"Welcome, Lord-Kazekage." The Hokage said, rising from his chair on the special wide balcony with prime arena view. Matching chair for the equal-status VIP. Sound rep should be there too, but post-prelims, Hidden Village of Sound discredited itself via Orochimaru ties. Evidenced by the Sannin himself, Team Dosu's attack on Team Seven on Orochimaru's orders, and Dosu's attempt to kill Gaara before his sensei. The shinobi Genma and patrol tried grabbing pinned to Sound. Baki testified he'd fought and distracted him while Gaara faced Dosu.
Per Baki, those two Sound shinobi tried killing Gaara—confirmed by the attempt and Dosu slain by them. Baki just protected his student, distracting with talk, then fought—caught by patrol. Orochimaru and Kazekage claims? Delusions. No serious grounds for special interrogation given his Sand rep status. Those words just convinced Hokage and others the unmarked shinobi was Sound. Hayate's version—that shinobi saved him, Sand prepping betrayal and Konoha attack—lacked proof, though Third doubted Hayate lied.
After Hayate offered memory probe to prove it, Third defused the clash with Baki, suggesting Hayate got genjutsu'd on encounter—the talk he heard/remembered likely Orochimaru/Sound ploy.
"Good day, Lord-Hokage. Apologies for the slight delay." Both Lords greeted with hat-touches and slight nods. Hiruzen stubbed his pipe, handing to his guard.
Kazekage had two bodyguards in flesh-tone cloaks, heads wrapped Eastern-style; one had distinctive war paint. Once seated, they swapped compliments; he stepped forward for welcome speech.
"Honored spectators, Konoha residents, and esteemed guests!" he began. "I, Third of my title, Lord-Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, welcome you all gathered on this arena!" Crowd applauded; as cheers died, he continued. "Beside me, our honored guest. Head of Hidden Sand Village, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages—Lord-Fourth Kazekage!" Crowd cheered the second Lord-Kage too; earlier entrants lined up under Genma and bowed low to the Lords.
Only Gaara did it with a slight hesitation, clenching his fists and meanwhile giving his father a look full of hatred.
The Kazekage didn't move from his armchair, as befits an honored guest.
The Hokage responded to the participants' bows with a short nod and continued his speech.
"Today, we have all gathered here to see the results of our labors, to see the strength and efforts of those who, by right of their youth, will rightfully accept this world from us old folks as an inheritance and who still have yet to prove themselves and, I hope, stand together against future threats! These..." He gestured toward the participants. "...are the finest representatives of the new generation of shinobi! Each of them is undoubtedly at the peak of their form right now and will only grow stronger with time. They were selected through brutal preliminary trials, where they showed themselves from their very best side, and now, at this celebration, they are ready to amaze you with their combat skills, honed over long years. Let us welcome..." According to the plan, he was supposed to name each one, introducing the participants to the spectators, but he stopped in time, not seeing Uchiha Sasuke among them. It would be awkward to skip him, but even worse to call his name when he wouldn't respond. "Ahem..." He pretended to clear his throat. "Let us welcome them and wish them luck in the fight!" The crowd erupted in ovations again, and the participants reciprocated by waving in greeting and smiling at everyone on the stands. "I'm pleased to announce that the long-awaited Tournament for promotion to Chunin rank will begin right..." He took a dramatic pause. "...now!"
"Impressive speech..." Lord Kazekage remarked with applause as Hiruzen sat back down in his armchair. "You didn't have to strain your throat like that at your age."
"What are you saying... I'm not as old as you think." The Hokage smiled in response. "How was your journey? I hope the road didn't tire you out?"
"No, not at all. Thank you for your concern. It's nothing to me, though I understand that at such an age, even for a great warrior like you, it wouldn't be easy. Tell me, have you chosen who will become the Fifth Hokage when you step down?"
"Ho-ho-ho..." Hiruzen laughed. "You don't need to worry about that. Rest assured, I have no intention of stepping down and will rule as long as I can. I won't let you young ones catch up to me."
"Your vigor commands respect, Hokage-dono. It seems the preparations are complete. Let's see what you've prepared for the first match... It's between two shinobi from your village." The Kazekage said, clearly signaling that the exchange of jabs was over.
Genma announced the first participants and asked the others to leave the arena.
The electronic scoreboard also notified the spectators that the first match was about to begin.
"Uzumaki Naruto VS Hyuga Neji"
***
After the start was announced, Neji and I didn't rush at each other. Seeing my focused face, he just smirked and asked.
"Don't you have anything to say to me?"
"Oh, believe me, I have a lot I want to say, but it's better I stay quiet. With your pathetic little brain, it's unlikely anything would get through to you anyway..."
"Tch..." He clicked his tongue. "Indeed, a rude stray." He replied, assuming his stance and forming the blade hand seal to activate his Byakugan. Suddenly, his Ki spread across the entire area... About fifty meters around him, there was a pressure from his chakra—not as strong as, say, Kakashi's, but still noticeable. It carried a piercing chill like Haku's chakra, not as freezing, but the sensation was similar. His eyes changed, the outlines of his pupils appearing, veins and vessels bulging around them, and his face slightly wrinkled. "And why do they put someone like you on the same level as me and the other heirs of great clans. You're just..."
"Shut the fuck up already! You're just like Kiba, huh? Love to run your mouth?" I asked, grabbing the sword hilt and forming the blade hand seal for concentration in Hayate's style. "Only he's already said his piece... You're not like him, of course, which is exactly why... This will be a completely different conversation." I finished concentrating, releasing a bit of my Ki, and as soon as I opened my eyes, I made my move. At a speed only an experienced jonin like Kakashi could catch with the naked eye, I drew my sword and charged forward, trying to end the fight quickly with one strike.
As Hayate told me...
"Don't fear that your sword might kill your opponent. The sword is merely a tool in your hands. In truth, we don't kill with the sword, but with the heart. It's up to you, in your heart, to decide whether the Defender kills the enemy or merely wounds them. If your heart doesn't become as hard as stone, your sword won't kill!"
I aimed where his stomach or slightly below, the intestines, should be. Not pleasant, but even if I pierced him clean through, he could be saved. They'd cut out a piece of gut in surgery—he'd just shit more often. That would be his lesson for life.
However, his eyes could see my movements, and his body, stimulated by chakra, reacted accordingly.
"Instant Thrust!" I used a straight sword strike at full instantaneous movement speed. No fancy tricks, just speed and piercing power.
Neji caught my blade, clamping it between his palms—one bandaged—and forcefully deflected the strike aside while stepping off the line of attack. From his clap, the chakra directed into the blade dispersed. Our faces nearly collided, and he smirked, staring into my eyes with his Byakugan.
"Time someone knocked that arrogance out of you!" Releasing the sword—which I held with both hands to keep him from disarming me—he executed a perfect circular sweep, which I evaded with a quick upward jump, doing a backflip and pushing off a shadow clone in mid-air to accelerate my counterattack, which also failed due to his inhuman reaction. His movement speed was comparable to Lee's without opening the first gate. No wonder they called him a genius of his generation. In the previous class, like Sasuke and me, he'd graduated the academy with top honors. He effortlessly got behind me, but that was a dubious move. If that idiot knew how many times I'd taken hits from Hayate that way, he wouldn't have even tried attacking like that.
I used the shadow clone for an instant body replacement. The clone skillfully flipped my body over him, taking the five-finger strike to the torso and popping immediately. The response was swift.
"Circular Swing!" I called out, forcing him to leap back sharply, shifting to the other flank for attack, but I wasn't standing still either. Blocking his path, I repeated the swing right in front of him. Greetings from two toads...
Neji leaped back again, this time forced to use instantaneous movement fifteen meters straight back, plowing his feet into the ground a bit more to brake at those speeds.
His balance and ability to fly at any angle were impressive... His gaze didn't even flicker; it was easy for him.
But he wasn't expecting my next move... I wasn't planning to give a breather to myself or my opponent.
I immediately hurled the sword at his face point-first from the shoulder, charging it well with chakra. I myself formed the cloning seal right away.
"Shadow Clone Technique!" I created several clones. As I thought, his gaze involuntarily followed the sword, forcing him to dodge aside, ducking a bit. The clones seized the moment—two pushed off the hands of two others behind them and flew in for hand-to-hand, aiming to occupy his hands for even a second; the two clones next to me also gave me acceleration as I flew after the sword, creating yet another clone on the fly. Flying behind him, I intercepted the sword, while the clone in the air was supposed to, mid-flight while his hands blocked the quick strike from two opponents, smash his head with the boot in a flashy somersault.
"Don't underestimate me!" He shouted and, using his style, deflected the fist strikes in different directions, grabbed two clones by the throat, stepped forward to prevent them from continuing the attack. Neji used brute force to lift them into the air for a second, then dropped to his knees, throwing them ahead while holding their throats, thus intimately introducing their occiputs to the ground.
The leg whistled right over his head. The clone's overhead strike was calculated assuming he'd stand, and those two would grab his arms during the block. I wanted to hit his back and was flying at him at full speed, so I couldn't stop my strike until I pierced right through my own clone.
Neji was on the ground and transitioned to counterattack, mockingly using Sasuke's style. When the clones popped and I ended up point-blank, he went on hands and delivered the same strike Sasuke had clipped Lee with. The one that tossed Yoro into the air with an upward kick to the chin from below. Quick and precise.
It caught me off guard, but in truth... He must have seen this technique countless times in training. Nothing surprising about him repeating it now, but it hurt. Without near-daily neck training, I'd have gotten injured for sure...
Gritting my teeth and taking the strike—whose follow-up didn't come—I tucked into a somersault at the last moment and landed on my feet ten meters from Neji, who was already in ready stance and charged at me before I could fully turn.
Now he was fully using his clan's Gentle Fist technique, leaning forward a bit, and before me flashed Hayate's face, who had similarly attacked head-on, forcing me to dodge thrusting strikes to the face and body. Thanks to such training, I was used to every strike being potentially lethal. I used instantaneous movement focused on my legs, keeping the sword in my right hand, directing the blade behind my back. Thus sliding across the ground, I dodged about ten to twelve sharp palm thrusts, each of which could have been decisive, as after such a penetrating strike, one might not get up.
Catching Neji on another thrust that missed my face thanks to "partial body flicker," I decided to let him know the games were over and made my thrust from below behind my back. At that moment, his evasion speed broke his own record. He shot into the air, leaping several meters back and up with a somersault, landing stylishly on his feet.
"Don't try to hit me. I see all your movements by how you direct chakra through your channels. Someone like you can't match the speed of these eyes even in a hundred years." With that, I demonstratively spun the sword in my wrist, slashing the air sideways. A drop of his blood flew off the tip and hit the ground, and a second later, a drop from his chin hit the ground too. He flinched, realizing how badly he'd erred.
I smiled at how the arrogance and smirk melted off him. With his bandaged hand, he wiped his chin, where there was a small cut from the sword tip.
Recalling old gladiator movies, I turned to the crowd, raising my sword high, and said...
"Konoha! Can I start?!"
***
The participants were deliberately separated from the spectators to avoid various unpleasant incidents. They had a separate room with a small balcony from which they could watch the fight. Sakura stood right at the railing, the wind tousling her hair, when the examiner announced the "match." Nearby stood Shikamaru, skillfully hiding his agitation in a slacker pose with hands behind his head. About ten meters to Sakura's right, behind a small column supporting the ceiling in this room, stood Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro, also watching the Naruto vs. Neji fight. Only Shino stood by the far wall, away from the other participants. His high coat collar and glasses hid his expression from his comrades. He stood aside, silent, eyes fixed on the arena.
"Naruto, you've gotten stronger, but will that strength be enough against HIM?" Sakura murmured half to herself, almost mumbling. When Neji's Byakugan activated, even she, at a distance, flinched. It felt like he could see right through her, even though he wasn't looking.
"Worried about him?" Shikamaru asked to start a conversation.
"Of course... His opponent is a genius from the Hyuga clan. Many predict he'll win the entire tournament. The Hyuga are the strongest clan in the country, specializing in close combat. For Naruto, who also fights mainly in close range, it's hard to imagine a worse matchup."
"You forgot that Naruto, like Neji and Sasuke, graduated the Academy with top honors? In theory, he sometimes even gave you a run for your money, and in written problems, only I could compete with him, but it was too bothersome." Shikamaru replied, shifting his gaze to Naruto grabbing his sword hilt. "Don't get me started on practice. He didn't shine at first, but he had tenacity to spare and carved his way to the level of clan geniuses."
"That's all true, but a lot of it was just luck..."
"You can't achieve results like that with luck alone." Shikamaru summed up. "Oh, look, he's starting!"
On the stands, by the end of the Third Hokage's speech, new people appeared. Kiba had finally convinced Hinata, and they found seats between Ino and two chunin, Izumo and Kotetsu, who smiled and nodded back at the genin's greetings.
"Free here? Hey Ino, mind if we sit?" Kiba asked, while Hinata behind him just stood shyly peeking over his shoulder.
"All good, sit down. I was getting bored alone."
"Izumo-san, Kotetsu-san?" He asked the two.
"All good, plop down." Kotetsu replied.
Sitting, they looked at the scoreboard announcing the first match.
"Looks like we made it just in time." Kiba said, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the crowd.
"Naruto..." Hinata whispered faintly, seeing him and her brother take positions.
"Too bad for that kid..." Kotetsu said. "He's pretty promising, but... Unfortunately, he just got unlucky drawing a genius from the Hyuga clan."
"I bet on him." Izumo declared.
"Seriously? You heard what Master Jiraiya himself said? He said the stray has no chance. I bet on Hyuga the same day."
"Yeah, but we made a bet yesterday morning. He put a huge sum on Naruto. Probably not even in one shop."
"Bullshit, why would he do that?"
"How should I know?!" Izumo replied indignantly. "I think the blond will surprise us yet."
"Yeah..." Kiba confirmed Izumo's guess.
"Kiba, you too on Naruto?" Ino asked surprised. "I get it... He's our classmate and very talented, but we have to be realistic. No matter how strong he is, he's been lucky so far! Against a genius with Byakugan, all his tricks will be useless! I bet on the white-eyes..."
"I thought Naruto's strength was nothing special too, and where am I now?" Kiba replied without looking at Ino, as Akamaru climbed from his hood onto his shoulder and barked confidently. "Truth is, he's there fighting who's considered the strongest genin, and I'm here among spectators, barely recovered from that fight. I bet on Naruto—if he shows all the power he used against me, even Hyuga loses!" Ino stared at him surprised. Kiba always called Naruto an overconfident upstart, hyped as a genius to set an example that not only great clan-born can be elite shinobi. Ino still believed that. She couldn't believe someone so like slacker Shikamaru in personality could be that strong. Kiba lost due to his own mistakes. That's what she thought, but now...
Now everything looked in a different light.
On the participants' balcony, Sakura watched Naruto's actions, gripping the railing tighter.
"Don't worry so much, look, he dodged the attack again..." Shikamaru said as Naruto successfully substituted with a shadow clone that took Neji's penetrating strike. Is that his true kendo level? When did he learn that? Though, seems even that's not enough—Hyuga's as fast as Lee.
"That's not all..." Sakura replied. "We trained together under Hayate-sensei's watch."
"Huh? That examiner? Heard he's a strong swordsman... He taught Naruto kendo?" Shikamaru asked, and Sakura nodded.
"Yeah, Naruto trained with him every day; he taught me body flicker too and helped with taijutsu. Naruto gave it his all and mastered all the techniques Hayate-sensei showed him. Not perfectly, but still impressive. However... Even now, he's not using the full power of the 'moon dance.'"
"'Moon dance'?" Shikamaru asked. Sakura nodded again.
Naruto hurled the sword from the shoulder and began his combo attack with clones.
"Tch... Shadow clones again. He's a true master of this technique now—look how they push each other so skillfully." Shikamaru marveled. "No wasted moves. You still think it's just luck?"
"Hm... That blond kid's holding his own against the white-eyes even without that powerful chakra. Why the hell did he use it against the dog boy then? If he'd fought like this..." Kankuro said.
"It's because of me... I'm not sure, but seems... He had the misfortune to fall for me." Temari replied.
"Seriously? You think he wanted to impress you, and that's why... That could be his village's secret—he can't be that dumb!" Temari just clicked her tongue at her brother's words. At that moment, Neji used brute force to dispatch two clones, making Naruto miss and delivering a powerful kick to the chin, tossing the opponent up.
"Idiot, use your power if you don't wanna die! This opponent... You can't underestimate guys like him!" Temari screamed in her head.
"Whoa, damn, does that guy have eyes in the back of his head? How'd he calculate Naruto's attacks so precisely?" Shikamaru wondered as Naruto's body soared upward.
"Naruto, what the hell are you thinking?!" Sakura fumed under her breath. "You always have a plan—why fight blind now?"
"A plan?" Shikamaru echoed. "Don't worry, he's fine—just nicked the chin, nothing else. If he uses that chakra... What?" Sakura glared at Shikamaru angrily.
"You want Naruto to use that power again? What if he can't control it? Like on the balcony?"
"Could happen, but he's fighting a Hyuga now—who'd dare say he overdid it?" Shikamaru asked. "Holy shit! What the—?! My eyes are blurring—what is that?!"
"That's... 'Moon Dance Technique: Leaf Waltz!'" Sakura said, staring at Naruto in surprise. "He's finally fighting for real?"
"For real? Some kendo? What dances?" Shikamaru asked.
"Hayate-sensei said sword techniques are dual, since a sword has two sides. There are sun and moon dances, each splitting into two styles internally. Moon dance technique is a style established in our village's kendo school. It has offensive and defensive techniques. Offense is blood and wind dances; defense is leaf and earth dances. Naruto's using 'leaf waltz' or partial body flicker technique. Simple in theory, hard in practice. Use body flicker on the body part targeted during enemy attack."
"Huh? Insane—even I wouldn't think of that."
"It's absolute evasion even from high-precision attacks. Only area attacks counter it."
"Got it... And I see, Hyuga's going all out but can't touch Naruto. And that speed... With his stamina, he could dance like this forever."
"That's the thing—he can't. It's deceptive... Watch!"
"Thrust!"
"Damn... Hyuga dodged anyway!" Sakura lowered her head, covering her eyes.
"No."
"Huh?" She looked at Shikamaru.
"Look at his sword..." With that, Naruto flicked off a drop of the opponent's blood. "...and Hyuga's chin. Even with those eyes... Ha!"
"Incredible! Naruto, you..." Sakura's eyes widened.
"Konoha!" Naruto's voice boomed across the arena. "Can I start?!" The crowd erupted in cheers and approving shouts.
"Idiot!" Sakura yelled angrily. "Don't let up—remember who your opponent is!"
"Sakura..." Shikamaru addressed her, gripping the railing himself. "Believe in him. He knows what he's doing. I'm sure..."
"Shikamaru, you're still overestimating him. Remember, despite all his skills, he's not like Sasuke or Neji—he doesn't have an enhanced genome."
"Maybe... Maybe he's not from a great clan, just a regular stray. You and I couldn't see something like this, but village history had it. When I asked my dad about the odds, he told me a story he witnessed live. Part of our village's history."
"Village history?" Sakura echoed. Shikamaru nodded.
"A regular stray, nothing special, not even standout looks. Seemed soft and effeminate from afar. Graduated academy around my dad's time, plus or minus a year... But that kid set absolute records in all metrics on exams and by graduation surpassed last year's genin. Record still unbroken, years later. Called a genius, became great shinobi of his gen. In the Third Great Shinobi War, clashing with him cost Hidden Stone a whole corps of a thousand ninja! Wherever he showed, Konoha dominated overwhelmingly. After the war, even three legendary ninja admitted his strength surpassed theirs."
"Those ones?! Third's students?!" Shikamaru nodded.
"In other countries, they whispered of him as a god; we saw him as savior."
"You're talking about..." Sakura began to understand.
"Reminds you of Naruto a bit, right?" Shikamaru smiled at her. "Only you see that shinobi every day on the street now, and we all owe him our lives. Soon after the war, they called him the Fourth Hokage!"
***
I sheathed the sword and, bending slightly, focused on my breathing. Forming the blade hand seal with my right hand on the hilt, I continued concentrating chakra for the next technique. If luck holds, I can fool him and end this fight! This time it should work.
Neji wasn't giving me time and switched to ranged, drawing three kunai from his pouch. Hurling them underhand quickly, he clearly wanted to disrupt my concentration and force a dodge, but it was too late. The three kunai pierced me, but my clone popped, releasing three more who charged Neji from three sides at instantaneous speed with swords ready. In response, he assumed some weird stance. It didn't matter anymore—the real me was already flying, aiming the strongest vertical strike between his right shoulder and neck. Horrific wound, lots of blood loss, but better than reaching the heart from the left.
"Moon Dance Technique: Crescent Fang!" I shouted, somersaulting to put full body and power into the strike. However, the sword stopped centimeters from his body, chakra visibly flaring on the tip.
"Hm..." Hyuga smirked and tensed, as if using an invisible extension of his bandaged arm to push my sword away slightly—which worked—and suddenly releasing a massive amount of chakra, began spinning counterclockwise, swirling the chakra-overloaded air around him into a vacuum shockwave.
Explosion!
Holy shit!
It was like a truck hit me full speed—I flew fifteen meters, nearly dropping the sword.
I felt the impact throughout my body. Air blasted from my lungs; legs and knees hit like a rubber baton swung hard. Face took a heavy boxing punch—nose probably broken...
Damn, that hurts—fuck him... Two more like that and I'm done. Landing wasn't soft either.
Rising despite ringing ears, darkening vision, and blurring eyes, I glimpsed Hyuga pausing to catch his breath. I stood only using the sword stabbed into the ground as support. Around the opponent, everything was wrecked—he stood like in an artillery crater.
Yeah... If I'd remembered all his stances, I could've predicted that "whirlwind."
"Now do you see the difference between us?" He started. "With all your struggles, you can only delay the inevitable. You'd lose to me anyway. Fate decided it when you drew me, with the power of these eyes."
"I can barely hear you, but sounds like bullshit again... Repeating for the dumb: You're not the only gifted one here, and I'll knock that arrogance off you. Shadow Clone Technique!" I crossed fingers, summoning two clones who used smoke bombs. Shuriken and kunai flew at Neji from the smoke—he dodged easily, but it wasn't that simple. The goal was distract his all-seeing eye; some flying past sides and back were my shadow clones dropping camouflage, attacking with shuriken and kunai too. Thrown weapons from all sides, but his reactions handled it—not just dodging but countering two kunai to deflect shuriken and kunai. Exactly what I needed.
Shadow clones surrounded him, prepping joint close-range attack—first five, then fifteen more from all sides with kunai ready. Realizing I wanted to bait another whirlwind, he fought clones hand-to-hand and beat the first batch, but what about when they come from above?
Hyuga leaped higher than my clones with instantaneous movement, but you won't shake me that easy. Kunai flew from below; clones pushed off each other to reach his height, continuing attack from all sides.
"Whirlwind!" He was forced to use it. The smoke around me cleared, and I smiled. The whirlwind in mid-air was spectacular. It shredded all clones around, landing artistically. Around the popping clone bodies: broken kunai and shuriken; Hyuga in the center, assuming a stance I recognized and really wanted him to use now. Come on...
"Gentle Fist Technique: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" He shouted and charged me.
"No... Impossible! I thought only Father could... First 'whirlwind,' now this!" Hinata blurted from excitement, covering her mouth with both hands as tears welled up.
"Daddy, how does he know that stance?!" The younger daughter he'd brought to the stands to see clan genius in action—not just her father—asked. But Lord Hiashi was silent as a fish, clenching his fists on his knees so hard his knuckles whitened.
"My brother... They took what's rightfully yours!" Flashed in his mind.
Neji was upon me lightning-fast with his rush, slamming two-finger touches full-force.
Four...
Eight...
Sixteen!
Thirty-two!
The strikes multiplied, and at the end...
Sixty-four!
From that, I dropped the sword—which flew behind him—and my body flew a couple meters back.
Hope that took a lot of his chakra.
"Examiner..." He said after breathing for ten seconds and deactivating Byakugan. "Fight's over. No one gets up after that!"
"Tch..." Genma said and headed closer to us.
***
"Now that's something... I never thought Hyuga could do that!" Shikamaru blurted.
Sakura stood frozen, realizing such massive chakra point damage caused irreparable harm. Nerve-paralyzing attack—internal organs could fail, even death from heart or lung failure.
"Ha! Idiot! Why bother... Should've used that crimson chakra right away and buried the white-eyes in seconds!" Temari thought, seeing Naruto take the decisive strike; she squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip.
"Something's off..." Sakura noticed.
"What? Naruto lost—examiner's going to declare the winner." Shikamaru said.
"Look..." She pointed at the sword a meter behind Hyuga. "Naruto dropped his sword."
"So?"
"Hayate-sensei was a demanding mentor, beat all the crap out of Naruto, but he got it worse for accidentally dropping his weapon. Hayate-sensei insisted on it constantly. A swordsman never lets go of his sword, even dying... Naruto held it through the 'whirlwind'—why drop it now?" Sakura asked.
The answer came soon...
***
Oof...
Wish I'd died young... Though in this world, still ahead...
I achieved my goal—forcing Hyuga to burn most of his chakra on those attacks.
Problem: He could've outlasted me in stamina, which I couldn't allow. Rising after the "Whirlwind," I realized the kendo techniques' recoil hit me too.
I'm still far from sword master like Hayate or—God forbid—Orochimaru.
My muscles, especially at thirteen, aren't used to channeling such chakra volumes that way.
Not even chakra cost. If just that, I could've spammed Neji with those and kept half reserves. It's bones, muscles, nerves—now screaming from overload. Can't repeat "Instant Thrust" or "Crescent Fang." At most one-two "partial flickers" or "Circular Swings"; opponent hasn't shown his strongest yet.
Seeing how much chakra the Hyuga was expending on this Rotation, I figured a few more could push him over the edge.
Now, the two of us should be almost evenly matched...
Time to make my move before they declare a winner.
Before the stunned eyes of the crowd, the sword transformed into me, and from a lying position, I executed a near-perfect sweep. The Hyuga, already quite winded, simply couldn't make his body react even after spotting it.
Sweep, strike, and now I'm on top, rearing back with a kunai aimed at his left shoulder, but the blow was halted by that same chakra he could release from any point on his body individually.
A troublesome ability...
He was also using his hand to help, and I had to overpower it literally. With my other hand, I pinned him to the ground with my forearm pressing on his throat.
"Nothing... nothing's gonna work out for you... If you wanted to win that badly, you should've killed me!" he rasped. "As long as I'm alive, I'll keep fighting, and you won't have a chance."
"Damn, your stubbornness is really getting on my nerves." He was also trying to free his legs.
"This isn't... This isn't stubbornness. Tell me... What are you fighting for here?!"
"To beat the crap out of you and then go rest—what's not obvious about that?!" I replied.
"Heh... That's exactly why nothing's gonna work out for you... Your heart doesn't even know what you're fighting for! I fight for the honor of the branch family of the Hyuga Clan and for the honor of my father, who was forced to die just because he was born a couple seconds after the Lord! Someone like you can't understand what fate is! Can't understand how pointless it is to resist that force!" With that, he tore off his forehead protector with his second hand while still lying there and showed me the seal on his forehead. "Look, this is it, the cursed mark of fate. No matter my strength, I'll remain a nobody, just because my father was born later, even though he and Lord Hiashi were twins! This seal lets anyone from the main family turn my brain to mush with a single motion! That's the power of fate! There's no justice in this world! Born a nobody, you stay a nobody! That's how it's set up... Just as I'll remain a son of the branch family, your fate is to lose to me, simply because I have an enhanced genome and you don't!"
"Yeah?! Now listen to me, you moron, since we're having a heart-to-heart here! Is that why you almost killed Hinata?! Because in any other situation, you wouldn't touch her with a finger?! Avenging yourself on your little sister for your asshole uncle's decisions?! You're an even bigger weakling than I thought! From your stupid grudge against life, you've sunk to taking it out not just on the weaker ones, but on those who can't even fight back? Don't you get why you were given this power that few can surpass?"
"Tch..."
"Yeah, to change that order you hate so much. That's the best way to honor your father's memory, not by killing an innocent girl to get back at your uncle! That's the choice of a real man! I'll either break this order that's just as repulsive to me, or die in battle like my father, but die in a way I won't be ashamed to look him in the eye! What would he say if he saw you now!"
"He'd tell you to shut up!" With those words, he finally freed one leg by sliding it under himself and activated his Byakugan. A kick to the chest and a chakra burst like the Rotation but half as strong threw me off his body, snapping my kunai.
He was struggling to get back on his feet, while I grinned and, using chakra threads, hooked three kunai with explosive seals that I'd buried here earlier while in the smoke, tossing them up in front of his face.
Triple explosion!
When the smoke cleared and I got to my feet, barely holding back a howl of pain, I saw Neji on one knee in a defensive stance, surrounded by a chakra shield, breathing heavily.
So it's an endurance battle after all? Fine...
"Mass Shadow Clone Technique!" The situation repeated itself—this was probably my last summon of clones in such numbers, but it was worth it. Once again, attack from all sides, but he apparently couldn't use his damn Rotation anymore. He sped up and masterfully fended off all the clones, breaking kunai and scattering them two or three at a time, trying to break through to me. Meanwhile, I drew my sword from its sheath and circled around looking for a weak spot and a window to attack.
The fight went airborne, and there the Hyuga, spotting my intentions, used one of the clones as a platform for instant repositioning—or rather, shadow substitution.
His life teaches him nothing...
As soon as he appeared behind me, his throat nearly collided with my sword aimed backward, and with a partial flicker, I turned half around, ducking slightly from his possible strike. I demonstratively touched the blade to his Adam's apple, hinting that this time he'd gotten caught... And in his eyes, I saw it... He understood it was the end. He had no more strength to dodge the blow, and I didn't need clones anyway. One motion, and he'd be in the heavens.
"Stop!" Genma shouted upon seeing the scene. "I'm stopping the fight due to a potentially lethal threat to the participant! Winner—Naruto Uzumaki!" I pulled the sword away from his throat and, smiling, sheathed it, while Neji dropped to his knees and broke out in a cold sweat. It seemed he'd used his last reserves.
The crowd erupted in cheers, and I approached Neji, who was staring at the sky, watching a bird fly by.
"I... lost?" he whispered to himself.
"Yep..." His gaze shifted to me. "Looks like fate can be fickle. Think about it, and if you decide to fight it after all, instead of taking revenge on your innocent little sister, I'll be the first to offer you a helping hand. But if you sink to humiliating the weak again, I swear I'll use every effort to just kill you."
"I see... So that's your true goal..." he whispered, and his eyes rolled back as he collapsed into unconsciousness. The medics arrived just in time, checked his condition, and said he'd overexerted himself and there was no cause for concern.
Climbing up to the stands, I greeted Sakura and Shikamaru.
"Heh... You really pulled it off!"
"Miss me, huh?!" Sakura threw herself at me and hugged me tight. It was nice, of course, but the look from Temari at that moment, which I did catch...
Shikamaru was right... These girls are nothing but trouble.
Once the hugs and praise died down, we just waited, not sure for what. From the Hokage's balcony, one of the bodyguards descended several times with instant repositioning and conferred with Genma...
In the end, they decided to postpone the Sasuke vs. Gaara fight because Kakashi was being wis...
Ahem...
Because Sasuke hadn't shown up, Genma announced the next fight. Shikamaru was outraged at the turn of events, as it messed up his plans.
Shino had already entered the arena and taken his position.
Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances and...
"Examiner! I forfeit!" Kankuro shouted.
"What?!" Genma exclaimed in surprise. The crowd was equally baffled, as was Sakura.
"I can't beat that guy... He looks strong, so I forfeit!" Kankuro confirmed. "Start the next fight."
"What the hell?!" Shikamaru fumed.
"Looks like I have no choice. Kankuro forfeits without a fight! Winner—Aburame Shino! Next fight..."
"Tch..." Temari clicked her tongue and leaped from the balcony, swinging her fan and gliding beautifully over the entire arena, controlling the air currents beneath it.
"Damn, this isn't fair... Should I forfeit too?" Shikamaru muttered.
"No way! Sakura, help!" Sakura didn't get much chance to participate, but I handled shoving Shikamaru off the balcony myself.
Landing like an axe, he just glared at me venomously.
"Damn it... Guess that's my fate!" he thought.
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: patreon.com/Granulan