Sasuke stared at Naruto, completely speechless.
Naruto turned his head, meeting Sasuke's gaze with utter seriousness. "Is there something wrong with what I said?"
"No, no problem at all. You're absolutely right." Sasuke nodded, though internally he was thinking: The amount of food determining strength is purely Naruto's standard. No one else measures power that way.
Still, he had to admit, Hinata's appetite was genuinely impressive. Twenty-five Sakuras couldn't match what Hinata consumed in a single meal. He'd never actually seen Hinata fight seriously, so he had no real measure of her combat abilities. But if Naruto's theory held any water...
As for Neji, who'd been praying desperately throughout the name selection, he was learning a fundamental truth: the more you fear something, the more likely it is to manifest. When the scrolling stopped and the characters "HYUGA HINATA" appeared on the screen, Neji felt the universe's malice directed specifically at him.
The last time he'd felt the world's malice so acutely was when he'd gone kite-flying with Hanabi. That hadn't ended well either.
I really want the world to feel MY malice for once, Neji thought bitterly.
Hinata was the absolute last person he wanted to face. If Naruto had still been in the candidate pool, Naruto would've held that dubious honor. But now that Naruto had broken all conventional rules and been promoted directly to chunin, Neji's least-desired opponent had shifted to his cousin, Hinata Hyuga.
Fighting Hinata meant complete and utter defeat. He knew this with crushing certainty.
In Neji's understanding, before age seven, Hinata had been a rookie with a cowardly personality. She'd been afraid of her own shadow, refusing to compete with anyone, shrinking from every challenge. But something had changed when she entered the Ninja Academy. It was like she'd become a completely different person overnight.
Now she wasn't afraid of any challenge. She faced everything head-on with quiet determination.
Neji suspected his cousin's transformation had everything to do with Naruto Uzumaki. That blonde boy's influence seemed to reshape everyone around him.
Well, things have come to this point. What else can I say? Neji resigned himself to his fate.
"Ah, Neji-nii! We're matched together!" Hinata's exclamation carried genuine surprise. She hadn't expected to face her cousin in the first round.
"Then, the first preliminary match," Mitarashi Anko's voice rang out clearly through the examination hall, "Neji Hyuga versus Hinata Hyuga. Contestants, please enter the arena!"
The spectators immediately moved to the second floor, positioning themselves along the railing for a better view. From that elevated perspective, they could observe the entire battle arena on the first floor without obstruction.
"Contestants, enter the ring!" Anko's command echoed again.
Hinata stepped forward honestly, her movements measured and careful as she climbed onto the raised platform. Her white eyes flickered briefly toward where Naruto stood watching.
Neji sighed internally, a sound of pure resignation that seemed to deflate his entire chest. He walked up to the ring with the gait of someone approaching an execution. Taking his position across from Hinata, he met her pale Hyuga eyes with his own.
"Good luck, Neji-nii," Hinata said softly, her voice barely carrying across the distance between them.
Looking at his innocent cousin, Neji felt words fail him completely. Finally, he managed to speak, his tone colored with bitter acceptance. "I'll have to ask my cousin to be merciful."
The memory surfaced unbidden. That time when Hinata had come to apologize on Naruto's behalf, and Neji had proposed a sparring match to test her abilities. She'd beaten him until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen, leaving him looking like he'd been trampled by a herd of cattle.
Judging by her current demeanor, his cousin didn't seem to have any awareness of her own overwhelming strength. That somehow made it worse.
"Battle, begin!" Mitarashi Anko's command cut through the tension.
The moment those words fell, both Hinata and Neji stopped their conversation. They bowed to each other respectfully, honoring the traditional courtesy between Hyuga clan members, then immediately shifted into combat stances.
Even if Hinata is stronger than me, Neji thought, settling into his Gentle Fist form, I still have to fight. Otherwise, how can I accept defeat without even trying?
His Byakugan activated with a surge of chakra, veins bulging around his eyes as his vision expanded to encompass nearly 360 degrees. His hands flexed into the distinctive open-palm stance of the Gentle Fist style, and he launched forward, driving a straight punch directly at Hinata's center mass.
Hinata's Byakugan flared to life as well, the veins around her temples and eyes standing out starkly against her pale skin. Ever since she'd listened to Naruto's advice and stopped restraining her appetite, her physical condition had improved dramatically. Her Gentle Fist technique had been advancing rapidly day by day, earning consistent praise from her father for the first time in her life.
Now, Hinata using the Gentle Fist could defeat her father, Hiashi Hyuga, in sparring matches. Not every time, but often enough that her father had finally acknowledged her potential.
Neji's attack came at her through the Byakugan's enhanced perception. To Hinata's eyes, his movements appeared slow. Incredibly, painfully slow. His form was full of openings, telegraphing his intentions long before his fist could connect.
Her left hand rose smoothly, deflecting Neji's straight punch with minimal effort. Simultaneously, her right hand clenched into a fist and drove forward, connecting solidly with Neji's cheek.
The impact was precise and devastating.
"Ah!" Neji couldn't help but cry out, stumbling backward. His cheek immediately swelled and reddened where Hinata's fist had landed. The Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist combined with their Byakugan created a devastating fighting style that attacked the meridian system inside a ninja's body. Those meridians were the transportation routes for chakra, the highways that allowed energy to flow through the body.
Wherever the Gentle Fist struck, those routes became blocked temporarily. Chakra couldn't pass through the damaged pathways until they healed.
"Go, Neji! You can do it, Hinata!" From the second floor, Naruto's voice boomed across the examination hall with such volume that several people turned to stare at him. His enthusiasm was absolutely undampened by the fact that he was cheering for both contestants simultaneously.
Hinata had landed her punch but didn't press her advantage. Instead, hearing Naruto's encouragement, she raised her head to look up at where he stood on the second floor. Her Byakugan was still active, the veins prominent around her eyes, spreading out in patterns that resembled crow's feet at the corners.
Neji also had those characteristic veins radiating from his eyes, a side effect of activating the Byakugan. When he heard Naruto cheering, a thought flashed through his mind with exasperation: Are you cheering for me, or for Hinata?! Pick one!
He glanced at his cousin, whose cheeks had flushed slightly pink from Naruto's encouragement. Neji touched his own swelling cheek and thought bitterly: Who taught this cousin of mine to always target the face? Where did she learn this habit?
The battle continued.
Even when Neji Hyuga fought with complete seriousness, giving everything he had, the difference in their strength levels was undeniable. Hinata continued beating him steadily.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
As the battle stretched on, Neji's face became progressively more swollen. Among the spectators watching from the second floor, several expressions began to change. Recognition dawned on multiple faces.
This young lady of the Hyuga main family certainly had a preference for face strikes.
By now, Neji's face had swollen into something resembling a pig's head, his features distorted almost beyond recognition.
Only Naruto's friends felt their hearts twitch with uncomfortable familiarity. All their eyes turned to stare at Naruto, accusation clear in their gazes.
Naruto sensed the weird looks immediately. He adopted an expression of perfect innocence, spreading his hands in a helpless gesture. "Why are you all looking at me? Watch the battle! Neji is about to lose. You should be cheering him on!"
Cheer him on to get beaten more thoroughly? That was the collective thought running through everyone's minds.
Standing beside Kakashi among the jonin instructors, the thick-browed Might Guy watched his student taking punch after punch to the face. Discomfort radiated from his rigid posture. His hands kept clenching and unclenching at his sides, wanting to intervene but knowing he couldn't.
In contrast, Kurenai Yuhi wore a smile of satisfaction. Her expression showed clear approval and pride.
As expected of the eldest daughter of the main family, Kurenai thought. Her strength is impressive. Now Lord Hiashi will definitely be satisfied with her progress.
Rock Lee and Tenten stood on either side of Guy, both clenching their fists so hard their knuckles turned white. They were cheering frantically for their teammate Neji in their hearts, silently urging him to somehow turn the battle around.
But there was no reversing this outcome. The victor had already been decided. As Hinata landed her final punch with practiced precision, Neji collapsed to the ground with a bruised and swollen face, unable to stand up anymore. His consciousness wavered, teetering on the edge of darkness.
"I declare Hinata Hyuga the winner of this preliminary match!" Mitarashi Anko's announcement carried across the hall with official finality.
Medical staff immediately rushed forward with a stretcher. They carefully lifted Neji's collapsed form onto it. The moment he was being carried away, Guy rushed over with Rock Lee and Tenten trailing behind him.
After checking Neji's injuries thoroughly, Guy breathed a visible sigh of relief. They were all superficial wounds on his face. Painful and swollen, certainly, but nothing serious. It seemed Hinata had been mindful of their family relationship and hadn't done anything to cause lasting damage to his meridians or internal systems.
"I won!" Standing on the arena floor while her cousin was being carried away on a stretcher, Hinata remained rooted in place with disbelief written across her features. In all their previous sparring matches, she'd always assumed that Neji was deliberately holding back because she was his younger cousin, his sister. That he was being gentle with her out of familial affection.
She'd never realized until this moment that she'd genuinely surpassed him.
"That's right, Hinata! You won! Congratulations!" Naruto had checked on Neji first, confirming the older Hyuga was safe despite his appearance. Then he came to Hinata's side, his face bright with genuine pride and happiness for her achievement.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata's face flushed an even deeper shade of red, her pale eyes unable to meet his directly.
A sudden thought struck her, and she exclaimed with alarm, "Ah! I forgot to give Neji-nii some healing ointment for his wounds!"
"I already gave him some," Kurenai Yuhi said, walking over at that moment. Undisguised admiration shone on her face as she regarded her student. "Hinata, well done. You performed excellently. Your sensei is very impressed with your progress."
"Thank you, sensei." Hinata bowed respectfully, her voice soft with gratitude.
"Alright, let's head up to the second floor," Kurenai said, gesturing toward the stairs. "The second match will be starting soon."
Hinata followed her sensei toward the observation area, her steps still slightly unsteady with lingering disbelief at her victory.
The first preliminary battle had concluded. The electronic screen began scrolling again, names blurring together too fast to read as it selected the next combatants.
"The second preliminary match," Mitarashi Anko's voice rang out clearly, "Konoha's Rock Lee versus Otogakure's Zaku Abumi! Will the two contestants please step into the ring!"
Guy glanced at Rock Lee, his thick eyebrows drawing together with intensity. He clenched his fist, raising it in an encouraging gesture. "Lee! Do your best! Don't let your youth down! Burn bright!"
"Lee, good luck!" Tenten added her own encouragement, her voice carrying genuine hope.
"I won't let my youth down," Lee said, his voice ringing with absolute confidence. His eyes burned with determination. "This time, I'm going to win. Neji lost his match, so I need to win mine. Only then will there be light for our team!"
"Do it, Lee! Burn up your youth to its brightest flame!" Naruto's voice boomed from near the stairs as Lee prepared to descend.
Lee turned his head, his face splitting into a brilliant smile directed at Naruto. Then, in one powerful leap, he jumped directly onto the arena floor, landing in a perfect crouch before rising to his full height. His green jumpsuit seemed to glow with reflected enthusiasm, and his bowl-cut hair shone under the examination hall's lights.
The second match was about to begin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~