"Ah~ Break it up, break it up. Show's over~"
The noise around the arena lingered, until only scattered chatter mingled with the afternoon breeze. The incident itself had already died down.
"As expected, an Uchiha really is an Uchiha. Clean, sharp moves, and so fast I couldn't even see them..."
"That Hyuga guy is dangerous. If we run into him later, we'd better steer clear, or he'll knock us out of the exams before we know it..."
"Was that the Akimichi Clan's famous Multi-Size Technique? It looked pretty impressive, like a whole wall..."
"Holy shit~ All those bugs crawling everywhere gave me goosebumps..."
"These Konoha kids aren't bad..."
"..."
With the dust settled in the examination arena, light slanted across the ground. Deidara twirled a lump of gray-blue clay between his fingertips, making it dance nimbly over the pads of his fingers.
It became a bird, then a little beast, before returning to its original shape in an instant. The still-excited figures of the Konoha Twelve were clearly reflected in his black pupils.
Suddenly, he scoffed, his mouth stretching almost to his ears in an arrogant grin. "Tch, Konoha's brats are still as soft as ever.
"If it were me, those annoying idiots would've been blasted into fireworks by now. Why drag it out like that? Watching them nearly put me to sleep."
Kurotsuchi folded her arms and shot him a sidelong look. The silver bell tied to the ends of her hair swayed with the movement, its crisp chime cutting through Deidara's swagger.
"Quit boasting, senior," she said, lifting her chin, a youthful shrewdness in her voice. "If you actually hurt someone, forget advancing. Konoha's Anbu would probably be watching us like hungry wolves. They could strip us of our qualifications on the spot and send us home with