"Neji versus Naruto, huh… such youthful passion!"
Watching the two genin square off in the arena below, Might Guy's eyes glimmered with nostalgia, as if he were looking at a reflection of his own rivalry with Kakashi. The difference, however, was striking—on one side stood Neji, the genius of the Hyūga clan and Guy's own student, and on the other was Naruto, the so-called dead-last of Kakashi's Team 7.
Thanks to Senju Haruto's medical ninjutsu, Rock Lee had already regained much of his health, and his full return to the path of a shinobi was only a matter of time. That alone had lightened Guy's spirits considerably. Now, seeing Neji and Naruto face each other on the grand stage, his heart beat faster with excitement.
"Us, huh?"
Kakashi muttered under his breath, his one visible eye growing thoughtful. As the jōnin responsible for Naruto's training, he understood the boy better than anyone else here. In terms of raw strength, Naruto had already surpassed every other genin in the village—and in truth, he might even be considerably stronger than Sasuke.
But that was precisely the problem. Naruto's strength had grown so overwhelming that, to maintain balance and fairness in the exams, the Third Hokage had personally forbidden him from using Sage Mode and his golden chakra cloak. His two ultimate techniques had been sealed away.
Rasengan was technically still an option, but given its destructive power, Naruto would never wield it against a fellow comrade. And Neji, after all, was both a comrade and a genius of the Hyūga clan. With these restrictions, the outcome of this match was far less certain.
"Still…" Kakashi murmured, "whether one becomes a chūnin isn't decided by victory or defeat alone."
From Haruto's perspective, though, the Chūnin Exams were the most brutal test in existence. First came a written exam designed to trick the mind, followed by a survival round where death was a very real possibility. Reaching the finals only to be told that even victory didn't guarantee promotion was absurd, bordering on cruel.
"It's starting!" Guy suddenly shouted, his voice booming with such vigor that it was as if he himself were stepping into battle. His enthusiasm startled Haruto out of his musings, drawing his focus back to the field.
Naruto was not like Shikamaru. He wasn't a strategist or a thinker—his fighting style was simple, direct, and brutally honest. Regardless of the strength of his opponent, he would always charge headlong, fists first. He fought not like a shinobi, but like a reckless youth unwilling to back down.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Smoke erupted around him as he formed the seal of confrontation, instantly producing more than a dozen shadow clones that rushed at Neji in a wild charge.
From the competitor's balcony, Sasuke, Sakura, and the other four finalists leaned forward, watching the match unfold below.
"That's Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise. "This way, Neji won't be able to tell which one's the real Naruto, even with his Byakugan!"
Both she and Sasuke had already acknowledged Naruto's strength. For Sasuke especially, there was a growing fire in his chest—a burning desire to one day cross fists with Naruto himself.
"Still… without Sage Mode or the golden cloak, this battle could tilt against him," Sasuke thought grimly. He had known of the restrictions placed on Naruto long before. It irritated him to no end—after all, his own Lightning Chakra Mode was also powerful, yet no such limitations had been imposed on him.
The implication was clear: in the eyes of the Third Hokage, Naruto alone possessed enough power to throw the entire balance of the exams into chaos. That realization dug like a thorn into Sasuke's pride.
Because of these imposed limits, Naruto's performance in the Forest of Death and during the preliminaries had seemed far less impressive. This had naturally caused the other genin to view Sasuke as the brighter star. But in truth, the gap between them was enormous, and it frustrated Sasuke to no end.
Across the balcony, Gaara watched Naruto with disinterest, his eyes fixed instead on Sasuke. To him, Sakura was of no consequence—he wanted to test himself against the Uchiha alone.
"That loudmouth will fall quickly," Kankurō muttered, smirking as he watched Naruto's charge. Throughout the preliminaries, only Sasuke, Lee, Neji, and Gaara had truly stood out. The rest paled in comparison.
"Don't underestimate Naruto," Sasuke replied sharply, not hesitating for a second.
"Tch. What's there to overestimate? He can't do anything besides Shadow Clones, and you saw it too—the Hyūga's Byakugan can see right through tricks like that." Kankurō's tone was dismissive, convinced that Sasuke's words stemmed from mere camaraderie. Anyone else would've instantly recognized the gulf between Naruto and Neji.
But then—
Neji moved. His palms flowed with the elegance of the Hyūga's Gentle Fist, dismantling clone after clone with frightening precision, before breaking straight through the formation and lunging at the true Naruto hiding in the back.
"You thought you could use Shadow Clones to shield yourself while you stayed out of reach of my strikes?" Neji's voice rang clear as he surged forward, palm outstretched. "Naruto, your tricks won't escape these eyes of mine!"
His Byakugan fully activated, Neji's sight locked on to Naruto's tenketsu. With a shout, he drove his palm toward Naruto's chest, chakra erupting from his hand like a shockwave meant to end the fight instantly.
But in that same moment, Neji's eyes flickered to the sidelines—just for an instant. There, in the shadows, stood Senju Haruto, watching the fight. The man Neji admired above all others. To lose here, in front of Haruto, was unthinkable. He would not allow it.
"This ends now!" Neji's voice deepened, his strike accelerating. "The victor is Hyūga Neji!"
His palm slammed into Naruto's chest—only for the boy's body to burst apart into smoke.
"A Shadow Clone?!" Neji's eyes widened in disbelief. He expanded his Byakugan's field of vision to its utmost limit, scanning the entire arena in every direction. But it was too late.
While Sage Mode and the golden cloak were forbidden, there had been no rule against drawing upon the Nine-Tails' chakra. Red chakra flared violently around Naruto as he entered his first tailed form, his speed skyrocketing beyond Neji's ability to react in time.
By the time Neji realized the danger, Naruto was already behind him, fist cocked back and glowing with raw, burning chakra.
"I came here ready to risk everything!" Naruto roared, his voice low and fierce. "No one—no one—will stop me from becoming a chūnin!"
The crimson chakra cloak engulfed him as his punch hurtled forward.
"What is this…?" Neji gasped, his Byakugan barely keeping pace. The power and speed radiating from Naruto were on a completely different level from what he'd shown in the Forest of Death or the preliminaries. This wasn't the dead-last at all—this was someone who had been hiding his true strength the entire time.
If that punch lands… Neji thought, his chest tightening with alarm.
With no other choice, he spun rapidly on his heel, chakra bursting from every tenketsu in his body.
"Rotation!"
The battle had only just begun.