. It was rudimentary, but lethally effective.
It was one of the longer matches, mostly due to Shikamaru stringing things along as much as he could until finally driving himself to exhaustion, but eventually Asuma's team were mopped up. The redhead wished he could have seen the smoker's reaction to having his team so heavily outclassed, but then, he supposed he would have to wait and see how his own team fared.
What followed was a painfully mediocre showing between a team from Taki and a team from Kusagakure. The leader of the village and the Hokage chatted amicably throughout as the Taki team narrowly took the win by the skin of their teeth, nearly poisoning themselves in the process, but it otherwise passed without fanfare, leading back into a far more interesting match, at least to the Namikaze. He watched with great interest, and not just because he had a bet riding on this match, as his team stepped up in front of Kurenai's, the two familiar trios sizing each other up. However there was little Naruto could do at this point; he had trained them as well as he could and they had witnessed how team eight fought, it was up to them now.
To say the match started with a bang though was an understatement; just moments after the proctor's arm fell a bright white explosion erupted on the arena floor. Some of the twitchier shinobi in the crowd reached for their weapons only to realise it was part of team seven's tactics. Sasuke had dropped a flashbang, spreading blinding light in all directions. Hinata, in the midst of her pre-emptive attack, cringed back, rubbing at her uses uselessly as her sensitive Doujutsu took the brunt of the damage. Trust Sasuke to attack a fellow Doujutsu user where he knew it hurt.
Shino was the only one on the opposing team to remain undaunted, his sunglasses and high-collared jacket shielding him form the worst of the attack. He spread his arms, pouring out a deluge of Kikai to form a barricade between team seven and the cringing Hinata before they could make use of their surprise tactic. However he saw Sasuke's smirk too late and the boy suddenly took a bracing step back and began flashing through hand seals; he wasn't alone though. In the same moment he stepped back, Ami rushed forward, her fingers lightly twitching on her blade's hilt.
"Fire release: Great fireball!" Sasuke called out over the cacophonous din of Shino's insects, nearly drowning out Ami's own cry.
"Wind release: Gale slash!" In a well-coordinated and equally well-practised manoeuvre Ami suddenly dropped to the ground, skidding on the dusty floor, Beads of sweat percolated across her body as Sasuke's fireball, barely two feet of the ground, roared over her body. In the same instance though her blade lashed out, the faint hum and green blur around the steel lost in the orange inferno above her. What didn't go missing though was the combination attack's result; the balde of wind smashed right into Sasuke's fireball and instead of slicing through it like one might expect, it seemed to only be absorbed within the raging sphere.
The enormous Jutsu swelled for a moment before contracting, its flames becoming a scorching white for a single instance before exploding outward. Ami was only stopped from falling prey to the rapidly expanding flames when she dug her sword into the ground, using it as a leverage point to fling herself back toward her team. Shino's insects on the other hand weren't so lucky; the veil he had created using almost two thirds of his entire hive were almost instantly immolated, unable to take the intense heat from the combination attack.
The crowd were shocked into silence, even the Jounin in the crowd dropped their jaw at the display of teamwork. Combination attacks were notoriously difficult to pull off, the level of synchronicity rarely existed outside of partners for years; otherwise the timing had to be impeccable. It made many wonder just what kind of monster had trained such Genin. Up in the Kage box Naruto rubbing his nose, having felt a mild sneeze coming on but quickly quashing it, feeling as though he wanted to smile for some reason.
It wasn't over yet though, as Ami retreated back to the safety of her squad she had to allow Sakura to take a look at her arms. She had been lightly burned when she brought her hands up to take the brunt of the heat from the fire and wind attack, forcing Sakura to heal them. Her synchronicity with Sasuke might be enough to pull the manoeuvre off, but it was far from perfect. However team eight were not idle and as soon as the attack had dissipated to bright glowing embers Kiba was there, spinning through the smoke and the still falling bodies of Shino's hive.
Sasuke's eyes were able to perfectly track him in his tornado-like spin, however he was too far away to do anything, even though he could see the boy's trajectory. It didn't help that at that moment Hinata had apparently recovered enough from the flashbang and was rushing towards him at high speed, her usually cold expression marred into an irritated frown. Sasuke took satisfaction from the hint of red he could see in her eyes from where she had been furiously rubbing at them right before she closed the distance between them and their hands became blurs of motion.
Sakura and Ami were facing their own problems though as Kiba suddenly interposed himself between the healer and her patient. They only had enough forewarning to push off one another, letting the spinning Inuzuka crash down between them before ricocheting off the ground and spinning off again. However they had not noticed the identical twirling vortex hiding in his shadow and Ami only had enough time to bring her sword around before it crashed right into her. The spinning grey blur of claws and fangs ground against her blade, forcing her feet to carve shallow trenches in the ground as she was forced back.
Eventually though Kiba, or possibly Akamaru in a henge, lost his momentum, coming to a disoriented stop. Ami lashed out but apparently he wasn't that disoriented and was able to bring a clawed hand up to divert the strike. From there they descended into a rapid flurry of clashes, each sending sparks into the air. Ami was controlled and focused, her feet only moving enough to put power behind her strikes or move her into range. Kiba on the other hand was feral, wild and unpredictable, moving all over the place at high speed in an attempt to overwhelm her; there was no clear advantage there.
Over on the other side of the arena Shino was still reeling from the loss of his insects, trying to muster up some kind of response from the hive within his body. However in his panic he failed to notice that Sakura no longer lay where she had fallen after Kiba's abrupt attack. His only sign that something was wrong were the ever so faint tremors in the ground below him. It wasn't enough though; hands suddenly wrapped around his ankles out of nowhere and in the next moment he was pulled roughly into the ground until only his head remained free.
Akura looked particularly happy with herself as she sunk out of the floor to his side a moment later, only to wince, throwing her body to the side as the second of the Kiba duo spun past her, grazing her arm. He ricocheted off the ground and flew right back at her, but this time she was ready. Her breathing suddenly picked up, not becoming heavy but becoming faster nevertheless. Her toes pawed the ground once, then again, just like Naruto had shown them. The next few seconds seemed to take place in slow motion for her as she stepped to the side at the moment the copy of Kiba flew past her.
She could almost see it, the blurred and fuzzy outline of his body as he rotated through the air, even the look of mild surprise he bore as she seemingly side-stepped the fast attack with ease. In the next moment though a smirk split the pinkette's face as she lashed out, her punch catching the Inuzuka facsimile mid-spin. Immediately the copy crumpled around her fist, the momentum of his spin acting against him in the split second as it was abruptly brought to a stop. His body disappeared in a puff of smoke a moment later, replaced by a growing white dg that could only yip in surprise before being sent careening across the arena.
Everything followed suit from there; Kiba looked across at the sound of Akamaru's cry giving Ami the opportunity to suddenly enter his guard. In an impressive display of rather odd swordsmanship she suddenly buried her blade into the ground, bending it back as she stepped up onto the hilt. When the steel snapped back into place she used the sudden jolt to kick Kiba as hard as she could right in the cheek. The Inuzuka was rudely sent flying back, an action not missed in the corner of Sasuke's periphery.
A smirk crossed the Uchiha's face as he feinted to one side, drawing Hinata across in what normally would have been a risky and reckless move. Luckily for him the heiress took the bait, being drawn in by the chance to finaly finish their previously stale-mated Taijutsu bout. In her focus, she missed her own teammate crashing into her back until the last moment. It was enough to put her off balance and a brutally efficient flurry of punches and kicks later, she was lying beaten on the ground by Sasuke's feet.
Then, silence.
Cheers shattered through that silence quickly enough though as people realised it was over and team seven had won. Even the trio in question seemed rather dazed about it all as they were led off and the next two teams were brought on to replace them. In Sakura's case it was more literal; that last move was exhausting and a bit rough on her body. Naruto on the other hand had the brightest, proudest grin splitting his features, even despite the shocked looks on the Hokage, the Mizukage and Shibaro's face.
"N-Naruto-kun, just what have you been teaching those three?" Hiruzen finally managed, nearly choking on his pipe after seeing the most flawless display of teamwork since he himself had stopped teaching his own Genin team. The redhead waved him off as he leant back, a satisfactory smirk on his face as he looked up at the sky.
"Don't worry Hiruzen, it's nothing my own sensei wouldn't have taught me at their age." Naruto laughed dismissively, only to receive a deadpan stare from the older Kage.
"Naruto, you were and ANBU captain at their age; you didn't have a sensei." Hiruzen said in monotone, making Naruto's easy smile twitch a little.
"Ah, you caught that huh?" The redhead chuckled sheepishly, still under the expectant gaze of the Hokage.
"Yes well, the do call me the professor for a reason." The Hokage shot back with a smirk, once again mouthing his pipe in that flawless 'all-knowing old man' impression.
"Well in any case I'm sure we're all in agreement, it was quite the display." Mei finally concluded, seemingly getting over her own shock to enjoy the latest display of her own village's up and coming talent as they face off against the Taki squad. The Hokage chuckled, with a small inclination of his head, only to frown a moment later, his already deep-set features wrinkling further. His eyes widened suddenly through as a short tanto pierced the back of his chair and subsequently, his chest.
There was a startlingly moment of silence in the Kage box as everyone simply stared at the masked shinobi standing behind the old man, blade still firmly in hand despite the fact it was driven hilt deep into the Hokage.