"I agree, but only if the other party agrees." The Third added one last line.
"Third!" Everyone present was shocked that the Third would actually agree to Naruto's nearly unreasonable request.
But a few who knew the inside story, like Kakashi, could somewhat understand. Faced with a Naruto who looked more and more like the Fourth, the Third had always felt a trace of guilt in his heart.
Since both were Konoha shinobi, the Sand, Grass, and other villages' ninjas said it didn't matter. That was how it should be anyway—one less Konoha ninja meant one more slot for a promotion to chunin for their own village. Why not?
Although at this point, aside from Sand, there was only one genin from the Sound left.
One had to admit Orochimaru had some skills. In just a few years, the village he set up could actually overshadow the ninjas from several other small villages.
"Hmph, so this is the so-called main family privilege? After beating the main family's young lady, now another piece of trash pops out from who knows where." Neji didn't care whether he fought Naruto again—defeating Hinata hadn't cost him much effort—but he was very displeased with this attitude.
To be precise, he was displeased with Konoha's high-ups and the main family. And of course, with Naruto, the guy who'd actually dared kiss Hinata's forehead right in front of him.
"Are you scared?" Naruto looked at Neji with a sneer. Neji could see it—eyes full of disdain and contempt.
That was the look Neji had always hated most.
"How could I possibly be afraid of the likes of you?"
"Coward."
"Fine, then let me teach you a lesson, you little brat who only graduated this year." Veins stood out on Neji's forehead from anger.
Since you're looking for death, don't blame me.
"Just what I wanted. Hey, referee, get ready to announce the match." Naruto jerked his chin at the still-dazed Hayate Gekko.
"Ahem... This... fine, the added preliminary match begins." Hayate said helplessly. What was with the Third today?
"Finally I can beat you fair and square. Heh, I was just thinking—if the Third hadn't agreed, what should I do? I'd probably have forced a lesson on you anyway. Because I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and speaking my mind is also one of my ninja ways. And of course Hinata's 'never give up' from before."
Arrogant—Naruto actually dared say that in front of so many jonin. Aside from "arrogant," the jonin couldn't think of a second word.
Would we let you do that? Just a genin—don't take yourself too seriously.
"That guy, Naruto..." Kakashi was different from the other jonin. As the supervising jonin, he knew more.
Naruto was probably serious this time. Without borrowing the Nine-Tails' power, he'd already forced Kakashi to use his Sharingan.
And during the Land of Waves mission, it was Naruto who destroyed the S-rank Taki rogue ninja Kakuzu's heart. Whereas Kakashi and Zabuza combined had only barely blocked Kakuzu's not-even-full-strength assault.
Judging by that mission alone, Naruto's record was better than his.
"Come on, show me what makes you so confident and proud. Well? Need a rest? I could consider letting you recover a bit more chakra, so no one says I bullied the weak."
"Hmph, someone like Lady Hinata isn't even worth me using much chakra on. Your mouth is big—but I wonder if your strength matches it." Neji wasn't to be outdone. As one of the strongest genin in Konoha, his base strength was formidable.
What's more, at only twelve, he could already use the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and Rotation—techniques even main family members struggled to learn.
"Is that so? Just how strong are you, really?" Naruto's voice suddenly came from behind Neji.
"When—! Byakugan!" Neji was shocked, then activated the Hyuga's unique kekkei genkai. The Byakugan's famed 360-degree vision made it a superlative scouting ability—surpassing the Sharingan in pure perception.
Of course, compared to the Sharingan's numerous evolved functions, the Byakugan really had only that one perception function.
"Such massive chakra inside—looks like this one's the original."
"Leaf Whirlwind!" A vicious sweeping kick came at Neji.
But Neji was Neji—the super expert whose strength among the Konoha Twelve in the original was second only to Sasuke and Naruto.
His reaction and combat instincts were top-tier.
"Rotation." Another so-called absolute defense.
In the Naruto world, there were countless "absolute defenses": this Rotation, Gaara's Sand Shield, Susanoo, Rashomon...
But in reality, all these absolute defenses were relative.
With Naruto's current taijutsu, he couldn't break Neji's Rotation.
Rotation not only defended—it also had some rebound effect, easily flinging Naruto back several meters.
"Good chance." Naruto hadn't expected Neji to have such a defense. After being knocked back by Rotation, he hesitated for an instant—and Neji immediately seized the opportunity.
"It's already over." Indeed, Naruto now stood within Neji's Eight Trigrams range.
"That stance—is it Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms." What terrifying talent—no wonder Konoha kept producing geniuses. Disguised as the Sound team's jonin leader, Orochimaru felt a pang of appreciation. Too bad you don't have those eyes—otherwise you'd be another fine choice of vessel.
"Gentle Fist Art, Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms." Neji launched a fierce assault. Fingers and palm-edges struck Naruto's body in flurries.
It ended with Naruto falling to the ground.
"Over. The weak are the weak." Neji glanced disdainfully at Naruto lying to one side, then called to Hayate Gekko: "Hey, referee, you can announce the victory now."
"Hey, you over-there-something-ji—what you beat was a shadow clone. Why are you acting like you've already won?" Before Hayate could speak, Naruto—who'd been standing opposite Neji—opened his mouth.
"What... it wasn't the original! But the strength of the hits just now—and the chakra—I couldn't be wrong. Unless... unless his body has reached a terrifying level, shadow clones wouldn't be that strong." Neji thought.
"Whew... I almost got fooled myself." Hayate Gekko.
"Heh, your strength is indeed decent, but... you shouldn't have done that to Hinata! So I'm going all out." As he spoke, Naruto shrugged off the white divine robe—like Piccolo's white cape—and when it hit the floor, it left a small crater.
In the Land of Waves against Kakuzu and in the Forest of Death against Orochimaru, Naruto hadn't worn this robe—he understood that facing that level of strength, he couldn't afford to hide his power.
But after coming to the tower, he put it back on. Or rather, he wore it most of the time. The weight of this weighted garment even surpassed Rock Lee's.
Otherwise why would Sasuke be convinced of Naruto's strength? He'd seen Naruto's hard work with his own eyes.
You should know Kakashi had once said that Naruto going all out had overall strength definitely at special-jonin level—and in pure taijutsu, even an ordinary jonin might not be his match.
That wasn't just talk. And after becoming a genin and going through so much, Naruto was even stronger now.
"Weighted... this guy..." Neji's face turned sour. From the start, Naruto had been hiding his strength.
"Hey, Kakashi, are everyone in your squad monsters except that Sakura? That Sasuke took down a solid Konoha genin with just taijutsu—overall, an ordinary chunin might not be his match. And now there's an even stronger Uzumaki Naruto. The weight of that robe... even if I wore it, I couldn't move that fast. You're not known for taijutsu—how come your disciples look like they were taught by Guy?" The only female jonin present, Kurenai Yuhi, couldn't help speaking.
"Well, who knows." Kakashi's answer was meaningful.
As a newly promoted jonin and genjutsu specialist, Kurenai's taijutsu wasn't bad, but it wasn't her forte.
And as a newly promoted jonin, she didn't know Naruto's true identity all that well.
"You think that's all? I said I'd go all out on you." A golden glow rose around Naruto.
Yes—this time it was no longer gold tinged with red. It was pure gold, because just now, Naruto's power had broken through again.
He'd finally achieved a perfect fusion with the Nine-Tails' chakra.
"This is..." Even the veteran jonin widened their eyes. The chunin and special jonin were even more stunned.
The only exceptions were the unruffled Third Hokage and Naruto's supervising jonin, Kakashi.
After all, this wasn't Naruto's first time using Nine-Tails Mode. With Kakashi's reports, the Third more or less knew the gist.
"This guy... he actually feels more dangerous than Gaara." Temari eyed the golden-glowing boy suspiciously.
As Gaara's sister who spent years with him, she had some sense of his strength.
But she hadn't expected someone in Konoha to have an even stronger presence than him.
"The Nine-Tails... so this is the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki... Didn't expect he could control it to this degree already." Baki, Sand's team leader jonin and one of the village's few elites, was even more shocked. Compared to their village's temperamental Gaara—then look at Konoha's jinchuriki.
And he was the Nine-Tails—the chief of the nine Tailed Beasts—while theirs was the weakest One-Tail. As expected—compare goods, and you'll want to throw yours out.
But the appearance of the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki—would that affect the original plan?
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]