"Sigh... I'm the only one left."
In the spectator stands, Kakashi muttered helplessly to himself. The seats on either side of him were now empty, while Shikamaru and Temari were still locked in a battle of wits below.
Watching Shikamaru rack his brains and proceed with painstaking caution, only to be forced steadily backward by Temari's enormous fan, Kakashi simply could not see how Asuma's trouble-averse pineapple-headed student could possibly turn things around.
After the first match ended, Might Guy had hurried off with his beloved student Rock Lee, who had been carried away by the medical team. As for the three students in Kakashi's own team—Naruto was about to take the field, while Sakura sat some distance away with the blonde girl named Ino, discussing something.
As for Satsuki... she had silently left her seat some time ago, and no one knew where she had gone. Naturally, Kakashi did not think Rock Lee's strength had dealt her a blow—although Satsuki might not yet have a clear understanding of her own abilities, in Kakashi's view, there was absolutely no reason she could lose to Rock Lee.
Of course, Kakashi had not come today merely to watch the matches. According to the confidential Jonin meeting convened by the Third Hokage not long ago, that long-planned attack... would most likely take place today.
His gaze seemed to casually sweep over every corner of the stands before finally settling, as if by chance, on several seemingly ordinary "Anbu" ninja in the distance.
Naruto finally returned to the contestants' waiting room after finishing his counseling session. Only then did he suddenly remember something—in the original story, Shikamaru seemed to have won by using the holes Naruto had dug during his earlier match? But Naruto had not gone on yet, so those holes did not