BSWS CH-52 The Chunin Exams XX - Preliminary Sixth Match

As Sakura healed Lee, Hayate asked the participants of the next match to gather at the sparring area. Under everyone's anticipating gazes, Neji and Hinata prepared themselves for their match.

Among all the lives that Sakura had affected after her reincarnation event, Hinata was among the Top 5 in the list. Sakura looked at Hinata momentarily as a smile emerged on her face.

'Go on Hinata, Yours is one of the matches I am looking forward to the most.' Sakura thought as she went back to healing Lee.

By making Hinata and Naruto get together so early, Sakura had helped Hinata gain new levels of confidence. This was further supported by Naruto constantly praising Hinata for her talents, kindness, intelligence, and hard work.

As a result, Hinata finally overcame her aversion to using Byakugan and Gentle Fist in a fight and ended up responding to her training a lot better. She also ended up confronting her father over the issue of the feud between the Main and Side branches of Hyuga.

Hinata was especially vocal about the injustice her cousin Neji faced, despite being the Hyuga genius, and the possibility that her own sister could be sent to the branch family if Hinata had turned out to be the 'Better Hyuga'.

After convincing her father with her newfound confidence and blossoming talent as a Shinobi, She managed to get him to discuss this matter with the Hyuga Elder council. After months of discussion and dialogue, the tension between the Main and Side branches of Hyuga had been relaxed to a certain extent.

Moreover, Side Branch had been placated by Hiashi Hyuga taking Neji under his wing to be trained in the Main Family's Arts alongside Hinata and Hanabi.

The Elder Council also clarified the Side Branch of the protection provided by the 'Cursed Seal' to the weaker members of the Side Branch.

While it was true that some of the members of the Main Branch had misused the Absolute Authority they had over the Side Branch, it was also true that it was precisely because of the existence of the 'Cursed Seal' that the Side Branch of Hyuga was not hunted for their Dojutsu.

Over the course of history, only one Non-Hyuga had ever got their hands on the Supreme Dojutsu Byakugan, whereas there had been recorded cases of Sharingan being stolen, or being given to others in case of Obito and Kakashi.

This protection of the 'Cursed Seal' was the reason why the weaker members of the Hyuga Clan could stay safe and live their lives in the protection of the Clan. This was also the reason why Hyuga was the largest Kekkei Genkai clan in all of Elemental Nations, now that Senju, Uchiha, and Uzumaki were mostly wiped out.

Hiashi also told Neji in private about the final words of Hizashi Hyuga, and the truth behind the incident at Hinata's third birthday. It took some time, but Neji had finally accepted the truth behind the events of history.

Hiashi himself admitted that Hizashi, his twin brother, had been a better Hyuga than he ever was, and pledged to Neji that he will make sure that his brother's son won't face any injustice in the clan, and is properly recognized for his genius, not feared.

After this event, Neji had grown closer to Hinata and Hanabi, treating them like his own sisters, instead of cousins he hated at one point. The atmosphere in the Hyuga clan was currently more harmonious than it had been in a long time.

Coming back to the match, both Hinata and Neji smiled softly at each other as they both took Gentle Fist stances.

"Be careful, Hinata," Neji cautioned her "I won't hold back this time as this is the Chunin exams. Whether I go forth or you do, we both represent the Hyuga, so we have to do our best."

"It is as you say, Neji ni-san," Hinata said softly "However, I have been working on some new applications of Gentle Fist that has never been seen in our clan."

"I know you are leagues better than me in our traditional style. But I can't help but wonder if you will be able to counter my moves this time." Hinata smiled and said with confidence.

"Well, we will just have to see how it goes then," Neji replied with equal confidence as he and Hinata activated their Byakugan at the same time.

No further words were exchanged as both of them rushed towards each other and began a high-speed yet subtle Taijutsu battle.

The combination of Byakugan and Gentle was not something one could show off for the most part. It was more along the lines of an assassination art rather than a head-on fight. But, those who recognized its deadliness could recognize how lethal the moves Hinata and Neji were making actually were.

The fight of Hinata and Neji looked like a dance, a deadly dance where one misstep would lead to the loss of the opponent.

After nearly 5 minutes of futile fight in which neither could gain an edge over the other thanks to their mastery of the Gentle Fist, Both Hinata and Neji decided to end it with one final attack.

Hinata flipped back until she was few meters away and took a looser stance that was derived from, yet looked different to the Gentle Fist. Unlike in Gentle Fist, where fingers were usually stuck together in a palm strike, her new stance had her fingers spread apart, like a talon of a bird.

Surprised by Hinata's new stance, Neji decided to not take any chances and prepared the Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Stance.

"Gentle Fist: Chakra Cutter Strikes!!" Hinata exclaimed as he executed a more flowing version of Eight Trigrams 32 Palms. However, instead of Palm strikes, the tips of her fingers were coated with an application of chakra similar to Chakra Scalpel.

Every strike of hers cut the very air apart in its way. If successfully hit a living being, it could probably slice at the very chakra network directly, thanks to her Byakugan. Seeing the deadliness of the move, Neji became even more focused.

"Eight Trigrams: 16 Palms!!" Neji exclaimed as he targeted Hinata's arms.

"Two Palms!!" Neji struck at a Chakra point on each wrist to disturb the chakra flow to Hinata's technique.

"Four Palms!!" Another two strikes, one to each wrist, stopped the dangerous chakra scalpel-like blades on Hinata's fingers completely.

"Eight Palms!!" Neji Struck two chakra points each on Hinata's forearms. This slowed the chakra empowering her strikes.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixteen palms!!" three chakra points on each of Hinata's upper arm and one chakra point each for her shoulder socket were struck. This completely stopped her technique in its entirety, robbing Hinata of her chakra flow to her arms temporarily.

"Neji ni-san, you didn't even let me display my new technique properly," Hinata said annoyed. Neji smiled at Hinata's annoyed tone.

"Well Hinata, if you had shared this technique with me earlier, then I would have helped you turn it even smoother and stronger. Currently, while it is deadly to some ordinary Shinobi, to experienced Gentle Fist users like Lord Hiashi or me, it is still full of holes."

"But if I had shown you then how would it be a surprise technique? I wanted to be the one to develop it solely." Hinata said.

"It is fine, I won't be involved in its creation. I will just tell you tips to improve it as we spar in the future." Neji said.

"I guess I would like that." Hinata smiled at Neji "But for now I guess I have lost this match."

Turning to Hayate, Hinata declared her defeat. As Hayate announced the result, Neji used Gentle Fist to remove the blocks he had placed on Hinata's arms. They then walked back to the stands as they vacated the sparring area for the next match.