"We haven't seen anyone all the way here. Could they be ambushing us?"
Within the third checkpoint, Li and Tenten stood on either side of Neji, advancing in a small squad formation. They were constantly observing their surroundings, but after half a day, they hadn't encountered a single soul.
This street seemed to lead nowhere, and Neji frowned, decisively activating his Byakugan.
"Byakugan, activate!"
His vision shifted, and the surrounding buildings gradually disappeared from Neji's sight. One hundred meters, two hundred meters... five hundred meters... then a large open area appeared within Neji's perception.
"Found it. There's a fountain plaza ahead. The enemy is there, but..."
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Neji's forehead. In his perception, the opponent possessed an immensely vast amount of chakra within their body. Among everyone he knew, no one had a chakra as immense as this person's.
Was this truly an opponent in their Chunin Exams? Had they entered the wrong venue?
"Amazing! The fire of youth is burning! Neji, Tenten, let's go!"
Upon hearing that the enemy was waiting for them ahead, Li couldn't contain his excitement and dashed forward in a flash.
"Neji, do you have any plans?" Tenten, seeing Neji's serious expression, knew their opponent was not simple, otherwise, the usually confident Neji wouldn't have stopped.
"Not yet. Let's catch up to Li first."
In a short while, the three arrived at a spacious plaza along the street. In the center stood a fountain, with water constantly gushing upwards and then falling into the surrounding basin.
Splash.
A man in a black robe, sitting by the fountain, played with the water, a look of amusement on his shark-like face.
"Watermelon-head in a tight suit, your appearance reminds me of someone."
Hearing this, Neji and Tenten both looked at Li, then understood. Only Li scratched his head and asked, "Who is the person you just described?"
Kisame Hoshigaki paused, then grinned, "Even your demeanor is so similar to that person. Kid, could you be that guy's son?"
"Might Guy-sensei isn't married yet."
Although Neji didn't know why this person recognized Might Guy-sensei, he had already assumed a fighting stance. Even if the opponent was Might Guy-sensei's friend, he would still go all out.
"Oh, so that guy is your teacher." Kisame Hoshigaki found it somewhat amusing. Such a dullard could be a teacher? Then he himself could be a dean of students.
"Since that's the case, you must have heard of me from him, right? Kisame Hoshigaki!"
"..."
Neji and Tenten remained silent for a moment, then said, "Sorry, we haven't."
Meanwhile, Li was still pondering who he resembled so much. Could his biological father be someone else?
"Tsk!"
Kisame Hoshigaki's expression darkened. Samehada, which had been resting beside him, was now gripped in his hand. "I was wondering whether to use my weapon or not, but it seems I need to teach you a lesson to make your teacher remember me."
"So that's how it is!"
Only now did Li finally understand. He quickly stepped forward, his face flushed, and said, "I am not Might Guy-sensei's son, you've mistaken me!"
"..."
A "well"-shaped vein appeared on Kisame's forehead. He couldn't take it anymore and instantly appeared behind Li, kicking him away with a side kick.
"Kid, are you messing with me?!"
*Bang!*
Kisame didn't hold back his strength in this kick, and Li's body smashed directly into a nearby building, causing it to shake and creak.
This Shunshin speed was at least Jonin level. Even with the combined Chunin Exams of the entire shinobi world, the difficulty shouldn't be this high.
Neji's expression turned grim, but he didn't retreat. He took a deep breath and assumed the Gentle Fist stance.
"Tenten, fall back and look for an opportunity."
Before he could finish speaking, Neji had already engaged in close-quarters combat with Kisame. Every move and counter was in line with the offensive and defensive principles of the Gentle Fist, and for a time, he fought evenly with Kisame.
Tenten knew her role. She was a long-range attacker and needed to utilize her strengths. She already held two scrolls in her hands. As soon as Kisame showed the slightest opening, he would be met with a "wealthy attack jutsu."
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Neji shouted, the veins around his Byakugan bulging, and a Bagua diagram seemed to appear beneath his feet.
"Interesting," Kisame Hoshigaki chuckled.
Neji flashed in front of Kisame and struck out four palms with phantom-like speed.
"Four palms, eight palms... sixteen, what?!"
*Bang!*
A spray of blood splattered into the air. Neji clutched his shoulder, stopping his flying body, his face looking extremely grim.
Strands of white bandages fell away as Kisame stroked Samehada, mockingly saying, "Did you think I was a wooden stake at your home, meant to stand there and be hit?"
Neji remained silent, assuming the Gentle Fist stance again, completely disregarding the injury on his shoulder.
At this moment, seeing Neji at a disadvantage, Tenten's gaze fell upon Samehada. She had to find a way to get rid of that thing.
"Twin Rising Dragons."
Tenten leaped into the air, unfurling the scrolls in her hands. They resembled dragons, and a multitude of ninja tools shot out, attacking both of them indiscriminately.
Neji decisively used Rotation on the spot to deflect the ninja tools aimed at him. Kisame, on the other hand, simply held Samehada in front of him and spun it a few times, blocking Tenten's attack.
"Child's play ninjutsu." Although Kisame secretly envied Tenten's extravagance, he still had to voice his criticism.
"Here's another gift for you!"
Dozens more kunai rained down from the sky. Kisame once again used Samehada to block them. Such an attack wouldn't even harm a single hair on his head, no matter how many times it was launched. However, the very next moment, Kisame's eyelids twitched violently, and he quickly threw Samehada away.
"This damn thing has explosive tags attached! Is this little girl that rich?"
At this moment, not only the ground around Kisame but also the gaps in Samehada's barbs were embedded with multiple kunai. The precision of this attack made the viewers watching the live broadcast nod in praise.
"Detonate!"
*Boom!*
Dozens of explosive tags detonated simultaneously at close range. This was no less than a strategy of "inflicting a thousand losses to the enemy while suffering eight hundred yourself." However, Neji and Tenten were teammates, and their coordination was so good that they had long since moved away from the blast radius.
The fountain was blown open, and a shower of water fell. The smoke gradually dissipated, revealing scorched earth. Samehada lay on its side, and Kisame's figure was nowhere to be seen. However, Neji's Byakugan still saw the situation clearly, and his expression remained grim.
At the center of the explosion, a Water Prison slowly opened, and Kisame's voice came from within, "What a waste. I almost feel sorry."
Neji's eyelids twitched, and he shouted to Tenten, "Bad, Tenten, run!"
Tenten was startled and was about to retreat, but it was too late. A hand had already reached out in front of her.
"Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu!"
A spherical water bubble enveloped Tenten, and another Kisame appeared in the plaza.
"Is it a water clone used amidst the dissipating smoke? The opponent's combat awareness is truly sharp!"
Neji tore off his sleeve to crudely bandage the wound on his shoulder and was preparing for a desperate fight when two whistling sounds suddenly reached his ears. Two heavy leg guards flew past his side, aimed at the Kisame who had trapped Tenten.
*Thump thump!*
Two craters appeared on the plaza. Kisame casually kicked away the leg guards, which flew off like pieces of foam.
"Hiss! What the hell is this? My leg is numb from kicking it!"
Without time to rub his leg, a figure shot out from a pile of rubble, moving so fast that the naked eye couldn't follow.
"Konoha Great Whirlwind!"