I, Uchiha, will not be whitewashed!

Chapter 103 Warm-up Match!

The arena for the third round of the Chunin Exams was packed with people.

The stands were layered from bottom to top, with a dense crowd of people packed together, like a wheat field being blown by the wind.

The villagers of Konoha occupied the east stands, with children riding on their parents' shoulders and holding homemade support flags. The west stands were filled with ninjas from various countries, including Ichigo-nin, Amegakure-nin, Waterfall-nin, and Sound-nin. Their headbands gleamed in the sunlight, some expressionless, others whispering among themselves.

The south stands were occupied by nobles and merchants from the Land of Fire. Their magnificent robes and exquisite folding fans clashed with the surrounding ninja attire. Some whispered among themselves, while others peered into the center of the arena through binoculars.

A row of seats on the north side of the stands was empty; those were reserved for the contestants and their team leaders, and no one had taken their seats yet.

The sand in the center of the arena was as smooth as a mirror, and flags with red backgrounds and white lettering hung on the flagpoles at the four corners, fluttering gently in the breeze.

The referee stood at the edge of the field, with a match schedule spread out in front of him.

The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was cloudless.

It's a good day to kill.

In the main stands, Minato sat in the very center.

The Hokage's robes were snow-white, and his golden hair under the brim of his hat was blown by the wind.

To Minato's left sat the Fourth Kazekage, dressed in a white shrine robe, his face mostly obscured by a straw hat. He occasionally turned his head to whisper to Minato, his voice swallowed by the surrounding noise.

Mei Terumi sat to Minato's right, dressed in Kirigakure's formal attire, a dark blue kimono, her long brown hair piled up behind her head, her emerald green eyes calmly scanning the stands.

Chojuro sat beside her, his face still somewhat pale, holding Hiramekarei, his eyes fixed on the sand below the field.

Mei Terumi stared at the arena below and said, "Watch the game carefully. It's just one loss. You have to learn from your failures."

Chojuro nodded.

The contestants filed out of the tunnel.

Naruto walked in front, followed by Neji, Shikamaru, Shino Aburame, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara.

Gaara's sand gourd gleamed a dark yellow in the sunlight. His steps were light, as if he were walking on cotton wool. His eyes were half-closed, and he seemed oblivious to the noise around him.

The stands were filled with chatter. Some people pointed at Gaara, some looked at Neji, and some asked, "Who is that conspicuous blond brat?"

Without a doubt, Sunagakure is the biggest dark horse of this year's Chunin Exams.

It is extremely rare in previous exams for all three members of a genin squad to make it to the finals.

The Sand Village ninjas sat in the stands, their expressions shifting from initial tension to barely concealed smugness.

Although Konoha Village occupied five of the remaining five spots, in fact, there were eight people in the finals, with three from Sunagakure and five from Konoha. But since this was Konoha's home ground, it was only natural that they would take some spots.

However, Kirigakure was not so lucky. Chojuro's team was eliminated in the Forest of Death, failing to even make it to the preliminaries, becoming the only village among the five great nations to be completely wiped out.

With this as a benchmark, the other villages at least managed to retain some semblance of dignity.

The referee lowered his hand, and the entire stadium fell silent.

"The Chunin Exams main tournament begins now. First match: Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuga."

Naruto stood up from the players' bench, dusted off his pants, and walked towards the center of the field.

Neji was already standing there, his Byakugan pupils almost transparent in the sunlight—Hizashi Hyuga was not dead. He didn't need to hate the main family; he only needed to win.

"Nice to meet you." Neji adopted the Gentle Fist stance, his tone calm, without hostility or contempt.

Naruto grinned. "Come on!"

Neji made the first move. He was fast, his footwork was exquisite, and his Gentle Fist palm techniques were continuous, each palm striking Naruto's acupoints with precision.

Naruto didn't retreat. He raised his arms in front of him to block, his palms slamming into his arms with a dull thud, causing his bones to ache.

He gritted his teeth and took more than a dozen blows, shattering a piece of the gravel beneath his feet.

"All you know how to do is take a beating?" Neji's voice came from the palm strike, without sarcasm, just a statement.

"Of course not!"

Naruto forms hand seals, using the Shadow Clone Technique.

White smoke exploded, and more than a dozen Narutos rushed out of the smoke. Some attacked from the front, some circled around to the side, and some jumped up to attack from the air.

Neji's Byakugan possesses an ultra-wide field of vision exceeding 300 degrees, surpassing that of ordinary people.

Moreover, he possessed absolute defense for the Hyuga clan.

The number of shadow clones is meaningless to him.

Neji spun around and turned back.

Blue chakra erupted from every pore of his body, forming a rotating hemisphere. The shadow clones were thrown away, and white smoke exploded one after another. Naruto's main body was also flung out and rolled several times on the ground.

"Your shadow clones are ineffective against me." Neji stopped his attack and looked at Naruto. "My Byakugan can see through my true form, and my Rotation deflects all physical attacks. Your taijutsu and ninjutsu cannot break through my defenses."

Naruto got up and dusted himself off. "Let's keep hitting it until it breaks!"

He rushed forward again.

In the audience, Shikamaru had his hands in his pockets and his eyes half-closed.

"Neji's Rotation is indeed troublesome. Chakra is released from every pore of his body, spinning to form an absolute defense. Theoretically, only an attack faster than him can hit him before Rotation is activated, or forcefully break through with power exceeding his defense limit."

"Can Naruto do that?" Ino asked.

"I don't know." Shikamaru glanced at her. "But he never does things the way things are."

In the center of the field, Naruto charged seven or eight times in a row, each time being repelled by the Reincarnation skill, but he was able to get up each time, and each time faster than the last.

Neji's breathing became heavier; the Rejuvenation Technique had consumed a significant amount of chakra. Naruto's recovery ability, however, was ridiculously fast. Every time he fell, he stood up again faster than before.

"Your speed is getting faster." Neji's Byakugan caught the subtle changes in Naruto's muscles. "You improve every time you get hit."

"How do you know how to fight if you don't get hit?" Naruto wiped the sand from the corner of his mouth. "Again!"

This time he didn't use Shadow Clone Jutsu. He charged straight at the target, accelerating to his maximum speed, and Neji activated his Heaven's Return technique again.

Naruto didn't crash into him. Just as the Reincarnation technique was about to hit him, he exerted force with his feet, forcefully changing direction and bypassing Neji.

The Heavenly Return is spherical, but its rotation follows a regular pattern, from left to right and from top to bottom.

Naruto didn't use his eyes to see; he used his body to sense the direction of the wind and found a very brief opening in the gap of the Reincarnation technique.

I haven't fully mastered the Rasengan yet.

But it's just rotation!

"Me too!"

Naruto's wind-style chakra enveloped his fist, and he punched Neji in the side.

The two rotating chakras clashed powerfully.

boom!

Neji's body stiffened for a moment, his Reincarnation technique was interrupted, and the chakra turbulence dissipated from his body.

Naruto's punching momentum shows no signs of slowing down.

Bang!

Neji's body flew backward.

"Absolute defense? That just means your attack isn't strong enough." Naruto's voice was slightly breathless. "There's nothing that can't be broken."

Neji remained silent for a moment, lying on the ground without getting up.

The referee paused for a moment before announcing, "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki."

Some people in the audience applauded, while others were still in shock and hadn't reacted yet.

Shikamaru lowered his hand, a slight smile playing on his lips. "He really found a weakness." Ino opened her mouth, unsure what to say. Choji's bag of potato chips froze in mid-air, not even noticing a chip fall out.

No one expected that the genius of the Hyuga clan would lose to a seemingly unreliable ninja.