22 Hush

The morning sun shined on the arena gently, it gave people a warm feeling.

On the ground level, Temari looked at the sword-wielding boy not far away.

During this chunin exam, besides Gaara, the person that she dreaded fighting was Naruto Uzumaki.

There wasn't much intelligence to be gathered in the previous round, Hinata Hyuga lost too quickly and Naruto used no moves that indicated his fighting style. The only thing that he demonstrated was his skill with the sword. 

He was also one of the top contenders to be ranked number one in the exam. Purely from the fact that his team was able to complete the second exam before herself and her siblings.

In her opinion, Naruto's other two teammates were of average strength, and they were the type of people to not even make it to the center of the death forest in the second test.

"There are no rules in this match. After the judgment of the outcome is made, no matter the situation, you must ceasefire."

After the presiding jonin finished speaking, he waved his hand and the exam officially began.

Whoosh!

Along with the sound of Kusabimaru being unsheathed, Naruto's figure suddenly disappeared from the spot.

"So fast!" Temari's pupils shrank, and the iron fan in her hand opened to its maximum, not daring to hold back against this formidable opponent.

"Wind Release: Sickle Weasel!"

With a sudden wave of the iron fan, a powerful storm rose from the ground. In the whirlwind, a number of vacuum blades were concealed. Inexperienced ninjas lose instantly if they thought this was merely a smokescreen and tried to withstand the gust.

Naruto's cautiousness compelled him to evade the phenomena produced by the opponent.

"The tessen is more than just a weapon for ninjutsu!" Temari collapsed the leaves, and the huge fan was used like a thick iron club.

Boom!

Although Temari simply performed a ninjutsu and followed up with a straight attack, her attractive appearance made the audience cheer and roar.

Clang!

The fan club collided with Naruto's sword, the shockwave of the two weapons made Temari's eardrums shake.

Naruto held the handle of the knife with his right hand and supported the side of the blade with his left. The girl's power might seem terrifying to ordinary people, but to him, it was mediocre compared to others he's fought. He wanted to test also whether he would need to parry future strikes or he would be able to withstand it; the answer was the latter, so now his counterattack attack has begun.

Naruto's left hand turned into a fist, a quick but heavy punch to the girl's face.

He uses swords most of the time, but that doesn't mean he only knows how to wield a blade.

He also knows the Temple Arts of the Senpou Temple Monks.

Thump!

Sharp-eyed audiences saw that the girl's cheeks were mashed together.

A sharp sense of grima after seeing the brutal scene, like nails on a chalkboard. 

Part of the cheers just now were directed at Temari's appearance.

It was so cruel, to ravage a pretty face like that; but some found it even more exhilarating.

"Ouch! That must have hurt" Not only the audience, but even Ereki and Akiku, Naruto's teammates, had their eyelids twitching a little. "

"Although we are enemies, I do feel a bit sorry for that girl." Ino smacked her mouth beside the two, her companions nodded in agreement.

"Damn it!"

Temari, who was knocked down to the ground and sliding away, did a backward somersault using the momentum and got up.

Looking at Naruto rushing towards her again, she waved the fan again.

"Wind Release…"

A whirlwind roared, pulling in everything in its immediate vicinity, it grew greater and greater in scale and momentum compared to the one previous.

The channeling of the tornado acted also as a defense for Temari, a few spectating jonin noticed this and nodded in approval. 

Seeing that there was nowhere to hide, Naruto raised the Kusabimaru, and wind chakra enveloped the blade. Compared to the grand spectacle of ninjutsu created by Temari, Naruto's expression of the wind chakra was quiet and subtle.

After slowly conjuring up the deadly hurricane, Temari finally unleashed its wrath onto Naruto.

"…Great Sickle Weasel!"

The windstorm blasted toward Naruto, dust swirled in the arena and obscured all vision from the spectators.

The vision for Naruto was also clouded but it is a kind of sixth sense that he relied on in battle.

Ever since coming to this world, Naruto noticed that this sense was more perceptive than before, being able to sense chakra at distances. This became stronger and stronger as he grew up.

He closed his eyes and felt the flow of chakra rushing toward him. Walking forward with his chakra-enhanced blade raised, he blocked the vacuum blades that would deal real, tangible damage.

One, two, three...fifteen, sixteen, seventeen.

Every furious weasel screech that came within arm's length was silenced by the sword.

But none of the elegance of Naruto's swordsmanship would be witnessed by the audience, just as Naruto had planned. Unless it was absolutely dire, concealing as much information as possible was his objective. Temari's unintentional smokescreen gave him a good opportunity to end the fight without anyone learning his true abilities.

The only thing the audience and even Temari saw when the dust cleared was Naruto's blade on Temari's neck.

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

A brief silence, then an explosion of cheer from the crowd.

Several female spectators had dazzled eyes, looking at Naruto now sheathing his blade.

Just as the men cheered for Temari's performance, the women contributed their voices to the handsome boy below.

"I've never noticed that he was this cool." Ino was surprised that she didn't realize his potential for handsomeness before.

Must have been all the food he was gobbling up in their picnics.

Temari was still in shock from how he managed to pass through her attack.

No one in Sunagakure has been able to counter this attack without using other elemental releases to block the vacuum blades, she was near the pinnacle of wind release in the sand village. Examining the battlefield and sensing the chakra residue, there was no other attribute of chakra present.

"How did you do it?"

Naruto was walking away as he heard the question. He paused, thought about it, and scratched his head.

He didn't think it would be this easy either. Maybe it was the nature transformation training, Naruto was especially sensitive to wind chakra after the month of non-stop practice.

"Hush girl…"