The Hope of the Senju Clan

Chapter 26: Hyuga vs Senju

-Konoha-

On the day of the Chunin finals, all of Konoha was busy with activity, important lords, Daimyo's, business men and shinobi heads from other villages had come from all around to watch the Chunin finalists compete with one another. Among these important lords were the Daimyo's of Mizu no Kuni (Water Country), Kaze no Kuni (Wind Country), Kaminari no Kuni (Lightning Country), Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) and the Kages of their respected Shinobi villages.

Up in the Kage box seats, the Sandaime Hokage was seated in his chair, below him Civilians, Shinobi, Noblemen and women were filling up the stands bellow. Standing next to him was one of the members of the Hokage's Guard, Namiashi Raidō, who the Hokage was currently speaking to.

"Have there been any reports regarding the whereabouts of Uchiha Sasuke?" the Sandaime asked with some concern, as there had been no sign of the young Uchiha heir since the preliminaries.

"Unfortunately no Hokage-sama, several teams of ANBU are searching for him and Kakashi, but they are nowhere to be found" Raidō replied in a low voice. "I'm afraid there is a good chance that Uchiha Sasuke may have already fallen into Orochimaru's hands."

"If that is the case, it will be impossible for us to find him" Sarutobi thought with concern.

"Also Hokage-sama..." Raidō added "...it seems that Senju Naruto has yet to arrive in the stadium with the other finalist. It is likely that he may have been seized by Orochimaru as well."

"No I don't believe so" the old Hokage responded. "I just saw Naruto myself yesterday and I highly doubt Tsunade or Jiraiya would let Naruto go far without them knowing."

"But if that is true then where are they?"

"I do not know, but I'm certain, Naruto-kun is safe" the Sandaime replied, where his guard just nodded in understanding.

After a few minutes, the Sandaime was joined by his counterpart from Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) the Godaime Mizukage, Terumī Mei and her guard Ao.

When Mei first arrived, the Sandaime was both surprised and curious to see the new Mizukage a day before the Chunin finals. The reason why she had come early was because she wanted to speak to the old Hokage about forming an alliance with Konoha. Given how the recent coup in Kiri had weakened her village's military strength and their economy and she feared that the other villages, like Iwa or Kumo, would attack or take advantage of their weaken state.

Naturally the Sandaime welcomed the idea of forming an alliance with Kiri and proposed to begin talks for a new treaty after the Chunin exam.

When the Mizukage arrived at the box, the Sandaime stood up and greeted the female Kage where he then invited her to take the seat that was to his right, which she took.

Soon after, the Yondaime Kazekage and the Yondaime Raikage arrived with their respected Bodyguards.

The Yondaime Kazekage was a tall middle age man who wore the traditional robes and hat of a Kage and a mask to cover his face, allowing only his eyes to be seen.

The Yondaime Kazekage was a well-respected Shinobi, who possessed the Jiton (Magnet Release) Bloodline and used it in a similar manner to his predecessor the Sandaime Kazekaze. Although unlike the Sandaime, who used Iron Sand, the Yondaime used Gold Dust.

Accompany the Yondaime Kazekage were his two bodyguards, two tall men wearing light brown robes.

The Yondaime Raikage was a tall dark-skinned man with a large muscular build. He had blond hair that was combed back and a small moustache and beard. His face was very distinguished with pronounced cheekbones and tear troughs under his eyes, and a prominent crease across his forehead. Like the Yondaime Kazekage, the Raikage wore the traditional robes and hat of a Kage, but without a shirt underneath, which further displayed his hulking physique. He had gold bangle bracelets on each wrist and wore a gold belt around his waist with a boar's face engraved in the centre.

The Yondaime Raikage was a famed Shinobi from the Third Shinobi World War. Like most Shinobi of Kumo, the Raikage was highly skilled in Lightning Techniques, and was renowned for using Nintaijutsu (Ninja Body Techniques), which combined Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, making his attacks more devastating. But he was practically famous for his immense speed which was said to rival even the Sandaime's former successor the Yondaime Hokage.

Accompany the Raikage where two Kumo Shinobi, the first Shinobi was a tall young man with short blond hair, dark eyes and wore the standard uniform of a Kumo Shinobi.

The second Shinobi was a dark-skinned man with a slightly bulbous nose and lazy look in his eyes (which reminded Sarutobi of a certain Konoha Shinobi). He had white shaggy hair that covered his left eye and wore a high-collared, sleeveless uniform with loose fitting pants and a standard Kumo flak jacket. He also carried a cleaver like sword on his back and had the kanji for Water and Lightning tattooed on each of his arms.

Unlike the first Shinobi, Sarutobi knew this shinobi well. His name was Darui and he was a renowned and powerful Shinobi from Kumo. He was a highly skilled Lightning and Water user and an equally skilled swordsman and possessed the Ranton (Storm Release) Bloodline. He was also the inheritor of the Sandaime Raikage's Kuroi Kaminari (Black Lightning) technique, which allowed him to use unique Lightning techniques that only he could use. This earned him the moniker Darui no Kuroi Kaminari (Darui of the Black Lightning). In terms of skill, the man was easily on par with Konoha's top Shinobi Maito Gai and Hatake Kakashi.

When they saw the two other Kages, both the Mizukage and the Hokage stood up and greeted them. After which Hokage invited them to take whatever seats they wished, where the Kazekage took the seat that was to the Sandaime's left, while the Raikage took the remaining seat, which was next to the Kazekage's on his left.

"Greetings Kazekage-sama, Raikage-sama, I'm pleased that you could both make it, you both must be tired after your long journeys."

"Not at all Hokage-sama" the Kazekage replied. "In fact, I'm glad that the Chunin exam is in Konoha this year, since you are not as young as you once were and a journey to another village would be rather tough on you. Perhaps you should think about retiring and appoint a new successor? "

The old Hokage just laughed at this remark "Don't treat me like an old man, now. I'm still considering holding my position for at least another five years."

At this remark, both the Kazekage and the Raikage narrowed their eyes, but did not comment on.

As the four Kages looked down in the area, they saw that most of the finalist where in the arena waiting for the finals to begin.

"If I'm not mistaken, Hokage-sama, we're missing three finalists, two of them being Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto" commented A with a frown. Since his plan to humiliate Konoha depended on both Naruto and Sasuke being in the exam. He also knew that most of the lords and officials here had come to the exam for the sole purpose of watching Naruto and Sasuke compete in the exam and bet on them.

"Sadly I'm afraid the finalist from Otogakure (Hidden Sound) was found dead last week on the rooftop of a building. His body was crushed and we could barely identify him, my ANBU are currently investigating the matter as we speak, but they have yet to identify the perpetrator.

"And what of Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto?" Mei asked.

"I'm afraid their whereabouts are unknown"

"You're telling us that you've lost track of your own Shinobi?" the bulky Raikage asked in mild disbelief, where the old Hokage could only smile in embarrassment.

"Please do not worry Raikage-sama, I'm certain both boys will show up, as neither of them are the type to miss out on something like this."

At this the Raikage could only scoff in disgust, since it was his opinion that both boys should have decency to be on time, especially for an event this important.

"Clearly Konoha has become lax in this time of peace, if it can't even find two of its own Shinobi" the Raikage taunted. "This would never happen in my village."

Sandaime did not respond to the Raikage's taunt, instead he simply ignored it and remained silent. Although his bodyguard Raidō narrowed his eyes and glared slightly at the large man.

Eventually though, the Sandaime turned to his fellow Kages and asked them if they should begin, where the three other Kages all nodded. After which the Sandaime Hokage stood up and went to the railings and began to speak to the audience bellow them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for coming to Konohagakure no Sato (Village Hidden by the Leaves), for this year's Chunin finals. We will now begin the main matches with the fifteen finalists who have passed the preliminaries. So please enjoy the matches and good day."

-With the Audience-

"What? They are going to start the preliminaries without Sasuke and Naruto-kun!" Ino cried in surprise.

"Well you hardly expect them to wait for them Ino" commented her Sensei Asuma.

"But Naruto-kun's match is first, what if he doesn't arrive?" the blonde girl asked

"Then he will be disqualified, as will Sasuke, if he doesn't show up either."

At hearing this, Sakura, who was sitting next to Ino became concerned and began to wonder what happened to Sasuke, remembering how he was in his room when she went to visit him in the hospital.

Seeing that neither Sasuke nor Naruto were here, Gaara's sensei Baki became concerned.

"Did he? ...I told him to avoid doing anything that would attract attention...Damn it, Did he kill Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto?" Baki thought, remembering when Gaara went out for a while by himself during the training month.

"Where's Naruto-kun?" Rurichiyo asked, while sitting between her Grandparents, (who had recently arrived in Konoha), looking for her friend down in the arena. Standing near the royal family were also Rurichiyo's personal guards Kenryū and Enryū, as well as several Samurai guards, who were led by Kensai, the strongest Samurai and Swordsman in Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) (1).

"It seems that the Naruto-kun has yet to arrive" the Fire Daimyo replied, after seeing that Naruto was not with the other finalist.

"Where could he be? I hope nothing has happen to the poor dear" Madam Shijimi said.

"Well he was fine yesterday when I met him and he showed me around Konoha" Rurichiyo replied, who was starting to become concern for her fellow blonde.

"Where is he?" Mai thought with a frown, as she couldn't understand why her "fiancé" had yet to arrive.

"Hmph, looks like Senju and the Uchiha are a no show" Kurotsuchi remarked with a slight frown. Since she was sort of interested in seeing what the son of Tsunade and the Uchiha heir were capable of and if they were worth all the attentions they were getting.

"Maybe, but let's just wait and see, as there still time" Akatsuchi replied.

"Damnit, where the hell is Naruto-nii?" Konohamaru asked out loud who was sitting in the stands, with Moegi, Udon and the rest of their class.

"I don't know" Moegi replied.

"Maybe he decided to quit, since that Hyuga Neji guy looks pretty tough" Udon answered.

"No way! ...Naruto-nii would never run away from a fight, you saw how he stood up to those Suna jerks from earlier."

"Then why isn't he here yet?" Udon asked.

"I don't know, but I do know he will be here soon."

-Outside the Arena-

"My, my there quite a bit of activity today" Kabuto commented as he stood over the dead body of an ANBU agent in a large tree overlooking the Arena.

"I do hope Naruto-kun puts on an entertaining show. As I have a rather tough job ahead of me and I do not like having gaps in my in my profiles" the Oto spy thought as he took off the ANBU agent's mask and cloak and placed it on himself. After which he then hid the body and disappeared in a whirl of wind and leaves.

-In the Arena-

Down in the arena the second member of the Hokage's guard Shiranui Genma was explaining of the rules of the finals to the Genin finalist.

Genma had taken over the role of referee from Gekkō Hayate, after his body was found roughly at the same time as the Oto Genin. This led the Hokage and the investigating ANBU team to believe, that the Suna team were somehow involved. Given how the Sandaime had ordered Hayate to follow Gaara and his team, after learning that Gaara was a jinchūriki.

After Hayate's body was found the Hokage placed the village shinobi on highten alert and deployed two teams of ANBU at the stadium and had several other teams patrol the surrounding area. He also had the Kekkai-Hans (Barrier Team) go on full alreat and report to him of anything strange, no matter how small, fearing that Orochimaru may infultrate the village again.

When Genma finished explaining the rules of the finals, he turned to Neji. "Given how your opponent Senju Naruto has not appeared and we cannot delay your match until he arrives, we will have to declare you the win..."

But before Genma could finish speaking, a whirlwind wind and leaves suddenly appeared behind him. When it died down, Naruto, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Kushina and Yamato were present.

When Genma turned around and saw the group, he was immediately greeted by Kushina.

"Heya Genma, it's been a while...we aren't late are we?"

"Actually you just made it, we were just about to disqualify your student."

"Sorry about that... we would've been here sooner, but we were held up with something" Naruto said, where his mother and the others all glared at the Toad Sage. Who looked to be fairly beating up, with two black eyes, a swollen lip and several bruises around his face.

The reason for his current state was because of a beating he received from Tsunade and Kushina when he went off peeping an hour before the exam. This forced Naruto the others to go looking for him and making them late.

When they finally found him and found out why he had disappeared, a furious Tsuande and Kushina decided to discipline him.

"Your late, Naruto!" an annoyed Yugito said, while glaring at the spikey blonde with an irritated look.

"Troublesome, knowing you Naruto, you were probably waiting till the last second just so that you could make a bigger entrance" a board Shikimaru said, who was wishing he was somewhere else right now.

"I'm glad you arrived in time Naruto-kun, I-er...I mean "WE" were was beginning to worry about you" Haku said, with a slight blush of embarrassment, which thankfully went unnoticed.

The Suna Genin Gaara also seemed to be pleased that Naruto arrived in time, although for an entirely different reasons that Haku and the others were.

"Yea sorry about that guys..." Naruto replied with a goofy grin, before glaring slightly at his godfather "...but like I said we were held up with something."

It was then at this point, that the others notice Naruto's new attire. He now wore simple black Shinob pants with a bandage around his right leg and a brown Shinobi utility belt around his waist and the same black boots from before. On his upper body he wore a short sleeve fishnet shirt and an open short sleeve black top with a black fingerless glove on his right hand and white bandages wrapped around his left. He had a new cloth for his headband, which was now black instead of blue and wore the Shodaime's Hokage's necklace around his neck and the ring Rurichiyo on his right middle finger and his chain earring on his right ear, allowing them to be clearly seen by everyone.

But the thing that caught most people's attention was the coat that he wore over his new attire. It was a long white sleeveless coat with decorated flames-like motifs on the edges.

This was a gift from Jiraiya, who had it made for Naruto to wear in the Chunin exam. The coats design was based on Minato's own coat, which he wore after he became Hokage. Jiraiya had given this to Naruto since he knew how much the boy admired his father and thought it would be a nice way for Naruto to have a piece of his father with him at all times. The only differences between the Yondaime's coat and Naruto's, was that Naruto's coat had the symbol of the Senju Clan on its back, which was blocked by his Kanata that was slung on his back with a brown leather belt. (2)

After getting over his surprise at how much Naruto reminded him of the Yondaime Hokage. Genma decided to get the exam under way, where he asked the Genin finalist to go up to the box where the finalist would wait for their matches.

He then asked Tsunade and the others to also leave, so that they could start the match.

Nodding in understanding, the five senior Shinobi bid Naruto good luck and then Shunshin'd (Body-flickered) away.

-In the Kage Box-

After Body-flickering from the arena, Jiraiya and Tsunade appeared in the Kage box, next to their former Sensei, who was pleased to see his former students again.

When the two Sannin appeared, the other Kages greeted them in a respectful manner.

The Mizukage was especially delighted to meet Tsuande, as she had long wished to meet the Slug Princess in person. Tsunade in return had been pleased to finally meet a female Kage, believing it was about time that a woman took charge of one of the five great Shinobi villages.

When Jiraiya first saw the Mizukage, he instantly went into Pervert Mode and planned to use his withy "charm" on the female Mizukage.

Fortunately though, before such a disaster could happen, Tsunade nipped it in the bud by pulling Jiraiya away by his ear and giving him the "look."

Not wanting to be fed through a drip, Jiraiya wisely decided to stand down and behaved himself.

When the Sandaime asked what took them so long to get here. Tsunade simply glared at Jiraiya again, (making the elder man gulp), before stating that they had an unexpected detour.

"I have to say Tsunade-sama, I'm looking forward to seeing your son compete" the female Mizukage said. "I have heard much about him from my Shinobi, Momochi Zabuza and Yuki Haku, who both speak highly of his skill."

"Naruto is a capable Shinobi, as you will soon see Mizukage-sama" Tsunade replied before her former student Shizune appeared next to her.

"Here you are Tsunade-sama" Shizune said, as she handed Tsunade a slip of paper before Shunshin away again.

"What's that hime?" Jiraiya asked.

"Just a betting slip... I beat twelve million ryo on Naruto winning his match."

When Sarutobi and Jiraiya heard this, both of them looked at the blonde haired woman with shocked and worried looks.

"No offense hime, but are you freaking INSANE?" Jiraiya cried. "Do you want him to Lose? ...You know your luck when it comes to gambling and by betting on the brat, he might actually lose!"

In response Tsunade just smirked, not the least bit worried with what Jiraiya said. "I only lose at Gambling when I bet on myself. But when I bet on Naruto, I never lose, as his good luck is stronger than my bad luck."

"Well for his sake I hope so"

"We'll see soon enough" the Raikage commented with a slight frown, who was staring down at Naruto.

As he looked down at the blonde Senju, the Raikage couldn't get over how much Naruto reminded him of his former rival the Yondaime Hokage. Despite being enemies, the Raikage greatly admired and respected the former Hokage, not only for his skill and power, but also for his immense speed. Since he was the only man alive who could move faster than him. Minato's speed was so great, that the Raikage had never been able to land a solid hit on the former Hokage.

A had of course notice the resemblance when he first saw a picture of Naruto, but seeing him now wearing the same kind of clothing as the Yondaime Hokage, made the resemblance even stronger. It was almost as if he was seeing a younger version of the Yondaime Hokage.

"I still can't get over how much that brat looks like Namikaze. If I didn't know any better I would swear the two of them were father and son" the Raikage thought. Before shaking his head and scoffing at the idea. "What the hell am I thinking? It's impossible; there no way Tsunade and Namikaze would have a child together. If the boy's surname name was Uzumaki I might believe he was Namikaze son. Hell I would sooner believe Jiraiya was the boy's father that Namikaze."

"That's quite an interesting coat the boy is wearing Jiraiya-sama, it reminds me a lot of the coat that your former student the Yondaime Hokage use to wear" A remarked.

When A said this, Tsunade glanced angrily at Jiraiya. She had been against the idea of Naruto wearing the coat in the finals when Jiraiya first gave it to him last night. But she couldn't convince Naruto not to wear it, as he had been ecstatic when Jiriaya gave him the coat.

It was obvious to Tsunade, that Jiraiya had designed the coat to be like Minato's, not only because he was Naruto's father. But also because of how much Naruto reminded Jiraiya of Minato. This was something that always troubled Tsunade, as sometimes Jiriaya forgot that Naruto wasn't Minato.

She of course understood why Jiraiya found it hard to let Minato go, since he had been like a son to the Toad Sage and in many ways Naruto was like his grandson. But still she sometimes worried if Jiraiya was trying to replace Minato with Naruto.

"Eh yea" Jiraiya replied nervously, "I gave it to the kid as a gift, since he idolises Minato."

When the Raikage heard Jiraiya's explanation he narrowed his eyes slightly, as the story did make some sense. He could also see Jiraiya doing something like that, especially given how the boy was his former team-mates son. But what bothered him most was that he felt like he was overlooking something, as if there was more to this story.

Regardless though, the dark-skinned man decided to put the matter aside for now, but planned to investigate it later, since he wasn't a big fan of surprises.

-In the Audience-

After Body-flickering from the arena, Kushina and Yamato appeared in the stands, where they took two free seats in the front stands, which were right next to Anko, Asuma, Kurenai and their individual teams.

"Hey Kushina, Yamato you guys are late, what took you so long?" Asuma greeted when he saw the two former ANBU members. He was also curious as to why they were late, especially when Yamato was with them, since he was a stickler for protocol.

"Our apologise Asuma-san, but we were held up looking for Jiraiya-sama, who had disappeared earlier on" Yamato answered.

"Let me guess, he was peeping on some girls when they were at the hot spring" Anko amswered, since she knew the man well enough after the number of times she met him back when she was still Orochimaru's student.

"Actually it was some girls swimming at the falls outside Konoha" Kushina replied.

After hearing this, a disgusted look appeared on Kurenai's face, while a furious look appeared on Ino and Sakura faces, (who were sitting near her).

"Ugh! I can't believe someone as renowned as Jiraiya-sama, can engage in such deplorable things" the crimson eyed woman commented in disgusted.

"Well like the old saying, great men, aren't always great people" Asuma replied as he let out a puff of smoke.

"Did you get any good hits in?" Anko asked where Kushina just smiled and said she got Jiraiya good in the nose and groin, which made the snake woman smile.

"I'm assuming that since I didn't see Uchiha Sasuke with the other finalist that he and Kakashi-senpai have yet to arrive?" Yamato asked.

"Pretty much" Asuma answered.

"Figures" Kushina commented, "Kakashi would be late for his own funeral."

"So..." Asuma said, in an attempt to change the subject "...has the kid improved much, since the preliminaries?"

"Yes...he has improved a great deal, as you will soon see" Yamato replied, as he indicated to Naruto and Neji, who were now facing one another.

"Well it should be interesting regardless, especially after what he promise to do to that Hyuga punk" Anko remarked. Not noticing the worried look on a certain Hyuga heiress, who was sitting near her.

Hinata had of course heard what happened at the preliminaries after she lost to Neji and what Naruto promise to do to him and regardless of what her cousin did to her. She couldn't help but be concern for him, since he was still her cousin no matter what. She was also slightly concerned for Naruto, since she knew first-hand how strong and how skilled Neji was, and regardless of his amazing strength, Naruto's battle with Neji would not be an easy opponent.

When Anko made her comment, her friend Kurenai remained silent, which was unusual since she would've normally rebuked her for making such comments. But given how Neji had tried to kill her student, his own cousin. She had little sympathy for the male Hyuga and what would happen to him, since she was one of the few people who knew how strong Naruto really was.

A couple of rows away from the group, the Hyuga Clan head Hyuga Hiashi was sitting in the audience waiting for the match to begin.

"Watch closely Hanabi" Hiashi said to his youngest daughter, who was sitting next to him. "There is no one else who has inherited the Bloodline limit of the Hyuga Clan as strong as him. Your older sister does not even compare with him."

"Even more than my sister?" the young girl asked in surprise as she turned to her father.

"Yes, and most likely more than you" the elder man replied, shocking the young girl.

"Let us see how well you do against someone like Neji-san, Senju-san" the leader of the Hyuga Elders (Hiashi's father) thought. Who was sitting not far from Hiashi and his daughter and like them had come to watch the match between his grandson Neji and Naruto, along with the rest of the Hyuga elders, who were interested to see what Naruto could do.

Sitting not far from them were the Hokage's advisors Danzo, Koharu and Homura. Who like everyone else was interested in watching this year's Chunin exam and to see more of Naruto abilities with their own eyes.

-In the Arena-

"I must say Senju-san, I was actually starting to believe that you wouldn't show up" Neji commented, as he faced off against Naruto.

"Hmph! As if I would run and hide from the likes of you" Naruto scoffed, before he started to crack his knuckles. "I told you before at the preliminaries, when we meet again, I would beat you into the ground and I always keep my word."

Seeing Naruto cracking his knuckles, Neji began to frown, as the memory of Naruto's super human strength was still fresh on his mind. He knew he would have to be careful when fighting Naruto, as his immense strength was no joke. Lee's current condition and the state of the fighting arena in the forest of death tower, was a testament to the destructive power of Naruto's strength.

The best way to deal with that was to use his Jūken (Gentle fist) and to seal up Naruto's tenketsu and prevent him from using his Chakra. The only problem with that was that he needed to get close to Naruto, which would then give the young Senju the opportunity to send him right through the arena wall with one punch.

As the two boys continued to glare at one another, the match referee Genma suddenly spoke, "Now that both of you are here and are ready, let the first match of the Chunin finals Begin!"

Despite Genma yelling begin, neither boys moved forward, instead they kept their distance and fell into their individual fighting stance.

Seeing that Naruto hadn't gone for his Katana, the young Hyuga Branch member began to frown, wondering way Naruto wasn't going to try and use his Katana, which would give him a clear advantage in their fight. But as he wondered why, he suddenly remembered Naruto's fight with Lee and smirked.

Seeing the young Hyuga smirking Naruto frowned, "Care to let me in on the joke teme?"

"It's nothing" replied Neji, who was still smirking. "I've just notice that you haven't reached for you Katana yet. Does that mean you acknowledge me as a worthy an opponent and wish to fight me fairly?"

"Heh, hardly" Naruto replied with a scoff, making the Hyuga frown. "I acknowledge that you're strong, but that's it. When I fought Lee I wanted to fight him fairly because I not only respected him as a Shinobi, but also as a person, I don't regard you in the same way. As far as I'm concerned, Lee is a hundred times better than you will ever be."

"Then why?" Neji asked in an irritated tone, as the idea of a failure like Lee, being better than him, irked him.

"I won't be satisfied by just cutting you up with my Katana, as that would be too easy, you going to suffer just like you made Hinata-chan suffer in the preliminaries.

"I see" Neji said with a frown before he activated his Bakyugan. "Well then, your welcome to try, but I will tell you now this match has already been decided. For I have seen the outcome with my eyes, destiny will see me as the winner."

"We'll see about that" Naruto replied as he narrowed his eyes before he formed a hand seal and cried "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" and created eight clones of himself.

-In the Audience-

"Smart move" Anko remarked.

"What an interesting kid" Kotetsu commented in amusement.

"Kage Bunshin is a Jonin level technique. I didn't know he could use it" Izumo said in surprise.

"Well we shouldn't be surprise given all the rumours we have been hearing about him lately and something tells me we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg" Kotetsu responded as he looked down at Naruto and his clones.

-In the Arena-

"Kage Bunshin?" Neji thought with a frown as he remembered hearing of the Technique from his sensei Gai. "I see, if the Charka is distributed equally among the clones...even my Byakugan cannot tell which of them is the real one. But still it doesn't matter, as there can only be one real one."

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are Senju, you will still lose."

"I suggest you don't act so tough" all nine Naruto's said together before four of the Naruto clones charged forward.

In an impressive feat of speed, two of the Naruto clones suddenly appeared behind Neji and attempted to attack the young Hyuga prodigy from behind, while the other two attack from the front.

Seeing the clone appear behind him, thanks to his Byakugan, Neji easily evaded the Naruto clones by flipping into the air and over the forward clones.

After landing back on the ground, two more Naruto clones charged forward and attempted to flank him from both side. But before they could hit them, Neji spun around and skilfully slapped away their hands, while at the same time kicking them off their feet, causing them to fall to the ground.

Once the two clones hit the ground, another Naruto clone appeared in front of Neji when he stopped spinning and attempted a sharp knee kick to his chin, which appeared to hit the Hyuga Prodigy and send him up into the air. But in reality Neji had skilfully evaded the knee kick and by leaping backwards into the air.

Realizing he hadn't hit Neji, Naruto had four of his clones surround the Hyuga Genin and attack him from all sides.

Once they had surrounded him, the four Naruto clones attacked from all sides, but right before they could hit him. Neji jumped into the air again and preformed a mid-air double spin kick, hitting all four Naruto clones and causing them to explode into smoke.

But as soon as the first four clones were destroyed the second group appeared and like before, they attempted to attack Neji from both sides, where the first two attacked together from behind and the other two attacked from the front.

Seeing the two clones coming from behind with his Byakugan, Neji skilfully slapped away the clone's punches and allowed to them to run pass him. After which he then delivered double palm strikes to their chests, just as they were turning around to face him.

After the two clones were destroyed, the last two attempted to use the smoke of the destroyed clones as cover. Sadly though their plan failed as Neji easily saw through the smoke with his Byakugan and delivered a double hand strike to their stomachs causing them to explode into smoke like the others.

After seeing all his clones destroyed Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. "So the stories about the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan Bloodline are true. It's as if he really has eyes at the back of his head."

Back when Naruto was gathering info on Lee and his team, Naruto had heard some of the stories involving the Hyuga Clan and their abilities. He had even asked his mother, Jiraiya and his teachers about the Hyuga Clan's bloodlines and given what he was told; Naruto knew how dangerous Neji was in close combat.

"It will take more than this to defeat me, Senju. I can see much with these eyes of mine."

"Oh and what exactly do you see?" Naruto asked in a board tone and folded his arms.

"They allow me to see the truth of this world. Like everyone else, your talent is determined when you're born. In other words, everything is predetermined at birth."

"Huh, so that's what you believe, well I'm afraid I don't buy into any of that fate crap, we make our own destiny" Naruto replied with a scoff, although frowned again when he saw Neji smirk.

"That's rather amusing coming from you, as you are the perfect example of what I have said. Think about it? Everyone in the Shinobi world has heard of the legendary Senju Clan, who were known for having the strongest Shinobi. Your own ancestors were the Shodai and the Nidaime Hokages and your own mother is one of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja), so it is of no surprise why you are so strong, you were fated to be strong before you were even born."

Narrowing eyes, Naruto spoke again "Why do you always try to label people like that?"

"I am speaking only the truth, you and I were fated to be stronger than others, just as Lee and Hinata-sama were fated to be born as failures. It didn't matter how much they wanted to win, they were fated to lose to us from the very beginning. Everyone is different; they can only live in the indisputable flow of life and walk the path that has been laid out before them. But there is just one fate that everyone possesses... and that is death."

-In the Audience-

After hearing everything that Neji had said a sober look appeared on everyone face, as many could find little flaw with what Neji was saying as there was a ring of truth in it.

But the one that was taking what Neji was saying the hardest was the Hyuga Clan head Hyuga Hiashi. "Those eyes...He still curses the Main family for what happened."

-In the Arena-

"Are you done?" Naruto asked with the same board tone and look.

"What?" Neji asked with a frown.

"I told you before I don't believe in fate, we make our own destiny by the choices we make, and the reason I am strong is not because of who I am related to. It's because I worked my ass off to get this strong, and because I had good teachers supporting and helping me. Even if what you said is true, it wouldn't change a thing, as I intend to beat you no matter what."

After he said this Naruto then formed the same hand-seal as before and created a large number of Shadow clones.

"Clones again? I would've thought you would come up with something more original by now" Neji remarked as he stood in front on the small army of Naruto's.

"You know the old saying if at first you don't succeed try, try again" all the Naruto's replied before they circled around Neji and surrounded him from all sides and attacked.

Unafraid of the group of Naruto's, Neji stood his ground and prepared to defend himself from the coming onslaught of clones.

He did not have to wait long as within seconds they were upon him.

Thanks to his Byakugan being activated, Neji was able see the Naruto clones from all directions and skilfully evaded and blocked all their attacks with ease.

This continued for the next few minutes, all the while one Naruto stood back from a safe distance watching Neji closely as he fought the other Naruto's.

"Do you think I'm a fool Senju?" the Hyuga Prodigy asked as he avoided a leg swipe from a Naruto clone by flipping backwards. "Your pitiful strategy in wearing me down with these clones will not work. All I have to do is hit the real you and I already know which of you is the real one."

The next thing Naruto and the clones knew Neji disappeared in a blur and in an impressive feat of speed. He sped through the army of clones before they could stop him and went right for the Naruto that stood away from the group and hit him with a strong hand strike to the heart.

"I'm disappointed Senju, I expected more from you. It was obvious that you were the real one, as you were the one who attacked the least, because you fear I would hit your Tenketsu if you got to close to me. The more you had your clones attack me, the more you stood out" Neji said with a satisfied smirk, believing he had won. But to his shock the Naruto he hit smirked and before he knew it, the clone exploded, blasting him away and sending him flying to the other end the arena.

-In the Audience-

"That's Bunshin Daibakuha (Great Clone Explosion)!" Izumo said in surprise. "To think a Genin could use an A-rank technique like that?"

"Not bad" Kotetsu commented, who was rather impressed with Naruto, "To think he has mastered the Kage Bunshin Technique to that extent."

"Alright Nii-san, you show him!" Konohamaru yelled as he stood up from his seat and cheered Naruto on

"That brat pretty sneaky, I'll give him that, he was already well ahead of that Hyuga punk" Anko remarked with a smirk.

"Trust me Anko, you haven't how seen how sneaky Naruto can be" Kushina replied, given all the pranks she and Naruto had done over the past few months.

-In the Arena-

After being sent flying to the other end of the arena by the explosion, the Hyuga prodigy slowly got back onto his feet. The explosion had thankfully not been too powerful and mainly singed him. But it was still strong enough to cause some injuries, where he had a few small wounds that were bleeding and some light burn marks on his face and arms.

"Uhnnn, Damnit he was already a step ahead of me, he had one of his clones stay back while he hid with the rest of the clones. He knew I would attack the one that stayed behind, believing it was him and lured me in...how was he able to get his clone to explode like that?" Neji thought angrily as he couldn't believe he had been tricked so easily.

"You shouldn't be so confident Hyuga-teme, I told you before not to underestimate my abilities" the real Naruto said as he walked forward and stood in front of the clones.

Glaring at the blonde, Neji spoke "I did not think you would use such a cheap trick Senju."

"Heh, Have you forgotten? We're Shinobi, that's what we do. Besides the cheap ones are usually the best ones" Naruto replied with a smirk before he ordered the rest of his clones to attack, while he stood back and watched the battle.

-In the Audience-

"What is Naruto doing, why is he only using Clones? Why doesn't he use his other Jutsu? He's much stronger than this" Sakura said as she watched Neji fight with Naruto's clones.

"Because he's thinking ahead" Kushina answered, gaining Sakura's and the others attention.

"What do you mean Kushina-sensei?" Ino asked.

"When you are running in a marathon, you don't go all out at the very beginning, you pace yourself and use you energy wisely and save yourself for the end."

"So your saying that Naruto is holding back, because he doesn't want wear himself out" Sakura said, realizing what Kushina was saying.

"Precisely, if Naruto was to use his more powerful Jutsu or other abilities to beat Neji, the opponents he would later go against would know what to expect and be prepared for it. By fighting this way, Naruto will have his bigger guns to surprise his opponents with later."

"That may be true Kushina, but I'm sure there is more to reason why he's using Shadow clones this way than just keeping his better abilities hidden" Asuma added as he joined the conversation.

Kushina did not reply of course, but smirked, which told the younger Sarutobi that he was right.

"What do you mean Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked.

"If I were to guess I would say, that the kid is using his clones to study Neji?"

"How so?" asked the blonde girl.

"Well unlike other clones, Shadow Clones can use high level Jutsu and when they are destroyed everything that they saw or heard is sent back to the person. This makes them ideal when scouting or spying on people, as once they disperse all their info is sent back to the user. By sending his clones to fight and watching them from a distance, Naruto gets to see two separate points of views, which allows him to analysis Neji's fighting ability and find any weak points."

"Not bad Asuma, you catch on quick" a smirking Kushina commented. "But I would expect nothing less from the son of the Professor"

"That's actually pretty clever" Anko remarked as she was rather impressed.

"How strong is Naruto-kun really?" Ino asked turning to Kushina.

"That you'll just have to wait and see" the red headed woman replied as she continued to watch her student's battle.

-In the Arena-

As the battle continued, Naruto had some of his clones fall back and thrown Kunai, Shuriken and Senbon needles from a distance, making it even more difficult for Neji to fight the clones.

But despite being attack from long range and close range, Neji was still able to block or avoid all of the clones attack, thanks to his Byakugan and his lightning fast reflexes.

Seeing this, Naruto had the majority of his clones attack Neji all at once from all side, so to see how he would defend against this.

Reacting fast, Neji quickly fell into a Taijutsu stance that Hiashi, his daughters and the Hyuga elders all recognised instantly, and where shocked beyond words to see him use it.

"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)!" Neji yelled, where with lighting fast speed, he struck at all the clones from all directions with powerful hand strikes that destroyed them instantly.

Naturally the audience had been stunned by how quickly Neji defeated all the clones. But before the Hyuga prodigy could enjoy his moment, he suddenly saw several projectiles coming towards from behind.

Acting fast, Neji quickly fell to his knees to avoid them, but was unable to evade all of them, where a Senbon needle hit him in the shoulder.

Seeing this Naruto smirked, "I final found it...hah, I knew it, no defence is absolute, everything has a weakness and I found his. Thanks to his Byakugan, Neji has a three hundred and sixty degree vision and can see through objects and see things from far off distances, making in nearly impossible to sneak up on him. Adding his lighting fast relaxes he's able to counter, block or avoid enemy attacks from almost any direction. That's why he was able to avoid my clone's projectiles, or at least most of them, as one of them was able to get through. Meaning that he wasn't able to see it coming and avoided it, therefore he has a blind spot at his upper back. And if I'm right, there is one other place I can attack from, where he won't see me coming from."

After realizing where Neji's weak point was, Naruto signalled his remaining clones with some regular hand seals, telling them to go for the next phase of his plan.

Nodding understanding, the clones took out several Kunai and from their utility belts and attacked Neji from all sides, who had just finished taking the Senbon needle in his shoulder out.

Wasting no time, Neji quickly fell into his Hakke Rokujūyon Shō stance again and began to eliminate the remaining Naruto clones. But just when he was about to finish off the last clone, he suddenly felt a sharp pain from his back, causing him to fall forward where the last remaining Naruto clone delivered a stronger kick to his stomach and sent him crashing into the wall.

After hitting the wall, the young Hyuga slowly picked himself up onto his knees and pulled out several needles from his upper back, which he was surprised to find.

"But how? Why didn't I see these needles coming?" Neji muttered in confusion.

"I guess those eyes of yours can't see everything after all" Naruto mocked as he joined his last clone.

Hearing this Neji glared angrily at Naruto, but it was quickly replaced by realization when Neji suddenly realized what Naruto had been really up to the whole time. "You've been planning this from the very start; you used your clones to attack me from different direction, so to find my blind spot, not to wear me down."

"Bingo" Naruto answered with smirk as he began to walk towards Neji to finish him off.

-In the Audience-

"Neji has a blind spot?" Tenten said is surprise as she didn't think he had a blind spot.

"So he did discover the Byakugan's blind spot" Hisahi's commented as he had figured out Naruto's plan not too long ago.

"Impressive" the Mizukage remarked, as she was rather impressed with how effectively Naruto used his shadow clones.

"Indeed" the Raikage replied, as he too had to grudgingly complement Naruto, as he wasn't even aware of the Hyugan Clan's Bykauan having a blind spot.

-In the Arena-

Angry at how he had been duped again by Naruto, Neji started to get up, but before he could, Naruto suddenly spoke again.

"Don't bother trying to move, those needles I hit you with were coated with poison that paralyzes your body, you won't be able to move for the next few hours."

But just when Naruto thought he had won the fight, he saw Neji smirk, making him stop when he was just a few feet from the Hyuga member.

"It seems that this time you're the overconfident one Senju and are underestimating me."

Before Naruto could even ask what Neji was talking about, the Hyuga Prodigy stood up and fell into his Hakke Rokujūyon Shō stance once again.

"Impossible!" Naruto thought in surprise, as the poison that coated the Senbon needles should have completely paralyzed his body.

"Did you really think I was not prepared for this?" Neji asked. "I watched both your battles against Hattori Mai and Lee closely and studied you as much as I could. Given your training as a medic-nin it was obvious that you would've been trained to use poisons in battle so before I came here, I injected myself with an Antidote, making me immune to most poisons."

"Shit!" Naruto thought realizing that Neji had fooled him and drawn him in so that he would be in Neji's divination.

Before Naruto could even try to escape, Neji used his Hakke Rokujūyon Shō to hit sixty-four of Naruto's tenketsu stopping his Chakra completely. After being hit by Neji's attack, Naruto spat up blood and began to fall to the ground.

"Heh, as I told you before Senju, I was fated to win this battle from the very start, as he who is prepared for any situation in battle will always prevail."

But just as Neji thought the fight was right he saw Naruto smirk and say "Your right" After which he exploded into a puff of smoke, revealing he was a shadow clone.

"Another Clone!" Neji thought in surprise realizing that Naruto must have used a Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique) to replace himself with his last remaining clone at the last second, preventing his tenketsu from being sealed up.

After discovering what Naruto had done, Neji quickly spun around to face the real Naruto who had appeared and attempted a spin kick on the Hyuga branch member.

Acting fast, Neji quickly blocked the kick with his arm and attempted to hit some of Naruto's tenketsu in his legs. But before he could hit them, Naruto used Neji's arm as a spring board and pushed himself away, avoiding Neji's strikes.

"So you were prepared for my attack?" Neji asked after Naruto had landed back on the ground.

"Like you said Hyuga-teme, the person who is prepared for any situation will always win. I'll admit, I didn't expect you to be immune to my poison. But I did prepare to replace myself, just in case you tried something."

"I see" Neji answered, "But do not think you've won this battle, as now I know where you intent to attack me from."

"Really, well I'm about to show you that you've one other blind spot" Naruto replied with a smile, where he once again formed a single hand seal and created four more Shadow clones.

-In the Audience-

"Another Blind spot?" Tenten repeated in surprise.

"Impossible" a Hyuga Elder said, who like the other elders was rather irritated by how Naruto revealed that the Byakugan's had a blind spot. Something they never wanted anyone outside their clan to know about."

"Could there actually be another blind spot to the Byakugan? One that we aren't even aware of" Hiashi thought was he watched Naruto closely.

-In the Arena-

"What other blind spot is he talking about?" Neji thought. "Could he be bluffing? No I can't take that chance that he isn't."

Not wanting to give Naruto a chance to attack, Neji quickly raced forward, but before he could reach Naruto or his clones, they dropped several smoke bombs which exploded and filled much of the arena with smoke.

Stopping, Neji quickly took up a defensive stance while circling around, so to make it more difficult for Naruto or his clones to hit his blind spot in the back.

"What's he up to? He should know that this smoke won't hide him or his clones from my Byakugan" Neji thought as he looked for Naruto and his clones and wondered what they were up to. It didn't take him long for him to find the four Naruto clones as he saw them coming at him from all four sides with his Byakugan.

Acting fast, Neji raised his arm up to slap away the first Naruto clone's fist, after which he then grabbed hold of the clone's outstretched arm and flipped him over so that he would crash into the second clone that was behind Neji.

With the first two clones momentarily dealt with, Neji then jumped into the air to avoid the punches from the other two clones, who had come at him from opposite sides. After avoiding their attacks, Neji then preformed a mid-air double spin kick and kicked the two of them in the side of their heads, destroying them in one go.

Once he landed back on the ground, Neji saw that the first two clones had gotten back onto their feet.

Not wanting to give them a chance to attack him, Neji immediately spun around and delivered a sharp double hand strike to their chests, causing them to simultaneously explode into smoke like the others.

After destroying the last two clones, Neji saw that the smoke from the smoke bombs had just about blown away.

"Where is he?" Neji thought as he began to search around the arena for Naruto, but couldn't find him.

"Where could he have gone? He's not behind me or hidden in the trees and bushes and he not's above me, so that only leaves he's..." Neji thought. But before he could finish his thought, Naruto erupted out of the ground from underneath him and delivered a strong punch to the chin, which sent Neji into the air.

Not letting up, Naruto quickly spun around cried "Uzuhandō (Whirling kick)!"(3) Where he delivered a powerful spinning back kick into the Hyuga's stomach, sending him flying into the arena wall again and making a large dent in it.

"Ugh!" Neji grunted in pain after hitting the wall, where he slowly picked himself up again and glared at the smirking Senju who was standing next to the hole he had made.

"Damn you, you tricked me again! There was no second blind spot; you just wanted me to think there was."

"Actually technically that was a blind spot. Like most people you're focused on what is happening around you and not what was happening underneath you, which was why I was able to sneak up on you. To quote Kakashi-sensei, a Shinobi must always look underneath" Naruto replied, although he knew what he just said wasn't exactly what Kakashi meant, it still fitted with what he was saying.

"Now if you don't mind, I think it's time we finished this battle of ours" said Naruto as he cracked his knuckles and then charged forward with his fist raised, intending to end the fight with a single punch.

Seeing the immense amount of Chakra focused in Naruto's hand with his Byakugan, Neji knew what was coming next and knew he had move or be splattered across the village.

Waiting until the very last second, the young Hyuga quickly rolled to his left, allowing him to narrowly avoid the punch.

-Enter Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack-

After Neji moved away at the last second Naruto slammed his fist into the arena wall, causing a large explosion and dust cloud.

Eventually the dust cloud died down and once it did the audience was shocked to see massive ten foot high and wide hole in the three foot thick arena wall.

-In the Audience-

"Oh my" the Fire Daimyo said in surprise.

"My Goodness" Madam Shijimi said in equal surprise.

"I knew Naruto-kun was strong but I didn't think he was this strong!" Rurichiyo thought in shock, as she had seen Naruto use his immense strength to defeat a wild bear.

"Incredible" Hiashi muttered, even though he was one of the few people in Konoha who knew Naruto's true capabilities, he still surprised at seeing someone like Naruto having such immense strength.

"Tou-san, how is this possible? How can someone have such incredible power?" Hanabi asked in surprise when she turned to her father.

"Many things are possible in the world of Shinobi, my daughter, you will see that when you are older."

"Amazing" one of the Hyuga Elders muttered. "To think a boy his age could possess such power."

"Indeed" Hiashi's father muttered, "He is truly his mother's son."

"Unreal" said Konohamaru who like the rest of his classmates was in awe of his elder brother figure immense power. But it did not take him long to get over it and once he did, he turned to his classmates who were still stunned by what they saw and said "Hah! Did you see that! I told all of you that Naruto-nii was awesome."

"He's incredible!" one student said.

"He's fantastic!" another student said.

"He's Great!" yet another student said where before long, all the young Academy students were cheering for Naruto.

The teachers of course didn't even bother to try and calm their students down as like most people they were still in shock at Naruto's strength.

"What phenomenal strength" Iruka thought, who was wondering if Naruto had been this strong when he fought Mizuki.

"Did you see that, Kurotsuchi?" Akatsuchi asked in surprise.

"Of course I did! I'm sitting right next to you, you idiot" Kurotsuchi snapped, who like her partner was stunned by Naruto's show of strength.

"Your Gramps will want to know of this" the large young man said, where his female partner just nodded.

"Looks like Jiji was right, when he said there was more to this kid than meets the eye," the Iwa Kunoichi thought."If he's this strong already, there no telling how strong he'll become later."

"It seems Naruto-kun is finally getting serious" an amused Hattori Mai thought.

"Troublesome, Naruto just doesn't know how to hold back" Shikamaru muttered as he shook his head at what Naruto had done.

"Amazing Naruto-kun..." Hinata thought in disbelief, as this was the first time she had seen Naruto use his super human strength.

"Damn, it's times like this that make me glad I'm not the one fighting Senju" Kiba commented.

"Let's just hope that things don't turn out the way they did at the end of the preliminaries or else we might have to cancel the finals" Asuma said.

"Agreed" Yamato said, even though he told Naruto not to go too far, he knew his student would probably still go overboard.

"Unbelievable" a stunned Izumo said, "How can a kid like him be this strong? I mean sure I've heard the rumours, but I didn't think they were true."

"Yea" Kotetsu muttered, who like his friend, had heard the same rumours. The rumour had started circulating about a month ago, right after the preliminaries had ended and when repairs had begun on the arena in the forest of death tower. According to the rumour, the entire arena had been destroyed by two mere Genin when they fought, one of the Genin being none other than Senju Naruto. Who was said to possess the same kind of inhuman strength that his mother had.

"Impressive, he is just as strong as the reports say" Mei said after seeing Naruto punch through the arena wall, before turning to Tsunade. "Your son is truly a credit to you Tsunade-sama."

"Indeed he's quite impressive" the Kazekage added.

"Thank you Mizukage-sama Kazekage-sama, but trust me when I say this, you haven't seen half of what Naru-chan can do."

"Well regardless, I hope Naruto-kun shows a little more restraint here than he did in the preliminaries, as they're still trying to repair the arena in the tower" the Sandaime responded.

"Heh! No promises sensei"

As the three other Kages and the two Sannin continued to talk with one another, the Raikage remained surprisingly silent and stared down at Naruto. He was of course not surprised by Naruto's show of power, as he had heard about Naruto's strength from his brother Killer Bee when he sent a message telling him of how things were progressing in the exam.

Naturally when he first heard the news he was surprised and thought his brother might have been extravagating things. But after seeing Naruto punch right through a three foot thick stone wall and hearing what the Sandaime had said in the preliminaries, he had no choice but to accept everything his brother had said in his report.

"This could be trouble" the Raikage thought silently.

-End Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack-

-In the Arena-

When the smoke died down and Neji saw the massive hole in the wall, he silently thanked his quick reactions, for he was certain that if he had not moved just now, he would've been finished.

"What's wrong teme, starting to get nervous?" Naruto asked as he walked towards the young Hyuga and began to crack his knuckles.

"Hardly" Neji replied as he stood up and glared defiantly at the spikey haired blonde.

"Well you should be, as things are only going to get worse for your now" Naruto said before he created four more clones of himself and had them attack Neji. Who was quickly forced on the defensive and pushed back. But eventually he gained the upper hand and skilfully dealt with the clones.

But just as he had destroyed the last clone, Neji saw Naruto appear from above with his arm stretched out and a large amount of Chakra focused into it.

Knowing that he couldn't avoid Naruto's attack this time, Neji decided to play his trump card, where just as Naruto was about to hit him. Neji began to release a large amount of Chakra from all his tenketsu and then started to spin around at high speed, creating a rotating shield of chakra around him.

Once Naruto made contact with the spinning dome of Chakra, Naruto was sent flying backwards into the arena wall behind him, making a large dent into it.

"Gah! What the hell was that?" Naruto grunted after he hit the wall and painfully looked toward Neji, who was now standing in a small crater.

"Don't think that you've won this battle already Senju" Neji said as he smirked at Naruto when he saw the dumbfound look on the blonde's face. "I told you before, this battle was decided long ago and I am the one who is fated to win this battle."

-In the Audience-

Naturally when the audience saw what had happened, many were dumbfounded by the complete turnaround of the fight. As one second ago it looked like Naruto was about to win, but out of nowhere Neji used some strange technique to block Naruto's attack and send him flying into the arena wall.

"W-Wh-What was that?" Ino asked in surprise and confusion, as like most people she couldn't understand what had happened.

"I don't know?" Sakura replied. "It looked like Naruto's punched him, but instead of Neji being sent flying, it was Naruto."

"That move? Could that kid actually mastered that technique" Kushina thought, as she stared at Neji with a frown.

From the Kage booth, Tsunade, Jiraiya and the Hokage were all thinking the same thing as Kushina. Knowing that it was only feasible way Neji could've blocked Naruto's punch like that and send him flying.

"Naruto" Shizune thought, who was sitting next to Kushina and Yamato and had a look of concern as she saw her godson/surrogate brother in trouble.

She was of course not the only one as several other people were also showing concern for the young blonde.

Among the number of concern people was also the young Hyuga heiress Hinata. Who was also one of the few people who knew what technique Neji had just used.

"That's..." Hinata thought.

"Kaiten (Revolving Heaven)..." Hiashi finished in disbelief.

"Impossible!" a shocked Hyuga elder said, who like the other elders couldn't believe that Neji preformed another one of the main family's secret techniques.

"But how...could Hiashi have thought him it?" another one of the elders asked.

"He wouldn't" Hiashi's father said, refusing to believe that his son would teach a branch member the secret techniques of the main family.

"Then how?" another elder asked, who received only silence as none of them could answer him.

-In the Arena-

Confused and frustrated by what had just happened, Naruto stood, ignoring the pain he felt from smashing into the arena wall.

Wanting to figure out what Neji had just done, Naruto created eight more Shadow clones and sent them to attack Neji, where they quickly surrounded him.

Neji of course remained perfectly still and did not try to move away. Instead he waited for the clone's attack, where once they had surrounded him, they attacked him from all sides at the same time.

But like before, Neji immediately started to spin around and released his Chakra, once again creating the large spinning dome of Chakra, while crying out "Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven)!"

Like Naruto earlier, when the clones made contact with Neji's technique, they were all sent flying away and burst into smoke soon after.

-In the Audience-

"That move, but father that is..." Hanabi said, but before she could finish, her father interrupted her.

"Yes, that is Kaiten a secret technique that is only passed down to the successors of our Clan...or in other words, the members of the main family. But somehow he was able to come up with this move himself, just as he did with the Hakke Rokujūyon Shō? Such incredible talent...I never expected him to be so gifted..."

"To think a boy from the branch family, who cannot succeed as head of our Clan, has inherited our Clan's bloodline ability to this extent" a Hyuga elder with wonderment at Neji's skill and ability said.

"It a disgrace" another elder angrily spat, as he was furious at branch member being able to perform two of the main family's most carefully guarded secret techniques.

"Perhaps I made a mistake when I choose Hiashi to succeed me as Clan head instead of Hizashi" Hiashi's father thought as he stared down at Neji.

"You're skilled Naruto-san, but I am afraid you cannot get by Neji's ultimate defence as it is perfect." Tenten thought.

-In the Arena-

"What will you do now Senju Naruto?" Neji asked. "I told you earlier I had studied as much as I could about you; I knew I would have to face your immense strength sooner or later. That is why I developed this technique, so that I could counter your inhuman strength."

"No technique is without weakness teme, therefore your technique has one and I'll find it, just as I did with your Byakugan."

"Heh, your living in a dream world Senju, just like Lee with his foolish belief that hard work would allow him to overcome those of us who are gifted and make his dreams come true."

At the mention of Lee, Naruto remembered his battle with Lee and how no matter how hard he hit him the green haired boy kept getting up, he refused to back down or give up. He then remembered how Neji scorned and mocked Hinata during and after their battle.

Remembering this, Naruto grew even more determined to beat Neji, as he refused to let him get away with mocking his friends or spitting on their beliefs and dreams.

"Why don't you just shut your mouth" Naruto angrily said, "Just because you've more natural talent and ability than most people. It doesn't give you the right to put others down when they try their hardest and tell them they can never become stronger."

"That's rather amusing coming from you," retorted Neji. "Given how you were the one who destroyed Lee's career as a Shinobi..."

-In the Audience-

"That was low" Kushina said with a frown, as she knew how guilty Naruto felt over what happened to Lee, and how may have destroyed the boy's career.

-In the Arena-

Gripping his fist in anger, Naruto glared at the Hyuga member. "I never wanted to do that to Lee and if I could change things I would."

"Yet it did, so I don't see how you have the moral high ground here Senju."

"I never tried to kill him like when you did with Hinata-chan nor did I ever put him down or mock him for wanting to become a great Shinobi. In fact I respected and admired him for it, he may have lost the fight, but as far as I'm concerned he proved himself as a great Shinobi. The fact that he nearly defeated me proves it, as I only won by chance."

"It was not chance...it was fate, I told you before Senju our fates are decided from the moment we are born, they cannot be changed no matter what you believe or how hard you try to fight it. The fact that Lee still lost to you despite how close he came, proves that, as does Hinata-sama's fight with me."

"What is it with you?" Naruto asked. "Why do you persist to go on with this fate crap? What is your deal with the Hinata-chan and the main family of your Clan?"

"I don't see why it should concern you?"

"The fact that you tried to kill Hinata-chan, who is my friend...makes it my concern."

"Very well I will tell you since you seem to care so much...about the Hyuga's Clan fate of hatred!" Neji said with an angry look as he remembered. "The Hyuga Clan has a secret technique that has been passed down within the main family. This technique is called the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu (Hyūga Main Family's Cursed Seal Technique)."

"Curse seal? As in like the one that Orochimaru put on me?" Naruto thought in surprise.

"That curse seal symbolises a cage bird...and is also a symbol of those who are bound within an inescapable destiny." Neji said before he took off his headband and revealed his Curse seal, after which he continued on with his story. "With it, the main family controls the fate of all members of the branch family. It allows the head family to destroy the brain cells of any branch member who tries to fight their fate, killing would be just as easy as well. And this curse seal will only disappear after I die when it seals up my Byakugan."

"But why?" Naruto asked in surprise, as it made no sense to him for a Clan to do something like this to their own members.

"The Hyuga Clan as you know has a unique Bloodline limit and there are many who are after it or want to learn it secrets. So to protect it, this curse seal was created to ensure that the branch family protects the main family and keeps our Clan's secrets, as well as ensure that no branch member goes against a member of the main family."

"So you hate Hinata-chan because she is a member of the main family, and because they are the ones who forced the curse seal on you?"

"It is hardly that simple."

"Then explain"

"One day when I was four this detestable seal was carved into me with that Cursed Seal Technique. On that day there was also a large ceremony in the village, celebrating a new peace treaty between Konohagakure and Kumogakure..."

"I already know about this" Naruto interrupted. "On that day that the treaty was to be revealed, the head Ninja who was sent by Kumo to negotiate the treaty was revealed to be a spy. The treaty was a cover created by Kumo to allow the head Ninja to enter the village so that he could kidnap Hinata-chan and steal the Byakugan Bloodline and learn its secrets. But the plan failed as Hinata-chan's father stopped it by killing the head Ninja before he could escape with Hinata-chan. When it was revealed, Kumo denied any knowledge of what the head Ninja had done and blamed Konoha for what happened. They then demanded that Konoha pay, resulting in a Konoha Shinobi having to sacrifice himself to prevent a war from breaking out."

"He did not sacrifice himself, he was murdered" Neji replied angrily, "With their head Ninja dead, Kumo demanded that Konoha give up a Shinobi, or to be more precise they demanded the body of the Hyuga Clan head Hyuga Hiashi."

"But he's alive" Naruto answered

"Precisely" Neji replied as he narrowed his eyes angrily, "Wanting to avoid a war at all cost Konoha agreed, but instead of Hiashi being sacrificed the main family replaced him...with my father, who was Hiashi-sama's identical twin brother."

"No way" Naruto said, as didn't know any of this.

"Yes" Neji replied with a pained and angry look. "To protect the main family...to protect our Clan's secrets...to avoid another war with Kumo, the head family murdered my father."

When he finished speaking Neji closed his eyes in sorrow as he remembered the pain of seeing the dead body of his father, who was killed just to protect the main family.

Naruto of course said nothing, as he had no clue of any this, he did not know that there was more to the story than what he was told.

-In the Audience-

In the stands the audience remind silent, digesting everything that Neji had said.

When Neji had finished his story on the Hyuga incident, several Shinobi like Kushina frowned, as like her. The incident had left a bitter aftertaste in their months and they did not agree with what happened.

Up in the Kage stands the Sandaime just lowered their heads, with some shame. He remembered those days all too well, in the grand scheme of things, sacrificing one man's life to stop a war that would result in the death of hundreds if not thousands of Shinobi seemed like a small price of pay. But still, it had not made it any easier; especially knowing the pain that Hizashi's loved ones would feel with his death.

At the same time both Jiraiya and Tsunade frowned, they were familiar with that incident, since in the end, both Konoha and Kumo suffered, because of it.

The Raikage himself also frowned, as he did not like remembering how bad that incident turned out for his village. The plan had seemed so simple yet perfect, but in the end it turned into a gigantic mess, where they'd not only lost one of their best Shinobi, but his village's reputation fell greatly. Even Hizashi corpse gave them nothing thanks to his curse seal sealing up his Byakugan and when they later learned that Konoha had tricked them. They couldn't do a thing since if they tried they would look even more petty than they did before.

"Damn, our village really screwed this guy over" Omoi thought, who could not help feel a bit ashamed for what his village had done.

-In the Arena-

"Now you see why you can never change your fate, like my father who could not escape his fate of being used to protect the main family. You cannot hope to defeat me, your fate is sealed."

"From what I can see this fight is far from over teme, so don't go preparing your victory speech, as I am far from done" Naruto replied, staring back defiantly at the Hyuga boy, who frowned with annoyance.

"I may not know what it feels like to lose a father, since I never knew mine. But if that is your sole reason for you believing that our fate is predetermined, then you're a bigger fool than I thought."

Frowning again, Neji retied his headband to his head and said, "I tried to open your eyes Senju, but you stubbornly refuse to see the truth."

"I see just fine, the only one who is blind to the truth is you."

Angered by this remark, Neji charged forward, intending to shut Naruto up with a hand strike to the heart. But just before he could hit Naruto, the blonde Senju used a Kawarimi no Jutsu to replace himself with a wooden log.

The next thing Neji knew, Naruto reappeared behind him and threw several Shuriken at him, in attempt to hit his blind spot. But before they could hit him, Neji preformed his Kaitan again to block the incoming Shuriken, forcing Naruto to Shunshin away and reappeared high up on the side of the arena wall opposite Neji, channelling his Chakra to his feet to keep from falling off.

"Dammit, thanks to that Kaitan technique, I can't hit his blind spot any more, but I think I am beginning to understand how it works now. I just need to see it one more time to make sure" Naruto thought.

Creating three more clones, Naruto had them go to different ends of the arena wall, so that they would surround the Hyuga prodigy on all four sides.

At the same time Neji positioned himself to the centre of the arena, so that he could see any incoming attack with his Byakugan.

Once the Shadow clones were in position, Naruto had the clone on the left side of the wall throw several Kunai. He then had the one on the right thrown several Shuriken and the clone standing on the opposite end of the wall from him, throw several Shenbon needles.

At the same time Naruto also had his clones preform the Gen'ei Tajū Shuriken no Jutsu (Multiple Phantom Shuriken Technique), multiplying the number of projectiles greatly.

Knowing he couldn't avoid all the flying projectiles, Neji once again forced to preformed his Kaitan to deflect them.

After he had deflected the majority of the projectiles, Neji slowed down and in impressive feet of feet of skill and accuracy. He caught the last three shuriken and individually threw them at one of the Naruto clones, hitting them dead centre in the head and destroying them.

"I think I now understand how the technique works. Obviously it compensates for the Byakugan's blind spot and relies on Neji releasing a huge amount of chakra from his body. But just releasing the chakra from his body wouldn't be enough to stop physical attacks. That's why Neji needs to spin around and by doing that he is also able to turn the energy of an opponent's own chakra against them, which also explains how he was able to block my enhance punch and send me flying" Naruto thought, as he now understood the basics of Neji's technique.

"But still, that doesn't tell me how to counter it" Naruto thought as he continued to try and think of a way to break Neji's defence. "If I use any of my Suiton (Water Style) and Doton (Earth Style) Ninjutsu, he'll just block them like he did my punch. The same goes for my Surasshu-fū (Wind Slash) technique. I can't draw the battle out in the hope of reducing his Chakra reserves since I need to conserve my own energy for my other fights, so I need to finish this match quickly. I suppose I could try something like what Yugito-chan did in her fight with Kiba and use Ninja wire to trap Neji or at least prevent him from spinning. But I doubt that would work, as Neji has keener eyes than Kiba and will probably see them and figure out what I'm doing if I tried. Then again if I used my Mōkushōku no Jutsu (Wooden Tentacle Technique), I could probably catch him off guard and restrain him. But if I do that I reveal my ability to use Mokuton (Wood Release) and Kaa-chan and Kushina-sensei said I should hold off from using it unless I have to, especially if I go against either Yugito-chan or Gaara."

"If only I could use Yomi Numa (Swamp of the Underworld) like Ero-sennin!" Naruto thought. "I could then just let him sink into the mud. I suppose I could summon a Toad or a Slug to help me, but I like to keep my ability to summon hidden until I really need it... Damnit how the hell do I beat this guy's technique?"

-In the Audience-

"Looks like it's a stalemate" Yugito commented, as right now neither Naruto nor Neji could successfully attack the other.

"Agreed" replied Samui.

"What is Naruto-kun doing? Why isn't he attacking that Neji guy?" Ino asked, since Naruto hadn't moved from his position for several minutes and just kept staring at the Hyuga branch prodigy.

"My guess is that he is trying to think of a way to counter or break through Neji's Kaiten" Asuma answered.

"I don't see how it's possible" Kurenai replied. "Since the Kaiten is one of the Hyuga Clan's most powerful and prized techniques."

"Every technique has it weakness no matter how powerful, Naruto just has to figure it out" Kushina responded.

"But why hasn't Neji attacked, he hasn't moved since Naruto last attack?" Sakura asked.

"I believe it's because Neji-san knows that if tries to attack Naruto when he is on the wall, he will become vulnerable to attack from above. But if he stays where he is, he can see and incoming attack from any direction and block it, also he knows that Naruto is a close to mid-range fighter, meaning he will eventually have to come off the wall to attack" Yamato answered.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata thought with concern as she wasn't sure if Naruto could actually beat Neji's Kaiten. She knew how strong the technique was, since she had seen her father use it several times.

"Come on Senju, don't let that bastard beat you, you promised to make him pay for what he did to Hinata-chan, so turn this fight around already!" Kiba yelled as stood up from his seat.

-In the Arena-

"Dammit Kiba don't you think I would if I could" Naruto thought angrily when he heard Kiba shout at him.

But just as turned to look at the Inuzuka, inspiration suddenly hit him, "Wait! ...Turn...That's it!" After which Naruto turned his head to look at Neji before looking back at Kiba again.

"Kiba, if you were a girl right now, I would kiss you" Naruto thought with a smile and gave the male Inuzuka a thumb up in gratitude.

-In the Audience-

"Huh?" Kiba said in confusion when he saw Naruto smile at him and give him a thumb up. "What's that about?"

"Looks like you said something that helped Naruto" Kushin answered.

"But what did I say that helped him?" Kiba asked

"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll see soon enough." Kushina responded where she then watched Naruto created a dozen Shadow Clones.

-In the Arena-

"What's he up to this time?" Neji asked inside his mind, when he saw Naruto create several Shadow Clones. But wasn't able to ponder the matter for long, as he saw the clones race down the wall and head straight for him.

Seeing the clones coming towards him, Neji fell into a defence stance, while at the same time keeping his senses alerts and watching the real Naruto, who remained on the wall overlooking things.

It did not take long for the clones to reach Neji, where they quickly surrounded him from all sides.

At the same time Naruto moved from his position on the side of the wall and raced up to the top the wall where he watched his clones battle with Neji.

After skilfully defeating three of the twelve clones with his Jūken, Neji caught a kunai with his right hand that a clone from behind had thrown at him and then used it to deflect two more Kunai that were thrown at him from his right side. He then caught a third Kunai from his left side and threw it right back at the clone that threw it, destroying it instantly.

When Naruto saw this, he smirked, as his plan was finally ready, where he drew his Katana from his back and jumped into the air with his Katana held forward. He then began to release a large amount of Chakra around himself while spinning counter-clockwise at a high velocity, taking the shape of small tornado falling toward Neji.

Naturally when Kiba saw this, he was shocked at how similar Naruto's technique was to his own Gatsūga (Fang Passing Fang).

At the same time the remaining Naruto clones repositioned themselves around Neji and prepared to attack from all sides at the same time.

Seeing that he was being attacked from all sides, (including above), with his Byakugan, Neji knew he had only one technique that could save him. Yet despite his situation he remained perfectly calm and confident.

"Heh, I don't know what trick you're up to this time Senju. But it won't work as my Kaiten cannot be broken" Neji thought before he once again preformed his Kaiten, destroying all eight remaining clones instantly. But when Naruto's attack made contact with Neji's Kaiten a large explosion erupted, causing a large dust cloud to appear.

As the dust cloud began to envelope the arena below, the audience saw something fly out of the dust cloud and crash into the arena wall. But before anyone could get a better look at what hit the wall, the dust expanded further out and blocking their view.

-With the Audience-

"Damnit this is nuts" Shikamaru thought.

"What's happening? What's going on? Where Naruto-kun?" Ino asked.

"I don't know I can't see anything" Sakura replied.

"Naruto-kun..." a worried Hinata thought.

When the dust slowly began to settle, the audience saw a silhouette kneeling on the ground in the middle of a small crater in the center of the arena.

Eventually the dust faded and the audience could finally make out spiky yellow hair.

"Look its Naruto, he's alright!" Choji shouted after seeing the blonde boy, who looked slightly ruffled and dirty from the dust, but fine otherwise.

"Thank goodness" Ino sighed, not knowing that the young Hyuga heiress near her and several other girls nearby also sighed in relief.

"But where's Neji?" Tenten asked herself, and quickly got her answer, when she turned to the opposite end of the arena from Naruto and saw her Hyuga team-mate. Who was on the ground, coverer in injuries, struggling to get up and massive dent in the wall behind him "No way, Neji!"

"It can't be!" a Hyuga Elder said, "He used the Kaiten, how could he have lost?"

"I don't know" Hiashi's father replied, who frowned deeply.

"What sort of technique did that boy use?" the elder man asked himself not knowing that his son Hiashi was also wondering the exact same thing.

-In the Arena-

After the dust from the explosion settled, Naruto stood back up and sheathed his Katana back into its sheath on his back.

At the same time, Neji got back onto his feet, but was fairly shook up from Naruto's attack, where he was panting and shaking heavily, as well as covered in injuries that were bleeding and could barely stay on his feet.

"W...Wh...What w-w-was that technique you just used?" Neji asked slowly as he looked over at Naruto who was dusting himself off. "H-How did you break my Kaiten?"

"I call the technique Kaigiri (Spinning Cut) (A) and as to how I broke it. Well I told you before Neji-teme, no technique is perfect, every technique has it weakness and yours has three."

"What!" Neji yelled angrily, not believing the blonde.

"It's true; the first weakness is the Chakra requirements, since you need to release a large amount to preform it. That's why it's not an ideal technique to use multiple times in a drawn out battle. The second weakness is your requirement to spin around, since it's not enough just to release your Chakra, you need to spin and if I prevent you from spinning you can't use it" Naruto replied as he counted down the weakness of the Kaiten with his finger.

"And the third?" asked Neji.

"Well the third weakness, is the spinning itself"

"What do you mean?"

"As you already know, to perform the Kaiten, you release a large amount of Chakra from your body and spin around at high speed. This gives you a powerful defence that allows you to block almost any attack. But the real secret to your technique is its ability to turn the energy of an opponent's own chakra against them. That's how you sent me flying when you used your Kaiten to block my enhanced punch" Naruto explained, enjoying the stunned disbelieving look on Neji's face when he revealed the secret ability of the Kaiten.

Neji of course wasn't the only one who was shocked at Naruto knowing the secret ability of the Kaiten, as every other member of the Hyuga Clan who was in the audience (including Hiashi and his two daughters) mimicked the young boy's face.

"H-How did you..."

"...Know?" finished Naruto, "Wasn't too hard to figure out, as I had experienced it and seen you use it just enough times to figure the basics out. But as for that hidden ability, it was the only possibility that explained how you were able to deflect my super charged punch so effetely without taking damage."

"But that still does not explain the third weakness you mentioned?"

"The simple answer is that the spinning itself is both your greatest asset and your weakness."

"What?"

"Think of it like this, in the game of spinning tops when two tops that spin in opposition direction from one another collide, they normally cancel each other out. All I had to do was use an attack that used rotation in manner similar to your Kaiten and spin in the opposition direction that you were going."

"That why you mimicked the Inuzuka Clan's Gatsūga!" Neji said, realizing what Naruto was saying.

"Correct, although I'll admit I can't use it in the same manner that Kiba or the rest of his Clan do, which was why I had to go to the top of the wall and attack you from above."

"But that still doesn't answer how you were able to hit me, since as you said the two techniques should have just cancelled each other out?"

"Oh that is just another benefit from spinning in the opposite direction that you were going. Since as you know, when an opponent hits your Kaiten it sends the attacking energy right back to him or her. But given how I was spinning in the opposite direction from you, all the energy you sent back just doubled my attacks power, which was why you were blasted away."

"But how could you have known which direction I would have gone?

"That was actually the easiest part, you see when you took one of my clones Kunai you held it in your right hand, meaning you were right handed and would favour your right side. So the chances of your spinning in a clockwise direction were pretty high" Naruto answered, while silently thanking Shikamaru, since he had picked up that little tip from when he battled team ten.

-In the Audience-

"Impossible he actually found a way to counter the Kaiten" a Hyuga Elder in shock said.

"So it seems" Hiashi's father said, who like the rest of the Hyuga Clan elders, wasn't pleased at how Naruto not only found a way to countered one of their Clan's most prized techniques. But also with how he was humiliating their Clan, by revealing the weakness of their techniques and making it look so easy.

"Ingenious" Kurenai said in disbelief as she couldn't believe Naruto had come up with such a simple yet brilliant counter to Neji's Kaiten.

"Indeed" Yamato replied who was just as impressed with his student.

"Alright!" Kiba yelled as he pumped up his fist into the air excitedly, as despite being a bit peeved that Naruto copied one his Clan's technique, he was really impressed with the blonde. In fact the way Naruto did it gave him some ideas.

"Unbelievable, he actually found a way to defeat Neji's Kaiten" Tenten said in complete disbelief, as she honestly didn't think it was possible

"Extraordinary" Kohura commented.

"Yes the boy is talent in many ways, but it is to be expected from the new heir of the Senju" Homura replied.

"Your skill is truly remarkable young Naruto, but show me what else you are capable of" Danzo thought as he stared intently at the blond boy.

"Not bad Naruto not bad" Kushina thought with a smile.

"Yea! That a way Naruto-kun!" Ino cheered loudly

"Your amazing Naruto-kun" Hinata said with awe as she couldn't believe that Naruto figured a way to break one of her Clan's most powerful techniques.

"As expected from my future husband" Mai thought with a smile.

"I hate to admit it, but this guy is pretty good...for a Konoha-nin" Kurotsuchi commented, where her partner Akatsuchi just nodded.

"Not too shabby" Omoi commented with a smile as he sucked a lollipop

"Hmph, I guess" Karui replied who couldn't deny that what Naruto did was pretty impressive.

"It's to be expected, Naruto is not someone that we can underestimate," Yugito added as she joined the conversation. Although her team-mates noticed that she was smiling a bit, as if pleased that Naruto was winning.

"Agreed" Samui said, "Also it highly possible that Naruto-san has yet to show us is true ability, as for most of the fight he has only used his super strength and Kage Bunshin."

"I would be surprised if he didn't have something else up his sleeve" Yugito replied, as Naruto was the type of person who always had a few tricks to use.

"Most impressive" the Kazekage said as he turned to Tsunade, "You were indeed correct Tsunade-sama, your son is a very capable Shinobi"

"I agree, to come up with something like that in the heat of battle is no small feat" the Mizukage added, where she was joined by the Raikage. Who nodded in agreement, since he had to grudgingly hand it to Naruto for coming up with such a simple yet effective counter to the Hyuga's Clan ultimate defence.

"Thank you, he takes after me" Tsunade said with a smile as she watched her son.

"In more ways than one" Jiraiya muttered quietly.

"Did you say something?" Tsunade asked, in a sweet but dangerously tone.

"Nothing" the white haired man said quickly, not wanting to be on the receiving end of the blonde woman's fist just yet.

-In the Arena-

"I suggest that you surrender now teme, I've broken your so-called ultimate defence, and you can barely stand let alone move."

After Neji had heard everything he grew furious at how Naruto was basically putting him down like he was some weakling.

"This battle is far from over Senju so don't act like you've already won!" Neji yelled as he charged at Naruto.

Seeing this Naruto just shook his head and thought "And you call me a blind fool, you've already lost this fight, but you refuse to accept it."

Before Neji could even cross half the distance between his and Naruto, the blonde Senju disappeared in a blur and appeared right underneath Neji, and delivered a powerful rising kick that sent the Hyuga Prodigy into the air. The next thing Naruto did was preform the Kage Buyō (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf), allowing him to match Neji's movement and appear behind him and hit one of Neji pressure points in the back, preventing from moving.

Normally Neji would have prevented this, but given the state of his body from Naruto's early attack, he was in no shape to counter Naruto.

After hitting Neji's pressure point, Naruto then disappeared and reappeared above Neji and performed mid-air flip, followed by his Gekikyaku (Hammer Kick) that was enhanced by his super strength and sent Neji crashing to the ground like a meteor, causing a large dust cloud to fill the area again.

-With the Audience-

When this happened a worried looked appeared on Hinata's face, as despite what happened between her and Neji, she hoped that he wasn't seriously hurt.

"Neji!" thought Tenten in concern when she saw what happened to her team-mate.

"Damn, that's gotta hurt, Naruto sure doesn't hold back" Kiba said, although didn't feel the least bit sorry for Neji and believed he deserved it.

"Yea" replied Choji, who had just stopped munching on some chips.

-In the Arena-

After sending Neji crashing to the ground, Naruto gracefully landed on the ground, just outside the large dust cloud.

Eventually the dust died down and when it cleared everyone could clearly see a badly injured Neji crumpled up in the ground. Surprisingly Neji remained conscious, but was coughing and spitting up blood and struggling to breathe.

"Ngh, my body...cough...can't move."

Seeing this Naruto slowly walked up to the Hyuga Prodigy and redrew his Katana from his back. Once he reached Neji he stood on the Hyuga boy's chest, causing him to hiss in pain, making Naruto guess that he had a bruised lung, along with several dozen broken bones.

Once Naruto stood over Neji, he pointed the tip of his Katana directly at the Hyuga's face.

"What are you doing?" Neji asked

"I was just thinking that maybe I should show you the same kind of mercy that you were planning to show Hinata-chan had Kushina-sensei and the others not stopped you, as killing isn't illegal in the exam."

When Naruto said this, Neji surprisingly remained calm, and stared directly at Naruto, "You won't...you're not the type."

"Your right" Naruto said as he removed his foot from Neji's chest and sheathed his Katana, "I'm better than you...I don't kill unless I have to."

"Nngh" groaned Neji in pain as his entire body was scremaing in pain right now and he couldn't move a figure thanks to his injuries. "It seems I was mistaken, I should have known that you were fated to win...you're a Senju after all."

"Tsk! This is why I hate being called a prodigy; as it makes me sound like someone like you. An arrogant teme, who belittles and looks down on those who don't have as much natural talent as you and think they are better than everyone else around them. But do you want to know what the funny thing is? You're nothing more than a coward."

"What?" Neji said angrily as he glared up at Naruto.

"You heard me your nothing more than a coward, when things don't go your way you blame it on fate or destiny, because you don't have the courage to face your problems and deal with them. You then put down others like Lee and Hinata-chan, who don't have the same natural talent as you do, just so that you can feel better than yourself."

"You know nothing, so don't you dare lecture me. People are born carrying an unchangeable fate."

"For a person who has the ability see more than most, you really are a blind idiot. Don't think that you're the only special one here. I may not know how hard you had it when your father was killed. But I do know that you've got the wrong idea to think that reason alone proves that our fate is predetermined and that it gives you the right to put others down. The fact is, people like Lee are stronger than you, as despite everything that went against him, he trained as hard as he could and more, just so that he could become stronger. Unlike you, he never hid behind some crap like fate or destiny; he faced his problems head on and overcome them. Even Hinata-chan showed more courage than you, when she fought you, she knew she couldn't win, but she still fought you with everything she had. She could've simply just given up, but didn't and kept fighting even after you injured her."

"It doesn't change anything, they still lost!" Neji retorted, "Fate cannot be changed."

"They may have lost" replied Naruto, "but they proved to be better than you, they never gave up like you did, while you hid behind so-called fate."

"You don't know what is like to have a curse seal placed on you against your will" Neji snarled. "To carry a seal that can never be removed. Someone like you could never understand what that feels like."

When Neji said this, Naruto remembered what it felt like when Orochimaru gave him his curse seal. He also remembered the seal of the Kyuubi and how it would remain in him for the rest of his life.

"Oh I understand better than you might think and it still doesn't give you the right to do what you did" Naruto answered, causing Neji to glare angrily at him. "It's not the head family or the curse seal that they placed on you that confines you to this so-called inescapable fate of hatred...It's yourself. You're unwilling to try and move pass it and try and change both yourself and the ways of your Clan. That's why as long as you remain this way, you can never be free or realize your true potential;"

"And how...cough... do you expect me to do that?"

"I could kill you right now if I wanted, but I won't. Destiny and predetermined fate are just excuses, we make our own fate by the choices we make and I choose not to kill you. If you're as smart as everyone thinks you are. Then you can learn to move past the strife of your Clan and change your fate and become stronger and when the time comes. If you are willing I will help you change the ways of the Hyuga Clan."

As the two boys spoke the match referee Genma walked over to them and after seeing that Neji was in no shape to move let alone fight, he decided to call the match.

"I hereby declare this match over...the winner is Senju Naruto."

-In the Audience-

As soon as Genma had declared Naruto the winner, the arena erupted into applause and cheers.

"He...he did it, he won!" Sakura yelled.

"I knew he would!" Ino cried.

"Alright!" Kiba raored as he pumped his fist into the air.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata thought with a smile.

"Not bad, there were times I actually didn't think he would win" Kotetsu commented as he joined the crowed in their clapping for Naruto.

"Yea" Izumo replied who was also clapping his hands.

"Way ago Nii-san, you were Awesome!" Konohamaru yelled as he stood up on his seat and cheered loudly for Naruto and was quickly joined by his friends and classmates, who were going wild, jumping up and down in their seats cheering.

"Just as I expected" Mai thought as she smiled down at her "fiancé"

"He's pretty good, eh Kurotsuchi?" Akatsuchi asked.

"Yeah, I hate to admit it, but he is" the young Iwa Kunoichi replied.

"I must say, Naruto-kun has certainly come a long way" the Fire Daimyo said.

"Of course, no-one can defeat Naruto-kun, since he plans to become Hokage one day" Rurichiyo replied.

"My Rurichiyo-chan you seem rather certain of young Naruto, could it be that you are rather fond of the boy?" the girl's grandmother asked with a knowing smile .

Rurichiyo of course didn't answer, but did blush a little, which was all her grandparents needed and caused them and her guards to smile in amusement.

"Nice going brat" Kushina thought with a smile.

"Well done Naruto" Yamato thought with an approving nod.

"The kid did well" Anko remarked.

"Yes, he did very well, he was able to defeat Neji without revealing most of his abilities" Kurenai said.

"Yeah" Asuma replied, who was impressed with the way Naruto defeated Neji, not by overpowering him, but by staying calm, watching and analysing Neji's abilities and finding their weaknesses. These were traits that would serve a Chunin well, especially as a team leader.

"To think he defeated Neji without having to use his Bloodline or the rest of his abilities, just how strong is this boy?" Hiashi thought, not knowing that the Hyuga elders were thinking along similar lines.

"Looks like Naruto won" Omoi commented.

"Of course, I wouldn't anything less for Naruto" replied Yugito with a smile, as Naruto was keeping their promise to face each other semi-finals.

"Man this is just great, now that Naruto has won, I going have to fight next...why do I keep dealing with these troublesome things" Shikamaru grumbled.

"Wow he was great" a civilian said.

"He's spectacular" another civilian said.

"Well of course he is a Senju after all" a Konoha Shinobi said, "Not to mention he is Tsunade-sama son.

"Yeah and he pretty cute too" a Konoha Kunoichi added.

When Ino and Sakura heard this, both of then stopped cheering where sad looks appeared on their faces. Both of them of were course thinking about their respected matches in the preliminaries and how they lost to their opponents without much effort.

Knowing this, they realized how weak they truly were when compared to others in the Chunin exam.

"Hah! So much for Naru-chan losing, I told you he would win, his good luck is stronger than my bad luck" Tsunade said with a grin as she thought about all the stuff should buy with the money she won. But quickly decided to bet all the money she had won on Naruto's next fight, doubling her profit.

"Heh I never doubted the kid would win, I trained him after all, I was just worried your bad luck would jinx him that's all" Jiraiya replied.

"What do you mean by you?" asked Tsunade as she eyed her former team-mate dangerously. Since she and Shizune had done most of Naruto's training when he was growing up, while Jiraiya only popped in every so often to help a little.

"Ehh yea right...I mean WE...we trained him" the Toad Sage said quickly while laughing nervously.

-In the Arena-

As the audience continued to cheer for Naruto, the young Senju, smiled and waved back to them, but before long he looked down at Neji.

"I suggest that later, you apologise to Hinata-chan, although she probably doesn't hold any ill will towards you for what you did. It would mean a lot to her to know that the difference between you and main family could be put aside, since you're family after all."

After saying this Naruto then walked away and headed for where the rest of the Chunin finalists were waiting.

As Naruto walked away, the medics went over to Neji and began to load him onto the stretcher. As they did this Genma suddenly spoke "When captured birds grow wiser, they try to open the cage with their beaks. They don't give up, because they want to fly again."

After he said this, he walked away and prepared for the next match, leaving the young Hyuga branch member with a lot to think about.