Chapter 147: Falling to a disadvantage

To Kankuro's surprise, the match soon became one-sided and Naruto was always at a disadvantage.

Neji's movements were much faster than they looked, and unlike the last fight, he was able to keep up with the blond boy.

And he was merciless.

Of course, Naruto was not weak either. He blocked most of the attacks and even launched several counterattacks, but Neji's attacks were extremely destructive. Kankuro could almost feel the chakra he released every time he attacked. No matter who it was, it was impossible to last too long under such an attack.

Then, something strange happened.

The match had been going on for nearly twenty minutes and almost everyone in the stands was cheering for Neji as if he had already won the match.

But something was wrong. Naruto had endured at least two attacks that were enough to knock him down. His shoulder was definitely dislocated, but not only did he not fall down, he fought even harder. The light in his eyes made Kankuro feel creepy.

"Hey, Temari."

"What's wrong?" Temari raised her head and looked at him puzzledly.

"That blond kid got beaten pretty badly, didn't he?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Kankuro nodded, rubbed his chin, and leaned forward.

"Then tell me," he pointed at the two people on the field, "why is it Neji who looks nervous?"

Temari was stunned for a moment, and then she realized the problem - there was a hint of panic in Neji's eyes, his arms were shaking slightly, and even his standing posture was a little unstable.

The blond boy looked up and smiled.

"Would you please stop standing up?"

Naruto straightened up, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then grinned. The bright red blood stained his teeth, making him look a little ferocious.

This is so unreasonable.

He was completely overwhelmed, and Neji had been beating him down for nearly an hour. His knuckles and palms were burning, the muscles in his arms were burning, and the flow of chakra began to slow down. He couldn't withstand such intensive and high-intensity attacks.

But even so, he stood up.

During the entire battle, he didn't say a word, but just kept fighting, falling down, then standing up again and continuing to fight.

This was too weird. Neji looked at Naruto who was unharmed and felt uneasy.

He was calm and focused, not showing any panic or fear, which made Neji feel creepy and an ominous premonition came over him.

Just as Neji was hesitating, Naruto used the arm that was still movable to reconnect his dislocated shoulder at incredible speed.

When he did these movements, he showed almost no pain, just a slight frown on his brows and his teeth clenched his lips.

He must be very tolerant to pain, because Neji knew he had broken at least four of his ribs, and fractured a dozen other parts, but he looked unharmed and didn't even slow down a bit.

"Do you understand?" Naruto asked suddenly. This sudden question made Neji stunned for a moment.

"Understand what?" Neji asked back.

"The importance of all this." Naruto replied. Neji was stunned for a second, not understanding what he was talking about.

Then, Neji remembered what Hinata had said to him, after they had had a big fight, Hinata had calmly told him that he shouldn't expect too much from her, shouldn't count on people who would do nothing for her, and then she mentioned Uzumaki Naruto.

"He gave me a lot of inspiration." Hinata said in a cold tone, "I used to be like you, thinking that the fate of the family could not be changed, and that the strong would always be superior to the weak." She paused, letting the words echo in the air, "He made me believe that as long as I keep moving forward, I can get everything I want, and as long as my will is strong enough, I can change my fate."

Neji was about to retort, telling her not to be so naive, that some things were just destined, but she interrupted him.

“He made me believe it and proved it.”

She never spoke to him again that night.

Is this what she meant?

Neji suddenly felt a strong anger towards Naruto because he instilled these unrealistic ideas into Hinata and made her believe in things that were simply impossible, which would only cause her to suffer greater harm in the future.

Although Neji hid his emotions well, Naruto still noticed it. He tilted his head and looked at him meaningfully.

Neji gritted his teeth and turned the panic on his face into a cold smile.

"You still think you can win?" he taunted. "You're even more stupid than I thought."

"I didn't think that much." Naruto replied, his tone was eerily calm, "I will win." He tilted his head, his golden hair covering his eyes.

"You still don't understand, right?" he muttered to himself, and then his tone became sharper, "Come on, Neji, aren't you a genius? Aren't you the strongest?"

Neji snorted coldly, but the uneasiness in his heart became stronger and stronger, like an alarm bell ringing in his mind. Danger, danger.

Naruto smiled.

Neji felt a chill down his spine, and he instinctively sensed a hint of danger.

Naruto reached up and untied the bandages wrapped around his arms.

"This is very important." Naruto said firmly, "You can hit me all you want, knock me down, it doesn't matter." His movements were skillful and fast, although there were many bruises and wounds on his fingers, "but you can never defeat me. And this is the most important thing."

The bandages were untied one by one, Neji's pupils suddenly contracted, and he felt a powerful chakra.

"Because I still have something I want to protect, Neji." Naruto continued, "I still have my beliefs." The bandages were completely untied, and Neji's eyes widened in surprise. "What about you?"

The chakra was incredibly powerful, and it surged around Naruto like a ghost, flickering with a strange light and intertwining with his own yang-attribute chakra.

It released from the seal on Naruto's skin in a black spiral pattern that looked like...

Like a seal.

It was more complex, stronger, and full of power than anything Neji had ever seen.

Naruto stood up straight, rolled his shoulders, and flicked his wrist to throw the bandage away.

The bandages danced in the air like a snake, wrapping around the powerful chakra and resonating with the seal.

"You've been attacking for a long time, Neji," Naruto whispered, "Now it's my turn."

******************