Neji continued his brutal beat down on Lee. As he yelled in absolute pain, Neji continued his brutal assault. "Give up. You can't win." Neji said.
As Lee stood hunched over, Neji didn't a slight oration and connected his foot to Lee's chest and sent him flying. "How much will you take before you accept the reality? You are destined to lose." Neji said.
"Guy, this match has gone on long enough. It's time you call your students back." Kakashi said.
The jonin in a green full body suit flinched. While he wanted Lee to prove himself, he couldn't stand to let him get further harmed.
"No, Neji. I will not back down. Yeah, I may not have chakra or fancy clan jutsu. But one thing I have. I have determination, determination to win." Lee said. He then looked at his sensei.
"I'm sorry, Guy sensei. Please forgive me." Lee said.
"What did you say? You truly believe you can beat me?" Neji asked as he was seething in rage.
"Haha, that's right." Lee said with a chuckle as a burst of chakra was forming around his body. "Third Gate of light, open!" Lee shouted.
"Guy, don't tell me. Did you actually teach him the lotus?" Kakashi asked his rival in disbelief.
"That's right, Kakashi. You see, Lee is like me. The lotus works perfectly for his style." Guy said.
"Guy, do you understand how irresponsible that is?" Kakashi asked as his eye was opened wide.
"I'm aware, but not everyone is like your power hungry student. Lee has never once used either the primary or hidden lotus without permission, aside from his scuffle with Sasuke." Guy said.
Naruto's gaze never left Lee as his skin started to turn red. "Fourth gate of pain, open!" Lee shouted. In that moment, he vanished and without seeing anything, Neji was punched into the wall.
Following up on his attack, Lee continued delivering multiple punches to Neji's stomach, causing the Hyuga to be knocked out. Due to his adrenaline being at an all time high, this was a factor that Lee didn't know.
Neji continued receiving his punches and was even tossed across the tower. "Get ready, it's over! Fifth gate of closing, open! True hidden lotus!" Lee shouted as he rushed towards Neji for the final punch.
However, to everyone's surprise, Naruto flashed in front of Neji and took the fill force of Lee's punch. As it connected, a massive explosion occurred inside the room. Both boys were sent to the ground while Neji was caught by Guy.
"Naruto!" Hinata, Kurenai, and Anko shouted. The Hokage looked with wide eyes at his surrogate grandson's actions.
When the smoke cleared, Naruto stood with Lee over his shoulders. "I'm sorry, but Lee isn't a killer. I doubt he'd like to learn that he killed his teammate. I understand that interfering with a match is against the rules, so I will happily accept being disqualified." Naruto said.
"No, Naruto. Truthfully, had you not stepped in, I'd of lost a student. As Neji's jonin sensei, I will forfeit the match for him. Lee is the winner." Guy said.
Naruto and Guy looked at each other. While no words were spoken, Guy was thanking Naruto, while Naruto was criticizing Guy's approach on teaching Lee such a jutsu.
The medics arrived and claimed that Neji received damage that might end his career. Hearing this, Naruto walked over and inspected the Hyuga's body.
"Hey! What are you doing?" The medic asked. Like most villagers, the medic held Naruto responsible for the Kyuubi's attack.
"Saving this Konoha ninja." Naruto said as he transferred some of his chakra to Neji, allowing for the wounds to be healed. Thanks to Hagoromo's memories, Naruto learned how to use medical ninjutsu.
"He will be fine, he just needs rest." Naruto said as he did the same for Lee, recover the torn muscles. The medics took both participants away while Naruto casually walked up the stairs.
"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, what the hell were you thinking?" Anko shouted.
"Sorry, I wasn't really thinking. I just had to act and didn't have time to stop and plan it out." Naruto said sheepishly.
Anko sighed. "Always got to be there here, huh?" Anko asked as a small smile appeared.
"Naruto, that was a bold move, but it seemed to have worked out." Kakashi said.
"Um, Lord third. The arena is in a mess. Do we continue?" Hayate asked.
"The battlefield isn't always perfect. We will continue. Though, we'll need to mix up the names manually." Hiruzen said.
Hayate nodded and grabbed four bits of paper and wrote the four remaining names on them. He then shuffled them up and walked to the Hokage. "Go ahead and choose one without looking." Hayate said and the Hokage did.
Hayate then walked over to Anko. "Go ahead and choose. This will make sure that it's as random as possible." Hayate said.
Anko grabbed the paper and she revealed that Hinata Hyuga would be fighting. Hiruzen revealed that her opponent would be Sakura.
"Alright, can I have Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga step down, please?" Hayate requested.
"Get her, Hinata! You got this!" Kiba shouted.
"I won't be hold back on you, Sakura." Hinata said as she activated her Byakugan.
The pink haired girl got into the basic academy stance as she was nervous. "Come on." Sakura said.
"If both ninja are ready, let the match begin." Hayate said and within a single second, breaking any and all records, Hinata knocked Sakura out with a single strike to the chest.
"Proctor, I believe I have won." Hinata said in a cold tone.
"Um, yeah. The winner is Hinata Hyuga." Hayate said as the medics came to escort Sakura to the medical ward.
When Hinata got up, she crossed her arms in annoyance. "That was a complete waste of time." Hinata muttered.
"Oh come on, it isn't that bad. You could be in my shoes. I've got to fight that weird guy with the gourd." Kiba said hesitantly.
"Kiba, be careful. Don't feel shame in backing down. He isn't like the others." Naruto said in a serious tone.
"What do you mean?" Kiba asked, and the others around them decided to listen.
"He's known as a Jinchuriki. Like the nine tails, he contains the one tailed Ichibi. If you ask me, I'm the only one suited to deal with him." Naruto said.
"But, if he's so strong, then why is he participating in the exams?" Kiba asked.
"Suna is in an alliance with Orochimaru to attack during the finals. I plan on dealing with Gaara before hand. Truthfully, if I were you, I'd call the match. Of course, like with Neji, if things get out of hand, I'll step in." Naruto said.
"I dunno man, what do you think my chances are at winning?" Kiba asked.
"Zero percent." Naruto said in a straight forward tone.
"Man. Alright, I'll forfeit. Yo, proctor. I quit." Kiba called out.
"Oh, okay. Well, then I need all the winners of today's matches to step forward." Hayate called out. Sasuke, Temari, Shino, Gaara, Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru walked up. Guy decided he would represent Lee.
"Congratulations on passing through the preliminaries. Now, we'll do a drawing system to see who will fight each other in the final round of the chunin exams." Hayate said.
"Proctor, when is the final round going to start?" Hinata asked.
"We will begin in one month." Hayate said.
"Huh? Why such a wait?" Temari asked.
"Well, aside from giving you all some time to prepare, the Damiyo's and leaders will need time to arrive and get situated. We discussed it prior and believe that a month will efficient. Also, consider it part of your test. Yo I fought against people whose skills you new nothing about. Now, you have an idea what to expect." Hayate said.
"Alright, maggots. I'll walk by and you will draw a number. This number will give you your opponent." Anko said.
As Anko walked passed each person, they were all allowed to choose. The match ups were, Naruto against Sasuke, Shikamaru against Temari, Shino against Hinata, and Gaara against Rock Lee.
"Good, now lord Hokage will take over." Hayate said.
"Alright, you will all have a month to train. As you know, winning doesn't exactly promote you to chunin while losing doesn't disqualify you. However, as you are watched by the lords and Damiyo's, it would be wise to give it your all." Hiruzen said.
With that, everyone was dismissed. Naruto was walking with Kiba, Hinata, and Shino. "So, how are you guys going to train?" Naruto asked casually.
"I am most likely going to train with my father." Shino said.
"I probably am too. Since Neji lost in the preliminaries, I'm sure he'll be able to assist me in my training." Hinata said.
"What about you, Naruto?" Shino asked.
Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "I'll probably train on my own. Since my eyes are fairly new, I need to get training on them. Though, I may have Anko or Aunt Yugao help me in my training." Naruto said.
"I see. Well, I guess we will meet in one month." Shino said.
"Agreed. Train hard, I don't want to kick your ass as easily as I did to Sakura." Hinata said with a smirk.
"Indeed." Shino said.
Naruto departed from the group and found Anko waiting. "So, what's the game plan?" Anko asked with a smirk.
"Want to go on a field trip?" Naruto asked, getting Anko to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Where to?" Anko asked.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret. Go pack for a month and meet me at my apartment." Naruto said.
"Alright, see you in a bit." Anko said as she gave Naruto a soft kiss and proceeded to her own home. As she walked, Anko swayed her hips to the said, causing the blond to chuckle.