Trilby could hear the soft drone of hundreds of voices in the distance, the knot in his stomach tightening as he got closer. Taiga Hayashi, a Muay Thai master, had requested to fight a genin in non-lethal combat, of the kazekage's choice. Being that Trilby was the newest member of her squad, he was chosen. Word spread quickly, and now a large mass of people were camped out in the Sandy arena to watch the brawl. Trilby sighed deeply, stepping out into the arena, where his opponent was already waiting. Taiga stood at an impressive 6'2 tall, and was built like a truck. His arms were covered in thick rope from his hands to his elbows,. He was shirtless, and wore black shorts, with still visible blood stains on them. “You've arrived I see” Taiga said warmly, nodding at Trilby as he stepped into the arena with trepidation. The crowd roared as he entered, as they knew it was time for the fight.

Taiga and Trilby raised their hands, forming the tiger seal. The distance between them was roughly twenty feet. ”Good luck.” He said, smiling. Trilby nodded in response. ”You too.” The thundering chime of a gong rang throughout the arena, the fight had begun! The second the gong rang, Trilby began forming hand seals. Snake, Ox, Ram. Trilby began to vomit out stone, which took the form of an exact duplicate of himself. His opponent didn't rest on his laurels, lunging at the Trilbies. The original ran to the left, while the clone ran to the right. Taiga, having seen the clone being made, knew which was which and kept in hot pursuit of the original. His speed was vastly superior, and he caught up to Trilby in a few seconds. Trilby barely sidestepped the sharp right cross of the Taijutsu master, his clone quickly running over to try and assist in the defence. Taiga kept up his assault, bombarding Trilby with kicks and punches, most of which he dodged, but the superior technique of Taiga won out, knocking him up into the air with a sharp kick. Trilby breathed in, firing a burst of air to help him get higher into the sky, helping him avoid the rest of his punches. Trilby regained his composure, landing behind his stone clone. Taiga thrust his right fist forward, a fiery skull engulfing it as he collided with the clone, causing it to explode. The skull flew beyond his fist, smacking Trilby in the chest and sending him flying.

The crowd roared as Trilby dragged himself to his feet, only to see Taiga charging directly for him. Clapping his hands together, Trilby thrust his palms outwards towards Taiga, sending a pressurised burst of air into his chest, causing him to stagger backwards a few feet. While he was dazed, Trilby got up, forming some hand seals. Snake, Ox, Ram. A barrage of stone spikes shot from the ground beneath Taiga's feet. Jumping up, Taiga's fist was engulfed in flame again, which he brought down onto the spikes, turning them to dust as he landed back where he was. Trilby sighed, ”How the hell can I hurt this guy...” he thought to himself, drawing a kunai. He needed time before he could attack with his ninjutsu, and this guy would maul him in Taijutsu. Still, he had no choice. The tip of Trilby's kunai met Taiga's right fist, digging into the rope. Taiga pulled his hand back, grabbing the kunai and pulling it out, throwing it aside. Charging in, he began to bombard Trilby with punches again. Eventually his speed overtook Trilby, and he landed a solid blow into his kidneys. Trilby staggered back, barely managing to duck a punch aimed for his skull, only to come face to face with a kneecap. Trilby coughed up blood, and quickly ate another fist to the stomach, before being picked up and thrown a few feet.

It was a few seconds before he regained his senses. He could feel blood rolling down his face. Opening his eyes, he saw Taiga with his back to him, holding his fists up to the crowd. Trilby drew a kunai from his pocket, clutching it in his right hand. Quietly dragging himself to his feet, Trilby grabbed a handful of sand with his left hand and began to walk up behind Taiga. ”Not over yet.” Trilby said, causing Taiga to jump around, only to meet a faceful of sand. He staggered back, clutching his eyes, and Trilby lunged forward, holding his kunai to his neck. ”Surrender.” Taiga smiled, suddenly vanishing and appearing a few feet behind where he was standing. ”You'll have to try harder than that.” Trilby stepped back a few feet, putting away his kunai and holding onto his head. Still, he had no time to whine about his injuries. Snake, Ox, Ram. Trilby spewed forth two clones of himself. Taiga had unwrapped the rope on his left arm while Trilby made his clones, revealing some fuuinjutsu tattoos. Pressing his thumb into the palm of his left hand, he summoned a Sansetsukon. Trilby and his clones charged the man, Each of the clones taking a side, while the original charged directly at him.

Taiga swung his Sansetsukon over his shoulders, waiting for the clones to reach him, a smile on his face. The two clones leapt at Taiga, fists raised, while the original generated two chakra chains, one from the palm of each hand, and fired them towards his opponent. Taiga swung his Sansetsukon, bashing both the clones in the face, destroying both of them instantly, before the chains reached him. They wrapped themselves around his torso, constricting his arms into his chest. Taiga flexed, pushing as hard as he could against the chains, causing them to shatter. Trilby was after all, only a low ranked genin, his chains were quite brittle. However, in the time it took Taiga to shatter the chains, Trilby had approached, drawing his kunai he held it to his neck. ”Very good” Taiga said with a bloody grin. ”I quit.” The fight was over, Trilby had won.

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