Chapter 4 Drawing lots

"All right cadets form up" Mizuki barked as he held a bowl with some papers crumpled and bunched together. " Everyone come one at a time to grab a piece of paper. It should be obvious but for those of you that haven't caught up yet, this round of the evaluation will consist in a tournament style fight. Each win will move you along the bracket but should you lose you will be slotted to fight again with those that have also lost in the same bracket until a definitive order of skill and endurance has been established. Now there will be four simultaneous fight arenas to speed up this progress. Now come and draw your lot".

One by one each student walked up front to Mizuki and the other instructors to grab a piece of paper. Some were looking pumped and ready to fight, eager to show their skills. Others looked uninterested while some looked a bit scared. "While you receive your number I'll mention the rules. No weapons, jutsus or lasting physical harm allowed. This is a spar, not a deathmatch keep that in mind or you will be punished. The fight goes on until one is either unable to continue, forfeits or is stopped by the instructor. You will have 10 seconds to resume fighting should you be knocked down, two knockdowns will result in an automatic loss. Exiting the arena will count as a knockdown so keep your surroundings in check." Mizuki yelled while presenting the bowl to Toru.

Toru opened his paper and smiled Number 26 eh, fine by me I'll have an opportunity to see the others fight. He then decided to look for a spot to sit and watch the tournament. As he was sitting he could see Kyosuke approaching. The brunette grinning while also clutching his paper.

"Hey, Toru! What number you get? I got number 32, plenty of time to lay back and relax" Kyosuke said while sitting next to him.

"I've got number 26, unlucky for you really. You have to face me in the semi-finals and that's as far as you're gonna get" Toru grinned as he showed his peace of paper. "Better cheer for me once I fight in the finals".

"Tch yeah right! Like you could go against me, I might be laid back but I do love me a good fight. You're gonna be cheering me on while I win this." boasted Kyosuke as the pair watched the ongoing fights.

Most fights were fairly dull, most resembled street brawls. Not surprising since they were all fresh recruits. The true spectacle were the fights between clan kids. Now they could fight, especially the Hyugas. They were quick and precise, Neji Hyuga doubly so ending all his fights with a single strike.

"Finally! My turn is up. Keep your eyes on me Kyosuke, you might learn a thing or to" Toru said while he jumped up to the arena without giving the tanned boy a chance to respond.

"All right kids give it your all" the instructor order as he extended his arm between the two before raising it and yelling "begin!".

Toru eyed the kid before him. He was a small kid for his age black hair and brown eyes. He held his pose in a basic combat stance and his arms raised as if in a boxing pose but they were too far apart and he appeared to be a bit stiff. Deciding to hide his true form until the end, Toru also adopted a boxing stance and hopped from one foot to the other while slowly approaching the boy.

Gathering his courage the boy decided to charge at Toru and unleash a punch but sadly the punch was way too telegraphed for Toru who decided to save energy for later and get this fight over quickly started to counterattack before the other punch was even close to him. A right jab to the face made the boy flinch and drop his attack and guard the jab with his other arm covering his face. Bad move. Now defenseless Toru dealt a fast left hook to the kidney followed by an uppercut straight to the chin, the impact sent the boy out of the arena and knocking him down for a total of 11 seconds before he started rising.

"Winner Toru! please exit the ring in an orderly fashion." The instructor yelled as he headed to asses the state of the boy Toru had fought against.

"Man you have a nasty left hook, remind me never to lower my guard. Not bad but just wait for my turn I'll have your three punches beat." Kyousuke said while smirking.

"You're on" Replied Toru as he sat and laid a few coins on the ground while Kyosuke did the same. " The one to win a match by the least movement wins."

The matches progressed until finally, it was Kyousuke's turn. As promised he beat his opponent a boy with dark hair tied in a ponytail that somehow resembles a pineapple in just two moves. Stepping out of the ring he grinned at Toru and said "Told you I'd get it done in fewer".

"This isn't over yet I still have another match before facing you, speaking of" Toru said as the instructor called him to the stands and some other boy from the Akimichi clan.

As soon as the instructor gave the ok the Akimichi boy charged at Toru at a surprising speed for his size. "Woah! you're faster than I thought given your… build" Toru said as he entered a defensive stance and prepared for contact.

"Did you just call me fat?! I'll have your head on a stick!" flared the Akimichi as he charged with fire in his eyes.

"Don't let his taunting get to your head Aito!" Shouted the pineapple-haired boy that went against Kyosuke. "Troublesome" he muttered.

Just before Aito slammed into Toru, the redhead Uzumaki managed to lower his body and extend his elbow and hitting Aito on his belly effectively knocking the wind out of the boy and letting him fall on his shoulder and flinging him out of bounds with the momentum he had. The seconds passed as Aito struggled to stand while clutching his belly but he had run out of time.

"Time! Toru is the winner" the instructor shouted as he signaled for him to exit the stage.

Toru headed to where Aito was kneeling and extended his hand. "That was some speed you have there man, it was a good match had you just punched me instead I'm sure I wouldn't wake up until dinnertime".

"Heh yeah, you're pretty good too! Thanks for the help by the way" Aito said while waving goodbye and heading in the direction of the pineapple-haired boy.

"See that, one motion" Toru said to Kyosuke as he headed up to the ring.

"Tch yeah one motion but to moves. A strike and a throw. Watch this one move" Kyousuke replied.

"Kyosuke Sarutobi against Chika Aburame, begin!" signaled the instructor.

The match started and Kyosuke charged at Chika as to corner her next to outer edges of the ring. He tried grappling the girl but she regained her balance and attempted a swift chop at his neck. Ducking Kyosuke leapt up with an uppercut knocking the girl out from the heavy hit.

'Woah a Shoryuken' thought Toru as Kyosuke headed out of the ring.

"See that one punch and she's out" Kyousuke boasted

"Yeah, but it was two moves, you tried grappling before. Tell you what, double or nothing" Toru grinned as he matched the previous pile of his coins.

"You're on, as soon as our fight starts you're dead meat anyway" chuckled Kyousuke as he laid an equal amount of coins to his pile.

After the matches of the losing members of the brackets finished both Kyosuke and Toru were called upon the ring.

"No hard feelings right?" asked Toru as he stepped to the ring.

"Yeah man, just be sure to give me a great fight" smirked Kyousuke as he extended his fist towards Toru who just replied with a fistbump before taking his place.

"Toru Uzumaki versus Kyosuke Sarutobi, begin!".