Haruto winced as the impact of the blow sent the subject's body flying backward. The victim was dead to the world before she even slammed into the ground. The kunoichi rolled to a stop a few feet away from her already downed teammate.
"Winners by knockout, Tsuchi Kin and Kinuta Dosu."
As medics arrived to hustle the two defeated genin away, the victorious Sound genin smiled widely. The raven-haired female made a theatrical show of blowing kisses at the rest of the Konoha candidates while her teammates added their own taunts. Not one of the Konoha genin looked the least bit amused. The duo from Hidden Sound had humiliated not only the two kunoichi of Team 7, but also Konoha as a whole as well. Several foreign genin snickered when they pointed at the clustered group of Konoha candidates.
Atop the balcony, Haruto shook his head. The result was not unexpected. With Sasuke still in the infirmary, Sakura and Ino had no choice but to field themselves. Still, the one-sided battle—if it could even be called that—stunned more than a couple of people on Konoha's side. "What was Kakashi doing, or rather not doing, with his team?" was the prevalent sentiment. The only good thing about the match was that the girls' quick defeat meant that neither Konoha kunoichi were seriously or permanently injured.
"Go kick ass, Chouji! You too, Shikamaru!" Haruto hollered at the top of his lungs as his teammates walked onto the field. The vivacious blond smiled unrepentantly when the crowd looked at him.
"The matchup for the second fight is Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru versus Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. Begin!"
The second match showcased a much better fight. Long story short, Shikamaru cleverly forced his opponents into making mistakes, which his teammate then rapidly exploited with force and precision. In spite of a good showing by Kiba and Shino, Team 10 won handily. Many of the Konoha proctors nodded approvingly at the winners when they greeted Shino and Kiba as friends afterwards. Of course, they did so, or rather Shikamaru did so, only at Haruto's insistence. By virtue of his station, the blond knew how the promotion system worked and how exam performance was only half the battle. The rest came from winning the hearts and minds of the judges and spectators. Shikamaru shot his friend an annoyed look, but Haruto knew it was for his own good. Team 10 was a shoo-in for earning at least one promotion.
The subsequent matches were far less amicable. Tensions rose and tempers flared. Without their jounin sensei to provide discipline and guidance, more than a few rival genin started fights outside the arena that required intervention from the proctors.
Finally, it was time for the battle between the Kazekage's children and the last remaining Konoha team. If the match between the Sound team and Team 7 was a beat down, then the one between the Suna siblings and Team Gai was a massacre. Lee wasted his body and strength on the freakishly silent red-haired shinobi, while Tenten was tossed around by the fan wielding kunoichi's wind blasts like some limp doll. Only Neji's sudden intervention on Tenten's behalf saved the unconscious girl from being impaled by her own weapons. Incidentally, while Neji's action most likely saved his other teammate's life, it also automatically handed victory over to the Suna team. Lee was immediately rushed to the infirmary on a stretcher while the Suna siblings looked on with impotent fury at being denied their victory.
The Hyuuga branch member stoically accepted the sharp rebuke and the threat of official censure—an act that would have tainted the entire Hyuuga clan—from the head proctor. Interference of that sort was highly inappropriate and frowned upon as a matter of due course, but no one expected the young genin to be really punished. It was more likely that his selfless devotion to his teammates would be lauded and might even play a role in his candidacy for promotion. Certainly that would be the case if Haruto had any role to play in the exam's aftermath, which he most likely would. In a show of camaraderie, the blond assisted Neji by carrying the less injured Tenten to the infirmary.
The devastatingly ruthless performance by the Suna siblings served as a prelude to the climatic finale of the preliminaries, the match between the surviving Rain and Grass teams. Everyone tensed as the two teams made their way onto the field. Earlier, the head proctor had argued for the dismissal of both teams for disorderly conduct, but was overruled by the Hokage.
There was a good reason for that. Haruto was counting on the Rain-Grass fight, which was rigged per special orders from the Hokage, to throw a monkey wrench in the enemy's invasion plans. Many of his machinations were geared toward facilitating this fight, while his future plans hinged on its outcome. Failure to achieve the proper results here could have catastrophic consequences for Konohagakure.
Haruto's fears proved to be groundless. The match could not have worked out better if he had written the script himself. Blood was spilt before the match could even begin. For whatever reason, the two non-participating genin on the balcony decided to have a go at each other. When the Konoha proctors arrived to separate the two, it was already too late. Both fighters were critically wounded and had to be rushed to the infirmary where the Grass genin died from a cardiac arrest within minutes.
Once again, the head proctor initiated a motion to dismiss both teams. The loud and vehement protests from the surviving members stayed the Hokage's hand… or so people thought. The match started out with an unusually vitriolic exchange of hateful accusations and counter-accusations about each other's villages, countries and actions during the exam. It was this last bit that most likely set the Grass team off. They had seen the mutilated remains of their fellow team back in the Forest of Death and had just witnessed their teammate being carted off to the infirmary, courtesy of Rain treachery. Hearing the Rain team's sly denial of a deed that they must have committed was the final straw.
When the proctor gave the green light, the vengeful, towering figures of the Grass duo immediately attacked their opponents with a ferocity that took everyone, including their enemies, by surprise. Forgoing fancy, time-consuming techniques for speed and power, they successfully isolated one of the Rain nin before she could hide behind a genjutsu. For a moment, the slight kunoichi thought her enemies were going to rip her apart right then and there. Unfortunately for her, she was not given a quick death.
Instead, one Grass nin smashed her ventral ribs and as she opened her mouth to scream, the other shoved something down her throat. They then tossed her to the side just as the other Rain nin launched a devastating but belated counterattack. The Rain kunoichi bounced back to her feet… or rather she tried to. Again and again, the girl tried to stand upright only to fall flat on her face each time around. Genin candidates, examiners and spectators alike all watched with surprise and then dawning horror as the kunoichi's skin-tight clothes started to dye a deep red.
It was blood. Her blood.
The Rain nin must have been force-fed a rapid-acting poison that caused her to bleed through the very pores of her skin. As she realized the horror that befell her, the young Rain kunoichi publicly and piteously begged allies and enemies alike for help that was not forthcoming.
The spectators, especially the civilian ones who were present as the representatives of various dignitaries, were appalled at the unfolding scene. The consequence of the lack of jounin sensei at the preliminaries became clear. With their third member unavailable to interfere as Neji did, none of the spectators had the authority to end the fight. The proctors' hands were tied, and the genin were too stunned to move. This was, of course, the precise scenario that Haruto aimed for. For Konoha's sake, it just would not do if some highflying moralist decided to intervene to stop the bloodshed.
Even so, Haruto had to fight the urge to retch as he watched the tragedy unfold. The doomed Rain kunoichi writhed in excruciating agony for well over a minute before succumbing to hypovolemic shock and then death.
Outraged and infuriated at the brutal killing of his teammate, the Rain survivor soon exacted revenge by overpowering and then slitting the throat of one of his opponents. However, unlike Haruto's quick and relatively painless kills, the Rain shinobi fumbled it badly. His slash missed the vital common carotid arteries causing his victim to flop uselessly on the ground for painful seconds before dying, possibly as a result of choking on his own blood. No one was sure if the horrible death was deliberate, but the surviving Grass nin was perfectly willing to believe the worst.
As the traumatic battle unfolded, some held out hope that the Hokage would authorize an intervention, but he never did. No matter how repugnant he found his own complicity, the elderly ninja clearly knew what must be done. Shaken by the events he helped engineer, Haruto drew strength from the old man's grim resolve. The blond vehemently shook off the urge to make up an excuse and flee like some other people. It was only right for him to bear witness to what he wrought.
The result of the fight was a foregone conclusion. In the end, both fighters exhausted their chakra reserves to take each other out. The field medics immediately swarmed the arena but were unable to save them. Troubled murmurs broke out almost instantly. Many Konoha nin glanced toward the Hokage's skybox, wondering why their venerable leader had done nothing, but his seat was already empty.
The Sandaime Hokage had vacated his chair as soon as the match was over, but was swarmed by civilians as he tried to leave. The viciousness of the fight had generated some collateral among the few civilians present. The rest were now demanding for more and better security for the upcoming finals. Despite the distance, Haruto easily overheard everything.
Additional security of the Hokage's choosing on the day of the tournament? Haruto could not have hoped for a better result. True to his reputation, the young blond had executed his plans brilliantly. A victory for Konoha in the coming invasion was now not just possible but likely. So why did he feel so shitty?
"Hey, Haruto, you there? We need to go meet Asuma-sensei," Chouji called out, his face an unhealthy pallor. Standing beside his friend, Shikamaru looked no better.
"Yeah, let's get out of here," Haruto agreed as he turned away from the bloody battlefield.