Neji's fist stopped less than an inch from Naruto's body.
Under the piercing gaze of his Byakugan, Naruto's body was covered in dense, lethal tenketsu—vital chakra points.
All Neji had to do was push forward that tiny final distance, and the match would be his.
His heart was already surging with anticipation.
For this match—for the sake of shattering the old prejudices—he had pushed himself to the limit over this past month.
But that last inch… suddenly became an unbridgeable chasm.
Naruto's body began to move in subtle shifts so small they were almost impossible to catch with the naked eye.
Each time he dodged, he slipped precisely past the tips of Neji's fingers, avoiding every strike aimed at his vital points.
He wasn't relying on high-speed movement, and he wasn't using Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique). Every motion was based on preemptive perception—dodges executed with nothing but advanced, refined evasion.
In Neji's Byakugan vision, the chakra flowing through Naruto's body had become more bizarre than anything he had ever seen.
He had never encountered such a pattern before. The more he stared, the less he understood. But his instincts screamed a single warning.
Dangerous.
A completely new torrent of energy was surging in from the outside world, pouring into Naruto's body and fusing perfectly with his own chakra to form a cycle Neji couldn't decipher.
This foreign energy boosted Naruto's perception, speed, and strength to a level Neji simply could not comprehend.
"Hakke Rokujuyon Sho (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)—
Sixteen palms—
Thirty-two palms—…"
Neji's speed climbed higher and higher, his palms growing denser and denser.
Yet every strike—without exception—hit nothing but air.
Naruto looked as though he were just standing there, letting the rain of strikes pass harmlessly through his afterimages, while the true core of his body remained completely untouched.
"That's impossible…"
For the first time, doubt crept into Neji's heart.
His Juken (Gentle Fist) was built upon the unrivaled insight of the Byakugan. But right now, his eyes couldn't see through a single one of Naruto's movements.
"It's over."
Naruto's voice sounded right beside his ear.
Neji's heart pounded wildly. His expression hardened, and he immediately cut off his assault, preparing to retreat.
Naruto moved.
He didn't form any hand seals. He didn't use any ninjutsu.
He simply stepped forward and threw a straight punch.
As his fist drove through the air, it gave off a heavy, thunderous boom.
Neji crossed his arms in front of himself, pushing the Gentle Fist's force-redirection to its absolute limit as he braced to take the blow head-on.
Bang!
An irresistible power exploded from the point of contact.
The bones in Neji's forearms creaked under the strain. Agony and numbing shock raced through every corner of his body.
He was blasted backward, his feet plowing two deep furrows into the hard ground. He skidded more than ten meters before he finally managed to stop.
Lowering his gaze, he saw his arms trembling uncontrollably, completely numb.
From just one punch…
"What is that power…?"
Up in the stands, Kakashi's Sharingan spun rapidly as he analyzed the chakra around Naruto.
"That's not the Nine-Tails' chakra. It's something purer… and even more massive."
In this altered timeline, Kakashi still didn't truly understand senjutsu. He had heard of it, but the idea that a boy this young could already grasp Sage Techniques was too far-fetched to even cross his mind.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, had leapt to his feet, gripping the railing with white knuckles as he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"You see that!? That brat's a genuine, first-rate genius! All that training we put him through wasn't for nothing! Ahahaha!"
In the VIP box, Hiashi stared down at the small Naruto radiating crushing pressure, then looked back at his nephew, who had been driven into a corner. His expression was a tangled mess.
He didn't want to offend Shinju too heavily… but he also didn't want to see his nephew lose too miserably. If possible, he still wanted Neji to win—but judging from how things stood, Neji was in serious trouble.
Down in the arena, Neji drew in a deep breath, forcing himself to ignore the blazing pain in his arms.
"I admit you've been hiding your strength," he said, eyes sharpening again as he looked at Naruto. "But in the face of the Hyuga's 'absolute defense'… any attack is meaningless."
His expression hardened. Neji spread his feet, lowering his stance as enormous chakra erupted from all three hundred and sixty-one tenketsu in his body.
"Hakkeshou Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation)!"
With a furious shout, the chakra around him spun at terrifying speed, forming a flawless, whirling blue hemisphere that wrapped around him completely.
The high-speed rotation churned up the dust on the ground and stirred the air into a shrill, keening whistle that made many in the stands instinctively want to cover their ears.
This was a secret technique granted only to the main family of the Hyuga—a perfect blend of offense and defense. An absolute defense.
Facing this supposedly impregnable barrier, Naruto took a slow, steady breath.
He channeled all of his senjutsu-enhanced chakra—fused with natural energy—into his right fist.
A faint golden glow sheathed his entire arm from shoulder to knuckles.
He still didn't use any complicated ninjutsu.
If anything, after completing his training in senjutsu, Naruto had grown even more focused on forging his body itself. Relying too much on chakra and ninjutsu, no matter how skillfully, always left hidden weaknesses behind.
And today, with such a rare, powerful opponent right in front of him, he wanted nothing more than a pure, fists-on-flesh battle to temper his body.
Just a single, utterly simple straight punch.
"Senpo Juuken (Sage Art: Heavy Fist)!"
Naruto lunged forward. His golden fist slammed straight into the swirling blue sphere of Kaiten.
At the moment of impact, there was no violent explosion.
Only a deep, resonant hum rang out, echoing through the entire stadium.
For a heartbeat, time itself seemed to slow.
The next second—
A tiny crack appeared on the surface of Neji's proud Kaiten, right where Naruto's fist had struck.
From that single point, the crack spread outward in an instant.
Like glass hammered by a massive weight.
Bang!
The entire Kaiten shattered.
It exploded into countless blue motes of chakra that scattered in all directions before fading away.
"You wanted to compare strength?"
Naruto's voice cut through the drifting light.
"Fine. Have it your way."
"But tell me this—can strength really change everything?"
"Power that doesn't protect anything… is pathetically fragile."
His fist punched through the remnants of Neji's defense and came to a stop—exactly one centimeter from Neji's forehead.
The force of the strike tore the forehead protector from Neji's brow, sending it spinning away and exposing the green curse mark beneath it.
Neji stood frozen in place.
With his Byakugan, he saw the fist hanging right in front of him with agonizing clarity.
And he could feel the overwhelming, crushing power that had just smashed all of his defenses to pieces.
His convictions, his pride, the "fate" he had believed in so absolutely—
In that moment, they all crumbled along with Kaiten.
Naruto drew back his fist. As he did, Sage Mode faded from his body. The orange markings around his eyes slowly disappeared.
Just from those markings alone, if Fukasaku and Shima had been here, they would have said at least one more thing:
Little Naruto's senjutsu training had surpassed even Jiraiya's. The degree of toad-like transformation in his body was low—he had retained only a small trace of those features.
Naruto looked at the hollow-eyed Neji and spoke with utter seriousness.
"Neji. Stop talking about fate already."
"In the past, Sasuke called me the dead-last. By your logic, my fate should've been to stay that way forever, right?"
"But I never believed that."
"If your fate is to live your whole life in the pain of the branch family… chained forever by that stupid caged bird seal…"
Naruto pointed straight at the ugly mark on Neji's forehead.
"Then I'll just smash that pathetic 'fate' of yours to pieces first!"
Every word struck Neji's heart like a hammer blow.
He stared at Naruto—this dropout he had once looked down on—who now stood before him, having crushed him with overwhelming strength and irrefutable words, tearing apart everything he had based his life on.
Neji's body gave out.
He dropped to one knee, completely drained.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, proctor Genma raised his voice and announced the result.
"Winner—Naruto!"
The stadium erupted in a tidal wave of cheers.
Naruto had won.
In that instant, the image of him as the "Child of Prophecy" carved itself into the hearts of everyone in the Leaf.
And the next match was about to begin.
Uchiha Sasuke versus Gaara.
Just as the two were about to enter the arena, countless pure white feathers began drifting down from the sky.
A wave of hypnotic power surged outward in an instant, flooding the entire stadium.
In the VIP box, Orochimaru, still disguised as the Kazekage, let a cold smile curl across his lips.
The Konoha Crush plan—
Had officially begun!
(End of Chapter)
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