Shinzo vs Yaboi vs Ryo [Final Round - Student Tournament]

[Uchiha Takeshi]

It seemed that the finals had come over quickly, with the wait time between the fights and the students having lost a few drew to withdrawal this left one single option inside of the tournament it would seem. It was the option that had everyone talking and something that would see who truly was the best fighting out there now, the three remaining fighters had been summoned to the arena at the same time, each of them had a purpose a goal if you would to make sure that they pushed themselves threw to the final and now the victory would be in their sight, the question is who would be the one that came out of this with the win.

Shinzo who had been ruthlessly efficient in the last round and had managed to secure his place in the final threw hard effort even if the fight had become a longer one that most people would have expected. Though it seemed he had guts and that might be just enough to get him threw this fight, though skill was also to play. It seemed that a few of the crowd were already placing bets on him, though would that be a wise situation considering the odds seemed pretty even spread among all three of the fighters that had managed to secure a place in the final, they now had to prove themselves in the eyes of the crowd.

Yaboi seemed to have been the underdog that everyone was still talking about how he had managed to get threw round by round was still something that people wanted to find out the question here was would it be told, or would that secret remain a mystery into the final round as well, though people were waiting it was also down to the third and final fighter to arrive their name on the boards as well it seemed that they had managed to make it into the finals. With changes and altercations that had come up it seemed that all three of them would be in a final show down for the place of champion inside of the tournament.

It seemed that the crowds where gathering early and people where making their way around trying to get the best seats in the house, while inside of the arena people have been spending the night making it an interesting battle ground, four elements stood out for the combatants. Water, sand, forest and fire. Though it seemed that these were more here for the looks than to do anything they had potential of being used to their advantage.

Now all that needed to happen was the three fighters walk out into this arena, this would be the final day of the tournament and a champion would walk away from this final match up. But the question that everyone had been talking about was who would that champion be, would they still be standing, or would this fight also cause them to fall as well. There was only one way to find out and that was prove themselves inside of combat.

 

[Minamoto Daisuke]

Things had really flown by for Shinzo, what with his recent win by specific circumstances and then the withdrawal of Suyashi. It was a shame, he had been looking forward to fighting him but it seemed as though fate would not have that happen yet. He sat quietly on his own in the room that he had been allocated to prepare in, just down the hallway was the entrance to the arena but now wasn’t the time to move. Instead he simply sat and organised his equipment on the bench next to him, butterfly swords lay glimmering in the limited light, their edges now fine razors of metal. Senbon shaped as though they were feathers rested in a small pile on top of his hand wrappings. His thin armour shirt draped over the bench, laying heavily off each side as gravity pulled the edges that flowed over from the bench surface to the floor. Upon that rested his new sleeveless shirt, this one held two shades of blue the lighter of which formed a T shape on the lower torso.

Shinzo rested with his head in his hands as he contemplated his last fight, what could have been different and how lucky he actually was. The boy had heard whispers of support as he made his way in earlier that day, of course he was grateful, but he could feel the pressure mounting. The shirtless boy sat up and looked down to his right shoulder, he had just changed the bandages which were hiding and helping to nurse the large patches of burnt skin that were bestowed upon him by Juko in their last fight. His left index finger moved to gently prod the tender area, to which Shinzo was greeted by a burst of searing pain, he had hoped that the injury would clear up by now but his grimacing face told the true story of how that recovery was going. In reality the memories of his fight with Juko brought on such respect for his rival, the magnitude and variety of jutsu cast down upon him by the blonde haired boy was awe inspiring for Shinzo, now that he had time to reflect on it. Such ninjutsu usage was something to strive for. There was a sense that he would face similar things again, having watched the previous fights he was sure that there would be a variety of jutsu headed his way.

Yaboi and Ryo. He knew the boys from several encounters, they were his classmates after all, and it wasn’t too hard to pick up on the bond the two shared. Inside he felt a little bit bad for the pair, they wanted to fight one and other but now they’d have to put up with Shinzo’s presence. This would indeed be an experience for all three of the boys but Shinzo felt that the match could very well turn into a two versus one if he was not careful. The friendship that Ryo and Yaboi had was something to envy, they were true friends in Shinzo’s eyes, neither of them seemed to be explicitly working to be the best of the pair, instead it was like they sought to improve with one and other. Like brothers in a sense. The two easily had what it would take to work together, if only Shinzo had that. Instead he just had his speed and that would be what he would rely on once more.

With a definitive motion Shinzo placed both palms onto the bench and pushed himself up. He stood with hands on his hips as he looked down towards his equipment. All seemed in order. The first things to be picked up were the armour and tank top, swiftly Shinzo put them both on over his head. The metallic undershirt was then tucked into his shorts while the tank top was allowed to remain untucked and flowing. Two senbon were taken from the pile and placed neatly into Shinzo’s brown hair, at this point he hadn’t had it cut for a little while and so his fringe covered his forehead. The rest of the senbon were placed into several small pouched and pockets that dotted around his shorts. The boy reached down the for gleaming butterfly swords which lay upon the bench, he observed their sharp edges for a brief moment before joining the two forearm length swords together and placing them in the dark brown sheath that sat on his lower back. Finally, the boy moved to pick up his hand wrappings, this was a fresh pair that was being saved for a special occasion. There was nothing especially interesting about them apart from the fact they were barely used. He began to weave them over his hands, wrists and forearms though they stopped short of his elbows. His fingers moved to pull on the cotton in order to make sure that it was as tight as possible without cutting off blood circulation, to Shinzo though, the tighter the wrappings were the readier he was to face a challenge.

His frame moved silently over to a small sink, quickly turning the cold tap on. The boy brought both hands under the flowing water until it pooled in his palms, then with a sudden burst of energy he thrust the water back into his face and over the top of his head. He used his now wet hands to wipe his eyes before moving his fingers to run backwards through his hair and force it into a slightly more styled position, revealing his bare forehead. Shinzo looked up to the mirror hanging above the sink, meeting the gaze of his own reflection. His green eyes began burning with what some could call a fire. The will of fire.

He turned on the spot and moved towards the doorway, making his way through the tunnel out to the arena. The boy bowed his head to the ANBU that guarded the entrance, he felt it needless to introduce himself now considering the circumstances at hand. He felt the crowd silence as he stepped out into the now vastly different arena, though only for a moment before their roaring cheers sounded again. A gust of wind blew through the trees, causing the fire to dance, the water to ripple and a small dust cloud to glide over the floor. This was indeed different and in anticipation of the upcoming conflict, Shinzo made a mental note of the terrain and began to formulate uses for the environment. The seikon child walked towards the centre of the arena to meet with the referee and wait for the other competitors to arrive, he gave a bow towards the official and then one towards the crowd before finally bowing towards the branch representatives and the Hokage assuming she was there at this time. He followed his display of respect with a broad wave towards the crowd, while this was a serious competition he did want to make sure they were all entertained too. That was the least he could do in return for their support.

It seemed as though he was the first of the competitors to walk into the arena, and it was for that reason that Shinzo’s anticipation grew. The gentle breeze occasionally lifted the hemming of his top as well as the ends of his hair, it still remained pushed back on his head. Occasionally his eyes would flick to the other entrances to the arena, ready to catch the arrival of his opponents.

[Topic entered]
WC: 1255

 

[Kenroujima]

Time had passed and the gate from which Yaboi would walk through did not open. There was no sign of the young academy student at all around the tournament grounds, he was a no show; a coward. In truth Yaboi had been at home resting, his room locked up tight. He had been at his desk with a blanket covering him as he tried and tried again to write out some form of letter to hand in to explain his absence from the tournament. He had written a few of these letters but crumpled them up for one reason or another and had them lay about his room like clutter. A frown had been plastered on his face for awhile but he continued in his attempts at writing, looking over the newest written work.

"To everyone that took the time to attend the tournament, sorry! I can't do it. I'm not fit to take part in this tournament and I can't waste more of everyones time. Most importantly I'm sorry to Shinzo, I feel bad to do this to him in the finals of all things. There is one big reason why I am not going to the final round of the tournament, why I am not participating. Ryo and I were ambushed by an insane swordsman with a wicked blade. I don't know why he attacked us, honestly and we had our suspicions on why he was there because we've never seen him before at all. I thought we had everything under control as we were able to whittle the guy down slowly but upon our final attack to defend ourselves, before the dust had settled it all happened so quickly. I think he blew himself up and we were caught in the blast, Ryo had taken the worst of it and he wasn't even conscious. I couldn't do anything, it was all my fault. A real shinobi wouldn't have let that happen and a better teammate would have been able to help his comrade more. Worst of all I haven't told anyone of this and brought Ryo home instead of to the hospital, I was scared. Scared we would get in trouble and afraid this would ruin my friends dream of becoming a shinobi. I can't call myself a shinobi, I can't attend this tournament with a fake smile and try to ignore my wounds to have a chance at being picked by a branch. I failed my best friend. Sorry."

Tears began to build up in the young boy's eyes, the traumatic experience shattering what little confidence he had. He crumpled up the letter in frustration and tossed it over his shoulder, sprawling out over his desk with a shaky sigh 'What a pain..'. There would be no letter sent, there would be no sudden arrival.

Spoiler

Sorry to everyone that took the time to get this event going and those that took part. To those that had a vested interest in the outcome of the student tournament and were hoping for a grand finale, sorry. Sorry that this took so long to get done Shinzo, I was hoping to get some sort of medical thread up earlier but due to my own negligence and lack of drive I never got around to it. Originally I was planning on forfeiting the 1v1 with Ryo if he'd of allowed me to, Yaboi's interest in the tournament and IC motivation was to inflict a poison on all four classmates that took part in Mikasa's poison class because of the irony. Not everything can go as planned though and RP is what it is at the end of the day, RP. Sorry once again everyone, I hope this upsets as few people as possible.

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

It seemed that out of all three of the competitors that they had only one had made it to the final, though people came to watch the fight the respect that this man had earned and the dedication and time that had seen him come this far was outstanding on a different level. It seemed that the judge had decided as he looked down at his clock then back up checking around to see if anything or anyone was turning up before turning to the box and nodding it seemed that he had decided enough time had passed stepping forward to Shinzo he allowed a welcoming smile to come to his lips.

“It seems that fate has decided a winner for the first student tournament, let it be known that the official winner of this tournament, and Student Champion goes to Shinzo!”

It seemed that the man’s voice boomed from around the walls the crowd cheering and welcoming the outcome of the winner, it seemed that they had selected their winner and the votes had been cast. From this day forth Shinzo had made it to the top, he had finally come out where others fell by the side he had proven himself and now stood in the middle of the arena a champion.

[Winner of Student Tournament: Shinzo!!!]
[Topic Left]