"Because Sasuke has not yet arrived, the originally scheduled match between Sasuke and Gaara is temporarily postponed to the next round. The next match will be between Temari of Sunagakure and Nara Shikamaru of Konoha."
Shikamaru was stunned when he heard this news.
He glanced at Naruto beside him, who was giving him a meaningful smile, and buried his face in his palms.
"Naruto, is your mouth blessed or something?" Shikamaru's voice carried a sense of powerlessness at being toyed with by fate.
However, the next second, he returned to his usual lazy expression and raised his right hand to wave toward the center of the arena.
"I forfeit. I think fighting an opponent from Sunagakure is too boring. It'd be more reliable to let Shino take the stage..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a hand grabbed him by the back of his collar.
Shikamaru turned his head and saw Naruto standing behind him with a smile on his lips.
His heart skipped a beat. He had seen this smile several times back in the Ninja Academy. Naruto always wore this smile before doing something bad.
"Naruto, don't play around at a time like this..."
Before he finished, he was hoisted up by Naruto and thrown out of the waiting area, landing in the center of the exam arena.
When he landed, Shikamaru stumbled before steadying himself. This awkward posture made the people in the spectator stands burst into laughter.
In the stands, Asuma buried his face in his palms. Beside him, Kurenai nudged his shoulder with her arm and asked with a hint of irrepressible schadenfreude, "Is this your student?"
"Naruto!"
Shikamaru scrambled up from the ground and turned to shake his fist at the waiting area.
Naruto patted his chest toward Shikamaru in the center of the arena, then pointed his finger at him. "No need to rush to thank me, you'll thank me later!"
"You..."
Shikamaru looked at Naruto's punchable face and couldn't help but want to go up and beat him up.
Then, he turned back resignedly, looked at the impatient Temari opposite him, and sighed, "Fine, since I'm already here."
Temari looked at Shikamaru, whose face clearly read "I don't want to fight." She curled her lips without hiding her disdain and said with disgust, "What exactly is wrong with you?"
"You were clearly thrown down here by your partner, yet you have no fighting spirit at all. I look down on men with no drive like you the most."
"Let's end this quickly. I don't have time to waste on the arena with you."
After speaking, Temari unfolded the giant fan on her back.
Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel Technique!
Shikamaru's eyes turned serious in an instant. He dodged to the side the moment before the gust arrived, using the shadows of the rocks and dust shattered by the Wind Release to quickly analyze the light direction and obstacle distribution of the battlefield.
Then he formed hand seals and used the Shadow Imitation Technique to pull a long, thin black shadow from under his feet, extending it toward Temari.
The shadow moved silently along the ground, accurately catching the brief gap after Temari finished her swing, just barely locking onto her shadow.
Temari felt the loss of control over her body at that very moment. Her arm was still in the posture of swinging the fan, but she was firmly locked in place by Shikamaru's shadow and could not move.
Sweat beads rolled down Shikamaru's forehead, but he couldn't help but curve his lips into a smile.
Then he took a deep breath and raised his right hand.
"I concede. I give up."
"Eh?!"
Thousands of spectators in the audience let out an incredulous gasp at the same time.
Temari stared wide-eyed at the Konoha Genin in front of her who was only one step away from victory, her mind full of question marks.
She clearly couldn't move just now. If Shikamaru had just moved his hands, he could have ended the fight. Yet he actually gave up voluntarily? What on earth is he thinking?
"Are you messing with me?"
There was a hint of annoyance in Temari's voice, but even more confusion.
"You clearly caught me just now, why give up?"
Shikamaru put his hands back into his pockets, and looked up at Temari. "My Shadow Imitation Technique can only be maintained for less than ten seconds. Within those ten seconds, my remaining Chakra is not enough to support any offensive Ninjutsu that could knock you down."
"Once the ten seconds are up and the shadow releases, you will still win. Since the outcome is the same, might as well end it early to save everyone the trouble. Matches and such are too much trouble."
Temari stood there, stunned.
Shiranui Genma glanced at Shikamaru, and then raised his right hand to announce. "The winner of the third match is Temari of Sunagakure."
The applause from the audience was sparse, mixed with the whispers of many spectators who hadn't yet recovered from the shock.
By the next match, Sasuke still hadn't appeared.
Shiranui Genma glanced toward the VIP seating area, then looked at the still-empty contestant tunnel.
He sighed and prepared to announce that Sasuke was disqualified for failing to arrive within the allotted time.
Just then, a huge cloud of white smoke exploded in the center of the arena and two figures appeared.
Sasuke stood in front of Kakashi, his shirt flapping in the wind.
"Sorry, we're late."
Kakashi stood up and raised his hand to apologize.