"Playing ninja with such a realistic headband?" Daigan just smiled and shook his head. What kid's game of ninja was that hardcore?
Kankuro's face darkened as he stared at the insolent Uzumaki Naruto. "This is why I hate clingy little brats."
The Sand ninja's forbearance and dismissal seemed to have emboldened Naruto. He stepped forward, craning his neck to glare at Kankuro, whose eyes were spitting fire. "You're wearing a headband, but it's different from mine. Who the hell are you?"
Kankuro clenched his fists. Without turning his head, he asked Daigan, "Is this guy really too stupid to recognize who we are, or is he trying to humiliate me?"
"Who knows?" Daigan replied as if it had nothing to do with him.
The persistent brat was starting to get on Temari's nerves, too, after she'd had to endure Gaara's killing intent for the entire journey. Her right hand went to her Three-Moon Fan, ready to strike. "You just don't learn, do you, little brother? You're making big sister angry."
"You knocked Konohamaru over, and not only do you not apologize, you're going to attack us?"
Naruto's sharp instincts told him to back up a few steps. His hands formed a seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Suddenly, a dozen identical blond kids appeared, surrounding the five Sand ninja in a fan formation. Behind them, the "Konohamaru Corps" was cheering Naruto on. Sakura, meanwhile, looked uneasy and tried to de-escalate the situation, but her voice was lost in the chaos.
Kankuro watched the approaching opponents warily. "So this is what you're relying on? The Shadow Clone Jutsu. I'm surprised."
Daigan scoffed. "Trash is trash, no matter how many you have. Chi, Yome, go test his strength."
His two teammates weren't particularly strong, but at this point, Naruto's only noteworthy assets were his Shadow Clone Jutsu and his considerable chakra and stamina. His overall combat ability was truly nothing to write home about. "Don't hold back."
This reckless Naruto, trying to show off in front of his little fan club and the girl he liked, had foolishly picked a fight. The notoriously short-tempered Sand ninja weren't about to coddle him.
"I've been waiting for this." Chi and Yome stepped forward, rushing toward the self-satisfied Naruto.
Yome's sharp eyes and nimble movements were too much for Naruto's sluggish reactions to follow. Under the cover of Chi's unpredictable genjutsu, she easily found Naruto's real body and took him down in just a few moves.
A light breeze wafted from her fan, carrying a fragrant scent into the panicking Naruto's nostrils and knocking him out instantly.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, wanting to help her teammate. But before she could react, Yome was upon her. A shoulder rammed into the pink-haired girl's stomach, then her arm was twisted and pinned behind her back.
"You're even weaker than the blond one."
Caught off guard, Sakura was completely powerless and was subdued in an instant, collapsing to her knees in pain. "Your hair is so soft and shiny. You must spend a lot of time taking care of it. If you'd put a little more of that effort into your training, you wouldn't be in such a miserable state today…"
In the middle of her taunt, Yome's expression suddenly hardened. Before she could react, two stones struck her shoulder.
With a cry of pain, the petite girl let go of Sakura and faced her attacker. "Be careful! I saw that guy earlier, but I still couldn't dodge his attack!"
From the shadows of a nearby tree, Uchiha Sasuke emerged, casually tossing a stone in his hand. "He may be a loser, but he's still my teammate. And don't mistake Naruto's strength for the standard of a Konoha ninja."
Kankuro stared at the newly arrived black-haired boy and silently unslung the puppet from his back. "Another annoying brat."
"He's pretty handsome, though," Temari remarked, watching Sasuke's slow approach with interest.
"Let me handle this." Daigan called back Yome and Chi and stopped the increasingly irritated Kankuro. With a slight twitch of his fingers, chakra threads pulled the unconscious Naruto and collapsed Sakura behind him. "My mood sours whenever I see someone more arrogant than me. Especially in front of Temari. You're making me lose face. Don't you think you should answer for that?"
"Hand over Naruto and Sakura, and I'll spare your life. Now get lost, you small fry."
*Boom.*
As Daigan stomped forward, the solid ground rippled like a wave, and a surge of sand lunged forward. The black-haired Sasuke focused chakra into his feet and leaped high into the air.
But before he could land, a ring of nearly invisible chakra threads wrapped around his ankle.
"Aren't you being a little careless, jumping up so high where you have no leverage?" Daigan gave a sharp tug, and the recoil sent them hurtling toward each other.
Thrown off balance and unable to correct his posture, Sasuke threw out a wire to wrap around a tree branch below, trying to land quickly. But Daigan closed the distance and caught him in a bear hug, binding them both tightly together with several more chakra threads.
"Let's have a man's duel. You punch me, I punch you. We'll see who gives out first. Since you're a few years younger than me, I'll even let you go first. You're getting a great deal here, kid. You'd better thank the merciful lord, Red Sand Dust!"
"You're insane!"
The unassuming Daigan had a fighting style that was surprisingly frenzied, willing to trade blow for blow at a moment's notice.
"What ninja isn't a little insane? I saw the dead look in your eyes and thought you might be interesting, but you're just as boring as the rest. Have your worthless teammates corrupted you?"
"Naruto and Sakura are not worthless!"
"Whatever. I'm about to show you the romance between men…"
A headbutt sent both of their headbands flying. The dazed Sasuke tried to say something, but a second headbutt followed immediately.
"Feeling a little light-headed, kid? A fight between men should be blood-pumping…"
*Crash!*
The two of them plummeted from mid-air and hit the ground hard. Sasuke seized the opportunity while Daigan was also dazed from the fall to break free from the chakra threads. Just as he was about to distance himself, Daigan grabbed his ankle again.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Let's say hello properly." Daigan wiped a smear of blood from his forehead with his left hand and swung his right, smashing the boy, who was a head and a half shorter than him, into a wall.
The flimsy wooden wall instantly collapsed.
Dust billowed up and then settled. Breathing heavily, Sasuke pushed aside the wooden beams on top of him and staggered to his feet. From the corner of his eye, half-hidden by his bangs, a crimson Sharingan flared to life.
"Don't get cocky. The fight's just getting started, you piece of trash."
Daigan, his eyes now bloodshot, was about to continue, but Kankuro clamped an arm tightly around his neck. Chi and Yome grabbed his arms from either side, and Temari brought her fan down on top of his head. The world instantly went quiet.
"I'd heard this guy gets hot-headed easily. He seems so normal most of the time. How does he turn into a wild beast when he gets angry?" Temari wiped the cold sweat from her brow. "Hey, handsome over there. We were in the wrong this time. We'll give you back your teammates. How about we call it even?"
"You're Sand ninja, right? Even if you're allies, you can't just run wild in Konoha…"
Temari flashed her travel pass. "Look closely. We're Genin here for the Chunin Exam. We were invited. We're not some suspicious characters. If you're not satisfied, then enter the exam. You can fight to your heart's content there…"
"The Chunin Exam?"
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