Tsuchigumo

Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu Obstacle Course

Naruto stretched as he thought over his Prelim result. Hinata had to face Neji and due to difference in experience, she was taken out. Shino survived his opponent. Naruto faced a guy from a separate team from Kusa and had him trapped in spider silk in record. What kind of fool decided to brawl with a giant spider? Brawling and eating their opponent was a spider thing. Not to mention, Naruto's natural strength meant that he hardly need to use chakra in a battle of strength. He didn't really focus on the other team battle because he was busy thinking about what Minato said regarding the origin and purpose of the Chuunin Exam.

Minato had gone into a simple explanation how in time of peace, the only way a Shinobi can test their mettle and see their limit against another was through a tournament of sort. In a way, the Chuunin Exam replaced war for on field promotion. Death was an expected result but not preferred. This was because any excessive violence will be a strike against the Shinobi because it implied an unstable mind and moral bankruptcy which would dangerous for the client. So the examines were expected to show restrain. The Final was also a place where Shinobi of every village that participated would 'perform' for the client their capability and their capability to show off would also be a merit for the village's ability to perform on mission.

It was weird how the civilians expected a flashy battle from a Shinobi outside war. True Shinobi tended to be very quiet when working in a civilian heavy area. In and out, done. The flashiest attack was reserved for an all out brawl between Shinobi. In another word, a no hold barred war.

Minato had always advised his children, during the few short time he has to spend time with them, that they should think of the fastest and most efficient way to finish their mission instead of glory hounding. The habit to chase fame was often time the cause of a Shinobi's fall. Shinobi was a tool used in the dark, a cloak and dagger business if one were to put it crudely. Explosive Jutsu must only be used in the direst situation. But sometimes those same Jutsu can also be used to take out large number of target or used as terrain control sabotage depending on the terrain.

Doton can be used to create landslide or swallow a target whole, leaving nothing behind to investigate. A clean take out.

Suiton can be used in areas with water not just because using existing water was easier on the chakra but also because it would be easy to fabricate accidents like drowning or turning over large vessel like a ship, causing massive lost of lives.

Every elemental transformation can be used in such a manner. One only need to think it. The best Shinobi were those that wasn't noticed by either the enemy or the target. Although only ANBU practiced such a strategy. Ordinary Shinobi tended to work in the light to promote their services in a...nicer...perspective. The Chuunin Exam also worked in the same manner. If their fledgling can show talent, what was there to doubt about their elites?

Naruto sighed as he looked at his Fuuinjutsu homework. Kushina had wanted him to promote the Uzumaki mastery once more to the world. It was slow going but she told him that he's surprisingly talented in Fuuinjutsu. Clearly he's no genius like his father, but he's inventive and showed far more flexible creativity in using their clan's art. He didn't really use complicated array like Minato but he know how to use his seals in the most unconventional way.

So far he has yet to use this ability in the field because nothing called for it. Reserving abilities were also a quality a Shinobi must practice, in Minato's humble opinion. If he can do it normally then he must take it. His unique abilities must be kept in the dark for when it can truly surprise others. There's a reason why Minato purposefully only use Hiraishin and Rasengan over and over. If his enemy think that he only know these two Jutsu, then he could fool them.

Like this, Shinobi are truly like spiders; an ambush predator.

Most people think that being a jack of all trades, master of none is better than a master of one. But in truth, in battle, an enemy would fear a man that showed superior mastery in one skill than one that showed knowledge in a thousand skills but no mastery at all. Because being a master meant that no matter the angle, no matter the situation, no matter the complication, a single technique that can be applied in any and all situation was what it meant to master it. It meant to truly understand the technique to the point that the mind can think of how to apply it regardless the situation to solve it in the best way.