Both sides stood in the arena, preparing for the upcoming battle.
Naruto looked at Kankuro standing opposite him with some curiosity, scrutinizing him. Kankuro's face was covered in purple patterns, and he even had purple eyeshadow. Although purple was quite charming, it seemed like something that was worn by girls. It was strange for a grown man to wear such makeup.
"The battle begins. Both players, please prepare yourselves."
As Gekko Hayate finished speaking, neither Naruto nor Kankuro moved, instead both staring at the person standing opposite them.
Kankuro was pondering. He realized this was the first time his younger brother Gaara shown such interest in someone. What if he went too far and killed this kid? Wouldn't Gaara punish him then?
Naruto was simply Kankuro to make the first move, otherwise he might not get any screen time later.
"Hey, you brat over there, what are you looking at? Why aren't you making a move?"
Naruto didn't take Kankuro's provocative words to heart. He simply nodded his chin at Kankuro and said calmly:
"Hey, you over there putting on eyeshadow, yeah, I'm talking to you. Stop looking at everyone else, it's just the two of us on stage right now."
Hearing Naruto's words, Kankuro, standing opposite him, almost laughed in anger. These people from Konoha were really arrogant! That brat was lucky to have run into a weak opponent, but what gave this guy the right to be so arrogant?
"Alright, alright, kid, I hope your bones are as hard as your mouth."
But Naruto clearly didn't want to give him a chance to make threats.
"Alright, hurry up and get started, or you really won't have another chance later."
Naruto's casual attitude infuriated Kankuro. He hadn't expected this brat to be so... audacious!
"Heh, I hope you can stay this stubborn from now on."
" Crow."
Kankuro summoned Chakra Threads from his hand, bringing forth the puppet behind him. An exceptionally ugly puppet appeared in front of Kankuro, waving its many arms and charging towards Naruto.
"Black Secret Technique: Hand Dagger."
But Naruto looked at the attack with disdain; it was just a bunch of junk that others had already played with, and Naruto really didn't care about it.
Naruto walked slowly towards Kankuro's direction. To others, the puppet that was approaching rapidly seemed to Naruto to be moving at almost the speed of a tortoise.
"Hey kid, get out of the way!"
Seeing his Crow about to crash into Naruto, he felt compelled to warn him. This wasn't out of kindness, but simply because Gaara was interested in the man before him. What if he accidentally killed Gaara got angry?
As ninjas, they were never kind-hearted people.
Just as Kankuro was still worried about Naruto's safety, Naruto made his move, punching the charging puppet with a loud bang.
The puppets that were charging straight ahead were now scattered in pieces on the ground, and the dagger that had been raised was now hurtling towards the audience due to inertia.
Fortunately, Gekko Hayate intervened in time and blocked the dagger; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Kankuro on the other side was also dumbfounded. He looked incredulously at the Crow fragments scattered all around him. His heart ached. He had used this puppet for a long time after he got it. Sometimes he would even put it in his bed when he slept. He treasured it so much.
But now? It's just shattered like that, so fresh and beautiful?
Feeling the loss of control over the Chakra Threads in his hand, Kankuro was furious. This guy actually dared to shatter his Crow.
"Damn it, you're finished! I'll kill you today to avenge my Crow!"
" Black Ant, grab him."
Another puppet appeared, flying rapidly close to the ground. It was so fast that people could only see a black line rapidly approaching Naruto. Just as it was about to reach Naruto, its chest opened completely, like a giant mouth, trying to swallow Naruto whole.
Faced with such an attack, Naruto remained calm and simply threw a light punch, but this seemingly weak punch carried destructive power.
They pierced right through the Black Ant ant puppet.
Through the large hole on the Black Ant's back, Naruto could still see Kankuro's shocked expression, and he gave a wicked smile.
"Sorry, I accidentally destroyed your puppet. You're not going to make me pay for it, are you?"
Hearing Naruto's cheeky tone, Kankuro nearly lost his temper, but he managed to suppress his anger. He had no choice; he was a puppeteer, and if his puppets were destroyed, how could he fight? Was he supposed to go in and fight hand-to-hand?
With no puppets left to use, Kankuro had no choice but to surrender. He then silently began cleaning up the battlefield, as his puppets were indeed shattered all over the place. In order not to affect future battles, he could only clean up quickly.
After seeing Kankuro concede defeat, Gekko Hayate quickly declared Naruto the winner.
"The winner Naruto Uzumaki."
However, Kankuro started crying as he picked up the puppet. He had used it for a long time and developed an attachment to it, and now it had been so easily broken. How could he not be heartbroken?
Memories of the past flooded his mind, causing his hands to tremble as he picked up the puppet fragments.
Temari couldn't stand it anymore and came to help Kankuro, which quickly cleared the battle area.
As for Naruto, the culprit behind this, he had already left the arena and gone to Sasuke's side to watch the next match. He felt no guilt whatsoever for what had just happened, even though Kankuro was crying his eyes out, his face paint ruined by tears.
With such a poor moral character, what kind of ninja are you? Go find a factory job.
The names on the big screen started scrolling again, finally stopping at the names of two Hyuga Clan.
After Naruto was matched with Kankuro, he thought the story would continue as normal, but Hinata was still matched with Neji, so he couldn't help but remind Hinata.
" Hinata, if you can't win, just surrender. Don't get hurt."
"Yes, Naruto-kun, I understand."
"Please welcome both teams to the stage."
Urged on by the Gekko Hayate, Hinata stepped into the arena.
She saw Neji already standing on the opposite side.
Neji sighed helplessly when he saw Hinata walk into the arena, as if he had made up his mind.
"Excuse me, young lady."
"The match begins."
As Gekko Hayate announced the start of the match, both members of the Hyuga activated their Byakugan, veins bulging around their eyes, making them look ferocious and terrifying.
Both of them were very serious; neither of them wanted to lose this match.