Re: On the Road to Chuunin [Part 2]

Tue Jul 12, 2016 11:41 am

At the tiger seal, Shiro watches Dusk closely.

"If he's going to use a water style jutsu, this rain will probably strengthen it. He wouldn't summon this downpour for nothing so this is probably a means to boost the strength of his water techniques." He thinks, quickly putting his hands together at a speed of 74 to form the ram seal and prepare for a body flicker technique.

Shiro's muscles tense even more in preparation as Dusk raises one of his arms. It's not until he hears the contender's words of forfeiting that he relaxes in the slightest. The rain had also stopped. Shiro's hands stay in position until Dusk bows to him. In response, he reverts the ram seal into flat palms and bows back to him, lowering his head so that the rest of his body can continue running.

"I was looking forward to seeing what else he could do. There's something more about him that I can't see yet, a hidden potential..." Shiro's thoughts go back to the task at hand. "But I can't worry about that now. There's still one more competitor."

Letting his hands fall, Shiro continues at 74 speed in the same direction as before but lowers his height on the wall to ten meters.

(201/1,318)

AP:

(I'm going to use a clock analogy to allow better visualization of the field and what's going on. The arena is a circle where the entrance is at the 6, the bottom. Shiro is on the wall at the 2 and moving towards the 1. I'll let you state where Kenshin is. You can use multiple numbers on the clock to pinpoint his location.)

(Ex: Ninja is between 7 and 8, 3/4 of the way to the center of the circle.)

Fri Jul 15, 2016 12:02 pm

Kenshin would frown slightly when he felt Dusks rain stop falling, he hadn’t felt anything happen that would cause Dusk to stop the jutsu so he figured that his friend must have had a plan, he would bring himself closer to the surface in order to get a better feel as to what was happening above him, going up until he was less than a meter into the earth right beneath Dusks feet. “I hereby concede in this exam” he would hear his friend say from his position beneath the earth, something that honestly surprised the silver haired teen, he had not been expecting either Shiro or Dusk to concede before they had a chance to fight, but Dusk had. Kenshin was unsure as to why Dusk had conceded the fight but he knew that his friend must have had a good reason to do so, as the blue haired teen had not struck Kenshin as somebody who gave up on things easily, with the extremely fine tuned sensory that came with the Hiding Like a Mole technique he would feel Dusk bow to Shiro, a gesture that was returned by Shiro, well in a way, he lowered his head and continued running along the surface of the arena’s walls, obviously still waiting for Kenshin to make his move. “Good luck Kenshin and knock him dead alright?” he would hear Dusk say, something that caused a smirk to come to Kenshin’s face from his position beneath Dusk ‘I’ll definitely try Dusk’ the silver haired teen would think to himself from his position beneath Dusks previous position, the boy himself having now made his way out of the arena.

It did not take long for the smirk to fade away from Kenshin’s face, as he understood well that with Dusk gone he would have no choice but to surface and bring the right to Shiro, something that did not sit very well with the heavily stitched teen as he was most definitely not a front line fighter, at this point in time he was more akin to a support type of shinobi than anything else. Most of the techniques he had at his disposal would be nothing more than wastes of chakra against someone like Shiro, who Kenshin was assuming to be a front line fighter, the reason for this assumption was because Kenshin had always believed in preparing for the worst, and in this case the worst case scenario was that Shiro was indeed a front line fighter and possessed a great many powerful techniques, something that would leave Kenshin himself severely outgunned. Kenshin shook his head and began to think up a plan as right now he figured that taking Shiro head on would be a big mistake, one that would no doubt result in his loss and take away any chance he had of advancing in rank, from here on out he would be playing this right smart, he would try to avoid taking Shiro head on if he could help it but if left with no other choice then he would fight until his opponent managed to either knock him unconscious or get him into a position he was unable to escape.

The albino teen would stealthily move until he was on the direct opposite side of the arena to Shiro before finally allowing himself to surface once more, and he would waste no time in putting his hands into the tiger hand seal at a speed of 75, he would quickly open his mouth and exhale a large amount of extremely thick and dense mist. At a speed of 135 the mist would spread around a fifty meter area and cover a large portion of the arena, the mist was so thick that not even light was able to pierce through it, something that would leave anyone who entered it fighting blind, but this was all part of Kenshin’s plan, he had ways of detecting Shiro even without his sight and even should Shiro have his own ways of sensing Kenshin the silver haired teen still felt taking away the sight of his opponents was worth taking away his own. But Kenshin found himself believing that Shiro would not be able to detect him, as even should his opponent possess the ability to sense chakra he would find that the mist itself was completely saturated with Kenshin’s chakra and thus masked his actual chakra signature, unless he possessed an ability like Kenshin’s Mind’s Eye of the Kagura then he was effectively invisible from both Shiro’s sight and chakra sensory. The moment that the mist was formed the silver haired teen would swiftly and silently make his way deeper into the mist and away from his previous position, just in case Shiro decided to use an area of effect type of technique to take him out from outside the mist, he would move in dead silence until he felt he had moved far enough, coming to a stop exactly thirteen meters from his previous position. With his plan set Kenshin would await Shiro’s next move

WC: 848

AP:

(OOC: Okay, Kenshin surfaced on the exact opposite side of the arena when you were halfway between 2 and 1, thus placing Kenshin himself halfway between 7 and 8, and after he moved he was still in basically the same position, only moving 13 meters directly ahead of his previous position)

Fri Jul 15, 2016 1:58 pm

Once Shiro catches sight of Kenshin's emergence point, he stops his running (still in the middle of 1 and 2) to look intently at his opponent. Now, it's one on one, complete concentration.

"That's a tiger seal." Shiro recognizes Kenshin's first action as the beginning a a jutsu being cast. Next, as the mist plumes forth towards the center of the arena and covers a 50 meter diameter. The stadium, being 100 meters wide, is filled completely with the impenetrable fog across its entire plane and up to 10 meters in height. "The entire stadium is full of sight-blocking mist. I can't see through it but neither can Kenshin. His eyes don't look like they possess a dojutsu. But, he's been playing this match in a very safe manner... if he could finish this match easily enough with powerful jutsu, that would have happened already. Instead of surfacing closer to me so as to launch a surprise attack, he moves to the opposite side of the arena."

Continuing his thoughts and keeping his eyes fixed on trying to see through the dense mist, Shiro runs down the rest of the wall (10 meters to the ground) at a speed of 37. Now, standing on the surface once more, he immediately claps his palms together and raises a 5 meter by 5 meter square pillar at a speed of 40 that stops ascending after reaching a height of 10 meters. The pillar is five meters in front of him and has a health of 40.

"I'd rather not stay in this mist while I can't see. Besides my five senses, I have no way of detecting any movement in this fog. I'm a sitting duck if I wait around for Kenshin to surprise me. If that were to happen, the match would most likely be over." Shiro thinks, surface walking up the newly formed pillar at a speed of 37. After reaching the top, 10 meters above the ground level of the stadium, the pillar can barely be seen beneath his feet. The grass growing from it, however, pokes out of the tops of the mist.

Standing above the roof of the mist's permeating field, Shiro looks out at the arena once more and keeps his eyes looking for anything sprouting out from the dense fog. "I may have escaped the jutsu but I'll be vulnerable to projectile attacks if I don't keep my guard up. On top of that, I have no idea where Kenshin is in this darned fog..."

His hands clap together at a speed of 75 once again and he touches down on the elevated ground he is standing on. Directly in front of Shiro, a second pillar with the same dimensions rises to connect to the first. Now, Shiro has 10 meters of ground before him and 5 meters of width.

Shiro's katana is still held in his right hand, his body in a defensive stance.

(490/1,808)

AP:

Sat Jul 16, 2016 12:20 pm

Kenshin had his eyes closed as he stood still in the extremely dense and thick mist that he had summoned to conceal himself from his opponent, he was unable to see more than a foot in front of him anyway so the act of keeping his eyes closed did nothing to further hinder his vision, in fact the only reason he had them closed was to aid in his concentration as he focussed on Shiro’s chakra signature. He was able to feel that Shiro had made his way to the floor of the arena so Kenshin began to make his way silently through the mist at a speed of 30, moving a lot slower than he actually could so as to ensure that each and every step he took didn’t make a single sound that Shiro could use to detect him. As the silver haired teen approached his target in dead silence he was able to feel the chakra signature of Shiro fluctuate in such a way that informed him he was using a jutsu, he was of course unable to tell exactly what jutsu it was or what the jutsu did, but he knew that a jutsu had been used. Deciding to play it safe the silver haired teen would once again allow himself to submerge into the earth with his Hiding Like a Mole technique, this would also have the added benefit of making it absolutely impossible for Shiro to detect him in any way, as with his Hidden Mist still active he would be unable to distinguish Kenshin’s chakra signature from that of the mist, and since he was now underground there was no way for Shiro to see, hear or feel him moving, plus he figured that Shiro would not be expecting Kenshin to come from beneath the earth after he had seen him resurface and cast the Hidden Mist

As Kenshin got closer and closer to Shiro’s position he felt him cast yet another jutsu, and based on the fact that he felt Shiro’s chakra signature just above his own mist he figured that he must have cast a jutsu that altered the terrain in order to get himself out of any trap that Kenshin may have set for him, a wise move on his part, but unfortunately for him Kenshin had plans of his own. As Kenshin began to burrow through Shiro’s jutsu he would go through a series of hand seals in order to implement the next part of his plan to end this fight in one fell swoop, hopefully this plan worked because Kenshin honestly had no other ideas about how to win this if this one failed. The second that he finished the fifth and final hand seal both of his hands were coated in a light blue aura’s made of pure chakra, the shape of this aura easily being recognizable as that of an extremely sharp blade, one that looked easily capable of slicing through flesh and bone with ease, and with each blade possessing a sharpness of 66 he knew that was a very true observation. This jutsu was normally used to perform surgeries and the like but today Kenshin was going to be using it for a slightly different purpose than the one it was designed for, he was going to use it and his medical knowledge in an attempt to end this fight between him and Shiro once and for all…even if he and Shiro had yet to actually start fighting against one another.

Due to the fact that Shiro had absolutely no idea Kenshin was at this current moment nor any way of detecting the incoming attack it would be almost completely impossible for Shiro to avoid Kenshin’s chakra coated hands as they shot forth from the ground at a speed of 75, each hand being directly beneath the soles of Shiro’s feet as they shot forth from the ground. The blades would slice through whatever footwear Shiro was wearing as easily as they would through air before finally slicing into the flesh of the target, and to make matters even worse for Shiro the way his silver haired opponent had positioned each blade before slicing into the soles of his feet meant that the blades would not only slice through his flesh, no, they would also completely slice through the plantar fascia nerves on the soles of each foot, something that would make it next to impossible for Shiro to put any weight on whichever foot he had done it too, and since he had targeted both feet it would be physically impossible for Shiro to stand if the attack hit. But once again, it would be next to impossible for Shiro to avoid this attack due to the way that it had been pulled off, having no idea whatsoever that it was coming and no possible way to detect Kenshin before he performed the move. As soon as the attack hit Kenshin would cancel the chakra scalpels and pull both hands beneath the surface of the earth, before diving until he was 20 meters beneath the position of Shiro, just in case he tried to use any area of effect type of jutsu in retaliation, even if he would end up hitting himself in the process.

On the other hand though if Shiro did mange to somehow avoid his attack he would change his plan and actions to match and hopefully still take him out

WC: 911

AP:

Sun Jul 17, 2016 1:07 pm

The sudden and sharp pain is felt by Shiro immediately after the impalement. Kenshin's hands sprout from the ground and the chakra slices through his sandals and into the soles of his feet. At the same time, he is crippled from standing on his feet and is brought down to his knees. Shiro's face shows the immense agony of the attack. At 75 speed, he brings his katana up to his mouth and grips the blade with his teeth so that half of the blade points out to his left.

"I made another mistake there. It should have occurred to me that Kenshin would use that technique again to catch me off guard. I won't let that happen again. What do I know... he's got earth, water... watch out for his Hiding Like a Mole..."

Quickly, his hands form the boar and ox seals and separate once again with his right moving back and his left hitting the ground. Next, Shiro rolls forward, using his Honenashi to contort his body with ease so that his joints do not hinder his tumbling and the movement is smooth. Through the maneuver, Shiro's right hand stays gripping his two feet and continues to repair them. After landing again on the platform made from the second pillar, the left hand presses down into the surface. These actions as well as the healing occur at 75 speed.

Below him, the ground begins to cave in at the base of the first pillar. The whirlpool of rock has a diameter of 10 meters and its center is offset so that half of it is directly under the platform which Shiro was kneeling on before. The rest of the jutsu's range pulls inward at a speed of 40. Kenshin, having travelled 20 meters below the top of the pillar, is 10 meters below the surface of the arena and within range of the Tearing Earth Turning Palm.

At 75 speed, Shiro performs the boar, rat, and snake seals. Afterward, his feet come together as he is in his knees and his right hand grabs a hold of both of them. The aqua-green chakra surrounds his hands as the wound begins to heal at 75 speed as well.

With the blade of the katana bit between his teeth, Shiro finally gets a new idea. "Well, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve. I could try the first strategy, the one I had planned after the start of the match. However, the new environment gives me new possibilities. I can use this mist to my advantage if I time things well enough. Obviously, he can sense my position without sight so I'll need to trick his senses if I want to get the jump on him..."

(452/2,260)

AP:

(OOC: I've been told that healing should occur at jutsu speed which is equal to Shiro's own speed.)

Thu Jul 28, 2016 8:01 am

Kenshin would sense Shiro fall to his knees the second that his chakra scalpels sliced through the plantar fascia tendons in each of Shiro's feet, something that made a smirk come to Kenshin’s face as he continued to tunnel away from him, he took absolutely no pleasure in hurting Shiro but he hoped that would be enough to put an end to this fight. As Kenshin continued to tunnel down at a speed of 40 he would feel a rather large amount of chakra build up within Shiro, the build up of chakra felt rather familiar and it didn’t take him long to realise just why it had felt so familiar, he had felt this same build up of chakra during the time he and Shiro had worked together to put out a fire that had consumed one of the many buildings of Hoshi. In the end the building had been to structurally damaged to be saved and he and Shiro had come to the conclusion that they had to destroy the building to stop the fire from spreading and engulfing more buildings in flames, and Shiro had used the very jutsu that he was using right now to destroy the building, if he recalled correctly then the jutsu created a sinkhole in the earth that would crush and consume everything in it’s vicinity, and the silver haired teen was not at all eager to test jutsu how far into the earth this sinkhole could reach, so he would change his plans somewhat

Knowing that Shiro would not allow himself to be caught in the effects of his own jutsu Kenshin would follow Shiro’s every move from his position 8 meters beneath him (due to how fast Shiro had placed his katana in his mouth and formed the hand seals for the Tearing Earth Palm technique Kenshin had only managed to get 8 meters beneath Shiro’s original position before he felt the jutsu activate), meaning that when Shiro moved onto the next platform and thus out of the range of the jutsu Kenshin had done the exact same thing (putting him completely out of reach of the jutsu as he is both 2 meters above it and outside of its 10 meter diameter). The silver haired realized now that he could no longer afford to play around with Shiro and allow him to use any more jutsu, he had to try and end this fight now or else he may use more earth release techniques, so at a speed of 40 Kenshin would shoot towards the surface. As he did so he would feel the extremely familiar feeling of Medical Ninjutsu, something that caused Kenshin’s face to crack into a smirk, he had definitely underestimated Shiro, but considering that he was now only 2 meters beneath the position of Shiro he very much doubted that his opponent would be able to heal himself before he reached the surface, let alone actually stop him before he pulled off his next and hopefully final move in this fight.

Kenshin knew from the feeling of the chakra being moulded that Shiro was using the Basic Medical Ninjutsu, and provided that he was using the second level then he knew that it would indeed be able to heal the tendons, but he knew that it would take some time; time that Shiro no longer had. The second that Kenshin’s head began to surface from his position directly behind Shiro, his arms would shoot out of the ground at a speed of 75, his right arm would immediately shoot at his opponents extended right arm, grabbing it right at the elbow, while his left hand would grab him directly at the base of his neck. “You put up a good fight, Shiro, but it’s over now. You see, I possess a special ability that allows me to control countless black threads that are beneath my skin, and if you make even the slightest movement I can and will use said threads to pierce straight through your elbow. And due where I have my right hand positioned, you will find it excruciatingly painful to so much as bend that elbow. But that is not all, due to where I have my left hand I can use my threads to sever your C5 and C6 vertebrae, which will physically cripple you and make it impossible for you to move anything below your neck until it is healed. So I would like you to stop healing your feet, slowly, and I mean slowly, use your right hand to grab that Katana and throw it into the mist, and finally announce to everyone that you forfeit this match, and I will be watching each and every move you make, and if you give me any reason whatsoever to believe that you are gonna attack me I will not hesitate to use my threads to disable you” the silver haired teen would say in an extremely serious tone, and just to show that he was not joking around about what his threads could do he would allow one thread to pierce through the skin of his hand and push against the back of Shiro’s neck, allowing him to feel the extremely sharp point of it.

Just as before it would be next to impossible for Shiro to dodge this attack before he was grabbed, as he had no possible way to detect Kenshin’s position nor would he have enough time to react and get away from Kenshin’s grip before he was taken hold of, due to the fact that he had his right hand healing his feet he would be unable to perform any hand seals and because his feet were still not healed Shiro would be physically unable to get away from the area Kenshin emerged from before Kenshin grabbed hold of him.

WC: 909

AP:

Thu Jul 28, 2016 1:31 pm

Through the ordeal, Shiro's healing continues. True, his time has run out for him to heal and get back up on his feet before he finds himself caught by Kenshin's surprise attack. However, the chakra glowing from his right hand steadily heals at 75 speed. As Kenshin emerges from the rock below at the same speed, Shiro's feet have yet to be healed by the time he is restrained by his opponent.

Shiro lets out a deep sigh as his jaw loosens to let him speak. "I'll admit, I wasn't expecting this much strategy. The mist is one thing but being able to defeat an enemy without over-extending your chakra or stamina must allow you to have a great advantage over enemies who cannot know your location. I commend you, you've bested me." The tendons heal but the cuts in the skin remain bleeding so that his feet have the illusion of being injured. "That crippling blow is what did me in. I thought that I would be able to get back on my feet before another attack. I'll meet your requests."

His right hand lifts from his sandals and feet, stained in small amounts of blood. With this hand, he takes a hold of the katana and slowly removes it. Next, holding it over the edge, he lets go of it and it drops into the most below. The impact can be heard a second or so afterward. All of these actions are performed at 15 speed.

Shiro's right hand slowly rises into the air and his mouth opens to relay his decision to concede the match.

At 125 speed, bones with 74 sharpness sprout out from multiple areas of Shiro's body. One of said needle-like bones pierces through Kenshin's left hand as it emerges from the back of his neck. The positioning of the bone to cut through the center of his opponent's palm is based off of the sharp thread which Kenshin had used to let Shiro know just how sharp and dangerous the threads are. From the elbow, a bone extends to do the same to Kenshin's right hand. Both hand's threads are pierced through so as to hold them in place with the hands. All of this happens at 125 speed. (The bones are everywhere on his body for self defense, just specified those so as to highlight the reason for casting the jutsu).

At the same 125 speed, Shiro uses his legs and arms to lift himself up and turn his body so that he spins just after the Dance of the Larch begins. This turning motion draws Kenshin up from under the ground as his hands remain locked to the extended bones and his body is cut in multiple locations by the many bone protrusions. However, the turning is not continuous as Shiro stops just 180 degrees short of a full rotation. This half turn, though short, still carries the momentum of 125 speed. At the sudden stop, Shiro's bones retract into his body and Kenshin is let go of. The result is Kenshin propelled downward off of the pillar and into the mist at 125 speed.

Shiro stands up and and turns to his right to look into the mist where Kenshin should have landed. These actions are performed at 75 speed.

"I dropped my katana in that act, it was a valuable resource." Shiro thinks, leaning to his right in the direction of the wall. He body flickers at 145 speed and uses his right hand and right foot to connect his body to the wall using chakra. Shiro still looks down into the mist. "And it's about time I dot rid of this fog. If I want to win, I need to be able to see. Tricking his senses is out of the question now. I know I was thinking about it earlier but he's shown that he's too unpredictable for me to manipulate. A worthy opponent..."

Shiro is five meters above the blanket of mist that extends ten meters above the the arena ground when he turns his body at 75 speed so that his back and two feet are attached to the wall with chakra and his two hands are free to form the horse and fire hand seals at top speed.

The fireball resulting from Shiro's powerful exhaling after the tiger seal is directed straight at the center of the arena while it travels at 40 speed and burns with 40 power.

Next, at top speed, Shiro's Pike of Fudo is drawn from his back, using his left hand as support as he lifts himself from the wall for a moment. The pike is held at a ready position horizontally across his body to deflect attacks that come his way.

Through all of the actions mentioned, Shiro is scanning through the mist below in order to react to any projectile thrown at him from within it until the heat from the fireball causes the air to expand and the mist to dissipate into a lighter fog that can be looked through.

(844/3,104)

AP:

Weapon Stats:

Thu Jul 28, 2016 2:37 pm

Kenshin’s face would stay straight as he grabbed Shiro, unknown to his opponent though he had already activated what he honestly felt was his most dangerous ability, an ability known as the Minds Eye of the Kagura, one of the most accurate and hard to fool forms of chakra sensory that anyone could ever hope to learn. The reason for activating this was simple, the most dangerous animal that one could ever encounter is a cornered one, right now he had his opponent cornered but in the eyes of someone like Kenshin that only made him more dangerous, as he would get desperate right now and use whatever he deemed necessary to escape a situation like this. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting this much strategy. The mist is one thing but being able to defeat an enemy without over-extending your chakra or stamina must allow you to have a great advantage over enemies who cannot know your location. I commend you, you’ve bested me” he would hear Shiro say, but his eyes would only narrow in response to the words, through his Minds Eye he was able to feel even the most minor of fluctuations in his chakra, and while he was not able to feel any form of lie in Shiro’s words he was also able to feel that they were not completely honest either.

“That crippling blow is what did me in. I thought that I would be able to get back on my feet before another attack. I’ll meet your requirements.” he would hear Shiro say, but this time Kenshin was definitely able to feel Shiro’s chakra fluctuate in a way that said he was lying, and that fluctuation had come strongest when he had informed Kenshin that he was going to go along with his plans. Kenshin’s eyes would harden as he used the threads in his left hand to stab straight into the center of Shiro’s neck and sever the nerve between his C5 and C6 vertebrae, the severing of this nerve causing Shiro to go limp and fall to the ground completely, as he would now be unable to move any part of his body below the neck. “I did warn you Shiro and I was not kidding, you may not realise this but I have a special form of chakra sensory, one that allows me to detect even the most minute of fluctuations in your chakra system, allowing me to even detect when people are lying, and we both know that you lied about following my instructions. I have severed the nerves between your C5 and C6 vertebrae, and because of this you will be unable to move any part of your body beneath your neck, even if you are a member of the Kaguya clan and you can repair the damage to the bones in your neck you will be unable to repair the nerves, but I can, and I will as soon as you forfeit this match” the silver haired teen would say with a hard look on his face, but even the most socially inept of people would be able to see the conflicted look on his face, he did not want to do anything like this but in his mind Shiro had left him no choice.

“Please forfeit Shiro, forfeit the match and let me heal you” Kenshin would say to his opponent one more time, looking down into his eyes the entire time, the extremely conflicted look in his eyes present and clear as day

AP:

WC: 587

Thu Jul 28, 2016 2:54 pm

Just as soon as Shiro had started to fabricate his means of escape, his body goes limp. From the neck down, his senses disappear. The attack is so sudden that Shiro takes a moment to realize what had just occurred as he topples over.

"Well, that didn't end well for me. Where did I go wrong..." Shiro thinks, looking into Kenshin's eyes as he does the same. "It was when I stepped into his territory. Setting foot on the ground was my mistake, that's when he gained the advantage."

Shiro listens as Kenshin offers to heal his wounds and asks him to throw the match. And what could he do? Kenshin had indeed rightfully deserved to win. What a display of intelligence. What a display of skill. In fact, Shiro begins to feel a hint of envy at Kenshin's capability.

With a soft grin on his face, Shiro nods his head. "I, Shiro Kaguya, concede to Kenshin Uzumaki and forfeit the match." He confirms with a loud voice so that Princess Tehniyat can hear him.

"It was a good fight, Kenshin. You really kept me on my toes. Your ability surpasses my own, for that reason, I congratulate you on your promotion to Chuunin. After all, this battle proves that you deserve the title." Shiro puts his mind at ease. "Hoshigakure is proud to have you as one of its Chuunin."

(231/3,335)

Thu Jul 28, 2016 4:13 pm

The battle had been interesting from the start, the princess reflected as her sharp green yes swept the arena. The combatants were not familiar to the blonde so she appreciated Shina standing by her side, both for security reasons as well as to provide the royal treasurer with information on the participants. Of the three, it was only the white haired thread user that the jounin did not know of personally, and his skill spoke volumes.

When the blue haired boy conceded the match early on, Tehniyat looked up in surprise at the kunoichi beside her, only to see the same puzzled expression on Shina's face. "After the battle, please find someone to summon that boy, Dusk, to the palaces," Tehniyat instructed before her attention turned back to the match.

It seemed both men were capable of terrible and interesting feats, not a combination the Princess was opposed to at all. But what struck her more was that they sought nonviolent ways to win, and even with the conclusion of the fight, the winner's first steps were not to gloat but to offer a hand of friendship to the equally deserving young genin.

"What do you think, Shina?" the emerald eyed royal asked, catching the fuin user off guard.

"Your Grace, I think battles are structured so there has to be a loser, it does not in any way undermines anyone's ability. Those two could have gone on to do some serious damage to each other but that is not the ninja force Lady Akihana and Lord Denkiteki command."

At that, the princess smiled. "Quite right," she spoke before standing up to announce the final verdict.

"Both of you have fought well, you fought with strength in your arms, wit in your minds and goodness in your hearts and it would do Hoshigakure great injustice to lose either of you as a a fine ninja. Therefore I declare this match even, you both will get the chance to proceed to the final round of your chunin exams. May the Gods bless you both on your journey forwards." The stadium erupted in applause in the wake of her announcement, congratulating the pair of ninja who had both just won.

Perhaps Tehniyat would sit in on more of these matches, they were certainly helping her understand shinobi better, and that could only be a good thing.

(Exit Shina and Tehniyat)