Konan had to admit, the girl was impressive. It's a shame Utakata had to die only to cripple her. Though even then it didn't seem to have done much to deter her from growing stronger. The Kage seemed just as impressed by her performance in the first match. Konan wouldn't be surprised if she gets the promotion for that match alone, but she still had at least one more to go and more attempts to lock down the promotion. Looking down at the new participants she finds herself not caring much, neither of these two were associated with her target in any meaningful way. Konan briefly wonders how Onoki would react if his granddaughter died in the chunin exam finals. Would he start a new war, despite having known the risks? Probably not. The man was many things, but foolish was not one of them.
Jiraiya looked on proudly, despite the fact that Hinata hadn't used any of what he taught her (and she likely wouldn't use it at all for the exams), but she had still become his pupil and he was proud. The Hokage seemed pleased by her win, the heiress of a notable clan winning versus a branch member of the same clan bodes well for the future of Konoha after all.
The other Kage watched warily, they may not act like it but all of them knew this was a chance to gain intel on the other villages future shinobi forces. Though none of them had personal investments in the match as it was only Konoha.
***
"Good Job Hina-chan! I knew you could do it!" Naruko had immediately greeted her girlfriend with a hug and a passionate kiss. What can she say, it's pretty hot when her girlfriend is being a bad ass. Plus she has to make up for the month of lost time. They have both agreed to train as much as possible over the course of the month, but that doesn't mean that Naruko had to like being away from the lavender themed girl.
"Man, you have no idea what a month's break from that does for the mind."
"Glad to see you too, Sasuke."
"Hey I'm glad to see you, I'm just not glad to see the flirting. Congrats on the win by the way."
"You're next on the team, try not to be the only member of the team to not win the first match."
"You're assuming Naruko is just going to win?"
"She's up against Ino of course she's going to win. You are up against Fuu and will probably get your ass kicked."
Speak of the devil and she shall appear. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Hinata-chan! I'm glad my girlfriend's wife thinks so much of me."
"She's not your girlfriend!" Hinata didn't bother rejecting the wife claim, it was basically true. Well not entirely, "Also she's my wife not the other way around."
"How do you know, you haven't seen her in a month?" Naruko had told her, as the two had been talking while watching Hinata's match.
"Naruko, did you two start dating?"
"Nope." The redhead responds, popping the 'p.'
"Then Fuu, my previous statement stands." Hinata idly wonders just when she got used to this nonsense.
The three girls (and Sasuke) ended their conversation as a loud crash rings through out the arena. They had completely forgotten about the ongoing fight. Looking down they can see Kurotsuchi embedded in a wall while Lee stands with an outstretched fist. So then the crash was her impacting the wall? Damn Lee is strong. They're a little surprised to see the Iwa kunoichi get up, but they really shouldn't be, Iwa nin are known for being tough as well, stone. She seems to wince as she removes herself from the wall but other than that looks fit to continue.
Lee let's out a cry of excitement as his opponent shifts back into a fighting stance. Though this time as he rockets forward, the Kunoichi flies through several hand seals and spits a glob of lava at him. Well that's dangerous, it's probably lethal just to come in contact with it. Still Lee dodges easily and Naruko realizes he doesn't have his weights on. It's not like she was doing much different, she had her resistance seals on right now, but planned on taking them off during Sasuke and Fuu's match.
The Kunoichi seeing him approach casts some kind of Doton Jutsu and burrows into the earth. Lee seeing her disappear quickly jumps back not wanting to be caught in a trap. He makes a beeline for the trees, fully intending to take higher ground. That plan comes crashing down when Kurotsuchi pops out of the ground, apparently much faster while traveling through it and not only spits another glob at him but destroys most of the trees he had planned on using.
Lee dodges once more but the cover of the trees was completely destroyed. It was actually pretty smart of the Iwa Kunoichi. She likely knows stealth tactics are something she's weak against, so she removed the option in its entirety. She had set the playing field to her advantage for all of the coming matches, and to the disadvantage of anyone trying to use stealth in their own match. Lee once more let's out a cry of the Youth, and charges her. This time she makes an earth wall and let's out a spray of lava in either direction of the wall.
Not to be deterred Lee jumps over the wall but Kurotsuchi just smirks and fires some weird kind of slag at him. It sticks and locks up his movements as it immediately hardens. Seeing no other choice the Konoha genin opens up the first three gates and breaks the hardened stone. Now much faster he rushes the girl and once more she dives underground. Seeing no other option, as he knows he's on a time limit now, he starts to attack the ground wildly, hoping to hit her in the process.
He fails to find her as she secretly emerges in the mostly destroyed treeline. She waits things out for several minutes, secretly watching as he tires himself out before appearing and attacking again, his gates having just faded as he exhausts his chakra. A rock slams into his ribs and he's knocked to the ground, his breathing unsteady. Still he tries to stand, but that's all he manages. The proctor see's he's unconscious but still standing and calls the match.
"Victor Kamizuru Kurotsuchi!" The crowd erupts into a mix of boos and cheers. Konoha wasn't pleased to see one of their ninja being defeated by their rivals, but the foreigners in the crowd had been treated to quite an exciting match. Kurotsuchi just smirks and walks off to the competitors box, knowing full well that no one from Konoha could ever beat her. Lee is quickly taken by the medics to have his likely damaged muscles repaired.
In the stands Gai looks on proudly, his student may not have won, but he tried his best and showed the world he can still be an excellent ninja with his handicap. Funny how the first two Konoha ninja of the day had some handicap.
***
Onoki was smug as shit. Hiruzen felt a distinct urge to rip off the old bastards nose and feed it to him. Of course, Onoki was Hiruzen's second longest rival so it should be no surprise that the fence sitter would be smug about his granddaughter winning over a Konoha nin. Well if nothing else Hiruzen was sure that the Hyuuga heiress would win against her. He had reports on her progress from Kurenai and knew full well the girl was easily one of his strongest genin, and likely would be one of his strongest chunin by the end of the exam.
He doesn't think he's going to give Lee the promotion here, even if the boy did put up a good fight and tried to use some tactics, one more year and the boy should have it though. He had to admit, letting Gai take a child that can't use chakra (beyond tree and water walking) under his wing was not a bad idea with results like these. Looking down Hiruzen couldn't help but be excited for the next match, it was always a delight to see a Nara in action and against the Kazekage's oldest daughter it should be quite exciting as well.
Terumi Mei was curious, the girl had the same kekkei genkai as her, and as far as she knew that was a kekkei genkai unique to the Terumi clan. Which means a member either ran off and married into the Tsuchikage's family, or a member was stolen and used to make the clan start in Iwa. She'd have to look into the family records. Stealing a kekkei genkai is a huge crime, even if it's something most villages have tried at one point or another. It was something wars have been started over, though she has no intention of starting a war over it, she'd likely just have the girl quietly assassinated.