__________ POV Narration _________

The first one to make a move this time was Takehiko, his hands moving like a blur as he stepped forward.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullets!"

Four gigantic water dragons arched from the Uzumaki Prodigy's mouth, all heading towards Tatsukio, who just sighed.

In an instant, he turned in a blur, sidestepping the dragons and rushing directly at Takehiko, who seemed to be prepared for him.

A loud metallic clang sounded out through the entire arena as the One-Legged Assassin's blade screeched against his opponents.

With a heave and a smile, the Uzumaki gained the upper hand, pushing the assassin away and slashing at him in the same move.

Tatsukio was not that easy to hit unfortunately, he didn't even use Flash Step, he just leaned backwards and allowed the blade to pass right above him whilst pointing the tip of his blade at Takehiko's chest.

The Uzumaki immediately jumped backwards, only his clothes being slightly nicked by the oddly positioned thrust of the assassin.

'As expected... He'll try to end the fight quickly and efficiently, a trend that assassination specialists would always follow.'

Takehiko had done quite a bit of research in preparation for his fight. He somewhat realized that he wasn't that untouchable thanks to Ume, the Number 7 of the Brotherhood almost beating him earlier.

This time he also didn't start the fight using his Bloodline Limit, testing the waters a bit and choosing some different strategies.

But Tatsukio's next move did blow most of his plans out of the water.

The One-Legged Devil turned into a blur once again, but this time it somehow felt even faster than before.

His figure flashed all over the arena in seconds, after images began to appear and disappear, leading to the Uzumaki to be unable even to predict where he'd attack from.

His afterimages appeared everywhere, at all angles, both in mid-air and on the ground.

'Did he get faster?!? Was he holding back in all of his other fights?' Takehiko sweated as his trained eyes struggled even to follow the assassin's shadow.

Sensing him was also out of the question, if his presence was faint in the matches prior, then it was now nonexistent.

At that point, Takehiko did the only real thing he could to stop an upcoming attack...

And that was to allow his Adamantite Sealing Chains to sprout out of his back, effectively forming a shield against any attack from behind as they whipped around dangerously. Breaking apart many of the afterimages that the assassin had formed.

In an instant, Tatsukio was already in front of Takehiko, who shrunk back in surprise, he barely managed to lean out of the way of a blade.

He only managed to do so by using one of his chains to drag himself backwards on pure instinct whilst pushing the others forward to stab his opponent and bind him.

But the One-Legged Devil was done playing around, he immediately vanished and Takehiko felt a powerful palm strike hit him in the back, causing him to spit out some blood and get sent tumbling in the other direction.

Tatskio smiled, not bothering to follow up his attack as he brought one of his hands up in a simple sign.

"Crimson Seal"

In that same instant, strange markings spread through Takehiko's body, as the crimson seal sought to envelop the body, its starting point being where Tatsukio had just placed his palm.

In an instant, Takehiko's eyes widened. He instinctively stopped using the chains, as he felt a burning sensation within his blood whilst the seal spread.

Fighting back only made things worse, which left him tumbling on the ground after receiving that palm strike.

He seemed shocked, staring at the ground with wide eyes as he took some deep breaths in.

"Just like that... You are no longer able to use chakra. At least not without paying a good price for it~" Tatsukio smiled, his voice having an almost melodic ring to it as he hopped towards his opponent leisurely.

Back in the stands, Yorihikko was already up from his seat, looking at the arena below with an angered gaze.

"Shit, that careless child!" The Uzumaki Leader was not mad at Tatsukio for using such a tactic, it was in fact the smartest thing to do in that situation, aside from outright stabbing his pupil in the heart from the back.

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But still, an 'Uzumaki Prodigy' falling victim to one of their very own Fuinjutsu Techniques was beyond shameful.

"Hmm, it can't be helped. The One-Legged Devil had not showcased any mastery over Fuinjutsu up to this point, seems like he's got quite a few hidden cards." The Hokage immediately pacified him, realising how bad things looked.

"He should not have put himself in such a situation in the first place..." The Raikage scowled, having expected a lot more from the final fight.

"I've heard of that seal before. It is quite detrimental to any Shinobi, so I guess it's fair to call the fight?" Mifune stroked his beard, slowly eyeing Tatsukio with an impressed gaze.

'As expected of Lord Ken's star pupil, he already is in a league of his own among his generation.'

"No. The fight isn't over." Ken's voice rang out from the side at the time, just as the leaders were about to signal to the Announcer to end the fight.

"Hey now, I get that he was disrespectful to you, but continuing would just be torture at this stage." The Raikage seemed a bit disappointed in his friend.

"You think I'd have such petty intentions over some childish spat? As an Uzumaki, Takehiko still has the chance to overcome this. All he needs is for his opponent to be distracted a bit. Right, Yorihikko?" The Blind Assassin's head turned towards the Uzukage, who seemed to nod hesitantly, before shaking his head.

'But who's to say his opponent will give him the chance to recover? Whatever. We'll let this play out a bit more, and see what his next move is. I'll just intervene if his life is in danger.'

Back in the arena, Tatsukio hadn't bothered to approach his opponent faster, he seemed to be humming to himself, thinking to had already won the fight, which in all fairness, he may as well have.

Takehiko's gaze turned hateful and defiant for a moment, he immediately raised his arm and formed a simple hand sign.

In that instant, Tatsukio's relaxed demeanour vanished, and just before the Uzumaki Prodigy's chakra moved through the right channels to finish the Jutsu, he was already pointing a blade at his throat.

"Stop. Just accept that you've lost. Even if you can douse yourself in water and stem the burning of the Crimson Seal, you can't fight me in your current state. Without your chains you are nothing." Tatsukio's voice was harsh and unforgiving, but he was not lying in any way.

And that was the reason why Takehiko couldn't even refute it.

"From the moment I saw you fight in the preliminaries, I knew that fighting you would be easy.

Even if you've changed a bit since then, you can't possibly change a lifetime of bad habits and lack of preparation with a week or two of carefulness."

Tatsukio ignored his opponent's grim expression as he continued speaking whilst sheathing his blade.

The announcer had also already gone ahead and shouted out the obvious winner of the battle, but Takehiko didn't hear a single word of it.

He was too stuck in the words of his opponent.

Maybe a few weeks back, he would have considered all of it as his opponent talking smack about him, but in a sense, he also realized his negligence during the Chunin Exams.

'If I had trained a bit harder in Fuinjutsu, none of this would have happened... If I worked harder in general, I would've maybe even won...'

He was already beaten down, not even realizing that his opponent had already walked away, undoing the seal with a simple hand sign before heading off.

"Takehiko."

A familiar voice was the only one able to break him out of his trance. It was none other than the voice of his teacher and mentor, the leader of the Uzumaki Clan, Yorihhiko.

The red-haired man looked at his protege with a conflicted gaze, before sighing and shaking his head.

"We will have to revise your training schedule when we get back. For now, let us enjoy the festivities."

Unlike what many people in the crowd expected, the Uzukage didn't lash out at his student, he just waved him off, pushing him to leave the arena before turning back and jumping towards the seats.

"Letting that match go on was a bad idea." He said, before sitting back down.

"Well, I can see why Ken would want it to go on at least." The Raikage stroked his thick beard with a wry smile on his face.

"Why? To further humiliate my pupil? His spirit's already broken enough..." Yorihikko's voice sounded a bit offended, he sent the Red Dot a rather fiery glare. He didn't seem hostile in any way, however, just frustrated.

"Nah, he just gave your pupil a chance. Anything can happen in a battle, it's not like the Crimson Seal cannot be overcome!

If that was the case you Uzumaki bastards would've already conquered the world, haha!" The Raikage laughed a bit, before looking at Ken with an appreciative gaze.

"Humiliation was not the intended outcome of this battle, but it can't be called a bad outcome either.

Takehiko got to learn a tough lesson today. You just have to make sure that he works on himself from now on, and develops from here." Ken turned his head towards Yorihhiko as he spoke.

Hearing his reasoning, the incensed Uzukage could just sigh. He couldn't exactly start arguing with his clan's benefactor, now could he?

The Hokage slowly stood up at that point as well, and he addressed everyone in the arena at once.

"I will take this moment to once again congratulate all of this Exam's participants for their amazing displays of skill! I must say, the future is looking blinding at this stage, hoho~"

As always, the Hokage's voice and charm had an almost magnetic pull to it, instantly capturing the attention of everyone present.

"To the winner, Number 1 of the brotherhood, the title of Chunin does not mean much. As many of you know, the Dark Brotherhood ranks its assassins differently.

It is due to that, his reward will be decided personally by Ken, upon their return to their compound."

The crowd nodded, seemingly accepting that outcome, although many were a bit disappointed, wanting to know what spoils would go to the victor.

But the Hokage's next sentence quickly made them forget that thought.

"In regards to the Chunin Promotion... Everyone that has made it to the semi-finals and finals of this year's competition, will be officially promoted to the Chunin Rank, as we have deemed them to be deserving enough."

The investors seemed to be quite pleased at that, many of them clapping loudly with smiles on their faces.

After all, being Chunin meant that they were going to be allowed to go on more important missions.

Many in the finals had showcased a level of skill that impressed them, so they felt good knowing that their missions and tasks were going to be handled by the skilful next generation.

Regardless, their cheering only got louder at the Hokage's next words...

"Without further ado, for this Exam's final showcase... We shall have a battle between Lord Ken, Leader of the Dark Brotherhood, and Lord A, Third Raikage of the Cloud Village!"