Neji slowly walked into the arena, dressed in the traditional training attire of the Hyuga Clan, his long hair tied back, exuding the aura of a drawn sword.
He didn't look at the excited spectators around him, but directly locked his gaze on Naruto opposite him.
Veins bulged from the corners of his eyes.
"Byakugan!"
He assumed the starting stance of the Gentle Fist, feet apart, one in front of the other, palms high and low, guarding his body.
His posture was flawless, every angle conforming to textbook standards, radiating the absolute confidence of a genius.
"Loser, give up."
Neji's voice was soft, yet it clearly carried throughout the silent arena, "Your destiny, from the moment you were born, was already set.
The destiny of a Loser and the destiny of a genius are not the same."
In the contestant viewing area, Kakashi propped his hand on his forehead, letting out an almost inaudible sigh.
He knew, of course, that this was mostly just a taunt, aimed at denying Naruto's changes and trying to make Naruto lose his composure, thereby gaining the upper hand in momentum.
But it was a bit too audacious.
"Sigh... what era is this, and someone is still calling Naruto a Loser?
The Byakugan's observational ability doesn't seem to be very good; it's not just 'not good,' it's practically blind."
He turned his head, an expression of not daring to watch, "I don't even want to see what happens next."
Sasuke and Sakura, standing nearby, exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.
They'd only seen others get beaten, never experienced the harshest beatings themselves; that's how it was.
Sakura sighed, "Neji, has he not seen what Kiba was beaten into by Naruto?
Even that eyebrow-less Gaara is very afraid of Naruto."
Sasuke, who was usually too lazy to participate in idle chatter, couldn't help but comment, "Once Naruto's fist lands on him, he'll never call Naruto a Loser again."
Inuzuka Kiba gritted his teeth even harder, the muscles in his face twitching.
The scene of being knocked out in three seconds by that monster in the third preliminary round was still his nightmare.
"You haven't fought him, you're so great, so of course you can say whatever you want."
Inuzuka Kiba's voice was squeezed out through gritted teeth, carrying a mix of unwillingness and resentment, "If he's a Loser, then what am I?
A good-for-nothing who can't even beat a Loser?"
Akamaru also let out a weak whimper, feeling utterly helpless.
In the arena, Neji was oblivious to the discussions around him, his pure white eyes reflecting Naruto's expressionless face.
"I admit, your strength, your aura, are completely different from before.
You must think you're amazing, believing that effort can change everything, right?"
A mocking arc formed on Neji's lips, and his tone suddenly shifted, laced with his own deep sorrow and resentment.
"But you're wrong.
Just like this bird in a cage, no matter how strong its wings, it will never fly out of this small prison.
This is the destiny of the branch family."
"For you, a Loser, will always be a Loser."
Naruto remained silent in the face of this fatalistic pronouncement.
He didn't even adopt any conventional fighting stance, didn't form any hand seals, didn't draw any weapons.
He merely stood with his legs slightly apart, shoulder-width, his center of gravity slowly sinking.
It was a posture devoid of any aesthetic appeal, without any stylistic characteristics.
It was a pure, military combat starting stance, designed for absorbing impact and instantaneous bursts of power.
In his icy blue eyes, Neji's textbook-perfect Gentle Fist stance was riddled with 'ceremonial' flaws.
Neji was enraged by Naruto's indifferent silence.
Chakra erupted from his feet, and he transformed into a white blur, instantly darting in front of Naruto.
His fingers were pressed together, like sharp awls, aiming directly for several Chakra points in Naruto's chest and abdomen.
The speed was astonishing, the angle so tricky, that the spectators in the stands gasped.
In the audience, Hyuga Hiashi, who had been expressionless, finally nodded slightly at this sight.
"Very much like Hizashi; such speed and decisiveness are enough; the outcome is decided."
The Gentle Fist emphasizes defeating an opponent in one strike.
As long as the Chakra points are struck, Chakra flow is obstructed, and even the strongest Ninja can only be slaughtered.
This Uzumaki Naruto, after all, was still too young, too arrogant, actually not dodging at all.
However, in the next second, a look of surprise appeared on Hyuga Hiashi's usually unruffled face.
Facing the Gentle Fist's range that sealed off the entire body, Naruto's body merely shifted less than five centimeters to the left, at an incredibly small, unbelievable angle.
All of Neji's fingertips, which had been aimed with certainty, grazed Naruto's clothing and struck empty air.
Naruto didn't even retreat.
In the same instant he evaded the attack, he stepped forward, his body's center of gravity suddenly tilting forward, concentrating all his strength into one point, and slammed his shoulder hard into Neji's unprepared chest.
"Bang!"
A dull thud.
Neji felt as if he had been hit by a rhinoceros running at full speed; an irresistible force of pure violence exploded from his chest, instantly spreading throughout his entire body.
He was involuntarily sent flying backward, his feet plowing two deep furrows in the ground, retreating seven or eight steps before he barely managed to regain his balance.
He stood there, stunned for a long time.
"What incredible taijutsu prediction!"
In the VIP box, Might Guy couldn't help but exclaim, his eyes shining.
Kakashi, meanwhile, smiled and shook his head.
"That's not prediction; from what I understand of Naruto, that should be called calculation.
If I were to put it in his words, how would I say it...?"
Kakashi pondered for a moment and found a way to describe it:
"Prediction is a guess based on experience and intuition.
But Naruto's movement just now had not a single superfluous detail; it was precise like a machine.
It was the optimal solution calculated through a large and comprehensive analysis of the enemy's subtle muscle twitches, breathing frequency, gaze, and other factors in a short amount of time.
Using the smallest movement to avoid the greatest damage and deliver the most effective counterattack."
Neji clutched his aching chest, panting heavily, his elegance and composure completely gone, replaced by the fury of being humiliated.
His Byakugan scrutinized every detail of Naruto's movements, yet still failed to block the attack.
"You people will never understand the weight destiny places on a person!
Your struggles, your efforts, are all futile!"
He roared, launching an even fiercer attack.
His words seemed directed at Naruto, but they were more for himself.
This time, his palm techniques were denser, more ferocious, like an overwhelming net, intending to completely engulf Naruto.
Naruto, while easily dodging through the gaps in the palm strikes, responded to his roar with an unperturbed voice.
"'Destiny' is the most efficient excuse the weak find for their incompetence and laziness."
His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached Neji's ears, like a cold scalpel, dissecting his core beliefs.
"It is a thought virus that corrodes your judgment, dulls your combat instincts, and makes you complacently accept failure and abandon struggle."
"Your so-called'seeing through everything' is merely a fancy rhetoric you've woven for your stagnation, while indulging in this virus."
"Shut up!"
Neji was completely enraged.
Every word from Naruto was like a needle, accurately piercing his most vulnerable spot.
And Naruto's extremely indifferent attitude made him seem all the more unreasonable.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"
Neji roared, his body spinning at high speed, forming a sphere of absolute Chakra defense, forcing Naruto back.
Immediately after, he stopped spinning, stomped his feet, and Chakra erupted with unprecedented intensity.
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Like the Revolving Heaven, this was a secret technique only mastered by the Hinata Main Family, the ultimate expression of Gentle Fist taijutsu.
Countless palm strikes erupted instantly, sealing off all space around Naruto: up, down, left, right, front, and back.
This time, there was no escape.
However, Naruto neither dodged nor evaded.
He simply stood still, allowing the deadly palm strikes to land on his body.
"Two palms!"
"Four palms!"
The first two palms accurately struck the Chakra points on his chest.
A triumphant smile finally appeared on Neji's face.
"It's over!"
But in the next second, his smile completely froze on his face.
Around the Chakra points where Naruto was struck, Chakra, instead of stopping its flow as expected, surged out in an even more violent and aggressive manner.
That energy, condensed to the extreme, was like a bursting dam, forcefully breaking through the sealed meridians.
The Gentle Fist's point striking had no effect on him.
Naruto looked at him expressionlessly and slowly spoke.
"Your attack is ineffective."
"Your theory is wrong."
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