Chapter 37: The End of the Knockout Round
The battle between Hinata and Kin Tsuchi proved just as one-sided as Ryuzen's match.
Kin's specialty was the Soft Body Modification—a technique that allowed every part of her body to expand and contract freely, making her difficult to strike cleanly in close combat. She could twist her limbs at impossible angles and absorb impacts that would break normal bones.
Unfortunately for her, she faced the Gentle Fist.
If Hinata had been matched against Neji, her kind nature might have held her back. Facing her cousin, she might not have been able to fight with full strength—certainly not with the ruthless precision Neji had shown against his opponents in the original timeline. Family bonds complicated things.
But her opponent was Kin Tsuchi. The woman was a companion of Akado Akamatsu, the spy who had tried to kill Ryuzen. The same man Ryuzen had been forced to kill in the previous match. The same man who had intended to murder her Ryuzen-kun.
This battle was also a battle of revenge.
Hinata, who had come to regard Ryuzen as her entire world, would never allow herself to embarrass him here. She would prove that his years of training beside her had not been wasted.
Her Byakugan activated, the veins at her temples bulging as she activated the Kekkei Genkai of the Hyūga clan. Three hundred sixty degrees of vision with no blind spots spread before her eyes. She saw Kin's chakra network clearly—the flows and pathways that made her techniques possible, the weaknesses in her defense.
She dropped into Gentle Fist stance.
Kin attacked first, senbon needles flying from her hands in a spread pattern designed to pin her opponent in place. Hinata's Byakugan tracked every needle. She flowed around them like water around stones, her movements graceful and economical—trained through years of following Ryuzen through the forest, matching his pace, learning to move without wasted motion.
Two moves.
The first was a single Gentle Fist strike to Kin's shoulder, testing her reaction. Kin's body twisted unnaturally, the soft tissue absorbing the blow that would have disabled a normal opponent.
The second was a full Gentle Fist combination—the Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Hinata's hands became blurs, each strike precise, each delivering a pulse of chakra into Kin's body. She struck the tenketsu points that controlled the Soft Body Modification, severing Kin's ability to maintain the technique. She struck the chakra pathway junctions, disrupting flow and causing internal damage. She struck the vital points that would leave Kin unable to move.
Kin fell vomiting blood, her body returning to normal proportions as her technique failed completely.
The arena fell silent again.
This result made many people pay attention to Hinata properly for the first time. No one had expected this shy, quiet girl to possess such power.
The nine Konoha rookies in particular stared in disbelief. Hinata, who had maintained such a low presence over six years that many barely noticed her existence, was actually this strong?
Even Neji Hyūga, who had always despised his cousin, showed slight surprise in his usually cold eyes. That timid, weak heiress who couldn't even defeat her own younger sister possessed such ability?
Is it because of him?
Neji's eyes flickered toward Ryuzen almost imperceptibly. He filed the observation away for later consideration.
Ryuzen didn't notice Neji's glance. His attention was fixed on Hinata as she returned victorious, her shy smile visible even from this distance. When she reached him, he praised warmly: "Hinata, you did wonderfully."
"...Mm." Hinata's smile widened, her heart swelling with happiness at his approval.
Team 8 had achieved perfect results—all three members advancing to the third exam. Kurenai's smile from the jōnin observation area had never been brighter.
The fifth match followed: Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino.
The fight between these two girls, childhood friends turned rivals over Sasuke Uchiha, held little technical interest. Both were Academy-trained kunoichi with no clan techniques or special abilities to speak of.
The only highlight was Ino's Mind Body Switch Technique—the signature jutsu of the Yamanaka clan. Ino-Shika-Chō was known as Konoha's strongest combination precisely because of their unique secret techniques working in concert. But they needed to act together to achieve that legendary status.
Separated, only the Nara clan's Shadow Imitation Technique and their famous intelligence remained truly fearsome. The Akimichi clan's expansion techniques were powerful but straightforward. The Yamanaka clan's mind techniques, responsible for reconnaissance and capture in the trio's formations, suffered badly without the other two to provide cover and follow-through.
Just as in the original timeline, Sakura's inner personality interfered at the critical moment. Ino's Mind Body Switch Technique failed to capture her target completely, and the match devolved into a slapping, hair-pulling brawl between two ordinary girls.
In the end, both collapsed simultaneously, hands entangled in each other's hair, neither able to continue. The proctor declared a draw, disqualifying both from advancing to the third exam.
The sixth match: Temari vs. Tenten.
This was a battle of complete type disadvantage.
Tenten specialized in weapon throwing—kunai, shuriken, senbon, and her signature summoning scrolls that unleashed storms of blades. She had trained her entire life to overwhelm opponents with relentless projectile attacks.
Temari wielded her massive iron fan and the Wind Release: Scythe Weasel technique—a slicing wind attack that could shred anything in its path.
Tenten's weapons never reached her target. Temari's fan sent them scattering in all directions with a single sweep. The follow-up Wind Release attack pinned Tenten against the arena wall, her tools scattered uselessly around her.
Temari advanced.
The seventh match: Nara Shikamaru vs. Kin Tsuchi.
Wait—Kin Tsuchi had already fought and lost to Hinata. The display board showed a different name: Nara Shikamaru vs. Jin.
Jin was the third member of the Sound genin team, a female ninja who specialized in bell-based genjutsu. Her bells produced specific frequencies that induced hypnotic states in her targets, leaving them vulnerable to attack.
But she faced Nara Shikamaru.
Outwardly lazy, inwardly brilliant, Shikamaru had already analyzed her technique during the preliminary waiting period. He noted how she always positioned herself to maximize sound travel, how her hand movements correlated with bell tones, how her opponents always slowed before falling.
He won without breaking a sweat.
The eighth match: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba.
Ryuzen watched with interest as the child of destiny descended to the arena. Naruto's current strength was frankly embarrassing by Ryuzen's standards. His only real technique was the Shadow Clone Jutsu—multiple copies that overwhelmed opponents through numbers rather than skill. Many genin here could defeat him easily.
Yet Ryuzen knew what waited in Naruto's future. In one month, this same boy would defeat Neji Hyūga in the finals. He would then defeat Gaara, the One-Tail jinchūriki. His growth didn't follow normal patterns—he might stagnate for long periods, then leap forward to astonishing heights overnight.
Just as in the original timeline, Naruto unleashed his "most unexpected" aura. A well-timed fart exploited Kiba's sensitive canine nose, disrupting his tracking abilities completely. The ensuing combination attack from Naruto and his shadow clones sent Kiba crashing to the arena floor.
Naruto advanced.
The ninth match: Hyūga Neji vs. Komatsu Mika.
Komatsu Mika was the sole female member of Inuzuka Kiba's Team 9. When she saw her opponent's name on the display, she didn't even wait for the match to begin.
"I forfeit."
The words echoed through the hall. She had witnessed Neji's matches during the Academy years. She had no interest in experiencing his Gentle Fist personally.
Team 9 became the first team eliminated entirely.
The tenth match: Gaara vs. Rock Lee.
This was the most exciting battle of the preliminaries.
Lee's Eight Inner Gates technique represented something Ryuzen genuinely feared at his current level. He wasn't afraid of elite jōnin like Zabuza—he had already proven he could defeat such opponents. He had confidence he could handle Kakashi in a serious fight. But taijutsu masters like Lee and Might Guy presented unique challenges.
Their speed was extraordinary.
Ryuzen's Kenbunshoku Haki could predict their movements. His eyes could track them. But his body struggled to react fast enough to match those predictions. The gap between perception and physical response remained his greatest weakness.
Without the Eight Gates, Lee posed no threat. Ryuzen's Armament Haki could easily defend against his base-level kicks. But after opening the gates, Lee's strength and speed reached levels that even Ryuzen couldn't afford to underestimate. Taking a direct hit from a Primary Lotus or Hidden Lotus was not something he wanted to experience.
I need to incorporate weights into my Shunshin training, Ryuzen thought as he watched Lee batter Gaara below. Increase my base speed further. Close that reaction gap.
The battle unfolded exactly as in the original timeline. Lee opened the first gate, then the second, then the third—each release pushing his body beyond normal limits. By the time he opened the fifth gate and executed his Hidden Lotus, he had Gaara completely defeated, the sand shield shattered, the jinchūriki airborne and helpless.
But the technique's cost was absolute. Lee's body gave out completely after that final attack. He lay motionless on the arena floor while Gaara, still conscious despite his injuries, formed a sand coffin around Lee's broken limbs.
Might Guy intervened instantly, appearing beside his student and destroying the sand with pure taijutsu force before Gaara could crush Lee's arms and legs completely. The damage was already done—Lee's limbs were shattered, his fighting career potentially ended.
But he had proven something important. Hard work could challenge genius. Even if he lost, even if he would never fight again, Lee had shown everyone watching that talent wasn't everything.
Gaara advanced, but his eyes never left Ryuzen's position on the second floor.
The eleventh match: Dosu vs. Akimichi Chōji.
Dosu was the strongest of the three Sound genin—their de facto leader. His technique involved sound amplification through the armored sleeve on his right arm, creating destructive vibrations that could shatter bone and disrupt internal organs.
Chōji's expansion techniques made him a large target. Dosu's sound waves traveled through air and flesh equally well. There was no contest.
Dosu advanced.
The twelfth match: By default, Kankuro received the bye. With twenty-three candidates remaining after Kabuto's withdrawal, the uneven number required one genin to advance without fighting. The display board randomly selected the Sand sibling.
Kankuro smiled with relief. He had watched his siblings' battles and had no desire to join them on the arena floor if he could avoid it.
The preliminary round concluded. Eleven candidates remained for the third exam:
Yagyu Ryuzen (Team 8, Konoha)
Uchiha Sasuke (Team 7, Konoha)
Aburame Shino (Team 8, Konoha)
Hyūga Hinata (Team 8, Konoha)
Temari (Team 8, Sunagakure — Sand siblings)
Nara Shikamaru (Team 10, Konoha)
Uzumaki Naruto (Team 7, Konoha)
Hyūga Neji (Team 7, Konoha — originally Team 7 in this timeline)
Gaara (Team 8, Sunagakure — Sand siblings)
Dosu (Team 0, Otogakure — Sound genin)
Kankuro (Team 8, Sunagakure — Sand siblings)
Eight Konoha genin. Three Suna genin. One Oto genin.
The final tournament would be held in one month—time enough for the injured to heal, for preparations to be made, and for the villages to arrange their dignitaries for the public spectacle.
Ryuzen took Hinata's hand as they left the examination building. Behind them, the other candidates dispersed with varying expressions—determination, fear, hatred, hope.
The real test was yet to come.
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