Suguru was mistaken.
Given how Sunagakure's citizens continued to live their lives unhindered, the bloody morning had been thoroughly buried. Only a select few people were aware of the assassinations.
'What insane control over its people,' Suguru thought.
Though Iwagakure was no longer present due to unforeseen circumstances, the chuunin exams were pushed through without any delays.
Suguru glanced at the genin who were eligible for participation.
'It's just Suna and Konoha?' His eyes widened upon realizing this. 'Had someone killed both genin from Iwa, the one from Ame, and the one from Kusa as well?'
It seemed like Sunagakure was going to take a hit either way.
While the genins from the other villages went to the stands, the last eight genins were directed to the arena area below.
Six from Suna and two from Konoha.
It was going to be a battle dominated by Sunagakure, it seemed.
A Suna-nin flickered beside the eight genins. He spoke to them with a dull voice.
"Since there are so few of you, the fights will be an eight-player round-robin and the finals would be between the top four." He said, "There will be a five-minute break before each fight. Winning will give you three points. A draw will give you two. Losing will leave you with only one."
The Suna-nin wrote something on a pad. "The rankings will be updated after the round-robin. Now, here is the first line of match-ups."
[1st Round]
[Hiryu Suguru vs Hyuga Ryoko]
[Tanji Kazuhiro vs Makino Shigure]
[Hattori Daisuke vs Nakahara Asami]
[Tsukamoto Kaori vs Kimura Yoshi]
"Hiryu Suguru and Hyuga Ryoko, please stay behind. The rest may proceed to the waiting rooms."
***
"So," Ryoko was the first one to speak, oozing with confidence. "Hiryu Suguru... I've never heard of your clan before."
Suguru didn't reply and merely stared into Ryoko's white eyes, eliciting a frown from the latter.
"Do you not know how to talk?"
"..."
Suguru continued to stare.
Seeing the two Konoha-nins engage in a rather heated exchange of arrogance, the audience of genins and a few Suna citizens chuckled. They were quite amused to see that Konoha's shinobi didn't seem to get along as well as their Will of Fire always dictated.
The village's peace-loving nature wasn't reflected in the eyes of their youth.
The presiding referee did not care about such things. All he wished to do was finish his job and get paid.
Thus, he yelled, "Begin!"
***
Suguru was the first to move. He dashed forward at a believable speed and struck with his palm. The way he attacked made Ryoko's eyes shrink in surprise.
"Gentle Fist?" She gasped as she moved to defend.
—Thwack!
However, Suguru's leg landed even before his palm in an impressive feat of flexibility. Ryoko staggered as the kick struck her thigh. Suguru's palm then swiftly found its spot, blasting into the Hyuga's stomach.
Although Suguru didn't have his Byakugan active and he couldn't target Ryoko's tenketsu, this blow struck the Hyuga's pride.
Hyuga Kyou, who was watching from the stands raised a brow.
Suguru's fighting style then shifted, growing more aggressive. His palm strikes slowly transitioned into brutal fists and sharp chops.
Ryoko was unable to adapt to the changes in Suguru's style. She, who was used to sparring with other Hyugas, suddenly found herself unable to react to the ever-changing strikes.
Various Taijutsu techniques blossomed out of Suguru's fists and feet. In one second, he whirled around, striking with his knees and elbows. In the next, his fists struck in a straight unyielding line.
It was an inspiring display of Taijutsu as Ryoko did her best to parry and block — never able to find an opening to exploit for fear of some other technique returning to her as a counter to her counter.
Bruises were slowly accumulating on Ryoko's body as she blocked another one of Suguru's roundhouse kicks with her arm.
—Thud!
'Heavy!'
Suguru suddenly disengaged. His hands came together and formed seals.
'Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!'
A raging fireball then rolled towards Ryoko, lacking any mercy in its devastation. Dodging to her side, Ryoko poured chakra into her feet.
Then, her speed increased as she flickered to Suguru's side.
Suguru's use of Ninjutsu created an opening that Ryoko was happy to make use of. She struck with her fingers, aiming for the former's tenketsu. However—
Suguru vanished from her sight, reappearing behind her.
Ryoko only noticed his approach because of her Byakugan.
"So fast!"
Another gasp escaped her lips as Suguru once again used the Gentle Fist. He slammed a palm onto Ryoko's chest. The Hyuga was unable to block this one, and the wind was forced out of her lungs.
"Ack—!"
Suguru didn't stop. He grabbed Ryoko's wrist with one hand and tucked his other arm underneath her armpit. Then, he spun and pulled the girl over his head.
A bit of Earth's martial arts began to bleed into his Taijutsu. A Judo Waza was weaved seamlessly into his fighting style.
'Ippon-seoi-nage,'
"Disappointing," Suguru sighed as he slammed Ryoko into the sand.
"Cough!" Saliva flew out of her mouth as her rib cage threatened to break.
Suguru then pinned her down with an arm lock — with both his legs twisting around her shoulder and neck.
"Surrender or I'll break your arm." Suguru's voice was filled with boredom.
"Cough! Cough! I surrender!"
Ryoko was having a hard time breathing. Judo was a dangerous martial art when used with such aggressiveness. This was why it was usually practiced with discipline — the thrower always had to guide his opponent to avoid any dangerous injuries.
In the shinobi world, however, Suguru didn't have to care about his opponent's state after the throw. He could break their bones or suffocate them whenever he wanted.
Standing up, Suguru heard the Suna-nin's announcement.
"Winner, Hiryu Suguru!"
The crowd was astounded. They had not expected the famed Hyuga clan to suffer such a humiliating defeat to one of the village's own shinobi. Suguru's movements were efficient, akin to a mechanical machine.
Each shift in his fighting style was made to confuse the opponent and force them into a passive state. Without enough knowledge of each Taijutsu style that he displayed, they would be unable to time a counterattack.
Furthermore, Suguru used unfamiliar techniques.
Until one understood how those techniques could be executed, then engaging the boy in close combat was dangerous. With the round-robin setup, any lasting injuries would prove to be detrimental to one's performance.
By forcing his opponent to surrender using such a simple and effective threat, Suguru could preserve both stamina and chakra.
Suguru was thus overwhelmingly victorious.
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