She Took the First Round!

Seeing the flush on Izumi's face, Neji took a deep breath. He was having a hard time holding out.

"You can try the Healing Tattoo yourself now. You can fine-tune your Chakra to preserve your youth and nourish your body."

"Mm!"

Izumi lowered her head and answered softly. A lingering blush still remained on her snow-white neck from when the tattoo had been applied.

Oh God! I can't take this!

"Try it carefully on your own first. I need to take a bath too."

He had gathered all his energy and focus just now. The exhaustion was worse than doing a thousand push-ups and running a hundred laps around Konoha on his hands.

He was already drenched in sweat and needed a bath, some proper rest, and recovery.

"Do you need my help?"

Izumi asked softly. Seeing that Neji had refused to get up for so long, she wondered if he was too tired to move.

She could not help but wonder—were tattoos really that exhausting?

"No, it's fine... really, I'm fine. No help needed. I can go myself. You go get used to it first. I'll rest a little, then go by myself."

Neji hurriedly refused. Only after watching Izumi leave did he slowly rise, hunch over, and slip into the bathroom.

He quickly shut the door and let out a long breath.

I really can't take this!

Even if training and Chakra had made him mature early, this was way too early.

I'm only twelve!

His tense body finally relaxed. Just as he was about to take off his clothes and soak in the bath, his gaze fell on the place where he had put them, and his face instantly stiffened.

He immediately covered his face!

"I actually forgot about this!"

"Forget it. I don't care."

He simply closed his eyes. I'll do it without using my eyes, all right?!

He activated Observation Haki, undressed, stepped into the water, and then... (It had to be a little longer, out of respect—Lu Xiaobu said so.)... finished!

On the other side, Izumi noticed Neji's movements and the corners of her lips curved up slightly.

She gently stroked her chest. A warm sensation continuously spread from there through her entire body, nourishing it as even the tiniest injuries were healed.

After standing there for a while, Izumi pulled out the hairpin in her hair, and her beautiful black hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

She looked down at the kimono on her body and walked toward her room.

Perhaps... one day, this kimono would have another chance to be worn.

After carefully putting the kimono away, Izumi changed into a fitted combat outfit, draped a white coat over herself, and returned to the Training Room.

By then, Neji had finished bathing and walked out of the bathroom.

Izumi held out a glass of milk, which perfectly soothed Neji's parched throat after his bath.

Once the milk moistened his throat, Neji seemed to come back to life. Looking at Izumi, who had changed clothes again, he asked,

"How do you feel? Have you tried opening the First Gate?"

Izumi gently shook her head.

"Not yet, but I feel very good right now. Warm Chakra is flowing through my body, constantly healing the damage inside me."

"Mm, it looks like it's working effectively. It only draws off a portion of your Chakra for nourishment. The usual consumption is very low, so don't worry about it becoming a burden."

He had considered everything he could, except for how to store Chakra. There was truly nothing he could do about that.

After all, the Yin Seal's real function was to store Chakra. Everything else was merely a byproduct.

"Let me take a look!"

As he spoke, Neji took Izumi's small hand and sensed the circulation of Chakra within her body, as well as her physical condition.

"Very good. It's even better than I expected. Next, you can try opening the First Gate!"

To put Izumi at ease, he added,

"Don't worry. I'm here."

"Mm!"

Izumi's heart warmed. Even without those words, she trusted Neji completely and would not have hesitated.

After making some space, Neji watched Izumi. She tossed aside her white coat, revealing the ninja mesh bodysuit underneath.

"First Gate... Open!"

As soon as the Eight Gates' First Gate opened, her Chakra aura surged explosively, enveloping Izumi.

"Activate the Healing Tattoo!"

At Neji's command, Izumi concentrated and fully activated the Healing Tattoo.

Patterns instantly began to emerge across her fair skin, purple stripes appearing one after another as clusters of lavender surfaced.

They were concealed by the mesh bodysuit, but as Neji activated his Byakugan—

Izumi's physical condition became perfectly clear. Whenever the violent Chakra passed through the acupoints covered by the tattoos,

a portion of it was intercepted, becoming incomparably gentle and transforming into Chakra that healed her body.

The violent Chakra surrounding her was suppressed, and the effect was obvious. Still, this was only the First Gate.

"Try to see if you can completely control your strength now. The tattoo enhances Chakra control to a certain degree. Combined with your previous adaptation, you should be able to fully control it now!"

Neji took out a remote control and gave it a light press. A target immediately sprang up.

The moment Izumi saw it, her figure flashed forward with incredible speed.

Bang!

Her high kick stopped against the target with a thunderous impact. With a sharp crack, the high-strength target split open, then broke apart completely a second later.

Neji nodded slightly at the sight. With his Byakugan activated, he could clearly see Izumi's Chakra circulation.

He had a rough grasp of how much strength she used and what effect it produced.

"It seems you've completely mastered it. Don't close the First Gate. Come at me!"

Izumi in her First Gate state would surely provide abundant experience points. He could not wait any longer.

A trace of desire appeared in Izumi's eyes as well. She wanted to know just how much stronger she had become.

Shave

Using the Six Powers, her speed rose by an unknown amount compared to when she had struck the target. Ordinary ninja would not even be able to react.

She was likely even a few degrees faster than a jonin's Body Flicker Technique.

Yet this only made Neji smile. The Chakra within his body instantly erupted as he opened the First Gate as well.

Bang!

An explosive burst of air rang out.

Then came a series of explosions throughout the Training Room, like firecrackers going off. Their positions changed with every blast.

The powerful aftershocks made the surface of Island Cloud Trembling Slightly. Two people who had opened the Eight Gates' First Gate began to battle.

Whoosh!

Tempest Kick

A sharp arc of force transformed into a blade and instantly sliced through the Island Cloud on the floor.

It exposed the steel foundation underneath and left behind a deep scar.

Neji flashed away, his chest rising and falling slightly. Izumi reappeared as well, gulping down air.

Her eyes fell upon the crack in the ground, and lingering fear rose in her heart.

Was this the Tempest Kick from the Six Powers Neji had mentioned?

What powerful Taijutsu!

Neji also looked at the crack in the ground, though he was actually a little disappointed.

He truly did not know whether it was due to the laws of this world or something else. Shave had become faster.

Tempest Kick had become weaker, and he could not even use Moonwalk at all.

Was it because of the composition of the air?

Neji fell into thought. Perhaps the air in the Naruto world was thinner than that of the One Piece world, or perhaps it lacked certain components.

Ugh! Science is beyond me.

After all, both worlds differed from his original life. Even their physical laws were probably different.

A sharp sound cut through the air.

Neji tilted his head slightly and saw the hand blade beside his face, as well as Izumi standing right before him.

Izumi! That's playing dirty.

"You told me yourself that on the battlefield, any lapse in concentration could decide everything. You got distracted just now."

Izumi looked at Neji with a light smile. This time... she had taken the first round.