"What?!"
"He used Wind Release… to blow the Uchiha's Great Fireball off course?"
"What precise chakra control and timing!"
Gasps rippled through the stands and around the ring.
To outsiders, it was just flashy action. To trained ninja, it was pure technique.
Most of the spectators besides shinobi were family, friends, or curious villagers. They only thought Kiyohara's move was clever—one gust of wind, and Uchiha Tekkā's fierce fireball was "just gone."
The genin cohort, however, were frowning.
Everyone knew there were only two things that decided a jutsu's power:
1. Chakra volume.
2. Understanding of the jutsu.
The more familiar you were with a technique, the deeper your understanding, and the stronger it became.
To use a simple C-rank Wind Release to so neatly neutralize the Uchiha clan's signature Fire Release—that required very high comprehension.
Even the stone-faced proctor's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
By normal standards, someone like Kiyohara should have been promoted outright.
The Hokage must have wanted to see more of his potential, which was why he'd made him walk through the exam anyway.
Based on what he'd seen so far, the proctor already felt that even if Kiyohara lost later, he still deserved promotion.
"The recommendation came from Jōnin Minato, according to the paperwork I got from the Hokage… No wonder there was so much praise," the proctor thought, nodding slightly, now curious to see the rest of Kiyohara's performance.
Up in the stands, Kurenai and Genma both let out the breath they'd been holding—and were pleasantly shocked by how well he'd handled it.
Down below, a flicker of surprise crossed Uchiha Tekkā's face. He clearly hadn't expected his ninjutsu to be countered like that.
But his combat instinct was solid; he only froze for an instant before his hands dove into his tool pouch.
"Not bad. To disperse my Great Fireball that easily…"
Swish, swish, swish!
Shuriken glinted between his fingers, flying out with a whistling sound toward Kiyohara.
"For a civilian, you're one of the better ones," he said coldly.
His fingers twitched again, and the steel wires attached to the shuriken glinted faintly in the sun.
Uchiha Style: Manipulated Shuriken Technique.
Kiyohara had been waiting for this.
The Uchiha specialized in Fire Release and wire-guided shuriken. Even without having fought Tekkā before, it was common sense to guard against those.
"Steel wire, huh?"
Kiyohara could just barely make out the hair-thin line trailing the shuriken in the air.
If you weren't looking for it, you'd miss it.
Which is why, in shinobi battles, you never dropped your guard.
"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!"
He refined a measured amount of chakra, formed hand seals, and sent a current surging along the ground.
The sharp crackle of electricity rang out as bright blue arcs raced across the dry earth like living serpents—straight for Tekkā's feet.
Even though Kiyohara had moved second, the Lightning traveled far faster than the thrown shuriken.
Tekkā's pupils shrank. He immediately cut off his fine control over the wires and kicked off the ground, leaping back to narrowly avoid the dancing lightning.
Without his guidance, the shuriken's momentum died and they snapped back, losing power.
"The Sharingan's coming," Rogue Kiyohara said from behind him.
From his past fights with Uchiha, he knew—if Tekkā had the Sharingan, this was when it would appear.
"With one tomoe, his dynamic vision and perception will jump. Your taijutsu and normal throws won't land easily."
"I know," Kiyohara murmured.
Right on cue, Tekkā's eyes changed.
A black tomoe surfaced in his crimson irises and began to slowly orbit.
One-tomoe Sharingan.
With it active, Tekkā could suddenly see so much more of Kiyohara's movement.
It was like the world had gone into slow motion. With full focus, he could see each frame of Kiyohara's attacks.
He drew a kunai from his pouch and stepped in, blade cutting down.
Sparks exploded as steel crashed against steel.
Kiyohara had produced a black kunai of his own, bracing firmly against Tekkā's strike.
The edges scraped briefly, shrieking with the grind, scattering more sparks.
Clang!
Tekkā reversed and chopped again; Kiyohara blocked once more.
But in the end, he was a civilian—his base physical strength couldn't compare to Tekkā's.
Before the Sharingan, he'd managed to keep up by reading and baiting. Once it opened, the tide slowly turned; Kiyohara fell onto the back foot.
He frowned slightly and started looking for an opening.
"It's over!"
Watching through Sharingan-enhanced vision, Tekkā caught the tiniest gap in Kiyohara's movements. His leg snapped out in a whipping low kick.
At the same time, he flicked a shuriken from his other hand to block Kiyohara's best sidestep route.
"Let you take over in a second—I need to jump higher," Kiyohara said suddenly.
On his own, he couldn't draw out 100% of his body's capacity. Only when Rogue Kiyohara possessed him could he ignore the body's safety limits and push it past the redline.
"What are you planning?" Rogue Kiyohara asked, curious.
He'd thought Kiyohara would make him carry the whole exam.
"The Sharingan's dynamic vision is too good—that's a strength, but it's also a weakness," Kiyohara explained quickly.
Sure, it let Tekkā read muscle tension and anticipate movement—evading ahead of time.
But that also meant he'd start to rely on it—fall into the trap of "seeing is believing."
Even if the enemy suddenly boosted their strength with a forbidden or secret jutsu, Sharingan could read the chakra flow and adapt.
But… why would Rogue Kiyohara, when possessing him, need those telltale "charge-up" signs?
In the very next instant, Kiyohara did not dodge as Tekkā had predicted.
Instead, he followed the force of the low kick into a backward hop—seemingly jumping straight into the path of the shuriken blocking his retreat.
Inside, he shouted again:
"Boost my jump!"
Now Rogue Kiyohara understood.
He possessed Kiyohara's body; as Kiyohara went airborne, he forced the muscles to fire at full output, twisting his waist and core to drive him up another level.
Kiyohara seized control back at the top of the leap, gritting his teeth through the pull in his abs and waist, and snapped three shuriken from his right hand—the ones he'd already palmed.
His left hand formed a one-handed seal.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Stream!"
Crackle, crackle!
Dazzling blue lightning burst forth, racing down the copper wires attached to the shuriken like flowing water, wrapping them in flickering arcs.
In a blink, the three shuriken became three streaks of rushing blue light.
They didn't shoot straight at Tekkā's body.
They locked down his left, right, and high escape routes.
For a heartbeat, even with Sharingan, Tekkā froze.
Wait—what?
How the hell did Kiyohara still have the strength to jump like that?
Left foot on right foot and ascension by nonsense logic?!
~~~
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