Back in the waiting room, the air grew heavier with every passing moment.
"Damn it!" Shikamaru muttered, his voice cracking in frustration. He dragged a hand through his hair, then pointed irritably at the battlefield below. "My match is the next one after this…"
His tone carried the desperation of someone already defeated in his mind.
Across from him, Temari shifted her massive fan with effortless confidence.
"Hmph." She smirked and, with a single sharp motion, swung the weapon open.
Whoosh!
A violent gust ripped through the waiting room, sending loose papers fluttering and tugging at clothes. The dust whipped into the air as the force spilled outward into the stadium.
Down in the stands, jaws dropped. Tenten's eyes widened, her breath catching as she stared. 'That fan… it's monstrous. So that's why my weapons had no effect in the preliminaries…'
Even Sakura, watching from behind, felt a knot of dread form in her stomach. 'Damn it! If I get matched against her… I'm doomed. I can't withstand something like that!'
With a casual leap, Temari rode the colossal fan like a platform, drifting down towards the center of the battlefield. Her blonde hair whipped in the wind, her smirk as sharp as her weapon.
The crowd buzzed with awe at her sheer dominance.
"Hmph..."
Dosu adjusted his bandages, the faintest smile curling beneath them. He vaulted from the waiting room in one fluid motion, his sandals hitting the ground with a solid thud. Slowly, with deliberate confidence, he walked through the swirling winds toward the arena's heart. His single visible eye gleamed with ambition.
'Just you watch, Orochimaru-sama.' His gaze flicked briefly to the VIP section, where the Kazekage sat beside the Hokage, concealed behind his mask. 'I'll defeat her… then the rest… and prove my worth to you.'
He stopped across from Temari, cloak rustling in the crosswinds. For a long moment, they simply stared each other down, the battlefield humming with tension.
Genma stepped between them, senbon rolling casually between his teeth, though his sharp eyes missed nothing. "Are you both ready?"
"Mm." Dosu's voice was low, steady.
"Of course." Temari's smirk deepened.
"All right!" Genma raised his hand and then slashed it downward. His voice rang like a signal flare.
"The next match... Dosu of the Hidden Sound versus Temari of the Hidden Sand… BEGIN!!"
The roar of the crowd exploded, echoing through the entire stadium as the two combatants squared off, the wind and tension building into a storm that promised nothing short of devastation.
BOOOOM!!
Dosu's gauntlet pulsed with concentrated chakra, unleashing a violent blast of sound waves that ripped across the battlefield toward Temari. The air itself seemed to shatter under the invisible force, vibrations rattling through the stone arena floor.
"Hmph! First Star!" Temari's voice rang sharp and commanding. With a fluid swing of her colossal fan, she released a wave of compressed wind that collided head-on with Dosu's sonic strike.
Bang!!
The two forces canceled each other out in a shockwave that shook the stadium, a cloud of dust rising between them.
Whoosh!
"Not bad," Dosu muttered, narrowing his lone visible eye. He darted forward, sandals grinding against the stone floor as he sprinted straight for Temari with reckless speed.
"Courting death!" Temari sneered, snapping her fan open until two bold purple circles glared across its surface. "Second Star!"
She swung her fan again.
Whooooshhh!!!
A roaring tempest erupted, tearing through the battlefield. The gale struck Dosu like a hammer, lifting him helplessly into the air before slamming him against the arena wall.
BOOM!
Stone cracked, and dust showered as Dosu's body left a crater in the wall.
"Argh!" Dosu grunted, his body slumping in the imprint for a moment.
The crowd gasped at the sheer force of Temari's attack.
Up above, Temari smirked, confident and radiant in her dominance. "Hmph! Pathetic."
But then, Temari staggered, her grip faltering.
"AH!" She collapsed to one knee, clutching her head as pain rang through her skull like bells of iron.
'Im…possible!' She screamed inwardly. Her vision blurred, the world tilting dangerously.
From the cracked wall, Dosu peeled himself free, blood dripping down his arm, but his steps were deliberate, and calm. He strolled forward, every footstep echoing with menace.
"You!" Temari hissed, forcing herself to raise her head. Her vision doubled, but Dosu's wrapped face was unmistakable.
"You're wondering what happened, aren't you?" Dosu's tone was mocking, dripping with cruel amusement.
"Bastard!" Temari spat, hatred sharpening her gaze.
"Heheh…" Dosu chuckled darkly. "I amplified the sound waves from my landing point. Every vibration converged into your ears… Your body betrays you, doesn't it? No wind can guard against sound itself."
Genma's eyes narrowed from the sidelines. 'So that's it… he weaponized the very air of the battlefield itself.'
Temari's teeth ground together. "You… bandaged monkey!"
Forcing her trembling legs to move, she leapt back onto her fan and roared, "Third Star!!"
She unleashed another colossal gale, this one surging upward, catching Dosu in its wrath.
"What—?!" Dosu's body was lifted off his feet, tossed into the sky as the hurricane's strength twisted him midair.
But even as he spiraled, his mind burned with determination. 'Hmph! As long as sound has a medium to travel through… there's nothing you can do to stop me!'
His gauntlet aimed down midair, chakra charging at its tip.
The air hummed with lethal intent.
'Try me.' Temari glared up, contempt searing in her eyes. She bit her thumb, blood dripping against the steel of her fan. Slamming it onto the ground, her voice rang out:
"Summoning—Blade Dance!!"
Poof!
A burst of smoke cleared, revealing a white furred weasel with a dark green eye-patch covering his left eye. wreathed in chakra winds, its roar echoing like a storm. Alongside it, a crimson-edged scythe materialized, slicing through the air with a predatory whistle.
"Go!" Temari commanded.
The panther lunged, the scythe following in a deadly arc.
Shhkkk!!
Blood sprayed across the arena floor as the blade carved a deep gash into Dosu's torso.
"AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!" Dosu screamed in agony, his body flung across the battlefield before crashing onto the stone with bone-jarring force.
Poof!
The summoned Weasel dissolved in smoke, the winds finally settling.
Temari, however, collapsed to one knee again, fresh blood trickling from her ear.
Genma strode forward, eyes flicking between the two battered genin.
Dosu writhed in his own blood, unable to rise. Temari was barely standing, chest heaving, but defiant.
Genma raised his arm. "The other party is unable to continue. The winner of the second battle is—Temari of the Hidden Sand!!"
"WWHHOOOOOAAAAHHHH!!!..."
The stadium erupted into thunderous cheers. Some cheered Temari's dominance; others whispered about how close she had come to defeat.
"The Sound guy was no match for her after all," A villager muttered.
"No, you fool!" Another argued. "She nearly collapsed from one of his tricks! That bandaged freak almost had her!"
--- ✦ ✦ ✦ ---
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