Soon, Shino Aburame took down his opponent using his Parasitic Insects, winning the fourth preliminary match.
Immediately following that, in the fifth preliminary match, Choji defeated "Rain Genin B"—who apparently wasn't even worthy of a proper name—using his signature technique, the Human Boulder.
Seeing Choji use this move, Goku was once again reminded of Buu. However, this time he thought of the Fat Buu who had already merged with Uub.
With the conclusion of the fifth match, the large screen began to cycle through names again for the next bout. Soon, the new matchup appeared before everyone's eyes.
[Sasuke Uchiha vs. Temari]
'Hmph, is it finally my turn?'
Seeing his name finally appear on the list, the corner of Sasuke's mouth curled up.
After waiting so long, he felt as if his body was starting to rust!
'But which one is this Temari?'
He looked around the room, eliminating those who had already fought, and finally locked his gaze onto a female ninja.
'Oh, it's her? Interesting.'
Meanwhile, on the other side, Temari's gaze sharpened as she saw the matchup.
'Sasuke Uchiha... I didn't expect my opponent to be you.'
Ever since Kankuro suffered that loss at Naruto's hands, they had secretly investigated Naruto's team and knew that one of his teammates was a member of the Uchiha clan named Sasuke.
"Temari, be careful of the Sharingan. He might have awakened it," Baki warned her from the side.
Their gathered intelligence only confirmed he was an Uchiha; they didn't know for sure if he had unlocked the Sharingan.
"Yeah, I know," Temari nodded.
Although she had never seen the Uchiha Sharingan, she had heard rumors of those terrifying eyes—eyes that could trap a person in Genjutsu without them ever realizing it.
However, despite all their preparations, they had no idea that for the current Sasuke, his mastery of Ki was a far greater asset than the Sharingan!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Sasuke and Temari quickly entered the arena, standing face-to-face.
"Even though you're a girl, I won't go easy on you," Sasuke said first.
"Hmph. Even though you're quite handsome, I won't hold back either," Temari retorted, refusing to show weakness.
After their brief exchange of trash talk, Hayate Gekkō announced the start of the match.
"Go get her, Sasuke! Beat her into the ground!"
On the spectator balcony, Sakura shouted loudly, making no effort to hide her hostility toward Temari.
The reason for this hostility was simple: she had noticed a faint blush on Temari's face when she spoke to Sasuke.
As a woman, Sakura knew exactly what that meant, and she instantly exploded with jealousy.
At this moment, she wished nothing more than to be Sasuke's opponent herself.
'?'
'What's wrong with Sakura?'
Sasuke glanced at Sakura with some confusion, unsure why she held such animosity toward Temari.
Could it be because she's Kankuro's teammate, so she hates her by association?
The thought only flashed through his mind for a second before he refocused his attention on the opponent before him.
Temari took the giant fan from her back and held it in her hands.
"Is that your weapon?" Sasuke asked, looking at the massive object with interest.
He had seen ninja use kunai, senbon, and shuriken, but this was the first time he had seen someone use a fan.
"Yes. Its name is the Giant Folding Fan!"
As soon as she finished her introduction, Temari charged at Sasuke with the fan.
Leaping into the air in front of him, she swung the handle of the fan down hard, aiming to crush him.
Bang!
Sasuke dodged the strike with a casual hop. Looking at Temari, who had smashed the ground, he smirked: "Is this the extent of your strength? If so, you won't even be able to touch me."
"Then have a taste of this!"
After her initial strike failed, Temari didn't close in again. Instead, with a loud snap, she fully unfolded the Giant Fan.
She then swung it violently toward Sasuke.
"Ninja Art: Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
A violent gale erupted instantly, carrying the mournful howl of the wind as it ravaged the space toward Sasuke.
Sand and gravel were kicked up everywhere, and invisible wind blades carved terrifying gouges into the ground, a sight that would strike fear into anyone.
Faced with this attack, Sasuke dodged to the side without a second thought.
Although he felt that with his current physical conditioning, he could probably tank the hit without major issues, he was habitually cautious. He wouldn't risk his body unless he was absolutely certain he wouldn't be injured.
However, he hadn't expected Temari to be able to use the move continuously.
"You can't dodge this!"
Seeing him evade, Temari immediately waved the fan again, sending out several more Wind Scythes, cutting off all of his escape routes.
Whoosh! Whoosh!!
The Wind Scythe Jutsu already had a large area of effect. With several blasts fired in succession, Sasuke was forced into a dead end with no room to dodge.
Of course, this was only a "dead end" for a normal person. For him, it wasn't.
He could simply jump into the air to avoid the frontal assault.
But if he was in mid-air, she could attack again, and dodging then would require him to reveal his ability to fly.
If that's the case... I'll just break through everything with brute force!
With that thought, Sasuke's eyes narrowed. A white Ki aura erupted from his body, and pushing off with his legs, he shot straight into the raging storm like an arrow leaving the bowstring!
"Oh?"
Seeing Sasuke brazenly charge into her attack, Temari smiled with amusement, thinking he was making a desperate final gamble.
But her smile froze instantly, replaced by a look of utter disbelief. "How is this possible?!"
Sasuke moved like lightning, rushing out of the wind's range in an instant.
But that wasn't what shocked her. What shocked her was that he didn't have a single scratch on him.
Even more absurdly, there wasn't even a tear on his clothes from the wind blades!
"It's over."
While she was still in shock, Sasuke appeared behind her before she realized it and delivered a light hand chop to her neck.
"Ugh..."
struck in such a vulnerable spot, Temari's vision went black, and she collapsed, unconscious.
Seeing this, Baki flashed down from the spectator stand. He caught Temari before she hit the ground, shot a glance at Sasuke without saying a word, and carried her back up to the balcony.
"Cough, cough. I declare the winner of the sixth preliminary match: Sasuke Uchiha."
Hayate Gekkō, looking pale, coughed a few times before announcing the result.
"Hell yeah! That's how you beat someone!"
Seeing Sasuke win the match so cleanly, Sakura beamed with delight and excitedly slapped Naruto on the back.
"Hiss!! That hurts, Sakura!!"
Naruto felt a burning pain in his back and glared at Sakura.
Even though he was stronger than her, taking an unexpected hit like that still hurt like crazy.
Especially since they were currently wearing weighted wristbands, making the force of her slap much heavier than usual.
"Hehe, sorry, sorry."
Realising her mistake, Sakura put her palms together in apology, finally calming Naruto's anger.
Once the pain subsided, Naruto looked around at the remaining contestants who hadn't fought yet and asked curiously, "There are ten matches in total. Now that Sasuke is done, there are four left. I wonder who you'll get matched up with, Sakura?"