Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were preparing to fight Hinata according to their earlier plan. Meanwhile, Hinata had gathered tremendous courage and wanted to show off her skills in front of Shindai and Naruto!
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Puff puff puff!" Naruto created an overwhelming number of shadow clones, all charging straight at Hinata.
Hinata spread her hands open, palms facing outward toward Naruto's clones.
[Activate Laser Beam!]
Continuous laser beams shot from the devices embedded in her palms, sweeping through and eliminating a large portion of Naruto's shadow clones.
However, the device had to shut down briefly to cool off after overheating mid-attack.
Still, only a small group of Naruto's clones remained.
As these remaining clones approached Hinata,
[Lightning Release: Thunder Strike!]
Her Chakra Armor unleashed powerful electric currents, instantly obliterating the clones right in front of her.
Just as Hinata was about to finish off the remaining few clones, one of them suddenly 'poofed' into Sasuke from the side.
[Fire Release: Blazing Shuriken Dance!]
Sasuke launched shuriken mixed within flames straight at Hinata.
The attack came too suddenly, causing Hinata to panic slightly. Even though her Chakra Armor had already planned out an escape route, since she'd only just received this armor yesterday and hadn't fully adapted to it yet, she couldn't react immediately.
Instinctively, Hinata raised her arm to protect her head.
Fortunately, Hinata's Chakra Armor was highly defensive; taking hits from those flame-wrapped shuriken wasn't a big deal.
Actually, whether those fire-wrapped shuriken hit or not didn't really matter—it was merely the beginning.
"Sakura!"
Sasuke called out to Sakura.
"Coming!"
While running forward, Sakura threw kunai around—each attached with strings.
These strings were connected to the very same shuriken Sasuke had just fired at Hinata.
Moments later, as Sakura drove the kunai into the ground, Hinata became entangled in the strings and immobilized.
Sasuke then shouted at Naruto: "Naruto!"
Lifting his fist—which was as big as a clay pot—Naruto charged excitedly toward Hinata. "Hinata, I'm sorry—but this battle is ours!"
Shindai looked at Naruto strangely. Was this... technically picking on someone he liked?
Strictly speaking, no. But... he felt a bit envious. He himself would only dare to act bold in front of Pakura and Hikaku Uchiha.
Sighing, Shindai thought it seemed like they were going to lose after all. There wasn't much he could do about it, though—Hinata had only just practiced how to use the Chakra Armor yesterday, nothing more than that.
In Shindai's opinion, the Chakra Armor was meant to be a combat-assistance system—the actual fight still depended on the user.
Nowadays, Hinata almost entirely relied on her Chakra Armor for battle. If her movements were restricted and she couldn't use her Chakra Armor, Hinata would be helpless.
Although there was a voice-controlled function that allowed Hinata to activate any Ninjutsu Card ability she desired, she still needed to press a button to enable this feature.
But the outcome wasn't too bad—at least Hinata had been brave this time. Once she took that first courageous step, there would surely be a second, leading to continuous bravery.
Kakashi exhaled in relief.
Thank goodness, thank goodness… For a moment, he nearly lost all dignity and wouldn't have been able to show his face in public again.
Just as Naruto's fist struck Hinata, the ever-unpredictable Naruto experienced yet another mishap.
Naruto hadn't noticed a stone beneath his feet and tripped over it, falling directly onto Hinata. Instinctively trying to grab something to steady himself, he grabbed the threads binding her—and then... pulled them right off.
Lying on the ground, Naruto looked at the thread in his hand: "Huh?"
Sasuke and Sakura both slapped their foreheads hard: "What an idiot!"
Kakashi's face instantly turned grim. At a moment like this, Naruto actually went and messed up!
"Forgive me, Naruto!"
Although Hinata couldn't yet see the pressure points and hadn't mastered Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms, she could fully utilize the technique through the pressure point indication function of her Chakra Armor.
[Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!]
A small Eight Trigrams diagram appeared beneath Hinata's feet as she began attacking the pressure points all over Naruto's body.
[Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms! ... Thirty-two palms!]
The full Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms attack struck Naruto head-on.
Naruto was immediately knocked flat on the ground, his chakra scattered and unable to rise again.
With Naruto defeated, Hinata turned her attention to her next opponent—Sasuke.
[Water Release: Water Darts!]
Using a Ninjutsu Card, Hinata extended her hands toward Sasuke and unleashed a barrage of water darts.
Sasuke kept dodging, but the darts came too fast and dense, inevitably striking him several times.
Struck by the impact, Sasuke hesitated slightly. Seizing the opportunity, Hinata rushed forward and unleashed the same Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms attack on Sasuke that she had used on Naruto.
Sasuke also collapsed to the ground.
Seeing Sasuke fall, Sakura panicked badly.
"Sasuke~!"
Sakura ran toward Sasuke, but Hinata swiftly struck her down with one blow. However, since they were both girls, Hinata didn't bother giving Sakura the full treatment.
Shindai leaned against a tree, laughing so hard he couldn't stand straight.
Shindai thought Hinata was going to lose, but Naruto gave him a huge surprise, turning the match around for Hinata.
"It's all thanks to Naruto. Kakashi, why do you look so sour? You don't know how to smile or something? Haha!"
Shindai laughed so hard tears came out of his eyes.
Hinata had already released her Chakra Armor and ran up to Shindai. "Teacher Shindai!"
Hinata looked at Shindai with expectation.
Shindai gently petted Hinata's head. "See? I told you that you could do it too. You did great. Keep it up."
Hinata smiled happily. It felt really good to be praised for the first time.
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura, who had recovered, were scolding Naruto, pointing fingers at his nose.
They were so close to winning when Naruto completely messed it up.
Knowing he had made a mistake, Naruto could only endure their scolding.
Hinata approached Naruto nervously and asked in a shy voice, "Um... Naruto, are you okay?"
Naruto stood up energetically from the ground without showing any disappointment. Instead, he said passionately, "Hinata! This time I was careless! Next time I'll definitely beat you!"
Not knowing what to say, Hinata simply nodded. "Hmm~"
Shindai strolled over to Kakashi with a playful grin. "Hey Kakashi, come by my puppet shop later. Dress nicely, okay? I've even come up with a poster slogan: 'Puppets Personally Selected by Konoha's Elite Jonin, the Copy Ninja Kakashi.' How does that sound?"
Kakashi asked with a dark expression, "Can I choose something else?"
Shindai shook one finger side to side. "No way~ A bet's a bet."
Shindai called out to Hinata, "Hinata, meet me tomorrow morning at eight. That's it for today. See you later~"
Shindai left the training grounds using [Shifting Body Technique].
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