Chapter 67: The Strong Heiress

"Match Three, begin!"

At Hayate Gekko's signal, Kin Tsuchi prepared to pull out senbon adorned with tiny bells from her ninja pouch. She was about to hurl them at Hinata and unleash a sonic genjutsu when—

In the split second before she could move, Hinata—standing barely two meters away—seemed to teleport, leaving only an afterimage behind. In the blink of an eye, she was right in front of Kin.

Her speed was so overwhelming that Kin's body simply couldn't keep up.

Pop pop pop…

Chakra flickered in a pale blue glow around Hinata's fingertips as she drove them mercilessly into Kin's torso. The force behind each strike was astounding, causing her fingers to sink through Kin's clothes and into her flesh. As her chakra penetrated Kin's acupressure points, it disrupted Kin's chakra flow and inflicted a piercing, drilling pain.

Before Kin could even scream, Hinata—moving as swiftly as a gust of wind—followed up with over a dozen rapid hits. Finally, Hinata delivered a palm strike to Kin's chest.

Boom!

A twisted shockwave burst from Kin's back. Once the force subsided, Kin stood there, eyes vacant, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the floor.

"Thank you," Hinata said softly, gazing down at Kin. The veins protruding at her temples gradually faded.

Click! Click! Click!

Meanwhile, on the second-floor balcony, the steady sound of a camera shutter filled the air. Izayoi, acting as the group's impromptu cameraman, was all smiles, his mouth curling with satisfaction. If they weren't both so young—and if their relationship were public—he'd have probably yelled something like:

My wife is so awesome!

"Wh-what…just happened?"

"How did Hinata's Body Flicker move so fast? There was almost no delay at all!"

"That movement looked oddly familiar. Where have we seen it before?"

"…"

All the rookie teams were stunned. Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno in particular felt the same sense of being outclassed that Kin must have felt moments earlier. Over at Might Guy's group, Neji Hyuga clenched his fists, watching with undisguised frustration.

The heiress has gotten even stronger!

He flashed back to his sparring sessions with Hinata over the past few years—how they'd once been evenly matched, then she gradually overtook him, and now she crushed him. With that kind of pinpoint force and chakra control, she didn't even need the full Thirty-Two Palms sequence to make her opponent cough blood and collapse. Even though Neji had mastered the Revolving Heaven, he wasn't confident he could beat her.

Beside him, Tenten noticed Lee's trembling gaze and asked, "Lee, was that high-speed movement?"

"It's definitely high-speed, but not like mine," Lee said, nodding and then shaking his head.

Might Guy smiled and added, "It's an example of nature transformation. Neji's clanmate there has learned Lightning Release chakra conversion, just like Sasuke Uchiha did—she's stimulating her cells with lightning chakra to heighten her speed. Now that's youth!"

"Ohhh…" Lee murmured in realization. That explained Sasuke's sudden bursts of incredible speed. At first, Lee could barely track him, and then in the next moment Sasuke moved far faster than expected. Lee had thought it might be a Sharingan ability—but apparently it was a Lightning Release transformation.

Indeed, Hinata had also mastered the cell-stimulation technique using Lightning Release chakra.

The Hyuga Clan descended from a branch of the Otsutsuki, and even though their centuries-old lineage was now diluted, it didn't mean they were incapable of ninjutsu.

They simply specialized in the Gentle Fist, which perfectly complemented their Byakugan. With Gentle Fist alone reaching elite jonin standards, many Hyuga never bothered training in additional techniques.

But Izayoi wasn't constrained by the clan's rigidity. The moment he learned the Lightning Release stimulation method, he passed it on to Hinata, who happened to have an affinity for lightning. She integrated it into her Body Flicker Technique, transitioning it into a taijutsu-based high-speed movement—and dramatically increasing her strike speed.

Clearly, Izayoi had made the right call. Enhanced by Lightning Release chakra, Hinata's Body Flicker was as smooth as it was blisteringly fast, comparable to Lee fighting without weights.

"This heiress from the main branch…she's truly remarkable."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, pipe in hand, exhaled a ring of smoke and offered a faint laugh. He glanced down at Izayoi—who was busy checking his camera film—and his smile turned wry.

He's managed to raise such an outstanding fighter. Impressive. But with her being so exceptional, how's he going to stand by her side?

Nearby, Kakashi Hatake turned to Sasuke Uchiha. "Sasuke, did you teach Hinata that technique?"

"No. Izayoi taught both of us," Sasuke replied.

Naruto, for reasons unknown—jealousy, maybe—couldn't resist muttering, "Wow, you really are Izayoi's little sidekick."

This time, Sasuke didn't shoot him a glare. In fact, something about Naruto's words seemed to strike him differently. If he really did follow Izayoi, would Izayoi be willing to teach him that ultimate technique?

Thinking about how Izayoi had saved them earlier, and the sense of security he provided, Sasuke found himself entertaining the notion that having such a "leader" might not be a bad thing.

The haughty second son's inner thoughts went unnoticed by everyone else. Hearing Sasuke's answer, Kakashi shifted his gaze toward Izayoi again, privately giving the top student an even higher appraisal. He's overshadowing even this unusually talented generation of rookies—no small feat.

Such a vast chakra pool…Lightning Release cell stimulation…that terrifying fire tornado technique and a hidden trump card… Kakashi's mind flashed back to his own youth—he'd been only twelve when he made jonin and invented Chidori, boasting similarly colossal chakra reserves. Curiosity flickered in his eyes as he looked forward to Izayoi's upcoming matches.

Orochimaru, too, shared Kakashi's interest. Although Dosu's team had finished their matches, Orochimaru remained on the sidelines to watch the rest of the preliminaries.

The fourth match soon began: Tsurugu Misumi vs. Kankuro.

Tsurugu Misumi was one of Kabuto Yakushi's teammates. Although he posed as a Konan genin, he was actually another spy Orochimaru planted in the village.

In a bizarre twist, he didn't even bother hiding his connections, openly using one of Orochimaru's signature Soft Physique Modification—allowing him to stretch or compress limbs at will. Izayoi thought that if Misumi somehow combined this ability with the Akimichi Clan's Multi-Size Technique, it might even rival the Eight Inner Gates as the ultimate skill.

In their fight, Tsurugu Misumi moved like a giant serpent, soon wrapping himself around Kankuro. Little did he know that "Kankuro" was actually just the puppet Karasu in disguise. By the time he realized, it was too late. Emerging from the puppet's bandage wraps, the real Kankuro easily manipulated Karasu to finish Misumi off, securing a comfortable victory.

Similar to Zaku's attempt to ambush Sasuke earlier, battles at this level hinged heavily on intelligence. Without sufficient knowledge of each other's techniques, it often came down to strategy and wits rather than raw power. And Misumi, evidently, fell short in both aspects compared to Kankuro.

~~~

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