"Cough... Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, please enter the arena!"
Sitting cross-legged beneath the sculpture, Hayate coughed twice, calling out the participants for the next match.
Upon hearing the two girls' names, the expressions of the Konoha's Ninjas became subtle.
No matter how much they tried to stagger the matches, having two good friends fight each other was somewhat in poor taste.
The Jonin Instructors all looked towards the high platform where Hiruzen sat serenely.
"Ah, why do I have to fight Sakura-chan?!"
Ino, who had slid down to sit on the floor in a seiza-like posture, held her head in her hands.
"It's fine. Just like me, it'll be over quickly."
Beside her, Choji stuffed potato chips into his mouth, offering what might or might not have been comforting words.
"Look on the bright side, at least Sakura won't beat you to a pulp, right?"
Shikamaru placed a hand on Ino's shoulder, tilting his head towards the group of unconscious Ninja on the Medical Team's side, a mischievous smile on his face.
'Betrayed' by her own two teammates, Ino showed anger.
"Hmph, don't underestimate me! I'll win and show you!"
Provoked, Ino snorted heavily through her nostrils and stomped into the arena with heavy steps.
Behind her, Shikamaru and Choji high-fived each other.
"Go for it, Sakura-chan! Don't lose to Ino!"
Naruto, who was practically hanging over the railing, cheered for Sakura, while Sasuke next to him moved away with a look of disdain.
"Ino!"
Sakura formed the Seal of Confrontation with one hand, holding it upright in front of her chest.
A bitter, icy wind began to swirl within the chamber, frost circulating amidst boiling Chakra.
The girl's hair and eyes faded to a snowy white, her black Ninja Attire also dyeing into a pure, chilling white, as if she were clad in the bitter wind of a lost wasteland.
Glistening, translucent ribbons danced around her, breathtakingly beautiful yet extremely dangerous.
The storm and turbulence, carrying sleet and snow, merely brushed past the edges of the watching Ninjas, yet already coated their hair and eyebrows with a layer of ice.
'Is that the Jutsu that froze the examination venue before? Konoha's monster!'
Many Ninjas from other villages bulged their eyes, gripping the railings tightly, only to find their hands frozen stuck.
"Ino..."
Asuma looked worried, wanting to light a cigarette but finding his matches wouldn't strike in this environment.
"Sakura, what exactly are you thinking?"
Kakashi shook the ice chips from his head, crossing his arms as he watched the two girls on the arena.
"A Jutsu like this... doesn't seem like something one would use against a comrade, right?"
Onoki seized the opportunity to sow discord.
The responsible persons from the other two villages remained silent, just staring intently at Hiruzen.
"It's fine. I believe in that child's judgment, and in her warm-heartedness towards her comrades!"
Hiruzen remained calm and composed, treating Onoki's provocative words as nothing.
"Ino, surrender quickly! You'll die if this continues!"
Even amidst the cold wave, Shikamaru and Choji were breaking out in a cold sweat. After freeing themselves from the ice, they shouted at Ino.
"No!"
The girl's clear voice pierced through the wind and snow.
Stubbornly pushing against the cold current, she formed the Seal of Confrontation towards the queen enshrined by ice and snow before her.
"If I back down here, I'll never be able to see Sakura's shadow again!"
Pulling out kunai, shuriken, and steel wire from her tool pouch, Ino first hurled shuriken at Sakura.
Then, threading the wire through a kunai, she threw it forcefully towards the ceiling of the exam hall.
"Huff!"
Watching the shuriken spinning towards her, Sakura blew out a breath.
The terrifying freezing breath exhaled from the girl's mouth instantly solidified the shuriken.
Then, with a crisp sound, the shuriken, forged from fine steel, shattered and dissipated into powder.
"Oh my god, does Sakura hate Ino that much?"
Naruto's eyes widened, rubbing his arms to warm up, his teeth chattering as he retreated a few steps.
"Hmph, idiot. It's precisely because she acknowledges her that she must go all out!"
Sasuke, also freezing cold, kept his hands in his pockets and snorted.
Hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto rolled his eyes.
'What would a tsundere Uchiha know about acknowledgment?'
If this was acknowledgment, then he would go and win over the Hyuga Clan's young lady tomorrow!
"Well then, Ino, what will you do now, facing an enemy you simply cannot defeat?"
Sakura brought her hands together, and four or five huge frost beasts roared as they climbed up from the ground.
Without hesitation, they charged towards the girl who was barely holding on amidst the wind and snow.
"Don't underestimate me! I've done a lot of training to catch up to you, Sakura!"
Ino pulled hard on the steel wire at her fingertips, and her nimble body was immediately hoisted up by the tightening wire.
Swinging through the air, she swiftly rushed towards Sakura.
A Ninja's fight is about utilizing all available intelligence.
Right now, Ino was betting that Sakura would absolutely not use a lethal Jutsu against her, thus using her own body as a blade to charge.
"Hahaha, a clever decision!"
Sakura gathered the cold air, instead throwing a punch towards Ino in the sky.
Having personally witnessed Sakura punch through the earth, Ino didn't dare take this punch head-on, quickly pulling the wire to adjust her trajectory.
Boom!
The fist wind shot straight through the wall, blasting a large hole in the tower and kicking up waves of air.
The suspended walkway directly collapsed halfway, the watching Ninja forced to adhere to the walls using Chakra.
However, no one dared to voice any complaint about it.
Ino glanced from the corner of her eye, gritting her silver teeth.
'Alright, alright...'
'Sakura, you bastard, using such a heavy hand against your best friend!'
"Let me show you the results of my training over this period!"
Ino flipped in mid-air, landing directly behind Sakura.
Her hands shot forward, passing under Sakura's armpits and forming a hold around her neck.
Ino's Chakra gathered massively, finally piercing from her palms into Sakura's body.
"Ninja Art: Mind Body Disturbance Technique!"
Fully aware of the gap between herself and Sakura, Ino wasn't aiming to control her at all now.
Instead, she used the Mind Body Disturbance Technique learned from her father, merely seeking to disrupt Sakura's spirit and movements, then slowly look for an opening.
As the Chakra was injected and the feedback of the technique's activation returned to her body, a look of joy appeared on Ino's face.
'It's working! Next, I just need to create some distance from Sakura!'
"Hey, Ino!"
A call drew the blonde girl's attention. She looked up and saw...
Silver-white pupils swirling with infinite authority, dark lightning gushing out, dancing wildly in the void.
The will of the Conqueror wildly sang, instantly shaking the world.
The blizzard it stirred up, mixed with a substantial impact, crashed against the surrounding high walls, creating vine-like cracks.
'Hey, hey, hey, you've got to be kidding me. Just her aura alone has this much power?'
Darui, who had been silent for a long time, could no longer hold back, exclaiming in shock.
'Konoha... are we going to be suppressed by you for another fifty years?'
Onoki, lost in thought, shifted his gaze between Sakura and Hiruzen, finally letting out a long sigh.
In the center of the arena, impacted by the Conqueror's Haki, snow was kicked up from the ground.
Standing amidst the swirling heavy snow, Ino, besides feeling the physical chill, also felt a freezing originating from her soul.
'What kind of spirit is this... My consciousness feels like... it's flying away...'
Ino's eyes rolled back, her body trembling and beginning to sway.
In her blurry consciousness, she seemed to see her childhood self sitting beside a sobbing Sakura.
'She was such a crybaby back then, yet had unwittingly grown into a beautiful camellia blooming in the harsh winter, hadn't she?'
But, it's precisely Sakura, the one flower she had poured her heart and soul into nurturing, before whom she absolutely did not want to show a weak appearance.
"Sakura!"
At this moment, the girl's indomitable soul burned like embers, pushing her to pull herself out from the darkness inch by inch.
Her hoarse voice shouting her friend's name, Ino raised her right hand and clenched it!
Pouring out everything, betting it all-
In the punch she threw!