In the arena, Shikamaru and Temari's battle had entered its climax.
Without the "terrain advantage" from the original story, Shikamaru hadn't been helpless.
On the contrary—exploiting the window while his opponent knew nothing about Shadow Imitation Technique, Shikamaru had kept Temari running ragged.
"These shadows can morph into all sorts of shapes, but the total area stays the same! I've figured it out!" Temari grinned.
"Oh dear, I'm really in trouble now."
Shikamaru had already locked down his winning strategy.
"Ninja Art: Sickle Weasel!"
Temari was still fighting at range.
"Oh? You can't even use your usual techniques anymore?"
Shikamaru kept his distance, staying far from Temari.
"Then come over here and try me."
Shikamaru said.
"You think you can dodge my Sickle Weasel by playing keep-away? You're far too naive!"
Temari's Sickle Weasel hadn't punched through the tree trunks earlier, but that didn't mean it couldn't. She'd been holding back to conserve stamina.
But at this point, continuing to trade attrition with Shikamaru would drain her even faster.
And right then, Shikamaru deployed Shadow Imitation Technique again.
"Too naive—I've already figured out your attack range!"
Temari smirked and backed off to a safe distance. "Ninja Art: Gre—"
"Temari, above you!"
Kankuro's warning cut through.
"Nani?!"
A jacket dangled from the sky, a kunai hooked to its hem, drifting down from above.
And the jacket's shadow was merging perfectly with the shadow stretching toward her.
That meant Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation could reach even farther.
Temari had no choice but to abort her attack and retreat.
Shikamaru's shadow was fast, but Temari was no slouch either. Before the airborne shadow could touch down, she'd already relocated to an open stretch of ground.
"Phew."
Once the shadow reached its limit, it finally retracted.
"Good."
Temari opened her fan again.
That had genuinely startled her.
But now was her chance—
"Hm?!"
She couldn't move.
It came from behind.
"How?! That direction's impossible!"
Shikamaru appeared behind Temari.
There was a tree line behind her too, but it faced the sun directly—the only shadow Shikamaru could have used there was his own.
"Simple. From the very start, I only used two-thirds of my shadow's actual range."
Shikamaru had kept a third in reserve.
"My Shadow Imitation isn't fast enough to catch you head-on, so I had to quietly close in from your blind spot."
"But I was watching your body the whole—"
Shikamaru was supposed to be across the arena from her.
"Ah, that? A clone. Basic Academy ninjutsu. It was a fake."
Shikamaru had never been over there at all.
"What? What just happened?!" Naruto was completely lost.
"Idiot." Sasuke didn't bother explaining—though even he hadn't followed it entirely.
But Hanabi had understood perfectly.
"It's simple. Shikamaru's real position wasn't directly in front of Temari—it was off to the side. He extended Shadow Imitation from his actual location to the decoy clone first, then branched it outward from there. That gave the Sand shinobi the illusion that the shadow was coming from the clone standing right in front of her. Once he released the technique, his real body was already behind Temari—in what she'd calculated to be a 'safe zone.' But it wasn't." Hanabi hadn't expected Shikamaru to have this kind of trick up his sleeve.
And this was Shikamaru's genuine raw ability.
Shikamaru filled in the rest for Temari himself: "The parachute stunt was to make you drop your guard. After you dodged the shadow from above, you'd naturally relax. And the spot you retreated to happened to be far from every wall shadow."
"So that's how it was. My overly precise calculations turned into my blind spot."
This area was far from any shade. If Shikamaru appeared behind her, by her prior calculations, his shadow shouldn't have been able to reach.
Shikamaru manipulated Temari into slowly raising her hand.
All he had to do now was make her slam her own giant iron fan into her head, and it was over.
Temari was in absolute checkmate.
Shikamaru's brilliant maneuver drew a roar from the crowd.
The shinobi who'd grasped the strategy were especially impressed.
Shikamaru had masterfully combined disinformation and tactical coordination to trap his opponent.
This was the mark of a true Chūnin—no, some Chūnin didn't even have this kind of aptitude.
The opening fight was only the warm-up, but there was no denying it—the crowd was fired up.
"I forfeit."
Shikamaru's voice came from behind her.
"—Hah?!"
Temari blinked. But by then, Shadow Imitation had already been released. She spun around and saw Shikamaru standing there, looking like he couldn't care less.
The crowd erupted into confusion.
"I'm out of stamina. It's just a match—no need to make things complicated."
Shikamaru waved a hand.
"Ahem—in that case, the winner is Temari of the Sand." Hayate Gekko coughed his way over.
"Ohhh!"
The crowd was fully fired up now.
And now it was time for the second match.
"My turn!"
Tenten hopped into the arena first.
"Tenten, let your youth burn bright too!" Lee cheered from the sidelines, full of energy.
"Tenten may be our teammate, but this time, I have to say—victory belongs to Hinata." Between his sister and his wife, Neji chose his sister.
On the other side of the stands, Hiashi Hyuga watched the arena.
"Nii-san." Hizashi Hyuga walked over and sat down. "I'm not late, am I?"
"No. Hinata's match is next. Neji put her through intensive training. Now it's time to see the results."
Hizashi bore no love for the Hyuga main house, but his relationship with Hiashi was civil enough.
"The next match after this is Hanabi-sama against the Uchiha boy, isn't it?" Hizashi still remembered the bracket.
"That's right. Hanabi will never lose." On this point, Hiashi was absolute.
Hiashi and Hizashi were brothers. But the accident of birth order alone had made Hiashi the elder brother of the main house and Hizashi the younger brother of the branch house.
Hinata and Hanabi were twins, too. But their situation was different again.
Hanabi was extraordinarily gifted. Hinata, by contrast, was very weak.
And genius always came with privileges.
But Hizashi also knew that Hiashi wanted neither Hinata nor Hanabi to be relegated to the branch house.
No—in Hiashi's eyes, even Hizashi himself was more deserving of the main house seat than he was.
But Hizashi didn't care about that. He had once felt hatred toward the main house—and the idea of becoming part of it made him sick. What he did know was that Hanabi-sama had a better plan.
The two brothers watched the arena. Down below, Hinata and Tenten had taken their positions.
The second match was about to begin.