Aside from wasting his Chakra and Kunai, Shikamaru's attack seemed to have absolutely no effect.
Wait, that's not right. He successfully closed the distance between himself and Ino, forcing her against the wall.
Shikamaru took another Kunai from his Ninja tool pouch, leaped forcefully, and jumped toward Ino.
"Huh? You dare jump that high when I'm right here?"
Ino thought Shikamaru had made a mistake. Even if they had closed the distance, allowing Shikamaru to quickly use his Shadow Jutsu, the time he spent airborne was enough for her to use Mind Transfer Jutsu.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu."
Acting decisively, Ino used her clan's Secret Technique on Shikamaru.
The moment the Secret Technique was launched, Shikamaru suddenly stepped on his left foot with his right, boosting himself up slightly while airborne, successfully dodging Ino's Secret Technique attack.
"What?"
Facing this situation, Ino was greatly shocked.
As Shikamaru descended, she no longer had time to launch a second Secret Technique.
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu."
Facing Shikamaru's Shadow Jutsu, Ino instinctively wanted to jump backward, but unfortunately, there was a wall behind her.
"Success!"
The success of the Shadow Imitation Jutsu declared Ino's failure in this match.
"First preliminary match, Shikamaru wins!"
After Shikamaru manipulated Ino into saying she surrendered, Gekkō Hayate announced Shikamaru's victory.
"Shikamaru, can you tell me what the jacket you took off was for?"
The match ended, and both returned to the second floor to watch the subsequent battles.
At this moment, Ino voiced the question in her heart.
"You mean the jacket? I just felt like I couldn't move freely while wearing it during the match."
"Uh... so that jacket didn't really serve any purpose?"
"Hmm, I wouldn't say it had no purpose. Just think of it as something to distract you."
Alright, Ino had indeed been distracted quite a bit by the jacket.
"Then, for your final attack, what if I had dodged to the left or right?"
"If you had dodged left or right, I would have used the Six Meridian Divine Sword. At such a short distance, I don't think you would have been able to avoid it."
"Alright, you win."
..."Second Match: Kankuro VS Tenten."
"Will the two examinees please quickly enter the arena."
Tenten from Team Guy entered the arena with a single jump. As for Sunagakure, Kankuro slowly walked down with something strapped to his back.
"Second preliminary match, begin!"
The moment the examiner announced the start of the match, Tenten launched her attack.
Kunai, shuriken, senbon, and other Ninja tools were thrown continuously toward Kankuro, as if they were free.
Facing these Ninja tool attacks, Kankuro was not careless and immediately took down the Crow Puppet strapped to his back.
Since entering Konoha Village, he had seen many Konoha Ninja.
The three members of Team 7 were, needless to say, absolute monsters.
Even Shikamaru and Ino's performance just now made Kankuro feel they were difficult opponents.
Now he was facing a Konoha Ninja, so he naturally needed to be cautious.
Unfortunately, his caution seemed a bit excessive.
Aside from her Ninja tool attacks, Tenten only knew the most basic Ninjutsu: the Three Body Technique.
Therefore, protected by the Crow Puppet, Tenten's attacks had virtually no effect.
"Bang!"
Seeing that her attacks were ineffective, Tenten took a scroll from her Ninja tool pouch.
"Swoosh~"
While opening the scroll, Tenten leaped high into the air.
As Tenten jumped higher, various Sealed Weapons contained within the scroll burst out and attacked Kankuro.
This attack was much more spectacular than the last one.
Not only did it include the basic set of three Ninja tools, but the scroll also Sealed Weapons like greatswords, spiked clubs, and sickles.
The sudden appearance of so many weapons startled even Kankuro. He used the Crow Puppet as a shield while dodging the attacks.
A few seconds later, all the weapons in the scroll were used up, and the arena was now littered with Tenten's weapons.
Facing this style of attack, everyone present couldn't help but utter the word "rich."
A standard Kunai costs about a thousand Ryo, a shuriken costs about six hundred Ryo, and a senbon costs about three hundred Ryo. This Three-Piece Ninja Tool Set was the cheapest of all Tenten's weapons.
Besides this set of three, there were also swords, spears, staffs, axes, spiked clubs... all of which were more expensive than the basic set.
Roughly estimating, there were seventy or eighty weapons dropped on the field, worth around one hundred thousand Ryo.
About half of the Ninja tools on the field were now damaged and appeared unusable.
Wasting tens of thousands of Ryo for a single match—if that isn't rich, what is?
Just as everyone was marveling that Tenten was a Local Tyrant, she took out two scrolls identical to the previous one from her Ninja tool pouch.
"Holy crap, again?"
Seeing Tenten already airborne and the arena covered in sharp Ninja tools, Kankuro didn't hesitate and immediately hid inside the Crow Puppet.
"Twin Rising Dragons!"
Well, this move was essentially an upgraded version of the previous one.
It changed from a Ninja tool attack from one scroll to one from two scrolls.
This kind of brute-force attack actually lacked technical skill; the only technical aspect was the Sealing Technique used to Seal the weapons into the scrolls.
If an ordinary Ninja faced Tenten's attack, it might be quite troublesome, as most Genin don't even know C-rank Ninjutsu.
However, the Genin who made it Inside the Tower were all Elites.
To be honest, Tenten was considered the weakest among these people; no matter who she faced, her chances of winning were very slim.
In the original work, Temari didn't even move from her spot, and Tenten's weapon attacks were blown away by Temari's Wind Release, completely countering Tenten.
Now that Kankuro was hiding inside Crow, Tenten's weapons were also ineffective.
Most of a Puppeteer's strength relies on their Puppet. Even ordinary Puppeteers must search for good Materials when creating a Puppet.
The Crow Puppet was originally created by the Genius Puppeteer Sasori, so the Materials used were naturally Top-Grade Goods.
Tenten's weapons were just ordinary weapons; facing the tough Crow Puppet, her weapons had no effect whatsoever, at most leaving minor scratches on the Puppet.
"I surrender!"
Seeing that her attacks were useless, Tenten decisively chose to surrender.
There was nothing she could do; who told her she only knew how to throw projectiles? Even if she knew one offensive Ninjutsu, the fight would have been winnable.
Unfortunately, besides the Three Body Technique, she knew no other Ninjutsu.
Winning the match without shedding blood, Kankuro was still breaking out in a cold sweat.
Hidden inside Crow, he was terrified that the defense wouldn't hold up against Tenten's attacks, resulting in him being pierced through and his heart soaring (in death)...