Above the arena, fierce winds began gathering again, but this time, a faint scent of blood hung in the air.
"Wind Release: Dance of Slashing Blades!"
Temari roared, wildly swinging her iron fan as all three purple circles lit up at once. This time, the wind no longer formed a tornado. Instead, it became countless crescent-shaped wind blades, more solid and sharper than before, raining from the sky and cutting off every route of escape for Hinata. Each blade carried enough power to slice through steel!
Faced with this overwhelming assault, Hinata's Byakugan tracked the path of every wind blade. There was no fear in her eyes, only a burning will to fight.
Rather than retreat, she advanced, charging straight into the downpour of wind blades!
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Her figure darted through the dense barrage, her hands becoming countless afterimages as she struck at the incoming wind blades with unerring precision.
"Two palms!"
"Four palms!"
"Eight palms!"
Her palm strikes were not meant to destroy the wind blades. Instead, she used the finesse of Gentle Fist to alter each blade's trajectory with the smallest possible force, making them collide and cancel one another out. For a moment, a dense clatter of impacts filled the arena, like a dazzling, deadly storm of metal.
Just when everyone thought she could only defend, Hinata kept closing in on Temari, slipping through the gaps between the wind blades at impossible angles!
"Thirty-two palms!"
"Sixty-four palms!"
As the final shout rang out, every wind blade vanished. Hinata had already appeared before Temari, who had left herself exposed by pouring everything into her technique.
Temari's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Hinata's right palm blazed with more chakra than ever before. Without the slightest flourish, she drove it into Temari's abdomen in the simplest, most