A fresh influx of air blew in the direction of the girls who have gathered in the front observation platform that was positioned right beneath the audience, which in terms laid beneath the VIP areas where all the important political figures were placed. Kiyomi warily looked around, moving her mind away from the upcoming battles to wonder if it was that safe to host all of the political elite that have decided to come and enjoy the festivity.
That moment was when she noticed rows upon rows of uniformed ninja posted in between the vertical rows of steps that lead to in and out of the arena. Konoha spared no expense at security and extravagance of the whole thing. Except for that one unexpected accidental death in the semi-finals, the whole event was going without as much as a hitch. Given the insane security, as well as the personal security details of all of those big cheeses of politics, attacking such an event would have been an equivalent of declaring war upon multiple ninja villages at once.
"You should see it", Kiyomi turned and pouted her lips at Mana's direction. "This whole place is rocking. As someone who loves entertaining people, you'd appreciate it".
"I… This isn't good", Mana gasped for air. "I can't use my sensory here".
Kiyomi looked at her friend with concern, so did Stea, for some reason this Getsugakure girl had an investment of some sort in Mana's ability to compete properly. One that the Yamanaka could only understand halfway, obviously, a good match consisted of two strong contestants so Stea may have been interested in Mana being as strong as possible for optimal chances of being promoted but… The eyes of the young woman were more invested than just that. These two were kindred souls with similar goals in mind.
"She can't sense anything", Kiyomi explained to Stea who kept switching her gazes between the magician and back at the blonde.
"Oh, don't worry, it's because of the all the ninja around. Each single one could throw the emotions of an unseasoned chakra sensor into overdrive. Multiple Kage are attending the event, their sensors should suppress the chakra signatures once the matches begin", Stea sighed more easily after finding out the reason behind Mana's worries.
"Where are all the boys"? Nanaba voiced her inquiry in a more complaining tone than an asking one.
"Right there, on the opposite side, silly", Vinda pointed extending her hand forward and pointing at another dark blue platform hosting a party of male competitors on the other side of the arena.
A uniformed ninja stepped out into the middle of the arena, modeled after a typical training grounds battlefield with sandy wasteland patches, a patch of grass transitioning into a small, crystal clear pond and surrounded by lines of trees that would've simulated a forest environment. To the northeast, there were large rocks placed on a more rocky wasteland patch of land. Such refined battlefield manipulation must've been created by Dorimi, just like the arena was during the semi-finals. That jounin was unmatched in creating and shifting battlefield conditions to better suit his needs.
"Villages of Konohagakure and honored guests, welcome to the final stage of the Konohagakure hosted Chuunin Exams! This year's competition was fierce, we've had to filter through almost a hundred competitors in the Forest of Death stage alone. The genin that will be competing today are the best of the best all of our villages have to offer and, quite literally, the future of our ninja world." The overseer of the exams, a strict faced man with rapidly balding head and wrinkly yet thick and fleshy face declared.
A roaring wave of applause followed, drowning out the overseer of the finals and forcing him to stand silently. Kiyomi gave her friend a worried glare and noticed that Mana had covered up her ears in desperately tried shutting down the noise. To her hearing was immensely important and much more sensitive, hearing something like this must have totally overwhelmed her senses yet again. The magician was evidently not having the best of days leading up to one of the most important brawls in her life.
"The genin gathered here will compete in one round of one on one competitions in pre-decided matches. There are no rules, the only ways to lose are to be knocked out and unable to fight, removed from the battlefield or killed." The man continued his explanation of the few rules that even applied at this point. "In the end of the day, the Ninja Council comprised of members from all competing villages will decide on which genin will get promoted. The world of the ninja is a crazy one, it is entirely possible that one of you youths will pull out an unexpected jutsu and surprise us and our ancient rigid rules, as you've already done several times this year. Then I, Oke Ebamoto, shall rule if you've broken any rules and a battle is to be ended or not".
Overseer Oke stopped talking as if to allow the audience to express their applauses but the arena fell dead silent. Then, catching up too late to the cue, several hundreds of the audience members started to awkwardly clap their hands before a handful of more joined in.
"Hmph, they outright went on and said it there, we can kill anyone we want!?" Vinda barked out extending her hand forward and letting a weak stream of water rotate down her skin. The stream dripped and sprayed off her fingers down to the ground, as the water touched the ground it began sizzling and letting out a faint vapor but it did not corrode the floor, likely due to the tough materials it was made of.
"It's a trap", Stea calmly stated, "Killing someone is the first way to get the Ninja Council to not vote in favor of you. Killing people used to be all the rage back in the times of war, when such abilities could've been used to show off and flaunt village's strength. Now it would cost the village hosting the killing ninja some diplomacy points so even the council of your own village would not vote for you".
"Am I the only one impressed we can even hear him?" Nanaba pressed her lips forward in curiosity.
"It's all in the limestone materials from which the arena is made of. The materials suppress the sounds of background noise and filter what needs to be heard, way in the back the materials reflect the sound waves back at the back row enhancing the noises from the arena", Mana explained. This was a basic Konohagakure history fun fact which she looked glad to share with a girl she was not entirely sure when she had befriended to the point of such a casual conversation.
"Now, let's begin this astonishing noon with the first match of the day, between Roh-D of Kumogakure and Aozora Yushijin from Konohagakure. Examinee Roh-D was one of the first genin to leave the Forest of Death, alongside his teammate Kei-J, he also put up easily the most brutal and breathtaking match in the semi-finals against his fellow Kumogakure ninja, surprising even the seasoned veterans with its sheer brutality".
Kiyomi glared at the right side of the arena and at the dark corridor from which Roh-D's powerful and broad shouldered figure appeared, walking out into the open, this time completely uncloaked and ready to fight without holding anything back. The finals were when all the genin pulled out any stops and fought utilizing their true fighting styles and using any abilities they may have wanted kept secret earlier on. The bold and uncloaked, battle ready outfit of the dark-skinned powerhouse from Kumogakure reflected that.
The audience erupted into a relatively calm and restrained wave of applause. It was obvious that not too many Konoha villagers applauded for this impressively put together young man. Despite the foreign factor, multiple villagers chose to applaud the young man only for his impressive physical shape, exotic looking tubes sticking out from the bottom part of his arms and his described achievements.
"Looks like you'll miss yet another match of this guy", Kiyomi bit Mana playfully, reminding the magician of the brutal match between Roh-D and Oto-B she already missed when she was sealed off during their tag match in the semi-finals. Now she'll miss the match due to her eyes needing to get used to sunlight again.
"I may just be tracking this match more closely than most of you", Mana calmly stated. Kiyomi wondered just what that could have meant when both Mana's eyesight and her chakra sensory were somewhat closed down, not to mention her ears constantly being sieged by the relentlessly loud applause of the filled arena.
"This impressive youth will be facing off against our own Aozora Yushijin! This young man may not belong to any clan but he still proved to be an impressive ninja with an unmatched ability in genjutsu!" The overseer explained in quite limited detail. Seeing the lack of interest from the crowd, as if still waiting for a reason to cheer on their home-grown shinobi, the man continued, "Somehow, throughout this entire exam there has not been an occasion when this young man was pressed to the wall or injured. Despite revealing his abilities relatively early on, no ninja yet were able to crack it"!
Aozora Yushijin walked out from the left entrance to the arena with a sleeveless denim jacket, his hands and shoulders covered up by subtle yet finely crafted armor plates instead, his claymore sword hanging on his back and almost dragging on the ground. The dark purple hair of the youth had grown even more unruly, falling well past his shoulders and down his back and over his chest. It was not tough to tell that the physical shape of the young man had improved significantly as well with his shoulders looking somewhat broader, his chest much beefier in size and his eyes looking wild and ruthless, firing off sparks at his opponent before the match even started.
"They really did a crappy job introducing him. He's a dangerous competitor, one of the most capable to say the least", Mana said.
"And one of the best looking", Kiyomi sighed before leaning over the rails and relaxing in preparation to observe this insane match.
"He managed to pull off time perception manipulation in his illusions – easily the most advanced of genjutsu concepts that even very few jounin manage to grasp", Mana bitterly explained, "His genjutsu talent rivals if not dwarfs that of mine".
"Pffft, genjutsu is lame anyways, why would anyone specialize in a ninja art that doesn't even do any lasting damage"? Vinda Calkem raised an eyebrow attempting to laugh Mana off.
"I don't think you understand what Mana was saying – Yushijin can make you believe that no time had passed at all, when in fact a full hour had passed and you were cut down multiple times over with that sword of his. It's a dangerous ability", Stea explained, looking a bit irritated by the ignorance of her native.
"Well, there's no way his ability is that advanced. He can likely just manipulate very short periods of time perception, I'd say that the style of using such an illusion would matter – if he uses it without uttering its name, without using any hand seals, the time perception he can manipulate would be shorter, if he does use those cumbersome elements – it'd be longer". Mana speculated based on her own experience with the art of illusions.
Right after the overseer signaled the beginning of the match, both combatants lunged at each other with Yushijin's hand moving behind his back and grabbing the hilt of his blade whereas the Kumogakure ninja prepared for a more brutal physical assault. In less than a single moment, both rushing forces collided, erupted into a barrage of spark emitting clashes of massive power.
"Can you tell what's happening"? Kiyomi wondered looking at Mana, who stood as calmly while observing the match as she did before it. Given her composure and emotional stillness, it was tough to say if the magician was confused or if she had a way of perceiving and reading the battle in her own ways.
"Most of it. Their speed isn't translated through sound but I can hear how often they clash. I can't really sense their chakra though, I've suppressed my sensory because the overwhelming dread from the VIP area doesn't let me concentrate and keeps sending me into an anxiety attack", Mana calmly reported.
These were particularly early moments of the match, both examinees spent considerable time poking and observing their opponent, measuring their abilities and fighting style as well as how well they could deal with pressure. It was all vital information to these two. Then Kiyomi noticed a small breakthrough in the relatively equally matched bout.
Roh-D's hand shot forward, locking onto Yushijin's long hair before swinging the young man around his body and tossing him wildly to crash down below. The ground shook beneath the feet of the girls making Mana almost tumble over, only being able to hear the after effects of what was happening made it difficult to react to such outrageous expressions of one's strength. The audience gripped to their seats and covered up their faces. Fortunately, none of the debris flying out from under the crash zone hit anyone, instead hitting a round barrier surrounding the fighting area and tumbling back down.
This time the audience was not comprised of powerful ninja, they needed to be properly protected so proper barriers were integral to hosting such an event.
Yushijin stood back on his feet before sheathing his large sword and dusting off his shoulders. Kiyomi, purely for scientific and observatory reasons, observed the boy's suffered damage closely but she couldn't really see any – his augmentation game was on point, augmenting him just a tiny bit, to where it was almost no risk and the rest was all natural endurance of a strong, well-trained body.
Roh-D extended his buff arm forward as the wind howled in the surrounding area, streams of blue chakra began rotating around each pipe emanating that ghastly howling noise from each pipe separately before the jutsu was ready and the youth's hand beefed up even more, overflowing with an internal pressure of sound waves being infused with chakra.
"Sonic Polka"! The Kumogakure genin roared out, his voice pressed and distorted by the effort he put and the pain and pressure that such an unnatural jutsu, requiring surgical body manipulation, required.
A compressed barrage of sound blast waves colored greenish blue and slightly visible as a distortion of air coiled like arcing projectile waves and homing onto their target.
"Where are you firing"? Yushijin's mocking voice emanated throughout the entire arena due to both natural and architectural, artificial enhancements of the materials, perfectly designed to augment and transmit any amounts of noise coming in from inside the arena making it unnecessary to use any voiceboxes or additional voice augmentation.
The Konohagakure genin was charging in from aside, a place where he began dashing off to long before Roh-D's jutsu was fired but for some reason the Kumogakure genin insisted on firing it at the same location. It confused Kiyomi somewhat initially but then she remembered what exactly Yushijin was capable of doing – now that she saw time perception manipulation live, she felt a bit easier knowing that she won't be fighting this youth today. Even if her opponent was just as considerable.
"Isn't Yushijin great"? Erumo cheered on her teammate while sneaking up to the girls from behind. Everyone turned around to check on the entering examinee but Mana remained strangely fixated on the battle, as Kiyomi noticed. Could the magician have heard or otherwise sensed the girl coming or did she simply ignore the girl who was not on best terms with her normally?
Yushijin swung his sword, using his blunt side to smack Roh-D away and send him flying and crashing through a row of trees and right into the side of the arena's walls.
"You know how to beat him, don't you"? Mana calmly mumbled out.
"Maybe, in theory, Yushijin told me that, technically, so do you. He holds your genjutsu skill in high regard, for whatever reason", Erumo shrugged.
"How did you know?" Nanaba exclaimed in shock.
"Kiyomi, do you know of a way to beat any given illusion of mine? Do you have a jutsu to bypass my chakra sensory?" Mana wondered, turning at the Yamanaka heiress with that odd, blindfolded look of hers.
"I mean, I did dabble in chakra suppression techniques in the Yamanaka Resort, where I trained. It was just for fun and I started focusing on countering the abilities of my real opponent", Kiyomi nodded. "I am myself fairly well trained in genjutsu, it used to be my semi-specialty but I stopped improving in that department once Mana joined my team".
"Teammates have a natural, subconscious need of coming up with abilities that make them able to beat their own teammates. Maybe it is a sense of rivalry. Maybe each one of us is just so impressed with the abilities and growth of our peers that, for whatever reason, we indulge in momentary distractions for a counter to our best friends' abilities, just in case", Mana turned her blinded face back into the arena.
"Meh, all of you genjutsu users are weird, praising each other for the weirdest things and obsessing with achievements of the other, when none of you get any stronger really, none of you develop stronger abilities", Erumo grinned before joining Mana closer to the railings. Kiyomi had not seen these two being anything other than confrontational before but now they appeared to be almost chummy.
"My jutsu is literally a sound wave, enhanced by chakra. These tubes are merely for a superior way to direct that immense pressure at you. And yet you managed to easily dodge them", Roh-D grunted as he stood from the rubble and dusted off his own clothes and chest. "This confirms what I've heard about you. I didn't have the honor to see your battle but, I've obtained information on your ability otherwise".
"And yet you casually engaged me in battle as if not knowing of it"? Yushijin raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, this exchange told me plenty. Not many people in this world are able to dodge sound, seeing how fast you were against me, then – how much distance you covered using your illusion to start dodging earlier and mess with my time perception I've realized the limits of your ability". Roh-D grinned confidently before wiping his own nose and hopping on his nimble feet just to make sure his body was completely fine and just a little bruised. "Still, why didn't you just cut at me, why use the blunt part of the sword"?
"The more area you augment, the more chakra you waste. I didn't harbor any illusions of cutting you so early on, I'd be a fool to hope that way. At this point my goal is to kick your chakra network to a state of stress where you'd be unwilling to augment anymore", Yushijin calmly explained before taking an offensive sword-fighting stance.
"They're clashing with words", Stea noted, "It's just as much of a scoping battlefield as clashing with fists. You reveal a bit about yourself and judge from the way your opponent reacts to it about what kind of a person they are. These two are no longer fighting like genin. This is the way we need to fight if we are to impress the Ninja Council".