Despite her show of putting a bet on Kouin to win, Shashu's feelings towards this fight were at best described as 'mixed'. On one hand she had little to no respect for the man representing her country, to the point that she had spent the majority of the trip here legitimately wishing Shinbatsu himself would take umbrage at his presence and smite him from the face of the earth. He was an eyesore, a living stain upon the village and the position she held so much respect for. It would please her greatly to see the fool ground into the dust here. Yet, on the other hand, her loyalty to her village bade her to fervently hope that he would emerge victorious. Too much rode on such a simple sparring match for her to bring personal feelings into this. If he lost here it painted their village as weak, and accurate or not that would colour the perceptions of these people. Like it or not, he had to win.
If only the Fayth-cursed idiot hadn't made such a fool of himself, this wouldn't be such a big deal. If he had presented himself as a regular Shinobi it would have been fine, but he just had to brag and showboat. 'Badass leader' indeed.
Still, it wasn't as if her feelings on the matter had any impact on the actual battle. She couldn't intercede without making an even bigger incident unless this Amaya tried to actually kill him, and that left her to watch helplessly as the fool representing their country proceeded to get his ass handed to him by a brick wall. Amaya's sheer physical defenses were impressive all on their own; despite a seeming tactical advantage the few attacks that Kouin managed to land barely left a mark, and even that small amount was negated by her equally impressive regenerative capabilities. Just as with traditional martial combat the only way his 'perfect sword' was going to beat her 'perfect shield' was if he found some way around it, otherwise he was just going to beat himself senseless against it.
Kouin seemed to understand that at least, judging by the fact that he brought out a second path to combat the Stone shinobi, but showed no progress for it. It rankled at Shashu, her fingers itching while her mind ran through all the possible things she could try were she in the same position. That someone holding the position of ANBU Sennin should be caught so thoroughly by such a single-minded defense was downright shameful, and she was not the only one to notice it. Amaya herself, though unaware of his Sennin status, had also expected much more of 'Akashi', disappointment colouring her face as she claimed he was years too early to face her and requested he forfeit until he got stronger. The crowd loved it, jeering and shouting at the statement, though even with how much she hated him Shashu couldn't bring herself to laugh.
This...this is it? This is all you have? To be mocked so by a complete stranger...after all your posturing, this is your strength? How are you not shamed?!
It took every ounce of her composure to maintain her outward appearance against the tide of sheer loathing she felt at that moment, with every fiber of her being screaming for her to take the fool's life and end the embarrassment herself. Somehow she managed to keep herself in check, the casual facade intact. Only through her eyes did she allow herself to express that hatred, staring at Kouin with eyes so cold and dark as to rival the frozen wastes of Kiri itself. She knew he could feel her gaze, and the moment he met her eyes she mouthed a simple message: 'If you lose, I will kill you myself.'
Whether because of her or not Kouin seemed to pull himself back together, his spirits rising as he belted out yet another monologue about the virtues of a man who never gives up. He prepared himself once again with determination written prominently across his face, but Shashu was beyond caring. She leaned forward, eyes fixed on the combatants. All that mattered from here was whether or not he could dig deep enough to win.
[MFT]
It was starting to happen. The lack of chakra and the severe strain that was put on her life force was beginning to take massive effect. She began to stumble and lose footing if only for a moment but that was all it took to lose a battle, a slight mishap, a failure to react, a long blink, all of these were but a moment and in a moment the tides of battle could shift. Her opponents seemed to weaver just a bit as well which was a sigh of relief for Amaya but unfortunately this relief was only for a moment. She watched as Akashi generated a sword out of his lighting element and prepared his resolve. Amaya would step out of the shadows and smile in acknowledgement to his words. As Amaya steadied her blade, she would point it directly at Akashi. She didn't begin to wonder why this whole time Akashi avoided close combat but know gambled a game with odds stacked against him. It was true, his lightening style completely outmatched her earth elemental affinity and so things balanced out again. No one opponent had the advantage over the other. No one opponent had greater resolve or determination than the other. The outcome of this simple sparring match was so black and white that it was unbearable to continue theorizing the lack of solutions to the one equation of who would continue standing after this, was the unstable sword mightier than that of the impenetrable shield? The answer was simple...
The fighting ensued for quite sometime as they would continuously begin to clash and dash upon one another. Zo believed if they truly fought with all their might this would have a clear cut ending but Much to Zo's Surprise this ended with a Clash much like a Shonen battle. With both sides 'refusing' to give up and with the absence of a chance to default to regular character development you resort to that old school mentality of At least the Protagonist didnt lose... but you wish they would've because a tie was a sellout. There were no bragging rights for those who tied... But eh the digression was real. As Zo would nod and look over to Shashu she couldnt deny him and his golden gaze would marvel at who she was...