Struggle - 3

For some reason he smiled at the memory. That day had been one of the most interesting he had ever lived through and now he would've liked to have gone back and thanked her for her wisdom, 'There is no blade sweeter!'

Kidomaru was analyzing Neji's ability, 'Looks like he has 360 degree vision! He studies things through his close-range vision and he also has the ability to see far distances…with those two combined, he seems to be able to fend off the enemy's attack.'

He watched his foe put pressure on his wound on the ground below, 'Furthermore, 360 degrees is a scary field of vision. He was able to detect all the kunai around him within 50 meters, give or take. But for some reason there was one kunai he wasn't able to avoid. Well then…'

Another wave of small spiders rained down from the tree tops and as Neji prepared to fight them off his breath hitched. Another kunai hit. Just below the other wound he had gotten after fighting Tenten.

She was the only person he knew who could so fully exploit the weakness of his blind spot, and now he was beginning to fear that his foe's success was not merely a coincidence.

Kidomaru caught on quickly, "This time there will be more than ever!" He launched a storm of gold kunai and Neji franticly blocked them along with the spiders. The spider-nin smirked inwardly, 'Now two will hit…'

Two more kunai landed in Neji's back, and he gasped for air, gripped with agony. His hair tie was snapped and his hair shook loose as he fell face-first to the ground, winded.

Kidomaru laughed heartily from his hiding place, "For your information I have figured it out! Your defensive technique looks like it has some weaknesses and that means your doujutsu is not complete!"

Neji's hand fisted in the dirt.

There was no time to waste on resting. His enemy was learning fast and had to be dispatched quickly; he was running out of ideas as to how. He forced himself to stand, shuddering with pain.

"Such willpower!" Kidomaru went on, "The game's conclusion is clear now!" He watched Neji gain his feet and grinned maniacally, "Hey, hey. Are you going to keep up this useless effort? The weak character in an easy game has the fate of dying first. You will not be able to beat me!"

Those words. They made him see faces. Faces that made his heart ache.

He remembered when he was younger, a new genin, freshly assigned to his team. He was always bored with fighting Lee, always telling him that he'd never prevail. Tenten had agreed with him and Lee had always grown more adamant and hot-blooded about it.

But it changed. With time, Tenten had stopped agreeing. She and Lee had become friends and he didn't understand it. She had talent when he had none. Neji had thought she was wasting her time.

And the day they fought back had confused him, shocked him. The same way Hinata had fought against him during the exam had slowly helped him realize that he had been pursuing something intangible and unrealistic. He was hurting people and they were tired of it.

He got tired of it too, especially after Naruto had ripped his pride away to show him that his ways were erroneous.

At least then he had tried to take back the words he had said with his actions, but inside he could tell that his friends were still in pain and he didn't know how to fix it, 'Will I ever know? Can I ever redeem myself in their eyes?'

Kidomaru commanded his summoned spider to attack, and the giant arachnid leapt from her web, intending to body slam Neji and crush him with her enormous weight.

The spider landed on him and he struck with brutal Jyukken strikes, quickly blowing her apart. The Oto nin was grinning, "Weak character number one: Destruction complete!"

He released another round of gold kunai that met their mark and Neji collapsed again shortly after.

Kidomaru stood up on the branch he had been observing the fight from, 'Well, despite it being shitty I quite enjoyed it.' Before he turned away completely he looked back, and was not pleased to see the Hyuga prodigy struggling to his feet again with several kunai lodged in his back.

Neji's breathing was uneven, but he was not yet finished. Some fight remained in him still.

The spider-nin smirked again, activating his level two form, 'Either I missed his blind spot by the slightest bit…or because I am within 50 meters he detected my attack.'

"I see, so will you entertain me more, eh?" Kidomaru's skin had changed color and he had spat out a golden bow that quickly hardened into a functioning weapon. He aimed a golden arrow for his opponent, "Neju Seigo: 100 percent. Damage: at maximum!"

A third eye opened on his forehead to help ensure he would not miss.

"Die!" He launched and his arrow soared like a torpedo towards the young Hyuga.

When it made contact it left a huge crater in its wake.

Kidomaru was disappointed to see that Neji had evaded the attack. On the ground, Neji stood panting, his nerves shaken, 'That was too close! It would have been lethal…but I was able to divert it slightly…' He closed his eyes, 'It is true. He has come to realize the secret of the Byakugan.'

Kidomaru was confounded that his attack had not struck the intended mark, 'What is this?' The wound visible on Neji's back where the arrow had hit was off its mark, 'Why did it hit 15 centimeters above the critical point?'

Blood dripped slowly down the Hyuga prodigy's arm. He fell again, feeling his energy beginning to fade.

It was then Kidomaru realized how his attack had failed, 'So that's how it is. All this time he has been continuously releasing chakra around him. On such a wide scale! No wonder he was able to detect the arrow as well as change its course with that chakra.' He chuckled to himself, 'To emit chakra on that scale must be a deadly struggle…he won't be able to dodge them without doing so.'

'He isn't making useless attacks. He's using them to gain information.' Neji coughed violently while he thought, 'He's beginning to see the shortcomings of these eyes…impressive. Of all the enemies I have fought he is the strongest!'

After analyzing the effects of all of his attacks Kidomaru understood that Neji could not actually see the attacks that were coming for him, even if he was able to partially dodge them. It was a flaw he was going to take full advantage of, 'There exists a blind spot radiating from a small spot below his first vertebrae…'

Neji stood again and began to run, pulling the knives from his back as he went.

'Now that he is aware of the danger he will guard his blind spot more carefully so I cannot hit it,' Kidomaru noted, 'But this is not a problem for me! For him, he can only fight close range and he doesn't have the time to think about how he'll get near me…now he only has time to run! Whether you struggle or not, you will die!'

He fired another arrow with a thread attached to it as Neji ran.

When the projectile connected it left another crater, and Neji had taken shelter behind the trunk of an oak tree. Blood dripped down to the ground by his feet. His headband had been ripped by the attack and had fallen to the ground.

He stood very still, his cheek dripping blood from where the arrow had clipped him. It was then he noticed something peculiar, 'String? I see, by using this string…'

Neji's knees met the ground again, his chakra reserves beginning to waver. He was running out of time.

Kidomaru was not pleased the trajectory of his arrow had shifted during the attack, 'So this time I'll add a spin to it so it won't stray off. I can guide it with thread for up to 50 meters so he can't avoid it…'

Neji stood up again, 'Strong…he's far stronger than me. I barely have any chakra left and I probably won't be able to completely avoid the next attack. Is this…it?'

His mind strayed to when he had fought Naruto in the exam and he smiled, 'Naruto, what would you do?' Neji spoke aloud, "It's fine…it's not as if I can dodge it anyway."

He held still again, waiting for the spider-nin's next move.

'He stopped moving, did he? He's given up?' Kidomaru watched curiously, 'But I have to make sure! Accuracy: 120 percent! Destructive force: the most immense!'

The Oto nin fired his newest arrow, directing it to his near helpless foe. Neji turned around to face the attack and was hit and dragged several yards back, blood splattering everywhere, before the arrow passed through a tree and pinned him against it.

"Got him!" Kidomaru cheered.

Neji could no longer feel any pain from his wounds. All that remained was determination: the need to fight back and finish it, even if it meant dying. It was all he could do.

He took hold of the thread that was still connecting them and forced his chakra into it, preparing a sudden and overpowered Jyukken strike. His remaining chakra raced along the string like a bullet train, rushing back to Kidomaru and slammed into him, knocking him from the branch he'd been perched on.