You reach the arena via a small working town, overlooked by the Great Naruto Bridge. This arena consists of a series of docks which extend 40m offshore and are each 10m away. Ferries and smaller vessels regularly pass within a few meters of the ends of the pier, the decks of which have been vacated for the purposes of hosting your combat temporarily. Be careful - getting stuck on any given waterfaring vessel for more than 2 posting rounds causes you to exit the docks, eliminating you by ring-out.

It was round two of the Chuunin exams and honestly, Kizmaru didn't expect to be here all that much. He was surprised he had gained a victory at all to be honest. Still, he advanced to the second round of the battle and that was all that mattered. It was a bit annoying but he'd have to give it his all here too. Something told him that he shouldn't underestimate this one if he was smart enough, or strong enough, to win in his previous round. Kizmaru had entered from the north and landed himself on top of a work shack, overseeing what looks like docks. He wasn't sure if this was an appropriate place to be holding a fight seeing a sit looks like they were building something here. Well, hopefully, they weren't gonna hold him liable if he broke a few things using his opponent, snickering to himself. Still, he didn't know where his opponent was so he surveyed the area a bit. From the top of work shack, he noticed ferries going under a giant bridge roughly about ten meters from where he was standing to the west. And to the east, he noticed a logging station where there was a pile of half cut logs that probably weren't used in the final design. Now that he was done looking around, he hopped off the work shack and decided to keep low and out of sight. He moved towards the docks as quickly as possible and jumped onto a near by ferry that was passing by.

The first round had come and gone, a quick process all things considered. The fight had begun slow, Jukei himself in no sort of hurry to have closed the distance on his opponent. Instead, it was the Kiri ninja who had brought the fight forward, and ironically it was the water and mist jutsu used by the Iwa ninja that had brought the fight to a close. It ended in just a few exchanged blows, but that had been telling enough. There was an argument to be made that he would draw no eyes to himself without making these fights longer, allowing more of his skills to be showcased.

That, however, wasn't what he was interested in. Why would he try to make it seem dramatic and complicated? A ninja who could not quickly bring things to a close was not one that people wanted on the front lines. Jukei wanted to prove something to himself, if not those who were proctoring the exam. He wanted to make it evident that he was someone who could take care of whatever was placed before him. He had shown up to this exam under prepared, and yet even now he planned on winning the whole thing.

And that was what he would do.

As his footsteps carried him down the southern most dock, his eyes looked over towards his opponent who had traversed the same town as him, and had reached the docks at the same time. The docks were long, stretching 40 meters out into the depths. They were wide for what they were, each one being a good 5 meters wide. They were plentiful, each one being spaced apart 10 meters, and there were a total of seven docks that filled this area. At the end of the docks were decently spaced small naval vessels and ferries that seemed to go from the northern most dock to the southernmost, and vice versa. These ferries traveled quickly, covering the entire distance and exiting the docks quicker than one might assume. And it was because of this that he and his opponent seemed to have the same idea.

Both of them walked to the edge of their docks, and both of them leaped into the first dock that came their way. Jukei's happened to come a second or so faster, though the two boats traveled at the same speed. The boats themselves were empty, presumably driven by chakra from a proctor to allow everything in the dedicated arena to be usable. And now that the two were traveling towards one another, they were going to find out exactly who could use this setting better.

WC: 448

Kizmaru was riding on the ferry he had choose to hop into. Looking around, he was attempting to spot his opponent before he actually running into him unprepared. He reached into his fanny pack to draw a two shuriken while he scanned the waterway for his opponent. He had an approach but not a real plan. He figured he'd just repeat his previous strategy and execute it differently this time around. Finally, on the opposite side of the waterway, he saw his opponent riding a ferry coming towards him.

It figures he'd be on the opposite side of the area. Readying his shuriken, he also formed Ram, Snake, Tiger and created four clones in front of him. He waited a bit for the boats to be closer to each other so he could spend less time being airborne. He was gonna jump into his opponent's ferry and engage him in hand to hand combat. Finally, his time to board had come. The boats were approximately eight meters away from each other and Kizmaru figured this would be a good opportunity to close the gap himself.

He wasn't sure if it was safe to touch the water but one thing was for sure, he didn't really want to waste the chakra doing so unless he absolutely had too. Taking a short running start on the small ferry, Kizmaru and his clones leaped into the air towards his opponent's ferry. Kizmaru's strategy was simple. He was vulnerable in the air as he jumped so he needed something to distract his opponent as he traveled to the opponent. Kizmaru had shuffled himself with his clones when they jumped in order to confuse his opponent. From behind two of his clones, Kizmaru had let loose one of the shuriken he had prepared, aim at the opponent's chest while he was mid flight.

Chakra 230/250:

As Jukei watched his enemy floating over towards him, he watched as his enemy began making hand seals, and Jukei himself decided to copy his enemy. Jukei quickly did the hand seals to activate two of his own jutsu, neither one of them allowing for anything visible to be seen from his opponent. His opponents jutsu were much more obvious, however. As he finished his preparation, he was surrounded in the presence of clones. As these clones formed, Jukei hadn't much way to tell if they were tangible or not. He could, of course, create images of himself as well. That being said, he could not say for certain that his enemy had created fakes or not. So for this reason, Jukei would have to be careful.

And he was given the perfect opportunity to do so. As the five Ryuuketsu's charged at him, beginning to leap, he saw what must have been the real one throw two shuriken at him, aimed at his chest. They were thrown from relatively close, but with his reacting time he was able to easily maneuver around them. Taking a large step to the left, he dragged his body with him to move about a meter in that direction diagonally towards Ryuu and his clones, only half a meter to the actual left from where he stepped, his body already turning for what he was planning. The shuriken blazed by where he had previously been, and he could now act. Lifting his right foot and pivoting around his left, he decided to use a spinning back kick.

The kick was aimed in a way that it would handle multiple possibilities. First, if the clones were not tangible, he'd be taking out one of the clones and his foot would continue to hit Ryuu around the midsection. This would serve to stop his momentum just at the edge of the boat, making him fall into the water. Second, if the clones were tangible, he'd be knocking one of the clones out and into his opponent, tripping up the jump and allowing him to relocate.

Of course, what ended up happening was the first option. His foot passed right through the clone, destroying it as if it never existed to begin with, and instead it knocked right into Ryuu's side. His chances of defending were slim, but even if he did he'd be knocked to the side, his feet out from under him, and falling towards the water.

Finishing his kick and placing both feet on the boat, Jukei would leap off the boat. His feet would allow him to walk on top of the water, and his arms would both punch out as he jumped to destroy the other two airborne clones. The boat had continued to carry him a small ways away before he jumped off, and he was now five meters from his opponent, and arms slightly raised to allow quick reaction and defense.

Chrakra: 215/250:

Kizmaru watched as his opponent started to evade his shuriken while he was still airborne. It was to expected that his shuriken was avoided in such a simple way. He was even more irritated that he had borrow a tactic from his last opponent in general. Still, he needed a way to distract his opponent from just firing a long ranged technique and this would help serve his purpose. Now, Kizmaru had noticed something odd. From the way his opponent moved, it seemed he had miscalculated something. He wasn't sure but maybe his opponent thought he had thrown both the shuriken he had prepared. It was pretty odd in a way but he guessed the clone feint had worked in his favor.

His opponent seemed to have started to prepare a counter attack of some sort of spinning maneuver with his right leg. Kizmaru then unleashed his second shuriken at his opponent's left leg that he was using as a center point to throw his counterattack right before his opponent's kick made contact with the first clone. He aimed it at his opponent's hamstring tendon of his left leg in an attempt to puncture it. The shuriken however, was not strong enough to do so. Kizmaru then took a kick to his side and landed into the water.

Kizmaru landed onto his back, facing upwards in the water. Kizmaru tilted his head as he noticed a couple of figures in the water as well. He quickly got sent some chakra to his hands and feet in order to pick himself back up onto the surface of the water. He got into his usual combat stance, signifying he preformed grapple based techniques. He relaxed a bit and assumed his combat stance, outstretching his left arm a few inches from his chest with an open hand, curling his fingers as well as outstretching his right almost double the length, also with open curling his fingers whilst bending his knees as well, completing the stance. This would allow him to react to incoming attacks and defend himself a bit easier.

225/250:

Their distance was five meters, now, standing on the water next to the docks. The shuriken that had embedded itself into his leg by half an inch or so had been pulled out, now held in Jukei's own hands as he had resumed his rather lazy looking stance. While it did indeed appear to be lazy, it was actually one that allowed for fluid movement of a loose body. He stared at his opponent for a moment as he began climbing out of the water, and in that moment Jukei began to crouch ever so slightly. He was not going to simply wait for his enemy to fully prepare himself. The two of them may have been from Iwa, but that was all the more reason to not hold anything back. He would utilize every aspect of the advantages he could gain.

As Kizmaru began to raise his fists to prepare himself, Jukei decided to act. He would dash forward, heading towards Kizmaru at around five meters per second, aiming to travel around four meters. After the first meter had been closed, Jukei had thrown the shuriken that he had, aimed at the center of Kizmaru's throat. While the throwing star may have gone slightly to the left or to the right of the target, it would most certainly hit the opponents neck if he did not make an effort to dodge it. With the extremely small amount of time to react, Jukei was hoping that it would be a panicked and overly dramatic dodge. This would leave his opponent completely unable to react to the upcoming attack, and it would work out wonderfully for Jukei.

And only a moment after the shuriken would sail by, Jukei would be within range. As his feet planted, arms still in their protective stance, Jukei would turn his body for the upcoming punch and send his leading fist forward for a jab at Kizmaru's face, that being his left fist. It was a gentle start to their close-combat exchange, but it was the one he would be going for. If Kizmaru had sent himself off guard with the dodge, than it would be nearly impossible to properly react to this attack. If he had somehow managed to react and maintain his footing or position, however, then he would likely be able to respond well to this attack.

TWC: 1,327

Chakra: 220/250:

Both of them had been in the water now, with his opponent only a mere five meters away. It seems this would come down to a close quarters fight. he would have been alright with this but it seems as though his opponent had a leg up on him in the Taijustu department. Still, he doesn't know for sure if that was the case or not and decided he would test the waters. Kizmaru had been in the middle of getting in his stance when Jukei had begun his attack. It was a simple matter for him to adjust his guard as well so he didn't have to worry about being caught off guard. Witnessing Jukei toss a shuriken at him, Kizmaru had started to put his evasion plan into action.

It seems as if the shuriken thrown had been aimed at his neck. Kizmaru leaned his upper body to the left just enough to evade the shuriken without wasting too much movement. Luckily he was in the process of lifting lifting his arms to get into his stance. He adjust where he would raise his right arm in order to defend himself from the punch that was thrown at him. First, he'd push his opponent's arm to Kizmaru's right, in order to make sure it had no chance of hitting him. Kizmaru then slides his right hand down his opponent's left arm onto his bicep. Followed by a quick shift of his body, he'd rotate and press his back towards his opponent's chest, placing his opponent's left arm over his left shoulder.

Kizmaru then leaned over, pulling down on his opponent with his momentum combined with his opponent's momentum in order to flip his opponent over his body and slam him onto the surface of the water. Rumor has it that being dropped flat onto the surface of water, stung like hell and Kizmaru was banking on this throw do deal some moderate damage.

Jukei had thrown the shuriken at his opponents throat, causing him to slide his stance out and move in order to take the oncoming attack in a way that he could properly react to. It was a test, though not one that was either planned by Jukei nor understood by Kizmaru. The test here was to make sure that his fellow ninja, in cases where things may have continuously gone against what they had expected, would be able to react and adjust. Would they be able to continuously evolve during a battle, and push themselves further? Could they adjust to the unforeseen and rise above? It was important to note, as there was no set rules for exchanges of combat. It just so happen that these fights were regulated, the genin protected as much as possible. However, there was no guarantee that there would always be backup nearby. His fellow Iwa ninja had to prove they were up to the task.

And Kizmaru had proven it well.

He had found a way to damage Jukei, a feat that he had not expected to happen within the early rounds of the tournament. His opponent had hurt him as well, of course, but that damage was done only because Jukei himself had allowed it. He had taken that damage to ensure a quick and easy knockout against his opponent, the Kiri ninja who had entered wordlessly. Kizmaru, however, had drawn blood. Even if the injury was shallow, caused by a Shuriken, it was impressive. It showed that he was able to adjust his strategy, and formulate new ideas to an ever changing environment. What he could not expect, though, was the completely unknown.

How could have possibly known that Jukei had a technique active that allowed him to change and adjust his bodies momentum? Even if he had seen it once before, it would take experiencing the jutsu a couple of times to know what was happening. This would take direct observation, and his enemy simply hadn't been given the time nor the information. That would prove to be his downfall.

Jukei felt what was happening, for as fast as such a throw was, it still allowed for movement. Had he more confidence in his strength, it was rather simple to counter such a move too. He lacked confidence in that regards, however, and instead would make up for it with what was to come. As his punch was expertly deflected, Kizmaru grabbed hold of Jukei's left arm and turned inwards, placing his back against Jukei's. At that point in time, he'd begin lifting and twisting his body in order to use leverage, as well as brute strength, to force Jukei over his body.

What he could not have expect was Jukei using his right arm to push off of Kizmaru's back, as well as leaping as the throw took place. This added to the force behind Kizmaru's flip. As Jukei was directly above Kizmaru, his feet pointing directly in the air, Jukei acted. Using his Flowing Water technique, he shifted his momentum downwards instead of up and over. This allowed him to cancel the throw almost completely, instead dropping down and slamming his right elbow directly into the back of Kizmaru's head. This would cause the damage of Beyond the Surface to go directly into the back of Kizmaru's brain, should it hit. Regardless of if it was a knockout, Kizmaru's grip on Jukei would loosen entirely, and Jukei would fall into the water.

At that point, Jukei would have used the fact that his hit on Kizmaru allowed his back to twist forward some. Upon hitting the ground, he would roll forward and take away much of the damage from the fall, though it would still leave him on his side on the water. If the attack did not knock Kizmaru out, and if he was still coherent enough to fight, Jukei would be completely exposed.

Chakra:205/250:

Things were looking up for Kizmaru it seemed. So far, he did manage to land a blow on his opponent although his opponent had managed to retaliate at with a much harder blow than just his shuriken. It was a pity that his initial strategy didn't work since he was banking on quite a bit. No matter though, he was still feeling pretty confident about his courses of action although the fight hadn't exactly gone in his favor at the beginning of the battle. It was enjoyable that he would be able to fight another Iwagakure shinobi like this. He was glad to expect better from the village he called home although, he hadn't met formally anybody that wasn't from Iwagakure but the people he has come in contact with hadn't seemed all that reliable should a crisis befall them.

Kizmaru was going for the throw when he felt something was wrong as he was attempting to lift him over his body. He felt his opponent push off his back with his other arm and noticed that it seemed easier to lift him off of the water over his body. Kizmaru was sure what was going on but he had to act quickly. He didn't have time or the flexibility to turn his entire body while he was hunch over to see what his opponent was going to do next. Instead Kizmaru knew that he had to move and fast. The first and only suggestion that came to mind was to deactivate his jutsu and continue to bend forward into the water. So he did just that. Kizmaru had deactivated his supernatural water walking technique.

As he cancelled his water walking technique, Kizmaru continued to bend forward, curling his body into the water while sinking into the river head first. He performed a stationary, sinking somersault in order to evade the oncoming elbow. If he couldn't evade the elbow, the least he could was soften the blow by making his opponent hit the surface of the first, slowing it down so it would just make enough of an impact to lightly push his head further in. Regardless, Kizmaru had outstretched his right leg as he performed his action in order to start his counterattack. He would use the momentum to direct his foot into the side of his opponent's rib-cage, in an attempt to push him down further into the water after his opponent's retaliation.

If he was successful, Kizmaru would dive into the river and head towards the position where he had first encountered his opponent's ferry. While he was heading towards his destination, two other shadowy figures had met him halfway and they shuffled around in a rather confusing manner. But as long as it served his purpose, it didn't matter how it looks. Kizmaru would then seemingly surface for air with only his head sticking out. He smirked a bit as he looked towards his opponent.

(Discussed with Kizmaru OOC. Hit to the back of the head landed, causing immediate C rank damage directly to his brain and causing at least a momentary lapse in consciousness. Ending the fight.)

The enemy had reacted quickly, cancelling his jutsu in an attempt to avoid the incoming attack. Part of Jukei had wondered whether or not his opponent had any sort of sensory jutsu active, or if his response had been entirely instinctual. Acting on the side of caution during such an important battle was certainly the smartest option, and he had taken it. As far as Iwa performance goes, it more than lived up to his hopes for what his fellow Genin should be capable of. As his blow landed, transferring the damage to his opponents brain directly, Jukei had rolled away and quickly attempted to stand up. Due to the roll and the disorienting effects of being forced into extra momentum by both Kizmaru's body and the water itself, the young man stumbled for an additional step as he found his feet. He was ready to jump away, to put some distance between them and begin trying to find another chance to deal additional damage to his certainly damaged opponent. He was ready to close the gap, trying to attack while his opponent was off his footing and unable to properly respond. He was not ready for his opponent to remain in the water, unresponsive. The proctors had begun to act, moving in quickly, and Jukei was quickly announced the winner.

He let his two sustainable jutsu deactivate immediately, standing on the water and looking on at his opponent who was dragged up to breathe. It was a good fight, one that took much more ingenuity on his behalf. It was due to this fight that he acknowledged some points of weakness in himself, and he decided that they needed to be corrected. "Kizmaru..." He whispered the name of the opponent who had managed to earn his respect. As he began to walk out of the arena, escorted by a proctor, he had decided that he would remember his opponents name.


[EXIT]
TWC: 2292

Kizmaru's attempt to defend himself and counterattack had been nullified. It seems his course of action did not take as well as he would like it too. Kizmaru was then promptly struck in the back of his head by his opponent's blow. This would cause Kizmaru to then be knocked unconscious for a few minutes. That's it, the fight was over. Kizmaru hadn't known what happened during those few moments of him losing consciousness. All he could make out while fading to black was proctors coming to his aid after such a nasty blow to the head. What seemed like hours, Kizmaru was unconscious, floating on top of the water face up only because he was being supported by proctors. He woke up abruptly as if he was getting ready to defend himself but was calmed by the examiner which had told him the fight had already ended.

Kizmaru had sighed not particularly being sad that he lost but the fact he had even let a blow like that take him out. Despite everything that had happened, it was a good match and he was satisfied that he took part in the chuunins even though he had lost this round and the exam as a whole. He was especially pleased that he lost to another ninja that was from the same village so not only did he get a chance to have his grudge match, he also can cement that his village was the strongest and it took one Iwagakure shinobi to take out another Iwagakure shinobi. Floating in the water, Kizmaru had began to surge chakra to his feet once more in order to properly stand up. He was wet, cold and irritate at the first two facts that were previously stated. Still, at least he wasn't mortal wounded.

Well, this has been an interesting experience. He's got real combat experience now and he knows what to expect and improve on when he goes out into the vast world and perform his duties as a shinobi. That said, Kizmaru placed his hands into his wet, pockets and hurried out of the area that was deemed the arena. He wasn't sure fond of being in wet clothing and would like a change of clothes as soon as possible.

-Exit.-

Topic Word Count: 4480

EP Gained: 1