Eight Trigrams Palm: Spiral

Hinata and Neji had already fought five rounds in the arena. Neither seemed to have the upper hand, nor were they at a disadvantage.

"She can actually fight Neji to a standstill!?"

Kiba Inuzuka's eyes widened in surprise. "Hinata's skills are that good?!"

"It's only natural that you didn't know. Our team specializes in tracking and reconnaissance, so Hinata doesn't get many chances to show what she can do,"

Shino explained from beside him. "But Hinata is definitely much stronger than you think."

"You're kidding, right?!"

Kiba looked incredulous. "Miss Kurenai, have you been giving Hinata extra lessons?"

"I'm not good at Taijutsu, let alone the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist."

Kurenai Yuhi shook her head, her gaze settling on Naruto in the distance. "As far as I know, when you were still at the Ninja Academy, Hinata often spent time with Naruto."

"Naruto?"

Kiba followed her gaze, frowning slightly. "Is that honor student close with Hinata?"

"Kiba, you should pay more attention to your teammates. Most of the class knows that Hinata likes Naruto."

Shino's voice was low. "Also, Naruto's grades were terrible when he first entered the Ninja Academy. He gradually improved, and only then became the honor student you're talking about."

Kiba looked completely bewildered. "Huh, that happened...?"

As they talked, the battle in the arena changed.

Neji increased his attack speed, and his assault suddenly became fierce. Hinata sped up too, but she couldn't match Neji's pace. She was quickly suppressed, and found herself in danger again and again.

Strangely, whenever one of Neji's attacks seemed about to land, Hinata managed to react at the last moment and deflect it.

Feeling his stamina and chakra running low, Neji suddenly stopped attacking.

Hinata stopped at the same time and silently watched him.

"I have to admit, Lady Hinata, you've grown stronger than you were before."

Neji shifted into a new stance. "But you'd be better off surrendering. I won't be able to hold back with the technique I'm about to use."

"You don't need to hold back. I'll give it everything I have."

Hinata shifted into a new stance as well. "I've worked hard to change myself. Now I'll try to change your mind too, Brother Neji."

Neji didn't back down. "Even if you can change yourself, even if you can change my mind, you can't change the fact that you belong to the Main Branch and I belong to the Branch House."

"It just can't be done right now."

Hinata continued, "Once I'm a little older and stronger, there'll definitely be a way."

"Save that talk..."

Neji furrowed his brow. "Until you can withstand this move, that is—Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Neji expended a massive amount of chakra in an instant, causing his speed to surge. Both hands launched a fierce assault!

Hinata stood her ground and called out her own technique: "Eight Trigrams Palm: Spiral."

Unlike Neji's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, Hinata didn't expend all her chakra at once. Instead, she released it in a steady, measured flow as she spun, moving her hands in tandem to create a layer of rapidly circulating chakra around her body.

Neji felt as though his hands were striking an exceptionally tough membrane. It wasn't hard, but no matter what he did, he couldn't break through—not even with the chakra released from his fingertips.

A dense series of sharp cracks rang out. A burst of chakra-laced force erupted between Hinata and Neji, hurling them apart. At the center of the impact, the floor looked as though it had been struck by something, its surface pitted and broken.

Seeing Hinata unharmed, Neji faltered for a moment, then quickly refocused. "Spiral... There's no technique like that among the Eight Trigrams Palm techniques I know. Is it a secret art only those of the Main Branch can learn?"

"No."

Hinata said, "It's a technique I developed myself with Naruto-kun's help."

"Ha, haha... Hahahaha!"

Neji's laughter grew increasingly unrestrained. "Someone as untalented as you, together with an outsider, casually made something that's even stronger than the techniques passed down through our clan! Could anything be more ridiculous? Hahaha!"

"That's not true!"

Hinata was solemn and earnest. "I really am untalented. Even with all the advice I received, it took me two years to complete this technique. But this achievement carries the goodwill of everyone who's helped me until now, as well as my own hard work. It's definitely not something I casually came up with, Brother Neji!"

Her voice wasn't forceful, yet it rang out like a thunderclap. The image of the timid but determined girl in Neji's memories gradually merged with the person standing before him.

"You really have changed, Hinata."

Neji stopped laughing, his expression gradually relaxing. "But that still isn't enough to change my mind."

He took up another new stance. "Next, I'll use my strongest attack. Try to withstand it. If you can't, your exam ends here."

After speaking, Neji refined his chakra to its limit. An Eight Trigrams formation visible only to him spread out beneath his feet. "Eight Trigrams Palm: Rotation."

Seeing the surging chakra within Neji, Hinata couldn't help doubting herself. That's so much chakra... Can I really block it?

"Hinata!"

Naruto shouted from the stands. "Believe in yourself! Your hard work won't let you down!"

Naruto's encouragement strengthened Hinata's resolve. She released her chakra steadily. "Eight Trigrams Palm: Spiral."

Neji charged in. Just before he reached Hinata, he released chakra from his entire body and spun at high speed, forming a rapidly rotating sphere of chakra that ground away and repelled everything it touched.

Hinata released chakra and spun as well, but not as quickly as Neji. At the same time, she swung her hands, generating chakra that rotated in different directions, like an enlarged, hollow Rasengan.

The two sides' chakra collided even more violently than before, crushing and tearing at each other with a grating screech like a diamond grinding wheel cutting through metal.

At the point where the chakra met, the floor finally gave way and crumbled into powder, which the fierce wind from the impact swept away.

Gekko Hayate cautiously kept his distance, struggling to stay on his feet. "Chakra this powerful, and an impact like that... Are these two really Genin?"

The fierce clash didn't last long. The chakra surrounding Neji began to weaken first, and his body's rotation slowed.

The chakra barrier around Hinata also grew weaker, but it faded a little more slowly than Neji's.

After three seconds, both sides ran out of chakra at the same time. At the center of the collision, the exhausted chakra abruptly contracted, then burst a moment later, scattering in every direction.

Hinata and Neji fell to the ground one after another, too weak to get back up.

"Unfortunately, this match is a draw."

Gekko Hayate announced, "The eighth round has no winner."

With that, the preliminary matches entered their final round. The only competitors who hadn't taken the field were Naruto and Rock Lee...