"Oh?"
Gaara tilted his head, seeming to find things interesting again.
Everyone in the arena gasped.
"That kid from the Hyuga Clan can use an advanced jutsu like Rotation?"
"Is he really a Genin?"
"This fight between two Genin is even more exciting than a fight between Chunin!"
Tenten and Kiba furrowed their brows.
A glimmer of hope seemed to kindle in their hearts. Could this kid really beat Gaara?
After all, Kiba had seen Neji use Rotation in the Forest of Death. The Rotation he'd used then was on a completely different level from this one. Could Neji still have another trick up his sleeve?
In the arena, Neji steadied himself and lowered his head.
"Brat, I've figured out how to deal with you." Neji finally spoke, addressing Gaara directly.
Gaara narrowed his eyes. Though his expression didn't change, he felt a flicker of unease!
"What is it?"
Neji didn't answer. He simply stared straight at him.
"You're infuriating!" Gaara muttered, reaching out as if he'd finally lost his temper.
A huge mass of sand surged toward Neji.
"Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin!"
Pfft! Pfft!
All the sand was knocked away.
"Quicksand Drift!"
Gaara quickly formed Hand Seals, seeming to have decided to kill him.
But...
"Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin!"
"Sand and Stone Rain!"
"Rotation!"
"Sand Shuriken Jutsu!"
"Rotation!"
That blue-green chakra was like an impenetrable wall. Nothing could break through!
"Absolute Defense, is it?"
Gaara panted a few times. He wasn't physically exhausted; it was just that he'd used so much chakra on jutsu without managing to hurt Neji at all!
Neji lowered his head. "Well? Why don't you try breaking through my Absolute Defense?"
With that, he charged toward Gaara.
Gaara froze. He'd never faced such a troublesome opponent before, and he felt a flicker of unease!
Those basic jutsu wouldn't work. This opponent was no ordinary Genin!
Gaara knew it. He began retreating, quickly forming Hand Seals.
"Sand Waterfall Funeral!"
Gaara poured out a tremendous amount of chakra. He refined the particles in the air into sand, then sent the materialized sand surging toward Neji.
The sand wrapped tightly around him, but Neji didn't use Rotation again. Instead, he released chakra from his entire body, scattering the surrounding sand and quickly breaking free.
"I knew it. The more sand he uses, the lower its density. Even an incomplete jutsu can be broken easily!"
Everything just now had been to provoke Gaara into using a jutsu with a wider range.
More than eighty percent of the arena was now filled with Gaara's sand. With the amount of chakra he had, there was no way he could focus on controlling every grain!
And besides...
The sand covered Neji again, but he didn't use Rotation. Instead, he released chakra in a way similar to Rotation.
He opened the chakra pathways in every tenketsu and sent chakra bursting outward!
Again and again.
"Eight Trigrams: Body Strike proficiency +33!"
"Eight Trigrams: Body Strike proficiency +147!"
"Eight Trigrams: Body Strike proficiency +55!"
"Eight Trigrams: Body Strike proficiency +89!"
"Kakashi, your student is impressive."
Kakashi walked over. Guy blinked. "How can you say that? Neji's just a hardworking Genin."
Kakashi smiled. "Even for a Genin, his strength is frightening. His footwork is so quick, and his combat instincts are incredible. And..."
He glanced down at the arena. "It's been a while. Even Gaara, the one using the jutsu, is getting tired, but Neji still looks perfectly composed."
Tenten and Rock Lee were both astonished by his words.
Everyone looked over. Neji was indeed breaking free again and again, each time with practiced ease.
The arena was covered in traces of Gaara's jutsu. Neji, who had been forced to dart around constantly, looked only slightly out of breath.
"Eight Trigrams: Body Strike proficiency +108!"
"Ding! Congratulations, host. Your Taijutsu: Eight Trigrams: Body Strike proficiency has reached 10,000, breaking through the Beginner Realm! You are also rewarded with a chakra reserve twice its original size!"
At the news, Neji finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mm, that should do it. Armor of Sand..."
Neji said, "Let's end this!"
Before Gaara could understand what was happening, Neji shot toward him like a bolt of lightning.
"You bastard!"
Gaara sensed something was wrong and grew furious, but it was already too late.
Neji struck Gaara in the abdomen with his palm. The Armor of Sand cracked slightly, but the blow didn't hurt Gaara at all.
"He can't hurt Gaara. How could he possibly beat him?" Kankuro remained confident, but Kakashi said nothing.
"That's enough. The game is over!"
Gaara gritted his teeth, burning with rage. He gathered a huge mass of sand into a cone and drove it toward Neji's back.
Neji merely curled his lips into a smile.
"How about we settle this with one final move? If I lose, I'll concede!"
Gaara froze. He didn't answer.
But he was completely confident in this attack.
The Armor of Sand had already seized control of Neji from behind, while Gaara's attack came from the rear. Rotation could only deal with small amounts of chakra-filled sand, but both the Armor of Sand and the cone of sand in this attack had come from the Sand Gourd!
This strike was sure to win!
"Hmph!"
Neji sneered and began releasing a tremendous amount of chakra from his tenketsu!
Everything Neji had done had been for this jutsu!
After all his attempts, Neji had finally grasped the similarity between Body Strike and Rotation in actual combat.
Both released chakra from the body's tenketsu. But Rotation was defensive: the more fiercely an enemy attacked, the more damage they would suffer.
Body Strike, however, was different. It was an offensive Taijutsu technique.
It could quietly destroy Gaara's Armor of Sand and Shield of Sand, dealing real damage.
Gaara had always relied on Absolute Defense, so his body's natural defenses had to be weak. He just needed one opening to win!
"Eight Trigrams: Body Strike!"
"What is that?"
The close-range attack was pushed to its limit. In an instant, an enormous amount of chakra completely overwhelmed Gaara.
Boom!
A muffled impact rang out, and everything around them burst outward!
"Aaagh!"
Gaara's cry of pain stunned everyone in the arena!
Many hadn't even seen what had happened.
They'd only seen Neji use a move that was different from Rotation but similar to it, destroying all the sand behind him. Since he was so close to Gaara, the force rebounded and sent Gaara flying.
The Armor of Sand covering Gaara had scattered completely.
He lay on the ground, writhing in pain as he tried to roll over.
"Did that strike decide the match?" Tenten asked in disbelief.
But Kankuro let out a breath. "That guy actually broke through the Armor of Sand? But this is only the beginning!"
Neji landed and let out a long breath.
The sand around them slowly fell, then disappeared.
His move must have worked. Gaara had suffered a serious injury, and the Sand Gourd had sensed it.
"Gaara, get up!" Kankuro called urgently.
But Gaara struggled to his feet, staring at Neji in disbelief.
He remembered what Neji had said just moments ago.
"I... concede!" Gaara said, utterly exhausted.
Before you continue