"I was waiting for this battle. This time, I won't lose." Although they never truly competed, Neji had the feeling that he won't be able to win against Menma that easily.
But now that two years have passed, he had grown a lot stronger. It won't be hard to say that he has reached a strength closer to that of Jonin if not at least Elite Chunin.
Menma smiled and nodded his head.
"I was also waiting for this battle. It's just that I didn't expect that I would truly get to fight you."
"Then, without talking much nonsense. Let's fight!"
Neji said as he dashed toward Menma. His speed was quite fast as he was a Taijutsu master himself.
He quickly thrust his palm and released a compressed wave of attack.
[Eight Trigrams- Vacuum Palm]
Unlike Hinata, his Vacuum Palm was much stronger. Not because of his Chakra but rather because of his mastery over this Jutsu.
[Earth Style- Earth Style Wall]
Menma slapped his palms together and slammed on the ground. A massive earth wall rose from the ground
Bang!
The compressed vacuum palm struck his earthen wall and destroyed it. But, it was also destroyed.
Menma jumped in the air and made a hand sign.
[Fire Style- Fire Dragon Bomb]
His fire dragon bomb moved toward Neji.
[Eight Trigrams- Palms Revolving Heaven]
Neji instantly used his Revolving Heaven to block his attack.
Bang!
When his attack was blocked, Menma landed on the ground and his foot pressed against the ground. He instantly reached in front of Neji.
Chakra Enhanced Strength was applied to his arm. He gathered his strength at his fist and thrust it forward.
Seeing this, Sasuke who was watching it from the first floor trembled for a moment.
'This isn't a normal punch. I need to dodge it.'
Seeing his Chakra Concentration through Byakugan, he easily deduced his future move and instantly made a hand sign.
Bang!
When his fist collided with his body, Neji changed into a piece of stone. That stone collided with his fist and broke into pieces.
Menma instantly released his perception and sensed Neji several meters away from him. So, he turned around and quickly made a hand sign.
[Fire Style- Phoenix Fire Jutsu]
He released another stream of flame toward Neji. This attack made Neji unable to dodge. So, he quickly slapped both of his palms forward.
[Eight Trigrams- Vacuum Air Palm]
Bang!
The massive air blow struck his flame. Although the wind was weak against fire, the power of that blow was so strong that it easily destroyed his attack.
Menma saw this and instantly released his Shadow Clones. Nearly five shadow clones appeared next to him. Without any hesitation, he asked his shadow clones to make hand signs.
[Wind Style- Wind Blade Jutsu]*5
Five wind blades merged into one and a massive wind blade rushed toward Neji.
'It seems like I can only use that Jutsu.'
Thinking about it, Neji released a massive amount of Chakra into his palm and got closer to Menma.
He thrusts his palm toward Menma and releases a massive wave of chakra.
[Eight Trigrams- Mountain Crusher]
Bang!
When these two attacks collided with each other, the wind blade scattered into small wind blades and moved around.
The massive Chakra wave almost destroyed the ground beneath them.
Hayate who was standing far from them released sweat from his forehead.
'Is this really a battle between Genins? How does this look even more fierce than the battle between Chunins?'
'Damn it! That guy was able to fight Menma for so long.' Seeing Neji, Sasuke burst out with jealousy but suddenly, he remembered something, and his jealousy was subdued.
"I really want to fight both of them. But, only one can go to the next round." Naruto clenched his fist and his eyes blazed with fighting intent.
Seeing his two students reacting completely oppositely, Kakashi sighed and continued watching the battle between Genins.
It's just that he didn't know whether to consider them Genin or not.
"Haha! Neji, this is it. Don't hold back anymore otherwise, this battle will be too boring."
Seeing his attack being blocked so easily, Menma burst into laughter and rushed toward Neji.
"Indeed! I finally understand why you don't want us to participate in Chunin Exams for two years."
Feeling the excitement in this battle, Neji finally understood Menma's intention. Of course, he didn't know Menma's intention but it was just his guess.
Because they won't be able to fight each other like this ever again. After all, both of them are from the same village, and without a reason to win, they won't put everything into a battle.
After all, who doesn't want to save a trump card?
But, this was a battle where they must throw everything they had. They must use all of their strength. Of course, if their enemy had a similar strength.
"Indeed! If it was even a year ago, I wouldn't be able to fight like this. I could only resort to tricks to win. But now, I don't have to worry about that."
Menma moved his hands and made a single-hand sign.
[Fire Style- Majestic Flame Destroyer Jutsu]
A massive stream of fire burst out of his mouth. It was almost big enough to cover the entire arena.
"Oh my god! How could he release such a powerful jutsu?"
"Is this really a battle between Genins?"
Suddenly, the surroundings burst into exclamation when they saw his Jutsu.
Even Third Hokage was surprised by his Jutsu. Not only because of his wide range but rather because of how easily he used it.
Menma only used a one-hand sign. It was almost like watching Madara perform Fire Style Jutsu.
"It seems like you truly won't stop that easily."
Neji started performing his Eight Trigrams palm. It wasn't rotation but rather constant barrages of palms again and again.
[Two Palms- Four Palms- Eight Palms- Sixteen Palms- Thirty-Two Palms- Sixty-Four Palms]
[Eight Trigram- One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Palms Crusher]
Boom!
When he finally released his final palm, it created a massive shockwave that instantly blasted all that flame and extinguished it.
"Hooo! Hooo! Damn it, it really causes a lot of stamina to use that move."
Neji was panting a little when he finally finished.
"What?"
Everyone screams in shock. Originally, they thought Menma's attack was already amazing but seeing Neji's One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Palms, everyone was even more shocked.
"How could this be? Isn't it only Sixty Four Palms?"
"I don't know. I have never seen anyone use One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Palms."
"Is this something that only a genius can perform?"
The Hyuga clan members who were watching the battle started discussing in shock. They were genuinely shocked by seeing his attack.
"Hehe! You truly are a genius. Without anyone teaching you, just by relying on your own talent, you can achieve all of this."
"Neji Hyuga, I would like to call you the Strongest Talent of this generation."
Menma instantly burst out with praise without any hesitation. Of course, he was qualified to say that.
After all, his strength was at the top of every one of his generation.
Neji shook his head and said.
"With you, I don't claim to be a number one genius."
"Don't look down on yourself, Neji! I trained under one of the strongest Shinobi for two years. On the other hand, everything that you have achieved is through your own learning talent."
"That's why I said, you have the strongest talent in this generation."
Menma shook his head and continued to praise him.
Hearing his words, the audience suddenly became silent. They didn't know why these two stopped fighting and started praising each other.
"Ahem! Aren't you two going to fight?" Hayate who was standing far couldn't help but ask.
"Oh sorry!"
Both of them turned and apologized. Seeing their attention, Hayate was speechless once again.
But, Neji and Menma instantly turned into serious mode upon turning back.
"Neji, this time I am going to use really powerful Jutsu. Be careful!"
Menma instantly made a few hand signs. He raised his hand and a lightning bolt appeared on his hand.
At the same time, he opened his mouth.
[Combination Jutsu- Lightning Stream Jutsu]
A massive stream of water burst out of his mouth. The lightning flowed from his hand to his mouth and merged with the water.
The lightning stream jutsu moved toward Neji at an incredible speed, making it almost impossible to dodge since it also had a lot of coverage.
Neji instantly understood the severity of this Jutsu. He quickly released chakra from his tenketsu points and unlike before, he released it a bit far out of his body.
[Eight Trigrams- Blocking Mirror View Jutsu]
The next moment, his Chakra suddenly moved forward. He swiped his arms and the Chakra condensed into a thick layer of a wall in front of him.
Bang!
The Lightning Stream Jutsu collided against his Blocking Mirror View Jutsu. Upon collision, the defense of Blocking Mirror View Jutsu instantly blocked that attack and broke it.
The water fell on the ground while lightning dispersed. But, the Blocking Mirror View Jutsu was still intact.
Taking advantage of this Jutsu, Neji quickly moved his arm back while putting his hand in the middle of this Jutsu.
His hand slowly clenched into a fist and the Chakra shaped around his fist.
[Gentle Fist]
Although the name was Gentle Fist, the moment he thrusts his fist forward. Its momentum rose to its maximum. The Chakra condensed around his fist and burst out like an Air Fist.
[Heavy Mountain Breaker]