The Official Matches Begin

Takuma stood in the shadows of the waiting area, his back pressed against the rough stone wall.

He kept his eyes closed, breathing slowly, the blue seal on his chest radiating a faint, warm heat beneath his collar.

"Hey, Takuma!"

He didn't need to open his eyes to know who it was.

There was only one person in all of Konoha who would shout like that in the waiting area.

Uzumaki Naruto came running from the end of the corridor, his orange jacket glaringly bright in the dim space.

Behind him followed Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, one looking helpless, the other expressionless.

Takuma straightened up from the wall and rolled his shoulders. "Ready to get beaten up?"

"Tch, I'm not going to lose!"

Naruto swung his fist, grinning. "I'm going to use my new moves to wipe the floor with them! Just you wait and see!"

Sakura, standing behind him, held her forehead and muttered, "Where do you get your confidence from?"

Sasuke said nothing and walked straight toward a corner on the other side of the waiting area.

The horn for the contestants' entrance sounded.

The spectator stands were packed with a sea of heads. The feudal lords of various nations sat in their exclusive viewing area, the forehead protectors of their guard ninjas flashing with the emblems of different villages in the sunlight.

Takuma looked up at the highest viewing platform.

Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the center, the brim of his Hokage hat pulled low, obscuring most of his face.

Beside him was the Fourth Kazekage, his face hidden by a veil and his entire body wrapped in a wide robe, leaving only his eyes visible.

The Cursed Seal on the back of Takuma's neck gave a slight throb.

"Attention, all contestants!"

Genma Shiranui walked to the center of the arena with a senbon in his mouth, raising a hand to signal for silence.

He unfolded the match bracket, his voice amplified by Chakra as it reached every corner of the arena.

"The Chunin Exams final matches, now begin. The first match—"

"Uzumaki Naruto versus Neji Hyuga!"

Takuma retreated with the other contestants to a designated spot at the edge of the waiting area, resting his hands on the railing and finding a spot with a clear view.

Tenten sat in the middle of Team Guy, holding up a crumpled little flag with the word "Cheer" written on it in crooked characters.

Their eyes met for a moment, and Tenten waved the flag vigorously.

In the center of the arena, Naruto and Neji stood face to face.

"Give up."

Neji's voice was calm. "A person's destiny is determined the moment they are born. You are a failure among Genin, and I am a genius of the Hyuga branch family. The outcome of this battle was written before you even stepped into this arena."

"Quit yapping!" Naruto charged straight at him.

The battle was one-sided from the start.

Neji's Byakugan, combined with his Gentle Fist, struck with precision, sealing Naruto's pressure points with every blow.

Naruto's Shadow Clones were shattered one by one. The real Naruto tried to sneak an attack while hidden among the clones, but Neji struck him in the chest without even looking back.

The Chakra cyclone of the Eight Trigrams Palms Rotation sent Naruto flying, his back slamming hard against the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Whispers began to ripple through the spectator stands.

"I knew it, that failure is hopeless."

"His opponent is a genius of the Hyuga clan; the gap is too wide. They aren't even on the same level."

"He did well just to last this long, I suppose."

Takuma pushed up his Neo Sunglasses, watching the center of the arena through the dark lenses.

In the vision of the Neo Sunglasses, Neji's Chakra appeared as a precise, web-like structure, flowing with a constant and rhythmic cadence.

Every strike of the Gentle Fist targeted these meridian nodes.

Meanwhile, inside Naruto's body, a stream of Chakra was leaking out through the gaps in his pressure points, thread by thread.

Naruto knelt on the ground, gasping for air. His body was covered in bruises from the Gentle Fist; his arms, chest, and cheeks were almost entirely devoid of unblemished skin.

Neji stood a few paces away, looking down at him.

"I have already sealed sixty-four of your Chakra pressure points."

Neji's voice was devoid of emotion. "You can't even stand up now. This is reality—a failure will always be a failure; this is the destiny you were born with."

Naruto's fingers dug into the ground.

His five fingers clawed five furrows into the hard earth.

He braced himself against his knees, his body trembling violently, every ounce of effort accompanied by a suppressed, guttural growl.

He swayed as he forced himself to stand upright.

"You talk about destiny... you talk about failures..." Naruto looked up.

His pupils elongated, his fingernails sharpened, and the saliva spilling from his mouth was mixed with a beast-like snarl.

Red Chakra surged out from within him.

The sand and gravel around Naruto were blown away by the shockwave, and fine cracks appeared on the ground, spreading outward.

The soil beneath his feet emitted a faint, scorched smell under the heat of the Chakra.

Neji's Byakugan widened abruptly.

Takuma's hands tightened involuntarily on the railing.

This was the power of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Even a mere leak was enough to make a Jonin-level ninja feel threatened.

Naruto's skin turned a sickly red under the burning Chakra, the epidermis beginning to peel away to reveal the raw, crimson tissue beneath.

The Nine-Tails Chakra was tearing him apart even as it strengthened him.

Rotation unfolded around Neji.

The impact of the Nine-Tails Chakra collided with the barrier of the Rotation, and the shockwave from the clash swept across the arena, carrying sand and stone with it.

Naruto used a Shadow Clone to block the opening and tunneled up from beneath the ground.

Neji's Rotation had just ended; his Byakugan caught the fluctuation of Chakra from beneath him, but his body was too slow to react.

An uppercut landed squarely on Neji's chin.

Neji's body left the ground, his back tracing a parabola in the air before he crashed heavily onto the floor.

"The winner—Uzumaki Naruto!"

The blonde boy remained in his punching stance, his chest heaving violently, his face stained with dirt and blood, the burn marks from the Chakra spreading from his cheeks to his arms.

"Actually, the Clone Technique is the one I'm worst at! So don't keep saying boring things like 'destiny cannot be changed'!"

"Because you're different from me, you're not someone who holds others back!"

A system prompt echoed in his mind.

[Witnessed "The Failure's Counterattack: Neji Hyuga vs. Uzumaki Naruto" completed. Obtained a lottery chance.]

Takuma suppressed the urge to draw a prize for the moment and continued to watch the arena.

Neji climbed up from the ground.

Naruto walked over and extended a hand toward him.

"You talk about destiny and all that, maybe it really exists."

Naruto's voice was still breathless, but every word was clear. "But if destiny tells me to give up, then I'd rather fight destiny instead."

Neji looked at that hand, silent for a long time.

Then, he reached out and took it.

Takuma withdrew his gaze and leaned against the railing, letting out a long breath.

Tenten waved her flag at him from the stands, and he returned a gesture that meant, "We'll talk later."

After the arena was cleared, Genma Shiranui unfolded the match bracket.

"The second match—Uchiha Sasuke versus Dosu Kin."

The waiting area went quiet for a moment.

Dosu did not appear.

An Anbu ninja flickered into existence beside Genma Shiranui and whispered a few words.

Genma Shiranui's brow furrowed slightly, then returned to calm.

"Dosu Kin has forfeited for personal reasons. The second match: Uchiha Sasuke receives a bye and advances directly."

A wave of disappointed boos erupted from the stands, mixed with a few scattered cheers.

Sasuke stood at the edge of the waiting area, his expression unchanged, and turned to walk back into the corridor.

Genma Shiranui unfolded the match bracket once more, and the electronic screen refreshed accordingly.

"Takuma Mori versus—"