The latter had no choice but to raise his Doton in front of him for protection: a Doryu Heki of considerable thickness, as he could not get out of the range of the shells. The shells that slammed into the earthen wall went in deep, but only caused it to crack rather than penetrate through as one might expect. Still, even the vulnerability of an element was often compensated for by the amount of chakra invested.
Except Tsugumi hadn't counted on a positive result - this was just a maneuver designed to buy some time. After a couple of jumps to the opposite side of the arena, the kunoichi began to quickly stack many seals, creating a chain of at least three dozen, on the last of which she spat out a blob of lightning that transformed into a large cat, most reminiscent of a miniature Matatabi with only one tail.
It was a strong move, even despite the fact that the technique had to be controlled by himself, judging by Taishi's concentration seal, but watching from above, I could see the guy's tactics also taking advantage of his opponent's disappearance from view.
But he was still surprised when the nearly two-meter tall cat rammed into the defenses and tried to bite its head off, or at least get a paw on it. Senju only managed to jump back, firing a couple of kunai in its direction, and then began to make his feet, speeding up his movements with chakra - the jutsu was very fast and practically stepped on his heels, not even giving him time to concentrate to fight back or turn towards his creator.
As I watched the guy, who had developed a decent speed even for a chunin, and the lightning-fast cat, which was losing in size but accelerating noticeably, I raised my eyebrows in surprise when a dazzling beam, more like a laser than a rayton technique, suddenly struck from the latter's open mouth.
The fugitive who had been shot in the back could only cry out in pain, but Kumo didn't have time to realize her victory, because at that very moment, her hands came out of the ground at her feet and closed around her ankles. Tsugumi shrieked and lost her concentration, but it was too late to do anything about it. She was instantly pulled under the ground up to her neck, and a few seconds later, a dirty but unharmed Senju came to the surface. The doppelganger that had dissipated by this point clearly showed the kage's use of bunshin.
It's a smart tactic to leave the bait while no one sees it, and then use Moguragakure no Jutsu and Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu to catch it at the most unexpected moment when the clone's opponent is celebrating victory. One of Iwagakure no Sato's favorite tactics, adopted by our not-so-numerous Dotons as well.
All Senju had to do for the final victory was put a kunai to the tired kunoichi's throat as the referee jumped down from the wall.
- The winner of the final battle was Takahaji Senju!
The stands erupted in rapturous applause, and the winner could only smile weakly and stubbornly stay on his feet, although it was obvious that he was standing upright solely by sheer willpower. In fact, that was the end of the examination.
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