The two women walked into the arena and from the first moment, it was obvious the hostility in the air skyrocketed.

Hayate shuddered as he suddenly found himself right in the middle of the two glaring and approaching women. He had no idea why it reminded him of Danzo’s bloodlust when he once coughed right into his face by coincidence but…

‘Aren’t they supposed to be genins? Why does their bloodlust match something a jonin would be capable of releasing?’ He inwardly sweatdropped and took a few subtle steps back to not be in their direct line of sight in fear they would start to fling Jutsu at each other without him even starting the match.

Fortunately for Hayate, neither Karin nor Temari had any intention of fighting outside of the official match as they knew such behavior would not be appreciated by the… ahem, special few people among the audience they would not dare to piss off.

Well, they certainly had the guts to annoy them if only a little bit and neither liked the woman standing opposite them so they didn’t intend to pretend to be all buddy-buddy even though they knew it would have been preferred.

The one to start the trouble was, as Rei expected, Temari. While Karin had a temper worthy of an Uzumaki, Temari’s personality could be very provocative against those she both loved and didn’t like. Just for both of those categories, she was provocative in a different way. Rei enjoyed and appreciated her provocative side but he doubted Karin would feel the same way about it simply because of how Temari felt about Karin.

“If you have something to say, say it, pipsqueak.” Temari uttered with a grin, smugly staring at Karin who silently glared at her in a very reserved manner for an Uzumaki. If a look could kill, Karin would have won the Exams already.

Seeing how much the redhead held herself back, Temari’s grin widened. She knew exactly what would provoke the redhead enough to get her temper rolling.

She raised her nose upward just enough that only a trained ninja could notice the gesture. But even to those observant enough, it would have meant nothing. For Karin, who knew Temari well, though…

Karin grit her teeth as she saw the subtle condescending and gloating look in her opponent’s eyes. She hated those teal eyes full of mockery. She hated it even more than the words Temari uttered.

Considering that her temper would usually not be able to handle even those words without giving a very strong retort back… Karin had no way of holding her emotions at bay once she noticed Temari’s expression.

“Hah!? Just because you are a vulgar harlot that likes to spread her legs where they don’t belong, doesn’t mean I gotta be vocal about it!” Karin shouted back in anger, baring her teeth at Temari with her hands balled into fists.

She really thought she looked menacing but…

Half of the audience, mostly the male part, found her act very cute. The redheaded girl looked like an angry harmless ginger squirrel to them.

Temari raised an eyebrow at Karin when she heard her words. It prompted her to cross her arms on her chest and smirk in victory. “What do you care for whom I spread my legs. Just because I am able to get the man I want to pound me into the sheets, while you can’t, is not a reason to be so pathetically unreasonable.” She said, her tone laced with sweet derision.

Temari had the time of her life taunting Karin. Especially since she saw it was very effective because of how Karin’s expression twisted.

Karin angrily huffed but she didn’t refute Temari’s words. The redhead was inwardly baffled that the Suna bitch was so blunt about it. It took quite a lot from Karin to prevent herself from flushing red from both immense rage and dumb-struck embarrassment as she heard Temari so brashly admitting about her love life in the middle of Konoha’s arena.

‘And she says it with such smugness! The… bitch!’ Karin inwardly seethed as the flashes of the loathsome harlot in front of her having sex with the man she loved passed through her mind.

‘Why couldn’t it have been me!? Grrr!’

Of course, her reason for being angry was not really that Temari had sex with Rei. It was mostly that Karin didn’t and Temari loved to smugly remind her of that at every opportunity.

After Karin did not react for a few seconds, Temari decided to throw another jab at her. “At least you know how to listen to a reason and know when to be silent like a good girl. Who knew it could learn… Eh, pipsqueak?”

“Who are you calling pipsqueak, you shitty bitch.” Karin spoke, trembling in a cold rage. “I will never know why he would choose you over me. Who knows how many other men you spread your legs for. What good could be some cheap bitch like you for?” She sneered, her eyes gleaming with a desire to inflict severe harm on Temari. She couldn’t wait for the match to start.

Temari’s grin instantly fell when she heard Karin’s accusation. She didn’t appreciate that one and it was obvious from how severe her expression became. “Oi, oi. Are you questioning my fidelity?” She spoke with an ice-cold tone as her lips twisted into a frown, “Wanna die before reaching a breedable age, kid?”

The atmosphere in the arena became extremely suffocating and the small breeze totally halted as the wind became stagnant. Exactly like a calm before the storm.

While the civilian audience enjoyed the exchange of insults between the women, every experienced ninja felt as if sitting on needles. They knew what was to come as they could feel the ‘disturbance’ in the chakra and the threat it carried. It was far from a pleasant feeling.

“Just because you are a few years older…” Karin let out through her gritted teeth. She was squeezing her fists so hard, her sharp nails dug into her palms, driving blood and causing her to feel a painful sting.

Just because she was still a ‘kid’, Rei always deflected her advances. How was it fair that he fucked Temari and not her!?

Karin wanted nothing more than to see the shithead who decided fifteen being the age of majority in the Elemental Nation and tear him to shreds. She was a kunoichi! An adult! She was old enough to kill so it should automatically mean she was old enough to give herself to the man she loved, no!?

Frankly, the pain helped her to prevent herself from leaping at Temari and smashing that bloated sand swine’s face into a bloody mess. Who permitted her to spread her legs for Rei before her!?

Karin’s chakra also exploded outwardly like a raging inferno as her thoughts became more and more turbulent. It was not visible for civilians but the ninjas jolted at the abrupt flood of energy and malice. The bloodlust they could feel from the small redhead amplified to heights even experienced chunins were starting to feel unsure about their continued safety in the arena.

Alas, one, Gekko Hayate, could only discreetly weep bitter tears as Hokage himself gave him the job of proctoring the matches. If he knew he would be caught in the middle of these two hostile torrents of chakra desiring nothing but to tear each other apart, he would have declined the ‘honor’ and kept the heck away from the arena today!

It was starting to be physically painful just to stay in the vicinity of their powerful chakra. Genins, his ass!