C4 Fake Attack! Seize the Bell!

"This..."

Tenten and Lee were both in awe.

Was this truly Hyuga Neji, the once-in-a-century 'failure' of the Hyuga Clan?

"When did he get so good?"

Guy pondered quietly, impressed by Neji's serious expression. Neji had just executed a palm strike without even breaking a sweat.

Had he really underestimated Neji's strength by such a wide margin?

"Your reflexes are as sharp as ever, Mr. Guy. Worthy of a jonin!"

Neji freely offered his praise, eyes locked on the bell in Guy's hand.

Guy cracked a smile and said, "Easy there, I haven't given the signal to start!"

Neji ignored the remark, advancing with a hand seal at the ready.

"Byakugan!"

Guy stepped back at once, realizing that Neji's sensory abilities had just spiked.

"The Byakugan's mastery has skyrocketed!"

"Ha!"

Neji's palm strike came faster than before.

Guy was too slow to evade and had to block with his hand, the impact sending him reeling back several meters.

"Neji, even at the start, there are rules," Guy said, firmly withstanding the surprise attack yet still eager to teach Neji a lesson.

Neji replied, "Sensei, you're talking about real combat. In shinobi battles, there are no rules!"

Without pausing, Neji moved in for another strike.

As he did, Guy retreated.

"Smack!"

"Thud!"

"Crack!"

Neji's barrage of palm strikes, punches, elbow jabs, and sweeping kicks left no room for Guy to respond, each attack seamlessly flowing into the next.

Neji's Soft Fist, enhanced by his Byakugan, allowed him to strike with chakra. Guy seemed to cope, but he was gradually losing ground.

"So the Soft Fist isn't just physical combat," Guy observed while quickly looking for an opening.

He leaped back, putting several meters between them.

"Using chakra to strike is especially lethal against someone like me who struggles with chakra control."

Though Guy looked composed, he was no longer underestimating the 'dud' before him.

"That's exactly why I think I have a shot... at defeating a shinobi of your standing!"

A wild frenzy gleamed in Neji's eyes, not out of malice but from an intense desire to become stronger. As he spoke, he was already in position, his hands moving like spiraling dragons. With a press of his legs, he swept out a half-circle, revealing an eight trigrams pattern on the ground!

"Eight Trigrams - 64 Palms!"

"Nani? Neji, you..." Guy's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Second Palm!"

"Fourth Palm!"

Caught off guard, Guy braced for impact. The pressure was beyond anything he anticipated, and he considered using the Eight Gates, a move typically reserved for the most dire student confrontations.

"Eight Palms!"

"Sixteen Palms!"

"Thirty-two Palms!"

Each palm strike landed with precision on Guy, who stood on the Eight Trigrams diagram. Neji's steps and palm techniques were visible but impossible to track.

"Sixty-four Palms!"

The final blow struck Guy squarely in the abdomen, sending him soaring through the air. The collision was so forceful it kicked up a storm of dust from their fierce battle.

"How did it go?" Tenten asked, her voice filled with surprise, before the dust had even settled.

Sakumo Hatake was speechless, struck by the display.

"Neji, when did you become so powerful!?" Tenten squinted as the dust began to clear.

"Mr. Guy still has the upper hand!" she observed.

In the center of the arena, Might Guy stood with his arms crossed, his eyes filled with determination, as he slowly stood up from his crouch. Neji, on the other hand, lay on the ground, covered in dust and looking rather worse for wear.

"Neji, I never thought you'd reach this level!" Guy said, letting out a sigh of relief. He hadn't been as confident in his victory as Tenten and Sakumo Hatake and had to open the second gate, the Heal Gate, to withstand Neji's onslaught. Without it, he might have suffered serious internal damage.

With the test over, Sakumo Hatake and Tenten rushed back.

"Neji, who would've thought you'd become so strong!" Sakumo Hatake was in awe, recalling how much weaker Neji used to be.

"What method did you use to become so strong? Can you teach me?" Lee's eyes shone with eagerness.

Tenten breathed a sigh of relief. "You've definitely improved, but your strategy... How could you possibly think you'd win against Mr. Guy on your own?"

"Maybe we should team up..."

Amid their back-and-forth, Neji slowly lifted his head and stood up.

"I'm... ready for the Chunin Exam now, aren't I?"

He stretched out his hand, and a jingling sound echoed.

All eyes turned to the bell that Neji held between his fingers.

Might Guy, caught off guard, checked his own bell and found he was down to one.

"He won? Neji actually won?!"

Lee's eyes bulged in disbelief.

Tenten was speechless, her jaw nearly dropping to the ground.

Might Guy, realizing what had happened, couldn't help but smile. "Well done! That final move, an incomplete Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, was a decoy!"

Neji let out a breath, feeling the weight of the challenge he faced sparring with a jonin.

"So, am I allowed to enter the Chunin Exam?"

"Of course, you are! Congratulations on passing the test!"

Might Guy burst into laughter, deeply gratified to see his once underdog student now capable of going toe-to-toe with him.