"First round, Son Goten versus Kiba Inuzuka."
Gekko Hayate coughed twice, then swung his raised arm down hard.
"Begin!"
At that command, Kiba, who could hardly hold himself back anymore, moved instantly.
"Akamaru! Let's show him what we're made of!"
Kiba dropped onto all fours, chakra surging wildly through his body, looking like a genuine wild beast.
Beside him, Akamaru was still somewhat afraid, but under the stimulating effects of the Soldier Pill, he let out a matching roar and began spinning rapidly.
"Beast Mimicry Ninjutsu: Fang Over Fang!"
The two figures spun rapidly.
The churning air gave off a piercing howl.
Two grayish-white hurricanes spun at high speed, bearing down on Son Goten from either side with the force to tear everything apart.
The powerful winds ripped stone tiles from the floor, sending fragments flying.
In the stands, Naruto clung to the railing and shouted, "Whoa! Kiba's getting serious! He's spinning so fast!"
Sakura was a little nervous too. "With that kind of speed and destructive power... how could flesh and blood stop it?"
Only Sasuke remained expressionless, even feeling a little like laughing.
If spinning fast was enough to win, why bother training?
Yet Son Goten, standing at the center of the storm, let out a spectacularly ill-timed yawn.
"Ah... so sleepy."
He rubbed away the tears welling at the corners of his eyes, not even bothering to take his left hand out of his trouser pocket.
The attack looked lightning-fast to everyone else, but to Son Goten, it was as slow as an ancient black-and-white movie.
The trajectory of every movement, the frequency of every rotation, even the contorted expression on Kiba's face from exerting himself too hard-all of it was perfectly clear.
This was ninja taijutsu?
Even that dirty old man Master Roshi threw faster punches when he was drunk.
The two whirlwinds closed in, their fierce winds making Son Goten's crab-shaped hair sway slightly.
Just when everyone thought he was about to be sent flying.
Son Goten moved.
More precisely, he merely raised his right hand and extended his index finger.
He simply stuck that finger straight into the center of the high-speed hurricane.
There were no fancy movements whatsoever.
Just one simple finger, placed against the very front of one of the whirlwinds.
Ding, system activa... pfft! Wrong channel. It was just a simple, crisp sound.
It was like pressing pause on a rapidly spinning fan.
The instant the raging hurricane touched his fingertip, it came to a complete stop.
Its kinetic energy was forcibly reduced to zero.
At that moment, the inertia from the spinning turned into a tremendous backlash, all of it rebounding onto the technique's user.
"Urgh-"
Kiba's figure emerged.
He looked as though he had crashed into a mountain of iron, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
His stomach churned violently, and his breakfast, along with the Soldier Pill he had just swallowed, sprayed straight out in a mixture of stomach acid.
He splattered vomit all over the floor.
As for Akamaru, who had looked so fierce a moment earlier, the recoil had already flung him away at the instant of contact.
He traced a parabola through the air before crashing into a corner, then whimpered, tucked his tail between his legs, and crawled into the shadows, refusing to show himself again no matter what.
The entire arena fell silent. The jonin who had been whispering among themselves in the stands were all stunned.
Might Guy's trademark bushy eyebrows twitched several times, his mouth slightly open to reveal a mouthful of large white teeth.
"Kakashi... that finger just now..."
Guy's voice sounded a little dry.
As a taijutsu master, he understood better than anyone how outrageous that scene had been.
To pinpoint the center of gravity amid high-speed rotation and force it to stop with absolute strength.
That required more than keen eyesight. It required an overwhelming disparity in strength.
It was like trying to stop a rapidly spinning grinding wheel by hand. An ordinary person's hand would be shredded; only steel could shatter the wheel.
Was this kid Son Goten's finger made of refined steel?
Kakashi's dead-fish eyes widened a little for once, and he tucked Icha Icha Paradise back into his ninja tool pouch.
"Looks like... I still underestimated this kid's monstrous strength."
It was more than monstrous strength. That sense of timing was practically a beast's instinct.
In the arena, Son Goten hopped back a step in disgust, avoiding the filth Kiba had spewed out.
He frowned and waved a hand in front of his nose.
"Hey, a fight's a fight. What's with puking all over the place?"
Son Goten looked at Kiba, who lay on the floor retching nonstop, and shook his head.
"You're throwing up this badly after a couple of spins? Don't you ever train yourself not to get dizzy?"
"I thought I could at least play with you like a Frisbee, but you turned out to be a spinning fountain."
Kiba could not speak at all right then.
His head was buzzing, and the whole world was spinning.
The finishing move he was so proud of had failed to make this monster move even half a step.
It could not even beat a single finger of his.
Was this... the gap between them?
Gekko Hayate stood stunned for several seconds. Only when the sour stench drifted over did he snap out of it.
"The... the winner is Son Goten."
There was a hint of uncertainty in Hayate's voice as he announced the result.
It had ended far too quickly.
Even the medical team had not had time to get ready.
Son Goten laced his hands behind his head and ambled back toward the stands.
As he passed Gekko Hayate, he casually added a remark.
"Hey, old ref, could you stop giving me opponents who only know how to spin around? It's really boring."
Gekko Hayate's mouth twitched, and he did not dare respond.
This kid was an absolute monster.
"How can you call something that weak a finishing move? It's not even good enough to scratch an itch for me."
As he passed Kiba, Son Goten did not forget to rub salt in the wound.
"Oh, and remember to clean the floor. It really stinks."
Kiba lay on the floor, his fingers digging deep into the cracks between the tiles, his face filled with humiliation, yet he did not even have the strength to lift his head.
Up in the stands, Karin was already waiting at the stairway with a towel and a water bottle.
The moment she saw Son Goten come up, she hurried over, her eyes full of stars.
"Goten! You're amazing!"
Although she had not understood what happened, the sight of him making someone vomit with a single finger had been unbelievably cool.
"It was all right. Mostly, my opponent was just too weak."
Son Goten took the bottle and had a sip, then casually tossed the towel to Naruto, who stood beside him gaping.
"Stop staring. Wipe your drool."
Only then did Naruto snap out of it, circling Son Goten with loud exclamations.
"Goten! What move was that? Teach me! I want to beat Sasuke with one finger too!"
Leaning against the corner, Sasuke's eye twitched.
That idiot. What did this have to do with me?
Still...
Sasuke looked at Son Goten's completely unscathed finger, and the helplessness in his heart grew a little stronger.
Was this the gap between them?
Even with the Cursed Seal's power, could I really catch up to this guy?
The names on the electronic screen began scrolling again.
Son Goten found a comfortable spot to sit down and had just rested his head on Karin's lap, ready to catch up on some sleep.
Before you continue