"Come on, Kiyomi, you can do it"! Meiko cheered for the Yamanaka unexpectedly from the side. The sheer surprise of realizing that both Meiko and Masen-Z were watching made Kiyomi's mind, kind of, snap out of the trembling sensation that realizing she needed to take high risks in this battle brought.

While the blonde felt that Meiko's attempts at cheering her up were really cheesy, somehow, they worked. They worked at least at calming Kiyomi down. The pressure of knowing that losing here meant the end for her entire team stopped mattering as much, the expectations that Chestnut Hanasaku as well as her own clan and her team had for her stopped holding Kiyomi down.

One thing that was crystal-clear at this point was that Kiyomi needed to stop trying to outwrestle Othello G or even fighting using that style. When fighting fair she had little to no hope of beating the man, her punches and kicks simply bounced off of him leaving little to no damage no matter how augmented they were and she was just tiring herself out and getting herself ready for a "What-What" finisher.

Still, she had little to no options of changing her style up in this ring. Her ninjutsu affinity was for Earth Release techniques, at this moment Anaron was covering up the busted ring floor with his body, which meant that Kiyomi would be unable to use them unless the rocks somehow broke through the snake's body. That meant that the jutsu would come out later and weaker as they would struggle to bust through the snake already. She needed to think smarter, think broader and improvise.

Just as Othello's feet propelled the large wrestler forward, throwing him into an acrobatic roll forward, aimed at placing him behind Kiyomi so that he could lock her into a suplex or strike from behind, the blonde's own hands occupied themselves with hand seals. It was a lethal race as to who would get to their attack first. Luckily enough, the technique on Kiyomi's mind was simple enough and required very few hand seals.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough"! Kiyomi chanted as she jumped up and turned her upper body around, stretching herself to turn back so much that her sides started hurting. A little bit more and she would have most certainly flexed a muscle.

At the same time Othello placed himself behind Kiyomi as a smaller snake burst through and out of Anaron's scales. The purpose of the smaller reptile was to wrap around Kiyomi, it didn't look like the snake that performed the "What-What" but it still looked quite capable of constricting Kiyomi until she could no longer breathe or move and would end up passing out of air shortage.

Luckily enough, the Wind Release technique of Kiyomi's secondary, weaker, elemental affinity delivered a powerful pushing shock which shoved the user herself out of harm's way seeing how she was in the air and didn't use her feet for holding her balance still. Kiyomi's weightless and relaxed body was thrown backwards from the aftershock while the windblast hit Othello right in the face up close.

Shaken by the powerful wave of wind, Othello G braced himself as the smaller snake once again disappeared under Anaron's scales from where it initially appeared. The powerful wrestler soon regained his full composure, having not only withstood the tremendous toppling force of the raging windstorm containing all the power of a hypercane compressed into a single wave but also recovered from it far sooner than any ninja of his rank reasonably would. The first sight that met his eyes was Kiyomi in a jumping punch stance, her fist cocked back and winded up, ready to wreak havoc upon Othello G's face.

"Apep Suplex"! Othello G yelled out as his body moved many times faster than even the mental command for the blonde to unleash her prepared punch. The speedy powerhouse dashed right behind the airborne opponent trying to grip at her lower abdomen before dropping his body back for an immensely powerful suplex. He would have knocked Kiyomi out completely had it not been for the minor detail that his vehicle sized arms phased through the girl's body dispelling a floaty mirage.

"Clone Jutsu"? Othello G realized too late once his body was already halfway falling to the ring floor.

"Mind Switch: Art of War"! Kiyomi shouted out placing her hands forward in the hand seal position used for the Yamanaka hijutsu. The Yamanaka's mind floated out of her own body, entering that of her opponent's before dissolving in a powerful mental pulse that was able of causing an excruciating migraine and returning to its owner's body.

Oddly enough, Kiyomi could not feel her mind having affected a living being. Something about her well set-up ninjutsu finisher felt… Odd and only once the mind returned to her did she realize that she her mind was reflected back off of a sweat stained towel which Othello G substituted with at the very last moment before her mind would've entered his.

Othello was huffing outside of the ring, feeling ashamed and breathless over the dangerously close exchange that transpired just now. Kiyomi smiled bitterly from inside the ring at her target who finally stretched his tired muscles out and jumped back into Anaron's ring, over the large reptilian tail.

"That's not fair"! Meiko complained, "I thought this was a wrestling match, or something, how come the bushy baldy used that snake thing from under the large snake"?

"It's not like your teammate is fighting like a wrestler either", Sunny Lee replied, appearing slightly offended by Meiko's suggestion. "Still, it's a bit unusual to see Othello using ninjutsu as well, he must've been pushed really far".

"It's fine, Meiko. Snake submissions are how Othello G fights, it's his whole gimmick. I'd have been a fool if I didn't anticipate the smaller ones sliding out of his tights or his boots or his bushy armpits or chest at some point", Kiyomi couldn't shake off her bitter smile, "Still, I was so close…" she lamented.

"Yeah, I'm a bit ashamed to have used such a dirty method of getting away but in the end of the day, I am a heel, ain't I"? Othello G shook his head in disappointment.

This was horrible, Kiyomi's mood began to change from proud disappointment into outright respectful fear. She had almost reached the halfway of her chakra pool and using techniques like "Art of War" or "Art of Valentine" without success really choked her in that area. To think that she planned such a nice set-up only for it all to get substituted away…

"Even when I outsmart him I can't seem to pin him down, he's that flexible and agile in the ring. Somehow I feel like I'm still clashing with his strengths instead of his weaknesses, does he even have any"? Kiyomi kept on wondering in her mind.

"Kukulkan Scissors"! Othello yelled out slamming his hands together, Kiyomi's eyes widened as she knew that move and still felt like she was screwed. Even while she could not quite see the two smaller snakes appear from under Anaron's body again, she knew that they would, from both sides. The only way was forward! Kiyomi charged blindly at her opponent, desperate to avoid his clutches but the gut wrenching pressure around her abdomen locking her in place and dragging her down and back thought differently.

"Seth Choke"! The wrestler yelled out pressing his palm against Anaron's scaly body as another golden colored snake shot out from under Anaron's scales and tied around Kiyomi's throat. Kukulkan's Scissors was not a powerful move, but it was near inescapable. Kiyomi could not quite remember any wrestler being able to evade it as much as they broke out of it once it started, then again, the whole blasted thing was scripted anyways so relying on her fan's knowledge proved to be quite perilous. Those damned snakes were far faster than they were on camera, where Othello G slowed them down so they could be captured on film.

Othello G still remained on his knees, pressing his palm against Anaron's body. In real life he must have needed to maintain chakra input and constant focus to apply these holds successfully but it barely even mattered when they already gave Kiyomi too much trouble to begin with. Othello G being able to move would have been an overkill. Where the first double snake lockdown drove all oxygen out of her body, applying further pressure to the lower abdomen, the second one tied around Kiyomi's throat choking her out when she had no air reserves to begin with.

Kiyomi would have screamed out had she the ability to use her voice, not just blankly stare into the darkness above, and gasp for air. Her best attempts to break out were not even close to bringing any use and judging from the burning pain in her entire body and the grotesque sounds coming from her slowly crushed body she was getting weaker to keep resisting in the future as well.

"This is… Cruel", Meiko lamented aloud running up to the ring, as if her proximity had any supportive effect for her friend.

"Yeah, a person would pass out almost instantly under such a hold, granted, if the hold itself would be weakened so that the person wasn't crushed instantly into a puddle of blood and guts. A ninja, meanwhile, has the ability to prolong their suffering, asphyxiating a ninja may take twenty to forty minutes, I wonder if your friend can even take that much pain", Masen-Z's voice weakened as he too was disgusted by the double hold applied by his teammate.

"Stop this, Othello, she can't even surrender, this isn't a wrestling match, you need to knock her out. This is torture"! Sunny shouted out, appalled by the method of victory used by her teammate.

Kiyomi tried struggling, at that point she knew that her strength was being drained. The best chances of getting out were right in the beginning. Now with her head and few areas of her body that were not being grinded and crushed pulsing in pain and feeling like a bloating balloon it was next to impossible. Still, the Yamanaka did not want to give up. She was the leader of Team Hokage, she had no right to call it quits, give up and tell her opponent she would abandon the competition.

Heart pounded erratically, by this point a normal human would've long since passed out whereas Kiyomi was fighting to prolong her body's endurance and ability to withstand this immense pressure and shortage of air. Then, in a momentary swoop, the blonde felt the pressure loosen for just a brief bit. It was then or never, Kiyomi expelled a massive amount of chakra from her body through her pores as she accelerated the flow to maximize the amount of strength her weakened body could muster up. The snakes holding her down all popped loudly and dispelled in a cloud of smoke, choosing to escape instead of continuing the submission move before beginning to wander what it was that caused this loss in pressure power.

"What the hell are you doing"? Sunny Lee curiously wondered, as her head failed to comprehend her teammate's peculiar movement as the wrestler was running around the ring and flexing his muscles by the corners at the spaces where the audience would have been seated.

"I'm taunting and firing up the audience"! Othello G yelled out proudly.

"Huh? But we're the only audience here, there's no need for that", Sunny Lee slapped her forehead realizing that it was because of her teammates two decades lasting experience as a wrestler, taunting his opponent and firing up the audience after every move that Othello enabled his opponent to break out from his hold.

From the cloud of smoke, created by the smaller snakes escaping, a handful of shuriken flew at Othello G before a raspy feminine voice came from inside the cloud. The voice tried to utter a name of a technique but failing to do so as her damaged body and numbed arms slowed down her hand seals to a crawl and made every hand seal a painful agony. Where usually the name of a ninja technique allowed the body to jump into a mode of pre-memorized movements and made it easier to concentrate and perform the technique, without the aid of her vocals Kiyomi failed to perform the technique she wanted to do.

Othello G covered with his hands taking the handful of shuriken as he tensed up his muscles making them barely pierce his skin shallowly. With a firm and harder flexing his body expelled all of the ninja tools etched into his body. Finally, the smoke cleared and Kiyomi and Othello G clashed their eyes again.

Kiyomi grunted in pain and frustration, realizing that Othello's submission combination, as it damaged her body. With a little bit of time she may be able to muster up the strength and the ability to speak properly, maybe activate a technique or two. Now she was left with the requirement to engage Othello G in a wrestling match – just like it all started.

All was not nearly as hopeless as it initially seemed, Othello G wasted a lot of chakra on using two of Anaron's snakes at once. He clearly was concentrated on maintaining the hold of that technique meaning it required his full attention and conscious effort. Using two techniques in sync like that probably once again dipped his remaining chakra far below Kiyomi's current level. It was an equalizer of sorts.

Othello kicked his body off in a wild dash at Kiyomi's direction, there it was – weariness caused by a whole battle of augmentation and chakra usage, the decrease in speed and strength after that last scary combination. Kiyomi rolled diagonally avoiding her opponent's shoulder tackle before jumping on her feet and flipping over her shoulder with a double kick to her opponent's shoulder and lower jaw. The mass of dark flesh fell on his knees, this was an amount of damage Kiyomi could have never have hoped to inflict before – this was her moment to wail on her enemy and hope she recovered her ability to use ninjutsu and clan hijutsu in time.

Kiyomi's body rotated like a spinning toy, she threw wild kicks and elbow strikes at her dazed and weakened opponent from each and every direction using momentum to boost the power and speed of her blows. Her muscles burned in pain but she persevered through grit and determination not to let her team down. This was the amount of hidden willpower she would have never been able to access if she was not the leader of Team Hokage. Leadership appeared to bring out the best in the Yamanaka, it could not have been other way – she was the future clan heir, after all!

Pain! An unbearable shock of pain, an aftereffect of abusing her body caused the Yamanaka to trip up and fall on her own knees right before her half-finished opponent who didn't take long to recover, jumping right on his feet and grabbing Kiyomi by her abdomen before slamming her outside the ring, right over his shoulder.

"Wadjet Slam"! Othello G roared out proudly before flexing his muscles at the audience and taunting Kiyomi again.

"I've no idea why Kiyomi likes this guy, seems like he's really full of himself", Meiko pouted locking her arms around her chest.

"It's just the way wrestlers fight, they keep taunting and flexing out. Taunts convey the wrestler's character and gimmick to the audience without needing to tell them about it, you know"? Masen-Z laughed out into his fist. "It's a weakness Othello G will have to overcome in the future".

After finishing flexing out, Othello smacked his hands together before rubbing them as he stretched his upper body forward while shaking his lower body like the tail of a rattlesnake. It was an immensely cringy taunt and yet Kiyomi, as a fan of Othello G, knew far too well.

"It's the I-See-You Serpent taunt… He's informing the audience that he'll be performing the What-What, so he thinks I'm weakened enough"? Kiyomi grunted as she struggled to stand back up, getting back on her knees being the best she could muster up. "I can't give him a space for counterattacking, I need to time my moves right and keep him occupied or it's all over", the Yamanaka realized as her body finally allowed her to stand back up.

Kiyomi's voice felt raspy and her throat burned with every thought attributed to the pain in her neck. Her whole body felt tired – she had to admit, she was busted and ready for a What-What to finish the match. She was out of ideas and out of moves – what What-What needed was an opening, provided by a too slow and too reckless attack. That meant that if Kiyomi attacked physically she would be finished off with the first provided chance but she could not really attack any other way.

Only Academy techniques were so ingrained into a ninja's mind that they required no words to be uttered and the hand seals were fairly simple. Kiyomi just needed to figure out an Academy technique fitting for this moment, something to help her tough through it. Her opponent was on his last legs as well, she just needed this one final addition. Sadly, no Academy technique happened to seem helpful or the Yamanaka had already used them all and using them again came with a risk of her enemy seeing through the repeated pattern.

As Othello G charged at Kiyomi with an elbow strike, aiming to crack her jaw before sending her bouncing off the ropes and back into his grasp the girl's hand raced for her ninja tool pouch before reaching for a marble-sized, white colored bomb. Cracking the little orb in her hand the girl unleashed a powerful light burst that the nearby wrestler had no idea he needed to avoid, without his pink shades he was left just screaming in pain and tearing up from his eyes as he stumbled around the ring.

She was no wrestler. The idea that she could wrestle with her childhood idol was a naïve and a foolish one. Othello had over twenty years of experience and training, his skills, his moves were so ingrained that even now he couldn't shake off old habits that came with them. How could Kiyomi ever compete with Othello G in a ring? No, she was no wrestler. Kiyomi was a ninja and only fighting like a ninja she stood a chance to beat not only a wrestler but any kind of opponent.

Given the brief space of time to attack her blinded and tearing up opponent Kiyomi cracked a smoke bomb as well before disappearing into the cloud of smoke. Her fists, knees, kicks and kunai flashed in the dark murkiness of the smoke cloud created by her smoke bomb finding their way at the opponent's blindspots. The weak generic smoke bomb was able to leave nothing but brief shapes being perceivable in the smoke. Given the limits of the Anaron's ring, Kiyomi was able to see her opponent clearly and attack him whereas Othello G was blinded before the smoke bomb was activated and his vision was temporarily too impaired to perceive Kiyomi's rough shape in the smoke cloud.

Finally, Kiyomi felt slight alleviation in her throat, she dashed back outside the reach of her blinded, beaten and tired opponent before raising her hands up in the Yamanaka hijutsu signature hand seal position.

"Mind Switch: Harakiri"! Kiyomi yelled out from farther away as her weakened and staggering opponent froze in place before leaping up in the air and flipping over halfway so that he landed on his head. Despite the painful sounding snapping noise, the giant's chest still erratically rose and deflated signaling that he was alive, albeit out.