Neji stood his ground without attacking, calmly analyzing Yingqiao's tactics. His pale eyes seemed to pierce into her very soul, making Yingqiao so furious she wished she could rip out his Byakugan and stomp it into the ground.
"You don't have to act so smug," Yingqiao said through clenched teeth. Her hatred for Neji burned hotter with every passing moment.
"We'll see."
Neji didn't argue with her. Instead, he remained still, waiting quietly for Yingqiao to make the first move.
"You…"
Yingqiao was so enraged by Neji's calm demeanor that her breath quickened, but she quickly regained control. Today, she had to kill him—anger couldn't cloud her judgment.
"The Hyūga fight up close, using Gentle Fist to strike pressure points. So if I want to beat him, I can't let him get near me at all. But if I attack from a distance, he'll block it with Heavenly Spin. However, that technique needs time to recover—it can't be used twice in a row. In that case…"
A spark of realization lit Yingqiao's eyes. She swiftly pulled a kunai from her ninja tool pouch and threw it forward, followed by an explosive tag fluttering behind it.
"A kunai with an explosive tag?"
When Neji saw the explosive tag, his brow furrowed slightly. A close-range explosion could be dangerous. He thought, *He wondered if she was trying to force him into using Heavenly Spin, then strike during its cooldown period — clever, but not enough.*
[Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm]
Guessing her intent, Neji calmly raised his hand and unleashed the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. Chakra surged from his palm, slamming into the kunai and knocking it away.
BOOM!
The explosion released a fiery shockwave, forcing everyone to squint from the blinding light. As the closest to the blast, both Neji and Yingqiao instinctively squinted against the glare.
"It was deflected? He didn't even use Heavenly Spin. A shame… but a minor one. My true attack is right here!"
As the explosion faded, Yingqiao formed several hand seals. A brilliant glow shimmered between her hands.
[Storm Release: Lanton]
A beam of energy shot forth like a cannon blast, speeding rapidly toward Neji.
"Is this... one of those Kekkei Genkai techniques — Storm Release?"
The speed of the Storm Release was incredible—so fast that Neji barely had time to react. He knew full well that the beam could change direction mid-flight. Even if he dodged, under Yingqiao's control, it would chase him relentlessly. Rather than waste effort on meaningless evasion, Neji chose to meet it head-on.
[Eight Trigrams Palm: Heavenly Spin]
The Lanton beam collided with Neji's Heavenly Spin. As the beam clashed against the rotating chakra barrier, the resulting impact triggered a powerful explosion.
"As expected, he didn't dodge—instead, he used Heavenly Spin to block straight on. But that's exactly what I expected."
Yingqiao wasn't discouraged—in fact, she was thrilled. She'd used Storm Release to force Neji into defending with Heavenly Spin. She originally thought Neji would first try to evade, only resorting to Heavenly Spin after realizing Storm Release could change direction. Unexpectedly, Neji reacted so decisively—he didn't dodge at all and countered directly with Heavenly Spin. Though it didn't go exactly how she planned, the outcome was the same: she'd successfully tricked Neji into revealing his Heavenly Spin. She'd already won.
"This time, there's no way you're escaping!"
As soon as Neji stopped spinning, a shadow clone appeared behind Yingqiao. Instantly forming several hand seals, crackling blue lightning erupted outward.
[Lightning Release: False Darkness!]
The brilliant blue lightning blazed toward Neji the moment he stopped his Heavenly Spin. Already an extremely fast Lightning Release technique, Yingqiao had also been prepared in advance. So almost the instant Neji halted his Heavenly Spin, the lightning bolt had already reached right in front of him.
"Just accept your defeat!"
Yingqiao wore a confident smirk. Neji, having just stopped rotating, couldn't possibly use Heavenly Spin again. And since False Darkness was a long-range Lightning Release jutsu, while Neji's strange ability could deflect close-range clones, it couldn't repel a distant attack like this. Plus, this strike had been carefully timed—there simply wasn't enough time left for Neji to dodge now.
Chapter Two Hundred Twenty: Neji's Magic-Sealing Domain [5]
"A clever plan indeed—to attack me the moment my Heavenly Spin stops, leaving me no choice but to take it head-on. Unfortunately, you overlooked one thing."
Facing the incoming Lightning Release, Neji didn't flinch—he stayed completely calm. His reaction sent an unexpected wave of unease through Yingqiao.
"It has to work!" Yingqiao suppressed her rising panic, locking eyes on Neji—only to freeze completely. "How is this possible?!"
Right before impact, the Lightning Release suddenly vanished—without warning or sign, disappearing entirely.
"What just happened?"
Speechless with shock, Yingqiao couldn't believe it—Neji should've been dead by now. Why did the Lightning Release disappear out of nowhere?
"Could it be genjutsu? No—it doesn't make sense! My chakra feels fine. This definitely isn't genjutsu!"
Initially suspecting some illusionary technique, Yingqiao quickly dismissed the idea. The Byakugan of the Hyūga clan was only ever meant for Gentle Fist techniques—it didn't have the Sharingan's power to cast illusions. Besides, her own chakra flow felt normal, showing no signs of disruption typical of being trapped in genjutsu. Yet if not under genjutsu, why did her Lightning Release vanish?
"Heh, trying to hit Neji with ninjutsu… You really can imagine anything!"
Sakura and the others smirked in disdain.
"Neji's Magic-Sealing Domain is getting better and better," Kakashi mused, narrowing his eyes.
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