"Hah!" Seeing Naruto standing motionless, Neji attacked first. He closed in on Naruto, his palms striking rapidly at various points on Naruto's body. Each palm, each finger, targeted several tenketsu. He understood that if it came down to true strength, he was definitely no match for Naruto; his only chance was a preemptive strike.
Naruto parried all the attacks and launched a counterattack.
Neji moved with profound footwork, struggling to block Naruto's counter.
"Bang, bang, bang!" The dull thuds of flesh meeting flesh echoed through the arena. The audience held their breath, staring intently at the center of the field.
As expected of the much-talked-about Naruto, to block my attacks so effortlessly, Neji inwardly praised. Everyone had always considered Naruto a genius skilled in ninjutsu, Zanjutsu, and possessing a Kekkei Genkai. Few had paid attention to his Taijutsu. Neji believed his Taijutsu was not much inferior to Rock Lee's, yet he hadn't expected Naruto to perfectly defend against all his attacks using only Taijutsu.
However, I am a ninja who specializes in Taijutsu!!
Neji's eyes sharpened, and his movements suddenly intensified. One palm shot out precisely towards a tenketsu on Naruto's body.
"Crack!" However, to his rather stunned gaze, Naruto effortlessly grabbed his wrist and, with a reverse throw, flung him into the sky.
Damn it, he was holding back too!
Feeling the whistling wind rush past, Neji struggled to maintain his posture in mid-air.
"Hey, Neji." Naruto vanished from his line of sight, and then a shadow fell over him from above, accompanied by Naruto's indifferent tone. "If this is the strength you intend to use to defy fate, then I advise you to just succumb to it."
"Boom!" With a loud crash, Neji was slammed into the ground like a cannonball, his body wracked with intense pain.
Naruto landed calmly back on the ground, extended his right hand, caught a fluttering butterfly, and quietly admired it.
Nonchalant and elegant.
"Are you kidding me? The Hyuga clan's genius is so easily defeated?" Waves of astonished cries rose from the stands.
"That Hyuga kid isn't bad, but unfortunately, he's still a bit lacking compared to my disciple," Danzo chuckled, shaking his head.
"Third Hokage, your village truly has many geniuses," Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage, exclaimed in admiration.
"The battle has only just begun," the Third Hokage said with a gentle smile, watching the fight and taking a strong puff from his pipe.
Neji lay in the deep crater, sharp pain radiating from his back, his body suffering various degrees of injury. His expression was somewhat dazed, Naruto's mocking words echoing in his mind. Should someone like me just succumb to fate? If it were the old him, he might have sunk into despair. But ever since Hinata had pulled him out of that hopelessness, a fire had also been lit in Neji's heart. He clenched his fists, panting heavily, each breath sending a burning pain through his chest.
To change his fate, he had chosen to believe.
To change his fate, he had chosen to fight back.
"Naruto, you are indeed very strong—be it your Kekkei Genkai, ninjutsu, or Taijutsu."
"From the start of these exams, you've been publicly acknowledged as the strongest."
He staggered to his feet from the deep crater and, under Naruto's calm gaze, straightened his back.
"Perhaps to you, I'm just an opponent you can easily dispatch."
"Perhaps to you, the fate I'm fighting against is so laughable."
"However…"
"You don't understand anything at all. On what grounds do you deny me?"
"I will keep fighting, and prove with my fists that fate is not unbreakable!"
"Even if I die!"
The veins around Neji's Byakugan bulged as he assumed a fighting stance.
"Clap, clap, clap." Naruto let the butterfly on his finger fly away and clapped his hands forcefully. "Very good, very resolute. Someone like you has actually piqued my interest a little." He slowly drew Kyoka Suigetsu.
To be honest, Naruto had initially disliked Neji intensely, even despised him. When he first met Neji, Neji always had "fate" on his lips, muttering about fate no matter what he did, painting himself as an underappreciated victim, and wallowing in it. Despite having the top talent in the branch family, he chose to submit, becoming a self-pitying whiner. Such a Neji not only earned Naruto's contempt but almost made him want to kill him directly.
But somewhere along the line, Neji had begun to change. He tried to resist; he no longer harped on about fate. Instead, he used his actions to express his inner unwillingness. His change had caught Naruto's attention.
"Fate is something that is meant to be trampled underfoot from birth. If you lack that courage, you will become its nourishment."
"Let me see your courage. Don't run away like a dog anymore."
"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu."
Kyoka Suigetsu in Naruto's hand abruptly shattered like a stepped-on mirror, merging into the air. A gentle breeze rustled past, causing a ripple in their vision.
The stands were silent; everyone had put themselves in Neji's shoes—a man who wanted to fight against fate, unyielding to overwhelming power.
This was a battle with a vast disparity in strength!
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Neji attacked first. However, his charging speed was a fraction slower than before; his injuries clearly still affected him.
"Bang!" Yet, before he could even touch Naruto, Neji's abdomen suddenly caved in, as if struck by a heavy object, and he was forced back several steps.
"Is this the vision-affecting Kyoka Suigetsu?" Neji's eyes widened. Although he had been mentally prepared, he was still shocked when truly facing such a terrifying ability.
"What happened? It was like a blur, and that Hyuga genius was knocked back?" Exclamations rippled through the stands again.
Even Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage, feigned astonishment. "Hiss, this Uzumaki Naruto's Kekkei Genkai… it's somewhat magical, isn't it?"
"It's alright, it's alright." The Third Hokage nodded cheerfully. "We have quite a few geniuses in Konoha."
Seeing the Third's proud demeanor, Orochimaru couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Teacher, oh teacher, enjoy your moment. You won't be laughing later.
After being knocked back, Neji suddenly closed his eyes, his breathing returning to a calm rhythm.
"After learning about your Kekkei Genkai, I've been training my sixth sense. By abandoning sight and relying on my body's instincts! This is the key to breaking Kyoka Suigetsu."
"Not bad. This Neji is rather interesting." The Aizen within Naruto's body had just arrived in the seal space and witnessed this intriguing scene. His eyes narrowed slightly, a dangerous glint within them. In his understanding, a sixth sense could indeed be one of the ways to break Kyoka Suigetsu, which was why he had planned to test that monster in the Seireitei, Zaraki Kenpachi—a man who fought purely on instinct. The day of his plan was drawing nearer, and Aizen couldn't afford even the slightest miscalculation.