Conjecture! The Mysterious Youth

"...Winner! Hinata Hyuga!"

Even the referee in the arena looked somewhat astonished.

His gaze flickered with hesitation as he looked toward the fallen Zaku.

What exactly had that boy experienced just now? It was clearly the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga clan, yet it looked as if he had been struck by lightning!

Seeing this, Kakashi hurriedly lifted his headband.

"Sharingan!"

"This is..."

Kakashi's expression turned grave, as if he had seen something truly startling.

"What is it?"

Guy asked.

Kurenai Yuhi also leaned in with concern.

"There is a lightning-natured chakra inside that child's body. It's a nature transformation..."

"Nature transformation? That doesn't sound like something a genin could master, does it?" Kurenai Yuhi frowned, asking in surprise.

As a genjutsu specialist, she was naturally well-versed in chakra nature transformation and understood it very clearly.

Kakashi shook his head and said, "No, that power doesn't belong to him. That child seems to have been injured by someone before. But for some reason, the moment the lightning-natured chakra came into contact with the Gentle Fist, it triggered some kind of reaction, causing the residual power within his body to spread once again..."

At this moment, Neji, who was standing further away, felt a deep sense of shock in his heart!

So this was the chakra provided by the system; it could actually remain inside a human body.

What was even more terrifying was that as long as it was the Gentle Fist, it could resonate with that chakra!

Neji took a deep breath, his thoughts in a state of disarray.

It seemed that using his own techniques on genin so casually was still too dangerous.

Neji had already held back, yet it still caused such severe consequences.

If he were to accidentally expose his identity, the loss would far outweigh the gain.

However, as a stroke of luck, this incident had successfully allowed Hinata to win the match by a fluke and advance to the next stage!

"Amazing! Hinata!"

Kiba, standing to the side, shouted excitedly, then glanced at Neji with a mischievous grin.

"How about that? Hinata is amazing, right? You'd better work hard yourself!"

Tenten also shook her head with a sigh, urging Neji, "Neji, I think you really can't keep up with your cousin's pace anymore!"

"It doesn't matter."

Neji responded with a faint smile.

He couldn't be bothered to argue about such meaningless topics with them. What mattered now was that in the upcoming matches, he could no longer use that technique!

If he were matched against someone easy to deal with, that would be fine.

But if he happened to run into a Sand Ninja or an Oto Ninja, it would likely be difficult given his current stamina.

The jonin present must have noticed something amiss; if he used that move again, it would be hard to avoid being held accountable.

After all, Anko hadn't appeared since the exam ended, and she would likely report the encounter with a mysterious Anbu youth in the Forest of Death...

"Next match, Naruto Uzumaki vs. Dosu!"

"Hmph! Finally my turn!"

Naruto immediately jumped into the arena, brimming with excitement.

"Naruto, be careful..."

Sakura cautioned from behind, and Naruto nodded.

In the Forest of Death, it was these three Oto Ninjas who had come to cause them trouble!

"Zaku..."

Watching the unconscious Zaku being carried away, Dosu muttered to himself.

Kin, standing beside him, looked worried and said, "It was left by that person in the forest. Zaku was taken down by his chakra."

Dosu turned his head back and said, "It seems Uchiha Sasuke is temporarily out of reach. I will properly avenge Zaku. Damn Konoha ninjas."

With that, he leaped into the arena.

Meanwhile, in the spectator stands, the three jonin were gathered together with serious expressions.

"You mean... that chakra doesn't belong to Hinata?"

Guy asked in surprise.

Kurenai Yuhi nodded heavily. "Yes, I know that child Hinata well. It's impossible for her to perform such an advanced nature transformation. Besides, it's lightning-natured; that child couldn't have mastered it."

Kurenai Yuhi had always been a meticulous teacher, and since she said so, Kakashi had no reason to doubt her.

"To be honest, even my Lightning Blade might not be more powerful than that chakra nature just now."

Hearing Kakashi say this, Might Guy was even more astonished.

Kurenai Yuhi sighed: "That's why I said, it definitely wasn't Hinata's doing..."

"In any case, that guy became like this after coming out of the Forest of Death. I heard from Anko that they encountered a mysterious Anbu youth in the Forest of Death, and that youth's techniques seemed to involve lightning-style chakra nature transformation."

"Anbu youth?"

Kakashi's words drew the attention of both of them.

"We're in a time of peace, yet there's someone who joined the Anbu while still a youth? Are you the second generation of Kakashi?"

Might Guy joked with a laugh, but Kakashi rolled his eyes at him and said coldly: "Alright, that joke isn't funny at all. Anko said there is no such person in the Anbu; that guy's Anbu mask and uniform were scavenged."

"Huh?"

While the few were conversing, Naruto and Dosu had already begun to fight below.

Within a few exchanges, Naruto was hammered to the ground.

"Oh my, your student is about to lose, Kakashi!"

"It's fine..."

Kakashi responded with certainty.

Immediately, Naruto, who had been knocked down and appeared unable to rise again, struggled to climb back up.

"It's... not... over... yet!"

"He really is the number one ninja for being unpredictable! He won't even admit defeat here?" Might Guy said with a smile.

"...Wait, don't change the subject. This matter is definitely not just gossip. We are in the sensitive period of the Chunin Exams; the identity of any mysterious person will attract the attention of the higher-ups."

"Mm, Anko said that the youth told her to strengthen the village's defenses recently. And their opponent in the Forest of Death... was Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru?"

This name left the two of them even more shocked.

"Wait, are you saying that mysterious Anbu youth fought Orochimaru? Who won?" Might Guy became increasingly focused.

"Orochimaru fled. In terms of taijutsu, he was completely inferior to that youth."

"This..."

Kurenai and Might Guy looked at each other, at a loss for words.

While keeping an eye on his student's battle, Kakashi steered the conversation back.

"Actually, Anko gave me a hypothesis. That youth is very likely a member of the Hyuga Clan, because his palm techniques are very similar to the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and the Gentle Fist. As for his height... it's about the same as Neji's in your team!"

"Huh?"

Not only Might Guy, but Kurenai Yuhi also cast a resentful glance at Neji over there.

Since Hinata was under her tutelage, she also had some understanding of the Hyuga Clan.

"Neji is a recognized failure of a ninja in the Hyuga Clan, without any talent. How could he know the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms..."

Might Guy also laughed foolishly: "That's true, it couldn't possibly be that kid Neji. Although he works very hard, but..."

Speaking of this, Might Guy suddenly froze.

He suddenly recalled Neji's resolute gaze before participating in the Chunin Exams.

Even when facing him, Neji's determination to participate in the Chunin Exams had made him feel from the start that the boy's ambition was not small.

It couldn't be, right?

Might Guy asked himself internally.

"Ah, I'm just telling you both about it. I'm afraid the village will have to strengthen its defenses during this period, and we'll be busy too! Of course, I know it couldn't possibly be Neji..."

As Kakashi spoke, Might Guy fell into deep thought.

He kept feeling that Neji, who was standing over there intently observing the battlefield, didn't look much like the "failure" Neji from before.

He had to find an opportunity to test him.

This thought lingered in Might Guy's mind, refusing to go away.