On the arena, battle erupted once more.
"Roar—!"
Naruto, who had entered his One-Tailed state, had already lost his mind. He transformed into a red afterimage, his sharp claws tearing through the air, and lunged at Neji with a destructive aura.
Facing this furious attack, Neji, who had entered Sage Mode, simply shifted his body calmly, easily and casually dodging it.
"So fast!" The Nine-Tails within Naruto exclaimed in surprise.
In Sage Mode, Neji's perception, strength, and speed had all received explosive boosts.
At this moment, Naruto appeared to him like a slow-moving child.
"Sage Art: Eight Trigrams Empty Palm!"
Neji unleashed a palm strike from a distance.
A condensed shockwave, imbued with Sage Art Chakra, accurately struck Naruto's abdomen.
"W-wah!"
Naruto let out a painful cry, and the red Chakra cloak on his body dimmed slightly.
The purpose of ordinary Gentle Fist was to seal Chakra points and meridians, but Gentle Fist infused with Sage Art Chakra could directly disrupt or even neutralize the Nine-Tails' Chakra at its root!
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Naruto completely went berserk, opening his mouth as a large amount of Nine-Tails Chakra began to rapidly spin and compress.
"This is bad! It's a Tailed Beast Ball!" Kakashi's face changed drastically.
Although it was only an incomplete version, if it exploded in the center of the arena, the consequences would be unimaginable!
However, Neji remained calm.
He drew circles in front of him with both hands, and vast natural energy gathered.
"Sage Art: Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!"
A golden Chakra shield, even larger and more solid than before, erupted around him!
The black-red miniature Tailed Beast Ball shot out of Naruto's mouth, slamming fiercely into the golden Rotation.
"Boom—!!!"
The deafening roar almost blew off the entire arena's ceiling, and a violent energy shockwave swept in all directions.
The spectators screamed and scattered, clutching their heads in fear.
The smoke and dust cleared.
In the center of the arena, a massive crater appeared.
Naruto lay at the bottom of the pit, his Nine-Tails cloak completely dissipated, unconscious.
And Neji still stood in his original spot, his white clothes pristine as snow, majestic as a mountain!
The entire venue fell silent.
After a few seconds, thunderous applause and cheers echoed through the sky!
"The winner is, Hyuga Neji!"
Genma Shiranui, who had returned to the arena at some point, swallowed hard and loudly announced the match result.
Medical ninja immediately rushed into the arena and carried Naruto onto a stretcher.
Neji looked at the unconscious Naruto, his gaze complex.
The vast Sage Art Chakra and imposing eye shadow disappeared. He walked to the side of the arena and bowed to Might Guy and the VIP viewing platform respectively.
In this battle, he not only won the match but also proved to everyone that...
Destiny can be broken!
Sakura looked worriedly at Naruto being carried away, then anxiously glanced towards the other side of the contestant's passage.
Next up was Sasuke's match.
"Next match! Uchiha Sasuke, versus, Gaara of Sunagakure!"
As the proctor Genma Shiranui's voice fell, the atmosphere in the arena was ignited once more.
Sasuke's figure appeared in the center of the arena, accompanied by a gust of wind and falling leaves.
He looked around, his slightly gloomy gaze finally landing on Neji, who had just finished his battle in the stands, and he unconsciously clenched his fists.
Even as arrogant as Sasuke, he wasn't entirely confident he could defeat Neji in that state.
However, his opponent, Gaara, the One-Tails Jinchūriki of Sunagakure, was still nowhere to be seen.
Just as everyone thought Gaara would forfeit, an ominous sandstorm inexplicably swirled up at the entrance of the contestant's passage.
Gaara, carrying his large gourd, slowly emerged. His eyes were bloodshot, and he clutched his forehead tightly, his expression pained.
On the VIP platform, Orochimaru quietly raised his hand and made a subtle gesture to Kabuto Yakushi, who was hidden among the spectators.
Hansen took all of this in, the smile on his lips growing more playful.
He picked up his teacup, gently blew on the hot liquid, then drank it all in one gulp.
The prelude was over; it was finally time for the main event!
"Match... start!"
As soon as the proctor's words fell, Sasuke's figure suddenly vanished from his original spot!
Kakashi's special training had elevated his Sharingan to a new level.
Benefiting from this, he had completely mastered the essence of taijutsu copied from Rock Lee.
The Sharingan's insight allowed him to move with ease at extreme speeds, making effort seem like a joke in the face of genius.
A blurred dark figure instantly appeared beside Gaara, unleashing a powerful whip kick!
However, before the attack could land, sand gushing from the gourd automatically formed a thick sand shield, firmly blocking his attack.
Bang—!
A dull thud sounded. Sasuke felt as if his leg had kicked a steel plate, and the immense recoil forced him to flip backward, creating distance.
"Is that all you've got?"
Gaara looked up. Sasuke's taijutsu reminded him of unpleasant past memories, and his bloodshot eyes were filled with cruelty and madness.
"Then die!"
"Sand Binding Coffin!"
The sand, like living venomous snakes, erupted from the ground, transforming into countless arms that lightning-fast grabbed at Sasuke.
The double tomoe in Sasuke's eyes spun rapidly, clearly seeing the sand's attack trajectories. Relying on his astonishing speed, he weaved and dodged through the sea of sand, narrowly avoiding capture again and again.
The battle instantly escalated to a fever pitch.
Compared to the previous match, this showdown was evenly matched, and the audience repeatedly cheered.
On the VIP platform, Hansen yawned, watching the genin's clumsy sparring with boredom.
The undeveloped Sasuke and the Fifth Kazekage were not yet ready to be the protagonists of this era, and someone beside him was already getting impatient!
Sure enough, Sasuke, unable to land a decisive blow, boldly activated the newly mastered, ultimate-level Lightning Release ninjutsu, Chidori. And the short-tempered One-Tails Shukaku also went berserk, taking advantage of its jinchūriki Gaara's unstable emotions.
Chaos began.
Just as everyone's attention was drawn to Shukaku's giant claw emerging from the sand, on the highest point of the VIP platform, Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage, curled his lips into a sinister smile.
At the same time, a hooded figure in a corner of the audience seats raised his hand and formed a subtle hand seal.
The next moment, countless pure white feathers fell from the sky, like heavy snow in winter, drifting down with a strange tranquility.
"Genjutsu: Temple of Nirvana Technique!"
In the audience, except for a few powerful Jōnin, the vast majority of ordinary people and genin, upon contact with the feathers, had their eyes become vacant, then fell into a deep sleep.
"Attack!"
The ninja from Sunagakure and Otogakure, hidden in the audience, simultaneously launched their assault, cold kunai and shuriken stabbing at the unsuspecting Leaf ninja around them!
Screams and sounds of battle instantly shattered the tranquility of the arena.
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