Eight participants waved to the crowd in the middle of the arena. The last test of the exam was a great event awaited by the many nations, where their best elements faced each other, as if to offer a demonstration of strength between them. Each country could either demonstrate the power of its future high-ranking soldiers, or witness the power of other countries, which would then be feared in a real war.

  Sagi, along with all the rulers of the Land of the Sun and a few from other participating nations, were eagerly awaiting Tsukinoko's skills. Although her reputation was still untouched, she was nonetheless known to Hanamaru by those in high places. And the fact that the Chief had taken on a new disciple raised questions in the other nations.

  The Shikaru brigade, alongside two finalists from Subaku, the hidden village in Sand country, one from Gyoson, the hidden village in Coast country, one from Somitto, the hidden village in Mountain country, and the last from Hanamaru.

  The final event got underway, and the first bouts warmed up the crowd, until Tsukinoko's bout rendered her speechless. As she advanced into the arena to face Gyoson's candidate, a fourteen-year-old swordsman, the crowd full of low masses heightened her apprehension, and she gasped a man's voice rang out.

  - Chief's disciple ahoy! I bet it all on you, you'd better not lose!

  - Do your village proud!

  Halfway there, she looked for reassurance in the eyes of the man concerned, who beckoned her on. The fight could stop as soon as the referee deemed it necessary, otherwise, all blows were allowed, unconditionally. In a straightforward voice, the referee launched the fight.

  After a few minutes, Tsukinoko was fooled by the youngster, who propelled her against the wall with a kick. Her aura condenses at the last moment to cushion the impact, ripping open the wall in the process. Furious that he'd managed to get her, she overheard him boasting to the referee that the fight could end there.

  The youngster spotted Tsukinoko straddling the crack, then staggering towards him, looking weakened. Without hesitation, he lunged straight for her and his sword pierced her belly, eliciting a gasp of surprise from the crowd. But Tsukinoko suddenly evaporates and he remains confused

  The real one was crouched beside the grandstand, unnoticed, and had been watching his opponent for a while, before jumping up while he was busy with his shadow clone, sabers drawn. The sabers were planted deep into the ground, right down to the hilt.

  Tsukinoko launched a supreme fireball, and Gyoson's young soldier immediately retaliated with a jet of water to extinguish her flame. He laughed at the series of botched attempts, accompanied by the crowd who were indignant at the unpromising exploits of the Chief's disciple.

  - You're easy to figure out," he sneers. But you don't stand a chance against a water user with your fire, especially as you're only good at close combat. You've lost, I'll give you a chance to surrender before I ruin your career as a soldier," he smiles arrogantly

  Susceptible, Tsukinoko mocked his arrogance by lashing out at her sabers stuck in the ground with exaggeration, before taking her face in her hands.

  - Oh, it's horrible! she screams. What am I going to do?!

  Her lamentations over, she fell backwards, bursting out laughing, which provoked a perplexed silence in the bleachers. Hilarious, she sits down cross-legged, leaning back on her hands, flashing a mocking smile that unsettles her opponent. With a wave of her hand, she flips her hair back and her calm voice carries through to the silent spectators.

  - Now let's get serious. I want to test something.

  - You'll see! You'll have wanted it! his opponent panics, leaping backwards.

  At the other end of the arena, he created a powerful jet of water drawn from the ground. Still seated cross-legged, Tsukinoko didn't react to the jet of water rushing towards her, prompting protests and incomprehension from the crowd, while Shikaru chuckled in the corner of the grandstand, a memory on his mind.

  Suddenly, Tsukinoko raises her hand and snaps her fingers, attacking her just a few metres away. The jet of water immediately stops before spilling to the ground, the source dried up. At the same moment, her opponent lets out a cry of pain.

  Burned from the inside out, he fell to the ground, the static electricity of his excited cells sizzling through the pores of his skin. Tsukinoko rises to her feet, retrieves her sabers with an ease that startles the crowd, then curtsies, twirling the blades in front of her.

  Leaning forward, weapons held high in the air, part of the crowd applauded and congratulated her, while the other remained cogitating to understand the sleight of hand. She stood up and flashed a mischievous smile at the referee.

  - Winner of the second quarter-final, Tsukinoko de Hanamaru! he shouts, pointing at her.

  As she further stunned the crowd with her overflowing confidence, Tsukinoko waved to the Chief from afar, proud of herself. Beside her, all the Lords stared at him after this theatrical confrontation. No one understood how Tsukinoko had managed to defeat her opponent.

  - Tsukinoko suspected a soldier who would use water, so she wanted to check it with her fire," said Shikaru, standing behind Le Chef. Her aura enabled her to conduct electricity through the water jet to defeat her opponent, even if I didn't catch a glimpse of him this time.

  - Because her aura wasn't there. Do you really think she'd let herself fall on her opponent like that?" replied the Chief. She needed momentum to drive her sabers so deep, so that they could drive her lightning through the soil moisture, from which her opponent had to draw to throw so much water. Everything that had happened since the beginning was just a diversion, to push him into a corner. Neither he nor anyone else suspected his invisible technique.

  - How?" wonders Shikaru with the Lords, curious.

  - Tsukinoko never stops pushing her limits," he explained proudly. Her handling of chakra is becoming unheard of, she was just testing her new technique, as she pointed out.

  - And yet, Gyoson's young talent did manage to get your disciple in the first place, given the state of your arena," exclaims the Somitto boss haughtily.

  - You and the spectators had your eyes glued to the back of the arena so as not to miss anything, not noticing that she was just a few meters away from us as soon as the fight started," replied the Subaku chief.

  The Somitto Chief found it hard to believe that he couldn't have spotted Tsukinoko's presence before she jumped, then asked Shikaru about the aura he'd mentioned, which vaguely explained his affinity with lightning.

  - You've got great potential here," adds the Subaku Chief, hiding his suspicion. She could already be observing the next stage of the battle at our side.

  - Let's not be hasty," says Somitto's Chief.

  - Here's what's next," exclaims the Lord of the Land of the Sun, eager to cut them off.

  For the semi-final, Tsukinoko found herself this time up against Subaku's young victorious soldier, who used a long metal chain as his weapon, a clue to his medium-range fighting style. the fight underway, Tsukinoko memorized her movements after a few exchanges of blows, then stepped back to safety to prepare her technique, out of reach.

  - Ishi-ka suru seidenki!

  The arena filled with static electricity, causing her opponent to take a step backwards under the tension that suddenly resided there. A whitish glow emanated from her sabers, charged with electricity, and she slowly joined them over her shoulder. Their shrill cry echoed through the arena.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  As anticipated, Tsukinoko avoids the chain at the right moment by charging straight at him, but in mid-air the referee appears in front of her.

  - Shit!

  The sabres, deflected at the last moment, sank into the ground, before the eyes of the crowd, offended by the opponent's cunning. The latter, metamorphosed into the referee, was about to compliment his own gesture, but the ground suddenly cracked before the arena was shaken by an earthquake.

  The ground exploded into a thousand pieces under the electrical tension that spread across it, and the shockwave was so strong that its blast shook the spectators, who shielded their faces. Petrified, his opponent waited for the dust to settle before blinking, while Tsukinoko was enraged at having missed.

  - Ren... Haruo sighs in his corner. You certainly won't have wasted your time this time.

  The latter brandished his fist in encouragement to Tsukinoko, unleashed among the stunned spectators of his young friend's prowess. The fight continued and they found themselves on opposite sides of the arena, staring each other down as victory neared for Tsukinoko, who had guessed that she had no trump cards left in her pocket, feeling her anguish.

  The young Subaku soldier had been struck again and again, his face bleeding, without managing to land a single blow. Suddenly, she realized that he had swapped places and leapt into the air just in time as he emerged from the ground, hidden between the debris of the field that looked like a battlefield after the explosion.

  The long chain thrown after Tsukinoko ends up grabbing her ankle, bringing her violently down to earth. She crumples to the ground unprotected, preferring to conserve her reserves after their many heated exchanges.

  She slowly pulls herself out of the hole she's landed in, holding her stomach, blood pouring from her mouth. In the distance, Ren slowly lowers his arm, suddenly silent. Wounded but reckless, Tsukinoko regains guard with her sabers, not forgetting to provoke her opponent, smiling even as her head spins from the impact.

  Now on the defensive, with only a third of his chakra reserves left, his opponent redoubled his efforts. Her sabers were finally snatched from her hands by the chain, which had returned to the charge after a gust of wind from her opponent forced her to squint. Thanks to a timely blade, Tsukinoko deflects the chain, but the end wraps itself around her neck. Without waiting, the young soldier fired a sharp blow and she fell to the ground. Without getting up.

  Memories paralyzed her mind, sensations similar to the terrible night before Tsukinoko was torn from her parents. She remained stunned, and Subaku's young soldier took the opportunity to drag her to him. His opponent's angry, frowning gaze, devoid of empathy, like her father's terrifying gaze, made Tsukinoko's knees buckle, a prisoner of her mind.

  - Stop... she's sobbing. Daddy...

  - Well?! he shouts. Don't be such a smart-ass!

  - Dad... Please... Please...

  Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her adversary looked at her with contempt, proud of his hold. Her eyes began to flutter as he tightened the chain at both ends to strangle her. Tsukinoko closed her eyelids with all her might, clawing at the chain around her neck to free herself, to no avail.

  In the stands, the crowd was holding its breath and Shikaru had given the Chief a worried look. Something was wrong because Tsukinoko was no longer reacting, not being in the habit of panicking. The referee cast a discreet glance in his turn, but the Chief was waiting for her to react, his fist clenched on the armrest.

  Ren had rushed to the edge of the bleachers and climbed over the railing, accompanied by Hina, shouting at the top of their voices.

  - Get moving!

  - Hang in there Tsuki!

  - Don't you fucking dare lose now! Get moving!

  Their call echoed through the arena and gave goose bumps to the spectators, but Tsukinoko was unresponsive, murmuring only faintly. Her face paled and her breathing faltered. It was at this point that the opponent picked up one of the swords, holding Tsukinoko by the chain with his other hand, displaying her pale throat to the spectators.

  The sword's tip reflected the sun, heralding the aftermath of a macabre gesture. With a victorious air, the adversary brought down the sharp blade like a samurai trying to slice a bamboo tree in two, with a clean swing that sent Ren leaping off the railing

  A cloud of dust swirled in the center of the arena. It dissipated to reveal the referee and Ren, who had intervened in time. Ren's knuckles dug into the flesh of the young soldier's wrist to hold back his blow, while the referee carried Tsukinoko with one arm and pushed the sword back with his own, just centimetres from Tsukinoko's throat. Chatter had invaded the stands, boiling with excitement, and the caretakers were coming running towards them.

  - You didn't have to go that far!" threatens Ren. You could see she was overreacting!

  - As long as the fight wasn't over, I had the right," he sneers. It's not a man's death after all!

  - There's nothing to lose by waiting-

  - Shut up," shouts the referee. You, get back up there.

  Ren finally relaxes the young soldier, who quickly takes a few steps back. The referee joins Subaku's young soldier and points to him, shouting across the arena.

  - Winner of the first semi-final!

  Loud exclamations rang out in the distance, startling Tsukinoko from her bed in the infirmary. Spectators were leaving the arena, debating the fights and enjoying the show.

  The reason for her presence in the infirmary came back to her mind, and she curled up on the bed, drowning in emotion. Disappointed at her failure, Tsukinoko fled from there

  As the sun set, she remained on the highest branch of the camphor tree, brooding over her battle as she watched the village. After a detour through the forest, Tsukinoko returned to the village, but a voice disturbed her thoughts, even though she was alone in the middle of the alley. She looked up to see a Colony agent perched on a tree

  The grey-haired, tousled young special agent wore his armband so as to cover his left eye. He had a mask sewn into the extension of his top, covering his nose and mouth, dressed in the classic Colony Agent outfit. Tsukinoko noticed the mask hanging from his belt, and realized that he was only a few years older than her. With a book in his hand, he was leaning against the tree.

  - You are not allowed to leave the village. You're a young soldier and you're not allowed to leave Hanamaru without a superior. You risk a reprimand.

  - Shut up, what are you meddling with?" she rants. Jīj-Le Chef authorizes me, so unless you're Chef's lapdog who brings him everything, I don't owe you anything!

  No response, so she resumed her journey, but the agent followed.

  - I'm just doing my job. Why didn't you fight back?" he asks suddenly.

  - Huh?

  - When your opponent was holding you down with the chain, why did you stop? he insists. You could have-

  - Mind your own business," she says curtly, resuming her walk. Instead of being pretentious.

  She leaves without waiting, haughty, but bumps into someone before opening her eyes again. The Chief, pipe in hand, thanks his agent before looking down at Tsukinoko.

  - Sorry for going out... she sighs shamefully. I just felt like taking a walk, Jījī.

  She could feel the agent's insistent gaze on her back, but the Chief didn't seem to care.

  - It doesn't matter now. Anyway, why don't you tell me what happened first?

  - It brought back... Bad memories," she admitted, lowering her head. I'd done something stupid and Dad... My neck... Forget it, Jījī.

  He takes a long drag on his pipe, a serious look on his face.

  - Good. Will you be able to handle the situation if it happens again on a mission?

  - Bah yes! It won't happen again. I'd never dare endanger my comrades! I promise, Jījī, it's the last time! she shouts with determination. I'll be careful!

  - That's all I needed," he smiles.

  - Huh?

  - You can take as many walks as you like now.

  - Can I...?" she insists, squinting.

  - You have been promoted to the rank of Senior Soldier thanks to your explo-

  - What's that? For real?" she wonders.

  - Yes, you-

  - But I've lost!" she shouts, throwing up her hands to the sky.

  - Of course, but-

  - And in the semi-finals!

  - It's because

  - How can this be?! she screams again.

  - Tsukinoko!" he growls. Don't make me regret my decision.

  She immediately fell silent as he gave a long sigh before turning on his heels, but she jumped on his back, delighted. The agent had disappeared, and the chef walked her back to the Teuchi restaurant, explaining that she had passed the test. Tsukinoko had shown her perseverance, strategic thinking and thoughtfulness despite the incident. When they arrived at the restaurant, Ren was waiting for her with a small smile, leaning against the shop window. The chef disappeared and she found Hina, Mikio and Takeshi inside, all there to celebrate the end of the exam. Back at home, a small package was waiting for her on the deckchair.

  << Congratulations on your promotion to the rank of Senior Soldier. In just a few months, you've already made Hanamaru proud.

  Sato >>

  The little card was accompanied by a photo of them in which she was making a face, taken on her arrival. She tore off the note and stuck it in the frame proudly adorning the living room desk.

  Following her promotion to the rank of Senior Soldier, Tsukinoko was sent on C- and B-rank missions, sometimes with Shikaru and his brigade, but never outside the Land of the Sun, assisting the Chief in his work the rest of the time.

  He continued to train her, and perfected a technique of his own, the mud flow, which she later combined with her own. After a few months, she decided to add her own flames to harden the mud and imprison her opponents for longer

  After the start of the new school year, Tsukinoko was summoned by the Chief. Just passing the Adjutant as he entered the Academy's main hall, Tsukinoko ignored his remarks and found the Chief shaking his head at her rudeness.

  - Well, now you're here," he said, handing her a mission order. The Land of the Sea has been plagued by unexplained disappearances. You're going to go and investigate among the inhabitants and try to find some explanations. Can you go alone? You've never been out of the country before.

  - Well, yeah!

  - This is a C-rank mission, kid, okay?" he insists.

  - Yeah, yeah, yeah. The usual.

  - Details of your trip and the business are in the mission order. Get going. Take care.