Chapter 60: The Final Eight
The cold words were uttered, carrying a piercing murderous intent that resounded in everyone's ears.
Hearing that sentence, the nearby Jōnin couldn't help but shiver.
Kurenai Yuhi and Might Guy looked at Naruto in surprise. Kakashi also looked helpless.
But Neji, as if frightened by Naruto, remained motionless. His eyes went wide as he looked at Naruto in horror.
Under his Byakugan, he hadn't even seen how Naruto had appeared. He didn't even know when Naruto had shown up right in front of him.
And he had his Byakugan active.
The Byakugan's insight ability was unmatched—nearly three-hundred-sixty-degree vision with no blind spots.
But even so, he couldn't clearly see Naruto.
Naruto's speed was simply terrifying. Neji was shocked and horrified.
Even though Naruto hadn't unleashed any chakra, with that terrifying speed and this icy killing intent, Neji felt as if he would be killed by Naruto if he made one wrong move.
Even with three Jōnin nearby, they might not be able to stop Naruto.
As soon as Neji had that thought, he was startled by it. Before he could say anything, Naruto continued indifferently:
"Since you don't have the power to change anything, just wait for me to make my move."
After speaking, Naruto ignored Neji. Instead, he turned to look at Hinata with concern.
When Hinata saw Naruto appear, she froze for a moment, then showed a touched smile and said softly:
"Naru… Naruto-kun…"
After speaking, Hinata's vision went dark, and she lost consciousness.
Naruto stepped forward to catch her. Feeling that Hinata's physical strength was completely exhausted, her chakra depleted, he exhaled.
At that moment, Guy also persuaded Neji:
"That's enough, Neji. You can stop now."
Neji wasn't sure if he heard Guy's words. He stared fixedly at Naruto, replaying Naruto's words in his mind.
Then Neji took a deep breath and calmed down. He looked away and reluctantly gave up.
The referee, Moonlight Hayate, saw that Neji had stopped and that Hinata had fainted, and immediately announced the result of the match.
After the announcement, silence still hung over the audience.
Everyone looked at the scene before them in shock.
Now, they weren't surprised by Neji anymore, nor by Hinata. They didn't even care about the result of the match.
Instead, they were completely stunned by the speed Naruto had just shown.
Few people present could clearly see Naruto's speed just now. A genin could possess such terrifying speed.
Only now did they understand that Inuzuka Kiba's surrender earlier wasn't because he was afraid of losing face, nor was it some friendly gesture.
It was because even if he had gone up, it would have been meaningless. He would have been mercilessly crushed.
There was a monster like this hidden among Konoha's genin.
The Konoha executives looked at Naruto, squinting their eyes. Their gazes were thoughtful. It was unclear what they were thinking.
Temari and Kankuro were even more surprised. They looked at Naruto in disbelief and said:
"This guy is even more mysterious than I imagined."
"Maybe we can find a chance to get closer to him."
Just as everyone was talking, Naruto picked up Hinata and took her to the infirmary to rest.
The Chunin Exams continued as scheduled.
The ensuing battles were nothing special to watch—just some genin of roughly equal strength fighting each other.
The only exciting match was the duel between Rock Lee and Gaara.
Perhaps influenced by Naruto's earlier display, when Lee faced Gaara, he asked Might Guy to remove his weights right from the start.
Might Guy also wanted to let his disciple show off, so he nodded in agreement.
With his weights removed, Lee's speed doubled, and his strength increased dramatically. But even so, it was difficult to break through Gaara's absolute defense.
So, with Guy's permission, Lee opened the Eight Inner Gates. He opened up to the Fifth Gate.
His speed increased to a terrifying level—comparable to Naruto's just moments ago.
And this time, Lee finally managed to break through Gaara's defense and hurt him.
Lee also managed to capture everyone's attention. Everyone looked at him in amazement.
They all thought to themselves that Konoha not only had Uzumaki Naruto with such terrifying speed, but also a Rock Lee who was equally amazing—pushing past his limits.
After watching Lee break through Gaara's absolute defense again and again and hurt him, Gaara grew enraged because it was the first time he had ever felt physical pain. The expression on his face became twisted and ferocious.
Then everyone saw yellow sand rising up in a massive wave, covering almost the entire arena. Everyone had to stand up in shock, looking at Gaara cautiously and in disbelief.
Gaara was like a madman at that moment. Massive amounts of chakra surged out of him as he manipulated the sand and chased Lee wildly.
But Lee's speed was also terrifying, making it difficult for Gaara to catch him.
However, opening the Eight Inner Gates came at an extremely heavy price.
Soon Lee reached the limit of his body. His speed gradually slowed, and he felt unbearable pain throughout his entire body.
At that moment, Gaara seized the opportunity. His sand followed Lee and wrapped around his ankle.
Just as Gaara was about to crush Lee, Might Guy appeared in time. He kicked the sand away and saved Lee.
Lee finally couldn't hold on any longer. He lost consciousness.
The battle was over. The winner had been decided.
Everyone stood up and watched this scene in amazement.
They hadn't expected this class of genin to have so many monsters.
Not only the unfathomable Uzumaki Naruto, but also Rock Lee, who had opened the Fifth Gate of the Eight Inner Gates, and Gaara, a monster who could blanket the sky in yellow sand.
Everyone was very interested. They wanted to see how the rest of the Chunin Exam would play out.
Of course, what they wanted to see even more was what would happen when these monsters collided with each other.
With the end of the duel between Lee and Gaara, the entire preliminary round was over.
After the results were announced, only ten people remained.
And out of those ten, there were four highly anticipated matches.
After the preliminary rounds, Moonlight Hayate began announcing the results.
Soon, he also announced that the finals of the Chunin Exam would be held in one week. All genin should use this time to adjust their condition and prepare for the finals.
One week later would also be the final matches that everyone was looking forward to.
They wanted to see who would stand out from the crowd in this group of genin.