"Two Stars!"
As Shiranui Genma swung his arm down, Temari opened her Three-Star Fan wide, converting her chakra into Wind Release, forming a small tornado that roared towards Hinata.
Unlike the playful teasing she showed Tenten at the central tower, Temari expressed a desire for Hinata to entertain her, but in reality, she viewed Hinata as a formidable foe.
After all, unlike her younger brother Kankuro, Temari was Rasa's eldest daughter, the first princess of the Hidden Sand Village, bearing the same weight of honor for the Kazekage and her village as Hinata did.
If her opponent were anyone else, a loss would simply be a loss.
But she absolutely could not lose to a woman from an allied nation, especially not a lady from a prestigious family.
"Trigram Palm!"
As the tornado charged at her, Hinata merely raised her hand and unleashed a shockwave that matched the power of Temari's Wind Release, the two forces colliding.
The gusts generated by the tornado and shockwave instantly kicked up a massive cloud of dust.
Shiranui Genma leaped back, creating distance between himself, Hinata, and Temari, reaffirming his earlier claim that even if someone were in mortal danger, he would not intervene due to their status.
Whoosh—
Just as the dust cloud rose, it was swiftly dispersed by Temari's fan.
After all, she hadn't forgotten that her opponent was the Byakugan princess, capable of both penetrating and long-range vision.
Unfortunately, her speed was still a fraction too slow.
As the dust cleared, Hinata had already surged in front of her, delicate as jade yet capable of shattering wooden training dummies. Even a mere touch could cause internal bleeding, her fingers surrounded by blue chakra aura, thrusting forward.
If she were hit, Temari's body would instantly become rigid, and if her resilience was lacking, it would essentially signal the end of the battle.
But in the next moment, Hinata's beautiful eyes widened slightly.
Just as her fingers were about to strike Temari, the latter suddenly smirked, her figure flickering before she appeared several meters behind.
This movement technique...
"Your teammates aren't the only ones who can use Nature Transformation in Body Flicker Technique," Temari seemed to guess what Hinata was thinking, her expression filled with pride as she fully opened her Three-Star Fan and shouted, "When it comes to Wind Release, our Hidden Sand Village is the strongest! Wind Release... Great Scythe Technique!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The howling wind twisted into countless invisible blades, carving deep gashes into the ground as they swept towards Hinata.
The storm was vast, and its speed was astonishing, making it impossible to evade with Body Flicker Technique.
"What a powerful Wind Release transformation!"
Even Shiranui Genma, who had distanced himself, had to leap back even further, watching in awe as the ground was sliced open by the storm.
Gazing at the chakra hidden within the tempest, spreading like ocean waves, Hinata calmly assumed a Gentle Fist stance and shouted, "Trigram Palm... Revolving Heaven!"
In that moment, Hinata's advantage as a chakra powerhouse was fully realized.
A massive surge of chakra erupted from her chakra points, and under her precise chakra control, it coalesced into a gigantic, high-speed rotating hemisphere as she spun in place.
The storm engulfed the enormous hemisphere, a series of crashing sounds echoing through the arena.
It was as if countless blades were striking against high-speed rotating steel, all of them deflected away.
In the spectator area, Hyuga Neji gripped the railing tightly, his eyes trembling.
At that moment, he felt a renewed sense of defeat.
Though both he and Hinata used Revolving Heaven, the energy shield he created was inferior in both size and mass compared to Hinata's.
"Is that the clan secret technique, Revolving Heaven? It's so massive! Sister is amazing!" Hanabi in the audience was equally mesmerized.
"Your Gentle Fist talent is not inferior to Hinata's. With diligent training, you can achieve the same," Hiashi Hyuga encouraged, feeling a mix of pride and shock that was no less than Neji's.
He felt as if he had saved the world in a past life.
How could both the eldest and second daughters possess such incredible chakra and Gentle Fist talent? And Hinata's transformation had only begun a few years ago; she hadn't been this exceptional at first.
Could it be that the power of love was truly that strong?
Or was it that the Hyuga clan's teaching methods were flawed, and Izayoi's teachings were the correct ones?
Little did they know, it was because Izayoi had become a potent tonic, effective only for the Hyuga clan.
Whoosh—
The rapidly spinning blue hemisphere did not last long.
As the storm subsided, the energy sphere dissipated into blue flames.
Having spun countless times, Hinata felt no dizziness and vanished like an afterimage, reappearing in front of the astonished Temari, her fingers thrusting forward once more.
Temari clearly did not realize that her ultimate technique could be so easily countered.
As she faced Hinata again, she had no time to retreat with Body Flicker Technique and could only brace herself with her giant fan.
Seeing this, Hinata transformed her fingers into a palm and struck the open surface of the Three-Star Fan.
Boom—A terrifying shockwave instantly penetrated the fan, crashing into Temari.
Temari's feet left the ground as she was sent flying by Hinata's palm strike.
The shockwave ravaged her insides, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, but she gritted her teeth against the pain, determined to use the blood to unleash her strongest technique.
Unfortunately, she forgot that she was still in mid-air.
"Thank you for the lesson."
When Temari looked up, Hinata had already vanished from her sight.
A gentle voice floated from behind her.
"Roar..."
Faintly, Temari seemed to hear the roar of a beast king.
Then, she felt a hand slap against her back, and her chakra vanished in an instant, as if struck by a Gentle Fist technique, all her acupoints sealed, leaving her dazed and kneeling on the ground, on the verge of losing consciousness.
When a kunai pressed against her neck, the cold blade pierced her skin, allowing chakra to flow back into her body, restoring a bit of her senses.
"The battle is over; the winner is Hyuga Hinata."
Upon hearing the announcer declare the result, Temari first felt a surge of unwillingness, then glanced at the kunai that had been retracted from her neck, a bitter smile appearing on her face as she said, "I lost."
As the princess of the Hidden Sand Village, Temari was undoubtedly proud.
And she had the strength to back that pride.
However, the more prideful a person is, the greater the impact of defeat, especially when losing to a peer.
They either train even harder or fall into despair.
But clearly, the proud princess would be the former.
The victorious Hinata did not comfort the ninja from the enemy village; after returning the kunai to her wrist-sealing scroll, she headed towards the contestant passage.
As she neared the audience, Hinata heard a wave of cheers and glanced towards her father and sister.
Seeing Hanabi enthusiastically waving her arms, uncaring of her appearance, and her father, usually stern, displaying a rare smile, Hinata's lips curled into a slight smile, her heart swelling with a sense of accomplishment.
Entering the dim passage, Hinata quickened her pace, eager to share her joy with Izayoi.
However, before she reached the stands, she vaguely heard the audience's jeers, her expression turning to confusion.
What was going on?
Just moments ago, there had been cheers, and now they were booing? Was it because she hadn't acknowledged the crowd, or was it directed at that Hidden Sand ninja? When Hinata reached Izayoi's side, she finally understood.
It turned out that Kankuro, who had drawn number six, had chosen to forfeit.
Nara Shikamaru, like Uzumaki Naruto, had advanced without a fight.
But unlike Naruto's automatic advancement, the audience was unaware that the previous match was the second round.
Having just witnessed an exciting duel, the next round featuring a forfeit felt like biting into a delicious dish only to find it tainted, leaving the audience—who had traveled far and paid a high price for tickets—feeling disgusted.
Yet no matter how much they shouted, Kankuro, who was conserving his strength for the plan, remained unfazed, even wearing a dismissive smile.
Shiranui Genma also ignored the audience's reaction, calling out, "Contestant number six forfeits; contestant number five advances automatically. Contestants who drew numbers seven and eight, please enter the arena quickly."
As soon as he finished speaking, sand appeared out of nowhere beside Shiranui Genma, gradually coalescing into a figure.
Seeing this entrance, the audience, who had been booing and had not even heard Genma's words, suddenly fell silent, their attention riveted on Gaara.
Such an entrance was clearly extraordinary.
"When did that guy leave?"
In the contestant area, Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto were also slightly taken aback.
They instinctively looked towards Gaara's position, where his figure had already vanished.
"Hmph, what a fuss," Kankuro scoffed. "With Gaara's strength, even if he killed you, you probably wouldn't even know how you died."
"What are you, a clown, talking about?" Naruto pointed at Kankuro mockingly. "You wouldn't dare fight Shikamaru; how strong could your teammate possibly be?"
His words directly offended two people.
However, Shikamaru paid no mind and instead said to Izayoi, "That guy with the gourd is no ordinary opponent; Izayoi, you need to be careful."
Noticing that Izayoi had no camera in hand, Hinata vaguely guessed something but still smiled gently, saying, "Izayoi-kun, good luck."
"Mm."
Izayoi did not return the smile, merely nodding slightly, then, under the watchful eyes of Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru, and Kankuro, as well as the wide-eyed Temari who had just returned to the stands, he lifted off the ground, his body floating as he slowly flew towards the arena.
This scene left not only the contestants dumbfounded.
The audience also fell into a deep silence.
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