"How is that possible? My shuriken!" Landing on the ground, Tenten stared in disbelief at the weapons scattered around Temari.
Then, Tenten steeled herself again. This time, she brought out two scrolls.
"Twin Rising Dragons!" As she formed hand seals, vast plumes of white mist erupted around Tenten. Two of these plumes transformed into two white dragons soaring into the sky.
When the mist dissipated, everyone saw it was the two scrolls she had just produced. Under the influence of her special chakra, the scrolls hovered and spun high in the air.
Tenten leaped high again, reaching the scrolls and rapidly retrieving weapons from them, hurling them all towards Temari.
"Hmph, no matter how many you add, the result is the same. Two Stars!" Facing the incoming barrage, Temari remained unperturbed. She opened her fan a bit wider and gave a powerful sweep. A tremendous gust of wind blasted all the weapons away...
"And there's more than that!" Tenten shouted from the ground.
She jumped high again, yanking forcefully with her hands. The weapons she had thrown earlier were pulled taut… each was attached to a thin, long wire.
Under her control, the weapons launched another attack at Temari.
Facing this, Temari still smiled confidently. With another powerful sweep of her fan, the same mighty gust sent all the weapons, along with Tenten herself, flying.
The moment Tenten tried to stand again, Temari used her giant fan as a shield, spinning swiftly. Her figure completely vanished from Tenten's line of sight.
'She disappeared? Where?' Tenten scanned the area intently.
"Over here!" Temari's voice came from behind. She glided over Tenten's head, seated atop her giant fan. After putting some distance between them, Temari hopped down from the fan.
"Ninja Art: Kamaitachi!" With another sweep of her giant fan, a violent storm materialized. Tenten was caught in the whirlwind, lifted into the air, and assaulted by countless invisible vacuum blades, leaving numerous cuts all over her body.
"The wind contains Chakra. Tenten did her best, but she still couldn't escape that tornado," Neji observed calmly as Tenten struggled in the storm.
When Tenten finally fell, Temari positioned her giant fan behind her, amplifying the impact. Tenten spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Tha... that's too much!" Naruto gritted his teeth.
"Really, so boring," Temari remarked, feeling unimpressed.
"The fifth match: Temari wins!" Hayate stepped forward to declare.
Hearing the verdict, Temari casually tossed Tenten aside.
Frowning at this, Takeru moved. Faster than Lee, he reached Tenten and caught her.
"She already lost. That was excessive," Takeru said, glaring at Temari.
"Hmph!" Temari turned her head away dismissively and left the arena.
"Tenten!" Nearby, Lee, having frozen for a moment, snapped out of it and rushed towards Tenten.
Seeing Lee arrive, Takeru handed Tenten over to him and leaped back to the observation deck. His intervention was merely out of pity for Tenten. Her strength wasn't weak among the participants, and she was simply hard-countered by Temari.
Tenten was quickly taken away by the medical team. Returning to the deck, Lee expressed his gratitude to Takeru, who merely waved it off.
Soon, the sixth match commenced. The electronic board displayed Ui and Tsurugi Misumi's names.
"Go get him. And be careful," Takeru said, noticing Ui's opponent was the one originally defeated by Kankuro in the original work.
Misumi wasn't strong, but Takeru remembered his body was modified, allowing free extension and contraction, somewhat like Luffy's Devil Fruit ability, though far inferior.
"I understand," Ui replied seriously, nodding.
"Do your best, Ui!" Ritsu cheered with a smile.
Ui smiled back at Ritsu. Soon, both stood in the arena below.
"I'm different from Yoroi. I won't go easy on kids, even a little girl like you. Consider yourself warned: if I use my technique, you must surrender," Misumi stated calmly, looking at Ui.
"Is that so? I understand," Ui nodded in understanding, but her eyes showed no fear. She could sense Misumi's life force wasn't particularly strong, only slightly better than Sakura's.
"Then, the sixth match... begin!" Seeing both ready, Hayate announced.
"First strike!" As Hayate's words fell, Misumi charged forward with a quick step, throwing a punch at Ui.
Noting his speed, Ui cautiously jumped back, avoiding contact.
Seeing this, Misumi frowned and pressed forward again.
Ui, unfazed by his persistence, sidestepped once more, creating distance.
"What's wrong? Can you only run?" Misumi said, frowning at the speed Ui displayed.
Hearing his provocation, Ui naturally didn't fall for it. Instead, she used Stealth, vanishing from the field.
"She disappeared!" Misumi was stunned, quickly searching for Ui, but she had truly vanished, becoming undetectable.
Kakashi and the other observers were also puzzled, unsure what ability Ui had used. However, Akamaru and Kiba, with their keen sense of smell, knew Ui hadn't left the arena.
Thump!
While Misumi was still searching, a powerful hand-chop struck his back. The immense force made his pupils contract instantly, and he fell unconscious.
Only then did everyone see Ui reappear behind Misumi.
Seeing Ui knock out Misumi so easily left the spectators stunned. No one expected the seemingly gentle and delicate Ui to possess such considerable strength.
Hayate approached, checked Misumi, confirmed his unconsciousness, and quickly declared Ui the winner.
Takeru wasn't surprised at all. The two weren't on the same level.
Next was the seventh match: Shikamaru vs Tsuchi Kin.
"Shikamaru, you must not lose! Beat him! Smash that guy to pieces!" As Shikamaru stepped onto the field, Ino cheered excitedly from the side.
'Ino is really full of energy,' Choji thought helplessly.
"Takeru-nii, who will win?" Ui asked curiously, looking at the two below.
"Shikamaru," Takeru stated directly.
"Eh? Why?" Ui was curious about Takeru's certainty.
"Because aside from the gap in combat power, there's also this difference." Takeru tapped his temple.
"What do you mean?" Ritsu was also puzzled.
"You mean intelligence?" Ui pondered.
"Mm. Though that guy always complains about trouble, his intelligence is quite impressive," Takeru said with a light smile.
Hearing this, Ui stared at Shikamaru intently. She naturally wouldn't doubt Takeru's words.
On the field, Shikamaru observed Kin thoughtfully. The situation was somewhat unfavorable for him. He didn't know Kin's abilities, but Kin likely knew about his Shadow Imitation Technique and would be cautious accordingly.
"Nara Shikamaru vs Tsuchi Kin. Begin!" Seeing both ready, Hayate announced.
"Only this move will work," Shikamaru quickly formed a hand seal.
"Still using that clumsy move?" Kin mocked lightly upon seeing his gesture.
"Enough talk. Ninja Art: Shadow Imitation Technique!" Annoyed, Shikamaru's shadow instantly changed, extending rapidly towards Kin's position.