Minato had locked eyes with Kagasei, as he declared his challenge for the whole room of leaf shinobi to hear. The two stood, sights set on each other, the air having a tangible thick tensity to it. Kagasei's eyes narrowed as a cocky smile spread under his face mask, which he pulled down showing off his sharpened, shark-like teeth, a common practice done by the old Swordsmen of the Mist. He walked up to Minato, the young squad mates now standing just a few feet apart with Kagasei standing ever so slightly taller do to their age difference. "It's a deal," Kagasei let out a small chuckle, "The finals will be where we finally settle things." The others in the room stood silent watching the two, none wanting to disturb the tense atmosphere. Among the crowd, their squad leader Himawari shook her head slightly, embarrassed about the whole thing, but not able gain the courage to interfere. She hoped that it would all settle itself, which luckily for her, that's exactly what happened. Kagasei reached his hand out and bumped knuckles with his now tournament rival as a show of sportsmanship, "Better not lose. I'd hate to have an easy win." And with that Kagasei pulled his mask back up above his nose and walked off to prepare for his first match. Himawari letting out an audible sigh of relief. 

After a few moments for the first combatants to get ready, the group was ushered to a large open room. Either side of the room had walkways for the combatants to observe each match from. On the opposite side of the entrance was another observation deck much higher than the walkways and sitting on a quite oversized seat was the Hokage, next to him stood his adviser Shikadai, looking as uninterested as usual. In the middle of the room was a large square outline, indicating the battleground boundaries. As everyone was escorted onto the walkways, Lord Boruto stood up and addressed the Genin, "Today will be the first three fights of the tournament consisting of the four Genin from group one. Each battle will end with one of three win conditions. One, you are rendered unconscious or unable to continue the fight by your opponent. Two, you announce that you give up and can not continue the fight. Or three, you are pushed past the boundaries of the ring indicated by the black square. This is not a battle to the death!" The Hokage looks over each combatant with a serious expression, "Any attempt on the life of your opponent will result in disqualification and automatic failure of the exam." When Boruto was finished he gestured over to a Jonin standing at the edge of the area and sat down.

The Jonin to which the Hokage had gestured to, nodded respectfully, "Thank you, Lord Hokage. Can I now have combatant numbers one and two please enter the indicated battleground." Two of the Genin dropped from the observation walkways and walked to the center of the room, facing each other. On one side stood a blue haired boy with a friendly smile on his face, on the other stood a blond haired girl with a serious expression. The two bowed and then after a second, the Jonin rose his hand into the air, two fingers pointing above his head. Giving each fighter one more look to ensure that they were ready, he dropped his hand, "Begin!"

The Jonin leaped to the observation walkway as the two began their battle. The blue haired boy seemed to be a very offensive styled fighter, seeming to consistently rush his opponent, using mainly ninja tools to try to overwhelm them. Even while he was in the middle of a fight he seemed to be having a good time, smiling and laughing as the battle progressed and even complimenting the other fighter every so often. The girl on the other hand was very silent and calculating. Her opponents onslaught of attacks didn't seem to faze her as she swiftly dodge kunai, shuriken and other assortments of ninja weapons with a sort of calculated grace. Dodging one of the young boys attacks, the female shinobi leaped backwards, sliding back a bit as she executed a string of hand signs. "Earth Style: Rock Shuriken!" Suddenly, the ground she stood on cracked and a handful of medium sized stones rose into the air, quickly beginning to swirl around her and one by one launching themselves at the blue haired Genin. Most seemed to miss the intended target, lodging themselves into the distant wall, while one or two of the projectiles slammed into the stomach of the young boy, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to drop to a knee and wince in pain.

The battle continued on for a few minutes, the boy using his impressive skill with his seemingly unending amount of weapons and the girl responding with a collection of different earth jutsus. Most of the fight seemed to be one sided, the blonde Genin seeming to have the clear advantage with her tactical wit, but there was a sudden shift in power as the boy pulled out a scroll from his pouch. Opening it was a graceful flourish, he bit his thumb and ran his blood across the wording, "Unsealing Technique: Iron Hail Storm!" A plumb of smoke erupted from the scroll as an unbelievable "hail storm" of different weapons shot forth. In a vain attempt to block the onslaught of weapons, the young girl tried to summon a rock wall, but unfortunately she was unprepared for the shear amount of projectiles and a large amount of them pelted her into the ground. The Jonin Judge quickly droped down to check on the weapon riddled Genin and called over a group of medical ninja to treat her. When confident that she would be okay, he walked over to the young blue haired boy, gesturing over to him, "Sotan Omori is the winner of the first match!"

The combatants erupted into a mixture of cheers, astonishment and concern as the battle closed. Kagasei had watched with a smirk as the battle ended, it was his turn to battle and he was eager to crush his opponent.

"Combatants three and four, please come down to the arena."

Kagasei grabbed a large water skin from his pack and slung it over his shoulder as he dropped down to the ground floor and walked into the ring. Across from him now stood a tall, muscular boy with shaggy brown hair that Kagasei recognized at Juzo, a former classmate at the academy, "It's been awhile, Kagasei," Juzo smirked, seeming to enjoy that fact that they were paired up, "I'm looked forward to beating you down." The boy slammed a fist into an open hand making an audible thud. Kagasei was unfazed, secretly smiling under his mask, he too enjoyed the opportunity to put Juzo in his place.  

"Good luck, Kagasei!" Himawari yelled from the walkway, smiling.

"Begin!" 

Juzo lunged forward, throwing a wave of fists at Kagasei at incredible speeds. Kagasei was quick to dodge the blows, pushing some of the punches to the side causing Juzo to lose some of his balance and when he found his opening, the young shinobi spun around and kicked his opponent in the gut so hard that Juzo was thrown a foot or two into the air from the force. The larger Genin stumble back holding a hand to his gut and wincing, a look of anger washing over his face. Kagasei nonchalantly looked at his nails as a way of taunting his opponent, which seemed to further anger Juzo who proceeded to string a few hands signs together before clenching his fists, "Iron fists Jutsu!" Juzo's arms began to shine a little like metal as he slammed a fist into the ground, which cracked, sending a large group of rocks sailing towards Kagasei alongside a shock wave created from the impact. 

Kagasei quickly unstrapped the massive Kubikiribōchō from his back and used the flat side of the blade to shield himself from the rocks, being pushed back a couple feet from the shock wave. The smaller shinobi peered passed the edge of the sharp blade, his eyes narrowed as he focused on his opposition. Hurling himself forward, Kagasei slashed at Juzo with a few swings of his large sword, seeming unburdened by it's size and weight. Juzo was barely able to dodge the attacks and hand to block the last swing with his bare hands, the blade clanging against his metal like skin causing a spark. The both of them leaped back for a moment and Kagasei used this small time to his advantage. He stabbed his sword into the ground and performed a few hand seals, "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu." Water began to flow out of the boys water skin and as the water flowed into the air it formed into a mist that began to cloud the whole arena.

"What is this? Hiding alrea..." Before Juzo could finish his sentence a chorus of slashing sounds accompanied by Juzo yelling in pain interrupted him. The room fell silent for a few moments as the mist finally began to disperse, revealing Kagasei standing over a bleeding and unconscious Juzo, his sword resting on his shoulder. The Judge quickly jumped into action, making sure Juzo was okay and calling over the medical ninja. The observing Genin gasped and whispered to each other as they watched the medics rush in.

"He's fine," Kagasei spoke as he slowly strapped his weapon back in place, "I didn't hit anything vital."

The Judge nodded slightly at Kagasei and once satisfied with the care of Juzo pointed towards the victorious Genin, "Kagasei Momochi is the winner of the second match! With the first two matches complete, we will take a break to allow the combatants a small resting period before the final match of today." With that Kagasei made his way back to where his squad was standing. Himawari smiling and clapping a little in celebration.