"Second Star!"
Just as Genma Shiranui swung his arm down, Temari opened her mostly unfolded Three-Star Fan, transforming chakra into wind release nature transformation, forming a small whirlwind that roared toward Hinata.
Unlike playing with Tenten at the Central Tower, even though Temari spoke as if she hoped Hinata would make her enjoy the fight, in truth, she saw Hinata as a formidable enemy.
After all, unlike her younger brother Kankuro, Temari was the eldest daughter of Rasa — the Grand Princess of Sunagakure. Just like Hinata, she carried the honor of the Kazekage and her village.
If her opponent were anyone else, losing wouldn't matter too much.
But she must not lose to a female from an allied village — especially not a high-ranking noble lady.
"Eight Trigrams · Air Palm!"
Facing the roaring little tornado, Hinata merely raised her hand and struck, blasting out a shockwave no weaker than the opponent's Wind Release, colliding head-on.
The wind and the shockwave created a violent gust, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
Genma Shiranui instantly retreated in a flicker, putting distance between himself, Hinata, and Temari — just as he said before: even if someone's life were in danger, he wouldn't interfere just because of their identity.
Whoosh—
The dust had just been kicked up when, in the next second, Temari swung her fan again to blow it away.
After all, she hadn't forgotten — her opponent was the princess of the Byakugan, capable of both telescopic and penetrating vision.
Unfortunately, she was still a little too slow.
As the dust cleared, Hinata had already dashed in front of her. Her seemingly delicate, jade-like fingers — which could easily smash a wooden dummy and cause instant internal bleeding if they hit a human — were wrapped in a blue chakra flame and thrust forward.
If struck, Temari's body would immediately stiffen. If her endurance wasn't good, the fight would be as good as over.
But in the next moment, Hinata's beautiful eyes widened slightly.
Just as her finger was about to land on Temari, the latter suddenly gave a slight smirk, her figure flickered — and appeared several meters away behind her.
That movement technique...
"You're not the only one whose teammates know how to mix nature transformation into Body Flicker." Temari seemed to guess what Hinata was thinking, revealing a proud expression as she fully unfolded her Three-Star Fan and shouted, "When it comes to Wind Release, our Sunagakure is the strongest! Wind Release… Great Sickle Weasel Technique!"
Whoooo—
The wind howled. Twisting air currents turned into countless invisible blades, carving trenches into the ground as they swept toward Hinata.
The storm was vast in scope and unbelievably fast — there was no way to dodge it instantly.
"What powerful Wind Release nature transformation!"
Even Genma, who had already moved farther away, had to flicker again to an even safer distance. Watching the storm carve gashes into the ground wherever it passed, he couldn't help but murmur in awe.
Looking at the chakra hidden within the storm, spreading like ocean waves, Hinata remained calm. She assumed a Gentle Fist stance and shouted, "Eight Trigrams Palms… Rotation!"
At that moment, Hinata's advantage as a big eater showed in full.
A massive amount of chakra erupted from her chakra points. Under her strong chakra control, and with her spinning in place, it quickly formed a high-speed rotating giant hemisphere.
The storm engulfed the giant hemisphere, producing a chain of loud clang clang clang noises.
It was like countless blades were striking a spinning chunk of steel — only to be flung away instantly.
In the contestant stands, Neji Hyuga clenched the railing tightly, his gaze trembling.
At this moment, a sense of defeat once again filled his heart.
Even though it was the same "Rotation," the energy shield he created — whether in size or power — was far inferior to Hinata's.
"So that's the clan's secret technique, Rotation? It's so big. Big sis is amazing!" On the spectator seats, Hanabi was stunned.
"Your Gentle Fist talent is no weaker than Hinata's. As long as you train hard, you'll be able to do it too in the future." Hiashi Hyuga encouraged her. While pleased, his heart was no less shocked than Neji's.
He felt like he must have saved the world in a previous life.
How could both his eldest and youngest daughters possess such terrifying chakra and Gentle Fist talent?
Moreover, Hinata's transformation had only begun a few years ago — and she wasn't that outstanding at first.
Could it be… that the power of love really is that strong?
Or… was the Hyuga Clan's teaching method flawed, and Izayoi's teaching the real deal?
What he didn't know was — Izayoi had turned into a massive "tonic," and only the Hyuga Clan could benefit from it.
Whoosh—
The spinning blue hemisphere didn't last long.
As the storm faded, the energy sphere also vanished into blue flames.
Hinata, having spun countless times in place, showed no signs of dizziness. She even turned into an afterimage and vanished, reappearing in a flash before the stunned Temari — her fingers once again thrusting forward.
Temari clearly hadn't expected her ultimate technique to be blocked so easily.
Looking at Hinata appearing again in front of her, she had no time to flicker away this time. She could only raise her giant fan to block.
Seeing this, Hinata instantly changed from a finger strike to a palm strike, slapping down on the opened fan.
Boom—
A terrifying shockwave pierced through the fan and blasted into Temari's body.
Temari's feet left the ground as she was sent flying by Hinata's strike from a distance.
The shockwave raged inside her body. Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, but she gritted through the pain in her internal organs and was about to use the blood at the corner of her lips to activate her strongest technique.
Unfortunately, she forgot — she was airborne.
"Thank you for the match."
When Temari looked up, Hinata had already vanished from her view.
In its place came a soft voice — from behind her.
"Rrrr…"
In that moment, Temari seemed to hear the roar of a king of beasts.
Next, she felt a hand slap her back, and the chakra flowing through her meridians vanished completely — as if she'd taken a full set of Gentle Fist strikes, with all her chakra points sealed. Her eyes dulled, and she dropped to her knees as if she'd faint any second.
Only when a kunai touched her neck, its icy gleam piercing her skin and sending chills through her body, did the chakra in her meridians start to flow again — just enough to keep her conscious.
"Battle over. The winner is Hyuga Hinata."
Hearing the examiner announce the result, Temari first felt a wave of unwillingness. Then, glancing at the kunai being withdrawn from her neck, a bitter smile crept onto her face.
"I lost," she admitted.
As the princess of Sunagakure, Temari was undeniably proud—
And she had every right to be.
But the more prideful a person is, the harder the fall hits—especially when the loss is to a peer.
Such a blow either ignites one's determination to train harder,
Or shatters their spirit.
Temari was clearly the former.
As for the victorious Hinata, she didn't offer any words of consolation to a ninja from another village.
Instead, she simply returned the kunai to the scroll-seal wristband and turned to walk back toward the contestant passage.
When she passed near the audience stands, Hinata heard loud cheering and applause.
She couldn't help but glance toward the direction of her father and younger sister.
She saw Hanabi, completely disregarding her appearance, wildly waving her arms at her. Her father, though not stopping Hanabi, even had a rare smile on his usually stern face.
Hinata's lips curved upward ever so slightly.
Her heart swelled with pride and fulfillment.
Stepping into the dim corridor, Hinata picked up her pace.
She couldn't wait to share her joy with Izayoi.
However, before she even reached the stands, she faintly heard angry shouts coming from the audience.
Hinata tilted her head in confusion.
What's going on?
Just a moment ago they were cheering—
Why are they suddenly booing?
Was it because she didn't acknowledge the crowd after her win?
Or were they lashing out at the Sand Village kunoichi?
Only when Hinata arrived next to Izayoi did she finally understand.
Turns out, Kankuro—the one who had drawn number 6—had chosen to forfeit.
This meant Nara Shikamaru, like Naruto Uzumaki, won without having to fight.
But unlike Naruto, whose match was clearly the second round, the audience wasn't aware of that detail.
They had just witnessed an exciting duel, only to have the next round be a no-show.
It was like enjoying a delicious dish only to discover something foul hidden inside.
Many of these spectators had traveled far and paid top yen to be here—
Now they were all furious and disgusted.
But no matter how loudly the crowd roared, Kankuro didn't bat an eye.
He stuck to the plan to conserve energy and even sneered at the audience's displeasure.
Genma Shiranui likewise paid no attention to the crowd's reactions.
He simply announced, "Contestant No. 6 has forfeited. Contestant No. 5 advances automatically. Contestants No. 7 and No. 8, please enter the arena."
As soon as he finished speaking, sand appeared out of thin air on Genma's left, slowly gathering into a humanoid form.
Seeing such a dramatic entrance, the spectators—who had been yelling and hadn't even heard Genma's announcement—immediately went silent.
They instinctively focused all attention on Gaara.
That kind of entrance wasn't something ordinary.
"When did that guy leave?"
In the contestant stands, both Nara Shikamaru and Naruto Uzumaki were startled.
They glanced at Gaara's previous spot—
He had vanished without a trace.
"Hmph. Making a fuss over nothing," Kankuro scoffed with disdain.
"With Gaara's strength, he could kill you all before you even realized what happened."
"You raccoon-faced freak, what the hell are you yapping about?" Naruto shot back, pointing mockingly.
"You're so scared you didn't even dare fight Shikamaru. How strong could your buddy possibly be?"
In just one sentence, he managed to offend two people.
Shikamaru, however, didn't care.
He turned to Izayoi and said seriously, "That guy with the gourd on his back isn't ordinary. Izayoi, you better be careful."
Noticing that Izayoi wasn't holding a camera, Hinata seemed to guess what was happening,
But still gave him a soft smile and said,
"Izayoi-kun, do your best."
"…Yeah."
Izayoi didn't return the smile—
He simply nodded lightly.
Then, under the stunned gazes of Shikamaru, Sasuke Uchiha, Kankuro, and the just-returned Temari—
Izayoi slowly rose into the air, floating gently toward the exam field.
That sight left not only the candidates speechless—
Even the entire audience stand fell into stunned silence.