For this, Kabuto does NOT bail.
Inside the tower once the second part of the exams was over, everyone learned there was going to be a preliminary before the final part. After hearing the rules, a board for selecting who's going against who appeared.
The first match was between Sasuke and Yoroi, with Sasuke winning. Next was Zaku and Shino. Shino's insects plugged up the windholes in Zaku's hands, causing his arms to almost blow up when he was going to use his jutsu.
"Now for the third match," Hayate, the proctor, said. The board came up with Judith vs. Kabuto Yakushi.
"Ooh, my turn!" Judith exclaimed happily, leaping over the railing to meet in the middle of the battle area with Kabuto.
"A shame that I'll have to mess up such a pretty lady," Kabuto remarked.
"If both of you are ready, begin," Hayate said. Kabuto made a hand sign and chakra covered his hands. Judith vanished, surprising Kabuto, but appeared a second later above him.
"Moonbeam!"
Kabuto leaped out of the way and charged at Judith when the Krityan landed, swinging one of the chakra scalpels. Judith held Brionac out to block and leaped up, landing a roundhouse to the side of Kabuto's head, sending him skidding to the side. As he got up Judith, bringing her spear down then swinging it up, taking Kabuto into the air where she leaped up and performed Luna Rondo.
"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed. "She's strong!"
"Yeah, Judy's the one person I never want to go up against," Yuri said.
"It's amazing just how fast she is," Sakura murmured. "I kinda feel bad for Kabuto..."
"She's doing very well," Guy remarked. "However, Kabuto may be a tough opponet."
"Why do you say that?" Flynn asked.
"Kabuto's using chakra scalpels, a Jonin-ranked jutsu," Guy replied, narrowing his eyes. "It's a jutsu that should be too advanced for a Genin to master..."
"A Jonin-ranked jutsu?!" Sakura exclaimed.
"I have a feeling there's more to him than meets the eye..." Guy murmured.
Back down at the battle, Judith had just performed Dawn Moon. But as soon as Kabuto recovered and she went in for another arte, he sidestepped and hit her left arm with a chakra scalpel. Judith's arm went instanly limp and she jumped back.
"What did you just do...?" Judith asked.
"I just made sure you wouldn't be able to use one of your arms for the rest of the match," Kabuto explained with a shrug. He smirked and ran at her, swinging his arm. Judith held her spear out to block and gritted her teeth as she was sent staggering back.
"C'mon, Judy!" Yuri shouted. "Just finish him with your Mystic Arte!"
"He's not really giving me time!" Judith snapped back as she leaped off the wall when Kabuto went at her again, sailing over his head and landing several feet behind him.
'Now!' Judith thought. Purple energy balls appeared high in the air and lightning rained down around her, striking Kabuto as he charged. She held her spear out, blue energy covering the blade, and leaped up, an image of a full moon appearing.
"Radiant...Moonlight!" Judith shouted, bringing the spear down and striking Kabuto. He was knocked to the ground, blood running from his forhead. Hayate came over and crouched down, seeing that Kabuto was unconscious. He stood up, clearing his throat.
"Thw winner of the third match is Judith."
"But of course," Judith said, walking up the stairs back onto the balcony. Flynn came over to her.
"Is your arm okay?"
"It's completely numb," Judith replied. "I can't move it. Performing Radiant Moonlight took a bit of effort with only one arm."
"Here," Flynn said, putting a hand on her arm. A yellow-green light covered it as he performed First Aid. Judith let out a sigh when he finished.
"Thanks," she breathed. "It feels better now."
The fourth match was between Kankuro and Misumi, Kankuro winning when his puppet captured the ninja, squeezing until Misumi screamed he forfeits. Up next was the longest match, between Ino and Sakura. The two went at it for over ten minutes until Ino had caught Sakura in her Mind Transfer Jutsu. But Ino's spirit was forced out by Sakura's. Finally, the two collapsed and Hayate declared it a double knockout, neither going to advance. The two woke up a bit later.
Next was Tenten and Temari. Tenten lost after all her attacks couldn't hit Temari. Shikamaru and Kin fought next. Shikamaru caught Kin in his Shadow Possession Jutsu and caused her to bash her head on the wall, knocking her out.
"Now onto the eighth match," Hayate announced.
"Please be me, please be me, please be me!" Naruto exclaimed. The board read Dosu Kinuta vs. Flynn Scifo. Naruto groaned.
"Looks like you're up," Yuri said. "Just make sure you win."
"Heh, who do you think I am?" Flynn replied with a smirk. He and Dosu went down into the battle area.
"I suggest you forfeit," Dosu said. "Otherwise you won't make it out of here alive."
"I'd like to see you try," Flynn replied.
"Dosu, Flynn," Hayate said, glancing at both of them. "If both of you are ready, then begin."
Dosu pulled his sleeve up, revealing a gadget on his arm, and charged at Flynn. Flynn leaped back and pulled his blue sword out.
"You're fast, despite having on that armor," Dosu remarked. "However..."
Flynn's eyes widened and he fell to one knee, dropping his sword and covering one ear. Dosu started walking over, pulling a kunai out.
"It doesn't matter how fast you are," Dosu continued. "You can't outrun the speed of sound."
'Sound?' Flynn thought, his ear ringing. 'Is that what he attacked me with?'
"Now die!" Dosu shouted. Flynn managed to move out of the way as Dosu swung the kunai. The blonde fell to his side, his vision becoming distorted.
"Dammit, Flynn!" Yuri growled. "Get back onto your feet!"
Flynn shot Yuri a glare through the corner of his eyes and tried standing, only to lose his balance and fall down again.
"Can't stand? Good," Dosu said. "You see, I can freely manipulate sound waves using this device on my arm. That way, I can mess with your ability to even move."
"Don't think...you've won...just yet..." Flynn gritted out. He shot himself forward, ramming his shoulder into Dosu. "Beast!"
The energy released took the form of a wolf, sending Dosu flying back. Flynn picked his sword up, trying his hardest to stay standing.
"Demon Fang!" Flynn swung his sword, releasing a blue energy wave. Dosu held his arms up to shield himself then charged at Flynn, swinging his arm so the back of his hand with the device made contact with the side of Flynn's head. Flynn collided with the wall, coughing up a bit of blood. He slowly stood up, using the wall for support. But he was unprepared for Dosu's next attack.
Dosu was suddenly in front of him and pain exploded in his abdomen. Looking down, he saw that Dosu had shoved the kunai into his stomach. Dosu ripped it out and punched Flynn back, the blonde sliding across the floor and streaking it red.
'This is like when Sodia stabbed me on top of Zaude...' Yuri thought grimly, watching his friend trying to get to his feet. He held his sword up, golden light engulfing it and pulled it back. Dosu tried to attack again, but it was too late.
"Light Dragon...Destruction!" Flynn swung his sword out, three golden dragons appearing and ramming into Dosu before carrying the Sound ninja into the air, giving Flynn enough time to cast a magic arte. "Holy Lance!"
The spears of light rained down on Dosu, stabbing him in several areas before they vanished. Dosu collapsed and Hayate came over.
"I'd say this one has had it..." Hayate murmured before glancing at Flynn, who had a hand pressed to the stomach wound. "The winner of the eigth match is Flynn Scifo."
"Flynn!" Yuri and Judith exclaimed when Flynn suddenly collapsed to one knee, panting hard. A magic circle appeared under him just as the medics arrived.
"Hey, are you okay?" one asked Flynn.
"Yeah, just give me a second..." Flynn replied. His healing arte slowly closed up the wound. Once he had finished healing himself, he went back up to Yuri and Judith, though he was still a bit weak.
"Talk about a close call," Yuri said, placing a hand on Flynn to help steady him.
"Yeah, I know," Flynn replied.
"But that jutsu you did was so cool!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Are you talking about Radiant Dragon Fang?" Yuri asked. "It's Flynn's Mystic Arte."
"Yeah!" Naruto replied. "You gotta teach me how to do that!"
Flynn chuckled a bit. "Afraid that's not possible if you don't have a blastia."
"You suck!" Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms.
'That attitude of his reminds me of Karol...' Yuri though, sweatdropping. 'Can't wait to see this joker's match...'
Next up was Naruto and Kiba. Naruto won in an...interesting way. Up next was Hinata and Neji, with Neji winning. Then it was Lee and Gaara. Gaara won after crushing Lee's left arm and leg.
"Now for the final match," Hayate said. "Choji Akimichi and Yuri Lowell. Please come down."
"This should be easy," Yuri said when he and Choji faced each other, Hayate giving the OK to begin. "I got a lucky break, going up against a fatass."
Choji stiffened. "...What did you just call me...?"
'Oh hell! Yuri's toast!' Shikamaru thought.
"Are you deaf? I called you a fatass," Yuri replied.
"You're dead!" Choji shouted, making a hand sign. "Expansion Jutsu!" His body expanded in size and he leaped up, pulling himself into his clothes. "Human Boulder!"
Yuri's eyes widened as a now spinning Choji came at him. He leaped out of the way just in time and used Azure Storm. The energy wave, however, had no effect and Choji spun around and came right at him. He collided with Yuri, sending the purple-haired man flying.
Yuri got up, blood running from his mouth. "Dammit...!"
"No one calls Choji a fatass and gets away with it," Shikamaru said with a smirk. "Kinda like waving a red cape in front of a bull."
"Yuri's always getting himself into messes like this..." Flynn sighed.
"C'mon, Yuri!" Judith shouted. "Take him out with your Mystic Arte! Or at least your Burst Arte!"
"I get it, Judy," Yuri replied. He readied his katana. As soon as Choji got close, Yuri vanished.
"Huh?" Choji said. Then Yuri was appearing and attacking, then disappearing, and reappearing. This went on for a bit before Yuri slashed through.
"Savage Wolf Fury!" Yuri shouted. There was a giant puff of smoke as Choji reverted to normal, his clothing all torn up, and laying on the ground. Hayate came over and took one look at Choji before turning to Yuri.
"The winner of the final match of the preliminaries...Yuri Lowell."
Everyone who passed was gathered in the battle area as the Hokage explained how the final exam was going to work next month. When he was done Anko went around with a box, telling everyone to take one slip of paper.
"Good, now everyone has one," Ibiki said when Anko finished. "Going from left to right, tell me the number on your slip of paper."
"Number 1, of course," Naruto replied.
"9," Temari said.
"5," Kankuro said.
"3," Gaara said.
"11," Yuri said.
"8," Judith said.
"10," Flynn said.
"7," Shikamaru said.
"2," Neji said.
"6," Shino said.
"And that means Sasuke will be number 4," the Hokage finished. Ibiki started writing on his clipboard. "Right, very good. Now I'm going to tell you how the final selection tournament is going to work."
"Wait! Tournament?!" Yuri exclaimed.
"Oh goody!" Judith cheered.
"Is that what the numbers were for?! Drawing lots?!" Shikamaru shouted.
"Ibiki, you may now reveal which ninja have been paired up," the Hokage said.
"Yes, sir," Ibiki replied, flipping his clipboard around to show everyone the bracket for the tournament.
Naruto vs. Neji
Gaara vs. Sasuke
Kankuro vs. Shino
Shikamaru vs. Judith
For the final round, Yuri and Flynn fight and then the winner fights Temari.
'Just great. I'm fighting a girl again. And the scary kind.' Shikamaru thought miserably. 'What a drag...'
'Why Flynn...?' Yuri wondered. 'They may as well call it his win. I've never beaten that bastard at anything.'
'I'll more than likely win...' Flynn thought. 'However, I'll be exhausted. Fighting an extra match will prove a challenge.'
'Wow, lucky break!' Temari thought with a smirk. 'I'll be fighting against one of the otherworlders. And they didn't even look that strong in their matches.'
'Just great. I'm fighting Mr. Lazy...' Judith thought, narrowing her eyes. 'I was hoping I would get a more chalenging opponet, like that Gaara guy. Oh well.'
"May I ask a question?" Shikamaru asked, raising his hand.
"You may," the Hokage replied.
"Alright, if this is a tournament, does that mean there's only gonna be one winner? I mean, only one of us is going to be able to become a Chunin?"
"Actually, it's quite the contrary," the Hokage replied. "There are going to be several judges for the final rounds, including myself, the Shinobi leaders, and the Kazekage, and various lords from the other countries that will be assigning your missions to you. Through this tournament, these judges will be able to make a thorough evaluation of your abilities. They will then decide whether any or all of you possess the qualities required of a Chunin. Even if someone loses the first round, they could still become a Chunin."
"So there's a chance that every one of us who competes in the final selection could become Chunin?" Temari asked.
"Correct, but conversly there's also a chance that none of you will be chosen," the Hokage replied. "The advantage in fighting any more rounds in the tournament is getting more chances to display your talents in front of the judges who will decide your fate. Does that answer your question, Shikamaru?"
'I am so ready!' Judith thought.
'I'm gonna need to train hard if I will even have a chance at beating Flynn.' Yuri thought.
'Just because I've always been able to beat Yuri doesn't mean that this won't be any different.' Flynn thought. 'I'll need to stay on my toes.'
"I thank you all for your patience," the Hokage continued. "Now let us adjourn until next month."