*raises hand* Wait - did or did not Ino make it to the actual third test? 'Cause I had written that last assuming that she had...
*goes back and checks* Oh, damn. My bad.
Hm. I have this sudden image of how the rest of the tournament goes: Neshan beats Neji, Tenten lucks past Shino, and Kankuro and Katsu both forfeit. Second round, Neshan knocks Tenten over with a feather (Shino's bugs ate real well, see), then Shikanenai forfeits to Gaara. Possibly with some wisecrack about the places he doesn't want to get sand.
Then, for the third round, Neshan forfeits, making some remark to the effect that he's not getting paid enough to tangle with a Jinchuuriki, anyway.
*smiles beatifically* It all that doesn't get his 'coonness hopping mad, nothing will.
Note: the following is from the Devil Cat arc.
When the four shinobi met at the agreed-on place, a ragged, craggy pillar of granite that heaved itself up above the forest canopy right outside the cleared zone surrounding the village, they had barely had time to exchange greetings when a razor-edged chill danced its way across their spines. "Is that..." Shikanenai asked, and all three of the others nodded in unison.
"Without a doubt," Neshan said, and bit at his thumb before crouching to scrawl a quick, sloppy glyph across the bare stone. When he looked up, a slight film of chakra could be seen dancing across his glasses. "That way," he said, pointing, then took off at a fast cruise that any competent ninja could maintain for hours on end.
Katsu poured on a short burst of speed and fell in beside him, frowning. "The flash came from that direction," he said with a slight nod towards the facing he meant.
"Yes. But cats kill their prey quick, once they decide to. It's already too late to stop it from making the kill, and its den... is right here," Neshan finished as he snapped to a halt perched in the crux of a branch.
"Below us?" Kakashi asked, since the streambank below them didn't seem to have any kind of cave that would be suitable for a creature that size.
Katsu's nostrils flared. "Yes," he said flatly.
"Messy eater?" the third Genin broke in, not quite jokingly.
"No. Just a heavy one."
Training and practice and experience being what they were, none of the team's four members actually tensed at the second pulse of power; while the reaction would have slightly improved their ability to act and react quickly, it would also have made their chakra patterns stand out vivdly against the calmer background of the forest, and called them to the attention of any moderately sensitive animal or civilian.
Neshan brought his free hand up and let the fingers flicker through a short message in Konoha's basic finger-sign. 'proposal', the message went. 'shadow/water twin scouts, (lays traps?), distraction/bait. twin uses jutsu, tests defenses-endurace. assuming loss-destruction, second twin provokes enemy into open and signal's combined attack from all team elements; reccomend shadow-lock as opening. concur/refine?'
Ja, -n
===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"
*goes back and checks* Oh, damn. My bad.
Hm. I have this sudden image of how the rest of the tournament goes: Neshan beats Neji, Tenten lucks past Shino, and Kankuro and Katsu both forfeit. Second round, Neshan knocks Tenten over with a feather (Shino's bugs ate real well, see), then Shikanenai forfeits to Gaara. Possibly with some wisecrack about the places he doesn't want to get sand.
Then, for the third round, Neshan forfeits, making some remark to the effect that he's not getting paid enough to tangle with a Jinchuuriki, anyway.
*smiles beatifically* It all that doesn't get his 'coonness hopping mad, nothing will.
Note: the following is from the Devil Cat arc.
When the four shinobi met at the agreed-on place, a ragged, craggy pillar of granite that heaved itself up above the forest canopy right outside the cleared zone surrounding the village, they had barely had time to exchange greetings when a razor-edged chill danced its way across their spines. "Is that..." Shikanenai asked, and all three of the others nodded in unison.
"Without a doubt," Neshan said, and bit at his thumb before crouching to scrawl a quick, sloppy glyph across the bare stone. When he looked up, a slight film of chakra could be seen dancing across his glasses. "That way," he said, pointing, then took off at a fast cruise that any competent ninja could maintain for hours on end.
Katsu poured on a short burst of speed and fell in beside him, frowning. "The flash came from that direction," he said with a slight nod towards the facing he meant.
"Yes. But cats kill their prey quick, once they decide to. It's already too late to stop it from making the kill, and its den... is right here," Neshan finished as he snapped to a halt perched in the crux of a branch.
"Below us?" Kakashi asked, since the streambank below them didn't seem to have any kind of cave that would be suitable for a creature that size.
Katsu's nostrils flared. "Yes," he said flatly.
"Messy eater?" the third Genin broke in, not quite jokingly.
"No. Just a heavy one."
Training and practice and experience being what they were, none of the team's four members actually tensed at the second pulse of power; while the reaction would have slightly improved their ability to act and react quickly, it would also have made their chakra patterns stand out vivdly against the calmer background of the forest, and called them to the attention of any moderately sensitive animal or civilian.
Neshan brought his free hand up and let the fingers flicker through a short message in Konoha's basic finger-sign. 'proposal', the message went. 'shadow/water twin scouts, (lays traps?), distraction/bait. twin uses jutsu, tests defenses-endurace. assuming loss-destruction, second twin provokes enemy into open and signal's combined attack from all team elements; reccomend shadow-lock as opening. concur/refine?'
Ja, -n
===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"