Preliminaries End

The entire audience watching this final preliminary match was left in a state of prolonged emotional turmoil. Ya Wen 8 ·．=ｙａｗｅｎ８．

If you were to ask why…

Whoosh, a Gentle Fist strike came flying, but Naruto easily dodged it.

"Hinata, you're too nervous!" Naruto said, displeased.

"But so many people are watching…" Hinata retracted her palm, looking wronged.

It wasn't her fault. If her opponent had been anyone else, even her cousin Neji, whom she was a little afraid of, she wouldn't have been this nervous…

With her Byakugan activated, her 360° vision allowed her to see the speechless expressions on the faces of the surrounding crowd even more clearly.

Everyone could tell that Hinata was no match for Naruto. Yet, these two… were both acting as if this was a serious match.

Naruto chided, "This is a match, and there are people watching, so…" He paused, scratching his head, and threw caution to the wind, "So what if people are watching! Just treat it like your usual training!"

So this is how you guys train normally? The older bachelors with good hearing in the audience, such as Kakashi, Asuma, Might Guy, Tsunade, and others, all felt a surge of resentment.

In contrast, the somewhat sickly referee, Gekko Hayate, showed a hint of a smile. The way Naruto and Hinata were exchanging glances made him involuntarily think of his former confidante, Uzuki Yugao, who was now part of the Hokage's Anbu…

I wonder how she's doing…

Hey, hey, hey, Hayate, take it easy. You're the referee, focus on your job. Don't be distracted. Your perverted look gives away exactly what you're thinking…

The Konoha Jonin who were familiar with Gekko Hayate all inwardly complained, feeling that they really shouldn't have stayed for this final match.

Meanwhile, Sasuke on the viewing platform was just habitually speechless, mainly because… he was already used to it.

And over there, Hinata and Naruto's "match" continued…

Naruto's Taijutsu was not weak. Because he frequently used the Nine-Tails' Chakra, his physical fitness was also being strengthened bit by bit, including his **strength, nerve reflexes, and body coordination, among other aspects.

As a result, Naruto was leisurely dodging Hinata's Gentle Fist strikes.

However, he didn't counterattack, naturally because he couldn't bring himself to do it… It was one thing normally, but now, in front of everyone, Naruto felt a bit awkward…

Of course, this didn't stop him from verbally pointing out Hinata's mistakes during her attacks.

He possessed all the memories, training, and combat experience of his 17-year-old "future self," coupled with his own relentless efforts over the years. This absolutely gave him the confidence and strength to guide Hinata here.

Hinata didn't seem displeased; she just felt a constant sense of being watched… and her attacks were inevitably a bit flustered.

"Ah!…" Hinata exclaimed. Her outstretched arm was caught by Naruto, who then used it to guide her… Of course, it wasn't a guiding pull into Naruto's embrace; Naruto didn't have that high of emotional intelligence…

Using just the right amount of force, he made Hinata stumble, but not fall. Naruto formed hand seals behind her.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

Bang bang bang bang bang bang…

Dozens of Narutos appeared on the field, surrounding Hinata.

Hinata was startled and nervously looked at Naruto…s, as even her Byakugan couldn't distinguish the original body.

Many Narutos scratched their heads in unison…

"Hinata, let's decide the winner soon…" Naruto seemed to have vaguely heard Kiba muttering something from the stands.

You should have done this long ago! the onlookers collectively thought, wanting to tear their hair out.

"Mhm… Mhm!" Hinata nodded nervously.

"Here I come! Aren't you practicing the Protecting Eight Trigrams Palm? Use it!"

The Narutos swarmed forward.

Hinata instinctively did as Naruto said, channeling Chakra to her palms to automatically activate the Protecting Eight Trigrams and striking at the Shadow Clones rushing at her from all directions.

This was a defensive type of Eight Trigrams Palm recorded by the Hyuga Main Family. There was another offensive palm technique, the Eight Trigrams Field, but it didn't suit Hinata's personality, so she hadn't learned it.

Naruto's group of Shadow Clones didn't try to deliberately dodge Hinata's Protecting Eight Trigrams, so many Shadow Clones were scattered by Hinata's strikes from all directions, disappearing into white smoke with bang bang bang bang sounds.

"Eight Trigrams Palm…" Neji exclaimed in surprise from the stands. He hadn't expected a young lady like Hinata to have learned such a palm technique.

But this made him even more uncomfortable. He had painstakingly researched and developed the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, yet this young lady Hinata, who had no talent, could so easily obtain the secret techniques of the Eight Trigrams Palm simply because she was from the Main Family.

This made him furious, reminding him of his deceased father.

"What's wrong, can't hold on any longer?" Naruto's Shadow Clones, while being "recklessly" destroyed into flying ashes, continued to provoke Hinata, "Your Protecting Eight Trigrams is becoming loose, Hinata!"

Hinata, feeling both ashamed, angry, and anxious, gritted her teeth and desperately channeled her Byakugan's all-encompassing vision. The speed and frequency of her palm strikes increased, almost turning into several afterimages!

"Oh, you've improved, Hinata!"

A chorus of praise erupted from the Shadow Clones.

Hinata suppressed the urge to smile with joy, telling herself inwardly: No, no, Naruto-kun is the opponent now… I must be serious, don't pay attention to him…

Naruto's Shadow Clones continued to charge forward one after another, and soon only a few remained… But at this moment, when Hinata's focus slightly wavered, one Naruto, holding a blue Chakra ball, directly exploited this momentary lapse in Hinata's Protecting Eight Trigrams!

The Rasengan stopped about a foot and a half in front of Hinata's chin, not her chest.

Hinata's pure white eyes looked at Naruto, and the Eight Trigrams Palm in her hands had stopped. Bang bang bang, the remaining Naruto Shadow Clones all disappeared.

"When you think it's over, you can't afford to let your guard down!" Naruto said with a grin, holding up the Rasengan.

Hinata blushed and nodded shyly, "Mm."

The chakra sphere dispersed, and Naruto gently tapped Hinata's head with a chop.

"Oww..." Hinata flinched, covering her head with a wronged expression.

"Alright, I win," Naruto said, turning to the referee, Gekko Hayate, in a good mood. He found Hayate looking at him speechlessly.

"Why is everyone quiet?" Naruto looked around curiously, noticing everyone was looking at him and Hinata with complex expressions...

Hinata's face was very red, but in this situation, she didn't dare to hide beside Naruto anymore...

With this, the preliminary matches concluded.

"Now, we will draw lots for the third round of the official exams."

A Konoha Jonin brought forward a wooden box.

The examinees stepped up one by one to draw lots and be paired with their opponents.

The results were quickly out and posted on the whiteboard.

First match: Naruto vs. Gaara;

Second match: Sasuke vs. Neji;

Third match: Sakura vs. Kiba;

Fourth match: Shikamaru vs. Temari;

Fifth match: Winner of the fourth match vs. Tenten.

Naruto and Gaara locked eyes from a distance, sparks seemingly flying between their gazes.