Chapter 566: Sweeping the Field
Although Shion had demonstrated her strength in the battle against Shino Aburame, she hadn't shown the same versatility as Sakura-chan. Believing she was only a long-range specialist, several Konoha genin were eager to test their own strategies against her.
Her quadrant didn't stay empty for long.
Her new opponent was a member of the Hyūga clan.
This branch family "extra" had a simple plan: his Byakugan naturally gave him high resistance to genjutsu. As long as he could close the distance, he could win easily with the Gentle Fist.
It was a good plan, but the gap in their power was too vast. The Byakugan could only weaken the genjutsu, not nullify it.
The Hyūga ninja had only taken a few steps before he began to struggle, trapped in one illusion after another.
But Shion was patient. She didn't use taijutsu or projectiles to eliminate him. This was a rare chance to get real combat practice with her genjutsu, and she didn't want to waste it. She slowly wore him down, meaning her match was actually progressing slower than the others.
Nearby, the Snake Pit Village's Kidōmaru had entered a field. After a brief standoff, Konoha's Tenten stepped up, and the two began a battle of attrition.
Kidōmaru excelled at large-area attacks, while Tenten's massive barrage of ninja tools managed to hold him at a stalemate for a short time.
In the end, however, Tenten lost. Her attack patterns were too linear. Kidōmaru found an opening and, with a single blow, nearly killed her.
After Temari entered her field, she immediately used a large-scale Wind Release, quickly eliminating two Konoha opponents. Her performance was beginning to overshadow even Sakura-chan's.
Unfortunately for her, she ran into Shikamaru Nara. She was caught by his Shadow Possession Jutsu.
Unlike in the original story, Shikamaru Nara did not forfeit. The Nara clan was gone; there was no one left to support his lazy lifestyle.
Shikamaru eliminated Temari.
In the Suna stands, Baki's expression was grim. Kankurō losing to Naruto-kun's raw power was one thing, but Temari, who outclassed Shikamaru in every way, had lost to a scheme. It was infuriating.
Shikamaru, just like Sasuke and Naruto-kun, didn't linger. The moment Genma Shiranui declared him the winner, he bolted back to the stands. He wasn't trying to be cool; he just knew he stood no chance against Gaara and decided to quit while he was ahead.
Gaara had already revealed his terrifying power and brutal nature in the second exam. So, when Gaara finally entered a quadrant, the Konoha contestant area fell dead silent. No one was willing to face him.
A short time later, Shion finally defeated her second opponent.
Swoosh. A figure landed in the arena beside her. It was Neji.
Shion looked surprised. "I'm not finished. Why are you here?"
Neji said quietly, "It's better to quit while you're ahead. It's more effective this way."
Shion nodded and returned to the stands.
Both Shion and Sakura-chan had been swapped out while undefeated. This fact alone put them a level above the Snake Pit and Suna contestants, and it gave the crowd the illusion that Iwa was unbeatable.
Sure enough, the moment the "princess" Shion left, the crowd erupted in boos. "This is rigged! It's definitely rigged! Why are they pulling our cute Shion-chan?"
"It's Konoha! Konoha can't stand to lose!"
"Yeah, if you're such sore losers, why host a Joint Exam?"
"Right? Just promote whoever you want behind closed doors!"
"And they charged us so much for tickets! Refund! Refund!"
"REFUND! REFUND!"
Neji, after waiting for Shion to clear the field, scanned the booing crowd, satisfied.
He then turned to the Konoha contestant area. "To all of you from Konoha! You don't have to hide in fear. Come at me together!"
"That includes those of you who already lost! If you feel you were defeated unfairly, you can come too! I'll take you all on by myself!"
"And the Kumo team! You've been in there this whole time and haven't even finished one match! You come too!"
Hearing Neji-kun's declaration, the crowd's anger vanished, replaced by a deafening roar of excitement.
"YES! This is great! This is awesome!"
"Haha, he's right! One-by-one is too boring! Just beat them all at once!"
"This ticket was worth it!"
"As expected of the Hyūga clan's genius! What an entrance!"
"What Hyūga? He's an Iwa ninja now, a disciple of the Tsuchikage! Didn't you see? He's covering his Byakugan with goggles!"
While the crowd was going wild, the Konoha section exploded.
They were already low on numbers, but Sasuke and Naruto-kun had just shown their strength. Even if Neji-kun was the Tsuchikage's disciple, this was too arrogant.
The remaining Konoha genin didn't even hesitate. They looked at each other and, as one, leaped into the arena.
In an instant, the only ones left in the Konoha stands were Sasuke, Naruto-kun, Shikamaru, and Hinata Hyūga.
The Kumo team felt their honor had been slighted. Their three members, along with the Konoha genin they had been "fighting," all moved into Neji-kun's quadrant.
A few of the previously eliminated Konoha ninja, seeing the numbers, decided it was a good chance to show off and jumped back in.
Neji-kun glanced up at the Konoha stands. He hadn't gotten all of them, but he didn't care.
There are always a few who think they're special. They just need to be beaten. And if one beating isn't enough, I'll just have to beat them again.
He brought his gaze back down and, before the newly arrived crowd could even say a word, he shot forward like a tiger into a flock of sheep.
The next second, as expected, the arena was filled with screams.
The crowd went wild.
It was a complete and total rout.
The Konoha 12—Chōji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka—were powerless against an all-out Neji-kun.
The Multi-Size Technique, the Mind Body Switch, the Fang Over Fang... they were all useless if you couldn't hit your target.
Neji-kun eliminated them, and all the other no-name genin, in a flurry of blows. He was taking one out with every strike.
Soon, only Rock Lee was left. He had used his speed to dodge one of Neji-kun's attacks.
"Hm? Your taijutsu is impressive. At the same level, my speed is inferior to yours!"
Lee, however, was not happy. He looked at Neji-kun with a grave expression, then quickly undid the weights on his legs.
He roared, "The Eight Gates! First Gate, the Gate of Opening, Open! Second Gate, the Gate of Rest, Open!"
This Lee, two years younger than his canon counterpart, could only handle two gates. But he knew it wasn't enough.
He roared again, "Third Gate, the Gate of Life, OPEN!"
Without hesitation, Lee shot toward Neji-kun in a straight line.
He hadn't fully mastered the Third Gate; he had one all-out attack.
Neji-kun knew he could just dodge, and Lee would defeat himself.
But he didn't. He was here to shatter Konoha's pride, and the Hyūga Main House's.
He took a stance and charged toward Lee.
BOOM!
The two collided.
Lee was sent flying, collapsing in a heap, the backlash from the Eight Gates taking him out of the fight.
Neji-kun only slid back a few meters, having completely nullified the force.
He had just used raw power to overwhelm Lee at his strongest!
In the Kage box, Ishiro smiled. He could sense that Hiashi Hyūga was trembling. It was a tremor of disbelief... and fear.
Neji-kun's raw power was not much less than his own. He was definitively at the Elite Jonin level.
How old is he?! Hiashi was panicking. With this much hatred for the main family... he's too dangerous. If he reaches Kage-level and ambushes me, I won't even have time to activate the Caged Bird seal...
Ishiro saw Hiashi's fingers tremble and let out a soft chuckle.
Hearing it, Hiashi jolted and immediately suppressed his chakra.
Kakashi shot Ishiro a look, then gave Hiashi a warning glance. Ishiro is just trying to provoke us. Don't fall for it.
Hiashi lowered his head, silent.
Kakashi said to Ishiro, "The Tsuchikage's ability to train disciples is truly number one in the world."
Kakashi himself was a genius, a Jonin at eleven, but looking at Neji-kun, he felt he was a long way off. He felt something must have happened to Neji-kun... something beyond just "talent."
He ruled out Hashirama cells, as he didn't sense the same aura. He ruled out Sage Art.
Has Iwa found... another way?
But looking at Sakura-chan and Shion, he dismissed it. Their talent, while high, was within the realm of possibility.
Still, Neji-kun's growth was unstoppable. He would be a Kage. And he was Ishiro's disciple.
Kakashi, as someone who had also received Ishiro's "pointers," knew how good a teacher he was.
Iwa is churning out geniuses... and what about us?
Kakashi felt a deep worry for Konoha's future.
...
In the arena, the crowd was at a fever pitch.
Neji-kun turned his gaze back to the Konoha stands. He said flatly, "Well, Konoha? Are you just going to hide?"
Sasuke's face was ugly. He wanted to go down and teach him a lesson, but... he knew he couldn't win.
He hadn't even been able to beat Lee, whom Neji-kun had just crushed.
Lee's attack... his Sharingan hadn't even been able to track it.
And Neji-kun had taken it head-on.
"Damn it!" Sasuke wanted to move, but his body was frozen.
He knew it was fear. He hated this feeling. He was bringing shame to the Uchiha.
I've worked so hard... why can't I even beat this Hyūga brat?!
Just then, a loud roar erupted beside him.
"Neji Hyūga! Don't you underestimate us! I, Naruto Namikaze, am going to defeat you!" With that, Naruto-kun leaped into the arena.
With that roar, the pressure holding Sasuke down suddenly vanished.
He didn't stop to think why. He just leaped down after him, muttering, "Idiot!"
As Sasuke landed, Shikamaru Nara glanced at Hinata Hyūga, who was hiding in the corner, and then he, too, jumped down.
He knew they had to work together.
"What are you guys doing here?!" Naruto-kun yelled. "I can handle this myself!"
Sasuke ignored him. He was willing to team up, but he wasn't going to admit it.
Shikamaru said, "Naruto-kun, this is about the village's pride. Don't be an idiot."
"What? It would be way better for the village's pride if I beat him alone!"
But the other two ignored him, their eyes fixed on Neji-kun.
To their fury, Neji-kun wasn't even looking at them. He was staring up at the last person in the Konoha stands.
"Still unwilling to let go of your Main House arrogance?" Neji-kun called out. "Fine. I'll take care of these three stragglers, and then I'll come and challenge the Main House myself."
Being so completely ignored, Sasuke's famous cool broke. His face twisted in anger, and he flung several shuriken from impossible angles.
The crowd was ecstatic. Konoha's three winners versus Iwa's undefeated genius!
The three didn't waste time on words. The fight began.
Sasuke's shurikenjutsu, against another dōjutsu user, was unimpressive. Neji-kun didn't even move his feet, batting them all away with his hands.
Naruto-kun's mass of shadow clones was even less interesting. They were too slow and too weak. Neji-kun could swat them all day.
It was Shikamaru Nara, with his shadow, who was the most dangerous.
Neji-kun only moved when he had to dodge the Shadow Possession.
Poof! Poof! Poof! Clones were being dispelled left and right, but Naruto-kun just made more.
Sasuke launched fireballs. Shikamaru used the clones' shadows to mask his own jutsu, even trying to control the clones to touch Neji-kun.
It was a good tactic, but against the Byakugan's 360-degree vision, it was useless.
Still, with so many clones in the way, Neji-kun couldn't seem to land a finishing blow. The fight entered a stalemate.
Naruto-kun was the first to break it. He bit his thumb and slammed his hand on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"
A giant red toad with a staff and shield appeared: Gamaken.
But Neji-kun wasn't flustered. He was excited. He had been waiting for this.
He had seen the hand seals and had already started moving.
The instant Gamaken appeared, Neji-kun was on him, crashing into his stomach and unleashing a furious barrage of strikes.
Gamaken was massive, but he couldn't land a blow on the tiny figure pummeling his gut, and every hit hurt.
"Gamaken!" Naruto-kun yelled, horrified.
He had no choice. He dispelled the jutsu.
Poof! Gamaken vanished.
Thud. Neji-kun landed gracefully.
The crowd, which had been stunned silent by the giant toad, erupted.
In that instant of shocked silence, Sasuke made his move. He appeared right in front of Neji-kun.
"Genjutsu!" he yelled, his Sharingan locking onto Neji-kun's goggles.
He was just trying his luck; he'd never tried to cast a genjutsu through goggles before.
But... it worked.
Hmph. So-called genius. Nothing in the face of an Uchiha.
Just then, Neji-kun spoke—inside the genjutsu.
"Uchiha Sasuke. Do you know why I deliberately let you catch me?"
Sasuke's heart leaped. Not good.
"I'm here," Neji-kun's voice continued, "to tell you that from now on, don't you dare tell people you're an Uchiha. You're bringing shame to Sōkai-shishō and Izumi-neechan. The Uchiha name belongs to Iwagakure now. With your level of strength... you aren't worthy of it."
Sasuke's mind reeled. The words, combined with what the ANBU had told him... he was about to ask more, when...
Shatter!
The genjutsu broke.
In the real world, only an instant had passed.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto-kun yelled, and the field was once again flooded with clones.
It was as if nothing had happened.
(End of Chapter)
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