Naruto vs. Temari was exactly what the audience needed and longed for after what had happened in the first match.
Temari hurled Wind Release ninjutsu left and right while destroying waves of Naruto's shadow clones, ninja tools flying in all directions and occasional explosions reshaping the terrain and sending debris everywhere.
A true ninja fight for the common people!
After half an hour of exciting combat (or a stalemate, as any ninja would see it), Temari decided she was more than fed up and humiliated, so she used a cyclone to get rid of all the clones and Naruto himself.
The clones vanished and Naruto was nowhere to be seen, but just as everyone looked around in confusion, he burst out from beneath the ground with his fist raised, emerging from a tunnel he had dug with his fingernails (because it never occurred to him to use a kunai), aiming straight for Temari's chin.
And what did Temari do?
She took her sixty-kilogram giant fan, folded it, and used it like a hammer to smash Naruto back into the hole he came from, like he was a mole!
The entire stadium heard the reverberating sound of bones, saw Naruto's arm, and collectively gasped, as if they could feel that pain themselves.
Naruto looked at his arm, now shaped like an accordion, laughed twice, and then his eyes rolled back as sudden understanding and overwhelming pain forced his brain to shut down, knocking him unconscious.
Before he even hit the ground, Temari kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him flying out of the arena, earning a glare from the referee.
"What?" She didn't look the least bit remorseful—if anything, she seemed calmer. "I had to make sure it wasn't another clone," she said.
The referee grimaced. He couldn't argue with that after Naruto's tactics, so he declared Temari the winner and called the medics to treat Naruto.
"I'm not fixing that," Chad thought as he looked at Naruto's shattered arm and fingers.
It looked like a serious injury, the kind that could prevent someone from ever regaining normal use of their arm (or wrist and fingers) and would make many quit being ninja altogether—but for the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, as long as someone helped set the bones back into the rough shape of an arm, a few days of recovery would be enough.
Perks of a massive and constant overload of Yang chakra. Chad suspected it was also the reason Naruto was still alive, despite ingesting those amounts of salt and additives like monosodium glutamate from instant ramen, washed down with spoiled milk—things that would have killed any child his age.
But Naruto? Some diarrhea, and he'd be fine the next day.
Seriously, why did he insist on drinking spoiled milk?
He could just drink water!
Of course, Yang chakra couldn't fix everything, and there were still aftereffects.
The thinness (lack of muscle development) in his limbs, his short stature (lack of nutrients) compared to his peers of the same generation, and so on…
Even Uzumaki vitality could only compensate for a small part of it.
Next match: Gaara vs. Sasuke.
…
Sasuke didn't appear, even after five minutes of delay.
"Well, Temari and Shikamaru aren't here to waste hours on patient standoffs," Chad raised an eyebrow. "So what, Isaribi vs. Sakura next?"
If that were the case, the only Konoha participant who wouldn't have lost yet would be Sasuke.
Or would they take the chance to have Ororomoi fight Temari first?
Would they advance another match?
Make everyone wait with some excuse?
He scratched his earlobe while watching the spectators.
"Heh, Fugaku's face is completely red, and Mikoto is trying to calm him down."
He was probably cursing Kakashi nonstop right now for keeping his habit of being late even for this, right?
Chad thought killing Itachi shortly after Shisui's death had been a good idea after all. Finding him outside the village on a mission and crossing paths with him had been a surprise—but one he took full advantage of.
A tense Uchiha clan on the brink of explosion, with Shisui dead and no Itachi to carry out the massacre initiative and become the perfect excuse, was far more useful than letting the village seize the clan's entire legacy and Danzo secure a steady supply of Sharingan.
He glanced at his wrist, where flesh parted like eyelids to reveal a three-tomoe Sharingan slowly spinning.
"So that's what Sasuke noticed," he thought as the flesh closed again and the eye vanished without a trace. "That kind of connection between brothers… truly sinister. Just as Tobirama said, an inherently evil clan!"
Those without Uchiha lineage couldn't deactivate stolen dōjutsu, but while Kakashi had to use his forehead protector to restrict information flow and chakra consumption, Chad took a more studied approach.
The reason he bore the title Dodomeki was that some people had leaked that he could make eyes bloom anywhere on his skin. The truth, however, was that this information was selectively false, meant to create a false sense of control—he could do the same with any part of his body and on any surface, simply keeping aces up his sleeve for future enemies.
The only ones with more complete information were the women he slept with, because the ability had quite creative uses in the bedroom.
It was a shame his ability didn't let him make parts bloom inside people. If it did, filling lungs with fingers or growing an arm inside the heart's ventricles would mean instant death.
Or maybe he could—but hadn't figured out how yet.
Aware of this, his body had undergone modifications over the years to amplify his capabilities, such as inserting dōjutsu like the Sharingan and Byakugan after tattooing sealing formulas on them to avoid sensors.
He didn't even need to place them in his eye sockets.
Since they became part of his body, with his ability, if he wanted, he could open dozens of Byakugan along one arm, but the consumption would be the same as using just one.
Pinning the blame on Kiri had also been his idea.
After killing Ao and retrieving his head from Kakuzu on the border with Kiri (where he met Isaribi), he extracted a main-branch Hyūga Byakugan to eliminate blind spots. As for things like the Tenseigan, he wasn't interested and had already destroyed the portal connecting the moon to the world long ago.
By now, Toneri must have starved to death, and given his plans, Chad felt no guilt about it.
At the same time, while his body could handle dōjutsu better than Danzo's and didn't need Hashirama cells, he couldn't be like Danzo or Shin and casually implant dozens of them.
Aside from that single Byakugan, he only had two Sharingan in his body, reducing the burden and nearing his tolerance limit. One belonged to Itachi, while the other was Shisui's, which Itachi had placed in a crow.
Itachi tried to destroy it before dying—but how could Chad allow that?
After all, Chad had the other Kotoamatsukami eye, matching Danzo's.
And did he ever use it?
Of course!
He wasn't Danzo, who ignored the simplest path to becoming the next Hokage.
The Raikage had been under its effects for years. Otherwise, how could someone of his origin have risen so far in the village and gained influence enough to ignore Kumo's Council in most situations?
He had the skills to back up all his achievements, positions, and titles—but politics always played a key role. Without making a move, he'd have ended up like Kakashi or Asuma: known in the Bingo Book, and that's it.
He didn't turn the Raikage into a puppet or make him loyal—that would've been too obvious a behavioral change. Instead, he simply amplified the Raikage's tolerance and goodwill toward him and, by extension, his people (like his sister), and made him forget what he had seen.
Enough to secure his footing safely, but not enough to rival Killer B.
And since it was after he presented Itachi's other eye to the Raikage as a trophy for study, the newfound optimism and protection toward him was "justified" in the eyes of the higher-ups.
It might seem like a waste, but anyone with two fingers of common sense could see the benefits far outweighed the cost.
"In a couple of weeks, Kotoamatsukami will refresh, and I'll have another chance to use the genjutsu," he reflected silently. "Who should I use it on this time?"
His gaze drifted to Naruto.
"Tempting—but setting aside how painfully obvious and irreversible the change would be, which would enrage a lot of troublesome people, stealing the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki would cause more demerits than benefits."
The Uchiha clan? He already had several children in Kumo who treated him like their father.
The Hyūga clan? Technically, Neji had many half-siblings in Kumo.
Other clans were in similar situations. Chad had already produced a few batches for the village—he just needed to wait for them to grow up.
"Maybe the girl from the Kurama clan?" he pondered. "Yakumo translates to 'Eight Clouds,' so it's almost a sign."
Hmm…
No. He had easier ways to secure Yakumo's loyalty if he really wanted to.
For starters, she already hated Konoha—and especially Kurenai. As long as he ensured the sealed memories of killing her own parents were destroyed, handing Kurenai over for revenge would be practically the same as buying her.
Her uncle Unkai might be a problem, and there were ANBU guards around, but…
"Too unstable," Chad dismissed the idea as quickly as it came.
Leaving aside that Yakumo couldn't even control Ido, if more like her appeared in Kumo and things spiraled out of control, it simply wouldn't be worth it. So he wasn't interested in Yakumo or her bloodline.
"If I were looking at it from the perspective of acquiring more bloodlines… that person could be a good target. It's just that integrating her into the village might be a bit problematic."
Chad had someone else in mind, but it would cause a serious issue—perhaps even greater than taking Yakumo, though maybe not as bad as claiming Naruto.
"Well, I already floated the idea to the Raikage and got the green light for the other plan. Might as well take advantage of the situation."
While Chad was lost in thought, down in the arena the referee received a note, grimaced, and sighed.
"The current match will be postponed due to force majeure. In the meantime, the next match will be moved up!" he announced. "Sakura of Konoha and Isaribi of Kumo, please come down to the arena."
The crowd exchanged confused looks, while the section occupied by Uchiha clan members was red-faced and seconds away from cursing. To them, this was favoritism they didn't need.
Because of Sasuke's sensei, the clan was being humiliated!
"Of course," Ororomoi rolled his eyes without surprise. "They weren't going to kick out the Uchiha. How subtle!" he said with mild sarcasm.
Still, he was eager to see how Isaribi would deal with the Konoha genin. From what he'd observed, the pink-haired genin was of civilian origin and had no notable skills.
Like, no skills at all—it was as if someone had materialized the most basic, textbook-standard genin imaginable.
The strangest part was that despite having passed to the third test, he'd never seen her on any training field.
But that was impossible!
Her jōnin must have given her intensive training, the same kind he'd gone through, right?
Sakura and Isaribi descended into the arena and took their positions.
"So tall…" Sakura swallowed nervously.
Isaribi was easily a head taller, and the scales on her skin gave her a fierce appearance. But what really got to her nerves was that she didn't seem much older (she didn't know her real age) and was far more physically developed in the right places, wounding Sakura's already fragile self-esteem.
"It's fine, I still have a lot of growing to do," Sakura comforted herself. "Then Sasuke will fall at my feet!"
The referee looked at both of them.
"Ready to—?"
"Isaribi!"
Chad's shout echoed throughout the stadium, drawing everyone's attention.
"Remember to control your strength!" Chad didn't bother with the hundreds of surprised eyes on him. "This is an exam—killing her by accident would look really bad, okay?"
Isaribi twisted her lips at her sensei's reminder.
Couldn't he have told her that before the matches started?
Besides, she was already planning to be careful. The pink-haired girl in front of her looked truly fragile, and the trembling she saw only deepened the pity she already felt.
And saying that out loud—wasn't it humiliating for the girl and her village?
"Sorry about my sensei," she couldn't help telling Sakura. "He's just worried about your safety," she said apologetically.
Unfortunately for Sakura, it didn't sound any different from open mockery. Her face darkened, almost letting her second personality burst out in front of the entire village.
Did she really look that easy to knock down? That delicate?!
She was a kunoichi!
She had earned her forehead protector!
She'd show them all her determination!
She clenched her village forehead protector tightly, reaffirming her resolve.
The referee shook his head and gave the signal to begin.
Sakura threw a kunai to gauge her opponent's reaction and decide her next move. She had two explosive tags prepared for this fight—if things got ugly, she was confident she could at least put on a decent show. Maybe she could even blast her out of the arena using the shockwave, dirty as it was—everything was excusable in her profession.
If she combined it with some wires and—
Isaribi slapped the kunai aside with the back of her scaled hand, her scales preventing any cutting damage, and in the palm of her other hand, a drop of water condensed.
"Suiton: Uchimizu!" ("Water Release: Water Shot!")
She hurled the water droplet at Sakura. It pierced straight through her abdomen and exited through her back due to the applied force and speed.
Sakura's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed into a pool of her own blood, which poured from the wound in large quantities.
If Naruto had been present, he might have leaked some Nine-Tails chakra just from witnessing it. Even Sakura's parents went pale, believing the worst.
"There are no fatal injuries or damaged organs," Isaribi calmly told the referee. "But she won't wake up anytime soon, and if she doesn't receive medical attention, she'll bleed out in minutes."
As Chad's student and due to her past, she had basic anatomical knowledge, and she felt sorry for the girl—so she avoided causing serious damage.
As long as the bleeding was stopped, Sakura would be fine after a couple of days' rest. At most, her ego would take longer to heal. She wouldn't even have a scar.
Her explanation also carried a clear message: it was over.
The referee rubbed his face as he declared Isaribi the winner and signaled the medical ninja.
How much time had they bought for the Uchiha with this?
Not even ten seconds!
"That's certainly an ingenious application of Water Transformation," Hiruzen commented, though he was also quite at a loss over Sakura's performance. He didn't blame her.
That water droplet… to dodge it, one would need to be at least a chūnin with several years of experience. A civilian-born genin without specialized training or resources had no chance.
"Does Hokage-sama know anything about this participant?" asked the fake Kazekage.
Orochimaru thought she resembled certain research projects one of his subordinates, Amaru, had once developed. But that man had disappeared years ago, and when Orochimaru sent people to investigate the island lab he'd been on, everything had been destroyed.
No traces or clear clues of the culprits.
He hadn't expected to find a survivor of those experiments here…
Thanks to the veil he wore, he didn't need to restrain his habit of licking his lips and risk being exposed.
"Interesting."