Sarutobi spoke for about five minutes, then passed the floor to the Daimyo, who spoke a few sentences about the demonstration of skills, and then the other Kage, who did not speak for a while and simply congratulated the competitors on making it to the finals and wished them all victories.
Naturally, there were many more of their own, but that wasn't the point. The crowd, having heard the big shots, became animated again and Sarutobi didn't wait long to give the start of the tournament.
The referee banished almost all the genin to the balcony and announced the opponents for the first fight.
- Hoshi from Konohagakure no Sato versus Nui Osho from Sunagakure no Sato!
The kugutsu user had pre-printed his two puppets from the scrolls and was just waiting to begin, menacingly snapping the many segments of a massive millipede and the jaws of... a lizard?
- Hajime! - The jonin abruptly lowered his hand and hurried away.
Hoshi stomped on the ground, kicking up clouds of dust and in one powerful leap flying back nearly seven meters, obviously using a chakra release. Well aware of her own weakness in a straight fight, her opponent was just as quick to break the distance while his wooden creatures rushed straight at the retreating kunoichi, spitting senbon and kunai from the throwers lurking within. One of them even managed to hit the female student, just short of knocking them all away, but they couldn't penetrate her hoodie.
As soon as the puppets crossed the place where the young kunoichi had been standing before, she stopped and unexpectedly for everyone, but not me, rushed forward, folding the seal. Exactly where the dust was still billowing and sinking, a wide translucent barrier cut through the air, and the controlled kugutsu fell to the ground like undercutters.
Reaching up and unrolling a scroll, Hoshi flew toward them and sealed them in a puff of smoke with two claps, then darted toward the stunned genin Suna, canceling the barrier. The crowd roared in approval, welcoming the instantaneous change of scenery and nearly deafening me.
- Excellent tactics and execution," Shenesu murmured, stepping forward to take advantage of the enemy's obvious vulnerability in such a filigree way, and in one fell swoop depriving him of his primary weapon!
Meanwhile, the puppeteer woke up and started to fold the hand seals of some technique, but he simply didn't have time, having to stop on the spot to do so. Showing a decent speed, but not her maximum, the student jumped up to the genin and knocked him to the ground with a swift kick, throwing a kunai into his thigh and swinging a second one, clearly intending to inflict enough damage to keep him up, but prudently not coming close.
The referee immediately appeared nearby, ordering her to stop.
- Hoshi of Konohagakure has won the first fight!
To the roar of the crowd, he thrust the kunoichi's arm upwards. The iryonins ran onto the field and dragged the victim out of the arena, while the student retreated to the balcony, where the new genin jumped down without returning the booty. Well done, my apprentice! The next fight I didn't even watch much - a tall, tanned girl from Suna was lazily mauling Jiraiya's genin around the arena, even without any techniques, purely on one taijutsu with a healthy metal fan and a physical advantage.
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