The End

Byakugan!

Hinata Hyuga gave a soft cry as her chakra-wreathed palm swept toward him with fierce force.

Naruto did not strike directly. Instead, when the two were only an arm's length apart, he shifted to the side and narrowly avoided her palm.

"Your movements are too broad, too obvious!"

Hinata suddenly spun around, the force of her hand attack not diminishing in the slightest.

"Not bad!" Naruto's eyes lit up. This attack perfectly embodied the "gentle" in Gentle Fist.

But the gap between them was too great to be made up for by such technique alone. Kusabimaru lightly tapped her elbow, and Hinata's body immediately tilted sideways, leaving her wide open.

"Uzumaki Naruto wins!" Genma Shiranui shouted.

Naruto withdrew the back of his blade from Hinata's neck. "Excuse me."

"Naruto-kun is still as strong as ever." Hinata shook her head slightly.

Back at the Ninja Academy, the two had sparred before. She had never won, and he had never lost.

In truth, from the moment the matchups were announced, both sides had already known the result.

"Let's go." Naruto sheathed his sword. Going all out was the greatest respect.

Watching the two walk side by side, Izuno and Raimon exchanged smiles.

The eighth match: Neji Hyuga VS Rock Lee!

As they watched the two standing across from each other below, everyone who knew them cast sympathetic looks at the thick-browed jonin in green.

His own team was fighting among themselves. What terrible luck.

"Neji, the day has finally come!" Rock Lee stared at the white-clad youth opposite him, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Wasn't the result already clear? Lee," Neji Hyuga said.

Having been teammates for a year, they knew each other's strength well. They had fought plenty of times during that period.

But without exception, Neji had won every time.

"Is this youth?" the thick-browed jonin said excitedly.

Everyone: "..."

"Might Guy, I want to use that move!" Rock Lee suddenly turned to look at the thick-browed jonin in the stands.

"I approve, Lee! Let your youth bloom!" Might Guy gave a thumbs-up and said solemnly.

"Sigh..." Genma Shiranui waved a hand and quietly retreated to the side.

Rock Lee leaped backward and landed directly atop the statue. He then untied two weighted bands from his calves.

Neji Hyuga did not stop him. As teammates, he had a clear understanding of Lee's strength. He did not think Lee, even without the weights, could defeat him.

Boom! Boom!

The impact of the two weighted bands hitting the ground startled every spectator in the arena.

"Hey, hey, hey! What kind of freaks are these?!" Izuno stared blankly at the scene.

"They really are a little freakish." Even Naruto could not help but sigh.

Whoosh!

A dark green figure burst through the dust and charged toward the white-clad youth in the arena.

He was so fast that some spectators on the second floor found their dynamic vision utterly useless.

Neji Hyuga slowly assumed his stance. The bulging veins around his eyes showed that he had already activated his Byakugan.

He was not surprised by Lee's current speed. Or rather, he had seen it many times before.

To the other genin, however, such speed was terrifying.

But to him—to his Byakugan—it was nothing special.

To the left! Lee, your attack patterns really never change!

Neji Hyuga swiftly swept aside Lee's straight punch with his left hand, while his right fingertips gathered a large amount of chakra and stabbed viciously toward Lee's acupoints.

This was an extremely crucial point. Once it was sealed, Lee's chakra flow would be disrupted, making the rest of the battle much easier.

But while Neji Hyuga was thoroughly familiar with Rock Lee's attacks, Rock Lee understood his methods just as well. A whip kick tore through the air and smashed heavily into the white-clad youth's elbow.

One hard, one soft.

There were no dazzling ninjutsu clashes, yet the fight was just as thrilling. Everyone in the stands watched the match intently.

First Gate, Gate of Opening!

The green-clad youth's aura suddenly changed, and the force behind his fists and kicks more than doubled.

Faced with such overwhelming strength, even with the aid of the Byakugan, Neji Hyuga could only retreat again and again.

"This technique?" Naruto's brows jumped. It felt very similar to when he took Yasha Candy.

Or rather, the technique Rock Lee was using now operated on the same principle as Secret Medicine like Yasha Candy, which traded blood for offensive power.

The difference was that Rock Lee opened the body's limiters through his own strength, while Yasha Candy relied on an external substance.

Gate of Healing, open!

Gate of Life, open!

To press his advantage, Rock Lee opened two more Gates in succession. That terrifying aura affected even the people on the second floor.

The calm Neji Hyuga had always maintained was finally shattered.

Leaf Hurricane!!

With such crushing force and explosive speed, Neji Hyuga had no way to evade this attack.

Crack!

A faint sound came from his hands. Neji Hyuga knew that both of them were broken!

Bang!

The white-clad youth slammed hard into the wall. His body's instinctive self-protection caused him to lose consciousness immediately.

"Huff! Huff!" In the arena, the green-clad youth panted like a bellows. Looking at the unconscious Neji, his expression was somewhat dazed.

For this moment, he did not know how many days and nights he had struggled, how much sweat he had shed...

Yet now that his dream had come true before his eyes, he did not feel much excitement. It was as if this was how things should have been...

Hard work would eventually bear fruit.

"Rock Lee wins!" Genma Shiranui looked at the youth's scar-covered arms beneath the fallen bandages, his expression unreadable.

A hardworking genius...

The entire audience fell silent.

If they put themselves in his shoes, could they have done better than the white-clad youth?

Apparently not...

"Wuwuwu..." Might Guy seemed choked with sobs, excited, and saddened all at once, countless emotions gathering within him.

There was no helping it. The winner was his disciple, but so was the loser. Both were dear to him.

"This damned match."

He choked out the words, appeared in the arena in a blur, gave the standing disciple a thumbs-up, then slung the unconscious one over his shoulder and carried him away.

"Go up. The next match is about to begin," Genma Shiranui said to the youth.

"...Yes!" Rock Lee suddenly jolted, but just as he tried to move, the backlash from the Eight Gates Formation hit him.

"Honestly, neither of you can make me worry less." Tenten, who had expected this long ago, hoisted him onto her shoulder.

As a disciple of Konoha's taijutsu master Might Guy, how could her physical strength be poor?

The ninth match: Gaara VS Dosu!

A day had passed since One-Tail had been provoked by the Nine-Tails.

Although One-Tail's rampage had subsided, Gaara's anger had not.

The chief examiner had barely left the arena, and before Dosu could utter his threat, Gaara crushed him into a pulp with Sand Coffin.

Gulp...

If the previous match had delivered pure shock,

then this one-sided slaughter inspired pure terror.

The tenth match: Raimon Koshireki VS Choji Akimichi.

Like Izuno, Raimon suffered a regrettable defeat against the heir of a great clan.

Among their peers, Kiba Inuzuka had incredibly good luck and advanced directly to the third round without fighting.

"Hahaha, I'm the chosen one!" Kiba Inuzuka declared with Akamaru perched on his head.