Chapter 135: Ino vs. Neji

Chapter 135: Ino vs. Neji

"Your taijutsu is stronger than the rumors suggest," Neji commented, raising his palm and angling it to strike at Ino's ankle.

"Thanks for the compliment."

Ino, who had been sparring with Hinata daily, was well-acquainted with the Hyuga clan's techniques. She quickly shifted her stance, transitioning from a side kick to a sweeping leg strike, and with a sharp exhale, unleashed a powerful whip kick.

While women generally have less upper body strength than men, their legs are a different story. In the blink of an eye, her whip kick connected with Neji's palm, and both fighters stumbled back from the impact.

Ino's current stats were Body 4, Strength 3, and Speed 6. Only her speed matched Neji's; the other two attributes lagged significantly behind.

Victory lay in maintaining distance.

Using the recoil from their clash, Ino flipped backward and, before even landing, launched two shuriken, two kunai, and four senbon coated in paralyzing poison.

Neji didn't dodge. Instead, his palms danced up and down, deflecting every projectile.

"Now's my chance!" The distance between them had widened to six meters, and Ino had a clear understanding of Neji's speed. She finally had an opportunity to use ninjutsu. Rapidly forming hand seals, she unleashed a barrage of chakra-infused bullets in a wide arc directly in front of her.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets!"

Facing this swift and relentless wind-style ninjutsu, Neji positioned his left leg forward and his right leg back, twisting his torso and swinging his arms. Using his Byakugan, he pinpointed the trajectory of the chakra bullets. His body began to spin rapidly, his palms deflecting, slapping, and repelling the attacks. A chakra barrier formed around him, deflecting all the wind-based assaults.

This was the Hyuga main family's secret technique, a skill he had independently mastered through his understanding of the Gentle Fist: the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!

Clang! Clang! Clang! The wind-style chakra collided against his palms, producing a series of metallic clinks. Even the referee, Hayate Gekko, was forced to retreat to avoid the onslaught.

Stray bursts of transparent chakra struck the surrounding walls, leaving behind noticeable craters.

Seizing the moment while Neji was busy defending against the Vacuum Bullets, Ino increased the gap between them to eight meters.

"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!" Seeing Ino still retreating, Neji gathered chakra and unleashed a powerful palm strike toward her side. The air compressed rapidly, shooting forward like a cannonball.

Ino's escape route was cut off. Faced with the Air Palm, she had no choice but to dodge to the side, reducing the distance between them back to seven meters. In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged over a dozen moves. Ino wanted to keep her distance, while Neji was determined to close it.

"Careful, these are poison kunai!" Ino raised her hand and threw three kunai. One was pitch black, emitting a nauseating stench, while the other two had explosive tags attached to their handles.

Neji didn't dare to block them directly. He sidestepped, retreating to a safer position, and the distance between them instantly widened to ten meters.

Amid the explosions of the tags, Ino declared confidently, "You lose, Neji."

The moment she created distance, she formed the Ram seal with her index and middle fingers, crossing her hands. With a surprised shout from Naruto in the distance, she activated the Shadow Clone Technique.

Once again, it was the standard formation: one main body and two shadow clones.

Neji quickly activated his Byakugan to assess the situation. The Shadow Clone Technique divided the user's chakra equally, and in his Byakugan's vision, all three Inos had identical chakra, chakra pathways, and pressure points. For the moment, he couldn't distinguish the real one.

Ino, however, wasn't concerned with his thoughts. They had already tested each other's taijutsu, and now it was time for a straightforward ninjutsu barrage.

No need for fancy techniques like the Exploding Water Colliding Wave or combined ninjutsu. Conventional ninjutsu was more than enough to handle Neji.

"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets!"

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Spears!"

In one breath, she unleashed three B-rank ninjutsu, all at the level of a jonin. Among them was her signature technique, the Water Severing Wave.

Sharp stone spears erupted from the ground, Vacuum Bullets densely covered a 120-degree arc, and the Water Severing Wave shot out a dazzling silver line of water.

Neji had no choice but to activate the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven again, releasing all his chakra to defend.

Ino smirked. If he was only going to defend and not counterattack, then it was a battle of chakra reserves. Aside from Naruto and Gaara, she feared no one among the genin.

The Revolving Heaven's defense was indeed formidable, and Neji wasn't just standing there taking hits.

He moved according to the Eight Trigrams, using his Byakugan to observe the trajectories of the incoming attacks. He shifted forward, backward, left, and right, dodging most of the Earth-Style Spears with precise footwork. The Vacuum Bullets were deflected one by one, but the Water Severing Wave proved unstoppable. Neji attempted to redirect its path from the side, but the technique sliced through his Revolving Heaven barrier, leaving a deep gash on his elbow.

"Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher!" He shot forward like an arrow, his bleeding elbow aimed at the Ino who had used the Water Severing Wave.

Poof! The shadow clone dissipated into white smoke. He had misjudged.

As he reset his Gentle Fist stance and turned around, Ino had already reformed her three-person team.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Ino continued to unleash a relentless barrage of ninjutsu, using her refined techniques and abundant chakra to maintain the offensive. Wind blades, earth spears, and water arrows rained down without pause. She had firmly taken control of the battle's tempo.

Neji gritted his teeth, enduring the onslaught. No matter what ninjutsu she used, he countered with the Revolving Heaven. Twice, he managed to close the distance to within five meters, but both times his attacks landed on shadow clones, wasting his opportunities.

Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Naruto all put themselves in Neji's shoes, silently pondering how they would handle Ino's overwhelming ninjutsu if they were in his position.

Sakura watched the match nervously, while Tenten's expression was complex, not openly supporting either side. Lee, however, was fired up, continuously cheering for Neji, making him the only genin actively rooting for him.

As for the referee, Hayate Gekko, he was in full retreat mode, having already moved outside the arena. The sheer volume and density of water arrows and wind blades were too much. This level of combat didn't even need a referee! His life was already tough enough; he had no intention of sacrificing himself for a "genin" match.

Neji's Revolving Heaven couldn't stop. His Byakugan remained locked on Ino's hand seals as he repeatedly tried to close the distance, occasionally mixing in an Air Palm. However, his long-range offensive options were limited.

Ino had trained hard in taijutsu. While it was her weaker area compared to ninjutsu, it wasn't by much. On the other hand, Neji's ability to handle long-range attacks, especially high-level ninjutsu, was lacking.

He remained calm, not making a single mistake throughout the fight. Even a jonin wouldn't have handled the barrage of B-rank ninjutsu any better. Yet, his disadvantage was becoming increasingly apparent.

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