Third-Person POV

The day of the Final Rounds came quickly. On October 10th, the Hokage had opened the brand new underground stadium for Leaf ninjas of all ranks to enter.

The stadium acted as a pod that was half-buried underground with a transparent ceiling that displayed the picturesque blue sky. Its arena, a vast but smooth rocky surface that measured about 75 metres in length and 50 in width, was still surrounded by a 60-metre wall reinforced with a Barrier Jutsu that still stretched for another 100 metres to reach the ceiling. At the forefront of the arena were built two giant arms that came together to form the Ram hand seal.

Ena Kishida stood at the very end of the bleachers constructed from the walls of the stadium to the baluster that she was leaning against, staring solemnly at the other side of the stadium. She could see other ninjas begin to pour in from the entrance tunnel, including Team 12's Asami, Yuura and Hisao. The fact that Iroko was not present among them made her wince.

"Yo, Ena, what's with that look on your face? You depressed or something?"

The girl heaved an exasperated sigh at Genzo's question. "No, just waiting for the Final Rounds to start. Where's Itsuki?"

"He's in the washroom again. I'm starting to think there's something attractive about that place to him that I can't see," He said through a mouthful of chips.

"Where did you get that?" Ena asked.

"There's a vending machine down the corridor there. What, you didn't see it?"

She let out another sigh and returned her gaze to the other side of the stadium.

"So, Itsuki versus Iroko, huh? You excited or nervous?"

"Yep..."

"I think it's pretty safe to say that Tree-boy's got it in the bag."

"If you say so..."

"I mean, not unless we count the fact that Iroko's Lightning Style would be a hard counter to Itsuki's Mineral Style. Oh, but wait, that wouldn't matter if we were deliberately trying to make him see reason and get him to use his Scorch Style again, would it?"

Ena's eyes widened when she realized that he had directly quoted her. "Wait... You were eavesdropping?"

Genzo licked the takis powder off his fingers. Ena's face turned red with embarrassment.

"You creep!!" she punched him in the shoulder. "Why did you wait all this time before saying anything?"

"Okay, not the response I was expecting," he rubbed his now sore shoulder. "I figured I could get the most priceless reaction outta you on the very day of the matches..."

She prepared herself to punch him again.

"...but also because I needed time to think about it myself," he finished, his expression turned serious.

Ena lowered her fist. "Did you know about it? His dad, I mean."

"I'd heard rumours. I already knew he'd sworn absolute virginity from using his other Kekkei Genkai because of his clan but I didn't know his mom had been directly responsible for it. S%&t... Do you really believe Iroko'll be able to snap him out of it?"

"I think if anyone has a shot it's him."

"But weren't you orphaned from the Ninja War, too? Why haven't you tried talking him ou--"

"What makes you think I haven't?" she snapped. "Believe me, I've tried, but he wouldn't listen. That's why I think he sees something in Iroko, something that I myself didn't possess. It's only a hunch, but I think he believes he and Iroko were cut from the same cloth. Maybe Iroko was orphaned from the War, too, only his circumstances were a lot similar to Itsuki's which ended up setting them down on a similar path. If he'll listen to anyone, it's someone like him."

"Yeah, okay, I get where you're coming from," said Genzo, "The thing is, I always chose to ignore that side of his life 'cos I figured it was never my place to butt in. Sure, maybe that mindset is toxic and he genuinely needs help but if we screw up then there's no going back. So my question now is, how exactly is Itsuki gonna take someone literally beating into him the idea that his way is wrong? What if he ends up hating both you and Iroko?"

For that question, Ena had no answer.

As more ninja began to populate the stadium, Asami had become more vigilant. Momotaro could be in the stadium right now and no one would ever know it. For some reason, she couldn't sense his chakra signature when he was in the shadows (similar to Jin being able to nearly erase her presence) and that put her further on edge. Hisao did not seem as worried about it, but it could easily just be him hiding his true emotions.

"I have to go speak to the Hokage, so make yourselves comfortable, I'll be back soon." He gave a very discreet nod to Asami and then took his leave.

"So this is where the Final Rounds are taking place," Yuura marvelled. "It's huge! To think that they had this built underground. The size of the arena tells me that they're expecting participants to go all out."

He looked at his teammate. "We haven't talked to each other in a bit, but I guess that's because you've been training extensively with Hisao-sensei. Sayo Atsuhiro's your first opponent, right? So how did you prepare?"

"By honing my techniques," she replied.

Yuura raised an eyebrow. "Just honing your already existing techniques?"

"Yes..."

Yuura did not know that Asami had failed to observe Sayo's match with Genzo because of the situation with Iroko and Itsuki but she was not about to tell him either. However, the true issue that she would not tell him about was that at one point, during the one week they were given to train, Asami had tried to spy on Sayo. But her household, which was the Atsuhiro Residence, was so heavily guarded that Asami would not have been able to infiltrate it without a well-concocted plan. And even if she were able to successfully infiltrate the household if she were caught it would create problems for Hisao-sensei and potentially the Hokage. The Atsuhiro clan was not to be trifled with; she knew this from the historical records she had read about them. This meant that Asami still knew next to nothing about Sayo and her fighting style so all she could do to prepare was hone her techniques.

"Asami, can I ask you something?"

Yuura took the lack of response from her as a go-ahead.

"What exactly do you want out of the Chunin Exams?"

Asami was momentarily taken aback by the question. When she looked in Yuura's direction, the boy realized just how forward he was being.

"Oh, s-sorry, that was really blunt of me!" he said. "It's just that, well, we've all got our reasons for participating, and you've always been so willing to help me and Iroko, but these Final Rounds will be mostly individualistic (if we really already have passed the Chunin Exams) ... so I-I'm just curious: What's your reason for fighting? How come you're still pushing forward? A-Although, if it's personal then please don't feel inclined to answer..."

"What do I want out of the Chunin Exams?" she repeated his question. "Simple. To become a chunin."

Yuura blinked. "Ah, of course! One need look no further! That's about as valid a reason as any!" Looking at her, despite her ever-blank expression, he knew that this either wasn't the truth or it was only half of it, but prying would do him no good so he decided to drop it entirely.

Then Kakashi's voice resonated throughout the stadium. "Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3..."

"It's starting," said Asami.

Yuura's face twisted and he was now making a face of displeasure. "Leave it to that Iroko to be late as usual," he huffed. "Where is he? As soon as Jin's match with Kazue ends he's up next. Maybe he's just making some last minute preparations." I wonder if he's succeeded in creating a counter to Itsuki's Mineral Style.

Suddenly, unbeknownst to Yuura, Asami's mouth gaped open ever so slightly.

"Today's the 10th of October," she said like she was giving a statement.

"Um, yeah, that's right."

When she said nothing else after that, Yuura was once again left in confusion. He thought about asking her to elaborate but knew he wouldn't get an answer anyway, not that he was really bothered about it. This was something he was now used to after having interacted with the girl for three months. What really concerned Yuura now was Jin's match. He turned his eyes to the centre of the arena where Kakashi was about to give a speech.

"Hello again, and welcome to the Final Rounds of the Single-Elimination. It is here that our Chunin Exams will meet their conclusion. Before we begin, I'd like to call the names of the following jonin to give them thanks for their efforts in ensuring a successful and smooth run of these Exams all the way to their end. They are: Asahi Warai, Hisao, Ibiki Morino, Ino Yamanaka, Issun-boshi Kobito, Kosetsu Heiwa, Kotetsu Hagane, Mei Sarutobi, Might Guy, Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame, Shizune Kato, Tsunade Senju, and Yugao Uzuki. Without these upstanding individuals, this season's Exams might not have happened at all.

"As most of you know, today also marks the fifth anniversary of the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War..."

Yuura gasped out loud. This was something he had not known about.

"Even though five years may seem like a distant memory to some, there are those who can still recall the events of those days vividly. I would ask for a moment of silence for the brave shinobi who gave their lives during that war."

The stadium fell into silence, during which Yuura thought about this.

I didn't know today was the anniversary of the end of the Ninja War, maybe that's what Asami had meant when she stated that today was the 10th of October, but why did she mention it when I was talking about Iroko's absence--

He realized he had answered his own question.

Unless... Unless... Iroko's parents had died during the Ninja War, which means that today is...

The moment of silence then came to an end.

"Thank you," said Kakashi. "We owe an insurmountable debt of gratitude to those shinobi. I pray that no matter how many years pass, may we never forget their sacrifice for a better ninja world. And now, let us commence the Final Rounds."

During that time, Itsuki had just come out of the toilet stall in the washroom.

And as he was washing his hands, he saw in the mirror one of the toilet stalls door swing wide open, revealing Kazue.

He walked toward the faucets as if he had a massive chip on his shoulder. Itsuki did not make eye contact with him as he continued to wash his hands but it was difficult to ignore Kazue's gaze on him. He was quite literally staring holes into the side of his head.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked.

"Yeah, you can," said Kazue. "What exactly is your relationship with the loser?"

Itsuki looked at him. "The loser?"

"Jiko Nakata."

"Jiko?"

"The two-toned loser that goes on spouting about how he'll be ultimate or whatever!!"

"Oh, you mean Iroko Nakata," Itsuki's eyes then narrowed. "What does it matter to you?"

"It matters when someone gets in my way."

Both had finished washing their hands at the same time and proceeded to turn their whole bodies to face each other.

"I've seen you talking to him," Kazue continued, "and I'm here to send a message. The one who's gonna crush him in the final match of this Exam is me, not your tree-looking a$$."

"Shouldn't you be concerned with the match directly ahead of you? Or are you that confident of your victory?"

"Forget about me, it's you we're talking about. But if you wanna talk about confidence, I bet you must think you're so strong 'cos of that Kazekage-ripoff Kekkei Genkai, but Jiko isn't losing to the likes of you. What makes you think he hasn't figured out a way to counter that jutsu?"

Itsuki's eyes narrowed further. I don't like this guy...

"We were just given a whole week to prepare in advance for our upcoming matches, and his teammate, the one you fought last, is a freaking book nerd who probably shared info he'd collected on you with him. Above all else, the most annoying thing about that loser is he just doesn't know when to quit. He's not gonna let you win until he's completely dead and you'll be in for a rude awakening if you think otherwise."

"That's fine," Itsuki responded. "Everything you just talked about, I've been expecting it. I know who my opponent is, and I know what he's capable of as well."

Kazue glowered. "Did you not hear what I just freaking said? You don't know Jiko the way you--"

"A minute ago you asked me what my exact relationship with Iroko was. Well, it's not that we're close friends or anything. All it is is that ... he resembles a side of me I had lost faith in."

Surprisingly, Kazue did not deliver a snarky response. In fact, his eyes seemed to widen in relative shock from what Itsuki had just said.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Back in my childhood, I believed I could become the best if I simply worked hard enough and made my family proud. But for some, you can never be good enough, no matter how hard you try. It took me the death of a relative of mine at the hands of another relative to realize that. I've since taken a different path to achieve my goal, but it's to my understanding that Iroko is still on that previous path. Do you know if he has any family around?"

"Even if I did, why would I tell you?"

"It doesn't matter. Whether or not they are, I get the feeling that he's still fighting to make them proud. We both want to surpass our idols, and we've both experienced pain in our past, but unlike me, he never cast aside his love for his family and it's brought him this far, hasn't it? For me, this won't just be a battle to see who gets to go on to the Semifinals. I want to know between the two of us who's on the right path, or in other words if I made the wrong choice. So I am taking this very seriously. No matter what, for the sake of my ideals, Iroko is someone I don't intend to lose to."

The whole time Itsuki had spoken, Kazue had been gritting his teeth in anger. "Are you done? You're talking so damn much I almost wanna rip my ears out. I don't care about either of your family issues, you can leave all that hot mess at home. Whatever it is that's driving the two of you, whatever your inspiration is it doesn't matter. In this world, the only thing that does matter is strength. Anyone that believes anything else doesn't deserve to stand at the top, that includes you and the loser. If I have to beat it into you two or anyone else at the end of this freaking tournament then so be it! I'll crush all of you, that way the only ideal left standing is that one."

He stomped away from Itsuki, opening the door to leave. Temari calling out the names of Kazue and Jin could be heard in the distance.

"Kazue Katsumi, right?" said Itsuki.

The ginger ninja only grunted at the mention of his name.

"I answered your question, but you didn't mine. How confident are you in the victory of your first match?"

Without turning around to face him, he answered: "How confident are you?"

It was time.

Jin made her way down the tunnel, trying to get her breathing under control. Temari had already called her name but she still found herself struggling to go out there.

"Just imagine it," she said under breath. "There's no one there, there's no one. It's just you and..."

To her surprise, she found she could not bring herself to say 'him'.

"Jin?" Tensho had lightly tapped the girl on her shoulder to get her attention but it was still enough to make her jump. "Woah, it's okay! It's just me. Well, me and Kosetsu-sensei."

Kosetsu stood behind the Hyuga girl with an assuring smile on her face.

"You're here...?" she said.

"Hm? Of course we are," said Tensho. "Like you even need to ask! Seeing a teammate-- no, a friend right before a big match isn't something I even need to think about!"

"You've come a long way, Jin Mitarashi," Kosetsu spoke, "you're no longer as frightened as you were when I first saw you."

Jin broke eye contact with her. "No, I'm still plenty scared. Like with this fight."

"And yet you're still here," she knelt in front of her. "You know courage isn't born from a lack of fear, it's born from still being afraid and facing your fear anyway. That's you right now and I am incredibly proud of you for that."

Jin's cheeks flushed immensely as she darted her eyes away in embarrassment. "Thank you."

"Now, because I'm a sensei to all three of you, that means I can't afford to give advice and discuss tactics with just one of you when you're about to engage one another in an official battle, so this is where I've got to take my leave. Just remember, Jin, no matter who your opponent is, always do the best that you're capable of. See you after the match"

Kosetsu stood up and walked off down the tunnel, her hair swaying and shimmering behind her as it could still be seen in the long dark of the tunnel.

When she was out of sight, Tensho pulled up beside Jin with a cheeky grin on her face. "Lucky for you, I'm not a sensei."

They looked back at the arena and saw Kazue was already standing in the centre with his hands shoved in his pockets. He looked almost furious to see Tensho standing beside Jin.

"Jerkwad, even now he still looks obnoxious. So what's your strategy?" she asked. "We've been together months now so while you may be familiar with his skillset he'll also be familiar with yours as well. Unless," she looked down at her footwear, "you've got something up your sleeve?"

"It's okay, Tensho," Jin said at a normal level.

"Huh?"

She began walking forward. "I've already decided. No matter how this pans out, I won't regret anything. Thank you for being here, but I'm going to go on ahead if you don't mind..."

"Jin..." Tensho pursed her lips as she remembered what Kazue had said to her at the end of the Preliminaries. And all this time I had been worried, when I should have just trusted her. "Jin, wait! I've gotta confess..."

Jin looked back at her. Then the Hyuga realized she was only taking up more of her time. Shaking her head, she said, "No, forget it. It can wait until after your match. Go get 'im, girl!!"

Jin returned one last awkward smile and then hurried out into the arena.

The two teammates met at the centre of the arena, standing before each other with their backs arched out. To his surprise, Kazue found that although her head was slightly bowed her eyes were not leaving his gaze. He could still see the slight tremor in her body, though.

"Remember what I told you?" he said.

Jin made no response but he knew that she knew.

Just like last time, Temari would be the referee. Standing in front of them she said: "It's the same rules as from the Preliminaries. And, I'm sure you already know this but just to make sure, absolutely no killing or homicide attempt is allowed. You got that?" She looked down at Kazue from the corner of her eye.

The orange-haired ninja had noticed. "What are you looking at me for? I got it, alright?"

Temari raised her hand high into the air and then swung it down, shouting: "Begin!"

Kazue was the first to move by darting away from Jin. "Lightning Style: Stream!!"

Jin managed to unwrap her Binding Cloth just in time to intercept the wave of lightning bolts rushing at her, but then Kazue snapped his fingers and the bolts of lightning made a cracking and became engulfed in a volley of flames, forcing Jin to somersault backwards.

The series of movements only pushed on as Kazue inched further and further away from Jin but continued to bombard her with Burning Rush, however, Jin managed to defend herself from them and successfully absorbed them with the Cloth.

It came to a headway where Kazue was visibly pissed and was forming the Hand Seals Bird, Rat then Serpent.

"Parry this, Pipsqueak!!" He unleashed a massive version of Flame Serpent and hurled it at her, only for Jin to respond with a glow emanating from her Binding Cloth.

Before Kazue could even firmly grasp the situation. Jin's Binding Cloth released its own explosions that matched the Flame Serpent. As soon as they collided a deafening sound like thunder followed and the participants were knocked off their feet by the wind pressure.

"He's brash and hotheaded just like his father," Kakashi said to Hisao, "but you can sense his pragmatism even from up here. Something tells me he doesn't feel inclined to show any mercy even to a teammate."

"And what do you make of Jin, Lord Sixth?" Hisao asked.

His eyes thinned when they focused on the girl. "She's playing her nature to her strength. Everyone would make the assumption that Kazue would most likely come out victorious because of her shy nature and feebleness but only those who truly see through the deception would know that those characteristics are arguably her greatest trump card. It means that she's hiding something, something big, like the equivalent of there being an elephant in a room full of people but no one actually knows it's there. This match may take a surprising turn yet."

In the arena, Kazue had lifted himself up from the ground soon after. Everyone could now see that there was alarm in his eyes as he looked wildly all around him amidst the smoke. Without thinking further on the matter, he reached into his new pouch and pulled out a kunai with a small explosive tag attached, immediately throwing it into the air so it would detonate directly above him. The resulting explosion dispersed the mists of smoke, revealing Jin who was about to drop down on Kazue from above.

"Gotcha!" He leapt out of her way before she could reach him. Although he was grinning haughtily on the outside, in his mind he was exhaling from an overwhelming amount of relief. That was too damn close!!!

"Something's not right," Yuura began to observe. "Why does he keep distancing himself from her? It's so unlike him to avoid close-quarters combat."

Tensho glanced at the blond-haired boy with a bead of sweat running down her face. He's right, this is unlike Kazue. The thing is, I think I know the reason why.

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

"That girl has what it takes to beat me."

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

If he really did mean what he said back then, then there's only one jutsu in Jin's arsenal that could put him on edge like that, and it's probably her Kasane.

Jin, was this her plan along? If Kaz gets too close to her, then it's game over!

As soon as Jin's surprise attack had failed, she shot out her Cloth at Kazue just as he had dodged. He held up his arm to defend himself from it but the Cloth had instead wrapped itself around it.

"Dammit!!" His canine teeth began to sharpen out of vexation. When he tried to use his other arm to unwrap the Cloth another shot out and wrapped itself around his other arm as well. Jin held on tight, actively trying to pull him towards her, but Kazue pulled back as well with strength that surpassed hers. Jin's feet began to slide across the ground, accumulating dust, but she willed herself to stop, reflexively grabbing more of the Cloth and slowly but surely pulling Kazue towards her.

The boy could suddenly hear whispers from the bleachers. He looked up and saw that jonin were whispering to each other while looking at him. But what he seemed fixated on the most was their eyes...

Eyes that seemed to disapprove of him.

Gritting his teeth, he stomped hard on the ground and heaved at the Binding Cloth with all his might, completely throwing Jin off her feet and unto the ground.

"Dammitall!!!" Next, he was dragging her across the ground in a full circle before hurling her across the arena in a shower of dust. Jin made contact with the ground abrasively, earning herself quite a few cuts and bruises.

"Well, that worked well," said Genzo. "Can't possibly imagine what would have gone through her head to try a stunt like that."

Ena looked on humorlessly. She was not one to make a mockery of others even if there was a good reason to. But then her eyes suddenly caught sight of something that was swirling around Jin. She squinted to try and get a better look at it but it remained just as blurry. In the end she had to resort to activating her Enbogan to see it, and when she did she became shocked at what she saw.

What are those?!

Reaching into his pouch, Kazue pulled out a large kunai with a special orange tag attached to it and some kanji written across its handle. He flung it in Jin's direction where it landed in front of her, and when the blade had sunk deep enough into the ground, ten other mirror-exact kunai had spawned beside it, five on each side, all of which came with their own tags and formed an arc before Jin.

"No way, are those what I think they are?" said Tensho.

"It's the Shadow Clone Blade," said Fumino, as she Daito, and Yohei had joined Tensho, Yuura and Asami. "It's made with its own special chakra that the user can time to detonate anytime they want and when it does it can create up to as many clones of itself as the limit of that specific brand can allow. They're super expensive though so it's mostly just ninja from prosperous families or those that earn a higher wage (like a jonin) that have them."

"Rich boy," said Yohei.

"Okay, but what about those tags attached to them?" Daito asked.

"Hm... I'm not sure," said Fumino. "They look like explosive tags."

Then Kazue, as he addressed Jin, answered their question. "I wouldn't move if I were you. You know what those tags are? They're my clan's own special version of the explosive tags that self-detonate based on motion sensing. If you get too close to even one of 'em they'll light up this entire arena with you at point-blank range."

"H-Hey, that's way too much, isn't it?" Yuura said worriedly.

Tensho shook her head. "There's nothing that's too much for him."

"A$$hole," said Yohei.

"Kazue Katsumi," thundered Temari, "give me one good reason why I shouldn't disqualify you here and now. I said no homicide attempt!"

"And I didn't say it would kill her, did I? It'll probably knock her out cold but those Binding Cloths of hers will probably absorb the blunt force of the impact. Either way, it's a lose-lose situation for you, so just give up."

Jin's face was cast in shadow.

Kazue could feel a bead of sweat run down his face. Come on. What are you waiting for? he thought. Just throw in the damn towel!

When she finally looked back up, he saw pure unwavering resolve across her bruised face.

"Fine then." She won't do it. "It's the end of the line for you anyway."

Shifting his stance, Kazue accumulated lightning-nature and fire-nature into his hand, forming a Will o'Wisp. There's no way she'll do it. There's no way she'll be stupid eno--

Then Jin ran forward.

Kazue and the entire crowd in the stadium gasped. "NO, DON'T!!!" he screamed.

Within 1 metre of one of the explosive tags, she jumped and then spiralled her body in the air, spreading her Binding Cloth around her so it covered her like a white spiral. Kazue could see the tag burning off completely before being consumed by a blinding white light.

The sound the explosion made sounded like a bomb had gone off. Jin had been propelled towards Kazue at a speed faster than Iroko using his Flash jutsu, but the orange-haired ninja had been prepared, swerving to the side with a Burning Rush.

"Holy crap!!" Daito shouted. "Jin's in a league of her own now!!"

"I can't believe it," Tensho had become dazed. "That she would do something so reckless... Just where is this confidence coming from...?!"

"It seems like neither of them are acting like themselves today," said Yuura.

Right after he had dodged her assault Kazue prepared to drive the Will o'Wisp home when he noticed that Jin's footwork had changed.

The world began to move in slow motion as he became absorbed in the moment. He saw that Jin's body was starting to fade. First the fingers on her hand, then her arm, and soon her entire upper torso was blinking in and out of reality. Even Kakashi was taken aback by what was happening.

"Oh, like hell you will!!" Kazue unleashed several Will o'Wisps at her now, but she had vanished entirely before they hit her.

"She's gone...!" said Yuura.

To which Asami followed by saying: "And I can't sense her chakra signature anymore."

"No, no, no, no, no..." Kazue had become panicked. S#%t, the tags!! I GOTTA REACH THE TAGS!!!

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

"I answered your question, but you didn't mine..."

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

Every second counted. Using Burning Rush, Kazue moved forward like a rocket having blasted for take-off. He saw one of the tags in his vision already starting to detonate as he reached out for it, but in his peripheral, he also saw a fair-skinned but bleeding hand reaching out for him as well.

Jin was right next to him.

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

"How confident are you in the victory of your first match?"

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