Naruto: Naruto's Uchiha girlfriend is too arrogant

Chapter 255 The Strongest Brain

"Sigh... I'm all alone now."

In the stands, Kakashi muttered to himself with a hint of helplessness. The seats on either side of him were now empty, while Shikamaru and Temari were still playing their game in the arena below.

Watching Shikamaru rack his brains, taking every step carefully, yet still being forced to retreat by Temari's giant fan, Kakashi couldn't imagine what chance Asuma, that trouble-averse pineapple-headed student, had of turning the tables.

After the first match, Might Guy hurriedly left with his beloved student Rock Lee, who was being carried away by the medical team. Meanwhile, his three students—Naruto, who was about to make his appearance, and Sakura, who was sitting not far away with a blonde girl named Ino, discussing something.

As for Satsuki… she had already quietly left her seat and disappeared without a trace. Kakashi naturally didn't think she was intimidated by Lee's strength—although Satsuki might not have a clear understanding of her own abilities, in Kakashi's view, she had absolutely no reason to lose to Lee.

Of course, Kakashi didn't come here today just to watch the game. According to the secret Jonin meeting convened by the Third Hokage not long ago, the long-planned attack... could very well happen today.

His gaze seemed to casually sweep across every corner of the audience, but eventually, unintentionally, it settled on a few seemingly ordinary "Anbu" ninjas in the distance.

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After finishing his psychological counseling, Naruto finally returned to the players' lounge. It was then that he suddenly remembered something—in the original story, Shikamaru won by exploiting the traps Naruto had dug during his previous match? Now that Naruto hadn't even entered the arena, those traps didn't exist. Was Shikamaru going to lose?

He looked towards the arena with some concern and had no choice but to ask the silent Shino beside him to give a brief explanation of the battle that had just taken place.

According to Shino's concise description, the process is roughly as follows.

At the start, Shikamaru continued his "averse to trouble" approach, ignoring the boos from the audience and simply lying on the field to slack off until Temari launched the first attack.

Shikamaru then quickly hid in a nearby grove of trees, remaining motionless for a long time, simply using the trees as cover to dodge Temari's continuous long-range wind-style suppression attacks.

After a while, Shikamaru began to attempt a surprise attack using the Shadow Imitation Technique. Temari reacted quickly, and after being forced back a certain distance by the shadow, she astutely drew a line on the ground with her fan, recording the maximum attack range of Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique.

After that, Temari continued to use her fan to unleash wind-style attacks. Shikamaru seemed to be dodging in a sorry state, occasionally throwing his shuriken to counterattack, but Temari easily dodged or blocked these attacks.

Just when it seemed that the situation had devolved into a war of attrition that was unfavorable to Shikamaru... until he used the change in the angle of the sun to lengthen the shadows in the stands, instantly increasing the maximum range of the Shadow Imitation Technique, catching Temari off guard!

Caught off guard, Temari hastily leaped backward, trying to escape the shadow's reach. Just then, Shikamaru threw his shuriken again to block her path, and Temari instinctively dodged to the side…

Then, something unexpected happened. Temari suddenly fell to the ground, as if she had tripped over something, and her body stiffened!

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Shikamaru immediately rushed forward to close the distance, activating the Shadow Imitation Technique once more—this time, he successfully captured the target!

Naruto narrowed his eyes and saw the real reason Temari fell down. He also instantly understood Shikamaru's whole plan—the key was the almost invisible transparent thread tied to those shuriken.

It turns out that Shikamaru hadn't been idle in the grove for so long; he had been secretly setting up these invisible traps.

All his previous "futile" shuriken attacks were not intended to hit directly, but rather to accurately throw these ninja tools with thin lines onto predetermined locations, quietly laying an invisible "tripwire net" in the field.

Furthermore, the initial shadow imitation technique was also a tactic to bring Temari closer to the sun, so that Temari would not easily notice these transparent lines under the sunlight.

Finally, he used a feint attack with his shadow to force Temari to step on or touch the transparent threads that were suddenly stretched taut in her hands as she retreated or dodged in a panic, thus losing her balance and revealing an opening.

Naruto understood immediately. Sure enough, using the hole he dug to extend his shadow in the original work was just one of his many backup plans. Even without a ready-made hole, he could achieve his goal through other ingenious arrangements... What a brilliant mind.

As Shikamaru's ingenious plan was gradually deciphered by the discerning audience, gasps of amazement rose and fell. No one had expected that this seemingly lazy fellow could pull off such a brilliant comeback against all odds with such meticulous tactics.

Just when everyone thought the outcome was decided—Shikamaru slowly raised his hand. Temari resignedly closed her eyes, preparing to accept defeat…

"I lost, I forfeit." Shikamaru chose to forfeit.

Upon hearing this, a clamor of confusion erupted from the audience. "What is this guy doing?" "Why is he admitting defeat when he clearly won?!" Amidst the cacophony of questions, Shikamaru calmly explained to Temari that his chakra was exhausted, and he could only control her for a maximum of ten more seconds... Simply put, there wasn't enough time for him to achieve a result that met the definition of "victory".

Of course, that amount of time was more than enough to shove a kunai down the other person's throat... but Shikamaru, out of his aversion to trouble and his gentlemanly manners of not wanting to hurt a woman, gave Temari a dignified way out in public.

Although Naruto could vaguely hear Ino's roar of incomprehension, judging from Temari's complex and focused gaze at Shikamaru, she had clearly etched this lazy guy, whom she had previously taken for granted, deeply into her mind.

Shikamaru unexpectedly conceded defeat, and the commotion among the audience rose and fell quickly. Although the words were somewhat hurtful, the person involved didn't seem to care. This was because the vast majority of people hadn't come to see Shikamaru's match in the first place.

Then, Genma Shiranui announced the start of the next match.

Shino Aburame silently rolled onto the court and stood still. However, as time ticked by, there was still no one opposite him. Gradually, the boos and urging from the audience grew louder and louder... the audience's bloodlust was quite intense.

Finally, at the Third Hokage's signal, Genma Shiranui loudly announced, "Since Tosukina failed to arrive on time, he is considered to have automatically forfeited his qualification for the match. The winner of this match is—Shino Aburame!"

After the result was announced, the commotion in the stands did not subside; instead, it grew louder and louder, like boiling water. Everyone knew that the real grand finale was about to begin.

Sensing the increasingly heated discussions in the arena, Genma Shiranui called out those two names in a voice loud enough to pierce through the clamor.

"Then, for the final match—please welcome Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara of Sunagakure!"