Opponent! Sand Ninja Gaara

"Sunagakure?"

Tenten was momentarily stunned.

Immediately after, she gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand firm.

Neji was right beside her, and with Rock Lee having already conceded, if she were to show fear now, where would that leave Guy-sensei's reputation?

"Here I come!"

Tenten composed her thoughts, braced her hands against the railing, and leaped down.

A stylish entrance!

On the other side, her opponent landed with equal grace.

With a crisp thud, the giant closed iron fan on Temari's back struck the ground; the sound alone suggested it carried significant weight.

Kiba had been helped up and was now standing beside Neji, watching the match.

"Shouldn't you go rest?" Neji asked.

"No need. Those Sand Ninja brats..."

He gritted his teeth, clearly still resentful; after all, he had lost the match due to a sneak attack.

Yet, he still praised her: "Those Sand Ninja seem to look down on us Konoha shinobi. I want to see Tenten win this for us!"

Neji's eyes flickered slightly, and he said nothing more.

He wasn't sure if Tenten could actually win this match.

"Match... start!"

"Ha!"

"Hmph!"

The two engaged in fierce combat from the very first second!

Tenten pulled out a large scroll, continuously summoning shuriken, kunai, senbon, and various other hidden weapons.

On the other side, Temari unfurled her iron fan.

"First Star!"

The fan whipped up a massive gale, deflecting all the hidden weapons!

With a whistling sound, the weapons danced through the air, but upon hitting the storm Temari had unleashed, they were like projectiles striking an iron wall—completely unable to break through!

Seeing that her attacks were ineffective, Tenten pulled out two more scrolls, one in each hand, and charged forward.

Temari curled her lips into a smirk and immediately retreated, refusing to give Tenten any chance to close the distance.

"Too naive!"

Once Tenten had covered half the distance to Temari, she leaped into the air.

"This is! Tenten..." Guy, witnessing this scene, was secretly startled.

This was the secret technique Tenten had been training so hard for. To bring it out now—it was clear this child truly wanted to win this match between Konoha and Sunagakure!

The two scrolls unfurled, and Tenten began to spin in mid-air as various strange tools emerged from within.

"Manipulation: Twin Rising Dragons!"

"An upgraded version of the Rising Dragon?" Neji rubbed his chin. The power of this technique was indeed significantly boosted, but unfortunately, Temari was the exact type of ninja to counter Tenten...

Following this, thousands of ninja tools flew toward Temari, sharp and lethal!

"Second Star!"

Seeing the increased power of this assault, Temari opened her fan even wider and swung it with all her might.

But this time, it didn't seem to be as effective; the sheer volume and weight of the weapons meant only half were blown away.

"Tch!"

Temari retreated once more to dodge the first wave of the attack, then exerted her strength to fully open the iron fan!

"Third Star!"

"Whoosh!"

A colossal storm blew every single one of the weapons away!

As the technique ended, Tenten landed and gritted her teeth, finally realizing she was being completely and utterly countered.

The situation reached a stalemate, and it looked as though Tenten had no chance of victory.

With a "bang," Tenten pulled a large scroll from her back and summoned two massive shuriken. Their shape was peculiar, looking more like fan blades.

"Is she for real?" Rock Lee, standing nearby, swallowed hard.

Neji had never seen them before either, so he asked, "What are those?"

Guy, standing behind them, smiled and said, "That is Tenten's trump card: the Fuma Shuriken!"

"Hah!"

Tenten ran forward, then threw the shuriken at Temari with all her might and began to weave hand signs rapidly.

"That girl is a genius at manipulating hidden weapons. She is the only one who could master this S-rank ninjutsu through her own efforts while still a genin!"

Hyuga Neji nodded slightly, his expression unreadable.

Beside him, Kiba Inuzuka had his eyes wide open, anticipating the moment Tenten would take down the Sand Ninja across from her.

The trajectory of the giant shuriken was obvious, and Temari dodged it easily, but then, another one followed.

With a crisp "clang," the shuriken was deflected by Temari's iron fan in a direct clash.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Tenten finished her hand signs and activated the ninjutsu!

The two Fuma Shuriken rapidly multiplied in mid-air, turning into dozens.

Tenten's eyes were filled with fury; she intended to reclaim their dignity after Kankuro's mockery of the Konoha ninja with this very move!

"Hmph, Ninja Art: Kamaitachi!"

Temari seemed to have had enough fun. Seeing that Tenten had actually pushed her into a corner, she wove hand signs, raised her iron fan, and fanned it casually.

The massive storm was like a living creature! It was no longer a simple gale, but a controlled tornado that seemed to have a consciousness, blocking every single Fuma Shuriken.

One, two, three... until all twenty Fuma Shuriken were deflected by the storm.

While Tenten was still stunned, Temari whipped up another storm.

"Ahhh!!"

The range of this ninjutsu attack covered almost the entire arena; Tenten had nowhere to run!

"Winner, Temari!"

"The Sand Ninja genin are truly strong." Guy sighed, expressing his quiet sentiment.

Though it was hard to accept, the winner takes all.

Beside him, Kiba was gritting his teeth, furious.

Temari, however, cast a disdainful glance at the disheveled Tenten lying on the ground, offering a proud, contemptuous smile.

The names on the rolling screen began to spin faster and faster.

"Next match, Sand Ninja Gaara!"

The first name to appear was Gaara.

The red-haired youth had already woven his hand signs, using the Sand Body Flicker to descend into the arena!

After Konoha's three consecutive victories, the Sand Ninja had taken two in a row. With another Sand Ninja up, would anyone be able to reclaim their pride?

Although these were minor skirmishes that meant little to the Konoha jonin, Tenten, Kiba, and the others were secretly competing in their hearts.

"No matter who it is, you have to take down that Sand Gourd!" Kiba Inuzuka glared fiercely.

"Hyuga Neji!"

A name suddenly appeared on the large screen behind them.

"Please, both parties, cough, come to the arena. The match will begin immediately." Hayate Gekko's face was grim as he stepped back and gestured.

"This..."

Beside him, Kiba Inuzuka's heart seemed to shatter at that moment.

"Neji, if you can't beat him, just surrender."

Tenten, who had also been helped up, looked disheveled and hesitant.

She and Kiba had only suffered minor injuries, so they remained to watch the matches despite their losses.

"Neji, go on up. Show them the results of your training."

Neji was startled as a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

He saw Guy behind him, grinning and giving him a thumbs-up.

The corner of Neji's mouth curled slightly: "I will do my best."

He then walked to the side, slowly descending the stairs into the arena.

Step by step.

Everyone in the arena, having noticed Gaara use a high-level Body Flicker to enter, now focused their eyes entirely on this member of the Hyuga Clan, who was rumored to be the "failure" of Konoha.

He was actually... walking down with the leisurely pace of a stroll!

Of all the matches so far, this was the only one.

"What is this guy doing?"

"Why is he walking down? What kind of weirdo is this?"

Facing the doubts of some small-fry, Neji squinted and smiled: "Aren't these stairs meant for walking?"

As he spoke, Neji complained inwardly.

What rotten luck. With so many jonin watching, he had to fight such a formidable Sand Ninja.

However, recalling the miserable defeat of Tenten and Kiba just moments ago, Neji felt that what he was about to do was truly meaningful.