Finally, Suigetsu and Karin played a game of rock, paper, scissors where Suigetsu lost. He asked for a best-of-three, but Karin refused, and in the end he could only give up, frustrated.
Nobody expected a scene like that, and Guren was so angry she wanted to go in there and punch those two idiots, but she restrained herself. In the end, the fight ended with Karin's victory.
The next fight was much less impactful.
Shino tried to use his insects to attack Ranmaru, even though Ranmaru used genjutsu on him. He couldn't affect tens of thousands of insects at once, right? Insects have a very different mind from humans, deceiving them with genjutsu is much more difficult. He believed he could take advantage of this to win, after all, Ranmaru seemed like the type of ninja focused on genjutsu.
Well, he underestimated the power of Ranmaru's red eyes.
Although Ranmaru couldn't actually create a genjutsu specifically for insects, he could remove their senses. As soon as Shino was hit by the genjutsu, his insects rose up to defend him, but before they could fly away, they became completely disoriented.
Some fell, others flew randomly, but none of them found Ranmaru.
In the end, Ranmaru killed most of them with a lightning jutsu before Shino woke up. He had been under a genjutsu where he was devoured alive by wolves, so he wasn't doing well. Seeing that most of his insects were dead, he sighed and gave up easily.
A quick and lackluster fight, but thankfully Ranmaru is handsome, so he still had a lot of support from the female audience, some were even already writing dramas in their minds about falling in love with a quiet and gentle ninja.
Even the Daimyo's daughter from the Land of Sound was already thinking about how to get her father to marry Ranmaru.
Ranmaru thanked Shino, but didn't leave, after all, there was only one last fight left.
Shino left as Karin entered, she was excited, she just needed to defeat Ranmaru to stand before Jugo-sama with her chest held high! And then... hehehehe!
However, when Orochimaru said "begin" this time, Ranmaru simply raised his hand and said. -I give up.
Karin stopped her dashing motion, looking at Ranmaru in astonishment. The boy simply glanced at her and winked.
Karin pursed her lips in annoyance. She wanted to win! But she wanted to win beautifully!
However, Ranmaru had already given up.
Sighing, she shook her head. In the end, Orochimaru spoke first, happy that this Exam was over.
-Ranmaru has given up, the winner is Uzumaki Karin!- he announced, his voice echoing throughout the audience.
The audience was in a stunned silence, after all, the long-awaited fight hadn't arrived, but the next moment, they stood up and applauded, shouting.
Ultimately, even though the last match was anticlimactic, it was still a Chunin Exam to remember.
//-//
The closing ceremony was unlike the Olympics, there were no medals, no direct rewards. Instead, Guren stood in the middle of the arena announcing that Karin, Suigetsu, Ranmaru, Hinata, Neji, and Shino had been promoted to Chunin. The Hokage herself informed the last three of their promotions.
The six who became chunin stood behind Guren, receiving applause from the audience.
Shino remained calm, Hinata was slightly hidden behind him, Neji, despite having lost the fight, was also promoted, but he too was calm, Suigetsu seemed indifferent, Ranmaru nodded with a smile, and Karin looked like she had sucked on a lemon.
She won, right? Where is Jugo-sama to congratulate her personally and then give her the 'secret reward'?
She wanted to scream in frustration, but she could only stand there with an irritated face, until Suigetsu and Ranmaru subtly moved away from her.
Jugo, on the other hand, was having a meeting with an angry princess.
//-//
(Jugo's POV)
-The Uzumaki girl, let her return to Konoha.- Tsunade said with a serious face.
Jugo sighed. He was in his office, Tsunade sitting in front of him, behind him Mei and Kin, observing the situation curiously, and behind Tsunade were Naruto, Kakashi, and Shizune holding Tonton.
-First, Konoha isn't her home to "return to". - Jugo raised one finger, then a second. - Second, I don't think you have the right to demand anything from me, Hime-chan.
Tsunade frowned slightly at the nickname, but then spoke. -Let me take the girl, the Orochimaru matter is considered resolved.
Jugo almost laughed, but he just rolled his eyes outwardly. -I think I've already made it clear that I don't care about Konoha's opinion before.
Tsunade clenched her fist, her anger growing. She wanted to punch Jugo in the idiot's face, but she restrained herself. She could see Jugo's blind confidence, not that she wouldn't dare fight, but if she did, he would easily defeat her.
Tsunade grumbled slightly, but in the end Naruto was the first to speak. -Hey, orange head, where's Sasuke?!
Jugo's bright blue eyes turned to Naruto, he had grown quite a bit. The fight between him and that Uchiha brat would be interesting to watch.
-Don't worry, Naruto, you'll soon be able to fight him as much as you want.- Jugo joked.
Naruto pursed his lips, he didn't want to fight Sasuke, he just wanted to take him away! He was ready to retort, but Kakashi placed his hand on his shoulder.
Naruto turned to look at Kakashi, who simply shook his head, indicating for him to be quiet.
In the end, Tsunade could see that Jugo wouldn't give in, and she turned her gaze to Terumi Mei.
-And why is the Mizukage here? Especially since she's following you around. Has Kirigakure submitted to Otogakure?- She asked, frowning. She was genuinely curious about this, she sensed that Mei's presence here wasn't a good thing for Konoha.
Mei smiled at Tsunade and said. - In a way, you're right.
This caused the Konoha group, except for Naruto, to narrow their eyes, a chill rising in their spines.
Jugo shrugged and said. - It's not important, now let's talk about the fight those brats had three days later in the Valley of the End.
Tsunade hadn't said anything when Naruto shouted. -Come on! I'm ready right now! I want to take Sasuke back home immediately! Dattebayo!
Kakashi had an exasperated look on his face while Shizune gave an awkward little laugh, until Tonton placed his hoof on his forehead, speechless.
Tsunade turned slowly to Naruto, her face completely neutral, only her fist clenched tightly.
The next moment, a blonde figure was seen screaming as he was thrown out of Jugo's office window.