Chūnin Exams (XIV).

The blonde in question was mostly uninjured. The majority of her clothes were still intact, only singed here and there, and there were no signs that any of her snakes had managed to get close enough to bite her. The only notable thing was that her left sleeves were burned off up to her shoulders. Even so, the burn of her arm didn't look serious, so they would probably not hinder her much if at all.

"How did you do that? The snakes I know usually don't explode and I'm sure I would have noticed if you put that many explosion tags on them."

Anko considered whether she should answer or not for a moment before she decided to do so. If anything, it would give her some more time, which might be enough for her to come up with something that could still bring her victory. Anyway, who said that her technique was already over?

"I prepared them in advance by feeding them explosion tags and small containers with flammable substances." She laughed, making sure that it sounded as bitter as she could. "I invested many hours into preparing that trick, you know, so I'm kinda pissed that you managed to get out of it more or less alright."

"Impressive," Yugito said. "It's definitively a powerful technique. It wouldn't be wrong to say that it would have brought you the victory against everyone else in this tournament, I think." She pushed herself to her feet. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not-" Then, to the surprise of everyone but most of all herself, Yugito suddenly wobbled and fell back to her knees. "What-"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Anko exclaimed while simultaneously pushing herself from the wall and towards her opponent with as much power as she could muster. "But I fed them some containers with poison as well!"

Normal poison would have simply vaporized in the flames of the explosion and she had needed countless hours of experimentation to create something that did not. She doubted she would have managed it if she hadn't had some of her former sensei's old notes to aid her, though. Not that it mattered now, the result was the same; rather than vaporizing, the poison mixed with the smoke of the flames, allowing it to affect everyone that breathed it in.

It was a very powerful poison, enough to put someone down for days at a site, so it should be more than enough to immobilize an enemy for long enough to knock them out. Or, at least it was supposed to.

Suddenly, the way her opponent felt changed as a wave of hostile chakra hit her, completely different than anything she had ever felt before.

No, she thought. That's not right. I felt something like this before, but when...? She hadn't more time to think about it as the Kumo-nin jumped up just before she reached her and sent Anko flying with a single kick that was much more powerful than any of her opponent's attacks so far.

She crashed into the ground with a loud 'boom', her entire body feeling like shit. It was pure spite that brought her up to her feet again, even if the process was slow. Honestly, she was surprised she wasn't attacked during that time considering she was obviously too weak to defend herself as she was now.

"I can't believe you forced me to do this. To think I was pushed to this point by a Genin, it is almost funny." Contrary to her words, she didn't sound amused. No, 'excited' would be a more fitting term. "This is the first time someone my age has done that. You can be proud of yourself, not many would be able to do the same."

Looking up, she saw the other girl slowly walking towards her, any weakness or exhaustion from before forgotten. What was even more amazing, to the point that her mouth fell open when she saw it, was that all her injuries were simply gone! Her arm, which previously was consumed by light burns, still lacked its sleeve, but the skin was just fine! Anko wouldn't even know that the other girl had been hurt if she hadn't seen it with her own two eyes.

"You don't have any other trick up your sleeve, do you?" Yugito asked rhetorical, sounding almost disappointed. "No matter. Even if you do have a hidden ace, you obviously lack the chakra to use it. Well then, in gratitude for the good fight, I will allow you to surrender. I urge you to accept that offer, I will give it only once."

Anko bit her lips. Whatever her opponent had done, it had something to do with this weird chakra. Not only had it healed her, but it had also restored stamina and stocked up her chakra reserves; she was once again in top condition as if she hadn't fought at all. If she could do that several times it wouldn't matter how hard you fought, she could simply restore herself to full health and keep going.

But no, that would be too perfect. No technique came without cost, so there must be some negative side-effect that came with it as well. Even if she could use it several times, there must be a limit to it.

"So, are you gonna do it? I will be forced to knock you out otherwise."

She discreetly took a pill from her pocket and put it in her mouth as she pretended to wipe off the blood from her lips, suppressing a sigh of relief when her opponent didn't react.

The blonde was right, she couldn't continue to fight. Even if she had any chakra left, which she didn't, her body was still too beaten up, that one kick having been enough to crack several of her ribs. It would be the smart thing to surrender, to end the fight on her terms.

Nevertheless, she had other plans.

Itachi would fight her next, she did not doubt that. Sure, he needed to reach the finale to do so, but he would manage that just as surely as Yugito would. She would rather see one of her teammates win this thing than the girl that had beaten her and Yukio, so she needed to do everything in her power to support him. If that meant letting herself getting beaten up, well, that was fine with her. As long as she could give him an advantage in the long run, she didn't care.

Whatever Yugito had done, it had something to do with this weird chakra. The amount of it had been insane, more than a Genin had any right to have. 'Always keep in mind that your enemies' greatest strength can become their greatest weakness if you're smart about it', one of her teachers at the academy had once said, and she planned to let those words become reality.

She crushed the pill between her teeth, spreading the transparent fluid in her mouth.

A paralyzing poison that became stronger the more chakra the person affected by it used; it was the perfect weapon against this opponent. Of course, if she didn't use this unknown ability again, the effect would be not much more than an annoyance, but even that could give Itachi the advantage he needed.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that," she said with a crooked grin. "Surrendering is not really my thing, you see."

"A shame," the other girl sighed. "Well then, here we go."

Yugito apparently took her even in the state she currently was in still seriously. She wasn't half-heartedly about her attack at all, rushing at her even faster than she had been during their previous fight and closing the distance between them in little more than a second.

She made sure to appear as if she was trying to defend herself, raising her arms as if she was attempting to block her and twitching her head as if she was trying to put it out of the way. Then the fist connected, breaking through her arms after overpowering her token defense in an instant and connecting straight with her face.

The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the cheering crowd, celebrating the end of another exciting fight.

Yugito didn't notice the little scratch on her knuckles where she had connected with Anko's face for the few seconds it existed before the leftover chakra of the Two-Tails healed the wound, leaving no proof that it ever existed to begin with.

"Did you see that, Kaa-san? You did, didn't you?"

The middle-aged woman laughed quietly into her fist as she watched her five years old son leaning over the wall in front of him to get a better look into the arena, amused about his antics and yet attentive in case he slipped and fell. "Of course, darling. It was very impressive, wasn't it?"

"She blew everything up! BOOM!" He threw his hands up in a theatrical manner to underline his point. "Hehe, that was so cool!"

"So it wasn't a mistake to come, after all, was it? We can go if you still think that it's boring."

He energetically shook his head. "No! You were right, it's fun!"

"Maybe you should listen to me more often, then." Not that she believed that would happen. Children, in general, weren't the best at listening to their parents and her son was no exception.

"Mhm," he agreed unconvincingly. "Hey, Kaa-san, can I do that too? Please?"

"You will join the academy soon enough, Deidara. There they will teach you how to fight like that."

He didn't seem happy with that but didn't complain.

"So beautiful..."

Your student has come a far way, Orochimaru.

The thought of someone using his fallen student's techniques without any malicious intentions brought something akin to peace to his heart; it was as if a piece of the little boy he had once taken under his wings was still alive. It was good to know that he would leave a legacy behind other than the cruelties and crimes he committed.

Yes, seeing the young girl in the arena using those techniques with such obvious talent to fight a superior foe on even ground, even if only temporarily, was truly wonderful. He felt proud of how far she had come.

"Tell me, Raikage-san," Oonoki said with a small smile. "What did you say about her not using any of the Bijū's power? Because if my senses didn't betray me, she just did."

"Which only complements the girl's abilities," the man replied. "And I still don't see why it matters. You use every weapon at your disposal to win, that's a reality of the world we live in. With how long you're already walking on it, I thought you of all people would have understood that by now."

"I assume all of you noticed what she did in the end, didn't you?" the Kazekage, Rasa, spoke up before the argument could continue, his voice thoughtful. "She wanted to be hit, wanted the chance to inject whatever substance she took from her pocket. She sacrificed herself to do some lasting damage to the opponent to help to bring her down, even if she wouldn't be the one to do so."

"Admirable," A replied with a wave of his hand. "But ultimately useless. The number of poisons that affect a Jinchuriki are very limited, and seeing that Yugito is still walking, she obviously didn't use any of them." He laughed. "A nice try, though. I will give her that. Very well done indeed!"a

"I agree," Rasa added. "To lay down your own life, even if only symbolic in this case, to aid your comrades with such a determination is impressive for someone that young. She obviously understands what being a shinobi in the service of her village means."

"She is a very talented young girl," Hiruzen agreed. And she certainly deserves a promotion when all this is over, he thought with a genuine smile.

The only one of his shinobi left now was Itachi who had one more fight to go before he would reach the finale. Then he would undoubtedly face against Yugito Nii, for she would certainly reach it as well. It remained to be seen if Anko's little trick at the end would be enough to bring him victory, but if one thing was clear, then that it would be an interesting fight.

He was looking forward to it.