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Omoi offered a scream to the world as he raced back towards it. Karui was a terrifying woman and teammate, often enraged by his considerate nature. Omoi was quite sure she would be the death of him. Omoi mentally focused on preparing himself to roll through the impact of the fall as Bee taught him, but as he opened his eyes to measure the landing, he was shocked to see his thought process had distracted him too long! The ground was already he-
Omoi's vision blackened for an instant as he slammed into the unforgiving ground below; luckily, he had managed to flare his chakra. So a fall that would usually kill a person became merely a painful blunder. He groaned in grief as he climbed to his feet. He blearily eyed the battlefield before him, seeing the proctor, the infamous Copycat Ninja Kakashi Hatake, and his opponent. Apparently, Mangetsu, looking at him blandly. Omoi felt panic slip in, but determined to make Bee proud, he marched forward to face him. He could already picture all the ways he could fail here. Mangetsu would be so fast that he stood no chance. Omoi may have sprained his ankle at the start of the fight.
Omoi sighed as he again focused on the moment instead of the opportunities. His anxiety was a solid and robust thing further augmented by his aloof nature. Yet as he drew his katana, a birthday present from Bee, he felt the calm he had only felt in battle. He would succeed here.
"Are you ok?" Kakashi asked Omoi; he nearly flinched at the attention of the Jounin focusing on him. "That looked to be a painful fall."
"He better be. I came to spill blood today, not watch a comedy act." Mangetsu crudely yelled. Omoi frowned as he slipped into his preferred Kenjutsu stance. He was used to people looking down on him due to his odd nature. Yet he had never enjoyed it being pointed out much. It wouldn't be hard to focus on the fight after all. His anger focused him on showing off his skill.
"Oh, so you fancy yourself a swordsman?" Mangetsu asked. "You'll have to forgive me if I play for keeps. It would be a shame to my homeland if I lost to a Kenjutsu user."
Omoi, feeling his nerves even through his anger, kept his response short as he rambled. "I feel the same."
Mangetsu laughed mockingly. Kakashi nodded, seeing that both seemed ready for combat.
"Well, then begin!"
Omoi didn't spare a glance as Kakashi poofed away; to do so would be wasteful. Instead, he surged forward at top speed. His earlier stance hadn't been his passive stance. It had been him preparing himself to lunge. He slashed for the middle of Mangetsu, aiming to end the match before it could begin. Mangetsu chuckled as he deflected the blow with a flick of his katana. Omoi hadn't even seen him draw it! But with a katana of his own in hand. Omoi didn't flinch as he used his teacher's creativity and slammed his shoulder towards Mangetsu. The older boy laughed more as he jumped over him and lashed out with his blade intending to behead him. Omoi desperately ducked the slash, nearly being beheaded. 'He's trying to kill me!' His mind screamed, and panic flowed through his system. Making him miss a block by a tiny margin. Magetsu's blade sliced a small line just below his eye. Omoi ducked the next thrust, only to be helpless against a knee that smashed into his face. He skidded back painfully as Mangetsu erupted in hearty laughter.
"This is what counts as a swordsman in Kumo?!" Mangetsu taunted as Omoi climbed to his feet. "You'd be nothing more than a joke in my village!" Omoi offered no answer, instead subtly flicking four kunai from his pouches. Mangetsu merely tutted as he swiped these from the air. "I held back in the second exams, but now I'm gonna cut loose!" He met Omoi's charge, and the two smashed into each other's guard, momentarily testing one another's strength. Omoi struggled, his mind whirling at all the possibilities that led to defeat and death. He focused on the anger, focusing it on Mangetsu. He nearly cheered as Mangetsu slid back, the arrogant man's eyes widening upon seeing Omoi had a slight physical edge. Mangetsu smirked, "Maybe you have some guts after all. Water Style: Great Water Arm Jutsu!"
'Water, what now?' Was all Omoi's mind could put together before Mangetsu's arm swelled as if made of rubber and filled with water. Omoi was puzzled before suddenly Mangetsu pushed, and Omoi flew through the air. 'He uses water style and can augment his arms to increase physical strength!' Omoi noted. His lightning style would at least do well. Perhaps if he used it in conjunction with his Kenjut-. Omoi's thoughts were scattered as he smashed through a tree. 'God damnit.'
"Ok, seriously? This isn't even truly a warm-up. I knew the other villages were softies, but this is almost fully amateurish. Let's make this fun, will ya?"
Omoi growled as he raised. "I'll make it fun, alright!" He charged forward, determined to shut up Mangetsu.
"If you land one hit, I'll take this seriously. Otherwise, I'll embarrass you and finish you off when I grow tired of such." Mangetsu said as he sidestepped Omoi's thrust.
"Won't be long then! Cloud Style: Reverse Beheading!" Omoi spun, unleashing a fast slash suddenly toward Mangetsu, who was behind him. Mangetsu barely managed to leap away from this.
"That's more like it!" Mangetsu complimented as he slashed vertically for Omoi's head. Omoi deflected this with effort and barely leaned out of the way of a punch. He spun for a low slash, which Mangetsu dodged skillfully, backflipping over the attack. Mangetsu suddenly aimed a finger at Omoi. "Water Style: Water Gun!" He cried as a tiny droplet fired off at impressive speeds. He barely blocked it, with his blade being knocked off balance by the force of it. His eyes widened as Mangetsu swung for him, and his arms swelled. As much as Omoi would've preferred to dodge it, he could not do so unbalanced and instead positioned his blade in a desperate guard. Mangetsu chuckled gleefully as he slammed into his hasty guard. Once again, Omoi was rag-dolled by pure force; he flew through the air before tumbling hard into the ground. The force of which propelled him sliding roughly into the small river. Mangetsu lazily stalked forth as a wet and beaten Omoi climbed out of the river. He calmly raised his blade, Omoi turned and raised a hand as if to try to catch the blade. Mangetsu smiled and thrust cruelly into Omoi's back. Mangetsu was shocked as Omoi suddenly burst into lightning. He cried out in pain as the bolts flew through him. He stumbled back, seemingly smoking from the heat. Omoi burst from the river with a smile.
"Rather be paranoid than an arrogant fool!" Omoi taunted as he slashed Mangetsu in half.
'Shame but good strike all the same.' Kakashi thought with some level of discomfort.
Omoi sighed as he prepared to sheath his blade before suddenly dropping and rolling, narrowly avoiding another thrust from Mangetsu. 'WHAT!' Omoi thought as he rolled to his feet and eyed his opponent. Only his training kept him from fully panicking as he eyed his opponent and realized his newest quirk.
Mangetsu marched forward, aiming his blade toward Omoi; the oddity was that the thin trail of water connected his two halves. The legs walked as if nothing was different, leading up into the trail, which waved throughout the air into his upper torso. "You hit me." He said simply. "Time to make do with my end of the deal."
"How are you?" Omoi asked confused.
"My clan, the Hozuki clan, is rather unique. Our bloodline allows us to fully liquify our bodies. Hard to hurt a liquid you know."
The watery part of his body suddenly bubbled before several more water bullets shot from it. Omoi surged forward, desperate to end the match before the opponent could utilize his full power.
"Cloud Style: Crescent Moon Beheading!" Omoi called, slashing through each with a pink trail and into Mangetsu. Magetsu chuckled as the blade parted through his watery body harmlessly before suddenly becoming nothing but water and wrapping around Omoi with shocking speed.
"Sorry, but the fun part is over." Mangetsu said with a smirk. His head formed out of water drifting above the struggling Omoi. "This is my Water Style: Anaconda Vice. Surrender, or I'll slowly crush you to death."
"Y-you know my sensei used to warn me of a s-siutation like this." Omoi grunted as his bones grated together. "No pain, no g-gain."
"Sound useless-" Mangetsu, this time, was cut off as Omoi screamed.
"You're weak to lightning style! Let's see if you can tank this, too! Lightning Style: Thunderous Strike!" Mangetsu's eyes widened, and before he could remove himself from Omoi, lightning boomed, a large bolt suddenly slammed down from the sky completely covering both in count slamming into both, frying them painfully as they cried in painful harmony. Mangetsu's form seemed to soften, becoming gel-like as he oozed to the ground. Omoi's body smoked his outfit, and his skin was burnt in patches. Omoi croaked as he collapsed onto the ground. 'Sorry to let you down, Bee Sensei.' Was his last thought as consciousness overtook him.
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Kakashi winced as he checked on the downed form of Omoi. He knew of the jutsu he used, a powerful one, to be sure. It had taken a level of guts he hadn't known the young man had. And if memory serves…
He observed as the gooey form of Mangetsu started to slowly rise, forming an old mimicry of Mangetsu as if he were made of slime.
Yep, good old Hozuki clan. In the last war, they had managed a heavy body count. Weak to lightning as they were, it was meaningless if not done well and taken advantage of properly. While doubtless, Omoi had brought Mangetsu to a weakened state, he had not come close to defeating him. It had been wise of him to notice electricity was the trick, yet to do something so risky was almost undoubtedly foolish. A shame the young man likely would not be praised for his performance.
He watched as Mangetsu struggled to release his technique. He knew they took a while to resolve once they received a strong shock. He figured the boy would be unhappy with his performance as well. He supposed there were always awkward fights in the exams. He remembered Gai accidentally knocking out Kurenai while in a Genjutsu. This felt similar to that.
"The winner of the match! Mangetsu Hozuki!" There was a polite level of applause. The mist roared their approval; he was known as one of their champions. Kakashi supposed their propaganda was going well.
As Mangetsu marched off the field, he handed a card to Kakashi. He glanced at it, seeing a mailing location. "If any of you change your mind." Mangetsu said briefly as he marched on. Kakashi frowned, having heard the offer from Hiruzen earlier. It was odd, but he supposed harmless; they were desperate for help. They suffered greatly if even half the rumors he had heard were true.