Taking place at the historic Blossoming Pillars Stadium (Jūhi Dōhyō), the final rounds of the Exams forego the tricks and surprises of earlier, making way for an arena that is both iconic and neutral. In spite of a modest 25m radius, this arena is no less grand than those which preceded it, boasting stands that raise high above for observers to watch the anticipated final matches and a fighting zone where legendary heroes and Kage once fought. A dusty circle surrounded by sparse shrubs and a high wall encloses combatants, who enter from opposite ends of the arena, the crowd roars, the Chūnin Exams draw to a close.

Once again, Zinan found himself waiting for a match in the Chunin exams to start. This time, however, was different than the previous bouts. He was not waiting in a lobby surrounded by Konoha ANBU agents. Instead, he found himself in a long hallway that was under a rise of a grandstands that was throbbing with a cheering crowd. He could see light pouring through an opening of the hallway; that opening lead directly to the ground of the Blossoming Pillars Stadium. The stadium was something that he had grown up looking at and seeing in the skyline of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, but he had never stepped foot inside the building itself. He knew that Exams and Tournaments had taken place in the stadium for generations, but he had never managed to convince his father that he was important enough to go to any of the events, even as an audience member. That right was always reserved for his older brother, the heir to his branch of the family.

Now, Zinan was ready to not only be in the Arena, but actually fight in the historic site. He scratched had his forearms as his web glands itched as they made three meters of his clan's glass web. The singular aide that stood with him in the hallway nodded to the genin and motioned towards the blazing light at the end of the hall. It was time to start the semi-final's fight. Zinan nodded back and stalked out of the hall. The glaring light caught him in the eye as he stepped out and raised his hand to block the sun momentarily. Zinan realized, immediately, that this was a mistake, as the crowd took it as a wave to them and they erupted into even louder applause and cheering. The Kumonosu genin refused to look like a fool, so he decided to go along with it and ham it up. He waved with more purpose to the four sides of the arena, turning to face them as he walked towards the center of the arena to await his opponent.

During this turning stride, he took the opportunity to observe the grounds around him. It was a dusty arena with shrubbery and vegetation that was barely worth being called as such. Nothing was large enough for him to hide in or use to substitute for his body. There were no boulders or large rocks to use as a cover either. It was simply a dusty arena with high walls and miniscule plants. Zinan kept a grim expression from finding its way to his face when he realized that this was going to be a straight fight with tricks being hard to come by. He was glad that he had packed his full equipment pouch and prepared his two tantos before coming to the arena this morning.

He stopped half a meter short of the center mark of the arena. He would formally greet his opponent and pay them respect as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village before they fought. He had practiced the traditional signs the evening prior to prepare himself.

---

WC: 526

Zinan Chakra: 250/250:

This was... Not what he'd been expecting at the start of all of this.

Joe had signed onto the Chunin Exams with the intent to simply be promoted to that eponymous rank, not to make a statement or to overcome some sort of mental challenge to make it this far. He could remember the words of Takao about how all of this was meant to be a learning experience, that no matter what, there'd be no wrong answers here. Joe still believed that to be true, yet even now, as he walked down the stairs within the thick walls of the arena, he could feel as though there was something bigger that was giving him butterflies in his stomach. He felt like even if he bombed this next match and was swatted aside, he'd still hold his head high- he still felt like he'd become stronger than so many others, including himself, ever thought he could. A clanless orphan who started near the bottom seed of the tournament working his way to the winner's semifinals- it was an underdog tale if anything... Still, if there was anything that being an orphan taught someone, it was that everyone was an underdog in their own way.

The Genin walked down the dark tunnel on the ground level of the arena. He never thought he'd ever make it this far, doing that, with so many other people in this year's exams, it was a feat in itself- hopefully his opponent would realize that too. He had defeated Yasube, the living puppet. He'd defeated Yokari, the Senju who'd sent him spiralling into his identity crisis. He'd defeated Ryo, in a grudge match that somehow meant more to him than the semifinals he was about to compete in. He knew Ting was fighting with him, they were part of the final four of the winner's bracket. Win or lose, they were the best of Konoha. There was a new goal in hs mind now, one that felt far away from him- but one that no longer felt impossible. What if he... What if he somehow won this whole thing? What if he pulled it off? The thought stuck in his mind as he walked down the hallway, at last emerging onto the opposite side of the arena from his opponent.

Joe adjusted the large, flowing shawl, that was wrapped from his shoulder to his hip. As he approached the proctor in the center of the arena, and his opponent, he would imbue it with a substitution jutsu, loosening its hold onto his body. He didn't know what kind of of a shinobi his opponent was, even though he was form Konoha. Joe didn't know him. His body was already raging with adrenaline, his hormones raging as he could feel the energy of the impending fight already coming at him in full force. Once the boy reached half a meter from the center of the arena, a full meter away from his opponent, the Proctor would look at them both intently, his voice speaking over the roaring crowd around them. His opponent, Zizan, would formally greet Joe with a traditional Konoha gesture- it was a friendly touch, one that the Genin would replicate. They might have been opponents here, but they were still to be friends and comrades.

"Now then, its the Semifinals, so anything goes. There's no tricks in this arena, no technical wins, just the two of you fighting until a victor can be decided. Ready?" the Jonin asked. Joe nodded, keeping his eyes on his opponent. With that, and a nod from Zinan, the Proctor would give the order, "Then... BEGIN!".

Instantly, the boy would rocket forwards, activating two of his 'fastest' jutsu to blitz forwards towards Zinan that, when combined with his base speed, would cause Joe to move at 39 m/s. With the 1 meter between himself and Zinan, Joe would close the distance between them both in 0.02 seconds, a point blank rush that would cause Joe to blur out of the other Genin's vision due to the sheer speed difference and close distance between them both. It would appear as though the boy had simply teleported in front of the shinobi at to fast to see. Just as important, the sudden burst of speed that Joe blitzed with would cause the shawl on him to fall off from the whiplash effect, fluttering off of him and onto the ground where he originally was- leaving the substitution primed an ready for use.

As Joe would appear in front of Zinan, the boy's fist would rush towards his lower chest, coated by a swirling vortex of wind and lightning chakra. Joe would strike at Zinan's Solar Plexus with enough raw force to fracture it, causing him to lose control of his diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him as well as causing him to lose control of his ability to breath. Naturally, the strike would be excruciating to take as well, with all those juicey nerves in his chest suddenly becoming ruptured by the concussive strike. The punch would remain low, well below Zinan's eye level with the way that Joe would suddenly appear in front of him already using his speed to unleash the blow with such a small gap between its closed fist and the Genin's chest. If the blow did indeed hit, on top of the catastrophic pain it would cause, the force of the blow would knock him back up to ten feet, launching him airborne whilst Joe would prepare to follow-up.

947/947

220/260:

"Then... BEGIN!" The Proctor's words rang in Zinan's ears for what seemed to be an eternity. At the Proctor's preemptive "then," Zinan's legs tensed, in preparation for a large, backwards leap. He knew that he needed to get distance between him and his opponent. Zinan knew his strengths and weaknesses, which meant that he knew he was not a short range fighter, but a middle to long range combatant. At the Proctor's command of "begin," Zinan released the tension in his legs as he launched himself backwards.

He was, however, too slow.

In a blur of motion, Joe was on him. Zinan could barely see his opponent move, but felt a solid punch to his gut. He would later reflect on the fight and realize that his instinct to leap backwards, and removing himself from his original position, even if just slightly, saved him a few broken ribs or a ruptured intestine. That being said, Zinan was only able to avoid the worst of the blow. Joe's punch still landed with enough force to launch Zinan back a few meters, though this served to aid in Zinan's original plan. Zinan somersaulted once in a controlled flip and landed on his feet at a distance of fifteen meters from his opponent. He knew that he hand some major internal bruising, and possibly some internal bleeding, but he would not let that slow him down.

Zinan's index fingers and middle fingers were crossed when he landed. Before his skid backwards ended, three more Zinans appeared. The first clone molded its chakra and released a thick fog from his mouth, completely obscuring the area around the four of them. The fog rolled outwards and stopped just before Joe's position, forming a roiling cloud of fifteen meters around Zinan and his clones.

The second clone simultaneously mold its chakra and spit out a torrent of liquid that seemed to be thicker than just normal water. It softly splattered on the ground within the reaches of the fog and did not spread out from its hazy reach, also forming a circle of fifteen meters around Zinan and his clones.

The real Zinan placed his hand on the third clone and infused it with a little more chakra to prepare it for a Substitution if needed, before pulling twenty makibishi from his equipment pouch and tossed them out around the group of Zinan's, to let them settle on top of the thick liquid. If Joe managed to use the Supernatural Walking Practice and not get stuck in the Syrup Field, he would still get stabbed by the sharpened barbs of these spurs.

The third Zinan clone, whom Zinan prepared for Substitution, molded its chakra and, with a small poof and puff of smoke, transformed into a Fuma Shuriken. The real Zinan picked up the Shuriken Clone and launched it towards the direction that he left Joe. Whether or not the Shuriken Clone actually struck Joe, did not matter. Zinan needed the clone away from him and needed to antagonize his opponent to join him in the fog.

The real Zinan pulled his rusty tanto free of its sheath with his right hand and pulled a kunai from his pouch with his left hand. He resisted the urge to scratch at his web glands as they produced another three meters of his clan's glass webs. Clones One and Two both pulled kunai out with their right hands and three shuriken a piece with their left hands. The three prepared to fight this fast combatant in the fog, with their eyes peeled and ears listening.

---

WC: 608
Total WC: 1134

Zinan's Chakra: 230/250:

Clone One Chakra: 13/23:

Clone Two Chakra: 8/23:

Clone Three Chakra: 18/23:

At feeling the blow connect, there was a surge of momentum that Joe instantly felt from all too many hours of training. He was a combo fighter, and now that he had landed his first real 'opener' of a jutsu on Zinan, the Genin had free reign to lay into him with his 'real' attack. The empowered punch had certainly caused damage. While it may not have been to the degree that Joe had hoped for, it was a good start. His low punch had already kept his hands close together. Right at the start of Zinan's knockback, Joe would seamlessly form the tiger seal as he ran after the airborne shinobi. A stream of 25 m/s Futon chakra would rocket out to easily come in contact with Zinan as he tried to recover by flipping backwards into a somersault. It wasn't a bad idea, truth be told, but right now, just by being knocked airborne, Joe was in his element.

Joe would clench his fist right as Zinan would reach the height of his somersault. The air around the other shinobi would compress inwards from all directions, like a hydraulic press crushing his whole body. The air around Zinan was pressing inwards with enough force to fracture bones. It was Joe's bread and butter jutsu for finishing a fight, and right now, in the window of opportunity he had, he was going to break his opponent asunder. As the spider-nin would put his feet back down on the ground to try and skid backwards, the attempt would surely be too little too late. Zinan's entire body would be peppered with multiple fractures, cracks in his bones, all along his form due to the absurd air pressure crushing it inwards from every direction, causing the boy unimaginable pain and also possibly knocking him out from the sheer concussive trauma.

If Zinan managed to remain conscious despite the life-threatening trauma on his whole body, a feat that would earn him an immense deal of respect from Joe, he would still need to contend with the dashing Genin appearing in front of him as he summoned his webbing clones. Thanks to his earlier Slipstream, Joe still moved at a speed of 15 m/s, and would arrive in front of the other boy again right as he would skid to a stop and summon his companions. Naturally not wanting to give the spider-nin any time to set up any sort of tricksy traps, Joe would immediately swipe his leg a short ways once he had exited his dash in front of Zinan. Immediately, a rush of air would surge all around Joe in a 4 meter radius at a rapid speed of 20 m/s, trapping the other Konoha Genin within it, as well as his clones. The concussive power of the gust of wind would disperse the clones before Zinan would be able to do much of anything with them really- the C-rank power of the AoE attack destroying them as quick as they were formed. If Zinan himself was caught within the turbulent gust of wind, he would again be knocked airborne, this time 5 meters directly upwards into the air, right where Joe wanted him to be.

541/1488

190/260:

Zinan had thought that he would be able to get enough distance between him and his opponent, but he was wrong. Before he even had the chance to summon his web clones, Joe was on top of him again. This time he was accompanied by a crushing force of wind. Zinan could feel the bones in his body crack, hairline fractures running the length of every major bone in his body. He grunted in pain and was barely able to watch as his opponent closed the distance again.

Zinan did not even have the chance to utilize his web clones. The moment that they appeared, they disintegrated into a piles of webs. No fog appeared, no syrup appeared, and Zinan's body was too ravaged to throw a transformed clone or even makibishi. He knew that he only have a scant moment or two before his opponent would unleash some other jutsu at him. Zinan was smart enough and aware of his abilities that he was outmatched in a straight, close quarters fight.

Before Joe was able turn his upward draft of air onto Zinan himself, the Kumonosu genin raised his hand in the Seal of Reconciliation. He would yield the match, unwilling to lose any more dignity by being knocked unconscious. He just hoped that the proctor or Yoshihiro Joe would recognize the yielding sign.


WC: 226
Total WC: 1360

Topic WC (At This Time): 2848

Things were happening in slow motion it felt like. Joe watched as his speed managed to overtake Zinan's ability to formulate a plan in the heat of the moment. It was as the old adage went, everyone had an idea of what to do until they got punched in the face. For Zinan, this proverbial face had instead been his gut- but hey, that's just semantics. The sound of the clones dissipating as quickly as they had formed was a satisying sensation for him to hear. He hadn't given Zinan the time to have them leap away or be utilized as extra bodies for jutsu. That speed and reckless aggression may in of itself clinched the match, though it was something he certainly couldn't have replicated if he were in one of the trick arenas. As far as straight fights go, it seemed that Joe had the upper hand this time around.

He watched the current of wind move faster and fasted, rushing in a circular motion to capture the other Konoha Genin in it before a hard 'thud' was felt in the place of empty air. The proctor of the match had seemingly materialized in front of Joe much as the boy had done to Zinan, moving at such speed that it was literally beyond his comprehension as a fledgling shinobi to see. It was like he had just teleported right there in front of him, deflecting the blow to cause the air current aimed at Zinan to dissipate harmlessly. "This match is over" the proctor instructed calmly, nodding sideways at Zinan who had formed the seal of Reconciliation. It seemed the proctor knew that the other shinobi intended to forfeit, and as such had blocked the rest of the jutsu to spare any further injury.

Joe blinked in confusion. That was it? It had all happened so quickly in the span of a few moves that it felt rather jarring to him in a way. Instead, he lowered his leg back down to the ground, forming his half of the seal of Reconciliation so that the match could officially end. "The winner is Yoshihiro Joe" the proctor announced to the crowd. There was an eruption of sound, as the audience released theheld breath they had been maintaining whilst the fighting had been going on. It was a bit of a rush, all things considered. Still, he was more intrigued by the Genin he had fought, turning to face him as the celebrations continued.

"You did good. We should fight again someday for a rematch" he said, trying to give some sort of supportive smile whilst the rest of the arena went wild. Joe nodded to Zinan before looking back up to the audience. The impossible dream was coming true. He was going to the Finals.

471/1959

Total WC: 1959

• Training C Perception to C1, 1000/1000