The match ends

As a guard of the Hyuga Clan, Hyuga Hengzuo considered himself fairly worldly. There was only one explanation for Naruto not having a single scrape on him—

He really had dodged his attack and moved to the wall of his own accord.

There was no way his Byakugan would have missed crude tricks like the Substitution Technique or the Body Flicker Technique. How on earth had he done it?

"Hey, kid."

Hyuga Hengzuo's gaze changed. Though he still found it hard to believe, he had to admit that he seemed to have underestimated his opponent.

"Kid this, kid that! Hey, mister, my name isn't 'kid.' It's Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to become Hokage someday!" Naruto looked up at Hyuga Hengzuo and corrected him.

"Hokage?"

Hearing Naruto's ambition, he instinctively wanted to scoff, but he held his tongue. Instead, he slowly activated his Byakugan and spoke under Naruto's slightly puzzled gaze. "Let me make this clear. I have nothing against you, and I don't care about your dreams, but..."

"I'm very curious about your power!"

It practically counted as a sneak attack. Before Naruto could even react, Hyuga Hengzuo had set his Chakra flowing, lunged forward, and unleashed a fierce palm strike!

No movement can escape the Byakugan. How did this brat dodge my grab just now? These eyes will see through his trick. I've put my full strength into this palm strike. There's no way he can take it!

At that instant, Naruto pulled another shuriken from behind his back.

"Ugh!"

Meanwhile, the battle inside the courtyard was also nearing its conclusion.

Her opponent's palm strikes were sharp and swift. Never mind counterattacking—Hinata couldn't even block them all.

Neji's attacks came like wind and rain. A momentary lapse let one palm break through Hinata's defenses and strike her shoulder, knocking her off balance and onto the ground.

"Is that all?" Neji stopped attacking and stood there, waiting for the Referee to announce the result.

It's always the same. Once the Main Family's Young Lady falls, her clan match ends. She never has the courage to get back up...

"It... it's not over yet."

Yet Hinata shakily pushed herself up from the ground, her face filled with pain she couldn't hide. Although there were no visible injuries, the Hyuga Clan's unique Gentle Fist was a taijutsu style that inflicted internal damage and struck pressure points.

Even though Neji and Hinata were only children and hadn't used Chakra in their fight, the nature of the Gentle Fist remained unchanged.

The lack of visible wounds didn't mean Hinata was unhurt. Quite the opposite: she had suffered internal injuries. Her whole body ached terribly, and even standing was a struggle.

"So you've gained a little more fighting spirit than before?" Seeing his opponent stand again, Neji was just about to resume his attack.

Boom!

The courtyard wall suddenly burst apart, and a figure hurtled through it, landing on the field where the two were fighting.

"What happened?"

"An enemy attack?"

"This is the Main Family's residence in Konoha. How could there be an enemy attack?"

Everyone fell into confusion, but the Hyuga Clan was a great clan filled with elite fighters. Almost the instant the wall exploded, several figures rushed forward to shield Hinata Hyuga and Neji, while the other experts moved to pin down the intruder.

Before the Byakugan, the dust stirred up by the collapsing wall meant nothing.

"Cough, cough! It's me!"

The shadowy figure offered no resistance and hurriedly identified himself.

"Hm? Hengzuo? What are you doing?"

Once everyone got a clear look at the figure who had flown inside, they froze.

It was Hyuga Hengzuo, who had just gone to stop Naruto. He stared back at them in equal bewilderment. "Why are you all crowding around me?"

"You're asking why?" Everyone exchanged glances before an older-looking elder spoke. "I should be asking why you broke through the courtyard wall! Weren't you watching that child? Why did you get into a fight?"

"Me? Break through the courtyard wall?" Completely baffled, Hyuga Hengzuo quickly turned toward the wall. "That's impossible. I was clearly going straight for that brat... huh?"

Hyuga Hengzuo stared in disbelief at the gaping hole in the wall. Naruto stood unharmed on the other side, waving at him. "Oh, thanks, mister! Now I can see much better!"

Then, completely ignoring the countless pairs of Byakugan staring at him, Naruto glanced this way and that through the crowd. His eyes lit up when he spotted Hinata being protected in the middle. "Hey, hey, Hinata! Are you done? Did you win?"

"Naruto-kun, are you all right?" Seeing Naruto immediately put Hinata somewhat at ease. Even her pain seemed to lessen considerably.

But before Hinata could step forward, Hyuga Hiashi appeared in front of Naruto, his imposing Byakugan examining him from head to toe.

"What's wrong? I waited outside just like you told me to." Those eyes gave Naruto the creeps, as though they could see right through his entire body, and he hurried to explain.

At Naruto's words, Hyuga Hiashi lowered his gaze to where Naruto's feet stood. He was indeed outside the wall.

It was just that the wall itself was gone now.

But that wasn't what concerned Hyuga Hiashi. He had seen Naruto on the street before, and at the time, his Byakugan had revealed two different kinds of chakra within the boy, mingling with and repelling each other.

One belonged to the Nine-Tails, and the other was Naruto's own. But why was the surging Chakra within him so pure now? Could the Sealing left by the Fourth Hokage grow stronger as the jinchūriki grew older?

Looking at the broken courtyard wall and the still-bewildered Hyuga Hengzuo, the Hyuga Clan Clan Head, renowned for his caution, felt a trace of unease for the first time at the sight of a child not yet five years old.

Perhaps this child won't become what the Third Hokage wants him to be. His potential might be even greater than imagined...

"That will be all for today's clan matches." Hyuga Hiashi turned to address everyone. "Neji wins the final match. Hengzuo, come to my room later. Everyone else may leave."

"Yes." Though puzzled, everyone obeyed the Clan Head's orders.

"Naruto-kun, was it?" Hyuga Hiashi looked at Naruto again, his expression calm. "Next, we'll be holding a private clan meeting, so we won't be inviting you to participate."

"Ah, hahaha, of course..." Naruto looked embarrassed. Even a child understood that this adult was telling him to leave.

Besides, he was getting a little hungry. After all this commotion, it was already afternoon.

Hyuga Hiashi then looked away from Naruto, turned, and walked over to Neji. He nodded at him and said softly, "You did well."

"You're too kind." Neji Hyuga showed no sign of being moved by the Clan Head's praise. Instead, his expression remained indifferent, with even a faint hint of disdain.

"Hinata, your friend did come to cheer you on, after all. I'll prepare a return gift for him later. Take it over to him." Hyuga Hiashi stroked his daughter's head. After giving his instructions, he said something Hinata had never expected to hear. "You did fairly well today."

"Father..." Hinata stood frozen in place.