Uchiha Feng arrived at the Chunin Ninja Exams representing the Rice Kingdom, but after learning about the Third Hokage's plans, he lost even the last bit of enjoyment.
Therefore, the only way is to deal with the Third Hokage first, and then force out the Sage of Six Paths.
In the first round of the exam, without Naruto Uzumaki's intervention, many contestants were eliminated.
The second round of exams, however, brought the plot back on track.
After two rounds of selection, the final list of candidates for the Chunin Ninja Exams was revealed.
The list was almost identical to the original one, which made nobles from many countries very dissatisfied with Konoha's arrangements.
Uchiha Feng was about to flip the table, but unexpectedly, a new development occurred on the field.
The referee below announced that the battle below was between Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee.
Only then did he become somewhat interested, and at the same time, he felt even more contempt for the Third Hokage. Making a small squad of ninjas fight to the death in the first round of battle was unprecedented.
On the field, both players began to exude powerful auras.
Discussions began to ripple through the spectator stands.
"How interesting. I heard these two are from the same ninja squad. Why did they meet in the first round?"
"Keep your voice down! Look at these ninjas who were selected, they're all from Konoha, there's definitely something fishy going on!"
The Third Hokage heard all of this. This time, he truly wished that, apart from the Land of Wind and their Land of Fire, the daimyo of the other countries had far too little control over the ninja villages.
The original plan was to send elite ninjas from the Genin, but they were tricked by the other side. Those were all trash who were just filling in the numbers, and some of them were wiped out by Orochimaru in the Forest of Death.
He simply used a little trick to prevent Naruto Uzumaki and Uchiha Sasuke from meeting in the finals, and also arranged for Rock Lee and Neji Hyuga to fight in the first round, thus thwarting Uchiha Feng's plan.
But once you reach a certain level of strength, all conspiracies become tedious, like those in Brazil.
Seeing the fighting style of the two, everyone watching became interested.
Previously, users of ki had never fought in public, but these two, although nominally Genin, now appear to have considerable ki cultivation.
"Is that the genius of the Hyuga Clan?" A nobleman from the Land of Fire on the viewing platform recognized Neji Hyuga at a glance, after all, the Hyuga Clan had served as bodyguards for many nobles in the Land of Fire.
"Is that Qi? Although I don't know why the Daimyo forbids us from cultivating it, if we really show impressive combat power, how could the Daimyo possibly stop us?" Another nobleman stared intently.
There are quite a few nobles with this idea. None of them have the talent to practice Ninjutsu, so it seems that the method of practicing ki is a good way out.
On the battlefield.
Both men's Central City filled with fighting spirit.
Step~
They launched themselves almost simultaneously and leaped into the air.
They fought in mid-air.
Neji Hyuga no longer only uses the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga Clan, but also incorporates many of the martial arts techniques taught by Tien Shinhan, including the Meridian-Severing Hand.
Rock Lee no longer uses Leaf Strong Fist, but instead employs a combination of hard and soft techniques. His current fist style seems to rely entirely on his instincts.
"Solar Flare!"
Rock Lee grinned in mid-air, his teeth gleaming, and a blinding light appeared across the entire battlefield, blinding everyone.
Neji Hyuga was unaffected; the ribbon that had covered the Caged Bird on his head slipped off, obscuring his eyes.
The veins around his eyes bulged, revealing the Byakugan.
"Solar Flare!" This time, it was Neji Hyuga unleashed the Solar Flare.
Those watching hadn't even recovered yet, and when they were hit by the bright light again, some of them started cursing.
Rock Lee has already closed his eyes.
"Ki Blast Cannon!" This Neji Hyuga inherited from Tien Shinhan.
"Demon Light Piercing Cannon ~" Rock Lee learned this move from Piccolo.
Rumble~
A deafening roar erupted on the battlefield, and the ground and sky simultaneously split in two.
In the end, it turned out that Rock Lee's penetrating cannon was superior.
"Twin Fists ~ Ah~"
Neji Hyuga let out a roar, accompanied by excruciating pain as his body began to tear apart.
A clone of Neji Hyuga rushed out and directly pressed against the body of the Grinding Piercing Cannon, spreading its arms and turning into a pool of blood!
"Neji!" Rock Lee was terrified by the scene before him, but finally felt relieved when he saw the relieved smile on Neji Hyuga stood in mid-air opposite him.
Neji Hyuga launched a renewed attack.
They exchanged more than a dozen blows in mid-air in an instant. After a powerful collision, the two used their Flying Technique to stare directly at each other.
At this moment, those who had been blinded by the bright light gradually regained their vision.
The sounds they had just heard, and the scene of the battlefield being split in two, caused an uproar among everyone.
Finally, their gazes fell upon the two figures in the air.
"Flying Technique?!"
A ninja who knew its value exclaimed.
Everyone then realized that this was a secret technique from the Rice Kingdom.
How come the ninjas of Konoha also possess this knowledge now?
The nobles' eyes lit up; such a move was extremely valuable to them, practically the best way to save their lives.
A nobleman from the Land of Fire was particularly excited. In his mind, if Konoha held a meeting, then the Land of Fire would also participate, right?
With such a tactic in place, who would still heed the daimyo's ban?
On the battlefield.
But then all was calm.
The two were too familiar with each other; they had trained and eaten together almost every day for the past few months, so they were stuck in mid-air.
During the battle just now, Rock Lee discovered that Neji's strength was now much lower than his own, only slightly more than half of what it used to be.
He began to scrutinize Neji Hyuga; the death of that clone earlier made him worry that he might have harmed Neji Hyuga.
"Neji, let's use mental tactics! It won't hurt your body." Rock Lee looked at Neji Hyuga seriously and offered his suggestion.
"No, I concede." Neji Hyuga shook his head. He didn't want to prove anything to anyone right now. After separating that clone, his strength was not as good as Rock Lee's as it was now.
He also noticed the wink Tien Shinhan gave him; after so many years together, he knew it meant he should protect himself.
Neji Hyuga raised one hand and addressed the referee, then withdrew from the battlefield.
The referee was still a bit stunned and could only declare Rock Lee the winner.
Those in the stands never expected that the genius of the Hyuga Clan would admit defeat so easily.
Only Hinata Hyuga suddenly opened her Byakugan without warning, startling even Kurenai Yuhi.
This full-scale opening of the Byakugan consumes a lot of Chakra and stamina, and she also realized that Hinata Hyuga was holding back.
"The Caged Bird Separation is over!" Hinata Hyuga thought to herself. She couldn't see the Caged Bird, and she couldn't even sense Caged Bird.
This can only mean one thing: Neji Hyuga has already freed the Caged Bird.
For some reason, Hinata Hyuga felt a little happy. She chose to close her Byakugan, without making a sound or using the Caged Bird Seal to test him.
When Neji Hyuga walked out of the dueling arena, he also sensed something: Hinata Hyuga already knew that he had broken free from the control of the Main Family.
"Why?" Rock Lee felt no joy at the victory, but rather confusion and worry. He chased after her and asked.
"My opponent isn't you, and your opponent isn't me, is it? I'm just unwilling to continue following the path planned by others." Neji Hyuga patiently explained.
Now, there are only a few people in this village who he truly cares about.
Rock Lee fell into thought; they hadn't anticipated this confrontational arrangement either.
"Don't worry, I will definitely win the championship!"
In the end, Rock Lee had only one thought: he couldn't let Neji's sacrifice be in vain.
"Let's hope so!" Neji Hyuga smiled but didn't speak. He had seen a lot of behind-the-scenes information when Konohamaru died. If his guess was correct, the Chunin Ninja Exams wouldn't have ended by then.
Because he saw Uchiha Feng on the battlefield today.
Rumble~
An explosion rang out.
The Hokage Rock of Konoha has once again repeated the same mistake.
This time, it was Genno who destroyed the Hokage Rock.