Sora stood in the center of the field, listening to the discussions around him, but felt little joy. Instead, he was filled with vigilance and self reflection.
'Careless... almost capsized in a ditch.' Sora watched as Raidō Namiashi was helped up by the medical team, thinking to himself.
Raidō Namiashi's final tactic was simple yet effective, using the environment, ninjutsu, and his own sacrifice to create a killing opportunity. This was true ninja combat, testing not just strength and speed, but also wisdom and resolve.
Although Sora possessed strength and knowledge from his past life that surpassed his peers, looking down on any opponent because of this would lead to a great loss sooner or later.
This world never lacked examples of the weak overcoming the strong.
'I must be more cautious, more steady.' Sora warned himself inwardly.
Fortunately, people in the ninja world were basically "high offense, low defense." Below the Six Paths level, no matter how strong you are, you won't survive a kunai stabbed through the heart.
But Sora was different! The Azure Dragon Fruit, developed to its later stages, could truly be called immortal and indestructible. Even if you let someone hit you, they couldn't kill you, just like Kaido in One Piece who kept shouting about "wanting to die."
...
The first round of matches ended, and Sora successfully advanced to the quarter finals.
Stepping off the arena, Sora was met with Kurenai's admiring gaze and Asuma's complicated look.
"Sora, you were amazing just now!" Yūhi Kurenai's small face still showed excitement that hadn't faded and a trace of lingering fear. "That last moment scared me to death, I thought you couldn't dodge it."
"I was a bit careless."
"Raidō Namiashi was more troublesome than I imagined. His tactics were clever." Sora said, shaking his head.
This was his genuine feeling.
His identity as a transmigrator and the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit gave him a starting point far beyond his peers, but it didn't mean he could look down on the natives of this world.
Raidō Namiashi used actual combat to teach him a lesson. In battles between ninjas, wisdom was often more important than brute force.
"The next match seems to be Hikaru Hyuga's."
Asuma had somehow come over, a newly plucked blade of grass in his mouth, his expression serious as he said, "Be careful with that guy. I've seen his matches. He fights dirty."
Sora didn't mind, joking, "Why are you everywhere, Asuma?"
"Hey, hey, hey, we're classmates sitting in front and back of each other, don't be so heartless!"
Sora was just teasing him, then nodded and turned his gaze towards the arena.
Sure enough, the referee soon announced the next match. "Second match, Hikaru Hyuga versus Fujiwara Isamu!"
The one named Fujiwara Isamu looked like a rather sturdy commoner child. Being able to break into the top sixteen clearly meant he had some skill.
Hikaru Hyuga, however, looked very delicate, even somewhat frail. His white eyes were pure and flawless, and a slightly shy smile was on his face. He politely bowed slightly to Fujiwara Isamu. "Hikaru Hyuga. Please guide me."
His voice was gentle, his manners proper, completely unlike the vicious image described by Kurenai and Asuma.
Fujiwara Isamu seemed misled by Hikaru's appearance, relaxing his guard slightly, and also returned the courtesy. "Fujiwara Isamu. Please guide me!"
"Match begin!"
As soon as the referee's voice fell, Fujiwara Isamu let out a loud shout, trying to overwhelm his opponent with momentum while rushing forward quickly, throwing a powerful straight punch aimed at Hikaru Hyuga's face. A standard taijutsu opening move, full of strength.
However, facing this swift punch, Hikaru Hyuga only shifted slightly to the side and easily avoided it.
At the same time, he extended his right index and middle fingers together, pointing with pinpoint accuracy at the inner wrist of Fujiwara Isamu's punching arm!
"Gentle Fist Technique. Pressure Point Strike!"
Thud.
A soft sound.
"Ugh!" Fujiwara Isamu's forward momentum suddenly halted. His entire right arm instantly became weak and numb, as if it wasn't his own. The power in his fist also dissipated in an instant.
A look of shock appeared on Fujiwara Isamu's face. He clearly hadn't expected Hikaru Hyuga's counterattack to be so strange and swift.
'So fast! Such precise pressure point striking!' Sora's eyes sharpened.
Hikaru Hyuga's move just now, whether in timing, angle, or force, was perfectly executed, completely unlike the level a seven or eight year old child should have. This was definitely the result of long term, rigorous training.
Having succeeded with one strike, the shy smile on Hikaru Hyuga's face seemed to widen a bit. His footwork slid, instantly closing in on Fujiwara Isamu, who had left a huge opening due to his injured arm.
"Gentle Fist Technique. Body Blow!"
Hikaru Hyuga's voice remained gentle, but his hands turned into blurs. Using his palms as blades, he chopped repeatedly at the muscle groups on Fujiwara Isamu's chest, arms, shoulder blades, and other areas!
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
A series of dense, crisp striking sounds rang out.
"Waaah!" Fujiwara Isamu had no power to resist at all. He only felt tearing muscle pain all over his body, his chakra chaotically rushing through his meridians, and even breathing became extremely difficult.
Fujiwara Isamu kept screaming in agony, but Hikaru Hyuga showed no intention of stopping.
After more than a dozen palm strikes, Fujiwara Isamu had already collapsed on the ground, curled up, groaning in pain, unable to even utter words of surrender.
But Hikaru Hyuga seemed to think it wasn't enough. He raised his foot and stepped, seemingly casually, on Fujiwara Isamu's right wrist.
Crack!
A sickeningly slight bone cracking sound was heard.
"Ahhh!" Fujiwara Isamu let out a heart rending scream and completely lost consciousness.
The entire venue fell silent.
Many students and even teachers showed expressions of discomfort.
This had far exceeded the scope of an assessment spar. It was clearly intentional injury!
The referee immediately rushed forward to intervene, and the medical team quickly came onto the stage to carry away the unconscious Fujiwara Isamu.
Hikaru Hyuga stood in place, lightly smoothing his perfectly neat clothes. The gentle smile on his face never changed, as if the one who had just delivered the vicious blows wasn't him at all.
He even bowed slightly towards the carried away Fujiwara Isamu. His posture was impeccable, yet it made people feel a bone chilling coldness.
"Winner, Hikaru Hyuga!" The referee's voice held a note of complexity.
On the viewing stand, Sarutobi Hiruzen slightly furrowed his brows, took a puff from his pipe, and said nothing. Meanwhile, Danzō beside him had a flash of interest in his eyes, clearly taking a liking to this Hikaru Hyuga.
"See that!"
"This guy is a psycho! He clearly won long ago, yet he had to inflict serious injury! I heard he's from the Hyuga branch family. Probably has some psychological issues."
Asuma whispered to Sora nearby, his tone full of disgust.
Sora nodded silently.
No wonder this Hikaru Hyuga didn't exist in the original. Behaving like this on an occasion where the Hokage was present, it completely tarnished the face of the Hyuga clan!
As a branch family member, it would be strange if he could survive.
The subsequent matches continued. Genma Shiranui, Ibiki Morino, Asuma, and others all successfully advanced.
Uchiha Ryōta, who defeated Genma Shiranui, was indeed a genius based on this!
Unfortunately, he encountered Sora and was directly knocked out of the competition...