19 Reo vs Kankuro

"Participants come on stage. Reo and Kankuro, take your positions."

Reo walked in towards the center of the ground. Looking at the front, Kankuro was standing right in front of him.

As though he could feel Reo's eyes on him, he too focused his vision and smiled saying, "Kiddo, bad luck you got me against your opponent. Better luck next time."

Reo wanted to say something in return, but was stopped by another sound, "Enough! Battle will start in 3... 2... 1... Start!"

… .. ...

# At a medical room near the battle grounds

Kakashi was here, treating to Sasuke's wounds. Seeing the seal on his neck, he wrinkled his eyebrows before taking out a scroll from his backpack, and browsing through it.

"What a dangerous technique. Orochimaru, if not judged for his evil ways, surely has adequate knowledge on chakra, or even more than a person at Kage level."

"I just hope that the kid would be able to handle a fight against the predator."

Breathing out a long sigh, he continued preparing for the mixture as prescribed by the scroll.

"Sasuke, this is the best I can do, the rest is in your hands."

… .. ...

At a far away underground residence

"Lord, Chunin exams final round has begun. As per your instructions, we have sent scouts monitor the mentioned ninjas." reported a ninja clad in Konoha attire with a animal mask on his face.

A man, wrapped in bandages came out from the shadow, revealing his one injured eye and looked over at the calm moonlight shining brightly.

"Hm. Ask them to take precautions. I don't want anyone to be discovered."

"Understood." replied the man in mask, leaving as soon as he completed his sentence.

"Sarutobi… time is arriving for you to step down as the Hokage."whispered the man.

… .. ...

At the Hokage Office

The third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was lying on his couch, as usual smoking from his old and rusty smoke pipe while a heap of official papers lied down on his desk.

"Oh God! Today is the final round of the chunin exams qualifier, and here I am, doing my all important paper work. Damn..."

Just then the door to room opened, revealing the figure of a ninja in Konoha uniform. He walked in holding a file, while adjusting his thick framed spectacles.

"Reporting to Hokage-sama! The head of the Hidden Sound Village, the Kazekage has left for the exams, and will be arriving tomorrow as scheduled."

"Understood. You can leave."

"Yes"

"So tomorrow is going to be the Chunin exams, but why do I keep on getting this dreadful thoughts as something miserable is going to happen? Hm..."

… .. ...

"Reo! Come on! Beat that puppet guy."

"Reo! Reo! Reo!"

"Reo you have to teach that puppet guy a lesson."

"Reo, beat that guy!"

"Kankuro, you won't lose to a kid, would you?"

"Kankuro! Go! Win!"

The crowd was cheering, and as the majority were from Konoha, it was with no doubt that Reo got the majority of the cheers.

"Very good kid, you have forced me to showcase my full abilities. Now suffer!"

"Puppet Technique - Summon Kuroari!"

[Kuroari and Karasu are the names of the puppets used by Kankuro. For additional information see Author's Note.]

With a puff of smoke, another puppet appeared in front of Reo. This one had a bucket-shaped face sporting two sharp red horns and six arms.

"With Karasu and Kuroari summoned, I will now show you the power of my puppets. Attack!"

Along with the loud bang, both the puppets sprinted towards Reo with lightning speed.

Seeing the incoming puppets, Reo gripped the saber already present in his hands, letting out a bundle of sparks.

"Lightning Saber - Thrust!"

With the saber, wrapped by blue lightning, Reo aimed for the head of Karasu, while the puppet tried to block the incoming attack with his hands.

But the lightning went passed its hands like they did not exist.

"What? How... wait... shit!"

Before Kankuro realized, the one attacking the puppet turned into a clone, and got destroyed.

Another Reo appeared just behind Kuroari, and without a saber in his hand, he cast out his chakra technique.

"Swamp Zone!"

After the technique was released, the land beneath Kuroari turned into a swamp and sucked in the puppet's body. All its arms were absorbed in by the swamp, leaving only its head out over the ground.

Kankuro tried to pull the puppet out using his chakra threads, but the suction force of the swamp overpowered his efforts.

"You..."

"Don't worry, its not all I have got for you."

Not wasting much of his time, he unleased another technique.

"Fire Hazard!"

Reo, then spit out a massive chakra flame over the puppet, covering the swamp in its attack periphery.

It took mere seconds for the flame to settle down, and once it did, the swamp was replaced by a hard ground, and the puppet was completely sealed in the soldiered region.

"Damn... you bastard have ruined my puppet. I am gonno kill you for that."