"Mr. Guy, I'm sorry. I couldn't beat my opponent."
Tenten lowered her head, filled with remorse.
Guy reassured her. "That Sand Ninja just happened to be a bad matchup for you, Tenten. You're very strong."
"But it looks like our class came all this way for nothing. We won't be taking the Chunin Ninja Exams this year..."
As Tenten spoke, she sniffled, a few uncooperative tears welling in her eyes.
"What are you talking about? Neji still has a chance!" Guy said, hoping to watch as much of Neji's fight as possible.
"That's right. I believe in Neji too!" Rock Lee nodded with conviction.
"Ugh..."
Tenten sighed. She had no idea what nonsense Guy was talking about. This master and student were something else. Neji could beat a Sand Ninja? She wouldn't believe it if she saw it!
Kiba Inuzuka couldn't help feeling bitterly disappointed too. "Damn it!"
From the look in his eyes, he seemed to have already seen how this match would end. This time, Konoha had suffered a complete defeat against the Sand Ninja!
"Heh. How's that?"
Just then, the Sand Ninja Kankuro walked over.
"You..."
Kiba glared at him viciously.
"Don't blame me. This is a match—if you lose, you lose. You should be thanking me, really. If I'd gone any harder on you, I wouldn't have stopped at poison that only limited your movements."
Kankuro's eyes were full of mockery.
But Kiba was still feeling the lingering effects of the poison, and could only let him look down on him.
Tenten, another loser, didn't dare say anything back either.
Everyone looked down at the arena. Neji and Gaara had begun their match, but neither of them moved.
Kankuro said casually, "Don't bother watching. This guy's bound to lose. There isn't a single Chunin in Sunagakure who can beat Gaara!"
"Not a single... Chunin?"
Rock Lee's eyes widened. Tenten and Kiba were surprised too.
Was that red-haired kid down there even stronger than Kankuro and Temari had been?
"Even if Temari and I teamed up, we wouldn't stand a chance against Gaara." Kankuro's taunting words only piled more pressure onto the three of them.
"Referee, aren't you going to call the start?" Neji glanced at Hayate.
Hayate jolted. "Ah..."
He'd been watching Gaara, standing across from Neji.
The boy's expression was indifferent, but there was a look in his eyes that suggested his killing intent could erupt at any moment. It was utterly pure—the kind of purity only a true master had.
Hayate had been so caught off guard that he'd forgotten to call the start.
"Gaara versus Hyuga Neji! The match... begins!"
"You're finally in my hands. Come on, let me see what Konoha can do."
Gaara glared at Neji, looking eager.
But Neji didn't answer. He was calmly thinking things through.
First, he couldn't use Lightning Release Chakra. The same went for the Wind Style Chakra in Rotation. Aside from the fact that neither technique was fully developed, the jonin would see them and start wondering where he'd gotten those abilities.
Thinking this, Neji finally sighed. "Ah, now that I think about it, these jonin are a real nuisance!"
Whoosh!
The Sand Gourd flew at him. Neji merely tilted his head, and it missed.
"What are you spacing out for?"
Gaara narrowed his eyes. He could tell Neji didn't seem to be paying attention to him.
"Let's test it first," Neji muttered, ignoring Gaara entirely.
He lunged forward at incredible speed!
"Hm?"
Gaara was taken aback. The next instant, Neji was right in front of him.
A palm strike!
His palm shot out with practiced speed. This wasn't child's play.
But the sand had already moved in front of Gaara to block the blow.
The corner of Gaara's mouth twitched. "Ha! You're a hundred times more skilled than you were at the training ground last time!"
Neji furrowed his brow. "Absolute Defense?"
The sound of sand rustling came from all around.
Neji immediately leaped far back.
The sound of the sand was unnerving, but it wasn't moving very fast.
"Byakugan!"
"Absolute Defense is clearly faster than the attacking sand. Is the sand different in quality too?"
In Neji's eyes, the chakra content of each patch of sand varied enormously.
"Again!"
As Gaara spoke, he reached out. The sand in front of him formed a wave like a demonic claw and surged toward Neji.
The more chakra Gaara used, the more sand appeared. He produced it by combining sand from beneath the ground with the sand in his gourd, and could even condense sand from the air!
"So that's how it works. No wonder there's so much sand!"
Neji retreated, then seized his chance and darted forward.
"With the Byakugan, Neji will be even faster," Guy explained from the stands.
Neji nimbly dodged every attack from the sand. The instant he reached Gaara, he shifted behind him and struck with all his might!
Poof!
It was sand again, scattering outward.
"It's not that he's moving all the sand. He's moving the sand in the gourd, extracting its chakra, then rapidly creating more sand out of thin air. That has nothing to do with how fast he can move!"
Neji analyzed it quietly. No wonder the sand could keep up no matter how fast he moved.
"Oh? Your combat sense is impressive too," Gaara praised him again.
Neji paid him no mind and held out his hand. "Let's see how this goes. Eight Trigrams... Sixty-Four Palms!"
"What's this?" Guy furrowed his brow slightly.
"Two Palms! Four Palms! Eight Palms!"
"Sixteen Palms! Thirty-Two Palms!"
Every strike hit the Shield of Sand, but none had any effect.
"That's Armor of Sand. Absolute Defense!"
"Sixty-Four Palms!"
With a poof, Neji was sent flying by a massive surge of sand. He landed more than ten meters away.
Back where he'd started, Gaara remained covered in sand, which swirled around him like a living creature.
"Give up. No one can break through Gaara's Absolute Defense," Kankuro said smugly.
Kiba could only sigh. "Stop embarrassing us. Konoha's lost this one!"
Tenten had nothing to say either.
Neji quickly closed in and tried again.
"Still going to waste your strength?"
Gaara smiled contemptuously and raised his hand.
A huge mass of sand rapidly gathered around Neji. Its force increased at an exponential rate!
Neji felt his whole body being bound. He could break free by force, but then he wouldn't be able to figure out how to deal with this clingy sand.
"Hah!"
Neji didn't try to escape. Instead, he put himself at risk!
"First, activate the chakra inside the body. In its most basic state, it flows out through the acupoints and meridians. Release!"
Neji gritted his teeth as the sand completely covered his body.
"Is it over?" Kiba let out an impatient breath, seeming to already feel the humiliation of defeat.
But...
Whoosh!
The sand suddenly loosened, and Neji immediately pulled himself free.
Ding! Eight Trigrams: Body Strike proficiency +79!
Eight Trigrams: Body Strike could release chakra from the entire body, creating an immense burst of force in all directions. It was a supreme close-combat technique.
Neji's current proficiency was: "9296!"
"You're not all that after all. I'm bored of playing with you," Gaara said, furrowing his brow impatiently.
"Sand Binding Coffin!"
A mass of sand swiftly followed Neji's movements and wrapped around him. Gaara's eyes turned cold as he clenched his fist.
The Sand Binding Coffin began to crush inward, making everyone's hearts tighten!
A flash of light—blue chakra shone into view, forming a small ring. It spun at incredible speed, creating a nearly spherical protective barrier of chakra!
"Eight Trigrams Palm: Rotation!"
The sand was annihilated by the chakra spinning around Rotation, leaving not a trace!
Then Neji landed and curled his lips into a smile. "This is my... Absolute Defense too!"
Before you continue