After the battle between Haku and Choji it was Satsuki's turn next, and the opponent she had to face was from the Hidden Stone Village, and for some reason this Stone Ninja had a grudge against Satsuki after learning the fact she came from the Uchiha Clan.
Satsuki was at first confused about it, but after deeply thinking for a moment, Satsuki realized the reason behind the Stone Ninja's hostility.
It was clear that an Uchiha once made someone close to the Stone Ninja suffer, be it death or severe injuries. This grudge clearly belongs to the Third Great Ninja War and is something that the Stone Ninja haven't yet forgotten.
Satsuki didn't find it strange since it was well known that the Hidden Stone Village held grudges for a long time.
This is also the reason why, despite the war ending years ago, the relationship between the Leaf and Stone didn't get better no matter how much effort Minato placed on it.
When the match starts, the Stone Ninja immediately falls into Satsuki's Genjutsu after he stares at her Sharingan. After knocking the Stone Ninja unconscious, Satsuki won the match in a short period of time, shocking everyone, especially Kurenai.
Kurenai knows that the Uchiha Clan had great talents when it comes to Genjutsu thanks to their Sharingan, but from what she could tell, Satsuki had great talent in Genjutsu far surpassing other ninjas in her clan.
Hayate didn't waste time and announced the next contestant and called out Hinata's and Neji's names, shocking Hinata in the process.
Hinata knows that there is a chance for her opponent to be a Leaf Genin, and there is a chance that this Leaf Genin will be Neji, her cousin. She just didn't expect such a low chance to actually become real.
She nervously went down to the arena while trying to psych herself up, especially knowing what kind of person her opponent will be.
Neji was slightly shocked after knowing his opponent, but externally he didn't show any emotion and indifferently went to the arena with the intent of winning the fight.
Neji didn't care if Hinata came from the Main House and he came from the Branch House. In this situation Neji wouldn't fear someone wanting to manipulate the fight since the Hyuga Clan didn't have such ability and authority.
This is also a chance for him to show to the Main House the fact that with his ability alone no one can match him.
"Begin!"
The moment they heard it, both Hinata and Neji didn't hesitate and dashed towards each other at high speed, leaving a crack in their previous location.
The two meet in the middle and immediately use Gentle Fist to shut off their opponents' chakra points as fast as possible.
Of course, both of them know each other's tactics and quickly parry the enemy's arm before it can connect to their own chakra points.
At first the two are on equal ground, but slowly it shows that Hinata is finding herself in a terrible position, which isn't surprising since Neji is considered the genius in their clan.
While Hinata's situation was bad, it wasn't hopeless; in fact, she could still maneuver, but of course she had to push herself to her limit just to keep up with Neji.
Neji slightly frowned after exchanging blows with Hinata for a while now.
'Since when did her skills increase this much? ' Neji thought, and his frown deepened.
While he can still easily deal with Hinata right now and even manages to predict her movement to a certain extent, sometimes Hinata moves in such an unpredictable way that it almost throws him out of the loop.
"I didn't expect Hinata to improve to this extent," Kurenai said with slight surprise in her voice.
Kurenai knows Hinata's skill thanks to the fact that she first saw it firsthand after Hitomi invited her back then.
"Indeed, it seems like Hinata undergoes incredible training with Fugaku-sensei," Might Guy said, his voice filled with enthusiasm.
"Mikoto-san, do you have any idea how Fugaku-san manages to teach at this level?" Kurenai asks, her voice filled with curiosity.
Kurenai is currently thinking of using such a training method as a reference to train her student, especially after seeing their ability in the battle.
"I don't know," Mikoto slightly shakes her head. "Fugaku didn't tell me about it, and in fact, he didn't even mention this level of development for Hinata."
'So what if you improve? I showed you that you are destined to lose this fight,' Neji thought as he increased his speed and strength.
'Not good! ' Hinata thought as she tried her best to parry Neji's attack, but she couldn't do that, and most of the attacks Neji launched hit her chakra points.
Neji throws various attacks before throwing a palm attack to Hinata's chest, making the latter cough a mouthful of blood, but just as Neji is about to follow up with another attack, Hinata endures the pain she felt and sends a punch towards Neji's face.
Neji slightly widened his eyes before tilting his head, but just as he was about to continue with his plan, he felt pain in his stomach and saw Hinata's leg connected to his stomach, making him step backward for multiple steps.
Hinata's kick didn't do as much damage as she wanted, but it gave her room to breathe for a moment and think of another method to win this fight.
"You...!" Neji grits his teeth as he stares at Hinata with his eyes burning with rage.
Neji didn't expect such a follow-up attack, especially the fact that Hinata suddenly changed from using Gentle Fist to another martial arts style.
Normally he wouldn't be caught by surprise if his opponent suddenly used a different martial arts style since it was the most common tactic Rock Lee used during their spar.
But he didn't expect Hinata to also practice another martial arts style aside from Gentle Fist. It was well known how the Hyuga Clan greatly prided themselves on the Gentle Fist Style, and every Hyuga member refused to practice another martial arts style, as they believed the Gentle Fist is the greatest style out there.
Never would Neji imagine that a member of the Hyuga Clan would practice another martial arts style aside from Gentle Fist, especially coming from the Main House.
Hinata did practice another martial arts style after Fugaku noticed the fact that Gentle Fist isn't really suitable to Hinata, especially with her natural flexibility.
Fugaku decides to teach Hinata another martial arts style that not only takes advantage of Hinata's flexibility but also produces powerful force in a short period of time.
The reason why Fugaku taught her such a martial arts style was not because he wanted Hinata to abandon Gentle Fist but instead because he wanted Hinata to modify the Gentle Fist not only to adapt it to her natural flexibility but also to provide unpredictability against the enemy who had incredible knowledge about the Gentle Fist.
Hinata didn't give in and quickly wove hand signs and thought, 'Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu.'
A small fireball escapes Hinata's lips, and she quickly throws a shuriken and infuses it into the fireball to increase its lethality.
Neji slightly scoffs after seeing the fireballs and quickly dodges the attack while at the same time shortening the distance between him and Hinata.
Hinata, of course, wouldn't let such a thing happen and immediately dashed backwards while throwing kunai and shuriken towards Neji. Neji quickly grabs two kunai and holds them with his hands as he quickly parries the projectiles coming in his way.
'This won't do,' Hinata thought and threw another kunai.
Though unlike the kunai she previously threw, this kunai had an explosive tag at the handle of the kunai, and before it could even fly close to Neji, it exploded, creating a large smoke that blocked the spectators' view.
"Hinata isn't fighting like a usual Hyuga, which really brings trouble to Neji," Kakashi comments.
"Indeed," Might Guy might slightly nod his head. "But you greatly underestimate the youth of my student. This kind of problem will definitely be solved by Neji's hands."
"It seems you already teach Neji some tactics if he faces such a situation," Kakashi said while slightly turning his head to face Might Guy.
"Indeed, after all, I want my students to be as prepared as possible," Might Guy responds with a smile.
Hinata didn't stop running away from Neji since she knows that such an explosion wouldn't really provide damages to Neji, not to mention the fact that while others were unable to see what's happening inside the cloud of smoke, how could Hinata, who had Byakugan, not see it?
Hinata dodges the kunai and shuriken that Neji throws at her, but Neji, with his superior speed, manages to cut the distance between them in half despite Hinata's continued efforts of running away from him.
Hinata also couldn't launch any powerful ninjutsu she knows since some of her chakra points had already been sealed by Neji in their earlier exchange.
She already pushed herself beyond her limits when performing the fire jutsu earlier.
After running around for a dozen seconds, Neji manages to close his distance, and this time he doesn't hold back and uses all his strength and speed to shut off Hinata's chakra points as well as knock her unconscious.
Neji didn't dare to let Hinata remain conscious, as there might be a possibility that she had another trick up her sleeve that could cause him some trouble.
"The winner of the match is Neji Hyuga."