"Your Taijutsu is stronger than rumored." Neji raised his palm, intending to strike Ino's ankle diagonally.
"Thanks for the compliment."
Ino, who regularly sparred with Tenten and Hinata, was very familiar with the Hyuga Clan's techniques. She quickly changed her move, turning a side kick into a sweeping kick, and with a light shout, delivered a powerful whip kick.
While women's physical strength is generally less than men's, their arm strength is also less than their leg strength. In a flash, the whip kick and palm collided, and both individuals were shaken.
Ino's current stats were Body 4, Strength 3, Speed 6. Only her speed was barely on par with Neji, with a significant gap in the other two categories.
As long as she could create distance, victory would be hers.
Using the force of the rebound, she performed a backflip. Before landing, she threw two Shuriken, two Kunai, and four senbon laced with anesthetic.
Neji did not dodge or evade. His palms danced up and down, deflecting all the ninja tools.
"Opportunity!" The distance between them had already stretched to six meters. Ino now had a clear understanding of Neji's speed. She finally found an opportunity to use Ninjutsu. At this moment, she quickly formed hand signs and exhaled a large amount of Chakra blasts, like bullets, in a fan-shaped area directly in front of her.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
Facing this incredibly swift Wind Release Ninjutsu, Hyuga Neji placed his left leg forward and his right leg back, twisting his waist and swinging his arms. Using his Byakugan, he clearly saw the direction of the Chakra blasts' attack. Then, his body rapidly spun, his two palms continuously blocking, parrying, and deflecting. Chakra was released from his entire body, creating a rotating Chakra shield that blocked all the wind blasts.
This was the secret technique of the Hyuga Main Family, a unique skill he had comprehended on his own, merely by relying on the Eight Trigrams Palm, which shared the same origin: Hakke. Kaiten!
"Clang, clang, clang!" The wind-natured Chakra collided with his palms, emitting a series of metallic clangs. Even Gekkō Hayate, the referee, had to retreat to avoid it.
Occasionally, deflected transparent Chakra blasts struck the surrounding walls, leaving behind conspicuous craters.
Ino took advantage of his defense against the Vacuum Sphere to once again widen the distance. Now, the gap between them was eight meters.
"Hakke Kuushou!" Seeing Ino still retreating, Neji immediately gathered Chakra and struck forcefully at her side. The air was compressed at high speed, rushing towards her like a cannonball.
Ino's retreat was seen through. Facing the Hakke Kuushou, she could only dodge to the side. The distance between them returned to seven meters. In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged more than ten moves. Ino wanted to create distance, while her opponent was solely focused on close-quarters combat with her.
"Watch out, these are poisoned Kunai!" Ino raised her hand and threw three more Kunai. One of them was pitch black and emitted a sickening stench, while the other two had Exploding Tags tied to their handles.
Neji dared not take them head-on. He shifted his stance, retreating to his side and rear to dodge. The distance between them instantly reached ten meters.
Amidst the explosions of the Exploding Tags, Ino declared loudly, "You've lost, Neji-kun."
The moment she created distance, she brought her index and middle fingers together, crossed her hands to form the "Jin" hand sign, and, accompanied by a distant cry of surprise from Naruto, she used the Shadow Clone Technique.
It was still the standard combat mode of one main body and two Shadow Clones.
Hyuga Neji quickly used his Byakugan to observe. The Shadow Clone Technique evenly distributes the main body's Chakra. In his Byakugan, the Chakra, Chakra pathways, and tenketsu of all three Ino were identical, making it impossible to distinguish the real one from the fakes at first glance.
Ino, on her part, didn't care what he thought. The Taijutsu exchange was over; now it was time for a simple and brutal Ninjutsu barrage.
There was no need for Steam Impurities Explosion or combination Ninjutsu.
Regular Ninjutsu was sufficient to deal with Neji.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
"Earth Release: Earth Rising Spear!"
She unleashed three B-rank Ninjutsu in one breath, all of them Jonin-level techniques, especially her most proficient Water Severing Wave.
Sharp stone spears burst from the ground, the Vacuum Sphere densely covered a 120-degree fan-shaped area, and the Water Severing Wave shot out a dazzling silver line of water.
Hyuga Neji had no choice but to use Hakke. Kaiten again, releasing all his Chakra for defense.
Ino smiled triumphantly. Just defending and not counterattacking, going for a Chakra battle? Among these Genin, she feared no one except Naruto and Gaara.
The defense of Hakke. Kaiten was indeed very strong, and Hyuga Neji wasn't just standing there taking the hits.
He moved in the Eight Trigrams style, using the Byakugan's unique ability to observe the attack directions of the Ninjutsu, constantly shifting his position back and forth, left and right. Most of the Earth Rising Spears were dodged with his exquisite footwork, and the Vacuum Spheres were parried one by one. Only the Water Severing Wave was unstoppable. Hyuga Neji attempted to deflect the Water Severing Wave's attack direction from the side, but unexpectedly, the technique still cut through the Hakke. Kaiten's defensive wall, leaving a deep gash on his elbow.
"Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher!" He charged forward like an arrow, his bleeding elbow striking the Ino who had used "Water Severing Wave."
"Bang!" The Shadow Clone vanished into white smoke; he had misjudged.
Setting his Gentle Fist stance, when he looked back, Ino's side had once again become a three-person team.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Ino, on her part, used her skilled Ninjutsu techniques and abundant Chakra to unleash a barrage of Ninjutsu attacks.
Various wind blades, earth spears, and water arrows rained down incessantly and densely. She had firmly taken control of the pace of this match.
Hyuga Neji gritted his teeth and held on, countering every move. No matter what Ninjutsu you use, I'll just use Hakke. Kaiten!
Midway through, he twice entered Ino's five-meter range, but his attacks landed on Shadow Clones, wasting opportunities.
Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Naruto were all putting themselves in Neji's position, each silently wondering how they would defend against Ino the Great Demon King's Ninjutsu if they were in his shoes.
Sakura watched the match intently, Tenten's expression was complex, not supporting either side, while Lee was full of enthusiasm, constantly cheering Neji on, making him the only Genin to openly support Neji.
Gekkō Hayate, the referee, was in full retreat, constantly moving back. There were simply too many and too dense water arrows and wind blades. A battle of this caliber didn't even need a referee!
His life was already tragic enough; he didn't want to sacrifice himself here over a "Genin" match.
Hyuga Neji's Hakke. Kaiten couldn't stop. His Byakugan stared intently at Ino's hand signs, then he continuously tried to close the distance, occasionally interspersed with Hakke Kuushou. However, his long-range attack options were still too limited.
Ino had diligently trained in Taijutsu. While Taijutsu was a weakness compared to her Ninjutsu, it wasn't overly weak. Neji's response to long-range attacks, or rather, his response to powerful Ninjutsu, was simply too poor.
He was very calm and hadn't made any mistakes in the battle so far. Facing the overwhelming B-rank Ninjutsu, even a Jonin's response wouldn't be more skillful than his, but his disadvantage was becoming increasingly apparent.
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