The Daimyo leaned forward in his seat, his fan stilling for a moment. "Is that so? I find that hard to believe,"
With two tails of chakra now swirling behind him, Naruto's power had clearly surged to a new level. Neji, who had been matching him blow for blow just moments before, was now visibly straining under the relentless assault.
In the VIP box, the Daimyo was practically vibrating with excitement. "Ohohoho! Most impressive! I had no idea this Uzumaki boy was so strong, Elder Danzo," he exclaimed, his fan waving incessantly.
While, Daimyo couldn't follow the finer points of the battle, but with the two Root members Danzo had assigned him providing commentary, he had a general grasp of the situation. They were Sensor-Type ninja, a thoughtful addition from Danzo after Naruto's suggestion, and their smooth explanations were greatly pleasing him.
"I taught him myself," Danzo said, claiming the credit without a hint of shame. "In all of Konoha, you could count the ninja stronger than him on one hand."
"Oh? Are you saying that even the famous Kakashi is no match for him?" The Daimyo was an ordinary man, fame was the only metric he had for a ninja's strength. The only names from Konoha he really knew were the Third Hokage, Asuma Sarutobi of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and the renowned Copy Ninja. He probably couldn't even tell you the Third's actual name.
"Him?" Danzo's expression soured with open disdain at the mention of Kakashi. 'A washed-up prodigy, compared to my Jinchuriki?' "He stopped being a match for Naruto a long time ago."
"Really? I don't believe it," the Daimyo instantly countered, slipping into an argumentative mood.
'If you weren't the Daimyo,' Danzo thought, his expression unreadable, 'I would have your head for that.'
--**--**
"Eight Trigrams Great Vacuum Palm!"
Neji unleashed a long-range attack far more powerful than his last. It missed, but the force of the blow shattered the ground where Naruto had been standing, leaving a deep crater. A direct hit would have crippled a man, if not killed him outright. In his two-tailed state, Naruto was pushing his body to its absolute limit, even a seasoned Jonin would struggle to withstand that kind of power.
"Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher!"
A beam of pure chakra shot from Neji's palm. Naruto dodged just in time as the blast slammed into the arena's outer wall, blasting a gaping hole through it. A second beam followed, tearing down another section of the structure.
The spectators stared, first at the massive holes in the wall, then back at the two boys on the field who were barely twelve years old. A sense of disbelief settled over them.
"Since when are Genin this strong?"
Another thought followed, darker and more insidious.
"If he's already that powerful... isn't he dangerous?"
"What if he turns on us?"
"He'll want revenge, won't he?"
A rustle of whispers spread through the stands, a current of fear laced with an uglier resentment that began to poison the air.
Besides Naruto, only Karin could sense the malice gathering in the arena. She had activated her Mind's Eye, and the sensation was overwhelming.
'This whole place is suffocating,' she thought, her eyes narrowed with disgust. 'It stinks of their sins.' The hatred they held for Naruto, the hypocrisy that led to the Uchiha massacre, the cruelty that forced Neji's father to his death, it all festered here. 'A village like this deserves to be destroyed.'
The Konoha Barrier Team scrambled to erect a shield around the audience, but it shuddered violently with every shockwave from the boys' clash. Their fight was rapidly transcending the bounds of a normal ninja duel.
--**--**
"Hahahaha! The fox's Jinchuriki can only handle two tails worth of power. Nothing to worry about," Gaara muttered, though he wasn't feeling well himself. Shukaku was being unusually loud today, its voice a constant roar in his head.
'Listen to me, brat! When you fight that fox kid, you're going to hit him here, then here, and then you're going to smash him into the ground for me!'
Faced with the endless, grating chatter, Gaara had only one thought. 'What is wrong with you?'
--**--**
"Father, can you do what Neji-nii-san just did?" Hanabi asked, her wide eyes full of confusion as she looked up at Hiashi. She had been able to follow Neji's techniques at first, but the battle had long since surpassed her understanding.
"Haha... well... of course," Hiashi stammered, trying to maintain his composure under his daughter's innocent gaze. He desperately wanted to tell her the truth: he had no idea what any of that was. A beam of chakra from the palm? He had practiced the Gentle Fist for decades and had never heard of such a thing.
But for the sake of his dignity, he forced a calm expression.
Neji's endless stream of new techniques had taken him from excitement to shock, and now to a state of complete numbness. So many of these moves were things he couldn't perform, things he'd never even seen. If someone told him Neji was the reincarnation of a Hyuga deity, he wouldn't even be surprised at this point.
'Alright then,' he thought grimly. 'If you're that skilled, show me the legendary ultimate technique of the Gentle Fist. Show me the Eight Trigrams Three Hundred Sixty-One Palms.'
--**--**
"Naruto! This is everything I have!" Neji's gaze sharpened, his aura surging to its peak.
*Drip.*
Like a drop of water hitting a still pond, a massive Eight Trigrams formation bloomed on the ground beneath his feet, its intricate lines covering the entire arena in his mind.
"Is this really happening?!" Hiashi stared, utterly stunned, as Neji began to move.
"Eight Trigrams Three Hundred Sixty-One Palms!"
Neji's body blurred, splitting into countless afterimages that all charged toward Naruto at once. It was the ultimate secret art of the Gentle Fist, a technique designed to strike all three hundred sixty-one tenketsu in a single, overwhelming burst, ensuring a fatal blow.
At the same instant, Naruto moved. The chakra cloak around him thickened, and from his back erupted countless arms of crimson chakra. They lunged toward Neji like a swarm of phantom limbs, meeting the storm of afterimages head-on.
The two forces collided in a cataclysm of destructive power.
Both boys were thrown backward, slamming hard into the ground.
Neji struggled to rise but collapsed, his strength completely spent. Across the field, Naruto pushed himself up, swaying unsteadily but still on his feet.
"The winner is Uzumaki Naruto," Genma announced.
--**--**
"How fake," Sasuke scoffed, his lip curling.
"What a shame. The Hyuga prodigy was so close to beating that monster," a faint voice whispered from somewhere behind him.
Sasuke's head snapped around, his glare sharp enough to cut stone. If they weren't in public, he would have done more than just look. Sasuke could talk trash about Naruto all day, but if anyone else tried? He'd smash their teeth in.
Under his menacing stare, the man's voice trailed off into silence. But Sasuke could only silence one person, not the entire crowd. The whispers continued to spill from the villagers' mouths, a mix of curses for Neji's failure and bitter resentment over Naruto's victory.
Why should he? How 'could' he win?
Sasuke's fists clenched, a hot surge of anger rising in his chest. Just as he felt he was about to lose control, Naruto walked up and gently pried his fingers open.
"Easy, brother. Relax," Naruto said softly. "Get ready. The next match is all yours." He patted Sasuke's shoulder and leaned in close. "Don't forget the plan."
Naruto remembered the original timeline, where his victory over the genius Neji Hyuga, a perfect underdog story, still wasn't enough to earn him a promotion to Chunin. Brains? Judgment? Analytical skill? Shikamaru's match was a classic of strategy, but was his own fight not exciting enough? Was his strategy so inferior? There were plenty of Chunin in Konoha weaker than he was. Why could they advance?
Because someone didn't want him to. This was the weight of "public opinion." They simply did not want Uzumaki Naruto to become a Chunin.
Neji's techniques above are partly from the training. Neji really was the Hyuga clan's prodigy, a true powerhouse among the Konoha 12 without plot armor. Neji, you died way too miserably.
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Countdown: 5
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