Hayate once again announces the next contestant, ignoring Neji's unpleasant expression.
It was clear to anyone who knows the story that the fight between the two clansmen didn't go according to what they wanted. Hinata clearly wanted to show to everyone her growth, especially towards Neji, with whom she wanted to get closer, like in their younger years.
This is the reason why, despite knowing her defeat would be hastened once she fought in close quarters, she did it to show her resolve to Neji, who distanced himself from her.
Yet at the end she didn't accomplish what she desired and also lost the match.
Neji, on the other hand, believes that he can easily deal with Hinata and show her that it was her fate to be defeated easily, but the result isn't exactly what he desired.
While he indeed defeats her easily, it is not as easily as he predicted, not to mention the fact that Hinata breaks their core beliefs as a member of the Hyuga Clan, which is unacceptable for him.
Might Guy, who saw his student's expression, slightly shake his head. While he was happy about the fact that Neji won, the latter's reaction really told everyone the fact that Neji still blamed the Main House about his current situation.
Might Guy thought that he already did a good job trying to make him understand about Hinata's position after noticing the hostility he holds for the girl for being part of the main house.
'It seems like I too need to talk with Neji about this once again,' Might Guy thought seriously.
Might Guy also didn't like the Hyuga Clan's practices, especially the Cursed Seal that was placed on the member of the Branch House. He understood the reason behind it, but he couldn't really accept it.
The next contestant is Temari from the Village Hidden in the Sand and Kazekage daughter. Her opponent is Tenten, a student of Might Guy.
The fight between the two female ninjas can be described as overwhelming disadvantages.
For Tenten, Temari is her worst enemy thanks to the fact that Temari is a Wind Style specialist; this is also not to mention her strategic mind.
Tenten had great weapon mastery and great precision, but because of this, facing Temari is her worst enemy.
Might Guy already predict the outcome? In fact, all the Jonin-level ninjas who were watching already guessed the result, as it was incredibly easy to predict.
After the two female ninjas' fight ended, Hayate quickly announced the next contestant. It was Kankuro, Temari's brother and Kazekage's son, vs. Mizumi Tsurugi.
Their fight also ended very quickly thanks to the fact that Misumi made a bad decision. While he shows everyone about his unique technique, at the end he uses it on a puppet that Kankuro controls and defeats Misumi easily.
Misumi, of course, tries to resist, as he thought he could win the match after knowing the skill of his opponent, but he forgot one thing: he was still at the grasp of the puppet and suffered terribly at that.
Of course there might be a chance that Misumi could win if he chose different tactics at the start of the battle, but such a chance is incredibly low, especially given the fact that Kankuro is clearly a skilled puppeteer.
There are reasons why the Puppet Master is feared in the Ninja World—of course, the main reason for it was due to a singular person, but that's a story for another time.
After clearing the battle arena, Hayate announces the next two Genin, and they are Shino Aburame and Zaku Abumi from the Sound Village.
Their fight can be described as loud thanks to Zaku's sound-based techniques, which are extremely powerful all things considered and in fact have a high chance of entering the third exam if his opponent were other people—with the exception of Naruto, of course.
Shino, while he was a quiet person, doesn't mean he was weak; in fact, he already possessed the capabilities of a Chunin-level ninja, especially his intellect.
After learning his opponent's technique, he already created a plan to defeat him without wasting more time and energy.
Ino and Sakura, for the first time, saw Shino manipulating bugs, and this really sent shivers deep within their spines, and they didn't hesitate to voice out their disgust in the insect, which, of course, Shino ignored since it wasn't the first time he heard about it.
Keimei is slightly interested in the Aburame Clan's insect control technique and already thinks of various ways of using such techniques.
Hisateru, of course, is slightly interested in the Aburame Clan technique or, more importantly, how Shino uses it. Unlike Keimei, Hisateru wasn't interested in the technique, as he was already familiar with it, but the way Shino uses his technique is interesting to say the least.
In Hisateru's eyes, the way Shino uses his technique might be too amateur, but in Hisateru's eyes, he saw Shino's potential of using his clan technique creatively.
Of course Hisateru also knows the weakness of the Aburame clan, which wasn't really unusual since Danzo is a paranoid person and without a doubt will find a way to exploit a weakness for such an incredible technique and use it to his advantage.
After Shino revealed his plan, Zaku didn't believe him and thought it was nothing but a bluff, and the moment he took action against Shino, Zaku paid a terrible price to learn the truth as his arm suffered severely.
After that, Hayate announces the winner, and the medical ninja nearby quickly takes action towards Zaku and first provides first aid treatment to his injuries before his injuries worsen.
After Zaku places to the infirmary, Hayate announces the next two Genins, and once again it was from the Leaf and Sound Village.
It was a match between Kin Tsuchi and Shikamaru Nara.
While making her way towards the battle arena, Kin didn't hide her disdain, especially after seeing the lazy way Shikamaru acted as he slowly made his way towards the battle arena.
The moment the fight started, Kin didn't hesitate to throw senbon towards Shikamaru. Of course Shikamaru easily dodges such an attack.
"Bells," Shikamaru thought for a moment as he stared at the senbon that struck at the wall behind him.
"What an old trick!" Shikamaru said with a small smile on his face.
"I suppose next you'll fling your senbons in two groups with and without bells to mislead me into thinking I'm safe once I dodge the one I can hear until the silent one hits me right?!"
"Chatty, aren't you?!" Kin said, her voice filled with frustration, which only made Shikamaru smile bigger.
All I had to do was evade the silent one. Once I master the pattern, I can easily dodge her attack. If I'm careful, I can do it! Shikamaru's eyes flash.
Just as Shikamaru suddenly heard a bell sound behind him.
'What? Behind me?! 'Shikamaru slightly turned his head behind to see the bells connected to a string.
"Crap!"
"Too late!" Kin smiles as she throws a senbon to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru quickly crossed his arms to avoid being severely injured by the senbon and at the same time slightly jumped backwards to lessen the blow the senbon caused.
"Once I master how to avoid your shadow, you never stood a chance," Kin said with a big smile and voice filled with arrogance. "Now for the coup de grace!"
Just as Kin was about to attack, she suddenly noticed a problem.
'I... can't...move...! 'Kin thought in horror as she was unable to understand how Shikamaru manages to do it.
"Okay..." Shikamaru said lightly as he slowly stands up.
"Time to deploy my Shadow Possession Jutsu," Shikamaru added while staring at Kin with a small smirk on his face.
"How?! Your shadow is nowhere in sight!" Kin asks loudly.
"You still don't get it, do you?"
"N-No way..." Kin's eyes flash in realization.
"Yes, you idiot!" Shikamaru's smile widens a bit.
"Such delicate little threads so high up there's no way they couldn't cast a shadow. I can make my shadow as big as I wish or as small within limits."
"So what if your shadow attaches to my own? You only manage to make me mirror your own move. You cannot possibly think you can win by using this trick.
"Surely this ninjutsu will release the moment you use up all your chakra, and the moment it happens, it's my win." Kin's eye flashes with ferocity.
"You're annoying. Shut up and watch." Shikamaru slowly places his hands in his weapon pouch and retrieves a shuriken.
"Are you stupid?! Both of us will do the same movements. If you attack, you'll get hurt too!" Kin said aloud as her body copied Shikamaru's movement.
"Tell me something I don't know," Shikamaru sarcastically said.
"You...!"
"We'll keep throwing shurikens to see how long we can last!" Shikamaru said with a crazy smile on his face.
"You fool!"
Kin and Shikamaru throw a shuriken at the same time. Everyone watches the fight in bated breath.
'Was he bluffing all along?! 'Kin thought as she noticed her body tilting backwards.
Kin tilts backwards until her head hits the wall behind her. She tilts so fast that the force of her head hitting the wall is enough to knock her unconscious.
"Hehehe... One down," Shikamaru slightly laughs.
"A ninja uses everything to his advantage, including the terrain and the architecture as well. We might be locked into the same movement, but only one of us was close enough to the wall."
"I only used the shuriken as a distraction so you wouldn't notice how close you were to the wall."
"The winner of the match is Shikamaru Nara."