Third-Person POV

VRRRRRR, VRRRRRR, VRRRR--*click*

"Who is it?"

"Momo, my man! What's cracking?"

Momotaro cringed. "What do you want, Grief-sama?"

"Hey, why do you sound so glum to hear my voice? I thought we were buddies."

"What do you want?"

"Just to know your status, see how you're doing. You're in the Leaf Village now, right?"

"You know I don't answer to you, right?"

"Unfortunately Despair-sama is too busy to check in on you and I don't think Toren cares all that much, so the responsibility falls to me."

"Why couldn't it have been Regret-sama..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Yusuke chuckled. "Anyway, how's your mission coming along?"

Momotaro gazed at the stadium in the distance from his concealed area. Even as far away as he was, he could see the tip of the glacier of ice before it eventually fell over from melting.

His infiltration had been a success, having disguised himself and kept to the many shadows and alleys, the Leaf offered and as a result, he had managed to gather several data about the Leaf's forces and their strengths all while biding his time and waiting for the moment to commence what he had really come for: making an attempt on the Hokage's life.

But he might have made something close to a blunder during the Forest of Death test which would lead to him having overheard that the security at the Entrance Gates of the Leaf had been strengthened. Not to mention, there were now many a jonin patrolling the streets and rooftops. So escape via stealth was almost virtually impossible at this point.

Of course, he told Yusuke none of this and simply said: "Fine, I've gotten sufficient data on their strengths and won't be too long before I can get the Hokage alone."

"Yeah, about that," Yusuke began. "let's not bother with trying to get the Hokage when he's alone."

"What do you mean?"

"Put it simply, if you keep waiting too long eventually you'll run out of time. Now, I'm not saying you should attack right now. They're in the middle of the Single-Elimination Rounds and the Hokage will be at that stadium, so security will be tight. Alongside the Kage, there'll be high-level Jonin that will always be close to him so you can forget about trying to get him alone. My solution: strike in broad daylight when he least expects it."

"What? Are you insane? In broad daylight for hundreds to see? I'll never be able to get out with my life. The jonin are already onto me..." S%#!

"Haha, you really fell for that, huh? Oh, Momo, what tripped you up? Couldn't help yourself with something that caught your eye, I'll imagine."

"...How did you figure it out?"

"I hadn't. I just wanted to see if you were telling the truth or not and apparently you weren't. Thanks for having confirmed to me your real status."

"Damn you...!"

"Anyway, now you really have no other option. You could try to escape now while you haven't thrown the entire Leaf into an uproar, but then you'd have to deal with Despair-sama's wrath, and didn't you say were nothing like my two Sho?"

"Fine, fine. I'll go with your plan. But how exactly will I be able to escape? They'll immediately close off all Entrance Gates."

"That's for you to figure out, but when you do manage to escape head for my hideout so we can exchange information. Well, that's about all I wanted to say -- oh, actually, one last thing."

Momotaro groaned. "What is it?"

"Instead of only pretending to try and kill him, how about you actually try to do so?"

"That's directly going against Despair-sama's order, Grief."

"Maybe, but I just believe your attempt will be a lot more authentic that way and there leaves less room for you to mess up. I'll doubt you'll actually be able to land the hit but if you actually do manage to kill him, then at least the Leaf will have a name to fear: Fukkatsu."

"Bastard, you're actively trying to piss off everyone you know, aren't you?"

"Hahaha! Talk later, Momo. Good luck." *click*

"I hate that guy," Momotaro droned, as he made his way to the stadium.

As far as he could tell security was lax around the entrance zones with only a few jonin patrolling the area.

It was easy enough to infiltrate the stadium.

His only purpose for being there at the moment would be to observe and take note of how heavily guarded the Hokage was and look for the moment when his and everyone's guard would be at the lowest

And once that's done, he thought as he roamed the corridors, I can make my move.

"What are you doing?"

As soon as he heard the voice he spun round to see Yohei.

--------------------------- Flashback -----------------------------------------

"Hey, what the hell happened here?" Kazue called out to Tensho and Jin.

He was just on his way to meet up with them at the agreed rendezvous but then had happened upon the massacre of genin caused by the giant snake.

Following the trail, he had then caught sight of his teammates.

"Yeah, we're fine, thanks for asking," Tensho huffed with exasperation. She struggled to get to her feet after having been knocked out earlier. Luckily Jin was there to support her.

"Whatever. What the hell caused this anyway?" Kazue asked as he looked all about him.

Tensho gripped her head that throbbed madly. "I don't know.. I think it was something like a giant snake?"

He crossed his eyes at her answer. You've gotta be freaking kidding me..!

Tensho saw his change of expressions. "What is it?"

"It doesn't matter," he said. "Did you get their Scroll?"

"Ah, no."

"WHAT!?"

"But Jin was able to swipe one from one of these guys lying around here!"

The purple-haired girl pulled out the Heaven and Earth Scrolls for Kazue to see.

"I don't care about that!" he shouted. "Why weren't you able to grab their Scroll? Did you lose to the bookworm?"

"No, I just didn't get a chance to grab one because of the giant snake!"

"What about before the giant snake appeared, huh?"

"G-guys..."

"Why are so stuck up about this?! We've got the two freaking Scrolls, don't we?!"

"Guys, please..."

"We wouldn't be in this mess if you had beat the bookworm and gotten the Scroll earlier!! Now we've had to slow down because you couldn't get the Scroll in time!!!"

"For God's sake, WOULD YOU JUST SAY THANK YOU?! YOU WEREN'T EVEN PART OF THE PLAN TO GET THE SCROLLS ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR BEEF WITH IROKO!!! EVEN IF THAT'S IMPORTANT TO YOU -- AGH!!!"

Tensho suddenly fell to her knees.

"Tensho!" Jin came to her side and kept her steady as she gripped her head and winced in pain.

"Hey.." Kazue unconsciously reached out a hand to her but he caught himself and held it back. Dammit...

Slowly, Jin placed her hands over Tensho's head and green light began to glow from them. "Please," she squeaked, "please don't do this, you guys..."

"Listen, we're a team now," Tensho continued in a quieter tone, "so Jin and I will do whatever it takes to support you. Just... would it kill you to do the same for us? Even if it's just a thank you or something?"

Kazue remained speechless. He did not know how to respond. But luckily he wouldn't need to. The sound of moaning and voices caught his attention and he realized that the genin that were still alive were starting to wake up.

He turned to Jin. "You can finish healing her later. We need to get out of here now."

Jin nodded. She placed Tensho's left arm over her shoulders and helped her get to her feet. They left the area right after and made their way to the tower.

--------------------------- Flashback ends-----------------------------------------

Now Kazue stood in the arena with his opponent, Ken Inuzuka, opposite of him.

However, Kazue's attention wasn't even on him.

Where are you? He thought as his eyes glossed over the hundreds of people in the crowd.

As Temari backed away to begin the match, Ken spoke, catching Kazue's attention:

"Yeah, I'm probably gonna lose this," he said, "someone as strong as you from an even stronger clan..."

"START!!!"

"... doesn't mean I shouldn't still try, though, right? Now, Akira, FANG OVER FANG!!!"

Together, Ken and Akira performed the classic Inuzuka technique and came at Kazue in two roaring cyclones.

"You've had your chance to give up," said Kazue, "Now I'm gonna have to kill you!!"

Kazue's hands sparked with streaks of yellow electricity and he released a volley of explosive flames at the Fang Over Fang attack.

The crowd was caught off guard and everyone was mystified at the level of power Kazue's jutsu had compared to Ken's.

"NOW THAT'S AN EXPLOSIVE START!!" Guy started.

Speaking of Ken, he was seen leaping out of the explosion at the last second.

"Akira! You okay?" he called. Akira appeared on the other side of the explosion, barking and growling viciously.

Damn, Fang Over Fang's no good if he's packing that much firepower! Ken thought. I need to find a way to close the distance between us quickly but nothing can be done if I don't have Akira at my side, I've got to reach her!!

Ken made a run for her -- and Kazue appeared in his face.

He released another explosive attack that was smaller in scale but enough to send Ken flying across the arena.

"Without your damn dog you ain't much, are you?" Kazue grinned. "Actually, this works out: all I need to win this match is to beat you so I've just got to focus my attention on kicking your a$$!"

Crap, he's figured me out already! I've got to turn the tables or it ends here! As Ken struggled to his feet he shouted: "AKIRA, SICK 'EM!!"

Akira's growls suddenly turned into ferocious guttural sounds. She pounced from her spot and made a beeline across the arena to Kazue.

"You'd really throw your dog in harm's way? Guess I underesti-- huh?"

While Kazue was momentarily distracted by the incoming Akira, Ken had snuck up behind him and managed to grab him in a Full Nelson hold.

"IDIOT, YOU MUST HAVE A DEATH WISH!!" Kazue exploded, smashing his head into Ken's face and digging his foot into his heel, but the Inuzuka held on fast.

"NAH, I'M JUST TRYING TO DO MY BEST! AKIRA!!"

The dog was now upon them, spiralling into another Fang attack. It would have struck Kazue had it not been for a blast of yellow tossing Akira away.

"AKIRA!!" Ken cried.

Kazue felt Ken's grip loosen, then somersaulted over him and proceeded to kick him in the guts. Ken rolled across the ground then recovered himself and came to a halt in a canine position. He flashed his own set of sharp teeth and glared at Kazue.

"What did you do to her?"

A shadow was over Kazue face. "Tch, congrats you made me use this technique." A yellow orb came floating down into Kazue's hand but just as swiftly he snuffed it out. "That won't happen again."

Out of the corner of their eyes, both Ken and Kazue saw Akira slowly getting back up. Her white fur was badly bruised and black on one side but there was still energy in her as she bagn to growl again.

"What, you want some more?" Kazue baited her. "Come get it then, both of you!!"

Yeah, I knew it, Ken thought, at our level, Akira and I can't hope to beat him. I've still got a few tricks left up my sleeve but Akira probably can't go on for much longer. He glanced back at the reserved seating area. Baku did say we've already passed the Exams, but I... I still wanna try!

"You know what?" Kazue continued. "I think I'll just COME TO YOU!!"

He blasted himself towards Ken.

The Inuzuka formed the Tiger hand seal and shouted: "Imitation Human Ninja Art: Beast Human Clone!!"

Ken's eyes were now the most slit they had ever been. He bared his fangs out along with razor sharp nails and lunged at Kazue with speed so great it forced Kazue to dodge him as he came in with a great slash.

Tch! Don't tell me he turned himself into an animal!! he realized.

Ken did not stop there. He lunged at him again, but before Kazue even had a chance to retaliate he noticed Akira was diving in for an attack by the back as well.

He blasted himself into, narrowly dodging the two attacks.

We've got you now! Ken thought. "Akira, Spinning Fang!!"

The two immediately joined and leapt into the air in the form of a buzz-saw shape.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!!" Kazue shouted. He hurled a massive fire ball down at them but the Spinning Fang tore right through it --

His last means of a counter before he was ripped to shreds had him perform once a close-quarter Burning Rush.

Both competitors were blown away from the other and fell harshly back onto the ground.

"Dammit, we were close!" Ken cursed under his breath. He looked down beside him at Akira. Now she had cinder burns all over her fur, but she still spurned and was rearing to go once again. Ken's heart began to hurt for her.

I can't keep pushing her like this. I'm sorry, girl, but--

"RRRAAARGH, RARGH, RARGH!!!"

Ken was caught off guard by her sudden yelps. He looked deep into her yellow-green eyes and her into his eyes, and at once he understood.

"Until the bitter end, huh?" he said, getting back up again. "Alright, you win."

Just at that moment he could hear Sayo's voice. "GO, KEN, GO, AKIRA, KICK KAZUE'S A$$ FOR ME!!!"

Baku sitting by her was giving off strong 'I don't know her' vibes. But when he looked at Ken, he nodded affirmatively. Ken nodded back.

"One more time, Akira."

"ARGH!!"

Meanwhile, on Kazue's end, the ginger ninja was already on his feet, looking all around at the crowds of crying people.

S%#&...

I know you're here.

I know you're watching me.

And you're probably thinking...

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"\\\\!! \\\\\\\\\\?! \\\\\\\\\\\\\!! \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\!?"

"\\\\!!"

"\\\\\\\!!!"

*SMASH*

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...but you just shut up!!

His teeth had now grown into canine teeth and he spun round to face Ken with murder in those bloody eyes.

"I WILL NOT LOOOOOSSSEEE!!" he burst out.

"OH, WHAT'S THIS?" Guy veered. "ARE WE GETTING READY FOR A SHOOOOOWDOWN?!"

The crowd began its uproar once again.

After having fed Akira a pill, Ken ripped through the air with Akira on his back. "Imitation Ninja Art: Man-Beast Clone!!"

Akira's body became engulfed in a blue aura and had transformed into a clone that looked exactly like Ken but still retained her animalistic traits.

Now with Akira having the same body mass as me, we can create the biggest Fang Over Fang yet!!

"AKIRA, FANG OVER FANG!!!" he cried. The two spun together once more and something like a terrible cyclone formed that would swallow Kazue whole.

Kazue equipped himself with kunai that had five explosive tags attached to it and flung it into the cyclone before he was caught in the massive attack.

But he later reappeared behind the Fang Over Fang completely undamaged.

What?! Ken gasped in shock. When did he-? "Akira!!"

The cyclone turned around and came back at Kazue.

"Lightning Style: Bolt Strike." Kazue raised his hand that was emanating yellow chakra and shot a bolt of lightning into the cyclone.

A moment later it erupted into a giant explosion.

Ken and Akira's cries could be heard but then another explosion occurred--

--and then another--

--and once again--

--and the final one lit up the entire stadium.

All spectators went quiet. Baku heaved a sigh.

"I told you I would kill you," Kazue said calmly.

Ken and Akira lay on the ground, battered, bruised and bleeding all around. Temari went over to them, and as soon as she had gotten a good look at their condition she shook her head and raised her flag.

"AAAAAAAND IN AN EXPLOSIVE TURN OF EVENTS, KAZUE KATSUMI MOVES ON TO THE FINALS!!!"

The crowd began to applaud once again. Temari was the only one there that had noticed the block of charred wood on the ground.

Hm, clever kid, she thought.

A second later, medic ninja had arrived in the arena and carried Ken and Akira on hammocks to the infirmary. Kazue looked on at them indifferently then started making his way back to the reserved seating area.

But just as he was turning to the stairwell, Kazuki Katsumi had stepped out before him.

"What a waste of energy," he said to him. "You could have taken him in one fell swoop without using even a third of your chakra. Have you learnt nothing?"

Kazue did not respond and continued up the stairs.

Kazuki gritted his teeth and grabbed him by the arm. "I'm still talking to you!!"

"Don't touch me!!!" He tore his hand away from him.

"You think you can disgrace our clan and just walk away?" Kazuki barked. "What you displayed out there was not respect for your opponent but weakness!! One wrong move and you could and have lost it all!! I don't want to see that again in the Finals, you hear? You will show 'no mercy'!! Do I make myself clear?"

There was no reply.

"I said...," he towered over him, "do I make myself clear?"

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"Pathetic!! Is that the best you can do?! Come on and put some BACK into it!! How will you ever win if you're SO WEAK!?"

"I- I'M TRYING!!"

"THEN TRY HARDER!!!"

*SMASH*

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"...Yes, Father."

Kazuki had then left, leaving Kazue to make his way back to the reserved seating where he was warmly received by Tensho and Jin.

"Yeesh, talk about overkill at the end there!" said Tensho. "I don't wanna say we all knew you were gonna win but... (we all knew you were gonna win)."

Kazue slumped into his chair without saying anything.

Tensho's expression changed to concern. "You.. okay?"

"Just shut up..." he said.

"KAZUE, I WILL AVENGE KEN, YOU HEAR M-- OW!!" Sayo shouted from behind only to be interrupted by Baku.

"Quiet...," he said. "Congrats on your win, Kazue. We'll be visiting Ken. Can one of you let us know when Sayo's match is announced?"

"I can," Iroko vouched.

"Oh, thanks, um..."

"It's Iroko," he deadpanned.

"Yeah, right, Iroko!! Tots knew that!" she rubbed the back of her head innocently.

"Not so funny when the tables are turned, huh?" Yuura spoke to Iroko.

"Oh, come on, you can't seriously still be on that?*"

"All of you just shut up..." Kazue mumbled under his breath.

Iroko looked at him curiously.

What's with him? Why is he suddenly so down after such a big win? On another note, that jutsu shaped like an orb.. wasn't that the jutsu he was going to use on me back at the Forest of Death?

"Everyone, the next contenders are being chosen!" Fumino announced.

All the genin looked up at the randomizer to see the competitors for the next match.

みたらし 仁 VS 高谷 涙

JIN MITARASHI VS RUI TAKAYA

"Uhhh, maybe it's just me but who's Rui?" Tensho asked. "Doesn't sound like someone from our class."

"There are the others from the Sand and Cloud Villages," Fumino reminded them, "so maybe it's one of them."

"Oh, I think you're right," Tensho pointed down into the arena, "look!"

There the Leaf rookies saw a girl in a dark green blouse walk onto the arena. She had half-closed light green eyes, freckles that dotted across her face, and her black hair with purple highlights was styled in a bob-cut.

Asami recognized her. She turned her head and glanced over at the other reserved seating area. She saw the Cloud genin that had been in the same room as them during the Written Test. There was the girl with pink hair and eyes and freckles across her face as well (likely a sibling of the other girl), waving and cheering her on and then there was the boy.

He had dark brown skin, crimson-coloured eyes with a white pupil and blond hair he cut short at the top but left a clump of bangs to cover his entire right face. The strangest thing about him was the two axes he carried on his back.

"Okay, Jin, it's your turn!" said Tensho. "Make sure you give it-- huh?"

There was no one sitting down on Tensho's left.

"What the- where'd she go?!" she looked all around her. "She was just here, right? She just disappeared and it doesn't seem like she's out in the arena either!"

"We'd better find her then," Fumino included, "or else they might give her opponent the win!"

"Oh, there she is!!" Yuura called. They followed his stretched out hand to see Jin give a squeak and then slip out of the reserved seating area.

"After her!!" shouted Tensho. "She's running away!!"

"Lightning Style: Flash!"

As Yuura, Tensho and Fumino all began to give her chase, Iroko had already blurred past them and had managed to grab Jin by the arm before she could disappear.

"Got you!!" he said.

"Nice one, Iroko!" Fumino beamed.

"Jin, what are you doing?" he continued. "You're up next so why are you running away?"

She tried to wriggle herself away but Iroko held a firm grip. "L-let go of me!!"

"Not if you're gonna run away again, I won't! C'mon, it's your match so you've got to go--"

"I don't want to fight!!"

His eyes widened at her comment.

"I don't .. want to fight..."

"Iroko, it's okay, you can let her go," Tensho came up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Jin, we're not gonna do anything."

Iroko did as she said and released his grip on Jin. She then slumped against a wall and covered her face with her hands.

"I'm sorry...," she said, shaking her head. "I just can't go out there... I can't..."

Right, I'd completely forgotten, Iroko realized, she's got social anxiety, doesn't she?

Tensho was the first to respond. She grabbed Jin and brought her into a hug.

"It's okay. No one's forcing you to do anything. You don't have to go if you really don't want to. I can get us the win to pass the Chunin Exams, you've already done more than enough."

"That's right," Fumino nodded, "there's no need to do overdo anything if you're not ready."

Jin gave a nod as a thank you.

"Well, in that case, we'll need to go talk to the announcer and tell him Jin can participate anymore," Yuura suggested.

"BULLCRAP. You walk away now and you'll never be a real kunoichi."

It was Kazue.

"Ugh, what now?" Tensho exasperated.

Kazue ignored everyone except for Jin and walked right up to her. The purple-haired girl could not make eye contact with him if her life depended on it.

Kaz, what are you about to do? Iroko wondered.

"So you're just gonna drop this opportunity, huh? You're probably telling yourself there's always next year or another chance will come eventually, right? That's bullcrap, all of it! We don't wait for a chance to come, we make one!!"

"Were you not listening to a word we said?" Tensho came in, "She said she's not ready!"

"Weren't you the one that said you wanted to kill your fears?" Kazue went on. Jin's hands went away from her face.

"How is this helping, huh? You can wait a month, a year, hell a whole decade for the right chance to come along but the fact of the matter is the situation will always be the same!! You're the one that decided to enrol into the Ninja Course ain'tcha? Why? Tell me why you're here!!"

Jin was staring blankly into the ground. It seemed as though a memory was playing in her head.

"That's enough--!!" Tensho was about to go off, but to her surprise, she was stopped by Fumino. "Why--"

"Just wait a moment," she replied.

"To-- to--," Jin began. "To be able-- to look danger in the face!!"

"To look danger in the face, huh...?"

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"Listen, we're a team now so Jin and I will do whatever it takes to support you. Just... would it kill you to do the same for us?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Then why are you wasting your own time not doing that?"

Suddenly Might Guy's voice tore through the conversation. "UUUUUHHHHH, UNLESS THEY WISH TO CONCEDE THE MATCH COULD WE PLEASE HAVE JIN MITARASHI COME TO THE ARENA? (is she in the bathroom?)

"There's the signal," said Kazue. "So what's it gonna be, Pipsqueak?"

.

.

.

.

"AH, SORRY FOR THE DELAY, EVERYONE!!! HEEEERE SHE IS!!!"

Jin Mitarashi stepped out into the arena with noodles for legs.

There are..

..so many..

..people...

From the endless cries and applauds to Might Guy's own voice to her own heart that was beating ferociously. She was suddenly finding it hard to breathe and her throat became dry. She thought she might just faint until she remembered Kazue's words right before walking into the arena.

"Focus only on your opponent. Don't give a rat's a$$ about anything or anyone else. If you really wanna kill your anxiety you can at least start off with that."

Focus on my opponent...

She narrowed her gaze and looked directly at Ruri Takaya.

"You took so long in there I was beginning to think you wouldn't come," she spoke. "This is still going to be an easy win for me, though."

Temari came between them, explained the rules, and then returned to her original position. Then she declared the match start.

Immediately, a spark of electricity went off in Rui's hands and a whip-like thread of electricity manifested.

"Lightning Style: Static Whip!!"

The crowd had gone silent in order to watch intently.

Jin could still feel their eyes burning holes into her.. but it was, for the most part, quiet now and she had someone she could direct her full attention to.

She moved her body gracefully with a deep inhale followed by an exhale and dodged the whip as it slammed down into the concrete ground.

Ruri was not foolish and she proceeded to drive it with full force at Jin while she was still in airborne--

To which Jin countered by pulling out her cloth wrapped all around her and using it to block the strike, which earned an Oooh from the crowd.

"That cloth...," Asami murmured.

"Woah, did you guys see that?" Iroko gasped. "She just used the bandages wrapped to her skin to nullify the jutsu?!"

"Those aren't just any kind of bandages," Tensho began to explain, "they're Binding Cloth."

"Binding Cloth?" Iroko and Yuura repeated after her.

"It's a special kind of cloth that's fabricated on her mom's side of the family, at least that's what she told me. It's got the ability to absorb the chakra in ninjutsu and is as hard as nails, not to mention--"

"Hey, shut up," Kazue scolded, "You wanna ruin her chances for the Finals?"

"Oh, right," Tensho smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, guys, can't say anymore in case one of you has to face her in the Final Rounds."

"That's cool, it's still a super ultimate weapon, though!" Iroko said.

"Her mother's side, huh?" Yuura pondered. "I wonder what family her mother is from."

The next moment, Jin landed on the ground and made a dash for Rui. As she ran forward she had begun loosening even more of the cloth on her body and spreading it around her. It was starting to look like a white snake with a long body that coiled around its prey before snuffing the life out of them.

Rui made sure to keep away from her, now fully aware of the cloth's capabilities.

It nullifies jutsu, huh? What a pain, she thought. I'll have to strike her from a blind spot before she even has a chance to react.

She reeled back her Static Whip and deactivated it before running towards Jin herself while weaving hand seals.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Stand!"

Suddenly gusts of wind that were shaped like transparent rectangular prisms formed beneath her feet. They lifted her legs from above the ground and then she leapt in the air.

Jin and the spectators gasped in shock at how fast she flew past her and was now facing her back, all in less than a second.

"What a powerful jutsu!" Yuura marvelled. "Although...," he glanced back at Jin, "she doesn't as seem as surprised as I thought..."

"That could rival my Flash jutsu! There really are some crazy ninja out there!" Iroko remarked.

Before Jin could even so much as glance over her shoulder, Rui had reactivated her Static Whip and lurched it forward with neck-breaking force. It struck home hard...

...or it looked like it had. When Rui blinked her eyes again, it seemed as though all she had hit was lengths of Jin's cloth - not Jin herself.

What?!

She darted her eyes to the left and there was Jin, with her Binding Cloth spreading all around her now.

No way, I know I hit her just now! Was it Teleportation Ninjutsu? In that case, I can't afford to underestimate her, she's onto something!!

She molded lightning-natured chakra and formed three more Static Whips. "Lightning Style: Threefolds Static Shock!!"

Forget the surprise attack, I've no choice but to lead on with an all-out offensive!

She launched them at Jin with nigh-untraceable speed. Jin was only able to dodge them because she had guessed such an attack was coming and was already halfway through swerving her body over to avoid them, using her Cloth to block one of them.

At the same time, she shot a piece of the cloth at Rui - she jerked her body to the side in time. Hm, nice try --?!

When she returned her gaze to Jin, Jin was no longer there. AGAIN!! I need to figure it how this Teleportation Ninjutsu works!!

FWOOOOSH!!!

The Binding Cloth zipped right past her head from behind her.

What was that? She had a perfect shot just then but didn't attack me? What game is she playing?!

She swerved around only to come face-to-face with another cloth to the face. They were now all around, surround her from all angles, but not one of them was directed at her.

She finally caught sight of Jin and made a mad dash toward her using her Vacuum Stand. Forget Static Shock, I'll just have to subdue you physically!!

"Agh!!!" Rui suddenly fell to the ground, her entire body suddenly feeling like it was completely bound together and her movements were restricted.

Wh-what is this?

She looked down and as she blinked she finally saw it: Her whole body had been tied down and subdued by the Binding Cloth.

"Impossible..."

Jin was standing just a little ways from her with a sweat ridden face, holding onto the end of the cloth and panting hoarsely. Ruri stared at her in disbelief.

Temari was as well befuddled from what had just happened but nevertheless lifted the flag when she saw that Rui could no longer move.

"A-AND THAT'S IT!! JIN MITARASHI IS THE VICTOR!!!"

The crowd gave an awkward round of applause.

Now that the adrenaline had stopped pumping and she could hear the crowd again, Jin became vulnerable once more so she unwrapped Ruri from her Binding Cloth and proceeded to run out of the arena.

When she was inside the tunnel and she had managed to get her breathing under control, she clutched her blouse tightly unable to stop herself from smiling.

That was so scary..

But I did it... I really did it!! I did it!!

"What was that?" asked Iroko.

"I'm just as lost as you," Yuura answered. The match had gotten so weird in the second half.

Right after the Cloud ninja had used that Wind Styled technique to try and launch a surprise attack at Jin and the Binding Cloth had saved her there, the Cloud ninja suddenly just stopped acting sane. She was shooting her Lightning Style jutsu in random directions all over the arena while Jin just ran around her, tying her in the Binding Cloth.

It seemed like she had only snapped out of her confusion at the end when Jin had finished tying her up. But what on earth could have made her act like that at first? Was it something Jin did?

"Genjutsu," said Asami.

Iroko bobbed his head in confusion while Yuura gasped in realization. "Asami, you mean...?"

"She most likely planted a scene in her opponent's head where she was still fighting her," she continued. "She's a genjutsu user. I had only realized back at the Forest of Death when I had faced her. That was how she was able to split the two of us up." I didn't realize she was this proficient though..

"D-do you think it has something to do with her Binding Cloth?" the blond boy urged on.

Asami only shook her head. She did not know the answer. Even now the question of how she was able to cast a genjutsu remained unanswerable to her.

Yuura turned to Tensho. She only smirked in amusement.

"Genjutsu, huh? That's amazing," Iroko commented. "I never would have thought we'd have someone that skilled at it in our class. For all those years she was probably honing it.."

Yuura nodded in agreement.

But...

He then recalled the memory of how in the Forest when it was just him and Asami and then when he had blinked and he was suddenly in an entirely different area of the Forest.

...back then...

...it wasn't as if Asami was there all along and I couldn't perceive her...

...no, I'm fairly certain I was in reality at that point and if I wasn't then Tensho and I getting attacked by that giant snake would have all been an illusion that I would've woken up from long before now...

...no...

...Asami literally wasn't there anymore.

If it really was Jin back at the Forest of Death, then what she did back there - that went WAY beyond some mind genjutsu.

"That was outstanding!!" Fumino chirped. "Jin really is amazing in every way."

"Yeah, I keep telling her," Tensho spoke, "there's so much more to her than she holds herself to."

"She's definitely going to go far..."

Then Tensho had wrapped her arm around Fumino in a side hug. "Okay, what's up? You're trailing your words which means something's on your mind."

"It's Yohei," she answered. "He's been gone for a while now. I can't help but think something happened to him."

"Alright, so go find him. I can keep a lookout for your match. You go on ahead."

Fumino smiled brightly again. "Thanks, Tensho!"

"Hey, what are best friends for?"

As Fumino took her leave, she passed by Jin who was just arriving and gave her a hug then took off down the corridor.

As soon as she had stepped into the reserved seating area, she was swamped by Tensho, Iroko and Yuura respectively.

"Great job out there, Jin! I'm so happy for you!"

"Yeah, that was ultimate! I had no idea you were so cool!"

"Congratulations!"

She gave a grateful nod. I don't think I'll be able to do that again for a while, though... She then sideglanced at Kazue, who still had not uttered a word.

"Heyyyyyyyyy, coooooome ooooon!" Tensho began poking him in the face. A vein mark had already protruded on his forehead. "Just say it! You know you wanna!"

Jin waved her hands all around in midair. "T-Tensho, there's really no need!"

"No, no, she's right!" Iroko pitched in, poking his face on the other side. "He's gotta say it!"

Kazue was on the cusp of detonating but still kept quiet.

Then the two began to chant. "Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say i--"

"AGH GODDAMMIT, FINE!!! GOOD JOB!!! THERE, YOU HAPPY?!! NOW SHUT UP OR I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!!!"

Tensho and Iroko laughed their hats off while Jin and Yuura chuckled heartedly.

"Thanks," the Hyuga girl began, "for being so supportive, Kaz!"

"Tch, whatever, I just said to her what I had to so I could pass these stupid Exams!"

"Mhm, sure thing!"

Iroko looked on at Kazue with wonder. Yeah, you've definitely changed some since we graduated!

"Alright," Guy announced, "with the conclusion of this match we'll now be heading into a twenty-minute break before we continue the second half of the Prelims!! But just to tease you for the next match let's have a looksies at who the next competitors will be!! RRRAANDOMIZER!!"

Once again, the randomizer had begun cycling through names. Because there were now fewer competitors involved it barely took long to arrive at its choice.

However, this choice would mark the beginning of a confrontation that would turn these Elimination Rounds into more than just a competition.

"The competitors for the next match are..."

海凜 夕空 VS 三浦 樹

YUURA KAIRI VS ITSUKI MIURA