The struggle was real as this man was pushing Haia to go into territory she was not used to, whether that territory is the fact that she had to use taijutsu which she was not used to against this man and having it countered in ways she could not comprehend or the fact that she was struggling even to attempt to land a blow against him when the other genin usually have trouble striking her due to her Byakugan, Gentle fist techniques, and her armor of sticky gold when she has to use it.
Now Haia was faced with this man blocking her strikes again in an unknown way in which she could see the chakra blocking her palm but not being able to understand how to break through it or deal with it. When the man's chakra once more was preparing to explode around her, instead of doing something like her rotation again or trying to dodge within a short time frame, Haia simply increased the density, textile strength, and durability by pouring chakra into her armor of sticky gold making it even more resilient to absorb the blast for her as she made a single hand seal moments before the explosion happened. That one hand seal as she saw the man moving away and into the air saved her life as the explosion would happen. Still, the smoke would clear revealing only an empty shell of scorched and damaged sticky gold while from behind the man in a distance would come to a spear being launched at relatively high speeds.
The spear was aimed at the man's abdomen as Haia stood there holding her side slightly scorched from being partly caught in the explosion before using substitution to avoid the full blast. She would look at the Ikki with an irritated grimace, no longer trying to hide her princess-like demeanor. She stared daggers at him with a glare of pure killing intent no genin should be able to produce. Anyone who knew Haia well could tell she was less irritated about the fight, the damage to her physical being, or even the fact that he started the fight out of nowhere. No Haia was irritated that her hair which took over an hour to get right in the Land of Waves where her family's maids, butlers, and other servants were not around and she had to do it herself. She hated anyone damaging her hair and face and this man had done both. Had the spear struck the man would feel it pierce into him before Haia would make a hand seal causing it to burst inside of him and release what would feel like shrapnel into his body when in actuality it would be her spider webs piercing into the very fibers of his being.
Even while being hurt Haia was going to at least take this Cretan down with her if it was the last thing she did. She focused her Byakguan more than ever in order to track every move he would make. She could see the muscles twitch in his body before they even began to take action. She could see his windpipe as the area within him was moving in and out and any minute chakra use would be noticed with ease due to her heightened used of the Byakugan and her unnaturally awakened state due to a near-fatal experience.