Tatsuo grips Satoru's collar and drags him a step closer, his jaw tight. The noise of the arena fades behind them as his eyes narrow.
"Get serious," Tatsuo said, his voice low. "What did you do to Sakumo?"
Satoru doesn't answer right away. Eventually he gives a slow, reluctant nod. Tatsuo's fingers tighten on the fabric.
"…What did you do?" he repeats.
Satoru exhales. "A shadow clone," he admits quietly. "I… transformed it into a girl. Someone who looked like Tsume."
Tatsuo felt something click. The realization hits him all at once, connecting immediately to the conversation the three of them had shared earlier. Sakumo's shaken tone, his voice when talking about Tsume, the doubt he struggled to hide. It wasn't Satoru comforting him… it was him planting doubt.
Tatsuo's voice lowers to a whisper. "You used Sakumo's emotions against him… didn't you?"
Satoru's silence is answer enough.
He didn't defend himself or provide an justification for what he did. He just stood there, silently, waiting for Tatsuo to continue talking.
Tatsuo lets go of his collar but doesn't step back. For a moment they stand in the hallway, tension thickening the air.
"Why?" Tatsuo finally asks. "Why would you do something like that?"
Satoru hesitates, the words forming slowly, not because he's lying, but because he's forcing himself to say something, anything.
"I wanted the finals to be between us," he says. "Just us. I wanted to fight you in the last round… to go all out and test ourselves to the limit."
Satoru's tone wasn't aggressive, but it held desire, Satoru wanted to fight him with all his heart. He came up with it on the spot but it nothing but the truth.
Tatsuo studied him, unsure how to feel about what Satoru did. Part of him understands it, the drive to push himself, the hunger to measure his strength against someone he respects. But another part of him is angry, because Satoru turned that desire inward, becoming manipulative without hesitation.
"That wasn't your choice to make," Tatsuo mutters. "Sakumo deserved better."
Satoru doesn't argue. His detachment make him look calm, but deep down, he actually was.
Tatsuo steps back and crosses his arms. "If you wanted to fight me so badly, you could've just said it. Not twist Sakumo up like that."
"I know," Satoru answers. "But if Sakumo reached the finals… I wasn't sure you could beat him. Not after everything Ihave seen you do." Satoru said, bluntly.
Tatsuo had gotten used to him saying things in this way for years now, he has adapted to Satoru's sharp tongue.
"For someone who always plans things, you rush into the worst ideas so easily. I have seen you put metal in the microwave and pass an exam with flying colours on the same say, such is the duality of man." Tatsuo shrugs, a hint of a smile was on his face, before quickly disappearing.
Satoru almost smiled looking his, but it fades. "Would you have held back against me?"
Tatsuo scoffs. "Fuck No! I would beat the shit out of you."
"Then you understand why I wanted our fight," Satoru replies simply.
Tatsuo lets out a long breath and turns toward the arena entrance. "We'll deal with this later. Let's focus on our match."
---
"Today marks a special day for us all! Today is the finals of the chunin exams. Due to the match of Hinoka and Kuroi being a double elimination, this round will be a battle royal between Satoru, Tatsuo and Ay.
Satoru stood with his hands in his pocket, he looked around the audience, looking for certain people. Only to be dissapointed. His sword was strapped to his hip, ready to unsheathed.
Tatsuo had wide smile looking at Ay, he was getting the chance to fight someone who was also a Nintaijutsu user. He shook in excitement as eagerly waited tor the proctor to start the match.
Ay remained quiet, a confident smirk was stuck to his face and his relaxed expression made the audience feel like he had nothing to worry about. He intently eyed Satoru, like he was a prey to be hunted.
Satoru saw him eyeing him up and blew him a kiss.
"I think we should team up against him. He is very strong, strong enough that it required You and Chosuke to defeat. And from his previous battle, it seems like he improved significantly since You last beat him.
"You are sounding like a hypocrite right now, you know that? Weren't you the one who wants to test your nintaijutsu against strong people? And I want to fight you! Not him." Satoru commented, looking at Tatsuo, whose entire body language looked like he was itching to fight.
"Yeah, yeah, I know! We can deal with this guy quickly and then have our match." Tatsuo said, even Ay could see that his words didn't match his intentions.
"You both wanna fight among yourselves or come at me? I take both of you at the same time if you can't decide among yourselves! If I take you both on, maybe then, I'll be able to use my full power!" Ay told both of them, his fingers twitching from electricity which flowed through them.
"He meant in a fight, right?" Tatsuo asked Satoru, something in his gut made him feel it wasn't in a fight.
"Have you seen that bubble butt? Hell no! He meant in a bedroom, for sure!" Satoru replied, licking his lips, he held a condom packet which he was opening slowly.
"I'M NINE FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! I'm a minor, stop saying things like things that!" Ay shouted at them, only for them smile deviously.
"Bitch, SO ARE WE!" Satoru said, making Tatsuo hold back his laughter.
"It cancels out because of PEMDAS or something." Tatsuo added, they hoth laughed heartily only for the proctor to say
"Let the match begin!"
Ay doesn't waste time instantly activates lightning chakra mode, blue and white sparks rush outwards from his body, making loud crackling sounds. His feet made the ground rupture into pieces.
He rushes straight for Satoru who instantly placed the condom back in his pocket and jumped away from Ay.
Satoru looked at Tatsuo who instantly smiled, he rushed straight into action, winds coating his body, he dashed with the explosion of wind behind him. He clashed with Ay, who changed targets from Satoru to Tatsuo.
Tatsuo launches a flying knee into Ay, who grabbed him mid-air with ease, before slamming him into the ground, shattering floor and creating a crater.
The audienced gasped.
Tatsuo spat blood into Ay's eyes, before blasting winds out in all directions and loosening the grip of Ay, escaping successfully.
He jumped up a delivered a slicing wind kick aimed at Ay's head, who blocked it with his arm, getting a weak cut on his forearm.
Tatsuo releases bursts of wind from his legs, allowing him just enough speed to dodge the barrage of attacks which Ay sent his way.
He read Ay attacks, watching them closely from the distance he was creating, something clicks within him, realizing that Ay was predictable, somewhat, but predictable he was.
Tatsuo centered himself, allowing Ay to come close, who sent out an attack in a straight line. It was pure power, like a battering ram, tearing through everything which was in front of him.
Tatsuo released a burst of wind dodging the punch perfectly, before delivering a gut punch which made the the unstoppable beast in front of him to stumble.
Tatsuo jumped away right before Ay released electricity towards all directions, destroying everything in a twenty meter radius, creating a dust cloud.
"Was that electromagnetic murder? Maybe I should learn it after this." Satoru muttered out from a distance.
Ay used the dust cloud for another straight charge, his speed was taken to overdrive, his hand stretched outwards, four fingers protruding out like a spear head.
Tatsuo kept his stance low, chakra already built up for dodging, and dodge he did. Ay missed by a hair's length, leaving a tiny cut on Tatsuo's face.
Wind surged and collected into his fist, pressurized from his grip, Ay couldn't stop his own momentum and continued on.
Tatsuo released the compressed air like a pressurized jet, several bomb like attacks rained down on Ay who was a sitting duck for all the attacks.
'Should I use fire coat as well? He doesn't look like he knows water style...No! Wavering from my strategy will get me injured or worse...accidently killed. I should amp up my wind coat to it's extreme, I'll use my chakra nature advantage to its full potential.'
Tatsuo felt chakra rushing into every part of his body, winds Spiraling around him like a vortex, releasing pressure waves began blowing dust outwards.
Ay finally was able to stop his own momentum, turning around quickly, he felt a burst of wind style chakra radiating out of Tatsuo.
'He is way slower than me...those jets of winds are what are keeping him alive. He can probably feel my attacks approaching from his coat. I'll need to get faster.' Ay thought, his body almost reacting to his words, emitted large amounts of lightning.
And just like that Ay was using his full power, mirroring Tatsuo.
Tatsuo disappeared from his place and appeared right next to Ay, launching out jabs which moved like bullets.
Ay sidesteps the first few strike before parrying his arm, twisting it and then throwing a uppercut straight for Tatsuo's chin.
Tatsuo's moved like a free wind spirit, easily twisting itself and escaping Ay grasp, before landing a spinning kick into Ay back from above.
Keeping up the strikes, Tatsuo exhaled out a powerful gust of wind on Ay, bombarding him with wind blades which clashed ferociously with his armor.
Ay pushed himself beyond his limits, successfully tanking all the blades, which individually could have maimed him with ease.
The light Ning surrounding Ay became so powerful people watching from far away felt goosebumps rising, it felt like he electrified the air itself.
Ay grit his teeth, powering through the pain. Skin had begun cracking at places like his arms and legs from the electricity burning him, he felt several muscles spasming out of controls, making it difficult to even stand.
But the trade off was that he became fast, so fast that Tatsuo gulped in fear. He no longer felt his chakra nature advantage was enough to close the gap anymore.
Ay swings his arms at Tatsuo's neck, the blow was strong enough to decapitate him, only for Tatsuo to duck underneath it and deliver a uppercut into his jaw.
The punch rattled his bones, Tatsuo launched a flurry of blows like a raging tempest.
Ay took all the hits with little to no damage, but it did compound, enough that he had to grab his ankles and throw him away to stop the assault.
Tatsuo rolls mid air and releases a burst of wind to land perfectly. He instantly felt Ay rush into him with a thunderous shoulder charge, creating another clash of chakra.
Ay dishes out a heavy punches which could tear through flesh and metal alike, Tatsuo tried his best to evade or parry them, struggling heavily while doing it.
Tatsuo waited his time, a cut to Ay's leg was enough for his barrage to end, allowing Tatuo to take control.
His arms flowed like gentle winds but held the strength of a cyclone. They weren't as fast as Ay's but the wide area effect made many cut on Ay's body.
Tatsuo lands a wind coated knee, straight into Ay's ribs, making him grunt in pain before he grabbed Tatsuo and slammed his hands downwards, hitting him in the shoulders.
The hit alone was enough to numb his arm, the electricity now tearing through his muscles was the cherry on top.
Tatsuo swung his arm, sharp winds reaching outwards and cutting Ay in the abdomen.
Ay was about to attack when he sudden pain coarse through his body. He had no choice to deactivate the chakra mode. Just as the jutsu wore off, his pain receptors went back normal...and it hurt, it hurt so much his eyes went bloodshot.
There were thousands of paper cut and many of his muscles were worn out and burning from lactic acid.
He looked At Tatsuo was going through something similar. His coat began to thin before being extinguished...just like his chakra reserves. Exhaustion had tightly held him tightly in its grasp.
His skin was pale like a ghost and his legs were trembled as if it was the first time he walked.
He slowly walked towards Ay who also began walking, with the speed they both would meet each other in a minutes, despite being only meters away from each other.
Tatsuo mustered up his strength and jumped, closing the distance and landing a powerful punch into Ay's face, before attempting to slash him with a kunai, which was evaded by Ay who stepped back only to stumble.
He took that chance and a spinning kick neared Ay's skull, who caught it and intense lightning channels into Tatsuo's body.
"Aarrgghhh!!!" Tatsuo screamed in pain, the coat no longer protected him, and each lightning strike made him feel intense agony.
Tatsuo's body convulses and he twitches uncontrollably, whereas, Ay felt his arm cramp up, making him release Tatsuo of his agony.
Tatsuo, heavily breathing on the ground, charges up and compresses wind in his palm, releasing it at Ay, who stomps at Tatsuo with full power.
Tatsuo instantly backed out, the kick hit his head, and then his head hit he ground. The wind in his palm landed a deep cut in Ay's abdomen and reopened old wounds which were cauterized by the Chakra mode.
Ay still remains standing, staring at Tatsuo's fallen figure. And then at Satoru, who smiled.