The Flying Thunder God Technique wasn't a forbidden jutsu. The real difficulty with it wasn't whether you knew about it—it was whether you could actually learn it.
Sparkle's Character Card came with a Quantum attribute bonus, which in the Naruto world translated into a certain aptitude for Space–Time Ninjutsu. But even so, making that technique practical was an uphill battle for Hanabi.
Unless her talent could be elevated yet again, she really couldn't rely on it in a fight.
But pulling it out every now and then to show off? That was perfectly fine.
The scene in the arena was a curious sight—a girl in a furisode kimono and fox mask on one side, a fully armed ninja on the other.
No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like a princess under protection and her ninja escort.
In reality, these two were opponents.
[Guess how many episodes this'll last]
[I'll say three moves, tops]
[Sasuke might not be completely without a chance]
[If the guy could use that black flame, then maybe—but I don't think he can]
[I'm guessing three episodes to wrap it up]
[One episode's about right. They've been building up Naruto vs. Gaara this whole time. Hanabi and Sasuke are just the opener]
[Teammates aren't gonna fight each other to the death]
[Maybe the production team couldn't decide either—what if the match order was actually from a random dice-roll?]
Whether it was the audience on-site or the viewers at their screens, everyone had focused in.
"The Hyuga clan uses Puppet Technique?"
"I heard it's the Byakugan? Wasn't the last one the same?"
"But she's wearing a mask?"
"You outsiders. This Hyuga genius—is there anything she can't do?"
The spectators were all dignitaries and VIPs, but that didn't mean everyone understood the ninja world inside out.
Every trade has its own mysteries, after all.
"There's a limit to how much you can look down on someone, Hanabi."
Sasuke fixed his gaze on her.
Hanabi had her hands folded in front of her. Two puppet arms held up the red parasol, while the other two pairs hovered at her flanks.
From Sasuke's perspective, Hanabi hadn't even adopted a combat stance.
"Don't rush. Let me see your progress first. No need to hold back—come at me."
The real "stars" of today were Naruto and Gaara in the match after this.
So Hanabi had no intention of stealing their thunder.
And besides…
Fighting Sasuke wasn't exactly going to set her blood pumping.
So she'd treat this as a tutorial fight. Simple as that.
She could end it in a second, but she wouldn't. If she did, how was she supposed to build up her popularity? Grow her fanbase?
So at the very least, the visuals had to be flashy.
Sasuke wasted no words. He charged straight in, circling Hanabi and launching his assault.
Hanabi stood in place. But the two pairs of arms flanking her body blocked every one of Sasuke's attacks with effortless precision.
"Tch."
Sasuke attacked from every angle, orbiting Hanabi relentlessly—but whether he came from in front or behind, the puppet arms caught it all.
It was almost like an alternate form of Absolute Defense.
The Stage helpfully provided a 360-degree tracking shot.
This was the Stage giving its "protagonist" Sasuke the camera—Hanabi was just riding the framing.
But the live effect was spectacular.
[Budget explosion!]
[Never seen a production team this loaded]
[360-degree long take, cool as hell]
[It's just completely useless, though]
[Very pretty, very flashy, but useless]
[—but powerless.]
[Bro, that meme's really not one you should be using]
[Okay, that's enough]
The audience seemed to have wandered into something weird again.
And the spectators on-site began to cheer.
Sasuke's opening barrage—that relentless, orbiting chain of attacks—was a crowd-pleaser too. Not everyone could follow it clearly, but the sheer intensity of the atmosphere came through loud and clear.
"Sasuke…"
Sakura's eyes went wide.
Amateurs watch the spectacle; experts watch the craft.
In the eyes of the non-ninja dignitaries, the "performance" was quite a show.
But in the eyes of the ninja, this was terrifying.
Sasuke was fast. To ordinary spectators, he practically vanished after every strike, reappearing somewhere new—and even so, Hanabi blocked everything.
Hanabi hadn't even moved from her spot. The only things moving were the two outer pairs of puppet arms.
"Hanabi is this strong?" Sakura was worried.
"I had no idea Hanabi could use Puppet Technique either." Ino was scratching her head.
Over on the Sand side, Temari turned to Kankuro beside her. "Could you do something like that?"
"Difficult. Those arms are probably custom-made. Extremely agile. Even scarier than what we saw in the second exam." Kankuro's puppeteer instincts immediately picked up that the six prosthetic limbs were somehow different from before.
"The most terrifying part is that she isn't even a puppeteer to begin with!"
Someone else's hobby was crushing his professional specialty.
The feeling was absolutely devastating.
And there was one more thing Kankuro found puzzling: "Come to think of it, that Sasuke can make things explode on contact, right? Why isn't he using that move?"
[Lmao, why don't you ask Sasuke who he learned that move from]
[You dare use the technique I taught you—against ME?! You're asking for death!]
[Good lord, how many memes did you fit into one sentence]
[If Sasuke dares use that move, he's the one who'll explode]
The viewers had called it ahead of time.
If Sasuke dared use the Enten Nature Transformation, Hanabi would make him blow himself up.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke was getting desperate. He switched to ninjutsu.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."
And Hanabi responded, casually.
The difference: Sasuke channeled the jutsu name internally. Hanabi said it out loud.
Then the puppet arms completed the hand signs and fired an identical fireball.
"Huh? How can you use Fireball Jutsu without your mouth?!"
Naruto was covered in question marks.
"Idiot. Fire Style jutsu just blow chakra out and shape it into fire—they're not literally breathing flames." Since Sasuke wasn't around to explain, Shikamaru filled in as commentator. "As long as the puppet arms have some kind of device that can discharge chakra, it works. You know, like that Sound ninja's arm cannon we saw in the prelims."
"Ohhh, I see, I see!"
Naruto pretended he understood.
"Damn it."
After a full rotation of attacks, Hanabi stood in the same spot, not a scratch on her.
No—she hadn't moved a single step.
It was Sasuke who'd been forced to dodge when her fireball overpowered his.
A backhand-and-forehand lesson, plain and simple.
"Well then, it's my turn now. Sasuke, I'm going to use Wind Style next."
Hanabi smiled, and the puppet arms began forming seals.
"Mechanical Illusion: Flowing Mist."