There was some discussion between the Kage.
After some back and forth, the Kazekage decided to leave with Gaara, along with his escort.
While it was highly unusual to leave this early, the Hokage had no qualms about it. Gaara was obviously unstable, — and getting angrier every minute since his forfeit — so if the Kazekage wanted to deal with the problem on its own, that was on him.
He offered to have his son, Itachi, escort them part of the way, with the promise that he could tame a Tailed Beast, should it come to it.
The Kazekage just glared at him in answer, assuring him he was more than capable of handling his village matters.
More power to him.
Kankurō just made a disgusted noise, resentment building up inside him.
Now he'd be staying for his match with only their sensei, Baki, and Temari left behind. Their father could obviously not be bothered.
Gaara had always ruined everything for him.
Toru let out a sigh of relief.
"Whew. I really thought he'd try to kill me today."
"I don't think he would try anything outside of a match." Sasuke said. "He'd get into too much trouble."
Naruto just threw him a dubious look. Gaara didn't seem like the sort of person who would care about petty things like laws.
"Yasui, from Kumo against Hyūga Neji, from Konoha."
The Hyūga clan was pretty quiet, when it came to cheering. There were some that were unhappy about the only member of their clan to reach the finals being from the branch house.
Nonetheless, there was a general sense of confidence. Neji was the most talented ninja the clan had produced this generation, just like his dad had been before him.
Hinata was strong, and so was Hanabi, no one would dare say the opposite.
But Neji was a true prodigy.
When he had come into the arena, facing the strongest genin Kumo had sent into the exams, Takai, he had felt nothing.
Well, besides the usual contempt he had for the way his clan did things.
Neji believed in strength. That's why he had trained so hard his whole life.
He loved Hinata like a sister, too.
But then again…
His dad still loved his brother. It never prevented some resentment from building up. Neji was afraid that someday, when Hinata took the leadership of the clan, he would feel the same.
It was a big cage, the one he was in, but it was a cage all the same.
He slipped into the basic Gentle Fist stance.
Neji would remind the main branch and the elders that birth meant nothing on its own.
Yasui had known that the match would be difficult.
Takai, who had been defeated by Neji two hours earlier, had been his teammate. He had been the team's best close-range fighter.
The fact he had decided to forgo melee combat, opting for keeping distance between him and Neji was bad news.
Yasui was worse than Takai at ninjutsu. He specialized in Genjutsu, and had counted on Neji being defeated in the first round.
His backup plan had been to fall back on thrown weapons, but he had seen how fast the Hyūga was.
This was confirmed when he just deflected any weapon Takai had thrown at him.
Genjutsu didn't work on him at all, it seemed. Not the visual ones, not the auditory ones either.
A single Gentle Fist strike to the chest, and he had to give up, his chakra out of reach.
"Winner: Hyūga Neji."
The Raikage sighed.
He didn't think Tsuyoi had much of a chance against the Uchiha, either. Kumo might as well be out of the exam already.
So much for showing their might.
Kankurō's match against Tenten was a sad affair.
The Sand genin had been angry, and he had opted for a brutal rushdown instead of his usual reliance on deception.
Tenten had barely had the time to get her scrolls out before she was caught in the razor sharp arms of Karasu.
She gave up once she realized that just like his needles, they were also covered in poison.
Just like the Raikage had predicted, Sasuke was faster, smarter and stronger than Tsuyoi.
The girl from Kumo took a fireball head on, and was sent to the infirmary right away.
"Rock Lee vs. Uchiha Toru, both from Konoha. Begin!"
Toru had tried to get Lee to look him in the eye the whole time, but the older genin had made it a point not to even look in his general direction.
He was no Shisui, and no Itachi — yet, he thought — so trapping him in an illusion by simply using a finger was out of his reach.
He'd have to settle this one the usual way.
Lee sent him a thumbs up, staring at his feet resolutely.
Bemused, he gave him one back.
Lee removed the ankle weights he had been wearing right away.
When they hit the floor in a plume of smoke, the crowd roared.
"Wait, has he been wearing this the whole time?"
Before the smoke cleared, Toru rushed through three hand signs, releasing the fastest Fire technique he knew. He didn't have time to play here, it seemed.
"Fire Release: Burst Flare"
A compact ball of heat and flame exploded from his mouth, aimed at the cloud. It went right through.
Lee was already gone.
Even with his Sharingan on, he barely dodged the kick aimed at his head. He managed to duck, but the following punch that he parried rattled his whole wrist.
He quickly used the Body Flicker, putting some distance between the two of them.
Thrown weapons would be useless here, because Lee was simply too fast. Too bad his tantō had been crushed.
There was no way he'd manage to trap him with wire, as he was also stronger than him.
He would likely have to catch Lee in a Genjutsu, then.
Toru released a Fire Style: Smoke Screen technique without calling its name. Behind its cover he weaved another technique, and held it.
He threw a few shuriken as a quick distraction, and jumped back.
When Lee appeared next to him, he released it.
"Heaven and Earth Reversal" was a genjutsu that worked on a simple premise.
The direction of "down" became "up", and inversely.
Lee tripped and realized immediately he was trapped, but this momentary distraction allowed Toru to catch his eye.
"Saiminjutsu: Nirvana."
"No-" Lee tried. The genjutsu took hold, and he struggled to keep his eyes open.
Toru breathed hard. This had taken a lot of chakra from him.
It was a technique that forced the victim into a deep sleep, tied directly to their chakra network. It usually took the help of somebody else to wake them up.
Shisui had gotten a lot of mileage from that one, over the years. It prevented a lot of unnecessary killing.
He slowly walked away, keeping an eye on Lee, who was swaying.
He was mumbling something, and with his Sharingan on, Toru could read his lips clearly.
"I will not…"
How the hell was he still standing?
Something weird was happening with his chakra. It had… disappeared?
No.
Most of it had gathered around Lee's brain.
Ah. This was bad.
"Gai… You taught him how to use the Gates? At his age?" Kakashi asked, reproachful.
Gai nodded, looking uncharacteristically serious. "Taijutsu is all Lee has. It was his decision to learn how to open them, and I would NOT stand in between him and his dream."
"Still. The Gates… You know they take a heavy toll on the user." Asuma said.
Gai nodded. He would know.
Lee's chakra rose in intensity.
It moved to the right side of his brain. Toru could see it all with too much clarity, and he didn't need the Byakugan for that.
It then went down to his spinal cord. Lee's eyes opened, entirely white.
The bulging veins all over his body and his red skin made him look like a freaky version of a Hyūga.
He was still struggling with the Genjutsu, Toru could see. That was his only hope.
Whatever Lee was preparing would be too much for him.
"I will not… LOSE!"
"Aw, come on!"
"Gate of Pain… OPEN!"
Lee's chakra started overflowing from his body, and his nose bled.
The illusion shattered.
"I giv-"
Lee crossed the distance between them in a fraction of an instant, and his Sharingan saw it in more detail than he would care to remember later.
His fist smashed into his stomach and he flew straight into the arena wall.
Shisui called the match right away.
"Winner: Rock Lee!"
Damn.
Due to his exhaustion — he could barely stand after this show —, Lee was forced by the medic team to give up on the next match.
Despite his vocal protests, Gai agreed that it might be the safest option.
Lee looked betrayed at first, which looked pretty comical on his expressive face, but the explanation of just what sort of permanent damage he would risk even if he didn't use any more Gates today ended up convincing him.
He sulked a bit, but he could fight Neji another day. His teammate had promised they would.
"Even if it's at the Jōnin exams." Neji had joked. That had been very… nice of him.
Neji stepped in the arena for the third time today, facing Kankurō from Suna.
He was not feeling tired at all. If anything, his excitement at the idea of possibly reaching the finals kept him more awake than he had felt in a while.
The teenager from Suna looked angry.
Likely something to do with what had happened with Gaara, then. Probably his father as well.
Even if Neji hadn't known that the Sand trio were the Kazekage's children, the resemblance was so obvious he would have picked it up easily.
Neji would not blame a guy for complicated familial relationships.
He had his own issues with his own father, too. And that was not even going into how he felt about the main branch.
Despite his resentment, and hatred for the way the Hyūga clan worked, Hizashi had still chosen to live as a slave to the main branch.
Neji had promised himself that he would not do the same, no matter what it cost.
When he would finally have the strength for it, he would choose freedom.
Kankurō initiated with a volley of needles, sent from his puppet, Karasu.
Neji took notice of the hidden mechanism. He would remember that this one released the poison needles.
His eyes scanned over the arsenal of weapons hidden within the puppet.
Blades, needles, arrows, an opening, smoke bombs, detachable head, removable arms. More blades.
A lot of these seemed to be covered in poison.
Kankurō was also carrying a short blade on himself, strapped to his wrist.
Three kunai, seven shuriken in his pouch. A smoke bomb, a flashlight as well.
This was no problem for Neji.
He could close his eyes and see through his own eyelids as clearly as if they were open.
Such tricks only worked on the Uchiha.
In the stands, Sasuke clenched his fist.
"I don't like Neji."
"Huh…?" Ino asked. "You guys never really got along, did you? That's nothing new."
"I felt the need to say it out loud."
"O…kay?"
Naruto patted his shoulder. It was an Uchiha thing, he guessed.
The Suna ninja was getting frustrated with the way the match was going.
His movements were becoming more jerky, as his arsenal of weapons depleted.
He didn't dare send his puppet into melee range, fearing that the Neji would just smash right through it with some unknown gentle fist technique.
Neji was amused. He was worried for the wrong reasons.
The Hyūga left his guard open on purpose, wanting to move things along.
Kankurō seized it. He triggered yet another mechanism inside his puppet. The arms fell out of their sockets, and the chest opened.
The seal inside let a cast iron ball roll into the opening.
"Ah, so it was a cannon, then."
The powder erupted and with a bang, and the ball flew toward Neji.
The chakra he had gathered as a layer over his skin became visible to the naked eye.
His feet dug into the ground.
"Heavenly Rotation."
He spun.
The audience roared.
"He can… do the Rotation too?" Hinata wondered out loud. She had only learned it very recently, after the debacle of the Forest of Death.
Hizashi looked on with pride, not looking entirely surprised. He himself had never learned it, but he knew how Neji could be about these things. He would make this personal.
Her father said nothing.
The cannonball had just exploded harmlessly against the spinning chakra dome the Konoha genin had created.
That was… a bad surprise. He had to attack now, while he was recovering from the spin.
Karasu moved.
Neji stepped aside and severed the chakra strings. Kankurō panicked.
He could easily create new threads, but he had not expected this to happen right now.
Neji was too close.
He would have to-
A palm hit him in the plexus.
His control over his chakra faded.
There was no particular emotion in the pupilless white eyes of his opponent.
How he hated him, at that moment.
"Winner: Hyūga Neji."
Lee now being out of the competition, Neji would face Sasuke after a half-hour break.
The Raikage sighed again. "I know the exam being held in your village tends to favor your own ninja… But, this really feels like I'm just here to watch the next Leaf prodigies showcase."
Fugaku threw him a wry smile. "I thought this was the whole point, Raikage-dono."
The Raikage's eyebrows shot up. Then he laughed a booming laugh, slapping a heavy arm on the Hokage's back. "True enough! Kumo will definitely win next time, though."
Fugaku winced. The "friendly" slap felt like it had shuffled a rib or two around.
He wondered if it had been on purpose.
"It's time to prove you're stronger than Neji, now." Toru said, nodding wisely.
"He means, if you actually are." Naruto added, helpfully.
Sasuke snorted. "Well, I guess we'll see." He then added. "I at least know I'm stronger than you, Naruto."
"For now, maybe." Naruto nodded, magnanimous.
"Yeah, Naruto will win next time." Ino nodded, her arms crossed.
Karin smiled at their antics.
"Good luck, Neji. Your hard work will pay off!" Gai encouraged.
"Thank you."
Tenten smiled. Neji was the strongest of the Leaf genin, there was nothing more to say.
Lee and Neji exchanged a look of understanding. Next time, it would be both of them.
"For the final match. Hyūga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke."
The crowd echoed their approval. It had been a great show, and they were counting on both members of the two strongest clans in Konoha to provide a good finale.
"Begin."
""""""""""""""""
AN: If you enjoyed this novel you can support me on patreon so i can keep delivering more chapters.
You will also get early access to 30 chapters ahead of webnovel, each chapter at least 2.5k words most are 3k words long
Pat reon.com/Godlynovels (remove the space)