Crane Wing Triple Strike
The next day, Shirō and the others arrived early at the examination venue for the lot drawing. This time, the rules were simple: after drawing lots, combat would begin immediately, leaving no time for preparation. Being the first to fight was therefore a disadvantage.
Of course, this disadvantage applied to both sides—neither combatant would have prep time.
Before long, the draw results were announced:
Shirō vs. Ogasawara (Iwagakure)
Minato vs. Hidden Hot Water Village Ninja
Sasori vs. Takigakure Ninja
Rasa vs. Midnight Chen Ichiro
Kitsuchi vs. Mibu Sukezane
Watanabe Akira vs. Shikamaru
Taiyi vs. Yanagihara Masamune
Unfortunately, Shirō was the first to fight—again. And as expected, Minato's opponent forfeited without even stepping into the ring.
Shirō was starting to suspect that Minato had stolen his luck. His own luck attribute was at least C-rank—statistically, he shouldn't be drawing the short stick every time.
Complaining wouldn't change anything, though. The match still had to proceed.
After the draw, the other candidates left the arena, leaving only Shirō and Ogasawara of Iwagakure on the field.
Following standard procedure, both formed the Seal of Confrontation.
Neither moved at first. Shirō held back because his intel on Ogasawara was two weeks old—long enough for an opponent to have learned new tricks.
The deadlock didn't last. Ogasawara made the first move, charging in. Shirō drew his twin swords from the wrist guards on his forearms and met the attack head-on.
These swords were not the Earth Release-forged pair Nakamura had made for him; those had been shattered in his last battle. These were new ones, forged at a local blacksmith's shop.
Ogasawara proved to be a capable taijutsu specialist with experience on par with Shirō's. Sparks flew with every clash of steel.
Suddenly, Ogasawara sidestepped one of Shirō's swings. Instead of blocking the follow-up strike, he leapt back and rapidly formed hand seals.
"Earth Release: Hardening Technique!"
Shirō's expression tightened. That technique would make his next strike useless—and open him up to a counter. But it was too late to pull back now.
His slash hit home with no effect. Ogasawara immediately chained more seals.
"Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique!"
So it was exactly as Shirō remembered from the intel reports. Ogasawara's signature tactic: harden his body to block a hit, then follow up with a chakra-heavy strike powered by the Added-Weight Rock Technique.
Shirō had anticipated this. He reinforced his defense at the last moment, but the blow still sent him skidding across the arena floor.
He wasn't out of the fight, but the situation had turned dangerous. Ogasawara's chakra reserves were low, yet his Hardening Technique would last a while longer—long enough to make damaging him directly nearly impossible, even with full Reinforcement Magic.
That left only one option: risk using the still-unfamiliar Crane Wing Triple Strike.
He couldn't perform it in its complete form. His current chakra reserves allowed him to project only one pair of Dryan Mo Xie in their winged, liberated state, which reduced the technique's full potential.
The Crane Wing Triple Strike was a battle method perfected by EMIYA in countless fights. Originally, it relied on the magnetic attraction of the paired blades, but through refinement, it could also be executed purely through timing and technique—though with a slightly reduced hit rate.
Against a Chūnin without Mind's Eye of Kagura or similar sensory skills, that flaw wouldn't matter.
"You should feel honored," Shirō said quietly, lowering his stance. "You'll be the first opponent to face this move in this world."
"Heh. Talking big 'cause you're desperate?" Ogasawara mocked, though he shifted into a guarded stance.
Shirō threw his twin swords toward him.
"Crane Wing—Unfallen Defect."
Ogasawara swatted the swords aside, noting something felt… off, but he had no time to dwell on it—Shirō was already in close range again.
"Mind Technique—Mount Tai."
In an instant, Shirō projected new blades into his hands, timed perfectly with the return arc of the Mo Xie. These were copies of the forged swords, cheap in chakra cost, but effective enough for the sequence.
"What the—?! Did that sword just appear out of thin air?!" Ogasawara's eyes widened, but he focused on blocking the weapon in Shirō's hand, ignoring the returning Mo Xie.
That was the skill's one weakness—the spinning return lacked the raw force of the primary attack.
"Mind Technique—Crossing the Yellow River."
Ogasawara had just parried Shirō's slash when one of the airborne blades suddenly zipped past, combining with Shirō's second swing to attack from an unexpected angle.
"So fast!"
The attacks didn't wound Ogasawara, but they shattered his defensive rhythm, leaving him wide open.
"For the name—Separating Heaven."
In the final step, Shirō re-projected the liberated form of Dryan Mo Xie, their feathered wings flaring in the sunlight.
"Two Heroes—Parting with Life!"
The twin blades struck like a storm. Ogasawara's Hardening Technique cracked and shattered under the assault, and he collapsed, severely wounded.
Shirō's chest rose and fell sharply. His chakra reserves were nearly empty, his stamina almost gone. But Ogasawara was down for the count.
The audience was silent. The entire exchange had taken only seconds—too fast for many to process.
Among the other villages' shinobi, expressions hardened. Without preparation, none of them were certain they could have stopped that sequence.
The intelligence they'd gathered hadn't mentioned weapon projection at all, and those blades… their power was nothing ordinary.
Breaking through even a modest Hardening Technique in a single burst was no small feat.
Still, in the eyes of the Fourth Kazekage, the weapon projection itself was trivial. Secret Skills existed in every village, and most had limitations that kept them from being universally useful.
What impressed him—and concerned him—was Shirō's skill. At his age, such timing and technique hinted at dangerous potential. The thought made the Kazekage's gaze sharpen, a faint killing intent coiling in his eyes.
Homura Mitokado, seated beside him, caught the change. He coughed twice and said lightly, "Ah, must be catching a cold. The wind here's a bit sharp."
The Kazekage was silent for a moment, then gave a thin smile. "My apologies for the poor hospitality, Elder Mitokado."
"It's nothing," Homura replied smoothly. "For the children, my life is nothing."
"Of course," the Kazekage said, "children are the future of the village."
But beneath the table, his hand clenched tightly. His polite words didn't match the thoughts brewing behind his calm expression.