[The Preliminaries - Match 5]
The electronic board flickered again. The pixelated names scrolled rapidly, blurring into lines of green light.
It stopped.
[Hinata Hyuga] vs [Neji Hyuga]
The room went silent. The tension was immediately palpable. It was the Main Family vs. The Branch Family. The timid princess vs. the resentful genius.
"Oh," I leaned forward, resting my chin on the railing. "This is going to be heavy. Generational trauma in the ring."
Hinata flinched when she saw her name. She looked absolutely terrified, her fingers twiddling nervously.
Neji walked into the arena, his expression cold and devoid of empathy. He stared at Hinata like she was a bug he had already squashed in his mind.
"Hinata-sama," Neji said, his voice echoing in the silent hall. "You should forfeit. You are not a fighter. You are weak. Destiny has already decided this match."
Hinata trembled, looking down at her feet. "I... I..."
"See?" Neji scoffed, his Byakugan activating. "You are shaking. You want to run away. It's in your nature. A failure will always be a failure."
Naruto gripped the railing. "Hey! Cut it out! Stop bullying her!"
Neji ignored him. He kept pressing, his words like needles designed to pierce her fragile confidence.
"You cannot change who you are. Withdraw before you are humiliated."
Hinata looked like she was about to cry. The referee, Hayate, looked ready to call it before a punch was even thrown.
I sighed.
"Booooring!" I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted.
Everyone looked up at me.
"Hey, Neji!" I called out, leaning over the railing. "Is 'Destiny' the only word you know? Do you have a thesaurus? Try 'Determination'. Or 'Hubris'. Or 'Stick-up-your-ass'!"
Neji glared up at me, a vein pulsing near his temple. "Do not interfere, outsider. This is Hyuga business."
"And I'm making it my business!" I looked at Hinata. She was still shaking. She needed a push. A Kenji-style push.
"Hinata!" I shouted.
She looked up at me, teary-eyed.
"Listen to me!" I pointed at her. "If you land one hit on him... just one solid hit... I will give you a prize!"
Hinata blinked, confused. "A... p-prize?"
"Yes!" I grinned, pulling a glossy 8x10 photo from my inventory. "I have a limited edition, high-resolution photo of Naruto coming out of the shower at the hot springs! Towel slipping! Abs glistening! Water droplets perfectly placed! It's a collector's item!"
"WH-WHAT?!" Naruto screamed, turning bright red and grabbing his chest. "Kenji! When did you take that?! You creep!"
"I'm an artist, Naruto! I capture raw beauty!" I ignored him. "Hinata! Do you want the photo? Do you want to frame it? DO YOU WANT TO WAKE UP TO THOSE ABS EVERY MORNING?!"
Hinata's face went from pale to nuclear red in 0.1 seconds. Steam erupted from her ears. Her eyes literally spun in circles.
But she didn't faint.
The sheer, overwhelming, suppressed desire for the "Sacred Artifact" overrode her fear of Neji. Her inner fangirl awakened with the fury of a thousand suns.
Her expression shifted. Her own Byakugan flared to life, the veins bulging around her eyes.
"N-Naruto-kun's... a-abs..." she whispered, a tiny drop of drool forming at the corner of her mouth.
She slapped her cheeks. Smack.
She took a combat stance. Her chakra flared—not with gentle despair, but with the fiery passion of a girl possessed.
"I... I will not lose!" Hinata declared, staring at Neji with terrifying intensity. "I want that photo!"
Neji blinked, completely thrown off by the sudden, bizarre shift in killing intent. "What madness is this?"
"BEGIN!" Hayate shouted, coughing.
[The Fight]
It wasn't a fight. It was a crusade.
Hinata charged. Usually, she was hesitant, her strikes lacking commitment. Now? She was fighting for the Holy Grail.
Neji was faster. He was stronger. He parried her strikes effortlessly, but he was constantly pushed back by her sheer aggression.
"It is useless!" Neji shouted, striking her shoulder to block a chakra point. "You cannot fight destiny!"
BAM.
Hinata was thrown back. She coughed a little blood.
"Give up!" Neji ordered.
"No!" Hinata struggled to her feet. She looked up at the balcony—not at Naruto, but at the photo in my hand. "I... I need it for my shrine!"
She rushed again.
Neji frowned. Why is she so persistent? This defies her destiny. It defies logic!
"You are annoying!" Neji struck her chest. "Eight Trigrams: Two Palms!"
Hinata stumbled, but instead of retreating, she twisted her body unnaturally, using the momentum.
SLAP.
She landed a hit.
A clean, open-palm strike right across Neji's cheek.
CRACK.
The sound echoed through the silent arena.
Neji froze. He touched his cheek. He looked at his hand. There was a tiny drop of blood.
The Main Family failure... had slapped the genius.
"I... I did it," Hinata panted, smiling through her bloody lip, her Byakugan deactivating. "Kenji-kun... I did it..."
Neji snapped.
The calm genius vanished. His eyes went wide with pure, unadulterated rage. The humiliation broke him.
"You..." Neji growled, his chakra flaring violently. "You dare..."
He assumed a stance. A killing stance.
"DIE!"
Neji lunged. He wasn't aiming to incapacitate. He was aiming his fingers right for her heart.
The Jonin moved. Kakashi, Kurenai, Guy. They all jumped from the balconies to intervene.
But I was already moving. And I didn't play by the rules of gravity.
[Skill: Elastic Chakra (Bungee Gum)]
I shot a thick line of pink gum from the balcony. It bypassed the Jonin and attached firmly to the back of Neji's flak jacket.
YANK.
Just as Neji's lethal strike was inches from Hinata's chest...
He stopped mid-air. He was yanked backward violently, his arms flailing.
"NANI?!" Neji gasped, suspended three feet off the ground by an invisible force, swinging like a pendulum.
I stood on the railing, holding the invisible thread with one finger, looking bored.
"Bad dog!" I scolded, my voice carrying over the silent arena. "No killing the merchandise. You lost your temper, 'Genius'."
The Jonin landed around them. Guy quickly restrained Neji.
Neji looked up at me, his Byakugan trembling with hate as he tried to break free of the gum (which he couldn't). "You again...! Release me!"
"Winner: Neji Hyuga," Hayate announced awkwardly, coughing into his hand, "since Hinata-sama cannot continue due to internal damage."
I released the gum. Neji fell flat on his back.
Hinata collapsed, coughing. Naruto ran down the stairs to check on her.
"Hinata!" Naruto yelled, kneeling beside her. "Are you okay?! Why did you fight so hard?!"
Hinata opened one swollen eye. She looked past Naruto, up at me.
"The... photo..." she wheezed.
I jumped down from the balcony, landing softly. I walked over and placed the glossy photo of "Shirtless Naruto" into her trembling, bruised hand.
"A deal is a deal," I whispered, winking. "Good fight, kid. You earned it."
Hinata looked at the photo. Her eyes widened. A blissful, peaceful smile spread across her face.
Then, overwhelmed by blood loss and pure aesthetic joy, she fainted dead away, clutching the photo to her chest.
"Medic!" Kurenai called out, rushing over.
[System Notification] [Event Influence: Hinata's Resolve (Modified).] [Outcome: Hinata lost, but slapped Neji for abs.] [Shameless Points: +1,000.] [Item Lost: Lewd Naruto Photo (Worthless).]
"Best 10 SP I ever spent," I muttered, walking away.
[Match 6: Rock Lee vs. Gaara]
They cleared the arena, carrying a smiling, unconscious Hinata away.
The board flickered.
[Rock Lee] vs [Gaara]
"YES!" Lee shouted, doing a backflip off the balcony. "It is my turn! Gai-sensei! Watch me!"
Gai gave him a thumbs up, a literal sparkle appearing on his teeth. "Go, Lee! Show them the true power of Youth!"
Lee landed in the arena.
Gaara dissipated into a swirl of sand on the balcony and reformed on the arena floor. He stood there, arms crossed, the massive gourd on his back radiating the scent of blood and death.
I walked back up the stairs and sat down next to Kakashi.
"This is the main event," I told him, leaning forward. "Pay attention, Scarecrow. You might learn something about Taijutsu."
Kakashi raised a visible eyebrow. "From a Genin?"
"From a monster," I corrected, looking at Gaara.
The fight began.
It went exactly as I remembered. And seeing it live was beautiful, horrifying art.
Lee tried Taijutsu. The sand blocked it autonomously. Lee took off the leg weights. The ground shattered when he dropped them. He became a green blur. He blitzed Gaara. First hit. Second hit. Gaara's sand armor cracked. His face crumbled, revealing the psychopath underneath.
"Primary Lotus!"
Lee piledrived Gaara from the ceiling.
But Gaara got up. His face fell off like a cracked porcelain doll mask. He looked insane.
"More... blood..." Gaara whispered, holding his head.
Lee stood on top of the statue. He assumed a new stance.
"Third Gate of Life: OPEN!" "Fourth Gate of Pain: OPEN!"
The arena seemed to turn red. Lee's skin flushed dark crimson. His veins bulged. The air pressure alone cracked the floor tiles.
"Magnificent," I whispered, activating my Observation Haki just to track his movements.
Lee was faster than sound. He was batting Gaara around the arena like a ping-pong ball in a blender.
"Fifth Gate of Closing: OPEN!"
"HIDDEN LOTUS!"
BOOM.
Gaara slammed into the ground with the force of a meteor. A massive mushroom cloud of dust and debris erupted, blinding everyone.
Lee fell from the sky, completely exhausted. His muscles were torn. His body was broken. He landed heavily.
But Gaara...
As the dust cleared, Gaara lay in the crater. His gourd had disintegrated into a massive sand cushion, softening the impact just enough. He was alive. Battered, bleeding, but alive.
He slowly raised his hand.
"Sand... Coffin."
The sand rushed like a tidal wave toward the immobile Lee. It wrapped around his left arm and left leg.
"NO!" Gai shouted, jumping over the rail.
CRUNCH.
The sound of Lee's bones pulverizing under the pressure of a thousand tons of sand was sickening. It echoed in the quiet hall.
Gai landed, swatting the sand away with a wave of his hand.
Gaara sat up, clutching his head, his eyes wild. "Why... why did you save him? He failed."
"Because he is my precious student," Gai said, tears streaming down his face, shielding the broken boy.
The medics rushed in. They put Lee on a stretcher. His arm and leg were mangled.
But Lee... he stood up.
Even unconscious. Even with shattered limbs. The muscle memory of a thousand days of training forced his broken body to stand. He assumed his combat stance, facing an enemy he couldn't see.
"He's... unconscious..." Kakashi whispered, his solitary eye wide with shock. "To be a ninja... his path is..."
The entire stadium was silent. Respect. Pure, unadulterated respect for the boy with no ninjutsu.
As they carried Lee away, I stood up.
I walked to the railing.
I looked down at Gaara.
Gaara looked back up at me. His sand was still swirling defensively around him.
"You," Gaara whispered, pointing a bloody finger at me. "You are strong. Like him. Mother wants your blood next."
"Don't lump me in with you, Panda-Eyes," I said coldly, meeting his gaze without flinching. "Your 'Mother' is a cheap sandcastle."
I tossed something down to Gai as he walked past.
"Catch."
Gai caught it instinctively. It was a small glass vial filled with a glowing green liquid.
[System Item: Senzu Bean Extract (Diluted).]
[Effect: Accelerates bone healing and tissue regeneration by 500%. Will not cure nerve damage instantly, but guarantees full recovery.]
"Give that to him," I said. "Mix it with his water. He earned it."
Gai looked at the vial, then up at me. His tears flowed freely. "Kenji-kun... thank you! Your Youth shines brighter than the sun!"
"Just paying for the show," I turned away, hands in my pockets. "He owes me a favor."
[System Notification] [Item Gifted: Senzu Extract.] [Impact: Rock Lee will recover in 1 month instead of undergoing life-threatening surgery.] [Shameless Points: -500 (Charity... kinda).]
"Worth it," I muttered.
[The Final Match & The Bracket]
The rest of the matches were a blur of minor characters fighting.
Then, the preliminaries were officially over.
The survivors were gathered in the center of the arena. The Hokage stood before us, smoking his pipe.
"Listen up," the Third Hokage spoke. "The Third Exam—the Finals—will take place in exactly one month. This gives you time to heal, to train, and to prepare new tactics. The Feudal Lords from many nations will be watching. You represent your villages."
He held up a wooden box with a hole in the top.
"Draw your numbers. This will decide the tournament bracket for the first round."
We drew lots. Ibiki wrote the names on a large whiteboard.
[Bracket 1] Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga
[Bracket 2] Gaara vs Sasuke Uchiha
[Bracket 3] Kankuro vs Shino Aburame
[Bracket 4] Temari vs Shikamaru Nara
[Bracket 5] Kenji Sato vs Dosu Kinuta
I blinked. I looked at the board.
"Dosu?" I looked down the line of Genin. "Wait, didn't I beat him already in the forest?"
Dosu (who had easily passed his match against Choji) was standing across from me. He took one look at the board, then looked at me.
He started trembling. He remembered the pepper spray. He remembered the Haki. He remembered the threat of nakedness.
"I... I forfeit!" Dosu raised his hand instantly, his voice cracking. "I am not fighting him again! He's insane! He steals clothes! He uses gum! He's a demon!"
The entire arena stared at Dosu. A Sound Ninja forfeiting out of pure terror?
The Hokage blinked, nearly dropping his pipe. "Uh... Dosu forfeits? Before the month even begins?"
"Yes! Please let me leave!" Dosu bowed frantically.
"Wait," Ibiki whispered to the Hokage, checking the roster. "If Dosu forfeits... we have an uneven number of combatants for the first round."
The Hokage looked at the roster, then at me.
"Kenji Sato," the Hokage puffed his pipe, looking amused. "Since your opponent forfeited due to... psychological trauma... you get a bye to the second round."
"Is there such a good thing?" I grinned, stretching my arms. "Lucky day, I guess. More time to sleep."
"Dismissed!" the Hokage announced.
I turned to leave. A month of free time. A month to train.