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Hearing this matchup everyone's heart skipped a beat. They all knew that Neji was one of the top genins and was surely at the strength level of a chunin. Yami liked to stay under the radar and he didn't show his strength where it isn't needed. The only ones who knew of his strength were his, Asuma's, Kurenai's, and his brother's squad. That is why Lee and Neji were pretty well known as Neji was regarded as a genius of the Hyugas and Lee along with Guy are used to running around the village to push their limits.
Even Hiruzen and the disguised Orochimaru had their interests peaked. Orochimaru already had his eye on the 1 tailed jinchuriki but now he wanted to see how strong he really was. While everyone was excited, the one who was the most confused and lost was Yami. He didn't understand how and why this happened. He knew for sure that Neji won't be a match for Gaara but instead of Lee why did Neji get this matchup?
'This seems to be the butterfly effect of Neji coming on the right path before Naruto had a chance to knock some sense into him. Damm those fanfics I read in my previous life never change no matter what the mc does. I wish I had such luck.' Yami thought as he saw Gaara walk down toward the main stage. Neji was coming toward Yami as the stairs were behind him. Yami felt a headache coming. He wanted to tell his teammate to not push himself as the gap between Gaara and him is miles apart but saying this could be taken as an insult. In the end, Yami looked at the approaching Neji and said
"Neji."
Neji who was walking toward the stairs stopped and look toward the side and asked "what is it Yami?"
"One must know when to fight and when to retreat." Yami said and turned back to look at the stage. Neji felt a little confused by what he just heard but he understood what Yami was trying to tell. Yami had once told him that even he wasn't sure if he would be able to defeat Gaara. Neji didn't know why Yami said that as he had never seen Gaara fight before.
The Neji from before had let this go to his head and become more stubborn on defeating Gaara and could even end up crippled or dead but the Neji now decided to take Yami's warning seriously.
'Things aren't as simple as they seem or else Yami wouldn't have given me this warning.' Neji thought as he was walking down and looked at Gaara who was already standing on the stage with his hands crossed.
Neji came and stood on the opposite side of the stage. Hayate looked at both the participants and then at the audience and said "Now that both the participants are ready, let the second match begin." he said and flickered out. This time he didn't jump back like he did last time. Hayate could feel the tension in the air and that both the participants are way stronger than the ones that were in the serious match.
Gaara and Neji both stood still and didn't initiate the attack. Neji being a Hyuga Taijutsu user had to no other way except fight hand to hand. He knew that Gaara had the ability to control sand. Neji could only wish that the gentle fist should be able to counter the sand.
"If you don't want to come then I will." Neji said looking at Gaara who was standing in front of him. Gaara showed no signs of attacking. Except for Yami, Gaara's team, and Orochimaru, no one knew that Gaara was the jinchuriki of the 1 tailed beast.
As Neji rushed and reached within 2 meters of Gaara, he started to feel some fluctuations. He quickly stretched his arm in the front showing his chakra-covered palm. He was trying to guess what those fluctuations were about and just as he thought his palm was blocked by a thin layer of sand that appeared from the gourd Gaara carried on his back.
The layer of sand was too thin and it only bounced Neji's hand back. It didn't cause any damage to Neji. Neji backed up a few feet and he could feel the fluctuation vanish.
'There seems to be a range up to which his sand can react. He hasn't even used any hand signs or any type of command to block my hand. The sand is acting on its own.' Neji thought. Neji didn't specialize in speed but in precision and attacks on vital points.
He activated his byakugan and looked at Gaara's chakra points. He was shocked to see that Gaara had a pretty large chakra pool. Although not as large as Naruto but still larger than him and Yami.
Neji quickly dashed further. Just as he thought that the sand will now act, Neji started spinning.
Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven.
This was a technique that can be used as a defensive as well as an offensive move. Just as Neji thought the technique worked in his favor. The sand was effectively blocked and most of it was even thrown back at Gaara. Due to the bouncy effect of Gaara's shield, Gaara had to block the sand coming at his face. Just as the sand particles touched Gaara's body, they would again come under his control.
'He can momentarily break my connection to the sand that touches him.' Gaara thought. He never had any problem defeating his enemies with absolute control over sand. This is the first time someone came into his range and was unscathed.
Neji expected some provoking words from Gaara but he was quiet. 'He is still confident in his shield. And he has the right to believe so as all I have done until now is throw some sand at him. I need to put more of my strength into this and still have enough chakra to come out of his range or else Yami's warning may turn into reality.'
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