"Oh? Since you knew, why didn't you attack my real body from the start?" Kankuro asked, perplexed that Takeru had apparently been aware of the puppet substitution all along.
What he couldn't understand was why Takeru hadn't just attacked his real body. Under those circumstances, it would have been difficult for him to dodge.
"That would have been too boring, wouldn't it?" Takeru replied calmly.
"Is that so? Then I'll make you pay for your arrogance!" Kankuro's irritation flared again.
He manipulated the puppet, causing poison-coated blades to shoot from its wrists towards Takeru.
Seeing this, Takeru smiled lightly and effortlessly caught all the blades with his hands.
"Your things, returned to you," Takeru said, then threw the blades back at Kankuro.
Seeing the blades flying back, Kankuro frowned and quickly leaped aside to dodge.
[Black Secret Technique: Mouth Kunai!]
After dodging, Kankuro controlled Crow again, firing a rapid, high-frequency volley of kunai in groups of three at Takeru.
Takeru remained standing still. He caught one kunai with one hand and, with incredible speed, deflected the other two that arrived almost simultaneously.
Then, under Kankuro's astonished gaze, he threw the kunai back at him.
"Hmm, is that all you've got?" Takeru continued his taunt.
"Such speed!" Kakashi's eye narrowed, sensing Takeru's unusual nature. Even he couldn't replicate that movement without using his Sharingan.
"Hmph! I'll show you the true terror of the tactical puppet Crow!" Angered, Kankuro manipulated Crow to disconnect one of its arm joints, launching a bomb-like projectile at Takeru.
[Black Secret Technique: Poison Smoke Bomb!]
The joint opened, releasing a smoke bomb laced with poison, meant to obscure vision and paralyze the opponent with toxins.
Takeru saw it but had no fear of poison. He calmly stood his ground as the smoke bomb exploded. Purple smoke enveloped the area around him.
"Not good! That's poison smoke!" Kakashi warned the nearby spectators, who quickly retreated.
"Hahaha! It's over! Surrender now!" Kankuro excitedly shouted, seeing Takeru engulfed in the poison smoke.
"Takeru!" "Takeru-nii!" Ui and Ritsu cried out worriedly.
Though confident in his strength, they didn't know if he could resist the poison and were naturally anxious.
"Well, a little toxin like this? Is this your final trump card?" As the smoke slowly cleared, Takeru's figure reappeared, arms crossed, seemingly unharmed.
"What?!" Kankuro was stunned. Above, Ui and Ritsu smiled in relief.
"Seems you're out of tricks. Well then, goodbye." Seeing Kankuro's shock, Takeru moved, vanishing from sight.
"He disappeared!" The spectators looked around in confusion. Kankuro in the arena was highly alert.
"Over here," Takeru's voice came softly from behind Kankuro, followed by a swift hand-chop to his neck.
Thump!
Kankuro seemed to take a massive blow, his mind going momentarily blank. He lost consciousness instantly, collapsing to the ground. The puppet Crow also went limp.
The abrupt change left everyone frozen. No one expected the match to end so suddenly.
Kakashi and the others looked at Takeru with deep seriousness. Their superior skill and perception allowed them to grasp just how exaggerated Takeru's burst of speed was.
'Is that really speed a Genin can achieve? And he seemed to have plenty to spare. It's probably not inferior to my own speed!' Anko thought, watching Takeru closely.
'So this is that special child from the Nara Clan? Seems he's worth nurturing.' Hiruzen contemplated, planning to draw Takeru in later.
'So this is your strength? Truly formidable.' Gaara's killing intent surged, worrying Temari beside him.
"Kankuro is unconscious. I declare Nara Takeru the winner!" After checking Kankuro, Hayate quickly announced.
Hearing the result, Takeru smiled and walked back up. Kankuro was carried away by his sensei, having only been knocked out with no lasting injury.
"Now, we proceed to the fourth match." After a short break, Hayate announced the next pair.
Soon, two names appeared on the board: Tainaka Ritsu and Haruno Sakura...
"Seems your luck is holding," Takeru said with a light smile, looking at Ritsu.
"Do your best, Ritsu!" Ui encouraged her seriously.
Ritsu smiled happily. Through Observation Haki, she knew Sakura was likely the weakest among all the Genin, her life force not particularly strong. She just needed to watch for any special abilities.
"Sakura, go! Defeat that woman!" Naruto cheered excitedly.
Sakura, however, stared blankly at Ritsu, feeling utterly lacking in confidence.
Knowing she was Takeru's teammate, who seemed mysterious and unfathomable, made her heart sink.
But she had no retreat. She steeled herself and walked down. Ritsu descended with an eager smile.
"Begin!" Seeing both ready, Hayate announced.
Hearing this, Sakura gathered Chakra to enhance her body and launched the first attack.
She attempted a sweeping kick to gain the initiative. Ritsu activated her Observation Haki, clearly tracking Sakura's movements, and simply crouched slightly to dodge.
Unfazed, Sakura used the momentum to spin, canceling the kick's force, then aimed a powerful stomp at Ritsu's position, followed by a sweeping leg. Ritsu agilely dodged and created some distance.
'Hmm, only Taijutsu?' Ritsu grew more confident.
Frowning at Ritsu's agility, Sakura drew two kunai from her pouch and threw them forcefully.
Ritsu remained calm, maintaining her Observation Haki while turning her hands black. As the kunai flew in, she easily caught them and threw them back at Sakura.
Though not trained in throwing kunai, her aim was decent enough against a human-sized target.
Seeing her own kunai returned, Sakura's eyes sharpened. She quickly jumped away, avoiding the attack range.
"As expected, close combat between Kunoichi is only at this level," Neji commented disappointedly.
"Hey!" Naruto glared at him, displeased.
"The problem isn't that they're Kunoichi!" Tenten retorted, defending herself.