Watching the Chunin Exams II

Four days had this passed since the outset of this phase of the Chunin Exams and the one-hundred and six individuals had been cut down to thirty-two for the Quarterfinals, of which two rounds would further reduce the participants to eight for the Semifinals. Kentsuru and his two lovely ladies in the second row under the Kages' box with Neji sitting close by. Next, the exam proctor blurred into the center of the arena with a scattering of leaves.

"The first match of the Quarter-Finals will be, Tenshiro against Fuzou Minami, the former a proclaimed master of the sword and the latter one of the finest fu (wind) chakra practitioners of Sunagakure no Sato. Begin!" Two ninja entered the Arena, the first a boy of fourteen years with black hair worn in a topknot with a headband bearing the hidden leaf, and a kendogi.

The second was a thirteen years female with blonde hair and red hanbok, with the headband bearing the hidden dunes. The battle began with the female forming hand-seals and releasing a large wave of wind towards Tenshiro, the male relinquishing his katana in a brief three slashes barely visible to the un-trained eye, causing the wave to be broken and pass him by harmlessly.

Tenshiro ignites his sword with flames, sending an arc of fire towards Minami, who chained hand seals before releasing her chakra into the technique Futon: Reppushou (Gale-Force Palm), which when contacting the flaming arc served only to intensify the flames which then burst to cover the female in fire. The proctor once more appeared in a burst of leaves along with a team of medic-nin that would further vanish alongside Minami. "Victory is… Tenshiro! What'd else you all expect when pairing flame against wind…"

Another three battles would pass, though these battles would be far more boring and worth nothing of note. Finally, it was time for the fifth battle. A light-brunette haired female with kiri headband and rain poncho against a tall, muscular teenage male with a dark tan against his blonde hair and bore a suna headband. The female, Maki, specialized in Sui (water) Ninjutsu, while the male, Toshi, was a Taijutsu specialist with some skill in Do (earth) Ninjutsu.

The battle began, with Maki forming hand-seals and performing Suiton: Takitsubo no Jutsu to increase the water content in the arena, bursting from the small gourd that was now in her hands. The tanned male Toshi, on the other hands, smashes his fists together before leaping into action towards Maki with reckless abandon, though Maki quickly strung through another series of hand seals before shouting 'Suiton: Misago' and releasing the jutsu.

Consuming a small amount of pooled water, an osprey bird constructed entirely of varying degrees of pressurized and compact water quickly dashed from the water's surface and into the air before zero'ing in on the approaching form of Toshi and quickly diving towards the tanned man. Toshi, not wanting to risk anything, quickly strung seals and shouted 'Doton: Doro Gaeshi' resulting in a wall of mud and rock forming in the space between.

Upon collision, the water osprey exploded into a bomb of pressurized water that would have caused serious harm, instead ripping at the wall but thwarting any damage to Toshi who, had already broke into a sidelong dash to clear the wall and leap into a punch towards the abdomen of Maki. His fist broke through her guard without recourse and impaled her abdomen - revealing Maki to be a mizu bunshin (water clone).

Maki, in the shadow of a large rock formation, had already formed hand-seals, and released the jutsu causing a large shark to form and splash out of the pool to slam it's head directly into the chest of Toshi and even leave bite-marks in one of his arms. In a haze, the proctor appeared once more along with medic-nin who moved to the side of and treated the downed Toshi. "Victory goes to Maki of the Mist! Didn't see that one coming at all."

"Let this be a lesson, girls. Even when you have the element, or say, fighting style disadvantage as long as you are able to react to your opponent before they can recover and prepare for what you have ready to throw at them, you will have the edge. This can also be accomplished by sufficient tactics and planning, such as that girl using a Mizu Bunshin to lure in the Suna Nin." spoke Kenshiro as if he was an elderly sage and knew about this topic rather than being seven years old.

The three of his companions had already gotten used to it, and had already made use of the wisdom that Kenshiro offered to his friends. With a time gap between the fifth and sixth battles, Kenshiro smiled, and spoked. "Utsukushi-chan, Emiko-chan, Neji-san; let's go get us something to eat before the next match begins. It seems the cleanup team will have to make adjustments to the arena before the next match. How about Akimichi Barbeque?"