Yuki Haku had always been underestimated.
Even in the original timeline, her talent had already reached a point where it forced Hatake Kakashi to acknowledge defeat. The mere sight of her forming hand seals with a single hand was enough to make the Copy Ninja abandon the fight without hesitation- because he understood what that kind of control meant. Intelligence, precision, instinctive battlefield judgment, and an unyielding will… every facet of her shinobi aptitude had carved itself into his memory. Kakashi had recognized her as the kind of rare prodigy who could stand shoulder to shoulder with elite jōnin despite her youth.
In this world, however, under Chiba's personal guidance, that potential wasn't merely nurtured- it was sharpened into something genuinely frightening.
Haku no longer fought like a delicate prodigy who needed protection.
She fought like a weapon that had finally learned how to draw blood without trembling.
With a smooth, almost graceful motion, she lifted one hand. Her fingers blurred as seals formed in rapid succession- clean, seamless, and exact- while chakra surged through her coils in perfect alignment with her intent.
Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu ("Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique")!
Dense fog exploded outward and swallowed the battlefield in seconds. Visibility vanished, replaced by a suffocating white world where sound and distance became unreliable. The mist rolled and twisted like something alive, turning the arena into a killing ground shaped entirely by Haku's will.
Without even a pause to savor the advantage, her free hand moved again.
Suiton: Kirisugoshin no Jutsu ("Water Release: Mist Body Technique")!
Her figure dissolved into the fog.
Within that mist, Haku became untouchable- presence erased, movement unreadable, attacks arriving from angles the mind couldn't anticipate. This wasn't a flashy technique meant to impress spectators. It was a real assassination art, refined for war. With this level of mastery, Haku could have entered ANBU in any era without debate. In the original timeline, she had once disguised herself as a Kirigakure ANBU operative- now, with Chiba removing every weakness and polishing every edge, her control and lethality had climbed beyond mere infiltration into something far more complete.
Gasps spread through the arena.
Kurotsuchi's pupils snapped tight. She had never imagined the gentle, soft-spoken girl in front of her carried combat power this terrifying. But Kurotsuchi wasn't a fragile opponent either- she was the granddaughter of Ōnoki, the future Yondaime Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, and a kunoichi forged through constant battle, discipline, and strategy.
The moment the mist surged, Kurotsuchi reacted.
She sprang backward, narrowly slipping past Haku's opening line of attack, and slammed both palms into the ground with decisive force.
Doton: Dōjōheki ("Earth Release: Earth Lock Wall")!
The earth roared. A thick, hemispherical barrier erupted around her- not a simple wall, but a structure meant for defense and control, anchoring her position against surprise strikes. A heartbeat later, senbon knifed through the mist like a deadly rainstorm, hammering the barrier again and again. Cracks spread in quick spiderweb patterns, but the earth held.
Kurotsuchi barely had time to steady her breathing.
Haku emerged from the fog at an angle that shouldn't have been possible- too close, too sudden, too precise.
"Too fast- !"
Kurotsuchi's answer was instinct and brutality.
Doton: Gankon no Jutsu ("Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique")!
Stone surged over her forearms like armor locking into place, and she swung at close range with crushing force. Earth Release hand-to-hand was her specialty: direct, heavy, and lethal.
Haku's brow tightened slightly- not in fear, but in calculation.
She didn't rely on brute force. There was no reason to meet strength with strength.
As Kurotsuchi pressed forward, confident she'd forced Haku into a disadvantaged exchange, Haku simply vanished again into the mist, turning the battlefield into a puzzle Kurotsuchi couldn't solve with fists alone.
Kurotsuchi's expression hardened. She stomped down, channeling chakra into the ground with violence.
Doton: Doryūsō ("Earth Release: Rising Earth Spears")!
Jagged stone pillars erupted upward, ripping through the fog in a violent surge, trying to impale Haku from below and deny her room to move.
They struck nothing.
Kurotsuchi leapt back again, finally clearing the mist's edge, and drew a sharp breath as she raised her head. From above, she unleashed her kekkei genkai with crisp certainty.
Yōton: Sekkai Kori no Jutsu ("Lava Release: Quick-Setting Cement Technique")!
It wasn't molten lava- this technique expelled cement that hardened in an instant. It spread across the battlefield in a heavy wave, absorbing moisture, thinning the mist's density, and then locking around Haku's legs like a trap meant to end the fight immediately.
Even Ōnoki's lips curled faintly at the display.
But Haku didn't panic.
Her calm was almost chilling- like she'd already seen this outcome in her mind and simply stepped into it on purpose.
In the next instant, colossal ice mirrors erupted into existence, floating in midair with a crystalline hum and sealing Kurotsuchi inside a prison of gleaming reflections.
Hyōton: Makkyō Hyōshō ("Ice Release: Demon Mirror Ice Crystals")!
Haku's ultimate technique.
Within the mirrors, her body became light itself- movement so fast it felt less like running and more like the battlefield blinking. The cement shattered effortlessly, as if it had never been a threat at all. Haku's presence multiplied into endless reflections, each one capable of becoming the real strike at any moment.
Kurotsuchi froze- not from fear alone, but from the sudden realization that she had lost control of the fight completely.
Haku appeared in front of her, close enough that the mist's chill felt personal.
"Now… the battle truly begins."
Senbon erupted like a silver storm- each strike precise, controlled, and deliberate. They weren't lethal, but they were overwhelming, forcing Kurotsuchi backward step by step as her balance, timing, and breathing were broken apart. Shock and reluctant admiration flickered across her face as she realized the gap between them wasn't a matter of effort- it was mastery.
She raised her hand.
"I concede!"
Silence fell for a breath.
Then the arena exploded in cheers.
The opening match had already become a showcase of strategy and execution- two kunoichi pushing their specialties to the edge, and one of them proving that Kirigakure's reputation wasn't built on rumor.
When the two approached each other afterward, respect was clear in their eyes.
"Well fought," Kurotsuchi said with a wry smile. "Next time, I won't lose."
Haku smiled softly, composed but bright in a way she rarely allowed herself to show in public. "I'll be waiting."
Ōnoki nodded in quiet approval.
Chiba's gaze softened as he watched. "Haku was always the most talented of the Yuki Clan. No one controls Ice Release with that kind of finesse… not even me."
The examiner's voice rang out across the arena.
"First match- Yuki Haku of Kirigakure versus Kurotsuchi of Iwagakure! Winner: Yuki Haku!"
Cheers thundered through the stands.
Haku turned instinctively, searching the crowd until she found Chiba. When she saw his raised thumb, warmth bloomed in her chest, pride flushing her cheeks despite her attempt to remain composed. It was a small gesture, but to Haku, it carried the weight of recognition she'd once thought she'd never deserve.
Then the second match was announced.
Gaara of the Sand.
Hyūga Neji.
The arena fell silent.
Two monsters stood facing each other, each radiating a pressure that made even experienced shinobi lean forward without realizing it. With Shiranui Genma's command, the battle began.
Byakugan ("Activate")!
Neji's vision shifted instantly, the world turning into chakra pathways and structural truths laid bare. His focus sharpened as his gaze locked onto Gaara's defense.
…So that's it.
The sand wasn't just armor.
It was chakra itself- alive, responsive, and absolute.
Gaara crossed his arms, expression cold and unreadable. "Come."
Neji surged forward, footwork precise, body angled perfectly to strike and withdraw without exposing openings.
Jūken: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō ("Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms")!
A storm of strikes erupted- palms snapping out with surgical intent, aiming to shut down chakra points and end the fight in one relentless sequence.
And then-
they met absolute defense.
Gaara didn't move.
The sand moved for him.
Neji slid back, breath steady but mind racing, recalculating in real time as he felt the truth of what he was up against.
…I can't reach him.
Gaara's voice came out flat, almost bored, yet heavy with something that felt like inevitability.
"Then… die."
Suna Shuriken ("Sand Shuriken")!
Neji planted his feet, chakra flaring into rotation as he invoked the Hyūga Clan's ultimate defense.
Hakke Kaiten ("Eight Trigrams Rotation")!!!
The clash shook the arena- sand screaming against spinning chakra, force colliding with force as the fight's pressure surged into something everyone could feel in their bones.