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Chapter 282 - The most anticipated fight

The two beasts didn't waste time with useless growling and leaped into the air to take down Neji. They looked menacing, but Neji, being the relentless guy he was, went forward to meet them. Now, mind you, the Hyuga clan's gentle fists were overpowered. Their gentle fists could cut through any kind of chakra, including elemental chakra.

If someone used fire jutsu on them, they could cut that down too. It was one of the reasons why the Hyuga clan never bothered with elemental moves—because their own techniques could overpower any elemental attacks. Of course, one would need enough proficiency to achieve that level, but their techniques were unique and powerful. [A/N: Yes, it was so in the novels and is canon]

Neji didn't think much of the techniques that Hinata used and looked down on her for using elemental techniques. He used Gentle Fists to confront the two beasts. The water tiger was the first to be confronted, as Neji used his hands to cut down on the side belly of the tiger and then proceeded to meet the fire beast, which he attacked at the underbelly after sliding down and making a fancy move to avoid the fire jaws of the fire tiger.

"Hinata, I expected more from you..." But then he felt a burning sensation in his hand. He looked down only to see his hand on fire. He quickly used his cloth to douse the fire by cutting the flow of air to it.

"What is this..." Neji couldn't believe his hand had caught fire. As if to strengthen his disbelief, he heard a growl. He turned around to see the two beasts now looking down on him, their breath almost hitting his face. This made his white eyes widen because he had just noticed that his white eyes didn't register chakra at all. He had been using his normal eyes, thinking these huge beasts would be easy to take down.

Only now did he realize that these beasts didn't have chakra or were able to mask it for some reason. This was not what he expected, and his hand had caught fire even when he had a coating of chakra in his palms. The beasts were about to maul him when Aoto appeared near the beasts and raised his hands. This tamed the two beasts, and in the next moment, a runic circle appeared under them, taking them away.

"Match ends. Hinata Hyuga wins."

"I didn't accept defeat..." Neji protested. In response, Aoto resummoned the two beasts. This made the audience and Neji gulp. He didn't have words to protest, knowing he wouldn't be able to defend himself. He could feel the cold and hot sensations the beasts emanated.

He held his head in shame and anger. He couldn't believe that after all these years of hard work and doing everything possible, he still couldn't win against his eternal enemy. He held his head in shame.

"Neji-ni san..." Hinata called weakly. Neji didn't look back but stopped in his tracks. He was a loser. He didn't have the right to make rules at the moment.

"...I hope to meet you after the test... I need to tell you something about your father." This made Neji almost burst in anger, but Aoto said.

"Listen to her. She does have some revelations about your father which you don't know yet." Aoto whispered. This confused Neji, as he remembered that Aoto had given permission to use some kind of attack.

At first, he didn't think much of it, but now he felt something was going on. He was downtrodden but left at the end without making a scene. One could even see the tears in his eyes if one paid attention, but he wiped them away as fast as they came out.

His tears actually brought a smile to the face of Guy. He had seen how driven Neji was and knew that his life hadn't been a happy one, but he wished Neji had more emotions. Now that he had tears, it showed he was human too, in the end.

"You have got a good student, Guy," Kakashi said.

"Of course, whose student is he, can't you see." Guy gave his iconic smile with white teeth and a thumbs up.

"How come Kakashi-sensei has never praised me like this?" Naruto complained.

"Who will compliment a baka like you?" Sasuke chimed in.

"What did you say? Say that again, you good-for-nothing pretty face." Naruto shouted.

"At least I am better than you thick face." Sasuke retorted. This started a whole lot of arguments, but in the end, Sakura came and calmed Naruto down.

"Next fight: Rock Lee vs. Gaara."

That announcement sent shivers down the spine of everyone present. Everyone knew Gaara was quite the person, especially those who had seen him in the Forbidden Forest.

Rock Lee and Gaara soon started their fight, and it was almost identical to what was known to Aoto from what he had seen before. Everyone didn't pay Lee much heed until he dropped his weights. That sent a huge wave of shock, and even Gaara didn't expect that.

Lee was on a roll, forcing Gaara to actively fight. The Sand shinobi weren't happy with what they were watching. They expected Gaara to win the fight easily, but here he was struggling to fight someone who only knew taijutsu. This was a shame, and so it was for Gaara.

He was angry beyond doubt, and his attacks became more vicious and cruel. But Lee's speed ensured he remained safe and secure. This sent Gaara into a rabbit hole of anger and almost ripped apart Lee at one moment but somehow he was able to save himself. 

This was where Guy told Lee to go for his trump card. This sent Lee over the moon and Kakashi into a bad mood as he didn't expect that Guy would teach that forbidden technique to his own prized student. 

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