When the smoke cleared. The crowd was still chanting. "Blue Flash!" According to them, the fight had been over in a flash again. While indeed it had been fast. But not flash fast.
But I guess this is where reputation came in. They assumed, so they understood. The story was that the shinobi had tried to last longer in the smoke. But the result hadn't changed, and I had hunted him down and stabbed him in one clean move. The civilian crowd was mostly the home crowd. Just like it is with cricket or football matches. And the home crowd loves seeing prodigies fight. Especially if they are Konoha Shinobis themselves.
Only 4 guys left. I was excited. The podium really was within reach. We drew slots. Uchiha against the ninjutsu user who fought Souta. And me against Seito. That's when a twist occurred. "I give up."
The Iwa guy gave up.
"Why?"
"Used too much Chakra. If it had been that guy, I would have fought. But I have no interest in getting beaten up for free."
He pointed at the guy who fought Souta.
"But you took the sheet. You have to enter the ring to give up."
"Fine, he said."
And we went through the motions. The fight was announced. We entered the ring. He gave up, and the crowd went wild. Now I was truly getting a legend. Even Seito felt uncomfortable when someone screamed that the enemy shinobis were so terrified of me. That now, only running away was an option. But he had already given up.
This was not happening all by itself. I had already paid some people to paint me in a good light. I wasn't narcissistic, but this was the debut of the Kurosawa clan head. It needed a bit of flair. The Hokage must have done the same. But for all Konoha Shinobis instead of me. After all. It was a morale boost for a few thousand Ryo. It was just that, coincidentally, they were getting dramatic content to build on.
Plus, the fact that I had 120 people with my name on boards and banners helped. "Go, clan head Ren!"
"He is a clan head? Must be a small clan."
"Look there, that's more than a hundred shinobis in the same uniform."
"Damn. Head of such a big clan. No wonder he's a monster."
Shinzo fumed. And the poor guy who beat Souta got the short end of the stick. Shinzo's performance was phenomenal. But the underdog effect dwarfed its effect. You expected an Uchiha to dominate. If he didn't, it was a shame for the clan. Nobody knew me. I had been a civilian. It was a fact that the Hokage spread to promote Civilian Shinobis. So for the majority of the public. I was now being portrayed to the random civilians as the neighbor next door who rose to fame and fortune and created such a powerful Shinobi clan on his own. Like I was their own. And they should join up too.
While I admired the way Hokage's people turned the simple spectacle into a recruitment drive. Shinzo said something to the referee. He walked up to the Hokage. Whispering something. The Hokage signaled, and we both approached him.
"Little Ren, Shinzo here wants to have a Shinobi spar. Are you willing?" Huh? Is he kidding me? I looked at him, "Why?" Shinobi spars were spars with no restrictions. This was advantageous for me. I was a Fuinjutsu master. I could use as many tags as I wanted. Provided I used only those I had personally made. "I want to avenge that dishonor with you at your peak. So that you don't have any excuses."
Pride huh? The downfall of the Uchiha. "Yes, Lord Third. I agree."
Now it truly was an equal match. My biggest strength. The Tag spam could now be used.
The referee began explaining Shinzo's challenge and the new rules to the crowd. Making it even more frantic. While I thought of my strategy. As I walked into the center of the ring. I took out a folded white cloth and tied it around my eyes, and prepared lightning sense. It was usual practice for a reconnaissance team to spend hours training against each other, blindfolded. It enhanced our sensing jutsu and awareness. Although it lowered my combat ability. I wasn't skilled enough to avoid looking into his eyes during the fight.
The crowd went wilder as Daichi screamed. "Clan head is playing blind folded to even the playing field! His honor must be praised. Legion salute." From what I could tell, my clan performed a Konoha military salute. I cringed. No kid, I just can't fight him with eyes open. I was sure those rumor mongers must have capitalized on that thing to make it even more ridiculous.
"You bastard," Shinzo growled. But didn't say much. He was from Konoha. He knew about me. Which meant he knew that this wasn't mockery but respect to the Sharingan. But the twisted public opinion made it something else. I had honestly expected to get the review of a reliable shinobi and a great Fuinjutsu master. What I was getting was Prodigy Extraordinaire.
Which was bad. It made me a target for people at home and abroad.
Well, let's table that for now. And focus on the fight. There was a reason I had called it even. I got the tags examined for a personal signature. I handed over a tag ball. I had been working on this for a while, too. Do you know of things called cluster grenades? Yeah, same principle.
The central tags had a lower charge. Just enough to dissipate them. The outer tags had a thin insulation film and a hair trigger. Enough to stall the explosion for a second. Not more. A small metal ball was placed on the tag, and the tag was folded in on it. Then attached to the fuse tag. The problem with this was the activation rate. The damage was high. But many tags were wasted. Honestly, if the enemy scrounged the place. He would be able to recover at least a quarter of the tags as unexploded pellets. Ans, since each bomb had 20 to 30 pellets. It was a logistical Nightmare.
20 thousand Ryo for one blast? Nobody was that wasteful. Unless you were me and could make those tags in 2-3 days with a few hundred's worth of tag paper.. I knew I wouldn't be able to hit him with a jutsu. And if he reached me, he would decimate me. There's a reason the call Fuinjustu masters as glass canons.
If this hits. I win. If it does not. I lose. 2 Tomoe was scary but not unbeatable.