Lee and Might Guy went at it, fists and feet flying back and forth.
Guy didn't choose to end it from the start. He was testing Lee's progress, seeing how far his student had come.
Even with Guy holding back, Lee couldn't get close to the bells hanging from his teacher's waist.
"Ha!"
Lee kicked through the air. Guy blocked with his forearm, spun, and sent a roundhouse kick that launched Lee away.
Lee's body spun through the air before he landed, skidding back dozens of meters. He steadied himself.
Sweat beaded on his forehead. His breathing was ragged. "As expected of Guy-sensei! I must train even harder!" Lee clenched his fists, determination burning in his eyes.
"Hahaha! Neji! Tenten! You're not joining in?" Guy laughed, turning to the two statues standing off to the side.
He was a bit confused. During his spar with Lee, there'd been a perfect opening for a sneak attack. Why hadn't Neji taken it?
Tenten was a girl, maybe she was hesitant.
But Neji was the Hokage's disciple. He should have seen the opportunity!
Guy scratched his head, baffled.
Tenten glanced at Neji, hesitant. "If you're not going, I will?" Standing here like two logs wasn't exactly impressive.
Neji nodded.
Tenten had expected a different answer. She was speechless.
Fine. She'd go first.
Tenten pushed off, her body like a released arrow shooting toward Guy. At the same time, two scrolls unfurled in her hands like elegant ribbons. A dense cloud of shuriken blotted out the sky, aimed straight for Guy.
Guy's bushy eyebrows shot up. He leapt high, his speed leaving no afterimage. The shuriken were snails compared to him.
A sudden gust of wind from behind. Tenten's pupils dilated. In the next instant, a pair of nunchaku was in her hands.
CLANG!
Guy's kick met the chain connecting the nunchaku rods. The impact numbed Tenten's hands. Her expression tightened. Using the force, she flipped backward in the air.
A long whip suddenly cracked through the air, snaking toward Guy's waist—aiming for the bells.
It was about to connect. Tenten's face lit up.
It wasn't that easy.
The smile froze on Tenten's face.
Guy's hand closed around the whip. He yanked.
Tenten, caught off-balance, was pulled forward. She face-planted into the grass.
In that second of intimate contact between her face and the earth, many thoughts crossed Tenten's mind.
So embarrassing!
A face-plant! So embarrassing!
I hope Neji didn't see.
As she comforted herself and pushed herself up, Neji was staring at her, his expression unreadable.
Tenten was mortified.
"For you." Neji produced a handkerchief and handed it to her.
Tenten stared blankly, took it, and couldn't find any words.
"Neji! Your turn!" Guy called out, his focus now entirely on the Hokage's disciple.
From sparring with Tenten and Lee, he had their measure. Now he needed to gauge Neji.
Neji met Guy's gaze, then gave a respectful bow. "Please guide me."
Guy wasn't used to such formality. It amused him. He bowed back just as deeply. "The pleasure is mine!"
The cheerful Guy had no idea what was coming.
He didn't know Neji's exact strength, but with the title of "Konoha's Greatest Genius" and being the Hokage's disciple, Neji was surely above Tenten and Lee.
Guy settled into the stance for Konoha's Great Whirlwind. This move would serve as his greeting.
He watched Neji, full of anticipation.
"Guy-sensei, I'm beginning." Recalling his teacher's advice, Neji felt it necessary to give a warning.
Guy nodded vigorously. "Don't worry! Your sensei is ready!" How to not injure his students was a mandatory course for every jonin sensei.
Then, a blue-green light ignited around Neji, flickering like fire, enveloping his entire body.
The Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
Under Qianyu's brutal training, combined with his own monstrous talent and the power granted by Ōtsutsuki Hamura, Neji had swiftly mastered the offensive techniques of the Tenseigan.
A green orb of light condensed before Neji and shot toward Guy in the blink of an eye.
Guy's pupils contracted. His expression turned serious.
A single move was enough. The title of genius was no lie.
The orb was impossibly fast. Tenten's weapons from before were a joke in comparison.
Guy shifted his stance. Body Flicker.
He'd finally used the technique. At his normal speed, dodging that orb would have been impossible.
This was also a result of Neji's training partner.
Qianyu always used instantaneous movement in their spars. Neji's attack speed had been forged against that benchmark.
The result spoke for itself.
As he evaded the green orb, Guy closed the distance, appearing beside Neji. Realizing Neji's strength exceeded his expectations, he stopped holding back. Blue chakra coated his body. His fist, capable of shattering mountain rock, aimed straight for Neji's head.
From the sidelines, a single thought crossed Tenten and Lee's minds.
Is sensei trying to kill him?!
Neji's gaze caught a distant boulder. His palm twitched.
The massive rock flew horizontally, intercepting Guy's path. It took the punch head-on.
The boulder exploded into dust and fragments.
Guy's face showed shock.
As he got close to Neji, a strange force tugged at his body.
Like gravity.
Bizarre.
Guy grew even more focused.
Neji, however, decided to end this.
Dark spheres materialized behind him.
The moment they appeared, Guy, Tenten, and Lee felt an inexplicable dread. Their hearts felt heavy, as if a boulder had suddenly settled on their chests. A suffocating pressure.
The black Truth-Seeking Orbs rotated with Neji's will. Green chakra coated their surface. A silver ring of light erupted, releasing a blinding radiance. A violent gale whipped up from the ground.
In the stunned eyes of Tenten and Lee, from the center of that silver ring, a colossal tornado howled into existence, roaring toward Guy.
The grassy turf was torn from the earth.
Amid the hurricane, dust and stones swirled. Tenten and Lee could barely keep their footing.
"Neji…" Tenten shouted, her voice lost in the wind.
It's just a test! This is too much!
Her slender frame swayed dangerously.
Then, wood surged from the ground, forming a protective dome around Tenten and Lee.
Yamato appeared beside them, surveying the devastation with a headache. "Just as the Hokage-sama predicted."
Ignoring Guy and Neji for now, Yamato assessed the damage.
Lawn needed replanting. Trees needed regrowing—the Hokage was very particular about greenery.
The dust and debris in the air needed clearing with a Wind Release.
Within ten seconds, Yamato had the optimal cleanup plan in mind.
Watching the two prepare for another exchange, Yamato finally snapped.
If this continued, his workload would skyrocket. His chakra wasn't infinite, either.
A wooden wall erupted between Neji and Guy.
Seeing it, Neji halted. The green chakra around him dissipated.
Every time Qianyu trained him, Yamato was nearby, fixing the collateral damage. This time was no exception.
Guy's eyes shone with a brilliant light. Tears of powerful emotion welled in his eyes as he looked at Neji.
"So remarkable! Neji! Worthy of being the Hokage's disciple!" Guy thrust a thumbs-up into the air.
To entrust such an outstanding student to him… This was the Hokage's trust!
"Damn it! Neji is actually this strong!" Lee muttered, watching the composed Neji. A fierce drive ignited within him.
It seemed defeating Neji would take a long, long time!
Starting today, he would train relentlessly!
Even in his sleep!
Tenten was also struggling to process it.
For fresh genin like them, Neji's power was staggering.
Back at the Academy, no one in their year could last three moves against him. So no one had ever seen his true strength.
Witnessing this, Tenten felt the vast, uncrossable chasm between them.
During the fight, the bells had long since fallen onto the bare earth.
Neji walked over and picked them up. A clear, crisp ring sounded in his hand.
Guy laughed, stroking his chin. "Alright! You all pass! Let's go get some barbecue!"
He hadn't planned to fail them anyway.
Even if no one got the bells, they wouldn't have been sent back to the Academy.
He didn't share Kakashi's particular… tastes.
Kakashi had been a jonin sensei for years now.
The results were clear.
Not a single team had graduated from his test.
Curious, Guy had once observed Kakashi's method.
He didn't agree with it.
Thrown into a new three-man team, strangers to each other—how could they possibly meet Kakashi's conditions?
Bonds and camaraderie were things built over time, through shared experience.
Guy understood this far better than Kakashi did.
But given Kakashi's lingering demons, his behavior was… understandable.
A flash of resignation crossed Guy's eyes.
"Hell yeah! Barbecue!" Lee pumped his fist, excitement overriding everything else.
"Sounds great!" Tenten clapped, smiling.
The four of them set off toward the Akimichi clan's barbecue restaurant.
Behind them, Yamato began the tedious, soul-crushing work of battlefield restoration.
Watching their cheerful, retreating backs, his eye twitched.
"Do these people have no respect for the environment? Don't grass and trees deserve to live too?"
His hands kept moving, mending the scarred earth.
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