Once he figured it out, Guy felt completely enlightened.
He nodded and agreed, "Alright. When I have time, I'll introduce you to Kakashi. But whether or not he's willing to teach you the Hatake Kenjutsu will be up to you to earn."
"I understand. Thank you, Guy-sensei."
Natsuki thanked him once more with sincerity. Then he looked up with a big smile. "Guy-sensei, the Eight Gates are strong, and the Hatake Kenjutsu is strong too. If I master both, I'll definitely surpass you and become the strongest shinobi in Konoha!"
Guy was instantly fired up. "Good kid! That's the spirit! But if you want to surpass the Blue Beast of Konoha, you've still got a long way to go! Still, in honor of your youthful determination, I'm giving you this tight suit!"
As he spoke, he suddenly pulled out a green spandex suit from who-knows-where.
The moment Natsuki saw it, his scalp went numb.
Tenten couldn't take it anymore. She threw her arms out to block in front of Natsuki: "Absolutely not! I don't want my boyfriend turning into a kappa!"
But Lee looked extremely displeased. "What are you saying, Tenten? This is Guy-sensei's acknowledgment of Natsuki's youth! And how does it look like a kappa?! It's super cool!"
Guy loved that kind of recognition. Hearing this, he simply handed the spandex suit to Lee instead: "Lee! Since Tenten won't let Natsuki wear it, I'll give it to you. I've seen your youth and passion too. Wear this and go chase your dreams!"
"Ah! Thank you, Guy-sensei!"
Lee was moved to tears and hugged Guy tightly.
Behind them, it was as if the scene shifted to a sunset beach, waves crashing against the rocks as the picture froze like a painting.
Tenten's mouth twitched. She didn't even know where to start complaining. Fortunately, Guy-sensei didn't insist on Natsuki wearing the green suit. Otherwise, her boyfriend would've really become a kappa.
Neji clearly wasn't used to this kind of scene either.
He came from a prestigious clan where etiquette was everything, and every movement was expected to follow proper decorum.
Now seeing his teacher and teammate both acting like such weirdos, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But at least he still respected Guy-sensei's strength. As long as he could become stronger under him, Neji was willing to acknowledge him.
Still, there was something more important right now.
Neji suddenly turned to Natsuki. "Natsuki, Tenten's always talking about you—saying you're way stronger than her. I also saw your fight with Guy-sensei earlier. Even though it was only taijutsu, you were still impressive. Please spar with me. I want to see your true strength!"
Natsuki wasn't surprised by this.
Geniuses always had their pride—especially someone like Neji, a rare talent of the Hyūga clan.
Even though he had the Caged Bird Seal, he was still confident in his abilities. Not being able to defeat Tenten had already annoyed him, and now Tenten was claiming Natsuki was even stronger?
Of course Neji wouldn't take that lying down!
"Alright! I've always wanted to experience the strength of a Hyūga genius myself!"
Natsuki accepted the challenge.
"Then I'll be the referee!"
Guy quickly volunteered again. He was especially passionate about this kind of match between comrades—because in his eyes, it was the very symbol of youth and hot-blooded spirit.
Tenten had full confidence in Natsuki.
Against Neji, she had to use her trump cards to have any chance of winning. But Natsuki was different. His strength was already close to a jōnin's level.
She wasn't sure of the exact gap—but she was certain Neji wouldn't stand a chance!
The two formed the seal of confrontation, then stood off against each other. With Guy's shout of "Begin!", the match kicked off immediately.
"Soru!"
Whoosh! Natsuki vanished.
Neji didn't panic. He had already activated his Byakugan. "With the Byakugan, your movements can't escape my sight!"
The next second, Natsuki's whip kick swept toward him. Neji barely managed to block, but he clearly underestimated the force—he was instantly sent flying by the massive impact.
The Byakugan was undoubtedly powerful—it could easily track opponents.
But just because you could see it didn't mean your speed could match it. And seeing it didn't mean you could tank it either.
Natsuki's speed and strength were clearly overwhelming Neji.
Neji quickly realized this and grew more cautious. Inwardly, he marveled—and now he fully believed what Tenten had told him. Natsuki truly was stronger. Defeating him would be incredibly difficult.
Natsuki saw Neji shifting into the stance for Gentle Fist, and without hesitation, he stepped right into the range of Neji's Eight Trigrams circle.
Neji didn't hold back either—he immediately unleashed his Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms). The Gentle Fist, infused with chakra, looked soft but could easily crush internal organs.
But Natsuki calmly formed a few hand seals—and his entire body suddenly flattened.
Or rather… he became a two-dimensional paper-thin figure.
Neji's sixty-four palms were fast and fierce, but the moment the palm winds neared, the paper-flat Natsuki fluttered away with the breeze, evading the strikes completely.
"That's… Kami-e (Paper Drawing) from the Rokushiki?"
Tenten had already demonstrated the Six Powers before, so Guy, Lee, and Neji all recognized it.
But back then, Tenten only demonstrated it—she hadn't shown its actual application in combat. Now that they were seeing it used effectively, they were all speechless.
Breaking a thin, fluttering piece of paper is actually not that easy.
Even for a strongman, trying to smash paper with full force isn't simple. It requires finesse.
And Natsuki's paper-thin form wasn't just flexible—it was ultra-light. Even a breath could blow it away, let alone Neji's palm winds.
At that moment, Neji found himself unable to land a single hit.
Natsuki, however, seized the brief moment right after the sixty-four palms ended—his body instantly snapped back to normal, and both his fists turned jet-black as he struck hard at Neji.
"Tekkai Kenpō (Iron Body Fist)! Take this!"
Neji sensed how fearsome those black fists were and didn't dare to block with his bare hands. He quickly drew a kunai to intercept.
Clang! The sound of metal clashing rang out, with sparks flying—Natsuki's fists really were like iron blocks.
And he didn't let up—his fists grew faster and fiercer. Neji had no choice but to go fully defensive.
After over a dozen exchanges, Neji's disadvantage was becoming more and more obvious.
"Damn! This isn't working! Kaiten!"
Neji spun rapidly, chakra bursting from his tenketsu to form a rotating hemispherical shield, trying to force Natsuki back and gain some breathing room.
Natsuki did retreat a bit, but he also canceled his Iron Body, quickly formed hand seals, and created a shadow clone. The clone immediately burrowed underground while the real Natsuki leapt high into the air.
"To attack from underground to break my Kaiten? That's a smart move!"
Neji had to give credit where it was due. His Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven) could block attacks from all directions—including above—but the ground beneath him was a blind spot.
If Natsuki attacked from underground, he'd be forced to stop spinning...
(End of Chapter)
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