"Winner: Hyūga Neji." announced Hayate.
Neji gave a faint smile and glanced at Atsui before walking away in relaxed fashion. His opponent hadn't even managed to force out his true strength.
After undergoing natural energy enhancement at Higashino Makoto's dōjō, his physical abilities, chakra reserves, and chakra control had all reached an extremely high level.
Since he was effectively one of Makoto's disciples, some techniques from the Hyūga main family had been opened to him. Certain ultimate moves from the past were now little more than basic attacks to him.
Samui flickered down to the arena floor and brought her younger brother back. After examining him, she found that the injuries weren't serious—he would recover after a few days of rest. Neji had clearly held back.
Her expression turned somewhat grave.
Even though her younger brother was technically still a genin, his strength was already top-tier even among the village's chūnin, and he was two or three years older than Neji.
Yet he had still been defeated so easily.
She glanced toward Makoto and suddenly felt that the current Konohagakure was terrifying. Not only did it have that monster, but even the younger generation had already widened the gap between themselves and Kumogakure by a huge margin.
Makoto turned and smiled back at her, while also taking the opportunity to admire Kumogakure's legendary untouchable flower and human battering ram.
Big really was big. She was practically on the same level as Tsunade.
Fortunately, he wasn't some lust-crazed pervert. Besides, once Honoka finished developing, her figure was going to be pretty terrifying too—more than enough for him to regularly enjoy the blessings of the classic face-wash treatment.
Seeing that even the teammate stronger than himself had lost, Omoi immediately felt his future turn bleak. With a lollipop hanging from his mouth, he muttered, "Hey, hey… are Konoha genin really this strong? Am I gonna get beaten to death? Maybe I should just forfeit when it's my turn."
Karui smashed a fist into his head. "Idiot, could you have a little backbone?"
Right as the two were talking, the next match-up appeared on the electronic screen.
[Haruno Sakura VS Yamanaka Ino]
Omoi instantly let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank goodness—it wasn't his turn. Just an internal Konoha match.
Meanwhile, the pink-haired girl and the blonde locked eyes, sparks practically crackling through the air.
Their already flimsy sisterhood had now gone from plastic to glass. At this rate, it probably wouldn't be long before it shattered into pieces all over the floor.
"Hey, if you two keep staring at each other like that, you might get disqualified for forfeiting," Makoto reminded them.
"Hmph!" x2
Even after stepping onto the arena floor, the gunpowder-heavy tension between them remained intense.
"Oh my, who would've thought my opponent would be you, Forehead Girl? Ready to accept defeat, Sakura?"
"Cut the trash talk, Ino-pig. I definitely lost more when we were kids, but these past few years? Seems like I've been the one winning more often."
"But I've already figured out all your moves. There's no way you're beating me again."
"Same to you."
After the trash-talk phase ended, the two immediately launched into battle.
Fun fact: Sakura and Ino's chakra natures were completely identical.
Both of them had started training at Makoto's dōjō from childhood onward. Every ninjutsu Sakura knew, Ino knew as well. And Sakura also had ways to deal with the secret techniques of the Yamanaka Clan.
So while fighting, the two continuously provoked each other verbally until they both completely snapped. They abandoned every bit of technique and started talking purely with their fists.
Techniques? What techniques?
Wild swinging, random brawling, clawing at faces, yanking hair—what should have been a proper ninja battle somehow devolved into two middle-aged women fighting in a marketplace.
Quite a few of Konoha's higher-ups looked unbearably awkward watching it. Asuma got so irritated he smoked several extra cigarettes.
Makoto, however, was different.
Like everyone else, he was watching with great enjoyment.
Two beautiful girls who used to be close friends turning against each other and fighting over the same dream guy—it was genuinely entertaining.
The rivalry between them over the years could easily be stretched into an eighty-episode soap opera.
But as the fight continued, the shinobi from the other villages gradually realized something was wrong.
These two little girls… seemed absurdly strong.
Everywhere they passed, the stone floor tiles cracked beneath their feet.
If those seemingly delicate little fists landed on them, they'd probably suffer fractures on the spot.
That was mainly because Makoto's training system placed extreme emphasis on chakra control. He had also simplified the power-release technique behind Tsunade's Monster Strength and spread it as a brand-new style of Konoha taijutsu.
Its versatility had been increased while its destructive power had been toned down, but getting hit by it was still extremely dangerous.
Out of all the disciples who had trained at the dōjō, Sakura had mastered the weakened version of Monster Strength the best. Deep down, she also had a rather violent side to her personality.
Finally, during an exchange of punches, Ino exposed an opening.
Sakura seized the opportunity and swung a hook straight at her best friend's face.
But at the very last second, Sakura stopped.
Ino froze for a moment, her expression turning complicated as she stared at the fist right in front of her face.
No matter what, the sisterhood they had shared for so many years hadn't been entirely fake.
Hayate finally couldn't take it anymore. To stop the two from continuing to wrestle each other around the arena, he directly announced the result.
"Winner: Haruno Sakura."
Ino didn't care much about losing. "Don't think I'm gonna thank you for that."
Sakura snorted. "I just didn't want to smash your face so badly that nobody would marry you."
"Hmph!" x2
The Konoha jōnin all wiped sweat from their foreheads.
At long last, the beautiful girl war was finally over.
...
The electronic screen flickered again, and the fourth match-up was freshly revealed.
[Tenten VS Temari]
Makoto: "Fate really is a mysterious thing."
Minato: "Mysterious my ass. The people operating that electronic screen backstage are from Konoha too, aren't they?"
The other spectators thought: Why is it two girls again? Luckily one's from Konoha and the other's from Sunagakure. They probably don't have any hidden love-hate drama between them, so this shouldn't turn into another wild catfight, right?
The two beautiful girls instantly erased everyone's concerns with their stylish entrances.
Temari spread open her giant three-star fan and floated down while sitting on it. Tenten went a step further—she floated down entirely under her own power, displaying extremely refined Wind Release chakra control.
The jōnin from the four great villages all frowned slightly and raised their evaluation of this Konoha genin.
Tenten's identity wasn't any secret. Everyone knew she was Higashino Makoto's foremost disciple. The only question was how much she had actually learned from the new God of Shinobi.
Hayate swept one hand forward. "Begin."
Tenten and Temari had no personal grudge against each other, so there was no need for trash talk to provoke one another.
The instant Hayate's words fell, the battle erupted.
Temari fully opened her three-star fan. It was one of Sunagakure's famous weapons, specially designed for Wind Release ninjutsu. The more star markings revealed, the greater the rank and destructive power of the technique.
And now, facing Tenten, Temari was going all out from the very beginning.
After all, she was that man's disciple.
Wind Release: Scythe Weasel!
A visible current of air swept through the battle arena inside the tower, carrying countless sharp wind blades as it surged toward Tenten.
The stone tiles along the ground were directly shaved down by an entire layer.
Tenten didn't dodge. She pulled a short blade from behind her back and slashed downward.
A massive invisible wind blade instantly split Temari's ninjutsu cleanly in half from top to bottom.
It was Makoto's self-created technique: Shadowless Sword.
Temari reacted extremely quickly and leapt away at once.
Shhk!
A faint sound came from behind her. Turning around, she saw that Tenten's Shadowless Sword had left a slash mark on the wall. It was shallow, proving that Tenten possessed even more advanced chakra control, to the point where she could freely regulate the attack's range.
Her opponent was also using Wind Release—and at a far higher level than she was. That casual wind blade had not only destroyed her ninjutsu, but still retained considerable killing power afterward.
This was a battle between two Wind Release shinobi.
A drop of cold sweat slid down Temari's forehead. Looking at the damaged ground, her mind raced furiously.
For the honor of Sunagakure, she had to find a way to defeat her opponent.
If one had to say whose combat style had changed the most because of Makoto's arrival in this world, then the answer would naturally be Tenten.
The girl who originally could only become a walking ninja tool warehouse had now practically turned into a miniature Higashino Makoto.
Wind Release: Net Snare!
Temari swung the three-star fan again with full force. Sharp Wind Release chakra formed into a giant net that enveloped her opponent. Since she couldn't surpass Tenten in concentrated power, she would overwhelm her with a wider-area attack instead.
This time, Tenten didn't destroy the technique.
Instead, she leapt high into the air, vaulted over the ninjutsu, and accelerated straight toward Temari.
Clang!
The short blade collided against the giant three-star fan.
Temari was forced backward by the overwhelming force of the slash, while Tenten only retreated half a step. She didn't even touch the ground before charging in again.
Temari relied on the huge size of the three-star fan to block left and right, while Tenten fluttered around her like a little bee trying to pluck a flower, appearing and disappearing unpredictably at her side.
After being knocked back by another slash, Temari glanced at the cut marks left on the three-star fan and felt a little pained. If it had been an ordinary weapon, it probably would've already been chopped apart.
But this couldn't continue.
Her opponent clearly possessed more chakra than she did. She had to end this quickly.
Fortunately, after the destruction from their previous exchanges and the cutting winds from her techniques, the arena floor was now covered in broken stone and sand dust.
Wind Release: Chaotic Airflow Dance!
Wind Release: Scythe Weasel — Severing Dance!
Temari unleashed all her remaining chakra and swung the fan repeatedly.
Chaotic Airflow Dance trapped Tenten inside a storm of swirling air. The dust and shattered stone it kicked up didn't possess much attack power, but they completely obscured vision.
The Scythe Weasel summoned by Severing Dance would continuously attack anything inside with its giant sickles.
This was the best strategy Temari could come up with.
If even this failed, then she could only surrender. She no longer had enough chakra left to continue fighting.
Panting heavily, Temari stared intently into the turbulent airflow.
Soon, the winds died down. The shattered stones fell back to the ground.
There was nothing inside.
"What?!"
Temari's eyes widened in shock. Instinctively, she looked upward—
—but suddenly felt the world spin around her before collapsing unconscious onto the ground.
Tenten withdrew her evil little fist.
At some point, she had used Earth Release to tunnel behind Temari and casually knocked her out in a single blow.
"Winner: Tenten," Hayate announced.
"Yay! Sensei! Guy-sensei! I won!"
Both Makoto and Guy gave her a thumbs-up.
Guy flashed his signature gleaming white smile.
Makoto, however, turned to glance at Shikamaru.
Roughly speaking, the disciple he had trained had just beaten this kid's future wife into unconsciousness.
Hopefully, if Sunagakure sent Temari over for diplomatic exchanges in the future, this kid's supreme simp techniques would still work.
Makoto believed Shikamaru could manage it somehow. After all, the guy was only lazy—he was still ridiculously smart.
Temari had a strong personality, could fight, could manage affairs, and was beautiful too. If he married her, he could leave everything to her and spend his days living the carefree dream of lying around watching white clouds drift through the sky.
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