Kyu's head bobbed downwards to recognise Hibiki's warning. Now, it was Kyu's turn to finish off the enemy. Before him, out on the water, was the frozen, jet black figure of the river spirit. He was stunned in mid-swing, and trembling from the electricity that had passed through his body.

Now was his chance! Kyu put his left arm straight out to the side, with is palm facing away. The tattoos on the arm erupted with fresh, glowing color. Water emerged from his arm in thin tendrils, and collected into an ice ball at his palm. Inside the ice chunk was the developing form of an orange five-fingered sea star. After growing to regular size inside, it started to grow out of control. Its size increased exponentially. From double the original size, it went to quadruple in only a second. After shattering the encased ice around it, it grew further to eight times its natural size, and sixteen after that. In mere seconds, it had a diameter of five feet!

From there, it opened up, spread eagle with all its arms pointing away each other like a perfect five-pointed star. It then began to bleach out. The orange color it was born with fell away and turned into a bony white. Its body became hard like stone, but light like bone.

Kyu reached over with his right hand, and took hold of the end of one of the stone-cold arms. The ninja tossed the massive star over his head, and caught it in the center. Nimble finger work made the star spin and accelerate to incredible speeds, to the point that the starfish looked more like a disk than a star. Kyu rolled his arm back, and, in a powerful underhanded windmill throw, threw the starfish shuriken.

It sliced through the water like a circular saw through wood. Water kicked up behind it in the form of a foamy water jet. It cut through both air and water at velocities that exceeded any ninja's top speed.

The star swerved left, and connected with the jet warrior. The star ripped apart half of his gem-like body. His right leg, right arm, and naginata were completely shattered. Ruby light radiated from the cracks and holes left by the shuriken. The center and right side of the body stood unhindered, at least until the shuriken came again for another sweep from behind.

Kyu yanked on a thin, nearly invisible wire of mucus that connected him and the shuriken. The pull promped the sea star to curve around and return for a second attack. As before, it destroyed half of the warrior's remaining body. Its left leg and left arm shattered as easily as glass. The half-broken torso of the warrior hung in midair as if suspended by rope. The red eyes beneath its obsidian head-basket glared at Kyu with unbridled rage.

Kyu caught the shuriken when it returned to his position. He immediately cut the chakra that supplied its structure, and the shuriken crumbled into nothing more than sand. Kyu would finish off the spirit at close range, face to face.

Kyu jumped off the pier, and onto the surface of the water. He held up his weight using the chakra control techniques taught by the Art of Water Walking. Kyu accelerated into a sprint, and he activated his ice ninjutsu. His arm coated itself with spikes of ice, and the end of his arm turned into a spear of frozen water.

"This is it, prepare yourself!" Kyu shouted. He readied his spear of ice for the final attack. As he came in range, he jumped into the air, and pounced on the floating bust. He jammed his icicle spike into the area that the warrior's neck would be, right in between the head and torso. Crimson light exploded from the hole, and enveloped the entire pier.

A dull thunk came from the body of Shiori's snake-charming flute. A thin crack appeared up its length, and it broke in two in her hands. Shiori's eyes turned blank. She stared at the two halves of a sacred object in her hands, mortified that it could break like it did. Her pale white hands began to tremble in anxiety and anger, however, her face stayed one-hundred percent blank from emotion. She whispered confusedly, "But how... It was a sacred... He just... What the ********... Was there something else..."

Breaking your toys before you have a chance to properly play with them... Tsk-Tsk-Tsk. The red-eye ninja walked up behind Shiori, knelt down beside her, and put his hand on her shoulder, Now, now, Shiori. Do not be upset; from now on, we won't lose to them ever again. From now on, I believe we will be following the whims of a more level-headed shinobi. Can you guess who that will be? Hmm? Ah yes, you would be correct Shiori. From this time on, we shall be following my leadership, yes?

When the red light cleared, Kyu stood in the center of the river. Swirling around him was a small bubble of water with a red light in the center. It revolved around him playfully, twirling and sparkling in the clearing skies.

The shark ninja turned around towards the pier, and raised his arms, "The city and cruise is safe!" Cheers erupted like a volcano from the marina. Kyu turned his head towards his team mates, and said, "Alright then, bros. I think we're ready for the exams now."

221 lines from Earth
452/400 travel lines