Hyuga Hayato VS Rock Lee 1/2

"The eighteenth match: Hyuga Hayato versus Rock Lee."

It was the final match, and quite a crowd had gathered, packed three deep inside and out.

"Begin!" Shimizu Daisuke shouted.

Hayato and Rock Lee formed the Seal of Opposition.

Hayato let out a breath.

—The graduation exam was like a milestone in his transmigration. After today, Hayato would officially begin his life as a ninja, like a new player finally leaving the beginner's village. A flood of emotions welled up inside him, and he felt like he ought to say something.

Yet when he opened his mouth and thought of all the sweat he had shed since transmigrating, a thousand words caught in his throat.

"Heh, heh, hahahaha..."

Hayato lowered his head slightly and covered his face. He began with a soft chuckle, then threw back his head and laughed heartily.

Forget it. Today, he just wanted a good, satisfying fight.

Hayato assumed the opening stance of the Gentle Fist.

"Wait." Rock Lee looked at Hayato and said seriously, "You know, Hayato, I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. Even with taijutsu, I've only barely managed not to fall behind through clumsy hard work. So thank you, Neji, and... and also... Shishin, for being willing to be friends with an idiot like me. I'm truly grateful."

Aburame Shishin: (_), you bastard, you definitely forgot my name!!!

"Although we've never seriously fought before, I know you're strong. Definitely strong." Rock Lee continued with certainty. "So I'm very happy to be able to fight you."

Hayato smiled. "Me too."

Rock Lee could be truly stupid sometimes. So stupid that people wanted to grab a screwdriver, pry open his skull, and see whether his brain had atrophied.

But if Hayato had to name the person he trusted most, it was undoubtedly Rock Lee. That trust surpassed even Neji Hyuga of his own clan, and even Tokuma Hyuga's family, who had always taken such good care of him.

As a transmigrator, Hayato himself was the greatest secret. Not to mention that he knew many secrets about the future of the Naruto world. Those secrets, along with his fear of the future, weighed heavily on him. He did not even dare to talk in his sleep, afraid that the slightest leak would draw the attention of some unstoppable existence.

Only a simple idiot like Rock Lee could make him lower his guard and set aside that constant nervousness.

Rock Lee continued, "You and Neji are the goals I want to surpass. I'll fight you seriously, and I'll fight to the end with the conviction that I will defeat you."

"Lee, you're wrong." Hayato shook his head gently. "Do you remember the Hyuga Clan's secret exam technique that I taught you?"

Rock Lee nodded. "Yeah! Uh... I seem to have forgotten most of it."

Hayato said with satisfaction, "It's fine if you forgot. Today, I'll teach you the most powerful secret technique of Konoha Hidden Village."

The people around them looked utterly baffled.

Aburame Shishin muttered, "Are they fighting or not? This feels familiar. Has Hayato's bullshitting mode started again?"

Rock Lee's eyes widened. He perked up his ears and listened intently.

Hayato shouted, "A ninja is not someone who possesses powerful taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu. A ninja is someone who possesses their own ninja way, a ninja way they would uphold even at the cost of their life. So..." Hayato pointed at Rock Lee. "Lee, do you have your own ninja way?"

"Yes!" Rock Lee shouted without hesitation, almost with all his strength. "I want to prove that even someone who cannot use ninjutsu or genjutsu can still become an outstanding ninja. This is everything in my life. This is my ninja way."

"Then prove your ninja way to me. In return, I won't hold back." Hayato undid the weights on one side of his body, then removed the weights from his arms and casually tossed them aside.

Bang!

Dust flew into the air.

He removed the weights from his legs.

Bang!

Another dull impact rang out.

"Thank you for acknowledging me, Hayato!" Rock Lee, like Hayato, removed the weights from his arms and legs.

BANG!!!

BANG!!!

Two thunderous impacts sounded.

The weights Rock Lee dropped made an even more exaggerated noise when they struck the ground.

Some of the people nearby could even feel the ground trembling.

Are you two demons?

The other examinees complained inwardly.

The other ninjas present—genin, chunin, and even jonin—could not help but look surprised. Those weights were anything but ordinary.

Meanwhile, Naruto-sama smiled like a hibiscus, the gloom that had weighed on his heart for many days vanishing without a trace.

Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a smiling expression, "Hiashi, Hayato really is a good child."

Hyuga Hiashi smiled as well, though it was somewhat stiff. "Yes, Hayato has always been outstanding. Once he enters ANBU and studies by Naruto-sama's side, his future achievements will be limitless."

Sarutobi Hiruzen said meaningfully, "That is a good thing—for the Hyuga Clan and for the village. Don't you agree?"

Hyuga Hiashi nodded. "You are right."

Sarutobi Hiruzen said with emotion, "These children are all Konoha's hope." As he spoke, his gaze fell on Neji Hyuga.

The implication was: Neji was also Konoha's hope, and he hoped Hyuga Hiashi would not do anything excessive to Neji.

Hyuga Hiashi also sighed. "In the blink of an eye, Neji has grown so much. He looks more and more like Hizashi."

The implication was: Let me remind you that during the incident where the Hyuga Clan heir was kidnapped, Hizashi made a sacrifice for Konoha. Neji's matter was purely an internal affair of the Hyuga Clan, so Konoha should not interfere again, should it?

The two old foxes exchanged smiles, and the atmosphere was harmonious and warm.

By then, after moving their arms and legs around, Hayato and Rock Lee had adjusted to the awkwardness of suddenly losing their weights.

Hayato once again took his opening stance. "Come, beautiful azure beast of Konoha. I, Yasha, acknowledge you as a qualified ninja."

Someone leaned close to Aburame Shishin and whispered, "A question. Is Hayato's nickname 'Yasha'? And when did Lee become Konoha's beautiful azure beast?"

"Is that one question? It's two!" Aburame Shishin gave a proud smile. "If you knew Hayato a little better, you'd know that he~~~ is talking complete nonsense."

Neji Hyuga, who pretended not to be listening, twitched at the corner of his mouth. Proud my ass. Is this really a situation to be proud about?

On the field.

Hayato and Rock Lee had already made their moves, and the sounds of fists and feet colliding rang out without pause.

So fast! So powerful!

The civilians and even the genin could only see two blurry figures and hear the repeated bang, bang, bang of impacts.

Rock Lee's Konoha Steel Fist was direct and straightforward, each move heavy and powerful.

Hayato's Hyuga Clan secret Gentle Fist flowed like moving clouds and running water, combining hardness and softness.

Rock Lee was stronger than Hayato, but Hayato did not clash with him head-on. He used softness to overcome strength, redirecting great force with minimal effort. Rock Lee had strength to spare, yet it felt as though he were striking cotton—nowhere to apply force, nowhere to vent it.

Rock Lee was faster than Hayato, but Hayato remained calm and unhurried. The timing and angles of his punches were always perfect. To outsiders, it looked as though Hayato had placed his fists there in advance, and Rock Lee simply ran into them himself.

More than that, Rock Lee had to remain constantly wary of the Gentle Fist's chakra point strikes.

At that moment, Rock Lee was like someone dancing in shackles—on an iron plate covered in spikes.

The two figures crossed paths, exchanged positions, and came to a stop.

Rock Lee was breathing slightly heavily.

The balance of victory had clearly tilted.

Hayato said, "Lee, you're very strong. But if this is all you have, then this ends here."

Was this all of Rock Lee's strength?

Of course not. Without opening the Eight Gates, Rock Lee had not even used thirty percent of his strength. But the Eight Gates was a forbidden technique and could not be used during the examination.

People often said that one force could overcome ten techniques.

In the narrow sense, "force" referred to physical strength. In the broader sense, it referred to power.

Could one force truly overcome ten techniques?

It could!

If it could not, that only meant your force was not great enough.

Right now, Rock Lee's power was being perfectly suppressed by Hayato's calculations.

Rock Lee was not discouraged. "It's still too early."

Konoha Whirlwind!

Lee's speed rose again, his high kick carrying intense wind pressure.

Too powerful to block—Hayato made his judgment in an instant and leaped backward using the force of Rock Lee's kick.

Konoha Great Whirlwind!

Borrowing the force of his rotation, Rock Lee unleashed an even stronger kick with a wider range.

Hayato could only retreat again.

"Oh no! Hayato exposed an opening!"

The onlookers saw things more clearly, and someone cried out in alarm.

The Konoha Great Whirlwind had a wider range, so Hayato had to jump farther away. That meant jumping higher and remaining in the air longer. And while airborne, there was nowhere to borrow force from—this was an opening.

Konoha Gale!

Rock Lee lowered his body and aimed a low kick at Hayato's landing point. If it connected, Hayato would have to stand on one leg for the rest of the fight.

So, would it hit?

Many people began to feel sorry for Hayato. In their eyes, there was no way he could dodge it.

However~~~

Screech!

As Hayato moved, a brief, sharp sound of friction cut through the air.

Rock Lee's seemingly guaranteed low kick missed!

—It was as though Rock Lee had mistimed it and kicked too early. He had already withdrawn his leg when Hayato leisurely landed.

What had happened?

Had Rock Lee made a mistake, or had Hayato used some kind of ninjutsu?

To the spectators, Rock Lee's mistake was as strange as if he had fallen under a genjutsu. Yet there was also a trace of discord in what everyone else had seen. Could Hayato have used an area-of-effect genjutsu that had affected the spectators as well?

Aburame Shishin looked completely baffled and questioned Neji Hyuga with his eyes.

The veins around Neji Hyuga's eyes bulged as he had long since activated the Byakugan.

"Hayato increased his airtime by 0.1 seconds, extending the duration and causing Lee to mistime his Konoha Gale." Neji Hyuga seemed to be answering Aburame Shishin, yet also seemed to be talking to himself. Everything had happened in the blink of an eye, and even he had not seen it clearly. He harbored the same doubts as Aburame Shishin.

The mystery seemed to lie in that "screech."

It had been an astonishingly precise exchange, so fast that one blink would have been enough to miss it.

Neji Hyuga clenched his fists, his fighting spirit burning fiercely.

PS: I received the contract invitation message. Please feel free to add this to your collection. Please support with collections and recommendations. Your small click can help this little sapling survive and grow better. I'm begging you, brothers.

There's one more chapter tonight at 8:00. Please look forward to it.