Shame!
As the only daughter of the Fourth Kazekage and the princess of the Hidden Sand Village,
this was the first time Temari had ever experienced such a crushing defeat in battle.
The opponent hadn't even used any Advanced Ninjutsu.
He had subdued her using only simple Substitution Jutsu, the Body Flicker Technique, and Taijutsu.
"Could he be a Jonin?"
According to the intelligence Temari possessed, no such person existed among this generation of Konoha Ninjas.
The last person with such strength at this age was Uchiha Itachi, ten years ago.
Just who was this person?
But she didn't admit defeat just yet.
Even though her hands were restrained, she still used all her strength.
She threw a knee strike, aiming right between the legs of the Boar-headed Youth.
"As long as I can put some distance between us, I still have a chance to fight!"
Temari thought to herself, and at the same time, she felt the solid sensation of a direct hit.
"There's a chance!"
Before she could even rejoice, she saw the Boar-headed Youth in front of her suddenly explode into a cloud of smoke.
A Shadow Clone!
Not good!
Bang bang bang bang bang!
Dozens of loud pops echoed through the air in quick succession.
Before the smoke had even dissipated, over thirty identical Boar-headed Youths had surrounded her completely.
"What a wicked woman."
The Boar-headed Youth directly in front of her slowly raised his hand and waved it before her eyes.
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Temari's back.
Without the slightest hesitation, she unleashed another Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel Technique.
The same Move still had no effect; it couldn't even help her create any distance.
Every single Shadow Clone expertly used the Substitution Jutsu and the Body Flicker Technique to dodge her attacks.
Now, she only had one trump card left—
Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance
This technique was powerful enough to destroy the entire forest; she believed the Boar-headed Youth would have nowhere to hide.
But if she did that, it would cause too much of a commotion.
It would inevitably alert other Konoha Ninjas and affect their subsequent mission.
What should she do?
Just as Temari was about to retreat, the arms of several Shadow Clones were already pressed against her back.
Someone grabbed her wrists, forcing her arms behind her back until she was unable to Move;
Someone else pressed down on the back of her neck, forcing her entire body down until she had to kneel.
Slap!
A crisp, loud slap landed on her face.
The force wasn't particularly heavy, but it burned her pride like fire.
"This slap is an apology on behalf of my balls, which almost got crushed just now."
Temari's face instantly turned bright red.
Anger, shame, and fear mixed together, nearly bursting from her throat.
"You bastard!"
As soon as she opened her mouth, the Shadow Clones behind her tightened their grip, making it difficult for her to breathe.
"Don't Move. If you keep struggling, it won't be as simple as a slap to the face."
"Now..."
The Boar-headed Youth in the very front squatted down and pinched her chin with one hand, forcing her to look up.
"Confess honestly. What's your name? And why don't you take care of Konoha's trees?"
"Are you a spy sent by the Hidden Sand Village? Trying to steal the secrets of Konoha's Wood Release?"
Temari glared at him, her voice hoarse and stubborn: "Get lost!"
"Heh, quite the stubborn mouth you have."
The Boar-headed Youth chuckled.
"In that case, I'll just send you to the Anbu so you can reflect on your actions."
Hearing this, Temari suddenly shuddered.
It wasn't that she was afraid.
She was just worried that Baki and the others wouldn't be able to find her.
If this delayed tomorrow's Chunin Exams and caused Gaara and Kankuro to be disqualified...
The Konoha invasion plan, which had been carefully prepared for years, would go down the drain because of her.
Judging by the Boar-headed Youth's tone, he didn't seem to be part of an elite unit sent by Konoha to test her.
Could he... really be a so-called "konoha forest ranger"?
At that thought, her attitude unconsciously softened a bit.
"Wait a minute... I... I was wrong."
"Hmm?" The Boar-headed Youth tilted his head slightly. "Wrong about what?"
Temari bit her lower lip. The palm print on her cheek hadn't faded yet, and it stung painfully.
This was the first time she had tasted such a sense of powerlessness.
The Princess of the Sand, the daughter of the Kazekage, actually had to bow her head to a Konoha Ninja.
"I... I shouldn't have mistreated Konoha's trees, and I shouldn't have used a dirty trick on you."
Her voice grew smaller and smaller, until finally, the words were squeezed out from between her teeth.
"Too quiet. I can't hear you."
Temari took a sharp breath and forced herself to raise her voice:
"I was wrong! I shouldn't have kicked you there!"
"See? Was that so hard?"
The Boar-headed Youth finally let go of her, satisfied. "Now, you can leave after paying the fine."
"How much?"
"Five hundred million."
"..."
The flush on her cheeks hadn't even faded before she turned pale with rage.
Temari really wanted to pin this bastard to the ground right now and smash his boar head with her iron fan.
But she wanted to settle the matter even more and leave this wretched forest as quickly as possible.
"...I don't have any money."
"No money, huh..." The youth drawled, appearing to be in difficult thought.
"How about this then? You can pay me back by kissing me."
"One kiss is worth one hundred million."
"Five kisses and we'll call it even. Quite a bargain, right?"
The youth held up five fingers and waved them in front of her.
Temari's face instantly burned from her ears down to her neck.
Although she was the older sister of Gaara and Kankuro,
and often had to fulfill the responsibilities of an elder sister, making her appear mature,
in matters like this, she was still just a young girl.
"You... in your dreams!"
"Oh, well, I'll call the Anbu right now then."
The Boar-headed Youth made a Move to stand up, his fingers already beginning to form hand signs.
"Wait!"
Temari blurted out almost instantly.
She bit her lower lip hard, her nails digging into her palms, her voice trembling.
"Can we... can we negotiate this further?"
The youth squatted back down. "Anywhere is fine—cheek, forehead... I'm very generous."
Temari's breathing became erratic.
She knelt on the ground, her hands still pinned behind her back, her knees going numb.
She wished she could just blow herself up along with this bastard right now.
But she couldn't.
For Gaara, for the plan, and for the Village.
She closed her eyes and leaned forward as if facing her doom.
"Take off the mask."
Temari also wanted to see what kind of face was beneath that mask.
When the day came that Konoha was destroyed, she would definitely find this Boar-headed Youth again.
At that time, she would surely make him kneel on the ground.
She would repay the humiliation she suffered tonight a hundredfold, a thousandfold!
"Sure."
The youth raised his hand, grabbed the bottom edge of the mask, and took it off.
Temari held her breath.
In the next second, her pupils constricted sharply.
It wasn't a human face.
It was a boar's head!
To be safe, besides using the boar mask to cover his face, Naruto had also used the Transformation Jutsu.
He had transformed into a cute boar-man.
At this moment, deep within the night-shrouded forest,
the sandy-blonde-haired girl found herself eye-to-eye with a shirtless boar-man.
Almost instantly, tears streamed uncontrollably from the corners of Temari's eyes.
"You're so mean!"
She hadn't expected that he wouldn't even show his real face,
and would force her to give her first kiss to a boar's head.
But now, the responsibility she bore left her with no choice.
"Turn your face away! A kiss on the cheek is fine, right?!"
"Of course."
Temari stared intently at that boar face, tears clinging to her eyelashes, as she tremblingly leaned in.
Just as her lips were about to touch his cheek,
Naruto suddenly turned his head!
"Oh, by the way, did you know..."
"Mmph!!"
Temari's lips collided with a human mouth without any warning.
At the moment of contact, the Transformation Jutsu dispelled with a "poof."
She wanted to pull back, but it was already too late.
Naruto was also slightly taken aback.
But he quickly regained his composure.
One hand wrapped around the girl's neck, the other around her waist.
He invaded forcefully, capturing her frantically dodging tongue as if to swallow all of her resistance.
"Mmph... let... mmph!!"
Temari's tears rolled down; in her field of vision, she could only see a pair of light blue eyes.
She would never forget those eyes... Five minutes later.
[Ding!]
[Detected host committing a lowlife act against the Hidden Sand Village's belle. evil points +50!]
Looking at the girl before him, who had fallen unconscious from excessive agitation,
Naruto sighed.
He carried her to a safe place, settled her in properly, and then turned to leave the forest.