The arena fell silent as the screen revealed the names of the next combatants: 'Alexander Hyūga vs. Rock Lee'.
'How ironic,' Arthur thought to himself, remembering how much Lee wanted to fight Alex.
An cheer erupted as Might Guy screamed, "Lee!"
"Yes, Guy-Sensei!"
"You're my student, and I expect nothing less than for you to show your opponent the power of youth!"
"Yes, sir!"
Alex turned to Arthur and Jada, saying, "Would you look at that?"
Jada gave him a warm smile. "Do your best, Alex."
"I'm looking forward to seeing you in action," Arthur added.
After a nod, Alex leapt from the railing and landed on the platform to meet Lee. Lee did the same as the two squared off.
"A pleasure to see you again," Alex said.
"Alex Hyūga!" Lee then punched his palm. "The feeling is mutual; I have always dreamed of testing myself against a prodigy of the Hyūga clan since the day we met!"
Alex softly chuckled. "And I've dreamed of sparring with a taijutsu specialist like yourself, Lee."
Now Lee's confidence was visibly boosted.
However, the simple exchange unsettled one particular spectator: Neji. He knew Alex's true strength—a strength that surpassed techniques typically associated with the Hyūga clan.
This unease didn't go unnoticed by Arthur. Seizing the opportunity to glean more information, he leaned toward Jada and asked, "How did Alex become a prodigy of the Hyūga clan exactly?"
"Huh? Oh!" Then Jada shot him a knowing glance. "It's because of his foreknowledge."
"Care to explain?"
"Sure. When Alex had already revealed the truth about the branch house to Neji, the two spoke with Hiashi to settle the politics between their branches."
Arthur had practically forgotten how dark the Hyūga clan's history was.
Hizashi, Neji's father, was born just moments after his twin brother, Hiashi. Despite being twins, Hiashi was chosen as the heir to the Hyūga clan because he was born first. This meant Hizashi was relegated to the branch house and branded with a cursed seal that would deactivate his Byakugan upon death.
Hizashi wasn't pleased with his fate but felt powerless to change it. This burden continued when his son, Neji, received the same cursed seal at a young age.
As Neji grew and showed exceptional talent, Hizashi grew frustrated with the system that denied his son his full potential. This anger eventually manifested as hostility toward the main house.
Hiashi, sensing his brother's resentment, activated the cursed seal as punishment.
Sometime later, Hiashi killed the leader of a rival village to protect Hinata. To avoid war and keep the Hyūga's Byakugan safe, the village leaders offered Hizashi as a body double in place of Hiashi.
Hizashi chose to sacrifice himself to save his brother and the village to prevent a war, despite the resentment he held. That was his chance to finally control his own destiny.
Before his death, Hizashi asked Hiashi to reveal the truth about his sacrifice to Neji, regretting that he had only shown bitterness toward the main house.
Neji, initially believing his father's death was preordained, wasn't told this at the right time, thus leading him to develop a strong hatred for the main house.
Three years from now, Hizashi was revived by Kabuto to fight for him in the Fourth War. He expressed regret at being forced to fight against his own village and lamented that his sacrifice seemed meaningless.
However, Hiashi revealed that Neji and Hinata were now fighting together, not as members of different houses but as comrades.
"But what does that have to do with Alex's status?" Arthur pressed.
"Everything," Jada replied. "Exposing the truth early shocked Neji and touched Hiashi's heart because of how far Alex had gone to announce the truth."
Arthur understood now: Alex's knowledge of this world was not weak, so he used it to manipulate the established hierarchy.
But that still didn't explain why he was born into the branch family.
Instead of asking about that, Arthur watched as Hayate signaled the start of the match.
Lee launched into a flurry of taijutsu attacks. But Alex activating his Byakugan and parried Lee's blows one by one.
Lee furrowed his brow in frustration. He was used to fighting the Byakugan, but Alex seemed different than Neji.
Lee, reeling his body back, unleashed a spinning kick powerful enough to crack boulders. But Alex sidestepped with a hair's breadth of clearance, leaving Lee momentarily off-balance. Seizing the opening, he then delivered a well-placed strike to Lee's arm.
Bang!
The strike sent a jolt of pain through Lee's whole body before causing him to fall back.
Might Guy whistled in surprise. Seeing Lee sustain an injury so early in the match was unexpected.
"Don't worry, Lee!" Guy boomed. "For this fight, I'm giving you permission to unleash the weights!"
"Right, sir!" Lee, after recovering, propelled himself toward the towering statue at the front of the stage. "Alex! I am most impressed that you have pushed me this far!"
Everyone watched as he ripped his ankle weights free from his legs.
Ka-boom!
An explosion occurred after they had plummeted to the floor. The sudden eruption of dust momentarily obscured the fighters from view, and as it cleared, much of the crowd was left breathless.
"Alright, Lee!" Guy roared with excitement. "Now show him the true power of youth!"
"Yes, sir!" Lee yelled, suddenly disappearing from view.
His speed had nearly doubled, prompting Alex to quickly turn around.
Boom!
Alex was forced back via a punch to his crossed arms. One second too late on that block and he would have been knocked out.
The two fighters, fueled by different energies, began going all out as the stage was filled with the sound of bone meeting flesh and air whistling past.
The crowd fell silent at the sudden shift in momentum. They had never witnessed such a spectacle: two Genin locked in a taijutsu battle of incredible speed and precision.
Arthur noticed something interesting.
Alex, despite his strategic advantage, was starting to show signs of strain. Clearly Lee's unrestricted speed was now pushing him to his limits.
"This is getting out of hand," Jada whispered. "Lee's gonna go berserk at this rate!"
"Alex just needs to find an opening," Arthur said. "He can't keep trading blows with Lee forever, not even with the Byakugan's advantage."
As if in response to Arthur's observation, Alex saw the slightest hesitation in Lee's movements. So seizing this opportunity, he countered Lee's next attack with a well-timed Gentle Fist strike.
Bang!
The blow landed on a specific pressure point in Lee's leg, momentarily disrupting his chakra flow.
Lee stumbled back. Then his eyes widened upon feeling something unsettling: Alex had barely taken a single hit throughout the fight!
"How can this be?!" Lee cried out in disbelief. "You are countering my taijutsu as if you've seen me fight hundreds of times!"
Even Might Guy tried his best not to fall silent. He couldn't deny the strange flow of the fight since the Alex seemed to know exactly where to strike and when to dodge. It was a level of foresight that surprised even this veteran taijutsu user.
Had they understood Alex was from another world, they might have changed up the strategy. What was more was his Byakugan. The smallest twitch, a subtle mistake, a minor degree off in one's footing—Alex wouldn't miss it!
Before Lee could change up his strategy, Alex charged in.
"Last resort: eight gates assault!"
With a swift movement, he delivered a series of unorthodox strikes by targeting specific points on Lee's body, causing the latter to spin through the air.
Then Lee hit the ground on all fours. He was sweating hard.
Everyone fell silent as Guy and Kakashi exchanged bewildered glances.
"What... what did you do?" Lee gasped, struggling to his feet.
"I temporarily shut off your access to the Eight Gates," Alex explained. "You were pushing yourself pretty hard there, so I had to take the initiative."
Jada activated her Sharingan and saw that Lee's inner chakra flow was extremely erratic. That technique Alex had used—she had recognized it: a high-level tenketsu attack lifted straight from a video game adaptation of the ninja world.
Unable to contain her surprise, she leaned toward Arthur and whispered, "Did... did you see that?"
Arthur, his face betraying no emotion, simply nodded. He had anticipated Alex being a formidable opponent, but the breadth of his abilities was a curveball he'd need to prepare for.
Many fans had contemplated a fight between Neji and Lee prior to Lee's injury. They all agreed that Lee would win if he activated the Eight Gates, something Neji had little knowledge of.
But if Neji knew of the Eight Gates and proclaimed his "I have no blind spots" motto, he would surely have stopped Lee and won the fight.
Alex showcased this what-if battle spectacularly.
"I can still fight!" Lee yelled.
"That's the spirit, Lee!" Guy cheered.
"You show him, Lee!" Tenten added.
Only Neji remained silent, knowing this fight was over before it even began.
Fueled by determination, Lee got up and lunged at Alex once again. But Alex, with the Byakugan still active, was simply too fast now.
He dodged Lee's increasingly desperate attacks with ease.
Things no longer looked like the recent clashes the two had displayed earlier. And as the fight stretched on, it became clear that Lee's initial burst of speed was fading.
Bang!
After a single Gentle Fist strike, Lee was sent sprawling to the ground. He wasn't getting back up.
Hayate soon stepped forward and raised his hand. "The winner of this match. Alexander Hyūga."
The crowd erupted in applause.
On the platform, Alex offered Lee a hand to help him up. Lee, despite having been defeated at his own game, accepted.
Even after the boy was beat, he still managed to smile due to a well-fought match.
As they walked away, Arthur considered things.
For the entire battle, Alex had only used two techniques: the Byakugan and the Eight Gates Assault. Apart from the Gentle Fist, that was the basic level of taijutsu used by the Hyūga clan.
Alex clearly knew what he was doing in this world.