Chapter 96: The Opening Fight

As soon as he said it, Shin grabbed his shurikens. However, even before he could throw them, a Wind Explosion jutsu was coming at him!

He immediately ran backwards and to the right, dodging the explosion.

Fujin noticed him moving and thought, 'Too slow.' He flickered to where Shin was dodging and threw 2 Wind Explosion spheres at him.

Shin was moving towards the Wind explosion spheres when he noticed them. He tried dodging again, but the spheres exploded. He avoided most of the winds, but a few still hit him. A few cuts appeared on his left hand and leg.

The crowd didn't expect the fight to be so intense from the start. They began cheering loudly!

Fujin was planning to keep his attack going, when he noticed that Shin made a few hand signs and his chakra suddenly spiked, 'Hmm, which jutsu? Oh well, let's test him out.'

Fujin created a big Wind Explosion jutsu and threw it at him. If Shin was using a jutsu that needed some time to launch, this could defeat him.

However, huge Ice spikes immediately began appearing around him. Some were big enough to be called spears. Shin yelled, "Ice Hell!!"

Immediately, all Ice spikes got launched at a very fast speed! Some pierced through the Wind Explosion sphere, dispersing it. Shin smirked when he saw the shock on Fujin's face! At the next moment, 4 spikes hit Fujin. Shin was about to celebrate when Fujin dispersed into the winds! He was shocked, 'Wind Clone? When?'

The reason Fujin made a giant Wind Explosion sphere was so that he could hide behind it. When Shin couldn't see him, he created a Wind clone and escaped underground.

Before Shin could figure out when Fujin created a Wind clone, he felt something under him. He immediately jumped backwards. Just after he jumped, Fujin's hands popped out of the ground trying to catch his legs.

Fujin came out of the ground as Shin landed at some distance. Fujin smiled and said, "That was a strong jutsu. I am impressed."

Shin was breathing heavily. This was a rank B jutsu from his clan. It used more than half of his chakra.

When Fujin exited the ground, Mieko and Hoka suddenly snorted. Yumi became worried.

The crowd was shocked at this jutsu. Most hadn't ever seen any Ice jutsu. The ice spikes were embedded into the stadium walls. The civilians, and even some ninjas, breathed in relief that the spikes weren't aimed higher.

Hiruzen wondered, 'Should I arrange for barriers? Genins aren't supposed to use B rank jutsus.'

Fujin didn't allow Shin to catch his breath, and once again began attacking with Wind Explosion jutsus from a close distance. Shin dodged desperately while using Water Wall jutsu to defend himself and attempting to create some distance from Fujin.

Almost everyone in the audience was confused. Even among the ninjas, a few were clueless.

The Kiri genins didn't understand what was happening either. They looked towards Yumi. She explained, "When he was underground, he made a Shadow Clone." The Kiri genins were stunned. She continued, "The remaining fight was fought by his shadow clone. He stayed hidden underground. The clone was dispelled after it got frozen in ice. And his main body exited the ground when you guys were distracted by Inoichi."

The Kiri genins were left tongue-tied. After some time, Satoru managed to exclaim, "So Shin lost to a mere clone?"

Yumi looked at Rentaro and said, "Don't underestimate him. He might not have any Kekkei Genkai, but his chakra is larger than yours. He didn't even lose 10% of his chakra in this fight. And he is tactically sound as well. Be on your guard." Rentaro nodded with a grim expression.

The experienced ninjas who were watching this fight were very impressed.

Tsume, who was sitting in the stadium with her kids, thought, 'Very good. Even someone like me didn't notice that he was just a clone.' Kiba kept bugging her by asking how Fujin won, so she explained it to him. Hana also listened attentively.

The judges also analyzed the fight. Ibiki said, "Impressive. He relied majorly on a rank D jutsu to force his opponent into using 2 rank B jutsus and exhaust his chakra."

Genma nodded and said, "Yes, and his speed and precision are also very good. His opponent was forced into desperation multiple times."

Raido added, "While his strategy was good, the fact that he can perform the Shadow Clone jutsu is also impressive."

Ibiki replied, "Yes, and he is also very good at using it. His Shadow clone can be very useful for information gathering in missions. Also, he can use jutsus of 2 elements."

Raido smiled and said, "And he could perform the Wind Explosion jutsu without any hand seals."

Genma said, "I think he is ready to be promoted to Chunin. He is strong and good at tactics. All that remains to be seen is how he leads."

Raido said, "What are your thoughts about his opponent? Though he lost, his Ice Hell jutsu was very strong. If used in the middle of a battlefield, it will cause a lot of damage."

Ibiki had a different opinion. He said, "No, he didn't show much control over it and used it in every direction. So it will hit both enemies and allies."

Genma said, "Hard to say. His teammates can take cover in advance. That said, despite his jutsu being strong, he wasted it along with his chakra. I don't think he is ready to be promoted."

They kept discussing the fight and the pros and cons of both the genins.

Hiruzen was also impressed with how easily Fujin won, 'Good win. He is a promising seedling.' However he suddenly had another thought, 'If he wins this tournament, will he ask me for another reward? I still owe him two rewards!' He sighed and thought, 'I should have made Homura pay for the rewards for making this suggestion.'