Gaara still hadn't been called up. Seeing that Temari and Kankuro had already defeated their opponents and returned, he started to frown, growing more and more impatient.
Temari and Kankuro instinctively shifted a little further away from Gaara. They weren't about to get caught in the crossfire if he snapped.
Come on, hurry up and get this guy's name on the screen. If they didn't let him fight soon, they might be the ones in danger!
Gaara glanced at Kimimaro beside him. Even after all this time, that guy still hadn't been called to fight either.
So, there was still a chance he'd get to test himself against him. If not, it would've been a huge waste of all this silent waiting.
Haku jumped straight onto the railing without a word and stood behind it. His opponent was Kintsuchi, the girl from the three ninja from Otogakure.
The girl was decent, but when it came to senbon, Haku was clearly on another level.
He won the match without much suspense.
The only thing that threw him off was after Kintsuchi lost. She mistakenly thought he was a girl and even mocked his fashion sense while lying on the ground.
Hozuki Suigetsu nearly laughed himself to death. With Haku's androgynous looks, he really did get caught up in a lot of unnecessary drama.
"Hey! A loss is a loss—yelling from down there isn't going to change anything! And Haku's a guy, okay?"
Suigetsu shouted down at Kintsuchi, then turned to Haku with a grin.
"You've been mistaken for a girl more than once, huh? Maybe think about getting a haircut?"
Haku tilted his head with a deadpan look, clearly done with this whole issue.
"No point. I'd just look weird, and people would still think I'm a girl trying to dress like a guy."
"I'll just stick with this. I'm used to it."
Not many people use senbon. Out of everyone here, the number who could match Haku's skill with them could be counted on one hand.
Among ninja their age, either you didn't use senbon at all, or if you did, you'd get wrecked by Haku.
Kimimaro pressed his lips together and turned to glance at the teachers' observation platform.
Kakashi was still buried in his little orange book. Earlier he'd gone to take Sakura to the hospital, and now that he was back, he looked as lazy as ever.
Even though Sakura and Ino had fought with a lot of passion, for someone like Kimimaro…
Their abilities didn't interest him at all. It was just two girls brawling until they collapsed. Nothing worth watching.
Honestly, compared to their own weird and wild kekkei genkai back in Kirigakure, this was nothing.
So nobody really thought it was anything special for Ino or Sakura to be fighting in this round.
Hozuki Mangetsu didn't seem to care much either—he just leaned on the railing, resting his chin on his hand, watching the arena below.
But... where did the guy in the middle go!?
He only looked away for a second, and Hatake Satoru had already disappeared without a trace. No sign of him at all.
Was it even allowed to leave the challengers' area like that?
But then again, if their teacher wanted to leave, it's not like anyone here could stop him anyway.
"That guy really does whatever he wants… Disappears at a time like this?"
Haku looked up at the teachers' area casually, and just as expected, Hatake Satoru wasn't there at all.
"He's not even the one assigned to us, so it's totally normal for him to take off."
"Yeah, he's just that type—comes and goes as he pleases."
Hozuki Suigetsu nodded like it was obvious.
"I wasn't even curious about where he went. I just happened to look over. You two talk too much."
Kimimaro realized they had caught on to what he was thinking. He frowned at the two of them and scratched his face awkwardly.
"Even if he's not watching me, dealing with these guys is no big deal."
"Now you're trying to act tough. He totally hit the nail on the head, huh?"
Hozuki Suigetsu smiled subtly, like he knew Kimimaro all too well.
"…I'll kill you and scatter your ashes."
Not far from them stood their actual team leader—Shisui—who had been ignored for quite a while.
From a distance, Shisui watched the three of them bicker and raised an eyebrow with a small smile.
It was just a temporary team-up, but they seemed to be getting along fine, which was good enough.
None of the students had been seriously hurt, and since most of their opponents were weaker and in worse shape,
the chances of them losing or getting injured weren't very high. So naturally, Shisui didn't worry too much.
What he was more concerned about was keeping an eye on Hozuki Mangetsu, in case he and Hatake Satoru started causing trouble.
Konohagakure might seem open on the outside, but it was still run by old-timers like the Third Hokage and Danzo—deep-thinking political types.
There was no telling what kind of suspicion or complaints they might come up with if those two acted too freely.
And explaining things afterward would just be a pain.
After all, someone like Hozuki Mangetsu becoming Mizukage is already something they'd be wary of.
On the screen, the names switched to Kimimaro and Gaara.
Gaara's body slowly turned into sand and reformed in the middle of the battlefield.
Finally, it was his turn to step down.
Temari and Kankuro let out a sigh of relief as they looked toward Kimimaro walking down the stairs.
"Oh, that's the team that beat us to the Forest of Death by a few steps."
Temari remembered him quickly, though her impression of Hozuki Suigetsu was stronger that day.
"They just got ahead of us, that's all. And seriously, who can beat Gaara in a one-on-one fight?"
Kankuro narrowed his eyes and gave a mocking grin as he looked down at the arena.
Even if they were from Kirigakure, no matter what special ability they had, it'd be useless against absolute defense.
"True."
Even though Gaara seemed pretty interested in Kimimaro, people who caught Gaara's interest usually didn't end up well.
Nothing good ever came of it.
And it wasn't the first time Gaara showed interest in someone—he'd probably end up disappointed again.
"Looks like your trump card is up against someone who's not so easy to deal with."
Kakashi gave Hozuki Mangetsu a sidelong look, one of his usual dead-fish eyes half open.
He and Hatake Satoru had helped receive these two squads after they came out of the Forest of Death. The tension between them had already been high back then, and now they just happened to bump into each other again.
Still, having these two powerhouses face off now might help avoid anything unexpected during the official matches.
"Kimimaro is one of our teacher's students, and he's never lost a fight before," Hozuki Mangetsu said with full confidence.
"…So both the new star and the Mizukage's teacher are my brother?"
Even though he knew Hatake Satoru was strong, hearing it all like this made him sound way too overpowered.
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