As soon as the referee began to lower his arm, Senju's arms tightened and he leapt forward in a single burst, leaving a large chakra hole behind him. Unfortunately, despite the unexpected start, his opponent was not confused and began to act as well, albeit a few moments too late. Securely held in the genin's hands, the fan went backwards for a swing, simultaneously opening up.
But Takahashi was already close, and it was that couple of moments that made the difference - the Suna-nin simply didn't have time to use his weapon up close. The wind that had begun to rise remained a light breeze, not turning into a crushing and cutting barrage. Senju wrenched the fan out of his opponent's hands with a short thrust of his palm, and with his other hand, he slammed it into the solar plexus of the genin who had no time to react.
The resounding sound of the blow and the barely perceptible shuddering of the arena made his power felt, reminding me of a single confrontation between Tsunade and Jiraiya at the hospital. Even if it was only a poor imitation of the technique, it was enough - Senju didn't even do anything else. He simply removed his hand and stepped aside, and the Suna-nin stood for a few moments before falling face-first. I bet all his insides turned to mush, and death was instantaneous.
- The winner is Senju Takahashi! - the referee, who had not even had time to leave the arena, announced to the near silence of the audience.
Well, it was time for the final battle.
***
As I expected, no one arranged an additional break for the participants before the final battle - the third stage had already lasted more than half a day and Kage Suna did not want to delay the important guests even more. So as soon as the loser's body was taken out of the arena, the kunoichi was immediately summoned. Given that both finalists looked shabby and rather tired, it was not worth it to expect an exemplary fight.
- The final battle! Tsugumi Taishi, Kumogakure no Sato, versus Takahashi Senju, Konohagakure no Sato! - announced the referee, turning to each side of the podium in turn.
Whoa, looks like the girl's a clan girl - as much as I wasn't interested in other assassin settlements, I'd heard of one of the major cloud clans. At least now I could see how she'd made it to the finals, and where she'd gotten a reserve capable of competing with the Senju standing in front of her.
However, now that I saw them side by side, it was clear that the kunoichi was a year or two older than her opponent, and therefore more experienced. In any case, after Takahashi's last fight, she'd brought out a vakizashi, though she'd been using a short tanto, kunai and shuriken before. And rightly so - after the demonstrated strength, only an idiot or a suicidal person would let the guy come within a short distance, because it would be enough to get one blow and life could be waved goodbye.
Of course, a normal man wouldn't be killed in such a way, but fractures and internal injuries would be guaranteed for sure. It's a pity that Senju's chances of winning the fight aren't very high - given his specialization in taijutsu and his tendency to dōton, an opponent armed with a long sword and a rayton elemental is the most uncomfortable, unless the guy has a trump card or two behind his back.
- Hajime!
The genin jumped as far away from each other as they could and began folding their hand seals, deciding to start with ninjutsu. A sensible decision, especially if everyone was wary of letting their opponents get close. But the kunoichi had a clear advantage in the elements, and it was unclear what Senju was hoping for.
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