(Nanami's POV)
Fuu was no longer smiling, the audience was no longer cheering, Nanami's face was completely bruised, but she was still biting her lips hard, tears escaping from her eyes.
Even so, she refused to say the words that could make it all end.
Fuu wasn't happy about it, she didn't want to be such a burden, but Nanami refused to give up anyway.
-Why don't you give up?- Fuu asked. It wasn't the first time, but Nanami had ignored her before. Even so, she didn't give up asking.
Nanami spat blood onto the ground and looked at Fuu with one eye almost closed, it was so swollen, which made Fuu feel even worse.
Nanami still hadn't spoken, at this point, she didn't even know why she hadn't given up. She had done her best, and that was enough, but whenever she thought about giving up, Dosu's indifferent face came to mind, along with Kenta's radiant smile and Ryuta's 'indifferent' expression.
She could imagine they wanted her to give up, but... she didn't want to, she wanted to prove that she was capable too.
It was stupid, indeed, but Nanami refused to lose this time, she would endure it, no matter how much it hurt.
Fuu, who received no answer again, scratched her hear vigorously. - Aaaaah! You're really persistent.
Finally, Fuu shook her head and looked at Orochimaru, who was watching with morbid curiosity, not intervening in the slightest.
-Examiner, I give up.- Fuu finally said, thinking it was a pity, but she didn't want to hurt Nanami anymore. Since Nanami wouldn't give up, she would give up herself.
For a moment, she felt a little guilty for Shibuki, she wanted to become the champion to bring glory to the village, but in the end, she didn't even make it past the first round.
This caused Fuu to sigh heavily, her shoulders and head drooping in defeat.
The audience was shocked, Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, but the one who was truly surprised was Nanami.
Her eyes widened, ignoring the pain on her face for a moment, confusion left her speechless. Even when Fuu left with her head down, even when Orochimaru announced her victory, even when the audience booed the fight because Nanami lacked sportsmanship, Nanami remained there, stunned, still wrapped in Fuu's silk.
It was only when the doctors arrived with a stretcher and placed her inside that she regained consciousness. Her eyes became misty as she wept even more heavily, not with joy, no, at first, she didn't know the reason for those tears, but she couldn't stop.
Fuu's surrender made her entire previous situation seem childish, she no longer appeared to have resisted a powerful enemy, but merely thrown a tantrum in the middle of the field to the point that Fuu chose to give up out of pity.
Nanami cried so hard she screamed, she cried while being dragged and cried until she fainted.
Dosu appeared shortly after the medical ninjas stabilized her, actually looking at the student with complicated eyes. He had arrived early, but Dosu didn't know what to say to Nanami. Should he praise her determination? But seeing her situation, that could have the opposite effect.
For a moment, he didn't know what to do, so he didn't show up.
Sighing, he sensed Ryuta and Kenta approaching, then quickly left, as if he had never appeared, leaving these complicated matters to those two.
//-//
In the arena, Neji and Suigetsu were already facing each other. Neji had a serious look, his body hadn't assumed a fighting stance, but his posture remained stable. He could enter combat mode at any moment.
Suigetsu, on the other hand, yawned, scratching his ear with his pinky finger, Kubikiribocho still clinging to his back.
He wasn't taking Neji seriously at all.
-The second fight will be between Hyuga Neji of Konohagakure and Hozuki Suigetsu of Otogakure.- Orochimaru said lazily. -Same rules, fight until one of you gives up, anything besides killing is allowed.
Suigetsu smiled excitedly, grabbing the water bottle from his waist, he took long gulps, hydrating himself, while Neji narrowed his eyes, his body becoming more tense.
-Fight!- Orochimaru continued, the excited cheers of the crowd drowning out the sound as the pair moved.
Neji advanced quickly, ready to turn this into a Taijutsu fight, but Suigetsu had already finished the hand seals long before Neji arrived, his curse mark opening halfway through the first stage.
-Suiton! Daibakusuishoha! (Great Explosive Water Shockwave) - Suigetsu spat a huge amount of water at once towards the ground, this was a field jutsu, changing the field from land to water was extremely advantageous for him.
A huge wave formed before the shocked eyes of the audience, Neji was directly swept away by the water, he struggled to remain upright in the raging water.
The exits of the Colosseum, as if prepared for something like this, quickly closed to prevent the water from passing through, several wooden clones of Jugo, responsible for protecting the public, remained stationary for scenes like this.
Suigetsu kept smiling as he stood on the water, the audience was stunned for a moment, then excited shouts came from all sides.
Most of the time, ninjas are clandestine professionals, although there are several fights in the manga/anime, the presence of civilians is very rare, so civilians don't have much of an idea about the power of ninjas, but seeing that ridiculous amount of water created out of nowhere, they couldn't help but swallow hard, the same goes for the nobles.
If a ninja were to use this jutsu in the middle of their cities... none of them would want to see something like that happen. Fortunately, few thought that far ahead, most of the audience was simply excited by this clear display of power.
Suigetsu actually just wanted a direct fight with Neji, but it was Guren who stopped her team and asked them to exaggerate a bit to demonstrate the village's power.
Suigetsu could only sigh, after all, she was Jugo's woman, so he helped her a little.
He needed to release part of his cursed seal to generate so much water at once, after all he wasn't Kisame, but the result was obvious.
The passionate ovation from the audience should have been enough, that should have satisfied that crystal woman, so Suigetsu turned to Neji, already running towards him, excited, he pulled Kubikiribocho from his back, attaching the cable extension, he was ready for a good fight.