The official matches of the Chunin Exams were about to begin, and all participating examinees had already arrived.
Naruto stood there glaring at Gaara, hands on his hips as he shouted, "You red-haired, no-eyebrows freak! Just wait until I knock you flat!"
Gaara glanced sideways at Naruto then completely ignored him.
Naruto ended up getting mad because Gaara ignored him. Sasuke standing beside him said, "Enough already, quit making noise. It's about to start, and people from other countries are watching from the audience. If we embarrass ourselves, it'll be Konoha that loses face."
Naruto immediately shut up, glaring unhappily at Gaara.
Irōka, today's proctor, reminded them, "Alright, straighten up and face the audience properly."
A thunderous cheer rose from the spectators' stands.
Meanwhile, at the very top of the stands, Minato Namikaze—the Fourth Hokage—was seated in the VIP section. Standing beside him was Shisui, part of the Hokage's personal guard unit.
Kazekage Rasa approached through a side passage.
Minato looked toward Rasa and smiled, saying, "Ah, Lord Kazekage has finally arrived. Please, have a seat. The journey must've been long and tiring."
After seating himself, Rasa replied, "Not at all. I'm actually glad the event is held in Konoha. If it were in Sunagakure, I believe it would be the Hokage-dono and the Leaf ninja who'd be exhausted instead."
Minato gave a few hearty laughs. "Our Konoha ninja aren't that weak."
Minato stood up and walked to the edge of the balcony, looking down at Naruto and others in the arena. "Well then, it's almost time. After this, I'd still like to have a meaningful conversation with Lord Kazekage."
Looking at Minato's back, Rasa's eyes flashed with a trace of sinister intent, though his tone remained gentle. "Of course. I'm also eager to see the talents of Konoha's newest generation of prodigies."
Minato announced loudly, "Honored guests, I sincerely thank you all for coming to Konoha to witness the Chunin Selection Exams. Now, let's welcome the ten competitors who passed the preliminaries and enjoy their performances in the matches of the final selection round!"
In the spectator stands, Jiraiya proudly said to Sarutobi Hiruzen seated beside him, resting his chin on his hand, "Master, what do you think? Aren't my students amazing?"
Hiruzen happily replied with chuckles, "Most of the credit should go to me, of course!"
Jiraiya sneered slightly, "What do you mean 'most'? Actually, most of the credit belongs to me!"
Suddenly, Jiraiya and Sarutobi heard some yelling and cursing from not far away.
"Rasa, you bastard whose left cheek begs for a slap and right cheek deserves a kick; donkey gets kicked by donkeys, pig gets trampled by pigs!"
"Is your face bigger than your ass? A frog covered with fur, are you considered bird or beast?"
"How come your mother, that toothless crone Chiyo, didn't come?"
"Where is your rough father Onoki? Why doesn't he visit Konoha to see his son?"
Lord Third and Jiraiya immediately wore expressions of speechless disbelief. Without even looking, they knew the one cursing must be Shindai.
Shindai was standing atop a chair, furiously shouting at Rasa.
Pakura and Hikaku Uchiha beside him covered their faces in embarrassment because the scene was truly embarrassing.
But since everyone around was from Konoha and the cheers were deafening, Shindai's voice wouldn't have reached Rasa anyway.
Shindai was just letting off steam for his own amusement.
Needless to say, Shindai felt extremely satisfied deep down.
Irōka announced, "Listen up, you lot. Although the battlefield's different, just like the preliminaries, there are no rules—this match continues until one side dies or surrenders. However, if I personally determine the outcome has been decided, I will stop the fight immediately, and there's no room for objection.
Now then, for the first round, Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga—you two stay here. The rest return to the waiting room."
Naruto cheered for Hinata: "Hinata, make sure to crush him completely!"
Hinata nodded and glanced at Neji, who remained expressionless.
The audience was buzzing with excitement. No one had expected the first match to be a Hyuga clan internal bout.
Hinata and Neji already stood face-to-face.
Looking at Hinata, Neji spoke coldly: "It seems you've never truly acknowledged the gap between us. You're standing here with nothing but naive hope."
This time, Hinata didn't avoid his gaze. Instead, she met Neji's eyes directly: "Perhaps I really am inferior to you, Neji-niisan… But today, I'm standing here determined to win!"
Neji activated his Byakugan, observing Hinata closely.
Her eyes shone with genuine confidence, not feigned in the least.
Neji assumed his stance, chuckling scornfully: "Heh, this'll be entertaining. I can't wait to see your terrified expression when confronted with reality. Though I belong to the Branch family, you Main house members have always been pathetic in my eyes—cowardly softies hiding behind our Branch family, afraid to fight."
In the spectators' stands,
Hiashi Hyuga wore a complicated expression upon hearing Neji's words. Hanabi, seated nearby, looked deeply worried about Hinata.
Hanabi turned toward Hiashi, about to speak, but Hiashi cut her off bluntly: "Don't cling to false hope for your sister. Your sister cannot defeat Neji. Even if Shindai is her mentor, she couldn't have surpassed Neji in such a short time."
Hiashi did notice some changes in Hinata, yet he still had no expectations whatsoever for her.
Then Hiashi swept his gaze across the surrounding spectator seats, surprised at finding Hizashi Hyuga missing.
According to his understanding of Hizashi, his younger brother should never have missed this match involving Neji, whom he cherished greatly.
Moreover, practically no Branch family clansmen had shown up either.
A vague unease settled in Hiashi's chest.
Neji said to Hinata, "I'll give you time to prepare. I will crush every bit of your groundless confidence!"
Hinata took her stance and activated her Byakugan. "This time, I'll defeat you with my own strength, Neji-nii!"
"You'll regret this decision. Even if I kill you here, the Main Family won't dare do anything about it!"
Neji quickly closed the distance and struck Hinata with the Gentle Fist style of Taijutsu.
Hinata also used the Gentle Fist to defend herself.
When their Gentle Fist strikes clashed, Neji's eyebrows slightly furrowed.
He aimed for Hinata's tenketsu, but surprisingly, she managed to avoid direct hits to those spots.
Moreover, the places where Hinata struck him were exactly his own tenketsu.
Still, Neji remained very much in control. While fighting, he said, "It seems your Byakugan can now perceive tenketsu. However, even so, it's useless. Our gap still exists. Just because you can see my weak spots doesn't mean you can gain an advantage."
With a sudden counterattack, Neji struck one of Hinata's tenketsu on her arm.
Hinata immediately broke away from close combat with Neji and leapt back to gain some distance.
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