As the two took their positions, Shiranui Genma, the chief examiner for this match, walked over.
A toothpick hung from his mouth, making him look like a street thug.
He gave a light cough. "Since Gekko Hayate, the original examiner for this match, has fallen seriously ill, I'll be taking over for now. I hereby announce that the match begins!"
At his shout, Shikamaru and Temari moved at the same time.
Temari pulled the Zhuge's Feather Fan she had won from a scratch-off ticket out of her ninja tool bag and gently waved it twice.
Her mind instantly felt much clearer, and she gained a rough prediction of Shikamaru's movements.
Shikamaru frowned. That fan's shape is way too strange. It was probably another thing she got from that scratch-off ticket shop. I need to be careful.
At that moment, Temari suddenly stepped forward and swung her massive fan in a fierce flurry.
A powerful gale immediately swept across the entire arena.
Shikamaru was sent flying backward with the force of it, crashing into the surrounding wall.
The instant he landed, he lowered his head with a faint smile and pulled out the Mechanical Rat he had won earlier from his ninja tool bag.
This was a good thing. Just as the owner had said, if used properly, it could infinitely extend the reach of his shadow!
That small movement was incredibly subtle, and none of the spectators noticed it.
Even Temari, who was fighting him, did not notice a thing.
The Mechanical Rat hit the ground and burrowed into the soil at incredible speed.
Shikamaru got to his feet, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and walked toward Temari again.
Temari retreated. She knew exactly how formidable the Nara Clan's shadow techniques were.
It was noon now, when shadows were naturally difficult to extend. As long as she controlled the distance, Shikamaru would have no way to deal with her.
The corner of her lips lifted slightly, revealing a hint of cunning.
Then she swung her huge fan again.
Shikamaru hurriedly dodged left, but just as he moved, he saw a kunai flying straight toward him.
He was stunned, his eyes widening round.
Since when could Temari predict someone else's movements?
The fan!
It had to be that fan!
Shikamaru gritted his teeth, anger rising in his heart.
With no other choice, he tucked in his neck and crossed his arms, taking the Wind Style attack head-on.
"Thud!"
Another dull impact rang out against the wall.
Shikamaru's body slammed hard into its surface.
After landing, he bared his teeth and shoved his hand into his ninja tool bag again.
Moments later, he pulled out two smooth, round walnuts!
When he had scratched off these two things from the scratch-off tickets, he had thought they were pretty useless.
With his intelligence, even if he could not make the top ten in the ninja world, he could at least hold steady in the top three!
Even if he kept those walnuts by his side, they would only be decorations.
But today, after Temari used that feather fan again, her attacks had clearly become much sharper, and she could even accurately predict where he was headed.
That made him deeply unhappy!
Then, with a slight squeeze of his palm, he crushed both walnuts.
If this had happened in the real world, who knew how many hearts would have shattered along with them!
The two walnut kernels he squeezed out were only the size of little fingernails. After years of being handled and rubbed, they had apparently dried out.
He tossed the kernels into his mouth, and his mind instantly cleared considerably.
He gave a muffled laugh. That fan and these walnut kernels probably had the same effect!
At that moment, Temari attacked again, raising her fan and unleashing another fierce barrage of gusts!
The corner of Shikamaru's lips curled upward. Watching the incoming Wind Style attack, he calmly calculated.
At present, if he did not dodge, the chance of being hit was absolutely one hundred percent. If he went left, the chance of being targeted was around thirty percent; on the right, it was seventy percent.
So...
His legs suddenly exerted force, and he leaped into the air, shooting upward along the wall for some distance.
Then he kicked hard off the wall, increasing the force of his dive as he charged at Temari with astonishing speed.
He judged that, in Temari's current state, she would definitely choose to retreat.
Sure enough, when he was still more than twenty meters away from Temari, she abruptly sprang backward.
Shikamaru was only a genin now. Under sunlight, his shadow could extend no more than a dozen meters at most.
Temari sneered and swung her fan three times in succession.
Three powerful Wind Style attacks spread out in a line, directly sealing off Shikamaru's left and right sides. At the same time, she threw three kunai above the gusts.
"Now you have nowhere to run, do you?" Temari said with a confident smile.
Shikamaru clenched his fists tightly. The current situation really was more complicated than he had expected!
He also pulled out three kunai and threw them directly into the sky, his body rising into the air.
Right now, he could only find a way to evade this attack first.
He analyzed the situation calmly.
Temari's Wind Style attacks covered too wide an area. If this stalemate continued, he would sooner or later fall into a disadvantage.
The only thing he could hope for now was that the Mechanical Rat would finish digging the underground passage quickly!
As for the battle afterward, he would dodge whenever he could!
Getting beaten while running away was still better than charging in and throwing his life away.
After avoiding that Wind Style attack, he retreated a great distance.
Seeing this, Temari relaxed even more.
Konoha Hospital.
After Wu Di brought Jiraiya to the hospital, he checked the clock in the lobby and shook his head helplessly.
At this hour, there was clearly no way for him to continue watching the match.
He could only sigh and squeeze out a bit of space on Jiraiya's hospital bed.
He estimated that Orochimaru should make his move soon. When that happened, the Third Hokage would kick the bucket and the city walls would be breached.
Who knew how many ninjas would die?
Of course, he did not feel sorry for however many ninjas died. After all, they were not related to him.
But the silver notes in those dead ninjas' pockets were related to him!
His little shop still needed money to upgrade!
It had already taken him so long to save ten million ryo. If another batch of ninjas died, how long would it take to save up one hundred million?
He let out another long sigh.
At that moment, Jiraiya woke up. He weakly opened his eyes and asked, "Where am I?"
Wu Di's face darkened as he said in a low voice, "The hospital! If I hadn't brought you here, you'd have died in my shop!"
Jiraiya let out a long breath and tremblingly picked up the Plot Editor.
"No, I haven't finished reading that plot yet. I still don't have enough inspiration!"
Wu Di snatched the Plot Editor from his hand. "Read, read, read. Keep reading and you'll die!"
As he spoke, he pulled a Soldier Pill from his pocket and shoved it into Jiraiya's mouth.
Speaking of where this Soldier Pill came from, Wu Di could not help wanting to complain about Naruto.
When Naruto had robbed Ebisu before, he had not even spared the Soldier Pills in his pocket, confiscating every last one of them!
In the end, when he had no money left for scratch-off tickets, he had used this Soldier Pill to forcibly make up for one hundred ryo in silver notes.
After swallowing the Soldier Pill, Jiraiya's spirits recovered considerably, and some color returned to his face.
He hurriedly sat up and held out his hand toward Wu Di. "You can give me back the Plot Editor now, right?"
[Author's Note]: Friends who have made it this far, please vote for the author at the end. Kemeng is a full-time writer, and without your support, it is truly hard for Kemeng to keep going. If you like this style, please help Kemeng continue on this journey. Thank you!
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