Chapter 108 - Hinata Vs Neji
The trio was currently standing in the middle of a huge arena. The spectator stands were packed to the brim, while the crowd was clearly excited. The only contestant who wasn't here yet was Sasuke.
'Either he got a spontaneous stomach ache due to having to fight me or he is still with Kakashi and adopted Kakashi's perpetual lateness.'
Yuna scanned the stadium and nodded in approval after analyzing the sealing array that was erected over the battleground.
'Pretty decent. A barrier to protect the audience and something to amplify the contestants' voices during combat. Guess they want people to hear the banter? Or maybe… the jutsu names? Now that I look at the audience properly, there are quite a few people with red hair. Seems like everything is ready.'
While Yuna was scanning the arena and analyzing the seals above it, all kinds of important-looking people were holding a bunch of very important-sounding speeches, which Yuna, naturally, ignored.
'I wonder what happened to the examiner of the preliminaries? Hayate? I think? What was the name of the new one again? Genma something, something… Well, Genma is enough, I guess. I wonder why he is sucking on a senbon; does he want to quit smoking and needs to distract himself?'
While Yuna was zoning out, the opening speeches ended and it was time for the first match.
"It is time for the first fight. Neji Hyuga vs Hinata. Those two will stay here, while the rest will go to the waiting room."
There was a bit of an uproar in the audience since Hinata clearly looked like a Hyuga, but she was announced without a surname, but that calmed down rather quickly. Most people have never heard of Hinata and only knew that Neji was proclaimed as a genius of the Hyuga clan. The audience, naturally, wouldn't care about the circumstances of some random girl that would lose in the first round.
After everyone except for Hinata, Neji and Genma had left the arena, Genma officially started the fight and stepped back to leave the combatants more room. Instead of attacking, a sneer appeared on Neji's face.
"Seems like people have finally stopped calling you a Hyuga. It was about time for that to happen. Having trash like you associated with the Hyuga clan can only bring us shame. How about you accept your fate and gi…"
"*YAWN* Is this one of the Hyuga clan's newest techniques? What do you call it? Boring your opponents to death jutsu? Maybe: Spouting nonsense until your enemy falls asleep jutsu? You might wanna ask Yuna for creative names. She has plenty."
At first, Neji was completely dumbfounded by Hinata's attitude. After all, she has always been acting incredibly meek. When he heard quite a few people in the crowd snicker, however, his anger exploded.
"You actually dare to mock my generosity like that. Fine, then I…"
While Neji was talking up a storm again, Hinata lazily stretched her back while yawning and looked towards Genma.
"Mr. proctor, could you give me a second rundown of the rules. I was under the impression that we were supposed to physically fight each other during the third round and not win a debate."
This immediately silenced the whole stadium. A lot of people were looking at Hinata completely dumbfounded. This, however, only lasted for a few moments until roaring laughter exploded and echoed through the whole stadium.
"Damn, that little girl has quite the sharp tongue."
"Haha, make her a special jonin that specializes in provoking people."
"Bwahaha, look at the people from the Hyuga clan. Their faces are priceless."
Under the roaring laughter of the audience, Neji's face turned red in a combination of anger and shame. Without saying another word, he activated his Byakugan and started charging Hinata.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"
Seeing that Neji was attacking now, most people in the audience expected this to be the end of the fight. On one side is a genius of the Hyuga clan and on the other side is someone who was apparently kicked out of it. For most people, the final result was obvious.
A few moments after Neji threw out his first palm strike, however, that notion quickly changed. Hinata caught Neji's wrist and stopped the blow before it could reach her. Hinata lifted him by his wrist, smashed him into the ground once, and then tossed him away from herself, leaving the crowd completely dumbfounded at that insane amount of physical strength.
Hinata started to speak in a calm, measured voice so everyone could clearly hear her.
"Guide on how to defeat the Gentle Fist Style. Lesson one: The attacks might be deadly if they hit, but there is not much physical strength behind them, so rather than blocking them, just catch them."
Neji managed to right himself midair and land on his feet. Despite having received some damage from being smashed into the ground, he charged at Hinata without a moment's hesitation.
Yet again, Neji attacked with a palm strike. This time it was much faster than previously and Neji clearly had planned a follow-up attack. Hinata, however, casually sidestepped his attack and tripped him with one of her legs, causing him to stagger and almost fall to the ground.
"Lesson two: The Gentle Fist Style doesn't put much focus on legwork. Abuse that."
Neji managed to stabilize himself without falling and was just about to attack again when Hinata continued speaking.
"What's wrong, "the great genius of the Hyuga clan"? Seems like the gentle fist isn't all that great after all."
Neji became even angrier when he heard Hinata mocking the gentle fist.
"Shut up! What does trash like you know?! The gentle fist is Konoha's strongest taijutsu!"
Neji attacked Hinata again. Seeing Neji's reckless charge, Hinata could only shake her head. She evaded Neji's attack with as little movement as possible and slammed her fist into his stomach, making him bend forward and cough out some blood.
"Lesson three: The so-called main family is prideful and arrogant. Insult their beloved Gentle Fist and they will lose control over their emotions."
Hinata swept the crowd with her eyes and noticed a few members of the Hyuga clan glaring at her. She zeroed in on Hiashi and sneered at him with disdain clearly showing on her face, which made him even angrier.
After maintaining eye contact for a moment, she put her focus back onto Neji who seemed to be ready for another round but was significantly more cautious now.
'Took that blockhead long enough to realize that he should take this seriously. Oh well, I will keep my pace.'
"Lesson four…"
Neji lowered his posture and started to focus his Byakugan on Hinata, so he wouldn't miss even the slightest muscle twitch. Unfortunately for him, the moment he did so, Hinata detonated a flashbang, illuminating the whole arena.
"ARG, MY EYES!!!"
"…The Hyuga clan is over reliant on their Byakugan. Without it, most of them are helpless."
The blinding light disappeared within moments and revealed Neji who was kneeling on the ground while still writhing from the pain in his eyes. Additionally, there was a perfect circle of Kunai surrounding him, making it clear that Hinata could have easily hit him even without using her eyes.
Hinata casually waited until Neji regained his bearing and then started to speak.
"Well, ready to give up?"
Neji gritted his teeth in hatred and barely managed to squeeze out a "Never!".
"Alright then. Guess I will just have to finish you off."
Hinata started running towards Neji and reeled back her fist with confidence. A smirk appeared on Neji's face as he started to eject chakra out of his tenketsu and started spinning on the spot, creating a shield of chakra around him.
"I was waiting for this! [Gentle Fist Art Secret Technique: Revolving Heaven]!"
Just when Hinata's fist was about to smash into the chakra shield, the fist stopped. Hinata stopped her punch and put both of her hands into her pockets while giving Yuna a smug look.
'See! You dismissed it as nonsense when I told you about this technique when we were five, yet here it is!'
Yuna could only roll her eyes at Hinata's smug face.
As soon as Neji's rotation slowed down, Hinata yakuza kicked him, while her hands were still in her pockets and sent him tumbling backward.
"Lesson five: Well, I don't think I have to explain this one."
Seeing that Hinata didn't seem to be paying much attention to him and that she had her hands in her pockets, Neji's eyes gleamed.
"[Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms]"
Neji shot towards Hinata, who still didn't seem to be paying much attention to him. Two fingers shot forward, hitting Hinata on two different tenketsu.
"Two."
Neji continued his attack, moving faster and faster as more and more tenketsu were attacked.
"Four…Eight…Sixteen…Thirty-two…Sixty-four!"
…Hinata, however, didn't move at all which made Neji realize that something was wrong. Before he could react, Hinata's hand shot forward and grabbed him by the neck.
"Lesson six…"
This time, her voice was no longer calm and measured. It was strong and overbearing, instead. Hinata slowly lifted Neji by his neck, while a disdain-filled smile marred her face.
"…Totally outclass them in chakra control and turn their gentle fist into a useless series of palm and finger strikes."
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