"Rasengan!"
"Rotation!"
Naruto shouted as he was sent flying. The Rasengan in his hand dissipated, but his chakra remained abundant.
Unwilling to give up, Naruto split into two shadow clones and began forming more orbs.
"It's no use. You can't break through the absolute defense of Rotation."
Neji adopted a Gentle Fist stance, his eyes filled with confidence. He had already gauged Naruto's strength: taijutsu was inferior to his, ninjutsu was weak, and besides shadow clones, only the Rasengan posed a threat. However, Naruto's Rasengan lacked the power to break through his Eight Trigrams Rotation.
"If one doesn't work, then two. If two don't work, then three. I will definitely break through your shell!" Naruto declared with unwavering resolve.
Neji shook his head, his chakra slowly gathering in his palms.
"You might not realize it yet, but you've already entered my Eight Trigrams formation."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, scratching his head as he looked at the unmarked ground.
Neji offered no explanation. Instead, he let out a loud cry and charged towards Naruto. Naruto, seeing this, rejoiced and raised the Rasengan in his hand to smash it towards Neji. He couldn't understand why Neji would abandon defense for offense, but for Naruto, this was an undeniable opportunity.
"Rasengan!"
"Too slow!"
The chakra pathways near Neji's eyes bulged. He dodged Naruto's Rasengan at an incredibly tricky angle, then transformed his palm into a finger and struck at Naruto's pressure points on his arm.
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*
Naruto's right hand instantly felt as though it had lost control. The Rasengan in his palm dropped to the ground, creating a small crater.
"It's not over yet!"
Taking advantage of Naruto's momentary daze, Neji's hands blurred into afterimages. His fingers continuously struck various pressure points all over Naruto's body with such speed that Naruto seemed to freeze in mid-air, forced to endure the pain of the pressure point strikes.
Watching from the spectator stands, Hiashi Hyuga was filled with relief. He then turned to Hiashi Hyuga beside him and said, "Thank you, Clan Head, for giving Neji the opportunity to learn the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."
Hiashi Hyuga sighed, seemingly recalling his unaccomplished eldest daughter. He then said, "He comprehended it himself. Besides, this is not the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."
The thought of his eldest daughter's adorable Gentle Fist brought a surge of unnamable anger to Hiashi Hyuga. "Uzumaki Rin, you are misleading my disciple! Hiashi Hyuga will not let this go!"
"Then what is this..."
Before Hiashi Hiashi could ask, exclamations of surprise erupted from the audience. Hiashi Hiashi quickly looked towards the center of the arena.
"Thirty-two palms, sixty-four palms... one hundred and twenty-eight palms!"
*Boom!*
With the final pressure point struck, Naruto collapsed onto the ground, covered in injuries. His chakra was sealed at various pressure points, rendering him immobile.
"Referee, you can announce it."
Neji turned and walked away with a flourish, but his trembling hands and unsteady gait indicated that he had reached his limit after executing the Eight Trigrams palms.
Kakashi couldn't help but look at the fallen Naruto. His chakra was blocked by the Gentle Fist strikes to his pressure points, preventing it from circulating throughout his body. Even standing up was difficult now. It seemed Naruto had reached his limit.
Kakashi sighed and signaled, "I declare the winner of the second exam to be... Hyu..."
"Wait, wait a moment..."
Kakashi's eyes twitched, and then a look of relief spread across his face. This kid, Naruto, had truly grown.
Naruto struggled to move his uncontrollable body, trembling as he pushed himself up step by agonizing step. Every movement caused him to gasp for air, but he still refused to give up on standing.
"Hey, the battle isn't over yet. Do you intend to forfeit?"
This kid!
Neji turned, his eyes wide with disbelief, as if he were seeing Naruto for the first time.
He had endured his one hundred and twenty-eight palms and still managed to stand up. Was this guy a monster?
And no one understood better than Naruto how dire his physical condition was. His chakra felt like a blocked river, unable to flow within his body. A ninja who couldn't use chakra was effectively powerless.
"Are you trying to die?" Neji couldn't comprehend why Naruto could still stand. He knew that a ninja whose pressure points had been struck by him couldn't use chakra for a considerable time. Naruto's persistence would ultimately lead to defeat.
"Die? Perhaps."
Neji was indeed a formidable opponent. Naruto admitted that he was inferior to him in all aspects, but he refused to give up. He didn't necessarily need to win this match; he simply didn't want to lose in front of Sasuke.
As fellow young Leaf ninja, how could he be willing to admit defeat!
"Let me show you the power I acquired with my father's private savings!"
"Huh? What private savings?"
Before Neji could express his confusion, Naruto's body erupted with power.
On the high platform, the Five Kage, with their Kage-level strength, had heard the entire exchange, especially since Naruto had shouted it quite loudly.
Minato Namikaze was initially proud of Naruto's tenacious spirit, but after a mere second, his expression turned as dark and foul as a thirty-year-old cast-iron pot.
"This brat, so my private savings went to you!"
Minato gritted his teeth, realizing that the culprit behind his miserable circumstances was none other than his own son, Naruto!
Naruto, just you wait!
"Hahaha, Fourth Hokage, your parenting style is quite unique. I never expected..."
The Fourth Raikage, Ay, was about to jest when his eyes widened like saucers. He pointed at Naruto, whose red chakra was surging into the sky, and questioned Minato, "Didn't you say the Nine-Tails had escaped? What in the world is this? Are you treating me like an idiot?"
Minato scratched his head awkwardly and explained, "What if I told you Naruto traded silver for Nine-Tails chakra, would you believe me?"
"..."
Arcing electricity crackled around Ay, his face as black as a pot. "Do you take me, the Fourth Raikage, for a fool? Ask the others if they believe you!"
Onoki paused for a moment, then decisively sided with the majority.
"Ahem, although I don't understand much, it's better to believe it exists than not!"
The Fourth Raikage pointed at the four, his lips trembling. If there had been a table in front of him, he would have flipped it and stormed off.
This infuriated him. These people from the Leaf Village were making a fool out of him, the Fourth Raikage!
Beasts as ferocious as tailed beasts trading chakra for money? Go tell that to the devil!
...
In the arena, layers of shockwaves emanated outwards from Naruto. The violent red chakra continuously surged from his body, and the pressure points sealed by Neji couldn't withstand the rampant Nine-Tails chakra, breaking open one by one.
"Aaaaahhhh!"
Naruto formed hand seals, shouting continuously as more Nine-Tails chakra was released from his body.
"How, how is this possible!"
Neji was blown back by the intense shockwaves, but his eyes remained fixed on Naruto's body. Through his Byakugan, he saw a mass of furious red chakra helping Naruto break through the sealed pressure points in his body, and it was accelerating. His pressure point seals were being violently shattered.
After a while, the chakra storm subsided. Feeling the abundant chakra within him, Naruto's fighting spirit reignited. He bit his thumb and made a hand sign towards Neji, "Let me show you my newly mastered ninjutsu."
Without hesitation, Naruto slammed his palm onto the ground. A complex contract symbol appeared on the ground, and the Nine-Tails chakra flowed into it.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
*Poof!*
A massive cloud of white smoke erupted, and then a giant toad, wearing a bathrobe and smoking a pipe, appeared in the arena, its somewhat annoyed voice echoing around.
"Why did that perverted old man summon me to a place like this? Don't they know it's bath time?"
In the audience, Jiraiya looked at the appearance of Gamabunta and couldn't help but rub his forehead. Naruto had actually summoned him. How could this battle possibly continue? The strength levels were completely mismatched.
"Did you choose Naruto as the next successor of Mount Myōboku?"
"Mm, Orochimaru, don't you think you should find a representative for Ryūchi Cave too?"
Orochimaru shook his head, "Ryūchi Cave is too dangerous. Let's wait a few more years."
"That's true, but... hmm?"
Jiraiya's gaze suddenly shifted to the sky. Even Orochimaru beside him narrowed his golden vertical pupils, his expression turning grim.
This strange pressure... who was it!
It wasn't just Jiraiya and Orochimaru. All the ninjas present, who were Kage-level or close to it, felt an immense pressure, a sense of being stared down by death.
In the sky directly above the arena, space tore open, and a figure in luxurious robes and a veil emerged, then descended directly.
"Found you, fox."
Then, another imposing figure descended, raising a red axe from his back and swinging it towards Gamabunta.
"Lord Momoshiki hates toads the most!"