Defense! Impervious

"What was that? From that far away, he actually..."

Shino furrowed his brow, looking surprised.

Kiba was stunned too. He returned to human form. "Neji? When did you learn ninjutsu?"

What they didn't know was that it was nothing more than taijutsu Neji had honed through painstaking practice.

The Byakugan's only long-range taijutsu.

"Hinata, come over here."

Neji looked at Hinata.

Even though he had no interest in fighting these people, Neji still didn't want Hinata to get hurt.

Hinata ran over with all her might. Taking advantage of Shino and Kiba's momentary distraction, the Kusagakure group quickly fled the battlefield.

The four reunited. After what had just happened, Kiba and Shino seemed much less hostile toward Neji.

It had also shown them that Neji wasn't nearly as pathetic as the rumors made him out to be.

"I didn't expect Neji to be this strong now. He actually held his own against Kiba in close combat," Shino praised.

Kiba only gave a faint chuckle. "Hmph, you've got some skill, I'll give you that. But I wasn't even serious just now, so don't get cocky!"

"Since you're all from Konoha, why not die together?"

The Grass Ninja's voices began echoing all around them.

"Earth Release: Mud Swamp!"

Rumble!

Everyone was startled. A circle six or seven meters in diameter formed around them, and the ground along its edge gradually turned into a swamp. They were trying to cut off their escape!

"Damn it." Shino was the first to notice. He reached out and caught an insect in the air.

"This isn't just a simple roadblock. It's an Earth Release chakra barrier. Even the insects can't fly out."

Kiba scoffed. "These Grass Ninja are as underhanded as they come!"

The Grass Ninja's voices sounded again. "The chief examiner made it perfectly clear: this exam is a real battle. If that's the case, surely killing you isn't going too far?"

Shino and Kiba immediately panicked.

They had come to take the scroll, but they had never planned to kill Neji.

It looked like the Grass Ninja meant business.

"The Earth Release barrier will last at least two minutes. For the next minute, thirty thousand senbon made from special Needle Grass will rain down on you. There's no escaping... Hahaha!"

Whoosh!

As soon as he finished speaking, a senbon shot down. It pierced one of Shino's insects and pinned it to a tree trunk.

"Byakugan!"

Hinata activated her Byakugan. Chakra barriers surrounded them, and the senbon were infused with chakra as well.

"They're poisoned..." A bead of cold sweat trickled down Hinata's face.

"Hahaha! You guessed right. The senbon are laced with a potent poison. So even if you avoid a vital spot, one prick is enough to kill you!"

Shino and Kiba had no idea what to do. They'd come after Neji, only to end up in this predicament!

"I'll use Fang Passing Fang to block all the senbon. Protect yourselves!"

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

"No, Kiba! You'll only get hurt even worse!"

"But we're out of options!"

As the two argued, Neji stepped forward.

"Stay here. Don't move!"

He took a deep breath and moved ahead.

"That's right, Rotation! Neji, can you use Rotation?" Hinata seemed to see a glimmer of hope.

But Kiba immediately argued, "Even the Hyuga Clan's Rotation can't cover such a wide area, and it'd have to last for a whole minute? That's impossible!"

Shino was at a loss for words as well.

"Time's up. Die!"

At the Grass Ninja's command, the sound of countless senbon cutting through the air filled the space around them, nearly making them feel the touch of death.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Hundreds of senbon shot toward the clearing where the group stood. The Grass Ninja had set traps in advance everywhere, both on the ground and in the trees!

Neji lowered his hands. Of course he knew ordinary Rotation couldn't last a minute, but he could manage it now!

"Wind Style..."

Neji closed his eyes and gathered the chakra within his body. With the Byakugan's help, doing this was easy.

"Nature transformation!"

Neji opened his eyes. The senbon were almost upon them. Kiba and Shino instinctively raised their hands to shield their heads, while Hinata squeezed her eyes shut.

"Wind Style: Rotation!"

He had already practiced this move alone on the training field ten thousand times!

Now that he was using it for real, the motion came naturally!

Neji spun rapidly. The whirlwind around him swept up the dust from the ground first. The senbon, too light to resist the wind, were blown away.

Then the chakra carried by the wind formed a closed hemisphere, just like Rotation.

Its diameter reached a full five meters!

Like the eye of a tornado, Hinata and the others stood unharmed at its center, while the senbon outside were deflected one after another.

More and more senbon poured in. Thousands entered the swirling Rotation, only to be reduced to ash amid the flashes of light and shadow!

"An impervious defense! Is that the Hyuga Clan's Rotation? No, it's more than that!"

The Grass Ninja stared in shock, eyes wide and cold sweat running down their faces.

"This is practically a gigantic, controlled tornado! It can even..."

The tree hiding them was stripped of its leaves, which scattered through the air. The whole tree was nearly uprooted!

The senbon fell like rain, but when they met the powerful, shape-shifting chakra of Rotation, they were completely harmless.

Rotation lasted for over a minute, destroying all the terrain nearby!

Once the senbon ran out, Rotation stopped too.

"Kikaichū: Insect Scatter!"

Kikaichū that had been planted across the ground in advance had already cut off every escape route.

"Passing Fang!"

A whirlwind-shaped figure shot toward the group, striking them head-on!

"Is... is this really okay?"

Hinata blushed as she looked at the Grass Ninja, who had been stripped down to their underwear, then turned away.

Kiba dusted off his hands. "Hey! This is how you deal with sneaky bastards like them. Let's see if they try to ambush anyone again!"

"Sorry, Neji. You've got the Heaven Scroll, right? Their scroll is Heaven too, and we've got Earth. So I'll take this one!" Kiba looked as if he'd gotten away with something.

Shino kept his hands in his pockets and looked at Neji.

"What was that technique just now? You've trained the Hyuga Clan's Rotation to such a level?"

Neji scratched his head with a sheepish grin. "Aw, it was nothing. Our Hyuga Clan is pretty strong, after all!"

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

Seeing her brother hold his head high in front of others made her very happy.

"Let's find somewhere to rest," Shino said. Everyone was utterly exhausted, and to avoid running into more enemies, they needed to leave the area first.

They had just left the woods and taken a few steps when Neji sensed something was wrong. He signaled for everyone to stop.

Rustle!

The leaves stirred with a soft rustling sound, and a ninja wearing a specially made off-white bodysuit emerged.

It was Oboro, a Genin from Amegakure.

With his unkempt hair and dark circles under his eyes, he looked like trouble at first glance.

Neji froze for a moment. It was dark, and he couldn't see the person's face clearly, but he recognized the Forehead Protector: a Genin from Amegakure.

"I thought I'd arrived too late. Looks like I came at just the right time!"

Oboro chuckled. He and his teammates had split up to search for the weakest target, Hyuga Neji. He hadn't expected to find him, and was thrilled.