Chapter 11
When Devon stepped into the stadium, he almost went deaf from the roar of the crowd. He looked up from under his hood and scanned the crowd. His sensei was sitting with his clan, Naruto and Sumaia weren't that far away, and Hatori was by her mother. He waved to her and she flashed him a victory sign. He walked up to the seven other participants and took his place. He looked up and saw Gaara sitting with the Hokage. They were both eyeing him with an intent he couldn't decipher. The Hokage in particular was staring while he was discussing something with Gaara. "I'm still not sure about letting him compete. We don't know what happened to him out there. I should pull him out until we can discover the nature of his training and whether he's a threat to this village. And there's still the question of his control over the demon." Gaara did not pull his focus away from Devon as he responded. "Pulling him out now would be a bad idea. He obviously brought Devon back in time for a reason. He might actually be here for all we know, trying to see if his training worked. Besides, I have faith that Devon can now control his demon. We all have our demons to face after all." The Hokage grinned a little at that.
Devon's focus shifted back to the field when the proctor jumped onto the field. Devon cocked his head as he saw the bag of half empty chips in the proctor's hand! Was he snacking already?! Choji smiled and turned back to the crowd. "Welcome everyone! Welcome to our honored guests from visiting villages and a special welcome to the Kazekage! The final rounds of the exam are about to begin. Good luck to all the participants! First up, we have Devon Misata against Kyousuke Lee. All other participants please leave the arena floor." Choji balled up the now empty bag of chips and pulled a bag of pretzels out of his pocket. "Does he do nothing but eat?!" Devon wondered. Devon stared at his new opponent. He wore a green training outfit, leg warmers and was strapped with enough kunai for a squad of four! Devon smirked as he lifted his hood. "I only have one question for you. Why are you wearing a onesie?" Kyousuke's eyes widened in anger as he pointed dynamically into the sky. "This is not a onesie! This is a very sleek training outfit passed down from my father's teacher to my father to me! It has a honorable heritage as one of the best outfits in Konoha!" Everyone in the crowd groaned except three people. Rock Lee, Might Guy and Tenten all stood up in the crowd and shouted their praise in unison. "You tell him son! Go get him!" Tenten shouted. "Yes! The power of youth lives in that outfit and in that fine student!" Might Guy exclaimed as his teeth gleamed and blinded someone nearby. Rock Lee began to cry as he jumped from his seat. "That's right son! Show him the power of youth! No one insults our family fashion sense like that!" Devon looked up in the stands, then back at Kyousuke. He shrugged his shoulders. "Training outfit, onesie, either way it looks like you're more ready for a pillow fight than a match." Kyousuke turned lava red at that! "That's it! I've had enough! I'm going all out to teach you the power of youth first hand!"
Kyousuke bent down and took the leg warmers down a bit to reveal a set of weights on each leg. He removed the weights and smiled. The pretzel fell out of Choji's mouth as the weights hit the ground and a large crater formed around them! Devon just smirked a little. "Let the match begin!" Choji shouted. Kyousuke flash stepped and began running around Devon at full speed, creating a ring of dust in his wake. Devon drew two kunai and tried to follow him, but he was too fast to see. Kyousuke smiled as he drew two kunai. He threw one for Devon's head and the other for his shoulder. Devon ducked the first and barely deflected the second before a third and fourth sliced into his forearm. He winced as he turned and saw 20 kunai heading his direction with deadly accuracy! Devon managed to deflect and evade most of the projectiles, but he took one to the back of his shoulder that brought him to a knee. When Kyousuke saw this, he ran at Devon with full speed. Before Devon could blink, Kyousuke punched him in the jaw and sent him flying about 10 feet in the other direction. Devon recovered in mid air and barely landed on his feet, holding his jaw. Kyousuke stopped and held his hand out in Devon's direction, challenging him. "And that's just a taste of the power of youth! You can't catch me in that prison of yours because I'm too fast for you! You might as well give up now because you can't match the power of youth!"
Devon wiped the blood from his lip as he surveyed his wounds and smiled. "Well, if you wanna play it that way…" Hatori smiled as Devon removed his jacket to reveal a long sleeve mesh shirt. Devon dropped the jacket and everyone, including Lee's family, almost fell out as the jacket hit the ground and created an equally large crater! Devon stood up and stretched his back out. "That feels a little better." Rock Lee stood up and pointed at Neji. "What's the meaning of this?! You stole Guy-sensei's specialized training for me?!" But he stopped as he noticed Neji was as surprised as everyone else. Rock Lee's attention was pulled back to the arena as he saw his offspring take off in Devon's direction. Kyousuke was about to sweep Devon's legs when Devon flash stepped faster than Kyosuke could see! He turned just in time to catch Devon's foot with his left jaw. Kyousuke reeled a few feet, but recovered. His feet barely touched the ground before Devon flash stepped beside him and punched him in his right jaw. The force spun Lee around and sent him flying back towards the wall. He managed to toss a few kunai, but Devon avoided them all with ease. Devon was about to rush in when he saw Kyousuke starting to cry!
He looked puzzled and stopped. "You can give up. There's no shame in quitting now. You can always make it through next time. Let's just end this now. There's no need to continue." Kyousuke stood and wiped the tears from his eyes. He turned to look at his family. Might Guy recognized the look in his eyes and stood up. "Go for it Lee! I'm sure your father will understand! Besides, you can always do pushups on your thumbs to make up for it!" He gave Kyousuke a thumbs up and flashed him a blinding smile. Rock Lee stared in confusion as his son shook his head and turned to face Devon. "It's not over yet! Father, I'm sorry but I must do this!" Kyousuke flashed hand signs and summoned a katana in his hands! Rock Lee almost slipped on his own tears when he jumped from his seat. "My son…my son…can perform jutsu?!"