Trust Your Feelings

On the field, Qingyu took a deep breath, Shisui's words echoing in his mind:

"Trust your instincts."

He closed his eyes, then snapped them open!

He wasn't looking at Neji's current position, but at where Neji "might" be.

Six shuriken, divided into two groups, were flung out with completely different angles, speeds, and rotations!

The first group of three shot out in a straight line, targeting Neji's upper, middle, and lower paths.

The second group of three traced eerie arcs, targeting the evasion space on Neji's left and right sides.

"Child's play," Neji said coldly, his Byakugan having already seen through every trajectory.

He tilted his body slightly, preparing to dodge with the smallest possible movement, But at that very moment, Qingyu formed hand seals once more:

"Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique!"

It wasn't an attack; it was support!

A massive amount of water vapor erupted from his hands, instantly forming a dense fog between the two of them. Although the area was small—only ten meters in radius—it was enough to briefly interfere with vision. Even the Byakugan would be slightly affected within the thick mist.

Probably...

Neji's brows finally furrowed.

He hadn't expected Qingyu to use Water Style, and even less had he expected him to use it so... sneakily.

The first group of three shuriken pierced through the mist, and Neji easily side-stepped to avoid them.

But the second group of three curved shuriken, obscured by the dense fog and their erratic trajectories, arrived half a second late.

And that half-second was exactly Neji's opening!

There was a gap!

"Rotation!"

Neji didn't hesitate; his body spun in place, chakra erupting from every tenketsu on his body to form a perfect spherical barrier.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

All three curved shuriken were deflected away.

The dense fog was also blown away by the rotating airflow of the Rotation.

Seven seconds later, the Rotation stopped.

Neji stood where he was, his breathing slightly rapid; the consumption of the Rotation was indeed not small.

And Qingyu...

He had already retreated thirty meters away, panting heavily, but his eyes were terrifyingly bright.

He had succeeded! He had forced out a Rotation! Although it had only consumed a tenth of his chakra, but... he had done it!

A commotion broke out in the stands.

"That kid... he actually forced Neji to use Rotation?"

"His tactics are quite clever, using the Hidden Mist Technique to interfere and shuriken to force a change in positioning..."

"But his own consumption isn't small either, is it? Using both Fire Style and Water Style..."

On the main platform, the corners of Fugaku Uchiha's mouth curled up slightly.

Hyuga Hiashi remained expressionless, though his fingers tapped lightly against the armrest.

"Shisui taught him well," Fugaku said softly.

"Just clever tricks," Hiashi replied indifferently. "Neji hasn't gotten serious yet."

On the field, Neji looked at Qingyu thirty meters away and spoke a full sentence for the first time:

"You are more troublesome than I imagined."

Qingyu grinned: "Thanks for the compliment, though it doesn't sound like one."

"But this ends here." Neji set his hands in a brand-new starting stance.

"Next, I will end this battle in thirty seconds."

Thirty seconds? So precise?

Does your old self come with a built-in timer?

Qingyu grumbled internally, but every muscle in his body tensed up.

He knew Neji was about to get serious.

"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Neji's figure vanished.

No, he hadn't vanished; his speed was simply too fast, leaving afterimages in the dynamic vision of ordinary people!

Qingyu's pupils constricted as the voices of Izuna and Tobirama roared in his mind simultaneously:

"Back left!"

"No! That's a feint! The real attack is from the front right!"

The two of them were at odds again!

Qingyu gritted his teeth and chose to trust his own "instincts."

He didn't dodge left or right; instead, he threw himself into a backbend, his body nearly flattening against the ground!

Whoosh!

Neji's palm wind grazed his cheeks like several kunai slicing through the air.

Qingyu felt a burning pain on his skin; chakra burned wildly through his meridians, and every roll felt like a gamble with his life.

That was close! I almost got hit by a pressure point strike!

Neji's assault, however, did not cease.

Missing his first strike, he transitioned smoothly, his palms falling like a torrential downpour:

"Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms!"

Qingyu rolled and maneuvered frantically on the ground, using every possible method to evade.

Every strike grazed his body, missing by mere millimeters.

In the stands, the audience was stunned.

"My god... how is he dodging all of that?"

"Isn't that Uchiha brat's intuition a bit too accurate?"

"No, it's not entirely intuition... look at his eyes!"

Someone noticed that a faint, fleeting red light occasionally flashed in Qingyu's eyes—it wasn't the Sharingan, but something was clearly in effect.

Combat Intuition (Basic) is operating at full capacity!

Qingyu felt himself enter a wondrous state.

Everything around him slowed down.

The trajectory of Neji's palm techniques, the fluctuations of his chakra flow, and even the movement of dust in the air became clearly visible.

But the cost was his brain burning intensely and his chakra depleting rapidly.

This won't last... I can hold on for ten seconds at most before I collapse.

"Brat! Use your blade!" Izuna suddenly roared. "I'll teach you a simple thrust! Combine it with a chakra burst, and you can force him back!"

"Too risky!" Tobirama countered. "You should use the Steam-Kill Shuriken! Create an explosion and steam to interfere with his Byakugan!"

Izuna was excited: "Yes! Blow him up! Let him see the micro-control of the Uchiha!"

Tobirama was calm: "Don't be impulsive, watch your chakra allocation. Detonating three at once will consume 40%..."

As Qingyu rolled to dodge Neji's "Thirty-Two Palms," he calculated rapidly in his mind:

Izuna's plan was close-quarters combat—high risk, high reward. Success could turn the tide, but failure meant being struck by a pressure point and instantly defeated.

Tobirama's plan was long-range attrition—relatively safe, but it might not break the stalemate, and the hit rate of the Steam-Kill Shuriken was...

"Decided!"

After dodging another palm strike, Qingyu reached into his ninja tool pouch with both hands simultaneously.

His left hand pulled out three ordinary shuriken.

His right hand pulled out three specialized "Steam-Kill Shuriken" with fine, intricate patterns on their surfaces.

"Hmm?" Neji's Byakugan instantly saw through the difference. "The chakra attachment methods are different... it's a trap."

He immediately retreated to create distance.

But Qingyu had already made his move!

"Uchiha Style: Triple Swallow Return!"

The three ordinary shuriken flew out in a triangular formation, sealing off Neji's top, left, and right sides.

Just as Neji was about to sidestep, he realized Qingyu's right hand had moved as well.

"Steam-Kill Shuriken: Scattering Flowers!"

It wasn't one; all three were thrown at once!

Furthermore, the throwing method was incredibly bizarre: the three shuriken collided in mid-air, bouncing and changing direction, their trajectories completely unpredictable!

This was the fusion of the "Heart-Intent Style" taught by Shisui and the "Steam-Kill technique" Qingyu had pondered himself!

Neji's Byakugan spun frantically, attempting to calculate every trajectory, but...

There were too many! Too many changes in direction! And the chakra fluctuations of each one were shifting at every moment!

"Rotation!"

He had no choice but to activate Absolute Defense once again.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The three Steam-Kill Shuriken slammed into the Rotation barrier almost simultaneously, detonating in a violent explosion!

High-temperature steam instantly engulfed the area where Neji stood, turning everything into a vast, blinding expanse of white where nothing could be seen.

The spectator stands erupted in an uproar.

"Did it hit?!"

"No, Rotation blocked it!"

"But Neji has used Rotation twice in a row..."