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Chapter – 1119 Hyuga Neji vs Raijin I
🕑 Added 2024-11-26 17:22:07 +0000 UTC“Begin!”
Despite Itachi signaling the start of the fight, neither Raijin nor Neji rushed to make the first move. Instead, both remained in their stances, silently observing each other.
Neji held back as he searched for an opening, while Raijin waited patiently for Neji to make the first move. Raijin knew that if he attacked first, the fight would end too quickly, defeating his purpose of testing Neji’s abilities. So, he chose to stand still and let Neji take the initiative.
Seconds passed—five, ten, thirty—and before anyone realized it, an entire minute had gone by without either of them making a move.
Some people in the audience began to grow impatient, watching Neji and Raijin stand motionless. Others, however, felt their nerves rising with the increasing tension.
“Why are they just standing there? Do something!” someone muttered.
“Whoever makes the first move loses…” another whispered.
Raijin was slightly surprised by Neji’s calmness and lack of urgency to make a move. Understanding Neji’s cautious approach, he chuckled to himself, ‘Since you want me to make the first move… fine, let Sensei handle that for you.’
With that thought, Raijin took a step forward and charged at Neji. “Let’s see what you’re capable of, Hyuga brat!” he shouted.
‘He’s coming!’ Neji thought, his eyes narrowing with focus. A moment ago, he had been searching for openings in Raijin’s stance but found none he could exploit. That’s why he waited for Raijin to make the first move. Now that Raijin had charged, Neji suddenly spotted one or two possible openings.
“Here!” Neji muttered as he channeled Chakra into his right palm. Pulling his elbow back, he struck forward with incredible speed, aiming to hit one of the openings he had noticed.
But it wasn’t going to be that easy.
With Raijin’s experience, predicting Neji’s attack was effortless—especially since those ‘openings’ had been deliberate bait. Watching Neji aim for the traps he set, Raijin chuckled. Using his left hand, he skillfully deflected Neji’s palm strike and immediately countered with a punch aimed at Neji’s gut.
Neji, however, seemed to have anticipated this. He swiftly tilted his body to the side, dodging the trajectory of Raijin’s punch.
The initial clash between the two didn’t yield any decisive outcome, but it served as the spark to ignite the battle. Following that first exchange, they began trading a flurry of moves back and forth, each testing the other’s skill and reflexes.
As Raijin and Neji exchanged blows, Orochimaru, seated in the stands, observed the fight with a puzzled expression. "Raijin, do you not realize that engaging a Hyuga in close combat is unwise? That boy can easily seal off your Tenketsu," he mused.
Orochimaru wasn’t alone in his thoughts. Many in the audience familiar with the Hyuga Clan’s Gentle Fist shared the same doubt. It seemed reckless to face a Hyuga up close, where their techniques were most dangerous.
To everyone’s surprise, despite the countless exchanges between Raijin and Neji, there were no signs of Raijin’s Tenketsu being sealed.
“What’s going on? Why isn’t Neji sealing that guy’s Tenketsu? He has plenty of chances!” Naruto asked, frowning in confusion.
The others around him, including Kakashi and Guy, shared the same question. Unfortunately, without a Dōjutsu to see the flow of Chakra or Tenketsu that the normal human eye can’t see at all, they couldn’t figure out what was happening.
Standing nearby, Hinata had her Byakugan activated and could see the reason clearly. She answered Shion’s question, “It’s not that Neji-nii-san isn’t trying to seal his Tenketsu. It’s more like… Raijin is managing to avoid it.”
“Huh? What do you mean, Hinata-chan? How can he avoid having his Tenketsu sealed?” Shion asked, her confusion deepening.
“Neji-nii-san is attempting to strike Raijin’s Tenketsu using Chakra needles,” Hinata explained. “But Raijin’s movements are so precise that he maneuvers in a way that the needles never hit the Tenketsu.”
“This…!” Shion gasped in shock at Hinata’s explanation.
Neji, however, was even more stunned as he struggled with the situation firsthand. “Damn it… Why? Why isn’t this working? This has never happened before!”
Raijin laughed mockingly, his voice confident and taunting. “What’s wrong? Can’t seal my Tenketsu? If your Chakra needle doesn’t hit the exact point, it won’t work at all, right? So all I have to do is make sure it never lands where it needs to.”
While Raijin made it sound simple, actually accomplishing such a feat was anything but easy.
The positions of Tenketsu in a ninja’s body are fixed, and Hyugas, with their Byakugan, can see them clearly. They train extensively in the Gentle Fist style to target and seal those points with precision, making close-quarter combat nearly impossible for most opponents. Even a momentary lapse could result in a Tenketsu being sealed, leaving the enemy at the mercy of the Hyuga’s technique.
But, of course, this rule only applies to ordinary ninjas. Raijin was far from ordinary. His extensive combat experience in different forms of ninja arts, including Gentle Fist, gave him unique insight into the Gentle Fist’s techniques, allowing him to execute the perfect countermeasures against it.
Seeing Neji struggle, Raijin chuckled and taunted, “So, this is the famed Gentle Fist? It seems it’s not as perfect as the Hyuga Clan claims. If you can’t hit the Tenketsu, you’re pretty much helpless, aren’t you?”
Neji remained silent, offering no response. He knew that arguing would achieve nothing. While Raijin’s words insulted the Hyuga Clan’s Gentle Fist, Neji wasn’t one to be provoked so easily. He could see through the ploy—Raijin was trying to rile him up, hoping he’d drop his guard.
“Haha, you think I’m just trying to distract you?” Raijin smirked as he blocked one of Neji’s strikes effortlessly. “The truth is, I don’t need to rely on tricks like that. You know why?”
Before Neji could react, Raijin suddenly twisted his body with lightning-like speed, electricity crackling around him. In an instant, he delivered two rapid strikes—one to Neji’s chest and the other to his stomach, bang! Bang! The sheer force of the blows sent Neji flying across the arena.
Neji tumbled across the arena, kicking up a trail of dust before finally coming to a stop as the momentum faded. Though his injuries weren’t severe and nothing was broken, the pain made getting back up difficult. “Hiss! That really hurts…” he muttered through gritted teeth.
But there was no time to dwell on the pain. The moment Neji got to his feet, Raijin launched his next attack. His arm crackled with intense white lightning as he performed Shape Transformation, releasing the energy in the form of a massive dragon. ‘Lightning Style: Lightning Dragon Jutsu!’
Roar!
The arena shook as the thunderous roar of the lightning dragon echoed, the beast entirely made up of white lightning surging toward Neji with incredible speed.
‘I can’t dodge!’ Neji realized instantly. The dragon’s speed was far too great for him to be able to dodge. Of course, even if he couldn’t dodge, he wasn’t nervous and decided to face the Lightning Dragon head-on.
With no other choice, he prepared to use the technique taught to him by Koshinata Mukai.
In that split second, Neji focused on his Chakra and prepared himself. As the Lightning Dragon entered his striking range, he swiftly countered with a precise strike.
Boom!
The Lightning Dragon exploded in a brilliant flash of light and thunderous sound before it could reach him.
After neutralizing the White Lightning Dragon, Neji fixed Raijin with a cold stare and said in an indifferent tone, "It seems you didn’t pay attention to my previous match. As you can see, Ninjutsu is practically useless against me."
Raijin responded with a chuckle, "Hahaha… Cheeky boy!"
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