Killer Kunoichi and a Shaky Shikamaru

Tenten is matched against Temari. Every weapon she throws slides past her opponent, leaving Team Guy stunned that nothing lands. Temari swats the barrage aside with gusts from her Giant Folding Fan, warning that the moment all three of its stars are showing, the fight is finished. Tenten answers with Twin Rising Dragons and even reuses her weapons through strings, but Temari deflects each wave as the stars appear one by one, then snares her in a cyclone and drops her onto the fan to knock her cold.

Named the winner, Temari moves to fling the unconscious Tenten onto the scattered blades, but Rock Lee dives in to catch her and rounds on Temari, only for Might Guy to halt him and warn the Suna ninja against underrating Lee. Shikamaru then faces Kin Tsuchi. His Shadow Imitation misses, and Kin flings senbon strung with bells, ringing them to lock him in a genjutsu and pelt him with more needles. As she readies another strike, she finds herself frozen: Shikamaru stretched his shadow through the wires in her hands. He hurls a shuriken that forces her to copy his backward dodge, driving her skull into the wall behind and knocking her out.

Part of the Chunin Exams arc, the episode adapts chapters 73 and 74. The title points to a different duel in each language: the Japanese version nods to Tenten against Temari, while the English version highlights Shikamaru against Kin. Naruto and Kiba are chosen for the next match.