Fierce Battles in the Preliminaries and a Clash of White Eyes

When Team 7 staggered open the heavy doors of the tower, they were greeted by the varied gazes of the many genin who had passed the exam. Their exhaustion, their wounds, and the ominous mark faintly visible on Uchiha Ling's shoulder all told of the brutality they had endured in the Forest of Death.

"Ling!" Hinata Hyuga was the first to notice Ling's pale face and the strangeness at his shoulder. She trotted over, her pure white eyes filled with worry. Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno also gathered around.

"I'm fine." Ling waved a hand, his voice a little hoarse. He could feel the suppressed curse mark inside him still stirring faintly, like a hibernating venomous snake. He needed to devote most of his focus to maintaining the system's suppression, which made him seem even quieter than usual.

Anko Mitarashi's sharp gaze swept over the mark on Ling's shoulder, and her expression changed slightly, but she said nothing more. She merely announced the list of those who had passed the second exam. Right after that, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared, explained the true meaning of the Chunin Exams, and announced that because many candidates had passed, one-on-one preliminaries would be held.

Hayate Gekko served as the proctor, and the electronic notice board began randomly matching opponents.

The very first match was Sasuke Uchiha versus Yoroi Akado. Because of the influence of the curse mark—though he had not directly borne it, Orochimaru's chakra still affected him—Sasuke's chakra did not circulate smoothly, and the battle was exceptionally difficult. At the critical moment, he recalled Kakashi's teachings about Chidori, as well as his observations of how Uchiha Ling integrated Lightning Release into his own fighting style. In desperate straits, he actually forced a modification to Chidori's form, using a more chakra-efficient method to narrowly defeat his opponent.

[Ding! Sign-in target detected: Hayate Gekko]

[Interaction level: observation + rules interaction]

[Sign-in reward: Hidden Leaf-Style Swordsmanship Basic Insights]

Knowledge about the footwork, force-generation techniques, and some basic moves of Hidden Leaf-Style Swordsmanship flowed into his mind, just in time to cross-check and supplement Ling's two-sword style.

The next few battles had wins and losses on both sides. When the electronic screen displayed "Hinata Hyuga VS Neji Hyuga," the atmosphere in the arena immediately grew heavy.

"Forfeit, Lady Hinata." Neji stood in the arena, his expression cold and his tone carrying undisguised contempt. "You're too kind. You're not suited to be a ninja. The fate of the main family and the branch family was decided from the moment we were born."

Hinata's body trembled slightly. Her hands twisted nervously in front of her chest, and she subconsciously looked toward Naruto in the stands before quickly lowering her head again.

Uchiha Ling looked at the girl in the arena, who was like a startled little rabbit, then looked at Hiashi Hyuga in the stands, whose expression was displeased. Ling frowned slightly. He remembered how this fight ended. Without showing anything, he moved closer to the railing, focused his mind, and tried to mobilize that preliminary White Eye Chakra Resonance Technique. Though the distance was rather far, and Hinata's emotions were fluctuating violently, he still worked hard to transmit a faint but firm thought—believe in yourself.

Hinata, in the arena, suddenly froze as if she had sensed something. She lifted her head, her gaze sweeping across the stands before pausing for an instant on Uchiha Ling's calm face. She took a deep breath. Though her voice was still tiny, it carried a firmness she had never had before. "I... I refuse to forfeit! Please... please guide me, Brother Neji!"

The battle began. Neji's Gentle Fist came like a raging storm, precisely attacking Hinata's chakra points. Hinata had almost no power to fight back. Again and again she was knocked down, and again and again she struggled to climb back up. Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth and stained her collar red. But she never gave up, stubbornly holding on with some evasion and defense techniques she had grasped from training together with Ling.

"Why are you still standing? You know perfectly well you have no chance of winning!" Neji's voice carried anger and confusion, but even more than that, it was an accusation against so-called "fate."

"Because... someone once called me dead last..." Hinata panted, but her gaze grew brighter and brighter. "But I saw someone... who never gives up... I swore... that I would change myself... This... is my nindo!"

She once again assumed the Gentle Fist starting stance, chakra weak yet tenaciously gathering in her hands.

In the stands, Naruto shouted encouragement for Hinata. Uchiha Ling, meanwhile, focused all his attention on observing Neji's Gentle Fist patterns. Combining it with the knowledge from the Gentle Fist Basic Deconstruction Diagram in his mind, he searched for the rules within those moves and the fleeting flaws hidden inside them.

"Neji's Rotation isn't flawless." Ling murmured to himself, his voice low enough that only Ino beside him could faintly hear. "At the instant he activates it and the instant he ends it, there's an extremely brief chakra stagnation."

Just then, Hinata seemed to have caught something too. She summoned all her courage and chakra and unleashed the strongest strike she currently had—Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms! Though her number of strikes fell far short of Neji's, and her speed was far slower, the angles and timing of her palms faintly targeted certain nodes in the flow of Neji's Gentle Fist!

A trace of surprise flashed through Neji's eyes, followed at once by an even deeper coldness. He easily saw through the flaws in Hinata's palm technique, and an even swifter Gentle Fist strike drove straight toward the vital point at Hinata's chest!

"Pfft!"

Hinata was sent flying heavily once more and collapsed to the ground, unable to rise. The medical team quickly entered the arena.

Though she had lost, Hinata's unyielding gaze and that final, highly targeted counterattack moved everyone present. Hiashi Hyuga looked at his daughter as she was carried away, his eyes complicated.

[Ding! Sign-in target detected: Neji Hyuga]

[Interaction level: observation + tactical analysis]

[Sign-in reward: Gentle Fist · Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms Analysis (partial)]

Knowledge about the more exquisite force-control techniques of Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and some combinations for striking chakra points poured into his mind, further enriching Ling's understanding of the Gentle Fist system.

The preliminaries continued. Shino Aburame, Kankuro, and the others all advanced smoothly. When Uchiha Ling's name appeared on the electronic screen and his opponent was a genin from the Hidden Rain Village, every gaze in the arena focused on him. Many people had noticed the strange mark on his shoulder and his slightly pale face.

"Ling, your body..." Kakashi appeared at the edge of the arena at some point and asked in a low voice.

"No problem, Kakashi-sensei." Ling answered calmly and walked into the field. He needed a battle to verify certain things, such as how much of his strength remained when he was splitting his attention to suppress the curse mark, and... whether his chakra had truly undergone some kind of change after being faintly stimulated by the curse mark.

The battle began. The Hidden Rain genin excelled in Water Release and trickery, but before Uchiha Ling's powerful perception and the practical combat experience he had honed in the Forest of Death, those ploys seemed futile. Ling did not even use Lightning Release or his two-sword style. Relying only on taijutsu, basic ninja tools, and precise tactical prediction, he completely suppressed his opponent.

During the process, he deliberately mobilized his chakra and could feel the chakra flowing through his meridians more violently and actively than usual, carrying a faint, hard-to-detect savage aura. His speed and strength also seemed to have improved slightly, but with it came an impulse to strike his opponent harder and more cruelly. He forcibly suppressed that impulse and ended the battle in the most efficient way.

"Winner, Uchiha Ling."

Hayate Gekko announced the result. Ling walked back to the stands with his expression as normal. Only he knew how much effort he had needed to spend in that battle to balance the restlessness in his body with his reason.

The preliminaries neared their end. In the final match, Naruto Uzumaki relied on his unexpected Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and his perseverance in never giving up to miraculously defeat the powerful Neji Hyuga, creating the biggest upset.

In the end, the roster for the official third exam was decided: Uchiha Ling, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, and the Hidden Sand Village ninja who had drawn a bye (replaced by Dosu Kinuta).

Third Hokage announced that the official exam would be held in one month, giving the candidates ample time to prepare.

The crowd gradually dispersed. Uchiha Ling could feel that several gazes had been lingering on him, faint yet persistent—some filled with concern, some with curiosity, and some with deep scrutiny. The curse mark on his shoulder was like a silent declaration, foretelling that he had already been swept into a deeper whirlpool.

One month... In this one month, he needed to gain better control over this dangerous "seed" and become stronger. The real storm was still ahead.

(The End of Chapter Nineteen)