Seeing Neji's dodge, Hyuga Seiju hadn't even had time to sigh in relief.
Just as Neji, who had been dodging the falling debris, suddenly erupted with a powerful burst of chakra from his feet. Under the influence of this chakra, Neji's figure instantly appeared before Hyuga Seiju.
"So fast!"
Hyuga Seiju's eyes couldn't help but widen, but without any hesitation, he raised both hands and struck down at Neji.
However, just as Hyuga Seiju's attack was about to land, Neji's palm had already struck his chest first.
"Gentle Fist Style—Eight Trigrams Empty Palm!"
Neji pressed down with his body and let out a light cry. In the next moment, Hyuga Seiju was sent flying by this attack.
Hyuga Seiju landed heavily on the ground, tumbling several times before he wobbly got back to his feet, with even a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
"As expected of the branch family's number one genius. I originally thought that even if my strength wasn't as good as yours, the gap wouldn't be too big. Now it seems... I was just being arrogant."
Wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth, Hyuga Seiju said with a self-deprecating tone.
After speaking, Hyuga Seiju took a few breaths, his eyes filled with determination as he once again took up a Gentle Fist attacking stance.
With a powerful push from his feet, Hyuga Seiju charged toward Neji again.
"Are you still going to fight uselessly?"
Seeing Hyuga Seiju continue charging toward him, Neji couldn't help but frown slightly.
In the blink of an eye, Hyuga Seiju once again appeared before Neji, attacking him with all his might while shouting at the same time:
"The weak also have the right to resist their destiny!"
Hearing Hyuga Seiju's shout, Neji, who had been expressionless, rarely showed a slight change.
"If that's the case, then I'll use my full strength."
Neji abruptly raised both arms, thumbs tucked into his palms, as streams of blue chakra erupted from the points on his arms.
"BOOM!!"
In an instant, Hyuga Seiju's attack was broken by Neji, and several palm shadows struck several points on Hyuga Seiju's body.
"Pff!"
A mouthful of blood spewed from Hyuga Seiju's mouth, and his Byakugan, which had been activated, receded.
As if he had lost all his strength, Hyuga Seiju knelt on the ground.
"You've lost."
Neji retracted his palm, calmly watching Hyuga Seiju.
"Cough... I've lost."
Hyuga Seiju coughed up another mouthful of blood, and with some difficulty, he lifted his head to look at the position of Neji's forehead, a sudden smile appearing on his lips.
Hyuga Seiju spoke in a voice so low only Neji could hear:
"The feud between the main house and the branch house was destined the moment the 'Caged Bird' seal appeared. Hyuga Neji... the fate of the Hyuga branch house is in your hands."
After speaking, Hyuga Seiju weakly closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground.
In the instant Hyuga Seiju fell, the words of several branch house elders who had spoken to him before he left echoed in his mind.
The Hyuga branch house has been waiting for an opportunity.
And now, this opportunity has arrived!
Looking at the unconscious Hyuga Seiju on the ground, Neji's expression was slightly dazed.
The fate of the branch house?
A new Hyuga clan...
Neji's eyes flickered slightly, but he quickly returned to his usual calm expression.
"Seiju, you've already been defeated so quickly?"
Tenten, seeing Hyuga Seiju completely defeated, muttered to herself.
A heavy footsteps sounded beside Tenten.
Tenten turned her head to see Rock Lee stepping forward with his fists raised, her face showing a hint of astonishment:
"Lee, you?"
"Though I'm not smart, I know that the only one who can change Neji now is by defeating him."
"Might Guy used his own life as a bet to win us the opportunity to face Neji as equals."
Lee's voice was filled with passion as he raised a fist toward Neji and spoke with firm determination:
"So! I will definitely not fail Might Guy's expectations. Tenten, let's go!"
Tenten's spirits lifted, she looked toward Neji, the hesitation in her eyes gradually replaced by determination, as if infected by Lee, her tone rarely carrying a hint of passion:
"Lee, you little brat, don't drag me down."
With the last syllable, Tenten rushed toward Neji first, slapping her ninja pouch to reveal a scroll in her hand.
Seeing Tenten charge ahead first, Lee couldn't help but be slightly stunned, but in the next moment, he followed closely behind.
At this time, Neji on the opposite side, seeing Lee and Tenten charging toward him without hesitation, a smile appeared on his lips, but it vanished as quickly as it had come.
As former teammates, Neji knew very well that although the strength of these two people in front of him was not as good as his, if he was careless, he might still be defeated.
Besides, during the time he was away, with Might Guy's training methods, Lee and Tenten must have become much stronger.
"Lee, support me!"
Tenten let out a light cry, and as she ran toward Neji, quickly unfurled the scroll in her hand.
"Hidden Weapon Barrage!"
"Bang! Bang!"
A large number of kunai-like hidden weapons gushed from the scroll, densely packed and shooting toward Neji.
Neji's eyes couldn't help but narrow. He was all too familiar with this method of attack. Although it was called a hidden weapon, it was essentially just using a large number of projectiles to hit people.
And precisely because of this, facing such an attack was actually troublesome.
Due to the wide attack range, one could only endure it directly.
Neji slid to the right, then his entire body spun rapidly, streams of chakra erupting from the chakra points throughout his body.
"Gentle Fist Style—Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"
The next moment.
A dense series of collision sounds instantly rang out, and a large number of hidden weapons were deflected by Neji's Kaiten.
Seeing that her attack was completely ineffective, Tenten's eyes lit up instead.
Neji's Kaiten technique was originally developed through sparring with Tenten, so apart from Neji himself, no one understood this move better than her.
The moment Neji activated Kaiten, there would be a moment of stiffness. Although this time was very short, Lee should be able to seize it!
Just at this moment!
The moment Neji activated Kaiten, Lee, who had been following behind Tenten, had disappeared from his original spot and appeared at Neji's rear at an extremely fast speed.
Due to his speed, Lee, who appeared behind Neji, slightly crouched his body, creating a brief slide.
And at this moment, Neji's Kaiten also stopped!
"Leaf Hurricane!"
Lee, who was behind Neji, slightly lowered his body and jumped into the air, kicking down hard at Neji's head.
"Without the 'Caged Bird' seal on me, there are no dead spots for you, Lee!"
Although Neji didn't turn his head, he could clearly see Lee's movements through his Byakugan.
Neji quickly raised both arms to block above his head.
A muffled thud sounded.
Although he blocked Lee's attack, the heavy force still caused Neji's body to crouch slightly.
[
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