"Neji, although I don't know exactly what you've been through, being so heavy-handed with your own sister is not a good habit." Naruto said.
"I know you, Uzumaki Naruto, the loser." Neji wiped his bloodstained fingers clean and curled his lips into a sneer.
"A loser is a loser. Even if you've become a little stronger, you're still a loser to the bone. This is a destined fate that no one can change."
"I was indeed a loser in the past. I don't deny it, that is a fact. I was at the bottom of the class for six whole years, and no one cared whether I could learn new Ninjutsu."
"But so what? I still relied on myself to train step by step and shed that title. These things have nothing to do with the word 'destined'."
Naruto took a step forward, his gaze fixed on Neji's face, which was beginning to lose its composure.
"That's still better than those who talk about fate being unchangeable all day long, right?"
"You keep saying that fate is destined, so tell me, are you standing here arguing with me now because you believe in fate, or because you are complaining about fate?"
"You..."
Neji's expression turned extremely ugly in an instant.
He took a step forward, and Chakra began to gather at the edge of his palms.
Just then, a sturdy arm reached out from the side and blocked Neji's path.
Guy's expression was more serious than it had ever been.
"Neji, that's enough."
Neji stared at Guy for a few seconds, then withdrew his Gentle Fist stance, which he had already half-formed.
His lips moved as if he still wanted to say something, but in the end, he just let out a cold snort through his nose and walked toward the stands.
Naruto turned around and walked in the direction where the medical team had left.
Behind him, Hayate's voice announcing Neji as the winner echoed through the hall.
Naruto knew that the next match was Rock Lee versus Gaara.
In this match, Rock Lee, against everyone's expectations, used the Eight Inner Gates. His skin turned crimson due to the extreme load, and every punch was so fast that even Gaara's Shield of Sand couldn't keep up.
This battle was the most brilliant fight in the Chunin Exams and the peak of Rock Lee's burning spirit as a ninja, but Naruto had no time to watch it now. He had a more important place to go.
He walked along the corridor where the medical team had left and pushed open the door to the temporary infirmary at the end of the hallway.
The room was filled with the smell of disinfectant, and several medical ninjas were busy working between different beds.
Hinata was lying on a bed by the window. The bruises on her chest had been bandaged with thick medical gauze, and the bloody scratches on her face from Neji's fingertips had also been treated with medicine.
At this moment, her breathing was steady, and she had not yet woken up.
Naruto pulled over a chair and sat down by Hinata's bed.
After a while, a burst of extremely intense exclamations suddenly erupted from the end of the corridor, followed immediately by Guy's shouting with a tearful voice.
"Lee!"
The chaotic footsteps of medical ninjas and the wheels of a stretcher rolled rapidly across the corridor floor.
The door of the infirmary was pushed open, and the medical ninjas rushed in, pushing the stretcher.
On the stretcher, Lee was covered in blood, his green jumpsuit was torn in several places.
Naruto stood up from the chair and walked to the other side of the curtain to give the medical ninjas space to work.
Shortly after, Hinata's eyelids moved slightly. Sensing something, Naruto walked back and sat down by her bed.
Hinata slowly opened her eyes and then saw Naruto sitting by the bed. Her pupils dilated slightly for a moment, and her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but the words were stuck in her throat for a moment.
"Don't move, your injuries haven't healed yet."
Naruto handed a cup of warm water to Hinata and supported her back to lift her slightly.
"Naruto-kun... I lost."
"You didn't lose. You let everyone in the audience see how strong you are. A person who can use their own will to block Neji's attempt to make them surrender has not lost in any way."
Hinata's eyes reddened slightly, and she said in a very soft voice, "Thank you, Naruto-kun."
Outside the infirmary, the sound of the final preliminary match ending came from the direction of the hall.
Choji lost to an Otogakure Ninja, and the list of the top ten was finally determined.
Naruto stayed by Hinata's bed until the medical ninja said the patient needed to rest.
When he walked out of the infirmary, he happened to run into all the candidates who had passed the preliminaries being summoned back to the hall.
The nine candidates who passed the preliminaries lined up in front of Hiruzen.
Hiruzen looked at the nine young ninjas in front of him and announced that the third official exam would be held in a month. At that time, daimyos and distinguished guests from various countries would be watching.
The one-month preparation time was not only to allow the candidates to fully prepare but also to leave time for the guests from all sides to arrive at Konoha.
Then, he asked all the candidates to step forward in turn and draw their match numbers from the box.
Naruto reached into the box and took out a folded slip of paper, it had the number 1 written on it.
***
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