Konoha: Start from untying the caged bird

Page 168

He genuinely valued talent.

Hyuga Yuzuru simply watched the scene calmly, a slight smile playing on his lips as he watched Neji being kicked high into the air.

Neji...

"We haven't lost yet."

As soon as the words were spoken, the shadows had already noticed something amiss.

Lee suddenly took off and launched a kick into the air, aiming straight for Neji, who was being knocked into the air.

Neji's Byakugan captured Lee's movements with perfect accuracy, but his body, without a doubt, couldn't keep up with that speed.

only...

He barely managed to extend his palm.

Under Lee's astonished gaze, a small blue vortex in Neji's palm instantly expanded into half a spiral energy shield.

A miraculous recovery!

He actually managed to unleash a miniature Rejuvenation Technique using a part of his body!?

"Is this the power of genius?"

Xiao Li's muttering voice rang out the instant they collided.

After taking the full force of the attack, Huitian shook and exploded, but that was enough.

Xiao Li was thrown to the ground by the reaction force, but in the next moment, he was lifted up again.

He relentlessly attacked Hyuga Neji, launching attacks from various angles. Neji couldn't keep up with his opponent's speed at all, but each time he managed to anticipate and anticipate the attacks, releasing small-scale Rotation techniques to defend himself.

He appeared to be teetering on the brink of collapse, sent flying into the air, and even frozen in mid-air by Xiao Li's series of attacks, no longer falling.

But strangely enough, it did not suffer any further serious damage.

This is a move that my brother mastered when he was younger than me!

Xiao Li...

Actually, I'm not a genius at all...

And in order to surpass true geniuses.

No, it's to pursue that dream, to fight alongside such a genius...

Have you really seen any of my efforts?

Xiao Li's repeated attacks were thwarted, making him realize that if he continued like this, he would only be worn down first. After struggling with his decision, he gritted his teeth and made a decision.

I...want to win.

The fifth gate, the injury...

His action was not yet complete.

A hand had already appeared in front of him.

With just a light touch, a surge of Gentle Fist Chakra invaded his body, instantly paralyzing his chakra and stiffening his body, halting his movements.

Lee stared in astonishment at Hyuga Yuzuru, who had suddenly appeared before him: "Fifth Hokage..."

"If you open the fifth door, your body will suffer irreversible damage."

For you right now, the world beyond the fifth gate is still too early.

Hinata Yuzuru spoke softly, smiling slightly, as a shimmering green chakra light appeared in his hand.

He turned to look at Neji, who had just landed awkwardly on the ground due to inertia. The continuous release of the Heavenly Reversal technique had already left Neji somewhat exhausted, but after taking a deep breath, he still managed to stand up straight.

"No winner or loser."

Hinata Yuzuru made the decision.

Neji remained silent, as did Lee. For them, it would be hard to accept if the battle ended like this.

Neji believed that even if Lee opened the Fifth Gate, he would still have a chance to turn the tide and win. Lee, on the other hand, believed that as long as he opened the Fifth Gate and used the Inner Lotus to deliver a powerful blow to Neji, he would be able to render Neji incapable of resisting.

Lee unleashed the Eight Gates technique, and his knees buckled, almost causing him to collapse. Hyuga Yuzuru examined him and confirmed that it was just a matter of damaged meridians, requiring only some rest. He then ordered the medical team to carry them away for treatment.

"It's not time for you to fight to the death yet."

He gave each of them a flick on the forehead.

The two genin covered their heads, looked at each other, and lost their interest in fighting. Neji stubbornly walked off the stage by himself, while Lee also wanted to act tough, but in the end, he was forced onto a stretcher and carried away by the medical team ninjas.

How could Hyuga Yuzuru possibly sit idly by and watch his own people be destroyed like this?

Even if Xiao Li receives the best treatment immediately after opening the five gates, it is very likely that his talent foundation will be affected.

Judging from the original work, Rock Lee definitely had the potential to open the Seventh or even Eighth Gate during the Fourth Shinobi World War, but unfortunately, after being seriously injured during the Chunin Exams, he never had another outstanding performance.

Aside from the possibility that Kishimoto couldn't keep up with the character development, the most likely reason is that opening the five gates had a significant impact on his body, causing him to fall behind during his growth period.

He was still young, unlike Akina, whose body was not fully mature.

He still has a lot of potential to be explored.

As for Neji, there's even less reason for him to continue fighting.

Even if he manages to turn the tide after taking a direct hit from the fifth gate's inner lotus, the result will only be a mutual defeat, requiring him to spend six months to a year recovering in the hospital. This would be a major setback for his development.

At this moment, applause only rang out from the sidelines after both genin had left the arena.

Hyuga Yuzuru instantly returned to his seat, and only then did the Kage beside him offer their somewhat sour congratulatory remarks.

"It seems Konoha is about to have two more Chunin."

Hyuga Yuzuru smiled and said things like he was just a kid and had a long way to go, but anyone could see that the Fifth Hokage was in a good mood and very satisfied with his son.

The next contestants finally took to the field after the Konoha ninjas repaired the testing grounds.

Naruto entered the examination room and stared eagerly at Hyuga Yuzuru in the distance. Hyuga Yuzuru saw his eyes and knew what he was thinking. He smiled and raised his hand as before.

"Naruto, Hinata, do your best!"

Naruto, receiving support from his Yuzuru-nii brother, immediately raised his hand with boundless enthusiasm and gave him a thumbs up: "Wow!!"

Hinata simply bowed her head, looking somewhat uneasy, to Hyuga Yuzuru in the distance.

Originally, Hyuga Yuzuru was quite looking forward to the showdown between Naruto and Hinata.

But unexpectedly, the competition turned out to be so tedious that it became somewhat boring.

Hinata was overwhelmed by Naruto's swarm of shadow clones and the constant barrage of Rasengans, and barely managed to put up any impressive plays before being knocked to the ground by a single Rasengan from Naruto.

Moreover, since the injury wasn't too serious, Hinata gave up struggling and waited for the referee's verdict.

Hyuga Yuzuru lowered his eyes, looking at Hinata Hyuga in the distance, who had gotten up but was still looking down. He reached out and gently pinched the bridge of his nose, remaining silent for a moment without saying anything.

She has become weaker.

It's not that she hasn't improved at all compared to previous years, but compared to when she could fight Neji on equal terms, her progress has clearly slowed down considerably.

Their fighting spirit was also somewhat weak.

This has nothing to do with the fact that the opponent is Naruto; Hyuga Yuzuru could tell that.

It's probably something wrong with his/her mind.

Naruto, completely unaware of Hinata's predicament, cheerfully helped her up. Seeing that she was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief, then grinned at Hyuga Yuzuru. Hyuga Yuzuru nodded slightly to him, and Naruto left the arena contentedly.

The final battle that followed was one that all the Kage were looking forward to: the battle between the Uchiha clan and Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast.

Gaara stepped into the arena expressionlessly. His opponent, Sasuke Uchiha, also had a cold expression, seemingly without any emotional fluctuation. Just by standing facing each other, one could feel the subtle clash of their auras.

"What...don't you need the Fifth Hokage to cheer you on?"

Gaara looked at Sasuke Uchiha in front of him, his words laced with mockery.

Sasuke Uchiha replied indifferently, "I don't need to deal with you."

In terms of verbal skills, Uchiha Sasuke was never inferior to anyone throughout his life.

A hint of crazed killing intent flashed across Gaara's face. He curled the corners of his lips and said in a tone that seemed to hold a touch of anticipation, "Is that so?"

"I really want to see if that hypocrite will shed a tear when he sees your corpse."

As soon as Gaara finished speaking, sand began to pour out of the gourd behind him.

Seeing this, Sarutobi Asuma didn't hesitate and immediately announced the start of the match. He took a step back, but his mind was already fully focused. He subconsciously glanced at Hyuga Yuzuru and saw that the other was still sitting in the same place, which reassured him.

If nothing unexpected happens in this match...

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique!"

Sasuke launched the first attack.

A dense burst of flames swept towards Gaara, but he simply stared indifferently at the approaching flames, his arms still clasped in front of him, looking exceptionally confident.

The sand behind him formed a barrier in front of him, while at the same time, a tiny sand eyeball flew into the sky through it.

Sasuke's figure approached rapidly using the flames as a means of communication, just as expected. Gaara's face showed a hint of boredom. He quietly turned his head to look at the stands, where the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, stared at him expressionlessly.

Isn't it the right time yet...?

Gaara suppressed his murderous intent with some irritation—if he had a choice, he truly wished that the person he would kill right now was that so-called father in the stands.

Sasuke's figure moved through the sand, and a sharp kunai flashed out from the shadows. Gaara neither dodged nor avoided it, letting the kunai fall on his body with a crisp clinking sound, and was deflected by his sand armor.

Two rows of sand formed an arm, and in the instant it swept across its side, the sand arm broke free at the end, turning into a sharp kunai that swept across the entire field.

As Sasuke moved at high speed, the three tomoe in his eye sockets shimmered, but his expression remained completely unchanged.

Several kunai flew out of his hand in succession, colliding in the air and changing their trajectory multiple times before passing through the sand and landing in front of Gaara.

Do you look down on me...?

"burst!"

A sudden low shout rang out, and the next moment, Gaara's expression changed slightly. Behind the originally ordinary kunai, there were now explosive tags attached.

The massive explosion instantly kicked up a cloud of dust, sending Gaara flying backward a distance. The sand behind him couldn't keep up with the speed at which he was blasted away. He landed on the ground, rolled a few times, and was slowly lifted up by the sand, with some cracks appearing on his body.

"It's noisy."

More than the damage from the explosion itself, the sound of the explosion at close range became the source of Gaara's anger.

He reached out his hand, and the sand surged.

"Sand-bound coffin!"

The sand left on the ground suddenly rushed towards Uchiha Sasuke, tightly binding his legs, and then more sand was added to fix him in place.

Gaara's face showed a hint of bloodlust. Throughout the Chunin Exams, due to the interference of Konoha's Anbu, he hadn't killed a single person. Although he wasn't a cruel monster who needed to kill, the fact that ants he could easily crush were repeatedly rescued still made him feel uneasy from the bottom of his heart.

Good, this time, no one can interfere with my movements.

"Sandfall Funeral!"

The sand was suddenly enveloped by immense pressure, but instead of exploding into blood as Gaara had expected, only faint smoke drifted out.

Shadow clones!?

"Rachel!"

A massive bolt of lightning hurtled towards Gaara at a speed fast enough to cleave through lightning. Gaara only had time to stretch out his hand and create a small shield before he was struck directly by the Lightning Blade. He was sent flying like a cannonball, a piece of his sand armor on his shoulder torn apart, blood gushing out, contrasting sharply with his red hair.

It slammed heavily against the wall, the terrifying impact directly collapsing a section of the newly reinforced wall. Gaara's face contorted with rage. At this moment, he no longer wanted to think about the trivial matters he had been instructed to do earlier. His mind was filled with only one thought: to kill the guy in front of him!

At that very moment, Hyuga Yuzuru, standing in the stands, suddenly frowned.

After only a second of brief thought, he suddenly said to Shisui behind him, "Prioritize protecting the students."

He formed hand seals, first releasing the sealing spell on his body, and then, with his hands rapidly forming seals again, he slammed his hands on the ground amidst the astonished gazes of the other shadows. At that moment, two wooden coffins rose up behind him.

Everyone instinctively prepared for battle.

Hyuga Yuzuru, however, simply said softly to Ai and Onoki, "Please take good care of your students, Kage."

Almost as soon as the words were spoken, Onoki and Ai realized what had happened.

The two figures flashed, and the next moment, the ninjas from Kumogakure and Iwagakure quickly began to evacuate the scene. Even the students who did not understand what was happening listened to the instructions of their teachers and left before the chaos ensued.

Asuma, who was acting as the referee on the field, immediately realized the situation. Before the two who were still fighting could react, he rushed to Sasuke's side and took Sasuke away in a blink of an eye.

"Whoosh!"