Gentle Fist! Resonating Chakra

"Hinata?"

Neji murmured subconsciously, looking toward Hinata's direction.

Hinata's pure face also held a hint of astonishment.

However, she quickly overcame it; after all, she was a member of the Hyuga Clan's main branch.

"..."

Neji felt a bit worried. He knew a thing or two about Zaku's methods, and Hinata was likely no match for him right now.

Most importantly, Zaku was a Sound Ninja, and their methods and temperaments were extremely cruel.

But if he were to urge Hinata to forfeit the match now, it wouldn't really make sense.

He began to grow stern; if this Zaku dared to harm Hinata in the slightest, his life would surely be forfeit!

"Ahem, will contestants Hinata Hyuga and Zaku please come to the arena."

"Heh!"

Zaku grinned and descended into the arena.

He was in a sorry state, looking as if he had been electrocuted not long ago, appearing quite disheveled, though the rebellious glint in his eyes remained as strong as ever.

Seeing the person before her, Hinata was visibly startled; Zaku was even limping as he walked.

"What is going on?"

The jonin on the platform were all taken aback, and Hayate also noticed something was wrong, asking, "Zaku, you seem to be injured. Are you sure you want to continue with the match?"

But Zaku didn't care at all, snorting coldly, "Don't worry about my injuries!"

He gritted his teeth, thinking of the miserable lesson he had been taught in the Forest of Death, and his anger flared up.

He looked at Hinata: "You Hyuga Clan members all like using palms, don't you? Perfect, I happen to hate people who use palms the most. Come and have a real fight with me..."

His eyes were filled with cruelty.

Seeing that he couldn't be persuaded, Hayate gave up.

"Then, begin."

As soon as the match started, Zaku couldn't hold back and rushed straight toward Hinata.

"Hinata, go for it! Show him what you're made of!"

Kiba Inuzuka cheered loudly from the sidelines, while Neji simply crossed his arms and secretly formed hand seals.

"Byakugan!"

Veins bulged, and his chakra flowed smoothly throughout his body, gathering at his eyes and transmitting into his visual nerves via chakra as a medium...

"This is...!"

Neji was stunned. He saw that inside Zaku's body, besides the Cutting Air Wave, there was another surge of chakra!

That chakra was none other than the remnants of his own lightning-style nature transformation!

Like lightning, it surged intermittently through Zaku's body. Neji hadn't expected that the experiment in the forest would cause this kid to suffer the lingering effects until now.

It was no wonder he looked so disheveled when he entered; if not for the unique way his Cutting Air Wave technique was released, he probably wouldn't even be able to use ninjutsu normally right now.

On the arena, Hinata immediately dodged.

"Heh! Naive little girl!"

Under everyone's gaze, Zaku struck out with a palm, which Hinata dodged in time.

But taking advantage of the moment Hinata's feet touched the ground, Zaku turned his palm toward her.

"Cutting Air Wave!"

"Hah!"

"Too cunning!" Kiba Inuzuka watched, feeling indignant.

Yet Neji, who had his Byakugan activated, remained very calm.

Because beneath the dust, Neji could clearly see that Hinata had reacted and quickly bent down to dodge the attack.

The entire audience was shocked.

"Is the little girl from the Hyuga Clan actually this strong?"

"It's starting, the battle of the Byakugan!"

Neji just smiled with relief. Although Hinata's talent wasn't top-tier, she was quite adept at quickly activating her Byakugan and applying it in actual combat.

Neji had performed similar reaction training tens of thousands of times, and Hinata had naturally been brought along by him to do plenty of training as well.

Such an attack still seemed a bit amateurish in the face of the Byakugan.

"Damn it! Take another one!"

Seeing that he hadn't succeeded and that Hinata was about to launch a counterattack, Zaku immediately used his other hand.

"This time, it's a double shot!"

With two sounds of "bang" and "thud," Hinata had no choice but to abandon her attack and widen the distance.

"As expected of Hinata, your reactions are truly fast! The Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan and your taijutsu are indeed formidable!"

Rock Lee watched, praising her in astonishment.

Because he himself specialized only in taijutsu and could not use ninjutsu, he had to train with everything he had.

Seeing that Hinata could strengthen her taijutsu to such a degree simply because of the Byakugan, he was truly envious.

Neji did not speak, but Kiba, standing to the side, could not sit still.

"The Byakugan isn't omnipotent, you know. Take Neji, for example—don't you have the Byakugan too? You can't even beat Hinata, can you?"

Kiba looked at Neji, his face full of disdain.

However, Neji was too lazy to argue with him; he knew Kiba's personality was just like that, and besides, Kiba had a strong sense of justice and had always looked after Hinata, who was on his team, in one way or another.

Therefore, Neji would not hold it against him.

Tenten, standing nearby, chimed in with a snarky comment: "Look, Neji, you're being looked down upon because you haven't been working hard enough to improve your strength, right?"

Rock Lee just chuckled foolishly: "Neji has already been working very hard!"

Just as Neji was about to interject and join their conversation, a massive change occurred down in the arena!

"Taijutsu? If that's how it is, then I don't care anymore! Full power!"

Zaku formed hand seals and sprinted violently toward Hinata, his eyes filled with killing intent.

Everyone focused their attention!

Under Neji's Byakugan, Zaku's entire body was filled with Cutting Air Wave...

"This guy! He wants to take her down with him—Hinata!"

Neji shouted, but it was already too late for Hinata to dodge!

"Gentle Fist Art: Quick Step!"

Hinata's feet were wrapped in dense chakra; she could no longer afford to worry about anything else and intended to meet him head-on!

"No..."

Neji reached out, grabbed the railing, and prepared to jump down.

At this moment, Tenten advised from the side: "Neji, this is an exam. If Hinata is in danger, the proctor will intervene! Besides, there are several jonin watching right here."

Neji gritted his teeth and continued to watch the arena.

Unexpectedly, the situation changed drastically once again!

"Slap!"

Hinata's palm struck Zaku directly in the face!

"Tap!"

Another palm followed.

Then, dozens of strikes landed in succession.

Every single one hit an unexpected position.

In Neji's eyes, this was the result of Hinata's Gentle Fist technique being subpar.

However, in the eyes of everyone else, this move by Hinata had directly led to Zaku's total defeat!

From the moment Hinata's first strike landed, Zaku's entire body seemed to be controlled, rendering him unable to move.

By the second strike, Zaku could no longer control his trembling.

At first, they thought it was just the brilliance of Hinata's palm technique, but afterward, the trembling originating from Zaku's body seemed as if a force within him was manipulating his chakra, making it impossible for him to act on his own!

Neji also grew increasingly surprised.

The lightning-natured chakra that had been driven into Zaku's body was now responding to every strike of Hinata's Gentle Fist, beginning to run rampant throughout his entire body!

When the Gentle Fist hit his face, the acupoints and blood vessels in his face were all eroded by the chakra.

When the Gentle Fist hit his chest, the meridians and the area around his heart were flooded as the lightning-natured chakra began to spread throughout his body.

"Ahhhhh! Ah..."

Zaku retreated. Even Hinata herself hadn't expected her palm technique to have such power.

Zaku's whole body couldn't stop shaking, even though Hinata had already ceased her attack.

He looked as if he had been electrocuted, and then he collapsed heavily to the ground, losing consciousness!