Konoha, Forest of Death.
Battle Hall.
While the audience was shocked, the person feeling the moment the most was Temari herself, an unwilling look in her teal eyes as she gazed at him, a thought she didn't want to admit echoing in her head.
"He could've killed me right there if he wanted." That was the thought in her head. Earlier, when she hadn't noticed Isagi next to her, he could've simply whipped out a kunai and slashed her throat if he wanted, but he didn't.
Swish!
Just as Temari was trying her best to accept the harsh facts, she saw Isagi taking out a kunai from his ninja pouch and throwing it toward her. Cutting through the air, it approached her at rapid speed.
Putting aside her thoughts, Temari immediately swung the fan in her hand again, generating gusts of wind instantly. The kunai hurled by Isagi was blown away. Yet Isagi was already in mid-air, right above Temari, his hands flashing through quick hand signs.
Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!!
BOOM!!!
After completing the hand signs, Isagi brought his hand near his mouth, and with a boom, small wind pockets that cut through the air itself bombarded down on Temari.
Temari had no time to counter Isagi's attack with her own. She spread the fan completely before her, and the bullets bombarded it.
BOOM!!!
"DAMN THIS GUY!!"
The fan was sturdy; none of the bullets were able to pierce through it, but the sheer force behind each bullet made the fan vibrate violently in her grip. Temari cursed while gritting her teeth, boots digging into the floor. She kept it held up like a shield as the bullets continued to bombard.
Crack!
Suddenly her eyes widened. The last bullet seemed to carry far more force than the others. The impact snapped her weakened stance. The fan loosened between her fingers and was then blown away, spiraling across the arena.
Flying a couple of meters, it dug into the floor as Isagi landed back on the ground lightly.
This was the first time Temari had ever been in such a situation. Her main assurance, her fan, was now taken away from her.
"What do I do?"
She felt clueless and absolutely weak at this moment. For most of her life she had relied on that weapon to amplify her wind style, and without it she felt like she had lost her arms.
"It's over," Baki, the leading Sand jōnin, uttered the words he least wanted to say, a frustrated look on his face as he could see Temari had been completely outclassed due to a vast difference in strength.
"I expect a detailed report on him after the preliminaries," Sarutobi said while puffing out smoke from his pipe, addressing Anko who stood next to him.
Temari, who looked clueless, gazed at Isagi. He was looking at her with the same infuriating smile from a distance, and her teal eyes showed anger and frustration. Finally, she reached into her ninja pouch and pulled out a kunai.
But she had only blinked once while pulling out the kunai, and that was enough to give her enemy the time he needed. Temari froze on the spot as suddenly her vision was filled by him alone.
Temari's breath hitched as cold steel touched the side of her neck.
Isagi stood in front of her, kunai against her skin, leaning in slightly to reach her ear.
"It's over, Sand Princess." As he said that, Isagi nibbled lightly on her ear. Temari's eyes widened, and she showed an angry yet slightly red face, the cold steel on her neck preventing her from lashing out.
Hayate, seeing the situation, knew it was over and immediately stepped in, appearing next to the two and raising his arm to address the audience.
"The match is over! Arisawa Isagi wins!"
Hayate announced the result, and Isagi, giving Temari one more of that infuriating smile, removed the kunai from her neck and flashed away.
Then Isagi calmly walked back to the railing amidst the shocked gazes of the Konoha rookies.
"I guess it's gonna take some time to catch up to you." Isagi saw that, despite his display of strength, Ryota wasn't discouraged at all—only the intent to catch up to his teammate who had suddenly left him far behind burned brighter.
Mei didn't comment on his sudden surge of strength and just congratulated him with the usual kind smile on her face, truly happy for him.
On the other hand, Temari also returned to her spot next to Kankurō, Gaara, and Baki.
"Temari, don't be worried. I mean, who would've expected there to be such a guy hidden among these weaklings, right?" Seeing Temari not in the best of moods, Kankurō tried to ease her this way, though his words only worsened her bad mood, as they clearly meant she wasn't strong enough.
Gaara, who had been barely calmed down by Baki, didn't say anything. Still, the look of disdain for a weakling he gave Temari hit her hard. She showed a conflicted look; an older sister getting despised by her younger brother was truly not a good feeling.
"It was unexpected, but don't worry much. You can take your revenge on him a month later." Baki's words fell, and Temari's teal eyes finally regained some light. Yes, a month later, during the planned attack, she could fight him without worries of collateral damage caused by long-range ninjutsu.