"Congratulations, Ui!" When Ui returned, Takeru congratulated her with a light smile.
Although he knew undercurrents were swirling, they didn't affect Takeru much.
After Ui and Temari's match, it was Ritsu's turn against Ino. However, when Genma called them down, Ino directly chose to forfeit.
"Since Yamanaka Ino forfeits, Tainaka Ritsu wins by default!" Hearing this, Genma quickly announced.
The remaining spectators were surprised but didn't say much.
'Hmm, Ino gave up? Then Shikamaru will probably forfeit too.' Choji, who had just arrived, thought to himself while munching on chips.
"The next match is Nara Shikamaru vs. Tainaka Ritsu!" Since Ritsu won by default last round, there was no need for a break.
'Damn, what a drag. I might as well forfeit too.' Glancing at Ritsu below, who seemed highly motivated for battle, Shikamaru thought helplessly.
"Great, Shikamaru, do your best!" Just as Shikamaru considered forfeiting, Naruto excitedly jumped behind him, gave him a pat and a push, sending Shikamaru tumbling down into the arena.
'That bastard Naruto!' Falling onto the arena floor, Shikamaru mentally cursed...
Shikamaru lay there for several minutes. The audience above grew impatient, angrily demanding he start fighting, even throwing things like empty cans and banana peels at him.
"Hey, hey, how long are you going to lie there? Come on and fight already!" Seeing this, Ritsu shouted loudly. She wanted to test the results of her month's training.
Although her strength couldn't match Takeru's or Ui's, she didn't want to fall too far behind. She had entered the Reincarnation Space only ten days after Takeru and Ui, yet she found the gap between their strengths immense.
Takeru was a bug-level figure, but even compared to Ui, the difference was huge. This motivated her to work hard, as she didn't want to be left behind alone...
Especially since Mio, Sylphin, and others who entered the Reincarnation Space with her had surpassed her by a lot, giving her a faint sense of crisis.
'Why is my opponent another woman?' Hearing Ritsu, Shikamaru glanced at her and thought helplessly.
'That guy never had any fighting spirit to begin with.' Asuma, watching Shikamaru, sighed. As his Jonin Instructor, he knew Shikamaru very well.
"Hey, what are you doing? Shikamaru, show us what you can do!" Naruto above urged anxiously.
"Come on, or I'll just have to start the match!" Genma, seeing Shikamaru's reluctance to move, spoke loudly.
"Fine, I get it." Hearing him, Shikamaru helplessly stood up. He glanced at the carefree white clouds in the sky, sighed, then lazily walked toward Ritsu.
"Alright, the fourth match, begin!" Seeing Shikamaru's movement, Genma felt his blood pressure rise. Once Shikamaru approached, he didn't wait, immediately announcing the start.
"Fireball!" Once Shikamaru was close, a fireball quickly appeared above Ritsu's right hand.
"Go!" Without further thought, Ritsu hurled the fireball at Shikamaru. Seeing it fly over, Shikamaru immediately chose to flee, hiding behind a wall with substantial shade.
Ritsu, noticing this, had no intention of pursuing. From previous matches, she clearly understood Shikamaru's shadow control ability.
Moreover, Takeru had told her that while Shikamaru's strength was average, his intelligence was very high. So when fighting him, she needed to pay attention to every detail, as each of his actions might have a specific purpose.
The best approach was to pressure him, preventing him from thinking.
"Shadow Imitation Technique!" Seeing Ritsu not approaching, Shikamaru controlled his shadow, extending it using the wall's shaded area toward Ritsu's position. Ritsu didn't hesitate, quickly jumping back to create distance.
Ritsu clearly understood that no matter how one stretched or changed a shadow, there was a range. No matter how the shape changed, it was limited to the shadow's surface area.
Then, two more fireballs appeared in Ritsu's hands, which she threw at Shikamaru.
Seeing this, Shikamaru's expression turned serious. Looking at the incoming fireballs, he quickly left his spot.
Bang! Bang!
Two sounds echoed. Shikamaru's original position was scorched black by the high-temperature flames.
'Fire Release? So troublesome.' Looking at Ritsu, Shikamaru frowned.
"Blaze Bomb!" Sensing Shikamaru hiding behind a large tree, Ritsu didn't hesitate. A blaze bomb, larger and more powerful than before, appeared in her hand, then flew straight at Shikamaru's position.
"Not good!" By the time Shikamaru realized something was wrong, the blaze bomb quickly struck the tree and exploded, completely destroying it.
Shikamaru, who dodged a step too slow, was affected, sustaining minor injuries.
Using the smoke and dust, Shikamaru hid behind another tree.
Ritsu, with Observation Haki active, was very aware of Shikamaru's every move. Sensing the still panting Shikamaru, Ritsu smiled.
Another fireball appeared in her hand. Compared to the blaze bomb, the fireball spell had a fast cooldown. After it appeared, Ritsu let it gather power for a while. Once the power was sufficient, the fireball spell again flew toward the tree where Shikamaru hid.
Boom! The large fireball directly hit the tree, instantly setting it ablaze. Shikamaru behind the tree was again affected. Though he dodged again, he still suffered considerable damage.
'She can accurately know my position. What's giving me away? Scent or sound?' After two consecutive precise attacks from Ritsu, Shikamaru quickly realized Ritsu definitely knew his location. It couldn't be a coincidence.
But he didn't understand how Ritsu was sensing him, or how Takeru and Ui seemed to have shown similar abilities before...
While Shikamaru thought, Ritsu's blaze bomb cooldown ended again. Soon, another explosion occurred on the field.
"Cough, cough!"
Using another tree as cover, Shikamaru looked uncomfortably at Ritsu outside. He was now completely certain Ritsu could detect his position through some means.
So, Shikamaru didn't dare stick close to the tree anymore. Noting there were only two large trees left in the shade, meaning he could only use them to withstand Ritsu's attacks a bit more, he would soon have to face her fireball attacks directly. He sighed with emotion.
Furthermore, observing Ritsu's actions, it was clear she didn't intend to give him rest time.
Then, as time passed, when the last large tree was destroyed, Shikamaru could only hastily organize one attack. However, Ritsu, using Observation Haki, detected the abnormality and dodged his trap.
At this point, seeing Ritsu gathering another blaze bomb, Shikamaru could only raise his hand in surrender.
He had noticed that although Ritsu used several rounds of fireball attacks, she seemed to have no significant drain. Continuing to drag it out, he couldn't defeat her.
He didn't know Ritsu's magic power was almost depleted. If it didn't work, she would have had to risk engaging Shikamaru in close combat.
Now the result was relatively perfect… at least Shikamaru couldn't last until her magic power was depleted...
"The winner of the fourth match: Tainaka Ritsu!" Seeing this, Genma quickly announced.
"As expected, that's Shikamaru for you." Choji above poured another bag of chips into his mouth, chewing and nodding.
"The opponent was really smart, never giving Shikamaru a chance to catch his breath." Asuma said with emotion, looking at Ritsu.
He wasn't at all surprised Shikamaru lost, just didn't expect Ritsu to be so cautious and seem to have some special ability to sense Shikamaru's position.
"Congratulations, Ritsu!" As Ritsu returned, Ui excitedly congratulated her.
"Tehehe!" Hearing her, Ritsu showed a happy smile.
Although the fight didn't involve much close combat, at the very end, she had relied on super-fast speed to dodge Shikamaru's sneaky control, showing some results.
Moreover, Shikamaru's fight was just an appetizer, and the following matches were the most crucial.
Though Ritsu and Shikamaru's fight wasn't intense, essentially Ritsu bombing Shikamaru with fireballs, the audience above still found it very satisfying.