"Byakugan!"
Hyūga Neji frowned slightly at the two-headed Hellhound in front of him. A Hellhound isn't human, so its body structure is completely different.
Gentle Fist relies on knowing the locations of an opponent's chakra points. And Neji had no idea where a Hellhound's tenketsu would be.
He felt this was going to be tricky—though not impossible.
He could use the Byakugan to observe the chakra flow inside the Hellhound and locate its chakra points that way.
After all, without using chakra, you can't see the tenketsu at all. If it were a human, it wouldn't be this troublesome—every Hyūga knows the 361 human chakra points by heart.
"Heads up, Neji!"
Inuzuka Kiba called out, and the massive body lunged.
Two meters vanished in a heartbeat as the Hellhound brought a huge paw down. With that hulking frame, every movement carried crushing pressure. A blast of wind hit Neji's face.
He retreated two steps, sprang up, and slapped both palms onto the back of the Hellhound's hand.
His chakra seeped into the beast's thick fur, but the Hellhound reacted at once and flung him away.
Neji didn't press it. He quickly opened the distance again.
"Haha, again!"
Seeing this, Kiba was elated. In the past he couldn't last two exchanges with Neji; now he was even gaining a slight edge.
The Hellhound surged forward after Neji, spreading its twin claws—like ten knives—down in a scissoring chop.
Neji didn't dare take it head-on. But he didn't back off either—he slipped inside the arc just before the claws fell.
Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!
Both palms thrust for the Hellhound's chest.
But after the first two strikes, Kiba reacted— the Hellhound sprang straight up, vaulted over Neji, and landed behind him in an instant.
Unhurried, Neji turned to face it. Those two strikes hadn't worked, but he had already locked down one of the Hellhound's chakra points.
From here, it was simple: find a few more points and end the match.
"Kiba's actually going back and forth with Neji?"
Tenten was shocked, eyes wide.
"That dog Kiba turns into is seriously strong!"
Naruto was impressed—and a flicker of fighting spirit lit his eyes. He'd never thrown down with a two-headed dog before.
"Kitazawa-sensei really is a do-it-all."
Stars sparkled in Ino's eyes. She was now dying to get the new jutsu Kitazawa had promised her.
Hinata nodded without thinking. Before she met Kitazawa, she always believed Neji was unbeatable. Now not only had she beaten him, even Kiba looked reborn—it was hard to believe.
Hinata unconsciously clenched her hands, longing on her face. She wanted to become a ninja as outstanding as Kitazawa.
"No wonder Kiba was so confident earlier," Shikamaru said, suddenly getting it. "He actually has the goods."
"Kiba's about to lose," Sasuke cut in coolly.
"What?"
Everyone glanced over.
At some point Sasuke had already activated his Sharingan.
The next second, the flow of the fight changed.
Neji, who had been evading, stepped straight in.
Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!
His palms flashed—five strikes in a breath.
"This won't work—… wait, what?!"
Kiba's tone flipped. He felt his chakra grind to a complete halt.
With a thud, he and his shadow clone were forced apart; the fusion ended. Kiba toppled to the ground, unable to move.
"Tenketsu strikes," Neji said calmly, drawing back his hands. In an instant he'd sealed five of Kiba's points and cut off his chakra.
"Sasuke-kun, how did you know?" Sakura asked quickly.
"I could see it," Sasuke said, full of confidence. "Before the Sharingan, nothing hides."
Shikamaru arched a brow. Sasuke's ego was ballooning to the max.
"As expected of Sasuke-kun!" Sakura praised on cue.
"But Kiba's improvement really is huge," Ino sighed. "I probably can't beat him anymore."
Her clan's mind technique is too limited on its own, and the Hellhound is so fast she'd never get a clean shot. She pinned her last hopes on whatever Kitazawa would teach her next.
"Winner: Hyūga Neji," Kitazawa announced promptly.
Front row of the stands.
"Neji's performance is no worse than Sasuke's," Hiruzen observed. "Calm from start to finish."
"That's not an existing Inuzuka secret technique," Tsunade said, more interested in Kiba's Hellhound.
"It isn't," Hiruzen chuckled. "It's a new secret technique your student Kitazawa created—he calls it Hellhound."
"Kitazawa isn't my student," Tsunade sniffed.
"If he can invent an Inuzuka-style secret, that means he's got a solid command of Yang Release nature transformation," Hiruzen went on—his point being simple: if Kitazawa mastered Yang Release, the credit ultimately traced back to Tsunade.
"It's his talent," Tsunade said after a two-second pause.
Beside them, Shikaku felt a sweat coming on. In Konoha's pecking order, after the Hyūga and Uchiha came the Ino–Shika–Cho trio.
The Inuzuka were a rung below, but Kiba's display put pressure on them—especially with all the clan heads and elite jōnin watching, and Hiruzen himself present. If Inuzuka stole the spotlight here, Ino–Shika–Cho would lose prestige.
Not that Shikaku could change anything; all he could do was pin hopes on Shikamaru, Ino, and Chōji.
Time flowed on, and the following matches weren't as spectacular—there were a lot of students in the elite bracket.
"Round one ends here. Fifteen-minute break, then round two," Kitazawa called.
Compared to round one, there were barely half as many students left. That meant the odds of top contenders like Sasuke running into one another went way up.
"First match of round two: Nara Shikamaru vs. Tenten!"
As the break ended, Kitazawa went back to the draw box and pulled two slips.
"My turn!"
Tenten slung on her summoning scroll—packed full of tools and weapons.
"Youth fears no strong foe!"
Rock Lee flashed his teeth. "Beat him, Tenten!"
"Watch his shadow," Neji reminded her.
"Mm."
Tenten nodded and strode out.
"What a drag."
Hearing his opponent was Tenten, Shikamaru let out a long sigh. At this stage, her endless no-mercy weapon spam was a real headache.
"Your dad's watching—try not to lose too ugly," Ino teased.
"Not getting blown out counts as a win," Shikamaru yawned, ignoring the bait as he ambled onto the field.
"Can this kid act serious for once?" Shikaku winced. The Third Hokage was right beside him; how was this listless lump supposed to inherit the Will of Fire like that?
"Begin!" Kitazawa called from the sideline.
Tenten snapped open her summoning scroll.
A storm of steel fanned out like a shower of blossoms.
Shikamaru saw it coming. The instant she popped the scroll, he broke into a run—arcing left to slip past the barrage.
Blades and spikes thunked into the dirt by the dozen.
Shikamaru glanced at the sun, then at the scattered weapons, and closed fast on Tenten.
"Not that easy!"
She remembered Neji's warning: if he got close, he'd try to link their shadows to capture her.
Twin Rising Dragons!
She whipped the scroll skyward. It unfurled on its own, vomiting a fresh torrent of tools.
Shikamaru had no choice but to dodge—circling around her as he did.
In moments, the ground all around Tenten was studded thick with weapons, like a bamboo shoot thicket.
"Don't run!"
She caught the scroll and flung out a chain.
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. He twisted aside, slipping the chain—and flew through hand seals.
Shadow Gathering Technique!
When the chain missed, Tenten snapped it back in a curve and sent it snaring for Shikamaru's waist.
He "failed" to react, and the links cinched around him.
"Got you!"
A grin spread across her face—then froze as his shadow leapt, racing along the chain toward her.
Startled, Tenten released the chain and hopped back two steps—only to lock up. She looked down: at some point, her shadow had already been caught by his.
Tenten was dazed. When did that happen?
"Brilliant!"
Shikaku's eyes lit up, delighted.
"Two shadow tendrils," Hiruzen praised. "The obvious one rode the chain. The hidden one traveled through the shadows of the weapons on the ground."
That second part was the tricky bit: the weapons' shadows had to be linked for Shikamaru to use them. Which meant his "random" dodging earlier was anything but—he'd been calculating the sun's angle, connecting shadow to shadow until he could snag Tenten herself.
"Your praise is too kind, Hokage-sama," Shikaku said modestly.
"I don't like opponents like this," Tsunade muttered. A too-smart enemy is scary—and that's one reason Ino–Shika–Cho endures as a classic combo.
"Winner: Nara Shikamaru," Kitazawa announced.
Once most ninja are captured, they can't fight back. Tenten had quantity, but not the raw power of a Sasuke or a Naruto; with her shadow seized, she could be compelled to put a kunai to her own throat. She had no choice but to yield.
"Fourth match of round two: Hyūga Hinata vs. Yamanaka Ino!"
Kitazawa glanced at the slip, one brow lifting.
"Ino, don't get wiped too hard," Shikamaru grinned, tossing her own jab back at her.
"Even if it's Hinata, I'm not going down easy," Ino sniffed.
"Try not to lose too fast," Sakura offered the kindest of frenemy blessings.
"Not as fast as you," Ino shot back.
"I'm a medical ninja!" Sakura protested—launching into the usual "medics aren't about fighting, losing doesn't count" talk. The mood turned lively.
"Ino, please go easy on me."
Hinata stepped to center, settling into a Gentle Fist stance.
Ino sighed inwardly and opened with Mind Transfer Jutsu at the bell—afraid she'd never get the chance if she waited.
It didn't help.
Leaf Body Flicker!
Hinata blurred in front of her; two fingers pressed the chakra point at Ino's wrist.
Ino felt the chakra in her hand stall, and her Mind Transfer broke.
Hinata didn't follow with chakra—she placed both palms lightly on Ino's abdomen and stopped there.
"I really can't beat you," Ino said simply, recognizing the mercy and surrendering cleanly.
"Winner: Hyūga Hinata," Kitazawa declared.
"Big sis is amazing!" Hanabi-chan chirped. At two and a half—and shinobi maturing early—she could follow about half of it.
"Hanabi, learn well from your sister," Hyūga Hiashi said, ruffling her hair.
"Mm!" Hanabi nodded solemnly.
"Ninth match of round two: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Uchiha Sasuke!"
At Kitazawa's announcement, the crowd visibly perked up.
By now, the Student Council selection bouts had given everyone a solid read on the field. There was no doubt Sasuke and Naruto were top of the class, matched only by the likes of Kurama Yakumo, Hyūga Neji, Hyūga Hinata, and Aburame Shino.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto's fighting spirit flared. "Didn't expect us to meet again—let's have another youthful showdown!"
"No matter how many times, the result's the same," Sasuke said with a sidelong glance.
"Don't be so sure!"
Naruto threw up a thumbs-up. "I prepared a special surprise just for you!"
"Pointless."
To Sasuke, Naruto's only real headache of a jutsu was Multiple Shadow Clones.
"Come on, Sasuke," Naruto said as he walked forward. "Youth is waiting for us!"
"…"
Sasuke's mouth twitched. He swore he'd beat the word "youth" out of Naruto's vocabulary today.
"I'm rooting for Naruto," Kiba said, scratching his head. "Sasuke's so full of himself."
"As if Sasuke-kun could lose," Sakura shot him a glare.
"Naruto's been in Kitazawa-sensei's special training nonstop," Ino said, hands on hips. "If Kiba can power up, so can Naruto."
"What do you mean 'even I can' power up?!" Kiba yelped. "Me getting stronger is totally normal!"
"You guys sure have energy," Shikamaru yawned.
"If it's Sasuke from the last match, his odds aren't bad," Shino mused.
"Agreed," Neji said for once.
Karin stayed quiet—just feeling envious, and wondering when she'd be able to fit in with everyone like this.
Front row of the stands.
"Tsunade, who do you favor?" Hiruzen asked with a smile.
"Naruto," Tsunade said offhand. "Sheer chakra gives him the edge."
"You're missing something," Hiruzen said mildly. "In last week's practical, Naruto lost to Sasuke."
"How?" Tsunade asked, surprised.
"Like this—" Hiruzen described it. He hadn't seen it himself, but the Anbu's daily reports on Naruto were clear enough—and as a ninjutsu instructor, he could reconstruct a fight from a few lines.
"I see." Tsunade was impressed. "Didn't expect Sasuke to have that kind of tactical sense."
Then a thought struck her. "You don't look worried at all," she added.
"You know me," Hiruzen chuckled. "You'll find out soon enough." He meant the Rasengan.
Tsunade resisted the urge to pound the table. She fixed her eyes on Naruto—she'd see what was worth Hiruzen's coyness.
A short distance away—
"I guess this is the best kind of fate," Mikoto murmured. "I never thought those two would become good friends."
"A pity about Minato," Fugaku said quietly, looking at Naruto. If Minato were still alive, the Uchiha wouldn't be in such a bind. Tsunade's return had eased things; otherwise the clan might already be on the road to rebellion.
"I wonder which of them will win," he added. He'd seen Sasuke's record—over the last two terms, he'd lost more than he'd won against Naruto.
"He'll win," Itachi said, and told them about last week's test.
"Oh?" Fugaku was surprised—his son was getting clever, using Shuriken Manipulation to counter Multiple Shadow Clones and fighting with clarity and structure.
"Sasuke's grown a lot," Mikoto said, delighted.
"Begin!" Kitazawa said once the two finished the seal of confrontation.
~~~
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