Chunin Exam Finals: Crushing Neji and the Leaf's Destruction
I met Neji at the center of the arena for the Chunin Exam finals. He was staring with complicated eyes toward the spectator seats, where Hinata—who had shone brightly in the first match—and her father, Hyuga Hiashi, who was praising her with a smile, sat together. Seeing that look on his face, I spoke to him.
"I don't know the details about the relationship between the Hyuga main house and the branch family, so I can't say how deep your anger runs. But don't take it out on innocent Hinata. Go confront Hiashi, the head of the main family, instead. The problems between the main and branch houses are the clan head's responsibility... And who knows? There might be other reasons you aren't aware of."
"Shut up!"
"Haah~ Kid, your big bro is trying to talk to you nicely.... Last warning. After this match, go meet the clan head. Whether you question him, fight him, or whatever—do something. You'll get an answer one way or another."
He looked pissed, but this time he stayed silent and fell into thought.
"Begin the match!"
Crack. Crack.
Setting that aside, I slowly approached Neji while cracking my knuckles, intending to pay him back for all the provocation. He took a Gentle Fist stance, watching for an opening. I charged in first and threw a quick punch. Neji barely managed to duck his head to avoid the ridiculously fast strike since he had no special techniques or ninjutsu to rely on.
Renewal Taekwondo—Front Kick!
BAM!
My foot slammed upward into his jaw. Neji floated in the air for a moment before crashing back down. The heavy impact already had his legs shaking, but he refused to give up and rushed at me again.
Gentle Fist—Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms! First strike! I lightly dodged the finger thrust aimed at my right shoulder. Second strike! I deflected the one targeting my left arm with a quick forearm block. He nearly lost his balance but caught himself, then realized his attacks weren't landing easily and sped up his barrage.
Eighth strike! Sixteenth strike!! Thirty-second strike!! Finally, the sixty-fourth strike!!!
I either dodged or redirected every single attack. As Neji launched the final blow straight at my chest, I countered.
Renewal Taekwondo—Hooking Kick!
THUD! CRASH!
I pinned his arm down with the top of my foot, spun my body, and smashed him with a spinning back kick. Neji collapsed, blood spilling from his mouth.
The examiner approached to check on his condition. Realizing that staying down like this would mean failing without doing anything else, Neji grit his teeth, forced his trembling body up, and took a stance to use his last ounce of strength for Rotation.
"Neji, if you block this, I'll forfeit."
Hearing those words, Neji swallowed hard, tension clear on his face. I opened the first gate of the Eight Inner Gates—Gate of Opening. I dashed toward him, slammed my left foot into the ground, twisted my hips powerfully, and unleashed a devastating kick with my right leg.
Renewal Taekwondo—True Spinning Heel Kick!
Rotation!
He spun with everything he had to use the technique, but...
BOOOOOOM!!!!
A massive roar and cloud of dust completely obscured the arena. After some time passed and the dust finally settled, the spectators saw Neji collapsed and unconscious, bleeding on the ground, while I was already walking away. The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers.
"KYAAAAAH♡ Jin won!!! He's so cool♡"
Ino was screaming at the top of her lungs while waving a glow stick. Beside her, Sakura stood with her mouth hanging open.
"You did it, Jin!!!"
Hinata, who had been watching from a short distance, looked torn between worrying about her cousin Neji being carried out on a stretcher and celebrating my victory. Eventually she smiled brightly and shouted loudly in my direction. Hiashi beside her wore a complicated expression, apparently having heard what I said before the match.
After the match ended and I returned to the waiting room, Rock Lee came running up in excitement.
"Jin!! What was that taijutsu?! I've never seen that style before—it was incredible!"
"It's called Taekwondo. It's an ancient martial art, but it's not very well known in the Leaf Village."
"Ooooooh! Even the name sounds awesome!"
"You're up next, right Lee? Go out there and do well."
"Yes! I'll win beautifully, just like you did, Jin!"
He gave me a thumbs-up. If Guy had listened to my advice, Lee's chances of winning might have increased, but the outcome was still uncertain.
The chat was on fire from the flashy victory, and I received a ton of donations for the first time in a while.
"Alright, shall we start getting ready?"
"Why would I intervene?"
I checked the chat and pulled out the Anbu mask I'd bought for cosplay yesterday on my way home.
"First, I'm going to watch the Gaara versus Rock Lee match. Then I was thinking of hiding my face and going to spectate Orochimaru versus Hiruzen?"
I bought some snacks, met up with Hinata, and moved to the spectator seats where Ino was waiting.
"Jin♡ Hinata! Congratulations! It looks like both of you will pass the Chunin Exam!"
"Ah... Jin might pass, but I'm not so sure about myself..."
"No way. You did really well too, Hinata, so both of you have a good chance. I'll help you pass the next Chunin Exam too, Ino."
"Okay! Thank you, Jin♡"
I patted Ino's head, whose every word now carried a cute, coquettish tone. Hinata stared at me, her face turning red.
"Hmm? Hehe."
When I patted Hinata's head too, she broke into a bright, happy smile as if it felt wonderful.
"Hah~ It's way too easy for a guy like me to win women's hearts."
After messing with the chat a bit, I glanced at the burning comments, chuckled, and looked down at the arena. Gaara stood with his arms crossed while Rock Lee had one hand behind his back and the other raised in his signature ready stance.
"Fourth match, begin!"
Tap tap tap!
Rock Lee charged forward the instant the match started. Gaara didn't even uncross his arms and simply watched. Leaf Gale!
THUD!
Gaara's sand blocked Rock Lee's spinning kick. Lee retreated, automatically moving to avoid the sand chasing him, and threw shuriken. As expected, the sand blocked those too. After several more attacks with no clean hits, the impatient Lee closed the distance to launch a rapid barrage at close range.
But the moment he got close, Gaara uncrossed his arms and swung. The sand moved even faster, nearly grabbing one of Lee's arms, but Lee sliced through it with a kunai and jumped far back to escape.
"Lee!! Release them!"
"Yes!!"
They must have planned this in advance. Lee immediately removed the weights from his ankles. With a bang, sand sprayed across the floor as they vanished.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Lee's attacks grew even faster. Gaara barely blocked them, but Lee was gradually outpacing the sand. Eventually, Lee's fist connected squarely with Gaara's face.
"I felt that one."
After blurting out that cliché line, Rock Lee watched as sand poured from Gaara's face. His expression hardened. He glanced once toward me in the stands, then crossed both arms and declared:
"Huuu~ I'll end this now!"
Eight Inner Gates—Third Gate: Gate of Life, release!
Chakra visibly surged across his entire body. He crouched down and opened the fourth gate—Gate of Pain, release! His whole body turned red as veins and muscles bulged prominently.
BOOOOM!!!!!!
With a tremendous roar, Lee charged forward at a speed Gaara's sand couldn't match and smashed into him. The moment Gaara was sent flying, Lee teleported behind him and kicked again. Bang bang bang bang bang!!
Lee was now so fast he was barely visible. He relentlessly pummeled Gaara, grabbed the airborne Gaara's belt, and opened the fifth gate—Gate of Limit, release!!!
The strain felt like his arm tendons were snapping, but Lee grit his teeth through the pain, yanked the belt to pull Gaara toward him, and slammed his palm forward.
Leaf Rising Wind!
CRAAAAASH!!!!!!
Lee's second Rising Wind drove Gaara straight into the ground. When the dust cleared, a cushion of sand had gathered beneath Gaara to absorb some of the impact, but the force was still too much and he couldn't stand. Lee also crashed awkwardly due to the Gates' recoil. In that moment, Gaara regained his senses and reached toward him.
As Gaara's sand flew at Lee, he barely managed to dodge.
"Forfeit! Lee! Do you want your dream to end here?!"
When I shouted, Lee looked at me, thought for a moment, then raised his hand.
"I... lost...."
During that time Gaara had already sent sand after Lee, but Guy blocked it with a bang. Seeing his attack stopped, Gaara glared furiously at Guy. Guy glared right back.
"You attacked an opponent who was about to forfeit—and that opponent is my student!"
Lee had declared his surrender. Guy helped support him as they tried to leave the arena.
"Krrrr I'll kill you all."
Now it begins. The enemies hidden among the crowd started their operation: Destroy the Leaf.
I endured the genjutsu they cast using my Mental Resistance skill, moved Hinata and Ino to safety, put on the mask, and hid near the confrontation between Orochimaru and Hiruzen to watch.
"I wanted to watch while eating popcorn and drinking beer, but I can't with this mask on... What a shame."
I licked my lips and watched their battle with great interest. After a brief exchange in the beginning, Orochimaru retreated slightly and formed seals. Coffins rose from the ground. Hiruzen threw shuriken to stop the third one from being summoned, but the first two had already appeared, and the First and Second Hokage stepped out.
As expected, the fight between Hokage was flashy and grand in scale.
"Tsk. If I raise my stats and can use the recoil-free version of Renewal or the infinite version of Shinra Tensei or something, could I reach that level??"
I continued watching the Hokage battle. In the end, Hiruzen tried to take Orochimaru down with him in a mutual kill, but only half-succeeded. Orochimaru retreated while Hiruzen closed his eyes for the last time.
"Should I get myself one flashy skill too?"
A few days later, after the Third Hokage Hiruzen's funeral ended and the upper brass were debating who the next Hokage should be, I returned from the game world after spending time on a date with both Hinata and Ino.