The so-called Solar Flare was, of course, just a joke—catching someone off guard and flashing a burst of blinding light in their eyes, nothing more.
He might have been running his mouth, but the opening he created was very real.
Daigan dropped from above and struck again with Wind Release: Gale Palm. He raised his left arm to block the Three-Moon Fan just as Temari was about to unleash Wind Release, then slammed a compressed stream of air from his right palm into the fan's edge. Temari went flying with it, crashing into a nearby wall and tumbling behind the low shrubs at the edge of the arena.
"I haven't had this much fun in a fight in ages!"
Daigan grinned in satisfaction and paused to catch his breath. That rapid exchange of offense and defense hadn't cost him much Chakra, but it demanded sharp reflexes, stamina, and constant focus—the pressure was no joke.
Using the lull to regroup, Temari hid behind a tree trunk and flexed her tingling joints. Her wrist, in particular, had taken too much impact and was already red and swollen.
"Damn it... I got careless. This guy doesn't fight like a puppet master, and he isn't the Wind Release ninja he keeps claiming to be. He doesn't even care about combat etiquette—whatever wins, whatever feels good..."
Forget things like seals of opposition or reconciliation—she doubted Daigan cared about a ninja's pride, either.
Back when Daigan had first entered, he basically never ran into a real opponent. When he finally got his turn in the third test preliminaries, the ones he met were Rock Lee and Hyuga Hinata—there was no way to have a proper ninjutsu exchange with people like that.
On top of that, he hadn't known many techniques at the time, so he didn't have many options.
Now, though, he'd finally run into another ninja who specialized in Wind Release. Warming up a little and testing himself before the coming bloodbath wasn't a bad idea.
"Not going to fight back? Then I won't hold back..."
The main arena's conditions were far better than the prelims.
"Earth Release: Sand Dance!"
The ground rippled like waves. A cloud of Sajin surged up and rolled toward Temari's hiding place.
"Traps don't work on me. Come on—let's have a fair fight between men..."
"Who are you calling a man?"
Temari had only just finished shielding her eyes and adjusting when the Sajin hit again, stinging them shut. Humiliated and furious, she gripped the fan's handle with both hands and swept it hard across her body.
"Wind Release: Sickle Weasel Technique!"
Razor wind rode the airflow, blasting the Sajin back the way it came. Daigan and two puppets were snatched into a whirlwind, flung into the air, and smashed through the protective wall beneath the spectator seats, punching a hole straight through it.
"Too much force, you stupid woman!"
Daigan, utterly convinced it wasn't his own relentless pressure that had driven her to this, struggled to his feet and glanced behind him at the potato-shaped audience members who'd been battered by wind and sand.
"Serves you right. You're the ones who love watching trouble—eat a mouthful of sand!"
He spat, smoothed his messy hair, and waited for the storm to settle. Then, across most of the arena, he and Temari locked eyes in a furious stare-down.
At the edge of the field, the spectators were thrilled by the intensity. Up on the platform, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, chuckled as he spoke.
"Sand Ninja really do have energy. They're a lot more interesting than Konoha's Genin!"
"Oh, not at all. They're just a bunch of useless little brats," the "Kazekage" replied mildly, the malice in his words thinly veiled. "I do wonder if Uchiha Sasuke can make it in time. In the fourth match, he probably won't last very long..."
"Since you've come all this way, we won't let the Kazekage leave disappointed," Sarutobi Hiruzen answered, his smile fading.
Worry weighed on him as he glanced toward the VIP stands below. Anbu were stationed at every critical point, keeping watch.
Orochimaru—his greatest hidden threat—still hadn't made a move, and Uchiha Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. It was impossible to relax.
Down in the arena, Daigan checked the Chakra in his body—still plenty—and rolled his aching joints where he'd taken the hit. Sasuke still hadn't arrived, and there was no telling when he would.
This also wasn't the time to use the secret technique, Third Eye, for scouting. Patrol hawks swept across the sky again and again, watching everything below. The defensive network built to guard against an Orochimaru ambush wasn't something Daigan could slip through.
Fighting Temari didn't require elaborate tactics anyway. Her Wind Release combined with the Three-Moon Fan was terrifying—Tayuya in her Cursed Seal Level 2 state had been one-shot, along with an entire forest.
In a straight ninjutsu exchange, Daigan wasn't her match, and the Chakra cost would be far too high.
Noon had already passed. Judging by the pace, it shouldn't be much longer. Temari's match with Nara Shikamaru hadn't taken long to decide either; Daigan and Temari shouldn't need to "perform" for too long.
Sunagakure's full assault should be about to begin.
In the end, how do I wrap this up without looking pathetic?
Neither of them was seriously hurt. It looked scary, but it was all superficial—both of them had held back and avoided vital points.
No matter what, getting Temari to surrender voluntarily would be difficult. She was far too competitive.
As Daigan was thinking, Temari suddenly charged straight at him. The Three-Moon Fan traced a graceful arc behind her, and her whole body turned into a wisp of breeze and vanished from his sight.
"Where'd she go?! No—Body Flicker Technique..."
The protective wall was behind him. The only way to slip past his line of sight—
Daigan snapped his head up. Against the blazing sun, a slender figure dropped from above.
"Copying me?"
Daigan raised a hand to shield his eyes and dodged hard to the side, but the Three-Moon Fan still clipped his arm. He clutched the spot and rolled away, narrowly avoiding the heavy iron fan as it smashed down. Then he quickly bent the light around himself and vanished.
Thinking he'd bought a moment, Daigan searched for an opening to counterattack. Suddenly, a whirlwind rose from beneath his feet, wrapped him up, blasted him into the air—and slammed him back down.
"How... how is that possible? You found me?"
"Is it really that hard?" Temari shot back. "Your so-called perfect invisibility just makes light bend around you. It doesn't erase you. Look at the ground under your feet."
After Daigan had used the Sand Manipulation Technique, Temari's Wind Release had scattered it, leaving loose sand everywhere. Anyone walking through it would leave a clear trail of footprints.
"There is no perfect invisibility in the ninja world," Temari said coldly. "Only worthless trash that can't see it."
As she spoke, she leveled the pointed tip of the Three-Moon Fan at Daigan's throat as he lay on the ground.
"Surrender!"
"You sure you've already won?"
Daigan knew his own techniques' strengths and flaws better than anyone. How could he not have considered situations where his real body might be exposed?
Daigan was afraid of dying. His first priority was always hiding his true position. He might not have mastered Puppet Technique, but his habits were pure puppet master.
Grinning wide, he suddenly spat out a rapid volley of Wind Release bullets.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere! I think I can hold out a little longer..."
That sudden jutsu was obviously not Daigan's real body.
"It really is a puppet? To hide his position, he deliberately let a Substitute Puppet show an opening!"
Even realizing she'd been tricked, Temari didn't panic. She swung the Three-Moon Fan, swept its iron handle across, and batted the Vacuum Sphere and the Substitute Puppet away together.
"What a violent little girl!"
Even the spectators who could follow the fight were impressed by Temari's decisiveness. Still, even knowing it was only a puppet, they felt a lingering chill—if that had landed on a real person, they'd die even if they didn't die outright.
Sure enough, the puppet she sent flying again had its head knocked sideways. If it had been a human, its spine would have snapped.
"Couldn't you go a little lighter? If I'd been lying just now, you'd have killed me!"
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