Chapter 149 Show mercy

Neji stood up shakily, his chakra almost exhausted and his breathing rapid. It was obvious that he had not yet recovered from the impact.

His hair was disheveled and his body was shaking slightly.

Apparently he tried to use jutsu while bound by Naruto's chains and it backfired.

After the chakra came into contact with the seal on the chain, it rebounded back into his body, causing damage to himself.

This seal rejects all chakra except Naruto's, which is a problem for Naruto because he originally planned to use this technique in conjunction with Sasuke and Sakura's ninjutsu.

"What did you do to me?" Neji pointed at Naruto and asked angrily, "Before I landed, you did something!"

Neji was right. At the last moment, Naruto injected water-attribute chakra into the chain, turning the sharp rock spikes into soft sand, slowing down Neji's impact.

Naruto shrugged and calmly met Neji's angry gaze.

"I don't want to kill you, Neji," he said softly, tilting his head slightly, "I just want to prove something."

Before Neji could say anything, Genma interrupted their conversation.

"Ningji, get to the hospital right now! Do you need a medical ninja, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head and looked towards the audience, where he saw Sakura Haruno with striking pink hair, leaning anxiously on the railing.

"Thank you, someone is waiting for me."

Kakashi had never seen the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen look so surprised, his thick gray eyebrows were raised high and his jaw almost dropped in surprise.

Shadow's viewing platform is located at the highest point above the arena, with an excellent view.

But even the condescending attitude could not alleviate the shock that everyone felt at Naruto's match.

There was complete silence all around, even the noise from the audience below had disappeared, both the Kage and the jonin teachers were silent.

Kakashi suppressed his smile, not wanting to reveal his true colors behind the mask.

Watching the battle with the Hokage and the Kazekage was the Raikage.

Apparently, after all his students were eliminated, Ai still chose to stay and watch the game, which was somewhat beyond Kakashi's expectations.

Ico is not the kind of person who would stay behind deliberately if he has nothing to do.

"Kakashi."

Kakashi lowered his head, closed his eyes, and bowed slightly, which was the best way to show respect in today's tense political atmosphere.

"Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's old fingers tightly grasped the armrests of the chair. His knuckles were white, but still strong and powerful, as if he could crush wood.

He blinked rapidly, as if to dispel the image before him. "It seems that Naruto has inherited more of his parents' talents than I thought."

Hearing this, Kakashi felt mixed emotions, sadness and anger.

He could understand that Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to see the shadows of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki in Naruto, and to see their light shining in their son. But he couldn't help but want to scold Sarutobi Hiruzen for his stupidity.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama," Kakashi lowered his voice so that only Sarutobi Hiruzen could hear it, "the least special thing about Naruto is his bloodline."

Perhaps Kakashi's tone was too sharp, and there was accusation hidden in his words, which made Sarutobi Hiruzen stunned.

Kakashi never thought that the word "surprised" would appear on the face of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the God of Ninjas, the Hokage with a history of ruling for more than half a century.

Although Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly adjusted his expression, the wrinkles on his face became more obvious due to the backflow of blood, and a sickly luster appeared around his eye sockets.

He said slowly: "Indeed."

Kakashi stood up straight again, leaving the elderly Hokage to his own thoughts.

He couldn't help but think that although the years had left deep grooves on Sarutobi Hiruzen's forehead, his eyes had never been so clear.

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

Aburame Shino carefully adjusted the straps on Yamanaka Ino's belt, the only imperfect part of her equipment.

Ino was brimming with energy and excitement, her fingers drumming excitedly on the hilt of her long sword.

Shino found that he was not worried about Ino, so he just smiled, squeezed Ino's arm, and said:

"have a good time."

Ino smiled brightly and gave Shino a big hug, the tip of her ponytail almost brushing Shino's chin.

Shino was startled and instinctively hugged Ino.

"Be careful, wild girl, don't forget that you are actually a girl." Shino whispered and hugged her back.

"Don't try to lie, you skinny guy." Ino chuckled, straightened up, and punched Shino's abdomen lightly, her eyes as blue as the sky shining. "Wish me good luck?"

Shino shook his head.

"You do not need."

Ino smiled happily, showing her white teeth. She jumped up and bumped fists with Akimichi Chouji.

Choji's smile filled his entire chubby face.

"Come on, nympho."

Ino gave Choji a gentle kiss on the cheek before bounding off towards the entrance of the arena, sparkling like a little sun.

Her opponents have their hands full.

Looking at Ino's back as she left, Choji gently patted Shino's shoulder.

"Just start when you're ready," he said easily and calmly.

Shino nodded.

"Help me find Neji and Inuzuka Kiba. I'll go find Naruto and the others later."

Choji smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets, turning to look for their new companion.

It was not difficult to find Naruto and the others. The chakra signals of the three of them were very bright and unique. When the three of them were together, they were particularly clear even in Shino's perception.

They were sitting in a corner away from the other contestants, on a bench near the railing. When Shino approached, he immediately understood why there was such a large open space around Team 7.

They were arguing. And it was very loud.

...Haruno Sakura yelled at Uzumaki Naruto unilaterally.

"You idiot! I swear, the little chakra in your brain was burned by the Nine-Tails! - You can tell the Nine-Tails what I said. You idiot, I really can't believe you! You have many ways to prove yourself, why do you have to choose to be beaten? I mean, Naruto, what on earth are you thinking in your stupid head-"

Shino wisely waited until Sakura's roar died down before approaching Team 7.

Judging from Naruto's desperate expression, Sakura's "preaching" has been going on for some time.

Sasuke leaned against the railing, his eyes closed, his breathing even, and he seemed to be deaf to Sakura's words.

Apparently, he had gotten so far that he had learned how to block out Sakura's noise.

However, Sasuke didn't actually fall asleep.

Shino noticed that whenever Sakura came up with some particularly creative "new words" to describe Naruto, the corners of Sasuke's mouth would twitch slightly, indicating that he had actually been paying attention to this farce and found it amusing how Sakura insulted Naruto's intelligence in various ways.

Ironically, at the same time that Sakura was annoyed at Naruto for being an idiot in thirty different ways, this battle also proved to everyone that Naruto had unparalleled talent.

Of course, Sakura's anger came more from the scars on Naruto's body than anything else.

Even as she was lecturing Naruto, she did not forget to heal him, her deft hands moving quickly between Naruto's shoulders and ribs, her fingertips glowing with blue-green chakra.

"Should I come back later?" Shino asked when Sakura finally caught her breath.

"No need." Naruto replied immediately.

And Sakura said firmly: "Yes!"