Sima gladly bowed as his name was mentioned and announced as he was made the proctor judge of the preliminary battles. Once the names were matched, battles began one-by-one. They were life or death battles and Sima had the power to call it off or allow it to continue. They were all escorted to a smaller arena within the village as opposed to the actual stadium. "Will the contestants come forward please," he instructed and waited patiently and then began talking again. "As you were told, these are life or death matches. I will only intervene if it seems hopeless, one of you collapses and cannot get up, or the obvious, one of you dies. If you cherish your life, surrender or else the battle goes on," he explained. "There are no rules. Now, begin!" he finished and stepped back a couple of yards and enjoyed the show.

Kanzo listened intently as the Raikage went on to explain the third exam and how to get there, the remaining participants would have to fight in preliminary matches against each other.  At the offer of dropping out, Kanzo was not surprised the only one that left was one girl that looked to be in pretty rough shape.  Good choice he thought.

The Raikage went on to describe the preliminaries will be one on one fights with no rules, and only three ways for the fight to end.  That got Kanzo's attention.  That meant he may have to change up his normal tactics then if it might turn into a battle of attrition.  He also decided that if it came down to it, he would admit defeat.  Better to live and fight another day.  He watched intently as the first battle between two genin he didn't know took place.  It didn't last very long as the Iwagakure genin was quickly and brutally beaten with some jutsu Kanzo had never seen before.

Kano wished his teammates luck as they went off to their matches while he prepared for his own.  In hindsight, he probably should have brought a sword.  Even though he was not as good as others in the Kirigakure, he'd probably be better than genin from other villages.  Plus it added options that were now unavailable to him.  Kanzo waited until his own name was called and proceeded towards the proctor, and his opponent who appeared to be from Konohagakure.  He listened to the proctor, who from his voice was the bastard responsible for all of the shocking, describe the match again tensed his muscles, ready to react.

   Sigmund was about to speak with his teammates one last time but he was interrupted by the presence of the Raikage, the lightning shadow of the Land of Lightning. The man was very muscular and dark-skinned and appeared to be somewhat older than most Jonin here. Respectfully, Sigmund turned away from his teammates and was all eyes on the Raikage. He began his speech, explaining the purpose of the Chunin Exams and then proceeded to explain about the final exam. Sigmund was shocked that they had to have preliminary rounds because they had way too many candidates and that's when he looked around. Perhaps there was too many, but what fun is it to eliminate already? he thought.

   The Raikage continued his speech and finally offered a moment of surrender. He said he did not blame those who did not want to continue. During the final call, a young girl his age raised her hand and dismissed herself quietly, forfeiting her destiny to become a Chunin. Sigmund just shook his head and laid eyes on the new screen board.

   After the Raikage finished, Sigmund grew anxious about the match ups. The first match was of a boy with dark hair, Deiren Isamu. He was from Iwagakure and his opponent was from the Land of Snow, Kotatsu something. Sigmund and the others eagerly watched the preliminary match and it was over so suddenly. Kotatsu used some foreign chakra nature and it was mesmerizing. Deiren was taken out in less than 3 minutes and was in pretty rough shape. Sigmund was surprised that Deiren didn't hand over the victory any faster because it was obviously one sided.

   The next matches began and Sigmund was finally up. He was paired up against a guy named Shinji Kanzo of Kirigakure, the Land of Water. They all had been escorted to an arena within the village with only an upper deck level. Other than that, it was completely plain and fairly empty. The proctor appeared before them and explained the rules once again and the options they had. Sigmund simply nodded his head and faced his opponent. He smirked at him, not intimidated by his foe. This is going to be fun.

   Sigmund allowed his opponent to prepare and he took a stance, bending his legs and holding his arms out lowly and began charging electricity his both his hands. It only took a few seconds before both his hands were fully charged and he put both balls together and thrust his palms forward, launching the ball of electricity. He thought he would start off small to see what exactly this kid could do.

[18:17, Today: Akitoki Sigmund rolled 22 using 1d20+10; Ninjutsu Attack]

[11:20, Today: Shinji Kanzo rolled 23 using 1d20+10.  Ninjutsu Defence.]

Not more damn lightning, Kanzo thought as a sizable ball of lightning came flying at him.  He did notice this attack took a few seconds to fully charge which allowed him to react.  Kanzo managed to leap up and over the lightning ball, although it had been close enough that he could feel the heat of the energy  go past his leg.  Let's see how you like this.  As he was at the peak of his leap, Kanzo pulled out a shuriken and breathed wind chakra onto it's edges, enhancing it's cutting power and somewhat increasing the radius of it's edge.  He then sent it spinning towards Sigmund at high speed, trying for a hit but also hoping for enough time to properly land.  Nothing was worse than being caught up in the air against an enemy that has some nasty projectiles.

[12:04, Today: Shinji Kanzo rolled 24 using 1d20+10.  Ninjutsu Attack.]

[Akitoki Sigmund rolled 27 using 1d20+11]

   Sigmund wasn't too surprised his lightning ball was dodged. He didn't put much effort into it to begin with. He tested his opponent and he was a bit surprised that Kanzo had leaped over his ball. Sigmund prepared himself for the counter and noticed the shuriken right away. Kanzo somehow modified it and even though everything happened quickly as it was launched at him, it was more than enough time for Sigmund to unleash his kekkei already. He focused on the wind-enhanced shuriken and when he did, his kekkei unleashed itself. Bones had literally spiked out of his body, including in the palm of his hands. Once his palms had long bone points coming out of his skin, he held them up like swords and literally stopped the shuriken. His bones were stronger than steel itself and he was able to stop it and split the shuriken in half and tossed it straight to the ground. He smirked, well prepared now.

   He held out his hands, aiming at Kanzo as he began to drop from the air to land. It was perfect timing because his bullets never missed. "Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!" he said as little bones began to peak out from his fingers. Hardened bones from his fingertips are shot at Kanzo, with a spinning motion added to the skeletal bullets. A direct hit will excavate the skin, flesh, and bone. Sigmund had the intention to critically hurt Kanzo.

[Akitoki Sigmund rolled 16 using 1d20+10; Ninjutsu Attack]

[17:11, Today: Shinji Kanzo rolled 13 using 1d20+10.  Ninjutsu Defence.]

Kanzo was surprised by the bone abilities he was seeing and their durability against his enhanced shuriken.  While the surprise was only momentary, it delayed his reaction to the impending the counter attack.  He was just about to land when he saw the bone projectiles coming towards him.  Kanzo quickly threw up the 'Tiger' seal.  "Water Clone Jutsu!" he said creating an identical copy beside him.  The clone quickly and roughly shoved Kanzo to the side, before exploding back into water as it was hit by the bone bullets.  Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough as it felt as though a couple of the bullets had grazed his side, and there was a small bit of blood starting to flow.

As Kanzo slid to the side, he gathered chakra in his mouth and converted it to water before firing off several small and high-speed water bullets at Sigmund. It was much harder to fire in this manner, but it was worth a shot.

[17:30, Today: Shinji Kanzo rolled 12 using 1d20+10.  Ninjutsu Attack.]

[Akitoki Sigmund rolled 22 using 1d20+11; Ninjutsu defense]

   Once the bullets left his finger tips, he smirked, knowing he would hit his target. When his opponent had landed, some had grazed him and some actually hit him, but not as fatal as he had hoped. His smirk vanished when he realized that high speed water bullets were headed his way and they were coming fast. Sigmund knew that as fast as they were traveling, there was no way he would have time to either duck or roll out of the way. To improvise the situation, he kept his fingers drawn out and allowed more bone bullets to shoot out. Sigmund's own bullets broke Kanzo's own water bullets, not even allowing them to even touch Sigmund and if Sigmund was lucky, his bullets would hit Kanzo too in the process.


[Akitoki Sigmund rolled 27 using 1d20+10; Ninjutsu attack]

[Shinji Kanzo rolled 25 using 1d20+10.  Ninjutsu Defence.]

Kanzo hadn't expected his attack to land, seeing as he was still moving in an awkward angle, but he had not expected bone bullets to be coming through his own water bullets.  Kanzo was clearly put on the defensive and given little breathing room.  He could attempt to close the distance, but suspected the bones Sigmund had used to stop his shuriken would be extremely deadly at close range and decided to keep his distance for now.  In order to dodge the bullets, Kanzo tilted his body in the air so he would land on his hands, then pushed off, propelling himself in an almost cartwheel in the same direction he had been going.  As he was begining to come upright, two of the bone bullets smashed into the outside edge of his right vambrace, severely denting it and bending the edge as the bullets continued past him.  Kanzo winced in pain as the force of the impact went up his arm.  Damn those hurt.

Kanzo landed on his feet, shaking the numbness out of his right arm.  "You're quite good with those and they pack quite the punch."  He was starting to enjoy himself.  He loved a challenge.  He then made the seal of the tiger.  "Water Clone Jutsu" and created a copy of himself to his left, which then continued moved several feet towards where Kanzo had summoned the first one.  Both Kanzos then gathered chakra into their mouths and each fired a large water bullet directly at Sigmund.  In the brief moment after they were fired, the clone would disappear.

[Shinji Kanzo rolled 17 using 1d20+10.  Ninjutsu Attack.]

[Akitoki Sigmund rolled 20 using 1d20+11]

   Sigmund wasn't too sure if would be able to react in time with two Kanzos out on the battle field. He was pleased his bullets hit, but they weren't as deadly as he had hoped. Kanzo was still able to get up and perform a clone jutsu. He mentioned it was a water clone, so he was positive he could use that to his advantage. He didn't expect both of them to perform the same jutsu though and with not much distance between each other, there was no way Sigmund could avoid this without taking some sort of hard hit. However, he just stood there and the bullets impacted him in the torso with such strong force it knocked the wind out of him. He even coughed up some blood because of the brute force.

   Just when Kanzo's clone disappeared and he got the satisfactory of landing a solid hit on Sigmund, the place where Sigmund use to be puffed away in smoke. In his old place was a wood block with some severe damage from the water bullets. Sigmund had managed to escape successfully with a substitution jutsu.

   Next thing Kanzo knew, Sigmund had been two feet beside him with his bones exposed from his palms with two blades made of strong bone. He also had several secondary bones grown from his elbows, knees, and shoulders and they appeared very sharp and super deadly if ever used for killing. Sigmund looked right into Kanzo's eyes, smirking. "Dance of the Willow!" he said as he began one of his many dances. This dance form is incredibly acrobatic, using spins, charges, and long sweeping slashes to make the strikes more effective and to evade opponents' counter strikes. Kanzo would be very lucky to escape such deadly force of bones.

[Akitoki Sigmund rolled 14 using 1d20+10]

[Shinji Kanzo rolled 16 using 1d20+10.  Defence Roll.]

Kanzo's slight moment of victory was snatched away as Sigmund used a substitution jutsu to escape his barrage of water bullets.  as he realized what had happened, Sigmund had appeared quite close to him with more of those deadly looking bones potruding from his body.  Kanzo managed to narrowly dodge the first few attacks, and managed to pull a kunai out and breathe more wind chakra on to it's edge, lengthening the blade, and drastically increasing it's power.  Now it was more of a short sword than a knife...or just a really big knife.

Kanzo used his weapon to parry the next few acrobatic attacks, treating the bones as swords and using his kenjutsu fighting stances and defensive maneuvers to keep himself safe.  He defended just long enough to see an slight opening and took advantage, aiming a three strike combination: a slash at the right knee, followed by a backhanded slash at the the abdomen, and then a stab at the left shoulder.  These strikes, if they landed, would hopefully limit Sigmund's ability to move around as easily.

[Shinji Kanzo rolled 17 using 1d20+10.  Ninjutsu Attack.]

Hey man, I'll get a post in tomorrow. I've been busy with a family emergency and finding a new job ect. Just give me another day, 'kay? So sorry!

Yeah no problem, real life comes first.  Thanks for giving me a heads up :)

[Akitoki Sigmund rolled 17 using 1d20+10]

   Sigmund was able to block each of Shinji's attacks successfully with his bones, holding off. There was a brief moment between them where they made eye contact with each other. They held off with Sigmund holding Shinji's kunai knife in place with his bones from his palms. He smirked a bit as his eyes started to change color to a bright green from his normal blue eyes. More bones began popping out of his shoulders, all over his arms, in the palm of his hands, and his torso. He seemed to have red underlining on the bottom of his eyes, resembling his unknown late father, Kimimaro. Sigmund pushed Shinji's kunai knife away and then began to spin like a tornado. If successful, this would 'shred' up Kanzo because he is super close; many of the bones are needle-like in sharpness so Kanzo will sustain major cuts and gashes and he could potentially suffer from blood loss afterwards.

Jutsu Duration: 30 seconds - Two posts [GM approved & discussed]

[Akitoki Sigmund rolled 19 using 1d20+10]

[Today: Shinji Kanzo rolled 11 using 1d20+10.  Ninjutsu Defence.]

Kanzo saw a change in Sigmund's eyes and assumed he was in trouble.  He let go of the kunai knife in anticipation of the impending counter attack but was too slow.  He was rewarded with a large and fairly deep gash on his uncovered forearm and his remaining vambrace was severely shredded, but spared him from major damage, receiving lighter cuts.  Kanzo hissed in pain as the air stung the deeper cuts.  He knew it would be difficult to get away and decided to execute his plan earlier than he would have liked.

Out of the large puddle, Kanzo's clone re-emerged gathering chakra in it's mouth, before firing a large water bullet directly at Sigmund.  Kanzo hoped the sudden attack would be enough to either hit, or give him some breathing room to get away.  Either way, his ability to fight was now timed since he was bleeding from his ribs and now his arm.

[Today: Shinji Kanzo rolled 25 using 1d20+10.  Ninjutsu Attack.]

[Akitoki Sigmund rolled 29 using 1d20+11]

   Sigmund had managed to successfully use his unique kekkei to shred Kanzo pretty well. While he had smirked, Kanzo had tried to flee backwards out of range, but Sigmund could feel his bones slicing Kanzo up when he spun like a tornado. The distance grew greater once Kanzo was out of Sigmund's reach and that's when his eyes witnessed that small puddle of water, which didn't evaporate yet, he grew weary as the clone emerged from and shot out those water bullets again. He couldn't help but realize that Kanzo was greatly injured and he knew that was going to give him some edge. He held his fingers out once again and bone bullets began to peak out. He shot them at the water bullets, which made them burst and break apart just like before. Sigmund wanted to end this as quickly as possible. He was going in again.

   Once the water bullets became ineffective, they had his Kanzo's clone which made it disappear again and here came Sigmund running towards Kanzo to finish him off. "This will be the end of you!" he shouted as ran close to him and began spinning around. Running at full force with his bones, this attack could be deadly and either stab or slice Kanzo more.

[Akitoki Sigmund rolled 28 using 1d20+10]

Kanzo sighed after seeing his last hope at turning the tables diminished away.  He was bleeding fairly severely now and was becoming exhausted.  Thankfully he had managed to create space between him and Sigmund, and instead of attempting a counter-attack he turned to the proctor and simply held his palms towards him and said "I'm done" in a bitter tone.  He knew he had been beaten, but that didn't mean he had to like it.  He then eyed Sigmund to make sure he would stop, then walked over to where one of his vambraces had fallen off and picked it up with his mostly uninjured arm.

He then went to leave the fighting area, passing Sigmund on the way.  "Good fight" he said as he went past.  While he may hate losing, he'd still show respect.  He then went in search of a medic to stop the bleeding, as he was starting to feel a little light-headed.

Sima watched the battle end as Kanzo had admitted defeat and gave the win to his opponent, Sigmund. Sigmund had Kanzo pinned and so Sima had to intervene so his attack could stop before he further hurt him and he used body flicker and grasped Sigmund's bones in the middle of the tornado attack. The bones had slightly sliced Sima's hands, but he managed to put it to a stop. He nodded his head and left go, stepping away and began to speak. "Shinji Kanzo is unable to continue. Akitoki Sigmund is the winner for this preliminary match," he announced and waved some Jonin to come over and attend Kanzo's wounds because they were dire. Whether he liked it or not, he would receive medical attention right there.

   Sigmund's last and final taijutsu attack, was interrupted by the proctor once his opponent admitted defeat. In the middle of the attack is when he heard Kanzo speak up and surrendered to him. He couldn't stop himself and so the proctor had came between them stopped him mid way of his taijutsu attack. The moment he was stopped, he retracted his bones back inside his body and that's when Sima stepped away from him. Kanzo had walked passed Sigmund and told him 'good fight.' He turned around and watched Kanzo walk away. "Hey. You too. Hope to see you around!" he called out before Sima announced him as the victor and that made him happy. He was more than happy actually. He was proud of himself. He held his own and actually won. He was now a step closer to becoming a Chunin.