The arena was drenched in seconds as the skies opened up, rain pouring down as if rushing to aid the one who could command water at will.
The downpour didn't strengthen Kaoru in the literal sense, but at that moment, he could swear each droplet that struck the ground filled him with renewed energy—the exact strength he needed to defeat Itachi.
Ordinary spectators did not understand the shift in the atmosphere. But to the shinobi watching, everything was clear. Kaoru had just received the greatest advantage possible. Even a regular Water Release user became exponentially stronger with a natural water source nearby, but Kaoru wasn't ordinary. With his ability to manipulate water as if it were an extension of himself…
Itachi wasn't just fighting an opponent anymore. He was fighting an octopus in the water, maybe even a small kraken.
For the first time since the tournament began, Itachi felt something unfamiliar - doubt.
'What do I do now? If I give him even a moment to take control of the battlefield, this fight is over.'
Even when he realized he lacked a technique strong enough to break Water Guardian, he had never once doubted his victory.
But now… the situation had changed.
Still, Itachi wasn't the type to surrender. If he was going to lose, it would be after giving it everything he had.
Itachi inhaled deeply, his Sharingan spinning rapidly as he assessed the battlefield.
Water pooled in every part of the arena, forming an ever-expanding network of Kaoru's influence. With each passing second, the rain continued to fall, strengthening his opponent's ability to manipulate the terrain.
'I can't let him take control.'
There was only one path to victory - unrelenting pressure.
Before Kaoru could seize the moment, Itachi flickered forward, closing the distance in a blur. A handful of kunai shot from his fingers. But Kaoru was already reacting.
With a subtle shift of his fingers, the puddles at his feet surged upward. Thin walls of water intercepted the kunai mid-air, knocking them aside before they could reach him.
Itachi wasn't fazed. He had expected that.
His hands blurred through another set of seals.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Small, rapid fireballs burst from his mouth, weaving unpredictably toward Kaoru. But unlike before, this time, he didn't stop. The instant the flames left his lips, he moved again - wires glinting between his fingers.
Kaoru's Suijingan flared as he tracked both the fireballs and the hidden danger behind them.
'He's trying to divide my attention - fire in front, wires behind.'
Instead of dodging, Kaoru extended his hand.
"Water Release: Water Wall!"
A thick column of water surged upward, dousing the incoming flames instantly. But the moment the fire vanished, Kaoru's instincts screamed at him.
The wires had already wrapped around his legs.
'Shit!'
Itachi didn't waste time. With a sharp tug, the wires snapped tight, pulling Kaoru off balance. He twisted midair, trying to reposition. But Itachi was already there.
A shadow clone flickered beside him, kunai in hand, slashing straight for Kaoru's exposed side.
Kaoru forced the water around him to surge, breaking the wires just in time. His foot barely touched the ground before he retaliated.
"Lingering Death!"
Water needles shot out like homing missiles. Itachi's clone didn't stand a chance… the moment the first needle pierced it, it vanished in a puff of smoke.
But the real Itachi had never stopped moving.
Kaoru barely had time to register the faint splash of footsteps behind him before Itachi launched another wave of kunai.
This time, Kaoru didn't try to block them. Instead, he moved with the water.
The puddles at his feet surged, propelling him sideways in an unnatural glide.
The kunai sailed past harmlessly.
The audience gasped.
"Did he just… slide?"
"He's riding the water? That's insane!"
From the stands, Fugaku Uchiha watched with a sharp gaze. He had known Kaoru was dangerous, but this level of control? He was treating the battlefield like a living extension of himself.
"Itachi," Fugaku muttered under his breath, "you need to finish this before he fully adapts."
Back on the battlefield, Kaoru skidded to a stop, his feet barely making contact with the soaked arena. His breathing was steady, but he knew this pace couldn't last forever.
Itachi had more chakra than him. More endurance.
He could keep this up longer.
Kaoru needed to turn the tables.
His fingers twitched, the rain responding instantly. The water gathering beneath Itachi's feet shifted, forming thin, unstable tentacles.
Itachi's Sharingan noticed the changes immediately before tentacles could fully form.
'He's trying to disrupt my footing.'
Rather than let Kaoru take control, he acted first.
"Fire Release: Dragon Breath Jutsu!"
A long but thin, twisting stream of fire rushed forward, cutting through the rain like a spear of molten heat.
Kaoru's Suijingan gleamed.
Instead of forming a defensive water wall, he did something different.
The rain itself moved.
Hundreds of tiny droplets swirled together mid-air, forming a spiraling counterforce of water against the incoming flames.
The two techniques clashed, steam exploded outward in all directions, obscuring the battlefield in thick mist.
The crowd gasped, their vision blocked by the sheer force of the collision.
For a few seconds, nothing was visible.
Then a shadow flickered within the mist.
Kaoru's senses flared.
A kunai slashed forward.
Kaoru reacted instantly - his left arm shifted like liquid, molding a thin layer of water to deflect the blade. The kunai skidded off, missing his side by inches.
The audience gasped.
"He just used water like… armor?!"
"This is insane!"
Kaoru barely had time to think before another attack came. A spinning kick aimed at his shoulder. But instead of blocking, he let the water pull him back, sliding effortlessly across the soaked battlefield.
'This is getting out of hand. I need to take control of the fight.'
Even before his momentum stopped, Kaoru's fingers twitched. The rain shifted.
"Lingering Death!"
Dark-blue needles materialized mid-air, launching toward Itachi in rapid succession. The sudden barrage forced him to retreat, flickering backward to avoid getting pinned down.
But Itachi wasn't about to let Kaoru take control.
The moment he reappeared, his hands had already finished weaving seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
This time, the flames roared larger, hotter, stronger.
Kaoru's eyes widened.
'Shit. He's forcing a direct chakra clash. Since he has more chakra than me, he doesn't care how much he burns through. I'll be the one who runs out first!'
If Kaoru kept playing defensively, he'd lose. But he had no intention of playing Itachi's game.
He flicked his wrist, shaping a thin, high-density water wall, just enough to block the flames without wasting unnecessary energy.
But Itachi wasn't just trying to overpower him.
He was creating an opening.
The moment the fireball met the water, a massive cloud of dense steam erupted between them.
Kaoru's Suijingan flared, he could still see movement, but visibility was low because of all the water in the air.
Then… a flicker. Itachi rushed through the steam. A handful of shuriken tore toward Kaoru at high speed.
Kaoru had already seen this trick before. Instead of deflecting them, he stopped them completely with thin water disks, freezing them mid-air.
But Itachi wasn't using wires this time. His real goal was already in motion. Kaoru's heart pounded as he saw the faint flicker of chakra flow increasing around Itachi's eyes.
Itachi was already in front of him.
Close. Too close.
And he was looking for his gaze.
Kaoru's mind snapped into focus.
'He's trying to put me under genjutsu!'
Did the Suijingan grant any resistance to illusions?
Kaoru didn't know. And he wasn't about to find out.
'Screw this, I'm going all out.'
His chakra flared.
The water beneath Itachi's feet shifted instantly, tendrils surging up like living creatures. A water tentacle wrapped around him, locking his limbs in place.
Kaoru smirked internally. 'The closer the water is to me, the faster I can control it.'
Without hesitation, he launched a volley of water needles, aiming for Itachi's limbs to cripple his movement.
But Itachi was already adapting.
A kunai flashed in his hand - one clean slice, and the tentacle was severed.
Just as he moved to flicker away a single needle pierced his left leg. It wasn't a deep wound, but the moment it hit, a sharp, weighty pressure spread through his limb. The pain wasn't the worst part though. It felt like a heavy, razor-sharp weight had slammed into him.
For the first time since the fight began, Itachi was the one who needed to create distance. His mind raced as he flickered backward.
'I won't be able to move as freely like this… Now it's me who has to maintain distance.'
Still, his expression remained completely neutral.
The crowd exploded into cheers. At this point, no one cared who won anymore. Well, almost no one.
"These kids are insane."
"This is chunin level?! No way, right?"
Fugaku's expression was a mixture of pride and conflict. His son had never faced an opponent like this before.
"Is this kid really from some remote village?" he muttered to himself. If an Uchiha lost to some obscure shinobi from Takimura, it would be a shame. But if that shinobi was Kaoru…? It was different.
For the first time, Fugaku considered something he had never thought possible. Itachi might lose.
Meanwhile, in the stands, Maki and Guy were practically bouncing in place. Victory was close. Very close.
Itachi's mind was racing. Fire attacks wouldn't be enough. He had one chance left. After that, Kaoru would definitely bombard him with more needles.
And with his injured leg, he wouldn't be able to dodge them all.
'Whatever. I'll try. If it fails, it fails.'
He inhaled sharply. Since witnessing Toji vs. Akane, Itachi had been experimenting with a Yin-Yang chakra combination.
He had succeeded a few times on smaller scales…
But it was unstable. Imperfect. He couldn't precisely control the balance of Yin and Yang in his chakra, and he had never used it in an actual battle.
But he had to try. He flickered through rapid hand seals.
"Fire Release: Enhanced Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The massive fireball erupted from his mouth, but something was different.
It wasn't just bigger. The flames themselves had changed. Yellow and white hues flickered through the fire, making it look almost unnatural. It didn't appear more menacing, but it radiated power.
Kaoru's eyes sharpened.
'Something new? Alright, let's counter it.'
His chakra flared. The rain around him responded instantly. A huge water sphere formed, its density slightly increased - but this was Kaoru's limit.
He couldn't reinforce it any further. His chakra reserves were running low. His Suijingan control was beginning to strain.
'I can already imagine the pain after this fight… but the win is worth it.'
The arena held its breath as the two techniques collided.
Fire vs. Water.
Itachi had poured everything into this last attack.
But… His technique wasn't stable.
The moment the fireball clashed with the dense water sphere, it began to deform. Itachi's technique was strong, strong enough to stop the water.
But it wasn't strong enough to break through. Kaoru exhaled, watching as the flames fizzled out.
'If this technique had worked properly… my technique might not have been enough.'
He turned his gaze to Itachi, only to see he was already forming another set of hand seals.
This time, Kaoru didn't just prepare one water sphere.
He shaped several.
If this was going to be the final exchange, he was going to make it grand.
A battle worthy of this fight.
But suddenly a throbbing pain shot through his head. His vision blurred. Kaoru's fingers trembled as his eyes lost focus.
'No. Not now. Please… not now!'
A sharp, piercing ache spiked through his skull.
His hands shot up, clutching his head, squeezing in a futile attempt to stop the pain.
The Suijingan's glow flickered. And in that moment, Itachi moved.
He flickered beside Kaoru, kunai whipping toward his shoulder in a final, decisive strike.
The spectators were on their feet, no one could remain seated. As Itachi's kunai cut through the air, the entire crowd fell silent. People held their breath, afraid to blink, afraid to miss even a second. Everyone thought Kaoru had lost.
But…
'I won't go down like this.'
A surge of sheer willpower forced Kaoru to push through the pain. His eyes regained focus. The glow of the Suijingan flared back to life.
A water disk materialized in an instant, blocking Itachi's kunai just before impact. Kaoru was still crouched, struggling to move, but against an opponent with no chakra left and a practically useless leg, that was enough.
He could still fight. He shaped two needles, he couldn't form more. With the last of his strength, he launched them. Both needles struck their mark - piercing Itachi's shoulders.
The Uchiha genius grunted, his body jerking slightly from the impact. But the one who hit the ground was Kaoru.
His body finally gave out. The pain was too much. His chakra was drained. His vision blurred once more, and he collapsed.
Itachi didn't move. He couldn't.
Even if he wanted to.
Then a sharp crack split the air. Like lightning striking the earth.
And in the next blink, Maki was already there. She stood beside Kaoru, her face unreadable as she lifted him in a swift, practiced motion and vanished.
No one resented her for it.
No one thought ill of Maki.
No one thought ill of Kaoru.
No one thought ill of Takimura.
And no one thought ill of Itachi Uchiha.
Because this… This was the greatest fight the spectators had ever witnessed in this very arena. The day Uchiha Itachi nearly lost to a kid from a remote village.
The crowd did not cheer.
They did not make obnoxious noise.
Instead, a single pair of hands clapped.
Then another.
Then another.
Until a slow, steady applause spread through the entire stadium.
This was not a celebration. This was respect. Respect for two children who had pushed themselves beyond their limits. Who had truly gone all out.
But the one feeling the strongest emotions was Itachi. He stared at the ground, his breath steady, but his mind racing.
'I lost.'
If Kaoru had been an enemy…
If this had been a real battle…
He would be dead.
'He didn't aim for fatal points…'
Itachi's fists clenched slightly.
This fight was over.
But the lesson it had given him would last forever.
**
A/N -
And with that, the Chunin Exam arc comes to an end.
Let me know in the comments what you thought about the arc as a whole - your feedback will help me improve the quality of the novel moving forward.
I wrote the last two chapters non-stop to maintain the vibe and emotion I wanted to deliver, but now… I'm just as exhausted as Kaoru, it's 5 a.m. xD
Hope you all have a great day/evening!
Character Notes:
Kaoru - Happy - "He is a true monster"
Itachi - Happy - "He is a true monster"
**