Many dignitaries and wealthy merchants arrived at Konoha Village in ox carts.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire politely declined the invitation, citing illness, but his three retainers and elders were all present.
Under everyone's gaze, the first match was Ino versus Temari. Not wanting to be late, she arrived at the arena early to make her final preparations.
The referee from the previous preliminary rounds, Gekkō Hayate, was hospitalized, so the official exam's referee was replaced by another Special Jonin, Shiranui Genma, who had once served as the Fourth Hokage's bodyguard.
This Special Jonin was also from the same generation of Ninja as Kakashi and Asuma. In the shadow of the genius Kakashi from their cohort, these individuals seemed quite ordinary back then. Now, more than ten years later, they have all steadily improved their strength through accumulated effort, becoming backbone forces of the Village.
Ino and Shiranui Genma were not familiar with each other; they hadn't spoken before. With the match about to begin, there was even less opportunity for casual chat. She ignored the various noises outside the arena and stood quietly, waiting.
The Third Hokage and the "Fourth Kazekage" appeared on the viewing platform simultaneously. Then, just before the arena gates were about to close, Naruto came running from a distance, chased by a herd of bulls. A strong bull even gave his backside a powerful shove.
Naruto, clutching his backside, shot over ten meters through the air, then landed in a parabola, face down, and plowed a furrow in the ground with his inertia, arriving in front of the many contestants in an extremely disheveled state. Sasuke felt his teammate was truly embarrassing, so he turned his head away, pretending not to know him. Finally, Shikamaru helped him up.
Shiranui Genma looked up at the high platform. The Third Hokage nodded slightly, signaling that they could begin.
He stood in the center of the arena, with Ino on his left and Temari on his right.
The match started with a contest between two blonde Female Ninja.
You say this match arrangement was random? No one would believe it.
The fact that Ino became Tsunade's disciple slowly ceased to be a secret. Tsunade, as the First Hokage's granddaughter, already held the title of Konoha Princess. Now, by extension, Ino could also be considered a Konoha Princess.
Under the promotion of interested parties, the first match became a battle between the Konoha Princess and the Sunagakure Princess.
Ino's crop top looked quite charming, her exposed skin gleaming like porcelain under the sun. She had also swapped her old flat, youthful high-top, open-toed sandals for black chunky-heeled shoes, the same style as Tsunade and Shizune.
Temari was three years older than her, with a graceful figure and an exotic charm in her eyes and brows. She also possessed considerable beauty.
With just a glance, the two saw an unspoken hostility between them.
Female repulsion, coupled with their many similarities in hair color, personality, appearance, figure, and background, made that hostility even more apparent.
After Tenten shouted, "Ino, help me defeat that strongman!", the animosity between them reached its peak.
"Hmph, Yamanaka wild boar, I've killed quite a few wild boars this month. Such creatures are truly crude! All they do is roll in the mud and then rub tree sap all over themselves. I wonder if your defense is as strong as a wild boar's?" Temari's opening remarks were extremely hostile.
Ino immediately retorted, "Old woman from Hidden Sand Village, you must be unwanted in your Village, right? How pitiful, you have no advantages at all. Oh, no, wait, look at my mouth. I'm not good with words, but actually, you do have an advantage: you're strong!"
As she spoke, she raised her middle finger, making a gesture that hadn't appeared here before, and vigorously wiggled it twice. Temari actually understood!
Shiranui Genma felt the strong scent of gunpowder between them, instinctively took two steps back, and whispered, "First match... begin!"
"I'm going to rip your mouth off!"
No sooner had Shiranui Genma's words fallen than Temari opened her giant Ninja fan. Her gaze at Ino was extremely hostile. Before the match, Kankuro had told her to forfeit this match, perhaps just go through the motions and be done with it. We're here to destroy Konoha, not actually get promoted to Chunin, so why be so serious? Saving Chakra for the big battle later is the real priority, but Temari flatly refused!
The words "strongman" still echoed in her ears. The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. She had been bottling up this anger for a month. Ino's provocative gesture reignited that fury. As soon as Shiranui Genma announced the start of the match, she used both arms to forcefully swing her fan and charged forward.
So be it, strongman, I accept it. Now I'll just smack you to death with one fan!
She immediately launched the extremely powerful B-rank Wind Release Ninjutsu, "Great Sickle Weasel Jutsu"!
As the Ninja fan was vigorously swung, several Chakra wind blades flew out haphazardly. Two of the wind blades had a low attack angle, instantly plowing deep furrows in the ground.
After Tsunade's guidance, Ino had abandoned her previous combat style of immediately creating two Shadow Clones and then wildly throwing Ninjutsu.
Her current tactic was to first observe, probe, gather information on the enemy, and then strike later to gain the upper hand.
This was considered a standard Ninja response.
As soon as Temari swung her Ninja fan, she roughly guessed the opponent's moves.
The wind blades had just flown out when she stomped her right foot hard on the ground, rotated her body half a turn to dodge the wind blades, and, using the force of her body's rotation, threw a Kunai with an Exploding Tag attached.
Temari held up her Ninja fan to block the Exploding Tag, then performed a backflip, using the fan's floating property and the smoke from the Exploding Tag's detonation as cover, she swiftly rushed to Ino's side, preparing to launch a Taijutsu surprise attack.
"You? Too slow!" Ino concentrated Chakra in her foot, raised her left leg high like a battle-axe, and slammed it down forcefully to the side.
"Painful Sky Foot!" The immense impact created a large crater in the ground with spiderweb-like cracks. Temari's plan to surprise attack through high-speed movement failed, and she was even slightly injured by the aftershock.
The Third Hokage and the "Fourth Kazekage" on the viewing platform both nodded slightly; this move looked familiar.
"Super Strength Fist!" Ino's offensive was like a tide. Temari's Taijutsu was similar to hers; her speed was inferior, but her strength was higher. Tsunade's Super Strength Fist could concentrate Chakra at a single point, and this move leveled the playing field in terms of their strength difference.
You call me a wild boar? I'll show you a wild boar!
Every punch and every kick possessed immense destructive power. Temari also threw caution to the wind; if she didn't get married, then so be it! I have natural divine strength, how can I be inferior to you?
The two Female Ninja exchanged more than ten incredibly fierce blows in the blink of an eye.
Ino was enjoying the fight, but she also admitted that Temari's strength was indeed considerably greater than hers. Dealing with a few blows using Super Strength Fist and Painful Sky Foot was fine, but it would become troublesome over time. This was just a warm-up match, and she didn't want to waste too much time.
"Alright, I've completely understood your abilities. I'll finish you in three moves!" she declared wildly.
Then she formed hand signs for "Earth Release: Earth Style Subterranean Voyage" and burrowed into the ground.
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