"Let the match begin!"
Kitazawa's voice cut off their conversation.
All eyes turned to the field.
Shikotsumyaku: Ten Fingers Shooting Bullets!
Kimimaro raised his hands, ten finger bones launching forward.
At the same time, he suddenly accelerated, charging straight at Hyuga Hinata.
Multiple Arrows!
Hinata released her bowstring.
A Yin Release arrow shot out, then instantly split into ten.
They shattered the incoming finger bones, then sealed off the space around Kimimaro.
Forced to halt, Kimimaro shifted stances.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Camellia!
He drew a bone blade and cleaved straight through the Yin-release arrows in front of him.
"Explosive Arrow!"
Just as Kimimaro was about to close the distance, another Yin Release Arrow shot toward him.
Before it could even reach him, it suddenly detonated.
An invisible spiritual shockwave burst outward.
Kimimaro froze on the spot, his vision swimming as dizziness washed over him.
Even so, his response was far from slow.
"Cursed Seal of Earth: Stage Two!"
Dark markings spread as he forced off the explosive arrow's effects, then flickered forward, appearing in front of Hinata in an instant.
A flash of white blade light appeared.
The bone sword in his hand slashed out dozens of times in the blink of an eye.
Clang!
Hinata raised the Moon Chasing Bow and barely managed to block his bone blade.
"Spiral Arrow!"
She quickly drew the bowstring back.
Kimimaro's heart tightened at the sight.
At this distance, even if he blocked the arrow with his bones, it would be very uncomfortable.
He flickered to the left in a blur.
A spinning Yin Release Arrow whipped past his side.
"Multiple Arrows!"
Hinata drew the bow once more.
Nine Yin release arrows shot out in a fan, whistling through the air.
Kimimaro frowned slightly.
No matter where he landed, there was no way to avoid them all.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch!"
He made his decision in a heartbeat. Dozens of white bones erupted from beneath his skin, forming a dense outer armor.
Instead of escaping, he stopped and charged straight back toward Hinata.
All nine Yin Release Arrows struck him, but each one was deflected by the forest of bone.
"Spiral Arrow!"
Startled, Hinata loosed another spinning Yin Release Arrow.
Boom!
Kimimaro's speed faltered, his entire body shuddering twice.
Yet despite its impressive power, the Spiral Arrow still failed to crack his bone armor.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Seeing this, Hinata dismissed the Moon Chasing Bow and rushed in, both palms striking out in rapid succession.
But the moment her first palm landed on Kimimaro's bones, she realized something was wrong.
A powerful rebound force surged back along her arm, making it go numb.
Relief flashed in Kimimaro's eyes. He immediately swung his bone blade at her.
Hinata was forced to summon the Moon Chasing Bow again.
Her body jolted as she parried and was knocked backward, retreating rapidly across the arena.
Kimimaro pressed his advantage and gave chase.
"Is Hinata going to lose?" Haruno Sakura's face was filled with disbelief.
"The hardness of those bones is seriously terrifying," Ino said, instantly grasping the key point.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch was clearly a natural nemesis for all taijutsu users.
Kimimaro had used it in the first round as well, but since his opponent then was Karin, the impact on the audience hadn't been as great.
Now that he was up against Hinata—who was consistently ranked in the top five of the Genius Class—everyone finally understood how terrifying Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch really was.
"Shikotsumyaku's counter to taijutsu types is too strong," Shikamaru analyzed. "And Hinata's bow-style ninjutsu can't break through its defenses either. That's what led to this situation."
"I didn't expect Kimimaro to have gotten this much stronger too," Kiba muttered.
"Can Hinata still win?" Tenten asked, watching Hinata steadily forced onto the back foot.
"From how it looks now, it'll be difficult," Shino said as he adjusted his glasses. "Unless Hinata has also been hiding her strength—or has some new secret technique."
"How could there be so many—"
Sakura broke off mid-sentence, her eyes suddenly widening.
A heavy, oppressive aura surged into the sky.
Sasuke, who had been watching with a blank expression, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
His gaze was drawn, almost against his will, to the source—Hyuga Hinata.
Terrifying Yin Release power poured out of the moon-chasing bow in her hands.
Kimimaro's breath caught as the air around them seemed to drop several degrees.
That wave of Yin Release power quickly wrapped itself around Hinata.
Currents of wind formed out of nowhere, swirling fiercely around her.
Her short blue-black hair whipped in the gale—and then, in an instant, darkened to pure black and grew long.
The Yin Release chakra around her did not disperse. Instead, it condensed into a hazy, veil-like layer that clung to the surface of her body.
In a heartbeat, Hinata changed from a short-haired girl into a long-haired, mature woman, her entire being exuding a cold and mysterious aura.
The entire Konoha Arena fell silent.
"Hinata really was hiding her strength?" Ino asked in amazement, staring at the transformed Hinata.
Sakura subconsciously raised a hand to cover her mouth.
"The current Hinata… she really has the presence of a true powerhouse," Karin couldn't help but remark.
Hinata had always given her an impression of gentleness, but the girl standing in the arena now radiated overwhelming strength.
"It's downright despair-inducing," Kiba complained. "How did you all get so strong?"
"This is the Yin Release Chakra Mode," Neji spoke up. "To put it simply, it's a Partial Tailed Beast Transformation."
"Partial tailed beast transformation?" Shikamaru's mind raced. "Is she using Satori, the one sealed in the Moon-Chasing Bow, as a Tailed Beast?"
"Then doesn't that mean you've also learned the Yin Release chakra mode?" Tenten asked curiously.
"Yes," Neji admitted with a nod.
Sasuke frowned slightly.
This Yin Release Chakra Mode… it made him feel a faint sense of threat.
He knew very well how powerful a partial tailed beast transformation could be.
Of course, Naruto's version would be on a different level, since he housed the Nine-Tails.
In the stands, the silence finally broke as the crowd grew noisy again.
"What kind of ninjutsu is this?" Hiashi asked without thinking.
"You don't know?" Fugaku couldn't help but respond with a question of his own.
"…"
Hiashi fell silent for a moment.
Logically speaking, Hinata was his daughter—he should know.
But this technique clearly didn't come from the Hyuga clan. It had been taught by Kitazawa.
"It looks like a partial tailed beast transformation," Jiraiya said after observing for a moment.
Everyone was stunned, and then the realization clicked into place.
"As expected of Kitazawa," Hiruzen praised.
In theory, Satori in the Moon-Chasing Bow could be treated like a Tailed Beast, but it wasn't actually one.
For an ordinary shinobi, restructuring things so that Hinata could use a partial tailed beast transformation would have been nearly impossible.
Tsunade chuckled when she heard this but chose not to comment.
Jiraiya's thoughts drifted to the Child of Prophecy.
If the Great Toad Sage hadn't clearly said the Child of Prophecy was his own student, Jiraiya would have suspected Kitazawa instead.
Hiashi was visibly excited.
If Hinata could use Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, then so could Neji. With their talent, combined with that power… it was highly likely both of them would reach Kage-level strength in the future.
In that case, the future of the Hyuga clan was limitless.
Down in the arena, the battle raged on.
Once Kimimaro regained his composure, he charged in again without hesitation.
Bone blades extended from both his hands, and with the spikes protruding from all over his body, he rushed at Hinata like a living pincushion.
Hinata dismissed the Moon-Chasing Bow.
With a wave of her hand, nine Yin Release arrows manifested out of thin air.
Kimimaro plunged straight into them like before—
—but the instant they clashed, his expression changed drastically.
Terrifying force erupted from the Yin Release arrows, sending his entire body flying backward.
Hinata swept her hand again.
Yin Release chakra visibly gathered in front of her, air swirling as it condensed into a massive Rasengan-like sphere.
"Rasengan?" Kimimaro was taken aback, then hastily leapt aside.
The sphere slammed into the ground, blowing open a deep crater in an instant.
"What the hell? When did Hinata learn the Rasengan?" Kiba stared, completely dumbfounded.
"That's not the Rasengan," Naruto said, shaking his head. "It just looks like the Rasengan."
"Hinata's body is covered in Yin Release right now," Sasuke added. "This is Yin Release: Creation of All Thing."
"Simply put, it's imitation and creation," Yakumo said. "It's somewhat similar to my Illusion Technique: True Life."
"This is practically invincible!" Ino exclaimed.
Even if it was only an imitation, with enough raw power and Yin Release behind it, it might be stronger than the original.
"She even has Wood Release?" Kiba's eyes went wide.
After dodging the imitation Rasengan, Kimimaro instantly accelerated, driving both bone blades toward Hinata.
Hinata brought her hands together in a clap, and a massive tree surged up in front of her, blocking his path.
The trunk shuddered, branches whipping out to ensnare Kimimaro.
He reacted quickly, his bone blades flashing as he hacked the branches apart.
Hinata casually flicked her hand.
Explosive Arrow.
Four Yin Release arrows appeared in midair and detonated at once.
Kimimaro's body locked up; his vision spun as a wave of dizziness crashed over him.
Hyuga didn't press forward with a physical attack. Instead, she raised both hands, calm and composed.
She drew out nearly all the Yin Release power in her body.
The wind howled as that vast Yin chakra exploded outward, condensing in an instant into a massive Wood Dragon.
"What?"
Kimimaro had just regained his senses when the familiar shape loomed before him.
His first reaction was that Hinata had learned Kitazawa's Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique.
But on closer look, it wasn't Wood Release at all—just a dragon-shaped construct made purely of Yin Release power.
Even so, it was more than troublesome.
Boom!
The Wood Dragon slammed into him, sending him flying.
Thanks to the layer of bone cushioning his body, he avoided serious injury.
Kimimaro scrambled up and bolted without hesitation.
Hinata stood her ground, expression unreadable as she controlled the Wood Dragon with precision.
Like a Shinigami come to claim a life, the dragon pursued Kimimaro relentlessly.
"This can't go on!"
Glancing around, Kimimaro grit his teeth and used the Shikotsumyaku: Iron Tree Dance, a technique he still wasn't very skilled with.
He bent forward, and his spine shot out like a chain, whipping toward Hinata in an attempt to bind her.
"Eight Trigrams: Revolving Heaven!"
Hinata spun, chakra flaring, deflecting the spine cleanly away.
That brief pause was all the Wood Dragon needed. It coiled around Kimimaro in the next instant, binding him tightly.
He struggled with everything he had, but it was useless.
"I forfeit."
Feeling the crushing pressure grow more and more terrifying, Kimimaro had no choice but to admit defeat. Bone or not, his body was still flesh and blood.
"The winner: Hinata Hyuga!"
Kitazawa announced immediately.
"The current Hinata is seriously terrifying!"
Sakura stared blankly at the arena.
"She really is very strong," Yakumo nodded.
After activating her Yin Release Chakra Mode, Hinata's power was no longer beneath Yakumo's in terms of Yin Release or chakra volume.
Of course, that comparison was only in raw power. With her illusion bloodline limit, Yakumo still held the advantage.
"It's a good thing I'm graduating soon. If I stayed in the Genius Class any longer, I'd lose all my confidence," Kiba muttered with a sigh.
Tayuya bit her lip.
She'd thought that with the Curse Mark of Earth, her ranking in the Genius Class would rise. Instead, the opposite had happened. Forget climbing the ranks—just not dropping was already considered lucky.
Sasuke felt his guard rise.
Judging from Hinata's performance, if he didn't go all out, beating her wouldn't be easy.
Even so, while she was a threat, she wasn't yet someone he considered unmanageable.
"This is only the second round," Sakura said quietly, fully aware of her own limits. "There's a high chance I won't make it to the third round."
Six matches of the second round were over, leaving only three people who hadn't fought: herself, Lee, and Neji.
Lee had the Eight Gates. Neji had the Yin Release Chakra Mode.
Even though she'd learned Enhanced Strength, it still wasn't enough to change the outcome.
"It's fine," Ino comforted her. "Even though I made it to the third round, it's not much different from not making it at all."
Among the students who had advanced, she was on the weaker end.
"Second round, seventh match: Hyuga Neji vs. Haruno Sakura!"
Kitazawa paused before adding, "Lee receives a bye!"
"What has to come will come," Sakura said, looking completely deflated.
Sasuke glanced at her, at a loss for words.
If you couldn't win, you couldn't win. Nothing anyone said would change that.
"You're a medical nin," Ino reminded her with a small smile. "It doesn't matter if you lose."
"That's true," Sakura exhaled, bracing herself as she walked into the arena.
Neji stood across from her, already holding the Life Feather Bow.
The moment the match began, Sakura was on the defensive.
She couldn't get close at all.
Even when she used water release ninjutsu to counterattack, Neji easily slipped past every strike.
He had the Byakugan, after all. Unless Sakura's speed was overwhelming, he would always see and react in time.
After a short exchange, Sakura chose to forfeit on her own, bringing the second round to an end.
"The students advancing to the third round are Ino Yamanaka, Akimichi Choji, Kurama Yakumo, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto."
Standing in the center of the arena, Kitazawa continued slowly, "Hyuga Hinata, Hyuga Neji, and Rock Lee."
"All eight of these students already possess strength on par with a Jonin."
Hiruzen exhaled softly, emotion coloring his voice. "Nothing like this has happened since the founding of Konoha."
"It really is astonishing," Jiraiya agreed.
"Their future achievements will definitely surpass our own," Inoichi added, unable to hide his satisfaction.
After all, his daughter Ino was among those names. Even if she wasn't as dazzling as a few of the others, she had already far surpassed most shinobi his age.
"This is all thanks to Kitazawa," Tsunade reminded them.
The group fell silent for a heartbeat, then nodded in unison.
There was little jealousy. First, because what they were witnessing was indeed the result of Kitazawa's efforts. Second, because Kitazawa was about to become the Sixth Hokage.
-------------------------
AN : There are limited time discounts running on my Patreon page. Check it out and enjoy the story further!! - CODE - EBE6A!!
There is also an Early bird offer for first 5 buyers of the whole story!!!
------------------
AN: Check out my P@treon For FULLY COMPLETED STORY
Thank You For your Support!!
[email protected]/noviceauthor777
-----------------------
To keep the chapters coming - Support with POWER STONES.
For Every 100 power stones - 1 BONUS chapter.