Third-Person POV

Iroko couldn't believe his eyes. Itsuki had unleashed Scorch Style.

It was blazing out of the entire right side of his body in all its searing hot glory. It was so hot that Iroko could smell the fabric of his clothes starting to smoke, and his face felt like it wanted to melt off.

He smiled. Ultimate...!

"There you go," said Itsuki. "You're finally seeing me at full power, just like you wanted. But now there's no going back."

"Good!" Iroko's smile turned into a wide grin. "I was never a fan of backpedaling anyway!"

Now Itsuki was smiling back at him. "You're such a riot..."

Ena had fallen to her knees, shocking Genzo once again. "Seriously, Ena?!"

"It's here," she said. "He's finally using it..."

So this was their plan along...? Asami made eye contact with Yuura. He guessed her mind well enough and nodded. All for someone you barely even know that well.

"Even still, I should warn you," said Itsuki, revving up his heat even further, "things aren't exactly in your favor anymore. Not only are you low on chakra while I have enough left in the tank for a few more powerful techniques, but you've got almost no chance of countering this, no matter what you do. Knowing all of that, you still wanna end this?"

Iroko's grin went even further across his face.

There is one final advantage to Blackout that can exponentially increase its user's chances of winning.

In addition to serving as an antithesis to Earth-natured ninjutsu, the user may also rely on Blackout when their usual chakra reserves have been depleted. This means that, based on how large their chakra reserves are and how much of Blackout they have stored, the jutsu can, by extension, be used as a means of stalling the enemy until their chakra reserves have been replenished, catching them completely by surprise with another jutsu if they end up running out of bursts of Blackout.

To anyone unfamiliar with the jutsu, it will come across as the ultimate deception tactic.

Lifting his right leg and slamming it back down into the ground, a stirring of teal-colored energy swirled around his foot until it focused into a blaze of crackling lightning. His hands had also moved together before his face and formed the hand seal for the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Out of chakra? Guess again. MULTI SHADOW CLONE JUTSU."

Over 50 clones were spawned into the arena.

Yuura's jaw dropped. "I've never seen him create so many before!"

Not all of my chakra's returned, Iroko thought, but it's more than enough to finish the job and win this. Don't waste even a single jutsu, he's working against the clock, too - you've got this!

Of course, you still had something left up your sleeve. Itsuki could no longer contain himself either. He clamped his mouth shut into a wicked smile and sprinted straight at the mini army, unleashing a full-frontal wave of steam.

The shadow clones retaliated with a swarm of Lightning Punches at the ready, moving at neck-breaking speed with the Flash jutsu. Itsuki was surrounded on all sides and was getting punched, kicked, and shoved back but held his ground with the intensity of Scorch Style.

Catching Iroko and his clones off guard, he performed the Earth and Wind Elemental seals, then the grounds of the arena started to break apart.

"Mineral Style: Towering Pillar!!"

The arena grounds came jutting out of their place like a tree being uprooted and thrown high into the sky.

This is the jutsu he used against Yuura, Iroko realized. I thought he couldn't use Mineral Style anymore, damn! I won't be able to use the Flash jutsu if I'm airborne and he would have been expecting that!

Temari had long since retreated to the tunnel to take cover once again. She put her hand to her comms device to contact Kakashi.

"It's getting way out of hand now, and it ought not to," she said. "They're both beat to hell and are most definitely pushing themselves beyond any humane limits! If this goes on, someone could seriously die!! We have to call off the match!!"

"I'm sorry, Temari, but I don't want you to."

?! "Kakashi, their lives are in danger!! They're just kids!!"

"They're shinobi," he said, looking directly at Iroko, "and right now they are locked in a battle that will determine the course of their future. Someone dying, you think? I don't think it will come to that at all, but knowing you, you might just do what you want regardless of what I say, so while I'll call off the other chunin and jonin from interfering, if you want to do something about it you have my full permission to go right ahead. But I have to ask..."

Temari looked up at the towering height of stone and sand, seeing sparks and streams of lightning, flames, and minerals fly about in every which direction in a haze of chaos.

"...could you really stop them if you tried?"

Itsuki had gone back to using Scorch Style again, cooking up Shadow Clones as they came at him with a full-on assault. But he was still struggling to temper the gaseous flames. Seeing the flames in action brought back the memory of that day in the forest, and then it would cause his focus to slip and the flaming orbs to go out of control, scorching everything in sight and forcing Iroko to stay on his toes.

He briefly closed his eyes shut and pictured Eiji in his mind, his smile and his gentle eyes.

Remember it. Remember the love he gave to you.

Then the memory of Gaara reaching out a helping hand to him came into his mind and the smile he had on his face as he did so. And after him came Ena, with her adorably round eyes, crying out to him, calling him to learn to love himself, all of himself.

Remember the love they all gave to you!!

The steam and flames went back down and came under control again. His eyes flew open just in time to dodge an incoming punch from one of Iroko's clones followed by twelve others. He found himself being flanked on all sides and was put entirely on the defensive.

All of Itsuki's Mineral Style attacks and Boulder Fist techniques failed at the hands of the clones and they soon converged on him.

In the darkness of his mind, a single flame came alight, wavering and flickering vulnerably, then Itsuki came out of the shadows to cup it gently in his hands and exhaled softly into it. The flame grew and turned into an orb that ebbed and glowed ferociously but remained contained.

"Scorch Style: Partial Steaming Blast."

Then it collapsed in on itself and turned into a pink inferno that wiped out every single clone in the vicinity.

All that was left was a single Iroko standing directly in front of Itsuki in charred clothes with a vibrant Chidori in hand. Itsuki could hear the sound of a thousand birds chirping away on end.

Oh, man... Guess I gotta apologize to you, Iroko, Genzo thought. He sideglanced at his teammate who was still teary-eyed. And you, too, Ena. You really shut my a$$ up with this one. The whole time I was doubtin' you could ever convince a man so set in his ways to see another perspective, but you went and did just that. I've never seen bro look more happy than he does right now.

I'm still gonna become the next Kazekage someday, he chuckled to himself, but how dope would it be to have someone as strong as you fighting by my side, as none other than the Shadow Kazekage? Yeah, you go on ahead and win this one, buddy. You deserve it after all you've gone through!!

At that moment, a certain orange-haired ninja was running through the corridors as things were at that very moment. As soon as his injury had been treated by the nurse, he didn't waste another breath and had booked it right out of the infirmary against her advice to not start running immediately.

For a moment, all he could see was red. He was so blinded by fury that all of his thoughts could only be focused on one boy, but that didn't stop him from needing to see the rest of the match with his own two eyes, to accurately judge for himself exactly how far the so-called 'loser' had really come in the last three years.

Kazue Katsumi appeared beside Genzo, right as the Sand genin was about to cry out to his teammate, with his own mouth agape and screamed at the same time as him.

"GO GET YOUR DUB, ITSUUUUUUKIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!"

"DON'T YOU DARE LOSE, IIIIROOOOOKOOOOOO!!!!"

The boys had heard their voices and that spurred them to move once again.

Iroko had figured out that Itsuki was able to switch between Mineral Style and Scorch Style thanks to the Elemental Seals he performed right before using either one and he wondered if that meant he was unable to use either Kekkei Genkai at the same time. By having observed his clones in battle, he came to understand that that was indeed the case and would now go on to use that against him.

Suddenly, Itsuki jumped off the Towering Pillar he had been standing on this whole time, prompting Iroko and everyone else to gasp.

This is it, he thought. My very last effort.

For that mini second that he was midair, right before gravity could take effect, he drew a block from the bottom of the Pillar to use as a platform to stand on. Then as he took another step across space another block appeared right where his foot landed, and so and so, until he was practically running across the air.

Iroko went right after him with the Flash jutsu. He wasn't sure what it was Itsuki was planning but all that mattered to him was making sure the Chidori he had fired up was gonna land, nothing else mattered to him - his resolve alone would carry him to victory if that's what it took.

Itsuki'd turned the blocks into a stairwell for him to descend down the ground with. He caught Iroko within the corner of his eye running for the first block and following after him, and reached his hand out in his direction, taking the block away at that very moment.

The spectators were unnerved witnessing this, but Iroko remained stalwart, and tripled his speed, eating at even more of his chakra reserves.

Before the block could be entirely removed, within that nanosecond that it was all happening, Iroko jumped and landed a single foot on it.

Itsuki was genuinely shocked. He moved faster to take the next block away but Iroko was already stepping on it, and the next one and the one after, stepping on and jumping off each one before they moved away. Despite how fast Itsuki was responding, Iroko was reacting even faster. How was such a speed even possible?

He didn't have time to dwell on it for long. Now Itsuki was practically sprinting downward with Iroko right behind him. He was too close for comfort now, and so he jumped, putting before him a massive chunk from the bottom of the Pillar to form a long ramp, causing the Pillar to start to collapse, but not before he screwed off the top of it and positioned it right behind Iroko.

Ah, I get it now, Iroko realized. He's literally put me between a rock and a hard place. Either I come at you head-on or the boulder behind me finishes the job for you. No matter what, this is where it all ends. Then so be it. Two can play at that game

Just then Itsuki heard the sound of running behind him. He jerked his head back and saw two clones of Iroko running towards him with Lightning Punches prepped and ready. He prepared himself to intercept their blows but then they ran right past him and even Iroko towards the boulder.

The real Iroko himself had landed on the ramp and started half-running, half-sliding down it, his Chidori getting even bigger with every passing second, and his smile getting wider. Itsuki reciprocated with his own smile and switched back to Scorch Style, manifesting another white-hot wave of pink steam that practically melted away the minerals.

Everything came to a headway. The thrill of the spectators watching, the rays of the sun shining through the glass dome, a literal landslide descending onto the arena ground. Through it all, Iroko's Chidori shone brighter and larger than ever. Everyone marveled at the size of it; his hand had become so small within the epicenter of a vortex of electricity. You could hear a flock of birds chirping all at once instead of just a few.

But what was most shocking to Asami was, in that instant, she noticed the color of his Chidori had shifted from teal to blue.

"Right here, right now...," he announced, "I'm about to become greater than the me that I am right now. I'm GOING ULTIMATE!!!!"

The clones ended up destroying the boulder and a shower of debris rained down on the two of them as they came into proximity with each other.

My final technique--

"LIGHTNING STYLE: MAX CHIDORI!!!" "SCORCH STYLE: FULL STEAM BLAST!!!"

"Cover your eyes!" Asami shouted.

The jutsu collided, forming a small but blinding ball of light that enveloped the boys, then it exploded with a deafening boom, followed by a death storm of rocks and debris and an insane wind pressure that successfully managed to destroy the Barrier Jutsu, prompting the Barrier Team to respond immediately and erect a new one before a serious amount of damage could be done.

It was a brilliant display of ninjutsu at its peak.

After the spectacle, Kazue, Genzo, and Daito were the first among the rookies to recover. They waved the dust particles away from their face, leaning on the railing to look into the arena.

"Hey, who the hell won?!" Kazue cried.

"That's the first thing you ask about?" said Yuura. "Not if they're okay?"

When the dust settled, everyone was looking into the arena for confirmation.

They found Iroko standing upright against the wall with his head bowed and shoulders slouched. Itsuki was on the opposite end, panting hoarsely and clutching onto his arm.

Then Iroko collapsed to the ground, while Itsuki remained standing. Kazue's entire face fell like he was witnessing the end of the world.

Temari raised her flag. "Match point! Itsuki Miura wins..."

She trailed off upon hearing a thumping sound. Looking over her shoulder, she found Itsuki slumped on the ground as well. All the spectators were stumped and deadpanning.

"Uh... what? Wait, what...," She had no idea what to say, "what do we do about something like this...?"

Daito understood the situation. "Wait, you mean it's A TIE?!"

"That was a fantastic battle," said Momotaro, watching from the shadows. "Now I remember who that kid reminds me of. Every time he uses that Kekkei Genkai, along with the green hair, he's almost the spitting image of Angst-sama. I should relay that to Grief-sama as well. Sheesh, this next generation of child soldiers really is impressive. It makes me feel so bad for them..."

He went silent for a moment, gazing intently at Kakashi in the booth across him, then shifted his gaze to the high-rise structure just above him. He threw on his hood.

"Well, I suppose it's time."

✧✧✧

Kosetsu had been left to her own thoughts about the match after Mei had taken a small team of her own to investigate the upper levels.

Hisao's students really are something, especially Iroko. While Yuura is a genius at recognizing and utilizing technicalities and Asami is a bag of natural talent, he's got heaps of untapped potential. With his raw chakra output and affinity for Lightning Style, I could see him getting even stronger in the coming years. (Though, that Blackout technique will need to be seriously revised for his own safety.)

I wish Hisao had been here to watch his own student's match. Come to think of it, where are he and Issun-boshi? That old man is about to miss his student's match, too. Shizune had assigned them to check the pipe room, right? They should be back by now.

"Hello, Hisao? This is Kosetsu, over."

Hisao's channel was static.

"Boshi, come in? What's your team's status?"

Also static.

What is going on? Where are they?

She thought of contacting Shizune but immediately forgot to do so when she was jolted from having become aware of someone else's presence. An individual clad mostly in black and grey with a lithe figure and a spiral tattoo on their shoulder, wearing a Gyodo mask to complete the look.

"No response from either of them?"

"Uh, no, but, um, who are you and how long have you been standing there?"

"Don't worry, I just got here," he said. "As for who I am, you can call me Hachiman, from the Anbu Division. If both of your colleagues have gone radio silent then that can't be a good sign."

"So what do you suggest? Should I go and check on them?"

"Ordinarily, I'd say yes, but I think it's only part of another pressing matter far more deserving of our attention."

"And what would that be?"

"First, have you noticed how quiet it's gotten around here?"

Kosetsu pricked her senses. He was right. Something felt unnervingly off and the silence didn't help to alleviate that feeling.

"Not only are our squads unevenly spread out across the stadium due to the emergency response disorganizing us, but more and more of our teams are going quiet, including Hisao and Issun-boshi's."

She didn't like where this was going. "What are you saying?"

"The target has been making their move, completely unbeknownst to us, thinning our forces all the while. But what I'm saying at the moment is only theoretical. We need proof before we can initiate a course of action, and I'd like your help in getting it."

I see what he's saying, Kosetsu thought grimly. I want to go help Hisao and Boshi but if they're not the only ones that have gone radio silent then there's definitely a much bigger problem at stake here. They're strong, far stronger than me, so I'm sure they'll still be alive. Right now, helping this person investigate is the best way to help everyone.

"I assume you've got somewhere to start?"

"I do. I just picked up on the trail of a person of interest who ended up straying away from his assigned squad and went silent, a chunin that goes by Ran."

"Sounds good, but I have to ask, what made you want to work with me? I hear Anbu Ops only work well with other Ops or by themselves."

She saw a faint smile appear underneath his mask at the question. "No special reason, the truth is I've actually been wanting to work together with and get to know you for a while now. After all, we're both teachers for Kazue Katsumi."

Kosetsu didn't understand what he was saying at first, but a moment later it clicked. "Wait, you're Kazue's personal trainer?!"

"Next up, Kanbe Ono and Fumino Warai!"

Despite the last match not having a clear winner, the Final Rounds had to go on regardless.

"Well, that's my cue," said Kanbe. "Wish me luck."

"Hey, dude," Rui called out to him before he left. "What do you think? Did we make a mistake underestimating them?"

"You talkin' about Iroko?"

"And that Mitarashi girl, too, in fact, everyone from the Leaf. They've got some heavy hitters all around, even the ones we didn't expect to be, and it pisses me off that I lost for that very reason, because I didn't expect it. Next time, I won't lose."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Oh, Rui..." Yui felt bad for her sister. She was going to say something to comfort her but Kanbe already had it covered by patting her on her head, much to her surprise and embarrassment.

"You're right about that, those two definitely surpassed our expectations, especially if these first two matches are anything to go by, but like you said, you didn't know what to expect when it came to Mitarashi since you'd never fought her before. You couldn't have known since it was randomized. The same thing could've easily happened to me when I went up against Itsuki's teammate, so don't beat yourself up so much."

Her cheeks turned red as she made eye contact with him. "Yeah, but..."

"Don't worry, you'll get your lick back before long, maybe not now or with her, but you will. Until then, leave it to me to get us to the finish line."

Rui smiled thoughtfully at him. "Thanks, Kanbe."

He waved his hand as he turned his back to the twins.

"Goooood luck, Kanbe!!" Yui cried.

In the arena, Temari had taken a good look at the state of the arena and heaved a massive sigh and groan. There was no way they could have cleaned up anything before the next match.

"Uuuugggghhhh, Shizune, what the hell is wrong with these kids? Why are they going so far?"

"You're acting as if your brother wasn't the same way," said Shizune.

"That was different. Gaara had some serious mental health problems at the time, these kids are fine, and yet they're all still acting insane. Have you ever seen a generation of shinobi as powerful as them since the First Kages? It's kinda scary, to be honest."

"You're not wrong there. This generation is a step above yours when you were around their age, and it's definitely by a long shot when compared to mine, but I agree with Kakashi: Is that really such a bad thing? The younger generation being as strong as they are now is like a promise, a promise that the Leaf Village will be in safe hands long after we're gone. Isn't that right, Kakashi?"

"I couldn't have said it better myself."

Behind them, Tsunade had her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"You've got a point," said Temari, "but they could at least be a little considerate of the damage fees."

Kanbe was the first to enter the arena with his head held high. Fumino was just at the base of the tunnel, talking to Daito and Yohei.

Huh? Are they having a pep talk right before the match, forcing me to wait on 'em? Kanbe sweatdropped. Hold on, isn't that what they did to Rui as well?

"This is it, Fumino!" Daito raised an elated fist. "Are you ready?"

"Yep, you know it! Haha..."

"It sucks that neither Tensho nor Boshi-sensei could be here to see you off, but at least you have me and Yohei. You've really pulled through for the three of us, even picking up my slack from the Preliminaries. I'd say out of the three of us, you've come the most far."

"Agreed," said Yohei. "You're exceptional, Fumino."

But it all seemed to fall on deaf ears. Her expression was dour, to say the least, and she'd lost her signature smile.

Daito felt a brief instance of panic as if he'd done something wrong. "Hey, what's up? Are you nervous?"

"Oh, no, that's not it," she said. "It's just..."

Crap, way to read the room, dude...

"Well... What do you guys think of me as class president? Do you think I've done a good job so far?"

"Huh? Why ask that now of all times?"

She gave a plastic smile. "You're right, that is a strange thing to ask right before a match. Forget I said anything. See you guys."

Daito realized what he'd done. "Ah, wait, hold on, Fumino!!"

He caught her by the arm before she could leave the tunnel. Fumino looked at him expectantly, and he felt his heartbeat quadruple as he looked back at her.

"Mhhm, uh, well, I mean..."

Shoot, I have no idea why she would ask that but it was obviously a serious question, and she was obviously expecting a serious answer. And maybe... maybe I can use this as a chance to clue her in... just a super subtle hint.

"I can't speak for everyone in class when I say this, but I know that making you class president was probably the best decision I ever made. You're kind and bubbly, and every time I'm around you I just can't help myself but smile. Hell, you're the first person to tell me you liked my smile after everyone else said it looked hideous, and that really stuck with me. Do I think you've done a good job so far? I certainly think you have and I wouldn't have anyone else."

"You really mean it?"

"We both do," said Yohei.

Now she was genuinely smiling, and it was radiant enough to melt both boys' hearts. On top of that, she engulfed them in a hug.

"I love you guys and Boshi-sensei." Then her eyes flashed open and there was a stroke of unrivaled conviction in them. "This one's for Team 9."

Without another word, she ran straight out of the tunnel to meet Kanbe at the center of the arena.

"You seem all of a sudden eager to get this show on the road," said Kanbe. "You got your power of friendship all sorted out?"

"That's a nice way of putting it," she bluntly replied but still somehow managed to make it sound completely unoffensive.

"Remember I told you to bring your A-game," He drew his axes out from their holster, "or you're gonna end up like Itsuki's teammate. I don't play around."

"Hey," Temari came between them, "dial it down on the trash talk, the match hasn't even begun yet."

"I remember, but your intimidation tactic won't work on me," said Fumino. "I've got a lot on the line as well."

Did either of you hear what I just said? You know what, whatever, just knock yourselves out again.

Temari raised her hand, then brought it down and dove out of the way right as Kanbe clanged his axes together, creating a spark of electricity.

He surrounded Fumino in a circle of high-voltage lightning and charged at her, hurling a literal bolt of lightning her way and ramping up an even stronger technique to follow right after.

But she was prepared and had redirected the lightning attack with Whirling Spring before leaping into the air while running to do an aerial somersault and threw a roaring tide of flower petals at Kanbe at point-blank range as well. The jutsu canceled each other out and threw Kanbe several meters away from her.

S#$&, that attack was way more powerful than what I saw her dish out to her friend, Kanbe thought. Has she... gotten even stronger in the one week since then?

"Like I said," she brushed her bangs out of her eyes and assumed a battle-ready stance, still fearlessly smiling, "your tactic from last time won't work. Go ahead and throw everything you can at me, I'll be READY."

Those words elicited a smile from the Cloud-ninja as he got back up and brandished his axes once more. "Yeah, a'ight, let's go then, dolly."

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓

"Well done. We're so proud of you."

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

The voices in his head startled Iroko awake.

Woooaaaaah... What happened...?

"Oh, you're awake, thank goodness."

"Jin?" Iroko realized at once he was in the infirmary. He attempted to stand up straight but was immediately hit with a wave of pain all throughout his body, particularly in his right arm.

"Don't sit up so fast," she said meekly. "You've hardly recovered from your match."

He looked down at his right arm and saw that it was stuck in a large cast. He was also wearing the same patient gown he saw Ena in on that day of the Preliminaries. "My match, huh? How did yours go, by the way? Really sorry I missed it."

"No, I'm kinda glad you did. It wasn't my best performance at all, and I didn't win anyway..."

"So what? Knowing you were up against, Kaz, I bet you gave it your all, right? In that case, I'm definitely going home to watch the recording!"

Jin smiled. "Me giving it my all was only thanks to the advice you gave me. Thanks to you, I was able to face my fear head on and I survived. I'm really, extremely grateful to you for that."

"Hey, I didn't do all that much," he said sheepishly, "it was just a piece of advice, after all. You did most of the work in actually applying it--"

"She's not the only one," came Itsuki, sitting on Iroko's right, also wearing a vest and a bandage across his head. "I've got something to be thankful for, too. But first, you should know they declared the outcome of the match a tie."

"Seriously? So we ended up knocking ourselves out? Ha, that's pretty funny to think about! But then how are they gonna decide who gets to go on to the Semifinals?"

"Well..." Itsuki started, "since I only collapsed after you had, that technically meant I had outlasted you... so they were considering giving me the win."

"Oh." Iroko was about to feel devastated but he kept his posture upright. "Yeah, that makes se--"

"I don't agree, though," said Itsuki. "As far as I'm concerned, Iroko, you won that match."

He was surprised to hear him say that.

"Nah, what are you talking about, dude? You were still standing while I was on the ground, which means I took more damage than you. You had me beat at the end for sure."

"Maybe so, but for the majority of the fight, you had me cornered again and again. I only stood a chance at the end because I started using Scorch Style, and I wouldn't have at all if you hadn't been trying to talk sense into me the entire time. Therefore, I just can't see this as my victory. I'm not gonna argue with you on this, you won. That's all there is to it. Everyone else might not think so, but I'll always know the truth."

Iroko could see there would be no point in arguing this further, so he acquiesced. But there was still something he wasn't entirely sure about.

"You say I was the one that managed to talk some sense into you but you were in opposition to what I had to say all throughout. It was only at the end, after you got your head hit that something changed. What happened there?"

"I'm... not so sure myself. Your words were reaching out to me, of that I'm sure, because every time you spoke a memory I'd long since buried, that resonated with what you said, kept resurfacing and I didn't want it to because I had forgotten the most important part of it."

He put his hand to his bandaged forehead. "But I think it finally got triggered after I got hit in the head. My last known memory of my father before the Ninja War, before he'd been killed, was of him getting into an argument with my mom over my Kekkei Genkai. The whole day had been so intense that all I could recall were those negative moments. There was only a single positive moment to that day, and I had forgotten it because of how overwhelming everything else was. But today, I remembered it.

"My dad told me one last time how much he loved me and wanted the best for me, to use Scorch Style as an extension of my love and compassion to others including myself, not hatred, so I did in the arena today. I'll admit, though, that was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and now that I'm thinking straight again I don't think it'll be so easy to use it on the fly like that, not when I still bear so much hatred towards my mom and her clan. But it's a start."

"And a start is better than nothing," Jin half-murmured. Then she noticed Iroko and Itsuki were looking at her and her face turned red. "I didn't mean for you to hear that..."

"No, you're right," said Itsuki. "It is better than nothing. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you, Iroko. This all happened because you and Ena cared enough to stand up to me."

"Ah, jeez, come on, both of you! It ain't a big deal, really!"

"Then allow me to point out something that is," said the nurse, coming back from the photocopy room. "Iroko, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to place your Blackout technique on the Watchlist."

"What? Oh no! What's the Watchlist?" he whispered to Jin.

"It's a list of jutsu or shinobi that are put under monitoring if they're deemed as a possible threat by the LHOW or any other shinobi council."

"Ah, gotcha. Wait, why Blackout though?"

"Why don't you go ahead and undo the cast around your arm," said the nurse. "It should have healed enough by now."

Iroko did as she said and he saw for himself the state of his hand and forearm. It was covered, from the tip of his fingernail to just below his elbow, in small but still very noticeable permanent scars. Moreso, he noticed that he was having trouble moving his fingers.

"Don't worry about your fingers' dexterity, that will return eventually, it just came as a side effect of having to heal their broken bones. But as you can see, the several lacerations on your hand and arm are from having used your jutsu so many times. Lightning nature can be incredibly dangerous to the user if used excessively; it tears at the skin and can permanently damage muscle tissue if not moderated.

"But the real issue is inside your body," she showed them pictures of Iroko's right hand and left foot. Particularly in the picture of the hand, they could see small orbs on various points of the hand, but some appeared more faded than others.

"Lightning-natured jutsu don't usually deal internal damage but your jutsu was so powerful it made an exception. What you see here are your tenketsu along the Pathway System in your body and the ones that are somewhat faded out are those that were placed under great stress from you storing more chakra than they could hold in them and then violently releasing it. Don't worry, they'll heal on their own after some much-needed rest, but you need to understand the consequences of your actions.

"You have large chakra reserves, Iroko, so you can manifest a large amount of chakra, I understand, but what you ought not to do is store more than your tenketsu can handle in any part of your body. You have a greater tolerance to electricity because Lightning-nature is your affinity but even your body has limits. Your tenketsu can fail if you overload them and when that happens you won't be able to manifest jutsu from that part of your body anymore. You were incredibly lucky that didn't happen here today."

"Oh, damn..." Iroko remained dazed while staring at his hand. "I didn't realize it was that bad." So that's what the pain inside my hand was about.

Jin looked on sympathetically while Itsuki was frowning. He knew Iroko had only gone this far because of him.

"I highly recommend as a prescription that you try to refrain from using Blackout as much as possible, and if you must, do so sparingly, keeping in mind how much chakra your tenketsu can hold. If you start to feel internal pain in your hand again, please stop using the jutsu immediately. Your ability to mold chakra depends on it."

He'd finally done something he could be legitimately proud of, something he'd devised entirely on his own and was unique to him and him only, but now, for his own safety, he might have to put it down or move on from it. It sucked, but maybe it was for the best. You couldn't have everything you wanted in life.

"Or, better yet, find some way to modify it," she added, grabbing Iroko's attention. "I'd hate to have to see you entirely disregard something you probably worked hard to create. So why not find an alternative, a better way to use it?"

"A better way to use it...?" That planted the seeds for an idea in Iroko's head, and at once his confidence had returned. "Thank you, nurse, for all your help." Then he went back to being goofy again. "But seriously, though, my jutsu actually being listed as Forbidden?! I mean, how cool would that be?"

"If we're talking in terms of degrees of bada$$ery, then very," said Itsuki.

"I agree," said Jin.

Oi, I can appreciate lightening the mood of a tense situation, the nurse thought, but I hope you actually take what I've said into deep consideration. Hmm, I see now, he's a 'problem child', isn't he?

"Nurse!!" Iroko called out with a raised hand. "Would it be alright for me to use the washroom down the corridor? (Being unconscious for that long really gets your bowel moving)"

"Huh? O-Oh, of course, please go ahead, but be sure to come back right after."

✧✧✧ Meanwhile ✧✧✧

The search for the missing-nin continued as Fumino and Kanbe's match progressed in the background.

Kosetsu stood idly by while waiting for Hachiman to rediscover the trail after it went cold. They were now at the back end of the stadium, behind the bleachers and main corridors. In her mind, she wondered why Ran was led all the way out here and what had happened to him. On top of that, she was incredibly impressed with Hachiman's tracking skills. Even with all her years of training and dedication to being a ninja, she didn't think she was as astute as he was.

"Is everyone at Anbu this adept at tracking?"

"Not necessarily," he said, "some have it easier than others by means of talent, but yeah, at the very least you're expected to finish your training with jonin-grade tracking ability."

Jonin-grade? At the very least? He says it like it's not a big deal.

"Ah, there you are," he seemed to have picked up on the trail again. "There are two trails here now. It looks like he was following someone, perhaps a teammate. This way."

They got to running again, going even further to the back levels. With his connections to Anbu and more importantly the Katsumi clan, Hachiman appeared to Kosetsu like a treasure trove of information, but it was mutual, as he seemed to be just as interested in her as she did him, and he seemed aware of her curiosity. She would have to be careful of what she said and asked since she was still not entirely sure with whom his allegiance lied.

"So, being Kazue's personal trainer, you must be familiar with his father, no? I doubt he'd just let anyone train his son."

"Hm, you're right about that. My ninjutsu works similarly to Combustion Style and I've been close to the family for a long time so I guess you could say he trusts me as one would trust a friend."

This piqued her interest. "Then you must know him and his father on a personal level and what his home life is like."

"Depends on who's asking."

She'd been a tad bit too eager, she realized and decided to dial it back. "Sorry if that came off as nosiness. It's just that, as his teacher, I can't help but worry for him. I just keep seeing this bright young man, with a future more promising than I can ever imagine, constantly hold himself back by his own temperament and insecurities, and it's made me want to get to the bottom of it so I can help him, but I can only do so much from my position. I don't have all the pieces. It might seem like I'm trying to abuse my power as a teacher or overextend myself but even so... nothing good can ever come from that amount of rage and inclination to violence. I would know."

"Would you, now?"

"Let's just say, the clan I hail from, their values and their teachings, they always seemed to confuse love and benevolence, often to the detriment of others. It's how I came to be able to recognize the signs."

Hachiman went silent for a moment before speaking again. "Your heart's in the right place, that much I can tell. Yeah, he wasn't always like this, Kazue, that is, or Kazuki, for that matter. A lot happened in that household over the years, but where I think it really started going downhill was just a year or two before the 4th Ninja War." He looked back at her. "Kazue's really never spoken to you about his immediate family at all?"

"No, not to me, anyway."

"Right, figures. I doubt he would tell his teammates or friends either. In those days before, Kazuki was ambitious and he was greedy, but he was content for the most part, his heart was filled with 'love', as you put it. He would've never started treating them so badly... if he hadn't left."

"If who hadn't left? Hachiman?"

He had stopped running. "The trail ends here."

They were standing in front of a long corridor that led to a door at the very end of it, eclipsed in darkness. And there was blood on the ground leading to that door. Copious amounts. When Kosetsu noticed it she let out an audible gasp.

"Yeah, I see it, too," said Hachiman in a low voice.

"But why does it only start and end here in this corridor?"

"Depends on when the body would have started bleeding, right?" He manifested a long banner in his hand. "We go quietly and we go slowly."

The red band-like marking on Kosetsu's wrists began to glow through her sleeves and a small but heavy-looking mace, plated in gold and red, materialized in her hand. Then she followed Hachiman's lead.

Kosetsu couldn't hear even the faintest drop of sound emanating from Hachiman's shoes as he walked. He was an espionage agent in every sense of the word and she was sure it was her own footsteps that would give away their presence to the enemy if there was one.

Hachiman looked around the door making sure it wasn't booby-trapped, then he put his hand on the handle and looked at a determined Kosetsu.

"3...," he said.

"2...," she followed.

"1..." They said at the same time.

At 0 he swung open the door and they jumped in, ready to start swinging. It was a storage room, the kind they used to keep brooms, mops, and cleaning supplies away in. The trail of blood continued inside, looking fresher and fresher, until it stopped right where there was a body at the end of the room.

Kosetsu swiftly approached them while maintaining caution.

"Is it the target?" Hachiman asked.

"N-No, but..." Since Kakashi had forbidden anyone at the Edo from divulging information about Momotaro to the public, all they had to go on in terms of identifying him by appearance was his short height of about 5'4", light skin, and was most likely male in terms of sex. The body here was taller than that and they were wearing a baseball cap with a metal plate attached to the back. And they were dead. His throat had been slashed open and his eyes were bloodshot. There were no signs he had fought back at all.

Maybe their appearance didn't match Momotaro but it certainly did their other person of interest.

"...Hachiman," she sounded both distraught and incensed, "I think this is Ran."

"Ah. Well, s#$t." Hachiman turned his comm to Shizune's channel. "Shizune, come in, we have an emergency!"

Kosetsu also tried Hisao and Boshi's lines again but still to no avail. She didn't want to believe the rising suspicion her brain had been trying to tell her but with Ran's dead body right in front of her, it felt impossible to deny it any longer.

What if he got to them too?!

Back in the arena, Fumino was struggling to close the distance between her and Kanbe.

Every time she got too close, she would get an ax right to her face, forcing her to double back again. The Cloud ninja wielded them with such adeptness and precision that it was practically lethal to be anywhere near him and he fought with them like he was legitimately trying to kill her.

His most dangerous technique with them was when he bound them together, detached the blades from their handle, revealing a chain, and started to flail them like a sickle, ripping through literal air currents and cracking the ground with their destructive force or throwing them straight at her, only to pull it back by the chain and she would lose wisps of her hair just trying to dodge it.

Those axes are definitely a massive problem, she thought, if I get too close I could lose a limb! I need to disarm him!

When she'd put enough distance between the two of them, she fired another direct Whirling Spring, enough to knock him right off his feet. The response to the attack was a spark of red lightning flashing. Kanbe used Chakra Flow to transfer his lightning nature into the axes.

"Red Lightning Technique: Landlocked Storm."

The axes transformed into conductors of electricity and the vortex of spinning blades of death was now a vortex of lightning-imbued, spinning, blades of death. He whipped it against the Whirling Spring, completely obliterating it, and went after Fumino without a second thought.

She was visibly shaken and was now thinking on the fly. Okay, new plan, RIGHT NOW!

The first axe to come close to making contact with her face, she blocked with two kunai infused with Blossom Style, but still received a shock from the lightning residue spilling out of it, making her cry out in pain. Daito was visibly worried.

"Yeah, what was that about being ready for anything?"

But even in the midst of the pain, she was still trying to devise a new strategy.

How was he able to destroy Whirling Spring so easily? Think!! Is Red Lightning just that strong? No, the density of the petals should've been enough! Maybe I just didn't reinforce them en-- The petals... That's it!

The physical tangibility of my jutsu depends on how much of a balance I strike between Earth Style and Yin Release. The less Yin Release I apply the less tangible it becomes, so if I apply more instead and increase the amount of chakra I use... I GOT IT!!!

Fumino acted quickly, swerving and leaping in every which direction to avoid the axes, she arched her hand out and directed the petals to surround Kanbe in a helix spiral. Kanbe immediately tried to cut it down, but it resisted his blows.

This one's tougher than the rest, and I can't see anything through it. What are you planning?

He let a surge of lightning pass through his body and into his axe then swung once again, ripping the helix apart. In came Fumino, running towards him in that short time frame.

"Not fast enough, dolly!" Kanbe deftly wielded the baton and an ax from right out of Fumino's blindspot came and struck her right in the waist.

She seemed to be getting torn in half right in front of everyone's eyes until a mist passed over her whole body and a log of wood had taken her spot.

Kanbe showed no visible signs of surprise at the deception. He knew how to react accordingly and swerved around to his backside to counter whatever strike she was about to deliver.

Except no one was behind him. His stomach dropped. He looked to his sides and up instead and right as he did so, he heard a voice from below say: "Down here."

A blur of pink passed over his vision as she made a grab for his left arm. Kanbe tried to hit her with the other axe by pulling at the chain to bring it towards them but she had performed a somersault directly over his head, dodging it entirely while still holding on to his arm.

It must have been when she temporarily blinded me with that helix of petals!

"If you're too busy underestimating your opponent," she grinned, "you'll never notice the moment when they're right under your nose!!"

She let go of his arm to grab the chain, then she whipped out a kunai, charged it with Chakra Flow, and slashed right through the handle. Before Kanbe could react accordingly, he found himself having to block a kick to the face, then she rebounded off his arm and away from him with one of his axes still in her grip.

"YEAH, THAT'S IT!!! ONE FOR TEAM 9!!!" Daito shouted.

Kanbe looked down at his bruised left arm. "All that for a single ax?"

Fumino held it up to her face gloatingly. "Well, it's better than two, don't you think? I figured if it boosts my chances of winning by even a teeny bit I'd take it. Call me an optimist."

"Oh, is that what this is? You really think you're gonna win this?"

Her expression turned serious. "I don't think. I believe. That's who I am, that's my nindō. Someone has to keep believing in a hopeless world like this. Otherwise, what happiness will there be left to share in? What do you think, Kanbe?" She tossed his axe far away from either of them and readied herself again. "Is that something everyone gets an equal share in times like these? If I chose to only think that I could win, then who is it that that action would really be affecting?"

Kanbe had fallen silent.

Genzo was also taking pleasure in watching the Cloud-nin get what was coming to him after what he did to Ena, but some of the rookies were still stuck on what had just transpired. Ena seemed lost in thought, Kazue had a permanent scowl on his face, and Asami, Yuura observed...

...well, for the first time since having met her, he saw she had downcast eyes.

She looked damn near almost sad.

He perked up beside her and decided to ask: "Are you disappointed we couldn't go see Iroko right away?"

She refuted that question with an immediate deadpan. "You're the only one who's thinking that."

Yuura laughed. "Yeah, maybe I am. You know, regardless of the outcome of the match, I'm happy for him. He managed to fulfill his promise to Ena and still got the fight he wanted. Call me crazy but I think this kind of stuff is what makes him happy. He's just that kind of and kind of a person."

She made no comment, only silently reflecting on the match: How badly he'd hurt himself just to reach out to Itsuki, the words he'd said to him, but especially that moment when his chakra nature had changed color.

What was that?

She casually gazed back into the arena, tuning out the current battle even as Daito was shouting his head off, and found her attention was focused on Temari. She looked distressed about something while on the comms, and Asami wondered why that was.

Was it about the target? Now that she thought about it, she hadn't heard from Hisao for a while.

Her acute awareness began to return as she realized the reality of the situation. Her perception of time was slowing down and all the loud noises around her were becoming inaudible.

Her eyes passed over Fumino and Kanbe as they were charging at each other for a second time, and went to Kakashi's location where he, Shizune, and Tsunade were not paying attention to the match and were pacing about the booth, talking loudly and looking panicked.

Then someone softly bumped into her, she turned around to see it was Yohei, hardly paying attention to his teammate's battle and instead looking upwards. Asami followed his gaze and she witnessed it for herself.

Momotaro knelt down on a high-rise platform and wielded a large crossbow. He'd just finished loading a quarrel and was now taking aim.

Aiming directly at the Hokage's booth.

Her breath was stolen from her when she realized there was nothing she could do to stop him.

The quarrel was released.

While Kakashi and Tsunade were distracted, Shizune was the only one to see it coming from across the stadium and deduced under an incredibly low timeframe who it was aimed at.

"KAKASHIIIII!!!!!"

She shoved him out of the way so she was in his place. The quarrel came crashing through the glass and perforated her right through her chest cavity. Its trajectory was so fast it pinned her against the wall of the booth, cracking the cement. To their horror, she vomited blood right out of her eyes, nose, and mouth.

Fumino and Kanbe stood rooted to where they were. Everyone there had heard the shattering of glass.

Kakashi was so taken aback by what had just happened to Shizune, he almost failed to react in time to the next quarrel that was shot at him again. He jerked his head to dodge it, and it tore both his mask off and several layers of his skin, before blowing up and eclipsing the entire booth in shadow.

Everyone was stunned. Kosetsu and Hachiman had arrived just in time to see this happening. Her eyes locked on Momotaro's position, and she saw he was already slipping away.

In a fit of rage, she cried out: "AFTER HIM!!!"

A swarm of chunin and jonin left the bleachers to converge on him. Mei and her squad were the closest to him and had abandoned everything to go after him.

The chase was on.

Panic ensued among the rookies.

"Kakashi..." Baku's words trailed off.

"Wh- Wh- Wha- What is going on?!" Yuura felt himself about to freak out. "Did the Hokage... did tHE HOKAGE JUST... DID HE--"

"Yuura, everyone!"

For someone so emotionless, Asami's voice of urgency was ringing out clearly. She was the only one among them that was keeping her composure and thus managed to get all the rookies to calm down and gather around her. "Listen, what's happening right now is not part of the test, it's real."

"What? What the hell do you mean by that?!" Kazue demanded.

"I'll explain everything later, but for now we need to evacuate the stadium, all of us, right now."