"Ah... so satisfying."
On the way to the training ground, Naruto and Choji walked in front, patting their stomachs contentedly.
"That's right, and the meat must have been provided by my clan." Choji said with a look of agreement.
"Really?! Then Choji, I'm coming to your house to eat next time, that pork cutlet was delicious." Naruto said with a surprised expression.
"No problem." Choji nodded indifferently.
"Who!"
Naruto, who was just about to discuss with Choji, instantly looked at the bushes not far ahead with a serious expression.
Hearing this, Sasuke and Shikamaru immediately ran forward, cautiously looking in the direction Naruto had indicated. In their small team, Naruto had the greatest sensory abilities.
Behind Naruto, Hinata's expression began to panic after activating her Byakugan.
"Neji-nii-san..."
"Huh? Hinata, what are you saying?" Naruto turned his head in confusion upon hearing this.
"Um, I know the person up ahead." Hinata stammered.
"You know him?" Naruto turned his head to look.
Neji, who was hiding in the bushes, came out when he saw this.
Looking at Naruto, he said with a serious expression, "I want to challenge you."
"..."
Naruto was stunned, then immediately refused with a speechless expression, "No."
Neji was stunned upon hearing this and asked, "Why?"
Naruto replied calmly, "I'm not so idle that I'd agree to a challenge just because anyone comes along and asks."
Shikamaru beside him nodded in agreement, and this person seemed to be a member of Hinata's clan.
"Neji-nii-san, Naruto and the others are my classmates." Hinata stepped forward and said to Neji.
"Hinata-sama, this is a challenge I've issued to this classmate, please don't interfere." Neji rudely interrupted Hinata's words and turned to invite Naruto again.
"Hey, you, that's very rude."
Naruto looked at Neji unhappily and said angrily, "Hinata is talking to you nicely, why are you acting like that?"
Neji frowned, first glancing at Hinata, then at Naruto. "You care how I speak?"
Shikamaru and the others exchanged glances, all seeing confusion in each other's eyes. After all, this person's way of speaking and handling things was unexpectedly awkward.
Naruto clenched his fist and said after a long time, "Sure enough, I still can't stand it."
"Shikamaru, can I go?" Naruto asked Shikamaru.
Shikamaru first glanced at Neji, then at their own side, and then nodded.
"Go ahead, Naruto."
Neji glanced sideways at the few people in front of him. The atmosphere around Naruto and the others made him feel particularly disgusted.
Uchiha, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi...
The main family members are truly special.
"Hey! You, aren't we going to fight?" Naruto slowly walked behind Neji, turning his face to look at Neji and calmly asked.
Seeing this, Neji followed Naruto's steps and walked towards the training ground.
"Naruto! Neji-nii-san!"
Hinata was about to chase after them to stop them, but Ino beside her stopped her and comforted her, "It's alright, Hinata, it's fine, let's go together."
—
"Alright, how do you want to fight?" Naruto was very unhappy now and decided to teach this clan member of Hinata a lesson.
"In the Academy, weren't you very strong in taijutsu? Let's just fight with that." Neji said with a calm expression, then assumed the starting stance of Gentle Fist.
"Begin!"
Although Naruto defeated Hinata during the assessment, Neji knew it was because Hinata had less Chakra than the person in front of him. So, his challenge to Naruto was just to find out what that taijutsu was all about.
Naruto frowned. This person's personality was even worse than Sasuke's back then.
"Indeed, I should just beat you down directly."
Naruto raised his hand and assumed the starting stance, just as his teacher had said.
Some people, you have to beat them down before they'll listen to you.
When Neji saw Naruto enter a breathing state, his pupils dilated, this was the feeling.
Naruto's figure instantly disappeared, attacking Neji's abdomen. Neji raised his hand upwards, his index and middle fingers together, attacking Naruto's striking arm.
Naruto didn't expect that his speed would be seen through by Neji. And this attack method, according to what Hinata had said before, should be 'Tenketsu' from Gentle Fist. It could disrupt the Chakra pathway system, making it impossible to use Chakra.
Without hesitation, Naruto thought of retreating first. He took a step back, looking at Neji with a grim expression. This guy was unexpectedly difficult to deal with.
"You, can you only retreat?" Neji said, activating his Byakugan and looking at Naruto.
"If you don't fight with the resolve to kill your opponent, you'll only lose terribly."
"How can you think such dangerous things?"
Naruto was a bit incredulous. No matter how angry he was, he only thought of beating this person down. However, this person was talking about fighting with the resolve to kill his opponent.
"He's not wrong, Naruto." A calm voice sounded.
Shinji appeared on a tree branch, looking at the scene.
"Sensei!" Naruto turned his head and shouted excitedly.
"Naruto, attack with the same intensity as him, otherwise, you'll lose terribly." Shinji nodded and said calmly to Naruto.
He then looked in Neji's direction. This person in the original story was overly mature compared to others from beginning to end.
Even Shikamaru, with an IQ of over two hundred, didn't understand as clearly as Neji.
Shinji said gently, "This classmate, fight without worry, I won't stop you."
Neji had shown excessive vigilance when Shinji first appeared, after all, this person was an Academy teacher. If he were to intervene, not only would the fight not happen, even the main family might come looking for him. But then he heard Shinji say this to him, and he was momentarily stunned.
"Begin."
After Shinji finished speaking, he jumped down to the ground.
Shikamaru and Hinata and the others hurried over, just about to speak, when Shinji raised his hand to stop them.
"Watch, we'll talk later."
Shikamaru was stunned, then looked at the arena with a serious expression. He might have somewhat understood what his teacher meant.
Naruto looked at Neji and said, "Since sensei said so, I won't hold back."
"The feeling is mutual." Neji replied calmly.
What was a fight, if not giving it your all?
Whoosh!
Naruto and Neji's figures instantly disappeared, beginning to attack each other.