"It started?"
Souma wasn't inside the arena.
He sat outside the ring, a booklet in hand.
"Not yet."
Tenzo sat down beside him.
"I heard Kakashi-senpai once tried to recruit you into ANBU?"
"Mm? Yeah."
Souma continued making circles and marks in his notebook.
Researching puppet techniques here was impossible, so he was sketching prototypes for a multi-function combat-support puppet, thinking about how to embed several combat utilities into one frame.
"What are you drawing?"
Tenzo leaned over.
…
Very good.
He understood exactly nothing.
"A refined ninja-tool blueprint. If this works out, it might become a whole new system for Konoha."
"…"
That sounded familiar.
Tenzo thought for a moment.
Then he remembered—
The Third Hokage had said similar things several times.
Chakra needles, modified Gentle Fist, sealing refinements… every time it was "a new system."
Now Souma was adding another one—"ninja tools."
"You're planning to study puppet arts?"
"Not puppet arts," Souma corrected.
"It's more like… a multifunctional support-type ninja tool that also protects the user and can deal damage."
He thought for a moment, then explained:
The Telescope Technique, puppet mechanisms, chakra-absorbing tools…
If he could one day create a chakra battery, then he could build a combat assistant that handled reconnaissance, chakra delivery, and combat in one body.
And not only that.
Such a "puppet" could take many forms.
For Aburame, for example—
He could design a model built specifically to work with their kikaichū.
The potential was enormous, and unlike Suna's puppeteering, this would be a new track entirely—
A track where Konoha could overtake innovation.
Souma glanced at Tenzo.
Even though Tenzo's face was hidden behind a mask, Souma knew full well the man probably understood none of that.
Forget it.
He closed the notebook and sighed.
"You had something to ask, right?"
"…Mm. You're smart. I wanted your opinion on something."
"Say it quickly, the match is about to start."
"I have a friend whose student is very exceptional—so exceptional he's become a source of pressure.
Now the higher-ups want another friend of mine to take over as that student's squad captain.
Do you think my… Do other friends accept it?"
Tenzo whispered.
Souma crouched on his heels and gave him a strange look.
"This 'other friend'… is that you?"
"Haha—how could it be!"
Tenzo laughed stiffly.
Souma extended his senses toward the arena.
Still just announcing rules.
Good.
He sat on the steps.
"Tenzo-senpai, you don't have to feel pressured at all. You're an excellent shinobi. You're more than qualified to be a captain."
"…I am?"
"Absolutely. And if you treat us as teammates instead of thinking of yourself as a teacher—won't that reduce the pressure?"
Tenzo fell into thought.
He understood the logic, but…
This kid had no idea how overwhelming his talent was.
"And besides," Souma added, "we really need someone like you."
"Oh? Do you need me?"
Tenzo suddenly straightened, eyes shining.
He wasn't sleepy anymore.
"Of course. Your ninjutsu works for offense and defense, and you can even avoid sleeping outdoors in missions. But—hey, where are you going?"
"The match is starting. I'm going to watch it!"
"Sorry, senpai, I was joking!"
Souma rushed after him.
When they returned to the stands, Tenten and Kazusa had also come back.
Below, a Suna team and a Takigakure team were fighting.
Souma took one glance—
Takigakure was doomed.
He lowered his head and continued refining his sketches.
He became absorbed, time slipping by unnoticed.
Until—
A sudden cry from the girls made him lift his head.
"What is it?"
"It's Neji—he's up against Temari, but…"
"But what? Let me see."
Souma stood and leaned over the railing.
Neji was being chased across the arena by Temari's wind techniques.
Byakugan—unused.
Eight Trigrams techniques—unused.
No wonder he was getting run ragged.
Souma frowned.
"Tenten, what—?"
"Just watch," Souma said quietly.
Neji clearly didn't want to use the Byakugan.
Otherwise, with its field of vision and predictive perception, even Temari wouldn't be a hard opponent.
Not using the Byakugan…
It was a handicap—
but also an opportunity.
Guy and Kakashi both had equally serious expressions.
This match…
It mattered to Neji.
Down below, Neji dodged wave after wave of slicing wind.
He was too accustomed to relying on the Byakugan.
Without it, the battle suddenly felt foreign and unstable, like he was fighting underwater.
Temari didn't notice at first.
But soon—she realized.
Isn't he a Hyūga?
Why isn't he using his eyes!?
"Are you looking down on me?"
Temari stopped, voice iced.
"No. You're strong."
"Then why—
WHY AREN'T YOU USING YOUR EYES!?"
"That's my business."
"…!"
Temari snapped her fan open.
A starlike symbol glittered on its surface.
She swung—
FWOOSH—
A storm of vacuum blades tore forward.
Stronger than before—several times stronger.
Neji dodged with everything he had, still getting grazed—
But his eyes… shone brighter.
So this was how it felt without the Byakugan.
He charged Temari.
Even without his eyes, his speed was still formidable—otherwise he wouldn't have dodged earlier wind blades.
But Temari had lost her patience.
Two stars.
Wind ripped across the field like a tidal wave.
Neji pushed Shunshin and raw speed to their limit—
And in a blink, he appeared at Temari's flank, ten steps away.
"My… domain."
"Don't mock me!"
Temari swept the fan.
Ninja Art: Kamaitachi!
Chakra surged into the fan—
Storm winds condensed into a razor gale shot straight at Neji.
With the Byakugan, he could have dodged early.
Now he couldn't.
But—
He tried anyway.
Even as injuries opened along his skin, he clenched his teeth and pushed through.
Nine steps—
Eight—
Limit Break—OPEN!
Neji blurred.
A fist crashed into Temari's iron-boned fan.
She parried—
But the next strike was already there.
A single finger—
then…
Gentle Fist: Burst.
Not Souma's version—
Neji's chakra wasn't compressed to the extremity.
Instead, each thrust injected a burst of chakra into the same point—
Over and over again.
Individually weak—
But stacked in one place?
One strike.
Two.
Four.
Eight—
BOOM!
Neji was blown back by a follow-up wind blast, his injuries severe—
But they were all external.
Temari?
Eight overlapping bursts had pierced her abdomen.
The wound looked like an ordinary puncture, but internally—
Everything was wrecked.
She tried to lift her fan—
A hand stopped her.
"Temari forfeits."
Baki's voice was flat.
Neji smiled faintly and walked away.
"You—HEY! You get back here!"
Temari shouted furiously.
Losing like this—
She couldn't accept it.
Did she not even deserve to make him open his eyes?
But Neji simply smiled silently and walked toward the Konoha stands.
He felt something finally click.
The Byakugan was just a tool.
He depended on it too much—
and because of that, he had shackled his own growth.
How could he ever surpass the main family like that?
No—
The main family wasn't even the goal.
His true target—
The mountain pressing down from above—
Yagyu Souma.
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