"Round three, begin!" As Moonlight Gekkō's voice fell—
Just as Kin Tsuchi was about to pull out a senbon tied with bells from her ninja pouch and throw it at Hinata to perform a sound-based genjutsu, Hinata, who stood two meters away, suddenly appeared right in front of her as if she had teleported.
She moved so fast that Kin's body couldn't even react in time.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
Hinata's fingers, wrapped in a blue chakra flame, struck Kin Tsuchi mercilessly. The force of her finger thrusts was so great they sank into Kin's body even through her clothes.
The chakra penetrated cloth and flesh, attacking her chakra points directly. It blocked her chakra flow and inflicted excruciating pain.
Before Kin could even scream, Hinata had already struck her more than a dozen times at lightning speed.
Finally, Hinata delivered a palm strike to Kin's chest.
Boom! A distorted wave of air erupted from Kin's back.
When the shockwave faded, Kin's eyes were blank, blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. Her knees gave out and she collapsed to the ground.
"Thank you for the guidance."
Hinata spoke gently, yet stood above Kin Tsuchi with dominance. The bulging veins at her temple gradually faded.
Click! Click! Click!
At the same time, shutter clicks echoed from the second-floor viewing platform.
The camera-happy Izayoi wore a huge grin. If he weren't so young and if their relationship wasn't still a secret, he would've shouted out loud:
"That's my badass wife!"
"What... what just happened?"
"Hinata's body flicker technique—what was that? So... so fast! And there was no lag at all!"
"That movement seems so familiar... where have I seen it before?"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Especially Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura—they felt like they were completely out of Hinata's league.
Meanwhile, in Guy's team, Hyuga Neji clenched his fists in frustration.
The heiress had gotten stronger again!
He replayed all their past training sessions in his mind—from evenly matched duels, to slowly being overwhelmed, to now being completely dominated.
That level of finger force and chakra didn't even need a full 32-strike combo to deal internal damage and make the enemy vomit blood or collapse on the spot.
Even though Neji had mastered Rotation, he still wasn't confident he could defeat Hinata.
Beside him, Tenten asked the trembling Rock Lee, "Lee, was that high-speed movement from Neji's clan?"
"It was high-speed movement, but it's different from mine," Rock Lee nodded, then shook his head.
Might Guy chimed in with a smile, "It's chakra nature transformation. Neji's clan member, she's mastered Lightning Release transformation—just like Sasuke. She uses lightning chakra to stimulate her cells and increase speed. So youthful!"
"I see," Rock Lee muttered, finally understanding Sasuke's explosive speed.
At first, he could barely keep up. Then in a blink, Sasuke's speed would skyrocket. He used to think it was due to the Sharingan—but it was lightning nature transformation all along.
And yes—Hinata had also mastered that technique.
The Hyuga Clan were descendants of the Otsutsuki Clan. Although after a thousand years their bloodline had been diluted to just a faint trace and their surname changed to Hyuga, it didn't mean they couldn't use ninjutsu.
They mainly focused on the Gentle Fist and their bloodline ability because Gentle Fist techniques fit their bloodline best—they offered both offense and defense, ranged and close combat, and could elevate one to the level of an elite jonin. That's why they didn't bother with traditional ninjutsu.
But Izayoi wasn't bound by such traditional thinking. Once he mastered Lightning Release cell stimulation, he immediately passed it on to Hinata, whose chakra nature included lightning. She then converted the body flicker into a high-speed taijutsu movement, massively increasing her speed.
Clearly, Izayoi was right.
Hinata, using Lightning Release to stimulate her cells, had zero lag in her movement. Her attacks were as fast as Lee without his weights—like a sudden gale.
"This generation's clan heiress is truly exceptional,"
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe and smiled softly. Then his gaze shifted toward Izayoi, who was checking his film reels. His smile turned a bit more playful.
To have raised the clan heiress to this level—impressive!
But now that she's this outstanding, how do you plan to stand by her side?
Over with Team 7, Kakashi looked at Sasuke and asked, "Sasuke, did you teach that to Hinata?"
"No, it was Izayoi who taught both me and Hinata," Sasuke shook his head.
Naruto, clearly both impressed and a little jealous, muttered, "Man, you really are Izayoi's little sidekick."
This time, Sasuke didn't shoot Naruto a murderous glare.
Because he was tempted.
If he really became Izayoi's follower… would Izayoi teach him his ultimate techniques too?
Thinking back on how Izayoi had saved them just in time, the sense of safety he gave—Sasuke was starting to think that having such a "boss" might not be such a bad thing.
No one knew what the proud second son was truly thinking.
Kakashi, hearing Sasuke's response, glanced at Izayoi and held him in even higher regard.
To be a civilian genius who outshone even this remarkable new generation—clearly no ordinary person.
His massive chakra reserves, lightning transformation, that fire tornado jutsu, and his still-unknown ultimate technique...
At this moment, Kakashi saw his younger self in Izayoi.
He too became a jonin at twelve and developed Chidori—with similarly overwhelming chakra.
Now, Kakashi couldn't help but grow curious about Izayoi's true strength—and looked forward even more to the upcoming battles.
The same went for Orochimaru.
Even after his trio's match ended, he didn't leave. He stayed to watch what came next.
The fourth match quickly began: Ken Misumi vs. Kankuro.
Ken Misumi, a teammate of Kabuto's, appeared to be a Konoha genin, but was actually one of Orochimaru's spies.
A very bizarre one—he seemed eager to make his connection to Orochimaru obvious. He used Orochimaru's soft-body modifications, allowing all parts of his body to stretch and twist freely. If this technique could be combined with the Akimichi Clan's expansion jutsu, Izayoi would call it a god-tier move that surpasses even the Eight Gates.
In battle, Ken Misumi slithered like a snake and quickly bound Kankuro.
But—surprise! The Kankuro he bound wasn't real—it was his Crow puppet in disguise.
By the time Ken realized it, it was too late.
Emerging from the puppet's wrappings, Kankuro used Crow to swiftly defeat Ken Misumi with ease.
Just like earlier when Sakon attempted to ambush Sasuke—unless your strength is truly at the super-kage level, ninja battles are about intel.
If neither side knows the other's capabilities, then victory depends not just on raw power—but also tactics and intellect.
Clearly, Ken Misumi fell short compared to Kankuro in both.