Central Tower Arena
"..." Naruto, hearing Neji's words, turned his head and glared at him. "Want to try me?"
"Hmph..." Neji scoffed dismissively.
"Naruto, don't be rash," Sakura said quickly, seeing Naruto about to charge, and stepping in to stop him.
"But Sakura-chan... I can't stand this guy without giving him a beating," Naruto said indignantly, hearing Sakura's restraint.
"I understand how you feel. You've already passed the preliminaries. If you want to beat him up, you can do it fairly and squarely in the finals," Sakura said calmly.
"But..."
"No buts. If you want to beat him, train hard and defeat him in the finals," Sakura said, extending a hand towards Neji. A cannonball-sized water bullet instantly formed at her fingertip, the constantly trembling water demonstrating the immense pressure it was under.
"A bird trapped in its own cage has no right to mock my comrade," Sakura said coldly, her eyes narrowed at Neji. "Honestly, I really dislike you right now."
The atmosphere in the arena instantly became tense again. Sakura had lost in the preliminaries, but no one could deny her strength. The power of her water bullets was deeply etched in everyone's minds.
Moreover, what surprised the Jonin present was that Sakura was using a water bullet while simultaneously using medical ninjutsu. Such dual-tasking wasn't unheard of, but it required extremely high chakra control skills. Medical ninjutsu itself demanded exceptional control, and using two high-level ninjutsu at the same time was beyond what mere hard work could achieve; it required talent.
Naruto's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken required him to use shadow clones because he couldn't perform the dual task of maintaining the Rasengan and adding wind-style nature transformation. Despite this, the Rasenshuriken was classified by Tsunade as an S-rank, incredibly difficult jutsu.
Now, Sakura could use two advanced ninjutsu simultaneously. This meant she faced virtually no obstacles in developing new jutsu. To achieve this at her age meant her potential was likely no less than the Fourth Hokage's.
Kakashi, seeing Sakura about to attack Neji, quickly stepped in front of him. "Calm down, Sakura... Fighting is prohibited here."
"I know, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, calming herself and lowering her arm, continuing to heal Hinata.
Naruto's efforts, the pain he had endured, Sakura had witnessed it all since they were children. Whether it was his foolish acts or his pranks, Naruto was always striving to achieve his goals, to gain recognition.
Compared to Naruto, Neji was trapped in his own cage of resentment. Hearing Neji mock Naruto like that, Sakura couldn't hold back. She had thought she could remain detached when facing the current Neji, knowing his story, but when she heard his infuriating words, she couldn't help it. A fight was out of the question, but she could at least intimidate him.
Neji, indeed, lost his earlier disdain and looked rather serious as he followed Guy back to the stands.
"Please leave her to us," a medical ninja from the medical team said, arriving with a stretcher next to Hinata.
"Yes, alright. Hinata shouldn't have any major problems anymore. I'll leave her in your care," Sakura said. Thanks to Sakura's treatment, Hinata's condition had greatly improved. This highlighted the difference between an ordinary medical ninja and Sakura. An ordinary medical ninja wouldn't have been able to heal her so quickly, as the internal organ damage required precise chakra manipulation. Sakura's precise control greatly sped up the healing process.
The medical team checked Hinata and confirmed that she was indeed out of danger.
"Excuse me, but who did you learn your medical ninjutsu from?" one of the medical ninjas asked. He thought Sakura had only provided preliminary treatment, but she had nearly healed Hinata completely. A ninja with this level of skill in Konoha couldn't possibly be unknown.
"Lady Tsunade is my master," Sakura replied, standing up and heading towards the stands.
"I-it's Lady Tsunade's disciple... No wonder... Is Lady Tsunade in Konoha now...?" The medical ninja was shocked, watching Sakura's retreating figure. Lady Tsunade had been away from Konoha for many years; the younger generation didn't even know about the legendary Sannin, the Slug Princess.
After Sakura returned to the stands, the names on the large screen began to spin again.
Round Nine: Rock Lee VS Yamanaka Ino
Sakura looked at the names on the screen and thought, As expected. Originally, Ino was supposed to be in the fourth round, but Gaara had taken that spot. So, this matchup made sense.
That meant Lee would likely advance to the finals. Sakura's gaze towards the Third Hokage turned malicious. She was supposed to be in the finals, but because of the old man's meddling, Lee had taken her place. She'd definitely demand Chunin status from the Third Hokage afterward. She was sick of those D-rank missions.
On the arena floor, Lee and Ino stood facing each other.
"Please take care of me, Ino," Lee said politely.
"Ha... ha... Please take care of me," Ino replied, her mind in turmoil as she looked at the bowl cut, spandex suit, and thick eyebrows before her. It was the complete opposite of her aesthetic preferences.
Lee would probably win, but it wasn't certain. If Ino could seize an opportunity to use her Mind Transfer Technique, she had a slight chance. It all depended on whether Lee could finish the fight quickly or if he was unfamiliar with Ino's ninjutsu.
As it turned out, without Shikamaru's support, successfully landing the Mind Transfer Technique was quite difficult. Lee's speed was beyond what Ino could keep up with. After a couple of rounds of dodging and weaving, Lee quickly closed in and knocked Ino out.
"Round Nine, Rock Lee wins," Hayate announced.
"Guy-sensei, I won! Did you see?" Rock Lee excitedly conveyed his elation to Guy.
"Well done, Lee!" Guy gave Lee a thumbs-up, flashing a smile that showed his teeth, which even seemed to sparkle. Sakura was momentarily dazed, feeling that Guy's pose was somewhat familiar, like she'd seen it somewhere before. But she couldn't place it...
The names on the screen spun.
No further prompting was needed. Only two people remained: Dosu and Akimichi Choji.
After a round of barbecue temptation from Asuma, Choji finally mustered the courage to step onto the arena. However, the power gap was simply too large. After a brief struggle, he was defeated.
"Round Ten, Dosu wins," Hayate announced the result of the final match.
"Now, will the winners please step forward," Hayate said to those in the stands.
Then, another ninja brought out a box. "Now, each of you ten will draw a number from this box."
After each examinee showed their drawn number to Ibiki, he wrote down their respective opponents on a notepad.
Naruto VS Neji, Gaara VS Sasuke, Kankuro VS Shino, Temari VS Dosu, Shikamaru VS Rock Lee.
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