Move Fast, Look Cool

Shikamaru and Temari's battle wasn't particularly intense, but it was more exciting than most of the audience had expected.

Throughout the fight, Shikamaru had treated the audience to one surprising reversal after another. It was incredibly entertaining. Even ordinary people who knew nothing about ninja battles enjoyed it, let alone the sharp-eyed spectators.

Shikamaru had displayed astonishing strategic and tactical planning skills, making use of everything at hand and everything in his surroundings to achieve his goal of controlling his opponent with his Shadow Jutsu.

But once he'd achieved that, Shikamaru had surrendered decisively. He was nearly out of chakra, and he couldn't use the finishing moves he'd thought of.

When the referee announced Temari's victory, the audience burst into enthusiastic applause.

Seeing this, the Third Hokage felt a little relieved. Quite a few Daimyo had come especially to watch the matches. If they found them too boring, they might reduce their support for Konoha in the future.

"No wonder he's Shikaku's son."

The Third Hokage thought with satisfaction, By Chunin standards, even Uchiha Sasuke's performance earlier wasn't as good as his.

After a brief pause, the referee called the contestants for the third match into the arena: Shino Aburame versus Sakura Haruno.

Shino was as quiet as ever, so Sakura took the initiative and spoke. "Shino, I've gotten a lot stronger over the past month. You don't stand a chance of winning."

"I'm not going to give up before the match even starts."

Shino remained calm. "The reason is simple: I've gotten stronger over the past month too."

"Begin!"

As soon as the referee shouted, he immediately backed away to put some distance between himself and Shino. He wasn't afraid of bugs, but a huge swarm of them was a little unsettling.

Shino held out both hands. Hundreds, even thousands, of Kikaichū poured out from his body like a dark cloud, about to engulf Sakura.

Some people in the stands who were afraid of bugs, along with those who suffered from trypophobia, had already covered their eyes, unable to watch.

As a result, they missed the spectacular scene that followed. Sakura raised her right leg high and stomped down. One strike shattered the ground around her. The resulting shockwave crushed every nearby Kikaichū to bits before sweeping outward.

The Third Hokage's eyes widened, as if he'd caught sight of a familiar figure. "Tsunade..."

The Third Hokage wasn't the only one. At that moment, many Konoha ninja saw someone familiar in Sakura.

"What terrifying strength!"

The referee raised one arm in front of himself to keep his eyes open. "The power behind that kick may be no less than Lady Tsunade's Heavenly Foot! Who is this girl?"

Shino, who had felt the shockwave at close range, was in a bad way. He braced himself with both hands and lowered his center of gravity, barely managing to keep from being blown away. "Where did she get that kind of strength? At the Ninja Academy, wasn't she best at theory and chakra control?!"

Sakura didn't stand around waiting for Shino to recover. Before the shockwave had even faded, she had already rushed up to him and thrown a punch. Her fist stopped right in front of Shino, but the wind from it still sent him flying more than ten meters.

The referee was skilled and sharp-eyed. He promptly announced, "Sakura Haruno wins!"

Shino lay on the ground for three seconds before getting back up. Sakura walked over with a smile and held out her hand. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

Shino took her hand lightly and let go as soon as he was standing. "Your strength... No, I mean the improvement in your physical power really exceeded my expectations."

"It wasn't just brute strength. I used chakra too."

Sakura explained without being asked. "The moment I exerted myself, I molded as much chakra as I could inside my body, then concentrated it as much as possible."

"I see. If you concentrate chakra only at the moment you exert force, you can maximize your strength while reducing chakra consumption."

Shino understood at once. "But that's just the theory. Actually doing it to the extent you did must require an extremely high level of chakra control."

The referee had heard their conversation too. "Throughout all of Konoha, the only person who can do that in actual combat is Lady Tsunade."

The referee smiled and reminded them, "The next match is about to start. If you're both all right, leave the arena as soon as possible."

Once the two had reached the arena exit, the referee announced loudly, "Fourth match: Uzumaki Naruto versus Gaara! Contestants, enter the arena!"

At the mention of Gaara's name, the Sunagakure ninja grew tense.

On one hand, Gaara was Sunagakure's Jinchuriki, and his mental state was unstable. He'd already lost control several times.

On the other hand, Gaara's appearance meant that the Konoha Crush Plan, which Sunagakure had plotted together with Orochimaru, was about to begin.

Kankuro edged up to Gaara and cautiously reminded him, "Gaara... don't forget the plan."

Gaara glanced at Kankuro without expression. "I know."

That answer put Kankuro at ease. "Thank goodness. Gaara's in an even steadier state of mind than we expected."

Gaara walked toward the arena at an unhurried pace, recalling the battle between Naruto and Rock Lee in the preliminaries. That bushy-browed guy was so fast and strong that even Armor of Sand might not be able to block all of his attacks. The blond guy is even stronger...

"Ah~ A guy like that is worth killing!"

Gaara's expression suddenly twisted into a crazed grin. "Just wait, Mother~ Soon I'll let you taste some wonderful blood!"

"Hey, kid."

A familiar voice suddenly came from inside Gaara's mind. "I'll give you as much power as you want in a moment, and I won't interfere. Just beat the hell out of the guy across from you."

"Shukaku..."

Gaara's crazed expression vanished. "You know that blond guy?"

"How could I know some tiny human brat?"

Shukaku's voice was cheerful. "Haven't you noticed? That blond kid is a Jinchuriki, just like you!"

Gaara's eyes slowly widened, filled with confusion.

Naruto still hadn't gone down to the arena.

"Why aren't you going down?" Sasuke asked him. "What are you waiting for?"

Naruto played with the kunai in his hand and grinned. "Waiting for the perfect chance to look cool!"

Sasuke glanced at the chakra mark on the kunai and understood. "The Flying Thunder God Technique is one of your trump cards. Isn't it a waste to use it just to look cool?"

"This isn't ordinary showing off!"

Naruto insisted, "Besides, even if everyone knows I can use the Flying Thunder God Technique, it won't make it any less effective in an actual fight. That's what makes the technique so powerful."

Sasuke thought it over carefully. It was true.

"Ah, the panda-eyed guy's entered the arena."

Naruto tossed the kunai in his hand toward the arena and waved to Sasuke. "I'll be right back."

The kunai landed precisely a few meters in front of Gaara. With every spectator watching, Naruto used the Flying Thunder God Technique to appear beside it in an instant, then casually pulled it out. "Uzumaki Naruto, reporting in!"

At that moment, everyone present who had ever seen the Fourth Hokage saw in Naruto the figure of that man who seemed to shine like the Yellow Flash...