Explosion of Youth! (1)

"I accept." Shinji declared, stepping towards the opposing genin.

"Shinji, it is ill-advised to waste your energy before the exam. It would be illogical to do so for something so pointless." Shino spoke up. The Aburame taking the initiative to give his opinion in something that didn't directly affect him was a rare sight, and when he did do it, it meant he was serious. Though he was rarely un-serious anyways.

Hinata turned to her teammate with a knowing smile, "Don't worry, Shinji-kun won't take long. That boy's chakra reserves are as small as an academy student's."

Her Byakuugan had already been activated the moment Lee appeared, instinctively activating them to assess a possible threat to their team, or more specifically a possible threat to Shinji. But she immediately relaxed upon seeing how tiny his reserves were.

An experienced Hyuuga, or any experienced shinobi really, would have known not to judge a book by its cover. Nine times out of ten, the size of one's chakra reserves were a pretty accurate measurement of their strength and ability. After all, nearly every form of the shinobi arts required chakra in one way or another.

It was also why Neji never took Lee seriously. Every time the Hyuuga prodigy activated his doujutsu, he was reminded of Lee's meagre chakra reserves and lacking proficiency in manipulating it. As a result, no matter how much effort Lee had put into his training, Neji never once saw him as anything other than a 'failure' who could never defeat a 'genius'.

That one time out of ten, however, was usually what got the inexperienced and the conceited killed in their moment of carelessness. And unbeknownst to almost everybody else in the world, Lee embodied that ten percent like no other.

Lee heard her comments but chose not to respond in any way, steadfastly watching Shinji's every movement.

Shinji himself could only chuckle inwardly, mocking how wrong she really was, but similar to Lee, he did not comment on her theory. He did, however, use [Observe] on Lee to check out who he was going to face.

[Rock Lee Lv 41]

HP: 28170/28170

CP: 3350/3350

Lee is a genin of Konohagakure and a member of Team Gai. He is unfortunately born with a unique constitution, resulting in a deficient chakra system. As a result, he is unable to manipulate chakra outside his body and only able to control chakra within his body or on the surface of it, but to a substandard degree. However, owing to his strong will and relentless dedication to training, he has overcome this deficiency and established himself as a prominent taijutsu specialist.

He admires you and thinks of you as his rival.

Lee is as strong as you.

It was immediately apparent from his status that Lee's stats leaned overwhelmingly towards the physical, possessing a high HP in exchange for low CP. He even had higher HP than Shinji who was of a higher level than him and who generally had higher stats than those with similar levels. Furthermore, Shinji knew Lee wasn't just tanky with high HP and nothing else – his strength and speed was on another level as well.

And just as Shinji was analysing his opponent, so too was Lee examining the other person.

'I am lucky. To be able to contend with the number one rookie who has defied all expectations and surpassed the publicly recognized genius, Uchiha Sasuke. I am certain I will learn much from this experience!' Lee thought to himself with a slight smile. His smile was not born from condescension nor conceit. Rather, it was one of respect and gratitude for his opponent!

"Wait a minute, Lee! Are you actually going to fight right before the exams!" At this time, a feminine voice called out from the sidelines.

Lee turned to see his teammate, Tenten, standing some distance away from Shinji's teammate.

For a moment he looked guilty, looking like a child who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but his determination replaced any hesitance that had appeared.

"Please forgive my selfishness, Tenten. But this is something I have to do!" Lee declared, before turning his eyes back on to his opponent.

Tenten gritted her teeth, her eyebrows twitching, "Seriously what is wrong with this team! Why do I always have to be the rational one?"

However, seeing that Lee was no longer even paying attention, she huffed and folded her arms, "Tsk, you're not even listening to me anymore. Fine, just quickly win and don't drag things out. We don't want to be late to the exam after all."

Hinata eyed the newly arrived girl with palpable rage, but the look of intense fury was just as quickly replaced with a slight smile.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Shinji-kun will make it quick. It won't take long for him to win." She gently spoke, although there was a discernible edge to her tone.

Tenten frowned and turned to the other girl, who in her eyes was just a mindless fangirl ignorant of the realities of the world, "A Hyuuga huh? Tch. Listen kid, you guys may have been big shots in the academy or whatever, but we're your senpai. We graduated a year before you kids, which also means we have had a full year more experience and focused tutoring than you. Honestly, I don't even know what your jounin-sensei was thinking entering you into the chuunin exams, there's no way you kids are at all ready for the big leagues."

The gentle smile faded. Hinata now spotted a cold look of silent dissatisfaction. She honestly didn't care about what anyone said to her, even if they insulted her to her face. But there were two things she could not tolerate – someone speaking ill of her clan, and of Shinji.

Hinata was raised as the heiress of the elite Hyuuga clan, and as such a certain degree of pride was ingrained in her from her heritage. More so than even the other heirs and heiresses of the other shinobi clans. The Hyuuga were a prideful bunch; in fact, they were proud of the fact that they could be so proud. Because their clan was one that had the privilege to do so after so many years of contributing so much to the village.

It was no exaggeration that the Hyuuga clan, with their vaunted doujutsu and renowned Gentle Fist, was one of three clans that contributed the most to Konoha's current prominence. The other two being the Senju and the Uchiha – both of which now only had one remaining member still officially loyal to the village.

Furthermore, the former of which could only barely be considered still part of Konoha, with the Senju Princess roaming the world and not on active duty, while the latter only had a genin as the sole inheritor of their entire legendary legacy.

Hence, of these three clans, only the Hyuuga still remained flourishing and prosperous. Which also meant that they were the de facto, by process of elimination, number one clan of Konoha. And that title also came with a certain level of prestige and awe that demanded respect.

Hinata was not a person that thought so highly of herself on the sole basis of her heritage and position of privilege that she was disdainful of any non-clan shinobi. How could she be when the love of her life was one raised as an orphan, even if he did turn out to have Uchiha blood. But when she heard such disrespectful words directed so blatantly in front of her, it was that very position of privilege that demanded her to come to its defence.

"You. I don't like the way you spoke the name of my clan. Have some respect, you fool." She spoke, with the pride, dignity, and superiority that was expected of her in a manner that condescended someone who had just disrespected her clan.

Tenten quirked an eyebrow, "Hoh, it seems you do have some claws of your own. Either way, I know your type. And trust me, I am more familiar with the Hyuuga than I'd like to be. I have one as a teammate after all."

The Hyuuga who had kept her Byakuugan active spotted someone else watching them from the veranda of the second story but scoffed when she recognized who that person was – someone who she would not give an ounce of her attention when Shinji was about to fight right in front of her.

Neji, who similarly had his Byakuugan activated, seethed in anger when he saw Hinata's dismissive attitude. He had arrived a few moments before Lee, and so he had been hiding and watching Lee's entire interaction with his cousin's team from a distance.

Hinata rolled her pupilless eyes and turned away from Tenten, no longer tolerating any further waste of her time and attention. There were more important things to focus on, like Shinji's impending clash with the failure of a shinobi with pitiful chakra reserves.

Shinji and Lee exchanged looks, neither saying another word and both waited for the other to make the first move. Their eyes flickered between their opponents' eyes, arms, legs, shoulders, hips and toes, vigilant of any slight twitch of a muscle. The air was filled with a palpable tension like that of a taut bow string pulled to its maximum limit, ready to snap at any moment.

The silence in their makeshift arena might have fooled a layman observer to think they were just pointlessly checking each other out. The reality, however, was that Lee and Shinji had already exchanged a dozen blows in their heads! Both were simulating how their foe might respond to any action taken and how they might counter that response and so on and so forth.

Hinata, Shino and Tenten backed away, giving the two fighters space to conduct their duel. The teammates of the two parties had the utmost confidence in them. Hinata and Shino had seen for themselves how strong and talented Shinji was, and similarly, Tenten knew how much effort Lee put into his training. What's more, Tenten thought of that one year gap between them to be an immovable disadvantage for the younger genin. To them, their teammates' victory was already a forgone conclusion.

Shinji moved first, a tactical consideration. The one who made the first move was always in the advantageous position. Just as it was in Chess or Shogi, so too did that apply in battle.

He sped towards Lee, who decided to meet him in the middle as well. Shinji threw a high kick that was easily evaded by the bowl-haired genin who returned his own.

Shinji side stepped from the kick, simultaneously launching a hook directed at his opponent's jaw. His punch was parried as Lee threw a counter.

This exchange went on for several seconds, with both sides throwing their own attacks while evading their adversary's. Their movements were smooth, looking almost choreographed. Most taijutsu battles between two individuals proficient in the martial arts who were also at a similar level often resembled like a rehearsed dance. A sequence of steps, an arrangement of moves and a composition of techniques that smoothly blended together until one could no longer distinguish between the two.

Shino and Hinata, after having spent so many months with Shinji, were not at all surprised at their teammates' skill and technique. Although, what was out of their expectation was Lee being able to keep up with their prodigious teammate.

Yet precisely because they were so familiar with Shinji's strength that they also understood – Shinji had yet to become serious. Their teammate was only utilizing the Konoha Academy Taijutsu style they were taught when they were still students, and not his deadly and insidious Shinkyoken. Additionally, his true speed and strength was nowhere near what he was currently revealing.

It was even clearer to Hinata, whose eyes could see through the mysteries of ephemeral chakra. Shinji wasn't enhancing his muscles with chakra, and neither was his opponent. Both were only using their base speed and strength to contend with one another, merely feeling out their opponent through an exchange of technique.

Of course, no observer would be clearer about the exact details of their exchange than the two who were personally in it. Shinji was moving as fast as, and his strikes as strong as what he was physically capable of without using [Chakra Enhancement]. However, it was also abundantly clear to him that Lee was still holding back.

More than once he had blocked an oncoming blow only for his arm to shake in response to Lee's strength and penetrative ability of his fists. Furthermore, the bowl-haired genin's stance was steady, never fluctuating, revealing supreme confidence in his own skills.

'This guy's physical stats are higher than mine!' Shinji concluded, noticing that Lee still looked as calm and collected as a motionless lake. He was parrying and evading Shinji's strikes effortlessly while slowly increasing the intensity of his own, as if asking through fists and kicks 'is this all you have?'.

Furthermore, although Shinji had always been proud of his instincts and combat sense – forged through the hundreds of undead lives he had reaped in the Uchiha Natural Dungeons and life or death battles against the Bosses and Hidden Bosses of said dungeons – he had to admit that Lee's talent for physical violence was very simply superior to his!