Once again, the names of the participants were displayed one by one at rapid speed before stopping on Hinoka Hyuga and Kankuro.
Sakura and Ino: "You're from the Hyuga clan?!"
I could feel all the other rookie ten's gazes as I scratched the back of my head, saying, "Oops, I guess I forgot to mention that."
Sakura: "That's not something you just forget!"
Ino: "Why didn't you ever tell anyone?!"
Hinoka: "Well, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Neji, Hinata and Naruto already knew."
Sakura and Ino: "What!"
Sakura: "You told Naruto before us!"
Hinoka: "I mean it wasn't ever a secret."
Sakura: "And what about your Byakugan? How comes I've never seen you use it before?"
Hinoka: "Maybe because I've never used it in front of you…"
Seeing Sakura getting angrier by the second, I decided to jump down into the arena to avoid further confrontation.
I glanced at Kankuro, who was already standing there. Hayate glanced at both of us before saying, "If you're both ready, let the second match begin."
Kankuro placed the puppet he was carrying on his back on the floor as I charged towards him with a kunai, thinking to myself, 'I'm going to get scolded by dad later.'
I attempted to slash Kankuro with my kunai, but he swiftly deflected it with his own kunai. I jumped back and threw shurikens at him while he countered. Seizing the opportunity, I dashed forward and slashed his face, revealing Kankuro to be a puppet.
Kankuro grinned, "Now it's my turn." His hands transformed into wooden pipes, wrapping around me with surprising speed.
A hand emerged from the puppet that Kankuro had dropped at the beginning of the match, revealing Kankuro himself. His hand controlled the puppet with chakra strings. As he squeezed tighter, my water clone dissolved, surprising everyone.
Kankuro's fingers were suddenly broken, and I appeared behind him with a kunai to his neck.
Hinoka: "Do you admit defeat, or do I need to take more drastic measures?"
Kankuro: "I-I admit defeat."
Hayate: "This match is over. The winner of this round is Hinoka Hyuga, who will advance to the next round."
Hearing that, I sheathed my kunai and started to walk away, but Kankuro called out, "Wait!"
I paused and turned around, facing him.
Kankuro: "When did you replace yourself with a water clone?"
Walking towards him, I explained, "I sensed something off about you before I entered the arena, so I created a water clone and transformed myself into a shuriken. One of the shuriken you dodged was actually me…"
As I passed him, I whispered, "Tell Gaara to meet me at… in a week. Don't tell anyone other than Gaara and I guess the other girl on your team, or I will kill all three of you plus the people you told and that's a promise."
I decided to leave since I was only interested in Hinata and Naruto's matches.
But just as I turned to leave, I heard Ino and Sakura calling after me, their voices tinged with frustration.
"Hey, Hinoka! Where do you think you're going? We're not done talking!"
Ignoring them I left and found a place to take a quick nap.