Chakra Wizard
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Alright, the third round is here! 
Figured I’d start out with a little nostalgic humor*_* lol Hope you enjoy
Here’s my previous chapters, for those who missed any:
Chapter 049: The Best of the Best
????: Oh, Kei? …Oh, Keeeeeeeiiiiii? …KEI!!
Kei: Huh!? Huh, whuzzit…what’s goin’ on?
Startled by the yell, Kei quickly leaned up on his futon, finding his bedroom almost completely covered in filth and his older brother sitting cross-legged atop his dresser, smiling and seemingly on the verge of laughter.
Airon: That certainly took longer than I had hoped.
Kei: (Still not completely awake, he let out a deep yawn as he began digging in his right ear with one of his fingers.) Huhhh, what the heck are you talkin’ about?
Airon: (The corner of his mouth began twitching as he answered him, clearly trying his best not to laugh.) Hmhm, well, I was gonna just sit here and let you sleep in, then watch you rush out of the house towards the stadium, …but now that you’ve only got fifteen minutes to do all that, I guess I have no choice but to wake you up myself.
Kei’s eyes quickly expanded to twice their normal size, but before he can say something back, Airon disappeared in a cloud of smoke, revealing himself to be merely a clone.
Kei: AIIIRROOOONNN!!! (Oh man oh man oh man oh man!! What am I gonna do now!?)
Now in a state of panic, he quickly leapt off his futon and began hollowing out his drawer in search of his typical gray attire, slipping it on and fastening his sash across his chest before running out the door, finding as he ran that the house was completely devoid of life.
Kei: (You gotta be kidding me! Everyone’s gone to the stadium!?) AIROOON!!!
Bursting through the front door, he quickly turned around as he remembered to lock up, nearly tripping as a result. Once he had fixed this dilemma, he took to the roof of the house and began scanning the surrounding rooftops, leaping to the closest one positioned directly between him and the stadium. His anxiety having already prompted him to work up a sweat, it wasn’t long after that he realized just how much chakra he was using to make the leaps from building to building without falling short.
Kei: (That stupid jerk!! He’s trying to make me run out of energy before I even get a chance to fight!!) AIRON!!!
The vast distance took roughly ten minutes to cross at his full speed, and he found to his relief that the large double door of the stadium were still wide open. His anger quickly returned, though, upon finding Airon standing there amongst the other contestants with a large grin on his face, staring directly at him as he sped past the doorway.
Kei: Aiiii-…RROOOOONN!!
Airon made no attempt to move out of his path while those nearest him did, even when Kei pulled out a kunai in the midst of his fury. Rather than use it immediately, though, Kei suddenly came to a halt a few feet in front of him and spun around, having just had a realization. He tossed the kunai just above the doorway, where sat the real Airon, who quickly moved his head to dodge the weapon as the doppelganger behind Kei vanished, a loud cackle bursting forth from his lips shortly afterwards. Dropping down and walking back towards the group, he briefly held out his hand to catch a small bag full of ryō, tossed to him by a disappointed Inase.
Airon: (Told you he wouldn’t fall for that.) Hmhmhm, morning, little brother. I take it you got my wake-up call?
Kei: (Still infuriated, he reached out and grabbed Airon by the collar, pulling him in close as he continued to laugh uncontrollably.) YOU CALL THAT A WAKE-UP CALL!!? I HAD TO RUN ALL THE WAY HERE FROM OUR HOUSE IN FIFTEEN MINUTES FLAT!!! WHY DIDN’T YOU WAKE ME UP EARLIER!!?
Inase: (Also amused by this whole ordeal, she took a critical approach to her teasing.) More importantly, why didn’t you set your alarm clock last night? And by the way, you got here in about ten minutes flat, so you’re still a few minutes early.
All of Kei’s movements suddenly ceased from the shock of her statement, his frozen state causing Airon to slip from between his fingers, where he fell to the ground cackling with laughter. Even some of the more emotionless bystanders couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at this little preshow of theirs, which ended when Kei finally resumed moving and shrugged the entire ordeal off, afraid of embarrassing himself any more than he already had. About that same time, Airon’s laughter ceased, as well, allowing him to stand up and walk back over next to Inase and Nakama.
Nakama: (Why do you two tease him like that?)
Airon: (Hmhmhmhm, I think you lived with us long enough to figure that out, Nakama.)
Nakama: (…So you do it to get back at him for teasing me when we were younger?)
Airon: (There being some truth to this, he turned his head away as a faint red hue covered his cheeks.) (…I was gonna say that it’s funny watching him retaliate, but if you wanna make everything about you…)
He gazed back at her out of the corner of his eye, the two locking eyes for a moment until both of them suddenly broke out laughing, leaving everyone besides Inase confused as to why. From a short distance away, Manako and Akame also watched them together, the latter taking the opportunity to critique the shorter of the two.
Akame: Look at her small stature. Waist-length hair, tiny arms, sweet little face. Nothing intimidating whatsoever about her…and yet, she’s still gonna give me a hard time when I face her in the second round. How ridiculous.
Manako: (As always, his aggravation at her critical antics didn’t last long before becoming vocal.) I don’t care what you’re thinking, Akame, nor does anyone else. …Besides, what makes you so certain that you’ll beat Shikaru in this round and move on to face her, anyways?
Scoffing at this remark, Akame glanced over at her predetermined opponent who was inspecting her, as well, though with a much less confident outlook.
Shikaru: Man, this sucks. I still can’t believe I got stuck facing one of those Uchihas this round, not to mention Nakama the round after.
Chan: Hey, do not fret, Shikaru. Akame may be of the Uchiha clan, but she is nowhere near the level of Manako. You can still take her, this I believe.
Shikaru: (He looked beside him as Chan said this, sighing after a moment and gazing off towards the other side of the crowd.) Yeah, I guess you have a point there. I almost feel bad for that Sand chick, having to face him in the first round.
Like Akame and Shikaru, Sabure was taking the time before the finals officially began to inspect her opponent from afar, though signs of admiration were far more evident in her expression than signs of criticalness, something her brother noticed as he stood next to her.
Ryūza: What’s on your mind, Sabure?
Sabure: (She frantically went about changing the tone of her expression upon hearing his voice.) Uh, nothing. I’m just thinking of the best way to deal with my opponent. You should, too, y’know.
Ryūza smirked amusedly at this feeble attempt at dishonesty before deciding to take her advice, looking off in the direction of Taigen and finding to his amusement that the young genin was doing the same to him. Meeting his gaze, Taigen quickly turned away, a sharp feeling in his gut causing him to grip his chest as he turned to his teammate.
Taigen: I’m not feeling very good, Minto.
Minto: (Understanding his discomfort full well, he smiled gently and placed his hand on Taigen’s shoulder.) Relax, buddy. I told ya, if you’re not sure you can take on an opponent without getting hurt, just forfeit the match and you’ll be alright. …I think Airon and I would like to see you at least try to get through the first round, though. Dad and Nakama, too.
Slightly reassured now, Taigen looked off in the direction of Airon and his other teammate, who was currently being watched by yet another genin – her future opponent, who turned to Z with a tone of nervousness and annoyance in his voice.
Kagetsu: Damn, this sucks major ass, man. That girl will probably sink me in five seconds with that freaky jutsu of hers.
Z: (Slightly annoyed by his pessimism, he patted him a few times on the back in an effort to calm his nerves.) Just cool it, dog. You gotta wipe those voices outta your mind if you want any chance of grillin’ that chick, ya feel me?
Kagetsu: (Still not accustomed to Z’s street talk, he fumbled to think of a response.) Uhhhh, yeeeeaaahh. (What the hell did he just say?)
Near the other end of the group, three more of the Leaf finalists patiently awaited the proctor’s arrival, one more confident about his chances of success than the others.
Irezumi: You ready for this, Ide?
Ide: (She merely looked up at him with a smile, not confident about her chances of defeating him at all, but not really concerned about them either.) Hmhm, probably not. …I’ll do what I can, though, for your sake.
Irezumi: (He returned her smile before looking over at their peer standing nearby.) How about you, Hitomi?
Hitomi: (In the midst of analyzing his opponent, he jumped slightly upon hearing his name.) It’s hard to say. …Kūrogane is a talented shinobi. With plenty of surprises up her sleeve, I’m sure.
The only finalist not engaged in conversation at the moment, Kūrogane stood off to the side with her arms crossed, seemingly detaching herself from everyone else. Noticing this, she was quickly approached by Kei, who’d already grown tired of waiting around.
Kei: You’re not talkin’ to anyone, Kūrogane?
Kūrogane: (Half-expecting him to approach her at some point, she smiled over at him as he walked up to her.) I am now, it seems.
Kei: (He returned the gesture before looking around at their competition, though before he could comment on them, he noticed something strange about her arms.) Are you…shaking?
Kūrogane: (Ashamed for not hiding it better, she managed to stop her arms from trembling before dropping them to her sides, placing one of her hands on her hip.) Shikamaru-sensei found out about my smoking somehow, so I’ve had to go the entire month without so much as a single cigarette. …I swear, it feels I’m dying here.
Kei: (Hardly the most knowledgeable about smoking habits, he thought over this for a minute before sharing his conclusion.) Wait, so you’re cold because you haven’t been smoking? I don’t get it. It’s still like ninety degrees out here or somethin’.
Kūrogane: (Somewhat amused by this, she smiled and shook her head.) It’s not exactly that I’m cold, Kei. It’s just I’m-
Before she could finish explaining herself, the attention of all eighteen finalists was suddenly drawn away by the appearance of a small, concentrated gust of wind. After a few seconds, the gust vanished to reveal the Leaf shinobi previously introduced as Baiko, who assisted Konohamaru during the proceedings following the preliminaries. He said nothing right away, silently counting the finalists as they proceeded to form two long rows in front of him.
Baiko: It looks like all eighteen of you here. My name’s Baiko Kudo and I’ll be your proctor for the third round of the exam. We’re not gonna waste any time getting started, so I’ll go ahead and remind you of the brackets just in case you can’t remember what they look like.
He reached into his jacket as he spoke and pulled out a small scroll, which he quickly unfurled and held out in front of him. On it was the bracket from before, which he allowed the finalists to reacquaint themselves with before rolling it back up and returning it to his jacket.
Baiko: Alright, now that that’s taken care of, the rules of these one-on-one matches are as follows. Use anything and everything you have at your disposal in order to take down your opponent. The match must remain in the confines of this stadium, and out of the stands, too, if you can manage it. The match will end when either of the contestants surrenders, is unable to continue fighting, or dies. Now, is there anything I haven’t made clear to you up until this point? If so, speak up.
The latter of the three conditions Baiko set for a match’s conclusion prompted a few of the genin to swallow the air in their mouths, but aside from that, none of them made any attempt to question his instructions thus far.
Baiko: Good. Now then, if this hasn’t become clear to you already, the purpose of these fights is to allow each of you the opportunity to display your skills to the audience members and to the Kages who are watching overhead. Don’t hold anything back, cause they’re the ones who will decide whether or not you move on to the rank of chūnin, and they’ll base it off of what you show them here, not on how far you make it in the tournament. Now then, is there anything I haven’t made clear to you up until THIS point?
Once again, no questions were brought up. Several of the finalists nodded to ensure they understood him while, at the very least, those who didn’t tightened their fists and put on determined or overly confident expressions. It was clear to Baiko that every single one of them was prepared to show the crowd exactly what they were capable of, prompting him to smile before finishing up his instructions.
Baiko: Perfect. Then I’m gonna need everyone save for the first two contestants to make their way up to the contestants’ balcony over yonder. …For those who can’t remember, those contestants are Nakama and Kagetsu Hōzuki.
The finals have begun at last!!!
The End
Figured I’d start out with a little nostalgic humor*_* lol Hope you enjoyHere’s my previous chapters, for those who missed any:
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Chapter 049: The Best of the Best
????: Oh, Kei? …Oh, Keeeeeeeiiiiii? …KEI!!
Kei: Huh!? Huh, whuzzit…what’s goin’ on?
Startled by the yell, Kei quickly leaned up on his futon, finding his bedroom almost completely covered in filth and his older brother sitting cross-legged atop his dresser, smiling and seemingly on the verge of laughter.
Airon: That certainly took longer than I had hoped.
Kei: (Still not completely awake, he let out a deep yawn as he began digging in his right ear with one of his fingers.) Huhhh, what the heck are you talkin’ about?
Airon: (The corner of his mouth began twitching as he answered him, clearly trying his best not to laugh.) Hmhm, well, I was gonna just sit here and let you sleep in, then watch you rush out of the house towards the stadium, …but now that you’ve only got fifteen minutes to do all that, I guess I have no choice but to wake you up myself.
Kei’s eyes quickly expanded to twice their normal size, but before he can say something back, Airon disappeared in a cloud of smoke, revealing himself to be merely a clone.
Kei: AIIIRROOOONNN!!! (Oh man oh man oh man oh man!! What am I gonna do now!?)
Now in a state of panic, he quickly leapt off his futon and began hollowing out his drawer in search of his typical gray attire, slipping it on and fastening his sash across his chest before running out the door, finding as he ran that the house was completely devoid of life.
Kei: (You gotta be kidding me! Everyone’s gone to the stadium!?) AIROOON!!!
Bursting through the front door, he quickly turned around as he remembered to lock up, nearly tripping as a result. Once he had fixed this dilemma, he took to the roof of the house and began scanning the surrounding rooftops, leaping to the closest one positioned directly between him and the stadium. His anxiety having already prompted him to work up a sweat, it wasn’t long after that he realized just how much chakra he was using to make the leaps from building to building without falling short.
Kei: (That stupid jerk!! He’s trying to make me run out of energy before I even get a chance to fight!!) AIRON!!!
The vast distance took roughly ten minutes to cross at his full speed, and he found to his relief that the large double door of the stadium were still wide open. His anger quickly returned, though, upon finding Airon standing there amongst the other contestants with a large grin on his face, staring directly at him as he sped past the doorway.
Kei: Aiiii-…RROOOOONN!!
Airon made no attempt to move out of his path while those nearest him did, even when Kei pulled out a kunai in the midst of his fury. Rather than use it immediately, though, Kei suddenly came to a halt a few feet in front of him and spun around, having just had a realization. He tossed the kunai just above the doorway, where sat the real Airon, who quickly moved his head to dodge the weapon as the doppelganger behind Kei vanished, a loud cackle bursting forth from his lips shortly afterwards. Dropping down and walking back towards the group, he briefly held out his hand to catch a small bag full of ryō, tossed to him by a disappointed Inase.
Airon: (Told you he wouldn’t fall for that.) Hmhmhm, morning, little brother. I take it you got my wake-up call?
Kei: (Still infuriated, he reached out and grabbed Airon by the collar, pulling him in close as he continued to laugh uncontrollably.) YOU CALL THAT A WAKE-UP CALL!!? I HAD TO RUN ALL THE WAY HERE FROM OUR HOUSE IN FIFTEEN MINUTES FLAT!!! WHY DIDN’T YOU WAKE ME UP EARLIER!!?
Inase: (Also amused by this whole ordeal, she took a critical approach to her teasing.) More importantly, why didn’t you set your alarm clock last night? And by the way, you got here in about ten minutes flat, so you’re still a few minutes early.
All of Kei’s movements suddenly ceased from the shock of her statement, his frozen state causing Airon to slip from between his fingers, where he fell to the ground cackling with laughter. Even some of the more emotionless bystanders couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at this little preshow of theirs, which ended when Kei finally resumed moving and shrugged the entire ordeal off, afraid of embarrassing himself any more than he already had. About that same time, Airon’s laughter ceased, as well, allowing him to stand up and walk back over next to Inase and Nakama.
Nakama: (Why do you two tease him like that?)
Airon: (Hmhmhmhm, I think you lived with us long enough to figure that out, Nakama.)
Nakama: (…So you do it to get back at him for teasing me when we were younger?)
Airon: (There being some truth to this, he turned his head away as a faint red hue covered his cheeks.) (…I was gonna say that it’s funny watching him retaliate, but if you wanna make everything about you…)
He gazed back at her out of the corner of his eye, the two locking eyes for a moment until both of them suddenly broke out laughing, leaving everyone besides Inase confused as to why. From a short distance away, Manako and Akame also watched them together, the latter taking the opportunity to critique the shorter of the two.
Akame: Look at her small stature. Waist-length hair, tiny arms, sweet little face. Nothing intimidating whatsoever about her…and yet, she’s still gonna give me a hard time when I face her in the second round. How ridiculous.
Manako: (As always, his aggravation at her critical antics didn’t last long before becoming vocal.) I don’t care what you’re thinking, Akame, nor does anyone else. …Besides, what makes you so certain that you’ll beat Shikaru in this round and move on to face her, anyways?
Scoffing at this remark, Akame glanced over at her predetermined opponent who was inspecting her, as well, though with a much less confident outlook.
Shikaru: Man, this sucks. I still can’t believe I got stuck facing one of those Uchihas this round, not to mention Nakama the round after.
Chan: Hey, do not fret, Shikaru. Akame may be of the Uchiha clan, but she is nowhere near the level of Manako. You can still take her, this I believe.
Shikaru: (He looked beside him as Chan said this, sighing after a moment and gazing off towards the other side of the crowd.) Yeah, I guess you have a point there. I almost feel bad for that Sand chick, having to face him in the first round.
Like Akame and Shikaru, Sabure was taking the time before the finals officially began to inspect her opponent from afar, though signs of admiration were far more evident in her expression than signs of criticalness, something her brother noticed as he stood next to her.
Ryūza: What’s on your mind, Sabure?
Sabure: (She frantically went about changing the tone of her expression upon hearing his voice.) Uh, nothing. I’m just thinking of the best way to deal with my opponent. You should, too, y’know.
Ryūza smirked amusedly at this feeble attempt at dishonesty before deciding to take her advice, looking off in the direction of Taigen and finding to his amusement that the young genin was doing the same to him. Meeting his gaze, Taigen quickly turned away, a sharp feeling in his gut causing him to grip his chest as he turned to his teammate.
Taigen: I’m not feeling very good, Minto.
Minto: (Understanding his discomfort full well, he smiled gently and placed his hand on Taigen’s shoulder.) Relax, buddy. I told ya, if you’re not sure you can take on an opponent without getting hurt, just forfeit the match and you’ll be alright. …I think Airon and I would like to see you at least try to get through the first round, though. Dad and Nakama, too.
Slightly reassured now, Taigen looked off in the direction of Airon and his other teammate, who was currently being watched by yet another genin – her future opponent, who turned to Z with a tone of nervousness and annoyance in his voice.
Kagetsu: Damn, this sucks major ass, man. That girl will probably sink me in five seconds with that freaky jutsu of hers.
Z: (Slightly annoyed by his pessimism, he patted him a few times on the back in an effort to calm his nerves.) Just cool it, dog. You gotta wipe those voices outta your mind if you want any chance of grillin’ that chick, ya feel me?
Kagetsu: (Still not accustomed to Z’s street talk, he fumbled to think of a response.) Uhhhh, yeeeeaaahh. (What the hell did he just say?)
Near the other end of the group, three more of the Leaf finalists patiently awaited the proctor’s arrival, one more confident about his chances of success than the others.
Irezumi: You ready for this, Ide?
Ide: (She merely looked up at him with a smile, not confident about her chances of defeating him at all, but not really concerned about them either.) Hmhm, probably not. …I’ll do what I can, though, for your sake.
Irezumi: (He returned her smile before looking over at their peer standing nearby.) How about you, Hitomi?
Hitomi: (In the midst of analyzing his opponent, he jumped slightly upon hearing his name.) It’s hard to say. …Kūrogane is a talented shinobi. With plenty of surprises up her sleeve, I’m sure.
The only finalist not engaged in conversation at the moment, Kūrogane stood off to the side with her arms crossed, seemingly detaching herself from everyone else. Noticing this, she was quickly approached by Kei, who’d already grown tired of waiting around.
Kei: You’re not talkin’ to anyone, Kūrogane?
Kūrogane: (Half-expecting him to approach her at some point, she smiled over at him as he walked up to her.) I am now, it seems.
Kei: (He returned the gesture before looking around at their competition, though before he could comment on them, he noticed something strange about her arms.) Are you…shaking?
Kūrogane: (Ashamed for not hiding it better, she managed to stop her arms from trembling before dropping them to her sides, placing one of her hands on her hip.) Shikamaru-sensei found out about my smoking somehow, so I’ve had to go the entire month without so much as a single cigarette. …I swear, it feels I’m dying here.
Kei: (Hardly the most knowledgeable about smoking habits, he thought over this for a minute before sharing his conclusion.) Wait, so you’re cold because you haven’t been smoking? I don’t get it. It’s still like ninety degrees out here or somethin’.
Kūrogane: (Somewhat amused by this, she smiled and shook her head.) It’s not exactly that I’m cold, Kei. It’s just I’m-
Before she could finish explaining herself, the attention of all eighteen finalists was suddenly drawn away by the appearance of a small, concentrated gust of wind. After a few seconds, the gust vanished to reveal the Leaf shinobi previously introduced as Baiko, who assisted Konohamaru during the proceedings following the preliminaries. He said nothing right away, silently counting the finalists as they proceeded to form two long rows in front of him.
Baiko: It looks like all eighteen of you here. My name’s Baiko Kudo and I’ll be your proctor for the third round of the exam. We’re not gonna waste any time getting started, so I’ll go ahead and remind you of the brackets just in case you can’t remember what they look like.
He reached into his jacket as he spoke and pulled out a small scroll, which he quickly unfurled and held out in front of him. On it was the bracket from before, which he allowed the finalists to reacquaint themselves with before rolling it back up and returning it to his jacket.
Baiko: Alright, now that that’s taken care of, the rules of these one-on-one matches are as follows. Use anything and everything you have at your disposal in order to take down your opponent. The match must remain in the confines of this stadium, and out of the stands, too, if you can manage it. The match will end when either of the contestants surrenders, is unable to continue fighting, or dies. Now, is there anything I haven’t made clear to you up until this point? If so, speak up.
The latter of the three conditions Baiko set for a match’s conclusion prompted a few of the genin to swallow the air in their mouths, but aside from that, none of them made any attempt to question his instructions thus far.
Baiko: Good. Now then, if this hasn’t become clear to you already, the purpose of these fights is to allow each of you the opportunity to display your skills to the audience members and to the Kages who are watching overhead. Don’t hold anything back, cause they’re the ones who will decide whether or not you move on to the rank of chūnin, and they’ll base it off of what you show them here, not on how far you make it in the tournament. Now then, is there anything I haven’t made clear to you up until THIS point?
Once again, no questions were brought up. Several of the finalists nodded to ensure they understood him while, at the very least, those who didn’t tightened their fists and put on determined or overly confident expressions. It was clear to Baiko that every single one of them was prepared to show the crowd exactly what they were capable of, prompting him to smile before finishing up his instructions.
Baiko: Perfect. Then I’m gonna need everyone save for the first two contestants to make their way up to the contestants’ balcony over yonder. …For those who can’t remember, those contestants are Nakama and Kagetsu Hōzuki.
The finals have begun at last!!!
The End
