Karatachi Yagura had only one opponent step up against him now—Shinnosuke Sarutobi—so there was no room for him to pick and choose.
The reason things were so quiet was twofold. First, everyone knew Karatachi was strong. Second, the matches had only just begun, and everyone wanted to observe the situation first.
The four arena holders appeared in descending order of rank for this very reason. Psychologically, by the end, plenty of contestants would probably challenge the lower-ranked arena holders, indirectly easing the pressure on those at the top. Of course, that was only fair if the arena holders who had performed better went first.
But Shinnosuke Sarutobi saw things differently—
As the Hokage's son, failing to become an arena holder earlier had already put him under considerable pressure.
Especially now, when the other two arena holders were the son of the Tsuchikage and the son of someone "said to be the next Mizukage," Shinnosuke was desperate to prove himself.
Seeing him take the stage, the other contestants were happy to let it happen—
"The first match: arena holder Karatachi Yagura versus challenger Shinnosuke Sarutobi. Begin!" After saying that, Hatake used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the stage.
"Kirigakure, Karatachi Yagura. Please enlighten me." Karatachi smiled politely.
"Konoha, Shinnosuke Sarutobi—please enlighten me." Shinnosuke's expression was far more solemn.
As they spoke, both formed the Seal of Confrontation.
The next instant, Shinnosuke launched into action without a moment's delay, seizing the initiative. Both hands reached into the ninja tool pouches on his thighs, instantly drawing and hurling two large handfuls of shuriken!
To make his draw even faster, he bent his legs and leaned his upper body back. The posture looked somewhat strange, but it let him pull out his ninja tools more quickly.
Karatachi reacted a fraction too slowly, but