Sasuke / Neji's POV (Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke called a giant fireball and raced forward. He lost sight of the Hyuga in the flames. Sasuke smirked before suddenly a wall of pulsating blue crashed into him. He saw darkness for an instant before he saw the ground racing towards him. He skidded on the ground painfully before he flipped onto his feet. He saw Neji standing about twenty feet away; the ground in that distance looked smoothed as if someone had sanded it.
"My kaiten technique is quite large now. Makes for a brilliant counter." Neji said smugly. Neji looked relatively unscathed, though the ends of the sleeves of his robes were charred.
"I suppose that tickled Hyuga. I was hoping to end this quickly. But you're not just hype; I should offer you the honor of taking this seriously." Sasuke offered graciously.
"Hmm, typical of a Uchiha to look down on someone," Neji responded. You shouldn't play with your betters."
"I haven't met any of those," Sasuke said with a wide smile. His Sharingan was now active. Despite the banter, both smiled at each other. A bit of respect had been won by the first clash. But now it was time for Sasuke to show just a little more. "Did you know just activating the Sharingan offers a Uchiha a litany of boost to the user. By activating it, my chakra grows, my speed increases, and I become more powerful. Truthfully, I hope you were holding back a good amount. The real fight begins now."
Sasuke wasted no more words for him. He surged forward and saw Neji flinch and prepare to spin, perhaps use that jutsu again. Sasuke stopped him with a mighty leg sweep. Neji's leg flew out from under him, and he fell to the ground. Before Neji could even touch the ground, Sasuke slammed his foot into his midsection with such force that it cracked the concrete beneath. He attempted to hit a fist into Neji's face, but the Hyuga managed to kick Sasuke back. It only stalled him for a moment. Neji wisely tried to rise to his feet. It only gave Sasuke a good target. He savagely slammed his knee into Neji's face. He skidded back as Sasuke weaved through hand signs.
'He's nearly twice as fast!' Neji thought as he attempted to land on his feet.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke called his jutsu, smaller than a human earlier, the size of a large boulder. Impressively, Neji managed to jump to his feet and call out his own technique.
"Kaiten!" He barely managed to get it up in time. The fireball was quickly dispersed by it. But Sasuke had expected such; he raced in just as the dome dissipated. Only to nearly be beheaded by a palm to his face. He stumbled back, shocked Neji had managed to react to him. "Byakugan!" Neji called out with a frown. The two paused to glare at each other.
'Damn it! I wanted to end things before he could get going!'
X-X
Neji's POV
'He nearly finished me before I could even get warmed up!' Neji thought angrily.
Sasuke Uchiha had thought he was an easy mark. Time to show what hand-to-hand with a Hyuga was really like. Neji surged forward. Sasuke looked to dodge a palm strike and was shocked when Neji jabbed his left forearm. Sasuke flinched in pain at that. Neji launched a kick for his face on his left side. Neji saw him attempt to block the kick, but his arm lagged behind, likely useless from the gentle fist strike. Neji's foot slammed into Sasuke's face, sending him skidding along the ground. Neji shared the same ruthlessness Sasuke had shown earlier, chasing him down and hitting his palm into Sasuke. Sasuke screamed shrilly before bursting into inky smoke that wrapped around his limbs!
"Kai!" Neji screamed, allowing him to see Sasuke throwing a kunai at him as he leaped back. Neji dodged it messily, somewhat out of sorts but confident despite it. He eyed Sasuke, who seemed to be scanning his arm with his Sharingan. "Painful, as I'm sure you are aware of. Closed-off chakra points can be quite the injury. A single-point shutdown can affect an entire limb. You are skilled, but can you fight when down an arm?"
"Unlikely…" Sasuke replied plainly. "Though not impossible to fix."
Neji nearly laughed at this. "Perhaps if you were a Hyuga instead of a Uchiha, sure. Though your eyes will be unable to locate the chakra point. They lack the visual prowess to do such. I ensured that you aim for one you are blind to. No bigger than a grain of rice."
"I see it," Sasuke replied. Before Neji could offer his doubt, he saw the chakra surge healthily in the affected arm. Sasuke drew a scroll with shocking speed and summoned a giant windmill shuriken. He spun in place to increase the speed and power of the throw. Buying Neji just enough time to leap to the left of it. His eyes allowed him to see a second one spinning through the air behind, aimed to bisect him,
'Hidden in the shadow of the first. Wise.' Neji thought as he fired an air palm against the ground to raise him above the blade.
"Expected." Sasuke countered calmly. As he made a hand seal, the shuriken below Neji exploded into fragments. Several scratched Neji before managing a mid-air Kaiten to repel the rest. Sasuke merely yanked his hands back, revealing wire held in both. The wire tightened around the Kaiten, but suddenly, the Kaiten faded, allowing the wire to tighten around Neji. "Disappointing," Sasuke said with a frown before he weaved yet more hand signs. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" A powerful, searing stream of flames raced along the wire set to incinerate Neji before suddenly Neji stomped, and two pillars of earth shot up, breaking the wires and blocking the fire. Sasuke's eyes widened as he shifted his stance with a grin. 'He was holding back!'
"Earth Style: Earth Shrapnel!" Neji called as he slammed his hands into the pillars of the earth. Both suddenly broke down before the debris of such shot forward with a whistle through the air. Sasuke stumbled back, managing to dodge most of it but suffering a scratch on his cheek. Neji wasn't bothered as he suddenly was launched forward by a plank of earth that launched him like a catapult. Neji was within striking distance by the time Sasuke turned back. Sasuke surged forward; in a split second, he had, Sasuke had summoned his famed fiery Katana. It mattered little, for Neji's technique was bigger. "Ten Yari!" Neji yelled as he spiraled his own body towards Sasuke. A chakra shell similar to the Kaiten formed around him but was more of a rough line than the sphere it usually was. The mass of chakra smashed into Sasuke, sending him flying into the forest. Neji bounced off the ground once disorientated from the spinning before landing on his feet roughly. Waiting to see if Sasuke would-.
X-X
Sasuke's POV
'That was way too close. If that had hit fully, it would've knocked me out, if not killed me.' Sasuke thought as the unaware Neji was rendered speechless by Sasuke's knee driving into his ribs. Neji stumbled back; Sasuke allowed such as he suddenly was behind Neji, stomping a foot into the crook of Neji's knee. Neji cried out as he dropped to his knees; Sasuke slammed his foot into Neji's back, forcing him against the ground. The Hyuga, likely shocked or in pain, was frozen as Sasuke lowered his head to address him.
"I am much too fast for you," Sasuke said simply before he flickered away.
Neji rose to his feet with a roar, seeming infuriated by Sasuke's behavior. Sasuke merely smiled as he prepared his next assault. Neji seemed to flinch as Sasuke punched him in the face. Neji, with grit, managed to stay on his feet, lashing out with a wild palm thrust. Sasuke merely appeared above, driving both his feet into Neji's skull and slamming him into the ground.
"You should surrender." Sasuke offered to the damaged Neji, who rose to his feet. "You won't be able to contest my technique."
"I learned from a good friend that one shouldn't back down merely because the odds are against them." Neji offered. "Besides, every technique has a weakness."
Sasuke felt his rage fly at those words. He had said them before he had been taken and accused of helping the Uchiha. "Every technique has a weakness." He had said it plenty of times when he helped Sasuke train.
"How dare you," Sasuke said furiously. Neji raised a brow quizzically, but Sasuke only saw red.
Kakashi's POV (Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)
Kakashi had watched with rapt attention as the two battled. The dominating person switched as often as they swapped blows. It was easy to watch Naruto's fight. He had been holding back for most of it, and once he had shown some of his true power, he had trounced Tenten quickly enough. Neji had not drawn so lucky.
When the teams were first made, there had been whispers that Kakashi would be given Sasuke. At the time, he had been the only Jounin Sensei they believed would be able to help a Uchiha efficiently grow. In fact, the original draft for Team Seven had Sasuke, Naruto, and a young woman named Sakura Haruno. Kakashi had been willing, but Shisui had come and offered to be Sasuke's sensei. So, the current Team Seven was born. Kakashi had come to love his not-kids'-kiddos.
Neji, in particular, had reminded him a bit of himself. He had also been held as a prodigy, in some ways a greater one than Sasuke or Neji. He had also at first been cold and distant, if not outright antagonistic, with his teammates. And also had carried some significant family baggage. But unlike Kakashi, Neji had turned it around without anyone dying. Go figure.
Sasuke was similar to him in specific ways, all the ways that made Kakashi worry. He held the same determined gleam in his eye. Neji had it, too, but Sasuke held a level of desperation and intensity Neji hadn't gained. The falling of the Uchiha clan had been a harsh affair, taking the heir to the most prominent clan in the Leaf, almost a prince, really. And turning him into a pariah in some ways. While still treated relatively, the dishonor clearly offended Sasuke, and he would change it. Sasuke had no doubt; he wasn't arrogant or simply uncompromising.
Somehow, something Neji had said seemed to have set off the Uchiha. And what had been a competitive back and forth became a one-way beatdown. Neji seemed helpless in the face of Sasuke's barrage. Each time he managed to see him, it would be just in time to be hit. If he counter-attacked, Sasuke appeared behind, smacking him down harshly. Neji crawled to his feet and fell into his stance. Sasuke appeared above Neji, aiming for another head stomp; Neji barely managed to dodge, merely to walk into a stunning jab. Sasuke appeared on the opposite side of Neji, uppercutting him into the air. Neji landed painfully but, within a second, climbed to his feet.
Neji looked battered and rough. Covered in bruises and minor cuts, it was clear he was overwhelmed by the impressive speed Sasuke could achieve. Yet his eyes glared at Sasuke without fear or hesitation. Sasuke smiled as he blurred forward with his signature flicker. In desperation or perhaps simply guessing, Neji fired off an air palm, which somehow managed to smack Sasuke out of the air. Sasuke grunted in pain but soon continued his flickering.
'Will he figure it out?' Kakashi wondered as Sasuke suddenly flickered above Neji, smacking him into the ground. 'Eagle taught you, Neji… show me you learned about his guts!'
Neji crawled out of the ground with a groan before springing to his feet. He spun with a screaming, "KAITEN!" Sasuke disappeared before it could smack him but suddenly reappeared, bouncing off the Kaiten. Sasuke bounced off the ground with a groan before standing up slowly. Kakashi was happy to see Neji show some ingenuity in extending his Kaiten, but he would need a lot more. "Earth Style: Dance of the Hyuga," Neji called. "I see the weakness of your technique!"
Sasuke eyed Neji warily, likely realizing the fight thus far was in his favor. Therefore, it would be risky to rush in when his opponent was switching tactics. Neji had tapped the ground once with his foot. Sasuke raised a brow at this before suddenly leaping high into the air, narrowly avoiding an earth spike. Sasuke merely smirked, glad to see Neji still had some fight in him. Before he flickered behind Neji, he was aimed for his neck. Neji shockingly ducked, grabbing Sasuke by his collar and slamming him into the ground. The earth wrapped around Sasuke, securing him to the ground. Sasuke spat a miniature fireball no bigger than a grain of sand into Neji's face. Making the Hyuga miss the finishing palm strike for Sasuke. Who somehow managed to flicker through the stone prison, shattering it. Sasuke leaped away, seeming to seek some distance, yet the second he touched the ground, it surged forward, throwing Sasuke at Neji, who fired off an air palm at the approaching Uchiha. Sasuke flickered past this, attempting another neck chop to Neji. Yet somehow, he tripped, the ground around Neji suddenly becoming upraised. Before Sasuke could attempt to flicker away, a small width of stone wrapped him up. Leaving Sasuke defenseless. Both he and Kakashi watched as Neji prepared his strike. "Your body flicker isn't teleportation," Neji explained to the wide-eyed Uchiha. "It simply allows you to move through the air at absurd speeds. Making it appear as though you do. Once I realized that I knew all I must do was bait you into doing so predictably, then cut off your mobility. Today, the Hyuga are victorious!"
"Heavenly Canon!" Neji yelled as he slammed his palms, which were coated in chakra, into the immobile Sasuke. The earth-binding Sasuke shattered from the force as Sasuke flew back. Neji panted as he eyed the down Uchiha.
"S-sensei. He's do-own." Neji said, exhausted. He deactivated his earth technique and Byakugan. Truthfully, it was good Neji had managed to defeat him when he did. He was almost out of-
Kakashi blinked, and suddenly, Sasuke was in front of Neji. His blade of flames activated, and his Sharingan blazed. "Slash of the Fading Embers." Sasuke offered quietly. Neji seemed frozen before he looked down to see an angry red line on his torso that had burned through his clothes. "I made it less intense; otherwise, it would have fried your insides. You did well, Neji Hyuga; you made the Hyuga proud." Sasuke offered.
Neji crawled to his knees, gasping in pain. "How are y-you standing? I-... I hit you with my He-heavenly Canon."
Kakashi had nearly asked himself. He had been watching and could've sworn it had connected. Yet it hadn't.
"You were a much stronger opponent than I had thought," Sasuke explained. "The Ash Step I use to blitz my opponents was something I hoped to shock everyone with. Along with Slash of the Fading Embers. You even made me use one of my aces."
"Th-at-"
"It was my Deceitful Dodge," Sasuke explained simply. I use my Ash Step in a tiny instant to skillfully evade blows and act as if they landed; this, in conjunction with a very subtle Genjutsu via Sharingan, allows me to utterly fool my opponent. From there, with your guard down, I was certain Slash of the Fading Embers could bypass your eyes. I was right."
Kakashi felt stunned but kept his composure. Besides, he was happy to see his student not suffer any substantial injuries. But Sasuke had done something Kakashi wasn't sure any mere Genin could do. Defeat Neji Hyuga convincingly.
The winner is Sasuke Uchiha!" Kakashi called out with false excitement. He eyed the medics as they carried the alive and barely conscious Neji out of the arena. Sasuke eyed him suspiciously before teleporting away. The crowd clapped excitedly, though noticeably, the Leaf Village section was the most silent. Yet one thing was undeniable: Sasuke Uchiha was now the one to beat in the exams.
Sasuke faced the crowd proudly, Sharingan blazing, adding to the intensity of his gaze. "THE UCHIHA STILL STAND PROUD!" Sasuke roared, and the audience shared his energy, even the Leaf seeming to respond positively.