Chunin Exams Round 3 Shikatopu vs. Kitsra

Dark hues scanned the area that would hold the battle between Shikatopu and whoever his opponent was. He hadn't bothered to remember the name and figured at some point the two would swap pleasantries anyway so that fact didn't weigh on his conscious. It was bright, warm day in Konoha like they often had with only a few clouds dotting the sky. Pretty decent conditions for a person with a skill set that was as specialized as the Nara's, though the sky could only aid him so much. The arena looked like the architects took a regular chunk of nature and plopped it in the middle of a stadium. It was circular and had a roughly thirty foot diameter in each direction. Low lying grass mixed in with patches of barren dirt made up the floor along with trees here and there; six to be exact. They were of average height and placed at least ten feet away from each other.

Though the field didn't have much in terms of aesthetics there was plenty of room to run around and utilize various strategies, which the Genin hoped would lead to a good fight. A quick bout, while helpful to the body, would have left the boy with a sour taste in his mouth especially after doing so well on the previous two tests, almost too well. He knew a modest showing would probably get him an advance in rank but didn't want to become a Chunin so lackadaisically. Hopefully whoever his opponent was would oblige that unspoken request. Shikatopu had his eyes trained on the entrance to the field and awaited his opponent to arrive, he was beginning to get restless. All the plans and moves in the world didn't matter if there was no one to use them against.

Riko was walking through a rather dimly lit tunnel which led to the entrance to the giant tunnel. She gingerly pushed the doors open and made her way out into the open. Her name was the last to be called by the stadium announcer and even though the crowd didn't know her she apparently had many fans as they all cheered rather loudly as she entered the center of the stadium. The stadium itself was nothing special. It was rather plain the only outstanding features being the large walls that surrounded them and the occasional boulder that littered the ground. The ground they stepped on was dusty but wasn't even ground it was made of concrete, worn somewhat smooth by years of wear and tear.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sunlight in the open arena. Rubbing her eyes quickly she was able to clearly make out the rest of arena. She had been told that the original participant had dropped out and she was rushed over to fill in. It was a last minute decision and it threw a wrench in her whole plan. Putting all that behind her she walked up to the boy in the middle of the arena. He was also from Suna, but she had never meant him before. If she remembered correctly, he was a Nara which meant that he could manipulate shadows.

"Well Mr. Nara I guess we should fight now?"

Shikatopu only had to wait a few minutes until his opponent arrived, a girl with nothing exciting about her at first glance aside from perhaps her hair. Though he had no prior knowledge of this girl the cheering from the crowd made it seem that she had a cult following, perhaps she had gained some popularity from the other two tests. Not that it mattered now, anyway, for if she lost then the fickle people would surely jump off the bandwagon as quickly as they had hopped onto it.

Pushing himself off of the tree as the girl neared the Genin could only shake his head internally. He had wanted to begin this fight quite some time ago and was quite surprised to see that he had arrived first. "Ladies first." The Nara replied before jumping back a few meters; couldn't give the opponent any free shots now could we? Devising a strategy against someone whose abilities were still unknown was next to impossible. Sure, there was the basic immobilization plan but the finer details always had to adapt to what the enemy could and could not do. It was time for information gathering.