Kurotsuchi's POV (Courtyard Entryway - Iron Arena)
Kurotsuchi had never been an ordinary girl. Perhaps it had been the explosion of her home that had done it. She had been a young girl playing in her room when one of the walls collapsed, sending fire, metal fragments, and bits of her home flying through the air. The shinobi who had found her in the rubble of her shattered burning home. Had said it was a miracle she had survived. Apparently, her father had managed to grab and shield her. Her mother hadn't been so lucky. They had been one family of many victimized by the random bombings of the missing ninja Deidara. It had filled her with the urge to become a shinobi and ensure such violent men would never hurt her home again.
She was here to prove she was ready for the next level. And all she had to do was beat this Sand shinobi. As she walked into the arena, she saw her opponent walk in at much the same time. She had intended to send him a coy and cocky smile, but to her shock, he already had one plastered onto his face. Kurotsuchi shot her own look back at double her normal intensity.
Kankuro seemed to just smile more cruelly.
"Do I need to go over the rules again?" Kakashi asked.
"Not for me, maybe for Sand for Brains." Kurtosuchi offered.
"Now, girly, no need to get all prissy with me." Kankuro countered.
"Girly?" Kurotsuchi asked, suddenly calm.
"Ya." Kankuro doubled down with a shit-eating grin.
"With that grim mistake made, I'll start this match," Kakashi said, sounding jovial. "Begin!~"
Kurotsuchi wasted no time; this pig was going down!
"Earth Style: Field of Earth Vents!" Kurotsuchi yelled as she slammed her hands down. The ground rumbled beneath Kankuro, who wisely jumped back, narrowly avoiding being uppercutted by a man-sized tower of earth with a hole on top of it.
"Gonna take more than that-" Kankuro started before he stopped to dodge as more and more towers emerged from the ground. Soon, it had surrounded the man.
"Are you ready to quit?" Kurotsuchi said, simply staring at Kankuro, surrounded by towers of earth like her. "Because either way, this match is over."
"You got that right, girly…" Kankuro stated with a large smirk. "You see, I don't even need puppets to start the show! Puppet Show: Slicing Ending!" Suddenly, Kurotsuchi heard the sound of wire scraping against stone. She trusted her instincts and jumped into the air, watching as one of the towers fell apart.
'Chakra Strings. While dodging my towers, he must've threaded them around him! Now I'm surrounded by razor-sharp wire that he can control!'
Kurotsuchi had no time to consider further as she desperately dodged the wires that flew past her. She ducked two trips over another. Bounced over another set and dropped to her knees to avoid being decapitated. She drew a kunai and attempted to cut the ropes, but it bounced off uselessly. She dodged further, sweating as she escaped the constant assault. 'Need. Cover. NOW!' Kurotsuchi thought as she skillfully leaned out of the way of death while going through hand signs.
"Earth Style: Earthen Shell!" Kurotsuchi smiled as a dome of earth surrounded her. She heard the sound of wires scratching against the dome, but it was thick and sturdy. It would buy her some ti-
There was a buzzing grinding sound as suddenly the wires seemed to focus on one side.
"No hiding from the puppet show!" Kankuro taunted from outside. He used his free hand to summon several puppets, each a copy of Crow. The Clones flew through the air surrounding the dome. "Go ahead, camp all you like. They'll pepper you with weapons whether you surface within or outside the dome!"
Kurotsuchi's smile grew wider as Kankuro doubled his efforts to expose her. She slowly weaved hand signs as her dome started to fall apart. "Earth Style: Earth Shrapnel." She whispered before slamming palms on opposite sides of the dome. The effect was immediate; the falling apart structure suddenly completely fragmented and flew outward in an explosion, shooting shards of earth everywhere. Kankuro growled as it cut his chakra string and his puppets. Leaving the wooden bits falling through the air and dissipating a fair bit of Kankuro's chakra. "Sorry, but I don't play well with toys!" Kurotsuchi taunted.
"That's fine; these ones can be dangerous. They have small parts!" Kankuro countered as suddenly the arms and legs of the destroyed Crows stopped falling with a click, each revealing a blade. "Show's over! Puppet Show: Human Centipede!" The arms and legs turned blade raced towards a wide-eyed Kurotsuchi before they slammed into her. Her body was littered with puppet limbs. She moaned painfully before suddenly becoming a white substance that hardened, holding onto the puppet limbs like cement. "What the fuck?" Kankuro asked before his mind caught up with the situation.
Kurotsuchi suddenly shot from the ground behind Kankuro. She had a large smile and one fist coated in stone. She slammed this into the back of Kankuro, who cried out in pain. Sliding forward face down. Kurotsuchi looked at her stone gauntlet as it cracked and fell away. "Sturdier than he looked." She joked as she marched forward towards the downed man. "So you wanna give up before the end or?" She asked him. But Kurotsuchi had no time to react when Kankuro's chest opened up, showing a hollow wooden space inside. The henge hiding the trick faded, offering a sizable scorpion-looking puppet. Before Kurotsuchi could react, two wires from it pulled her in.
"Sorry, girly," Kankuro stated cockily as he walked up to the trapped Kurotsuchi. "Surrender, please. I'd hate to clean out Black Ant."
"Never, make-up-wearing freak!" Kurotsuchi yelled from inside the puppet.
Kankuro smirked. "Don't say I didn't warn ya." "Black Technique: M-"
"Earth Style: Gas Vent Release!" Kurotsuchi suddenly interrupted Kankuro, who raised a brow before he suddenly smelled something odd. He looked towards the stone towers suspiciously, but nothing new was happening. 'What was the -'
Kankuro suddenly collapsed, and Black Ant did so, releasing a smiling Kurotsuchi.
"Sorry, boy, but it was already over, as I said in the beginning," Kurotsuchi remarked.
"What did you do to me…" Kankuro complained from the ground. "Can't move, poison? No, wait, a natural gas?"
"A unique one found deep in the earth," Kurotsuchi answered. "It's odorless and invisible, so great for fights; luckily, it's nonlethal. Unluckily for you, I have a bit of resistance, so this match is over. You'll be lucky to move in a couple hours."
"Hmm, unfortunate kid. But it looks like this one is over. Match Three of the Chunin Exams is over! Kurotsuchi of the Stone is the winner! A brief recess will be had, and we will continue with the next match. Which will be…" Kakashi looked towards a large board that displayed the next match. "Oh, the crowds are gonna love this. THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE SASUKE UCHIHA VS NEJI HYUGA!"
The crowd, who had been mostly silent, suddenly roared in glee.
Neji and Sasuke, both in the competitor's arena, glared at each other as if unhappy the other was in their way.
Kakashi was sure this next one would be a doozy.