Sai's POV
"I am," Hinata said darkly. She had created that recent jutsu; she knew it was still being prepared, and it was a little costly and unstable. But she refused to let anyone look down on her anymore. "Gentle Fist: Precise Beam." She said as she clasped one hand in another while facing Sai. Her Byakugan almost seemed to shine as she prepared her attack, her anger nearly palpable. Sai smiled, seemingly not afraid of such. Suddenly, chakra shot from her hands with absurd speed, quickly piercing a coyote at the left edge of the group. Hinata shouted in fury as she swung her clasped hands sweepingly. Sai flinched at its speed before ducking as the small beam sliced through the summons around him, merely bisecting him if not for his reaction. Hinata saw this and swept her hands again; Sai jumped over this, chucking out several scrolls with art and flaring his chakra to summon various larger birds. Hinata did not react to such swiping up with her beam at Sai. Two birds grabbed both of his shoulders and barely hauled him out of the way. Sai chucked two more scrolls, which burst with dog-sized moles that dug into the ground below before Hinata's beam sliced through both birds, causing Sai to crash bodily into the ground. He rolled as soon as he recovered from the painful impact, watching as the beam sliced a small trench through the tough topsoil.
'She was holding a technique like this in her kit?' He thought as he acrobatically dived over her beam. 'Need to get in close, problematic. It keeps her hands full, though; if I get in fast enough, I should be able to take her down. How interesting this turned out to be.'
Sai rushed in as two birds flew in with speed from behind, and two moles burst from the ground, flying through the air at her sides. Sai rushed in from the front. 'If she uses Kaiten, it will force her to deactivate the technique.' He thought as he came with ten feet. Hinata did not bother to do so, simply spinning on one foot, slicing through the animals, and nearly removing Sai's feet. Sai continued to close the distance as a mole tunnel in front of him from below, and a bird hovered above him from behind. 'She uses it horizontally; attacking from various vertical routes limits her options.' To his shock, Hinata simply jumped out and shifted her weight so she lay sideways in the air. Sai flinched as she sliced vertically, cutting through his summons and himself. To his surprise, it burnt and even cut his skin thinly. But his chakra points that were touched were also sealed. He stumbled, used to the pain, but a decent part of his body felt numb. 'Almost the entire left side.' He leaped back, noticing Hinata had stopped the technique. 'Keep my distance, find an open-"
"Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Heavenly Beams!" Hinata called. As she flared her chakra into her hands. 'The sixty-four palms? At this distance?' He thought as if she was preparing for a famous technique. "One Beam!" She called fiercely, jabbing her finger once with impressive speed. As she did, a thin beam of chakra fired, hitting Sai exactly where she had pointed. Sai cried out in pain as the beam hit his left leg, stumbling a bit as it hit. 'She created a medium-distance version?!' "Two Beams!" Sai stumbled more desperately, attempting to stay on his feet. 'Well done, heiress.' He thought. "Four Beams! Eight Beams! Sixteen beams!" Sai could think nothing as the barrage landed flush. Instead, the mix of chakra being cut off and the pain makes him fade into darkness. Hinata finished and eyed down Sai with a glare.
Kakashi appeared whistling merrily. "Is he dead?" He asked casually.
"Dead?!" Hinata said, mortified. "Of course not! I held back with Precise Beam and my finishing technique. I would never kill an ally!"
"Could've fooled me~!" Kakashi replied happily. "Looked like a murder to me~!"
Hinata ran over to the downed Sai and checked on him. Luckily for her, the medics arrived to cart Sai off and provide him with the needed aid.
"The winner ("And potential killer." Kakashi teased Hinata with a whisper.) is Hinata Hyuga!" He announced. The crowd roared happily with what seemed to be a classic underdog victory. However, there was little time for this to settle as Naruto's and Kurotsuchi's bodies flickered into the courtyard. Both nodded at Hinata with what seemed to be respect before glaring at each other. "My my my, it seems the next match is already ready. Hinata, please clear the field; you two wait till I give the mark." Kakashi ordered.
Hinata nodded and, as she walked away, offered Naruto a word. "Neji is unable to wish you much, so good luck," Hinata said with a small smile. "Neji says you're one of the strongest shinobi he's met. So I look forward to seeing what you can do."
"Tch," Naruto said with a shit-eating grin. "Just watch, I will show this lady the difference between us!" Naruto said with confidence.
"Keep talking Shortstack," Kurotsuchi said. "My grandpa always says a shinobi who talks too much dies early."
"Maybe I'm just not afraid of death," Naruto replied confidently. "Besides, I can't die till I'm Hokage."
"Well said. But do you really think that matters? I'm gonna be the Tsuchikage one day. That's way better than some Hokage." Kurotsuchi taunted.
"Why would it matter what kinda Kage we'll be? It's the same thing." Naruto replied, confused.
"It's about pride, idiot," Kurotsuchi said, now seeming somewhat serious. "The Leaf has always embarrassed the stone. Now, I met a Leaf shinobi who shared the same dream and drive as me. It's practically fate! We'll settle the years-old question of which is better. Two future Kage from rival villages clashing. Can't you see this is the perfect opportunity to settle things? Which is better, the Stone or the Leaf? Well, we'll decide right now.!"
"I don't care about that, though," Naruto replied simply. "I love my home, but I don't need it to be proven superior? I did look forward to this fight, but for me. I wanna see how strong you are and if I can hang. I don't really care about proving the Leaf is great. I know that to be true anyway."
Kurotsuchi was stunned by his simple logic. She bellowed out laughter, laughing for nearly a full minute before settling down. "You really mean that, don't you?"
"Course I play it straight," Naruto said.
Kurotsuchi smiled and shook her head at him. You are right. I don't really care about all that drama, either. Just want to make my homeland proud. Let's do it, not for our homes but for ourselves. Though I'm gonna kick your ass."
"Let's do it," Naruto said with a matching smile.
"Naruto Uzumaki VS Kurotsuchi of the Stone! Begin!" Kakashi called as the two dashed forward.