Defense! Indestructible

"What is that? Even from this distance..."

Shino frowned, looking somewhat surprised.

Kiba also froze for a moment before reverting to his human form: "Neji? Since when did you learn ninjutsu?"

Yet, they were unaware that this was merely a taijutsu technique Neji had painstakingly mastered.

The only long-range taijutsu of the Byakugan.

"Hinata, come here."

Neji looked toward Hinata.

Even if he had no interest in fighting these people, Neji still did not want Hinata to get hurt.

Hinata ran over with all her might, and while Shino and Kiba were distracted, the Kusagakure ninjas quickly disengaged from the battlefield.

As the four of them reunited, Kiba and Shino seemed to harbor less hostility toward Neji after this encounter.

However, this had also shown them that Neji was not as incompetent as the rumors suggested.

"I didn't expect Neji to be this strong now, actually able to trade blows with Kiba in close combat," Shino praised.

Kiba just chuckled: "Hmph, he's got some skills, but I wasn't even serious earlier. Don't get cocky!"

"Since you are all from Konoha, you might as well die together!"

The voices of the Kusagakure ninjas began to echo all around them.

"Earth Style: Earth Mud Swamp!"

"Boom!"

Everyone was startled as a circular area with a diameter of six or seven meters formed around them, the ground beginning to turn into a swamp. This was an attempt to seal off their escape!

"Damn it." Shino was the first to notice, reaching out to catch a bug in the air.

"This isn't just a simple roadblock; it's an Earth Style chakra barrier. My bugs can't fly out."

Kiba hissed: "These Kusagakure ninjas are as treacherous as they come!"

Then, the Kusagakure ninjas' voices came again: "The proctor stated it clearly: this exam is live combat. Since that's the case, killing you shouldn't be considered excessive, right?"

At this, Shino and Kiba were immediately thrown into a panic.

Even though they had come to seize scrolls, they had never intended to kill Neji.

It seemed these Kusagakure ninjas were playing for keeps.

"The Earth Style barrier will last for at least two minutes. In the next minute, thirty thousand senbon needles made of Needle Grass will rain down upon you. You won't be able to escape... Hahaha!"

"Whoosh!"

No sooner had the voice finished than a senbon shot down, piercing through one of Shino's bugs and pinning it to a tree trunk.

"Byakugan!"

Hinata activated her Byakugan, seeing chakra barriers surrounding them on all sides, with the senbon themselves also imbued with chakra.

"It's poisonous..." A cold sweat dripped down Hinata's face.

"Hahaha! You guessed right! The senbon are coated in a lethal toxin, so even if you avoid the vital spots, a single scratch means certain death!"

Shino and Kiba were at a loss, never expecting that a move meant to target Neji would land them in such a predicament!

"I'll use Fang Passing Fang to block all the senbon! You guys protect yourselves!"

Kiba was about to call Akamaru to transform, but Hinata stopped him.

"No, Kiba! You'll be even more severely injured if you do that!"

"But there's no other way!"

As the two argued, Neji stepped forward.

"Stand there and don't move!"

He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Right, Rotation! Neji-niisan, can you use Rotation?" Hinata seemed to see a glimmer of hope.

But Kiba immediately retorted: "Even the Hyuga Clan's Rotation can't cover such a wide area, and it has to last for a full minute? It's impossible!"

Shino also had nothing to say.

"Time's up. Die!"

At the Kusagakure ninja's command, the sound of thousands of senbon filling the air made the group smell the scent of death!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Hundreds of senbon began to rain down simultaneously toward the clearing where they stood. Whether on the ground or in the trees, the Kusagakure ninjas had set traps everywhere!

Neji's hand gestures sank low. He knew, of course, that a normal Rotation couldn't be sustained for a minute, but he could do it!

"Wind nature..."

Neji closed his eyes and refined the chakra within his body. With the assistance of the Byakugan, accomplishing such a feat was effortless.

"Nature Transformation!"

Neji opened his eyes to see the senbon needles nearly upon them; Kiba and Shino instinctively raised their hands to shield their heads, while Hinata squeezed her eyes shut.

"Wind Style: Rotation!"

He had practiced this technique alone in the training grounds ten thousand times!

Using it again, it felt like second nature!

Neji's entire body began to spin at high speed, the surrounding gale whipping up the dust from the ground before the needles could even arrive, scattering them instantly due to their light mass.

Finally, the chakra driven by the wind formed a closed hemisphere identical to the standard Rotation.

It reached a full five meters in diameter!

Like a tornado, Hinata and the others remained safe in the eye of the vortex, while the incoming senbon were deflected one by one.

The number of needles increased, thousands upon thousands pouring into the whirlwind of the Rotation, only to be pulverized into dust amidst the play of light and shadow!

"An impenetrable defense—is this the Hyuga Clan's Rotation? No, it's more than that!"

The Grass ninja widened their eyes in shock, cold sweat streaming down their faces.

"This is practically a giant, controlled tornado; it can even..."

The leaves of the tree where they were hiding were stripped away by the wind, and the entire tree was nearly uprooted!

The rain of senbon fell, but upon striking the powerful, shaped chakra of the Rotation, they lost all lethality.

The Rotation lasted for over a minute, completely devastating the surrounding terrain!

As the senbon ran out, the Rotation came to a halt.

"Kikaichū: Insect Scatter!"

The Kikaichū already spread across the ground left them with nowhere to run.

"Passing Fang!"

A whirlwind-like projectile flew toward the group, striking them head-on!

"Is... is this really okay?"

Hinata blushed, looking at the Grass ninja who had been stripped down to their underwear, and quickly turned her head away.

Kiba brushed the dust off his hands and said, "Hey! You have to deal with sneaky bastards like them this way. Let's see if they dare to ambush anyone again!"

"Sorry about this, Neji. You guys have the Heaven Scroll, right? Their scroll is also Heaven, and since we have Earth, I'll be taking this one!" Kiba said, looking like he had gotten the better end of the deal while still acting innocent.

Shino kept his hands in his pockets, looking toward Neji.

"What was that technique just now? Have you really cultivated the Hyuga Clan's Rotation to such a level?"

Neji chuckled sheepishly, scratching his head. "Ah, it's nothing, nothing. Our Hyuga Clan is just very strong!"

Hinata stared blankly at Neji, then silently lowered her head.

Seeing her own cousin able to hold his head high in front of others was a source of great happiness.

"Let's find a place to rest." Seeing that everyone was exhausted, Shino suggested they evacuate the area to avoid further encounters with enemies.

The group had just left the woods and walked a few steps when Neji sensed something was wrong and signaled everyone to stop.

Rustle!

The leaves made a rustling sound as a ninja wearing a beige, specialized bodysuit stepped out.

It was Oboro, a genin from Amegakure.

With his messy hair and deep, dark circles under his eyes, he didn't look like someone to be trifled with at first glance.

Neji paused, finding it hard to see the man's face clearly in the dark, but he recognized the forehead protector—a genin from Amegakure.

"I thought I might be late, but it seems I arrived just in time!"

Oboro chuckled twice. He had split up from his team to hunt down the weakest member, Hyuga Neji, and was thrilled to have stumbled upon him so quickly.