The boy he would call rival (Ogata vs Takashi)

Asking a 12 year old what it takes to be a man is like asking a dog what it takes to be a rabbit, but the ninja world necessitated growing up quickly at times. Ogata found himself presented with such a situation now, as he finished the last of his facial markings making sure to blot under his bottom lip a deep, crimson red in the hopes of hiding some of the inevitable blood. Even as he headed towards the door, the excitement quickening his breathing was enough to bring him blood-filled heaving as his still-injured lung continued to remind him of it's condition. He had no qualms about his situation, he would not be defeating Takashi today, he had no chance. They were equals on Ogata's best day, and this was far from it. Even the paint couldn't hide the fact that his skin was turning an unsightly shade of pale-white.

This was going to be his swan song in the exam.

So, with all of this said it may have come as a surprise to some when he appeared from behind the proverbial curtain. There was none of the grandiose entrance theatrics he usually exhibited, there was no pose to be struck. Gama stood beside him, aware of the situation with his sword already drawn and Ogata pretty well had the battle mapped out in his head. His hope of victory was to make this quick, to go for broke. He needed to destroy Takashi with whatever he could muster quickly, a battle of attrition simply couldn't and wouldn't favor him.

As Takashi made his own entrance and their names were called, the murmurs from the crowd became loud for a moment, then faded from Ogata's conscious mind. All he could see was the boy in front of him.

The boy he would call rival.

Takashi approached in a similar manner to his uncharacteristically serious opponent. Yato trailed slightly behind to join in, eyeing off their foes with equal scruitiny. This fight had been a long time coming really, the pair of them had been training together for so long now. Even if their general outlook on life couldn't differ more, they tended to almost subconsiously know what the other was thinking at any time. So Takashi had a good feeling that Ogata was putting on a front of sorts, since he knew the outcome already.

The younger shinobi unsheathed his own blade in preparation, stepping toward the center to stand opposite the would be frog sage. As always, Takashi's expression gave away little to the uninitiated, but it was clear he was somewhat disappointed with the situation. Though at the same time was well aware that it wouldn't be easy, but it wasn't the same as a true duel. This was going to end up little more than a frantic scramble if he had everything figured out. Ogata would want to try and overwhelm him as quickly as possible.

A strategy that might just work on anyone else, but as far as firepower went the pair were equal. Their summons would probably attempt to simply keep the other away from the fight, though who would win there was anyones guess. With everything set, Takashi pushed up his glasses to level his gaze to take a moment before their fight began to form what looked to be the half-tiger seal with his left hand. The sign of confrontation, assuming Ogata returned the gesture then it was all in agreement, they would fight until one of them was no longer standing. With everything they had.

Ogata made no seal in return, leaping forward with reckless abandon and a kunai drawn at the ready. He made a swipe at Takashi's chest and almost certainly expected their blades to clash, but this was all part of his plan. "Go now Gama!"

As soon as Ogata said this, Gama would appear from the sky with his blade coming down towards his new opponent hoping to cleave him in two. The snake would almost surely intercept the wayward toad, but that was a secondary issue for a different time. The feeling of cold steel pushing back and forth was enough to give Ogata a rush, but the exertion of it was giving way to labored breathing and the unfortunate reveal of blood seeping back between his teeth while he did his damnedest to keep himself together. Provided his frog friend had not been successful in bisecting the boy and had in fact been intercepted by Yato, Ogata would allow his blade to slowly but surely be pushed down and would then subsequently lunge his head upwards and forwards towards Takashi's face.

To anyone with eyes, the move would reek of desperation. Ogata needed an equalizer, and he wasn't going to get it in raw hand to hand combat. Regardless of whether or not it had hit Ogata would push forward, swinging wildly at Takashi with an uppercut. He had to hope this worked, he needed the momentum to shift in his direction.

Takashi seemed to acknowledge this lack of return with an almost casual deflecting of Ogata's strike as Yato leaps into action. Not even requiring a command to surge forth to tackle the toad mid-leap. The boy swipes his blade to clash and hold. This struggle didn't last long though, with Ogata's headbutt coming completely out of nowhere. Takashi hissed in surprise as he was forced away, giving Ogata the space he needed to try and finish his assault. Not that a wild rush was ever going to stop Takashi long.

Despite the crack running through his lenses, Takashi would use this momentum shift to his advantage. Sheathing his blade he steps in to counter with a swift jab to the ribs, aiming right where that wound was. Seems nothing was off limits now. Hoping his swift recovery would catch Ogata off guard to take the hit, he took the opporunity to respond with a second strike in the form of a spinning kick to send him properly reeling back. Not that he had finished by any means, the moment he landed the boy would have finished the final seal in a string as he cast out a mighty gout of flames to finish him off.

---

Sayuri yawned as she lazily observes from those VIP box seats with the Hokage. "So we're just letting them go all out? You know those two are gonna end up burning this place down" She had little info really on this years candidates, but those two in particular had shown promise. In an unhinged and overly destructive kind of way.

The thud of Ogata's skull meeting Takashi's had given him a false sense of confidence, one he would pay dearly for as his push to continue the onslaught was met with little more than assurance of further agony.

The jab to the ribs took Ogata's wind immediately, blood filled his mouth yet again and seemed to be coming out with every drop of spit that left his body. The kick didn't help matters either, sending him spiraling away towards the opposite wall with a busted lip and a headache to add to his troubles. Ogata was reeling, trying to pull himself to his feet even as his body screeched in agony, begging him to stop. He weaved a couple hand-signs, seemingly on autopilot as he used the last of his air to create a return fireball of his own accord, not that it could ever be enough.

The two attacks collided but Ogata was much closer to the flames than Takashi and had much less in the way of means to stop it. The explosion clipped him, pushing him back even further and scorching the front of his body until he was forced to let out a scream in agony. He needed to get away now, he needed a moment to regroup and so he began to weave signs once more, casting his hand towards the dirt "Bring Down the House Jutsu!"

As Ogata said this, a giant frog would form beneath him sending him far above the previously established field of play. He wheezed, and winced with every breath, his body trembled as he slowly but surely pulled himself to his feet but his eyes were glassy and unresponsive. Between blood-loss, head-trauma, and lack of oxygen Ogata was in a very bad way and knew that he didn't have much more time to pull this off. He stood up and waited, but for what even he wasn't sure. He just needed an opening, just one chance and he would see this through..

He had to.

Takashi had vanished behind the pillar of flames left in his wake, with Ogata likely losing track of him quickly as he barely managed to avoid the barrage. Seeing as the proctor hadn't called it, the other boy had presumably avoided the giant toad collapsing onto the arena. In fact he didn't need to wait long at all for Takashi to land opposite him atop the new stage for their battle.

"You should just give up Ogata" It seemed that he had calmed down a little during the breif lull in combat. "You're in no state to continue, we both know it" He had his gaze fixed squarely upon his opponent. Mostly expecting some witty remark and refusal before something over the top. He readied himself for either outcome really, but he felt like Izumi might not forgive him if he hadn't at least offered. In a show of good faith though, he decided to reach his hand out as a way to signal the end of their duel, even if it had been so rudely rejected from the start.

The reprieve Ogata had been praying for had been met with a resounding and unfortunate interruption. Takashi had ascended the giant toad with much more ease than even Ogata would have anticipated, and his current situation had left him with little in the way of a response, even if his fingers were frantically casting seals as he rose to his feet. "You're right.. I'm not in a position to continue.. I should just give up right Takashi?.."

Ogata finished his rise, finally standing straight up and down as he spit another large portion of blood to the side. "But we both know I only know one way.. Sorry Takashi."

Ogata in a flash finished his last seal as Gama flew over the head of the large toad, poised with a toad oil bullet at the ready. "Toad Oil Bullet, Great Fireball Jutsu combo!"

The blast was immense, having met in the middle where Takashi was previously standing and the heat radiating from the blast was enough to give Ogata pause, his skin beginning to become raw just from the residual heat alone. As the smoke began to clear, Ogata took one pace backwards that resembled a stumble above all else, his eyes locked in waiting to see what had become of his rival.

Whatever had happened, this fight appeared to be nearing a close.

Izumi had been watching from the beginning, even knowing that her fight was close behind her squad mates'. She had to see it and be there to cheer them both on. She had to watch knowing that they were going to go all out and probably go way too far. Izumi wasn't necessarily excited for this, in fact she had been nervous from the start. Her heart continued to pound, especially seeing that Ogata was in rough shape."That idiot. If he had just let me help him," Izumi would whisper to herself as she would clench her fists in front of her chest. She couldn't stand seeing him suffer the way he was and his breathing was so rough she could practically hear it from her place on the sidelines. Well, maybe not literally, but she liked to think she could. As Takashi gave Ogata the chance to give up, Izumi would smile sadly to herself knowing that Ogata would never take that opportunity, although she wished he would. She could hope that he would change his mind this time, but it was all for nothing. At this point, she would watch knowing there was nothing she could do except be there to heal their wounds later. It wasn't going well and Izumi's emotions had become so complicated that all she could do was wait. "Please, just... be ok," she would ask the two of them with a rather distressed sigh only loud enough for herself to hear.

With that, Ogata had spent the last of Takashi's goodwill. Until this point, the boy had been holding back from his all if only subconsciously. It was difficult to fight at full strength when he knew that Ogata had come into the round injured. Takashi barely needed to glance aside to guess what was coming, For a split second, just before the volatile mixture above him exploded he managed to catch his rival's gaze. There was a cold determination shown on his features. Enough to register even in the chaos, and it told Ogata that if this didn't stop Takashi now that things were only going to escalate.

A key difference between the two Summoners were their approaches to combat. Takashi tended to take the role of a sole attacker, having a varied skillset that allowed him to deal with most any situation. Yato tended to support him. The threat of such a large snake erupting from the ground at any time was enough to give the most well trained shinobi cause for concern. That did leave him at a disadvantage though. Ogata and Gama worked together far more closely, allowing for these sorts of spectacular combos.

Of course it wasn't enough to stop the boy, who had taken a fairly direct route. Again, his advance was covered by the explosion, that he had perhaps stayed a little too close considering the smoke rosing from his left side. Takashi looked a little worse for wear, his normal outfit was barely hanging on, with the left side in tatters while hanging across his right shoulder, with everything else held up by the cord at his waist. Despite the damage caused though, it wouldn't be enough to stop this reckoning.

As Ogata stumbled back to witness the devastation of his jutsu combo, Takashi erupted from the smoke in a burst of speed, leaping forward into a series of furious kicks. Each enough to send his target off his feet if they connected correctly to set him up for a particularly savage heel drop that would likely have Ogata set right for a trip off the side of the giant toad to the arena floor.

Good news, the combo had landed. Bad news, Gama was immediately intercepted by the giant snake yet again as they rolled down the back of the toad gnashing teeth and swords in equal measure. More bad news, Takashi was standing and Ogata pretty well knew the score. Good will was out the window, and he was in for a world of hurt. Even as Takashi's clothes hung loosely from his body, he was able to erupt from the smoke with staggering speed, more than enough to catch Ogata off guard. The first kick landed to Ogata's ribs, immediately another puddle of blood erupted from his mouth and onto the ground, the second kick was enough to bring him to his knee and the third was even more sinister.

The heel drop wasn't from out of nowhere, Ogata could see it coming with every ounce of consciousness he still had in him. As it landed he heard the crashing of the boot against his head, then felt his jaw smack the ground and land in his own blood. The impact alone was enough to bounce him back, and even though he could feel himself slipping he had no energy to stop himself. He was in a slow free-fall, tumbling off the frog to the ground below. He had to do something. It couldn't end like this. He had to do something.

Just one more shot.

Ogata's resolve was in this pivotal moment given time to bake, and he retrieved a kunai to catch himself on the side of the toad. The crowd gasped loudly, having feared for the worst.

"I feel as though the proctor should step in Sayuri, please go deliver this message- what is he doing?.."

Kaishi was interrupted by Ogata reverse summoning the frog, converting it into more oil than he'd ever seen in one place. Ogata was sent into a slow free fall, casting signs as he did so and that was when it dawned on Kaishi..

"Oh my god.. Sayuri, barriers up, now!"

Gama had understood the assignment, casting a giant fireball at the flames even as the snake landed a nasty bite on his side and Ogata would return with the same fervor. "Fire Style: Giant Fireball jutsu!"

The two balls of fire would collide within the airborne oil, setting it alight and causing an explosion that would envelop the entirety of the arena. Gama separated from his snake enemy, diving in to make the save on Ogata's airborne body. The minute Ogata hit his hands, Gama faded from view. Ogata no longer had the chakra to maintain the summon, and his body was convulsing due to the 2nd-3rd degree burns layered around his body. If the proctor wasn't in awe, he would have probably waved the fight off here. Ogata was at this point in no position to push forward, but adrenaline was enough to bring him to his feet to the audible gasps of the crowd.

Kaishi opined, having spotted Takashi reeling elsewhere. "I want this fight stopped now Sayuri, see it done."