"How..."
Neji had no time to turn his head. All he could feel was five figures suddenly appearing around him.
Someone held him tightly from behind. An arm clad in a green bodysuit stretched across his neck, draining every last bit of force from his attempt to surge forward.
That arm felt as though it had been cast from iron.
A female ninja behind him had also wrenched his left hand, hidden beneath the hem of his shirt, into a firm lock.
Her brows were tightly furrowed, and she held him without the slightest mercy.
To his right stood a languid silver-haired ninja.
His hands hung at his sides, his posture loose and relaxed. Only his one exposed eye remained utterly unblinking.
Diagonally ahead stood the examiner for this round, Gekko Hayate.
His gaze was scrutinizing as he pressed two fingers against Neji's forehead.
The pressure of his fingertips was light, yet it pinned all of Neji's fury in place.
And directly in front of him, the person who had been holding his hand all along...
Was none other than the person he had just spotted below the arena-
Uzumaki Hayashi.
Pain and disappointment filled the red-haired ninja's eyes. His handsome brows were drawn tight as he stared at Neji.
His grip was tight, as though he wanted to bind the two of them together.
Even Hinata behind him had been tucked completely out of harm's way, like a little chick.
Hinata knelt there, clutching her chest, still shaken. Her gaze passed over Hayashi's shoulder as she stared blankly at the scene before her.
"Guy-sensei... This isn't your..."
"Don't say another word, Neji!"
From behind him came Guy's voice, just as it always had.
"I understand your pain!"
"But don't let it blind you!"
"You don't understand anything!"
Even Guy-sensei,