Momoshiki and Hinata had reached a stalemate, while the battle between Neji and Kinshiki had reached a fever pitch. Both were renowned for their taijutsu, and they traded blows in a fierce exchange.
Kinshiki swung down at Neji with enough force to cleave a mountain. Seeing the tremendous power behind the attack, Neji hurriedly dodged along the Eight Trigrams positions. Momoshiki's axe struck the ground, splitting it with an enormous fissure.
Sensing that Kinshiki's strength had increased considerably again, Neji frowned, doubts stirring in his mind. But the battlefield changed in an instant, leaving him no time to think.
When his first strike missed, Kinshiki immediately changed his attack, sweeping his axe toward Neji's waist. Neji countered with Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, and both were knocked several meters back. Neji approached Kinshiki along the Eight Trigrams positions, while Kinshiki braced himself. As Neji reached him, Kinshiki swung his axe. Neji deftly dodged, appeared at Kinshiki's right side, and thrust his palm straight at his forehead.
Kinshiki hurriedly leaped high into the air, twisting his body as he brought his axe down at Neji. He thought Neji surely could not dodge this time, but just as the axe was about to strike, he saw the corners of Neji's mouth curve upward.
Kinshiki knew something was wrong, but it was already too late to retreat. He was puzzled, too. Neji had no time to change his move to defend or attack, so why was he smiling?
Kinshiki soon learned why, but by then it was too late. A black opening suddenly appeared in the path of Neji's palm, and another appeared over Kinshiki's heart. Neji's palm plunged into the opening and eerily emerged from the black opening in front of Kinshiki's chest.
The palm strike sent Kinshiki flying, severely damaging the meridians