Chapter 138: Naruto: Sorry Sasuke, I'll be getting an Armor First!

In the arena, Naruto and Neji didn't immediately start their battle.

Naruto stared intently at Neji and said, "Finally, this day has come! I will defeat you!"

"Hmph!" Neji smirked provocatively and taunted, "I remember you were at the bottom of the class, right? Aside from having great stamina, you were pretty much always at the bottom."

"A loser like you could never defeat me." Neji took his stance, ready to go.

Although he said that, Neji had seen Naruto fight and knew not to underestimate him.

"Hmph, anyone can say that. But I've promised Hinata that I will defeat you," Naruto replied, pointing his thumb at himself and flashing a smile. "And I have one advantage… I always keep my word!"

After saying that, Naruto finally made his move and began forming hand seals, still sticking to his usual opening.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Neji frowned as he realized that he still couldn't see through it. The chakra flowing inside the shadow clones was mimicking the flow of chakra pathways, so even the Byakugan couldn't distinguish which was the real one.

Then, Naruto and his shadow clones started forming seals again, this time for the Wind Release: Gale Palm technique. Neji quickly reacted, using shuriken to dispel several shadow clones.

However, he couldn't stop Naruto and the other shadow clones from successfully executing the Natsuro's version of Gale Palm.

Seeing this, Neji's expression turned serious; such an opening was indeed hard to prevent.

After all, Naruto's shadow clones only needed one seal, and combining it with the shadow clones to use Gale Palm made it almost impossible for anyone to stop him.

This was troublesome.

Natsuro watched the scene unfold and smiled. While he didn't think this would truly trouble Neji, it would undoubtedly put him in a very difficult situation.

The shadow clones wrapped in Gale Palm were not as easily dispelled as regular shadow clones, which was why Natsuro believed this technique suited Naruto perfectly!

In the next moment, Naruto charged toward Neji with his shadow clones, fully aware that Neji could use his Byakugan to target his chakra points, but he still wanted to give it a shot.

Neji easily dodged Naruto's attack and then aimed for his chakra points, but his expression changed the next moment.

He realized that while he had broken through the outer layer formed by the wind, it was still quite difficult. Even when hitting Naruto's shadow clone, his attack was like a light tap so the shadow clone didn't explode.

This realization made Neji feel uneasy. Naruto seized the opportunity to land a punch on Neji's blocking arms. The explosion of Gale Palm sent Neji flying, forcing him to grab onto the ground to stop himself.

"Is this your chakra point technique? It doesn't seem very painful," said Naruto's shadow clone, shaking its fist, feeling okay.

"Hah…" Neji took a deep breath. It seemed that the regular chakra point technique wasn't effective, and he would need to use more chakra to deal with this…

The next moment, Neji took his stance.

Upon seeing this stance, everyone from the Hyuga clan was shocked, including Hiashi Hyuga, Hanabi Hyuga, and Hinata Hyuga, all of whom recognized this as the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, a jutsu that only members of the main branch of the Hyuga clan could learn!

If no one had taught Neji, it meant he had figured it out on his own. This talent amazed everyone in the Hyuga clan.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms?" Natsuro noted how Naruto's shadow clones were being taken out one by one. Indeed, if Neji could use the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, then the obstruction caused by Gale Palm wouldn't be able to stop him.

However, if Neji needed to use the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms to deal with shadow clones, did that mean he was going to compete in terms of stamina? Competing against Naruto in stamina?

Wasn't that just asking for death? The Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms consumed a significant amount of stamina. If this continued, all Naruto had to do was send in his shadow clones wrapped in Gale Palm to exhaust Neji.

As expected, Neji quickly realized this. His eyes narrowed as he watched the shadow clones rushing in again, and he formed a different stance.

"What is that…" Hiashi Hyuga's eyes widened.

If Neji could learn the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms by himself, then what was this technique? If he could also learn it by himself, it would only mean that his talent had surpassed certain limits.

"Father..." Hanabi Hyuga noticed this too and glanced at Hiashi.

"Watch closely; this is our Hyuga clan's secret technique: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!" Hiashi said gravely.

As his words fell, Neji executed the Revolving Heaven. With Neji's body spinning, the chakra erupted like a spinning top, pulling Naruto's shadow clones into the whirlwind.

Finally, Naruto's shadow clones couldn't maintain their forms under the high-speed rotation and dispersed one by one.

At this moment, Neji dashed toward Naruto. If this continued, he would certainly lose from exhaustion, so he needed to change his approach.

Theoretically, Naruto's best option would be to evade such attacks and repeat the previous strategy, without letting his shadow clones in all at once, which would allow Neji's Revolving Heaven to handle all the shadow clones in one go.

Neji's Revolving Heaven clearly couldn't be used many times…

Natsuro, watching Naruto's real body rush in, facepalmed. This was fitting for Natsuro but this was a bit absurd.

In an instant, the situation reversed as the previously dominating Naruto was struck by the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

The spectators were engrossed. They had all heard of Neji's reputation as the top student of his class and had initially been surprised that the Nine-Tails kid could bring him to this point.

But later, they found both the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and Revolving Heaven thrilling, recognizing Neji's strength and becoming more astonished by Naruto's power.

However, the next moment, the reversal in the situation made them feel it was… quite exciting.

"If he's been hit at the chakra points, then that kid is definitely done for," said two guards watching the match.

"Not necessarily," Natsuro said with a smile.

"How is that possible? That's a Hyuga chakra point technique," one guard wanted to refute but weakened upon realizing Natsuro identity.

"Yes, the Hyuga chakra point technique," Natsuro sighed. Although this attack couldn't be considered true damage, without a defense, it could indeed be compared to real damage.

If Natsuro were hit, as long as he was hit only a few times, he would be able to control his chakra to break free of the points. Even if it would damage his chakra pathways, he could heal afterward.

But if he were hit multiple times, the impact would become insufficient, just like Naruto now; even with his massive chakra reserves, he couldn't break free.

However, if it were someone else, Natsuro would believe they would lose, but this was Naruto. If his chakra wasn't enough, he still had the Nine-Tails' chakra!

Moreover, the Nine-Tails' chakra was different from ordinary chakra. Regular chakra point techniques couldn't seal the Nine-Tails' chakra.

However, Naruto in the arena didn't immediately show any intention of using the Nine-Tails' chakra; he was capable of utilizing a small portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra that seeped out.

Regarding this, Natsuro had heard Jiraiya mention that Naruto could now borrow a small part of the Nine-Tails' power at will.

Of course, asking the Nine-Tails to directly channel its power to Naruto was still impossible. Not to mention whether the Nine-Tails would agree, even Naruto's body was currently quite unable to bear that much power. It was fine once in a while, but frequent usage would cause damage to Naruto.

Naruto began chatting with Neji, even as Neji, in anger, removed his Konoha Village headband, revealing the mark of a caged bird, arguing passionately with Naruto.

"This is… the infamous Naruto's talk no jutsu!" Natsuro chuckled at this scene. He still believed in Naruto's talk no jutsu; this way, Neji's personality might ease up a bit.

It couldn't be said that Neji was completely wrong, but his thoughts were indeed a bit foolish. Relying solely on dissatisfaction and anger, no matter how talented Neji was, he couldn't oppose the main branch and would often be looked down upon by those elders in the clan.

.

Even if one wants to reveal the caged bird, they should hide their brilliance and scheme in the shadows. For someone like Neji, he essentially brings no change to the Hyuga clan; so what if he's a genius? Does the Hyuga family lack strong members?

In the eyes of the elders of the Hyuga clan, an uncontrolled genius might be worst.

After a long time, Neji donned his forehead protector once more, while Naruto finally activated the power of the Nine-Tails.

"What is this… the Nine-Tails?" On the highest viewing platform, the Third Hokage's eyes lit up as he observed the power emanating from Naruto, which reminded him of Natsuro. It was indeed showing initial results.

The Third Hokage felt quite satisfied; Natsuro was indeed reliable. Not only had he allowed Naruto to harness part of the Nine-Tails' power, but he also managed to prevent the Nine-Tails from going berserk... The Third felt a great sense of relief.

Not just the power of the Nine-Tails, Natsuro's eyes brightened as he watched the red battle armor forming around Naruto. That was...

Wind Armor!

It was indeed Gale Palm, but at this level, it had transcended Gale Palm and was becoming a new ninjutsu.

As the originator of an alternative usage of Gale Palm, Natsuro could clearly see the process of armor formation on Naruto.

Truly, he was worthy of being the most unexpected ninja; under the infusion of the Nine-Tails' power, he had reached the next level before Gale Palm could stabilize into its normal state.

Natsuro couldn't help but feel fortunate about his decision. This method was something he could use as well, and it should be effective. Thinking that Naruto could continue to deepen the Wind Armor in the future, Natsuro felt a bit happy—it was nice not to have to research it himself and to get something for free.

Moreover, as Natsuro looked at Naruto, wrapped in that somewhat enchanting red armor, he momentarily didn't know what to say. It looked kind of cool...

Not only Natsuro felt this way, but the ordinary spectators were also awestruck by the armor, and gasps of admiration arose from the crowd!

This was something that Natsuro, even if he had learned the Wind Armor, wouldn't be able to achieve. After all, wind is colorless and shapeless; his Wind Armor probably wouldn't have a visible form, while Naruto could only use this due to the chakra of the Nine-Tails.

Furthermore, Natsuro's expression turned somewhat strange. Sasuke hadn't even gotten to use the Susanoo armor yet, but Naruto was already playing with the Nine-Tails version of wind armor.

One could only say that life is unpredictable!

At this point, the battle had already reached a point of no return when Naruto unleashed the Wind Armor powered by the Nine-Tails.

Neji Hyuga's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms had even found it difficult to break through, and under the enhancement of the Nine-Tails' power and the Wind Armor, Naruto's strength had reached an incredibly terrifying level.

Even a Jonin would hesitate to take on such an attack! The best option would be to dodge!

Could two still lower-ranked ninjas actually achieve this?! The surrounding ninjas with keen eyes were all shocked.

Natsuro watched as Naruto, clad in fiery red armor, charged forward to collide with Neji's Revolving Heaven. In that moment, the entire arena began to tremble, and countless clouds of dust enveloped the venue, which was impossible for Natsuro's perception to miss.

Sure enough, the final result was that Naruto easily broke through and defeated Neji.

After the results were revealed, Natsuro looked at Naruto's unscathed form and fell silent. After using the Nine-Tails' power, the passive effects were even more pronounced, allowing the previous injuries to recover, and then he crushed Neji's Revolving Heaven with the Nine-Tails version of the Wind Armor...

At this level, it was indeed a bit brutal. Natsuro sighed and felt a bit pleased.

Because this was the change he had brought about, at this level, Naruto could handle special Jonin duties just by using the dissipated power of the Nine-Tails, right?

As for the type of power infused by the Nine-Tails during the battle with Sasuke in the original story, let's put that aside for now. When Naruto continues to grow, Natsuro can help him unlock some seals later.

In any case, Natsuro believed it was better to take things step by step. Even if he was the protagonist, one should not rush the process.

Check out the patreon and get 49 chapters in advance

Currently on Chapter 187 - Three Tomoe Sharingan!