The match between Konoha's seeded contender and Sunagakure's Scorch Release ninja began and ended quickly, lasting only a few minutes.
In those few short minutes, the battlefield had been blasted into a mess.
The fierce winds whipped up by their clashing ninjutsu shredded the surrounding vegetation, and Karura's final explosion had reduced a large swath of ground to powder.
Though, to a large extent, the impact had not shattered the ground. Rather, the ground had been baked dry, then crumbled with the slightest jolt.
Clearly, no one had anticipated clashes of ninjutsu during the Chunin Ninja Exams when preparing for the event.
Of course-everyone would soon grow accustomed to this sort of thing.
"The match is over. You two may return to the stands," Shikaku said.
Xue Ge glanced at Karura. "Need a hand?"
"N-no, I'm fine." Karura hurriedly shook her head.
Xue Ge nodded, and the two headed toward the stands.
But Karura was stopped along the way.
Hiruzen and Pakura had both left the stands reserved for the villages' leaders and entered the arena.
Hiruzen went straight toward Shikaku, while Pakura pulled Karura aside.
"L-L-Lady Pakura-"
Karura stammered as she looked at Pakura.
Pakura silently studied the little girl standing stiffly before her.
The longer she remained silent, the more nervously Karura lowered her head.
"A ninjutsu modeled on my Extremely Steaming Murder, one modeled on Wind Release: Wind Cutter, one modeled on Wind Release: Gale Dance and Wind Release: Wind Wall, and one modeled on Wind Release: Thousand-Faced Wind-"
Pakura raised an eyebrow as she spoke. "Not bad, little girl. But are you not very good at Fire Release?"
"-" Karura froze for a moment. Without even stopping to confirm whether Pakura had correctly identified the techniques hers were modeled on, she hurriedly shook her head. "No,