Truth be told, Kazama didn't have any real beef with Kirigakure.
He was just using this tournament as a cover to let Zabuza and Haku sniff out any leads on the Gobi no Jinchuriki.
But the Kirigakure crowd? They were treating Kazama like their sworn enemy.
When they saw him nod and smile at Chojuro, they took it as him looking down on their guy. That set them off, and they started hurling insults.
"You little punk, you're done for! Chojuro might seem shy and unsure, but his skills are no joke!" one shouted.
"Yeah, you're about to get sliced to bits by Chojuro's Hiramekarei!" another laughed.
Wham!
Before they could keep running their mouths, an invisible force knocked them flat on their backs.
That was Kazama's intangible, formless Kyuyoku Fuen no Chikara—a power they couldn't even see coming.
"What the hell was that?"
"Some kind of freak wind?"
The crowd thought they'd been tripped up by a random gust, completely clueless that Kazama had just taught them a quick lesson.
Meanwhile, up on the arena, Chojuro launched his attack on Kazama.
"No offense, but here we go—Hiramekarei Kaiho!"
Seeing Chojuro unleash such a heavy-hitting move right off the bat, the Kirigakure crowd got hyped.
Hiramekarei morphed, growing larger before firing off a barrage of glowing energy blasts straight at Kazama.
"Nice one, Chojuro! Finish this punk in one shot!" a spectator cheered.
"That's right! Chojuro's a Kirigakure prodigy. Some Otogakure nobody doesn't stand a chance!" another added.
But just when they thought Kazama was toast, something unbelievable happened.
Chojuro's full-power strike hit Kazama square on—and it was like tossing a pebble into the ocean. No effect whatsoever.
Ding! Successfully absorbed Hiramekarei Kaiho. Congratulations, host, for acquiring the Ketsumyaku Tofaha of the Hiramekarei!
"What the—how?!" the crowd gasped in unison.
As the youngest of Kirigakure's Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu, Chojuro's strength was well-known. Everyone had seen what he could do.
Yet his all-out attack didn't even scratch Kazama. The crowd was floored, their confidence shaken.
Down below, Terumi Mei—one of Kirigakure's strongest—knew exactly how much power Chojuro had packed into that hit.
Even she wouldn't have been able to shrug it off so easily.
But Kazama? He tanked it with just his body.
"This kid from Otogakure… he's something else," Mei muttered, impressed.
And just when she thought she'd seen it all, Kazama did something even more shocking.
After brushing off Chojuro's attack, he didn't stop there. In a flash, he used Shunsin no Jutsu, snatched Hiramekarei right out of Chojuro's hands, and swung it down toward his head.
"Ketsumyaku Tofaha!"
"Chojuro, dodge!" Mei shouted from below, panic in her voice.
As Kirigakure's top shinobi, she knew the Ketsumyaku Tofaha's power all too well. It was a forbidden technique, deemed too brutal even for the Village of the Bloody Mist.
And now, some outsider like Kazama was wielding Kirigakure's own banned blade technique? Mei couldn't wrap her head around it.
But as she yelled, Kazama's Hiramekarei came crashing down.
Boom!
The entire arena was reduced to rubble in an instant.
Chojuro was sent flying by the shockwave.
"What a joke! He didn't even hit Chojuro!" one of the crowd jeered.
"All flash, no aim. Couldn't even land a hit!" another mocked.
But Mei had seen everything clearly.
It wasn't that Kazama missed because of bad aim.
At the last second, he'd deliberately spared Chojuro's life. If he hadn't pulled back, Chojuro would've been torn to pieces.
"Chojuro, you okay?!" Mei called out.
Chojuro was frozen in place, too stunned to even hear her. He was clearly shaken to his core.
No question about it—Kazama had won this round.
"Not bad, kid from Otogakure. You've got some serious skills!" a new voice called out.
A female shinobi with reddish-brown hair and bandages around her neck stepped up to face Kazama.
"Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu, the second wielder of Raiga no Kiba—Ringo Ameyuri, right?" Kazama said, recognizing her instantly.
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