Sunagakure Chunin Exam: Jupiter VS Karo VS Kin

 As Karo's fire expanded towards the smoke at the edge of the ring, it incinerated the terrain under its path. The clones once again dissipated, unveiling the true nature of Jupiter's plan. He had anticipated that the same tactic would not work twice in a row, granted it didn't work the first time anyway. This time, his decision of positioning was slightly different. The first clone on Karo's right and the second clone that was hidden by the scorching flames in the shroud of the thinning out smoke bomb simultaneously vanished. The real body of Jupiter was on Karo's left, just as he had been since he left the smoke along with one clone while leaving another behind as bait. The smoke had carried out its purpose. It would appear that his target was convinced that he was a clone. As the fire left its origin, Jupiter's steps immediately staggered with a subtle alteration to his footwork, he sped up from a speed of 46 to 96, and he ran low to the ground with the taste of wine on his tongue. Right after the red haired shinobi cast his fireball, Jupiter closed the distance between the two Genin from the side - away from the heat of the flame - and extended his open left hand towards his opponent, who was now within arm's reach. Concentrating his energy into his palm, he would chase Karo and reach for his opposite arm - the one that he did not use to swing the kunai - opening his body up to the melee attack that was coming his way. 

 The kunai that Karo swung as a melee weapon slashed Jupiter's upper body diagonally from his left hip to his right shoulder, spilling blood. The wide grin and exhilarated expression on the shinobi's face as he witnessed his own bright red drops of blood in the air conveyed his bloodlust and his growing enthusiasm for the fight that was taking place. Karo's attack would deal 12.5 damage to Jupiter. Just as the sharp edge of the weapon pierced his skin, Jupiter would grab Karo's other arm with his left hand and tighten his grip. Immediately after, he would use his own right hand to grab Karo's bicep on the arm that he used to attack him with the kunai and clench his fist to grab him equally hard. 80 was the power of each of his Jotun grips. Should either of them be successful in clasping either of Karo's limbs with brutal force, Karo would be unable to move unless he has a greater strength or power than this technique. Should he be successful in making contact with either of his hands, Jupiter would tighten his clasp immediately on the first hand that hopefully grabs a hold of Karo. The tight grip is a crushing mechanism that would inflict damage equal to the power of his gripping technique if successful. Damage would only be inflicted once this turn, and if Jupiter can hold on to Karo, he could potentially restrict his movements in the next turn as well.

 The stagger in Jupiter's step was not the type of stagger that slowed a man down. It was a forward leaning dash marked with a subtle telegraphing motion. The stagger was in fact the instant that Jupiter's speed accelerated. Instead of being a cue that granted more time to Karo, it was a rapid acceleration of pace that in reality reduced the amount of time that Karo had to react. He had already been sprinting towards his opponent at a considerable speed of 46 - which was already nearly twice as fast as Karo and most likely quick enough to void any attempt by Karo to simply react faster than Jupiter within close distance - since before the ball of fire was cast. It would appear that the heat from the flames and the fog from the smoke and ash had disoriented Karo's metrics, since the 20 meters of spacing that he had imagined would have been impossible in the given circumstances. The original distance between them before the fire was cast was about 40 meters, and then Karo moved towards the smoke to effectively further reduce the spacing between the real Jupiter and himself, as the Jashinist was on a homing path towards Karo. He had seen the various dimensions that fire techniques can take during the course of this battle, and calculated his movements to approach Karo not from the outer edge of the ring, but from the outer edge of the flame. It helped that Karo had picked one of his clones as his target when he fired towards the smoke after Jupiter himself had already emerged and started on his trajectory. Having implemented the style of the Drunken Fist to add another 50 points to his speed stat to make it 96, Jupiter was within one meter of Karo exactly when the red haired shinobi signed Tiger. The 6 meters that he had imagined that he would have was erased by the sheer difference in speed between the two shinobi.

 Jupiter would continue with his original plan, except now since Karo had changed his mind, he would no longer get sliced across his torso by his opponent's kunai. No blood was spilled and hence he no longer carried an exhilarated expression that telegraphed his bloodlust. Instead, he appeared calm and focused, albeit a little woozy. Extending his right hand towards his target, he would grab Karo's signing arm and crush it at a speed of 96 before he could cast his Minus Field, retaining his strength of 133 to maintain the grip's power at 80. This grab, if successful, would restrict his opponent's movements, making him unable to cast his second technique unless he can resist the immobilizing effect of the Jotun Grip with a stronger attribute than its power. For good measure, Jupiter would also grab Karo's other arm as well with his free hand at the same speed and power, in case he managed to miraculously slip the first limb away.

Should either of his hands grab a hold of Karo and be successful in immobilizing him, Jupiter would immediately sprint towards the edge of the ring, this time dragging Karo along by his limb.

Jupiter let out a sharp exhalation from his pursed lips as his firm unrelenting grip successfully sunk his fingers into Karo's shoulder, and gritted his teeth to brace for any unexpected retaliation that his opponent may still have had up his sleeve. Fortunately for the Jashinist, his final gambit appeared to have worked in his favor. The shinobi in his clasp was clearly unable to break free. He no longer had to grab Karo's other arm to double down on his imposition. Instead, he used his free arm to help him optimize his ergonomics while sprinting towards the edge of the ring with the body of the shinobi who had almost bested him.


Running low to the ground, he dragged Karo along the dirt by his flesh. He did not feel any need to harm Karo any further after damaging him and disarming him with his initial strike. His plan from the very beginning was finally about to come into fruition. He had played by the rules and made use of his strengths. His awareness of his own weaknesses had allowed him to be humble and cautious at certain stages of the battle. When he was unsure about his opponents' abilities, he took extra care to avoid getting caught in their techniques by hiding from them. When he needed to bide time to reengage the liquor in his system for battle, he had waited patiently at a safe distance from Karo. The wine in his blood had helped him stay calm for his gamble in the moment of truth.


Upon approaching the edge of the ring, Jupiter would let out a coarse battle cry and waste no time tossing the immobilized red haired shinobi's body out of bounds, throwing him into the trench headfirst at a 45 degree downwards angle like a javelin. Upon launching him, Jupiter would wipe his brow and catch his breath, then let out a sigh of relief. That was a close one...

Unfortunately for Jupiter Yamanaka, he was unable to experience the warm embrace of death even in the battle simulation that was provided for him. As he took his headset off and descended back to reality, he glanced at the red haired shinobi next to him for a fleeting moment. There was a moment just before he grabbed him, when the shinobi seemed to twitch his finger towards Jupiter just as his own fist clenched over Karo's limb in the nick of time. Why did he feel such a looming sense of danger at that instance? Jupiter wished to know, but he wouldn't show his hand to go out of his way to ask Karo about it. Jupiter glanced back at the proctor as she made her comments about the fight that had concluded. A bland expression remained on his face as the proctor finished her statement. He did not know about the others but he himself was no expert fighter - he had never been trained formally in the ways of combat. He was not surprised that his own performance was no masterclass, although he had hoped that both of his opponents would demonstrate a higher caliber of skill for him to learn from. 

 As Kin made his thanks and left for the exit, Jupiter glanced his way and would nod if their eyes met. After Karo asked his question, Jupiter spoke up before his proctor could reply. "Thank you for the opportunity." He told the older kunoichi before shifting his gaze towards Karo. "It was an honor to fight you." With those words, he would get up from his seat and make his way towards the exit at a slow, controlled pace. He deliberately walked a beat slower than usual trying to catch the proctor's reply to Karo's question.