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"You've got this, Jōki-kun!" a group of girls cheered from the stands, trying to rally his spirits.
The match was dragging on much longer than expected. His opponent was a strange kid with a bizarre talent for manipulating sand. Jōki had thought he already had the win in the bag. His opening move had been a smoke bomb, designed to blind the guy just long enough to land a finishing blow. The combination of smoke and early strikes should have kept his victim disoriented, but the smoke was taking agonizingly long to expand, leaving a tense, empty window of time.
Still, his Sharingan could see perfectly through the haze. Through the swirling mist, he tracked the exact moment the boy launched two weapons made of compressed sand directly at him.
A sharp laugh escaped Jōki's lips.
"Attacking blindly? Don't you know what these eyes can do?!" he taunted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
He didn't see the real threat. A split second later, a faint rustle echoed behind him. Before he could react, a heavy blow cracked against the back of his head, sending him crashing face-first into the dirt.
The last thing he heard before blacking out was the proctor announcing the victory of the Hidden Sand shinobi.
Up in the stands, Izuna let out a heavy sigh, watching his son's defeat.
"If I’d known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have made you pull strings to get him into this tournament."
"Are you really surprised that your son is just as egocentric as you are?" Tobirama asked, his tone dry.
The Uchiha glared at his husband in pure exasperation, reaching over to pinch the white-haired man's cheek with a sharp, forceful yank.
"Shut up."