After four matches, everybody knew only one first-round fight remained, which was between Shikaku Nara and Chōza Akimichi. The moment Sakumo stepped back into the center of the arena, people began quieting down without him having to raise a hand to signal his announcement.
"Fifth match," Sakumo said, "Shikaku Nara of Konohagakure against Chōza Akimichi of Konohagakure."
Chōza entered first, and without anything to eat, his face was surprisingly serious, but he still had that good-natured look that made him seem like someone you could trust your back to. I could tell he was nervous as his hands flexed, his fingers curling into a fist and then released back, over and over again. Shikaku followed after him, his hands out of his pockets, while his expression was like he was being dragged to torture. He really didn't want to fight against his friend.
"Haaah..." Sayuri leaned forward beside me, shaking his head. "This one feels weird."
"Yeah," Kushina muttered. "I don't like it either, dattebane."
"Same," I agreed, and I meant it. If I had been unlucky enough to go against Minato before the final, I would probably feel the same way.
Soon, the two stopped at their marks, and they looked at each other when Chōza scratched his cheek, smiling faintly.
"So… no hard feelings?"
"Of course not," Shikaku sighed. "Only if you hold back."
"Hehe," Chōza's smile faded away, shaking his head, "Same."
"Ready?" Sakumo looked between them once, then raised his hand. "Begin!"
Chōza moved instantly when his hand had fallen, with no hesitation. His body expanded mid-step, both arms swelling, then his torso thickened, and he launched himself forward like a rolling boulder. Opening with something iconic straight out of the gate, huh? Shikaku did not move, but I saw as his shadow stretched forward, faster than I think Shikamaru ever managed at that age. Of course, it shot across the arena floor toward Chōza's feet. Reacting at once, Chōza's arms reappeared, and he slammed both enlarged hands into the ground, launching himself upward before the shadow could touch him. For someone so big, he moved quicker than he had any right to. His expanded body twisted mid-air, and he came down with both fists aimed straight at Shikaku's position. Nice!
"Oh," I muttered. "He knew that was coming."
"Of course he did," Sayuri said. "They know each other's styles very well."
"Knowing is one thing." Kushina interjected, "I know Minato and Renji too, but countering them is... Ugh."
I only smiled at that and watched as Shikaku finally moved, jumping backward while Chōza's fists smashed into the dirt where he had been a moment before. The impact cracked the ground, sending chunks of packed earth outward and causing the crowd to roar with delight. The sudden, thick cloud of dust covered Shikaku when Chōza's left arm suddenly extended through the cloud, and his palm swept sideways, trying to blindly hit him. As if seeing it come before it arrived, Shikaku ducked under it, rolled away, and came up near the edge of the arena. His hands were moving around, but those were not seals... nerve? Calculations?
"Troublesome," I could practically hear him say, his eyes constantly computing his friend's attacks and their possible trajectory.
"I don't know about this..." Kushina glanced at me. "Can Shikaku even hurt him?"
"Directly? Probably not much." I hummed, crossing my arms.
"So how does he win?"
"By making Chōza lose?"
"Please..." Sayuri gave me a flat look. "That sounded smarter in your head, didn't it? Just say you have no idea!"
"I have no idea..."
Below, Chōza didn't give Shikaku time to think up a method either. His enlarged arm retracted, and then his whole body curled up again, becoming a rolling flesh of a boulder one more time. Shikaku's shadow moved again, trying to catch the rolling form from the side, but Chōza swerved away before it connected. Evidently, he knew the reach, including his preferred angle and, most importantly, Shikaku's timing. They both knew too much because Shikaku dodged him again, and then Chōza bounced off the inner wall, using the reinforced surface to redirect himself without losing momentum, then came back from a different angle. Shikaku clicked his tongue, dodging again, his hands moving in a weird pattern, and thanks to it, this time, the edge of Chōza's rotating body clipped his sleeve.
"Damn," I whistled, "That was close!"
Chōza's rolling form kept changing direction after that. It was like a whole pinball machine down there, as he bounced off the walls, curved, and spun in random directions that forced Shikaku to keep recalculating everything. Chōza was relying on random unpredictability, which was exactly what was a great weapon against Shikaku, forcing him to keep dodging.
"Why isn't he using a bigger shadow?" Kushina asked.
"I don't think he can, and the sun is also not to his advantage," I said, squinting upward.
"Huh?" They both looked at me and then followed my gaze upwards.
"The angle. We are getting close to noon..." I shrugged.
"Oh!" Sayuri inhaled softly. "That's so... bad."
"Yeah."
Shikaku knew it too... I could see it in his face. He wasn't surprised, and he wasn't panicking, though. Just then, Shikaku pulled out a kunai and threw it, angling it in a way that when the kunai stuck into the dirt, it cast a small shadow. If there are not enough shadows, create your own, hm? I was surprised that Chōza rolled past it without caring. That was a mistake because then Shikaku's shadow touched the kunai's shadow and bent around it, changing direction sharply.
"Ha!" I sat up. "Nice!"
The shadow snapped toward Chōza's path from an unexpected angle. It caused Chōza to unfold from his rolling form just before it reached him. His enlarged foot slammed into the ground, stopping his momentum violently, and he jumped backward, groaning from the sudden change of direction, but it saved him as the shadow missed him by the width of a finger. Chōza's eyes narrowed as he looked at the kunai, then...
"...!"
Too late. I had noticed it the moment he threw it out, and the kunai or the shadow attack wasn't the trap itself... The line attached to it was.
A super-thin wire, nearly invisible, stretched across the ground where Chōza had landed after jumping back. I couldn't believe that something that thin could have a shadow, but it did, and more impressively, that Shikaku managed to thin his own shadow to sneak up on him that way. He got his ankle! The crowd gasped when Chōza froze, coming under the Shadow Possession's effects. I won't lie, for one heartbeat, I thought it was over. Then Chōza gritted his teeth, his body began expanding again, trying to fight it off.
"Can he break it?" Kushina asked, sounding excited.
"Maybe," I said, suddenly unsure. "If his physical chakra surge overwhelms Shikaku's hold… Hm..."
Shikaku's face tightened, focusing with all his might to keep his friend bound, his arms trembling. Apparently, Chōza had more power, which wasn't surprising as his arms grew larger by the moment. With a loud crack, the dirt beneath both of them splintered, and knowing he would soon be shrugged off, Shikaku lifted his right hand, and Chōza's right hand twitched upward against his will.
"Come on…" Sayuri whispered, also super lost in the moment, and I didn't know who she was cheering for. Maybe both, because I was doing just that.
I watched as Shikaku inhaled through his nose, then shifted his left foot, and Chōza's left foot copied it. That's when he stepped directly onto a second wire, one that I didn't even see being there. When did he... Oh.
"Oh, that bastard!" I laughed, suddenly starting to notice the wires all over the place. Those weird hand movements he did!
"Huh?" The girls looked at me, making me grin.
"He hadn't thrown just one setup, look! He had previously seeded the whole area while dodging! Wherever he dodged, he left behind wires to create a net!"
Chōza realized it too as his eyes widened, then he smiled, with no real anger in them.
"Got me?"
"Not yet!" Shikaku answered through clenched teeth, doing his best to keep him bound.
"Full expansion!"
His body swelled again, more than ever before. I watched as his neck thickened, his whole being ballooning up while the shadow bind shook like a rope about to snap. Even Shikaku's knees bent slightly, and it was clear that he was losing. If Chōza broke free, the backlash might leave him open, or worse, knock him out completely.
So... He let go of him.
The sudden release made Chōza's expanding force surge out of control, and his body lurched forward, all that restrained momentum released and carrying him straight over the lines of wire Shikaku had arranged, entangling him. Before Chōza could correct himself, Shikaku's shadow reattached from the side, while Chōza's own strength dragged him off-balance. Shikaku moved with him, copying just enough, controlling his fall, and then twisted his own body sideways. Naturally, Chōza's body followed, and the giant Akimichi crashed shoulder-first into the dirt, hard enough to shake the arena, but at least, he didn't headbutt the ground.
I heard how Chōza groaned in the sudden dust cloud, and as it dissipated, he tried to push himself up, but Shikaku's shadow had already pinned both his hands to the ground.
"Eh..." He laughed, still in his giant form, "…I hate fighting you."
"Same." Shikaku nodded, panting hard.
"..." Sakumo appeared beside them, looking at the two, and seeing their faces, he simply nodded, "Chōza Akimichi is unable to continue. Winner: Shikaku Nara."
Chōza relaxed at once, his body shrinking back to normal as Shikaku released the technique and immediately stumbled, catching himself with one hand on his knee. He was pale as snow while rivers of sweat ran down his face. Moaning, Chōza sat up and rubbed the back of his head.
"You really didn't hold back!"
"You told me not to."
"Yeah." Chōza grinned. "Same!"
Shikaku sighed and offered him a hand, and Chōza took it, pulling himself up, while the crowd clapped for both of them, including us.
"That was… nice," Sayuri said with a smile.
"Nice?" I asked. "That was brilliant!"
Sakumo waited until both boys left the arena before stepping forward again, now looking at the spectators.
"The first round is complete," he announced loudly, which meant we are getting to the second round... Finally! "What remains now is the second-round draw."
Just then, a Chūnin appeared near the stairs and bowed slightly towards us.
"Renjiro Uchiha. Please proceed to the arena."
"On it!" I stood so quickly that Sayuri almost fell sideways.
"Don't lose," she muttered, looking at me.
"I am intending to win this."
"Hmph!" Kushina said with a grin, "Second place at best."
"Impossible!" I shot back, keeping up my grin, "Today, I am blessed by luck. You'll see!"
Then, Sayuri reached out and grabbed my sleeve before I could leave.
"Don't do anything stupid."
"Heh," I smiled. "You know me."
"That is why I said it... idiot."
I hopped down from the VIP section instead of using the stairs, using chakra to slide down the wall, landing lightly near the edge of the arena, before walking toward the others. Minato was already there, looking as fresh as when the day started, while Hiashi stood straight a step behind him. Hizashi was there too, and the burn on his ribs was bandaged beneath his torn clothing already, while his left arm hung slightly stiff. He looked pale... Ugh... He is as good as being already out. As for Shibi, he stood quietly, betraying nothing, while Shikaku looked tired, also not in the best shape to continue. After I got into line, Sakumo stood before us with the wooden box again. Then, I noticed that the Hokage had come down from his platform this time, walking slowly into the arena with two Chūnin record keepers behind him. The crowd quieted out of respect, watching as Hiruzen looked over the six of us.
"The first round has concluded." He began, "Six participants remain, and the next round will again be determined by lottery, overseen publicly." His eyes flicked to me for a second. "Since no pass is required this round, names will be drawn in pairs."
Hiruzen placed his hand inside the box, shuffling around, and I felt my pulse pick up.
"Please don't pull Minato, please don't pull Minato..." And... First slip...
"Renjiro Uchiha."
"Good, that's good so far!" I whispered, not even blinking, my Sharingan coming on by itself as Hiruzen drew the second slip.
"Shibi Aburame."
"EW!" I let out a moan, then looked toward Shibi. "Sorry..." He looked back at me, being unreadable... and I could hear Kushina's loud laughter.
"BUGS, RENJI! BUGS, DATTEBANE!"
"THANK YOU, I NOTICED!" I yelled back up, pouting, becoming silent when Sakumo gave me a look, but the Hokage didn't look bothered by it at all, already pulling the next name.
"Minato Namikaze." Oh...? Who? "Hizashi Hyūga."
Minato's expression softened slightly... That was not going to be much of a fight, not with Hizashi injured like that. I could already tell what would happen: Either Hizashi surrenders immediately, or he will try to stand for his clan's pride's sake, and Sakumo has to step in before Minato could hurt him. In a way, Minato had just drawn the free pass I had been forced to waste earlier. Of course, Hiruzen drew the final two names, though everybody already knew them: Hiashi Hyūga against Shikaku Nara. If Shikaku can recover by then, that may be interesting.
"The second-round matches are set." Sakumo stepped forward once the board was complete. "The first will begin after a short intermission to allow the field to be inspected and repaired."
A short intermission? No.... No, no, no. I had waited long enough! Oh come on!
"Hatake-san," I called before thinking better of it.
"Go to the waiting booths."
Hiruzen chuckled softly into his sleeve, while I was unable to say what I wanted, so I just crossed my arms and headed into the shade while they were repairing the arena. Haaah...
"Impatient," Minato muttered, walking past me, "But good luck."
"You too," I said, glancing toward Hizashi. "Rest well for the finals."
"Yeah..." Minato followed my gaze towards Hizashi. "I don't think he should fight."
"Pride is a stubborn disease." I warned him, "Just make sure Sakumo has to intervene at once, and he can go rest."
"Yes," Minato said quietly. "I think that's the best method... How long will your fight take?"
"Hm..." I tilted my head, thinking, "I don't think it will be long." I murmured, my eyes flashing, "Bugs hate fire..."