Temari Quotes

2 quotes from Naruto, each with commentary on what it means and why it stuck.

The most competent field commander the Sand has, and the only one of them who evaluates a fight honestly while losing it. Reproduced for banter; worth more than that.

“I don't believe this. The whole time I thought I was keeping out of range of his shadow jutsu when really I was walking right into it. Amazing. This slacker clown outsmarted me.”

File it, if you like, as an opponent conceding so the hero looks clever. What it actually does is establish the only Sand ninja who evaluates a fight honestly while losing it, which is why she survives the arc with a reputation intact. Temari is not impressed by strength anywhere in this series; she is impressed here, once, by somebody doing arithmetic.

“Ha. Still being all macho with all the man and woman stuff? You talk tough but I know it's just an act. Idiot.”

This is the Temari line the fandom reproduces and it is the least of her. Read cold it is banter about gender roles, the sort of exchange any two characters could have, and it flattens a strategist the series otherwise treats as the most competent field commander in the Sand. The interesting version of her is the one calculating wind angles, not the one landing a jab.

Read Temari's story from the start

Every line above is a fragment. The manga is where the fragments come from, and the print edition is the one this site checks its quotes against.

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