Just as overseer Oke began stepping in closer, aiming to check on Erumo's condition, the girl squirmed and began slowly getting herself together. Her shaking arms pushed her body off the ground, then, began stroking the crimson marks over her body, in an attempt to wipe the bloodstains over her skin, clothes as hair.

It did not appear like the Kaguya Shikotsumyaku ability was very prone to submitting to chakra augmentation based defenses. Usually, breaking through the flesh of a ninja who was not overly worn out in combat would have been hard, requiring a significant difference in power or a miscalculation on the victim's part. There could have been no doubt that Erumo did not underestimate Jekleifer for a moment. This clean injury was proof of how penetrative and powerful the Kaguya bloodline was.

"It appears your opponent can still fight", overseer Oke turned at Jekleifer who nodded coldly, as if displaying his approval over Oke's permission to continue the battle and agreeing to his conclusions.

"Don't tire yourself out, feel free to stay down", Jekleifer taunted his opponent who forced a grin on her pale and smeared with bloody stains face.

"Same applies to you", she said inviting a moderate amount of surprise on Jekleifer's face. The trapster appeared to have noticed what Mana had seen as well – Jekleifer was actively damaging himself with each of his techniques. He may have been able to create bone but surfacing it and removing it through his flesh still spilled blood and was tremendously painful, mentally wearing the youth down a bit by bit.

The Kaguya clansman extended his palm forward, before pointing his fingers at the kunoichi he was facing off against. He intended to repeat the jutsu he had just used. That may have been the wise thing to do. If he took as much as a step forward, he was subjecting himself to risk to the traps that Erumo had set up. Hanging back and firing at his opponent, chipping down at her vitality, chakra, and willpower to keep going was the safe bet.

"Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!" Jekleifer grunted out loud. Erumo's fingers twitched, revealing a string of steel wire being tied around them.

"String Reeling Jutsu!" she chanted out before zipping away from danger and into the north-western part of the arena. "Wanna try this again?" she grinned, such confidence must have completely blown any mystery about if Erumo had a hunch about the strain the Kaguya bloodline jutsu had on Jekleifer to the Kaguya genin. Slowly, Jekleifer lowered his hand. He had landed a lucky blow. He would not land another of the same manner. Jekleifer needed to look for new opportunities…

The golden-haired Kaguya stretched out his tired and crimson-stains-wearing muscles, mentally preparing for something immensely painful. Mana could see unrest in Erumo's eyes. There was little she could do offensively – attacking the Kaguya was pointless due to his ability to form bone plates under his skin to soften blows and create bones from his body, which would have skewered one if they tried attacking him physically. This youth was a defensive fortress as much as he was a devastating spear.

"Don't turn your eyes from me!" Erumo yelled out pulling on another wire of string and unleashing a strong current of wind from a sealing tag stuck to one of the downed trees, that picked up and scattered a swarm of explosive tags all around the Kaguya. With an easy hand seal shape of her one hand, Erumo activated the tags and made them all detonate.

This really did hurt Jekleifer. The body of the young man was covered with nasty tears of where chunks of flesh were torn from his body and where bone plates covered him up, protecting his organs and his vital parts and preventing the damage from spreading too deep into his body. Still, the explosive trap had left its impact.

"You are an impressive kunoichi, for that reason I gave you time to impress the Ninja Council", Jekleifer huffed out in a tired and ridden with pain voice. The pain tolerance of this young man was out of this world – he suffered dozens of explosives detonating right up in his face while he created bone plates where there were none, burrowing under his skin like an opponent's blade, like an insertion of a foreign object. "However, that time is now past."

Jekleifer slammed his hands onto the ground, the skin on his flesh began twitching and shifting, as if something solid was wrangling and burrowing deep under it. The young man ground his teeth together in pain, but he did not shout, nor did he fall down. He stood tall.

"Dance of the Seedling Fern!" The Kaguya shouted out in searing pain. Judging from the red shade of the blushed skin that the golden-haired genin had, the pain was just about to cause him to go unconscious. Mana struggled to even imagine the amount of pain this youth must have gone through at that moment.

A rising forest of colossal bones tore its way from underground, creating a whole new battlefield, one of towering incredibly hard bones standing tall as pillars while pools of acid gathered at the very bottom. Jekleifer fell to his knees before crawling up onto one of his bone towers, once the gathering acid began submerging his feet and rise up to his knees. Using the Art of Tree Climbing, Jekleifer slowly made his way upward the bone pillar.

Zipping from the backside of Jekleifer's bone pillar, Erumo swung in with a swinging kick aimed at the Kaguya's side. However, what she hit was not the weakened and trickling with blood flesh, Erumo's ambitious feet got impaled through with bones protruding from Jekleifer's ribs. The trapster screamed out in pain before her opponent lazily fired a kick of his own, aiming to kick her aside.

Erumo's body got tossed aside by the force of the impact, she flew back before hitting the bone pillar with the back of her head and body and tumbling down into the acid rivers below. Still hanging to the bone protrusion by the skin of his feet, breathing heavily from the loss of chakra, stamina and the astonishing pain resonating all over his body, Jekleifer took a glance back to check on his opponent.

A strong blue flare below signaled to him that the young kunoichi had managed to get herself out of the pooling acid before it did too much damage however she would not approach him head-on again. Judging from how relatively okay she looked when she tried to swing kick him, she managed to zip away and avoid the destructive rise of the bone forest unscathed.

Erumo's effort was noteworthy. Still, she was desperate. Initially, it was clear that her goal was just to mess with Jekleifer until the Kaguya managed to put her down but… Something changed. At some point, the Konoha girl had seen a chance for victory, something completely unbelievable to her and now she changed every bit of her previous strategy to grasp that chance of fortune's smile.

The problem was that she did not get this far through willpower and desperation. It was all fruit of her preparation and careful planning of each and every move. Taking into consideration every single manner of strike, slash and bone technique that Jekleifer had shown to anyone, questioning people and gathering information during these five weeks, most likely. Now that her traps got completely devastated by the drastic shift of the battlefield… It was tough to accurately weigh Erumo's chances. She no longer had the benefit of planning and preparation, her carefully laid plans have no ended.

Yet, on the other hand, the mettle of a ninja was tested best in just such conditions – when one was required to go beyond their comfort zone and improvise a little. Something distinctive caught Mana's shades-covered eyes – it was the body of weightless Erumo plummeting from one of the tall bone towers. Now that she had regained the ability to see, Mana's eyes hungered for activity and caught on to every little detail out there.

Overseer Oke rushed in from the bottom parts of one of the bone pillars to swoop in and catch the falling genin before examining her wounds. He raised his arm up with a gesture pointing at Jekleifer.

"The match is over. Examinee Erumo Budoki of Konoha can no longer contain the bleeding using her chakra augmentations and cannot continue this match." He declared with his voice echoing thunderously across the arena.

"That was rather clever of her", Stea smiled, it was a kind smile, it was evident that the Getsugakure genin had obtained an uncanny amount of respect for the Konoha's new trapster. "To purposefully stop resisting the bleeding so that she could get eliminated now that she has shown everything she had to offer."

"What do you mean? She could have continued the fight, she was just about to wear her opponent down. It was a clash of willpower and attrition, she could have had this!" Mana vibrantly objected. She had not noticed how much she related to Erumo in this battle, so many times she had been the underdog, fighting people of elite clan backgrounds, of higher ranks. Fighting battles where only her ingenuity and unorthodox skillset could have carried her through and kept her alive.

"Have you not noticed that Erumo was doing nothing but suffering needlessly? She had ran out of ninja tools, of steel wire and her traps got devastated by that massive forest of bones. She was low on chakra and bleeding out slowly. That chipped at what little reserves she had. In battlefield conditions, a ninja would withdraw at this point and that was exactly what Erumo did – she let go, stopped resisting so that she didn't need to get pummeled and skewered by Jekleifer's bones anymore. She protected her body, her future. She had done everything she could do and more, it was enough." Stea explained calmly.

"She was so close, she could have kept pressing on. Even if that meant getting cut by those bones, even if that meant bleeding some more. Even if it meant more pain – she was almost there! Her opponent could have collapsed from cutting his own body just as easily." Mana did not want to believe that. It was one of few fundamental disagreements that she and Stea had, despite their similarities. Mana was the push beyond her limits type, whereas Stea advocated survival to fight another day.

"I can see you've pushed yourself too hard and for too long in your training. And what have you achieved exactly? Blinded yourself in more ways than one? Weakened yourself to where a victory against a crippled opponent such as you will bring more shame than respect to my name? A skilled combatant knows their limits and plays around them, just like Erumo has done. She is quite likely to earn her promotion for this." Stea explained, slightly firing up to match Mana's own slipping temper.

"I mean… Sometimes I would appreciate if you didn't push yourself so hard, Mana. Don't forget what happened when you decided to face Hisako one on one, or that needlessly violent bloodfest against the Imarizu leader…" Kiyomi tried to intervene without raising too many flags. Mana pouted her lips and crossed her arms on her chest before turning and walking away. could not believe it, that Kiyomi, of all people, would take Stea's side in this. With just one more match left until her turn to fight comes… She needed the support of her friends, she needed any kind of support she could get. She tried so hard to shine brightly, to be the symbol of good will and peace that could inspire people to change and what has she changed truly? Her past boyfriend decided to become a cold-blooded killer, her friend, someone who was like an older sister to Mana, took the side of Stea in an argument…

The magician could not believe it, that Kiyomi, of all people, would take Stea's side in this. With just one more match left until her turn to fight comes… She needed the support of her friends, she needed any kind of support she could get. She tried so hard to shine brightly, to be the symbol of goodwill and peace that could inspire people to change and what has she changed truly? Her past boyfriend decided to become a cold-blooded killer, her friend, someone who was like an older sister to Mana, took the side of Stea in an argument…

"Hey, are you okay?" Kiyomi carefully approached Mana in the sunken in shade corridor before placing a hand on the magician's shoulder. The blonde may not have seen the tears coming from Mana's eyes but she must have heard her weird and wet sniffling. "I mean… I don't think that argument was that big of a deal, honestly. Sometimes… It's just that sometimes you do push yourself too hard, it would be nice for you to not hurt the people that love you like that, that's all what we meant."

"It's… Not that…" Mana whimpered out, possibly revealing pretty conclusively that she was crying. She should not have been crying. She was supposed to be stronger than this. She was supposed to become perfect, Perfect Mana was what she called herself jokingly all this time. The training was amazing, she achieved great heights and accomplished everything she wanted to and more but… No amount of sparring, no amount of meditation will ever prepare for life. No matter how heavy of a stone Mana would lift above her head, Kouta will still aspire to become a cold-hearted assassin.

"Sometimes I'm not sure about what's right and what's wrong." Mana admitted, wiping her tears and slipping the shades back on after the on and off lights had decided to work with half power, lingering, but stay on. "It used to be so easy… Just help anyone who asks for it, fight back anyone who tries to hurt people. Do whatever the village tells you, that's what's supposed to be right. Now… Kouta decides to train for ANBU, how am I supposed to react?"

"Wait, what? That's what it was all about? I honestly thought you two would be getting back together. Frankly, I think that whole trust thing that made you guys fall out was a bit overblown. The Forest of Death just a survival game, anyways…" Kiyomi sat by Mana's side before pressing Mana's head against her shoulder. "Plus, I know why you'd feel betrayed by him but… Being an ANBU is a great honor for a ninja, one of the highest things you can aspire for in our profession."

"That's the point. I feel like I'm wrong but… I don't want him to kill, I don't want him to destroy and suppress who he is. I know it's not up to me, I know it's selfish but…" Mana wiped her tears again.

"Being selfish doesn't always mean being wrong." Kiyomi playfully teased the magician by shaking her head like she'd tease a little puppy by shaking their head while placing her hand on the top of its head. "You want what's best for him. There's nothing wrong in that. It's just that you two have conflicting opinions about that. All you can hope for is that when you let him know your stance on things he'll… Reconsider his own stance. You're not a criminal, you're not some super-villain just because you question yourself and think what you're doing is wrong – that's just life. If you're not asking any questions about everything that you do – that's when you're treading dangerous ground. Stop getting worked up about things and start getting ready, you're the showstopper of the evening, remember?" Kiyomi smiled. At least Mana thought she did. It was tough to say in this limited lighting with wet and slippery shades hanging loosely on her nose.

Mana picked herself up and got back on her feet. The two girls returned to the observatory. Over the span of the finals, the place had thinned out significantly. Erumo was injured, although nowhere near as she would have been had she pushed even father, it was likely she'd be somewhat recovered by late tonight, Vinda was severely burned by her own acid and looking at weeks until she would completely recover, Nanaba was taken somewhere by the staff. Her state was a complete mystery at the moment.

Standing atop one of the bone pillars, using the Art of Tree Climbing to keep his feet perfectly stuck to the edge and keeping perfect balance on it, overseer Oke declared the beginning of the next to last match of the finals – Gentib de Vitt from Team Scuti of Hoshigakure against Kres-T from Team Alto of Kumogakure.

"Talk about rough matches…" Kiyomi noted, Stea nodded by her side with a reserved yet content expression. She may have harbored similar beliefs to Mana deep inside but she did appear moderately curious as to which one of these two young men would defeat the other, even if the history between these two suggested that neither one of them would allow the other to be beaten by anything other than complete humiliation and absolute brutality.

"These two have a very complicated history! Gentib de Vitt of Hoshigakure is known for his intriguing personalities, all of which have subtly different fighting styles and use different sides of his Fire Release and Wind Release arsenal. These two have unresolved business due to the fact that one of this year's fatalities, Gentib's teammate Gorm Cleiti, came as an indirect result of Kres-T pushing him to that point. This will be a very personal bout, made even more complicated by the odd battlefield they will end up clashing in!" Oke spread his hands wide as if encouraging the audience to explore and feast their eyes on the lingering forest of near-unbreakable bones with foaming rivers of acid below.

"They appear to focus heavily upon the personal struggle between these two", Mana stepped up to the edge of the observatory. "Oke-san did not even mention anything related to their arsenals or combat achievements."

"He is a showman", Kiyomi shrugged indifferently, "He did note the two most alluring aspects of this clash: Gentib's different personalities and the personal history between these two."

"He did not even skew the scales at all, that is quite professional of him. He may have mentioned Gentib's abilities while leaving out what exactly Kres-T could do, however, he was aware that both of them had seen each other fight." Stea smiled.

A whirlwind of searing crimson flames erupted from the entrance, arcing up to one of the bone pillars and smashing into it so hard that the flames appeared to splash aside like water being spilled from a bucket at rock-hard wall. The protective barriers managed to contain Gentib's fiery entrance, but the flare and sparking shimmers of the rampaging blaze persisted in the air, captivating the audience and getting them instantly on Gentib's side as the boy was an entertainer, if nothing else.

Atop the completely undamaged bone tower stood Gentib de Vitt, in his Tankobaji persona, red kimono, white haori, clashing, blood red and snow-white face paint and the ridiculous red and spiky wig included. He even still carried around that oversized rod that he had during the great clash of genin teams in the Forest of Death but left behind during the semi-finals.

Kres-T, however, had a much more subtle entrance, jumping off from one of the audience's observatory platforms before landing on a side of one of the towering bones and running all the way up top and smugly sneering at his opponent. Waiting impatiently for his time to beat the crap out of him.

With the overseer Oke's signal to begin, Kres got it.