Neji: You Give Your All, But Cannot Harm Me Even a Little

Looking at Yozuki Rei, who was tall and imposing with a stern gaze, Neji recalled the intelligence scroll Dodai had given him last Sunday.

"Yozuki Rei, Jonin. Two months ago, Lord Raikage bestowed upon her the Six Paths Ninja Tool, the Red Gourd. She excels in Lightning Release, Nintaijutsu, and swordsmanship. She favors unconventional tactics in combat."

An elite Jonin of the Yozuki clan, she was entirely different from those elite Jonin of Kusagakure.

The ninja world's resources were monopolized by powerful clans and nobles. Smaller nations didn't even have proper ninja technique inheritances.

Children from powerful families received elite education from a young age, far beyond what ninjas from small nations could compare to.

The gap between them was potentially larger than the gap between a Genin and a Chunin.

Yozuki Rei being bestowed the Red Gourd by the Fourth Raikage, while partly due to the Fourth Raikage's desire to appease the Yozuki clan, also showed that Yozuki Rei's talent could not be underestimated.

Although Neji was confident he could defeat Yozuki Rei, he wasn't sure how much of his strength he would need to win.

Analyzing the intelligence provided by Dodai, Yozuki Rei's abilities were very comprehensive, with few weaknesses.

Her habit of favoring unconventional tactics was hard to say whether it was an advantage or disadvantage in combat.

However, Neji could use it to his advantage.

He had just provoked Yozuki Rei with his words, hoping to affect her mindset and defeat her quickly.

"Truly arrogant. No wonder you look down on the Yozuki clan."

Yozuki Rei let out a cold laugh. "Let's be clear, even though this is a spar, I won't hold back."

"Mhm."

Neji replied listlessly.

Yozuki Rei's eyelids twitched. "I'm talking to you, are you even listening? What I mean is, I'll treat you as a real enemy. If you're careless, you'll get hurt, or even die."

Neji spread his hands. "Like I said, I'm in a hurry. Please hurry up."

"You damned brat!"

Yozuki Rei glared at Neji, angered. "You don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. Today, I'll let you witness the true power of the Yozuki."

As she spoke, Yozuki Rei drew the katana from her back.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, shining on the gleaming blade and reflecting a dazzling brilliance.

Neji slightly parted his legs, his palms enveloped in pale blue chakra orbs, assuming a defensive stance.

Swish!

A cool breeze blew, and a few dead leaves fell.

The dead leaves spun and struck the long sword in Yozuki Rei's hand, cutting in half without resistance.

Neji's gaze sharpened, and he thought, 'Is this a chakra blade?!'

Yozuki Rei, already skilled in swordsmanship, had her combat power greatly enhanced by the chakra blade in her hand.

Just the aura emanating from her while holding the sword made Neji slightly apprehensive.

Neji was inferior to Yozuki Rei in swordsmanship.

He had once combined the Eight Trigrams Palm with swordsmanship to develop a set of Eight Trigrams Sword Style techniques.

Later, due to slow progress, he hadn't delved deeper into it.

Whoosh.

Yozuki Rei moved at this moment, like a ghost, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, lunging straight at Neji.

Neji keenly sensed the lightning-natured chakra within Yozuki Rei boiling instantly, stimulating all her cells to vibrate rapidly.

Using Lightning Release to stimulate the surrounding cells, comprehensively enhancing physical abilities.

The principle was the same as Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

From this, one could see Yozuki Rei's control over lightning-natured chakra was extremely precise.

Yozuki Rei's movements were swift and her sword techniques sharp, but under Neji's Tenseigan, every move and every style had a traceable pattern.

Neji's expression was blank as he employed the Eight Trigrams Palm and charged forward.

In an instant.

Palm techniques and sword techniques clashed rapidly.

A person's fighting style indirectly reflected their inner world.

Yozuki Rei's preference for unconventional tactics in combat meant she was overly confident in her own strength and the treasure sword in her hand.

This confidence caused her to unconsciously take risky moves during battle.

Perhaps this habit was something even she herself hadn't realized.

In a high-level duel, a seemingly insignificant combat habit could determine victory or defeat.

Whoosh!

With a piercing whistling sound, a large tree, requiring two people to embrace, was vertically sliced in half by Yozuki Rei.

Around the battle group, more than ten large trees were either split vertically in half or broken horizontally into several sections.

Neji stood at the extreme edge of Yozuki Rei's long blade's attack range and said leisurely, "Your swordsmanship is sharp and your power is considerable, but if you can't hit me, it's all for nothing."

"..."

Lightning crackled around the long blade in Yozuki Rei's hand, and killing intent emanated from her entire body.

Neji's words made her extremely unhappy, but she couldn't refute them for the moment.

Thus, the sword techniques she unleashed became fiercer with each strike.

Neji didn't confront her head-on. Relying on his agile footwork, he dodged, narrowly avoiding her attacks by a hair's breadth each time.

The prolonged assault yielded no results.

Yozuki Rei's emotions became increasingly unstable, and she had already consumed more than half of the chakra within her.

Furthermore, under Neji's deliberate guidance, the two moved deeper into the dense forest as they fought, and the figures of Samui and the others were no longer visible to the naked eye.

Neji began to launch his own offense.

Seeing Neji lunge at her, Yozuki Rei's heart leaped with joy, and she swung her blade rapidly.

Compared to before, Yozuki Rei's swordsmanship now carried more killing intent, but it was also much more chaotic.

Neji's Tenseigan captured the openings between Yozuki Rei's movements, but he didn't rush to attack. He was waiting for the perfect opportunity to completely destroy Yozuki Rei's confidence.

A few seconds later, the opportunity arrived.

Neji executed a sideward slip and appeared in front of Yozuki Rei, his palm slamming forcefully towards her chest.

At this moment, Yozuki Rei's best option would have been to retreat and create distance between herself and Neji, then counter-attack with her blade after his offensive passed.

But she chose a risky path instead. Not only did she not retreat, but she also swung her blade towards Neji.

This was within Neji's expectations.

The next instant, his left hand, which had been striking towards Yozuki Rei's chest, suddenly shifted sideways, his fingertips tapping the wrist of Yozuki Rei's sword-wielding hand.

The pressure points on Yozuki Rei's wrist were struck by Neji, and the long blade in her hand fell uncontrollably.

Neji caught the long blade and held it horizontally against Yozuki Rei's neck.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

It wasn't until Neji held the long blade against Yozuki Rei's neck that she finally reacted.

Neji retrieved the long blade, thrust it into the ground behind him, and stared at her expressionlessly.

"I... I lost."

Deeply shaken, Yozuki Rei collapsed onto the ground.

She never imagined she would lose, let alone lose so completely.

Ever since she started learning the sword, only her sword instructor had ever disarmed her.

But soon, Yozuki Rei abruptly raised her head and looked at Neji, confidently stating, "It won't be long before I challenge you again."

Neji shook his head and said calmly, "The gap between us is like heaven and earth. You have no chance of defeating me in this lifetime."

"No, you're wrong. In this battle, I... had a chance to win," Yozuki Rei shook her head, her expression stubborn.

Neji sighed and said, "You fought with all your might, yet you couldn't even scratch me. And I only used... ten percent of my power."

"Ten percent of your power?"

Yozuki Rei's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're spouting bullshit!"