Chapter 9: Power of the Byakugan

"64 Palm!"

Kiba fell to the floor, defeated. Hinata's speed with the technique wasn't on par with her cousins Neji's, but it was still too quick for Kiba to deal with. His over confidence in his own abilities, and his underestimation of what Hinata was capable of, cost him the battle. She had hit all of his chakra points, and he was left unable to move because of it. The majority of the crowd was surprised at the outcome. The shy demeanor of Hinata when she first entered the arena contrasted with the confidence oozing from Kiba, which left most believing her defeat was inevitable. However, Neji was not surprised at all. The gentle fist style is incredibly dangerous when employed against another taijutsu user, especially when they don't have any kind of remarkable abilities of their own such as the Eight Inner Gates. Neji smiled as he remembered all of the painstaking hours Hinata put into practicing these techniques, and how it was finally paying off. However, he didn't have much time for reflection, as his name was called out as the next participant.

Neji entered the ring and stared down his opponent, which was Kankuro of the Sand Village. A puppet master, Neji knew he had to be very careful. He had clearly improved his techniques substantially, as Shino had been easily dealt with even though they had fought previously. Also, Neji knew his taijutsu style would be ineffective against puppets. He didn't have the destructive force to deal any damage to something made out of wood. While formulating a strategy in his mind, Neji raised his hands and put up his guard. He was eager for the battle to begin. He kept his eye on the Proctor as he raised his hand. As soon as it dropped, they would begin their battle.

"Begin!" Tora yelled, as he thrust him arm down with great intensity.

Kankuro needed no invitation after the Proctor had started the match. He threw open his scrolls and summoned his three puppets: Crow, Black Ant and Salamander. Within seconds they were completely under his control and became his weapons. Kankuro saw the veins around the eyes of his opponent which told him that he had activated his kekkei genkai; The Byakugan. Kankuro decided to test the abilities of this dojutsu and see t's defenses by attacking with all three of his puppets simultaneously. Unsurprisingly, as soon as they got close, Neji used his Rotation technique to repel them, sending the puppets flying in various directions. The sheer force with which they were repelled stunned Kankuro. He had thought that because he was in control of the puppets with his chakra threads, and because he was not being affected by the technique, he would be able to stop his puppets from being pushed away. He had to try to change his strategy, but what could possibly work?

I know Kankuro smirked, according to the Intel we received from our last mission with Leaf Village, that defense of his was broken because the Byakugan has a blind spot. Let's see if I can find it.

Kankuro sent his puppets into the air, and then revealed hidden compartments inside each puppet. From those compartments, he fired Kunai and Shiruken directly at Neji, with the trajectory of the weapons covering much of Neji's vision. Neji then proceeded to use his technique again, repelling the attack with a great dome of spinning blue chakra. Kankuro continued to maneuver his puppets around, looking for his key to victory. Finally, he was rewarded. A single kunai breached the defense, forcing Neji to dodge. Even though the attack had failed to dal any damage, Kankuro had all he needed. He knew where the blind spot was now, and he had the rest of his battle planned out. Kankuro smiled as he thought about the acclaim he was about to receive. Defeating one of the Hyuga Clan is quite the feat after all and he wondered if the crowd would chant his name too.

At least some recognition would be nice he thought, as it's pretty difficult to get that when Gaara's around. Anyway, it's time to end this.

Kankuro began by moving Salamander and Crow into a position close to Neji, making it appear that he was looking to fight in taijutsu 2 on 1. Kankuro was hoping that Neji would look to conserve chakra and not use his Rotation. Fortunately, that's exactly what he did. Neji used his speed and superior combat skills to keep out of harms way. Kankuro also positioned his other puppet, Black Ant, in a position where Neji could clearly see it, so that he wouldn't be suspicious of its absence. However, there was a certain thing missing that Neji surely wouldn't notice. The smallest leg of Crow, which was also a knife, was no longer attached to its body. Kankuro hid it beneath the sand on the ground; ready to strike once Neji was lured into the right position.

Come on Kankuro thought, willing Neji to move where he wanted him to, just a little further. Slightly to the right, back a little.

Finally, Neji moved into the right spot and Kankuro pounced. The knife went straight through Neji's blind spot and pierced his right shoulder. With Neji stunned by the hit, Kankuro put the rest of his plan into motion. He opened up Black Ant, to prepare for Neji's encasing. Next, he used Salamander to kick Neji up into the air towards his tomb. However, just before he reached Black Ant, Neji flipped himself upside down, so his head and arms were facing the ground. He made a sweeping motion, although it didn't do him any good. He still ended up inside of Kankuro's trap.

So that's two out of two Kankuro though, proud of himself, guess the Leaf Genin haven't improved at all. Even their top guy has gone down pretty easily. Talk about a huge letdown.

Up in the stands, Kakashi nodded his head as he watched the events unfold.

"Impressive", he said, "it was a trap that could be seen quite easily from up here, but in the heat of battle it wouldn't be easy to spot. He was able to figure out the Byakugan's blind spot and use that to his advantage."

Gai, who was stood next to Kakashi listening to his analysis, shook his head in disbelief.

"Yes", he began, "it was a brilliant strategy. That boy from the Sand Village is definitely Chunnin level without a doubt. His speed of thought and tactical knowledge is impressive. However, I can't help but think that Neji should have spotted that, especially with his eyes being as sharp as they are. I can't help but feel a little disappointed.

Kankuro let out a laugh as he moved his fingers inwards, so that he could close the casket and imprison his opponent within his puppet. However, it inexplicably didn't work. Kankuro then made the same movement again, only to find that it gave the same result.

What's going on? Kankuro wondered, suddenly panicking at the turn of events.

Neji smiled inside the still open casket, staring directly at Kankuro as he said, "Now it's my turn."

Neji jumped out of the coffin and onto the floor. There was still a throbbing pain in his shoulder, but it had been a necessary sacrifice in order to get into the position he was in now. However, Neji realized that the distance was still too far for him to get a hit in before Kankuro would be able to move his other puppets to defend himself.

Well then, Neji said to himself, guess I'll have to use that new jutsu earlier than planned.

Neji pulled his arm back as if he was going to throw a punch. Then, instead of clenching his hand into a fist, he curled his fingers back and thrust his palm forward.

"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!"

He thrust his palm towards Kankuro, sending a vacuum of air towards him. The sheer force of it sent Kankuro flying back towards the wall. However, this was not intended to be the knockout blow. Neji was not an expert at the technique yet, but he was still efficient enough to deal some damage. However, Neji used the opportunity to move in and ran close to where Kankuro was. When his opponent was able to stand back up, Neji had already adopted his stance. He was slightly knelt down with one arm extending up towards the sky and the other facing towards the ground. Neji looked straight at Kankuro, who knew what was coming next but was powerless to stop it.

"Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms."

There was a flurry of strikes as Neji used the Hyuga clan's signature move to disable Kankuro's chakra flow. After applying the finishing strikes, Kankuro fell to the floor, his chakra flow having come to a halt. He was completely unable to move and he knew that the fight was over.

"The winner is Neji Hyuga from the Leaf Village" Tora said, still sounding unenthusiastic despite the excitement of the fight. Even so, the crowd seemed to disagree. The conclusion of the fight brought about the biggest cheer yet, as the crowd chanted Neji's name as their latest hero. Neji, however, took it all in his stride. He didn't care much for praise given by strangers. He just wanted to keep improving, to be as strong as he could be. He looked over as Kankuro was placed on a stretcher by the medics and watched as they walked right by him.

"Wait" Kankuro called out, stopping the medics in their tracks just in front of Neji. "How did you do it?"

Neji made sure he kept his face looking respectful. He didn't want to mock an opponent he just defeated.

"I realized that you were looking for my blind spot" he began, "and once you found it, I knew you were bound to use it for an attack. I then noticed that one of the legs was missing from your puppet and I located it hiding underground. I was already aware of your technique of sealing someone within that puppet, so I deduced that you would attack my blind spot and then seal me away. However, just before you could trap me inside, I used my gentle fist to disrupt the chakra in the threads between you and your puppet by funneling some of my own chakra into them, causing them to malfunction. After that, you know what happened."

Kankuro appeared shocked at the explanation, but smiled just afterwards. "No wonder some call you the most talented Genin ever to come out of the Leaf Village" he said, as the medics carried him away.