Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 88: Naruto vs Neji Part 1
The fight between Shino and Kankuro lasted a good fifteen minutes and ended with Shino's victory.
Kankuro was overall stronger and more experienced than Shino, but unfortunately for him, this was a bad match-up.
His only puppet had been designed for quick assassinations, not to deal with a massive amount of insects coming at him from all directions.
The Aburame insects got inside the puppet's joints, rendering it useless before the rest attached to him and drained most of his chakra.
After Shino's victory, it was Shikamaru's turn to face the second member of the Sand Village.
Temari might have been the most capable female ninja from all the candidates, but she still fell for Shikamaru's machinations and was caught in his shadow jutsu, forcing her to surrender.
Then, it was finally time for Naruto to face the renowned Hyuga genius.
"Good luck!" Sakura told him before he took the stairs down.
"Yes, give him a good beating!" Ino cheered. She and Hinata could not be called close friends, but she was still angry with Neji for what he did.
Naruto gave them a nod and went into the arena.
Up inside the V.I.P viewing room, a man leaned forward just in time to see Naruto walk in.
"Oh… What do you think of this next match, Hiruzen?" the Kazekage asked.
The Hokage glanced at his guest. He had barely said anything the entire time. He didn't say a word when his two children were bested, but he spoke now.
"I didn't think you would be very interested in this match… it's just two Genins from Konoha."
"Please, do not insult my intelligence, Hiruzen. We both know that is not the case…"
The Hokage did his best to keep his facial features from showing any change.
"Right, I suppose you have your eye on Hyuga Neji. He is considered the most talented Genin in the village. I have great expectations for his future." He decided to test this man.
The Kazekage had been acting strange all day.
And the reports he got from Jiraiya were pointing toward a hidden danger threatening Konoha.
"Sure, the Hyuga boy is not bad… but I was mostly interested in the other one."
"Naruto?..." Hiruzen did not like the way the Kazekage was speaking.
The Kazekage chuckled.
"Yes… I wonder what kind of fight he will show us today…"
Neji and Genma were already on the other side, waiting for him when he walked inside the circular fighting area.
Once Naruto was in position, the referee asked them both if they were ready, and then…
"Let us begin the third match!" He shouted for the audience to hear.
"Hyuga Neji vs. Uzumaki Naruto!" Genma gave the signal for them to start and got out of the way.
None of them moved from their spots.
"Well?… Aren't you going to show me what the number one genius can do?" Naruto asked.
"I have nothing to prove to you!" Neji got into a fighting position.
"But I would shame my clan if I let this match drag for too long against someone like you." He rushed at Naruto.
"Not even going to activate those eyes of yours?… You are really looking down on me…"
"Taijutsu will be enough!" Neji got to his side and threw a series of normal punches.
Naruto deflected them with little effort…
Slap!
Naruto's palm made contact with Neji's cheek before he could react.
The hit was not hard enough to cause any serious damage, but it made a very loud noise and left the whole stadium staring in bafflement at what had just happened.
"Did… did he slap Neji?" Hanabi had her eyes opened like plates.
"He did…" Even Hinata did not know what to think right now.
"That can't be…" Hiashi refused to believe it.
Neji recovered from his stupor and took several steps back to distance himself from Naruto.
"Ready to take this more seriously?" Naruto asked him.
Neji clenched his teeth. He went easy on his opponent and was rewarded with humiliation.
"Byakugan!" His eyes transformed.
"Better." Naruto nodded.
Neji attacked again using the same Taijutsu style, but this time he was a lot more cautious and was keeping track of Naruto's moves.
Naruto remained standing still and waited.
A moment later, Neji decided to make his move. After taking a side step and positioning himself at Naruto's left, Neji sent a powerful kick aimed at his legs in order to knock him down.
Naruto shifted his weight and twisted the target away before he brought it back down, stomping on Neji's toes.
The boy grunted in pain but did not lose his concentration. Neji assessed the situation and moved his arms in position to perform another attack.
Slap!
Naruto's hand impacted his cheek on the same spot as before.
This time, Neji got hit hard enough to make him lose balance, and because Naruto had been pressing on his foot, he fell on his butt.
"What the… Neji got slapped again?!" Sakura exclaimed.
"How is Naruto slapping him so easily? Is something wrong with Neji?" Ino wondered.
After all, Neji was supposed to be incredibly strong at Taijutsu.
"There is nothing wrong with Neji."
The two girls were startled by the sudden appearance of Maito Gai at their side.
"Then…" Sakura urged him to continue.
"Neji is using the academy Taijutsu style, and he is doing it almost perfectly. There are no important flaws in his performance… the problem is the style itself." Gai had a grave expression, and he did not move his eyes away from Naruto for one second.
"The academy style? What's wrong with it? We all learned it," Ino asked. This was also the style she used, even though she tried to avoid being that close to her opponents.
"I already said this many times to the Hokage… The academy Taijutsu style is just meant to teach you basics, and it is not recommended to be used on the field. There are certain gaps in the moves… they are hard to spot, but in the eyes of a master… it would be possible to use those gaps and create counterattacks."
"Phew… that's impressive." Kakashi appeared out of nowhere and poked his head.
"Ahh, Sensei! Where were you?!" Sakura shouted.
"Huh?... And where is Sasuke?" Ino asked.
Kakashi pointed.
"He is right over there."
No one had noticed their arrival due to their focus being completely on the match.
Sasuke was standing a few feet away and looking down at the arena with interest.
"Naruto… did you grow stronger again?..."
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