Horse Stance and Upward Strike to the Groin

In the corridor, the contest between Kisame Hoshigaki and Obito Uchiha drew the attention of every examinee present.

“Hup!” With a low shout, Kisame spread his legs, lowered his center of gravity, and settled into a perfect horse stance.

“Are you ready?” Obito asked, flexing his fingers as he spoke.

“Go ahead,” Kisame nodded.

“Then here I come,” Obito replied.

He stepped up to Kisame. Because he was much shorter than his opponent, he couldn't quite reach Kisame's chest and instead placed both hands firmly on Kisame's abdomen.

“Down you go!” With a loud shout, Obito thrust forward with all his strength, trying to topple Kisame in one go.

To his surprise, Kisame remained utterly immovable, as if his legs had taken root in the ground.

Huh?

Obito’s first attempt failed. Looking down, he noticed that Kisame was channeling chakra from the soles of his feet, anchoring himself securely to the floor.

No wonder he claimed the horse stance was his specialty.

“Your chakra control is impressive,” Obito remarked, “but little tricks like that won’t win against me.” Having seen through Kisame’s secret, Obito wagged a finger in front of him and flashed a confident, knowing smile.

Then he tried again.

This time, Obito placed his hands on Kisame’s abdomen, released chakra from the soles of his own feet to brace himself against the ground, and pushed with renewed force.

A second later—

Crack.

The tiles under both their feet shattered with a resounding crash.

In the end, Kisame’s expression changed as he stumbled back several steps, finally landing on the floor with a thud.

“Haha, I win!” Obito stood over Kisame, hands on his hips, gloating over his victory.

The onlookers began to murmur among themselves.

“So this is the level of someone who defeated Kakashi Hatake?” The Cloud ninja scoffed. If any one of them had taken Kisame’s place, there’s no way Obito would have won so easily. At the very least, they would have lasted longer than Kisame did.

“Guy, are you sure about what you said? That Hoshigaki Kisame from the Hidden Mist—he’s not so tough after all. Obito knocked him down in a flash.” Guy’s two teammates eyed him skeptically.

“But Kisame’s really strong…” Might Guy scratched his head in confusion.

Just then—

“Damn it, I don’t accept this.” Kisame stood up, his face dark.

“What, are you going to say you weren’t ready and want a rematch?” Obito relished Kisame’s humiliation, mocking him.

“This time, you take the horse stance and I’ll push you. If you last longer than I did, I’ll admit defeat, fair and square,” Kisame suddenly proposed.

“Fine by me.” Still basking in victory, Obito agreed without a second thought.

The roles were reversed.

“Ready?” Obito grinned, dropping into a horse stance. Not only did he mimic Kisame’s posture, but he also improved on it: learning from Kisame’s mistake, he channeled almost all his chakra to the soles of his feet, affixing himself to the floor.

Obito was determined not to be toppled, to utterly defeat Kisame.

“Here I come!” Kisame said coldly, his arms reaching out as if to push Obito’s torso.

But it was just a feint.

Whoosh! Suddenly, his leg shot out like lightning, and while Obito was focused on Kisame’s hands, Kisame’s foot drove straight toward Obito’s groin.

A tried-and-true dirty kick.

All of Obito’s attention was on Kisame’s hands, and his chakra was concentrated in his feet. He was completely unprepared for the attack.

Completely caught off guard.

Thud! A muffled impact.

Obito’s eyes flew open. He clutched his lower body and collapsed in agony.

“Hurts, doesn’t it? That’s what you get.” Kisame squatted beside him, his tone devoid of sympathy, mocking his fallen opponent.

That kick was Kisame’s way of collecting a little interest for all the unpleasant memories of his previous life.

Then Kisame stood up and addressed the stunned crowd: “Ladies and gentlemen, what you’ve just witnessed is my invention—unrestricted taijutsu. Regardless of the process, the result is that Obito Uchiha is down, and I am unscathed. So, I win after all.”

Yes, this was Kisame’s specialty: unrestricted taijutsu.

First, he would use clever words to set the rules of the match, getting his opponent’s agreement.

Then during the match, he would deliberately lose to his opponent at a small cost, letting them taste victory and lower their guard.

Finally, at the moment when his opponent was most pleased and unguarded, Kisame would strike without warning, landing a heavy blow—or even finishing his enemy then and there.

Suigetsu Hozuki in the past, and now Obito Uchiha, both fell for Kisame’s ruse and lost to him in bitter regret.

“Obito, are you alright?” Rin hurried over, carefully helping Obito up, who was still grimacing in pain and unable to speak.

“Kisame…” In the crowd, Might Guy hesitated for a moment, then approached Kisame and asked, puzzled, “You could have beaten Obito fair and square—why did you…?”

He trailed off mid-sentence.

“Are you trying to say I’m underhanded or a sneak attacker?” Kisame smiled, and with a rare seriousness, advised Guy: “Guy, remember this—a truly excellent ninja never clings to morals on the battlefield. One of the core principles of my unrestricted taijutsu is: even when a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength. Whether facing someone much stronger, equally matched, or weaker, you must treat all opponents the same. Use any means necessary to defeat your enemies, and you’ll remain invincible.”

This was why Kisame, despite his overwhelming strength, always preferred sneak attacks on the weak. He would never give weaker foes a chance at an upset—he would crush their hopes completely.

Guy pondered Kisame’s words, lost in thought. Not only him, but the other Leaf ninjas and even those Cloud ninja who had looked down on Kisame had to admit—though they disdained his methods and character, there was a certain logic to what he said.

For a moment, among the more than a hundred people present, not a single one dared to underestimate Kisame any longer. He was now regarded as the greatest threat in the exam.

At that moment, a chunin proctor arrived and opened the doors to the lecture hall.

The genin from every village filed into the classroom.

“I’m going to the restroom,” Kisame said to his two temporary teammates, not hurrying into the exam room but heading instead for the restroom at the end of the corridor.

He knew the first written test was meant to assess the participants’ intelligence gathering skills, so he began devising ways to cheat.

As he reached the restroom entrance, Kisame suddenly heard voices coming from the stairwell around the corner ahead.

Calmly, he edged closer to eavesdrop.