96 Astonished

"The match is already over," Choji, Ino, and Karin sighed as they thought back to how Neji received a beat down from Naruto.

"huh?" Hinata and Kiba stared at the trio.

"No!"

"It may seem like that on the surface…."

"But, Neji-san has been training a lot lately."

"He trained with Gai-sensei and the head of the Hyūgan Clan," Lee said.

Despite Lee's comment, Gai remained silent since he was aware of Naruto's power more than the group that was sitting beside him at present.

"What do you mean by the match is already over?"

"That's Neji you know, the previous rookie of the year, and he has the Byakugan to boot with," Kiba argued.

"Ah!"

"I forgot, you were sent on a stretcher after being defeated by Naruto," Karin said.

*Ugh!* Kiba felt like he was stabbed with a knife.

"Damn it!"

"Just tell me what happened back then." Kiba cursed, following which Karin explained the events that took place after Hinata fainted…

"Naruto took Neji down in one punch back then!" Karin said.

"Yeah!"

"That was cool!" Ino also chimed in.

"Naruto…" Hinata turned to look at Naruto who was opposite to Neji.

….

Meanwhile, a few columns away…

("So that boy in the orange tracksuit is Naruto…") Hanabi stared at Naruto standing against Neji.

————FlashBack———

"I am going to watch the Chuunin Exam Battle along with my Dad," Hanabi said.

"Chuunin Exam Battle?"

"Why bother?" Konohamaru asked.

"Why bother?"

"What do you mean?" Hanabi asked.

"Don't you know the boss is going to be the winner!" Konohamaru said.

"The boss?"

"You mean Naruto?" Hanabi asked.

"Mm!" Konohamaru nodded.

"Don't assume he will win, after all; there is a cousin brother of mine who will be participating in tomorrow's battle!"

"People know that Hyūga clan is the strongest clan of Hidden Leaf Village!" Hanabi declared.

"Hmph!"

"If you have seen my boss, you will understand!"

"No one can beat the boss; he defeated my sensei and even my grandfather once!" Konohamaru spoke proudly.

"Yeah right!"

"It must have been a surprise attack or something like that!"

"There's no way in hell, that he can defeat them in a real battle!" Hanabi argued.

"You'll see it tomorrow!"

"The BOSS is UNBEATABLE!"

"I'll come to battle against you on the day after the Chuunin Exam!" Konohamaru said as he walked away from the training grounds.

"We'll See!" Hanabi declared.

———End of FlashBack——

("Let's see if you are the unbeatable boss as Konohamaru said…") Hanabi thought.

"Hanabi!" Hiashi called out.

"Watch this match carefully."

"Nobody has inherited such a strong Hyūga Kekkei Genkai."

"Perhaps it is stronger than yours as well," Hiashi said.

"More than Onee-chan and me?" Hanabi stared in surprise.

"Yes!"

"However, the boy in orange clothes must not be underestimated."

"He is stronger than many jounins,"

"Perhaps he is stronger than me as well…" Hiashi said.

"Stronger than father?" Hanabi turned to look at Naruto again with more curiosity shining across her eyes.

("Naruto…")

("I envy your ability to win every battle easily…") Sakura thought as she stared at the field as well.

———————————

Back on the field…

Naruto and Neji kept staring at each other, with none of either party willing to make the first move.

Neji frowned.

("I am the challenger in this case, after all!") Neji thought following which he ran towards Naruto.

("Here he comes!") Naruto thought as he saw Neji running towards him.

Neji sent a palm strike towards Naruto's chest which Naruto deflected by using his palm against Neji's lower wrist to make it exit over Naruto's shoulders…

Following which Neji sent another palm strike…

("With people from different villages here, I can't demonstrate my ability to counter the gentle fists, which is equivalent to teaching how to fight the Hyūga clan")

("If I use my shadow clones in conjunction with formations, it's the same thing as revealing secrets…")

("What should I do…?") Naruto thought as he deflected Neji's palm away once again.

"Hmph!" Neji smirked, following which he closed his palms, which smoothly transitioned into fists.

("WHAT?") Naruto stared in complete shock.

(BOOM!) Neji landed a straight right at Naruto which sent him flying.

("WHAT?") Hiashi stood up.

("WHAT?") Orochimaru felt completely humiliated

("To think that Naruto fell for such an old trick.") Orochimaru stared at Naruto with disdain.

("What was that just now?") Naruto thought as he landed on the ground.

…

("Naruto got hit?") Sasuke, Sakura, Gaara, Kankurō and Shikamaru stared in horror at Naruto who was down on the floor.

"Like I said!"

"Neji has been practicing for the past one month."

"Now his training has paid off!" Lee said.

Gai thought back to the time where he trained Neji.

———Flashback (CH 63)——-

"Please fight me at your full strength Gai-sensei!" Neji declared as he assumed his Gentle Fists stance.

"Looks like that little bout with Naruto-kun made you realize your level huh?"

"I see the flames of Fighting Spirit Burning in your eyes!" Gai said as he lowered his stance a bit to start a charge from the ground.

< Hidden Taijutsu - Dynamic Entry! >

Gai announced as he launched at high speed towards Neji.

————(added content)

(Bang!)

Neji landed on the ground.

"What was that for?" Neji asked with a swollen cheek from being at the receiving end of the surprise attack…

"Neji!"

"It is important for people to do the unexpected."

"The same thing can be said for your fighting style."

"You rely on the gentle fist style too much…"

"It's time for you to learn some good old fashioned fist fight!" Guy said.

"I see…" Neji realized that it was indeed a disadvantage to only stick to one style.

"Are you up to learn basic taijutsu?" Gai asked.

"Yes!"

"Gai-sensei!" Neji stood up.

("He's finally taking after Lee…") Gai stared at Neji who stood with a fiery hot passion for training till death.

———End of FlashBack——-

"You did well Neji…" Gai murmured.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was also staring in shock.

("Why isn't Naruto fighting at his full strength?")

("Did Genma say something?") Kakashi thought as he looked towards Hiruzen.

Rasa also looked towards Hiruzen.

"That brat should be able to defeat the boy with the Byakugan easily," Rasa said.

"Kazekage-dono,"

"I have put some restrictions in place."

"Most likely the boy will be able to fight back, given the conditions," Hiruzen said.

"Restrictions?" Rasa raised an eyebrow.

"How did he get hit by that?" Gaara murmured as he continued to watch.

Neji looked at Naruto who was on the floor…

"I knew it; he did cheat on those tests." A person amongst the audience spoke, which was followed by a few murmurs here and there about how Naruto had cheated.

("That was unexpected,") Naruto thought as he got back up.

"Naruto!" Neji called out.

"You may have become genius through hard work,"

"However, have you ever seen a genius who works hard?" Neji asked.

("Genius who works hard eh?")

("Looks like I don't need to hold back anything against this guy…") Naruto thought as a smile slowly appeared on his face.

("Why is he smiling?") Neji thought.

("It wasn't just hard work ya know…")

("The amount of work I had put in…")

("Before and after being a Hokage, can never be measured by those two simple words…") Naruto thought as he stared at Neji.

"You think one month of hard work is enough to get you to where you are right now?" Naruto asked slowly as he released a strong battle intent into the atmosphere.

"What?" Neji stared at Naruto.

"Allow me to show you, the result of my hard work," Naruto said as he raised two fingers on each hand and put them perpendicular to each other.

Neji frowned upon seeing this gesture.