A/N: Another one, woooo! Here you guys go, one of my personal favorite fights for this story arc! Hopefully you enjoy, the next match is going to get pretty intense! Enjoy! :)


"Tsuyo...is going to be okay, right?"

Tenshi whispered her question into Jiyuu's ear as she hugged his arm a little tighter, her full attention on her scrawny, life-long friend below. It hadn't even been five seconds into the match, and all that happened was Tsuyo rummaging through his vest pockets and patting them, as if to make sure he had everything where he wanted them to be. She was all for being positive and rooting for the people she cared about, but even she had common sense. She had never seen Tsuyo in action after graduation day, and even that very occasion showed he was a little lackluster in the combat department. He could hide and wait things out as much as he wanted in a real-life encounter, but this was a dual. Hiding meant nothing, someone had to be knocked out or surrender.

Jiyuu gave a light nod, also watching the bespectacled genin below. "Yeah, he's gonna be fine. He doesn't look like he's improved much, but he's gotten pretty strong." Or rather, he's gotten pretty crafty. Sure, Jiyuu knew that his teammate had become better with his genjutsu, and was able to detain that Oil-nin by himself back in the Swamp of Despair, but that was all he knew about. As far as he was aware, he didn't know if Tsuyo even learned a single jutsu. But still, it couldn't hurt to help relieve the tension that the freckle-cheeked girl on his arm was feeling.

She sighed with relief and rested her cheek against his shoulder. "I sure hope so..."


Tsuyo opened the final pocket of his vest and pulled out a small, silver object that he held gingerly from a wooden handle. It was nothing but a simple bell, and he held it in front of his person like it would be the deciding factor of the match. He narrowed his eyes through his glasses at the kunoichi across the arena, and slowed his breathing in unison with his heart rate. She was intimidating, very intimidating, especially with the gas mask. Oh yeah, and there was also the fact that she had cracked a part of the ground when she landed from the balcony above, that wasn't reassuring. If the last match was any indication of the Hidden Rain's prowess for combat, it was that they were nothing to shrug off, for the smallest mistake had even put a jinchuuriki's match on the line. If he was going to win, he'd have to do all of this perfectly, just as he had planned it while watching the previous matches.

Of course he had already planned out his course of action for his own match. Why wouldn't he? However, he couldn't factor in his opponent. This was something he had to do right now.


Up in the stands, a certain young kunoichi found herself drawn to the bell that her friend had pulled, wondering just why in the world he would ever take out a gift she had made for him at a time like this. "That bell..." she began, but failed to finish. It just didn't make sense, she made it for him as a small gift for his birthday long, long ago. Why was he carrying it around with him? On top of that, why was he pulling it out now that he was here, of all places?

Jiyuu glanced at her, a little surprised that she didn't understand. "You don't know?" A quizzical glance from her answered his question, so he continued. "I'm sure you know Tsuyo fights using genjutsu mainly, but did you know he needs a source of sound to get his illusions going? Anybody who hears a sound from an object that he charged with his chakra is going to be put under, which is pretty crazy." His gaze traveled back to the topic of discussion, and a faint smirk crept up on his lips. "He's been using that bell on missions ever since we got back from out first big one. It's useful, the sound of a bell in the middle of a forest or clearing is gonna stand out, which means he'll catch plenty of people in his genjutsu. Pretty smart, huh?"

Tenshi didn't respond, only brushing some of her hair away from her face to get a better look at the bell he was holding, and then at the stone-cold face of the once-shy boy.

...he never told me that.


Sogeki huffed into her breather, and flicked her hair back with a short, swift motion of the head. "Well? Come on already, the match started." Her words came out in a dry, yet lightly agitated tone, and were shortly followed by her starting a swift, intimidating stride towards the genjutsu-user. She reached underneath her hair and began undoing the buckles for her breathing mask, a few quiet clinks coming from the buckles telling her that she was finally able to do what she had wanted for so long. The device fell and dangled around her neck, and her faint little grin was finally visible to the world. She took in a deep whiff of the fresh, unpolluted air that was in the arena, and relished it. There was a hint of sweat and dried blood that lingered, as well as morning dew and rainfall. Interesting combination. Still, it was much better than the scent of smog and acidic rain than her own town had lingering throughout the streets.

Thunder rumbled once more outside, and the soft sound of rain hitting the floor between Tsuyo and Sogeki was the only source of noise on the empty battleground. The bespectacled genin's expression was a stern one, stone-like in it's impression and showed no signs of weakness. The trembling in his legs had managed to ease up a little, a side effect from his slowed breathing and the calming ambience of rainfall. He adjusted his glasses with a free hand, and began to walk towards his opponent with a speed equalling her own. He held the tiny, silver bell's handle between his thumb and index fingers, applying enough force that he was grateful for the wooden portion of his gift not breaking. He would have to play this one smart, he knew just what the shinobi of the Hidden Rain were able to use in battle after Baransu had bragged about it throughout his match, but even then, his dependency on technology had lead to his own downfall in the end. He underestimated his opponent because he only saw what his scanning device would show him, but never bothered to see things for himself. Now, if Sogeki was the same way, Tsuyo was unsure of such a thing. Regardless, he would still play it safe, as was the way of a genjutsu-user.

But then his toe hit a slightly elevated tile of the floor, which caused the calm and collect-looking genin to flail his arms like a falling bird as he tripped, and met the ground face-first.

Sogeki stopped in her tracks and stared, her gaze fixated on the boy's small form, which then transitioned to the small silver bell flying away from him. It hit the ground with a rough ding, and began rolling near her before she stopped it beneath her foot like it was some helpless animal. This whole situation, it had to be some sort of comedy act, there was no way that someone this clumsy could have possibly made it this far in the Chuunin Exams. She couldn't even bring herself to laugh, it was jut too bewildering to see how her opponent's most dangerous foe was himself. And, judging by the look that this boy gave her as he gingerly lifted his face from the ground, the pure horror he seemed to display after seeing where the bell was, it would appear that Sogeki held the advantage, too.

"If you're going to be fighting as badly as you walk, then this is going to be an easier victory than I thought," she mocked half-heartedly, pressing her foot down a little on the bell. She could feel the cheap metal bending with ease under the pressure, and saw Tsuyo's eyes begin to tremble. "I don't know why you would pull out a bell, of all things; all I can assume is that you intended to fight with it. However, it doesn't really matter what you intended to do, because you'll just have to think of something else."

With a sickening crunch and snap, the silver bell was flattened beneath her foot.


Tenshi felt her heart become crushed in unison with her gift beneath the Hidden Rain kunoichi's foot; seeing Tsuyo look as if his spirit had been stepped on at the same time hadn't helped her, either. "Tsuyo..." she whispered to herself, digging her nails into Jiyuu's arm without realizing. She glanced at her boyfriend to see if he had any comforting words, anything that he could say to help encourage her, and assure Tenshi that her old friend would be just fine. That it was all part of the plan. But from the face he was making, with his eyes widened and his mouth slightly agape, it was clear things weren't going as he had expected. His whole body was tense, rigid, like he was made of stone, and he seemed to be holding his breath without knowing it.

"Jiyuu," Tenshi began quietly, looking back to the small boy down below, "...is Tsuyo still going to be alright?"

The words were caught in his throat momentarily, but he eventually managed to speak them. "I...I don't know. Tsuyo always relies on genjutsu, I've never seen him fight without it."

A click of the tongue got their attention; they turned their heads to see Sakana slowly shaking her head, teeth clenched tight into a small snarl as she shot both of them a glare. "You're both idiots. Of course Goggles is going to be fine, he's super smart and stuff. I'm sure he'll figure something out, so shut up and watch to see what he does."

A particular Hidden Mist jounin sensei stood behind his team, back leaned against the wall with his nails scratching through the dark brown hairs of his beard. His gaze was narrowed, eyes fixated on his lone student below while his ears picked up on the chit-chat between the rest of his team. His mouth had become a flat line, thin like a blade's edge as his voice rumbled with a soft 'hmmm'. Tsuyo wouldn't go into battle without thinkin' of a plan. He's smart, able to make strategies in seconds. He's been doin' it on his feet for all our past missions too, which ain't too bad for a genin. This has gotta be an act, there ain't no way Tsuyo's bell would get snatched so easily...so what's his game?

"Man of Five..."

Ketsui didn't move his head, nor did his body react when his title was muttered to him. He glanced to his side, much like Suchiru, to see Horusuta looking at him, her gentle, yet sharp eyes barely visible through the tinted glass of her gas mask's eye holes. "Having a title means nothing when you are a sensei. What matters is what you pass on. It's clear you haven't taught him anything," she said in a passive tone. She then looked ahead once more, and shuffled her arms around beneath her grey, partly open grey cloak. "He will not win this battle."

Dan, a silent shadow standing out of view from most of the Hidden Mist team's view, shuddered at his sensei's words. It was that kind of hubris that he wasn't comfortable hearing, especially from her. If things had gone bad...oh man, if things went bad, then he'd be the only hope of having the Hidden Rain advance, and Kami knows he wouldn't stand a chance. He gulped audibly, trying to cover it up with a cough, and peered over the railing to watch the kunoichi of his team do battle.

Suchiru was about to open his mouth and berate the high-and-mighty kunoichi for Ketsui, but the Man of Five chuckled, putting the Steel-Willed shinobi to silence.

"Well...we're just gonna have to see 'bout that..."


The bespectacled boy remained facedown, a single hand dragging itself beside his head as he gently clawed at the floor beneath. He trembled where he lay, a mass of uncertainty and fragility, and he could feel the judgmental eyes of not only his opponent, but every single onlooker in the room. He felt defeated already, having let his biggest advantage slip away, so what was even the point of fighting now? Perhaps he should just lay there...surely Sogeki wouldn't mind him doing so for a few minutes...

"Get up already," said the aforementioned kunoichi as she stepped off the ruined remains of the silver bell,]. The Rain-nin began making her way towards Tsuyo, like a huntress closing in on wounded prey, all the while trying to hide her excitement for getting such a klutz for an opponent. "If you just lay down there and take what's coming to you, you'll be in worse shape than if you would have defended yourself."

And right on cue, the boy's small, gentle hand beside his head curled up into a fist, which he rose up to slam knuckle-down into the floor. Sogeki paused in her stride, and witnessed Tsuyo do the same with his other hand before shoving himself off the floor and onto his feet in one motion, all the while swiftly drawing a kunai from a pocket on his cargo vest. There was a look in his eye that he didn't have before. No, it was quite foreign on him. He adjusted his crooked glasses with a small push of it's bridge, and narrowed his eyes into an uncharacteristic, sharp glare. It would have been far more intimidating had he not fallen on his face mere moments ago, but hey, at least he was trying. It was all he could do at this point.

The rain pitter-pattered against the floor between them, quickly forming a small puddle of water that acted as a sort of veil for both competitors. The kunoichi laughed openly, shrugging a little as she looked the now motionless genjutsu-user up and down. "Well that's just cute...you're trying so hard to be a tough guy all of a sudden, aren't you," she inquired with a small tilt of his head. "Not that I mind, of course. I'd rather fight a real opponent than some sniveling baby crying on the floor. So, good for you. You've realized what your better option is while we're both out here on the battle floor."

Tsuyo said nothing, nor did he react. He only tighten the grip on his kunai, and continued to stare into the Sogeki's gaze, which was slowly crumbling away any small signs of polite battle etiquette as a small crinkle formed in her brow. "But make no mistake," she continued, "I'm going to make sure that everybody here will remember what your screams sound like. You'll be begging for mercy by the time I'm-"

Tsuyo flung his kunai at her, which caught the kunoichi off-guard. She was barely able to move her head to the side and avoid the kunai, it's blade taking off the tips of a few of her purple hair. She hunkered herself down into a more battle-ready stance and glared at the boy before her, who had already brandished a fresh kunai in the little time she looked away from him.

"You talk too much..." he said before adjusting his glasses once more, and bringing his hood up over his head.

She growled, and inhaled deep as she threw together hand signs beneath her cloak. "Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!" Hunching forward, she fired a giant, searing ball of flames at the little bastard. He was quick to react, nimbly leaping to the side as he spun his body around before flinging a second kunai at Sogeki, this one much faster than the first. She was still recovering from firing her technique, and only her eye was quick enough to catch the sharp object flying at her body. She didn't bother putting up her arm to block, she let it's tip fly into her cloak and against her chest, which created a soft metallic 'clink' noise. Clearly aggravated, the girl let the kunai fall out of her on it's own accord, and reached around her shoulder to grip the cloak; in one motion, Sogeki ripped the grey cloth off of her body. Her whole form was encased in a white, pearlescent, machine-like suit of armor. It was sleek, slim, and had faint glowing blue lines flowing through what little creases it sported. There was a barely-visible scratch where the kunai had hit her, and there were no sighs of the armor even being nicked, let alone punctured.

Tsuyo straightened himself up, and scanned the girl from head to toe before letting out a 'hn'. "A cybernetic suit, one of the Hidden Rain's specialties when it comes to technological-based weapons. It must have cost a fortune, especially for a genin, so you must have completed many high-ranking missions to afford it. You're no joke, it seems."

Sogeki didn't say anything in response, only casting a final glance to the cloak she gripped in an armored hand before throwing it aside.

"I can't say I'm surprised though," he continued. "When you helped Baransu back onto the stands, your cloak opened up. Anybody paying attention would have noticed the armor, it would be illogical not to. From there, I could only assume that it's made of the same material as Baransu's gauntlets, which I noticed took barely any damage throughout his battle with Sakyu. The material must be quite strong. The fact that my kunai bounced clean off of you is proof of that, you're not afraid to take damage while in that thing."

The Hidden Rain kunoichi grumbled a little, and began charging at him with her fists raised in front of her. "And you say I talk too much...this is when you're supposed to fight!" When she got in close enough, she threw a fast jab, which Tsuyo sidestepped with ease. She followed with a high left hook, he ducked under it and shifted over to her left side. He shoved her hard on her left shoulder, causing her to lose balance and fall to the floor. He leapt back just in time to avoid her wild, blind swing, which collided with the ground and sent a violent shockwave rippling across the floor as it kicked up dust and pieces of the ground.

"It seems the suit enhances your strength...I'd imagine it does the same to your speed." Tsuyo got on one knee when he got some distance between him and his opponent and created a water clone at his side, both watching Sogeki rise from the floor. He wasted no time, he couldn't afford to. He had gotten himself in a favorable position for those first few swings, which was why he was able to avoid them so swiftly. But now, she knew not to toy with him, which meant it was time he stopped verbally analyzing her. He made a few hand signs before standing up and positioning his arms in a strange fashion. One arm was extended straight up, it's hand forming a half-ram sign. The other arm was held in front of his body, and it's hand was making the same sign. The boy's stoic gaze hardened as he focused his chakra into both arms, and let out a slow breath as he saw Sogeki preparing to rush him at a speed he knew he couldn't counter.

"Hidden Mist Jutsu."

Sogeki felt her heart skip a beat at the name of the famous technique. No! If he does that, he'll gain the advantage! I have to stop him now! The Hidden Rain kunoichi rushed him, slamming her knuckles against each other, which prompted her armored forearms to start crackling and snapping with electricity. She swung a fist at Tsuyo, and felt her knuckles connect hard enough with his jaw that it would be impossible for him to not be, at the very least, bleeding from the mouth. But it was too late. While reeling back from the hit, he vanished into the quickly-expanding cloud of mist that she couldn't even hope to see through. She gritted her teeth and came to a stop, immediately whipping her head back to find that she had rushed in a little too late. She cursed her luck, and looked at the legs of her armor before stomping a foot into the ground; she began walking afterwards, leaving behind a footprint in the tiled floor.

Damn it...I know I can move faster than that, I should've been taking that little bastard's head off before he even said the name of his jutsu. So why didn't I? How couldn't I? It must be this damn suit, I knew I should've given the gears and internals a good cleaning before the Chuunin Exams. Now I'm going to look like a fool before I break out of this jutsu.


Tsuyo's teammates watched on, eyes wide with shock as the small, frail boy said the name of a signature Hidden Mist shinobi technique that, as far as they knew, was only taught to chuunin. Both genin looked to Ketsui, Sakana's mouth partially open as if she was trying to find the words, while Jiyuu new exactly what to say.

"Pa? You...taught Tsuyo the Hidden Mist Jutsu? When?"

Ketsui grinned at his son, throwing the young boy off for a moment with the odd reaction. No doubt, Jiyuu felt as if he had been left out if such a thing was taught to the underdog of their team, and there was no doubt in Ketsui's mind that Sakana felt the same. Ketsui knew this, he understood that the two must have felt like the Man of Five was playing favorites, but they were in for quite a surprise. With a slight chuckle, Ketsui shook his head slowly as he folded his arms, confusing the two even more. "Sorry kiddo, you guessed wrong. I only helped him build up his chakra reserves durin' trainin', he managed to pick up this little trick in his spare time." He looked on towards the field filled with mist, and chuckled again. "Clever guy. He never even told me he learned this."

Jiyuu didn't seem satisfied with the answer, not one bit. The Hyuuga Pariah asked Ketsui long ago to teach him the famous technique, yet all his father did was go on and on about how it was more complicated than that, how it was partially based around genjutsu and heavy usage of ninjutsu, something like that. Long story short, Ketsui had danced around the chance to teach Jiyuu the technique, simply claiming it wasn't easy, and left it at that. And Tsuyo, the kid who started out as nothing but a sad, spineless worm, had managed to learn it?

Sakana growled under her breath and looked down at her feet, arms folding. "I don't buy it...how could Goggles even..."

"Tsuyo is pretty smart," Tenshi spoke up, getting the genjutsu-user's teammates to look at her. Jiyuu hadn't realized it until now, but she was no longer hugging his arm, and was now more focused on the fight below than anything else. "He's always reading a book when he's alone, and on a few occasions, I've seen him getting lost inside of a jutsu scroll. He loves learning, and I'm not surprised that he figured out how to perform this technique," she said with a faint smile. "That's Tsuyo, alright...always full of surprises."

A certain jinchuuriki of the Three-Tails couldn't help but overhear the kunoichi, and clicked his tongue before looking over at the motionless, stiff-looking Tanken by his side. "Can you believe that crap," he muttered to the draping-haired boy. "The biggest loser of that group is able to learn something like the Hidden Mist Jutsu. What garbage..."

Tanken let out a 'hn', though his facial expression didn't change. "You can't ignore talent, Mendona. A genin who apparently had poor chakra control learning such a taxing technique is nothing short of impressive...but, you already knew that." He heard Mendona grumble in agreement, and continued. "But his technique is weak, very weak. I've learned this jutsu as well, if you remember. He isn't covering his tracks as well as he should, and I know exactly where he is right now."

The strange boy could feel the eyes of Mendona lay on him, and sighed through his nose without moving. "No, I'm not telling you where he is. You will have to wait and see."


Well...this certainly wasn't how she pictured her match going. Sogeki walked aimlessly through the mist, head darting in any direction she believed a noise would come from; the kunoichi was slowly beginning to believe that it was all in her head, though, for she never found anything but the footprint she left in the floor. She sighed in a ho-hum manner, and looked at her armored knuckles. Tsuyo did spit out some blood after he was hit, it seemed, for she had small traces the bespectacled boy's blood ruining the crisp, clean ascetic appeal that her armor had.

"So the things I've heard about this technique are true," Sogeki mused out loud, keeping her attention on her arm. "I can't hear anything, this jutsu drowns out noise so well that I can hear my own heart beating. It's also impossible to see a thing, no matter what direction I go. I could try jumping and sticking to the ceiling, but it wouldn't do me any good if you're hiding in the mist, as I know you must be. But let's be honest, it's had to have been around five minutes, and you've done nothing. Why not strike when you have the advantage? That is one of the first things we're taught as shinobi, isn't it?"

"Oh please, I'm not stupid enough to do that," Tsuyo replied rather suddenly, actually getting the kunoichi to jump in surprise. The boy's voice sounded like it was coming from all angles at once. It was an odd sensation, and she had to shake her head a little so make sure she was feeling alright. "Chances are, you're anticipating any kind of direct attack that I could make. I never was one for close combat, so my poor skill in taijutsu or kenjutsu combined with the durability of your armor would put me in quite a spot; I could strike you with my best kunai slash, and it would barely faze you. As for ninjutsu, I'm sure you've realized that I haven't tried using any sort of projectiles on you. This is because I remember quite vividly your partner's battle, and how he was able to negate ninjutsu from Sakyu by equalling the amount of chakra in his gauntlets with the techniques used against him. One can never be too safe, so I'll go ahead and assume that your armor is capable of something similar."

Sogeki narrowed her eyes, and turned her armored hand around to look at her palm. She wasn't going to answer the kid, he didn't need to know that he was right or wrong in his assumptions. It was rather annoying, though, she had to give Tsuyo points for being observant. It would make this stupid waiting game go on even longer, but why would she throw away the advantage of having this fool think he was at a disadvantage? No, she couldn't absorb projectiles at all, she couldn't absorb anything. Her suit was able to conduct electricity safely as well as enhance her strength, defense and speed. If the time came where she was required to use ninjutsu, her suit would help enhance her techniques. It was quite the tool for shinobi of the Hidden Rain...perhaps she could milk Tsuyo's suspicions while they lingered.

"Hn...this armor is some of the best technology that money can buy," she stated with a smug air about her, slowly making a fist while brushing some of her purple locks behind an ear with a free hand. "My family isn't the wealthiest, but they scraped together just enough for me to buy this suit for my graduation. It's helped out quite a bit on many missions, I'm not ashamed to admit that I wouldn't be where I am now without it. A shinobi should take pride in the tools they use."

"Pride and hubris are quite different," he argued lightly. "This isn't just any D or C-rank mission, this is a match that will determine how your career as a shinobi goes."

"I'm not worried about a match as petty as this," she mocked as she began walking, stretching out her arms as she did so. The soft noises of the shifting gears and heavy footsteps were muffled by the Hidden Mist Jutsu, but reassured her that she was still wearing something safe that could keep her well out of danger. "I graduated early from the academy, apparently because I was 'gifted'. The same reasoning was used for my teammates, and although I can only really understand one of them being able to use that excuse, we were all thrown together in a team. Ever since then, we've completed 59 D-ranks, 21 C-ranks, and 7 B-ranks. B-ranks. Do you understand how rare it is for a genin team to be chosen for B-rank missions? At the worst, a fresh chuunin would be selected for those. We've only failed one mission in our whole career." She stopped walking suddenly, and found herself in the center of the arena. She knew this was it, because rain was falling down through the mist from the cracked area of the glass dome. She stood just in front of it, and held a hand out to it, allowing the rain to gently pitter-patter against her armored forearm. "That isn't bad for a young team like our's."

"...if you don't mind me asking," Tsuyo began, sounding a little hesitant to continue, "...what was the failed mission?"

"It doesn't matter," she replied as-a-matter-of-factly, her head slowly lowering before her gaze caught notice of something odd on the ground. She knelt down a little and looked at a small dot on the ground just out of reach of the rain water.

It was a small, red dot. She gingerly poked it with her finger, smearing it a little on the ground. She grinned at her discovery, and stood back up just in time to see a small, crimson droplet fall in front of her, and hit the very spot she examined.

"You know what does matter, though," she began as she started making hand signs at a furious speed. Once finished, she held her hands apart by a foot, palms facing each-other, and built up a small, tightly-packed fireball between them.

"The fact that there's blood falling from the ceiling...Fire Style: SHIELD BRAKER!" She grabbed the small ball tightly, reared back her arm, and threw it directly above where she stood.

Tsuyo, who had stuck himself to the glass dome ceiling while letting Sogeki roam aimlessly in the Mist, felt his heart stop when she said that. He licked his lip, and froze when he realized that he was still bleeding from it. How could he have not realized it?! Was he actually making petty mistakes like this during a point in time where his shinobi career was on the line?! He saw the projectile flying up at him, and leapt off the ceiling without thinking about what he was doing...or where he would land. The ball made contact with the glass, exploding and sending shards of the dome's center along with small wisps of fire all throughout the mist. The boy flailed his arms in a pathetic attempt to somehow keep himself from hitting the ground, but all it did was make him seem more pathetic before he disappeared into his own jutsu, and slammed chest-down onto the ground with a sickening thud. His body reacted rather badly to the impact, already trembling while he lost control of the Hidden Mist Jutsu. The mist cloud had started to lift up and reveal the glass-ridden arena, as well as Tsuyo trying to get up on his hands and knees. His eyes were shut closed, and he gingerly wiped with blood from his busted lip before his ears picked up on a rapidly-approaching noise.

Footsteps. Footsteps accompanied by a mechanical 'whirring' sound.

He couldn't do anything, he was in no way quick enough to do much except take what was coming to him. Sogeki ran up at blinding speed, and punted him in the upper body. Two loud cracks were heard before Tsuyo screamed in pain, his limp body now soaring into the air, away from his offender. But she wasn't done. She leapt up after him, appearing by his side in the blink of an eye before gripping him by the throat and bringing him back down to the ground, slamming him into the floor hard enough to create a small crater. More cracking could be heard, but Tsuyo's screams were caught in his throat as Sogeki squeezed harder, and he hopelessly clawed at her hand in a petty attempt to regain his breath.


"TSUUUYOOOO!" Tenshi screamed out her oldest friend's name, both hands clasping to the railing as she leaned in further to watch the helpless boy. She knew she should have held more faith in him, that she should have believed his team's sensei wouldn't shirk on his responsibilities as a teacher and not have taught Tsuyo the art of survival. But when the chips where down, and she saw that innocent golden-haired boy getting hurt, screaming in pain, it tore her up at the very core of her being. And the worst part was that all she could do was watch it happen, lest she ruin all of his hard work to get to this very point.

Jiyuu felt more sweat run down the side of his head, and his eye twitched uncontrollably at the brutal strikes Tsuyo had suffered. Much like Tenshi, the Hyuuga Pariah felt as if he should have had more faith in his own teammate. However, unlike the orange-haired girl, Jiyuu knew full and well what most of Tsuyo's capabilities were in combat...or, at least he thought he did. The Hidden Mist Jutsu was rather unexpected, and although it was a D-ranked ninjutsu, there was a large difference between learning from a sensei and learning through self-teachings. Not to mention that Tsuyo was primarily a genjutsu-user, so having to learn a brand new way to utilize his chakra must have been taxing during his solo training. Jiyuu set his jaw in place and dipped his chin down a tad, keeping his abyss-like eyes on the two genin below. Tsuyo...

Sakana showed no concern, her appearance still as stoic as ever, with the exception of her hands squeezing the life out of her folded arms. She would tell herself that she didn't care, but she knew deep down that it was a lie. She had gotten used to the little loser in her group, and did accept the fact that many of her own victories only came because Tsuyo planned out her attack strategies. He used to be a burden, such a dead weight that held the team back, but he seemed to be anything but that during these exams. He certainly grew into someone tolerable, she believed, but she still wasn't going to praise him as something exceptional yet...especially not if he lost here.

Ketsui was smirking.

Suchiru watched Tsuyo take the hits with an indifferent aura, sliding his small, beady eyes over to his old friend to see that idiotic, smug grin etched into his features. "What have I told you, Ket," he whispered to the Man of Five. "You've been too soft on the shrimp, and now he'll be beaten into the ground because you didn't prepare him well enough."

The Team One sensei only gave a 'hn' in response before holding his chin with finger and thumb. "Nah, nah...just you wait, Suchiru. I got a feelin' somethin' good's gonna happen."


He clawed at the armored fingers crushing his throat, his face nearly turning purple from a lack of oxygen. It was hopeless, like he had stuck his neck in a bear trap. Sogeki wouldn't release his neck until he had suffocated, or at least until she felt like Tsuyo had suffered enough. He cracked an eye open just a little, and caught a blurred glimpse of his opponent raising a free arm high up, and thrusting it back down. He felt an immense pain in his stomach as Sogeki's plated knuckles buried themselves deep in his mid-section, and coughed out blood as his whole body flopped badly in reaction. The boy's glasses fell off during his short spasm, though he wouldn't have noticed; no, he barely had the strength to lift up an arm now to continue prying away at the kunoichi's unbreakable grip, let alone feel the missing object that used to sit snugly on the bridge of his nose.

"You're a sad excuse for a shinobi," Sogeki chided as she stood up, lifting Tsuyo by his scrawny neck until he was dangling a good foot off the ground. He looked defeated, his whole body limp with only one eye barely keeping itself open, staring right at her. She smiled at him, and shook her head. "Since this is the end for you, maybe you won't mind hearing everything about my suit? You've put up more of a fight than I originally thought, that much is true. So, what the hell...I guess you've earned as much."

No response, just a raspy breath from her nearly-unconscious opponent.

"You were right about nearly everything about my suit, though I'm sure you could feel that from what few hits you actually took. Yes, it does enhance my strength and speed, as well as give my jutsu a significant boost in power. It's also unable to be manipulated by others, because it gets wired up to my spinal column every time I put it on. The only thing you were wrong about was that it had the same effects as Baransu's gauntlets; my suit doesn't absorb ninjutsu. It is, however, highly durable and can withstand some very nasty physical strikes. You deducted as much once our match began."

Still no response. Tsuyo kept his single open eye on Sogeki's snarky face, taking in every note of the smug superiority she felt.

"What a shame," she sighed before tightening the grip on his neck further, eliciting weakened grunts from him. "Such an intelligent boy had the misfortune of being paired up against me for a battle. Oh well, I'm sure you'll do better next year. Do you have any last words before your defeat? "

The boy tried opening his mouth, nothing but a faint, raspy breath flowing through his parted lips. A quivering arm gingerly reached up to the forearm that helped keep Tsuyo held high, and gripped onto it. He tried to whisper something, something short and simple, but even that had trouble reaching Sogeki's ear.

She pulled him in closer, so that his mouth was right by her ear. "Sorry, would you repeat that," she asked with mock curiosity.

"...y-you...still talk too much..."

In a swift motion, Tsuyo brought his free arm up and brought it around Sogeki's head, pinning her against him as he quickly used his other arm to open up a pouch on his vest. He pulled out three explosive tags, and slapped them all onto her back before wrapping his second arm around the kunoichi, who was now struggling to pry off the person she was originally intent on choking the life out of. "I'm not down and out yet! I'll defeat you if it means I have to go down with you!"

Sogeki released his neck instantly, and tried pushing to crazed genin off of her. DAMN IT! He wasn't weakened by those hits at all, this little bastard was just faking it! How?! How could I fall for that?! I can't even-GAH, I CAN'T WORRY ABOUT THAT NOW, I NEED TO GET THE TAGS OFF!

She made the split-second decision to stop pushing against Tsuyo, who clearly wasn't going anywhere, and slammed her fist into his side. As expected, he recoiled badly from the strike, giving her enough time to pry him off and fling him somewhere behind her. The kunoichi immediately started clawing at her back, looking to see if she could get some kind of feel for the hissing paper on her back. There was nothing, or at least, not until a few seconds had passed and her thumb managed to pass over what felt like a rough, grainy material. That had to be it. She started picking at the corner of the tag to peel it off-

-and then it blew up.

The explosion launched her forward, singing her hair and rattling the bones and organs inside her body. It felt as if she had been hit with a tree from behind, and knew she would have been dead had it not been for her armor. She hit the ground, the kunoichi's body rolling before she stopped on all fours beneath the hole of the shattered dome above. Cold rain dripped down her suit, dampened her hair, and sent small chills down the girls spine as she breathed deep to recollect the breath forced out of her. What a cheeky little shit, she thought. He wasn't even that badly hurt...but I could have sworn I had really hit him hard. I heard bones break, I could FEEL them snap with my hits.

Out the corner of her eye, she could see that she wasn't the only person winded. Tsuyo stood on his own two feet once more, but was hunched over and taking slow, deep breaths. He was cradling the side of his ribs where he had been kicked, another arm holding the stomach she had dug her fist into with a vicious punch. He was far from being alright, he certainly felt the pain that came with taking a few blows from someone in a suit like Sogeki's, but it didn't have anything to do with his determination. He wouldn't sway, he couldn't sway. He was going to show how far he'd come as a shinobi, he'd prove to everybody that he wasn't just some coward anymore. No, he could play with the big shots if push came to shove...and this was the place to let everybody know that.

A soft whirring sound emanated from Sogeki's armor as she rose up on her feet at a steady speed, but stopped as soon as she did. A sudden spark of electricity jumped from one spot on her suit's chest to another, and the kunoichi's eyes widened considerably once she saw it. Too stunned to even hide her surprise, she quickly brought a hand over the area that portrayed vulnerability.

What? H-How...my suit can resist physical trauma...this doesn't make sense...

Tsuyo wasted no time, already bringing his arms into his cargo vest's pockets. Out came a bizarre contraption of senbon rolled up with some kind of mesh, which he reared behind his body before flinging it at the kunoichi with deadly precision. The contraption unraveled itself as it flew, the mesh opening up to become a net of razor wire with a senbon on each corner; no doubt a crafty little tool that would severely harm anybody not willing to move out of the way.

Sogeki, however, didn't need to. A frown adorned her features, and she stopped covered up her armor's damaged section, already charging the armor like an angered bull. "That won't work!" Her feet hit the ground heavy, a loud mechanical whirring syncing up with the hard 'ka-thunk' of each step she made. She threw her palms out ahead of her, wrapping her fingers around parts of the net before ripping through it in a short leap, and continuing to charge. Tsuyo remained where he stood, nonchalantly reaching into his vest for yet another tool as he seemed unfazed by how quickly Sogeki was closing the gap between him and her. She found that her running was taking more effort than usual, and could hear a few sparks fall from her armor's left leg. She could feel that part of her suit had less power now, no doubt caused by the explosive tag, but it wasn't a huge deal. She could certainly manage, especially as she got in close enough for a retaliatory strike.

Tsuyo failed to pull out anything, for Sogeki got in too close. Eyes widening, all he could do was take a single step back and hold a palm out to her, as if it would shield him. The kunoichi side-stepped it, and slammed her fist against his face so hard that it sounded like she had cracked a coconut into pieces. Sogeki smirked in triumph, but this only lasted for a short while. Tsuyo turned into a blob of water, completely soaking her suit's arm and part of her face. The whole arm now began to spark and snap with electricity, the only movement being slight twitching from it's owner's body. She stared at it in disbelief, unable to understand just how this was happening. Could it have been the water? Please. The suit was made for shinobi of the Hidden Rain, so it most certainly had to be waterproof if it were to do them any good. So what was going on? Was it already that damaged? Furthermore, when did Tsuyo make that water clone?

...damn...he must have made it when he had performed the Hidden Mist Jutsu. If that's the case, then he...

Slowly turning her head, her gaze elevated to the remainder of the glass dome ceiling to see Tsuyo sticking to it. He held something in his hand that he kept outstretched to his side, faint shimmers of light in the room revealing it to be a long, stretching piece of razor wire. With a proud smirk, he adjusted his glasses. "You're mine now..." Wrapping both hands around his end of the wire, he fell from the ceiling and made sure to pull as he came closer and closer to the ground. Sogeki was confused at first, until she followed the razor wire's path to the section of the dome above her, and quickly looked down to see the that she was indeed standing on top of a rather large net made of the stuff.

"DAMN IT," she swore out loud. She kneeled in preparation for a large jump, yet her legs began to spark much like her arm, locking her in place. Her heartbeat fell flat for a moment, her blood ran cold, and for the first time in a while, the fearless kunoichi felt a bead of nervous sweat roll down her face.

Had razor wire been easy to spot without really looking for it, perhaps she would have avoided it and saved herself. But she didn't. She couldn't. And now, she would pay the price for being inattentive in a battle against the strategist of Team One.

She barely moved before the corners of the net rose up around her, lifting her and the suit up off the ground by about ten feet. Sogeki's suit was still malfunctioning too much for her to even think of fighting out of the next, and what little petty wriggling she did inside the net proved to be futile, only making the massive trap sway.

Tsuyo appeared to be struggling to lift her higher up, not used to hoisting up such heavy things like Sogeki's suit. Quickly freeing one hand, he made a sign which made two water clones pop into existence, both of whom took over for Tsuyo in an instant. A sigh of relief filtered through his nostrils, and the boy finally put his hood down as he gave his messy hair a scratch. He walked over to the net, staring up at a captive who could only glare down at him with venomous eyes. Normally, he would appear to be intimidated, but his current position made him feel anything but scared. "It's over," he announced to the spectators with an easy tone of voice, directed mostly at his opponent. "I've won."

She wriggled around more, unable to control the grunts and growls passing through her gritted teeth. "No, it's not over! I'll get out of here, and then-"

"What could you possibly do," he interjected. "You can't possibly escape from this net, not with how badly your suit it malfunctioning."

She gave him a small look, like she was surprised he would even pick up on such a detail.

And, as if hearing the unspoken question, he gestured towards her with a hand. "Honestly? It wasn't that hard to figure out from where I was. I had set up the trap while I activated the Hidden Mist Jutsu, and then stuck myself to the very edge of the class ceiling. What I didn't do, however, was bleed from my lip onto the floor. I had created a water clone to act as my decoy just before I performed the Hidden Mist while you weren't looking at me, letting it speak and take the blows while it used materials that I gave it to fight. You never once questioned how I, someone with such a light build, could possibly survive devastating strikes from your suit. I would surely be dead if that were the case, yet I had pumped plenty of chakra into my clone so that it wouldn't get destroyed right away. And I must say, it did quite the job of acting like it was suffering."

Sogeki fell silent, the anger fading from her face as a new realization had finally dawned on her. Her gaze turned skywards, and Tsuyo grinned one more time before adjusting his glasses. "So, as I said before...it's over."

He could hear only one person cheering in the stands, and looked over his shoulder to spot Tenshi jumping up and down where she stood, squealing in pure delight for her friend's victory. She kept repeating 'he did it' at the top of her lungs, and much to Tsuyo's discomfort, hugged Jiyuu's arm as she continued to celebrate. Jiyuu appeared stunned as he watched all of this happen, his mouth agape yet not letting any words out. Sakana, believe it or not, gave the genjutsu-user a smile, and something he could have sworn looked like a nod of approval. His sensei, all the way in the back, flashed the boy a thumbs up, and a grin of his own that just beamed with how proud he was.

His heart was warm and fluttering, and a light shade of red dusted his cheeks. Well, what do you know? He did it, after all.


"Oh man..." Dan muttered before he face-palmed out of anxiety. "There's no way she could get captured like that, not by a small stupid net! Come on, Sogeki!" Pleeeaaase don't leave me alone to carry the Hidden Rain to the third portion...

Horusuta had drowned out the sounds of the excited genin near her, and barely noticed the strange stare she was getting from that Suchiru guy next to her. The kunoichi stared at her own genin student stuck in the net, eyelids lowering as she heaved out a hard, deep breath through her gas mask. What are you stalling for? Hurry up and finish the match, Sogeki. I'm growing impatient. She glanced over the whole arena, hoping that the Hidden Rain genin would do something before the proctor strolled over to call the match.

...but where was the proctor?


Sogeki's breathing came to a slow, relaxed pace, and she found herself lost in her own thoughts as became entranced with staring up at the glass dome ceiling. How could this have happened to her? Tch, well, she had gotten careless. Incredible, isn't it? This was something her sensei had been trying to get through to her, yet Sogeki refused to listen. 'Don't get cocky' she would say, 'not every enemy will be easy to beat' she would say. Of all the people to get tricked by, it was some scrawny, worthless worm from the Hidden Mist; and she ended up falling for a trap, no less.

She blinked, and looked down at her armor. It wasn't going to let her move anytime soon; apparently the internals had suffered from damage throughout the fight, and it was restricting her movements far too much for her to do anything. Her favorite, unbeatable tool was ultimately weighing her down like an anchor, and she simply couldn't understand how it would malfunction now, of all times.

Thankfully, there were always 'worst-case scenarios' that she had planned for, one of them being this.

She coursed chakra through her spine, and the gentle hum from her mechanical suit died down softly. Plates of her armor burst off of her body in a flashy manner, hissing and releasing steam as they scatter throughout her net, leaving her clad in only a black, leather-padded body suit. On her wrist was a dinky, small retractable blade that hid beneath her gauntlet, and with the flick of her forearm, it extended outwards with a metallic 'shing' emanating off of it. She wasted no time. She quickly slashed through the side of the net, releasing her and all of her armor's plates at once. She landed on a knee gracefully, the hard materials behind her clanking and smashing into the floor in a loud, horrific manner. Tsuyo had his back turned to her at the time, so it goes without saying that the boy was not prepared for this, and whipped around completely off-guard.

This is why he did not see Sogeki leap up from her crouched position, and couldn't move out of the way in time to avoid being slashed through the throat.

...

...but it didn't matter, because both Sogeki and the blade materialized through his body.

The kunoichi landed behind the target she thought she'd have tackled to the ground, instead falling on all fours and quickly dashing away to stare at him from a safe distance. "Did I...did I go through him?!"

The bespectacled boy did nothing, he stood completely still. His back was now to her, head slightly bowed as he held up a hand to his neck and felt the area where she had struck. There was no wound, nothing to indicate she had even touched him. He looked over his shoulder at her, eye wide and crazy before turning around fully to face the girl.

Sogeki felt chills run up and down her spine, and made haste to retreat even further away from him. The seemingly weak genin turned out to be some kind of freak, and considering that the only freak she had seen fight so far was Sakyu, she didn't exactly want to risk finding out just what THIS one would try and do to her. She threw together hand signs at a blurring speed, her movements faster than they ever have been before. "FIRE STYLE: SPEEDING WILDFIRE JUTSU!" She clapped her hands together before aiming her palms out at Tsuyo, and started firing multiple, small fireballs at the boy. The accuracy wasn't the best, for the projectiles spread out like fireworks were going off in her hands, but if she was going to use anything to harm him, it would be this.

But Tsuyo had more tricks up his sleeve. He didn't blink once he saw the jutsu. He didn't panic, he didn't make a move to avoid it, he didn't even flinch. No, he simply began to walk forward at a casual pace, allowing small wisps of flame to pass through his body. He could hear people all around now, shocked whispers from jounin and shouts of confusion from many genin. Nobody understood what was going on, or how he was able to do this, but whatever this technique was that he had kept hidden from everybody, it was certainly working in his favor.

"They had all assumed I was weak," he muttered to her, stoic expression present. "They all thought I would accomplish nothing as a shinobi if all I relied on were book smarts, but I've trained. I've trained to master things I've learned in all the books I've read, and this is why I'm able to do what I'm doing now."

"SH-SHUT UP," Sogeki shouted at him through gritted teeth, "JUST DIE ALREADY!"


"What the hell is that," Suchiru said under his breath, actually stepping away from the wall to get a better view of what was going on. "He's...just walking through it all?"

Ketsui had a large, knowing grin stretching from ear to ear, and nodded at the question he was asked. "Yeah, pretty much. Ain't that somthin'," he said with a slight chuckle.

"That's your student?" Both Hidden Mist jounin looked to their side to see Horusuta, though her attention was strictly centered on the fight. "What he's doing isn't possible. No jutsu exists that allows such a feat...the only person who was able to do that was-"

"Yeah, I know," Ketsui cut in, looking back to the fight. "I'll let you think up your own theories, if that's what you want." His grin only seemed to stretch further as he watched Tsuyo unveil one of his secretly learned techniques to the world, and wouldn't lie if he said that he liked how much it even took the jounin by surprise. But what he couldn't wait for, what he TRULY couldn't wait for...was the grand finale.

Jiyuu didn't hesitate, and activated his Mezame Byakugan. His soft frown crinkled into a confused daze, but his face eased into something more stoic once he could see everything that was happening. "...but how," he asked aloud.

"What?" Both kunoichi asked the question in unison, forcing them to make eye contact (and glare at each other, out of habit) for a brief moment.

Jiyuu deactivated his doujutsu as quickly as he could, and wiped a small bead of sweat from his forehead. "You'll see soon, don't worry."


Sogeki felt sweat pouring from her head, both from the chakra she was expending and the heat of her jutsu. A torrent of flaming balls were scattering all over, lighting the arena up in an orange, heated glow. Yet her opponent, the silent little runt who was always so afraid to go in and fight head-on, had revealed that he was just leading her on. And she had to say, even though the announcement for her defeat hasn't come yet, she felt pretty broken, spirit-wise. "Just...what kind of jutsu is that," she uttered beneath her held breath, keeping her widened eyes on Tsuyo as he took his time approaching her.

"It doesn't matter," he somehow managed to respond over the roar of fire around him. "There's no point in wondering what this is, because it's already beaten you."

She opened her mouth to retort, but the second she did, she felt something cold and sharp pressed against the front of her throat. She visibly paled and cancelled her jutsu without realizing, her whole body trembling with confusion, uncertainty...fear. Sogeki stared at Tsuyo before her, his stoic gaze feeling cold and intimidating. She couldn't look him in the eye any longer, and averted her vision towards the ground, and noticed that Tsuyo's feet were right behind her own. It didn't make any sense...none of this made sense. She glanced up to see the Tsuyo that had been walking through the flames just seconds ago, only to find an empty arena.

Everybody was silent, none knew what to think, nor how to comprehend what they were seeing. It seemed like Tsuyo had appeared out of nowhere right behind her, like he had teleported. Yet it was impossible, for he had been approaching her just at the time she was snuck up on. And as far as the observers could tell, Tsuyo never had the chance to weave hand signs for a clone. The onlooking genin, and even a few jounin, were completely stumped, because the series of events between Tsuyo walking through flames and him teleporting, it all just wasn't possible.

Sogeki shivered, the whole place seemed so still and lifeless to her. The only sounds she could hear was the whistling of wind high above near the hole in the glass dome, and the slow breathing of her opponent behind her. The rain had stopped some time ago, yet she was so caught up in the fight, she failed to notice. He pushed the sharp edge of his kunai against her throat more, eliciting a quiet squeak out of the normally-careless kunoichi. The boy leaned in close behind her, so much so that his lips were nearly brushing against her ear.

"It's over..."

In that moment, everything in her line of sight began to warp, melt, stretch and bend in all sorts of directions. It was like she had been injected with a hallucinogenic, her grip on reality fading away and instantly snapping back before her in a manner that she simply couldn't understand. She watched on terrified, unsure of what trick he was pulling, and the audience watching them felt the same.

Suchiru furrowed his brow deep, and looked over the whole battlefield. The stone texture seemed like liquid, and a thin haze of some sort was lifting over it. "Ketsui...what the hell is this," he inquired, but it sounded more like he was demanding an answer.

Ketsui remained calm and cool, that smile on his face remaining ever-present as he chuckled. "My student's specialty."

Sogeki's vision started to become normal once more...yet it did nothing to help her cope with her situation. In fact, it only made things more confusing for her. All the damage she had caused throughout her fight, from cracks and craters in the walls and floor to the flames scattered about, were gone. The whole arena floor looked as if it had been untouched since their fight began, not an inkling of her presence being around. She could no longer feel the air around her, and only briefly glanced down to see that she still wore her cloak, and could hear the gentle humming of her mechanical suit underneath. The only thing she could still feel from her fight was the thick sheen of sweat on her brow, the weak trembling in her body...and a kunai's edge being held against her throat.

Tsuyo stood behind her, his right side facing her back with an arm extended over her shoulder, and fingers wrapped deathly tight around his weapon. His whole body had lax slump to it, though the observant eye could tell he was still ready to react in the blink of an eye should anything go amiss. His hood was up, he didn't tremble where he stood like the kunoichi beside him, and his glasses shimmered with a white, eerie light.

"You must be quite confused..." he stated as-a-matter-of-factly, his eyes looking straight ahead and not even hinting at moving towards Sogeki. She didn't respond, but he could tell he had her attention due to her heavy breathing slowing down a notch. "This battle was only a minute long, it had all been an illusion from the very start of the match."

"...w-what do you m-mean..." she questioned with a whisper, not feeling strong enough to loudly demand an answer.

"Oh please, you couldn't see it? You give the Hidden Rain shinobi so much praise for their high-end technology and tactics, yet you never even spotted the obvious." He paused for effect, and could tell that Sogeki didn't like what he was going to say. "Honestly, what kind of shinobi would just fall flat on their face in the beginning of a match, even if it were a genin? My fall was completely intentional, and you let your hubris distract you from seeing the unseen, as all shinobi must. You've stated that Baransu, your teammate, would give you all kinds of information on the combatants here, including me. He must have brought up that I heavily rely on genjutsu, most of which I trigger through sound, yet you never drew the line between me and my bell. But, hearing you talk and seeing how you act, I'm sure you ignored all of his advice, for you must have felt like you would win no matter what...hn, in fact, when you questioned why I had a bell with me, that pretty much confirmed it."

He reached into his pocket with a free hand, and pulled out a tiny, silver bell, still fully intact and jingling. "I filled this bell with chakra before my little pratfall, and as soon as it hit the floor, it allowed me to trigger my genjutsu. Anybody who heard the bell hit the ground was put under it's affects, which means all of our dear spectators watched the fake match you believed you had been fighting. Nobody would have been able to help you, except one of our Hyuuga spectators, but I doubt they would have said anything to aid you."

Sogeki shivered as the cold, hard facts slammed into her one by one, each word spoken feeling like another slap to the face. She had been careless, even after she was warned about Tsuyo's craftiness from Baransu. As soon as she saw the bell, and believed that she had broken it, she felt that her match was already won...when in reality, it had been lost even before that. She shivered at the thought, and felt like sitting down, but didn't move. It seemed like the wise choice to make, what, with a kunai to her neck and all. "Why...do I feel so weak?"

"The mind will expel chakra while under the influence of genjutsu. This is because it believes it's supplying you with the chakra you need to perform the jutsu you use in an illusion, when in reality, it's simply dumping it out into the open. But don't feel bad for falling for my genjutsu so easily, I took extra care to make it seem as realistic as possible. For example, I had made myself use a few strategic plan of attacks in our fake little fight, just so I could fill my quota of being a tactician within that illusion. Around the end of the fight, after I was sure I had boosted your ego more than enough, I felt it was time to have some fun with you, so I made myself able to faze through physical things. After I had you good and scared, and felt like you had used up enough of your chakra, I released the genjutsu."

Sogeki, rightfully so, was speechless. She felt like she had fought such an intense battle with someone she had heavily underestimated, when in reality, all he did was stand behind her for a minute as she mentally wore herself out. There never was a battle. There never was a fist thrown. If she had known it would happen like this, she would have simply quit to prevent herself from feeling this burning humiliation she felt. She bowed her head in shame, not even bothering to respond.

"I can tell you have no chakra left, you're barely managing to keep yourself standing upright. I could have easily killed you at any point while you were under my genjutsu." He pulled his knife away, and could hear the approaching footsteps of the proctor from the distance as he walked around to her front, and brought his hood down. "I knew it would be an easy victory, considering I had to fight someone like you," he stated in a humdrum manner.

Sogeki wearily looked up to meet his eyes, which were no longer cold and intimidating. No, they were a warm and gentle brown, which was a little off-putting given his tone of voice. "S-someone like me?"

He nodded once, and the faintest of grins appeared on the boy's face. "The confident type," he whispered to her, adjusting his glasses once more.

Manto reached the two genin, and had heard all of Tsuyo's little rambling. It was true, the little brat could have killed her at any time if he wanted. Even Manto couldn't argue with that, considering he let himself be placed under the very same genjutsu, which meant he could have also gotten the axe without knowing. But hey, it was a pretty slick one, he had to give the scrawny little shit that much. With a big, freakish, toothy smile, the Hoshigaki looked at Tsuyo, and gave him a small nod. "I must say, my baby sister's got some interesting members on her team." He then lifted his arm high in the air, aiming it towards the sky. "The winner of this match is Tsuyo of the Hidden Mist!"


Tenshi squealed with delight, jumping up and down as she thrusted her arms up in the air. "YES! HE DID IT! WAY TO GO, TSUYO! WOOOOOO!"

Jiyuu grinned with delight, as well as Sakana. "Told you he'd be fine," Sakana stated.

The Hyuuga boy snapped his head towards her, a mild glare being shot at the Hoshigaki. "Hey now, I said he'd be fine first."

The genin who was the victor leapt up from the arena floor onto the railing of the balcony, squatting down to get himself more face-to-face with both of his teammates. He lowered his hood and sighed rather loud, most likely venting any pent-up stress he had felt before the fight began. "So, how did I do?"

Neither were able to answer before Tenshi got in close, pulled him down from the railing in a rough manner, and ensnared him in a deathly-tight hug. She spun around with him, laughing and giggling with glee. "You were wonderful out there, Tsuyo! That was amazing, I can't believe you managed to pull off such an incredible trick! I'm so proud of you!" She released him after a bit more of her ferocious hug, and stared him in the eye with a look of relief and excitement, a blend of beautiful positive emotions that made the boy feel all warm on the inside. Tenshi tilted her head to the side, and gave him a big, warm smile that only she would be capable of. "I knew you could do it, Tsuyo."

Tsuyo could feel his cheeks warm up, and laughed coyly as he scratched one with his finger. "Eh heh...I was alright, I gue-"

Again he was snatched away, this time in a headlock that he was instantly squirming to get out of. He tried to pry the arm off, but only when he heard the sinister giggling of a certain blue-skinned kunoichi did he relax...somewhat. Sakana then began to grind her knuckles against the top of his head, giving him a rather aggressive noogie that encouraged him to restart his petty attempts at breaking free. "Look who's all grown up! You little runt, you did pretty good out there," she said before laughing a little.

"Th-thanks, Sakana." He finally pulled himself free of her headlock, and gently nursed his head with a palm as he fixed his crooked glasses. He could see the Hoshigaki's smile, one that wasn't predatorial or snarky in nature. It looked genuine...if he had to choose a word to describe it, and even then, he wasn't sure if it was the right one to use. He'd rarely seen such a smile on his teammate, for she typically only used her famed ear-to-ear cheshire grin to intimidate others. To see one like this, being directed towards him? Wow...did he actually impress her?

Tsuyo's arm got hit with a light punch, and he turned to face a grinning Jiyuu, who kept his fist extended out towards him. He didn't speak, he didn't move, he simply remained as he was, and maintained eye contact with Tsuyo as he waited in silence. The bespectacled boy's eyes traveled from his friend's own, to the fist, and back up before he felt a small grin form on his own face, and connected his knuckles against his old friend's own. "You did good," the young Hyuuga stated.

The genjutsu-user nodded a little at the remark. "I hope you didn't expect anything less."

"Heh...nah, no way. I knew you had it in the bag."


She felt disgusted with herself. Ashamed wasn't even a strong enough word to describe the bitter sensation she felt flowing through her body, the trembling one which dragged itself up the far flight of stairs of the balcony from her team. She couldn't bare to face her sensei, not after throwing any hopes she had of seeing the Hidden Rain advance to the third portion. It just wasn't fair; Baransu was doing well against that sand jinchuuriki before the boy had decided to stop fooling around, Sogeki had fallen for a petty genjutsu trap, and...well...they all had to rely on Dan, and she knew quite well what that would mean. The gears in her suit's arm buzzed as she made a fist, and she let a curse slip through her lips in a whisper. She had just mounted the final step, and could see past the two Hidden Leaf teams that her sensei, far down the walkway, was staring at her feet.

Damn, she must really feel ashamed right now. Sogeki reconnected her breather to her face as the usual careless, cold sheen coated her eyes again, and she began walking past the other genin, whom of which she could feel staring at her. She supposed that if there was one bright side to all of this, it was that she wasn't in need of medical attention. But wasn't that also something to frown upon? She didn't need medical attention because she never even got hit in the first place, and still ended up losing. No matter which angle you looked at it, it was pretty embarrassing for someone like her, someone who truly believed that they were neigh unstoppable when compared to their fellow peers.

She could see Dan and Horusuta face her direction as she got closer, and felt a twinge of irritation stab something deep within her; she was grateful Baransu was still hugging himself and curled up against the wall, because the stare he normally would have given her would be just too much to handle. She took her time approaching them, and when she finally got to her team, all she did was turn her back to the wall, and lean against it. She didn't speak, she didn't look at them from the corner of her eye, she didn't even blink. No words spoken or received would change the outcome of her pitiful display.

Dan truly looked like he didn't know what to say, constantly averting his gaze to his feet, which he nervously shifted his weight back-to-back on. "S-Sogeki," he began in a light attempt to worm past the elephant in the room. "How are you feeling?"

She didn't answer, not even a muscle in her face twitching.

"You shouldn't take a single loss so personally. That Tsuyo kid," he paused as he glanced over his shoulder, watching that very genin get surrounded by his three friends. "He's smart, very smart. I wouldn't take it too well if I had lost to him the same way, but-"

"It would be expected of you," Sogeki sharply interjected with a venomous tongue, causing Dan's head to snap towards her. "But I should never have fallen for something so petty."

"Perhaps that's why you lost," Horusuta mused in a low voice. The jounin could feel two pairs of eyes on her in that moment, but didn't bother to meet their gazes, for behind those heavily-tinted lenses of her gas mask, her eyesight was focused only on the boy being discussed. "I've told you and Baransu that hubris leads to defeat. Even here, neither of you heeded my advice. Now you've both lost when a victory truly mattered."

Sogeki, feeling like a dagger had been thrust through her heart, bowed her head in shame. It's not like she could argue with that, really...so, she could only muster up what little pride she had left, and say what she knew her sensei would want to hear. "I'm sorry, sensei. I will try to improve myself for the fu-"

"No you won't," Horusuta cut in, something quite rare for her. In fact, it was rare for her to speak this often, period. Usually during training or missions, it was brief statements she used, or she would have plans written down for each of her genin, individually. She could sense the young kunoichi twitch at her interjection, which probably meant that someone understood how big of an issue this must have been. "It's in your nature, like Baransu. Perhaps you should both take a page out of Dan's book, act more civil like him."

The mentioned genin felt the breath get stuck in his throat at such sudden praise, and felt his cheeks warm up as a tiny grin found itself on his lips. "Th-Thank you, sensei."

And, of course, Sogeki remained silent.

Horusuta huffed through her nose, which became much more audible as it passed through her gas mask's breather. This was the team she had been dealt with, unfortunately. It could have been worse though, she figured. She DID get to pick one member for her team, after all, but it seems that having poor Dan in the group just wasn't working out the way she intended. But hopefully, this loss would be a lesson for Sogeki, and the same could be said for Baransu. Now, all hopes of being represented in the final portion of the Chuunin Exams rested on the shoulders of Dan, and Horusuta could only wish silently that Kami was good to him, and gave him an easy opponent.


Manto stood in the middle of the empty battleground, staring at the dried blood and weathered tiling beneath him from ages ago. His sandaled foot brushed along the floor's surface like a feather, just barely able to feel the texture of cracks and grain from below. It brought a small, sadistic grin, and he glanced up briefly at the genjutsu-using genin beside his beloved baby sister on the balcony. That boy...he sure is an interesting little bug. I wonder if that little runt with the eyes is going to do anything that'll stand out...heh...not like it'll matter, though. It looks like all's going according to plan.

He clapped his hands together, and the screens high above started cycling through names once more. All eyes went right to the two, and tensions quickly mounted as someone had a good chance of going down into the pit and fighting for their career once more. The first name didn't take too long to pop up, and an excited 'HELL YEAH' reverberated throughout the room once this particular genin saw their name appear.

:::MENDONA UNMEI:::

"ALRIGHT!" The jinchuuriki of the Three-Tails pounded his fist into an open palm, his whole body quivering with excitement at the prospect of finally showing off his stuff. "Finally! I was getting tired of waiting around!"

"Just don't get carried away..." Tanken murmured with a bowed head, not bothering to look at his teammate. He wish he could say he looked forward to this match, but after seeing Sakyu quickly turn his losing battle around after asking Shukaku for assistance, the silent genin already knew the outcome. No other genin in this room stood any sort of chance.

Tenshi approached her jinchuuriki teammate, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend and Tsuyo. She gave him a warm smile, and nodded at him. "Please do your best out there, Mendona! Good luck!"

"Yeah, you bet," he responded with a small thumbs up and stood on the railing, not even waiting for the second name to be called. He hunched down with his back to everybody, and turned his head to peer over his shoulder at Jiyuu. The two made direct eye contact, both looking careless at first, but eventually glaring daggers into one-another. The tension of whoever would be called next seemed to fade as they both only focused on each other, and Mendona was the one to break it.

"You better watch closely, loser," he spat. "This is what your sorry ass'll have to deal with if you win your fight."

"Don't be so full of yourself." Jiyuu felt his brow becoming sore from how hard he was frowning. "I might just be the guy taking you out, right here, right now."

The jinchuuriki grinned at that, and rose up his hand to shake a single finger in a taunting manner. "Ah ah ahhh...now look who's full of themselves." And with that, he leapt off the railing and landed in front of the proctor with a heavy thud, kicking up small clouds of dust with his impact.

Manto's grin faded, and a look of slight annoyance overcame the Hoshigaki, the corner of his lip raised in a small sneer. "A little impatient, aren't we kid..."

Mendona stood up, and pounded his fists together, staring the blue-skinned jounin right in the beady, sunken-in eye. "Yeah, whatever, just gimme my opponent."

Manto grunted as he quelled his small sneer, and folded his arms much like Sakana would, though it served to be incredibly more intimidating with arms as big as his own. I hate overenthusiastic brats...jinchuuriki or not.

The second screen stopped filtering through names, the combatant's name glowing in bright yellow letters for all to see...

:::WU SHU:::

The spandex-clad genin stared at the name high up on the wall, barely-open eyes shimmering with glee as he held up a confident fist. "It seems that I will be facing a jinchuuriki. This is going to be my chance to prove that hard work can triumph over all odds!"

Lee, although ready to jump and cheer at the sight of his student's name finally being shown, did feel a deep troubling sensation tugging from within. He couldn't help it, honestly; a bad case of history repeating itself was happening before his eyes, after all. He didn't show it though, he didn't break a single sweat. He stared at the jinchuuriki down below, eagerly awaiting a good fight, and could only hope that Shu would not have to resort to using that...if it were possible. Lee grabbed the forearm that Gaara had crushed long ago, wondering how his bones could have gone from looking like gravel to actually reforming. He usually thought about how strong he could have been had he not been hospitalized, how much he could have grown in that short period of time had he not beed bedridden.

Not being able to do anything, except sit idly by and have your future as a shinobi be dangled before your eyes by a thread. That was hell for Lee, and it was certainly not something he wished for Shu.

"Sensei? You're not excited for Shu?"

Lee blinked a few times and lost his train of thought. Ai had been the one to ask this question, her pale white eyes shimmering with excitement for her friend's battle. Kemono had the biggest, wildest smirk he could muster practically splitting his face in half, and Shu was looking his sensei in the eye as he began stretching his arms. He grinned and struck a nice guy pose at Shu, his teeth sparkling in the light of the massive room. "Of course I am! Shu, I expect nothing but the absolute best from you! Now go out there, and give it your all!"

"Of course, sensei," Shu responded with a small bow. He leapt off the balcony backwards, doing multiple rapid backflips before landing across the floor from Mendona. He landed with barely a sound, as graceful as a feather, and took his time rising up from the ground to look at his opponent face-to-face.

Mendona scanned the spandex-clad genin from head to toe, grinning and shaking his head. "What a weird getup...you're a bigger loser than most of the other people I've met in the Hidden Mist, and I've met a few." He stomped a foot behind him, shaking the ground a little, and brought his balled fists at his sides as he assumed his battle stance. "You'll be nothing but a bump in the road!"

The Hidden Leaf shinobi frowned gently at the mocking words. He found himself naturally assuming that familiar stance: legs parted with his knees bent a little, allowing for him to lean in just a bit. He took one arm, balled his hand into a tight fist, and moved it behind his back. The other hand became flat and open, and he held it between him and hit opponent, palm facing inward. His stance was solid, like a pillar, and he felt that he had perfect control over every part of his body in this very instance.

"My name is Wu Shu, the Hidden Leaf Village's Blooming Lotus. And I will not lose to you."

"Heh...big words for such a little man..."

Manto looked between the two, and could feel the palpable killing intent being shot between the two. He grinned and backed away, raising his arm into the air. "Alright! Are we ready?"

No response.

And with that, he chopped the air with his hand. "BEGIN!"