Ch452. Temari vs Onoki - fin

Rei didn't instantly intervene and interrupt the match between Temari and Onoki. He wanted to see Temari's full prowess and what better time to witness it than a fight against a Kage-level opponent where she is forced to give her all?

Instead, he gestured to Konan to get comfortable and sat on a chair next to Pakura, causing Kurotsuchi to awkwardly stand in her spot and uncomprehendingly stare between them and the fight where her grandfather was having a hard time.

She opened her mouth, about to remind her new master he was supposed to stop the fight, but one look from Konan shut her up really fast, making her huff and flop into a chair a bit away from the trio as she crossed her arms under her chest and scowled.

"Mah~, don't be so childish, Kuro-chan." Rei quipped, "Don't worry, I will make sure your granddaddy will survive the fight but I want to see the fight so bear with me for a little bit, ok?

Kurotsuchi did not reply nor even turn towards him but he saw her shoulders sag a bit and that was an answer enough for him. Smiling to himself, Rei turned back towards the ongoing battle.

He could plainly see the fight evolved to a whole new level since he left two hours ago. Temari was no longer using her battle fan nor any wind Jutsus, deeming them useless against Onoki who could easily dodge any of them except ones with the widest area of effect. Instead of these, Temari was fully focused on her Magnet Release and Gravity manipulation.

Onoki, on the other hand, started to use more of his Earth Manipulation, not using his bloodline willy-nilly as he did at the start. Now when he used it, it had some serious juice and aimed to destroy a lot more than just make a small hole in whatever it hit.

Down in the arena, an intense exchange of numerous small flying objects made of Iron Sand, something Rei knew Temari was working on but her control over it wasn't quite there yet the last time he saw her practice with it, rushing at Onoki. From what Rei could tell, these objects would have never reached that kind of speed with just Magnet Release.

The biggest problem with Sand Manipulation techniques was their speed. In the higher leagues, the user had to rely on trapping their opponent because chakra could enhance the speed of whatever was manipulated only so far.

Temari, however, was also using Gravity Manipulation in tandem with it, lowering the weight of these objects to featherlight, causing their speed to become three to four times higher.

Onoki was having a hard time dodging the unceasing hail of projectiles and acted accordingly. His skin was almost black, hardened to the highest degree with Earth chakra, and he also started hovering closer to the ground in order to have quick access to Earth Walls.

But despite spamming numerous Earth Walls to stop the projectiles, their sheer number usually punched through the walls. It did slow them down, however, and gave Onoki the necessary time to dodge the hell out of their way.

Yet, Rei could see a few gashes on Onoki already, telling him that not everything was cleanly dodged.

Temari wasn't stupid. The second she saw her approach was not working, she slightly adjusted her strategy, trying to get past Onoki's defenses, but Onoki was experienced enough to understand this and counter it.

That's why the fight turned into a tactical tug of war, both combatants waiting until the other made a mistake.

It came sooner than Rei would have thought. Just five minutes into his watching, Onoki managed to sneak in a small localized earthquake under Temari's feet. It wasn't anything grand, just a small shake, but it was enough to briefly disrupt her focus, slowing down her projectiles and giving Onoki the much-needed few seconds for a counterattack.

Temari barely managed to regain her balance, only for her eyes to widen as she noticed a massive white beam heading directly towards her. She didn't have enough time to dodge it and felt deja-vu about what happened earlier.

This was why she didn't let up on her offensive. Onoki's bloodline was far too destructive and far too fast! She didn't allow him to use it without being prepared to evade it. Yet, this momentary lapse in focus cost her dearly.

Temari knew there was only one thing she could do to save herself from being disintegrated. Only one Jutsu of hers had the necessary properties to block such a powerful Dust Release point-blank. But she was reluctant. The attack was not yet controllable enough...

'Ah, to hell with it!' Temari inwardly snarled, knowing she didn't have a choice anyway. Between possibly being ripped to shreds by her own attack and being definitely disintegrated, the choice with even a slight chance of survival seemed better to her.

Focusing in front of herself, Temari molded her earth chakra in a very complicated manner. It took barely a split of a second for a small, barely visible dot to appear, seemingly sucking in the air around itself as it started to quickly grow, reaching the size of a ping-pong ball...

It didn't manage to grow more as Onoki's Dust Release beam smashed directly into it.

Temari nor Onoki didn't manage to even register what happened before a shockwave hit them, sending them flying back like a ragdoll in the opposite directions before they both hit the wall of the arena behind them, punching right through it with their bodies.

Rei, Konan, and Pakura only watched with astonishment the shockwave impacted the ground and the walls all around, horribly cracking them. The only reason the spectator spots were not affected was that the barrier that safeguarded them during the matches still worked. The force behind the shockwave was comparable to a high-level A-ranked Jutsu and considering it came to be just by a clash of two techniques, it was incredible enough.

"Grandpa!" Kurotsuchi abruptly stood up and screamed in worry.

With a sigh, Rei stood up, recognizing that this was the moment where all fun ended and the fight should not be allowed to go on anymore lest the combatants get too desperate for their own continued well-being.

As the dust started to settle in, both Onoki and Temari started to slowly crawl out of the rubble, wobbly standing up, trying to stop the ringing in their ears and catch their breath again. Their bones were creaking and their muscles hurt, their bodies moved by their sheer will, running on fumes as they powered through the pain.

Temari's teal eyes met with Onoki's gaze, making her snarl and take a threatening step forward before she swayed on her feet, causing the old midget to dryly chuckle... before he winced from the sting the action caused him.

He didn't try to recklessly move. Instead, he stayed on all four on the ground, enjoying the few seconds of reprieve and using them to regather his strength since his opponent was also out of it and it would take time for her to get back on her feet, so to speak.

But as they both started to feel better and resolved themselves for the continuation, Rei landed in the middle of the cracked ground of the arena, blasting both Temari and Onoki with the pressure of his chakra, making them sway and barely keep standing on their feet.

"I think that's enough for the both of you." Rei casually stated.

He didn't put all that much effort into that pressure since he didn't want to hurt them but it was so sudden that the still mostly disoriented fighters were greatly affected.

Their bodies locked up, tensing from the threat... and that was the mistake. At that moment, the two lost control of their bodies, even if only for a brief split of a second. Since they were already using mostly willpower to force themselves to move, losing their focus was enough for the exhaustion of their bodies to hit them like a proverbial truck, causing them to collapse.

As both Onoki and Temari flopped down onto the ground, unable to move, they knew there was no getting up from this one.

"Dammit, my back hurts." Onoki grumbled with a grimace, "And here I thought I would outlive the old monkey bastard."