Chapter 6 .3:
...
"Ready for your promotion?" asked the chunin, his voice firm, but not arrogant.
Kiba nodded.
"And you?" he replied in return.
The chunin let out a short laugh.
"Of course. Don't expect me to go easy on you," he joked, far friendlier than Kiba had expected… Kiba almost felt bad knowing he was about to defeat this man and kinda humiliate him in front of all of Suna... losing to a kid who still had a few days left before turning nine.
…
The council member.... who clearly enjoyed the sound of his own voice and seemed to enjoy every word he spoke(yea, he was clearly in love with his own damn voice or something like that.)... delivered a quick speech about rules, formalities, and protocol. To Kiba, it sounded like recycled lines and phrases. None of that mattered. All that mattered was those three minutes. Or rather, winning the fight.
Yeah. For Kiba it was all about winning the fight.
"Begin."
…
There was no explosion of noise. Just a shift in the air.
The chunin waited for Kiba to make the first move, as was tradition in these matches.
But Kiba didn't move. He let the chunin go first. And since time was already ticking, and the chunin wasn't going to make it easy just because he was polite, he acted quickly upon realizing his opponent's intent.
The movement of the hand seals reached him clearly, cleanly. And shortly after, a gust of hot air rushed toward him like an invisible fist.
Chakra. Wind. Impact.
Kiba spun and activated his chakra threads. All three scrolls released their puppets with well-rehearsed precision:
Barto, with his solid iron shield; Piece, quick and irritating like a wasp; and One, his favorite for ambushes.
The chunin's first attack was immediately neutralized. Barto took the wind blast like it was a rough pat on the back.
Kiba smiled.
"Here we go" he whispered to himself. Instantly Kiba threw himself without holding back, similar to his past fight against Rasa, except that now he had further refined his entire arsenal and possessed a much higher stamina than he had at the time... plus the huge defensive additions he gained with his new puppet Barto.
Yet the chunin was no slouch, his sharp thinking reflexes and reactions both defensively and offensively were worthy of a true chunin. Nowhere near the fucking chunin that Rasa faced (a pity really, otherwise it would have been a much easier match, though a part of Kiba was actually secretly delighted with how things turned out).
The battle continued.
And the chunin was quite fast, agile, and didn't make needless mistakes. On Kiba's personal ranking scale, he was probably a second-tier chunin.... which made him significantly more dangerous and problematic than just a third-tier.
Luckily, it seemed the chunin wasn't fully familiar with Kiba's methods and fighting style, despite his recent recognition and fame in the village. That was his biggest problem... and Kiba's biggest advantage.
Because Kiba, as most people knew by now… didn't fight like the others.
He used his mental map to fully read his opponent's every movement and the entire battlefield without a single blind spot. That's how he could anticipate most of his opponents' moves and attacks. And when his puppets danced, he danced with them... not from a distance, as tradition dictated, but from within. Part of the same machine.
A strike from Piece, a distraction by One, a spinning kick from Kiba. Attack, defense, movement.... all at once. Like it wasn't a fight, but a choreography only he knew… as if he already had every move planned and was just waiting to deliver the final blow.
The second minute passed unnoticed. The crowd didn't shout or cheer. They didn't need to. The silence was respect. It also showed just how intently everyone was watching this fight unfold.
The chunin, to everyone's surprise, was already breathing a bit harder. Oh Kiba was too... but not as much as you'd expect after keeping that level of speed and precision going nonstop.
Even so, Kiba felt it.... something inside told him the chunin wasn't going all out. It was irritating. Part of him was furious at being underestimated, of being seen as someone not worthy of full effort, this part of him was going crazy at the thought and wanted desperate to force the man to fight at full strength.… but his rational side won over his instincts
He'd made too many mistakes in his past life to walk that same idiotic path.... fighting with blind passion.
Besides, Kiba also understood the chunin wasn't holding back out of arrogance, condescension or a sense of superiority, but simply because, well… he was a chunin, and Kiba wasn't even officially a genin yet. It would've looked ridiculous if a well-established and fully-ranked chunin fought a kid at 100% in a match designed just to test if he was ready to graduate early.
But that also gave Kiba space. Space to manage his stamina. To not show everything in this fight.
Not yet.
He could land the finishing blow before the chunin even saw it coming…
Take advantage of the obvious handicap his opponent was giving him by not going all out.
…
Kiba's internal clock vibrated as the final minute began.
He used Barto's shield to block a few kunai... thrown with more speed and strength than usual, as expected from a chunin. Kiba slid, spun, and returned to his stance.
He didn't need to win yet. Just hold out long enough… then, at the very end, deliver a surprise victory using Iron Sand.
But that didn't mean it would be easy. Even if he was strong, the chunin wasn't exactly weak and lagging behind… and Kiba had been going 100% this whole time... well, 100% without using his greatest weapon: the magnet element.
In the final second, Piece landed a calculated, light explosion that kicked up a cloud of sand between them.
The chunin couldn't see Kiba's face.
But he heard his voice from within the dust.
"Time..."
That was it. The three minutes had passed. Kiba was now officially graduated. A genin of Suna…
But he wasn't finished with the fight. Not yet.
In the instant those words left his lips.... had he wanted to end the match there, he only needed to stop moving, and it would've been over, a kinda victory or better said a succeed declared.
But that didn't happen.
Instead, Kiba pulled out a scroll and activated its seal... unleashing a large mass of Iron Sand he had prepared beforehand for this exact situation.
Then it happened…
Kiba shocked all of Suna.
The Iron Sand rose at his command and surged toward the chunin.... who, just seconds before, had been preparing to congratulate the young prodigy who had given him a solid fight…
But now, not only was that kid continuing the battle, he'd revealed the exact same kekkei genkai as the damn Kazekage.
No one could have imagined this… let alone expect to face an attack only associated with the Kazekage himself.
That was far beyond what anyone could have imagined
Still, the chunin had battle experience.... and even though he was caught off guard almost to the point of thinking he was dreaming or imagining things… like when he had suffered under some hallucinogenic poison or inhaled some similar toxin… His instincts kicked in.
The chunin's body(nearly paralyzed by shock) managed to reacted and dodge with great flexibility and speed the iron sand's assault.
But now, caught in a desperate situation, the chunin finally ramped up to 100%.... despite having held back until that moment.
And Kiba noticed it immediately.
A wide, predatory grin spread across his face.
This was what he'd wanted.
Yes... no matter how much his rational side held back his more unhinged impulses, he loved this. It was in his nature.
And so, Kiba let himself go.... finally unleashing the Iron Sand, puppets, and taijutsu in a furious, euphoric assault on the chunin.
...
The field exploded with motion.
Iron Sand lashed out like a storm under Kiba's command, while Barto blocked with mechanical efficiency, Piece zigzagged with quick, calculated detonations, and One slipped through blind spots like a snake.
The chunin had finally gone all-in, unleashing a barrage of fire and wind techniques, his movements more aggressive, more precise. He was strong. Kiba didn't deny that. But this was his battlefield now. His tempo. His rhythm. His war dance.
This was domination.
Kiba spun mid-air, launched a flurry of shuriken coated in Iron Sand, then used the recoil of a puppet's swing to redirect himself and land beside the chunin, delivering a sharp elbow to the ribs... Barto's shield crashing down to block the inevitable counter.
The crowd around them held its breath.
Even the councilman.... so eager before to wax poetic.... was silent, wide-eyed.
Because this wasn't just a gifted student fighting a test match anymore.
This was a child wielding a Kekkei Genkai most thought belonged to only two people in the world: the Kazekage… and Jiki Rasa.
Now, that assumption had been shattered.
In front of all of Suna, the truth had been exposed: another child possessed the same Kekkei Genkai.
A child named Jiki Kiba.
Kiba didn't stop.
His Iron Sand pressed the chunin harder, weaving between puppet strikes and physical blows. He wasn't just using Iron Sand as a weapon... he was blending it. Integrating it with every technique, every movement.
This was the part he wanted them to see.
Not just that he had the same kekkei genkai.
But that he could use it like the Kazekage.
Or even better.... make them think so.
The sand formed blades. Spears. Shields. Claws. It shifted mid-combat, adapting to Kiba's commands, never wasting a motion. Like it was alive.
And still.... he hadn't shown everything.
He was holding back a large portion of his magnetic release's true potential. That would stay secret. Always. No one would ever see his ace unless it was absolutely necessary. If they did, they'd be dead soon after.
Because only corpses would carry that knowledge.
That was the rule.
The chunin was panting now, his chakra thinning, his technique losing edge. He'd fought hard... Kiba respected that. But the man had been caught off guard, and he was being torn apart by something he'd never trained to fight.
The Kazekage's Iron Sand was a legend for a reason. And Kiba had made sure his mimicry was close enough to strike terror.
And it had worked.
The match ended with a simple moment.
The Iron Sand wrapped around the chunin's wrist, stopping a final desperate kunai thrust, and Piece stepped in, launching an explosive tag right at the ground between them.... calculated, not to kill, but to force retreat.
The chunin dropped his weapon and raised his hand.
"I surrender."
Silence.
Then, an eruption.
Not of chakra.... but of cheers. Applause. Awe.
Not just from students or shinobis.... but from some of the council, from elders, jonin, even from retired shinobi who had come out to see what all the whispers were about.
They'd seen it.
The impossible.
And they couldn't ignore it now.
Kiba stood there, chest rising slowly, sweat beading along his temples, Iron Sand hovering behind him like a cloak of metal dust.
He bowed slightly, respectfully. Calm, composed.
And then he turned away.
He didn't need a speech. He didn't need congratulations.
The only thing he needed.... was to know this had gone exactly as planned.
Soon he would hear from the Kazekage. He did not guess. He was certain of it.
…
Karura watched with hands clasped tightly at her chest.
Pakura muttered something under her breath, equal parts irritation and disbelief.
Yashamaru smiled calmly, as always.
And up high, on a private platform that very few were allowed to stand on, the Third Kazekage rose slowly from his seat.
No expression.
But his eyes… focused.
Burning.
Interested.
Oh yes, Kiba had succeeded.
The plan had worked.
Now all he had to do… was survive what came next.