Sasuke Uchiha (Leaf) vs Kami Neko (Cloud)
"Good luck, Sasuke," Sakura says as I rise.
"Kick his ass!" Naruto yells much too loudly.
"Remember," Kakashi adds, lone eye peering into both of mine, "the whole point of standing out is to stand out."
I nod. Really only to Kakashi, but I don't stop my teammates from thinking that it's to them too.
Together with the Cloud-nin I'm fighting, I exit the loge and a Leaf chūnin leads us to a sequestered little elevator for contestants that leads down to the arena.
Kami and I step in first, then the chūnin does, and after closing the doors behind her and pushing the button for the arena floor, she turns to face us, watching us all the way down.
She's making sure she doesn't miss any foul play, I realise.
I almost scoff; like I would stoop so low as to use such underhanded tactics, or fail to defend against them.
I roll my eyes, making sure she sees it.
She sticks her tongue out at me.
The action is so unexpected it makes me blink.
The Cloud-nin, Kami, chuckles. The chūnin, whose name I only now realize I don't know, does too.
I gracefully ignore them both.
The elevator rumbles to a stop, and we file out into the long, straight tunnel before us.
Right before we come out the other end, the chūnin steps aside, letting Kami and I walk past her.
"Good luck, you two," she says. "Don't get too carried away."
We walk onto the sands of the arena.
The arena is at least as big as the football fields of Caleb's world, and it takes us a minute to walk to the proctor standing in the middle.
Around us, I can feel the gazes of the crowd pressing down. I ignore it, focusing only on my opponent.
The announcer introduces us, highlighting my Uchiha heritage and the fact that, like the winner of the previous match, I too am a rookie fighting a fourteen year old.
"Will we see another upset by a rookie?" he asks the riveted crowd.
The proctor, a special-jōnin who Caleb's memories tell me is named Hayate Gekkō, coughs a little, before asking us; "Are you both ready?"
I nod, but across from me, Kami takes his forehead protector from his forehead and begins to tie it around his eyes.
"Oh?" the announcer says. "Looks like Kami Neko doesn't want to take his chances against the genjutsu prowess of the Uchiha eyes. Smart plan; but of course can he take on an Uchiha with his primary sense blocked? I guess we'll just have to see."
"You won't be needing that," I say, and I almost flinch when I hear my words echo across the amphitheatre. "I won't use genjutsu on you."
Kami pauses, then looks at me. "Is that right?" he asks dubiously.
I give the Cloud-nin a condescending look that fully displays what I think of his doubtful tone.
He frowns, golden eyes thoughtful.
"And why would you give up what's likely the most effective weapon in your arsenal?" Kami asks.
Because it isn't a weapon in my arsenal, I think, but know better than to say.
Instead, channeling the blonde idiot as best as I can, I say; "Because I'm here to make a show of my victory, and genjutsu does not make for good entertainment."
Kami scowled.
Across the arena, the announcer's voice boomed: "Wow, a bold declaration from Sasuke Uchiha. How will Kami respond?"
Kami tskes in annoyance, but finally, he says; "Fine then, swear it, right now. Swear that you won't use genjutsu in this match."
Ordinarily, asking someone to make such a promise would be ridiculous, as there's actually nothing stopping me from breaking it. But these aren't ordinary circumstances, this is The Chūnin Exam.
People come to this exam for prestige; for themselves, and for their villages. If I, as an Uchiha, were to say before everyone here, that I will not be using genjutsu in this match, and I break that, it probably won't even matter if I win the tournament, it will follow me.
I look Kami right in the eyes.
"I'll do you one better," I say. "I swear that I will not use genjutsu in any match I fight in this tournament."
"What!?" the announcer shouts. "Sasuke Uchiha just gave himself a tournament long handicap! Such confidence. Can he back it up?"
Kami had looked surprised at my declaration, but at the announcer's words he smirks. "You heard the man," he says. "Can you back it up, Uchiha?"
"Actions speak louder than words," is my only reply.
Kami smirks again. "Your funeral," he says, then he takes the customary ten paces back and settles into a combat stance.
I too take ten paces back, but I remain standing straight. It seems to piss Kami off.
Good. I prefer my opponents pissed off.
"Ready?" Hayate confirms one last time.
We both nod.
Hayate Gekkō disappears in a flash, a bare instant before the gong rings.
Kami does exactly what I expect him to do; he shoots a very powerful lightning jutsu at me.
My sharingan spins into existence in a split second showing me all the mysteries of the world, and as the tree trunk thick bolt of lightning comes at me, my hands reach forward to meet it.
Kakashi has mastered The Jutsu Negation Technique to the point where he can do it with any part of his body.
I'm not there yet. Not even close. I still need my hands.
But my hands are more than enough.
The sudden absence of the heat and the light and the sound of the massive lightning bolt does not go unnoticed.
In fact, it is very noticed.
"What—what did he just do?" the announcer asks, sounding at a loss.
My opponent doesn't look much better, and it is only when I calmly begin to walk towards him that he seems to realise that, yes, the fight is still on.
Kami attacks again, and I don't know whether it's in denial of what happened the last time, or in sheer defiance of it, but he uses the exact same jutsu.
The lightning bolt flies at me, just as big, just as bright, and just as powerless before my hands.
"Again," the announcer whispers. "He did it again."
Kami's face twists into a mask of rage, and this time, he uses a different jutsu; he uses the Lightning Dragon Jutsu.
His hands flash through the signs, and with eyes aglow and his teeth clenched as his muscles spasm, dozens of lightning bolts burst out of him, shooting straight up into the sky.
My eyes show it all to me in perfect detail, how those lightning bolts twist together, merge, and morph into an angry, mighty dragon of pure lightning that comes down on me like the wrath of Thor.
My hands meet it.
My hands prevail.
Kami gapes at me; mouth hanging open, breath coming in pants, and his body shaking, because like an idiot he's just used a jutsu that treated his body like a reverse lightning rod for fifty-four bolts of lightning.
He'll be fine in a minute, of course. Maybe even less.
But why on earth would I wait that long?
With a burst of my greatest speed, I'm before Kami in a heartbeat.
His eyes widen, and he begins to react with pretty impressive alacrity before my sandaled foot smashes into his face.
The Cloud-nin goes flying, then crashes, bounces, rolls, and finally digs a mini-trench with the last of his momentum.
He doesn't get back up.
I hadn't expected him to.
The crowd goes wild.
Ignoring the cheers, I head back for the tunnel I'd come through.
"Well, you certainly put your money where your mouth was," the chūnin who'd brought me and Kami down says.
I stay silent.
Back at the loge, people look at me differently now.
Some see a threat, others see an insurmountable obstacle, Kurotsuchi, the Stone-nin who'd likely killed Zaku, smiles like she's found a challenge.
I ignore them all, seating myself beside my teammates.
"Congratulations, Sasuke," Sakura says, looking at me with starry eyes. "I knew you could do it."
"Meh, he wasn't that impressive," Naruto says. "After my fight no one will even remember his."
Sure thing, Naruto. Keep telling that to yourself.
The next names are called; looks like it's Kankuro's turn.