Sakura Haruno wasn't known for her strength.
Both Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha were well aware of this. Since Sakura was on the path to becoming a medical ninja, neither of them was too concerned with the outcome of her fight; they just wanted to give her a little encouragement.
They just never expected that—even if the process was a bit awkward to watch—their teammate would actually break free from the Yamanaka clan's Mind-Body Switch Technique and defeat Ino Yamanaka.
Sasuke glanced at Naruto beside him. "Hey, Naruto. In our squad, you're the only one left. If you lose, it's going to be really embarrassing."
"Then I hope my turn comes soon!" Naruto replied, looking down at the field. The next match was another showdown between female ninjas: Tenten from Konoha's Team 3 against Temari, a ninja from the Sand.
Before the fight even began, Might Guy and Rock Lee, the supervising Jonin and a member of Team 3, were already incredibly animated. Their cheers were louder than the referee's!
"Tenten, go for it!"
"Tenten, FIGHT!"
"Tenten, we'll always support you!"
"Tenten, believe in your own power!"
"..." Naruto covered his ears. "...So... so loud..."
Sasuke did the same. "Really... way too loud..."
No matter how hard Guy and Lee cheered, the shouts from the sidelines couldn't affect the battle inside the arena. In the end, it was up to Tenten herself to defeat her opponent.
This battle was a bit strange.
Naruto watched in astonishment as Tenten threw her ninja tools as if they were free, subconsciously swallowing. "This fight... is so luxurious..."
To be honest, he didn't even have a single decent weapon. To block Sasuke's sword techniques during practice, Naruto had resorted to developing a solid weapon made of chakra, like his Spiral Dance Umbrella. Besides being more powerful, it also saved money.
"It seems her family used to own a ninja tool shop, so it's not surprising she fights this way," Kakashi Hatake explained softly. He praised her with a serious tone, "But her combat experience is very rich, and she seems to have a talent for space-time ninjutsu."
"Not only that..." Sasuke glanced at the ninja tools Tenten had thrown on the ground. "Her tools are all wrapped with threads, much like the 'Triplet Blades' used in our clan..."
Tenten performed well.
Unfortunately, she had met her perfect counter.
The strength of the Sand ninja Temari's Wind Style ninjutsu surprised everyone. She defeated Tenten with ease, ending the battle without a single scratch.
"What a boring fight..." Temari glanced at the unconscious Tenten and flung her toward the pile of sharp ninja tools on the ground. You could almost imagine the number of wounds Tenten would get upon landing.
The Konoha ninjas present were all dumbfounded. When had they ever seen a woman as cruel as Temari?
Rock Lee finally couldn't hold back. He jumped down and saved his teammate. "Hey, what do you think you're doing, woman! This is an opponent who fought you with all her might!"
In his view, any opponent deserved respect.
However, this idea seemed ridiculous in the eyes of the Sand kunoichi. "Shut up. Just hurry up and take that useless girl away..."
"Who are you calling useless..." Rock Lee's figure shot up, flying toward Temari with a kick.
Temari blocked him with the handle of her fan and continued with a light laugh, "To you, she's your precious teammate... To me, she was just a waste of time."
Just as they were about to continue fighting, a voice stopped them.
"Hey, Lee, Tenten already lost!" Naruto shouted from the railing, halting Rock Lee's attack. His gaze then fell on Temari as he said softly, "Hey, you with the fan, your Wind Style ninjutsu isn't bad..."
Seeing Naruto suddenly speak up, Temari couldn't help but frown. She had never been able to get a read on the blond ninja.
"What? Want to come down here and have a go?"
"No, fighting you would be too boring." Naruto ignored Sasuke's puzzled look, flipped down, and landed in the arena. "Let me guess, you must love your little brother very much, right?"
"Oh, not at all," Temari waved her hand and put away her fan, her brow furrowed. "What... what do you mean by that?"
"Sorry, sorry..." Naruto waved his own hand dismissively. "I remember you have another brother who hasn't fought yet, right? Since you don't like him, if I run into him next, I'll just help you out and break his neck... A disobedient brother like that must be a headache for his older sister, right? Or maybe you, the sister, have been wanting to secretly kill him all along?"
These words instantly reached everyone's ears.
Some of the ninjas looked at the blond boy below with fear.
Sakura bit her lip anxiously. "That idiot Naruto, does he even know what he's saying!"
"He's provoking her." Sasuke's brow relaxed as he continued in a low voice, "Those Sand Village people are heavy-handed. This idiot... could he be trying to challenge that guy named Gaara directly in the preliminaries?"
"That person... is very dangerous." Hinata Hyuga had walked over to Team 7's area at some point and said softly, "We saw with our own eyes... that Sand ninja named Gaara killed three people."
Sasuke's fist clenched subconsciously. "In other words, whoever fights Gaara next could be killed if they lose?"
Among the remaining contestants, besides a Sound ninja named Dosu, there were Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee from Team 3, Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuga from Team 8, Naruto Uzumaki from Team 7, and Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi from Team 10.
Sakura counted them. Most of the people left were Naruto's friends from the ninja academy. Could this guy be trying to protect his friends?
Sakura said softly, "It's useless, right? The rules of the preliminaries won't be changed for one person, will they?"
"The rules are set in stone, but people aren't," Sasuke said, looking up at the Sand ninja's position across from them. Gaara had disappeared at some point. It was clear he was already on his way down.
The rules of the preliminaries certainly couldn't be changed, but if Gaara took the bait, maybe they really could break the rules.
"You...!" Temari's hand tightened on her fan, her sanity slipping. The blond kid's words had completely infuriated her, and she was about to attack.
Yes, Gaara was annoying, and Kankuro was disobedient, but Temari still saw them as her younger brothers.
This kid opens his mouth and says he wants to kill her brother...
She was going to kill him! No one could stop her!
A cloud of sand suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking her movement. A look of fear appeared on Temari's face. "Gaara..."
"Go back. Your fight is over." Gaara walked up slowly and stood in front of Temari, looking at Naruto across from him. "The next fight is my business."
Temari didn't go back, just clutched the fan in her hand nervously. "Gaara, I never thought what he said. I never thought about killing you..."
"It doesn't matter." Gaara slowly closed his eyes and said calmly, "I don't care. I'm already used to it..."
Temari was still trying to explain in a low voice, "But Gaara..."
"Get lost!" Gaara suddenly turned his head and glared at his sister. A murderous aura emanated from his body as a cloud of sand floated out from the gourd on his back.
Gaara, the one who loves only himself.
And his only relative was the sand gourd on his back.
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Bonus:
Nine-Tails: Naruto, that Gaara kid will kill people, we have to stop him!
Naruto: I know, the Sand ninjas are all heavy-handed. But how do we stop him?
Nine-Tails: We'll force him to fight us first!
Naruto: ???
Nine-Tails: Why are you looking at me like that? I'll teach you how to provoke him!
Naruto: What's the point of that?
Nine-Tails: It's a win-win-win. First, most of the people left are your friends, so they'll be safe. Second, under my command, you'll definitely beat that brat; he's weak. Third, I also get to beat up the One-Tail...
Naruto: ...
Shukaku: Hey! Have some decency, will you?