"The new challenger, Chino, can she do the impossible and beat the champion Fūshin, or will En Oyashiro lose his fighter to the hand of Lord Masaru?" The crowd began to roar, placing bets and screaming their chosen fighter's name, though most bets were likely being placed on Fūshin as he was the champion.
But there were still some who knew a thing or two and could see the truth of the matter, that there was more to this little girl than she was letting on.
Even I couldn't help but place a bet on her; despite still having a good amount saved up, I wouldn't say no to free money.
Even as she walked, her steps were light and almost careless, but there was a hidden tension in her small frame; she had clearly gone through some truly brutal training, yet it was impossible for her to hide her nervousness.
She was, after all, just a child.
And that nervousness was spotted by plenty of people, making the odds against her even better. Very few could see past that and see the warrior underneath.
However, even those who bet on her winning didn't know how she could win; they merely gambled on the chance that she could, after all, beyond her, only her father, En Oyashiro, and I knew about her dōjutsu.
The crowd tonight was in for quite a surprise. I smiled as I leaned back to watch the show.
"Kaguya-hime," Kanna whispered, her gaze fixed on the small girl in the arena. "Are you sure about this? They are just children."
I turned to her, my expression calm. "All the more reason to watch, Kanna. This is the world we live in. A world where children are tools of war. At least here, their battles are for entertainment, not for the ambitions of old men." I took a sip of sake, the taste sharp and clean on my tongue. "This is a kinder world than the one we know."
It was a cynical thought, but no less true for it.
Karin, however, was completely engrossed in the spectacle. "Go, Pinky! You can do it!" she shouted, earning a few amused glances from the neighboring booths.
In the arena, the two combatants stood facing each other. Fūshin, with his wind chakra swirling around him, was the image of confidence. Chino, on the other hand, seemed small and fragile, a stark contrast to the reigning champion.
The referee, a stern-looking man in a black robe, stepped between them. "The rules are simple. Steal your opponent's ID tag. The fight continues until one tag is in the possession of the other. Do you both understand?"
"Even if you say that, it doesn't feel right to sit here and watch as kids are forced to fight for the amusement of others," Kanna whispered, her disapproval clear.
"Indeed," I nodded, "it isn't right, but the other option is to act, and you can't beat those kids, and I will not debase myself to fight in a spectacle like this, which means the only way to get them is by breaking the rules," I explained. "And that would just turn the entire place on us. The world is full of cruelty you can't fix, my dear, sometimes you just have to ignore it."
Even if I could kill everyone here, that wouldn't fix a thing, as this was the world, and even if I tore down this island, another would pop up somewhere else. There was no fixing this problem without destroying the whole shinobi system.
Only by regaining my full strength, by once more becoming the Mother of all Chakra, would I be able to free the world from this kind of evil. Only when I became a true Goddess again would the world know peace.
"Shhh!" Karin shushed us. "The fight is starting!" she told us, and indeed, the fight was about to begin as the announcer and hype man finally finished working the crowd and the bets got locked in. The fight was about to start.
Fūshin clearly didn't take Chino seriously at all, and didn't attack as soon as the battle began. He did as one would expect of a young boy high on a string of victories and all the hype the announcer had just built up, when facing a much smaller girl.
He taunted her, and he dismissed her outright, not taking her seriously and thinking he could afford to play with her a little before taking her tag.
"So you're the new challenger?" he called out, a smirk playing on his lips. "Did you get lost on your way to the playground?"
The crowd chuckled, enjoying the show. Even the announcer was playing along, though not saying a word.
Chino didn't reply. She simply stood her ground, her violet eyes watching Fūshin's every move, her posture relaxed but ready.
"You're not even worth my breath," Fūshin continued, flourishing his hands. "But since you're here, let me show you what a real shinobi can do!" He slammed his palms together, and a gust of wind erupted from him, kicking up a cloud of sand.
Chino's small frame was obscured by the swirling dust, and Fūshin grinned, thinking he had already won. But the crowd could see the truth; she had dodged to the side, using the dust and sand as cover.
As Fūshin tried to peer through the haze, searching for her, Chino moved with a speed that belied her small size. She was a blur of pink and white, a ghost in the sandstorm.
"So," I whispered, more to myself than to the others, "the Chinoike dōjutsu, the Ketsuryūgan. Not as famous as the Sharingan or the Byakugan, but no less deadly in its own way."
"The what?" Karin asked, her eyes glued to the arena.
"The Blood Dragon Eye," I replied, my gaze fixed on Chino. "A dōjutsu that allows the user to manipulate blood, both their own and that of others. It's a terrifying ability, especially in close combat."
Fūshin, however, was oblivious. He was still playing, still enjoying the crowd's adoration. "Come on out, little girl! Don't you want to play?" he taunted, his voice laced with arrogance.
He finally spotted her, and with a cry of triumph, he unleashed another jutsu. "Wind Style: Gale Palm!" A powerful blast of wind shot towards her, strong enough to send her flying into the arena wall.
But Chino was ready.
So far, I was likely the only person who had noticed her red eyes; few among the crowd had the ability to even keep up with what was happening. All they could see was the flashy ninjutsu, and the few shinobi couldn't see it due to the dust and sand flying about.
What Chino did was beyond clever; it was using her dōjutsu in ways even I was surprised by. Chino used Water Release ninjutsu to conjure a large bubble. And not just any bubble, a soap bubble, and then she used it to reflect her Ketsuryūgan.
While not being as good as the Sharingan, the Ketsuryūgan didn't fall far behind; its genjutsu prowess was so strong that only the Sharingan could beat it.
And the unwritten rule when dealing with the Sharingan was clear: if you were alone, just run; you had no chance at beating a Uchiha.
And the Ketsuryūgan was the same; if you weren't prepared, weren't able to handle it, you were better off not trying.
"Pop!"
The bubble burst shortly after forming, but not before Fūshin had seen it, seen a strange red color, and then, he just stopped.
Completely frozen.
It took a moment before anyone realized that anything had happened at all. It wasn't until Chino wiped her face, hiding the bloody tears from using her dōjutsu, and started walking over to Fūshin that people realized something was wrong.
She didn't even need to hide her approach; the fight was already over.
She reached out, her small fingers brushing against Fūshin's neck. With a quick, precise movement, she pulled the ID tag from its chain.
The crowd was silent, stunned. They had expected a grand battle, a display of ninjutsu and taijutsu. Instead, they had witnessed something subtle, something almost magical.
Chino held up the tag for all to see, her expression unreadable. The referee, after a moment of hesitation, raised his hand.
"The winner is Chino! Lord En Oyashiro is the new master of Fūshin!" the announcer boomed, breaking the stunned silence.
The crowd erupted into a mixture of cheers and boos, a cacophony of confused reactions. Some were impressed by Chino's skill, while others felt cheated out of a proper fight.
Fūshin remained frozen, a statue of flesh and bone, a puppet whose strings had been cut. The genjutsu had been so potent that he was still trapped in its thrall, even with the fight over.
In our booth, Karin was the first to break the silence. "Wow... how did she do that?" Karin had, like everyone else, not seen what had happened.
Even Kanna looked towards me for answers.
"Simple, it was genjutsu, that's why you should always be careful when fighting someone with a dōjutsu. If you are careless, this happens," I explained as I watched Chino wipe the blood from her eyes. "Her dōjutsu can place people under a powerful genjutsu if they look into her eyes."
"Skilled and experienced jōnin might lose to Chino, even more so if they weren't prepared for it. Remember, information is an important weapon; have it, and you can win, or at least know when to retreat. Lack it, and you lose, always," I warned them.
The announcer also figured out what had happened as Fūshin remained where he was, and began explaining things to the crowd. "It appears Fūshin is trapped by a genjutsu! Even now, he is still helpless; it appears our newest champion, Chino, is skilled in the art of genjutsu. What a frightening display!"
His words got the crowd to cheer again as they now understood just what they had witnessed; it wasn't cheating but simply the superior skill of the new champion.
Finally, Chino broke him out of the genjutsu, and despite the shock, he took his loss far better than I thought; it seems he wasn't as arrogant as he had shown. It seemed likely that he had been putting on a show.
Turning my focus away from the stage and onto Karin, I couldn't help but smile. I was looking forward to seeing how she would do when it was her turn on stage.
After all, what better way to learn how to fight than to fight?
And despite what it might look like, this arena was a tightly controlled environment; after all, the fighters were often the property of rich and powerful people, people who would be rather angry if they broke.
Nor did they want to win defective goods.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, what a surprising first match, but the night is young, and there are far more awaiting you here tonight. Join me in welcoming the next pair of fighters!" the announcer shouted into his microphone as he started to work the crowd for the next match.
Karin happily turned her eyes back on the action, never knowing what I had in mind for her.