Chapter 158: Forget it, I don't like him anyway.
Hinata attacked again proactively.
This time, she didn't use Vacuum Attack, but instead used her most familiar Gentle Fist, closing in swiftly.
Her palms flew, their shadows like falling blossoms, enveloping Neji's vital points.
It was the basic, yet most indicative of skill, opening Move of the Hyuga style: the Eighty Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!
"Good Move!"
Neji let out a low growl, advancing instead of retreating.
Employing the same Gentle Fist, his movements were even more concise, precise, and seasoned.
Palm against palm, point against point, a rapid succession of impacts echoed in the air.
Both their Byakugan were fully active, predicting each other's palm trajectories, searching for fleeting weaknesses.
The spectators in the stands watched the battle below.
This was a contest of the Hyuga Gentle Fist!
There were no flashy Ninjutsu clashes, only the perilous, inch-by-inch struggle within a small space.
Every block, every dodge, determined whether their Chakra pathways would be invaded and seized by their opponent.
"First Palm!"
"Two Palms!"
"Four Palms!"
"Eight Palms!"
"Sixteen Palms!"
"Thirty-Two Palms!"
Hinata's palm techniques were dense and meticulous, defending flawlessly, even occasionally interspersing a fierce Twin Lion Fists strike to force Neji to change his Moves.
However, Neji's experience and foundation were clearly superior; his palm strength was more condensed, and he controlled the rhythm with ease, often applying pressure during the subtle shifts in Hinata's Moves, gradually compressing her range of movement.
"Sixty-Four Palms!"
Hinata cried out, her palm strikes suddenly accelerating, attempting to use speed to overcome slowness and break through Neji's blockade.
Neji remained unperturbed, chaining skills with normal attacks, and interspersing skills with basic attacks.
"Too eager!"
A glint flashed in Neji's eyes as he saw through Hinata's eagerness for success.
He suddenly lowered his body, gliding like a fish through the gaps in Hinata's rapidly accelerating palm shadows, making most of her palm strikes miss with minimal movement.
At the same time, he brought his right index and middle fingers together, Chakra highly condensed at his fingertips, emitting a faint, almost imperceptible pale blue glow, like a scorpion's sting, flashing like lightning towards Hinata's left shoulder, which was slightly exposed due to her full-force attack!
In a critical moment, Hinata gritted her teeth; she did not forcibly retract her Moves to defend, as that would only lead to a more passive situation.
Instead, her footwork suddenly changed, and her entire body forcefully spun to the right, using her left shoulder as an axis.
Neji's fingertip was slightly deflected by Hinata's risky spin, failing to hit the center of the pressure point, merely grazing her shoulder.
Hinata used this spinning force to kick Neji's waist and abdomen with her right leg.
Neji frowned slightly, clearly not expecting Hinata to be so decisive.
He pressed his left palm down, striking at the incoming shin.
"Bang!"
Leg and palm clashed, and Hinata was shaken back two steps, almost falling.
Neji also retreated a small half-step, neutralizing the force.
Ultimately, Neji was still stronger.
Standing by the railing of the spectator area, Might Guy, who usually exuded fiery passion and a bright smile, now had his arms crossed, brows tightly furrowed, and a solemn expression as he watched Neji in the arena below.
"What's wrong, Guy?"
Asuma sensitively noticed his companion's unusual mood and followed his gaze to Neji and Hinata in the arena, who were adjusting their breathing.
"Neji clearly has the advantage in strength. Although Hinata's performance is amazing, the outcome should be without suspense, right? Are you worried he'll be too rough?"
After all, he was fighting the eldest daughter of the Main House, so he needed to be careful with his actions.
Guy slowly shook his head, his signature bowl cut seemingly losing some of its vibrancy due to his seriousness.
He spoke, his voice much deeper than usual: "Not entirely. Asuma, there's something you might not know yet."
He paused, his gaze fixed on the subtle yet unusual Chakra flow on Neji's body.
"Shortly after the second round of the Chunin Exams, Neji... officially became my Disciple."
"Oh?"
Asuma raised an eyebrow in surprise.
The Genius of the Hyuga Clan becoming a Disciple of Guy, who specialized in Taijutsu? That combination was somewhat interesting.
Guy's frown deepened: "I taught him the Eight Gates."
Guy had previously considered whether to teach Tenten and Neji the Eight Gates. Although, judging by their previous states, it was very likely they wouldn't be able to learn the Eight Gates, or perhaps they would give up learning it in the Early Stage.
After all, the Eight Gates requires great perseverance to learn and use; one must commit, commit, and commit again!
Persist in Cultivating, self-discipline.
When one first starts learning the Eight Gates and isn't proficient, it can become a hindrance to Gentle Fist.
Making it difficult for the user to precisely control the Chakra in their body to use Gentle Fist.
And Tenten's combat style is entirely weapon-based. When first using the Eight Gates, it's easy to lose control of weapon deployment due to the sudden increase in physical ability.
Therefore, learning the Eight Gates in the Early Stage might actually affect their normal performance.
But they are also his Disciples.
He taught Naruto and Rock Lee, so he couldn't show favoritism, could he?
However, he didn't expect the Hyuga side to be so... how should he put it... right, ritualistic!
They even held a master-Disciple ceremony.
Just a few words, but they made Asuma's cigarette-holding fingers pause slightly.
The Eight Gates, that ultimate Taijutsu Profound Truth rumored to be a forbidden Jutsu, its difficulty in Cultivating and the cost of its use, he, as a Jonin, naturally understood.
"Because he already has an excellent Taijutsu foundation, and his understanding of the body's meridians and Chakra control far surpasses ordinary people."
Guy continued to explain, his tone carrying a hint of admiration and also a touch of worry.
"Coupled with his... hmm, particularly strong determination to become stronger and his hard work recently, his progress is astonishingly fast.
These past few days, he has already been able to stably open the second gate, the 'Gate of Healing.'"
Asuma took a deep drag from his cigarette and slowly exhaled: "Remarkable talent and perseverance. Are you worried he might use it in the match?
He shouldn't need that kind of power to deal with Hinata, should he?
Moreover, with the violent Chakra unleashed by opening the Eight Gates, would it affect Neji's ability to use Gentle Fist?"
The young girl was usually so delicate and weak; Neji shouldn't use that Move, right?
"The first three gates won't, but the Fourth Gate is where the true Eight Gates begin. At that point, the Chakra becomes even more uncontrollable, and I'm afraid even a Gentle Fist Great Master like Hiashi-Senior would find it difficult to precisely control, but it would also grant immunity to Gentle Fist's pressure point strikes."
Of course, Gentle Fist is not entirely unusable in the later gates.
The Sixth Gate, the Gate of View, allows one to enter a semi-open buffer state, maintaining the green energy emitted after opening the gate but without any physical changes, to reduce one's consumption burden and damage. When needed, one can instantly unleash full combat power.
In the Gate of View, when in the semi-open buffer state, Chakra is controllable.
Even Guy, who is not skilled in Jutsu, can use Summoning Jutsu.
Guy's gaze was fixed on Neji, as if trying to see through him: "That's the problem, Asuma."
He pointed to the arena.
"At the very beginning of the battle, when Hinata launched her attack... although it was only the First Gate, Neji had already activated the Eight Gates."
"What?"
Asuma was stunned and looked closely at Neji again.
This kid is pretty ruthless!
"It's probably because he was defeated by Naruto using this Move last time; Neji is taking it a bit too seriously."
"Is that so? Neji is already this strong, yet Naruto can defeat him?"
Asuma looked at the other children standing with Kakashi.
Uzumaki Naruto, truly remarkable.
Hinata's disadvantage was evident, and after a few more minutes of fighting, she was defeated.
Two golden figures unhesitatingly flipped over the railing of the spectator stands, and to everyone's surprise, leaped directly from the height, landing lightly in the center of the arena.
It was Uzumaki Naruto and his Shadow Clone.
He rushed straight to Hinata, carefully and steadily picking up the exhausted Hinata.
The Shadow Clone, with equally swift but slightly rough movements, also grabbed Neji, who was similarly unstable from immense Chakra consumption, by the waist... and carried him?
Neji, held by Naruto's arm:???
Before Neji could resist or question, Naruto and his Shadow Clone made a few light leaps and returned to the spectator stands, gently setting them down.
After Hinata sat down by the railing, Naruto used Mystical Palm Technique to heal her.
Neji, meanwhile, was tossed by the Shadow Clone next to Rock Lee.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I lost..."
"That's alright, Hinata tried very hard."
Neji, who was helped up by Rock Lee, twitched the corner of his mouth.
This guy... really is... forget it, I don't like him anyway.
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