"Oh? You want a demonstration? I'm not against satisfying your request, but I'm not sure you can afford the price."
Though he hadn't intended to stir up trouble, since the other party had provoked him first, they couldn't blame the great Red Sand Dust for losing his temper.
He gently patted the puppet on his shoulder with his left hand, while his right hand opened, fingers spread, pointing at the oblivious Uzumaki Naruto.
***
The puppet, which had been leaning lazily on Daigan's shoulder, awoke like a miniature beauty, its lively eyes opening to stare sharply at Uzumaki Naruto, who was completely unaware of the danger.
Controlled by chakra threads, the small puppet slowly rose and stood suspended in mid-air. It drew the Three-Moon Fan from its back and gave it an elegant wave.
Several vacuum blades of wind-natured chakra shot through the air, reaching the defenseless Naruto in an instant.
"Naruto, watch out!"
In the nick of time, the pink-haired Haruno Sakura threw several shuriken at Daigan and his stone-faced puppet, trying to halt his attack. At the same time, she lunged forward, tackling Naruto to the ground and narrowly avoiding the wind blades that grazed past his hair.
After his casual strike, Daigan didn't press his advantage. He simply batted away the incoming shuriken and watched as Naruto and Sakura were blown back, crashing into a roadside wall before they stopped.
"As expected, they're pathetically weak," Yome said with a smile. "If all the Konoha Genin are at this level, we won't have to worry about the Chunin Exam."
Chi tugged on Yome's shoulder, signaling the younger girl to say less. "It's normal for rookies to be weak. The more experienced Konoha Genin should be a bit more impressive. By the way, Daigan, can your puppet perform ninjutsu? This is the first time I've seen anything like it…"
Daigan just smiled, not offering an explanation.
*It's not a human puppet, so how could it perform ninjutsu?*
The power the puppet Temari displayed originated entirely from Daigan. The jutsu just now, which looked like Temari's own Wind Release: Sickle Weasel Technique, was actually nothing of the sort. It just bore a slight resemblance.
Daigan wasn't interested in who was watching from the shadows. Even if it included the Konoha Anbu secretly tailing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto, they wouldn't make a move on a Chunin Exam candidate like him as long as he didn't go too far.
As if sensing the commotion, a familiar set of footsteps approached from behind.
"Yo, Daigan. Not long ago you were so sure about keeping a low profile while away from home. How did you end up causing trouble the moment you set foot in Konoha?"
"It's not my fault, Kankuro. They started it. Some random idiot actually wanted to touch my precious Temari!"
"Who's your precious?" Temari, a step behind, scoffed. She glanced at the miniature puppet in its full battle stance, then looked with interest at Naruto and Sakura as they struggled to their feet. "It's them? They look pretty weak."
Shaking his fuzzy head, Naruto exploded with rage. "You! You're a ninja pretending to be some kind of street performer, and you even sneak-attacked me! You're a coward!"
Daigan threw his hands up in an exaggerated gesture. "You all saw that, right? It really wasn't my fault."
Kankuro stared at the fuming Naruto as if he were an idiot. "He is a bit of a pain, but you should know when to stop. This is Konoha, after all. It's not a good look to be bullying their ninja."
Temari slowly sauntered forward. She actually wanted to teach Daigan a lesson more than Naruto, but airing the Sand's dirty laundry in public would be too embarrassing.
"It's bad enough that you look stupid, but you're also short and have such vulgar taste in clothes. That whole outfit is piss-yellow. Not my type."
"Temari, you're here for the Chunin Exam, not to scout for handsome guys in Konoha. A girl should be a little more reserved," Daigan said, recalling his puppet and gently dusting it off. "Let's go. There are too many people here. Making a scene isn't a good look for any of us."
"True. Getting worked up over a guy like this makes us Sand ninja look petty," Temari said. She casually picked up the shuriken Daigan had knocked aside and, with a flick of her wrist, sent it flying, slicing off a few strands of Naruto's hair. "Here's your shuriken back. Try not to be so mischievous next time, okay? We traveled a long way to come to Konoha for the first time, so we're a little on edge. We overreacted. Please forgive my ill-mannered compatriot."
Staring at the clumps of golden hair drifting down before him and the smiling face approaching him, Naruto was so frightened by Temari's casual act that he couldn't move, nodding subconsciously.
"Good boy," Temari said, patting Naruto's stiff shoulder. "Let's just let bygones be bygones. See you around, little brother."
Temari turned and walked away with a wave. Daigan gestured for Yome and Chi to follow.
"Temari, you're so nice to a kid you just met. When will you be that gentle with me?"
"The day you die in battle, perhaps. I might even shed a few tears of relief at your grave."
"So heartless!" Daigan pouted, slinging an arm around Kankuro's shoulder and whispering, "Hey, little brother-in-law, you have to help me out. Otherwise, I'll expose all the embarrassing things you've done."
"I don't have anything like that! And please, stop calling me little brother-in-law. Temari already suspects I've been feeding you information!"
Up ahead, the slowly walking Temari turned her head, a smile on her face as she looked at the two with their arms around each other. "Could you two whisper a little more quietly? It's hard for me to pretend I didn't hear you."
Kankuro pried Daigan's hand off in disgust and sidestepped away from him.
"Big brother Naruto, let's play ninja together!"
*Thump.*
Kankuro was knocked off balance, and the small figure that had run into him fell heavily to the ground.
"Sorry, are you hurt?" Kankuro reached out a hand, intending to help the child up, but the discomfort from the collision made the already fierce markings on his face look even more terrifying.
What should have been a simple accident now looked like a classic case of a delinquent teenager bullying a small child.
"Are you all right?" Kankuro tried to force a smile, but it only made the frightened child burst into tears.
Whenever something like this happened, a righteous hero was bound to appear at the critical moment.
"Hey, you ugly freak! Get away from Konohamaru!"
Behind them, a recovered Uzumaki Naruto shouted. Haruno Sakura, having caught her breath, followed warily behind him.
"Ugly freak… is he talking about me?" Kankuro looked at Temari, Yome, and Chi, then at Daigan, who wasn't handsome but wasn't exactly an eyesore either. His expression immediately soured.
Seeing his savior arrive, Konohamaru scrambled away from the danger and hid behind Naruto. "Brother Naruto, it was so scary! I just wanted to play ninja with you, but I ran into a bad guy!"
"Play ninja?" Yome, who had been diligently scanning her surroundings, tugged on Daigan's sleeve. "That guy is wearing a headband, so he must be an official ninja, right? Is he really that stupid to be playing ninja with a little kid?"
"Maybe the headband is a fake he made himself," Chi guessed, half-joking, unable to hold back a laugh.
***
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