The first fight was between Kiba and Kimimaro. Sukuna already knew the outcome and ignored it. In fact, he ignored most of the starting matches since many of them didn't have anything to do with him.
As the match started, Kiba immediately tried to use his Fang Over Fang technique on Kimimaro, but the last member of the Kaguya clan's bone defenses were too potent. None of Kiba's attacks worked on him.
And one hit from Kimimaro's bone blade made the dog boy incapable of fighting further. This fight was completely out of Kiba's league.
The next match was between Tenten and Ino.
Sukuna wouldn't say that he was as indifferent about this match as the last one. Partly because, by changing Sakura's timeline until now, he had surely affected Ino's life as well. He was curious how much the Yamanaka girl had grown when she wasn't being dragged back by a love rival.
And of course there was Tenten. The girl was someone he had fought before, and since then she had only improved. He was curious.
The proctor raised his hand.
"Ino Yamanaka vs Tenten. Begin."
The moment his hand dropped, Tenten moved. She didn't rush forward. She leapt back.
Scrolls unfurled midair.
Ino barely had time to blink before steel rained down on her.
Kunai, shuriken. Dozens—no, hundreds—spinning in lethal arcs.
"So many?!" Ino gasped, diving to the side as blades struck the floor where she had been standing a second earlier.
The arena floor sparked with metal scraping against stone.
Tenten landed lightly on a higher platform, fingers already flicking through seals to summon more weapons.
'She has more!' Ino gritted her teeth. This way she wasn't getting a second to even stand, let alone use her technique.
She needed stillness. One clean moment. A direct shot to use her technique.
Mind Body Switch Technique required precision—and a stationary target.
"Tch—hold still!" Ino snapped, ducking as another wave came at her.
Tenten didn't respond. She simply kept attacking.
A chain-linked sickle whipped toward Ino's ankle. Ino jumped, twisting midair, only to see three kunai already aimed where she would land.
She barely rolled away in time.
The barrage never stopped.
Every time Ino tried to form the hand sign—
A blade interrupted her.
Every time she tried to steady her breath—
Another rain of steel forced her to move.
"She's not letting her stand in one place for long," Shikamaru muttered from the stands.
Ino finally had to make a desperate dash forward, weaving through projectiles with impressive agility. Otherwise, she would have lost before Tenten ran out of weapons—at least it felt like it.
For a moment—just a moment—she formed the seal.
"Mind—"
A blunt metal staff struck the ground in front of her, exploding into smoke and shrapnel.
Ino flinched.
That hesitation was enough.
A trio of kunai sliced past her guard, pinning her sleeve and hair to the wall behind her.
A final kunai stopped a breath away from her throat.
Silence.
The proctor stepped forward.
"Winner—Tenten."
Ino exhaled sharply, frustrated.
Tenten rolled up her scroll calmly. "You can't win a fight being a one trick pony, a certain cocky brat once told me." Tenten said to Ino, while her eyes glanced toward Sukuna.
The next match was between Choji and Dosu. Another match Sukuna wasn't interested in. Yes, Choji was a good friend, but still he wasn't interested in the fight.
And the match itself was just as predictable. Choji lost due to Dosu enraging him by calling him fat. Sure, it made Choji finally motivated to act and take the fight seriously for once, but a fight done in blind rage never helps.
Surprisingly enough, the next match was of another member of Team 10. It was Shikamaru.
Shikamaru vs Kin Tsuchi.
A canon matchup, and the result of this matchup was also very much canon. Shikamaru won by sheer genius tactics and a bit of laziness on his side.
The next match was Zaku vs Shino.
Another canon matchup, if he wasn't wrong. And one which he was very much sure that Shino already had in the bag. The dude really hadn't lost any battle on screen yet.
And that was exactly what happened. The match wasn't that interesting though—good tactics and observation on Shino's part, using Zaku's own body modification weapons against him, blasting off his hands when he fired by blocking the nozzle with bugs.
Good shit.
Then came the fight which Sukuna was most dreading.
"Rock Lee vs Suigetsu Hozuki. Begin."
The instant the signal was given, Lee vanished.
He crossed the distance in a blur, his foot slamming toward Suigetsu's ribs with crushing force.
The impact sounded—
—but there was no resistance.
Lee's leg passed straight through him.
Water splashed outward, reforming a second later into Suigetsu's smirking face.
"Nice try, bushy brow," Suigetsu laughed lazily. "That's cute."
Lee skidded back, big round eyes blinking in confusion. "What was that?"
From the stands, Tenten gripped the railing. "Lee…"
Suigetsu swung his oversized blade in a wide arc. Lee ducked under it and countered instantly, unleashing a rapid barrage of punches and kicks.
Each strike distorted Suigetsu's body into rippling water.
Not a single blow landed solidly.
"You're fast," Suigetsu admitted. "But what good is that if you can't even touch me?"
Lee leapt backward, landing in a crouch. For the first time, his brows furrowed.
He looked toward Guy for any sort of enlightenment, but Guy in this situation only gave him a forced thumbs up.
Lee didn't get the answer he wished for. However, he did get the instant motivation that reminded him he could do it.
"Then I will simply strike harder!"
He removed his ankle weights.
They crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom, cracking the arena floor.
A murmur spread through the hall.
Lee moved again—faster.
He appeared above Suigetsu, his heel dropping like a guillotine.
Water exploded outward.
Suigetsu's body shattered into liquid, reforming behind Lee.
"You're persistent, bushy brows. Almost reminds me of another loud idiot from Konoha."
Lee didn't hesitate.
"First Gate—Open!"
A surge of chakra burst around him, green energy flaring violently.
His speed increased again.
He struck, and struck, and struck.
The arena became a storm of motion—Lee's blazing taijutsu against a body that refused to stay solid.
The power was awe-inspiring. However, if Lee had been fighting against any other genin by now, that genin would have been in trouble.
But here, Suigetsu still stood. His water body was getting destroyed before it could restore, however, ultimately it didn't harm Suigetsu. It just consumed more of his chakra to keep his body in a hydrophication state.
Each devastating blow dispersed Suigetsu into splashes that immediately gathered back together.
Frustration flickered across Lee's face for the first time.
"Even this…?"
"How come all Konoha genins are monsters?" Suigetsu muttered with dread. He had thought of playing around with the funny-looking guy in green before ending the match, but this guy was also a monster like that pink-haired boy from Konoha.
He lazily reformed himself again. "If not for my hydrophication, I long would have been dead by now." Suigetsu grumbled before once again his head exploded into a splash of water.
Lee reached into his pouch mid-combat and flung explosive tags attached to kunai.
They detonated in a thunderous blast, engulfing Suigetsu in smoke and fire.
Heat evaporated water in hissing waves.
For a moment, the arena floor steamed.
Then the water pooled back together.
Suigetsu rose from it, intact, his eyes widened like he really didn't see that coming.
"Explosions? Dude, are you really trying to kill me?"
Lee stood breathing heavily, green aura flickering around him.
'What do I do now?' Lee for the first time felt like taijutsu wasn't enough here.
xXx
A/N: Alright, why go this route, being so unfair with our dear Lee? Well, because life is unfair. So is the world of Jujutsu and Naruto.
By this match I wanted to show just how important attribute matchups and abilities are in this kind of world.
Of course, there is one fair ability you guys have across all novels and fics. POWER STONES.
Send them over and I'll show you their power.
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