Chapter 73 - Cap 67: Hard vs. Soft

"Hinata and Neji Hyuga, please move towards the center of the arena" - said Hayate as he started coughing - "The first match of the Third Test is about to begin"

The two mentioned walked silently to the aforementioned location, although it was obvious that Neji was not taking his cousin very seriously.

The two Hyuga stared as the tension grew with each passing second.

"Anything you want to tell me?" - Hinata asked as her friendly expression disappeared completely.

"Surrender, Hinata-sama," Neji replied neutrally, "Do us all a favor and don't waste our time... we all know how this fight will end... if you can call it that"

"We won't know that until the fighting starts," Hinata said as she activated her Byakugan.

"I warned you..."- denied the prodigy Hyuga - "When the Examiner gives the start signal, I will show no mercy..."

". . ." - Hinata didn't answer him, she just got into a fighting position.

* * * * *

"That boy..." - Gai denied seeing his student's attitude - "He needs a lesson in humility"

"But seeing his record, he has the right to be that way" - said Yamato with neutrality - "Although he is making a serious mistake by not taking Hinata Hyuga seriously, after all, she went through Kushina-sama's hellish training"

"Not only that" - added Kurenai - "I asked Kushina-san to give me two x5 gravity seals to help her training, so she's more lethal than meets the eye"

"From what I could hear from Sakura, Hinata has a particular style of Juken" - said Kakashi seriously - "Although ironically her style is LITERAL a soft Fist"

"Hinata understood that she could not bring out the full potential of her clan's Taijutsu that is Firm and Rigid, so she decided to ask Kushina-san to help her make her movements softer and more flexible" - said Kurenai seriously - "Hinata-chan has improved much more than you think... I would even dare to say that she is at the same or even higher level than the above mentioned Hyuga prodigy"

"This will be an interesting fight," said Yamato as he nodded.

". . ." - Tenten and Lee, couldn't believe what their sensei was talking about since they knew how strong their teammate was. For them to say that Hinata, the girl who sincerely did not have the best presented as a warrior, had the same level as the prodigy, was something they found hard to believe.

"Lee, Tenten... don't judge a book by its cover," said Gai, noticing the look in his students' eyes. "Remember that our team also has a bad 'image'"

"Sorry, Gai sensei!" - exclaimed the Genins in sorrow.

"Just remember," Gai nodded as he looked back at the Combat Arena. "It is about to begin so keep your eyes on this battle"

"You don't know anything..." - Ino thought as she looked at her friend and rival - "Hinata-chan has suffered more than you think for the sole reason of standing beside Kuro-kun. She cried, screamed and bled to get this power... and now... she's about to prove it..."

* * * * *

"Hinata's posture feels a bit strange," Tsume said with a squinted look.

"Some new form of Taijutsu your clan created over the years?" - Choza asked curiously as he looked at the leader of the Hyuga clan.

"I am as surprised as you are," Hiashi replied with an emotionless look. "It looks similar to the Juken of our clan but the stance is different. Normally we raise our right arm a little more, at a 180° angle to be more precise and use it to be able to measure not only the distance to our enemies but also to prevent an unforeseen advance... but Hinata has her right arm at a 190° angle, not counting that her arm is retracted... that posture has never been seen before..."

"Interesting..." - muttered Shikaku as he analyzed the pros and cons of the two Hyuga's stances. Neji's classic stance allowed for control of the enemy's movements, as well as a quick response in case the enemy decided to approach, not to mention his great continuation with combos, while Hinata's stance focused more on the counterattack. She was like a snake that was ready to throw its bite - "This fight will be much more interesting than we thought..."

Hiashi said nothing when he heard the words of Commander Jonin, he just watched in silence as the two young Hyugas prepared to launch themselves against each other.

* * * * *

"You know the rules, no outside help, and the battle continues until you fall unconscious, surrender or die," Hayate said seriously. "Is that clear?"

"Hai!" - replied the two Hyuga.

"Hajime!" - shouted Hayate and then disappeared from the arena.

When they heard Examiner Jonin, Neji threw himself at Hinata almost immediately.

The girl was not surprised by this, as her cousin always tried to subdue her from the second 1 of her training, a pity she was not the same as the girl who was beaten without even being able to defend herself.

"Never again!" - exclaimed Hinata as she waved her right arm like a whip.

"!" - Neji was surprised at such speed but quickly moved his arm to block his cousin's blow. Hinata already had this planned, so the position of his fingers pretending to be snake fangs.

"Shit!" - exclaimed Neji as he realized what was coming but it was too late. Hinata very precisely stuck his fingers into the open arm of his cousin, who could only resist the urge to scream in pain.

Neji quickly retreated to a safe distance as he began to lose the sensation in his right arm.

"This style of fighting, was made possible by Kushina sensei and Anko-san" - said Hinata seriously - "We were thinking about how to make the movements of Juken more flexible and fast because my body was not suitable for practicing the very rigid form of traditional Juken..."

"After thinking about it for a long time, Anko-san told us that an animal that was fast, precise and flexible was none other than the snake" - continued the Hyuga girl - "That's why we decided to make the Juken similar to its movements... and now you are seeing the final result of all my training 'Hebi no Ken' "

". . ." - Neji changed his expression from surprise to coldness - "I'm surprised, Hinata-sama... but it'll take more than that to stop me..."

Neji quickly sent a large amount of chakra to free the Tenketsu blocked by Hinata's attack.

"It's only the beginning... Neji Nii-san" - said Hinata as she returned to her fighting position - "You said that my destiny is to fall... that is why I will now prove you wrong..."

"Strong words for someone like you, Hinata-sama" - said Neji coldly - "But now you will see your attack was just a lucky hit, one that happened because I was unprepared... but no more"

Hinata only narrowed her eyes because she understood that the real fight was about to begin, although she was not too worried. After all, she still had an ace up her sleeve - "I am ready... Neji Nii-san..."

* * * * *

"What an exquisite move" - Gai said with surprise when he saw that Taijutsu - "She used her retracted arm to create a whip effect while pressing Neji-kun's Tenketsu... and all this in just a few seconds... impressive..."

"And that's just a basic move, not a technique" - said Kurenai proudly, not for her, but her student. She understood all the effort Hinata had put into her training.

Kakashi was silent. He had uncovered his Sharingan so that he could see everything more clearly and like Gai, he was surprised at such a level of control that Hinata had.

"I suppose we continue to despise Hinata Hyuga," said Yamato, who also had a look of surprise on his normally neutral face.

* * * * *

Hiashi could not contain the surprise he felt at this moment. Hinata had not only created, with help, a new variation on her Juken, but it was equal to or even more lethal than traditional Juken.

"It is a pity..." - the leader Hyuga muttered.

"Why do you say that?" - Tsume asked with a scowl. She thought he was referring to his daughter but dismissed it because it was obvious that she had done a good job.

"Because that style of Juken, it cannot be learned by many in the clan," Hiashi denied. "This Taijutsu fits Hinata well because she is one of the few members of the Hyuga Clan who has such a flexible body. I know you already know this but our clan is rigid in body and mind.

"Really?" - asked those present.

"That Hinata has this innate flexibility is a miracle for our clan, which is why our fighting style did her more harm than good" - sighed the leader Hyuga as he ignored the sarcasm of his comrades.

* * * * * * * * *

Chapter 86 available in Pa treon