Half a month later, combat class.
The Third Hokage was paying close attention to the school; he wanted to see Naruto's performance.
He took a puff from his pipe, his gaze casually scanning the students on the field.
The students were rubbing their hands in anticipation, the atmosphere lively.
"First match: Hinata vs. Inuzuka Kiba!"
Hearing her name, Hinata calmly stepped out of the queue. Opposite her, Kiba had already excitedly taken his stance, with Akamaru barking "woof woof" by his feet to cheer him on.
"Hinata, I won't go easy on you just because you're a girl!"
Kiba grinned, full of confidence.
His coordination with Akamaru had become increasingly seamless lately, and he felt his strength had grown significantly.
Hinata only gave a slight nod in response.
"Start!"
As soon as Iruka finished speaking, Kiba immediately let out a low shout.
"Akamaru, Beast Human Clone!"
Smoke flashed, and two Kibas appeared simultaneously, charging towards Hinata from the left and right at incredible speed, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Facing this offensive that would be enough to throw an average person into a panic, Hinata stood in place, not moving at all.
Until the two Kibas had almost rushed in front of her, and the wind from their fists had already touched the strands of hair on her forehead.
She moved.
It wasn't the delicate Gentle Fist footwork of the Hyuga Clan, but a simple and direct step forward.
At the same time, her right hand swung forward seemingly at random, not even aiming at which one was the main body, just punching out plainly towards the direction of the charge!
"Bang!!"
A dull, heavy sound erupted, sounding nothing like a fist hitting a human body.
Kiba only felt an utterly irresistible, overwhelming force suddenly slam into where his arms were crossed in a block.
He didn't even feel pain; he felt as if he had been hit head-on by a high-speed carriage. His feet left the ground instantly, and he flew backward like a kite with a broken string.
"Waaah!"
With a short cry of surprise, Kiba drew a parabola in the air, falling heavily onto the grass several meters away, rolling several times before stopping. He lay there directly, seeing stars, unable to get up for a moment.
A wave of intense pain and numbness radiated from his blocking arms.
The other Kiba, brushed by the sharp wind of Hinata's seemingly casual punch and Kiba's body, dispelled the Transformation Jutsu with a "poof," turning back into a small puppy. He rolled on the ground, whimpering in confusion.
The entire process, from start to finish, took no more than three seconds.
The whole field instantly fell into a dead silence.
The Third Hokage, watching through the Crystal Ball, also paused, somewhat surprised.
Everyone stared dumbfounded at the girl in the field, who still held her post-punch follow-through stance.
Her expression was calm, her breathing steady; she had actually held back just now. She called it knocking him flying, but it was actually a push. If she really hit him, what if she crippled him?
"W-What kind of power is that?!"
"Is this the Gentle Fist?"
"Are you kidding me! Kiba's taijutsu is very strong! In one punch..."
"M-Monster strength girl!"
Whispers suddenly erupted, filled with disbelief and horror.
Shino Aburame pushed up his sunglasses, the gaze behind the lenses incredibly solemn.
"There's no sign of using Chakra nature transformation or shape transformation. Is this pure, extreme physical strength? No, this has already exceeded the scope of normal taijutsu. Is it a Hyuga secret technique?"
Even Uchiha Sasuke, who always had a cold face, had his pupils shrink slightly, staring intently at Hinata as if analyzing the trajectory and power delivery of her punch, only to find there was no technique—it was all power.
Iruka-sensei opened his mouth, and it took a while before he found his voice.
"T-The winner, Hinata! Next match..."
The next few matches almost became Hinata's personal showcase.
Against a classmate who was good at taijutsu and tried to use speed? Hinata still just took a simple step forward, moving so fast she left an afterimage, then lightly chopped the back of the opponent's neck with her hand, sending them limp to the ground.
Against someone using ninja tools for long-range harassment? Hinata didn't even bother to dodge. She casually picked up a few pebbles from the ground and flicked her wrist. The pebbles struck first, accurately knocking all the incoming shuriken and Kunai to the ground.
Even if an opponent used Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall to try and defend.
However, Hinata just walked up to that thick earthen wall. Under everyone's stunned gazes, she raised her fair fist and seemingly lightly pressed it against the wall.
The Earth-Style Wall was punched straight through; Hinata followed up with a few more punches, and the wall exploded into clumps of earth.
The student behind it was scared silly, sitting on the ground and even forgetting to concede... When Hinata's seemingly light punches erupted with terrifying power, blowing the Earth-Style Wall to pieces, Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand holding the pipe jerked suddenly, and he didn't even notice the ashes falling.
His wrinkled face was filled with shock, his pupils shrinking slightly.
"This strength..."
He muttered to himself, a long-absent, dashing figure with flying blonde hair instantly flashing through his mind.
This pure, unreasonable physical strength, this battle style that made heavy things seem light yet was utterly destructive, was just like his Disciple who was famous in the Ninja World back then, one of the Sannin, Lady Tsunade.
That was the unique Monster Strength that even he marveled at!
But how is this possible? Tsunade's Monster Strength is based on exquisite Chakra control and the Strength of a Hundred Technique, concentrating Chakra precisely at one point for an instantaneous explosion.
While the Hyuga Clan excels in the Gentle Fist, a precise technique of striking Chakra into the enemy's body to destroy the meridian System, which is completely different from this external, violent display of power!
The Third Hokage's gaze was fixed on the steady-breathing girl in the Crystal Ball.
She hadn't even activated the Byakugan or used any Hyuga-style techniques, relying solely on this incredible physical strength to sweep the field.
Hiruzen took a few hard puffs of smoke, who knows what he was thinking... The entire practice field was silent.
Everyone looked at Hinata in the center of the field, whose breathing was steady and whose clothes weren't even ruffled, as if looking at a monster.
This wasn't a match at all; it was a crushing defeat! It was pure violence, like an adult hitting a child!
From beginning to end, she hadn't even used the Hyuga family's signature Byakugan or Gentle Fist! She had easily swept all her opponents relying solely on that incredible, unreasonable "Monster Strength."
"E-End! Hinata, you don't need to fight anymore!"
Iruka-sensei's voice was a bit dry. He looked at Hinata with a complex expression. Was this really the quiet, introverted Miss of the Hyuga Clan he remembered?
Hinata silently walked back to the group, ignoring the gazes mixed with fear, awe, and curiosity around her.
She was just using pure physical strength, at most attaching the most basic Spiritual Power to her hands and feet to enhance her strength and speed; it didn't even count as a Spell.
Naruto was also dumbfounded.
"So... so amazing..."