"That is...!" Using Observation Haki to sense the specific situation, Ui was stunned. She could clearly sense that the energy Naruto was using now wasn't his own, but the Chakra of the monster residing within him.
"N-No... impossible. How...?" Neji knew nothing about the Nine-Tails. Seeing Naruto, who should have been sealed, used Chakra again shocked him.
"This... this guy, just what..." Seeing the Chakra Naruto erupted with, even more immense than before, Neji was astonished.
Aside from Neji, some Ninja spectators in the audience were also shocked. Even Orochimaru watched Naruto in surprise. He remembered placing a Five Elements Seal on Naruto during the exams a month ago, so Naruto shouldn't be able to use Nine-Tails' Chakra now.
'This Chakra... there's no mistake. The Nine-Tails. When did he start using the Nine-Tails' Chakra...?' Hiruzen, looking at Naruto's condition, also showed surprise.
"Yaaah~ I'm coming!" Looking at Neji, Naruto, having fully adjusted his state, declared directly.
Neji could only passively endure the air currents stirred up by the Chakra Naruto gathered.
'Such strong power. It feels even stronger than during training! I can feel it!' Naruto, feeling the abundant energy within him, was filled with confidence.
Then, Naruto moved slightly, and his figure swiftly disappeared from everyone's sight. By the time Neji reacted, Naruto was already in the air behind him.
Seeing the shuriken Naruto quickly threw, Neji instinctively used Revolving Heaven, easily deflecting the shuriken.
He even caught two in the process, then also drew several shuriken from his own pouch and launched them at Naruto's location.
But Naruto burst forth with extreme speed again, evading the shuriken's attack range.
"What? His speed increased? How is this possible?" Seeing the speed Naruto displayed, Neji found it somewhat hard to believe.
While Neji was puzzled, Naruto appeared from the side, throwing a punch at Neji. However, the alert Neji dodged it with a small jump.
Then, without hesitation, both drew kunai and threw them at each other.
Clang!
With a collision sound, the two kunai swiftly veered off course.
Both halted their momentum, then leaped forcefully to catch the deflected kunai, colliding violently upon landing. This clash remained evenly matched.
"I recalled you're confident in close combat, right?" Naruto, upon landing, said to Neji before charging straight at him, even stirring up rolling dust.
With unparalleled conviction, the moment Naruto got close to Neji, he erupted with most of the Chakra on his body. Neji could only hurriedly use Revolving Heaven for defense.
Boom!!
With their collision, the battlefield erupted in a violent explosion. Accompanied by a huge blast, sand and stones flew, billowing smoke rose, and even the arena shook slightly.
The commotion caused by the two shocked the audience above. What Takeru found most amusing was that Naruto used the explosion to pull off a trick...
'What astonishing power! That kid unleashed such incredible force. This way, that Hyuga kid...' Looking at the arena situation, Genma was uncertain of the outcome.
As the smoke dissipated, everyone could only see two human-shaped craters below.
"Which one is Naruto?!" Sakura above worriedly watched.
Soon, a hand reached out from one crater. Under everyone's gaze, Neji quickly climbed out.
"Cough, cough!" Climbing out, Neji appeared somewhat disheveled. Clearly, the collision had caused him great pain. But after adjusting, he noticed Naruto in the other crater, seemingly unconscious, and he sighed in relief.
"Loser, sorry, but this is reality. Now you're really—" Looking at Naruto, before Neji could finish, he sensed a slight movement below.
Then, before he could react, a fist rapidly broke through the ground. Naruto's figure emerged, delivering an uppercut from below that sent Neji flying.
After sending Neji flying, Naruto panted heavily. The Naruto in the crater dissipated, revealing an even smaller hole inside. Everyone realized the clone was just a decoy to conceal his digging.
Takeru could even clearly sense Naruto's nails were bleeding. Clearly, digging with bare hands caused significant damage, especially when done quickly.
'Even when knocked down, he believed he would win and thought of the next move. The power of confidence can become the power to change fate. This guy understands that, and he's born with it.' Looking at Naruto, Genma felt emotional.
"In that situation, you could still immediately use a Shadow Clone? That's your specialty. I underestimated you." Looking at Naruto, Neji said with emotion.
"I failed the graduation exam at the Academy three times in a row. My luck was terrible. The Ninjutsu tested in the graduation exam was always the one I was bad at: the Clone Technique. It used to be my worst Ninjutsu. So don't keep spouting nonsense about fate being absolutely unchangeable!"
"Because you and I are different. You're not a loser." Hearing Neji, Naruto refuted without hesitation.
Hearing Naruto's words and feeling his earlier persistence, the ice in Neji's heart began to melt and beat again, more vibrantly than ever. Naruto's actions completely shattered his views on fate...
Above, Takeru watched this scene. Noticing Hiashi's gaze from the audience seats, he knew that once Hiashi gave Neji the message Hizashi left for him, along with Hiashi's apology, Neji would completely let go of his obsession with so-called fate.
"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" With a slight smile, Genma quickly announced Naruto's victory.
"He won?!" Sakura above, hearing this, exclaimed excitedly.
Others, hearing the announcement, also applauded enthusiastically.
'I never expected that fox-brat to be so strong!' Kotetsu had to admit he had misjudged him.
"What a great match!" Spectators above cheered excitedly for Naruto.
Feeling the cheers, Naruto was stunned, then couldn't help but rub his nose and grin, "Yeah...!"
'He still has the energy to run around? Is this guy a stamina monster idiot?' Watching Naruto's actions, Genma felt amused and exasperated.
'Naruto... he's getting stronger and stronger. Somehow... I'm a bit envious of you. After watching your match, I feel an urge to work hard too.' After watching this fight, Sakura thought to herself.
Honestly, during the month Takeru and the others were preparing, Sakura hadn't trained much...
"That guy won. Seriously? I thought only he and I were the unpopular type." Looking at the cheering, jubilant Naruto, Shikamaru said somewhat unwillingly.
"The unpopular type?" Hearing Shikamaru, Shino asked, puzzled.
"Everyone's excited and shouting. Now he's part of the popular crowd. But I probably can't beat him. It's terrible. I feel really down." Shikamaru said directly, implying Naruto had betrayed their 'organization'...
"Then you should work harder! Just fix your lazy personality!" Hearing Shikamaru, Ino gave him a hard pat on the shoulder.
Hearing Ino, Shikamaru just rolled his eyes at her, indicating he didn't want to talk.
Below, Naruto was still jumping around. Neji was placed on a stretcher by medical personnel. Neji didn't say anything, just stared intently at the birds freely soaring in the sky.
Soon, Naruto and the others left the arena. Hiashi also left the audience seats, heading toward the temporary ward.
Then, with Hiashi's apology, Neji came to a complete realization, letting go of his grievances toward the main family, transforming them into hope and strengthening his determination to become the strongest...