Shikamaru vs. Temari

As the two took their positions, the proctor for this match, Shiranui Genma, walked over.

He had a toothpick in his mouth, making him look like a hoodlum.

He cleared his throat lightly. "Due to Proctor Gekko Hayate falling ill, I will be temporarily taking his place. I now declare the match to begin!"

At his shout, Shikamaru and Temari moved simultaneously.

Temari took out Zhuge's Feather Fan, which she had won from a scratch-off, from her ninja pouch and fanned it a couple of times.

Instantly, she felt her mind clear considerably, and she had a general idea of Shikamaru's movements.

Shikamaru frowned, thinking to himself, That fan has a bizarre shape. It's probably from a scratch-off shop again. I need to be careful.

At this moment, Temari suddenly moved forward and began to vigorously shake the large fan.

A strong wind immediately swept across the entire arena.

Shikamaru was sent flying backward, crashing into the surrounding wall.

The moment he landed, he chuckled softly and pulled out the Mechanical Rat he had won earlier from his ninja pouch.

This was a great item. Just as the boss said, if used well, it could infinitely extend the range of his shadow!

This small action was extremely subtle, and the onlookers didn't notice anything.

Even Temari, who was fighting him, didn't notice the slightest bit.

The Mechanical Rat landed and burrowed into the soil at an incredibly fast speed.

Shikamaru stood up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and walked towards Temari again.

Temari retreated. She knew how powerful the Nara Clan's shadow ninjutsu was.

It was currently noon, and shadows were not easy to extend. As long as she maintained the distance, Shikamaru would be helpless against her.

The corner of her mouth twitched slightly, revealing a hint of cunning.

Immediately after, she swung the large fan again.

Shikamaru quickly dodged to the left, but as soon as he moved, he saw a kunai flying directly at him.

He was stunned, his eyes wide open.

When did Temari start predicting other people's movements?

The fan!

It must be because of that fan!

Shikamaru gritted his teeth, feeling a bit indignant.

Helpless, he could only retract his neck and cross his arms to brace himself against the Wind Style attack.

"Thump!"

A dull thud echoed from the wall again.

Shikamaru's body slammed hard against the wall.

After landing, he gnashed his teeth ferociously and reached into his ninja pouch again.

Not long after, he pulled out two perfectly round, smooth walnuts!

When he had first won these from a scratch-off, he thought they were rather useless.

With his intelligence, even if he wasn't in the top ten of the ninja world, he was at least in the top three!

These walnuts would just be decorations even if he kept them by his side.

But today, after Temari used that feather fan, her attacks had become significantly sharper, and she could accurately predict his movements.

This made him quite unhappy!

Then, he slightly tightened his grip, and the two walnuts instantly shattered.

If this were the real world, how many hearts would have shattered along with them!

The two walnut kernels that were crushed were only the size of a pinky fingernail, likely dried out from years of handling.

He popped the kernels into his mouth, and his mind instantly became much clearer.

He chuckled softly, thinking that the fan and these two walnut kernels probably served the same purpose!

At this moment, Temari attacked again, raising her fan and fanning it furiously!

The corner of Shikamaru's mouth lifted slightly. He calmly calculated as he watched the incoming Wind Style.

Currently, if he didn't dodge, the probability of being hit was absolutely 100%. If he went left, the probability of being targeted was about 30%; right was 70%.

So...

He suddenly exerted force with his feet and leaped straight up, flying a distance along the wall.

Then, he forcefully kicked off the wall, increasing his downward momentum. He charged towards Temari at an incredibly fast speed.

He judged that, in Temari's current state, she would definitely choose to retreat.

As expected, when he was still twenty meters away from Temari, she suddenly retreated rapidly.

Shikamaru was still just a genin, and his shadow could only stretch about ten meters in the sunlight.

Temari let out a cold laugh and swung her fan three times in succession.

Three powerful Wind Style jutsu were unleashed in a line, directly sealing off Shikamaru's left and right sides. At the same time, she threw three kunai on top of the Wind Style.

"Now you have nowhere to run!" Temari said with a confident smile.

Shikamaru clenched his fists tightly. The current situation was indeed more complicated than he had imagined!

He also drew three kunai and threw them directly into the air, leaping up himself.

For now, he could only try to find a way to dodge this attack.

He calmly analyzed the situation.

Temari's Wind Style attack had too wide a range. If they continued to stalemate like this, he would eventually be at a disadvantage.

The only thing he could hope for now was that the Mechanical Rat would hurry up and finish digging the underground passage!

As for the subsequent battle, he would dodge if he could!

Being chased was better than rushing forward to his death.

After dodging this Wind Style attack, he retreated a considerable distance.

In the next scene, Temari relaxed a little.

Konoha Hospital.

After Wu Di brought Jiraiya to the hospital, he glanced at the clock in the lobby and shook his head helplessly.

At this time, it was obviously impossible to continue watching the match.

He could only sigh and make some space on Jiraiya's hospital bed.

He estimated that in a little while, Orochimaru would make his move, and then the Third Hokage would die, and the city walls would be breached.

He didn't know how many ninjas would die.

Of course, he didn't feel any heartache for the ninjas who died, as they had no relation to him.

But the silver notes in the pockets of the dead ninjas were related to him.

His small shop needed money for upgrades!

It had taken him so long to save up ten million ryo. If another batch of ninjas died, who knew when he would save up another hundred million ryo!

He sighed deeply again.

At this moment, Jiraiya woke up. He weakly opened his eyes and said, "Where am I?"

Wu Di's face darkened, and he said in a low voice, "The hospital! If I hadn't brought you here, you would be dead in my shop by now!"

Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief and shakily picked up the Plot Editor.

"No, I haven't finished watching that plot yet, I don't have enough inspiration!"

Wu Di snatched the Plot Editor from his hand. "Look, look, if you keep looking, you'll die!"

With that, he took out a Soldier Pill from his pocket and stuffed it into Jiraiya's mouth.

Speaking of the origin of this Soldier Pill, he couldn't help but complain about Naruto.

When he ransacked Ebisu's place before, he didn't even let go of the Soldier Pills in his pockets and confiscated them all!

In the end, having no money for scratch-off tickets, he used this Soldier Pill as one hundred ryo in silver notes.

After the Soldier Pill went down, Jiraiya's spirits recovered a lot, and his complexion became ruddy.

He quickly sat up and spread his hands towards Wu Di. "Can I have the Plot Editor back now?"

[Author's Aside]: Friends who have read this far, please vote for the author at the end. Ke Meng is a full-time writer, and it's really hard to keep going without your support. If you like this style, please help Ke Meng continue to walk this path. Thank you!