(Toji's POV)
-How long do you intend to follow me?- Afro finally became completely irritated when they returned to his hut after selling the fish, the annoying thing was that Toji even wanted to come into his hut!
-Hey, don't you know how to treat guests?- Toji asked, with a clearly mocking look.
Afro almost drew his sword right there, taking several deep breaths to calm himself, he simply slammed the door in Toji's face.
Toji smiled and watched the closed door for another moment.
After observing Afro for those few days, he was already certain, Afro wasn't a bad guy. His story must have had its ups and downs, but Toji wasn't a therapist, he decided to recruit this guy, whether he wanted to or not.
So, when the purple snake coiled around his body and the hilt of his sword emerged from his mouth, Toji didn't hesitate, pulling the hilt back and slashing forcefully in a horizontal motion.
Inside, Afro's eyes widened, his hands moved swiftly, and in the next instant, his katana was raised, just in time to stop Shakukonto's movement.
Toji's attack sliced Afro's house in half. Afro glared at Toji with eyes filled with restrained fury, while Toji simply maintained that indifferent smile.
The next moment, the two moved.
The clashing sound of swords made the crickets and cicadas hide and the birds fly away, in that clearing, only the sound of steel could be heard.
//-//
[A/N: I'm going to start speeding up the fights from here on out, we've already spent too much time on this arc.]
The participants of the fourth fight were already on the field, Kun from Taki and Hinata from Konoha.
The audience seemed very interested, after all, the Hyuga family was a world-famous family. Thus, in the betting houses, the odds for kun were 1 to 4, while for Hinata they were actually 1 to 2.
Of course, those who knew the truth didn't think Hinata would have such an easy life, aside from the girl's personality, Kun was a veteran Jonin from Taki, after all, Shibuki wouldn't send Fuu with ordinary Jonin from the village.
Although he wasn't at the level of an elite Jonin from Konoha, he could still be considered an average Jonin in Konoha.
Facing the current Hinata, he had a clear advantage.
Hinata, though nervous, had been trying to muster courage, so she swallowed hard in front of Kun, slowly assuming the Gentle Fist stance, her Byakugan opening and focusing on Kun.
Kun also became serious, but not too much, he and his companion were already Jonin, their objective here was to protect Fuu, not to become Jonin.
Now that Fuu had been eliminated, this fight didn't really matter, if it weren't to prevent Takigakure from being viewed negatively by other countries, he and his companion would have already given up the fight.
So Kun prepared to fight a quick fight.
-Begin.- Orochimaru's voice wasn't loud, but thanks to the loudspeakers, it echoed throughout the audience.
The next moment, the two moved, while Hinata advanced, Kun retreated. Fighting against a Hyuga, a taijutsu specialist, retreating is, more often than not, the correct option.
Kun quickly made hand seals, his stomach seemed to swell for a moment, before he spat several water bullets at Hinata. - Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Release: Water Bullet)
Hinata bit her lip, but didn't back down, her hand was covered in chakra as she directly struck each water bullet that came her way, causing the water to explode around her.
Even so, this delayed her a bit, long enough for Kun to have already thrown dozens of kunai at her and doing hand seals again.
When Hinata used her Gentle Fist to deflect the kunai, she tried to advance again, but was surprised to find her feet stuck to the ground. Looking closer, she realized those water bullets fired earlier were the culprits, the water had changed to a whitish texture and looked like glue.
Just as Hinata was about to move forward, she felt a chill in her throat. Unbeknownst to her, Kun was already beside her, his kunai firmly against her throat.
She swallowed hard.
Although the Byakugan has a 360-degree field of vision, a Hyuga's mind cannot work in that field all the time, which is why, when in combat, the focus constantly shifts. Kun seemed to know this, because he only needed to distract Hinata for a moment.
During his first Jutsu, while Hinata was destroying his water bullets, he had already made a clone and hidden himself, leaving the clone to fight her, preventing her from realizing that he had disappeared.
By the time Hinata finally had time to breathe, it was already over.
In the end, Hinata wasn't weak, but she was certainly inexperienced, ninjas don't always need brute force to win.
-Give up.- Kun pleaded calmly.
Hinata tried to move, but the kunai tightened its grip, causing a thin trickle of blood to flow from her throat, making her stop.
A faint glint shone in the corner of Hinata's eyes, she wanted to give up, tears already threatening to escape, but she held back. Just as she was about to give up, she seemed to hear a voice.
"I won't stop, I won't hide, I won't give up, because that's my ninja way! Dattebayo!"
Hinata's eyes were focused on that moment, her weak legs stopped trembling, and the cut on her throat stopped hurting.
The audience was also curious, what would Hinata choose?