Neji and Rock Lee's bickering eventually woke Tenten up. Luckily, both of them were injured, otherwise they would have already started fighting.
"It's so noisy... Teacher Guy, have you taken care of the enemies?"
"More or less. Now that you're all awake, there's a task I need you to complete."
Speaking of this, Might Guy glanced at Naoki Senju, who appeared harmless on the surface but was actually as ruthless as the Anbu when it came to killing... Although the bond between Rock Lee and Neji was steadily growing, these disciples really needed more training.
" Guy-sensei, please give me the task. I guarantee I'll complete it." Despite the pain from his wound, Rock Lee stood up and answered with perfect composure.
"Hmm, very good. Your mission is... to kill them."
A brief silence fell over the surrounding air. Rock Lee, seemingly unable to believe his ears, couldn't help but ask:
" Guy-sensei, you just said... we should kill them?" As he spoke, Rock Lee pointed to the three unconscious Root ninjas not far away.
"That's right, they were just on a mission to kill you, and now you should kill them, Rock Lee. Is this all you've got to protect your best friend's youth?!"
"Of course not!" Rock Lee loudly denied, yet he couldn't bring himself to take the first step. Konoha's peace and prosperity were the foundation of its strength, but also a constraint on the new generation of ninjas. Even killing mission targets required mental preparation.
While Tenten and Rock Lee hesitated, Neji walked towards the Root ninja without hesitation. The veins around his eyes bulged, and under the gaze of his Byakugan, the Root ninja's veins and pressure points were completely exposed, as if they were naked.
With Chakra attached to his right hand, Gentle Fist to strike the Root ninja's heart pressure point with full force. One strike wasn't enough, so he struck again. From the Byakugan's perspective, the ninja's Chakra dried up like a stream that had lost its source in a very short time.
Although parts of the heart tissue, as well as the acupoints and meridians, had been shattered by the Gentle Fist Chakra, the Root ninja's appearance remained largely unchanged, with only a small amount of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.
Is this what it feels like to kill someone...? Although it was his first time killing someone with his own hands, Neji didn't react excessively. After closing his Byakugan, he thoughtfully sat back down in his original seat, and remarkably refrained from provoking Rock Lee.
Rock Lee gritted his teeth and walked step by step toward the Root ninja who was still unconscious and completely unaware of his impending death.
His perceived rival and close friend had already completed their mission of killing, so he couldn't fall behind Neji.
However, compared to Neji's casualness and elegance, Rock Lee was far more bloody. His fists rained down on the Root Rock Lee's body like a storm, targeting the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and small intestine—internal organs capable of causing significant injury.
The dull thud of fists striking flesh stimulated Tenten's nerves. Although the Ninja Academy had taught her a hundred ways to kill humans, she still couldn't help but feel nervous when it came to her first real-life practice, especially with Rock Lee's extremely bloody Strong Fist.
When Might Guy pulled Rock Lee away, the Root ninja was already badly beaten and his flesh was mangled. The bandages wrapped around Rock Lee's fists were completely soaked in blood.
Gasping for breath, Rock Lee was utterly exhausted and sat down next to Neji, having lost all desire to challenge him.
The last one was Tenten. Facing his only female disciple, Might Guy was quite lenient, even giving her a bright, encouraging smile and a thumbs up.
" Tenten, just do it without worry. This is an inevitable part of the ninja way."
But Tenten wished she hadn't seen anything; Teacher Guy was just too much of an eyesore!
Fortunately, after being mentally disturbed by Might Guy, Tenten's psychological burden was reduced considerably. Gripping her Kunai, she walked step by step to the last Root ninja, Sai, beside her.
But the raised Kunai just wouldn't fall. All it took was slit its throat to achieve the perfect kill the Ninja Academy instructor had described...
" Tenten, kill him. When we get back, I'll have Sister Tsunade teach me Medical Ninjutsu."
"Really?"
Tenten turned her head in surprise, and the Kunai in her hand followed the predetermined trajectory, though not perfectly, it still cut through Sai's fragile throat.
Because the wound wasn't deep, the blood didn't splatter onto Tenten, but the gushing blood still caused Tenten's heart rate to spike to 180.
All three students had completed their first bloody mission. Although the process was somewhat tortuous, the result was satisfactory. Might Guy flashed his signature hot-blooded smile again and said:
"You all performed very well on this mission. However, due to the encounter with enemy ninjas, the mission level will be changed to B-rank, and the reward you will receive will also increase."
Even an S-rank mission might not encounter this many ninjas, but considering the performance of the team's several Genin, a B-rank mission is already a form of compensation.
Aside from Rock Lee genuinely needed the mission reward and wore an excited smile, everyone else was uninterested. Compared to the reward, they were more concerned about why Naoki Senju didn't need to carry out any killing missions.
Neji was more direct, loudly questioning:
" Teacher Guy, I'd like to know, as a fellow Genin, why doesn't Naoki Senju Genin, need to carry out assassination missions?"
Might Guy glanced at Naoki, and seeing that Naoki didn't seem inclined to argue with Neji, he carefully chose his words, afraid of offending Neji:
" Naoki has already personally killed an enemy ninja in this battle, so he doesn't need to carry out any additional killing missions."
If it weren't for the need to accommodate Neji's pride as a genius, Might Guy would definitely have taken him to see the terrifying destructive power left behind by Naoki Senju after the battle, how he used Water Release Ninjutsu to expand a small river into a small lake.
It's hard to imagine the intensity of the battle. This powerful Water Release Ninjutsu, capable of altering terrain, and the sheer amount of Chakra involved, cannot be described simply as genius.
It can be said that if his background wasn't unclear and his seniority in Konoha wasn't insufficient, and if the Third Hokage hadn't been worried, Naoki Senju would have already Genin and Chunin promotion paths and directly obtained Jonin status thanks to his powerful strength.
Although the truth is unknown, Might Guy's statement about killing an enemy ninja was enough to shock Neji.
He and Rock Lee had also fought against that group of unknown ninjas. Although they were defeated in a few rounds, judging from the amount of Chakra observed by their Byakugan, the weakest of the enemies was at least Chunin, and there were even Jonin of the same rank as Teacher Guy!
But after Teacher Guy activated that strange ' Ninjutsu,' his Chakra reserves overwhelmed those of the opposing ninjas, and he quickly ended the battle and saved them.
Judging by this, Naoki Senju's strength is at least Chunin or higher, no wonder he refused my challenge... Neji's gaze began to burn with renewed intensity.
He challenges the genius Chunin of the Senju Clan, proving that the Hyuga Clan is the strongest clan in Konoha, while also further solidifying his status Byakugan genius...
Neji's ambition grew ever larger, but Rock Lee's eyes gleamed with increasing sourness. His perceived rival was only interested in challenging others—what was the difference between that and openly committing NTR (Netorare, a form of infidelity)?