The chunin exams had brought with them an enormous number of tourists to The Village Hidden in the Leaves. With such a large-scale competitive event taking place, it was no surprise at all that those who came to view a competition like this would come with an itch for gambling. Even worse, patriotism would be mixed within to create all sorts of malice. The nationalist viewpoints held by those who placed bets upon the representatives of their own village would turn volatile when a win or loss was recorded. With a round completed and several of the second round fights finishing up, it seemed that Konohagakure was doing particularly well, followed by Iwagakure. Alas, Kirigakure trailed. The once powerful Mist seemed to have lost its edge this time around. Either way, some felt the need to take it far more seriously than others. Boiling frustrations mingled about with triumphant laughter eventually reached to a boiling point as arguments broke out inside of a single bar directly along the main street leading toward and away from the many different arenas and stages. Only around ten minutes had passed since Ting delivered her knockout blow to Yoshito of Kirigakure. She did not hang around the stage for any longer than she had to, receiving a medical examination and mulling through a few forms to confirm her victory.

As she walked down the sidewalk toward the Kimura compound looking forward to another night of sleep, Ting would hear the commotion before she ever had a chance to see the source. Her body aches from exertion as she neared the sound of disgruntled men shouting obscenities back and forth at one another. As she rounded the corner she would see them. Leaf and Mist civilians stumbling out of a bar shoving one another, poking and prodding as well. There were antagonists and victims in both sides but the things they were saying all indicated the same root cause. It was her particular fight they had just finished viewing. The commotion was only growing as they made ͏w͏a͏y intk the crowded streets. Ting’s route home was blocked entirely as shouting and noise nearly drove her mad. That was when the first punch was thrown. A Hidden Mist citizen slammed his fist into a drunken Leaf villager’s cheek. The blue haired girl would gasp as she witnessed it, her body was weak and tired from the intensity of the earlier bout, but she couldn’t just stand by and watch the riot break loose in her village.

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Only as the tired girl made her way forth, eyes fixed upon what unraveled before her, chaos would blossom in the center of the squabbling men. A plume of ash and then thick, dark smoke would overtake a large portion of the perpetrators in the centermost part of the would-be rioters. The response to this situation by whomever it was who clearly sought to disperse the crowd was extremely effective. Unfortunately, there were a number of stragglers who would flee into the numerous alleyways between the buildings of the nighttime market district. Seeking to escape the painful burns and lack of oxygen within the smokey hellscape, this mixed crowd of Leaf and Mist alike would push and shove one another as their anger intensified against the panic and pandemonium. Ting would wait no longer to insert herself.

She would rush through the alley nearest in order to circle back around and cut off the rampant swarm of degenerates. As she passed through the dark and uncomfortably moist alleyway she would sprout four red, muscular tendrils from the small of her back. With the concentrated power and added maneuverability of the extra limbs, she would would propel herself quickly around the side of the building, perfectly cutting-off the mob. As she slid softly across the ground and rose back to her feet, Ting would brush her bangs to the side, out of her eyes and face down the squabblers. The flint and gleam of several Kirigakure headbands met her view first, they were far outnumbering the shinobi of Konoha in this scenario. The hazel-eyed chunin-to-be made a mental note that she should do well not to bring noteworthy damage to any of them, no matter what was said or done. Some of them were civilians.

“Stop. The Hidden Leaf will have none of this petty squabbling. Whether you’re of Leaf or Mist, you’ll only find great pain if you press any further with this nonsense.” Ting would say, palm outstretched in a halting gesture. Her tone was professional and without emotion other than grave seriousness. The dirtied faces upon which shocked expressions stared back would quickly shake away from the forerunner of the pack. Replaced with anger, he would point a finger at Ting, rather close to her face.

“You cost me a week of pay on that rancid dock, what gives you the right to—“ An anguished shriek would break loose as Ting bent backwards the man’s finger as he wagged it in her face. She would hold it, not allowing it to break but keeping it held in a state of limbo, any movement further in the opposite direction and it would surely fracture.

“Shinobi should not be feared by those who do no wrong, but ought to be respected by those who they protect.” Ting would speak with some agitation toward the crowd which had fallen silent st te spectacle. With clenched teeth, she would allow loose the man’s hand. Not even a moment later the cold sting of an iron pipe slamming against the back of her head would cause a momentary dark spot in her vision as she struggled against a loss of consciousness. Victory. She shook off the blow despite a throbbing in her head and instinctively struck hard with all four of her tendrils, smashing her assailant against the brick building that composed the leftmost wall of the alleyway.

This was bad, she needed help to achieve this without harming anyone. The man in front of her gave a charge forward, attempting to strike Ting as a Leaf citizen further back in the crowd began to fight with a visiting, low-ranking mist genin. The genin possessed the same rank as Ting and those she had fought in the exams but had no proficiency. He was likely to remain a genin into late adulthood. He also apparently lacked the disposition of a shinobi, pulling out a kunai in anger at the Konohaian citizen. Ting would jeapordize herself by releasing the pipe wielding individual behind her from the wall in order to lash out her tendril at the lowly genin. Meanwhile she would catch the Kiri citizen’s fist mid-punch and use leverage to dislocate his arm.

She needed help.

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