Chunnin Exams [Kaito vs Lara]

Inside the warmonger arena, the air was chilly and the space dark, little daylight filtered onto the passages underneath the stands where fighters would walk though. The cold air within was a nice contrast with the warm weather of the sunny day outside the stony halls of the fighting pit, it helped relieve the heat collected in the short walk to the stadium. Sitting alone in a dark room, hunching forward, the redhead was afforded a few moments to collect himself and prepare for the fight about to happen.

The rules were few, but the main one was not to kill. Accidents happen, but any action that could be considered as intentionally lethal would be severely punished. Furthermore, a seal had been applied to the back of his neck so as to limit his physical capacities and make the fight fair for all participants. Kaito only had a few moments to adjust to his lowered physical prowess, but it mattered little. All things being equal, he was mostly afraid of other's capacity at throwing jutsu at him from a distance. Sharp ice shards flying in his direction flashed briefly through his mind and sunk into his eye with a cold sensation, forcing Kaito to close his eyes and let the sensation run through his body and leave it. He slide a finger under the eyepatch that covered his right eye and rubbed it lightly; the eyepatch was but a ruse, for underneath it was no dead eye. Instead, a white eye of his deceased student waited its cue to be activated, the power of the Hyuuga which allowed to see far and wide all around. At least the eyepatch wasn't attracting as much attention as his other eye: rather than the brown eyes he once had, a red eye with two tomoe faced the world hungrily. Because Kaito's implant had not taken in yet, he wasn't able to deactivate the Sharingan in his left eye, which slowly but surely drained away at his chakra reserves, not magnificient to begin with. A healthy boost in his caloric intake helped curb the chakra draw, but if the bloodline didn't awaken soon, he might be in trouble.

He mentally prepared himself for the challenge ahead. "My opponent stole something from the village. They stole our ryo and our secrets. I must not kill them. I must capture them that they may reveal the location of our hard earned cash and the leverage of the Kumogakure. No killing. No dying."

His outfit was simple today: black shirt with a fishnet cover over it, tight fitting, and black pants drawn into bandages that covered his calves and feet, with black sandals. On his forehead, the standard black cloth Kumogakurian headband, covering his forehead tattoos as best as it could, but still allowing his widow's peak to show, since he kept his red hair pulled back and knotted at the top back of his head.

A rapping at the door followed by a quick "you're up" told Kaito all he needed to know. He got to his feet, walked out the door and walked the cool corridors, until he reached a wide porticus from where light bled onto the darkened corridor. Kaito stood in front of it, and soon enough, a horn blarred outside, informing the genin that his time was up. As the porticus opened, he walked into the blinding light of the outside day, and into the arena. As he did, he could hear boos, jeering and laughter. He wasn't very well liked in the Kumogakure anymore since losing his title just a few days ago. It mattered not. He got into the position he should occupy, 40 meters away from the center, and while his left hand gripped the jagged claw at his belt, his right hand came closer to his chest, holding the seal of confrontation, signalling his readiness to start the fight.