One month later, at Training Ground 99...
Naruto, Neji, and Rock Lee gathered as they'd agreed.
Neji tilted his chin up slightly, looking at Naruto with familiar arrogance. "Let's get this over with." He felt ready. For the past month, Neji had pushed himself relentlessly, training every spare moment. His dedication had been so intense that even his uncle, Hiashi Hyuga, had noted it with surprise, wondering privately if the Caged Bird Seal punishment had been that much of a motivator.
"Lee!" Naruto called out.
"Yes! Naruto-sensei!" Lee snapped to attention, then turned to face Neji, settling into a ready stance with his right hand extended. "Rock Lee!"
"Hmph." Neji merely snorted, not bothering with a formal acknowledgment. In his mind, Lee stood no chance. This was the confidence of a Hyuga genius.
The spar began instantly. Lee exploded forward, closing the distance with surprising speed, unleashing a rapid series of kicks aimed low, towards Neji's sides. He moved with fierce determination.
Neji, however, remained composed. Chakra flowed smoothly to his hands as he shifted from fists to open palms. Using the fluid principles of the Gentle Fist, he deftly deflected Lee's barrage.
"You're strong, Neji," Lee commented sincerely, pausing after his initial assault was parried.
Neji met the praise with cool indifference. "Is that all?" If this was Lee's limit, the match was already decided. He felt a surge of confidence.
Lee's expression sharpened. "Okay," he said seriously. "Time to get a little more serious."
He attacked again, launching into a flowing combination. A sharp knee lift, followed by whipping kicks powered by the turn of his waist, the arc of his foot and shin slicing through the air towards Neji.
High, middle, low-he targeted Neji's head, chest, and legs in quick succession, finishing with a powerful, spinning sweep kick. The assault was relentless, each move flowing into the next without pause.
'Byakugan!'
Faced with such ferocity, Neji had no choice but to unleash his trump card. Chakra surged, causing veins to bulge around his eyes, forming a web-like pattern.
The Byakugan. The Hyuga clan's *kekkei genkai*. Known for its 360-degree field of vision, the ability to see chakra points, and the flow of chakra. With its x-ray vision, telescopic sight, and incredible observational skills, it was considered the best dojutsu in the ninja world for surveillance. And Neji could amplify it even further, extending its range to a kilometer (E/N: 0.6 miles, 1093 yards, 3280 feet, 9842 hands... I'll stop now.)
With his Byakugan fully active, Neji tracked Lee's movements, predicting the trajectory of each strike. He met the fierce attacks with the Gentle Fist, deflecting and redirecting Lee's force.
'Such strength...such speed,' Neji thought, shaking his slightly numb arms. He was shocked by Lee's improvement, but he wouldn't show it. "Is that all you've got?" he taunted.
If this was truly Lee's full power, Neji would still win. The Gentle Fist was inherently superior against pure taijutsu users. Victory might be harder earned than he initially thought, but it was still inevitable.'
"I admit," Neji said, a stiff smile touching his lips, "your progress this past month is impressive. Your speed and power are almost enough to push me." He paused for effect. "But almost isn't enough."
"Against anyone else in our class, maybe you would have won by now."
"Unfortunately for you, you're facing me."
"Neji Hyuga. A genius."
"I've seen your fate clearly, Lee. You are destined to be defeated by me."
Truthfully, seeing Lee's advancement, a grudging respect for Naruto sparked within Neji. To take the 'dead-last' Lee and elevate him to this level in only a month... it was almost unbelievable. 'If my strength could improve like that...' he thought fleetingly. 'Could destiny really be changed?'
"Naruto-sensei said you were strong," Lee said, ignoring Neji's pronouncements of victory. He looked at Neji with unwavering seriousness. "He was right. You are very strong."
"To show my respect, I've decided to use my full power."
"You're saying... that wasn't your full power?" Neji stared, incredulous. 'Is he bluffing?'
Lee reaching this level was already shocking. Anything more seemed impossible. Taijutsu took years of dedicated, cumulative training.
Surpassing Neji's level in a single month? It would make Neji's own years of effort meaningless. 'Impossible. He has to be bluffing.'
Lee seemed unaware of Neji's internal turmoil. He glanced solemnly at Naruto, who gave a slight, affirmative nod. Then, Lee reached down and began unwrapping the bandages around his calves.
"What... what is that?" Neji's eyes widened disbelief.
Beneath the white wrappings... were heavy training weights.
*Thud.* *Thud.*
The weights hit the ground, kicking up small clouds of dust. Neji realized his Byakugan had been focused entirely on Lee's chakra flow, he hadn't perceived the physical burden Lee carried.
Weights that heavy... Neji doubted he could even move properly wearing them, let alone fight with such speed. And Lee had been keeping pace with him while burdened like that.
Lee, now free of the weights, bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, loosening his joints. He took a deep breath, his gaze locking onto Neji with renewed intensity. "Neji," he said earnestly. "Here I come."
Then... he vanished.
"So fast!"
Even with the enhanced perception of the Byakugan, Neji could barely track Lee's movements, catching only blurred afterimages.
Lee's weights might not have been as ludicrously heavy as the ones he would later use in the Chunin Exams, but Neji wasn't Chunin-level strong yet either. He didn't know Rotation, nor the Eight Trigrams Palms techniques.
'Gentle Fist!'
Facing Lee's blinding speed, Neji fought with desperate focus, pouring all his skill into his defense, trying to leverage the Gentle Fist's disruptive power against pure taijutsu.
The Hyuga style was terrifying, capable of injecting chakra to seal an opponent's tenketsu points, shutting down their chakra network.
It was said that any ninja caught within range of a Hyuga master-be they taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu specialist-was doomed.
But his opponent was Rock Lee. Stronger, and now overwhelmingly faster. If Neji possessed techniques like the Eight Trigrams Palms techniques or Rotation, perhaps he could have held his ground.
Unfortunately, he didn't.
It didn't matter how potent your techniques were if you couldn't land a hit. Speed ruled the taijutsu battlefield.
Neji threw punches and palm strikes, a flurry of desperate movements, but none connected. Lee evaded effortlessly. Meanwhile, every blow Lee landed sent jolts of pain through Neji, forcing grunts past his clenched teeth.
He was losing. He was being thoroughly outmatched.
Against Lee's full speed, Neji had no answer. He was completely overwhelmed, his vaunted Gentle Fist rendered useless. Lee battered him relentlessly, treating him like a training dummy.
Finally, bruised and battered, Neji collapsed.
A decisive, crushing victory for Rock Lee.
Neji Hyuga was defeated.
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