"Guy-sensei, what are you doing here?" Neji asked helplessly.
Standing before him was a man in a bright green jumpsuit, sporting thick eyebrows and a bowl haircut that gleamed like polished obsidian under the sun along with a dazzling pair of oversized front teeth.
Yes, it was him.
The Blue Beast of the Hidden Leaf Might Guy!
An elite jonin of extraordinary strength, Guy was one of the few characters in the entire Naruto universe who remained a formidable force from start to finish.
Truth be told, Guy's power was frightening. He was the kind of man who could nearly kick Madara the Sage of Six Paths incarnation into the afterlife with one blow.
In a story teeming with overpowered bloodline limits and divine reincarnations, Guy stood tall as a self-made warrior. A man who earned his title not through lineage, but through sheer grit and tireless effort.
But back to the present.
Right now, his outfit was… something else. Eye-wateringly loud, even.
To make matters worse, they weren't alone. Neji felt an unusual sense of embarrassment rise in his chest.
Guy, of course, was oblivious to any awkwardness.
"Neji! The time has come to accept a challenge!" Guy beamed, flashing a radiant smile.
Neji squinted. For a second, he could've sworn a sparkle glinted off Guy's teeth.
"A challenge? What challenge?" Neji frowned in confusion.
"Hahaha! Just now, I picked up a mission! We gather at the village gates tomorrow morning and together, we shall burn with the flames of youth!"
Guy laughed heartily, his enthusiasm nearly vibrating through the air. Neji's eye twitched.
He really was a bundle of hyperactive energy. Then again, perhaps it was precisely because of that, that his team him, Lee, and Tenten had become so powerful.
"What do you say, Neji? Do you feel it? Your blood boiling? The fire of youth blazing within you?" Guy's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"...So we're leaving the village?" Neji asked.
"Precisely!" Guy gave him a thumbs-up.
"Alright. Got it."
"Excellent! That's the spirit!" Guy grinned even wider, then glanced toward Hinata, who was standing nearby.
"Oho! Neji this is youth in full bloom." He patted Neji's shoulder, then vanished in a flash, as suddenly as he'd arrived.
Here one moment, gone the next.
Hinata's cheeks immediately turned rosy after hearing what Guy had said.
"Neji-niisan… was that your" she asked, flustered.
"My team leader. Might Guy," Neji replied with a resigned sigh.
"A jonin, right..." Hinata looked on in awe.
"Wait Neji-niisan, does that mean you're going out on a mission?"
"Mm."
"That's amazing..." Hinata murmured with admiration. Compared to that, she was still stuck doing D-rank chores around the village.
"As long as you work hard, you can do it too, Hinata." Neji offered her a bit of encouragement.
System, open my status panel!
Host: Hyuga Neji
Age: 13
Chakra Affinities: Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Lightning
Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan (Purified)
Taijutsu: Gentle Fist, Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation, Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, Eight Trigrams Air Palm, Twin Lion Fists
Ninjutsu: Basic Three Techniques (Transformation, Substitution, Clone), Fire Style: Great Fireball, Medical Palm Technique
Overall Strength: Elite Chunin
By any standard, that was an impressive stat sheet for someone his age.
The next morning, Neji made his way to the village gate.
Dawn was just beginning to break, and the streets were nearly empty. From a distance, he could already see his two teammates waiting.
Tenten, dressed in her usual cheongsam-style outfit, looked quite pretty. As expected there were no ugly girls in the Naruto universe.
On the other side stood Rock Lee, a near carbon-copy of Might Guy. Sometimes Neji seriously wondered if Lee might actually be Guy's secret love child.
"Good morning, Neji!" Tenten greeted him with a bright smile.
"Morning." Neji nodded, his tone subdued. He walked to the side and closed his eyes, settling into a quiet meditation.
"Neji, face me in battle!" Lee suddenly shouted.
"Calm down, Lee," Tenten snapped.
"But Guy-sensei isn't here yet…" Lee protested.
"That's no excuse to fight!" Tenten was clearly losing patience.
"It's fine. I'll spar with him." Neji opened his eyes and spoke calmly.
With nothing else to do, he figured it was a good opportunity to test his current strength.
Lee would be the perfect opponent for that.
"Heh, I'm coming at you full force, Neji!" Lee grinned from ear to ear.
"Hey seriously, you guys" Tenten tried to intervene.
"Don't worry. It'll be over quickly." Neji's tone was serene, almost bored.
Tenten sighed and rubbed her forehead. These two always had to throw hands every time they met.
"Well… fine. Thirty moves and it'll be over anyway," she muttered, resigning herself to spectator mode.
"Here I come!" Lee launched forward with a sudden leap, closing the distance between them in an instant.
Neji's pupils narrowed. Fast.
Almost chūnin level, already.
For someone who built himself up from scratch, Lee was exceptionally impressive.
But, unfortunately for him Neji had a cheat code.
Their fists collided, and both were blown back from the impact.
"No way! Neji's raw strength shouldn't be this strong!" Tenten gasped in disbelief.
Lee grinned, clearly exhilarated by the challenge. He launched into a spinning roundhouse kick aimed straight at Neji's head.
Neji raised an arm to block, then caught Lee's ankle with his other hand and slammed him to the ground.
But just then, Lee's other leg whipped upward, aiming at Neji's chin.
Leaf Rising Wind! Neji recognized it immediately Lee's reaction speed had surpassed his expectations.
"This one's going to be hard to counter," Neji murmured with a serious expression.
"Gotcha!" Lee exclaimed in triumph.
Even Tenten was surprised. "At that distance, there's no way to dodge!"
Thunk!
Lee's kick landed except it didn't.
Neji vanished into a puff of smoke.
"A clone? When did he!?" Tenten and Lee both stared, stunned.
They scanned the area, trying to find him.
"Looking the wrong way, Lee," Neji's voice rang out from above.
A moment later, his fist struck Lee cleanly, sending him flying backward.
Landing lightly, Neji spoke with casual confidence, "Looks like I win. Again."
"That was amazing..." Tenten was at a loss for words.
Before long, Lee bounded back, unfazed and brimming with energy.
"Neji! You truly are my eternal rival! I'll train even harder!" he declared, eyes burning with renewed determination.
Watching him, Neji couldn't help but feel a hint of admiration. That's Rock Lee for you unshakable, no matter how many times he loses.
Not far away, Might Guy had been observing the entire match from a hidden corner.
"He didn't use the Byakugan. Didn't even draw on Gentle Fist..."
"Just a clone technique and he took Lee down." Guy's tone was quiet, serious.
"A true genius, through and through."
Then he stretched, grinning as always.
"And now it's time for me to step in. After all, this mission is… pretty urgent."