Hinata-chan, Go for It!

Gaara raised his hand, then suddenly brought it together and said coldly, "Sand Burial."

His hand instantly clenched into a fist, and the compressed sand crushed Miwa in an instant. Her blood sprayed out, nearly covering the entire arena.

"Winner: Gaara," Hayate said with some disgust.

"Miwa..." Feng felt regretful.

"He's still as crazy as ever," Kurama said to Naruto.

"If we face each other, I need to defeat him and prove my point," Naruto replied.

"Naruto, you will be mine!" Gaara practically screamed, pointing at Naruto.

"I don't like you," Naruto replied, enraging Gaara. He controlled a wave of sand and sent it rushing toward Naruto.

Naruto watched helplessly as the mass of sand rushed at him. Before he could react, the sand had wrapped around him.

"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted.

A smile appeared on Gaara's face, but when he hurriedly pulled the sand away, he found Naruto completely unharmed.

Kakashi let out a sigh of relief, while Temari and Kankuro stared in disbelief.

Naruto instantly appeared in front of Gaara and kicked him hard in the abdomen, sending him flying into the wall.

"He hit Gaara!" Kankuro said incredulously.

"So you have another layer of sand armor," Naruto said as he watched Gaara stand up, the cracks on his body disappearing as well.

"Enough!" The Hokage's voice boomed through the room, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

"Naruto, stand aside," the Hokage said. Then he pointed at Maki—the jonin leading the Sand ninja team. "Control your students, or we'll discipline them for you."

"My apologies, Lord Hokage." Maki bowed to the Hokage.

"Hyuga Neji and Akimichi Choji, please prepare," Hayate announced.

As soon as the match began, Neji activated his Byakugan and charged at Choji. Panicking, Choji clumsily launched into the Human Boulder. He began rolling at high speed toward Neji.

Neji dodged aside and stuck out his leg across Choji's path, tripping him. Choji lost his balance, interrupting his technique. Neji seized the opportunity to land several precise Gentle Fist strikes, and Choji lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

"Hyuga Neji wins," Hayate announced.

"It was his fate to lose to me," Neji said smugly.

Neji walked up the stairs, and Tenten came over to congratulate him.

"Hinata Hyuga versus Karui of the Hidden Cloud Village," Hayate said.

As Hinata was about to leave, Naruto grabbed her and kissed her on the cheek. "Good luck," he said, and Hinata smiled.

"I know you don't like the Hidden Cloud Village, but don't go overboard," Naruto whispered in her ear. She nodded.

## Hinata Hyuga VS Karui ##

Karui drew her sword from behind her back. Hinata focused chakra into the seal on her wrist. With a soft pop, a twenty-inch single-edged straight sword appeared in her hand. Its hilt was pale purple, lined with white along the edges.

"Looks like you know swordsmanship too." Karui charged at Hinata. Karui leaped up and swung down in a vertical slash, which Hinata blocked with her own sword. Hinata jumped back, quickly formed several hand seals, and shouted, "Water Release: Water Bullet!"

Several high-speed compressed water bullets shot toward Karui. Karui skillfully dodged every one of them and watched as they struck the wall, blasting huge holes into it. She swallowed. If one had hit her, it would have broken several bones for sure.

Karui charged at Hinata again and shouted:

"Cloud-Style Instant Slash!" She swung her sword. Hinata easily knocked it aside, but Karui turned into a puff of smoke and vanished, leaving behind a piece of wood. Hinata activated her Byakugan in time and successfully blocked Karui's side slash.

Hinata realized she was no match for Karui in swordsmanship. She preferred using daggers, which suited her taijutsu style better—they were faster and left fewer openings.

Hinata infused her sword with Wind Release chakra and rapidly closed the distance between herself and Karui. Karui raised her sword to parry. Hinata delivered several rapid slashes, shattering Karui's sword into fragments that fell to the ground, leaving only the hilt in Karui's hand.

"What did you do?" Karui asked angrily. That had been her favorite sword.

Hinata quickly formed hand seals again and shouted, "Water Release: Water Explosion Bullet!" She released a massive amount of water, completely flooding the arena.

"Impossible. That's an A-rank Water Release technique. How could she possibly have enough chakra to do that?" Kakashi said in shock.

"Lightning Release: Gratitude Wave!" Karui said, channeling Lightning Release chakra through both hands and sending it through the water toward Hinata.

Hinata quickly formed hand seals and said:

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

She unleashed a violent gust of wind, interrupting the Lightning Release attack and throwing Karui off balance.

Seizing the chance, Hinata shouted:

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" A water dragon rose from the water covering the ground and slammed fiercely into Karui. Karui had no time to dodge and was blasted into the wall.

Karui recovered from the impact and slowly rose to her feet, but before she could fully regain her senses, she saw Hinata already standing beside her.

"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!" Hinata cried softly. A huge mass of water immediately rose up, rapidly forming a sphere that trapped Karui and left her unable to move.

Hayate, watching from the side, was dumbfounded. Hinata's Water Release techniques had reached the level of a jonin. Finally snapping out of his shock, he stammered:

"Hinata Hyuga wins."

"She won, she won!" Naruto shouted excitedly from the balcony. Everyone outside his team stared in shock as Hinata walked up the stairs. Even the Hokage was stunned by her skill.

Neji activated his Byakugan, then froze in shock.

"This... this is impossible. Her chakra is actually at the level of a jonin. How is that possible? She's only a genin, a failure," Neji said.

Naruto quickly hugged Hinata and happily spun her around.

"Congratulations, princess," Naruto said, and she could not help letting out a soft laugh.

Neji said coldly:

"You're nothing but trash. You only know how to rely on ninjutsu. You're completely unfit to inherit the Byakugan."

"Then if we meet in the finals, I'll show you my Gentle Fist," Hinata replied.

"Omoi of the Hidden Cloud Village and Feng of the Hidden Waterfall Village," Hayate called out loudly.