Neji lunged forward with a piercing strike—but he barely missed. Elias was right in front of him. Had he misjudged the distance? He was using the Byakugan—that shouldn't have been possible! His opponent's legs hadn't moved, yet here he was, just out of reach—just barely enough to miss the mark. Was he caught in a genjutsu?
Neji chose to fall back and circle around, attacking from behind with a palm thrust. Yet Naruto was still standing in front of him, casually flipping that damned coin, one hand behind his back—as if Neji was nothing more than an insect. And not even an annoying insect at that! For some reason, hatred flared inside Neji, and his previously calm expression began to twist with emotion.
As Neji struck, the entire audience rose to their feet, gasps and cries of surprise echoing from the spectator stands. Even the daimyos leaned forward, visibly impressed, sharing in the disbelief of the crowd. The Hokage, however, remained unmoved—faces like stone.
Naruto, still grounded, seemed to be floating, he was moving on the ground like a bird would move in the sky! He hadn't moved a single step, yet he evaded the strike—and now he was standing behind Neji. His expression remained unchanged. Aloof. Detached. In the center of the arena, in the middle of the match, he acknowledged neither his opponent's efforts nor his presence. It was pure disrespect—total dismissal.
And then Neji activated Kaiten.
He was certain—certain—his opponent was too close to dodge this time. He had been impressed before by Naruto's taijutsu, but this was something else entirely!
For the first time in the match, Elias looked at Neji the way one might look at a bothersome cockroach. Calmly, almost lazily, he flicked the coin at Neji's head. Imbued with Cosmos, the coin tore through the chakra barrier of the Kaiten as if it were paper. The technique collapsed instantly, its rotation disrupted, redirected, and then completely dispelled.
The coin struck Neji's headband dead center—cutting the metallic plate clean in half without leaving so much as a scratch on the young Hyuga beneath.
Now, with his rotation broken and standing far too close to his opponent, Neji stared at Naruto. For the first time, there was fear in his eyes. He met Elias' cold, icy stare—and felt death breathing down his neck.
"Yin-Yang... perfect mastery."
Their reaction only stirred more excitement in the crowd. Exclamations and cheers rippled through the arena as spectators began to grasp the scale of what they were witnessing. The handsome, orange-haired boy stood poised and unsmiling—heroic, and utterly unshaken.
"So... you're a good for nothing, huh?" Elias finally said, his voice cool and dismissive.
Already terrified, Neji seemed to snap. As if pushed by invisible pressure, he launched into a frenzied assault. Blow after blow missed by the slimmest margin—yet Elias didn't even bother to move his feet, he moved as the laws of physics and space time did not exist, as if an invisible hand just took him and slide him somewhere else! At a point he even casually bent down, picked up the coin he threw earlier, and resumed flipping it between his fingers!
Then, abruptly, Neji shifted his stance. His left arm aligned perpendicular to his left leg as he bent low; his right arm extended diagonally in the opposite direction. A breath later—he struck.
The Sixty-Four Palms.
Elias finally acknowledged something mildly interesting. Each strike was soft, but sharp pulses of chakra erupted from the blows. If they landed, they would cause precise internal damage—devastating if allowed to accumulate. Still, Elias evaded effortlessly, using Hakumei: Serpent Shadow Flow—a technique he had created by fusing Cosmos and chakra with chi, evolving his sect's Serpent Spiral Shadow into something far greater.
To him, the world had slowed to a terrifying degree. He had all the time in the world—not just to read Neji's movements, but to analyze every detail, refine his control over energy, and even continue working on his Biju Core Devouring Technique in parallel.
Then, without warning, he stepped forward into the final, sixty-fourth strike.
Dodging it by a fraction, Elias positioned himself within Neji's guard and unleashed Hakumei: Crushing Pulse Strike—a blow modeled after Bone-Crushing Inch Power, akin to the legendary close-range strike used by Bruce Lee. It required almost no distance to deliver overwhelming impact.
But Elias held back. He was fighting a teenager. This was still a performance—not the time to escalate the show.
Even so, Neji was launched like a comet, trailing blood behind him before crashing into the ground six meters away like a broken kite.
The arena erupted. Cheers, gasps, and astonished cries filled the air. Even Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, opened his mouth in disbelief!
Elias, meanwhile, simply resumed flipping his coin, aloof and unconcerned.
The referee glanced at Neji, who was struggling to rise. He hesitated, unsure whether to stop the match. But with great effort, Neji finally stabilized himself, wobbling but upright. He assumed a fighting stance once more—though his hands trembled.
He stared at Naruto with horror.
Inside his body, his chakra was still spiraling wildly—completely out of control.
Elias, on the other hand, was using his martial arts for what they were truly meant for: aurafarming. To impress. To look spectacular—cool, divine, untouchable. He didn't go with a Muay Thai Khao Loi move aimed to the head to send Neji dirrection afterlife for this specific reason.
The old geezer wanted prestige?Well, now he had it—standing there with his jaw hanging open in front of everyone like a gaping fool.
If it weren't for his original plan, Elias would have already obliterated the entire arena with Bijuu Damas. But no—that wasn't the point. Posturing was the point. This was a performance, a show!
"Your technique insults even the floor you stand on." Elias said coldly, sparking another wave of gasps and reactions from the crowd. "Why go on?"
"I cannot give up. I need to keep fighting—to fight the hatred that stains the destiny of the Hyuga clan!"
"Oh? A story now?" Elias replied, sounding utterly indifferent. "Well, it already seems slightly less boring than your fighting skills. Go on…"
Neji took a breath, his voice steady but heavy with bitterness."There exists a secret ninjutsu technique passed down from generation to generation within the Hyuga clan's main branch. A curse. The Caged Bird Seal. It's a mark that makes one a prisoner of their destiny." He pointed to the symbol etched into his forehead."I was only four years old when it was my turn to become a victim of that seal."
His gaze drifted back, remembering.
"That day, an important ceremony was being held in Konoha—and only one family was absent: the Hyuga clan. The reason? The daughter of the Sōke was celebrating her third birthday. A day long anticipated by the clan. It was Hinata's third-year anniversary.
My father is Hizashi Hyuga. Hinata's father is Hiashi Hyuga… They were twins. But Hinata's father was born first, so it was decided that he would lead the main house—the Sōke—while my father would be relegated to the branch house—the Bunke."
He touched the cursed seal again.
"This mark represents the terror we live with. At any moment, a member of the main house can destroy us—erase our minds—with a single hand sign. When we die, the mark disappears, sealing our Byakugan so that no one can take it. It's only passed down to Hyugas.
This curse mark was created for one purpose: to protect the Byakugan. Ingenious, isn't it? He laughed bitterly."And then… one night…"
"What a disgrace!" Elias exclaimed, spitting on the ground. "Here I am, wasting my time indulging a stupid slave."
Neji choked on the words he had been about to say. Never—not in his wildest expectations—would he have imagined being called that by the one so many despised as the fox demon!
"Slave," Elias continued coldly, "either surrender, or commit suicide. I don't have time to educate you on your master's behalf."
That was the final straw.
Already seething with frustration and hatred, Neji snapped. He charged forward blindly, without form or technique—abandoning everything he had trained for! Rage had clouded his mind completely and this was the breaking point.
Just as he closed in on Naruto, Elias appeared out of nowhere in front of him, and in one fluid motion, used Hakumei: Blind Fang Claw—a brutal technique derived from his sect's Tiger Claw Eye Rip. And then, as always, he dodged in his own unnatural way, defying every law of motion and physics that anyone in the arena could comprehend.
He held the freshly torn left eye in his hand for a brief moment—then bit into it, chewed, and spat it onto the ground with cold disgust.
Then, without a hint of emotion, he concluded:
"I wanted a warrior. I got a slave. Even your eye has no flavor."
A loud, deafening scream echoed through the arena as Neji collapsed to his knees, both hands clutching the now-empty socket where his left eye had been. Chaos erupted in the spectator stands—a wave of gasps, cries, and shouts rising like the roar of a crazed beast suddenly awakened, thirsty for blood. Awe and horror clashed in the air, thick and visceral!
The Hyuga clan sat disgraced and Naruto Uzumaki was officially declared the winner.
When he returned to his seat among the spectators, he made no attempt to join the companions, classmates, or friends of his former host. He had no interest in interaction—he was a god-fox-genius with a plan. And none of them dared approach him. He felt utterly alien to them now. His presence, his actions, and his attitude intimidated them deeply.
After what felt like an eternity, the long-awaited match between Gaara and Sasuke was postponed. In the meantime, it was Kankuro versus Shino Aburame. But the Suna ninja forfeited immediately.
Then, naturally, it was Shikamaru versus Temari.And Shikamaru… gave up.
An awkward, heavy silence fell over the entire arena.
At the leader's platform, a heated debate broke out about what should be done next. The Kazekage—who was in truth Orochimaru in disguise, as Elias had already identified through his Cosmos—insisted the match between Sasuke and Gaara proceed.
Meanwhile, the referee approached Temari, who had remained in the arena. Just then, an ANBU agent appeared beside Elias.
"Can you fight again?"
Elias simply nodded and flickered into the center of the arena without a word.
He already understood the situation. Orochimaru was searching for something—probing for a specific outcome by pushing for the Sasuke vs. Gaara match.So Elias thought to himself:
Why not throw a little more chaos into the mix?