Hinata's palm landed solidly on Neji's back. She exerted force with a low cry and injected chakra into his body, thinking victory was already hers.
With a bang, white smoke erupted from Neji's entire body, and he turned into a log.
"Substitution Jutsu!" Naruto said coldly. "Sure enough, it wasn't that simple."
Neji appeared and vanished like a ghost, flashing behind Hinata. Naruto grabbed Hinata and pulled her away from Neji's attack range.
After rescuing Hinata, Naruto faced Neji. The palm Neji had meant to strike Hinata with landed squarely on Naruto instead.
Naruto felt the flow of chakra within him become obstructed. His chakra pathways had surely been damaged.
Naruto bared his fangs, a beastly glint entering his eyes as he drew heavily upon the Nine-Tails' chakra to make up for it.
Neji was truly shocked. Naruto was the first person who could remain standing so steadily after taking a Gentle Fist strike from him.
Not only did Naruto steady himself, he also returned the blow with a punch. One punch for one palm strike—Naruto felt he had not lost out.
"Who exactly is Naruto?" Doubt arose in Neji's heart for the first time.
"Hinata! Let's keep going! This time, we'll fight to the end." Naruto's goal was not to defeat Neji; he mainly wanted to help Hinata grow.
Only when Hinata grew stronger could she attain the position of the strongest Hokage's wife.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto used the same trick again. First, he created a large number of shadow clones, using the white smoke from the ninjutsu as cover. Then every shadow clone used the Transformation Technique.
"This move again!" Neji did not dare underestimate Naruto this time. After their initial exchange, Naruto's strength was definitely no less than Sasuke's.
*No wonder Sasuke said Naruto was