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Konohagakure No SAto :

Konoha Stadium ( Chunin Exams ) :

The second match of the Chunin Exam finals was officially underway—or rather, in the eyes of the utterly bewildered crowd, it was already over.

The heavy, tense atmosphere of the arena was abruptly shattered by the Konoha genin's trademark, exhausted drawl.

"Man..... the [Shadow Clone Jutsu] is pretty convenient."

Shikamaru spoke with a lazy, dragging voice. Standing a few paces away, his freshly summoned shadow clone—created right before he finalized the [Shadow Possession Jutsu] on Temari—casually pressed the cold steel of a kunai against the Sand kunoichi's neck.

Shikamaru stared at the girl in front of him with a boring indifference, his gaze heavy with boredom. Seeing her completely shocked, wide-eyed expression, the Nara couldn't help but think she was being a little silly, despite all the obvious tactical and elemental advantages she brought to the field.

(...How stupid..... She really just judged my limits based entirely on my performance in the preliminaries.)

Temari had meticulously analyzed Shikamaru based on his previous, highly publicized fight and also a little 'bait' that shikamaru threw at start to check things ,and the result from his analysis .

Temari had calculated his taijutsu, his ninjutsu, his tactical planning, and the exact maximum range of his Shadow Possession. But what Temari completely failed to realize was the underlying reality of that data.

(....Well, even in the preliminaries, I never actually showed my 100%.)

The truth was, after years of hanging around Naruto, enduring brutal Training from his mother & Clan Elders , and digging deep into the Nara clan's private archives, Shikamaru's baseline combat stats far surpassed his standard trajectory. Whether it was his base speed, physical strength, taijutsu, or standard ninjutsu application, he was operating on a completely different level from his CAnon self .

And in this specific match, Shikamaru didn't even really have to do much.

First, he simply laid out a basic, easily readable trap. It was just obvious enough for the highly trained kunoichi to spot, assess, and subsequently 'decide' the absolute limits of his shadow jutsu. Once she confidently locked into that false data, Shikamaru's devastating IQ took over.

Bam.

In the end, Temari had effectively lost the match before she even fully processed the golden rule of shinobi warfare: the enemy can always provide false information. By flawlessly integrating a couple of basic Earth Release jutsu he had picked up to alter the terrain—creating physical grooves and raised dirt pillars to artificially extend his shadows along the ground—and tossing in a basic Shadow Clone, the trap was perfectly sprung.

Temari's shadow was effortlessly possessed, and his clone had a kunai at her throat before she could even swing her massive fan a second time.

Fundamentally, the only thing Shikamaru had ever lacked was raw motivation. But this current version of Shikamaru was very different.

It wasn't just Naruto's constant, exhausting influence rubbing off on him; his true drive had sparked the night he sat down for dinner and watched his father, Shikaku, awkwardly forced to eat with only a single remaining hand. That quiet, somber reality had given Shikamaru all the motivation he needed to become a proper, fully-fledged shinobi.

(....A shame my Shadow Clones are just as inherently lazy as I am... otherwise everyday things wouldn't be nearly so troublesome.)

Shikamaru sighed internally as his clone subtly shifted its grip, letting the cold edge of the kunai draw blood on Temari's neck just to prove the point.

Seeing the undeniable checkmate, Shiranui Genma nodded in approval and raised his hand.

"The winner of the second match is... NARA SHIKAMARU!"

The audience immediately erupted into cheers as Shikamaru canceled his chakra flow, releasing his hold on Temari and letting the Shadow Possession Jutsu fade.

Seeing that everything was finally done, Shikamaru gave a satisfied nod, aggressively popped his back, and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. He turned around, lazily making his way toward the competitors' stairs, only for Temari's highly frustrated voice to echo behind him.

".....HOW?! Your jutsu shouldn't have progressed this much over a single month!!"

Hearing her, Shikamaru didn't even bother to stop. He just let out a massive yawn, glancing over his shoulder.

"Yeah. So??"

"....Are you saying that even in the preliminaries, you were holding back?!"

".....Ah."

Temari clenched her fist , her voice rising in sheer disbelief. "But you got badly injured! You almost died and now you are admitting that you were holding back ?? .....Are you serious?!"

"....Well," Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, "I was feeling pretty lazy during the preliminaries, so I got sloppy and took a hit."

"....Hah?!"

"That's exactly why I decided I just had to go all out right from the start this time. Better to end it instantly before anything unpredictable happened and I got hurt again."

".....So this is your true strength."

Shikamaru yawned again, waving his hand dismissively as he continued his slow walk up the stairs.

"Yeah... maybe... who knows."

Temari stood frozen in the dirt, biting down hard on her lower lip as she watched Shikamaru walk away with that infuriatingly lazy posture. He wasn't injured. He wasn't out of breath. He wasn't even slightly ruffled by their exchange.

(.....It completely felt like I was dancing on the palms of his hands the entire time.)

Utterly defeated and deeply absent-minded, Temari slowly walked over to her dropped weapon, hoisted the heavy iron fan onto her back, and silently made her way back up toward the standby area.

Up in the waiting area, Naruto leaned over the railing, looking down at the swift outcome of the match with a quiet, inward nod of approval.

(....Well, he was certainly motivated.)

Shikamaru was unusually keen on climbing the official shinobi rankings this time around. But Naruto already knew the deeper truth behind that drive: the lazy genius was doing it all to help his one-handed dad shoulder the massive administrative burden of their clan.

Naruto was aware of the political undercurrents sweeping through the village & The Nara clan . Quite a few vocal traditionalists within the Nara clan were actively raising their voices, pushing to officially change the Clan Head since Shikaku had lost a limb.

Being logical Nara, they weren't disrespectfully dismissing Shikaku outright, but they were applying heavy, consistent pressure to transition him into a Clan Elder role as compensation while someone fully capable took the primary seat.

Shikamaru had quietly watched all of this unfold and made a conscious decision to do the only thing he could right now: climb the ranks as fast as possible to alter his father's political situation and stabilize the clan's future.

(....Well, he is doing whatever he can.)

Naruto broke from his thoughts as Shikamaru finally cleared the stairs, slouching into the waiting room with his hands firmly planted in his pockets and a deeply exhausted expression on his face.

"Congrats, lazy bones!" Ino beamed, crossing her arms with a proud smirk.

"Congratulations, Shikamaru-san," Hinata offered with a polite, soft smile.

".....You really didn't want to spend any extra time down there, did you," Shino stated flatly, adjusting his round sunglasses.

( So someone Undestands me .....What a Bug ) Shikamaru smirked at Shino's direction wit a smile .

The rest of the room remained completely silent. Neither Sasuke nor Neji bothered to offer a word, both entirely focused on their own internal preparations.

Seeing the lazy genius settle against the wall, Naruto smirked and spoke up.

"Congratulations... must have been troublesome, eh?"

"....Hah," Shikamaru let out a long, suffering sigh. ".....Don't even mention it. I can literally still feel eyes digging into the back of my skull."

Naruto subtly shifted his gaze past Shikamaru's shoulder. Across the balcony dividers, he could see Temari making her way to the Sand section. The kunoichi was staring directly at the Nara with an incredibly intense, highly complicated gaze. She hadn't been given a single, genuine opportunity to show off her wind prowess.

Aside from a few heavy swings at the very start of the match, she had been dismantled and neutralized. The entire fight hadn't even lasted three full minutes.

(...She must be pissed... And deeply disappointed.)

Unlike standard, hot-headed shinobi, Temari wasn't down there screaming for a rematch or crying about unfair tactics. But looking at the way her unblinking gaze was firmly anchored onto Shikamaru, Naruto's eye twitched slightly. He looked back at his friend, conveying a very clear, amused message entirely through his eyes.

(.....Something extremely troublesome is going to follow you for the rest of your life.) Naruto's eyes gleamed with teasing pity.

(...Oh man...!!) Shikamaru successfully deciphered the look, glancing back at Temari's intense stare and violently agreeing with the blonde's silent assessment.

Their silent conversation was abruptly cut short as Genma's amplified voice echoed once again over the completely packed stadium, instantly drawing everyone's attention back to the battlefield.

"NEXT MATCH..... HYUGA HINATA VERSUS HYUGA NEJI!"

Hearing that announcement, the atmosphere in the competitors' balcony instantly tensed up.

Neji was the first to move. Without giving Hinata so much as a single glance or bothering to utter a word, the Hyuga prodigy casually vaulted over the railing, dropping down into the arena dirt with cold precision.

Naruto watched Neji's descending form before turning his gaze back to Hinata, who was staring quietly after her cousin. It wasn't just Naruto; Ino and the rest of the genin nearby looked visibly worried. They all knew Hinata's naturally gentle personality, and they were well aware of the deep-seated, hostility Neji harbored toward her.

Naruto looked at Hinata with a soft frown of concern. This time, however, he chose not to say anything . From here on out, this fight belonged entirely to Hinata. The motivational speeches had already been delivered over the past month, and honestly, unless you were some kind of legendary protagonist, mere words rarely changed people's minds or Prowess anyway.

In the real world, raw ability always wins.

Naruto watched as Hinata took a deep, centering breath, slowly turning toward the exit stairs in silence. Seeing her quiet resolve, Naruto decided to break his own rule—after all, words are completely free anyway.

"Do your best, Hinata! I'm cheering for you!"

With Naruto breaking the ice, Ino and the rest of the group immediately chimed in, shouting their support as the dark-haired girl paused at the doorway to look back at them.

"Kick his broody, arrogant ass, Hinata!" Ino yelled, pumping a fist in the air.

"....Don't overthink troublesome things," Shikamaru advised lazily, though his eyes were sharp. "Just focus entirely on the match."

".....Good luck, Hinata," Shino added flatly from behind his high collar. "Make Team 8 proud."

Hinata looked at the small circle of friends, a faint warmth coloring her cheeks. She gave them a firm, silent nod before turning around and walking through the door, disappearing down the corridor.

Naruto tracked her retreating back, a stray thought crossing his mind.

(...If she loses, honestly, that's fine too.)

Naruto logically reasoned that a loss here might actually make it easier to permanently steer her toward the medical ninjutsu path, perhaps even allowing her to drop from the frontline duties of Team 8 entirely to keep her safe.

(But ... I really want her to win.)

Naruto looked back down at the arena floor as Hinata finally stepped out onto the dirt. From this height, her back looked far smaller than he had realized. Naruto shifted his gaze over to Neji and let out a quiet sigh.

Was Neji actually wrong for being a bitter bastard? In Naruto's view, probably not. If you were fundamentally born a slave to family branch's whims, and you literally lost your own father like a piece of sacrificed livestock, harboring resentment was only natural.

Regardless of the boy's tragic backstory, Naruto's blue eyes suddenly hardened, an indifferent, icy glare locking onto the prodigy below.

(...But you don't get to direct that garbage towards my Hinata.)

Suddenly, Naruto felt his right hand gently enveloped by a small, remarkably warm palm.

(Huh??)

Startled, Naruto looked sideways to find Ino standing right beside him. She offered him a reassuring, confident smile.

"Don't worry so much, Naruto," Ino said softly. "Hinata is incredibly strong."

"....Yeah."

Naruto looked back down at the field, but he didn't let go of Ino's hand. Clasping her fingers firmly in his, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the others as the match prepared to begin.

Down on the field, Shiranui Genma raised his hand, seeing that both contestants had taken their respective places without a single shred of polite small talk.

"...3.....2...1... BEGIN!"

"BYAKUGAN!" x2

In perfect unison, the veins around Neji and Hinata's temples violently flared into existence. Both Hyuga instantly dropped into the classic, fluid Stances of the Gentle Fist stance, immediately blurring toward one another at high speed without a single word.

But the exact millisecond Neji closed into striking range, the nature of the match violently shifted.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Hinata's hands flickered in an absolute blur, unleashing a massive, hyper-dense volley of dozens of shuriken. With her Byakugan fully active, she had calculated the exact distance, firing them in a wide, devastating shotgun-like spread that covered not just Neji's body, but every single inch of the immediate airspace around him.

(....All of the dodge locations are completely filled with shurikens!)

Neji's pristine white eyes widened in sudden realization. This Gentle Fist match was absolutely not going the way he had anticipated.

The sheer volume of iron meant he would definitely be shredded if he tried to weave through them, and given the point-blank distance and compressed timeframe, there was absolutely no room to execute a standard substitution or escape ninjutsu. No matter which way he jumped, Neji knew he was going to take damage.

( Usuing Shurikens in Hyuga's match ...! )

Digging his heel violently into the dirt, Neji gritted his teeth in sheer fury. He was going to be forced to reveal his trump card on the very first exchange of the match against a member of the trash failure Main branch—an absolutely humiliating prospect for the greatest genius of the Hyuga clan.

(...Damn trash of a failure!)

But as his eyes hardened, seeing Hinata aggressively pressing forward right behind the iron storm, a dark smirk touched Neji's lips. He violently began to spin on his heel.

"ROTATION!"

The massive crowd watched in awe as the cornered genin instantly overturned a lethal checkmate. Neji spun at a terrifying velocity, emitting a massive, domed shield of raw, swirling chakra from his pores. The Chakra barrier instantly engulfed and deflected the entire shuriken storm, the rotating vortex violently dragging Hinata into its radius and colliding hard with her frame.

"KYAA!"

Hinata let out a sharp cry as the rotational force violently threw her backward across the dirt. But that wasn't the only disaster. The massive wave of deflected shuriken ricocheted wildly off the dome, and several of the stray iron blades buried themselves deeply into Hinata's torso as she tumbled.

Splurt! Splurt!

*Thud*

' *Gasp* ....HInata Nee sama ' Hanabi gasped at the outcome but

' Look with your Byakugan , Hanabi ' Suddenly Hiashi's voice cut through and Hanabi also activated her byakugan .

" That was rotation ..!! " The HYuga Elder

" Did he stole it ?? "

" no way , it's always inder protection with elders present "

" then did clan leader taught him ? "

" No , I didn't "

" Then----"

" He learned it himself "

".....such Talent .....alas why is he a Branch member "

Slowly, the massive chakra dome dissipated as Neji gradually brought his rotation to a halt. He looked down condescendingly at the bloodied, downed form of the main branch failure.

"A failure will always remain a failure... it is your inescapable fa—"

Suddenly, Neji's Byakugan violently flared, his pupils dilating in sheer shock.

The bloodied "Hinata" lying on the ground abruptly exploded into a thick cloud of white smoke. It was a substitution!

While he was using Rotataion and was temporarily unable to see with Byakugan , HInata seems to have used substitution .

( .....But When ?? )

Before he could even process the trick, the real Hinata materialized directly behind his blind spot, instantly unleashing the exact same tactic from a second ago—another dense, terrifying barrage of shuriken at point-blank range.

Neji frantically tried to trigger his Rotation a second time, but his muscles locked up with a brief wave of physical stiffness—the natural cooldown from having just executed a full-scale Kaiten a heartbeat prior.

Relying purely on his Byakugan's sight, Neji desperately rolled and twisted his body through the air, actively choosing to let the shuriken strike non-vital areas like his torso, knowing that taking hits to his hands or feet would completely ruin his ability to fight back using the Gentle Fist.

Splurt!

Splurt!

Two iron blades sank into his chest, but the assault wasn't finished.

[Shadow Shuriken + Rotating Shuriken Jutsu]

Hidden flawlessly within the literal shadows of the primary volley was an entirely separate layer of spinning projectiles, moving with extreme, silent rotation on a heavily altered trajectory.

SPLURT! SPLURT!

"GAAHHHH!"

Neji let out a strangled roar of pain as the hidden shuriken ripped deeply into his thigh and waist. In the end, while his Byakugan had easily mapped the direct, linear threats, the chaotic, high-speed nature of the bout combined with the sheer speed of the rotating shuriken had completely outpaced his body's physical reaction time.

Hinata's eyes burned with cold, unyielding resolve. Dropping her stance incredibly low, she immediately surged forward again, keeping both of her palms cocked and ready to initiate a true, close-quarters Gentle Fist exchange while her opponent was staggered.

Suddenly, Hinata dragged her sandals through the dirt, halting her forward charge instantly as Neji aggressively spun into another desperation Rotation to force her back.

(........To think you can recover from the Rotation's stiffness that quickly....... As expected of Neji-niisan.)

Executing a fluid, highly acrobatic backflip, Hinata smoothly retreated to a safe distance, watching intently as Neji's second spin ground to a halt. But before she could press her foot back into the dirt, Neji's furious, panting voice echoed across the quiet arena.

"YOU FAILURE...!!"

"....??" Hinata remained silent, her stance perfectly steady.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT DISGUSTING SHURIKEN NONSENSE?! DO YOU NOT HAVE EVEN A SINGLE OUNCE OF HYUGA PRIDE LEFT IN YOUR BLOOD?!"

Hearing his furious, tradition-obsessed rant, the lingering warmth completely vanished from Hinata's expression. Her white eyes cooled into a sharp, icy glare, and her voice came out remarkably firm, echoing clearly through the arena space.

"Neji-nii-san."

"Shut up! Don't you dare call me your brother!" Neji snarled, clutching his bleeding thigh.

".....This is not the private training grounds of the Hyuga clan," Hinata stated bluntly, her voice dropping all traces of her former timidity. "Neither are we currently engaged in a polite clan spar, nor are we simply training our Gentle Fist."

"...What?"

" I am not a fool to exhange Gentle fist with you , despite KNowing your Skill "

"....."

"Today, We fight with everything we have..." Hinata's chakra violently flared around her fingertips, her eyes flashing with a terrifying, beautiful intensity.

".......AND TODAY ........ I WANT TO WIN...! "

Without waiting a single second for his response, Hinata exploded forward. She left a sharp cloud of dust in her wake, lunging directly back into the brutal fray before Neji could even open his mouth to reply.

Taking a deep, highly controlled breath, she seamlessly merged her raw chakra burst with her custom respiratory rhythm.

[ Gentle Breathing Second Form : Gentle Flowing Dance ]

To the untrained eyes of the crowd, Hinata simply vanished. Even Neji's Byakugan had to snap to full focus to track her sheer velocity & predictabilty as she rushed him.

(.....This is incredible. Her base movement speed is actually slightly faster than Lee's standard weights-off speed!) Naruto concluded as he watched Hinata moving Around the arena and then

Suddenly, Hinata materialized directly on Neji's left flank. Relying on his Byakugan and reflexes , Neji instantly pivoted, driving a heavy Gentle Fist palm strike right toward her chest. But

Whoosh!

(What...?!)

Neji's palm struck nothing but empty air. In a split second, he watched in shock as Hinata's body bent backward at an entirely unnatural, spine-defying angle. She slipped entirely under his high-speed strike with terrifying flexibility.

But dodging wasn't the only thing she accomplished.

As she flowed past his exposed side, Hinata's index finger snapped out, precisely tapping a specific Tenketsu point near his waist without losing a single ounce of her forward momentum.

"Urgg—!" Neji winced hard, immediately feeling the chakra flow violently stagnate around his waist.

Gritting his teeth, he focused his Byakugan entirely on Hinata's moving form while simultaneously using his own Gentle Fist and fingers to remove the bloackage .

(...why is it difficult ? )Neji felt the the chakra blockage more stubborn than from the normal Gentle fist spars in the clan .

He was attempting to manually force his blocked pathways open while also artificially clamping down on the bleeding from his previous thigh and waist wounds.

But his split focus cost him.

(Again?!)

The exact second he successfully clotted the blood flow in his leg using his knowledge of Tenketsu and Gentle dist , the faint whistling of wind caught his ear.

Two of the hidden, delayed shuriken from the previous trap were currently looping right at his back. Because his Byakugan had been hyper-focused on internal Bloackage and tracking Hinata, the projectiles had perfectly slipped into his blind spot until the last possible second.

Violently twisting his torso, Neji swept his hands out in a rapid arc to intercept.

Clang! Clang!

He managed to deflect the iron, but the moment his hands extended to swat the shuriken, Hinata accelerated again, blurring directly onto his right side.

As Neji's eyes snapped back to her, they widened in alarm. She wasn't using the Gentle Fist stance. The notoriously gentle girl was now gripping a cold, steel kunai.

As she closed in, Neji hastily whipped his forearm around to intercept the blade. He successfully caught her wrist, but he had fallen for the feint. Utilizing that terrifying, unnatural flexibility, Hinata's free arm snapped around like a hyper-elastic whip with a Kunai again

Slash!

Splurt!

"Gahhh!"

Neji cried out in agony. While he had successfully blocked the kunai, Hinata's whip-like strike bypassed his guard entirely, her other hand with Kunai was slicing deeply into the back of his right knee, just below ,cleanly severing muscle fibers.

He heavily panted, his balance instantly compromised.

(.......That whole sequence was a multi-layered trap.) Neji sweated as he thought

But Hinata didn't give him a single second to breathe, immediately blurring around him to press the offensive. What followed was a breathtaking, incredibly high-speed taijutsu exhibition.

Despite his bleeding leg, blocked Tenketsu, and sheer exhaustion, Neji's genius shone through; he managed to stand his ground, aggressively parrying and even launching sharp counter-strikes.

Yet, somehow, he couldn't land a single solid hit on her. Every time Neji backed her into a corner or launched a lethal counter, Hinata contrived to contort her body, dodging the strikes in the most anatomically unexpected, fluid ways possible.

( She knows my habits too well ......) Neji thought grimly as realisation sinks in that No matter what , HInata shouldn't have been able to respond this fast and this easily

Up in the stands, Naruto watched intently, his blue eyes tracking every subtle muscle twitch.

(It's not just speed or reaction time .........Is it like MIdoriya VS Bakugo in their first Bout in MHA ?? The survival exam ?? what was it ? )

After her initial, successful ambushes, Neji had adapted enough to prevent any more hits, but Hinata was still effortlessly controlling the tempo of the fight. focusing on HInata , naruto activated his skills and came to a familiar conclusion , the same as prelimanary .

(...Flexibility? ...Hmm. It's not just her reaction time. She uses the Byakugan to see the kinetic shifts instantly, and then her body naturally responds, utilizing that insane flexibility and her breathing rhythm in perfect sync.)

Naruto smiled in quiet realization. She had essentially reverse-engineered her own physical traits into a completely bespoke combat style.

(........Hmm? It seems she's getting ready to finish this.)

Suddenly, Hinata bounded backward, creating a solid 4 meters of distance between herself and Neji, who was now looking visibly pale from the sustained blood loss.

Settling into a low, incredibly focused stance, chakra flared wildly around her palms.

[Protective Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms]

Neji watched in horror as Hinata's hands completely blurred. Instead of striking a physical body, she thrust her palms into the empty air, firing highly compressed, invisible senbon of pure chakra directly at him.

Refusing to fall, Neji roared, violently spinning his body.

"ROTATION!"

(It is absolutely NOT my fate to lose to a failure!)

Seeing the massive dome of spinning chakra erupt from Neji's pores, Hinata's eyes narrowed sharply. Instead of wasting her chakra on the impenetrable shield, she immediately relaxed her arms, completely halting the barrage of chakra needles to conserve her momentum.

(...I'm sorry, Neji-niisan.... but unlike your Rotation, I can control the output of my technique.)

The absolute second Neji's rotation lost its kinetic momentum and ground to a halt, Hinata violently accelerated her arms again. A second, inescapable volley of dense chakra senbon tore across the arena.

Still dizzy from the spin, Neji desperately tried to dive and roll, but the timing was simply too precise.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

The invisible chakra needles slammed flawlessly into Neji's torso and limbs. The crowd braced for a gruesome spray of blood, but none came.

Up in the VIP seating, the Hyuga Elders shot out of their chairs, their Byakugan veins practically bursting. This was the first time that they personally saw this technique .

"Is this.... is this still the Gentle Fist?!" one elder gasped.

"How on earth can she control externalized chakra that precisely?"

"...Is she executing a remote Gentle Fist from a distance?!"

"....Yes." Hiashi nodded slowly, his arms crossed over his chest. He wasn't surprised; he had been the one personally overseeing her brutal training regime over the last month.

"Did the Clan Leader develop this jutsu?!" an elder demanded eagerly.

"Did the Patriarch teach this to her?"

"NO..!!" Hiashi stated firmly, shutting them down. "Hinata developed this technique entirely by herself. She only received conceptual assistance from her genin team, and she officially finalized the jutsu barely two months ago."

The elders let out a collective gasp. Turning their Byakugan back to the arena, they watched Neji heavily wobble on his feet. They could clearly see that his internal chakra network had been systematically sealed off. While the ranged strikes weren't quite as surgically meticulous as a traditional, point-blank Gentle Fist strike, the effect was undeniable.

"...It's still a little inferior to a direct Gentle Fist application," an elder critiqued quietly.

"Hmm. But the core foundation has undeniably been established."

"Ah..... to think Hinata-sama actually possessed this level of talent."

"Hmm..... but looking at the mechanics, if a practitioner doesn't possess her exact degree of hyper-flexibility and flawless chakra control, then..."

"Yeah. The technique can't be popularized across the clan like the standard Gentle Fist."

"Regardless, it is a magnificent addition to our archives."

"It truly is a pity for Neji. To think he independently mastered the Rotation, only to face this..."

"His raw talent is unquestionable."

"Hmm. But today, Hinata-sama is the clear victor."

Another elder leaned in, lowering his voice. "But now that Hinata-sama has proven her talent... what about the political arrangements with the Jinchu—I mean, with Uzumaki Naruto?"

Hiashi's expression grew incredibly complicated. Remembering Hinata's unyielding determination, her deep affection, and the intense pressure from the village, Hiashi let out a long, heavy sigh.

"For now..... let us simply wait and see."

"Hmm. The Clan Leader is wise."

"Look. It seems to be finishing."

Down in the dirt, Neji was violently swaying on his feet, his breathing ragged as he stared fiercely at Hinata.

"Neji-niisan...!!" Hinata spoke softly, dropping her guard slightly.

"...Huff... huff..."

"Even a failure like me..... wants to defy my supposed fate. That is exactly why I struggle. It's why I train, and why I shed my own sweat and blood."

"...Huff... shu— huff... shut up."

"...Please. Don't just surrender to fate."

"..Huff... hehe... huff... You know absolutely nothing." Neji spat a glob of blood onto the dirt, His hand reached and then tore away the Headband , his eyes practically burning with hateful exhaustion.

"*Huff*... Main Branch "

Hinata slowly lowered her eyes, sadness washing over her features.

(I truly hope... that one day, my words reach you.)

Shaking her head, Hinata stepped cleanly back into her Gentle Fist stance, drawing one final, deep breath into her lungs.

[ Gentle Breathing First Form: Blessed Departure ]

Instantly, Hinata's palms were completely enveloped in a warm, vibrant green chakra. Up in the stands, every experienced shinobi immediately recognized the signature glow of medical ninjutsu.

In a final burst of speed, Hinata closed the gap. Her hands blurred, her medical-laced palms systematically tapping across Neji's major Tenketsu points in a flawless sequence.

His remaining strength leaving him entirely, Neji's knees buckled. As he fell backward toward the cold earth, his white eyes remained fixed on the 'failure' who had just utterly shattered her so-called fate by defeating him. His heart was a chaotic mess of pride, anger, and deeply unreadable thoughts.

But as his back hit the dirt, one single, overwhelming realization completely hijacked his mind.

(....Huh?? ........Why doesn't it hurt?)

Neji stared up at the clear blue sky above the stadium in a trance. Miraculously, all the agonizing pain in his severed hamstring, the stinging in his chest , torso , Thigh , and the sheer exhaustion in his muscles completely melted away.

The final, decisive strike hadn't brought the excruciating Pain he had braced for.

Instead, his entire body was flooded with an incredibly soothing, deeply comfortable warmth that actively numbed his system.

(.......I feel so... sleepy.)

Slowly, the curse-marked prodigy closed his eyes, a remarkably peaceful, comfortable expression settling over his bruised face as he finally embraced the dark comfort of dreamland.

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Author's notes :

Hmm , Well Byakugan can see everything , but you can't expect it to react to everything either , tHe same as Sharingan

While BYakugan can see 360 degree , recognising all threats and immediated priority in a clash will still be diffcult .

Ofcourse all this need speed and also Byakugan too , to be as effective .

all this takes time , which can be fatal , That's why I wrote this chapter .

HInata has also been training just like shikamaru and others , actually since Hinata takes NAruto as her goal and idol , her change is most , especially over the last year since they became close .

Even Sasuke achived , Lee level speed in original Canon chunin exam , why not HInata after being influnced and taught by Naruto himself .

JUst so you know beforehand , this was all HInata's effort and mindset alone , that's why i never wrote about Naruto training her as she trained herself . At least in this fanfic.

At first I want HInata to lose but then

......NAHHHHHHH...!!!

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