Ask to Join Naruto: One's Nindo

[SageNeb]

Raiku noticed Sagiso beginning to flee from the chasing flames and was about to have them chase her before realizing she was actually heading towards the caravan's flank.

I can't let her escape and get past our defenses...

Although he once more did hand seals, it was not to attack her again directly with the flames. Instead, feathers coming from Raiku's back began covering the boy's body until it created a full suit of armor including a helmet with a visor, a beak, and holes for ventilation.

"Ninja Art: Crow Armor."

Next, the Uchiha began advancing along the trail of blazes he left behind, his armor absorbing the oil and wind enhanced flames and coating it around his body.

After entering the vortex and absorbing its flames, the Leaf ninja realized that in front of him had been a water clone Sagiso had left behind since he had activated his Sharingan and saw the clone had less chakra than a normal person as well as having been put responsible of Roulan's paper bombs. Deciding to deal with the clone quickly, Raiku extended his hand forward at the clone and released a small barrage of crow feathers. Due to the added heat from the flames and wind surrounding the feathers, the Suigiso clone quickly evaporated from not being able to handle the high temperatures. At the same time, with his other arm he had made a shield out of the crow feathers from his armor to protect himself from the incoming blast of the paper bombs.

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Hot Water | (Sept 30 , 5 Days after the Exams)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

As Sagisō glanced back at Raiku, she had just enough time to spot the Uchiha as he threw a shower of flames at her clone. Sagisō’s eyes widened in horror, and she immediately re-enforced her hair with as much chakra as possible.

She barely managed to eke out a few words of warning—“GET DOWN!”—before diving to the floor herself.

The resulting explosion was literally deafening, temporarily blowing out Sagisō’s hearing as all her bombs: smoke, flares, flash, and papers alike were simultaneously ignited. The result was a plume of smoke that could be seen from a distance, and a deep crater that had made the road functionally impassible. The blast itself was like a firework, releasing bright spits of flames that only re-ignited the surrounding smoke and created a chain of smaller, but still potent, explosions. The shockwave that swept forth shattered windows on nearby carriages, and battered riders into unconsciousness as their heads snapped back and slammed into their carriages; their horses faring slightly better, would be sent into a wild panic—dragging their cargo and passengers with them. They were the lucky ones.

After all, Sagisō had given Suigiso nearly all her projectiles. Even as low and protected as she was, Sagisō had felt a few such tools ricocheting off her hair with such speed and force that they still left her with several nasty cuts. Her prone position had caused them to bounce away at odd angles that prevented them from penetrating her body or inflicting serious more serious damage.

Near instantly, the battlefield had been covered with smoke and the acrid smell of explosives.

As for Raiku? If his armor was as good as her hair and he had a bit of good luck, he’d only find himself with a few nasty wounds like hers; however, of greater concern to him would be that all the re-ignitable debris in the air meant reckless utilization of fire-release would ignite a smoke explosion.

Given he’d stopped to defend against the blast, the smoke had been above to cover him nearly immediately. He would quickly discover that his crow armor was reacting with the smoke like a live match in a barn full of gunpowder, essentially turning him to a human firecracker. Small explosions would already be igniting around his armor, building into a larger and more devastating blast unless he dismissed or otherwise dealt with the flames he’d imbued within his feathers. Of course, if he chose to ignore all that in favor of streaking through the air as a scorching lance, then he would immediately trigger a massive explosion with himself as the epicenter.

As Sagisō righted herself, she wove hand seals for the basic clone technique and wove her movements between the two illusory copies; she knew her enemies possessed dojutsu and didn’t want to make tracking her too easy.

Though she couldn’t see, she took off a top speed in the direction she’d last seen the trail of carriages extending, running until she burst through the smoke. Once she was out, Sagisō took a gauge of the situation: Asahi and Kas had been engulfed by the cloud of smoke along with their opponents but trusted they’d be fine. They’d been farther away from the blast and that meant less likely to be run-through by a stray ninja weapon.

Around her lay a few unlucky drivers and horses who’d been had been either directly killed or grievously wounded, impaled by the scattered ninja tools that had been sent flying in every direction. Her eyes flickered to the mid-section of the caravan, where the riders, much further from the blast, had been able to calm their horses enough to prevent a panic.

Weaving a few hand seals, Sagisō took just a moment to cover the worst of her wounds in her patented sticky bandages, before she re-focused on the caravan and headed right for the middle, sandwiching herself between her clones.

 

[Hecotoro]

Asahi felt the wind and heat emerge from behind her as she landed on the ground after having clashed with Shura in the air. She concentrated on her Byakugan, watching as her sister went ahead towards the caravan while she left her opponent to deal with the explosion. She still had her opponent in front of her and she knew, just like she could, he could see her. She had an opening though, Shura was still in the air and she wasn't. Asahi weave quick hand signals and activated her Buddha's Palm, making sure she had enough chakra in her feet and then blasting forward, leaving a gust of wind in her trail.

"Those poor horses!" Asahi cried out, holding in her tears as she dashed by. "Kas, we're moving ahead!"

The ninja cat Kas was covering her ears, hearing the explosion was a bit too much for her cat like hearing. The message from Asahi got through though. She released her transformation and dodge to the side, just in time to avoid Kai's shadow clones and started making new hand signals. She knew Shura and Kaito would be chasing shortly after so she prepared a trick to keep the occupied.

"Stay out of my way!" Kas called out as she darted ahead.

Both Asahi and Kas jumped on top of the nearest wagon that wasn't destroyed, moving from roof to roof and heading towards the middle section.

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku immediately felt the large shockwave from the blast caused by all the bombs from Suigiso exploding at once. His Crow Shield quickly disintegrated against the onslaught of the explosion and he felt his Crow Armor coming off too, even being hit by some of the flying weapons. At the end of it, the Uchiha just had his battered clothes and some of his wings left while being burnt, bruised, and wounded. Despite the pain, he flew out to escape the smoke and continue his mission.

In any-case, the Leaf ninja had expected Roulan to try and continue along the caravan and ignored the dangerous effects the explosion had caused on the innocent bystander riders. After all, they weren't his responsibility, the Prince was. Thanks to his Sharingan, he was able to easily find her between her two clones when he reached. The clones didn't really have any effect as passing as an illusion due to his visual prowess, though.

The Uchiha weaved hand seals once more, recreating his Crow Armor and began flying until he was close enough to Sagiso. At this point, he formed a lance-like weapon out of hardened crow feathers which were enhanced with Fire release chakra. "Crow Armor: Scorching Lance." Raiku then thrusted the weapon at his opponent's back while she was running towards the middle of the caravan.

 

[DemonicHoneyBun]

Kaito stop running foward and jumped on top one of the wagons. He bit down on his thumb and blodd began to trickle down his thumb. He closed his eyes and began to quickly do some hand seals.

"Two vs one isn't fair you know. So i'm gonna call a friend of mine as well."

He finished his hand signs and smacked his hand on top of the wagon.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke appears and a light green toad that is about 4'11 centimeters tall appears wearing a happi vest and carrying a wakizashi on his side and two metal rods on the side of his waist, while having his arms crossed smirking.

"How's it going boss? It seems you need me to fight this little girl and her cat, po"

"It's not just some little girl and her cat, Gamaru! Whoever these girls are their really strong, so hand me those two rods."

Gamaru does as Kaito tells him and tosses the two metal rods to him. Kaito grabs them and smirks as he and Gamaru begin rushing towards Asahi and Kas. Gamaru begins to do some hand signs and jumps over the wagon Asahi is on and gets in front of her while kaito is finishing up his hand signs.

"Water Style: Water Gun Jutsu!"

Gamaru shoots out a large amount of Water towards the girl while Kaito gets behind Kas and blue electricity begins cover the two metal rods in his hand as it begins to make a violent crackle sound as he swings them both down towards the cat.

"Lighting Style: Thunder Repentance!"

He smirks to himself as he can feel himself having fun, even if his two opponents are running from him and Gamaru.

 

[sSoul]

Tsuki, During the Chunin Exams
Though the Yuki Princess had achieved a momentary victory, she knew that her control on the prison was slipping. With her opponent secreting her poison into the jutsu, Yua was also managing to contaminate the chakra used to uphold the prison, including the clone itself. Tsuki knew that it was only a matter of time before the prison broke and her opponent was free.

I...can't stop this...I feel weak, and if I make one wrong move, my body may give out on itself. It may be the time to accept defeat, but I can assure the audience that I will not be going quietly.

As her last act with her remaining strength, Tsuki grabbed a pair of items: a kunai and an explosive tag. She tied the latter to the former after imbuing the paper with enough chakra to detonate it. Then, will all of the force she could muster, she tossed the kunai into the prison of water and poison. Upon entering the watery orb, the tag erupted, which expedited the destabilization of the water and poison jail. Instead of a mere drop to the ground, akin to a massive raindrop, this would be more like a water balloon erupting upon hitting a hard surface. Of course, this would have the side effect of splashing onto Tsuki as well, but this was fine by her. As far as she was concerned, she was out of the competition anyways, so she may as well aim to knock the both of them out.

 

[Hecotoro]

Asahi's eyes watched it all. The summon and the way her opponents were moving to try and stop her. Maybe the sword was slowing her down? Kai did summon a friend and then the frog managed to get in front of her. No matter, the Hasa jinchuriki was ready to fight. She stopped in front of the frog and blasted a gust of wind from her right hand towards Kas, sending the small cat ninja flying, but safe from Kaito's attack. She took the water gun straight on, which would probably hurt as she was knocked a couple feet backwards, but like always, pain was something she didn't experience.

"Stay out of my way!" Kas called out as she regained her footing after being hit by Asahi's gust.

The ninja cat circled around Kai, making sure she was behind him before throwing two shiruken towards his back. She continued her run until making it to Asahi's side. The feline ninja drew one kunai, which seemed like a sword in her small paws and prepared to fight alongside Asahi, who drew her sword in front of her.

"That sword is slowing us down." Kas said while gritting her teeth.

"Nu uh, I'm just distracted by the poor horses." Asahi bit her bottom lip as she saw Sagiso was already hurt. "I'm really starting to dislike these people."

Kas followed up with a smirk, it was rare to see her partner actually focused on something that wasn't making a fool of herself.

 

[jade421]

As the poison of her body mixed with the water around her, it seemed to cause a destabilization of the prison itself. Probably a combination of her poison as it shifted the water into a poison vapor as well as her poison's cumulative effect on both Tsuki and her clone. Yua seemed to sense that her foe was at her limit and she perhaps had been on the cusp of victory, but Tsuki had one more effort to try and stop her as she tossed an explosive kunai her way.
"Sorry, but I will not let my story end here!"

Yua had already began the formation for her next jutsu once she had sensed a greater degree of movement. The poison vapor around her seemed to shift in the prison; as some of it moved ahead of her and began to hardened which formed what seemed to be a sort of barrier that seemed designed to protect herself from the kunai as it slipped into the destabilizing sphere. Sure enough, when the explosion came to pop the bubble and blast all inside it the wall took the brunt of the blast as Yua had been pushed out of it and landed with a stumble but otherwise managed to avoid sever injury. Course, that shoulder Tusuki's injured had been bleeding again as her cloth was knocked out so she tried to focus and quickly dashed over to Tsuki; jumping over as she aimed to land behind her back and pulled a kunai as her poison brushed along the blade and she held it in position.
"Surrender now. For both our sake, I wish to give you your antidote before the effect worsens."

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Following his kick, Shura began falling back down. However, before he was able to reach solid ground, an explosion of massive proportions erupted further up the battlefield. Being in an awkward position, Shura was unable to properly defend himself from the incoming fiery wave and dozen of projectiles haphazardly carrier over by the explosive force. "Crap! What the hell happened over there!" He yelled out, crossing his arms in front of him to defend himself as a reflex. "Well, I guess its a good thing it wasn't the main body that had to deal with this ridiculousness." The clone quipped to himself as he was engulfed by the inferno and skewered by the shrapnel within.

Back at the middle section of the caravan, main body Shura has been observing the skirmish at the front of the wagon line. "Hmm, I don't believe they'll be able to pull off something this destructive again, seeing as it caused caused by a huge amount of tools. Unless they have another abundant stock of them, we shouldn't be seeing something something this big again." The Hyuga surmised based on his observation as his clone's battle data came to him when it was consumed by the explosion.

"These girls are not to be taken lightly." He said as he stood up. The young man looked towards Lin who had come up to the middle cart to help defend their client. "Keep your guard up, last time we saw them there were 4 of them, right now there are only 3 of them attacking. I'll entrust the direct defense of the prince to you." He spoke. Pulling out a scroll from his pouch, Shura formed a hand seal with one hand while throwing the ninja tool into the air. A staff measuring about 1.8 meters long popped into existence. Shura quickly grabbed the staff and swung it to his side. "I'll deal with any of them who get close."

 

[=Nightshade=]

Karui felt the rush of hot air as Sagiso’s paper bombs were detonated in a blast of fire. Her keen eyes observed the battlefield from the tree she hid in, searching for an opening to grab the young prince. Prince’s son? Prince junior? Squire? She shook her head— it didn’t matter. What did matter was that there was still at least two of them who hadn’t been swept up into combat yet still milling around the princes, weapons at the ready. A part of her itched to join the fight and support her sisters, but the largely dominating logical part of her brain reminded her that beating enemy shinobi was not the mission. I have to stay hidden and trust in their abilities.

The girl’s eyes and antennae tracked the caravan’s movement and that of the clashing pairs of ninja, and approximated where they were likely to meet, and targeted the optimal location, hands slick with anticipation. When the sounds of battle roared, Karui darted to a branch a couple trees away, unconsciously edging towards the edge of the battlefield, still obscured by leaves and branches. The only thing anyone would have seen, had they even been looking for it, was a slight rustle in the leaves and a soft, nearly imperceptible glow that was quickly extinguished. I believe in you, sisters…

 

[DemonicHoneyBun]

Gamaru quickly shot his tongue towards Kaito and brought him over to his postion to avoid being hit by the two shuriken. Gamaru quickly pulled out his Wakizashi as Kaito began to look at Asahi's sword and look back down at his metal rods.

"Gimme your wakizashi."

"What, po?"

"You heard me, hand it over."

Kaito said in a playful voice while holding out his two rods in the other as a way of switching which weapon they use for now. Gamaru gave a heavy sigh and handed over his wakizashi to Kaito who also took the sheath of the blade as well.

"Just don't break it, po"

"Don't worry I'll be careful."

Kaito began to stretch his arms and legs as he gave asahi a wide grin that simply showed he was enjoying himself. Gamaru begin to dash towards Asahi and Kas while Kaito sits back as his chakra begins to flow around him.

 

[Hecotoro]

Asahi ran towards the incoming toad and with a wind boosted kick, sent it flying. She then prepared to lunge towards Kai, but the sight of her sister in trouble stopped her. She couldn't have her getting injured when they still needed to reach their target and the shinobi in front of her was busy concentrating. This was her chance.

"Careful Kas!" Asahi called out before jumping of the wagon and darting towards the direction her sisters was at.

Kas nodded and turned towards Kaito, it was ready. She held her paws up in front of her and called out, "Get out of my way!"

Her jutsu was finally ready after repeating the same phrase several time and giving her time to build it up. In Kai's eyes Kas had multiplied by ten, all of them surrounding the ninja while snickering.

"We got you know!" The group of ninja cats called out as they began running in circles around him. "Bet you can't catch us!"

The real Kas however was already running towards the middle of the caravan, getting ready to face whoever was there on her own. Those two better hurry up, I might be biting more than I can chew going in alone.

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Hot Water | (Sept 30 , 5 Days after the Exams)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan ​

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

When she had glanced around after exiting the smoke, Sagisō had noticed as Raiku did the same. His dive toward her did not go unnoticed, and as he drew closer, Sagisō’s chakra flushed through her body, and she used a body flicker of her own to avoid the incoming lance.

At this point, the mid-section of the caravan had come into view along with its defenders. With a nimble leap, Sagisō flipped onto a carriage and looked down at the escort squad.

“Give up, you’re outmatched!”

With a start, Sagisō leaped into the air and sent a scattered volley of sticky water shuriken toward the escort crew.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Lin Arasaka...~

Lin angled herself so that the shurikens would hit the side of the cart. Lin loosened her puppet strings so the puppet would drop to the ground and would miss being hit. She tightened her grip causing it to immediately stand back up.

"What the hell is going on up there? id the ninjas up front fail to stop these guys?" Lin said in confusion.

"Uuughh... Guess they are our problem too now. Annoying ninjas don't know when to leave people alone..." Lin said taking up a defensive posture.

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku stopped moving his lance when he realized that his opponent had body flickered out of the attack.

"Tsk, I guess she's not gonna give up on reaching the middle of the caravan. Well, my clone is waiting for her there anyways."

He stopped and looked around as he remembered Smiley, who he once upon a time thought as dead, was also attacking. Although he figured Kaito and Shura could deal with her, she was probably closer to him at this point. The Uchiha deactivated his Crow Armor jutsu with a handseal, returning his physical form to just having his crow wings.

Then, he saw Asahi jumping out of a wagon trying to reach where he figured their objective was.

"So, we meet again." Raiku sent out a volley of sticky water shuriken towards the Jinchuriki with the aim of stopping her advancements.

------

Meanwhile, Raiku's Crow Clone had arrived in the middle a while ago and was in the driver's seat of the carriage since the caravan had stopped moving. He was keeping guard of the prince and noticed Sagiso had arrived and sent out an attack. The clone responded with his own hand seals sending a volley of pheonix fire at the water shuriken, hitting them and causing the attack to evaporate. The clone then sent out its own shuriken made out of crow feathers at the attacker combined with wind release increasing their sharpness.

 

[Hecotoro]

Kas arrived at the target wagon. She noticed Sagiso closing in and the bodyguards already getting ready to defend the prince. She needed to get to work and she needed to do it fast. She grabbed her kunai and hit the edge of the wagon she was standing on, in front of the one containing the prince. Tok tok! She hit it twice while looking the escorts there.

"I guess you didn't see us coming?" Kas looked at Shura with a smirk.

She pulled out three shiruken and threw them towards the Hyuga chunin. It was impossible those would do anything to someone his level, but she just needed to engage in a fight with him, until Asahi arrived.


Meanwhile Asahi was trying to catch up to her sisters, but the feeling of something warm running down her arm made her slow down. She knew what it was and Karui would be furious if she didn't acknowledge it in time. She looked down at her left shoulder, only to find a small hole in with blood running down from it. It seemed like something really sharp had shot through her. The distraction had been just enough to slow her down before getting hit even more.

"Hey!" Asahi called out as a water shiruken struck her left thigh. She had been too slow to react to the attack even though she saw it coming with her special eyes. "I mean, Ouch!" She stopped just in time to notice the rest of them pass right in front of her, one even managing to splash onto her left bicep. "Who did that?!" She set her blank eyes on Raiku and a genuine smile broke on her face.

"Oh hey! It's me! Remember me? We fought that one time? Funny running into each other here huh?" She looked down at the sticky water on her thigh. "I never imagined you would throw a sneak attack like that." She shook her head slowly and placed her right hand on the hilt of her sword. "Anyways, I was hoping we could get to fight again, ready?"

She let go of her weapon and began weaving hand signals before raising her right hand to her mouth and blowing out a swirling gust of wind towards Raiku.

 

[DemonicHoneyBun]

Kaito watched as the Kas's ran circles around him, he swung his sword up high and began to eye each one of them to see which one is his target.

You can't hide forever you annoying ball of fur. I've just gotta wait and be patience with my swing.

Just as Kaito closed his eyes and was about to swing his sword down onto one of the cats he felt a sudden surge of chakra enter his body. He opened his eyes and quickly looked around saw Gamaru with his hand on his back and the cats suddenly disappeared.

"Wait, what happened, where did that damn cat go!"

"You were trapped in a genjutsu, boss, po."

"That darn cat trapped me in a genjutsu. Wait until i-"

As Kaito was about to run towards the direction Kas ran off towards, Gamaru tugged on his shirt to stop him.

"Hey, What are you doing?"

"Calm down boss, I got a plan that's sure to work."

Kaito kneeled know to Gamaru's eye level as Gamaru began to tell him his plan.

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Hot Water | (Sept 30 , 5 Days after the Exams)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

While the crow clone had been dealing with the water shuriken, Sagisō had quickly grasped the situation; there were five opponents, two of which, she deduced, were clones. Keeping in mind the original number of escorts, Sagisō had a good idea of what reinforcements the enemy could expect.

As the crow clone threw its shuriken, Sagisō swayed to the right avoiding the shuriken and allowing her body to fall off the carriage. Her hands were at her sides as she thumbed over the hair shuriken she’d made earlier and sent them both flying at Raiku’s clone.

By that point, she had neared the ground and was bracing her arms to absorb the impact of her fall; from that position, she’d be able to rebound in the desired direction in preparation for her next attack.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

"Didn't see you? Do you know who you're talking to?" Without even turning his head, Shura coldly replied to Kas' attempt at a taunt. He had been surveying the battlefield as it developed, their enemies were not ones to take lightly but their greater numbers meant they had the advantage for the time being. Out of all who were present, the one who appeared to be able to freely manipulate and shape her hair seemed to be the strongest of the bunch. "Hmm, I will need watch out for that one." The young man mumbled.

When Kas threw her shuriken at Shura, the Hyuga didn't even turn to face the attack. Twisting his body to the side while keeping his head still, the young man reached his arm out behind him and effortlessly caught the set of projectiles between the gaps of his fingers. "You'll have to try harder than that, something this obvious isn't going to work." He spoke before throwing the shuriken back at their sender with a sudden flick of his arm.

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku was a bit surprised when he realized Asahi was using her Byakugan but remembered Shiho had suspected as such when he first encountered her. To add to his surprise, her initial response to seeing him was a smile instead of hostility.

"Yeah, I remember you. What's your name by the way because I know it's not really Smiley." He however had to stop the niceties when Asahi sent out a gust of wind ninjutsu causing him to follow up with his own fireball jutsu as a stream absorbing the gust of wind and sending the stream towards the Jinchuriki.

-------

The Raiku clone redirected the crow shuriken he had thrown earlier to move toward's Sagiso once more as they faced her from the back. Meanwhile the clone called out for help for defense against the hair shuriken.

"Mind doing something about those Lin or Ayaka?!"

 

[Hecotoro]

"Super Kami Guru Megami!" She called out after finishing her jutsu.

Sadly, the conversation wouldn't continue since Raiku decided to reply with a fire attack of his own. Watching the flames get bigger with her own wind, Asahi decided to abandon ship. She couldn't let her sisters get hurt though and with one loud "retreat!", she used her wind chakra one more time to blast herself into the sky, leaving a small burst of wind that ended up fueling the flames more. Asahi watched from above as the fire engulfed the caravan and caused it to explode, spreading fire all around it, her heart aching at the though of the little prince being caught up in those flames.

Kas hissed at Shura, a bit offended she wasn't taken seriously. "Retreat!". The words distracted the cat enough, that she didn't avoid all three shiruken, instead one hit her in the right leg, causing the cat to growl in pain. That was the least of her worries though as a giant fireball headed towards them. She jumped off the wagon, trying to escape with her injured leg, fighting the pain and just like a miracle she saw her way out.

"Run!" Kas cried out as she jumped towards Sagiso, grabbing on to her waist and scurrying around to her back, hoping Roulan's hair would protect her from any flames that might reach them.

With the explosion causing enough impact to send Asahi flying further away, she sent a blast of wind just before hitting the ground, giving her an extra jump to regain her balance and land on her two feet. "Why does that guy always set everything on fire?"

 

[sSoul]

Tsuki, during the Chunin Exams
As the bubble burst, a wave of poison expanded outward to multiple directions: one of those directions being in front of the icy kunoichi. By a stroke of good fortune, she was outside of the burst's range, but the fact remained that she had nothing left to give towards this fight. By now, the poison had been coursing through her veins throughout the fight, and now that she was running low on chakra, she could only comprehend the pain and exhaustion she was feeling.

The time had come to accept the inevitable: Tsuki had lost this battle. Now, there was the matter of her accepting defeat in the eyes of the crowd and in the eyes of her opponent. By now, the poison had stewed within the Yuki Princess to the point where even talking was a painful endeavor, but that didn't mean she couldn't express herself through gestures. First, she had to let Yua know that she had proven her skill superior, which was accomplished by a simple, slight nod towards her opponent's offer to prescribe the antidote. The action was only noticeable if you took a close glance at Tsuki's head, which was a result of her lacking energy and her plan to keep her hand hidden in reference to her next option.

To appeal to the crowd, the Yuki Princess reached her right hand out towards Yua and shoved her away with as much force as she could muster with her limited strength. Of course, due to her deteriorating condition, there was hardly enough force behind the push to even cause the Suna Kunoichi to budge. In fact, the shove was more effective in causing Tsuki to lose her balance, falling to the ground after one last act of "defiance".

I...may...lose...but...I...don't...surrender...

Shortly after hitting the ground, Tsuki lost consciousness as a result of the impact itself and the poison in her veins. After the medical nin's assessed the vitals of the icy kunoichi, they confirmed that she was unconscious.

"Combatant Tsuki Yuki is unable to continue! Combatant Yua Tameru is the victor!" The proctor proclaimed before instructing more of the medical shinobi to tend to the wounded combatants.

"Assuming that you actually possess the antidote to the poison you've administered, I request that you hand it off to us so we may treat her condition" One of the two medical nin that approached Yua made the request as four other medical shinobi placed Tsuki on a stretcher for ease of transport.

 

[jade421]

Yua waited to see what Tsuki would do, and the kunoichi seemed to be ever defiant which she could respect though she wished she just accepted her offer. Tsuki weakly pushed away in this show of defiance which Yua was not threatened by even with her injuries and soon it became clear why she had not as Tsuki collapsed not soon after. Seemed the poison and general fatigue of a hard battle had taken their toll and soon she was declared the winner.
It's over, it's finally over...

Yua fell to a knee and clutched her bleeding shoulder as she had been thankful Tsuki finally had gone down, though just as quickly when the medical ninja came to them and asked for her antidote she quickly pulled one out with her good arm and handed the vile to the medical ninja. "Here should be easy to inject into her system. Take care of her."

Yua herself had been good enough to go to the medical area on her own, following the group and Tsuki as she worked to get herself healed up before the next round. Yua had gained a bit of respect for this girl, she only hoped that she could continue this run a little further...

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Lin Arasaka...~

Lin made her move. She saw the Hasa ninjas were fleeing. As well as the Raiku clone that needed help. There were two Raiku's. Maybe the clone was gonna get hit by shuriken and maybe the real one was. Lin wasn't gonna look closely to find out if it was the real deal, and she wasn't gonna save a clone when she could save the Prince from the burning carriage.

Since the Hasa ninjas were leaving, this would be a perfect oppertunity to get eh prince outta the carriage. Lin used her puppet's long arms to go into the carriage, wrapping themselves around the Prince and his son dragging them outta the cart. Lin gave an ice cold look over at the Raiku clone. She needed to save her energy for saving the Prince. She wasn't intentionally leaving him to die.

 

[=Nightshade=]

Karui backed up off her branch, insect wings buzzing furiously to keep her aloft. She darted deeper into the forest, the flames of the explosion sending waves of heat through the trees. She buzzed through trunks and branches, feeling the hairs on her skin crisp and sear with the heat. So much for grabbing the prince; he was either dead or on his way there if he didn’t get treatment. The girl winced, remembering the burns she’d treated before on the island, the flayed skin hanging in tatters and blood burned black on bright red muscle, then shook her head to clear the memory. Best to regroup with the others for now.

Finally, Karui shot out of the tree line, revealing her position but removing herself from the potential spread of fire to very flammable trees. She flew around and alighted a few meters from Asahi, back to the trees and facing the burning caravan just in time to see Lin’s puppet pulling the princes from the flames. Oh, boy. Either they’re dead or wishing they were dead. She was unable to suppress a soft pang of sympathy, but couldn’t help but think how the situation could be used to their advantage. Unless they have a medical nin, I’m the only chance they’ve got. Not that they know that. But it could be a valuable bargaining chip…

 

[Cmeriwether]

Ayaka had noticed someone approach and Raiku saying something about dealing with this and suddenly the carriage was on fire, the clone dropped when she headed ove

"Raiku, what happened-!"

Ayaka had spotted the carriage as it lit in flames. She knew the prince needed to get out of there and in a hurry, but to her relief, they were pulled out by Lin's puppet. She weaved a few hand signs, particularly Tiger, Snake, Rat, Snake, Tiger when she stood on top of it.

"Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!"

A wall of Water appeared in front of Ayaka, which was being overpowered at first, but she wasn't done yet. She was hoping to weaken the fire enough that she could get in there. So she backed up and repeated the jutsu, which reinforced the original water wall, the flames had been overpowering the first wall, but the reinforcing took effect, which overpowered the Fire, surely but slowly was weakening the fire, as she concentrated hard on countering the fire, once it was too much, she dropped the technique, which would end up spreading over the remains of the Flaming wagon, as she was able to look inside the wagon, looking around to see if there were any bodies or possible valuables in hopes of returning to their owners or families, with the Prince's help. She found something that survived near what seemed to be the driver's and horse's body. Two small rings of metal, although in a different shape than they were supposed to be. She overall found a couple of necklaces and a ring, one dead driver and two dead horses, and the metal rings of the reins. She took count of the number of dead in the wagon as the remaining small flames had eventually weakened to the point a minor water Jutsu was enough to put them out. She walked out of the wagon with a couple small burns since any others had started healing, holding a couple of necklaces, a ring and the four metal pieces from the reins of the fallen horses.

"The flames are at a manageable level, recovered a few things in the wagon and a total count of one dead driver and at least two dead horses so far, I'll check more wagons as I can." Ayaka called out to Shura, then turned to Raiku, "What happened, The Carriage suddenly went in flames, I think Lin got the princes, and I've got the fires down."

Ayaka had spotted the group of girls that attacked the wagon, leaving. She then prepared to search more wagons.

 

[Godjacob]

As Mori had taken a tumble from his colossal Iron Sand prison, Kenji had moved in to quickly pounce. His body seemed to spark with an electric outline as he raced across the floor and tried to close in on Mori. Mori however quickly rebounded and used his staff as Iron Sand shot from his sleeve and aimed to cut Kenji off.

The battle seemed to only intensify as the smoke cleared, with Kenji having adopted a new strategy; attack. It had a little more thought into it than that, but Kenji prided himself on Taijutsu and aimed to close in on Mori as he tried to strike fast and quick so he had less time to make a hand sign and thus limit his access to Iron Sand.

While Mori had been on the backfoot from his speedy foe, he had managed to keep up well enough. Showing his own Taijutsu skill as his staff worked to keep Kenji at enough of a distance so he could not strike at his hands with those electric claws of his. He even landed a hard staff strike to his chest which caused Kenji to spit up before he shook and charged ahead again. However, he could not quite get a new Iron Sand formation going as soon a second Kenji circled around and had began to join Kenji as the pair double teamed Mori who had a prickle of sweat drip roll as it struggled to combat both at once.

Boom!!!
​

Not helped when the Iron Sand prison had burst at a wall and the third Kenji had freed itself using some explosive tags; helped by Kenji's earlier electric strike of the prison as now a third pair of claws had been unleashed and all three worked to strike at Mori. Mori attempted to launch some Iron Sand spikes that nearly dug into the flesh of all three, but they had used their agility to just avoid it and cut at it with an electric current that shot from the central Kenji which worked to damage the Iron Sand as all three attacked from different angles.

The battle was intense and the blows hard to follow, the sheer speed was difficult to keep pace with but while Mori had put a respectable guard one could only do so much as soon a pair of slashes got to Mori which caused him to wince and made a momentary hesitation. Which was all Kenji needed to close in.

"Lightning Style: Thunder Pulse Jutsu!"
​

Kenji's claws struck the cut of Mori and before the latter could use Iron Sand along the tip of his staff to strike at a vulnerable side, a strong current of electricity shot out and struck Mori at point blank range as the Suna Shinobi cried out in pain as he was shocked from toe to head for what seemed like an eternity but really had been but a few moments as soon the current faded and Kenji moved back, which opened up his clones to strike as they delivered twin Taijutsu cross slashes to Mori which caused him to groan out and spin as he planted to his side with a groan.

The trio of Kenjis looked at Mori prepared to fight still as Mori groaned, he still tried to stand in spite of the blows even leaning on his staff as he seemed to have commendable spirit. But the body could only endure so much, and Mori soon fell to the ground and seemed to fall unconscious as the proctor glanced at the Genin before he had made the call.

"Mori is unable to continue. The winner of this bout...Kenji Satoru."​

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura was still stationed on top of the wagon carrying their clients when the wave of fire suddenly swept all over the battlefield, setting fire to many carts in the line. In response, the Hyuga quickly leaped off his previous standing point and landed beside the cart. The first thing on his mind was that he needed to get the Princes out of the wagon before they burn to death and then stop the spread of the flames, luckily both of those points were already being taken care of by his teammates. "Good job taking care of damages and securing our clients." He said out loud, complementing Lin and Ayaka for their rational decisions.

Shura narrowed his vision back towards the Hasa girls, tightening his grip on his staff. "They're all gathered in the open now. Hmm, what could their next step be?" He thought to himself, keeping his eyes open for any sudden movements.

 

[DemonicHoneyBun]

Gamaru rushes towards Asahi, while Kaito rides on Gamaru's back he puts the Wakizashi handle in his mouth and begins to build up chakra.

"Do you remember the plan boss, po?

"Yeh, yeh, dont nag me Gamru. Besid thif is gona be fine truf me!

Once Gamaru is a fair enough distance away from Asahi he he quickly does multiple hand-signs, as his stomach begins to slightly expand.

"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"

Gamaru shoots out four bullets of Water towards Asahi, Once Gamaru fires his last shot, Kaito claps his hands together and jumps off of Gamaru. Once he's in the air his chakra takes on the form of a white cloud that floats around his neck as the ends of the cloud move down to his waist. Once the cloud moves to his waist his black colored hair changes to pure white so as well as his eyebrows, he takes the Wakizashi so that Asahi can hear him loud and clear.

"Let's see just how many times you can get back up from my attacks!"

"Jet Style: Jet Phoenix Wave!"

Kaito tightly clutches his sword and slashes at the air and launches a huge spiraling compressed wave of air that takes on the appearance of a Phoenix, it quickly begins to fly towards Asahi, if the attack worked as planned Asahi would be sent flying backwards.

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Hot Water | (Sept 30 , 5 Days after the Exams)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

Unfortunately for the crow clone, it seemed his allies had little intention of helping; the decision would prove to be their undoing. As Sagisō hit the ground, she felt Kas enter her hair but thinking nothing of it, she sprung away as she had intended to do.

The reason she’d taken distance was her own hair shuriken; with her enemies deciding to focus on other things—such as the princes—there was nothing to stop them, and both hair shurikens exploded into a needle-spray that turned their immediate surroundings into pin cushions. In those surroundings sat Raiku’s crow clone, the prince’s carriage, and the escort member who had gathered around the princes.

With their focus elsewhere, the spray of needle-like hairs would catch them during their actions; given how close the shurikens already were and the speed of their detonation, it was already too late for all but the simplest of actions. Even the swiftest of jutsu would have trouble dealing with an attack that was already upon the user. Her simple-looking shuriken had seemingly been able to slip under their guard likely dismissed as a non-threat.

Her small success also came at a cost as Sagisō was unable to fully avoid the crow shuriken, which though blunted by her hair, still left deep wounds in her back, and caused her to release a pained grunt. She bound to her feet, gritting her teeth as she prepared to weave hand seals for the starch syrup capturing field. If she could catch her opponents during their haphazard defensive maneuvers, she’d be able to nail them with a sticky spray.

 

[Hecotoro]

"Huh?" Asahi moved her head to the side at the sight of Kaito heading towards her. She smiled at the incoming shinobi, welcoming the fight to continue. "Sister bee! I'll handle this guy! Go help the others, make sure Kas is okay and if possible rescue some horses!"

Asahi prepared for the incoming bullets. She jumped over the first one, managed to just avoid the second one as she landed, but got stricken by the third. She gasped for air as she tried to stand her ground upon impact, but the fourth one came quickly after, knocking her off her feet and to the ground. She tried to recollect herself, but her view of the sky was interrupted by an incoming, wind phoenix?

"That's so cool!" She cried out before impact.

The attack sent Asahi flying off towards the woods, her trajectory being stopped by a tree. She felt something snap as her body bounced off the bark. The feeling of numbness came from her left arm, again the left arm. She took deep breaths while checking if the rest of her limps were reacting normally. She stood up, stumbling as she felt her head spinning. Worried she might have taken too much damage, she decided to wait. She just needed a few moments to get back into the fight.

"Ugh how much longer is this going to take?" She said out loud as she felt her body slowing processing the injuries. "Come on Megami, keep it together, you're the Killer Star, like the best title in the world." She took deep breaths, waiting for the dizziness to go away. "That's better." She inhaled deeply and held her breath for a few seconds before releasing it. "Let's go! The rest can heal later!"

Super Kami Guru Megami sprung back into action, running out of the woods and towards Kaito. She knew he had to keep protecting the prince and she could use that in her favor. She jumped in the air and sent three blast of wind with three kicks, two going for Kaito and another going over him towards the caravan. Once she landed she threw her last two explosive kunai towards the boy, again, making sure that if he dodged, they would hit the wagons behind him.

 

[DemonicHoneyBun]

Kaito mimicked Asahi's attack by sending three blast of wind with three kicks, his attacks successfully collided with the first two but his timing on the last kick was off as he ended up missing the third air blast.

"Crap, Gamaru quick!"

"Already on it boss, po!"

Gamaru quickly jumped into the air and shot a blast of water at the blast of wind, Once the two of the attacks hit they canceled each other out and Gamaru safely lands one of the caravans. Kaito quickly noticed the two explosive kunai and quickly seathed his weapon and began to do some hand signs.

"Jet Style: Avion Reversal!"

Kaito quickly blows a wall of wind from his mouth that redirects the two kunai back to the person who threw them. Once Kaito finishes his jutsu a wide grin comes onto his face as he jumps onto a tree and begins to laugh like a crazy person.

"I hope your having as much fun as I am right now!"

She knows I can't fight her and protect the caravan at the same time. Gamaru you better hope your plan works.

Kaito quickly jumps into the air and begins to hide into the tree's for a sneak attack, while Gamaru stays on top of the caravan waiting for Asahi's next move.

 

[=Nightshade=]

Rescue some what now…? Karui for the life of her could not fathom what use they could have for a horse at this particular moment, but figured there wouldn't be any harm in cutting some loose so they didn’t become charred barbecue. Before zipping off, though, she cast a glance through narrowed eyes at Asahi. “Don’t overdo it, Megami,” she warned good-naturedly. “I don’t want to have to sew any limbs back on. Try to stay in one piece.”

Then Karui circled around opposite to Kaito in his new perch, buzzing around the toad with a sound like a horde of hummingbirds, and drawing her khopesh. She ignored the oversized amphibian, opting instead to bank around the caravan and slice through the harnesses still holding frenzied, injured, or dead horses to individual carriages. The ones that were able immediately bolted from the slowly diminishing flames, and the ones that weren’t struggled feebly.

Karui sent out pulses of chakra in the shape of wasps, one per living, injured horse to start healing burns and stitching wounds. It would be incredibly slow work without her supervising and directing, but this way she could still fight. Her antennae twitched from her position a short ways behind the enemy shinobi, sensing the clashes of chakra and wind from Asahi’s fight, and the formation of a technique she knew well; Sagiso’s hair shuriken. She made no move to give away that she knew what was coming, but prepared herself to attack— and/or grab the young prince — given the right opportunity.

 

[sSoul]

Tsuki, during the Chunin Exams
A path was cleared for the quartet of medical-nin carried the stretcher holding their patient to a vacant medical bay. A fifth medical shinobi trailed behind them, carrying Yua's antidote. Upon laying her on the bench, one of the four carrying the stretcher took the vial generously provided by the former opponent of the Yuki Princess and injected it into her veins. Upon doing so, color began returning to Tsuki's face and checking her vitals proved that her condition was recovering. Using the time they had during their patient's unconsciousness, they proceeded to disinfect and properly bandage the wound that Tsuki had sustained on her leg. Though there were other bruises that she sustained in her fight, they would heal with time. After completing their jobs, all but one of the medical nin made their exit, with the last remaining to inform Tsuki of her condition and diagnosis when she woke up.

Eventually, Tsuki's eyes had opened. The Yuki Princess groaned in pain as she rose to a upright position on the bench while rubbing her head, still feeling the impact of her collapse earlier.

"I'm glad to see you awake," The medical-nin took a brief bow before completing the report, "Your opponent had been generous enough to prescribe the antidote to the poison that she had injected within you. Additionally, we've cleaned and bandaged the wound on your left leg. I'd recommend at least a week away from serious activity to allow yourself to heal. As of now, you should be able to walk, but I recommend that you walk exclusively." After the stern affirmation, the medical shinobi took their exit just as their peers had done before. Now recognizing her newfound isolation, Tsuki took time to ponder.

I lost...again. For the second time in recent memory, I've failed where my peers had succeeded. I can only imagine the mockery I'll endure upon my return, but for now, I suppose I shall make the most of my isolation.

First came supplying herself with an external vessel of water. In her haste to arrive on the exams on time, she had forgotten her personal supply, something that had clearly come back to bite her in her bout with Yua. Had the supply been with her during her fight, she wouldn't need to spend more chakra making her own and could use that chakra towards more potent jutsu. It had been at that moment that she had noticed an empty water cooler jug plugged into the cooler. Fortunately for herself and future patients, there was a full one on the floor next to it. So, Tsuki took it upon herself to replace the empty jug with the full one, taking the pitcher and a cup of water as compensation for her service. Now in possession of the empty jug, she took a glance at her hand. The knowledge that Yua had given the doctors the antidote to inject within her caused an idea to stir within her mind. However, she quickly brushed that idea aside when she noticed that Yua was present herself.

"I appreciate that you saved me, but I want to know why you made that choice. It's very likely that the next time we meet, we'd be expected to kill each other. Maybe it would've been smarter to let me die."

 

[Hecotoro]

Asahi dodged to the side to avoid the returning exploding kunai, hearing them go off as they impacted a tree. "Okay bye!" She called out to Kaito and kept heading towards the caravan. What an odd fellow.

The Hasa jinchuruki could see her sister up ahead and she wasn't about to slow down and get distracted by any more fights. She jumped forward and hit the ground with her right hand, doing a one hand stand, blasting the ground with a gust of wind that sent her flying forward and upward towards Sagiso.

"Make way for the best ninja in Hasa!" She called out before landing in front of her sister. "Hero landing, it really hurts on the knees, I wouldn't recommend it, but I look so cool!" She looked over shoulder towards her sister and then set her eyes forward. "You're struggling against these? I'm a little disappointed sis."

Kas peaked from behind Sagiso's left shoulder. Her eyes widen a bit as she saw stains running down Asahi's back neck, showing she had been bleeding from her head a few moments ago. I left her alone for just a second and she almost died! "Don't mind the noise okay?" She whispered to the Hasa ninja as she banged her kunai against her harden hair. Tok Tok!

 

[DemonicHoneyBun]

Kaito jumped out of the tree and begins to front flip as he does this he quickly gain momentum. Once he's above Asahi he raises his leg above his head.

"Jet Style: Raven Drop Kick"

Kaito's foot gets boosted by the the wind as he swings down his foot onto Asahi's shoulder. If Gamaru's plan worked as intended Asahi's shoulder would either become dislocated or broken, it all depended on weather or not he hit his target or not.

Let's see if your fast enough to dodge this attack!

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Hot Water | (Sept 30 , 5 Days after the Exams)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

"Swap!"

Sagisō called out as she whirled on her heels, releasing the sticky water jutsu she’d been holding directly at Asahi’s attacker. As the boy came down quickly with a dropkick, a thick, sticky spray of water rose to meet him. If it landed it would throw him off course and also glue him to whatever he hit. Using her sticky water technique now threw a slight wrench into her plans, but Sagisō saw it as a prime opportunity to neutralize an opponent. As long as he was tied down by the sticky water for a few moments, Sagisō would be able to follow up with an Ice-bomb, freezing the boy solid.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Lin Arasaka...~

"Mhm" Lin muttered after hearing Shura's compliment.

Lin utilized Dokyo's long arm to swipe at the senbon attacks that were targeted towards her and the two princes. Lin standing in front of the two princes for extra protection. Lin stood so that her arms and legs would take most of the hit. Nothing important was his. While the others were fighting the attackers, Lin had an eye on the two prince and would be ready to strike would be attackers going after them. Luckily for Lin, Shura was there to help, as shura helped block the senbon explosion.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Each group appeared to have started gathering in the area near where the wagon carrying the princes one stood, it was possible the skirmish is entering its final stage. Shura had been keeping his guard up, using his eyes to survey his opponents, ready to act as soon as they attempted something. Surely enough, his diligence soon bore fruit when he noticed the hair shuriken thrown earlier had begun stirring with chakra. "There." He internalized as he quickly took a few steps back, deeming it would be easier to protect the princes if he was closer to them.

Soon after the initial stir, the hair Shuriken exploded into a large rain of Senbon, sending sharp spikes every which way. "Mixing something like this into an attack most would overlook, quite clever." Shura complimented under his breath as he brandished his staff. Stationing himself a step away from the princes, Shura swung his staff in front of him and began spinning it with both hands. "Wind Style: Vacuum Staff!" The twirling of the staff quickly kicked up a noticeable gust of wind, mixing with the spinning to blow away anything that might slip between the rotation of the staff from the incoming needle barrage.

While this was happening, something else caught Shura's eyes. A bit further down the cart line, slowly getting closer, the last member of the Hasa group was cutting the horses free. "I assume they're hoping letting the horses loose would serve as a distraction. However, our primary objective remains protecting the princes so they will have to wait." The Hyuga thought. "Watch out! Enemy on our 7." He called out, seeing the bug girl positioned herself behind them, probably waiting for an opening to strike.

 

[Godjacob]

Kenji sighed as he was declared the winner, and while he naturally was pleased he'd advanced the reaction had been a touch mixed. Certain betters on the Suna kid likely upset he lost to someone who had not even been scheduled to compete before this day. Still as Sky and Thundra transformed back to their ninken modes the trio had been happy to take the victory even as they sensed there was still a long way to go for them. As medical ninja came to Mori and himself the group headed back to get healed so they could prepare for the next round. And he had not been the only one...

----------
The sun shinned bright even as the second round of battles had begun, and it seemed to match the mood of a certain Iwagakure kunoichi. Tomiko made her way to the new arena that she was selected to battle in, and unlike the first time she had been better prepared so she arrived at a more reasonable time. Thankfully the worst of Tomiko’s injuries had managed to make a full recovery so she had been confident she was more than good to go here.

Course there was an added wrinkle in matters as her opponent had been the kunoichi who knocked Keito out of the competition. Tomiko had watched her battle and while of course she cheered Keito she had taken note of the ability Azumi displayed. This match was far from a gimmie, but this added complication in ways added motivation to the kunoichi. She had a chance to avenge Keito’s loss and as the last member of their team she owed it to Mori, Keito and herself to try and make it far as she could go.

As Tomiko stepped in the arena, she had felt that sun shine on her and the slum kid smiled a bit, the shine off her freshly cleaned gauntlets matched the glimmer in her eye as she stepped into position and had taken a moment to soak it all in. While compared to her first match where she’d had to make a frantic entrance, here she truly had the chance to just savor the moment as she scanned the capacity crowd and had a toothy grin. Who’d of thought the dead last of her class would ever be on a stage like this, well into the second round of these exams?

I wish everyone back home was here to watch, but I’ll make them proud all the same!

-----​

Not much of a moment following Tomiko’s arrival, from the opposite side of the stadium the Amegakure ninja had arrived as she had her trademark umbrella to her back and walked with her usual determined focus. Azumi much as she had in the last round ignored much of the crowd as she cared little for the fanfare itself. She had come here for one reason, to win and progress further so she had blocked anything else out.

Still, as she saw her opponent wait for her Azumi could not help but be inwardly amused by this; for the second round in a row, she had been matched up with a ninja of the Land of Stone, as if fate had put her on this path to smite that nation in particular. Not that it mattered to Azumi, this girl was just an opponent and of all the major powers they all had been interchangeable far as she was concerned. Still if she had the chance to add an annoyance to the Tsuchikage’s day with consecutive knockouts of his nation, she had not been against that little pleasure. Far from it.

Azumi had taken a look at her foe, who seemed to marvel at the crowd which only added to the confusion of her; how can the same girl who’d shed no tear as her body burned in an effort to win act like almost a gleeful child at the same time? Not that it’d matter, she came here to win so what her opponent was all about had been of little concern.

Both competitors advanced as they first gazed upon the other before they faced their Chunin Proctor glanced; who had moved between the pair of kunoichi as he glanced at each before he had begun to explain the rules once more.

"Tomiko Usagi of Iwagakure vs. Azumi Noriko of Amegakure, this is an official second round bout of the Chunin Exams Final. The rules are simple: You fight until one of you surrenders, is unable to continue fighting, die or I deem it necessary to call the match. Is that clear?” The proctor asked, the Leaf ninja seemed serious and both Azumi and Tomiko seemed to nod as each understood the rules quite clearly.

“Very well, then take your positions. We begin on my signal.” The proctor explained as Azumi and Tomiko had each taken a step back; Tomiko had slammed her gauntlets together as sparks had flown, and Azumi had revealed her umbrella and held it folded up in hand as the proctor once more scanned the pair before he raised a hand in the air and soon had just as quickly dropped it.

“Begin!”​

----------
In another arena entirely, Kenji had made his way to where he was scheduled to compete with Thundra and Sky in toe. Course the members of the crowd looked on with varied reactions; gamblers again upset this last minute insert had soiled another round, those just eager for some more ninja action and of most curious note members of the Inuzuka Clan who had heard of this outsider who had learned of their arts and watched with visible interest.

Kenji had glanced in that section, one of the reasons he had been happy to come to the Leaf was to get a taste of this clan who also seemed to specialize in the use of ninken. He had long wondered about what circumstances led to him being dropped off on the doorsteps of Kumogakure and perhaps when these exams wrapped up he'd work the nerve to inquire about it.

Sky and Thundra had kept close to Kenji during this, at the moment their focus was more on whoever their next foe was to be. Something Kenji quickly shifted his focus towards. From what he recalled of the bracket he'd be taking on Raiku, one of the famed Uchiha which promised no easy showdown. Still, Kenji had been playing with house money; he was not supposed to be here, so what the hell had he to lose here?

The trio waited on their end of the stadium for Raiku to arrive as Kenji carried a cool confidence with him.