Chapter 136 Sasuke vs. Omoi

"Hinata..."

This was like a warning, clearly reminding Hinata.

Hinata's back stiffened as Kiba sniffed the air tentatively, baring his fangs.

"Ugh, there's that arrogance again. I swear, if he dares to--"

"Garra." Hinata interrupted him harshly, with a rare harshness in her tone. "Stop talking."

Fang's anger faded in his narrow pupils, turning into a smoldering rage, but it was not completely extinguished.

"I don't understand why you bother to communicate with him," he complained.

The family conflict is about to begin again, Shikamaru thought gloomily.

"Ningji-nii," Hinata greeted her cousin stiffly.

"Hinata. I need to talk to you," a cold but firm voice said.

"I've already made my position clear, Neji. There's nothing to discuss."

There was obvious indifference in Hinata's tone, which made Shikamaru feel uncomfortable - in Shikamaru's impression, Hinata was one of the most tolerant and dedicated people in the world, and the helplessness in her tone made Shikamaru feel very uncomfortable.

"That's childish," Neji snapped, and Shikamaru couldn't help but lift his eyelids to get a good look at him.

Neji wore a white robe that fell over his shoulders like a layer of snow.

"Yeah, it's childish," Hinata shot back.

Asuma walked off the arena about a minute into the brawl, just as Choji was swatting his opponent, the female ninja from the Hidden Kumo Village, against a wall like a fly.

The jonin exclaimed with a laugh as Choji pulled his fist back and returned to his normal size, looking up at his sensei who was leaning against the railing, Asuma grinning with a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.

"Wow, that was pretty rough. You didn't even give the kid a chance to fight back, did you?"

Choji smiled sincerely and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ningji, return to your team. This is not the time or place to argue. There are better ways to expend your energy."

Neji swallowed his retort with difficulty, frowned, nodded reluctantly, glanced at Hinata again, and then turned and left.

As soon as Neji left, Hinata was almost furious. She clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white.

The lottery box started rolling again.

The roster shows that the next match is Tenten versus Hinata.

Hinata stood up suddenly, anger still lingering around her shoulders and bright milky eyes, but her eyes were also filled with determination, which turned her anger into a firm defiance.

"Ya, please hold this for me." She said as she untied the beautiful black belt around her waist.

Hinata took off the Hyuga family's iconic white robe without hesitation, revealing the black sleeveless training suit underneath. Her arms were fair skinned and tied with wrist guards.

She tossed the clothes nonchalantly into Kiba's arms, causing the Inuzuka to let out a gasp and a laugh of triumph.

Shino did not hide the pride on his face as he watched her walk into the arena.

Naruto and Choji smiled widely, while Ino cheered loudly.

"Teach them a lesson, Hinata!" Sakura shouted, and Shikamaru couldn't help but laugh, his eyes involuntarily glancing in the direction where Neci left.

Then, he almost laughed out loud because the Hyuga genius looked like he was shocked and had a look of shock on his face.

Hinata declared through her actions that she would step onto the stage as an individual, not as a member of the Hyuga family.

"Good job," Sasuke whispered, moving a little closer to Naruto.

Hinata almost beat Tenten to the point where she had no chance to fight back. Under Hinata's rare anger, Tenten had no chance at all.

"It would be more exciting if Hinata really fought against Neji." Shino said thoughtfully. "It would be more satisfying."

"I'd love to smash his face in." Ya said viciously.

A few minutes later, the draw results came out, Inuzuka Kiba against Yamanaka Ino.

"Oh, damn."

Ino smiled, twirling her long sword deftly.

"Are you ready, dog mouth?"

Ya stood up and bowed dramatically.

"You go first, Miss Hua."

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When Sasuke's name appeared in the draw, Naruto suddenly became nervous. His opponent was Omoi from the Hidden Cloud Village.

"You worry too much, idiot." Sasuke sat up straighter and opened his eyes. The light still stung his sensitive Sharingan, but he felt some of his strength coming back, thanks to the moment of peace Naruto had bought him.

"It's not the fighting that I'm worried about, idiot." Naruto retorted, his blue eyes blazing with anger. "I'm worried about your use of chakra."

"It'll be a quick battle," he said decisively. "Kakashi-sensei's test is for us to prove ourselves, right? I don't need to prove anything anymore."

Naruto nodded and held out a hand. Sasuke took his hand tightly and shook it. "I wanted to wish you good luck, but-"

"No need," Sasuke said, standing up. Although the pain and fatigue caused by the chakra surge made him uncomfortable, he still felt determined.

"Be gentle," Sakura added, holding out her arm as he stood up, and Sasuke took her hand tightly. "You know Iruka-sensei, he'll force me to heal him."

"Not always."

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him and he turned and walked away.

He almost lazily walked into the arena, shoving his hands into his pockets as he waited for his opponent.

Omoi looked him up and down, obviously noticing the fatigue in Sasuke's eyes and the weakness in his shoulders, which Sasuke did not try to hide.

He sneered, obviously taking Sasuke's fatigue as a weakness.

"This battle won't last long," Omoi said with a smile.

"Yeah." Sasuke whispered tiredly. "You're right."

The ninja froze for a moment, his confident smile wavering when Sasuke echoed it.

Aoba announced the start of the game.

Sasuke stared at his opponent calmly, without a trace of impatience in his eyes. He stretched out one arm and formed a simple seal with the other hand.

Omoi's failure to react immediately was his first and last mistake - by the time Sasuke had his jutsu ready, the battle would have probably been over.

Lightning crackled through the air, wrapping around his knuckles and arcing across his forearms. Omoi stared at his fingers intently—Sasuke could see that he was trying to track the potential path of a mid-range jutsu—but it wasn't a jutsu,

It's the enhanced physical technique of Lightning Release.

Sasuke moved, swayed almost carelessly, and then he was gone, too fast for the naked eye to capture.

Omoi turned, but he was too slow to catch Sasuke's eye.

Sasuke appeared from behind him and swept his kick towards his leg.

Omoi tried to jump up to avoid the blow but it was too late. He was hit in the ankle and lost his balance.

Omoi stayed in the air for a full half second, his body parallel to the ground, before Sasuke's palm struck him hard in the chest with enough force to break his ribs.

As the lightning was released, Omoy immediately lost consciousness and his body collapsed weakly.

The battle was over in seconds.

Sasuke stepped back and clenched his teeth, the pain from using chakra spreading through his body, but he stood firm and did not waver.

one second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

"The match is over." Aoba announced loudly. "The winner is Uchiha Sasuke!"

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