Chapter 188: The Clash of Taijutsu
Sasuke's strength, naturally, needs no further explanation.
In any case, if one disregards immeasurable things like actual combat experience, then he has the solid combat power of a Jonin-level.
However, Neji is also very strong.
And he is much stronger than his original-story counterpart.
After opening the first three tenketsu points of the Fist of the North Star, some of Neji's shortcomings—stamina and speed—have been greatly compensated for.
Sakura has seen many spars between Neji and Hinata, and she has also sparred with Hinata quite a bit.
Her impression of the Gentle Fist, how to put it... it dominates in the early game, is lackluster in the mid-game, and is impressive in the late game. That's probably how it can be described.
When everyone is still a child, with not much chakra, unable to cast many ninjutsu, and mainly relying on taijutsu to fight, the Gentle Fist, which is a very strong counter to taijutsu, is naturally an invincible existence among its peers.
Then, as the peers grow up, their chakra gradually increases, and ninjutsu-type and taijutsu-type ninja begin to differentiate. The shortcomings of the Gentle Fist begin to become prominent.
Its speed is not fast, its strength is not strong, and its long-range striking ability is only learned later. Although it is still very powerful in close combat, it is very easy to be kited by others. In combat, the enemy can easily take the initiative. Its flaws are huge.
In the original story, Neji being played with by Kidōmaru is the best illustration of this.
And later on, with the acquisition of long-range skills like the Vacuum Palm, the Gentle Fist recaptured the initiative in battle. At least it would no longer be easily led by the nose by the enemy.
At that time, the Gentle Fist's ability to destroy the target by infusing chakra has varying degrees of restraint on most secret techniques. In a confrontation between high-level ninja, this is an ability with quite an impressive effect. The Hyuga clan has thus often prided itself on being the strongest clan in Konoha—of course, they only started saying this after the Uchiha clan was annihilated.
The current Neji is in this so-called awkward mid-game stage.
When facing a taijutsu-type opponent, he can even fight and defeat a Tokubetsu Jonin or even a Jonin. But if the enemy is a ninjutsu-type or a comprehensive-type ninja, even if they are only at the Chunin level, he will have a very hard time.
However, after learning the Farmer's Three Punches... uh, the Fist of the North Star, Neji's speed and strength have been greatly improved. Just looking at his taijutsu, he has already touched the edge of the Jonin level.
On the field below, Neji used the Fist of the North Star, and Sasuke also began to use lightning chakra to activate his own body.
His strength was a cut above Neji's. However, if it was just a taijutsu match, the Gentle Fist's integration of offense and defense, the tricky ability of its tenketsu strikes, and the sticky, chasing pursuit of the 64 Palms were also quite a headache. For a time, Sasuke could only be in a stalemate with him.
Strangely enough, although they were two different Kekkei Genkai, the impression Neji's taijutsu left on Sasuke was that it had some similarities with Kimimaro's.
Both of them gave Sasuke the feeling of a hedgehog, with no place to start.
The difference was that Kimimaro's "spines" were the bone blades that could stab out from his body at any time. These sharp and tough bones, if Sasuke was not careful, would leave bloody, external wounds.
Neji's "spines," on the other hand, were his Gentle Fist and his tenketsu art. This special fighting style, which could cut off the flow of chakra in the body, if one was hit, it would cause the chakra circulation to stagnate. Although no injury could be seen on the outside, its effect on the battle was even greater than a flesh-and-blood external wound. Coupled with the close-range, sticky, chasing attacks of the 64 Palms, even Sasuke was very wary.
Of course, in terms of taijutsu skill, Kimimaro was, after all, two years older than Neji, so the white-haired youth's taijutsu foundation was still a cut above.
However, this was just a spar, and they wouldn't be using killing moves. Even if there was some gap in their strength, it wasn't so easy to decide a winner so quickly. What's more, the area where Sasuke was stronger than Neji was more in his ninjutsu, especially a sure-kill technique like the Lightning Style: Chidori. Neji's Rotation could not block this move. But if it was just taijutsu, the strength of the two was actually about the same.
The taijutsu abilities of both were quite formidable, but the paths they walked were completely opposite.
Sasuke advocated that "in all the world, there is nothing that cannot be broken, and only speed is unbreakable," a typical high-speed combat system. Neji's Gentle Fist, on the other hand, was the champion of "using softness to overcome hardness," "using skill to defeat a thousand pounds of force."
The collision of the two systems sparked a brilliant fire on the field.
Not to mention Lee, whose eyes were shining and who was already fully engrossed, even Haruno Sakura, whose comprehension of taijutsu was average, was at this moment also watching with full concentration and great interest.
"Who do you think will win?" Sakura asked the taijutsu master beside her, during a break in their exchange.
"Neji!" Lee answered subconsciously. He turned his head and, seeing the slightly stunned expression on the girl's face, he quickly explained, "It looks like Sasuke isn't planning to use ninjutsu. So if they continue to fight like this, it should be Neji who will win, because Sasuke's fighting style consumes more stamina."
That was a bit more reasonable.
When Lee had blurted out Neji's name just now, Sakura hadn't even reacted. But his explanation also made sense. Without using ninjutsu, although on the surface it looked like Sasuke was suppressing Neji, the former, although his offense was fierce, had been unable to break through for a long time, while the latter was playing it safe, his defense watertight. The disadvantage was not as obvious as it looked.
Sakura glanced at Lee, feeling that his conviction was more like he was seeing his own shadow in Sasuke.
Presumably, Lee had also encountered such a predicament. After removing his weights, he could suppress Neji with his extremely high speed, but if he didn't open the Eight Gates, it would be very difficult for him to break through Neji's defense line. As long as the battle dragged on, Lee, whose taijutsu consumed more stamina, would eventually be defeated.
As for the outcome of the battle, Haruno Sakura was not as certain as Lee. In her opinion, if it was purely a taijutsu match, Sasuke and Neji were just 50/50. It was possible for either to win.
Neji and Sasuke, who had fought to the third round, had gained a further understanding of each other's strength. There were fewer probing moves, and the battle began to become more intense and exciting.
However, just as she was watching with rapt attention, she was suddenly interrupted by someone.
"Sakura, urgent mission."
Shino, wearing a new mask, appeared behind her.
Sakura suddenly felt the urge to turn around and make a rude gesture at Shino—to be forcibly pulled away just as she was getting to the critical point, how painful was that!
"Sigh, calm down, watch your image!" she said to herself in her heart. She silently took out her new mask from the sealing formula in her elbow guard, put it on, and left with a Body Flicker.
Hokage's Office.
This time, the mission was issued to them directly by her master, Lady Tsunade.
Present were not only Squad 14, but also two other Anbu squads that Sakura did not recognize, all listening to the order at the same time.
The content of the mission was still related to Orochimaru.
The reason why Orochimaru had not appeared at the scene earlier had been found. The reconnaissance troops had found traces of a battle left by Orochimaru near the border.
The analysis of the battle traces at the scene showed that the great battle had taken place on the same day as the operation to rescue Sasuke. Obviously, Orochimaru had been ambushed. According to the analysis, there seemed to be six people who had participated in the interception. One was a taijutsu specialist, and the remaining five were each proficient in one of the five elemental ninjutsu.
Tsunade's first reaction when she received this information was that it was Danzo's doing. However, as far as she knew, Danzo did not have so many elite Jonin-level or even Kage-level elemental masters under his command.
So the whole thing was still shrouded in doubt.
Near the scene of the great battle, the reconnaissance troops had discovered several underground bases, but they were already empty.
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