Reborn!

35: On Your Stage

Kurenai bit her nail anxiously.

Kiba would take a big hit once he knew the gap between him and Naruto.

Purely relying on the Gijū Ninpō of the Inuzuka clan, Naruto knocked out Kiba and Akamaru.

"Inuzuka Kiba is knocked out. Uzumaki Naruto proceeds to the next stage," declared Sōjirō.

Naruto returned to the second floor without a backwards glance, so Sōjirō discreetly pocketed the unwanted puppet.

Kankuro, who was sneakily trying to snatch the adorable dog puppet, found the ground empty when he attempted to reel up the item using chakra strings.

Kakashi was smart enough to turn to the creator of the puppet.

"Could I have one too?" he asked hopefully.

Naruto, perplexed, took out a set of spare puppet parts and made a simple dog puppet for Kakashi.

"You don't even know puppetry, Kaka-nii," he remarked. "It's nothing more than a figurine in your hands."

Kakashi did not care that he was being looked down on by his genin team.

He hugged the puppet, seeming to cherish it dearly.

Kankurō watched the process attentively and quickly made a similar puppet that he began to play with.

Naruto turned to Sasuke helplessly.

"Why are these things so popular?"

Before Sasuke could answer, Hinata came to join them on their side of the viewing floor and stuttered out, "T-They are very cute, Naruto-kun."

Naruto, feeling a sense of defeat, fashioned another dog out of the puppet materials and gave it to her.

Kiba was carried away on a stretcher despite his protests.

"The eighth match."

The two names appeared on the screen.

Hyūga Hinata VS Hyūga Neji.

"You may begin," said Sōjirō.

"I never thought I'd be facing you, Hinata-sama," Neji addressed the heiress of his clan with detached formality.

"Neji-nii-san..." Hinata greeted, feeling obvious discomfort.

Neji continued to speak, "Hinata-sama, I have only one question for you before we begin. Are you here out of your own volition?"

Sakura looked down at them in shock.

Again, something was different.

Why did Neji not resent Hinata, who he always used to view as representative of the main branch of the Hyūga clan?

"Yes. I may not wish to fight my sister for the Hyūga clan, but I'm not weak! Just like Naruto-kun, if there's something that I don't like, I'll work hard to change it!" Hinata proclaimed, taking the first stance of the Jūken.

Sakura was gobsmacked.

"Naruto, did you brainwash her?!" she demanded, forgetting that they could communicate telepathically in her disbelief.

"No... I would not believe that is the original Hinata. You must have secretly replaced her with a genetic clone!"

Sasuke's indictment of their leader rang out through the minds of Naruto and Sakura.

Naruto snorted and rebutted, "I just gave her some self-confidence."

Sakura looked at him in horror.

"You didn't put her on drugs, right?"